Four New Murals Added to Wabash Arts Corridor Including Piece from World Renowned Street Artist Shepard Fairey

Obey mural - 916 S. Wabash

A reader writes:

Just a heads-up that paper has been put up on the storefront windows if 9th and Wabash. It has long been vacant with only Halloween stores using the space. Adjacent to that property is a huge banner for Obey Records. It faces north on the building just south of the 9th and Wabash. Perhaps they are connected?

While that would be great if Obey was doing something inside the building at 9th and Wabash, we highly doubt that's the case.

Obey is the product of world renowned street artist and creative guru Shepard Fairey - probably most famous for his iconic "Obama Hope" poster.

Upon doing some more investigation we found that in fact the huge "banner" is actually a mural that Fairey was creating in conjunction with various other artists as part of the Wabash Arts Cooridor (from his blog):

The crew and I arrived in Chicago three days ago to begin the setup for The Provocateurs art show and to start painting my mural. My mural wall is a killer spot at Wabash and 9th on one of Columbia University’s buildings. There will be several other murals going up in the same corridor by artists from The Provocateurs show including POSE, RETNA, and Cleon Peterson. The majority of the fine art is now in our gallery space safely and we are arranging the display for your viewing pleasure. Thanks to Jon Furlong for the awesome photos, and to my crew of Nic Bowers, Dan Flores, and Rob Zagula for assistance on the mural. Stay tuned for wall art updates from both indoors and outdoors.

If you're into these types of things we HIGHLY suggest you head on over to his blog to take a look at some amazing pictures (post 1, post 2 and post 3) - both highlighting how this was created as well as various other shots around the neighborhood.

As Fairey stated in his post, there were some other artists that were contributing and we found the following press release from Columbia College:

Columbia College Chicago has teamed up with Shepard Fairey (OBEY series, Obama HOPE) and three other Art Alliance: The Provocateurs artists to showcase their work in the Wabash Arts Corridor as part of the exhibition with Lollapalooza. Four of the top names in subversive street art—Shepard Fairey, Cleon Peterson, POSE, and RETNA—will use the corridor as their “living urban canvas,” injecting provocative, large-scale artworks into one of Chicago’s major emerging art scenes.

• Shepard Fairey: Latest in his OBEY series “We Own the Future,” 44’ x 44’, 916 S. Wabash, north wall 

• Chicago-based POSE: Bold-colored, pop-art inspired narrative graphics, 120’(w) x 25’(h), 72 E. 11th on the west and north walls 

• Cleon Peterson: Dystopian brutality in black and white, 40’(w) x 14’(h), 634 S. Wabash (Warehouse Liquors), south wall 

• RETNA: Free-hand graffiti/glyphs, 43’(w) x 62’(h), 33 E. Congress, south wall

This is some pretty amazing stuff and some great additions to the Sloop.  We loved the idea of the Wabash Arts Cooridor and these current installations take it up a notch in our book.  Here are some other shots of the other artists:

Cleon Peterson: Dystopian brutality in black and white
40’(w) x 14’(h), 634 S. Wabash (Warehouse Liquors), south wall

RETNA: Free-hand graffiti/glyphs
43’(w) x 62’(h), 33 E. Congress, south wall

Chicago-based POSE: Bold-colored, pop-art inspired narrative graphics
120’(w) x 25’(h), 72 E. 11th on the west and north walls 

I don't know about you but this is pretty Rad!  Walking down the street on Wabash is like walking down a hallway in a museum - except much more interesting than most museums.

For some of our older coverage on the this topic click - Wabash Arts Corridor Sounds Promising or Some New Art for Wabash Arts Corridor.

Oh and in regard to Fairey, you may be saying "his mural looks like another one I've seen in the Sloop?" Well you're right, because back in 2011 he did another installation next to Code of Conduct at 11E 14th Street (underneath the El):

Now that we've gone off on an arts tangent (hopefully an interesting one), that brings us back to the original question - what's going on in the storefront at the corner of 9th and Wabash?  Anyone got the scoop on that?

(Hat tip:  RH!)

Shots Around the Sloop: Heads-up

From Emily Belden:

380 square feet. 39,000 heads-up pennies, all glued to the floor with love by South Loop couple, Emily Belden and Ryan Lange -- owner of South Loop tattoo shop, Code of Conduct.

We launched a site about it yesterday that went viral on all social media platforms, garnering worldwide traffic: www.thepennyfloor.com

Some sweet stats from their webpage:

• 1873: the oldest penny used; coin features an Indian head instead of Abraham Lincoln 
• 1944: year of the WWII 440 steel penny used because of a copper shortage 
• 38,903: total amount of pennies used 
• 128: total number of man-hours it took to lay pennies 
• 2: total number of people who made the penny floor possible 
• 184: number of reruns (see glossary) placed before grouting 
• $972.80: total cost for the penny floor about 2.56 per square foot.

Code of Conduct Adds some Sweet Art to the Sloop

A friend of the blog recently sent us a link to a post about Code of Conduct (one of the Sloop's tattoo parlors)adding some sweet art to the neighborhood:


How great would it be if we could have a "street art gallery" underneath the el?

The redeye also has more background on the art:

A mural in the "Obey Giant" art campaign, led by street artist Shepard Fairey, went up Tuesday night outside a South Loop tattoo shop and store, according to an employee.

Fairey, who created the iconic "Hope" poster of President Obama, was recently featured in Oscar-nominated documentary "Exit Through the Gift Shop." He also was scheduled to do a guest DJ set late Thursday night at The Underground, at 46 W. Illinois, according to Jamie Weil, public relations representative for Rockit Ranch Productions.

(Hat tip: dbeezy, Solo MotorRow, SLA!)

Team Coco Gets a Tat at Code of Conduct in the Sloop

We've posted a couple times about the tattoo parlor Code of Conduct that opened this past year on 11th between State and Wabash. It definitely looks like a cool place, but since we're not tattoo connoisseurs, it's good to see the inside from this video. This was shot by the Team Coco blog when they were in Chicago:

(Hat Tip: Tony II!)

Code of Conduct Open

Early in February we posted about the new tattoo parlor, Code of Conduct (14 East 11th Street), and we just got word from the owners that they're open and ready for business. Also in case you've missed it, they've been getting some love from various local websites/blogs:

With a stable of tat artists boasting clients ranging from ex-Bull Randy Brown to hip hop's The Cool Kids, those pondering some body art will find a couch-laden "living room" area outfitted with entertainment (board games, X-Box) plus a carefully curated library of picture-stocked books to spark ideas, and, in case those don't do it, a grip of iPads for cruising net-based inspiration (dude, when you flex your bicep, the Numa Numa kid actually jiggles).

(Image from the Thrillist.com)

Shots Around the Sloop: Code of Conduct Sign

A sign for Code of Conduct (a new tattoo shop) subtlety sticks out on 11th street:

Code of Conduct Comes to 11th Street

We recently got an email about a new place opening at 14 East 11th Street (where the old Hi Tea shop used to be). Although we're not 100% if it's open or not, it looks like they're making progress according to their facebook page.

Code of Conduct is:

an environmentally conscious high-end tattoo studio integrated with a clothing boutique located in the South Loop neighborhood of Chicago, IL.

And their mission statement is:

Code of Conduct has blossomed from a shop name into a mantra that we as partners and entrepreneurs choose to abide by in both business and life. We are a team of young energetic professionals - the respect, trust and admiration we have for one another are the roots of our Code. We have chosen to take action in a time of economic uncertainty. We believe in the future of our generation and those to follow. We believe in a Code of Conduct.

They also have a twitter page and a website (that isn't very evolved yet).

(Hat Tip: JC!)