Spray can artists on a mission paint enormous Fairfield mural
FAIRFIELD — Donning hard hats and bright yellow harnesses, two New Jersey graffiti artists this week finished their largest commissioned work yet: a spray-painted mural spanning 4,600-square feet across the facade of a three-story camera superstore in Fairfield.
The painters, who go by the names Mear and Sueworks, undertook the piece to promote an organization called Artists 4 Israel. Earlier this year, the group sent eight Americans — several from New York and New Jersey -— to Sderot, a small city in southern Israel under frequent attack from rockets in the Gaza Strip. The camera store, Unique Photo on Route 46 West, donated cameras and film to document the trip.
In late April, the Americans, including Sueworks, met up with 15 artists in Israel, and for nine days the group gave presentations at schools in Sderot and Tel Aviv and a battered women’s shelter in Jerusalem. They organized a carnival for children and gave out gift cards to a toy store and boxes of sidewalk chalk. Wolfson’s photographs of the events are on display at the camera store in a back room.
“It was incredible,” said Sueworks, a.k.a. Raul Rubio, 38, of West New York. “The people, especially the children, we just lit up their eyes with the colors. And they were eager to see the paintings and join in and participate. We taught them how to use the spray cans.”
On Tuesday, the owner of Unique Photo, Matt Sweetwood, stood outside his store, admiring the 33-foot-by-140-foot mural and the artists’ use of shading to create a 3D effect.
They spray-painted a photorealistic camera onto the facade. To the right of the camera, Sueworks said he drew an “S” that transforms into “old-school camera pieces.” Mear, a.k.a. Jorge Sifuentes, 28, of Paterson, described the abstract section he created on the left as “futuristic mechanical work.”
“Graffiti can be used in a positive way,” Sueworks said. “I know people say it’s a negative thing, but there’s always two sides.”
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