Marilyn monroe and her new tattoo.

[left] photo by brent lewis chicago tribune
Several weeks ago our post on pop artist seward johnson’s unveiling of “forever marilyn” prompted a comment “i give it a month before some vandals with brown paint give her a skid mark.” Well…

Everyone will react differently of course. Having just come from Portland where everyone sports a tattoo the tag brought a smile and I really like this sculpture.

[left] leo burnett world headquarters – architect kevin roche

When construction barricades were big in the early 90s I had two that prompted both developers to comment about the unique qualities of their skyscraper street art – no one vandalized the barricades. I am very surprised Marilyn got tagged.

[left] 181 west madison – the boys – architect cesar pelli

Chicago might be the most graffiti-free urban setting in the world. Past mayor Richard M. Daley created not only a graffiti task force but also makes it nearly impossible to get spray paint in the city. Unless you have a relevant business card the only paint store that has spray paint won’t unlock the glass-case-enclosed product. BTW – like a henna tat marilyn’s tag is now nowheresville.