First came the graffiti bombers, who tagged Kenny Scharf's East Houston mural under the cover of the massive snowstorm that transformed New York into a blanketed ghost town earlier this month. The actions of these vandals — who described themselves as being "fuckin wasted" at the time of the defacement — led downtown real-estate mogul Tony Goldman,
who owns the wall on the corner of Bowery, to install security cameras
around the artwork. Then last night, after the artist swung by to spruce
up his painting, over which the graffiti bombers had applied brash
fill-ins, a security guard was spotted
prowling around the historic graffiti spot, his presence begging the
question, who had sent him to protect the mural? And from whom?

The mural by Scharf — who despite his distinguished art-world stature these days was a true East Village enfant terrible in the 80s — was arranged by real-estate company Goldman Properties and Paul Kasmin Gallery, which represents the artist in New York. After a spokesperson for Paul Kasmin told ARTINFO
that he had not known about the presence of a security guard, we sought
the counsel of Houston Street guru and historian in residence Billy Leroy, who has presided over Billy's Antiques, adjacent to the mural's location, for decades. Leroy asserted that the guard had indeed assumed the post last night.

View Slideshow:

"There's no guard there now," countered Tony Goldman's prickly personal
assistant, when asked if Goldman Properties had hired someone to protect
the work. To which Goldman himself added in an email: "We had a guard
there while the paint was drying," after Scharf touched it up. "There
were many people in the street and we did not want the new paint
damaged. The cameras remain."

While the guard may be gone, larger questions of whose job it is (if it
is anyone's) to keep street art safely pristine persist. Beginning in
2008, the works created for the East Houston space — collaborations
between Goldman and galleries around the city, from Deitch Projects to The Hole,
to Kasmin — have been executed by artists whose "street art" sells in
galleries and at auction for thousands of dollars. And while it seems
logical to try to protect such valuable, and often beautiful, artworks
from the destructive impulses of ruffians, the Houston Street wall once
in fact was the uncontested terrain of those who made art outside of,
and often in opposition to, the art establishment.

"The wall started because of me," Billy Leroy told ARTINFO. "Back in
2005, I was renting the entire property, including the wall, which was
just covered in all kinds of graffiti. I used to let OMNI and Mr. Brainwash just jump the fence and do illegal murals. But then I went to Tony and told him, 'This is the first spot where Keith Haring
did his mural,' which Tony didn’t know. I said, 'Let’s do a café and a
reproduction of the mural all along from Billy's to Bowery. We didn't do
that together, but Tony went to Jeffrey Deitch and they started making murals."

This evolution of the mural, from site of illegal bombing to outpost for
gallery-represented street artist, doesn't really bother Leroy, though,
who sees Goldman as a "philanthropist," who uses his money "to help art
and artists" (and who did in fact help bring about the recreation of Haring's 1982
mural). Meanwhile, Leroy considers the crew that crept in and vandalized
Scharf's work "haters."

"Some people's argument is that the artist who has sold art isn't making
street art anymore and shouldn't masquerade as a street artist. That
someone like Scharf is a sellout," Leroy said. "But why deface the
mural; why do it anonymously? Kenny is totally old school."

Other
than in the event of another massive blizzard or similarly diversionary
disaster, however, Leroy doesn't think security needs to stand by to
protect the mural. "You could maybe put up a half-assed tag and run
away. But it's funny, five years ago no one gave a shit about the wall,
and now it's become the epicenter of the art world."