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How gentrified has the Lower East Side become? So gentrified that established gentrifiers are complaining about incoming gentrifiers. Case in point: the 24-story building at 180 Orchard Street. Over ten years, construction has been bedeviled by “stop work orders, faltered construction and general dysfunction,” pissing of the neighbors, according to real estate website Curbed NY—which also dubbed the place, the Orchard Street Hell Building. But things have finally changed, and its new occupant, hotel Indigo LES, is moving in with a planned April opening. As part of its amenities, it recently announced that Lee Quiones, one of the founding fathers of New York street art, will serve as the hotel’s “artist-in-residence.” The plan is for him to create a mural for the entrance and artworks for individual rooms. No word on what, exactly, but it should be great.
Because if the whole things sounds like a typical gentrification gimmick (which it is sort of is) Quiones is the real deal, and his new role doesn’t obviate obviate his well-earn renown. Beginning in 1974, he helped pioneer the subway graffiti-art scene with an innovative style that combined pop-cultural imagery with political messages. He was one of the first artists to bomb an entire train, and while these efforts were decried as vandalism at the time, there was no denying their artistry. He certainly had an impact on the regular art-world, influencing such future art stars as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring and Jenny Holzer. And there would be no Banksy without Quiones as a precedent.
He’s been legit for a while now, focusing on commissioned murals and other projects. And while it may be ironic for a former outlaw to work hand-in-glove with the type of business that symbolizes the tame New York of today, there’s nothing wrong with being occasionally reminded of the wild New York of yesterday, regardless of the venue.