Street artist David Choe gained some notoriety when it was revealed
that he was paid in stock for a mural he painted at Facebook
headquarters several years ago -stock that turned out to be worth
millions when the company went public. His latest project was not so
lucky. Choe painted this mural on a wall at the Big Island
Harley-Davidson in Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, on Sunday. By Tuesday afternoon
the entire wall had been painted over again in a solid gray! What
happened? Choe had the support of the Harley-Davidson shop, but some
complaints from the public spurred the the property owner that holds
Harley-Davidson’s lease to order the art painted over.
However, in a prepared digital statement sent on
Wednesday to West Hawaii Today, Choe said he had strong support from the
motorcycle dealership as well as the (BJ) Penn Hawaii Youth Foundation
before starting the mural. He noted the mural was not meant to be
“dark,” but rather “all love and light,” and apologized for offending
anyone.
“Hawaii is a healing, spiritual sanctuary,” Choe said. “The aloha
spirit of this island cleanses and heals me; I feel refreshed and alive
again when I’m here. I feel like I’m smiling (in Hawaii) while dying
inside when I’m on the mainland, so I wanted to give back to the island.
I had never painted an iwa (iwi) bird, or octopus, or
humuhumunukunukuapuaa or Brother Iz, but I wanted to represent the aloha
spirit and paint all these things, bright and colorful, to show my love
for Hawaii.”
Luckily, the mural survives in photographs.
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