Dubbed the Spray Paint Zorro, his art is always easy to identify: bright, colorful, and full of iconic American characters. If you know the right place to look, you just might find him thriving on adventure in the dead of night. After all, his thrills are far from ordinary. In fact, they’re illegal, often ending with run-ins with the law. But L.A. graffiti artist Alec Monopoly is not concerned about legalities. Instead, he’s concerned about creativity and the significance of his messages. “It would only bother me if I were chased/arrested for the ‘idea’ of my work, than the act,” he told PBS. So what exactly is worth Alec being arrested? Simply put, Monopoly.
Loving Monopoly as a child and even now, the street artist sees the game in a different light. In an interview with Huffington Post, he explained, “Monopoly started out as a symbol of what was going on in the economy. At the start of the recession in 2008 I started portraying Bernie Madoff [the disgraced American financier] in my art and using Monopoly in the background. Then one day I was playing Monopoly and realized that Bernie Madoff is like Uncle Moneybags.” From there, his art has been comprised of various messages about society.
You are unauthorized to view this page.