Smear (Cristian Gheorghiu)
Encyclopedia
Cristian Gheorghiu became famous as an American street artist
/graffiti artist and contemporary painter
under the name of Smear in the 2000s, and his name and tagger name were further launched into the public eye by a series of high profile arrests and subsequent articles on the arrests and on his art which appeared in the Los Angeles Times
from 2009 to 2011, followed by television appearances and further media coverage, which came on top of a street fame which had already been widespread in the international graffiti culture. The Los Angeles Times in a March 2011 front page article called Smear "a subculture sensation" and his work (paintings, collages, etc.) has appeared in numerous contemporary art galleries as well as a solo museum exhibit in 2009. He is also a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed by the L.A. City attorney's office, a lawsuit which largely because of its First Amendment implications has garnered the attention of international media, including the Huffington Post, L.A. Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, and the Associated Press
.
methods in his graffiti. Before Smear in Los Angeles, street art and graffiti art were largely polarized and separate, graffiti practitioners at the time were sticking to the rote of tags and bombs and pieces, rarely venturing into other forms which Smear would popularize in the L.A. scene. Smear's widespread fame as an all-city tagger with innumerable tags across the L.A. area brought him and his street art to the attention of a subculture which is captivated by a tagger who achieves such fame and such a profusion of hit-ups/tags. As a graffiti artist Smear was further distinguished from the others by his uncomplicated graffiti writing style, unlike the intricate "wild style" bombs and tags and pieces which are commonly a part of graffiti art worldwide. Smear instead chose an uncomplicated graffiti style and a spontaneous repertoire of images and designs and slogans, which caused him to stand out from other taggers in the L.A. area. Among Smear's most famous street art images are his "Liquor Face" character (which momentarily appears in Dreamworks Pictures' animated film Bee Movie
), and another image which is a shadowy depiction of Smear's own face, with "Smear" written underneath.
In 2006 he began exhibiting/displaying in Los Angeles galleries some of the original art works that he had created, which were in the form of paintings (on canvas and on woodpanels) and drawings, including collage and other media.
buses. A graffiti vandalism conviction resulted in a 40-month suspended prison sentence, three years' probation, and about $28,000 in restitution for tagging on buses. In February 2009 Gheorghiu was arrested again mistakenly in a sweep aimed at a tagging crew that calls themselves the Metro Transit Assassins (MTA), a crew Smear was suspected of having once been a part of. Members of that MTA crew were accused of perpetrating a quarter-mile long graffito which is claimed by many to have been the largest single work of graffiti in the world. Following that 2009 sweep, Gheorghiu/Smear spent about a week in jail, but charges against him were never filed.
But in 2010, the L.A. city attorney filed a civil lawsuit against 9 alleged members or alleged former members of the MTA crew, Gheorghiu being named in that lawsuit as one of the alleged members or former members of the crew. The suit asked for $5,000,000 in restitution and is seeking a first-of-its-kind injunction
against a graffiti crew, an injunction modeled on those made for violent street gangs. One of the provisions sought would prevent Gheorghiu from using his graffiti name "Smear" in his art work. "It raises extreme 1st Amendment issues, " said Peter Bibring, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union
of Southern California, who is representing Gheorghiu. "The government shouldn't be in a position of saying you can't make art from certain materials".
On March 16, 2011, the Los Angeles Times published a column one front page profile on Cristian Gheorghiu/Smear chronicling his rise from scrawling his name on the streets of the city to being an art world habituée. That same evening after that paper hit the stands, Gheorghiu's home was raided but Gheorghiu was not at home; he was arrested the following day when he turned himself in. He was arrested for alleged probation violation. Gheorghiu's attorney, Peter Bibring of the ACLU, said L.A. deputies told him they planned to show that Gheorghiu possessed "graffiti tools" in his home, and that that was "a violation of his probation" and "merited new charges". On March 24, 2011, Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Marcelita Haynes sentenced Gheorghiu to 13 days in jail and 45 days of community service, adding that his success as a tagger-turned-artist could help inspire young graffiti writers to take their art into the studios.
In April 2011, the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles (MOCA) debuted the groundbreaking Art in the Streets exhibit at the Geffen Contemporary Art Museum in the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles. After the opening, following complaints from local authorities of an increase in graffiti around the area of the Geffen Contemporary in Little Tokyo, the L.A. Times interviewed Smear once again: when asked about the exhibit, Gheorghiu said, "The 'Art in the Streets exhibit or an exhibit like it had to come about around this time period, it would be a cultural crime if it hadn't". In media coverage about the 'Art in the Streets' exhibit, which is scheduled to show in Brooklyn, New York after its Los Angeles run, Smear has often been named and mentioned, so far as to be mentioned mistakenly as one of the featured artists in the exhibit by an Associated Press
article from May 1, 2011.
Street artist
A street artist is someone who creates and/or sells their art or craft in public for the pleasure of passers-by.Some people use the term 'street artist' more broadly and also refer to people involved in busking, such as musicians who sing and/or play instruments, acrobats, jugglers, living statues,...
/graffiti artist and contemporary painter
Contemporary art
Contemporary art can be defined variously as art produced at this present point in time or art produced since World War II. The definition of the word contemporary would support the first view, but museums of contemporary art commonly define their collections as consisting of art produced...
under the name of Smear in the 2000s, and his name and tagger name were further launched into the public eye by a series of high profile arrests and subsequent articles on the arrests and on his art which appeared in the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
from 2009 to 2011, followed by television appearances and further media coverage, which came on top of a street fame which had already been widespread in the international graffiti culture. The Los Angeles Times in a March 2011 front page article called Smear "a subculture sensation" and his work (paintings, collages, etc.) has appeared in numerous contemporary art galleries as well as a solo museum exhibit in 2009. He is also a defendant in a civil lawsuit filed by the L.A. City attorney's office, a lawsuit which largely because of its First Amendment implications has garnered the attention of international media, including the Huffington Post, L.A. Weekly, the Los Angeles Times, and the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
.
L.A. graffiti scene
Smear has been very influential in the Los Angeles graffiti scene since the late 1990s for numerous reasons. He was one of the first Los Angeles street artists to use street artStreet art
Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, "in the streets" — though the term usually refers to unsanctioned art, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives...
methods in his graffiti. Before Smear in Los Angeles, street art and graffiti art were largely polarized and separate, graffiti practitioners at the time were sticking to the rote of tags and bombs and pieces, rarely venturing into other forms which Smear would popularize in the L.A. scene. Smear's widespread fame as an all-city tagger with innumerable tags across the L.A. area brought him and his street art to the attention of a subculture which is captivated by a tagger who achieves such fame and such a profusion of hit-ups/tags. As a graffiti artist Smear was further distinguished from the others by his uncomplicated graffiti writing style, unlike the intricate "wild style" bombs and tags and pieces which are commonly a part of graffiti art worldwide. Smear instead chose an uncomplicated graffiti style and a spontaneous repertoire of images and designs and slogans, which caused him to stand out from other taggers in the L.A. area. Among Smear's most famous street art images are his "Liquor Face" character (which momentarily appears in Dreamworks Pictures' animated film Bee Movie
Bee Movie
Bee Movie is a 2007 computer animated family comedy film starring Jerry Seinfeld, Renée Zellweger, Matthew Broderick, Megan Mullally, John Goodman, Chris Rock, Kathy Bates, and Patrick Warburton. Produced by DreamWorks Animation, it is directed by Simon J...
), and another image which is a shadowy depiction of Smear's own face, with "Smear" written underneath.
In 2006 he began exhibiting/displaying in Los Angeles galleries some of the original art works that he had created, which were in the form of paintings (on canvas and on woodpanels) and drawings, including collage and other media.
Legal issues
In February 2007, Cristian Gheorghiu "Smear" was arrested for alleged graffiti on LACMTALos Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority is the California state-chartered regional transportation planning agency and public transportation operating agency for the County of Los Angeles formed in 1993 out of a merger of the Southern California Rapid Transit District and the...
buses. A graffiti vandalism conviction resulted in a 40-month suspended prison sentence, three years' probation, and about $28,000 in restitution for tagging on buses. In February 2009 Gheorghiu was arrested again mistakenly in a sweep aimed at a tagging crew that calls themselves the Metro Transit Assassins (MTA), a crew Smear was suspected of having once been a part of. Members of that MTA crew were accused of perpetrating a quarter-mile long graffito which is claimed by many to have been the largest single work of graffiti in the world. Following that 2009 sweep, Gheorghiu/Smear spent about a week in jail, but charges against him were never filed.
But in 2010, the L.A. city attorney filed a civil lawsuit against 9 alleged members or alleged former members of the MTA crew, Gheorghiu being named in that lawsuit as one of the alleged members or former members of the crew. The suit asked for $5,000,000 in restitution and is seeking a first-of-its-kind injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
against a graffiti crew, an injunction modeled on those made for violent street gangs. One of the provisions sought would prevent Gheorghiu from using his graffiti name "Smear" in his art work. "It raises extreme 1st Amendment issues, " said Peter Bibring, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union
American Civil Liberties Union
The American Civil Liberties Union is a U.S. non-profit organization whose stated mission is "to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed to every person in this country by the Constitution and laws of the United States." It works through litigation, legislation, and...
of Southern California, who is representing Gheorghiu. "The government shouldn't be in a position of saying you can't make art from certain materials".
On March 16, 2011, the Los Angeles Times published a column one front page profile on Cristian Gheorghiu/Smear chronicling his rise from scrawling his name on the streets of the city to being an art world habituée. That same evening after that paper hit the stands, Gheorghiu's home was raided but Gheorghiu was not at home; he was arrested the following day when he turned himself in. He was arrested for alleged probation violation. Gheorghiu's attorney, Peter Bibring of the ACLU, said L.A. deputies told him they planned to show that Gheorghiu possessed "graffiti tools" in his home, and that that was "a violation of his probation" and "merited new charges". On March 24, 2011, Los Angeles County Superior Court judge Marcelita Haynes sentenced Gheorghiu to 13 days in jail and 45 days of community service, adding that his success as a tagger-turned-artist could help inspire young graffiti writers to take their art into the studios.
Contemporary artist
In 2006 Cristian Gheorghiu/Smear began exhibiting his mixed media art works, which have been described by the L.A. Times as "unique renderings of human forms with vivid colors and rough, emotional strokes". The Times article details that Smear's art developed a following, especially among a subculture of street art aficionados. By 2009 he had several solo gallery shows and numerous group exhibitions, and was also featured in a solo exhibit, Immigration to Integration at the Ventura County Museum of Art and History.In April 2011, the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles (MOCA) debuted the groundbreaking Art in the Streets exhibit at the Geffen Contemporary Art Museum in the Little Tokyo area of Los Angeles. After the opening, following complaints from local authorities of an increase in graffiti around the area of the Geffen Contemporary in Little Tokyo, the L.A. Times interviewed Smear once again: when asked about the exhibit, Gheorghiu said, "The 'Art in the Streets exhibit or an exhibit like it had to come about around this time period, it would be a cultural crime if it hadn't". In media coverage about the 'Art in the Streets' exhibit, which is scheduled to show in Brooklyn, New York after its Los Angeles run, Smear has often been named and mentioned, so far as to be mentioned mistakenly as one of the featured artists in the exhibit by an Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
article from May 1, 2011.