CityView Magazine

CityViewNC.com | 33 CityViewNC.com | 33 A Fort Bragg soldier fi nds his artistic niche in Fayetteville arts Spray Paint the Town RED BY TAYLOR AUBE I n the backstreets of Paris exists a community that contends the luxurious and bourgeoisie attitude of the French population. Growing up in the met- ropolitan city of Paris, graffi ti artist 'Kilroy' was not infl uenced by French glamour, but the evolving 1990s graffi ti scene. He got his start as a child, creating small pieces with his friend around the city, by painting graffi ti on subway transit cars. It was a dangerous hobby, to say the least. A vandalism charge can range from a misdemeanor to a felony, from a jail sentence to fi nes up to $25,000. Although his works are now legal and commissionable, Kilroy has spent time painting the world. He has created works in major city capitals such as: London, Boston, Munich, Chicago, Marseilles and Barcelona. When he was 13, his family moved to San Francisco. A er a life of refi ning his artistic abilities, Kilroy enlisted in the US Army. He has continued his graffi ti throughout his military career, including during his deployments in Iraq, Afghani- stan and even here in Fayetteville. Although he has le the criminal aspect of graf- fi ti behind, Kilroy still loves to create street art - with a twist. Kilroy explained, "I guess I'm still a street artist, except mostly everything I do goes to charity." In his most recent act of charity, Kilroy headlined an event where he custom painted a chair, which was then auctioned off . All of the proceeds went to the cause. Graffi ti Breakdown: Art vs. Eyesore ere are serious debates that come with the idea of graffi ti. Many fi nd it to be distasteful and something that brings down property value. Others see it as a youthful movement of creativity, fi lling the blank spaces of the world with color. In general, Kilroy thinks more people enjoy his graffi ti than hate it. He explained, "I think people enjoy my art- work. People get vandalism confused with art. If the most famous graffi ti artist, Banksy, had negative publicity the ma- jority of people would hate him, but because of good pub- Photography by Jen Tarbox

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