Vandal or Artist? : Student’s Murals Painted on Public Walls Designed as Political Statements

The darkly clad figure donned gas mask and surgical gloves to begin his testament against gang violence, with night as his only protection.

Then, with a dozen spray cans, Brett Cook produced his vision of a sneering gang member who had just punched a rival, causing blood to spurt from his mouth.

Beside the two painted figures he wrote the words of rapper Kool Moe Dee: “I never ever ran from the Ku Klux Klan and I shouldn’t have to run from a black man.”

In the process, a graffiti-covered wall in East San Diego was transformed into a mural.

Cook, 22, an art student at the University of California, Berkeley, grew up close to this spot in the 5400 block of Chollas Parkway. “The neighborhood has changed a lot since I’ve lived here,” said Cook, his voice muffled behind the mask. “It’s gotten a lot more run-down. This piece has become more relevant.”

It was 3 a.m. and a car passed by, its headlights temporarily stealing Cook’s veil of secrecy. The artist froze.

Several feet away, a man began banging a drainpipe and spouting obscenities to no one in particular. “It’s a strange feeling out here,” Cook said, listening to the eerie reverberation.

“You’re doing something illegal. You’re so alone . . . but you’re scared you’re not.”

The man wandered away, and Cook seemed to breathe a sigh of relief. Cook explained that his mission is to spread understanding among blacks and tolerance among ethnic groups.

He’s chosen to do this by painting unauthorized murals on freeway overpasses, slabs of concrete or walls.

Home from Berkeley for the summer, Cook painted a self-portrait on a hunk of concrete off Interstate 5, just north of the Pershing Street off-ramp. The work declared, “Open-mindness is not a weakness. It is a strength. How strong are you?”

It was destroyed.

Another mural he made on Interstate 5 features an Italian-American man and African-American man nose-to-nose with an American flag draped behind them. They are separated by the word Bensonhurst, the name of the New York suburb that became the focus of national attention after a black man was attacked and killed by a group of whites a year ago.

Cook’s themes spring from his biracial background. As the son of Al Cook, a black who is a San Diego Unified School District assistant superintendent, and Jan, who is white and serves as head counselor at Horace Man Junior High, Cook was torn between two worlds.

“You like to dance and play basketball, you’re not really white. You like the beach, surfing and wearing O.P. clothing, you’re not really black. I became faced with dealing with my ethnicity.

“People were always wanting me to make an allegiance. I didn’t want to do that; it was a difficult thing I had to struggle with. Finally, I came to a strong positive conclusion (to the question) of, ‘What are You? I’m both,’ ” said Cook, whose dreadlocks were covered by a blue baseball cap.

“I think that’s given me an understanding about people and it relates to my work.”

His work, however, is not endorsed by everyone who comes across it.

Police spokesman Bill Robinson said that the San Diego Police Department will prosecute people found painting on private or public property without permission. Such defacement is considered a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum fine of $600, or six months in county jail, Robinson said.

“It’s vandalism,” Robinson said. “What you might perceive as art could be malicious vandalism to someone else--especially if it’s on

your house or on your property.”

Cook said he believes the importance of his artistic themes overshadows the stigma of their illegal placement.

And he said he only creates murals on public property, not private businesses or residences.

“If I do something about sexual discrimination on a freeway overpass, and you have to drive off that ramp every day, you’re going to have deal with it.

“If I do a piece on racism on a parking lot wall where you park every day, you’re going to have to deal with it.”

A graffiti-art authority said there are signs that his art is being well received. A San Francisco piece he did depicting two black men fighting over a flesh-colored crayon was left undisturbed for four months, “at a time when nothing lasted a week,” said Jim Prigoff, the Sacramento-based author of Subway Art, which details the history of spray art. “It got a lot of respect. People were taken by it.”

And, after Cook completed his Bensonhurst piece, someone sprayed a silver frame around it.

“Somebody recognized it was important,” said Prigoff.

Graffiti art became popular in New York in the 1980s, when respected New York art museums and commercial galleries began to exhibit work by artists who also painted murals on subways and public walls.

Among the best known of these artists is the late Keith Haring, a formally-trained artist who used black paint and chalk to create works on advertising panels in New York subway stations.

Graffiti and spray art in public places thrive to this day in many cities, including San Diego. But Prigoff said there is a difference between gang war graffiti and the work Cook produces: “Brett is creating very politically sensitive people in this art form.”

According to Cook, spray art “has been equated with youthful thugs and street urchins to deface property. One should ask questions and do it in the medium that comes with the baggage of being rebellious.”

Now, Cook has taken his art form into a legitimate arena, with an exhibit at the Java Coffeehouse/Gallery.

To Cook, the characters in his mural at Java represent the downtown coffee shop’s trendy clientele.

“In a place like Java, people are consumed with appearance and trends. They’re not looking or listening to what’s going on,” Cook said.

At first, Java owner Doug Simay was concerned that his patrons might be offended by the exhibit, which features a list of questions including, “Do you accept people for what they are, unless they wear light clothing?”

“He was raising issues and then he raised counter-issues,” Simay said. “It is an innovative exploration that is non-critical and thought-provoking.”

When murals are sprayed outside, “You never know who the audience is you’re speaking to, or how big it is,” Simay said. However, with gallery artwork, “the audience is no longer faceless. The audience can defend (the artist) or he can be held accountable.”

While Simay said response to Cook’s exhibit has been mostly positive, there has been some negative reaction to a reproduction in it of a mural Cook made in San Francisco for Earth Day.

Some have suggested it’s hypocritical to use aerosol paint because it contributes to depletion of the ozone layer.

Cook objected to the criticism.

“When you do a drawing, they cut down trees for the paper. When you use cadmium-colored paints, they have a lot of lead in them. Art, regardless of the medium, is toxic and harmful to the environment. It’s our concession as artists. We’re making art not only to express ourselves, but (in this case) to help other people understand gang violence,” he said.

The urge to draw on walls hit Cook while attending Crawford High. A one-day suspension was his punishment for one mural.

Cook also was arrested by campus police his first year at Berkeley, but no charges were brought against him.

Cook plans to graduate next year, then seek a master’s degree. Eventually, he wants to teach college.

Until then, he hopes his artwork will provide enlightenment.

“I’m fairly certain this won’t last long,” he said, shining a penlight on his completed work as the twitter of sparrows signaled the dawn.

“My idealism says it’s worth it. People are being changed.”