Chico’s New Royal Wedding Mural on East Houston

Iconic Lower East Side artist Chico returned from his Tampa exile over the weekend to paint a commissioned mural on the concrete canvas at East Houston and Avenue B.  The subject of this newest artwork is rather timely, as it relays a congratulatory message to Prince William and Kate Middleton on their royal wedding.  It’s sponsored by Harlem-based liquor depot Branson B. Champagne, and replaces the old Loisaidas album advertisement.

The ladders and cans of spray paint arrived at roughly 1 pm yesterday, when Chico and his cousin whitewashed the facade.  Clayton Patterson even showed up to survey the scene.  Both artists toiled for over seven hours and nearly completed the task, but dispersed by sundown.  It was quite a scene, though, with plenty of passersby snapping photos and saying hello.  And the soundtrack was provided by a small Chico branded boombox tuned to a Hispanic radio station.  Good times.

Chico himself informed us that the royal wedding mural will only be in place for three weeks.  In the meantime, here is a bit of video during the paint job:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iP6j3Gu1lDk

Our question to you is, which graffiti wall is more badass – the Chico wall or Tony Goldman’s?