Changing of the Guard at the Bowery Graffiti Wall

The reign of Kenny Scharf has officially come to an end at the corner of Bowery and East Houston.  After seven months on the Tony Goldman graffiti wall, and countless battles against errant tags, the replacement arrived earlier today.  A reader sent in the following images of this changing of the guard.

According to EV Grieve, this latest piece, dubbed “Lakota, North Dakota,” is brought to the neighborhood by Inside Out.

Tony Goldman is pleased to announce the Inside Out Group Action: “Lakota, Dakota Nation” at the Houston/Bowery Mural Wall.

This is the sixth project at this historic wall after the Kenny Scharf spray paint mural; it will be presented on June 23, 2011. The Inside Out Group Action: “Lakota, North Dakota” will highlight the Standing Rock and Pineridge Native Reservations — some of the most important Native American reservations whose impoverished and forgotten communities have suffered unspeakable hardships. The Lakota, Dakota Nation group action is to show that the people in this community are still struggling to hold onto their native way of life.

Community leaders work with their people to teach their traditions, history, and ceremonies – knowledge which is critical to their collective survival. The Inside Out Project “Lakota, Dakota Nation” is intended to shine a light on this rich culture, for which they are fighting daily.

Inside Out is a large-scale participatory art project that transforms messages of personal identity into pieces of artistic work. Everyone is challenged to use black and white photographic portraits to discover, reveal and share the untold stories and images of people around the world.

The INSIDE OUT project is a creation of the artist JR, recipient of the 2011 TED Prize.

What do you think of the new art?