“Legends of the Lower East Side” Coloring Book

How else can the Lower East Side be packaged and commodified, you ask with bated breath? Good question. It’s not merely enough to have an official clothing line (LES Clothing Co.) and a cable series (How to Make it in America). Time to welcome the arrival of a new downtown-themed coloring book, featuring the outlined likenesses of many “colorful” neighborhood luminaries. Both past and present.  Behold, Legends of the Lower East Side!

As David Austin reports in the current edition of The Villager, Legends of the Lower East Side was a genius collaborative effort forged in the Outlaw Art Museum over the summer among photographer-owner Clayton Patterson, and artists Troy Harris and Orlando Bonilla.  Patterson was kind enough to divulge more details on the project, as well as all the mock pages you see herewith.

Legends of the Lower East Side will likely run in the $12.00 range, depending on the cost of printing, which Patterson plans to keep in the neighborhood (Source Unltd on 9th Street).  As it stands, the book boasts twenty-four characters, each with a coloring page and bio.  Distribution will likely be of the grassroots variety, with hand deliveries in as many local establishments as possible – book shops, galleries, etc.  We want one!

Below are the twenty-four the neighborhood legends included in the proposed coloring book:

Clayton Patterson
Joe McCarthy SEMZ
Dash Snow SACER
Jim “Mosaic Man” Power
Luther Vandross
Kevin Harris
Doron Lamb
Elsa Rensaa
Harold Hunter
Chico Garcia
Soe
Peter Missing
Sen4
Luis Guzman
Roberto “Tru Life” Rosado
Freaky Frige
Angel “LAII” Ortiz
Donte Harris
Tom Otterness
Lucien Bahaj
Zac Bahaj
A-Ron Bondoroff
Jerry Pagane
Ai Weiwei

Here’s the full gallery (click thumbnail):