“Art of Comedy” Murals Coming to Mulberry Street (Hanksy, Ron English et al)

Little Italy’s concerted effort to revamp its image is poised to take another turn. Starting today, Mulberry Street will be transformed into a zone of street art for the launch of the New York Comedy Festival. “The Art of Comedy,” sponsored by the Festival itself and Vandalog, is to feature the painted/pasted musings of four well-known graffiti artists in various locations. A tasty feast for the eyes, if you will.

Ron English will throw up his first Manhattan mural in 25 years. Hanksy and Gilf! are also participating. Here’s the breakdown of artists and locations:

• At Mulberry & Grand, on the Mulberry side, a restaurant under construction will transformed into a hilarious sight gag featuring Jim Gaffigan – Hanksy

• At that same location, but on the Grand side, will be the canvas for a funny skewering of our political candidates – Gilf!

• Past Grand Street, further up on Mulberry, this artist will present 2 of her favorite works – Gilf!

• Umberto’s Clam House, 132 Mulberry Street, will be home to another funny or “punny” image – Hanksy

• Diagonally across from Sambuca’s Café on Mulberry between Canal and Hester Streets, the side of a building 40 feet high x 25 feet wide will be painted with a classic character from this iconic artist – Ron English

An “art crawl” is planned for November 3 with the unveiling of a Hanksy creation on Caffe Roma at 385 Broome Street. The ultimate goal of this partnership, according to the Little Italy Merchant Association, is for the corridor between Canal and Broome to become an outdoor gallery of sorts. Embracing the taggers and vandals…this is gonna get interesting!