Notes from the Underground – Icon Graffiti in the Subways of Moscow

Video Source: RadioFreeEurope/RadioLiberty on YouTube
Article Source: David Clayton on thewayofbeauty.org

Via David Clayton:
Is graffiti legitimate if it is beautiful? These Russians are spray painting icons onto the otherwise drab concrete walls and fascias of Moscow. I don’t know what the government or the people of Moscow make of them, but it is a novel way to bear witness to the Faith.

I wonder what the response would be if such a project took place in the New York subway or in LA? I can imagine the secular elites hating them, while the people who actually live around them enjoying them, regardless of whether or not they are Christian. If the paintings are beautiful – and I would say these are – then people will like them. If that was the case, then it would undermine the value of the dreadful installations and public art that our town governments typically commission.

I personally would love to see such work brightening up the streets around me. What do you think?