Thursday, June 10, 2010

Al Capone lives...sort of.


Al Capone, the notorious American gangster, would have been 111 this year. This mural is one of many murals (not all of gangsters!) that adorn a number of Belgrade walls. Is it art or defacement? You decide.
By the way, the writing around him says the following:
We change years, we change our dreams, we change pens, we change weapons,we change our minds, we change our racketeering, we change girlfriends, we change money; but never our friends!

22 comments:

Gaelyn said...

Looks like great art to me. Hope it stays where it is. The message is right on.

Z said...

I really like this corner

Luis Gomez said...

I like it! Great message.

Marie-Noyale said...

I prefer the man on the left!!

Kris McCracken said...

I vote...

ART!

Olivier said...

j'adore cette peinture murale, le grand al capone. Dans le marche de little italie (brooklyn) il y a une statue d'Al Capone fumant le cigare ;)

Sofi said...

Wau! It took quite the time and the efort to cover such ruined wall. And judging to the person in the picture, Capone's portrait is at least 2 meters high.
I'm curious - in what street/part of the town is it? The surrounding buildings give me no clue.

BTW, do you remember this one? :)
http://fotkapofotka.blogspot.com/2009/01/street-art-robert-de-niro-in-belgrade.html

I love BGD's street art.

Lowell said...

Al Capone was the scum of the earth! But I get a kick out of the mythologies that build around and try to romanticize the old-timey gangsters

For example, the writing is just plain wrong. The Capones of the world changed "friends" often...in fact, they could never be sure just who their friends were and thus lived ultra-paranoid lives.

And many "friends" were shot in the back of the head with a .22 because someone got the notion that maybe they weren't really "friends."

Hope you're having a great day!

Oh, to put this face on any wall is most certainly "defacement"!

Pat said...

Hi, Jacob!

I agree about Al and the romanticization of such infamous persons. The writing was not meant to be his, I don't think, since whoever painted this didn't put any reference to AC, although naturally it appears if they were his words. (I Googled; found nothing of the sort.)

Liliana Holtzman said...

I personally love these creative murals.
My son was in South America recently, and I got to see lots of pictures of wonderful murals.
To me, they are art - very free spirited and non academic, but art non the less.
Best to you!

B SQUARED said...

I think Al's legend grows with time. I didn't realize he had crossed oceans, too.

Suburban Girl said...

I'm gonna go with art on this one. I like it.

Daryl said...

So ... why is it he is afforded this honor? Was he a native of Belgrade?

Pat said...

Hi, Daryl! Nope, Belgrade can't claim Al Capone, but certainly has its share of the underworld.

Chuck Pefley said...

He looks like a nice enough guy in this mural, but I think looks can be deceiving.

Judging from the wear and tear of the wall above him, I would side with "art".

Bogdan said...

Hi Biby!
Al is some sort of a mascot to the Partizan Belgrade fans, particulary Alcatraz subgroup from Dorćol.
This is their work and words.

I am Red Star fan so you probably know what I think about "Grobari" :)
Well, I would just say that these guys are the worst of the worst.

Best regards!

Serline said...

Wow, very talented artist. The likeness of this portrait...

Pat said...

Hello, Bogdan, and thank you for your explanation. I wasn't aware that Al was revered by any football clulb or anyone else nowadays. This explains a lot... :)

Stefan Jansson said...

How about a mural of a local gangster?

Anonymous said...

Art!

Which street would I find this on?

Pat said...

Hello, Anonymous! Your comment to me had 'noreplyblogger.com' so I am answering you here. It's on Kralja Petra, about half-way down on the right side going toward Stahinjica Bana; right where the post office is.

Louis la Vache said...

Indeed, the words don't fit Capone!

«Louis» isn't sure whether he sides with this being 'art' or 'defacement'...

SPRING FASHION

 This is a post that would be better in color, but maybe not. These colors were soooo pale.