Meow House Theatre

I was down in New York yesterday and imagine my surprise to see this on the sidewalk at 513 W. 54th Street:

Yes, it was a giant painting-in-progress of the logo for The Colbert Report coming to life before my very eyes.

Sidewalk artist Victor Fraser came all the way from Canada to create a monument of sorts to Stephen Colbert and The Colbert Report.

From his own Web site comes this explanation of just what it is that Victor does:

Victor is known in Toronto mostly for his original, larger-than-life murals that are executed on asphalt, city sidewalks, and walls in prime, high traffic locations. Besides his awesome murals, Victor has rendered hundreds of paid art commissions on countless different mediums, from walls to glass to canvas to metal.

And this time, he chose to use his talent to create a tribute to an American he says he admires, or as he put it, “I came from Toronto to get on my hands and knees for Mr. Colbert and the Colbert Nation.” [Clearly this guy is an It-Getter in a majorly artistic way, and he’s not even American! Stephen’s powers can obviously transcend even Homeland Security’s borders.]

It was fascinating to watch him work. His wildly spiky red-and-black Mohawk may not have moved in the breeze, but he more than made up for it with all the maneuvering it took to work on the drawing while dodging random passersby who didn’t seem to notice either the logo or the site of a man looking like he was about to offer pony rides to children right in the middle of the sidewalk. I guess those New Yorkers really just tune out while they’re walking; a few times people purposely strode directly across his path, almost stepping on his fingers as he held the brush or chalk near the concrete. Finally the staff of the Report came out and set up a barrier of sorts although that didn’t stop entirely some of the distracted or uncaring strollers wandering by. Still, it’s bound to be walked on eventually and Victor is probably used to “blending in.” (Yes, I know that’s a terrible pun. That’s what makes it so good.) (And one more for the bad pun department: at one point he splattered his cup of paint/water on the street and jokingly said he was emulating Jackson Pollock and his “contemporary” art–get it?)

Making up for the oblivious was the stream of Colbert Report staffers who came out to check on the progress, along with the ever-growing line of ticket-holders who stopped to ask him questions, take photographs, and generally say “wow” to the emerging picture.

He was happy to talk with me for a few minutes about the project: he said he had arrived on Sunday and spent about 6 hours setting up the stencil and doing the lettering; then on Monday he got to the studio about 11:00 AM; at 4:00 he was still working on it. He must have finished somewhere between that time and 5:15 or so, because at that point he had already gone inside to see last night’s episode.

Victor said depending on the volume of pedestrian traffic, the logo will last about 2 weeks. There aren’t generally a whole lot of people on that part of the block, except for people arriving for tapings, so perhaps it will remain for even longer. And we’ll have the pictures forever.

I’m sure Stephen was quite impressed by the dedication it took to complete this ode to himself out in the hot sun, and I’m especially sure Character “Stephen” is telling himself that it’s only natural that His Supreme Greatness would inspire even a non-American to brave the Border Patrol and TSA just to honor him.

My best wishes to Victor for continued success, and for demonstrating that everyone has the power to spread the Colbert love, even if you do pledge allegiance to the wrong flag. (Just kidding; I love Canada–it’s my favorite among the bear-producing nations.)

You can see more of Victor’s amazing art at his Web site along with his photos, videos, and contact information.

**Editor’s note: picture size and quality has been reduced for the Web. If you would like high-res copies (10.1 megapixel, output image size 3648 x 2736 pixels), please email me.**

This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 17th, 2007 at 1:40 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.