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Graffiti Artist Tags the Blackstone Renaissance's Walls

Go To The Hotel's Web Site Where: 636 S. Michigan Ave. [map], Chicago, IL, United States, 60605
February 22, 2010 at 9:15 AM | by | Comments (0)

Looks like Chicago's Blackstone Renaissance is trying to earn more street cred with "Outlaw," a new graffiti exhibit at the hotel.

Apparently this isn't the first time the Blackstone's gone a little gangsta. Charles “Lucky” Luciano and Al Capone used to hang out at the hotel. The latter notorious mob man seems to be an inspiration for the graffiti exhibit, as seen above. And in 1931, the hotel, which turns 100 this year, hosted a crime convention of sorts where all of the mob families met to divvy up power.

This isn't the work of some hoodlum. The tagger/artist behind the spray paint is Brooklynite Michael McLeer, a.k.a. Kaves, whose work has been featured in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and in the loft of MTV's Real World: Brooklyn show. The respected artist is even in the Graffiti Hall of Fame. In addition to Kaves' artwork, you'll get to see a piece from hotel General Manager Rob Cartwright, who's also a graffiti artist.

To accompany the hotel's Art Hall exhibit, there's an Outlaw pop-up shop in the lobby. There you can peruse original art, sneakers and graffiti art books like Piecebook: The Secret Drawings of Graffiti Writers.

"Outlaw" runs through September 25. Although the Blackstone is really getting behind graffiti art, we advise you not to do any tagging in your room.

[Photos: NBC Chicago]

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