Snacki Attacks Chicago
["Best of Chicago Art Magazine" re-post. Originally appeared 3/18/10]
Fruzsina Eordogh
Snacki
In February of last year, a new street artist began assailing Chicago’s public space with his scrawl. Garbage bins, the back of signs , and newspaper bins were a favorite for then Snack Attack (now Snacki?), but for a street artist starting out, those locations are standard fare. If you look at Snacki‘s work in February, you can see he is figuring out his style and building his confidence.
By late spring, Snacki begins leaving his “faces” around the city, sometimes alone, sometimes in groups. One time, his faces had mustaches, but that must have been an experiment as it was never ever repeated.
The Snacki faces are distinctive. They come in a variety of colors and are always very tired. The bags under the eyes are large and lopsided, and combined with the words “snack attack”, you have to wonder if these are portrayals of weary druggies or drunks with the munchies. Or if we were supposed to get philosophical with his work, is “Snack Attack” about today’s cultural gluttony?
By the fall of last year, Snacki came into his own and reached that level of cocky required for any good street artist. His pieces are now larger, sprayed, and in hard to reach places, thereby becoming prominent additions to the urban landscape. Snacki even begins to include little thoughts with his work, perhaps a saying we are supposed to ponder while wandering home, like “think less feel more” or “lost going nowhere” though that is not the case with every piece. Snacki has now been painting on Chicago’s streets for over a year, but he is not above doing a sticker or two. Now that the weather has warmed, be on the lookout for new snackis.
sorry, but snacki has been around WAY longer than you report. i’ve seen his work as long as 3 years ago up and down lincoln ave.
Though it’s true that the courageous snacki has been on the scene for a little over 3 years, the relevance here is that Snacki is now officially in the mix. His obscure and consistent style has resonated with many of Chicago’s residents as his often comical tag lines continue to create conversation topic among many of Chicago’s young professional class. Personally my favorite is; “ Your Girlfriend Loves Snakes”.
I hope that snacki continues his artistic high jinx throughout the city of Chicago.
(for the record, the commenter above is not Stephanie Burke, our managing editor. It’s someone else. And why last names are good.