CHICAGO — We forget we are in a conversation with public art until something happens.
Then we are reminded that, in a sense, we never stop talking. We never stop admiring or flinching or scowling or puzzling over or, more likely, failing to even notice public artwork anymore (itself a response). That’s the burden of public art. It is the wallpaper of our lives, and most of us are unaware we’re in a conversation.
But then a week ago, a mural of Kanye West on Lake Street in Fulton Market was painted over by artist Jason M. Peterson, who had created the mural and collaborated with West on projects and was known for his monochromatic aesthetic. Peterson was tight-lipped on the alteration, but he told the Tribune that Scott Wilson, the founder of design company MINIMAL, which owns the building, asked that something be done about its north-facing wall. So Peterson painted a silhouette over the Kanye part. It made news last week, then was just as quickly sucked into the hailstorm of responses to West’s antisemitism.
