Ellen Harvey’s inspiring guerilla art project feels fresher and more relevant than ever

Between 1999 and 2001, small old-fashioned landscapes painstakingly executed in oil started to appear on graffiti sites across New York City. The paintings were the work of the well-known Brooklyn-based artist Ellen Harvey (born 1967).

Documented in this reprint of the sold-out first edition are both the works themselves and Harvey’s diaristic accounts of painting illegally throughout the city. The narrative of her “beautification project” is both provocative and hilarious. It touches on such issues as who is allowed to make art in our society, and what distinguishes art from graffiti, while never losing touch with the frequently comical reality of creating a contemporary art project on the streets of New York.