‘The most visible graffiti writer in New Orleans presents ‘interior work’ at local gallery

If you think of graffiti tags as brand names, then READ is right up there with McDonald’s and the local personal injury attorney Morris Bart. Variations of his signature phrases such as “Read More Books” and “Open Your Eyes” have popped up on Crescent City walls since 2008, as well as his drawings of squat human skulls and flying books. “READ is — without question — the most visible graffiti writer in New Orleans,” wrote street art authority Kady Perry in her 2019 book “New Orleans: Street Art, Murals and Graffiti.” “His tags can be found towering over highways and streets” across the city, Perry wrote. A former hotel in New Orleans East featured some of the city’s largest graffiti. It reads: CAVEMAN READER!! OYE (Open Your Eyes) (Photo by Doug MacCash, The Times-Picayune) First-name basis And now READ’s creations can be found on the walls of an Arabi art gallery. There’s a danger in putting graffiti in a gallery or museum. It often looks like taxidermy, a wild thing that’s now lifeless. Even the great British graffiti artist Banksy falls into the trap of producing stencils on canvas that are incapable of capturing the prankish nature of his guerrilla...