An Auckland street artist says he is “at war” with taggers who keep vandalising his work.
Jesse Jensen, who paints under the name Ares Artifex, has painted murals across Auckland, including for Auckland Council, the Department of Conservation and the Ministry of Justice.
The West Auckland resident said work like his helped to beautify ugly places, such as bare walls and construction sites.
“It’s bringing art to the masses.”
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However, this year Jensen has been battling “toys”, or graffiti artists who tag over someone else’s art with the intention of wrecking it.
“I’ve been at war with about 10 toys this year, who keep hitting my work.”
LAWRENCE SMITH/Stuff
Street artist Jesse Jensen, who paints under the name Ares Artifex, believes his work is being targeted by illegal taggers.
One of his murals in Henderson has been tagged about 30 times.
Jensen said while it was frustrating for him and his clients when his art was vandalised, he had empathy for the taggers and understood why they did it: to lash out at someone who had permission to paint legally.
“At the end of the day, they are artists and they are trying to create artwork,” said Jensen, who used to tag himself.
LAWRENCE SMITH/Stuff
Jensen believes street art can beautify bare walls and construction sites.
Auckland Council spent about $4.2 million removing between 70,000 and 110,000 instances of graffiti annually over the last five years.
Jensen believed Auckland Council could curb offensive tagging if it provided more space for graffiti artists to paint legally.
The council’s rapid removal of graffiti prompted taggers to produce high-profile graffiti in places where it was difficult to remove and with little artistic care, as they knew it would be removed, he said.
“It’s a weird incentive for graffiti artists to do the biggest ugliest stuff. They’re trying to spread the paint as far as they can, they’re not doing a high-quality piece.”
Caroline Williams/Stuff
Graffiti on Vinegar Lane in Auckland’s Ponsonby.
Auckland Council business delivery manager Grant Muir said the council had “zero tolerance” for illegal graffiti.
For street art to be legal, it must have a land or asset owner or council approval if it faces onto council property.
The council previously trialled having a wall at Corban Estate Art Centre in West Auckland where street and graffiti artists could paint without needing permission.
“While the wall remains available, it has unfortunately been found that the graffiti has spread to adjacent properties and so has not resolved the issue it aimed to address.”
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Jensen believes there would be less illegal tagging if graffiti artists had more public space to paint without needing permission. Pictured is a street art workshop by Jensen in Glen Innes in 2020.
However, when a high-visibility wall was repeatedly tagged, the council worked with the property owner, local business association and local board to engage a local artist to do a mural in an attempt to prevent graffiti vandalism.
“This is usually done in consultation with the wider community to ensure that the art reflects the demographics of the area or supports a specific theme,” Muir said.
The council spent about $65,000 on mural and “beautification” projects in the last five years.
Until June, community organisations could apply for a grant to fund local beautification and other safety related projects.
The programme was allocated $110,000 and included a range of public art initiatives.