This story originally appeared in ANTIGRAVITY Vol.5 Issue 2 (December 2007).
The Baddest Brush in Town, Part II:
Who is Winning the Color Wars in New Orleans?
In last month’s issue we attempted to describe the situation between taggers, graffiti writers, street artists and anyone who’s taken to New Orleans’ public visual space to express themselves, and their collective headache known as Fred Radtke, dubbed the “Gray Ghost” for his ubiquitous blocks of paint throughout the city (also known as “buffs” and “ghosts”). Radtke has made eradicating others’ graffiti by imposing his own a personal crusade, regardless of the law, the wishes of the community and visual aesthetics in general. In Part I we talked to a few artists who have organized efforts against Radtke, notably ReX of NoLa Rising and the Krewe of Krabkakes. These artists and the many others who take to the streets opposite Radtke seem to end up in a zero-sum, eternal battle with Radtke: they paint, he covers it; they take to the gray as if it were a fresh canvas, he returns, etcetera, ad nauseam. The result, as can be seen by anyone with two eyes, is a huge quilt of spray paint and primer that covers the city. But what about the more “ordinary” citizens who are equally frustrated by Radtke but don’t feel the need to go out in the middle of the night to stencil their thoughts on one of his fresh stretches of gray? In this second installment, ANTIGRAVITY attempts to understand more fully whether Radtke is a martyr or a criminal, as we speak with the Vieux Carre Commission, one local business owner and a New Orleans police officer, while also exploring allegations of violent acts by the Gray Ghost. (more…)
Tired of the same old outrageously boring tee shirts breeding like rabbits in the city, in the summer of 2005 Patrick Brower and Blake Haney decided to be the change they wished to see in New Orleans. And then Katrina changed everything. What was at first just a few tee shirt designs that native New Orleanians could sport with pride and laughs became a symbol of New Orleans’ struggle to rebuild without losing our unique soul. Since Dirty Coast’s launch shortly after Katrina, the company has grown from selling their shirts in just a few local shops to operating their own retail website and bustling Magazine Street store, stocking upwards of 8,000 shirts in over forty-five designs, as well as stickers, posters, bags, undies and more. ANTIGRAVITY spoke with Haney and Brower about what it takes to make it as a new company, how to keep customers coming back and the importance of Acadiana Self Reliance. 
