Court awards graffiti artists $6.7m after work destroyed by developers
A court in New York has granted a $6.7 million (£5.2 million) award for nearly two dozen artists whose graffiti at a once-famous site were destroyed to make room for high-rise luxury residences.
The graffiti site known as 5Pointz, in Long Island City, was a tourist attraction that drew thousands of people. It was destroyed by developers in 2013 and the artists - from the United States, Australia, Japan, Brazil and Colombia - sought damages.
A federal appeals courts on Friday ruled that a judge was correct to award damages against developers and hailed graffiti as a "major category of contemporary art".
Barrington D Parker, the judge, said: "In recent years, 'street art', much of which is 'temporary', has emerged as a major category of contemporary art."
Mr Parker noted that the street artist Banksy has appeared alongside former President Barack Obama and the late Apple founder Steve Jobs on Time magazine's list of the world's 100 most influential people.
In judgment, the court said the destruction of the location, which formed a backdrop to the 2013 movie Now You See Me and was the site of a tour by the pop star Usher, violated the Visual Artists Rights Act of 1990, which protects art that has gained recognition.
"A Banksy painting at 5Pointz would have possessed recognised stature, even if it were temporary," the court said.
Since 2002, walls at the 5Pointz site had contained over 10,000 works of art as man of the pieces were temporary and were eventually painted over with the permission of the artists.
In 2013, developers seeking to capitalise on the rebirth of the neighborhood destroyed the artwork after banning artists from the area and refusing to let them recover work that could be removed.
After artists sued, Frederic Block, the district judge, concluded that the art works reflected "striking technical and artistic mastery and vision worthy of display in prominent museums if not on the walls of 5Pointz."
The judge made the award higher than it otherwise would have been because the court concluded that the destruction of the art was willful as the artists had not been given not given three months that the law allows to salvage their artwork.
A lawyer for the developers declined comment.
In a statement, Eric Baum, the artists' lawyer, said his clients "are thankful and humbled by today's ruling."
The lawyer said the ruling was "a clear indication these artists' work is important and should be respected."
Marie Cecile Flageul, a curator who worked with the 21 artists who will share the award, said the appeals ruling demonstrated how far graffiti has come from the 1970s when many artists used it to express their anger.
"Now, it's a validated art form which is collected, acquired and showcased in museums and galleries around the world," she said.
She said real estate entities in New York, Paris and London now look for ways to preserve graffiti art.
