Brewer’s Blackbird by Klone

Location: 3767 Broadway, New York, NY 10032

Painted: May 15, 2016

(This mural has since been removed.)

About the Bird: An abundant yet shy species, the Brewer's Blackbird is present in the Western United States year-round. As per Audubon's climate model, the species may see its summer habitat shift even further West in the summer, out of Minnesota, Nebraska, and Colorado entirely.  Although this open-country bird has adapted well to living in habitats altered by humans, increased wildfire and spring heat waves—both products of climate change—could further complicate its fortunes.

About the Artist: Influenced by his childhood emigration from the Ukraine to Israel, Klone initially adapted tagging and graffiti as personal challenges to themes of diaspora. They allowed him to take ownership of his surroundings and localize an often hostile and alienating environment. Using characters, symbols, and regional iconography, Klone’s work borrows from existing linguistic traditions in hope of providing a bridge to communicate. The fact that male birds compete for the attention of females with colorful plumage—which he notes is very much in opposition to Western culture—has always interested him. “The mural I painted is made in a way that it has no beginning or end,” he says. “The left edge is continued in the right edge and vice versa, like a frozen frame of a loop animation, with the male and the female found in a constant chase after each other.”

Former Location: