“Me and the monsters, we’re on a mission to kind of stomp around this world, and I guess just be kind to everybody,” said Patch Whisky, 37, standing in front of a mural he was working on with fellow artist Ghostbeard, 32, in East Harlem, New York.
“We’re the good guys,” he said, smiling warmly into the night.
The South Carolina-based artist and his partner, Ghostbeard, are in New York City to help the Not A Crime campaign advocate for Baha’i rights in Iran. The artists painted a mural covering a brick wall on the side of the Fabco Shoe shop in East Harlem. The painting features a vibrantly colored monster named Rainbow Daisy reading a book with a keyhole on its cover – giving the impression that the book has just been unlocked. Colorful hot air balloons float off in the distance.
Not A Crime, which has commissioned artwork all over the world, including in South Africa, Brazil, Australia, the United Kingdom, and India, is in Harlem this summer. The campaign is preparing for the United Nations General Assembly in September, when leaders from the Islamic Republic of Iran and 150 other countries will be in New York. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the Baha’is of Iran, who are denied basic human rights, including the right to study and teach at universities. The Baha’is, Iran’s largest minority group, are also subject to arbitrary arrests, arson attacks, and other violations.
“This is a way for my monsters to be part of society to help mankind, to help fellow earthlings,” said Patch Whisky to IranWire, describing the intent behind his current work. His partner Ghostbeard said, “When you think about the issue that’s going on in Iran, the oppression of education and many other things that are attached beyond education, you think about America too.” He said the Not A Crime campaign reminds him of the civil rights era in the United States and related struggles that have continued into the present. “We’ve seen this before in America, you know in the 1960s. We fought for it, and it’s a fight that’s continued today, and we’re trying to make sure that equality is understood and is treated as a serious issue,” he said.
Ghostbeard imagined what it must be like for Baha’is in Iran, and could draw some comparisons between their circumstances and his own. “There’s no way that we should be living in times where anybody’s knowledge is being limited by anyone else,” he said. He talked about the internet, and the fact that knowledge is easily accessible for most Americans. Patch Whisky agreed, and said that he has always had access to any and all education that he’s ever wanted in his life, including art classes, music classes, and a foray into archaeology at one point. “To think that there’re people out there across the world that are getting denied that opportunity is hard to get my mind around right now,” he said, looking down the road.
The duo hope the project plays its part in the larger campaign to push the Iranian government toward providing basic human rights to Baha’is. “They have a human right to learn, because knowledge is power, and power is the key,” said Ghostbeard. Behind him, Rainbow Daisy, reading an unlocked book, seemed to be the visual manifestation of his message.
Patch Whisky explained that the monster is reading something she’s not supposed to, but that he didn’t know what it was. He said, “She likes reading, I guess, but I didn’t know that until this week.” The artists hadn’t heard about the situation for Baha’is in Iran either until recently, when Not A Crime and Street Art Anarchy, the project curator, approached them. Patch Whisky said Rainbow Daisy is “big into books now” — perhaps alluding to the Baha’is, who secretly study in an underground university because they are barred from the country’s schools.
People walking by on the street seemed to intuitively understand the message behind the painting. “Maybe the lock and key’s a secret, a good story,” said Perisce, 52, who was passing by the mural on her way home from work. “The book and the hat, that’s graduation, that’s higher education!” she said, referring to Rainbow Daisy, who sports a black mortarboard in the painting. Perisce seemed happy to be asked what she thought about the art.
Khristina, 24, accompanied by two of her friends, said, “I like that it’s promoting reading in the urban community.” Asked about the keyhole on the book, she added, “It’s like a diary so it’s unlocking success through reading and education.” She told IranWire that she loved the painting, and especially the fact that it’s located in East Harlem. Some of the buildings in the area are derelict and gutted out, with broken windows facing on to the street.
Another passerby, Atiq, 42, who works at a retail store nearby, said, “It’s meaning something. It looks like it’s a holy thing it’s reading.”
Patch Whisky told IranWire that there’s a buzz in the air among street artists in New York regarding the mural campaign, and that he hopes this will shine a light on the situation for Baha’is in Iran. “My buddy Ghost, he’s been saying all weekend, ‘There’s power in numbers.’ And here we are, we’ve got 15 murals coming up,” he said. Before the end of the summer, Not A Crime will commission 15 works of street art in Harlem. “That’s pretty big, man. People are talking about it. I mean there’s a buzz in the air right now in this town so it’s definitely working,” he said. Then he shuffled away to add another coat of paint to a design he was adding on to Rainbow Daisy’s body.
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