words from Nails Nathan
The art world is yet another battleground of sales, branding, networking, pandering, clichés, censorship, and trends. Artists work so hard on canvases and installations, trying to make the right connection and get a gallery show. Then we pander to the rich patrons and hope we can sell, sell, sell. Street art takes creativity out of the little boxes of galleries and puts it in public for free. That is the revolution. It breaks the rules. And it is often suppressed, covered, and outlawed. And we can’t all get hired for big murals or make a million at an auction. But we must create, so we lurk in the darkness, attacking blank spaces with color and line. We do not know who will stop, take a photo, be offended, ignore, or think about our images; we make street art because we want to break free. We may never achieve fame, but that is not the point for a street artist. It is a compulsion.
Numquam Proelium Pugnaveris Nisi Ridere Potes. “Never fight a battle without a sense of humor.” The battle is everywhere, inside and outside, and we must laugh or wither into ash.
Who is Nails Nathan
Nails Nathan is a character in the 1931 film, The Public Enemy, a gangster and mentor to James Cagney’s character, Tom Powers. He makes his appearance in the film and then is promptly killed – by a horse. So, Tom Powers gets revenge – on the horse. However, the character of Nails Nathan is based on Samuel ‘Nails’ Morton, a famous Jewish Chicago mobster. Nails grew up in a gang defending his neighborhood from rivals, to the death. Eventually faced with a murder charge or entry into the army, Nails chose World War 1, proving himself to be even tougher in the trenches than on the streets of Chicago. He returned as a war hero and was awarded the Croix de Guerre. Back in Chicago, he joined the ranks of Charles O’Banion and served as a vicious enforcer until 1923 when he was killed – by a horse.
And so his compatriots took revenge – on the horse.
(For the record, I don’t like horseback riding.)