There’s a little bit of Brooklyn popping up in Texas.
Beriah Wall, a Red Hook street artist, made porcelain clay tokens with the simple and catchy phrase, Beto/Better in support of the Texan democratic candidate, Beto O’Rourke. Making small but deeply impactful tokens is not new for the artist. As reported in The Bridge, the coins are “…part of a unique, sprawling, decades-long project, wherein he disperses his tokens in obscure nooks and crannies of the city landscape. He might tuck them into the stonework of building facades, throw them into school yards, or leave them balancing on the door of a parked car if the driver has a bumper sticker he likes.”
And, these tokens aren’t meant to be a secret. Walls gives them away to friends, colleagues, and even fans who contact the artist. One woman, Marilyn Descours, contacted Walls after finding his work on social media. She later received a box of coins. Soon, she began leaving coins around Le Grange, Texas. She told The Bridge: “I put one on my dog’s stomach and took a picture for Instagram.”
And, the coins are still picking up steam.
What makes these coins stand out is that they’re wonderfully unique, artistic, and powerful. With a sense of urgency and handcrafted here in Brooklyn, we think these a perfect voice in trying, tense times. And if Brooklyn and its artists lend a little bit of a helping hand in the November 6 election in Texas, that’s even better.
[H/t via The Bridge]