If you’ve ever visited Penang, one of its attractions is the number of street murals being painted across the walls within an enclave popularly known as the Penang Heritage Site.
However, there’s a new painting in town that’s not exactly painting a smile of everyone’s faces after it was called out for allegedly destroying the city’s historical beauty.
Penang graffiti art labelled as ‘rubbish’, ‘act of vandalism’
In a photo shared to the Facebook group Penang Walkabouts yesterday (Oct 10), it showed a graffiti-styled painting being sprayed across a wall believed to be located within the Penang Heritage Area.
The painting featured two human caricatures holding alcoholic drinks while dressed in caps, sweaters and vests, along with an animal resembling a cat clad in a blue hoodie.
At the back, the words ‘Cloak Trexus’ was emblazoned across the wall using yellow, orange, and purple spray paint.
While the artist behind the graffiti art wasn’t mentioned in the post, it’s believed to be the work of a local artist named Cloakwork, who’s well known for his street art and has collaborated with major brands such as Vans, Calvin Klein, and Nike.
In the caption, the OP made her displeasure over the graffiti art known, where she had very harsh words for it.
What is this RUBBISH spray painted with commercial paint on the wall? This is NOT art – it’s vandalism on the walls of our historic George Town. Shame.
Debate ensues
Naturally, this sparked a debate among netizens, with some concurring and others disagreeing with the OP.
One opined that such spray paintings often don’t go well with historical buildings and thus distort Penang’s reputation as a UNESCO heritage site.
Another slammed the artist for promoting “alcoholics” to tourists in the state, adding that the message behind the art was “inappropriate”.
On the other hand, some defended the artist, saying that it was unfair to call it “rubbish” when it helped to bring some colour to the rather dull-looking wall.
A netizen directly accused the OP of double standards, writing that graffiti art done by foreigners was “art” whereas those done by local artists was “vandalism”.
What do you think of this graffiti art? Let us know in the comment section!
On a more positive note, a famous mural in Penang recently got a much needed glow up:
