David Choe, who has created a number of murals for Facebook headquarters, might destroy the image of the street artist as “impoverished souls eking out an existence for the love of their craft”, says the Los Angeles Times. The L.A. street and graffiti artist could stand to earn upward of $200 million from Facebook’s initial public offering.
Choe was asked to create murals for Facebook’s former headquarters in Palo Alto in 2005 by the company’s founding president, Sean Parker. Two years later, the artist was asked by CEO Mark Zuckerberg to create more artwork. The company’s current headquarters in Menlo Park also bears the graffiti stamp of Choe, who created a large-scale blue mural in the lobby of one building, as well as other works.
Choe was compensated for his work with shares of Facebook. The artist’s compensation is valued at about $200 million.
Since bidding goodbye to his rough street life, including a “stint in the slammer”, Choe has launched a highly successful graffiti career. He created poster artwork for the movie “Machete” in 2010 and has had shows in Beverly Hills, London and other cities.
Graham Spicer is a writer, director and photographer in Milan, blogging (under the name ‘Gramilano’) about dance, opera, music and photography for people “who are a bit like me and like some of the things I like”. He was a regular columnist for Opera Now magazine and wrote for the BBC until transferring to Italy.
His scribblings have appeared in various publications from Woman’s Weekly to Gay Times, and he wrote the ‘Danza in Italia’ column for Dancing Times magazine.
