One of the casualties (or so we thought) of the recent demolition of the Essex Street Market building on the south side of Delancey Street was “Snow White,” the mosaic work by French Street artist Invader. The mural on the western side of the building, along Essex Street, was one of several pieces that popped up in New York City in the fall of 2013. You may remember that Invader was arrested on Orchard Street during an installation there.
Fast forward. This afternoon, we received this photo via email:
The email came from John Woodward, co-owner of the Woodward Gallery on Eldridge Street. The subject line of the email read: “Snow White Saved From Destruction!” We asked for details of, course, but Woodward simply wrote, “I don’t know who, how or when – a neighbor showed me the photo because I’ve always enjoyed this artwork.” He said there are no plans to show “Snow White” in the gallery.
During Invader’s 2013 New York tour, Mark Miller of the Mark Miller Gallery removed another mosaic (the same one that got him arrested). Space Invader was pretty annoyed that the piece had been taken down. In an interview, Animal’s Bucky Turco asked him how he feels about property owners doing that type of thing:
If it is because he doesn’t like it, that’s ok. If it’s to sell it on eBay or to put it in his living room, that doesn’t make me happy. Street pieces are made for the street and for the people in the street to enjoy them.
The end of the story? Seems unlikely.
UPDATE: Tonight at a Community Board 3 meeting, representatives from the Essex Crossing development team acknowledged that pieces from the Invader work were taken (stolen) about three weeks ago. The plan had been to utilize the piece somewhere in the new Essex Market facility which is going to be built on the site. They’re trying to find out if the photo we showed is legitimate and who might be in possession of “Snow White.” The developers say they still have some of the pieces from the mosaic. So the thief apparently does not have the complete work.
the mosaic was destroyed, and there are many pics out there to prove it. that is 100% fake, but not surprising as it couldn’t be easier to reproduce. Sorry to burst bubbles. The pulled back blanket is a nice touch though.
Home Depot bath tiles.
I hope it was rescued because that was one of my favorite pieces in the neighborhood but I suspect that’s a fake because I had my eyes on that piece and it seemed like the tiles were falling/breaking as a result of the demo.