Graffiti bombs add grooviness to the 20th Street bridge: Kenny Be's Sign Language

The 20th Street bridge connects the ultra-hip Highland neighborhood directly to the Denver Skate Park. Every street sign between Central and Little Raven Streets has become a canvas for the pedestrian designers who seem to be sending secret messages to motorists.....

By Kenny Be

September 2, 2010

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The 20th Street bridge connects the ultra-hip Highland neighborhood directly to the Denver Skate Park. Every street sign between Central and Little Raven Streets has become a canvas for the pedestrian designers who seem to be sending secret messages to motorists... Note to Ann Williams, spokesperson for Denver's Public Works Department: To cover the cost of replacing these traffic signs, sell these artistic abominations in a trendy art gallery. Perfect for the creative class Lodo loft dweller in search of some street cred.

Page down for the hottest new bike-lover Vandalart®...

More than anything, the 20th Street traffic-sign-graf gallery is a visual demonstration of how personal expression is overtaking cooperative communication. Who has time to read traffic signs when they are driving and operating a smartphone?

On the other hand, as you'll see below, who wouldn't notice a traffic sign decorated with graffiti flowers?

The two photographs above show the front and back of the same sign. Nearby, heart-shaped flowers bloom on the bases of streetlamps. Page down to see:

In the photo above, The "No Parking" type forms a top hat sitting on top of a simple face framed by a double black curlicue signature hairdo. Elsewhere, the 20th Street bridge acts as a framework for collecting the autographs of infamous vandalartists...

As in all works of art, the devil is in the details. Tiny artistic flourishes pop up in even the smallest places across the 20th Street bridge. Check them out below:

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