Street artist unmasked as council worker

ANDY JACKSON

MIKAERE GARDINER: The artist Eno.

The mysterious artist who has brightened up inner city streets with cartoon faces but raised the hackles of the council has been outed.
And it turns out he is none other than a New Plymouth District Council employee. Ironically, the council has been hiring contractors to clean up after him.
The artist known on the street as Eno is 24-year-old, Puke Ariki worker, Mikaere Gardiner who says his work is an attempt to bring colour to the dull and drab spaces of the city.
"I like to do it in places that don't look that good," he said. "It's about enhancing the city."
Gardiner is a nationally-recognised artist and last year won the Mayor's Choice Award as one of the New Plymouth District Council's 2010 Young Achievers. In 2009 he won a section in the National Youth Art Awards.
But without permission, his art is considered vandalism under council bylaws and is something it has no tolerance for.
"The community wants a graffiti-free district," parks manager Mark Bruhn said.
Last week council contractors were busy removing work by Eno and a host of other street artists from public structures – a cleanup that costs the taxpayer $170,000 each year.
Yesterday Mr Bruhn said he was not interested in the Daily News telling him who the artist was. "It doesn't matter who it is, the policy is the same for everybody," he said.
"We have got a range of options if we catch these people. It's still vandalism and there is a possibility of involving police," he said.
Eno's modus operandi is to paint the faces on paper before pasting them to his targets.
According to the bylaw such works must not be "offensive or indecent".
Gardiner's work is not politically motivated and he does not consider it to be graffiti, nor would he say it's aggressive.
Director of the Govett-Brewster gallery Rhana Devenport said the term graffiti was very broad and had a negative expression that didn't fit in with Eno's work. "I don't see anything at all aggressive about it," she said. "There's a sense of playfulness and cheekiness that goes with it."
Ms Devenport said the animated works that have been appearing over the past three months have been enjoyed by people.
While there is no debating the work wasn't sanctioned by the council, online poll results show the majority, 58 per cent, want the works to stay, with 42 per cent saying they should be removed.
Although the results are unscientific, Mr Gardiner believed they were indicative of the rise in popularity of street art.
"For me it's about getting public permission. If the public likes it then that's what it's about."
- Taranaki Daily News