“Basically: if you’re selling art in the street, I’m going to buy it,” is the blunt way Daniel X. O’Neil summarizes his habit of documenting, purchasing, and otherwise archiving art made, sold, or placed in the public way. O’Neil’s years of walks around Chicago and other cities in search of articles of self-expression have culminated in his self-published book, Arte Agora. On a spring afternoon, a few Fridays back, O’Neil invited me to his place for a tour of his collection and a talk.
The idea of Arte Agora came to O’Neil gradually. There is tons of literature on graffiti but very little written about art made by the homeless, mentally ill, and otherwise-vulnerable people who cobble together a living by placing themselves on city sidewalks. Their work often lacks the polish of more codified genres of art, but there is an undeniable courage to putting oneself literally out there.
Listen to their full conversation here https://anchor.fm/blather/episodes/Daniel-X–ONeil-talks-Arte-Agora-e3on6d/a-ad8vq0.
