LINCOLN SQUARE — Hit with graffiti during a recent tagging spree in the Greater Rockwell area of Lincoln Square, Beans & Bagels opted not to call Graffiti Blasters for removal, choosing instead to leave the word "lust" sprayed on the cafe's entrance.
And then covered it up with a mural, playfully titled "Désir."
DNAinfo/Patty Wetli
The mural is the handiwork of employee Ariel Radock, who's responsible for much of the signs and artwork found at Beans, 2601 W. Leland Ave., including the "Dr. Who" Tardis that graces the bathroom.
It took her a "solid 2½ days" to paint the concrete base on either side of Beans' doorway, Radock said.
DNAinfo/Patty Wetli
Her efforts have been rewarded with overwhelmingly positive response from customers and passers-by, she added.
"It's something unique and colorful for the neighborhood," said Radock, a graduate of the Massachusetts College of Art and Design. "It makes it look nice for everyone."
Though the mural's images may appear random and more than a bit bizarre to the uninitiated, they actually incorporate a number of themes well known to Bean's loyal patrons. That includes coffee — naturally — and dinosaurs — not so naturally — as well as staff inside jokes, she said.
Radock explained several of the mural's motifs to a reporter recently:
• The guy who says, "Oui:" That's famed French novelist Honoré de Balzac. "He used to drink an obscene amount of coffee," Radock said. Legend places his consumption at as many as 50 cups a day.
DNAinfo/Patty Wetli
• Pterodactyl carrying off goat: The goat is eating a coffee plant, Radock noted, which is an homage to the Ethiopian myth that goats discovered coffee.
DNAinfo/Patty Wetli
• Mad scientist: The creation of coffee, with a wink to Fritz Lang's classic film "Metropolis."
DNAinfo/Patty Wetli
• Man with TV head: A TV-head dad and a VCR-head mom birth a VHS baby. "It's the 'Jurassic Park' VHS," Radock said. "We have an obscene amount of them."
DNAinfo/Patty Wetli
• Dinosaurs walking: A riff on the "evolution of man" chart, with dinos subbing in for apes and a DNA double-helix thrown in for good measure to punctuate the point.
DNAinfo/Patty Wetli
• Chicken and egg: A reference to the consumer advisory sign Radock inked for Beans & Bagels, which warns patrons of the dangers of eating raw eggs — the potential effects made clear in the form of intestinal system-turned-skeleton.
DNAinfo/Patty Wetli
At some point over the next couple of months, Radock plans to continue the mural onto Beans' north and west walls.
"We have some plans," she said, "but we're keeping them secret."
While the objective of the mural is to deter future graffiti, Radock said if the mural does get tagged it will "just become part of the urban art."
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