In Fairey’s Arrest, Questions Of Art And Crime Intersect

“In the days leading up to Friday night’s [Institute of Contemporary Art] opening, Boston Detective Bill Kelley said, he was getting more and more complaints from residents of the Back Bay, the North End, and Mission Hill, furious that a man who admitted to spreading graffiti – even bragged about it – was being treated like a celebrity instead of a criminal.” The subsequent arrest of the suddenly ubiquitous Shepard Fairey “has left two unanswered questions: What is crime and what is art?”