Denver Street Art, David Choe, and Facebook Stock

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David Choe, Denver, and Facebook

Last week, San Jose graffiti artist David Choe graced Denver with his presence for the annual street art convention of the Terminal Kings. In his time in here, he gave us several public murals that you can find in the art district, specifically off of 13th and Champa.

What brings me to talk about Choe, besides my grandiose excitement that Denver’s art culture is rapidly growing in a tasteful fashion, is the hype surrounding the rumors and anticipation of Facebook’s stock going public and Choe’s relationship with Facebook that will soon bring him to residency in America’s top 1%.

Choe was asked to provide the art for Facebook’s first headquarters building, adorning the walls with his dirty style of infamous characterizations of gorgeously morphed creatures resembling human figures. As a payment, Choe took what many would argue to be a risky bet, to be paid in stock options as opposed to simply cash for his art.

Choe, himself, said that he thought Facebook “was ridiculous at first,” which I think part of all of us did at some point or another in the concept of connecting with friends online; however, as a tactile artist, you can see where Choe would think so. His medium is tangible in every facet and ties into the organic world that we live in. Yet, the times are changing and trans-disciplinary connections in networking are crucial to getting your work out there in today’s digital times of the inorganic. Even if you’re still an artisan, hands on with your craft, promotion across social networks is imperative, even for the old school, technological anarchists.

In response to his expected earnings, Choe stated on Tuesday on his blog, “[H]ave you had the dream where you ARE this guy?!? And then some kind of happy accident happens , and as you’re in the middle of this glorious car crash, you stop to realize, that there is actually no such thing as an accident, and no chance encounters, and that everything has a direct purpose? am I the only one that has this dream? You never had that dream?”

Whether directly or not, this is proof that social media can pay off. Facebook’s literal payout to Choe is just the start of his wealth– think about the future reach of his fan base through social networking.

It’ll be interesting to see where he takes all of this, especially his rankings as such a powerful stockholder. This could be the start of a shift in something really awesome in slowly transforming the demographic of that daunting 1%. Check out the rest of Choe’s Denver street art and take a look into the artist’s mind in the recent documentary, Dirty Hands. Or, hey, in the spirit of social media, subscribe to his Facebook.