Is there a little Con In Conal?

PATT MORRISON ASKS
Robbie Conal: Political animal
L.A. painter and guerrilla poster artist Robbie Conal talks art -- and cats.( in the Times CM)
Artist Robbie Conal talks about Shepard Fairey case





Pat I wish you would be a little more trenchant in your questions. Conal is a photo tracer like Farley; why not ask him directly if he’s ever had the same problem with his appropriating of images? Does the new heat on the issue give him pause about his own thievery or does he pay fees as his lawyer suggested? Also a little more personal history to probe his self-declaration as a dirty-fingered commie street artist who went on to Stanford… Did he grow up in a gang? Or is he a Vanilla Ice of the Soho print underground? That’s were I remember his prints placed, where art gallery owners could see them.
He seems like a want to be political cartoonist who’s drawing ability was to crude to get published so he posted his work in the street to seed his road to the fine art world.
Conal’s crocodile defense of street artists being ignorant of image approbation feels mealy- mouthed at best. Robin Hood knew what he was doing and he didn’t go to an expensive school. More on the point is: in the heat of creating topical political art you don’t want to be bothered with the niceties of polite society, it takes to much time and somebody might say no.
Posting the work is illegal so why not take a chance and steal the image? As a Sanford educated street artist you got to be a revolutionary to keep your street credentials in Soho, right? It’s just a political statement visually shouted from a brick wall, nobody’s getting paid. WTF Bro?!
Later in the sober reflection of discussing your print prices with your new gallery owner it’s time to cop to the truth and tamp down those feelings of entitlement: when you start to make money on the images in art galleries, it’s time to share with the guy you used for you own end. If artists learned to draw in the first place at school then they won't have to trace and steal images. I’d love to see all the photographers Mr. Conal stole from form a class action lawsuit and kick him out of his ivory tower into the street where he clams to be from.