Will Smith’s famous slap for the Oscars was recreated in the form of street art in Los Angeles.
But instead of comedian Chris Rock getting the sharp end of the actor’s palm, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been pushed aside by the Ali star in the latest artistic show of solidarity with Ukraine.
“Keep Ukraine out of your fucking mouth !!!” Smith is depicted saying in the song, a reworking of the actor’s comment on Rock’s joke about his wife Jada Pinkett Smith.
Todd Goodman, a California-based ESL teacher and fine artist whose pseudonym for street art is 1GoodHombre, painted the mural Fame Yard on Melrose Avenue with Ukrainian artists Lisa Onatsko, Alex Zhilkevich and Sergei Podgutov. The space is curated by street artist Corey Matty, who went viral during the coronavirus pandemic with her LA Hope Dealer project. The anti-Putin mural was completed on Sunday.
Goodman wanted to use the Smith slap scandal “to draw attention to this apparently more important topic of war and the humanitarian crisis facing Ukrainians,” he told HuffPost on Saturday.
“Given the proximity to Hollywood, I wanted to use this moment, this city, this ridiculous situation, to draw attention to the war, hoping not only to raise awareness but also to raise money for humanitarian aid,” he explained. noting how the QR code next to the mural directs people to the GlobalGiving Crisis Mitigation Fund in Ukraine.
“If people could only learn to channel their emotions through creative expression, through art, through language, instead of resorting to violence to achieve their goals, the world would be a much better place,” he added. “Make art, not war. My paintings, like the comedian’s words, are not violence, they could never hurt another person, maybe just a person’s feelings, and we have ways to deal with hurt feelings that do not require violence. “
Goodman took his art out of the streets for the first time in 2020 after angering the police assassination of George Floyd and tensions over the upcoming presidential election.
“Because the city of Los Angeles was quickly nailed down, COVID kept people off the streets, there was almost infinite space and freedom to cover the city with street art,” he recalled. “I had a lot of nonsense to say and there was enough time and space to say it.”
1GoodHombre’s alter ego is a Spanish game of his last name and a direct response to Donald Trump’s disgusting criticism of “bad hombers” to Mexican immigrants.
“I was completely offended by this, as a human being, but also as the husband of a Spanish-speaking immigrant,” he said. “In order to oppose this kind of hatred or evil in the world, I hope that this nickname inspires people to understand that all it takes is a good friend, a good man to stand up to evil, to hatred. to create a better world and each of us can choose to be that person every day. ”
Goodman’s true identity remained unknown until last month, when he “decided to enter the list in support of Ukraine,” he told HuffPost in an Associated Press article on pro-Ukrainian street art and his portrayal of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, including one of he advertised machine guns with the message “Fuck Putin.”
Now? He simply hoped that the new mural would provide “a moment of catharsis for the people of Ukraine or for anyone who is hurt or feels a victim of Putin’s invasion.”
“I had this feeling of catharsis once in my life, when a work of art simply purified my soul, like a Jew watching Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds,” he said. “God, after all these years of listening to stories from family members who survived, watching documentaries about the Holocaust and the Schindler’s List, we were finally strong, we fought, we kicked the shit out of the Nazis.”
“I’ve never felt this way before and it was absolutely great!” He recalled. This is the feeling I want to inspire people: “No, fuck this man, we will not tolerate this shit lying down! No! You will not oppress us!