A well-known French graffiti artist, Andre Saraiva, who became the target of social-media harassment for tagging a boulder in Joshua Tree national park has apologized, saying the crime for which he was vilified stemmed from a naive impulse. There wasn’t a ranger in sight that day in February of 2015, so he spray-painted his trademark tag, a top-hatted, grinning stick figure, on a hunk of rock. About three weeks later, the website Modern Hiker had spotted and posted the image. Readers decried the vandalism, calling Saraiva part of a new generation of graffiti artists who are intruding on the natural world in addition to their usual concrete, steel and glass. Saraiva, 45, at first denied the boulder was in the national park but Modern Hiker readers were able to pinpoint and publish the boulder’s exact location—inside the park. A National Park Service investigation confirmed Saraiva, 45, was guilty and April 1, 2015, Saraiva paid a fine of $275 to the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. Last month he said he has altered his views about graffiti’s place in the contemporary art world, saying, “Graffiti should only be painted on what humans have built—not on nature’s land and rocks. Joshua Tree was the wrong place for it, and I am sorry.”
