Auckland street artist 'at war' with taggers who keep vandalising his work

Caroline Williams Reporter from North Shore Times

An Auckland street artist says he is “at war” with taggers who keep vandalising his work.

Jesse Jensen​, who paints under the name Ares Artifex​, has painted murals across Auckland, including for Auckland Council, the Department of Conservation and the Ministry of Justice.

The West Auckland resident said work like his helped to beautify ugly places, such as bare walls and construction sites.

However, this year Jensen has been battling “toys”, or graffiti artists who tag over someone else’s art with the intention of wrecking it. One of his pieces in Henderson has been tagged about 30 times.

Jensen said that while it was frustrating for him and his clients when his art was vandalised, he had empathy for the taggers and understood why they did it: to lash out at someone who had permission to paint legally.

He believed Auckland Council could curb offensive tagging if it provided more space for graffiti artists to paint legally. The council said it trialled this in the past, however the graffiti had spread onto adjacent properties.

Click 'read more' for the full story.