This past weekend I wandered into the Power House Arena in DUMBO. The exhibition All Writes Reserved displays graffiti artists Retina, Revok, and Saber. The work certainly does rise above the rest (of the regular street are literally right outside the door). The work is particularly impressive especially from an aesthetic and typographic perspective.

As I strolled by the window display I couldn't help but recognize the friendly logos of the sponsors: Boost Mobile. In fact the official title of the event is Boost Mobile Presents: All Writes Reserved and the artists are part of the Boosted Artist Content Collaborators (yes, Boost has their very own graffiti crew).

I wasn't put back by this. Corporate sponsorship of art and galleries if fairly common (especially for art without a message). In fact the relationship between artists and corporate entities is ages old. One cold argue that historically the church has played the role of corporations and that the commission Michaelangelo received for the Sistine Chapel is no different. However, I couldn't help but think that Boost Mobile isn't so much concerned with creating a masterpiece to adorn the ceilings of their Irvine California office park, as they are in using artist as vehicles, as a commodity for cool.

Another example of where I was struck by corporations tapping the cool associated with art, artists and the gallery scene was Tiger Translate. The event, sponsored by Tiger beer and HP, sounds like a good idea. Tiger provides the beer, HP provides the printing, the artists get a space to show work, we all have have an intoxicated group hug, everyone goes home happy.

While at their New York event, I was particularly put off by the HP sales women demoing their awesome new printer in the 'gallery'. Is this really a gallery anymore? Or, had this corporate sponsorship altered the gallery space and turned it into, oh I don't know say, a show room? Corporate sponsorship doesn't seem to have the same effect at large institutions like MOMA where corporate sponsorship is common. There are no sales people showing you a printer after you walk away from Starry Night (and there shouldn't be).

With corporate sponsorship comes a fine line between genuine interest in supporting the arts and the commoditization of cool. Artists need to be at least aware of this for the intent of the later is riding the artists like a style wave. The sad part is that many of the participants at Tiger Translate didn't seem to know or care that they were being used to sell beer. And as far as the graffiti artists are concerned, do they know they have essentially created ads for mobile phones? As echoed in New York magazine: Where is the political street art? Was is sucked up by corporate interests? What happened to graffiti with a message?