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It's been exactly a month since Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gigi died tragically in a helicopter crash on January 26, yet the former L.A. Lakers legend is still being mourned in NYC, as well as across the country. Memorials have sprung up across town over the past 30 days ranging in size from a giant digital signboard salute in Times Square to a clever DIY alteration of a subway station sign from Bryant Park to Kobe Bryant Park.
There have also been several street-art tributes featuring Kobe and Gigi as well, including one across the street from the Barclay Center in Brooklyn and a recently completed mural at First Street Green Art Park near Houston Street and Second Avenue, which portrays the two subjects’ features as noticeable abstract skeins of swirling marks.
Photograph: Instagram/johndomine1
Now another commemoration in spray paint is underway on the outside of Emma Lazarus High School at Hester and Eldridge Streets on the Lower East Side. Covering the side of the building, the massive image depicts Kobe and Gigi side-by-side, their skin tones painted as shades of purple, which, along with splashes of yellow amidst the composition’s multi-color background, represents the colors of the L.A. Lakers—the team Kobe led to two consecutive championships in 2009 and 2010. Indeed, the project is the handiwork of Los Angeles artist Mark Paul Deren, a who goes by Madsteez. There's no word yet on how long the mural will be on view, so check it out while you can.