Art inspired by Luigi Mangione has moved beyond the digital screen and into the streets.
Pacific Northwest street artist subSpace, who declined to reveal his real name because the artist also works as a commercial graphic designer, shared a public art wall on Post Alley in Pike Place Market, Seattle, Washington, earlier this month. Charged with killing UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson.
“While I do not condone murder of any kind, I feel a connection with Luigi because we both see and bear witness to the lack of empathy and humanity in our current healthcare system,” subSpace wrote allergy. “I wanted to capture that energy and put it into one piece.”
Artist pasted up Nintendo’s design super mario The character Luigi has become the de facto symbol of Mangione, holding a flame and sporting a crossed-out UnitedHealthcare logo on his backpack. Japanese Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto created the iconic cuckold character in 1983 as the brother and second player option to protagonist Mario. this super mario bros. Luigi has been described on fan sites as a “hero”, but also as a “coward” because he has always lived in Mario’s shadow.
Nearby in the same alley, subSpace also posted portraits of three young cancer patients, each with the words “deny,” “defend” and “abolished” written on them, words that police said were inscribed on the Dec. 4 killings. on the bullet casing that killed Thompson. These terms are also associated with Jay Feinman’s 2010 book. delay, deny, defenda book that reveals how insurance companies avoid claims and has topped bestseller lists in recent weeks.
SubSpace said there have been no attempts to cover up or remove the works so far. That section of the alley is a movable wall, subSpace explains. “Some works last longer than others,” the street artist said.
Other street and protest art inspired by Mangione has appeared nationally and internationally. A small group of demonstrators in Pennsylvania dressed as the green namesake chanted “Free Luigi” ahead of Mangione’s extradition to New York on Thursday, December 19.
A caricature depicting “denial kills” was drawn on a demonstrator’s sign during a Dec. 23 march for health care reform and support for Mangione in Lower Manhattan.
Over the weekend, local media reported that a hand-painted pink billboard reading “Free Luigi Mangione” appeared on an interstate highway near Los Angeles, California. Users on X shared recent street art featuring the Luigi video game character in Alberta, Canada, and Columbus, Ohio. On Reddit, others shared an image of a spray-painted wall that read “deny, delay, defend” in Tucson. Another X user claimed to have seen street art with the same text in the Dominican Republic. allergic The authenticity of the latter cannot yet be verified. Some Mangione-inspired artwork circulating on social media has been labeled as AI-generated.
