5 Pointz:
Boy Sent to His Room by Meres One
By Hannah Jenney
Meres One
• Real name: Jonathan
Cohen
• Started graffiti when he
was 13
• Came up with “Meres
One” when he was 16
because M, R, and E are his
best calligraphic letters
• Leader of the graffiti crew
“The Deadly4Mula”
• Studied art at the Fashion
Institute of technology
• Has created hundreds of
graffiti murals along the
East Coast and in Holland
• Founder of 5 Pointz
About 5 Pointz
5 Pointz is an outdoor graffiti museum, created
so that graffiti artists could have a place where
they are able to express themselves freely,
located in Long Island City, New York and is
commonly referred to as the “graffiti Mecca” of
the world. The name “5 Pointz” originally meant
the graffiti artists of all 5 boroughs coming
together as one, but since 2002, when Meres first
started it, it has attracted aerosol artists from
around the globe. Not only does 5 Pointz entice
graffiti artists, but also there are regularly
deejays, musicians, breakdancers, photographers,
and filmakers.
The graffiti mural of “Boy Sent to His Room” by Meres One is unlike
any other mural at all of 5 Pointz, not just because of it’s content, but
because of the 3-Dimensional feel it gives off as a viewer move back and
forth in front of it. It even reaches beyond the wall, onto another one,
and down onto the concrete, allowing someone to stand in the boys
hand as if to be apart of the artwork. Eyes are first drawn to the color
contrasts within this piece. The background is all different shades of blue,
in fact, blending in with the surrounding artwork, which also happens to
be blue. The boy wears a shirt that is the complimentary color of blue,
orange, very much standing out. Everything on the desk is a color other
than blue as well, also getting viewers’ attentions. On the desk, the lamp
shines over the smoke being given off by the boy’s soup that happens to
say “Meres.” He commonly uses this technique of incorporating his name
into his art This is Meres’ way of allowing spectators to know that he is
the star or main person of 5 Pointz. Correspondingly, the boy’s eyes
appear to be looking directly at the smoke almost like a second spotlight
shining onto his name. Also, his name is one of the only objects that do
not become deformed as an observer walks by it. The mural is located at
the center of 5 Pointz, right below where the name of the building is
written. This adds to the figurative spotlights on Meres. These
“spotlights” are all very appropriate because Meres is the founder and
operator of 5 Pointz, deciding what graffiti goes where and for how long,
giving tours dealing with legal decisions, and of course, making graffiti
himself.
Other artwork by Meres with his name incorporated