While not a huge fan of graffiti per se, there's one New York artist whose work gets me every time: WK Interact. For anyone who's been in New York for a while, you'll remember this early piece from SOHO. Checkout the pic below of another early SOHO work in the same location that uses model Alek Wek as the subject.

Says Wooster Collective: "For years, WK Interact's massive and strikingly beautiful black and white murals on an abandoned gas station on Lafayette street were a fixture of lower Manhattan. Not just for people who were following the street art scene, but to everyone who saw them. In many ways WK's work on Lafayette Street defined the neighborhood. But then, about 18 months ago, all of the work was destroyed when bulldozers took down the gas station to make way for a hamburger joint."

It's a sad state of affairs in New York these days.

If you're in London, stop by Elms Lesters Painting Rooms for a two man show entitled WK-LISTER that features the work of WK Interact + Anthony Lister. It opens 08.22.08 and runs through 09.21.08.

"The WK-LISTER exhibition is presenting two of the most exciting urban artists today; WK-Interact and Anthony Lister. The impressive show includes large scale WK-Interact multi media works, showing his trade mark paste-up figures on canvas and found objects, juxtaposed with a series of Lister's iconic large scale diptychs, paintings, and installations."

For more detailed info, read the full press release and the Elms Lesters site.