Sprawling new mural in Pilsen pays tribute to Chicago graffiti legend ‘Kiser’

Most people probably can’t decipher most of the stylized signatures that now line Damen Avenue between 14th and 17th streets. But one is clear: Kiser.

That’s a graffiti handle that would have been familiar in Chicago in the late 1990s and early the following decade, seen on L trains, at train stations, on rooftops and elsewhere across the city.

Then, in 2004, Peter Berry, the artist responsible for the Kiser tags, was struck and killed by a Red Line L train near Morse Avenue two days after he turned 22.

“He somehow ended up on those tracks, but the reason he was up there was not to do graffiti,” says one of the artists, known as Teasin, who says his crew had “painted everything in that area the week before.”

Teasin helped paint the unauthorized new memorial in Pilsen that’s dedicated to the graffiti legend. He says Berry “was just a good guy. He got along with everybody, which was kind of rare for a graffiti writer back then.”

Like the others behind the memorial, Teasin agreed to talk about it on the condition he be identified only by his tag name because they did it without permission from city officials.

They started work on it Aug. 14 — Berry’s birthday. More than 60 artists — many who say they’ve been influenced by Berry’s work — have spent time since then adding to the mural, which includes a massive, collaborative piece inspired by Ralph Steadman’s psychedelic illustrations for “gonzo journalist” Hunter S. Thompson’s 1971 novel “Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.”

James Foster / Sun-Times

For the Kiser piece, Teasin and others used a photo of the late artist’s work to outline the yellow and orange letters that measure about 10 feet high and 80 feet wide. Berry’s graffiti name is surrounded by his signature broken-condom characters, including one figure that appears to be passed out next to a keg of beer.

“That’s Kiser,” says Track, who was Berry’s mentor and a fellow member of the graffiti crew CAB 312.

Berry grew up in an upper-middle-class family in Evanston and Rogers Park. After graduating from St. Gregory the Great High School, he enlisted in the Army Reserves and later enrolled at the American Academy of Arts, where he was taking classes before he died, according to his mother Cinda Berry.

“He was kind of transitioning at the time of his death from a street artist to studying art,” she says.

A giant mural at the corner of 14th Street and Damen Avenue welcomes visitors to the Pilsen neighborhood. | James Foster/For the Sun-Times

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A piece by graffiti artist Jack is included in the graffiti mural project on Damen Avenue in Pilsen. | James Foster/For the Sun-Times

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Murals in Pilsen on Damen Ave., Monday, October 21st, 2019. | James Foster/For the Sun-Times

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Graffiti Artist Nixon stands in front of a piece he painted in Pilsen on Monday, October 21st, 2019. | James Foster/For the Sun-Times

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A piece by graffiti artist Uzem is included in the large-scale mural project in Pilsen. | James Foster/For the Sun-Times

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An abstract graffiti mural painted by artist Teasin is among the pieces covering walls on Damen Avenue between 14th and 17th streets. | James Foster/For the Sun-Times

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Graffiti artist GP stands next to a piece he painted in Pilsen mural on Monday, October 21st, 2019. | James Foster/For the Sun-Times

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Berry’s mother hasn’t seen the massive mural dedicated to her son. But she says the tribute to him “means that he still is, and he always will be here.”

Provided photo

There have been other tributes, as well — other murals and also a rap song.

And the artist’s mother has sponsored a scholarship at his old art school for 15 years.

“There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t remember him in some small way,” Cinda Berry says.

Peter Berry was most active on the graffiti scene during the city’s war on the art form, when Mayor Richard M. Daley’s administration sent out “Graffiti Blasters” crews to aggressively try to erase all signs of defacement, and the police had a designated vandal squad.

Provided photo/GP Photo

Since Daley’s crackdown, the presence of graffiti and street art — its more socially acceptable offshoot — has become a draw for many neighborhoods, Teasin says.

“All the neighborhoods that are going through gentrification right now are the ones with the most street graffiti,” says GP, a tagger who has led the group effort in Pilsen.

“Once all the art’s there, people come from other areas to check it out, and then they spend money in that area,” he says. “It’s all economics.”

The shifting perception has brought more opportunities for graffiti writers to express themselves legally, GP says, pointing out that he’s worked with aldermen to coordinate mural projects in Rogers Park and along The 606 trail.

City officials didn’t sign off on the Pilsen production, though. “We kind of just went and did it,” Teasin says.

James Foster / Sun-Times

Click on map below for a selection of Chicago-area murals