CLEVELAND — Does Cleveland have its own Banksy?
That question came up recently on Reddit, where people were posting pictures of graffiti art around town. The similarities are hard to miss.
The artist goes by the name “HumenRace” and posts their images on Instagram once they are up. It began last year.
Politely declining an on-camera interview, HumenRace wrote to me and 3News.
“My anonymity allows people to relate to my art without any interference from perceptions about the artist,” they wrote. “It brings people together regardless of race gender or identity.”
While some of their work is political, a recurring theme involves a little robot holding a heart that reads “My Love is real.”
HumenRace said the image was inspired by a drawing from a friend’s child, and the robots symbolize the power of love in a world which is often robotic and indifferent.
The artist said it can take months to make stencils but only minutes to make an installation. The most recent was on a garage door at Market Garden restaurant and brewery in Ohio City, showing a girl jumping a rope made of words.
The sentence beneath her reads, “Infinite love is the only truth. Everything else is illusion.”
“It just appeared out of nowhere, literally overnight,” said owner Sam McNulty, who received the work free of charge and completely by surprise.
“I love that it’s a little more renegade, a little more guerilla,” he added. “It kind of complements the other art that’s in the city.”
“It’s turning heads in a different way because people aren’t familiar or used to seeing that,” said Stamy Paul, who is a street art enthusiast and founder of the non-profit Graffiti Heart Gallery.
“They like it because I think they can relate to it because of the caricatures or the messages,” she added. “Each piece provides a story, an interpretation, that’s kind of edgy.”
HumenRace said they have never sold a piece of art and have no intention of ever doing so.
A spokesman for the Cleveland Police Department pointed out the images are still considered graffiti if they are on property where the owner did not give permission to pain. HumenRace could face vandalism and even criminal trespass charges if that is ever the case.