> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://hyperallergic.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Artists Fill a Lower East Side Building with Murals Before It’s Demolished - URL: https://hyperallergic.com/artists-fill-a-lower-east-side-building-with-murals-before-its-demolished/ - Published: 2017-06-23T19:52:37.000Z - Updated: 2025-11-24T15:56:42.000Z - Description: Before it's razed, 140 Essex Street is hosting a one-weekend exhibition featuring 10 murals by 10 artists. - Author: Benjamin Sutton - Tags: Art, Essex Street Market, Lower East Side, Photo Essays, Street Art, #wp, #wp-post, #image-position-hidden, #Import 2025-11-24 07:30(2016, 2017, part 3) ![Mural by Faust in progress at Market Surplus (all photos by the author for Hyperallergic)](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/06/dsc_0001-resized.jpg) A mural by Faust reading “This Will Never Last” in progress at Market Surplus (all photos by the author for Hyperallergic) The low warehouse building at 140 Essex Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side is not long for this world. The former site of the Essex Street Market and, more recently, host to [a mockup](http://thelowline.org/lab/?ref=hyperallergic.com) of the subterranean park the [Lowline](https://hyperallergic.com/47614/delancey-underground-lowline-dan-barasch-james-ramsey/), will soon be leveled to make way for an apartment building that is part of the [Essex Crossing](https://www.essexcrossingnyc.com/map.html?ref=hyperallergic.com) mega-development. But before its walls meet the wrecking ball, they are being filled with murals. This weekend, 140 Essex Street will reopen to the public one last time for [*Market Surplus*](https://www.instagram.com/p/BVrzXjFFEwy/?ref=hyperallergic.com), an exhibition featuring murals by 10 artists who’ve filled the building’s 20-foot-tall walls. Organized by [Hanksy](https://www.instagram.com/hanksynyc/?ref=hyperallergic.com), the show features an international slate dominated by renowned street artists, including [Pixel Pancho](https://www.pixelpancho.it/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Elle](http://ellestreetart.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Faust](http://www.faustnewyork.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com), [Sonni](http://sonnistudios.com/i.html?ref=hyperallergic.com), and more. When I visited the raw, cavernous space last night, many of them were still hard at work on their murals — the building only became available at the end of last week — but several were already finished and ready for tonight’s opening celebration. “A lot of the artists are making murals inspired by the neighborhood,” Hanksy explained. Some of the references are fairly overt, like Sonni’s popping, stylized rendering of the local cityscape replete with rooftop revelers and water towers. Others are much subtler in their Lower East Side homages; for instance, the artist [NDA](http://www.ndastreetart.com/?ref=hyperallergic.com) used to work at the Essex Street Market and, during a recent visit, struck up a conversation with the butchers near his former stall. His mural is a giant portrait of them. Most poignant, perhaps, is Faust’s mural of golden, elegant script, which reads: “This will never last.” It speaks not only to this building’s imminent disappearance, but to the cycles of demolition and construction reshaping this neighborhood yet again. ![A mural by Pixel Pancho at Market Surplus](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/06/dsc_0011.jpg) A mural by Pixel Pancho at Market Surplus ![A mural by OWVBICS at Market Surplus](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/06/dsc_0017.jpg) A mural by OWVBICS at Market Surplus ![Installation view of Market Surplus](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/06/img_8361.jpg) Installation view of Market Surplus ![A mural in progress by Sonni at Market Surplus](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/06/dsc_0050-resized.jpg) A mural in progress by Sonni at Market Surplus ![BKFOXX mural in progress at Market Surplus](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/06/dsc_0035-m.jpg) BKFOXX mural in progress at Market Surplus ![Murals in progress by NDA (left) and L'Amour Supreme (right) at Market Surplus](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/06/dsc_0015.jpg) Murals in progress by NDA (left) and L’Amour Supreme (right) at Market Surplus ![A mural by Elle at Market Surplus](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/06/dsc_0007.jpg) A mural by Elle at Market Surplus ![Partial view of a mural by Buff Monster at Market Surplus](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/06/dsc_0004.jpg) Partial view of a mural by Buff Monster at Market Surplus ![Partial view of Buff Monster's mural at Market Surplus](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/06/dsc_0028-resized.jpg) Partial view of Buff Monster’s mural at Market Surplus ![Installation view of Market Surplus with smaller murals](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/06/dsc_0019.jpg) Installation view of Market Surplus with smaller murals ![Installation view of Market Surplus](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/06/dsc_0046.jpg) Installation view of Market Surplus ![The entrance to 140 Essex Street](https://storage.ghost.io/c/51/f8/51f871d8-b6be-4a73-b958-0ca4fff0110a/content/images/hyperallergic-newspack-s3-amazonaws-com/uploads/2017/06/dsc_0062.jpg) The entrance to 140 Essex Street [Market Surplus](https://www.instagram.com/p/BVrzXjFFEwy/?ref=hyperallergic.com) *(140 Essex Street, Lower East Side, Manhattan) opens to the public with a party on Friday, June 23 (7–11pm, $10 suggested donation to the Lower East Side Girls Club) followed by free public hours June 24 and 25 (noon–6pm).*