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Chico’s Robin Williams wall draws admiration, and tears

Members of The Street Artists Collective used an image from the Robin Williams movie “Toys” to create a chalk artwork of the late actor in Washington Square Park.  Photo by Tequila Minsky
Members of The Street Artists Collective used an image from the Robin Williams movie “Toys” to create a chalk artwork of the late actor in Washington Square Park. Photo by Tequila Minsky

BY ZACH WILLIAMS AND LINCOLN ANDERSON |  Antonio “Chico” Garcia, the legendary Lower East Side graffiti artist, was quick to put up a sidewalk mural for Robin Williams after the great comedic actor’s death on Mon., Aug. 11.

Garcia started the piece the day after Williams died, and did the finishing touches on the roughly 100-square foot portrait on Aug. 14. The mural — adorning a wall outside B Cup cafe, near the corner of E. 13th St. and Avenue B — has stirred up affection, as well as tears, among passersby and cafe clientele.

“The reason I did it, I grew up with his character,” Garcia told The Villager in a phone interview this Tuesday evening. “He made thousands of people laugh. I thought he was one of the funniest characters I ever saw on TV. I just thought that — from the Lower East Side — he was a great star that we lost.”

Also, Williams made films with Latin stars, like J. Lo, Garcia noted.

And yet, in such a cruel irony, despite so much joyous laughter that he inspired in audiences, Williams himself was racked by crippling depression.

“For a guy to make the world laugh and he’s sad — it’s incredible. People need to get personal help, one way or another,” said Garcia, who is also known as “The Messenger.” “Depression is destroying so many people nowadays,” he said. “And I need to bring that message.”

Williams could have found some solace through religion and the socializing with others that one finds in church, Garcia offered.

“I think he needed to go to church and meet God,” he said.

The graffiti great felt he wanted the image he created of Williams to be sad, to reflect reality.

“I wanted him pretty sad because he didn’t die happy,” he explained.

For a model, Garcia looked at some photos of the actor in the Post, but they weren’t right, they were all smiling and happy. Then he got a hold of a copy of the Daily News, and found a shot that he was looking for.

“There was a picture that was very sad — that was it.”

Despite the pensive expression on Williams’ face, the mural also has the slogan “Keep Smiling.”

Garcia relocated to Florida a few years ago, but comes back to Loisaida frequently, especially in the summer, to see his mother, touch up his walls and do commissioned work. This mural, though, was not a commission, but from the heart. He didn’t get approval from the landlord first.

“I happened to have some spray cans right here,” he said.  “I went over to B Cup. I asked the guy. He said, ‘Chico, it’s not my wall.’ I said, ‘To hell with it.’ By the time you get all that permission, if I were to ask the landlord, the feeling’s not there anymore.”

Eden H., a friend of Garcia’s who declined to give her full name, helped him secure the wall for his work.

“It’s definitely bringing in more customers,” she said. “Some people stand there and mourn.”

The mural does justice by Williams, said Carlos Pastrana, a longtime East Village resident who saw Williams perform in 1986 at the Metropolitan Opera.

“The man was talented, started in comedy and went into acting,” said Pastrana. “God bless him. He was a good guy. We all have our days. Robin Williams, he was definitely the man.”

Garcia, who just turned 51, started making a name for himself in the 1980s graffiti-art scene. He hung with Keith Haring and Andy Warhol, too, on occasion, but always retained his independence. Haring asked if he would work with him, teaming up on murals, but Garcia declined.

There isn’t a block in the Lower East Side, Garcia’s Web site boasts, that doesn’t sport at least one of his signature murals. His work has also appeared in the Bronx, East Harlem and in Europe.

However, some online comments criticized his latest mural for lacking photographic perfection, including eyes much more green than the real-life Williams had. Yet, small details such as that did not affect viewers’ enthusiasm for the mural nor dampen their enthusiasm for anything new by Chico.

The Williams piece evoked plenty of emotion for two young women who viewed it on Aug. 18. After his TV breakthrough as Mork, Williams starred in family-movie classics like “Mrs. Doubtfire,” then evolved into his Oscar-winning performance in “Good Will Hunting,” noted one of the women, who both declined to give their names.

“It’s a very classy portrait,” she said.

Graffiti murals carry special significance in the East Village and Lower East Side, where they sometimes pay homage to locals who have passed, as well as famous celebrities, according to Pastrana.

“It just signifies the ’hood,” he said. “It’s bad that when somebody dies you gotta put somebody up on the wall. … For me, he’s not dead. He’s alive,” he said of Williams.

Just as Williams gave to the world through his comedy, Garcia gives to the community through his graffiti artworks.

 “He always gives back to the community,” Eden said. “He’s proud of where he comes from.”

Carlos Pastrana looking at Chico’s mural of Robin Williams on E. 13th St.  Photo by Zach Williams
Carlos Pastrana looking at Chico’s mural of Robin Williams on E. 13th St. Photo by Zach Williams