Graffiti artists tagged a fancy Pac Heights co-op. Even neighbors are kind of impressed

A viral map of San Francisco labeled Pacific Heights as the neighborhood “where your parents want you to live (opens in new tab).” It’s a place where retirees and athleisure-clad tech workers enjoy gentle midday walks, looking north at intersections to admire the bay. The houses are old, the views familiar. 

But this month, a new sight interrupted Pacific Heights’ visual landscape: two huge graffiti pieces descending the outside of an art deco co-op tower on Vallejo Street. Graffiti writers had scrambled to the roof, likely via the fire escape, and used climbing gear to rappel down the side, spray-painting as they went. The side-by-side pieces reading “JOSHUA” and “NEME” are approximately three stories high and are decorated with smaller tags. One near the roof says, “We own ur city now!”

Unlike the Mission and downtown neighborhoods, Pacific Heights rarely sees graffiti, especially at this scale. Neighbors walking by the building Tuesday afternoon were both confounded and impressed.

Natalie Price was pet-sitting in the neighborhood when she strolled by the graffiti for the first time but had already seen photos circulating online. 

“I get really tired of people with no artistic sensibility who need to slap their tags up everywhere,” she said, “so it’s nice to see someone taking the time to stylize their letters.”

Price said the style echoes the building’s architectural flourishes, like the “eyelashes” — ornamental arches — above the top-floor windows. Josh’s twisted letters bristle with barbed corners, while Neme’s seem to melt, each dripping toward the sidewalk.

Carol Passmore, who lives around the corner, rarely looks up during her frequent strolls around the neighborhood. But looking at the graffiti made her appreciate the building’s beauty. The sight didn’t bother her, she said, but “if the people in the building mind it, it’s really up to them.” 

They mind. A resident who asked to remain anonymous said he learned about the graffiti from a building-wide email. The prevailing response? “Outrage.”

“It was less the image itself than a sense of violation,” the resident said. “How did they get up the building? Is there sufficient security?”

Now he and his neighbors need to have the graffiti painted over to avoid city fines. Since it’s a co-op building, the cost will come out of their pockets. Even so, he was grudgingly admiring.

“It’s a hell of an impressive feat,” he said. 

Josh and Neme are part of the Taiwan-based EO4 graffiti crew. In a YouTube video (opens in new tab) of the pair painting in Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and the Philippines, one says, “No one can stop me. Come get me, mothafucka!”

While well-traveled and audacious, the outlaws are clearly not local. Both wrote “San Fran” next to their pieces.