"Solve" - Chicago street artist, stabbed to death

Stolen from the Chicago Tribune:

Street artist 'SOLVE' stabbed to death, police say
"Brendan Scanlon, 24, used city objects as canvas"

By Robert Mitchum | Tribune reporter


For the last two years, Brendan Scanlon's art would appear in the most unusual places across Chicago: on the backs of stop signs, on the glass of newspaper boxes and, on one famous occasion, stenciled on a TV secretly installed on a CTA train.




Using the alias "SOLVE," Scanlon was well-known in the secretive Chicago street-art scene. But on Sunday, members of that scene mourned his death, expressing their sorrow by building an impromptu memorial installation at Grand and Milwaukee Avenues.

Scanlon, 24, was found dead early Saturday of a stab wound to the heart in the 3000 block of West Palmer Boulevard, Chicago police said. On Sunday, Kirk Tobolski, 24, of the 2600 block of West Iowa Street in Chicago, was charged with first-degree murder in Scanlon's slaying.

"Brendan was a beautiful, energetic, intensely creative young man who we all loved deeply," said his father, Bill. "He was just coming into his own, as a deeply imaginative and bold artist, and we are immeasurably proud of him."

Scanlon drew attention—and commuter confusion—in February, when he placed a television set on a Blue Line "L" train stenciled with the message "We are experiencing legal difficulties."

Scanlon's parents said he grew up in Madison, Wis., attended the Illinois Institute of Art and was working for a Chicago graphic design and advertising firm.

On Sunday afternoon, Tobolski was ordered held on $500,000 bail by Cook County Judge Israel Desierto. Assistant State's Atty. Nicole Kodjayan said four witnesses identified Tobolski as the offender, and he made a statement to police admitting that he had had a knife and had "slashed" Scanlon.



Here is a link to Brendan's flickr page -