In 1999 the work of a graffiti artist named Vanish appeared throughout the Stateway Gardens public housing development. Before the Chicago Housing Authority painted over Vanish's images, Patricia Evans documented them. A portfolio of Vanish's work appears in the current issue of AREA. It is accompanied by an essay by Jamie Kalven. That essay can also be heard as a commentary on "Eight Forty-Eight" on Chicago Public Radio.

On the AREA site, click on the thumbnails on the left-hand margin to see the full images. And check out the other stories in AREA, a promising new publication cultivating the borders of art and activism.