Fences make good "Neighbors" _ even under gobs of graffiti.
Ask photographer John Raymond Mireles, whose collection of larger-than-life portraits has "been hit hard" by taggers since going up outside in the East Village at the end of April.
"I expected some vandalism though admittedly not on this scale," Mireles, 52, told the Daily News.
As of Sunday, 52 out of 86 of the four-by-five-feet photos printed on perforated vinyl had been tagged _ a scribble or a triangular symbol here, a big red phallus there.
The name of the exhibit on view through the first week of July is "Neighbors." It includes people of all ages, race and gender from across the U.S. Some subjects are locals.
Some East Villagers said the treatment isn't neighborly. "It's a bummer," Melissa Surrette, a middle school teacher in her twenties, told the Daily News.
Zoe Adlersberg, 46, a photographer who has lived and worked from an apartment that overlooks the exhibition for nearly 20-years, echoed that sentiment.
"I don't feel it's respectful to the photographer," she told The News. "There are a lot of other areas to tag _ why that one?"
One former local who now lives in New Jersey, said the tagging "doesn't bother" her. "It goes with the territory."
Mireles, who moved from San Diego to the East Village a year ago, admitted that his "heart sinks" from the tagging. "It's not what I hoped for, but it's part of this artistic experiment.
"I could have done this show in a gallery," he added. "Being outside, the exhibit invites and allows engagement. As an artist, my goal is to provoke thought and jump-start conversations that lead to action. That my artwork is altered in service of stimulating dialogue is a small price to pay."
Still that crimson male member makes Mireles cringe. He puts it in the "this is why we can't have nice things" department.
"If you're going to add something," he said, "don't do something stupid."
_ With Brian Niemietz
