Artists take over vintage shop in Porter Square during its final days – and now its final hours

Works by the anonymous creator of the “Not Art” tag has goods for sale at a closing Porter Square, Somerville, vintage shop. (Photo: Claire Ogden)

Famed Camberville street artists Matthew Natoli (known for his “Endless Courage” tags), the anonymous “NOT ART” guy and Vernon Street Studios quilt artist Alex Kalil have taken over the ReUniun/Hard Times Emporium vintage shop in Porter Square for the weekend.

The Not Art station of the spontaneous pop-up holds many treasures: various multimedia iterations of the artist’s notorious and memorable tag. He has T-shirts, stickers and most notably art prints for sale, all under $50 – for the prints, the artist crafted colorful patterns via digital art and spray painted over them. Across the store, Matthew Natoli has his own stickers and other paraphernalia, along with his passion project: framed poems he hopes to one day publish in book form. Alex Kalil’s quilted works frame these street artists’ wares beautifully; they hang in the windows and the light pours in.

Matthew Natoli’s “Endless Courage” items are on sale.  (Photo: Claire Ogden)

The pop-up appears to be part of a spring cleaning sale as the store prepares to close, which the store’s owner announced via Instagram. See it before it’s gone: this delightful, scrappy pop-up is open for a final day from noon to 5 p.m. at 95 Elm St., Porter Square, Somerville. 

Share your own 150-word appreciation for a piece of visual art or art happening with photo to [email protected] with the subject line “Behold.”