Street art exhibit has people talking

In fact, at least one disgruntled resident has taken matters into his or her own hands, whitewashing a large mural painted by the Los Angeles artist known as Bumblebee on a shuttered gas station on the edge of downtown. A smaller work on a nearby train trestle has been splashed with red paint.

The idea of graffiti carries a negative connotation, acknowledged museum director Cathy Sununu. As a result, the museum has taken pains to characterize the outdoor art in its “Street A.K.A. Museum’’ exhibition, running through Sept. 11, not as graffiti but a collection of murals.

The City of Portsmouth website includes information about whom to call for graffiti removal, Sununu noted. “It’s sort of controversial around here. Portsmouth is known for its historical buildings, and there are people who feel any art that gets put in the public domain should be historical.’’

But the city is changing, she said, and the art museum, which is privately funded, wants to reflect that.

“The demographics have changed a lot in the last 10 years,’’ Sununu said. “We have a lot of creative young people moving in, and there are cutting-edge companies coming to the area.’’

Jane James, a real estate broker at Marple and James, agreed to have Alexandros Vasmoulakis paint “Tomorrow Man,’’ the pop-art image with the huge mouth at its center, on the side of the agency’s building. Though she was smitten with the artist - “He was as lovely and pleasant as could be,’’ she said - it took her a while to warm up to the artwork.

“Now that it’s here, it’s like a treasured friend,’’ said James, a past chair of Art-Speak, the city’s cultural commission.

One of the exhibition’s opponents, James claimed, walked into the office while the artist was working on his mural and berated an employee.

“That was completely inappropriate,’’ she said. “You’re welcome to your opinion, but don’t come into a place of business and start screaming.’’