The latest work by sanctioned graffiti artist Gonzo247 is dry this rainy morning, hanging back from Morningside Dr. on the sheltered stretch of shopping center wall between Black Walnut Cafe and New York & Company. (That’s along the eastern edge of the Rice Village building group currently being rebranded away from its long-running gig as the Village Arcade.) The new piece is a little more coy in its messaging than some of the artist’s previous work (which includes the edited Houston Is Inspired Hip Tasty Funky Savvy mural commissioned by the Greater Houston Convention and Visitors Bureau near Market Square in 2013) — though it does include a lot of letters. Take your own shot at deciphering the close ups below of the piece, around the corner from the space on University recently vacated by the theater-hearkening Village Arcade sign:

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From left to right:

The piece offers contrast to the the ransom-note imagery on the construction barricade a bit further north up the shopping strip, where some work is underway this morning in front of the former site of Baker St. Pub: 

• Rice Village Just Got Brighter [Houstonia]
• About [Aerosol Warfare]
• Previously on Swamplot: Before-ish and After Views of the Rice Village Design Overhaul Now Underway on University Blvd.; Bricks Turn White in the Rice Village as Arcade Makeover Unfolds; Aerosol Warfare Declares E.D.O. the Street Art District

Photos: Swamplot inbox