Focus on I AM THE BEST ARTIST Rene and explore the Conflicts and criticism.
René always insisted he obtained permission from landlords to paint the murals, but requests were also sometimes refused, with some SoHo residents commenting that although a mural would be welcome on their property, an I AM THE BEST ARTIST mural would not be welcome.
In the case of one refusal, René painted the attendants' stand of the parking lot facing the declined property, getting permission from its owner instead. 
Another dispute involved a French artist named Le Pointre who tried to claim use of a wall for which René insisted he'd already obtained permission to paint a mural.Vandals often defaced these walls with sarcastic embellishment such as "I Am The Best Fartist" and "I Am The Best Anus", or added simplistic commentary such as "No No No" or "I hate you".
Graffiti artists of the era also occasionally obscured the murals with their own work.
IATBA murals which may have been defaced would be faithfully repainted by René.René claims the art critic Robert Hughes once assured him directly that he was not, in fact, the best artist. An Artforum writer used an unrelated art review to shine a negative light on The Best Artist, calling René "untalented" and "unchic". Loss of long-time artist friends was another unfortunate consequence.
Artforum murals Graffiti Robert Hughes SoHo