[3] Marc Ecko's Complex Magazine put Smear at number 14 on their list of "The 50 Biggest Street Art Arrests" of all time.

[4] In 2006 he began exhibiting/displaying in Los Angeles galleries some of the original art works that he had created, which were in the form of paintings (on canvas and on woodpanels) and drawings, including collage and other media.

[3] A graffiti vandalism conviction resulted in a 40-month suspended prison sentence, three years' probation, and about $28,000 in restitution for tagging on buses.

"It raises extreme 1st Amendment issues, " said Peter Bibring, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union of Southern California, who is representing Gheorghiu.

[5] On March 16, 2011, the Los Angeles Times published a column one front page profile on Cristian Gheorghiu/Smear chronicling his rise from scrawling his name on the streets of the city to being an art world habituée.

[7] On June 20, 2012, the civil case against 11 alleged members of the MTA crew named in the suit was settled[8] with the 11 defendants no longer required to pay the city of Los Angeles millions of dollars for graffiti cleanup.

[6] In 2006 Cristian Gheorghiu/Smear began exhibiting his mixed media art works, which have been described by the L.A. Times as "unique renderings of human forms with vivid colors and rough, emotional strokes".

[10] Cristian Gheorghiu was the first artist to ever be showcased at the German government's Goethe Institute in Los Angeles, an exhibit that was on display from February 25, 2012, to March 10, 2012.