All posts tagged: City Kitty

BSA Images Of The Week: 11.19.23

November 19, 2023 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week!

It’s a new collection of works found on the street here in New York as we head into Thanksgiving week. The boisterous and celebratory party at Skewville in Bushwick last night to celebrate the new Stikman sign show was well attended and full of fans of the artist. The old fans and new donned Stikman masks and wore name stickers saying, “Hello, I’m Stikman.” The long-time imaginative artist is a fixture on New York streets as new generations of artists come and go. Completely anonymous, he never seeks the limelight, preferring to let his copious ideas on lampposts, doorways, mailboxes, and street signs talk for him. In an age of personal influencers and attention seeking, it is refreshing to see his new works quietly capturing attention and imagination on the streets in his way. Bushwick on a Saturday night is teaming with so many crowds of people you may think you are in Wynwood, Miami, complete with food trucks and neon and thigh-high patent leather boots. But the crowds are far more diverse, and the occasional rat is scurrying across the sidewalk before you.

Here is our weekly interview with the street: this week featuring City Kitty, Adam Fujita, Below Key, Eternal Possessions, Hektag, Hops Art, Aidz, Ali Six, Tkid170, Tracy 168, Hydrane, Otam1, Abloker, Nos Ck One, Madison Storm, Melissa Schainker, Wally, J$T, FatJay, Sens-Sational, Aaron Wrinkle, and 5inck.

TKid170 tribute to Tracy168. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

5inck, Otam1, Abloker, NoackOne in collaboration with The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Below Key and Ali Six (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Eternal Possessions (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hops Art Memorial Mural to honor Sisco. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Sunset over the East River. NYC. Fall 2023. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 11.05.23

November 5, 2023 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week!

Nobody was out Friday night when we went to see “Stop Making Sense” on the screen; the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn at 10 pm were rather lightly attended, possibly because everyone was recovering from a mid-week Halloween/Day of the Dead blast of drunkenness, revelry, laughter, and tears. Sometimes, even New York turns into a series of bedroom communities standing vertically.

The New York City Marathon is here today, with about 50,000 runners sprinting from Staten Island to Central Park, traversing neighborhoods, bridges, boroughs, and millions of spectators. It is two hours for the head of the pack – although it lasts all day, with some people still running/walking/rolling through the street when the sun sets. And, of course, it really lasts your entire life if you let yourself become engulfed by the human spectacle of it, which we often have and still sometimes do.

The world is still tense and angry and nervous and mournful about the events in the Middle East as we all feel like we have reached a never-before-seen turning point that is changing the world’s perception of that region and our roles in it. New York is showing signs of this stress as well.

Also, there’s that small matter of the Bank of America.

Here is our weekly interview with the street: this week featuring City Kitty, Homesick, Modomatic, Eye Sticker, Michael Alan, Jenna Morello, OSK, Mue Bon, Keoni VGN, Salto, BH, BAKA, and Swed Oner.

SWED ONER honors Kenny who visits the Bowery Mission every day to find solace, help, and kindred spirits. The Bowery Mission is a New York institution founded in 1879 to provide essential services to the ever-growing homeless population in New York City. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jenna Morello. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Artiste D’etat (photo © Jaime Rojo)

In last Sunday’s edition of BSA Images of The Week, we published a WIP photo of KEONI VGN’s portrait of Rosa Parks. Here’s the completed work. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 05.28.23

May 28, 2023 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week!

Welcome to Memorial Day Weekend in NYC, when New Yorkers remember those who died in wars, and we have parades, barbecues, smoke reefer on the stoop, ride the Circle Line, go to the Met Museum, hit Ellis Island, stroll through the park, play kickball with your neighbors, see fireworks, ride your bike across the bridge, blast loud music out of car windows, spray paint on walls, bring food to the elderly, and head to the beaches, which are officially open now.

Each year we try new foods too, because there are so many dishes you have heard of but haven’t tried – one venue with live music here in Brooklyn is touting a menu that Smash Burgers, Lobster Rolls, Snow Cones, and Fresh Coconuts. Haven’t tried all of those before, but that does sound like a recipe for summer. It’s Fleet Week so welcome Sailors! Welcome immigrants! Welcome trans folk! Welcome summer. Welcome Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Atheists. Get in here! Celebrate us all ya’ll. This is worth fighting for.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: City Kitty, CRKSHNK, Jet, Eternal Possessions, Manik, Gent, SKAM, BEOR, Natadee, Ivan J. Rogue, Phaser, Goders, Peso Neto, Liz Christy, Danana Tree, Mini Mantis, Peto, Budar, Geps, Riotk, void, Mung, Dats, and Kalypso Manu.

Natedee in Wynwood, Mimai. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ivan J. Roque in Wynwood, Mimai. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Manik. Skam. Phaser. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RIOTK. VOID. MUNG. DATS. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Rose. Spring 2023. NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 05.21.23

May 21, 2023 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! So much to say, such brief attention spans. Looking around at the chattering masses on the streets of Brooklyn and Manhattan this week, the excitement of beautiful weather and a sense of liberty sends youthful hearts aflutter. The gams! The biceps! The colorful plumage and sartorial flair all wend and weave down the street and subway steps past you, ahead of you, inside you. Also, check out the peonies and lilacs!

At the same time, in New York you may sometimes get a sinking feeling. Is it the blanding of culture, the systematic dismantling of our institutions, the fresh pile of dog poop you just stepped in? Maybe it is simply that the city is actually sinking 2-4 mm per year. Recent studies show that its not just rising sea-levels giving coastal cities a scare. Big heavy ones like NYC are sinking. As you consider this, train-surfing has a whole new meaning.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: City Kitty, Praxis VGZ, Little Ricky, The Postman Art, Homesick, Calicho Art, Cramcept, OH!, Kevin Caplicki, Toe Flop, Miki Mu, Tess Parker, Mr. Fou, El Cono, RatchiNYC, and AweOne.

City Kitty – Check out his new exhibition “Generations” with paintings by his grandfather and listen to an interview he did with his father on his latest podcast. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ART IS THE ONLY ESCAPE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RatchiNYC. Cramcept (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Spring 2023. NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 04.23.23

April 23, 2023 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! Happy Eid-ul-Fitr 2023!

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: City Kitty, 1UP Crew, Blade, Rae, Kai, Dirt Cobain, Ollin, Qzar, Optimo NYC, Eternal Posessions, Shoot Me Jade, Chelsea Lewinski, Carla Torres, Brent Estabrook, Kern, Enzyme, Misstencil, OASE, Doex, Stroke, Crome, and FLD.

Dirt Cobain painted this portrait last week, coinciding with the 7th anniversary of Prince’s death this past Friday the 21st. Prince Rogers Nelson, commonly known as Prince, was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and record producer.(photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shoot Me Jade. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RAE keeping up in Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chelsea Lewinski. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Check out the bling! Eternal Possesions. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

1UP Crew. Wynwood Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brent Estabrook. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

KERN uses two techniques on the street. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

OLLIN. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Optimo NYC takes it to the bridge. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Misstencil. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cats are going crazy. City Kitty for East Village Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

OASE. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A real throwback from Blade with the Museum of Graffiti. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Doex. Stroke. Crome. A tribute to Ed “Big Daddy” Roth, the South California Kustom Culture warrior – an American artist, cartoonist, illustrator, pinstriper and custom car designer and builder who created the hot rod icon Rat Fink. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FLD. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 03.05.23

March 5, 2023 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week!

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: Adriana Vila, Stikman, City Kitty, Raddington Falls, Miyok, Neon Savage, Vegas, Clone, Samva, SEO Panic, Miki Mu23, and 2Won.

Watching the snow falling. This mural painted years ago in Williamsburg by professional painters for Sky High Murals gets a makeover from mother nature. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentifed artist telling us to look, listen and talk about it. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

That’s right. It’s been commodified, defanged, and marginalized, but it is not dead. Miki MU23 for NYC Thrive. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

4,6,3. Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

City Kitty. Neon Savage (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Winter 2023. NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 01.22.23

January 22, 2023 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! Happy Lunar New Year 2023! Year of the Rabbit.

新年快乐！

Collabos, crew tributes, nationalist heroes, laborious illustrators, truck pieces, raised reliefs, refined extinguisher tags, absurdist collages, and a range of evolving letter styles, New York is a juggernaut of graffiti and street art every week. It’s an embarrassment of riches from a wide variety of creative talents on our streets, and we’re thankful to catch just a part of it and share it here with you.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: City Kitty, Chris RWK, Smells, Rambo, BK Foxx, Gane, Trace, Ollin, Rold, BK Ackler, HOPS, GULA SOR, Clepto, Hof Crew, 2 Mycg Gane, Zas, BAG HAS, Faile, JG Toonation, Drones, Nails, and Sanije.

FAILE fluxxing their stuff. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

City Kitty. Chris RWK (photo © Jaime Rojo)

HOPS. Louie Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald filling the air -Jazz wall in progress. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 09.11.22

September 11, 2022 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week!

21 years since the Twin Towers came down here in New York City. We remember today in our hearts.

Reliably, street art plays a role in bringing up the socio-political topics that are in the public realm. This week we see artists addressing gun violence, the ongoing battle for/against legal abortion, and LGBT rights. Also, there are just a lot of fun, colorful exhortations that we may or may not understand but which tell us all that the streets of New York are alive and well.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: Stikman, City Kitty, Praxis, Sinned, Miyok, Trap, Spite, Tea, Goomba, John Domine, WoWi, and Helaenable.

Goomba for East Village Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

City Kitty in a collab with John Domine. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sinned and Ria for Welling Court Mural Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Summer 2022. Chihuahua, Mexico (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 06.12.22

June 12, 2022 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

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Welcome to BSA Images of the Week!

There are always so many hype-dope-cool-rad-slaps things to do in New York period – and often plenty graffiti and street art options. There’s the new Remembering Bast show with 26 new paintings by the street artist at Allouche, the new Cope2-Dr. Revolt-Tkid-Martha Cooper show at Outlaw Arts, the ongoing King Pleasure Basquiat show, yet another Banksy exhibition, the 60 Collective Art show in DUMBO is still up for another week, the new mural by Os Gemeos and Futura at the Cardoza High School in Queens…. Speaking of Futura, the organization whom we first brought street art to in 2008/2010 with two benefit auctions – Free Arts NYC – this week raised more money from the street art/graffiti community and their fans with a special honorary event for Futura. We’re glad BSA spearheaded that relationship to help this arts organization immersed in the street art scene all those years ago.

Just for fun, here’s a list of the artists we brought to that first auction in April 2008 – any of them sound familiar? Anera, Armsrock, Borf, Celso, C.Damage, DAIN, Dark Clouds, Deeks, DiRQuo, Elbowtoe, ELC, Fauxreel, Flower Face Killah, Gaia, GoreB, Haculla, Infinity, Judith Supine, Jp, McMutt, MOMO, Noah Sparkes, Royce Bannon, Skewville, Swoon, Dan Witz, and WK Interact.

How many of these names are still in the game? Some have faded, some have accelerated, and there are many new names bandied about on New York streets; It’s a constantly changing tableau.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: Matt Siren, City Kitty, Hijack, Li-Hill, Raddington Falls, Rose Cory, HOACS, Voxx Romana, Jet, Nite Owl, HEFS, and HAVOC.

Rose Cory. PRIDE 2022. Let the celebrations begin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist. Detail from the above photo. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Li-Hill for East Village Walls. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Li-Hill for East Village Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bowery/Houston Wall. June 2nd. 2022, drive-by photo. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bowery/Houston Wall. June 9th. 2022. Ollin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Raven. Window sill taxidermy. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” … The Raven. Edgar Allan Poe

City Kitty/Voxx Romana (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Lower East Side. NYC. June 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 04.10.22

April 10, 2022 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week!

April showers, babe. That’s what we have been experiencing. Yes, that means we get May flowers. It’s a whole system, see?

Congratulations for our new Supreme Court Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson.

“It has taken 232 years and 115 prior appointments for a Black woman to be selected to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States,” Jackson said in a speech outside the White House.

“But, we’ve made it. We’ve made it, all of us,” Jackson said.

We’ll be looking for her face to pop up on the street soon!

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: City Kitty, Chris RWK, Adam Fujita, Icy and Sot, Clint Mario, Gane, Irak, RX Skulls, Smells, Bublegum, Acroe, Bertstit, and Eric John Eigner, Lawrence Weiner.

Icy & Sot. This stencil has been on this spot for a very long time. The words were added at a later time by an unidentified artist. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

City Kitty and Chris (RWK)(photo © Jaime Rojo)

City Kitty with RX Skulls (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bublegum for The Bushwick Collective (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This spot is usually reserved to display artworks in conjunction with the Whitney Museum and the High Line. This is a protest scene say no to the Dakota Access pipeline and end its threats to sacred land and water. #NoDAPL(photo © Jaime Rojo)

Detail from the above photo. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lawrence Weiner / Public Art Fund. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Spring 2022. NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Character Witness

March 1, 2022 Artists

Sometimes it is a talisman who is having adventures on the behalf of an artist, a part of him/herself who stays behind and watches the area.

At other times it is a character seen through a mirror, an alter-ego who represents a fictional part of their inner world who has been set free onto the street to interact. It may be a branding element, a logo, or signature that lays claim to the artwork it is attached to. By itself it is often a form of marking territory; a practice begun by graffiti writers decades ago.

Whether it is a symbol or a figure, it is undoubtedly a personification of some part of the artists id, one that is so individual that you can spot it from a distance and if you are a fan, you’ll smile in recognition.

Many street artists have a discernable style, that is true; a hand-style, a recurrent motif, color palette, a topic that reappears, a technique of application, even a likely location in the urban landscape where they are most likely to appear.

Of that number, fewer have developed a character or a motif so well defined in our minds that it can stand alone, but we have found a few over the decades. Each is imbued with memory, with place, with personality, with character.

And, as ever, we are witness.

Stik in collaboration with LA2 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 02.20.22

February 20, 2022 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week, where New York keeps pushing forward through this stormy winter – although the amount of new street art and graffiti dissipates this time of year as artists stay in their creative caves, waiting for spring. Hang in there peeps.

It’s still cold today so you may want to check out the last day of the Christian Dior show at Brooklyn Museum, or you can see BG183’s solo exhibition at Wallworks in the Bronx, or Daze’s solo show in Manhattan at PPOW.

Great news for New York artists this week: artists can now apply for a monthly stipend of $1,000. This is big news because unlike a lot of Europe, the US and its institutions do not support artists or cultural workers.

Bad news for the orange man in New York this week: The Supreme Court says he and his progeny have to testify under oath, after the Attorney General uncovered “copious evidence of possible financial fraud”. Perhaps Ivanka can consult with her friends Christine Lagarde or Angela Merkel about what to say.

Speaking of exemplary New Yorkers, Jeffery Epstein’s friend Jean-Luc Brunel has been found dead in his prison cell, mysteriously. One of Epstein’s other friends, Prince Andrew, reportedly settled out of court this week. “Prince Andrew reportedly agreed to never again deny raping Virginia Giuffre”, says the New York Post, The Independent, and The Sun. The Times says: “A new nursery rhyme is doing the rounds at the Palace:

‘The grand old Duke of York,
he had 12 million quid.
He gave it to someone he’d never met,
for something he never did’”.

Jesus, let’s go out for a walk and see if we discover some new street art.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: Skewville, Specter, City Kitty, Adam Fujita, Pork, Jason Naylor, Below Key, Lexi Bella, Jowl, Nimek, Klonism, Harvey Ball, Eloy Bida, Kat Blouch, Timmy Ache, and Eyedao.

Adam Fujita pays tribute to Keith Haring. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

City Kitty & Kat Blouch (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Eloy Bida. Memorial mural in honor of Ingrid Washinawtok. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Skewville turned 100 years old this month. Long Live Skewville! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Smiley Face. The design of the iconic image turns 50 years. Originally created by Harvey Ball the symbol has been used everywhere from advertising to movies to fashion and high and low art. This poster has been plastered all over the city to highlight its anniversary…oh don’t forget to SMILE!

The Art Of Will Power. “Hip Hop” is my religion. Here’s Mary being a muse again. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lexi Bella with the lush lips. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Snow ghosts. East River. Brooklyn, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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April 25, 2024
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BSA Hits The North! – See You Soon in Belfast, Northern Ireland
April 23, 2024
We are excited to announce that BSA will be part of the exhilarating ‘Hit the North’ 2024 festival in Belfast! …Read More »
BSA Images Of The Week: 04.21.24
April 21, 2024
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Barcelona Tributes for The Amazing SKE
April 18, 2024
Today, we pay tribute to an iconic figure from the Puerto Rican graffiti scene, Eliezer “SKE” Pagán Torres. Born on …Read More »
Elfo Declares “I’m a Figurative Painter”… and I’m the Queen of England!
April 16, 2024
Elfo, the ever-witty Italian street artist, strikes again with his latest work scrawled across an abandoned building in Italy. Known …Read More »
BSA Images Of The Week: 04.14.24 / “Return2Burn” in Hunts Point, Bronx
April 14, 2024
Welcome to BSA’s Images of the Week. We decided to dedicate this weekly survey to the artists of “Return 2 …Read More »
Martha Cooper and Seth in Kibera. Kenya: Part 2 / “We Are One”
April 11, 2024
Nestled within the bustling city of Nairobi, Kenya, Kibera is a testament to its inhabitants’ challenges and its collective indomitable …Read More »