All posts tagged: Ericailcane

BSA Top Stories Of 2018 As Picked By You

You got furious at us sometimes this year. Or rather, you were mad at artists whose work pissed you off. Thanks for the emails though bro. We still love you of course sister.

Without a doubt the polarized atmosphere in social/economic/geopolitical matters worldwide in 2018 was increasingly reflected in the graffiti and Street Art pieces and projects that we wrote stories about. Loving it or hating it, often BSA readers were motivated to share the story on social media for discussion and to write directly to us to take issue, or even to chide us for “being political”.

Let’s be clear. Art has always been and will always be “political”. We tend to think that the artwork that we agree with is not political because it is expressing our values, opinions, and worldview.

So that’s why you propelled stories about a clandestine Trump cemetery installation by InDecline onto the list this year. That’s why Winston Tseng’s inflammatory campaign against a certain kind of Trump supporter on NYC trashcans proved to be so provocative and offensive to so many people, while others crowed support.

The topic of free speech under fire also attracted high interest for Fer Acala’s story of artists and rappers who took over a Spanish former prison to protest restrictive recent federal laws aimed at protest in that country.

The timeliness of Jetsonorama’s wheat pasted photography series about Good Samaritans who leave water for people in the desert – and the US border guards who destroy them – resonated powerfully to us this week as  a 7 year old girl died in Border Patrol custody of apparent dehydration.

But BSA readers also love the spectacle, the vast animated murals, the scintillating stories behind the art and the artist; the connection that communities and festivals create with art in the public sphere – or in abandoned factories, as it were. The biggest splash this year was the over-the-top creation of and the fiery destruction of an art sculpture at the Falles de València celebration in Spain by Street Artist Okuda. You loved the tantalizing images by Martha Cooper, and somehow everyone relishes the idea of building and constructing a large, colorful, inspiring piece of art and then lighting it on fire in the public square – propelling that story to the top of the BSA list in Top Stories in 2018


No. 15

The Painted Buses of Raiatea and Bora Bora – French Polynesia

Okuda. ONO’U Tahiti 2018. Bora Bora, French Polynesia. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

From BSA:

Box trucks are a favorite canvas for many graffiti writers in big cities and have become a right of passage for new artists who want the experience of painting on a smooth rectangular surface that becomes a rolling billboard through the streets advertising your name, making you truly “All City”.

When in French Polynesia a few weeks ago with the ONO’U festival, a number of artists were given the significant gift of a large truck or school/commuter bus on which to create a mural, a message, a bubble tag.

Together on the islands of Raiatea and Bora Bora there were about 10 of these long and low autobuses that became sudden celebrities in the sparsely travelled streets, debuted as some of them were in Raitea, when painted live at an all night party for the public.

The Painted Buses of Raiatea and Bora Bora. Continue reading HERE


No. 14

Destroying Desert Water Bottles; Chip Thomas’ New Work in AJO, Arizona

Chip Thomas. AJO, Arizona. July. 2018. (photo © Chip Thomas)

From BSA:

Ajo Samaritans describe themselves and their mission on their website like this; “Samaritans are people of faith and conscience who are responding directly, practically, and passionately to the crisis at the US/ Mexico border. We are a diverse group of volunteers around Ajo that are united in our desire to relieve suffering among our brothers and sisters and to honor  human dignity. Prompted by the mounting deaths among border crossers, we came together to provide food and water, and emergency medical assistance to people crossing the Sonoran Desert.”

Destroying Desert Water Bottles; Chip Thomas New Work in AJO, Arizona. Continue reading HERE


No. 13

Copenhagen Diary: A Street Survey of the Moment

DalEast is the author of the bird. Spyo tells the world who he really is… (photo © Tor Staale Moen)

From BSA:

A current survey today from the streets in Copenhagen thanks to a couple of BSA fans and friends who share with readers their recent finds in one of the world’s happiest places, according to the 2018 World Happiness Report. Apparently it is also a good place for gay birds to come out of the closet.

With a storied history of graffiti bombing of the red trains that goes back many years, possibly generations, Copenhagen has long been a treasured destination for graffiti writers.

Now you will also find murals and installations illegally and legally by local and international Street artists – and the iconic full sides of buildings here are subtly transforming the public face of the city.

Copenhagen Diary: A Street Surevey of The Moment. Continue reading HERE


No. 12

Pop Up “Trump Cemetery” Marks Death of Ideas on 1st Anniversary of Inauguration by INDECLINE Artist Collective

“Grave New World” installation by INDECLINE artist collective (image © INDECLINE)

From BSA:

So INDECLINE picked a swell morning to debut their long-planned and complicated site-specific installation at this golf-course in New Jersey.

“INDECLINE felt is necessary to commemorate some of the victims,” they say. “The dates on the headstones correspond to some of the highlights of Trump’s first year in office.” You may remember some of these milestones on the tombstones, you may have to Google others.

The saddest death for us all year has been the civility and respect of Americans toward one another – as those hard working families who are just scraping by are being skillfully manipulated through sophisticated PR / media campaigns into thinking that they are the only real uber-patriots and to hate the wrong people. Most importantly they are fighting and voting against themselves without realizing it.

“Grave New World” Trump Cemetery. Continue reading HERE


No. 11

Borondo Finds Community on The Island Of Utsira in Norway

Borondo. Utsira. Utsira, Norway. Summer 2018. (photo courtesy of the organizers)

From BSA:

Today we revisit Utsira, the tiny island in Norway that has hosted a few Street Artists over the last couple of years, like Ella & Pitr and Icy & Sot. This year the fine artist and Street Artist Gonzalo Borondo blended into the hills and the forest and the lapping waves, making his spirit dissipate into the community and into a boat.

“There’s a strong sense of community,” he says as he reflects on the metaphor he has chosen to represent his time here on an island of only 420 people, “There is a mutual support among citizens and a common feeling of enjoying the same unique condition.”

Borondo Finds Community on The Island of Utsira in Norway. Continue reading HERE


No. 10

Nespoon Casts a Lace Net Across a Sicilian Wall

NeSpoon. Emergence Festival. Catania, Sicily. March 2018. (photo © courtesy of NeSpoon)

From BSA:

Equally gifted in the heavier handmade artisanal crafts of porcelain and ceramic as she is with aerosol, Nespoon did installations of both this month during the Emergence Festival in Sicily (Valverde + Catania. The seventh year of this international festival for public art, Nespoon shared the roster with American Gaia and Sicilian Ligama from March 10-26 creating works related to the city and its stories. In many respects these new works appear integral, interventions that belong there, may have been there a long time without you noticing; a sort of netting that holds the skin of the city together.

Nespoon Casts a Lace Net Across a Sicilian Wall. Continue reading HERE


No. 9

No Callarem: Street Artists Paint As Protest in La Modelo Prison, Barcelona

Enric Sant. La Modelo, Barcelona. (photo © Fer Alcalá)

From Fer Acala on BSA:

One of the direct actions organized by the platform for fighting against Partido Popular’s civil rights oppression was to film a video clip featuring some of the most renowned lyricists on the scene as Frank T, Elphomega, Los Chikos del Maíz, La Ira, Rapsusklei, and César Strawberry, among others, at the old La Modelo prison. The location is an accurate metaphorical scenario when you are seeing that your liberty is being cut off thanks to laws like ‘Ley Mordaza’.

The song ‘Los Borbones son unos ladrones’, which alludes directly to the Spanish monarchy, includes some excerpts from some of the songs created by rappers serving a prison sentence. The video clip for the song, which you can watch at the end of this article, has become viral and almost all media outlets in the country are speaking about this big shout-out in the name of freedom.

No Callarem. La Modelo Prision. Barcelona. Continue reading HERE


No. 8

NemO’s, Ericailcane and Andrea Casciu Ride a Tandem Resistance In Bologna, Italy.

Ericailcane. Pennelli Ribelli Festival. Bologna, Italy. October 2018. (photo © NemO’s/Andrea Casciu)

From BSA:

Highlighting collective efforts that advance events during war and the tales of heroism, butchery, resistance, intrigue, and subterfuge that are braided into historical retelling, three Italian Street Artists commemorated citizen resistance and a Nazi massacre in a lengthy mural for the Penneli Ribelli Festival this month in Bologna.

At the center of the story is the resistance by everyday Italians of various ages, genders, and social classes, a movement known as the Italian resistance and the Italian Partisans, or Partigiani. The icon of the festival is a wolf in honor of the Partisan who led the group, Mario Musolesi, whose nickname was “Lupo”, or “Wolf”.

NemO’s, Ericailcane and Andrea Casciu Ride a Tandem Resistance. Continue reading HERE


No. 7

“Martha” the Movie: Selina Miles’ Most Ambitious Project To Date

Martha Cooper (photo © Selina Miles)

From BSA:

We knew that these two talented and powerful personalities would compliment each other stunningly and that’s why we encouraged them two years ago to do a doc. A short term one was the original plan. But the two hit it off so well and when you are looking at a five decade career like Ms. Cooper’s and you have the dogged determination to do her story justice, Ms. Miles tells us that even an hour and a half film feels like its just getting started.

Now “Martha” the movie is at a unique juncture in the project and YOU may be able to participate; Selina and the team are looking for any original footage you may want to show them – and it may be used in the documentary.

“Martha” The Movie. Selina Miles Most Ambitious Project To Date. Continue reading HERE


No. 6

DavidL Paints Hitchcock, Warhol, Tim Burton, Kubrick: Through The Lens of Fer Alcala

DavidL. ET. Fraggle Rock. Spain. (photo © Fer Alcalá)

From BSA:

After 25 years writing graffiti, DavidL has found his own way of working. It’s funny because one of the inherent issues about graffiti and street art is visibility. All the trains, the bombing, the tagging…it’s all about being noticed, being every f-ing where. It has been like this since day one (Taki 183, Terror161, 1UP…you know how it works).

But for David it’s not like that anymore.

Maybe it’s a sign of the days that we are living with social media, communication 2.0, etcetera. It’s obvious that if you have certain skills managing all this and a little bit of talent, plus a pinch of good taste, you can reach a global audience and show your work to the entire world even when you are concentrating the majority of your creations in a secret location.

DavidL, Through The Lens of Fer Alcala. Continue reading HERE


No. 5

BSA Images Of The Week: 09.30.18 – UPEA Special

SMUG. UPEA 2017. Kotka, Finland. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

From BSA:

This week we have a selection of the UPEART festivals’ two previous editions of murals – which we were lucky to see this week after driving across the country in an old VW Bora.

We hit 8 cities and drove along the border with Russia through some of the most picturesque forests and farmlands that you’ll likely see just to collect images of the murals that this Finnish mural festival has produced with close consultation with Fins in these neighborhoods. A logistical challenge to accomplish, we marvel at how this widespread program is achieved – undoubtedly due to the passion of director Jorgos Fanaris and his insatiable curiosity for discovering talents and giving them a platform for expression.

UPEA Special. Continue reading HERE


No. 4

‘Wandelism’ Brings Wild Change for One Week in Berlin

Marina Zumi. “Wandelism”. Berlin, Germany. (photo © Harald Geil)

From BSA:

When I was asked how to name the exhibition few weeks ago, I merged the words “vandalism“ and “Wandel“ (the German word for “Change“). That’s how Wandelism (or Changeism) was born and how it started transforming itself into an exhibition, which is truly accepting, embracing and living CHANGE.

On the grounds of a former car repair shop that is soon to be demolished, one can literally feel the constant movement and transformation of the urban fabric we all live in. Everything changes. Constantly. Change is evolution. Change is progress. Change is also the DNA of the art represented in the Wandelism show.

Wandelism” Brings Wild Change For One Week in Berlin. Continue reading HERE


No. 3

Scenes from Eugene: Murals of the 20x21EUG Festival in Oregon

Alexis Diaz. 20x21EUG Mural Project / 2018 Edition. Eugene, Oregon. (photo © Martha Cooper)

From BSA:

The city of Eugene in Oregon is preparing for the 2021 IAAF World Athletics Championships and like many cities these days it is transforming itself with murals.

With a goal of 20 new murals by ’21 (20x21EUG), the city began in 2016 to invite a slew of international Street Artists, some locally known ones, and a famous graffiti/Street Art photographer to participate in their ongoing visual festival.

A lively city that is bustling with the newly blooming marijuana industry and finding an endless array of ways to celebrate it, Eugene has been so welcoming that many artists will report that feeling quite at home painting in this permissively bohemian and chill atmosphere.

Scenes From Eugene: Continue reading HERE


No. 2

Winston Tseng: Street Provocateur Brings “Trash” Campaign to NYC

Winston Tseng (photo © Jaime Rojo)

From BSA:

“At the end of the day when one is towing the line of being provocative, you may cross that line in some people’s mind but I think if one is not trying to find that line then the work is not going to make any impact”.

Winston Tseng has probably been crossing that line, pissing off some people and making others laugh for a few years now. He appears to consider it an honor, and possibly a responsibility. Relatively new on the Street Art scene the commercial artist and art director has also created his 2-D characters on canvasses and skate decks that depict the abridged characteristics of a typecast to play with the emotions and opinions of passersby.

Winston Tseng: Street Provocatour Brings “Trash” Campaing to NYC. Continue reading HERE


No. 1

OKUDA Sculpture Engulfed in Flames for Falles Festival in València

Okuda. Fallas 2018. Valencia, Spain. (photo © Martha Cooper)

From BSA:

Yes, Street Art is ephemeral, but OKUDA San Miguel just set it on fire!

During the annual Falles de València celebration, it’s normal for artworks to be destroyed publicly in about 500 locations throughout the city and in surrounding towns. Part of a spring tradition for València, Spain monuments (falles) are burned in a celebration that includes parades, brass bands, costumes, dinners, and the traditional paella dish.

This year the first Street Artist to make a sculpture in the traditional commemoration of Saint Joseph is the un-traditional OKUDA, creating his multi-color multi-planed optic centerpiece.

Okuda Sculpture Engulfed in Flames in Valéncia. Continue reading HERE


We wish to express our most heartfelt gratitude to the writers and photographers who contributed to BSA and collaborated with us throughout the year. We are most grateful for your trust in us and for your continued support.

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NemO’s, Ericailcane and Andrea Casciu Ride a Tandem Resistance In Bologna, Italy.

NemO’s, Ericailcane and Andrea Casciu Ride a Tandem Resistance In Bologna, Italy.

Highlighting collective efforts that advance events during war and the tales of heroism, butchery, resistance, intrigue, and subterfuge that are braided into historical retelling, three Italian Street Artists commemorated citizen resistance and a Nazi massacre in a lengthy mural for the Penneli Ribelli Festival this month in Bologna.

Naked men share the elongated tandem bicycle with uniformed fighters, and each character contains details and symbology that point to events or qualities known to locals of a certain generation about the Marzabotto massacre that killed between 770 and 1,000 civilians, now presented to a new one in this city where these events took place.

Street Artist NemO’s tells us that this first edition of the Penneli Ribelli Festival is born in memory of the events that happened during the Second World War.

Ericailcane . NemO’s . Andrea Casciu for Pennelli Ribelli Festival. Bologna, Italy. October 2018. (photo © NemO’s/Andrea Casciu)

At the center of the story is the resistance by everyday Italians of various ages, genders, and social classes, a movement known as the Italian resistance and the Italian Partisans, or Partigiani. The icon of the festival is a wolf in honor of the Partisan who led the group, Mario Musolesi, whose nickname was “Lupo”, or “Wolf”.

Pennelli Ribelli Festival. Bologna, Italy. October 2018. (photo © NemO’s/Andrea Casciu)

“Here a big battle broke out between the Nazis and the Partigiani, who fought for the freedom of Italy,” he tells us. “This is one of the most important areas, because here was where the largest group of civilian Partigiani were killed by the Nazis as revenge.”

Nemo’s naked men, hapless and without even bicycle seats, appear unprepared for any battle, burdened and exposed. Andrea Casciu’s “uniformed” riders are prepared, comfortable, confident, even jubilant in the efforts forward – their red star and flags of resistance assuring victory.

Ericailcane. Pennelli Ribelli Festival. Bologna, Italy. October 2018. (photo © NemO’s/Andrea Casciu)

The three artists worked for twelve hours a day for four days on the side of the old Lama di Reno paper mill that closed in 2013. Locals of various ages stopped to inquire about the stretched bicycle and its meanings, and local news accounts say that many people in the neighborhood supported the artists work.

“The full presentation is meant as a symbol of the resistance,” says NemO’s, “in honor of the women who, with their bicycles, carried secret messages and food for the people hidden on the forest.

A badger at the head of the procession breaks apart traps of war that were meant to ensnare and disable, the kerchiefed animal even converting one into a stringed instrument to play.

Ericailcane. Pennelli Ribelli Festival. Bologna, Italy. October 2018. (photo © NemO’s/Andrea Casciu)

Ericailcane. Pennelli Ribelli Festival. Bologna, Italy. October 2018. (photo © NemO’s/Andrea Casciu)

NemO’s . Andrea Casciu. Pennelli Ribelli Festival. Bologna, Italy. October 2018. (photo © NemO’s/Andrea Casciu)

NemO’s. Pennelli Ribelli Festival. Bologna, Italy. October 2018. (photo © NemO’s/Andrea Casciu)

NemO’s. Pennelli Ribelli Festival. Bologna, Italy. October 2018. (photo © NemO’s/Andrea Casciu)

NemO’s. Pennelli Ribelli Festival. Bologna, Italy. October 2018. (photo © NemO’s/Andrea Casciu)

NemO’s. Pennelli Ribelli Festival. Bologna, Italy. October 2018. (photo © NemO’s/Andrea Casciu)

Andrea Casciu. Pennelli Ribelli Festival. Bologna, Italy. October 2018. (photo © NemO’s/Andrea Casciu)

Andrea Casciu. Pennelli Ribelli Festival. Bologna, Italy. October 2018. (photo © NemO’s/Andrea Casciu)

Andrea Casciu. Pennelli Ribelli Festival. Bologna, Italy. October 2018. (photo © NemO’s/Andrea Casciu)

Andrea Casciu. Pennelli Ribelli Festival. Bologna, Italy. October 2018. (photo © NemO’s/Andrea Casciu)


For more information on the Pennelli Ribelli festival https://www.facebook.com/pennelliribellifestival/

Artists:

Andrea Casciu https://www.facebook.com/casciuandrea/

Nemo’s https://www.facebook.com/whoisnemos/

Ericailcane https://www.facebook.com/ericailcane/

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BSA Film Friday: 05.13.16

BSA Film Friday: 05.13.16

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Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.

Now screening :

1. Jorge Rodriguez Gerarda: Changing The Face Of Barcelona
2. Nychos X Udon Lords Crew in Taiwan
3. ERICAILCANE / Mexico City
4. Pref ID

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BSA Special Feature: Jorge Rodriguez Gerarda: Changing The Face Of Barcelona

“It’s not necessarily street art and its not necessarily the known directions of contemporary art,” says Jorge Rodriguez Gerarda as he describes his mural paintings of a woman he photographed. His critical eye toward the way images and messages are marketed to us by advertisers is not new, he says, having devised ways to culture-jam and deface ads in the public space in New York in the past. Now he has developed a voice that in praise of the everyday person and is giving it volume on this vast façade in Barcelona.

 

Nychos X Udon Lords Crew in Taiwan

Building and pumping adrenaline is the cohesive device that ties together these images of people in action and the audio outtakes from adventure films, evangelists, propaganda and advertising slogans. Nychos loves to rip the mortal coil open for you to examine its contents and his metaphor is the innards of animals. This vicious/comedic somewhat exploding dragon is in itself a symbol to generations of people and by juxtaposing it with text based graffiti lettering and these intercut messages you know he is examining the beast from as many angles as possible. Director Cory Ring captures this quote in Taiwan: “But what we know is art is not a crime. The crime is the state of mind” to end the brief but effective visual and aural onslaught.

ERICAILCANE / Mexico City

Rapid drums and bass and reggae keep the painters animated for the creation of “The Rabbit & the Fox”, a new mural by the Italian Street Artist Ericailcane in Mexico City.

Images and editing by Alice Bettolo.

Pref ID

Northwest London’s Pref takes us into his studio and onto walls in a test of how he interprets words thrown to him freestyle. His overlapping word and letter styling is compelling and his point of view is clear. But hang in there for the paper-cut collages!

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“Art Silos” Rise in the Harbor of Catania, Sicily

“Art Silos” Rise in the Harbor of Catania, Sicily

They’ve been here since the 1950s, these silos for wheat and corn on the harbor of Catania on the east coast of the island of Sicily at the foot of Mount Etna. 28 meters tall and facing the Ionian Sea, they are now some of the largest canvasses in Italy by a small group of international and local Street Artists.

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Interesni Kazki. Detail. (photo © VladyArt)

The “Art Silos” project includes works completed during an eight month installation begun in June 2015 as part of Festival “I-ART” organized by “Emergence”, thanks to Angelo Bacchelli, curated by Giuseppe Stagnitta. The artists taking part in the project were Okuda (Spain), ROSH333 (Spain), Microbo (Italy), BO130 (Italy), VladyArt (Italy), Danilo Bucchi (Italy) and the duo Interesni Kaxki (Ukraine), mostly all from the graffiti/Street Art world. A separately organized but related project on the harbor-facing row of eight silos was completed by one artist alone, the Lisbon-based Vhils.

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Interesni Kazki. Detail. (photo © VladyArt)

The project’s completion at the turn of the year culminated in one of the largest Street Art/Graffiti artists’ collective shows in Italy held in the city’s main public gallery Palazzo Platamone, entitled “Codici Sorgenti” (Source Code), which was curated by Stefano S. Antonelli and Francesca Mezzano from Rome’s 999 Contemporary Gallery.

There is talk about the possibility that this exhibition of about 60 artists work will tour throughout Europe with its message of the historic roots of modern graffiti and Street Art along with many of its most impactful practitioners pushing into the contemporary art world.

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Interesni Kazki. Detail. (photo © VladyArt)

According to Arianna Ascione in Artsblog.it, the gallery exhibition was “divided into three sections that tell the birth, interactive development and consecration of the (graffiti/street art) phenomenon” Indeed, the list contains works by 108, A One, Augustine Iacurci, Alexis Diaz, Alexone, Bo 130, Boris Tellegen (aka Delta), Brad Downey, C215, Clemens Behr, Conor Harrington, Crash, Delta 2, Dondi White, Doze Green, El Seed, Ericailcane, Eron, Escif, Evol, Faile, Feitakis, Gaia, Herbert Baglione, Horfee, Interesni Kazki, Invader, Jaz, Jeff Aerosol, Mark Jenkins, Jonone, JR, Judith Supine, Kool Poor, The Atlas, Lek & Sowat, Lucy McLauchlan, Matt Small, Maya Hayuk, Mensanger, Miss Van, Momo, Moneyless, Peeta, Rammellzee, Retna, Roa, Seth, Philippe Baudelocque, Sharp, Shepard Fairey, StenLex, Swoon, The London Police, Todd James,Toxic, and the aforementioned Vhils.

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Interesni Kazki. Detail. (photo © VladyArt)

Ironically the genre-melting inclination of so-called “urban art” has eroded the silo mentality of many who follow these art forms as they become known, followed, collected, and exhibited; As a metaphor “Art Silos” may more accurately refer to the past and the dogmatic separation of genres such as graffiti, tattoo, illustration, ad jamming, and Street Art for example.

Although not strictly what you might call public art either, the scale of “Art Silos”, with its major artworks that typically may take years to be approved in large cities elsewhere, is an occurrence routinely happening in cities around the world.

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Vlady Art and BO130. Detail. (photo © VladyArt)

For us this is one more example of the “New Muralism” that is enabling Street Artists to do major works in public spaces via non-traditional routes. On par with a public art works of other committee-approved sorts, this silo project was a private/public collaboration that made selections, secured funding and permissions from the harbor authorities, city figures, politicians and the manager of the silos themselves, according to VladyArt, who along with Microbo is one of the artists and a resident of Catania.

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Vlady Art (photo © VladyArt)

He says the size of the project and the power of the imagery combined with the process of watching them go up has drawn a lot of attention to the area lately. “The people here were amazed by our speed and the large scale operation. Catania had no large murals like this… this was the very first time for Sicily. They can be seen from far away and even from taking off from and landing at the airport – or coming by cruise line on the sea. It seems that nobody really paid that much attention to this spot before, and everyone is talking about it now.”

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BO130 and Vlady Art. Detail. (photo © VladyArt)

To understand why a project of this nature can happen so quickly these days, look no further than the location. As we have recounted numerous times, often these efforts are deliberately programmed to draw attention to economically challenged areas as a way of encouraging tourism and investment.

In fact VladyArt says that this historic region and city that dates back many centuries before Christ is having a very challenging time economically and socially and could use positive attention from a crowd that appreciates art. “Catania is somehow the most dynamic city of Sicily, because of its industrial and commercial features,” he says.

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Lucamaleonte. Work in progress. (photo © VladyArt)

“Having said that, please be aware that the south of Italy is no way wealthy or an easy place, despite its beauty and lucky location in the sun. Almost the whole city is rough, I can name a many neighborhoods where this is the case.”

So it is all the more remarkable that a multi-artist iconic installation can happen here in Catania and people are exposed to a grassroots-fueled art scene that is currently galloping across the globe.

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Lucamaleonte. Work in progress. (photo © VladyArt)

“Regular people around here don’t know much about the whole thing, street art and stuff,” says Vlady Art. “So, quite frankly they wouldn’t care much about Okuda, Vhils or Interesni. They never heard of them before and probably people will find hard to spell their names. They cannot catch the meaning or the purpose of this. They simply like what they see – they like this energy. They do get the ‘message’, the power of art.”

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Danilo Bucchi (photo © VladyArt)

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Okuda (photo © VladyArt)

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Microbo (photo © VladyArt)

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ROSH333 (photo © VladyArt)

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The Silos facing the city. (photo © VladyArt)

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Vhils on the side of the silos facing the water. (photo © VladyArt)

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This article is also published in The Huffington Post.

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BSA Film Friday 07.17.15

BSA Film Friday 07.17.15

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Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.

Now screening :

1. Roma Street Art Tribes as Captured by Dioniso Punk

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BSA Special Feature: Roma Street Art Tribes as Captured by Dioniso Punk

Gwen Stacy Parts I and II

Disorderly, discordant, and richly chaotic, these two videos are centered around the Italian street art paintings and artists whom you will recognize from our earlier postings on community/gallery organized urban art programming – but within the context of historical art publicly displayed, peoples movements, patronage, fascism, the classics.

Dioniso Punk allows everyone to talk – neighbors, artists, organizers, curators, public philosophers, elected officials, psychologists, sociologists, entrepreneurs, posers, professors, historians, students, an opera singer, the petite bourgeoisie, international visitors and hapless puzzled opinionated locals.

Discussions at panels cut into impassioned discussions by senior women in the courtyard or didactic examinations in the street – some for illustration, others for whimsy, none to be ignored. More of a fact finding mission than cogent analysis, you may find it difficult to follow the narrative and so it is better to let go and allow yourself be battered by the insights and observations delivered with the jumpy cuts and uncompleted thoughts and discussions, preferring instead to sink into the tribe of the humans, here selectively displayed for your pleasure and hopefully, edification.

(turn on the CC (closed captioning) if you do not speak Italian)

 

Featuring interviews with Solo, Gaia, Diamond 0707, Maupal, Best Ever, Bol23, Jerico, Guerrilla Spam Sen One, Sabrina, Dan, Stefano Antonelli (999 Contemporary,) Marta Ugolini (Galleria Ca’ D’Oro), Agathe Jaubourg (Pasolini Pigneto), Alìn Costache (YUT!), Edoardo Martino (Villaggio Globale), and Eleonora Zaccagnino (Acid Drop).

Special Guests: Mp5, Alice Pasquini, Mr. Thoms, Jessica Stewart, Sandro Fiorentini (La Bottega del Marmoraro).

Murals by Blu, Roa, Borondo, Etam Cru, Space Invaders, C215, Hogre, Herbert Baglione, Sten & Lex, JB Rock, Ernest, Pignon-Ernest, Etnik, Axel, Avoid, Sbagliato, Jim Avignon, Fin DAC, Jef Aerosol, Seth, Zed1, Ericailcane, Clemens Behr, Caratoes, Momo, Derek, Bruno, Kid Acne, Mto, Alexey Luka, Tellas, Moby Dick, Philippe Baudelocque, Mr. Klevra, Lucamaleonte, Diavù Kocore, Agostino Iacurci, Danilo Bucchi, Jaz, Desx, Reka, Lek & Sowat, Hopnn, Matteo, Basilé Alberonero, Ex Voto, Andreco, Moneyless, Nicola, Verlato, Ludo, L’Atlas, Escif, and Pepsy Zerocalcare.

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Alice Pasquini in Sicily for Emergence Festival

August has been brutally hot in Giardini Naxos in Sicily where Alice Pasquini joined a number of artists like Ericailcane, Oricanoodles, Bastardilla, The London Police Pork*Erya, Diamond, and JBrock for the Emergence Festival. It took a number of days to complete this mural in the heat, but says Jessica Stewart, who provides these exclusive photos for BSA readers, “We somehow survived!” At the end of the series of photographs you can see and hear a description of the project from the artist herself.

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Alice Pasquini. Giardini Naxos for Emergence Festival. Italy. (photo © Jessica Stewart)

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Alice Pasquini. Giardini Naxos for Emergence Festival. Italy. (photo © Jessica Stewart)

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Alice Pasquini. Giardini Naxos for Emergence Festival. Italy. (photo © Jessica Stewart)

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Alice Pasquini. Giardini Naxos for Emergence Festival. Italy. (photo © Jessica Stewart)

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Alice Pasquini. Giardini Naxos for Emergence Festival. Italy. (photo © Jessica Stewart)

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Alice Pasquini. Giardini Naxos for Emergence Festival. Italy. (photo © Jessica Stewart)

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Alice Pasquini. Giardini Naxos for Emergence Festival. Italy. (photo © Jessica Stewart)

In neighboring Taormina, Ms. Pasquni used some the found materials she collected in the port of Giardini Naxos to create new pieces for a show at NN Gallery. In “Di Rotta” she uses found wood and inspiration from Sicily. According to Stewart, some postcards she collected in London also were incorporated into the work. Here are a few in-studio shots of Alice as she prepares.

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Alice Pasquini. Taormina, Italy. (photo © Jessica Stewart)

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Alice Pasquini. Taormina, Italy. (photo © Jessica Stewart)

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Alice Pasquini. Taormina, Italy. (photo © Jessica Stewart)

 

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

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On The Road With Nanook, Ever, Sten & Lex Through Italy and France

What did you do this summer? We’re starting off the week with a colorful and detailed travelog  from Rosanna Bach, who really gives BSA readers a sense of the experience for Street Artists who go to distant places to create their art on walls for fun and festivals. Thanks to Rosanna as photographer and contributor, here you have an opportunity to spend some time in Italy traveling with Ever, Nanook, Sten & Lex as they go from Rome to Foligno, Italy. She documents their participation for the second edition of Attack Festival and captures the artists working under the scorching sun and in intimate, quiet settings. In this BSA exclusive Rosanna also put in words her summer experiences as she leaves Foligno for Paris where she documented EVER as he participated in Le Mur.

Roma to Foligno. We de-board the train and are about to exit the station when Ever waves me back. Sten is scuttling back and forth in the train like a trapped hamster. We thought he was stuck in there looking for an open door so we wave him over to the open door but he does not get out. He is struck with confusion as different orders fly from different directions. Meanwhile, the passengers are hanging over the windows to see what all the fuss is about.

Mission accomplished; Laptop is retrieved.

Barely begun, this trip already seems promising.

Ever. Roma to Foligno. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Foligno, Italy. This was once called the “Centre of the World” because the Pope had supposedly kept his treasury here in the 15th century. It is certainly a beautiful place, although considerably more modest than its name implies. This is where we would spend the next five days and would be introduced to the “Hurdi Gurdi”. It is also a place where it seems that the solution to every problem was, “Lets go have a coffee”.

Sten & Lex, Nanook, and Ever had been painting together at the Open Walls Festival in Baltimore just a few months back. Three very different artists, from three corners of the world, were here meeting again in the “Centre of the World” for the second ever “Attack Festival”.  Upon arrival we learn that we have arrived early. Two months early!

In September Foligno’s Attack Festival will be graced by the likes of; 108, Andrea Abbatangelo, Achille, Airone,  Bol 23,  Danilo Bucchi, Stefano Canto,  Mario Consiglio, Diamond TTS, Alberto Di Fabio, Ericailcane, Hitnes, Hogre,  JB Rock, Kindergarten,Lucamaleonte, Martina Merlini&Tellas, Roman Minin, Moneyless, Ozmo, Alice Pasquini, Cristiano Petrucci, David Pompili, David Eron Salvadei, Ale Senso, Sten&Lex.

Main Square, Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Nanook, Ever and Sten & Lex check out their new walls. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Sten & Lex. The two Italians have been working together for more then 10 years and are considered kind of the “Mama and Papa of stencil” in Italy where their current style consists of “stencil posters”; large scale wheat pasted portraits that they hand-cut intricate patterns onto. They usually use portraits of strangers, however this piece was of a friend’s brother who had taken his own life.  They will return in September for round two.

Sten & Lex, Foligno, Italy. (photo © Federica Tega)

Sten & Lex, Foligno, Italy. (photo © Federica Tega)

Nanook.  Fairly new to the street art scene (painting large scale for a year or so), he has left his studio that he used to share with “Gaia” back in Baltimore for new adventures in the old-world. He has been recording on paper his plan as he goes (from Berlin to Budapest and now Italy) “I feel so privileged to even be able to paint in this town, with all this history and the beautiful buildings”, he writes.

A calm and humble figure, he is constantly knocking out new sketches, whether using black ink or espresso in his black notebook, leaving no time for siestas. His hunger to learn is energizing; “I would just love to work and learn from an old master like they have here in Italy”.

As his style evolves playing by with realism, abstract lines and shapes, it will be very interesting to see how this young artist grows. In this piece he incorporated the shape of Umbria, the region in which Foligno lies. Now he is a one-way ticket to Buenos Aires. Lets see what happens…

Nanook “Siesta Time”. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Nanook. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Argentine artist Ever creates the most political work out of the three.

It must be a challenge to try and explain yourself in a foreign language that; you are not actually a devoted worshipper of Mao Tse Tung but that you are in fact talking about human contradiction, how in times of crisis people always seem to be convinced that the opposite is the solution. For example, as a result of the current decline of the capitalist system, many are swaying towards the left side of the political spectrum. “We are looking outward into one room. But why don’t we go to another room to find new solutions?” asks Ever.

Ever. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Ever. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Paint bucket. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Nanook, Ever. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

As passers stopped to comment, Nanook looks frazzled and Ever lets them ramble on for minutes without a clue what they are talking about. “Si si bene bene grazie, bon journi!” he’d reply to them and they’d be on their way.

The language barrier doesn’t seem to faze this one character though. He is here to stay with his beloved Hurdi Gurdi. “We make artistic exchange!” he cries.

The Hurdi Gurdi. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Nanook, Ever. Foligno, Italy. (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Once the 3 x 5 meter mural was finished I was expecting some sort of a scream of joy or something like that, but Ever just said: “I am always dissatisfied with a wall when I finish it. I never like it at first.”

We go from a scorching roadside in Foligno to “Le Mur” beside a trendy café in Montmartre, Paris. One of the few legal walls in Paris – it is a billboard-style space that a new artist is invited to paint every two weeks. “It is really hard to paint here in Paris, especially big walls,” Ever explains.

Paris. The place where Ever has spent the last 2 months, and where he lived for a while back in 2010. Paris was the turning point for him; he began to inject politics into his art. “Paris is a political place for me”.

Ever. Le Mur. Paris (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Ever. “Free Tibet” Detail. Le Mur. Paris (photo © Rosanna Bach)

After just one night the wall was tagged and “Free Tibet” stickers had been stuck on the soldiers’ suits. “No, no this is good, this is France, it’s a good thing when the people react. We leave them on. This is like a conversation with the people.”

Ever. “Free Tibet”. Le Mur. Paris (photo © Rosanna Bach)

A lady who must have been about 80 years old appeared on day one, and whipped out a huge DSLR camera from her purse. She returned there everyday since. She even brought photographs she had taken of the process and took the time to hand write the date and place on each photograph.

Ever. “Free Tibet” Le Mur. Paris (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Ever. “Free Tibet” Le Mur. Paris (photo © Rosanna Bach)

Why are you guys doing this?!” An agitated pedestrian asked me hastily. Once I explained that concept to him he replied, reassured; “Oh I see, it’s meant to be provocative.”

Ever. “Free Tibet”. Le Mur. Paris (photo © Rosanna Bach)

From what I understand, after listening to countless conversations about street art, these artists are really looking for long term investors for their work, not just fast money. They’re resisting becoming a passing phase only to be dropped like a hot potato after this street art wave dies down. Fame seems to be irrelevant – but if it is a by-product then so be it. “I don’t like business, I just want to paint”, Ever says.

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Many thanks to Rosanna Bach for her diligence, passion and her talents.

http://rosannabach.tumblr.com/

http://openwallsbaltimore.com/

http://associazioneattack.wordpress.com/

http://eversiempre.com/

http://stenlex.net/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nanookart

http://lemur.asso.fr/

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

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Fun Friday 06.01.12

1.    Bushwick Open Studios Starts Party >> Live Street Artists Doing Live Street Art! (Brooklyn)
2.    El Celso and La Luz (Brooklyn)
3.    Don Pablo Pedro at English Kills (Brooklyn)
4.    Street Art Pop Up Store (Brooklyn)
5.    Bishop 203 “Happy Torments” (Brooklyn)
6.    Dennis McNett Invites You to the Wolfbat Studios (Brooklyn)
7.    Pink Cloud (Brooklyn)
8.    Olek at Flanders Gallery (Raleigh, NC)
9.    Darkclouds does the Same Old Same Old in Boston
10.    Jef Aerosol at 30 (France)
11.    “Pandamonium” at Signal Gallery in London
12.    Herakut’s “After The Laughter” at London’s Shea & Ziegler Gallery
13.    Jon Burgerman’s “I Want To Eat Myself” (Jersey)
14.    Black Book Gallery hosts Eelus “Curious” tonight in Denver, CO.
15.    L.I.C.K. Gallery “4 of a Kind” w/ REGA, EVOKER, MikeDie and Chris RWK (Queens)
16.    Andreco and Ericailcane in Morocco (VIDEO)
17.    Pixel Pancho in Mexico City with MAMUTT Arte by Filmaciones de la Ciudad (VIDEO)

In NYC there are certain rites of Summer that mark the onset of the new season. The beaches get cleaned of condoms and medical waste every year just in time for Memorial Day Weekend for example. Children playing in spraying fire hydrants on hot days – always splendid.

Water related activities remind us of another favorite Summer rite of hormones; Wet T-shirt contests! Also, saucy libertinas with short, fresh sun dresses going up or coming down the subways’ stairs on a windy platform without knickers, that’s always a pruient plus. And shirtless boys showing off by doing tricks on bikes, skateboards, or anything really – generally making fools of themselves- another Summer tradition.

And of course Bushwick Open Studios.  This is the 6th Edition and we have loved every one.

Someone told us there are 500 open studios this year;
a. Bushwick has arrived, but you knew that
b. Artists can’t do math so don’t trust any numbers you hear for the next two days. Or is that three days?

Naturally, there will be plenty of Street Art as the scene continues to flourish and here are our recommendations …

Bushwick Open Studios Starts Party >> Live Street Artists Doing Live Street Art! (Brooklyn)

Street Artist Gilf! curates the BOS official opening reception with fellow Street Artists Bishop 203, QRST, Sheryo, The Yok, Willow, ND’A, Hellbent and Gilf! getting up live on the street. Dancing shoes are recommended. Also, clif bars.

Gilf! on the streets of Bushwick. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For more information regarding the Official Opening Party click here.

El Celso and La Luz

El Celso invites you to his studio to give you a personal demonstration of his project La Luz.

El Celso on the streets of Williamsburg. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information on El Celso’s studio click here.

Don Pablo Pedro at English Kills

Loveably stylish and morally degenerate Don Pablo Pedro will be showing at English Kills Art Gallery at the Annex.

Don Pablo Pedro on the streets of Bushwick. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Street Art Pop Up Store

Robin Grearson presents a Street Art Pop Art Store with artists including ASVP, Bethany Allard, Chris Stain, Criminy Johnson, Daniel Feral, Elle, Enzo & Nio, Gilf!, Hellbent, Jon Burgerman, LNY, Moustache Man, Nathan Pickett, ND’A, QRST, Quel Beast, Royce B.

Enzo & Nio on the streets of Bushwick. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding Street Art Pop Up Store click here.

Bishop 203 “Happy Torments”

Sharp, bold, independent Bishop 203 is one of Brooklyn’s Angels.

Bishop 203 on the streets of Bushwick. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information on Bishop 203 show click here.

Dennis McNett Invites You to the Wolfbat Studios

Dennis McNett, the master printer, puppet maker, pied piper, and maker of magic has scared many with his Street Art creatures popping out as you turn a corner. Now you are invited into the magical kingdom of Dennis McNett Wolfbat Studios. You won’t be disappointed.

Dennis McNett on the streets of Williamsburg. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information on Dennis McNett’s Wolfbat Studio click here.

Pink Cloud

Visit Pink Cloud, Abel Macias’ studio and you might end up with free art. Who knows?

Pink Cloud on the streets of Williamsburg. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information on Pink Cloud’s studio click here.

BOS has so much more than we can list here; Performances, music, fashion and a plethora of studios to visit. For a complete listing of events, calendar, schedules and BOS Directory click here.

Olek at Flanders Gallery (Raleigh, NC)

Well-behaved women rarely make history and Street Artist Olek is a prime example of that axiom.  She’s part of a group exhibition aptly entitled “Make Ends Meet” at Flanders Gallery in North Carolina. Show opens today.

Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Darkclouds does the Same Old Same Old in Boston

The New York Street Artist Darkclouds travels to Beantown to open a new show at the Lot Gallery. Check it. “Same Old, Same Old”.

Darkclouds (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Jef Aerosol at 30 (France)

Street Art Icon and Master, Jef Aerosol celebrates 30 years of stencils at Collégiale Saint-Pierre-Le-Puellier at Mairie d’Orléans, France.

Jef Aerosol on the streets of Bushwick. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Also happening this weekend:

“Pandamonium” A Group Exhibition at Signal Gallery in London is now open to the public. Click here for more details on this show.

Herakut‘s new solo show “After The Laughter” at London’s Shea & Ziegler Gallery is now open to the public. Click here for more details on this show.

Jon Burgerman‘s new show “I Want To Eat Myself” opening tonight at Carmine’s Pizza Factory in Jersey City, NJ. Click here for more details on this show.

Black Book Gallery hosts Eelus with a solo show titled “Curious” opening tonight in Denver, CO. Click here for more details on this show.

The new group show at L.I.C.K. Gallery in Long Island City, Queens titled “4 of a Kind” includes REGA, EVOKER, MikeDie and Chris RWK and it opens tomorrow. Click here for more details on this show.

Andreco and Ericailcane in Morocco (VIDEO)

 

Pixel Pancho in Mexico City with MAMUTT Arte by Filmaciones de la Ciudad (.

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

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“Freed from the Wall, Street Art Travels the World”, an Essay for “Eloquent Vandals”

The following essay by Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo, co-founders of Brooklyn Street Art, appears in the book “Eloquent Vandals The History of Nuart”, edited by Martyn Reed, Marte Jølbo, and Victoria Bugge Øye and published in 2011 by Kontur Publishing. More information appears after the essay.

Freed from the Wall, Street Art Travels the World

The Internet and the increasing mobility of digital media are playing an integral role in the evolution of Street Art, a revolution in communication effectively transforming it into the first global people’s art movement.

While that may seem hyperbolic, just witness the millions of images of Street Art uploaded on photo sharing sites, the time lapse videos and full length films online, the hundreds of blogs, websites, discussion forums, chatrooms, Facebook pages, Twitter addresses, and phone and tablet apps dedicated entirely or partially to Street Art and graffiti and the multifaceted culture that grows around it. Thousands of people daily are populating the databases, compiling a mountainous archive of something once quaintly referred to as an ephemeral art. This said, the transformative story is that the images are now freed from their sources to float in the ether for anyone with a digital device to access.  Within the space of a decade, art that once lived and died on a wall with a local population is now shared via digital capture and upload, gaining access to a worldwide audience. Immediately.

The multi-authored amorphous swirling whirlwind of street art, graffiti, public art, and urban art is simply too vast for any person to get their arms around or explain – yet our digital media tribes are enabling us to collect it, share it, and study it in larger numbers than ever imaginable. As artists and professionals for 25 years in New York, a city with a legacy of graffiti all its own, we have been extremely lucky to witness the blossoming of the current Street Art movement; to document it, analyze it, discuss it, and share it by real world means and virtual means with thousands of others.  With the dual forces of high rents and corporate gentrification pounding the final nails into the coffin of the established creative neighborhoods in Manhattan,   gritty bubbling new and youthful artist neighborhoods of Brooklyn became de facto showcases for the Street Art scene at the turn of the century, and we were shooting images and tracking its evolution from the beginning.

In concert with the Internet, all manner of art that occurs in the streets is being captured and shared, discussed, critiqued, celebrated or dismissed by people of searing intellect and those who cannot locate their own country with their finger if you spin a globe in front of them.  As text has been loosed from print in this post Gutenberg Parenthesis world of Sauerberg, so too our local Street Art is freed from its wall.  Going from “All City” to “All Timezones” has radically transformed how Street Artists perceive their work and their audience, with the concept of “place” profoundly altered.

Nuart became a focal point for many in the Street Art world in the early 2000s because of its highly curated nature and its expansive brand of personal interaction with public space.  A hybrid of high-minded civic involvement and an art form with roots solidly in anti-authoritarianism, Nuart has presented a rolling roster of Internet stars and miscreants of the Street Art scene. It’s a highly unusual mix: quality experimental elements birthed by the interconnectedness of the virtual world, soon imitated by other entrepreneurial Street Art enthusiasts.  With the help of the Internet this Norwegian port town of Stavanger is an international player in the Street Art scene, a by-invitation celebration capable of drawing a wide range of serious talent to create epic pieces in singular locations. When the images and videos of installations at Nuart are relayed through the forums and chatrooms and blogs and Flickr pages around the world, other cities begin rethinking public space and examining with a new interest the players in their own Street Art scene.

A large part of our understanding of art and its expression for generations has come from textbooks, lorded over by scholars and experts who were trained by others using similar texts passing along received knowledge and prejudices.  For those rebels of the graffiti and Street Art movement who have never given much credence to formal education, the unbound and chaotic nature of digital communications actually feels more organic and trustworthy.  In large part, with the exception of the formalism of the logical structure comprising the undergirding of the Internet, its explosive growth has been more intuitive and behavioral than left-brained or hierarchical. The beauty of a new Street Art piece on a nearby wall is electrifying to share with the digital tribe, and in so doing, it legitimizes ones status among peers and the work of the artist as well. With the innate desire to learn being regularly quenched by members of this tribe, collective intelligence is rising more quickly than any organized curricula could ever aspire.

Image Capture, Sharing, and Platforms

Graffiti and Street Artists have always benefitted from documentation of photographers like John Naar, Keith Baugh, Martha Cooper, Henry Chalfant, and James Prigoff, who are largely responsible for the capture and preservation of the historical knowledge we now have of graffiti in New York City during the 1970s and 1980s.  Without the benefit of instant communication of these images, copies of Cooper and Chalfant’s book Subway Art and Charlie Ahearn’s movie Wild Style relied upon actual physical distribution channels and commerce to travel around the world and inspire young artists. “Viral” was a word associated with antibiotics.

As film turned to digital at the turn of the century and cameras and personal computers became far more affordable, the convergence of technology gave professional and amateur photographers the incentive to roam the streets hunting for street art and the ability to have the instant gratification of seeing their photos online. As in the early days of graffiti, Street Artists of the 2000s didn’t shy away from the attention photographers were giving to their work and a new symbiotic relationship between the street artists and web savvy photographers was born where certain artists would place their work where it was likely to be seen and photographed, and hopefully distributed online. Like the days of Cooper et al., digital photographers assisted many of the current stars of Street Art to gain exposure to an appreciative fan base and to increase their popularity during the decade.

With the introduction of the online image-sharing platform called Flickr in 2004, the already rapid spread of Street Art photography completely ballooned as fans from every city and town and hamlet began uploading their Street Art images to one location where everyone could coalesce around their common interest. With a database structure and system for tagging, images could be categorized, sorted and most importantly, searched. No longer reliant on the approval of gatekeepers or site curators, Street Artists gained autonomy and audience largely on their own terms and with the help of photographers who scoured the streets to capture their work. Of the current 6 billion or so images uploaded to the site since then, millions are of street art – a de facto common repository and shared research archive for artists, professionals, curators, collectors, and casual fans.

A new central nervous system in formation, Flickr and other lesser-known sharing platforms had a profound causational relationship to the dissemination of Street Art culture to a worldwide audience.  You knew Melbourne and Bristol and São Paulo and New York had a Street Art scene, but Sacramento? Shanghai? Stavanger?  In addition to images and videos, the platform provided common space for exchange of opinion, ideas, and news, fostering online and offline relationships and enabling Street Artists and photographers to pursue their work as a possible career route.

Photo sharing sites of course are not the only means for the worldwide distribution and formation of a common understanding of Street Art culture. Today’s digital biosphere includes primary content sites and blogs, aggregators (or self-described “curators”), peer-to-peer forums, Social Media, and mobile apps as part of the overall knowledge base, forming an increasingly common understanding about Street Art, it’s origins and it’s evolving expression in the public sphere. No one can doubt that this familiarity has only aided its popularity.

In one significant role-reversal, the online experience of Street Art has also altered the behaviors on the streets and once sacrosanct “rules” of the street have been turned on their head. Although it was once verboten to reveal a street location for fear of reprisal, now both street artists and fans geotag their images so they can be found on a map with any GPS enabled device. As mobile device use eclipses Internet use in the next couple of years and hardware and software becomes more flexible, sophisticated, affordable, and available, there is no doubt that more apps and platforms using mapping and GPS are likely to thrive. Whether through image sharing platforms or mobile apps, these systems of tagging are providing exact information for self-guided tours by fans and tour groups, peers, enemies, and of course, law enforcement.

Excerpts from additional subtopics of this essay:

Tribes and Co-Surveillance

“The growth of connectivity is producing a foundational change to the world of the Street Artist and his or her relation to society as a hidden and/or marginalized figure. Increasingly it appears that it is impossible to be socially isolated when you are so busy relating, even if anonymously. Unwittingly, the stereotypical vision of the outsider is melting as one is pulled into a collective environment where peers regulate and monitor the actions of one another and settle disputes or give encouragement and opportunities. The new digital world, once thought to be impersonal, is increasingly fluid, intuitive, and connected; enabling a near eradication of feelings of estrangement, ostracization, marginalization, and isolation for many people, Street Artists included.”

Reaching an Audience

“Arguably the act of spraying a tag or signing your name to your art can be called advertising or at the very least, branding; A Street Art purist who rejects any ideas of the advertising taint may instead put their work on the bottom side of a railroad tie, but we haven’t heard of it. Everyone understands that the primary motivation is to have one’s work seen, and thanks to the Internet and digital media, an ever-growing sophistication in self marketing is on display from Street Artists who are adept at making art, and even those who are not.”

Democratization, Homogenization and Gate Keepers No More

“A certain homogenization of recurring styles, techniques, and themes due to mass disbursement also has begun, creating certain elements of an international style with clearly traced antecedents. A common language, vocabulary, and terminology that began with print media and graffiti continues to grow and refine itself. An international galaxy of galleries and festivals, and increasingly, museums, expands and contracts with lists of overlapping names traveling from continent to continent in search of walls.  Listed after the artist’s name in parenthesis is the abbreviation of their country but in practice the Internet has quickly enabled them to become virtually stateless. Thanks to instant availability, a 14 year old in a sleepy small town is schooling himself with YouTube right now and with luck and skill will inherit that state as well.”

 

~ Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo, co-founders of Brooklyn Street Art

Read the full essay in:

ELOQUENT VANDALS “THE HISTORY OF NUART”

Available Internationally on Amazon
Buy Now, Norwegian : Platekompaniet

Editors: Martyn Reed, Marte Jølbo, Victoria Bugge Øye,
Features: 304 Pages, full colour, hardcover
Format: 21 x 26cm
Language: English & Norwegian
Publisher : Kontur Publishing

Eloquent Vandals is the definitive book on one of the worlds leading street art festivals featuring exclusive essays from some of scene’s biggest names. Over 300 pages of exclusive images including works by Swoon, Brad Downey, David Choe, Vhils, Blu, Ericailcane, Logan Hicks, Dface, Nick Walker, Judith Supine, Graffiti Research Lab, Blek Le Rat and many more…

Eloquent Vandals tells the story of how Stavanger, a small city on the West Coast of Norway gained a global reputation for Street Art. For the past six years, the annual Nuart Festival has invited an international team of Street Artists to use the city as their canvas. From tiny stencils and stickers to building sized murals, from illicit wheat-paste posters on the outskirts of the city to “Landmark“ pieces downtown, found everywhere from run down dwellings and train sidings to the city’s leading galleries and fine art institutions, Eloquent Vandals documents the development of not only Nuart, but also one of the most exciting art movements of our times.

 

 

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BSA in Print : “Eloquent Vandals”, the Book about Nuart

The Internet and the increasing mobility of digital media are playing an integral role in the evolution of Street Art, a revolution in communication effectively transforming it into the first global people’s art movement.

While that may seem hyperbolic, just witness the millions of images of Street Art uploaded on photo sharing sites, the time lapse videos and full length films online, the hundreds of blogs, websites, discussion forums, chatrooms, Facebook pages, Twitter addresses, and phone and tablet apps dedicated entirely or partially to Street Art and graffiti, and the multifaceted culture that grows around it. Thousands of people daily are populating the databases, compiling a mountainous archive of something once quaintly referred to as an ephemeral art. This said, the transformative story is that the images are now freed from their sources to float in the ether for anyone with a digital device to access. Within the space of a decade, art that once lived and died on a wall with a local population is now shared via digital capture and upload, gaining access to a worldwide audience. Immediately.”Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo, Eloquent Vandals : A History of Nuart Norway

Street Artist ROA in Norway (photo courtesy Nuart)

One of the three books BSA was published in during 2011, Eloquent Vandals tells the story of a Norwegian waterfront town that became a focal point for the emergence of Street Art during the first decade of the century. Edited by Marte Jølbo, Victoria Bugge Øye, and the Nuart festival founder Martyn Reed, the book explains how badass Street Artists and vandals can coalesce for a few weeks to make great walls come alive and educate through forums, roundtables, and lectures. Nuart and its accidental oracle, Mr. Reed, give us a smart and shining story of how to brilliantly engage public space with the very same artists who usually get blamed for defiling it.

Vhils at Nuart (photo © CF Salicath)

Over the last few years this port called Stavanger became a high profile portal for thrilling work by many globally known Street Art explorers every September and thanks to the easy reach of digital communications, people in cities across the globe experienced it. That was the very aspect that drew us into the project; the fact that Street Art has become so global so rapidly thanks to the engagement of everyday people via digital technology. In our chapter “Freed from the Wall, Street Art Travels the World”, we deconstruct the various pathways and digital social tribes that enable an elevated consciousness about this global peoples art movement.

“A large part of our understanding of art and its expression for generations has come from textbooks, lorded over by scholars and experts who were trained by others using similar texts passing along received knowledge and prejudices.  For those rebels of the graffiti and Street Art movement who have never given much credence to formal education, the unbound and chaotic nature of digital communications actually feels more organic and trustworthy.”

Skewville represents Brooklyn at Nuart (photo © Marte Jølbo)

To be invited to participate in this book along with experts whom we admire greatly, most notably culture critic Carlo McCormick and author and lecturer Tristan Manco, is a great honor. To give background and context for a festival that includes some of the heavy talents in Street Art including Vhils, Blu, Skewville, Logan Hicks, Graffiti Research Lab, Blek Le Rat, Chris Stain, Ericailcane, Swoon, Judith Supine, Nick Walker, Dot Masters, ROA, M-City, Evol, Dan Witz and many more, it was a rare honor indeed.

Dot Masters toying around at Nuart (photo © Nuart)

 

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Fun Friday 10.28.11

Basically today is the kickoff of a 4 day Halloween weekend of debauchery for many NYC freaks in the streets, loft parties, and bars. You are permitted to wear your Halloween costume at all times, including sleeping in a pile of barf and fake blood.

Some of the favorite Halloween costumes this year are Nicky Minaj, Angry Birds, Captain America, Charlie Sheen, a Pink Slip, a Topless Occupy Wall Street Protester, the Koch Brothers, Snooki or John Bohner (orange paint required), and your Chase Bank Student Loan Officer, Mrs. Snippet.

Top Stories this week on Fun Friday:

1. Bushwick Tonight – Beat Nite

2. The Rainbow Machine at Active Space

3. Launch of “Eloquent Vandals” Tonight in Stavanger

4. DAIN at Rook and Raven Gallery, “You Rest You Rust”

5. D’Face Never Liked What You Did Anyway (VIDEO)

Bushwick Tonight – Beat Nite

Jason Andrew continues to make the rallying cry for this art crawl/bar crawl in Bushwick, Brooklyn and it’s always an eclectic mix of badass, confounding, and clever work inside the galleries that are sprinkled around this neighborhood splattered with a fair share of Street Art. The beat we think of is the one on the streets here, where the air is infused with industrial sediment and diesel fumes, and electricity. Among the wandering artkids, quizzical conceptualists, and the odd hot-aired impresario claiming to be the original scene starter, you can look out  for intermittent zombies tonight.

Beat Nite: Bushwick Art Spaces Stay Open Late
Friday, October 28, 2011 6-10PM

Voted “Best Neighborhood-Wide Gallery Night” by L MAGAZINE, participating art spaces include among others: Norte Maar, Centotto, English Kills, Famous Accounts, Regina Rex, Storefront, Valentine Gallery, and the long awaited debut of AirPlane Gallery.

The official after party will be held at The Bodega. This episode of BEAT NITE is sponsored by Hyperallergic.

http://nortemaar.org/ 

The Rainbow Machine at The Active Space

Interactivity is the name of the game and you can be part of “The Rainbow Machine”, a deceivingly simple installation by Reid Bingham and Sean McIntyre where you stand still with a smile across your face while Sean sprints behind you with his custom programmed rainbow machine. Expect wilder variations in models and backgrounds than these rather tame participants in our example below.

 

 

“The Rainbow Machine” by Reid Bingham and Sean McIntyre. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Active Space will be a part of “Bushwick Beat Night”. For more information please click on the link below:

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/2011/10/19/the-active-space-presents-the-rainbow-machine-by-reid-bingham-and-sean-mcintyre-brooklyn-ny/

Launch of “Eloquent Vandals” Tonight in Stavanger

If you find yourself in Stanvanger, Norway today NUART invites you to the launch of “Eloquent Vandals”. It’s a history of Nuart we’ve been anticipating!

” Nuart became a focal point for many in the Street Art world because of its highly curated nature and its expansive brand of personal interaction with public space.  A hybrid of high-minded civic involvement and an art form with roots solidly in anti-authoritarianism, Nuart has presented a rolling roster of Internet stars and miscreants of the Street Art scene. ” – Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo

 

 

The definitive book on one of the worlds leading street art festivals featuring exclusive essays from some of scene’s biggest names. Over 300 pages of exclusive images including works by Swoon, David Choe, Vhils, Blu, Ericailcane, Logan Hicks, Dface, Nick Walker, Judith Supine, Graffiti Research Lab, Blek Le Rat and many more…

Eloquent Vandals tells the story of how Stavanger, a small city on the West Coast of Norway gained a global reputation for Street Art. For the past six years, the annual Nuart Festival has invited an international team of Street Artists to use the city as their canvas. From tiny stencils and stickers to building sized murals, from illicit wheat-paste posters on the outskirts of the city to “Landmark“ pieces downtown, found everywhere from run down dwellings and train sidings to the city’s leading galleries and fine art institutions, Eloquent Vandals documents the development of not only Nuart, but also one of the most exciting art movements of our times. Features specially commissioned essays and texts by Carlo McCormick, Tristan Manco, Logan Hicks, Chris Stain, Steven Harrington & Jaime Rojo, Leon Cullinane and Martyn Reed.
————————————————————————————————————————–

WELCOME TO THE LAUNCH OF THE MUCH ANTICIPATED HISTORY OF NUART BOOK
TOU SCENE, ØLHALLENE
FRIDAY 28TH OCTOBER – 19.00

GUEST DJ’S, GIVE-AWAYS, OPEN BAR

For more information regarding this event click on the link below:

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/2011/10/18/nuart-presents-an-invitation-to-the-launch-of-eloquent-vandals-stanvanger-norway/

DAIN at Rook and Raven Gallery, “You Rest You Rust”

“You Rest You Rust” Opens today in London, featuring work by Brooklyn Street Artist DAIN.

 

Dain on the streets of London (photo © Dain)

Here’s a sneek peak at one of the new piece’s Dain will be unveiling at the show.

For more information regarding this show click on the link below:

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/2011/10/27/rook-and-raven-gallery-presents-you-rest-your-rust-a-group-show-london-uk/

D’Face Never Liked What You Did Anyway (VIDEO)

 

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