All posts tagged: PAT PERRY

The Crystal Ship 2023 Sets Sail

April 19, 2023 Artists

“Ostend isn’t a metropolis like London, Berlin and Paris” explains Belgian art curator Bjørn Van Poucke to reporter Colin Clapson. He’s referring to the limitation in the number of walls available for legal murals. He should know, he’s responsible for The Crystal Ship, a contemporary art festival that has taken place in this coastal city since 2016 and has become one of the most significant street art festivals in Europe, attracting renowned artists from around the world.

Jaune. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)

“Ostend certainly has an impressive collection of street art with a wide variety of large and small pieces painted on all kinds of residential and commercial buildings,” says renowned photographer Martha Cooper, who was invited there by Mr. Van Poucke this year. “There’s a good paper map available at the tourist office and also an excellent website so people can find the walls,” says Cooper.

Every year the Crystal Ship invites a diverse range of international artists to create large-scale murals and public art installations throughout the city – names have included well-known and regarded artists like Miss Van, Alexis Diaz, and Fintan Magee – each bringing their own aesthetic to this festival/event that receives support from a mix of private and government funding that is local and national. For more about the past artists, you can check out The Crystal Ship website. Many of these artists’ work can also be found in Ruby Gallery, where Van Poucke and co-owner Thierry Dubois organize exhibitions on canvas.

In the past, the festival has showcased over 60 murals and art installations, and many are spaced far from one another, so Ms. Cooper tells us she had an excellent driver named Lorre Soenen to take her around. “He was very knowledgeable about the murals,” she says.

“Bringing people closer to art is the aim of The Crystal Ship” explains Mayor Bart Tommelein on the VRT news website. “It happens at the heart of the city, on walls at the centre of neighbourhoods, where people live and work.”

Jaune. Detail. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Jaune. Martha Cooper stencil. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Jaune. Martha Cooper cut out figurine. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo courtesy of Martha Cooper)

Jaune. Martha Cooper pictured here at Jaune’s exhibition at Ruby Gallery. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo courtesy of Martha Cooper)

Cleon Peterson. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Ellena Lourens. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Ellena Lourens. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo courtesy of The Crystal Ship)

Gviiie. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Julien De Casabianca. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Julien De Casabianca. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo courtesy of The Crystal Ship)

Pat Perry. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Moulaye Sarr. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Joelle Dubois. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Joelle Dubois. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo courtesy of The Crystal Ship)

Mobstr. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Momo. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Slim Safont. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Slim Safont. Official opening of the festival. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Slim Safont. The Crystal Ship 2023. Ostend, Belgium. (photo courtesy of The Crystal Ship)

BSA Images Of The Week: 09.30.18 – UPEA Special

September 30, 2018 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

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.

So here is a sample from what we found from UPEART’s two previous iterations before the recently completed UPEART 2018.

So here is our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Apolo Torres, Artz, Dulk, Espoo, Fintan Magee, Guido Van Helten, Pat Perry, Smug, Teemu Maenpaa, Tellas, and Telmo & Miel.

Top Image: Millo. UPEA 2017. Jyväskylä, Finland. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Telmo & Miel. UPEA 2017. Joensuu, Finland. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Fintan Magee. UPEA 2017. Helsinki, Finland. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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

Guido van Helten. UPEA 2016. Helsinki, Finland. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pat Perry. UPEA 2017. Helsinki, Finland. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Teemu Mäenpää. UPEA 2017. Espoo, Finland. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dulk. UPEA 2017. Espoo, Finland. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Apolo Torres. UPEA 2017. Helsinki, Finland. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artez. UPEA 2017. Espoo, Finland. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tellas. UPEA 2016. Helsinki, Finland. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Murals Across Finland: UPEA ’17 Sweeps More Cities

November 7, 2017 Artists

From the country with the highest standard of living comes a country-wide mural festival called UPEA for 2017! Only in their second year, they are going big here at home.

Messy Desk. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Markus Hänninen)

Okay, the murals are not in every city of this Scandinavian country, but if lead curator and visionary (and former graffiti writer) Jorgos Fanaris realizes his vision, there will be even more than the 40 or so murals the festival has already put up over the last two years in cities like Helsinki, Riihimäki, Kemi, Kotka, Espoo, Turku, and Hyvinkää.

Yes, some of the current international circuit of mural stars are here. So are a stunning selection of Finnish talents and less recognizeable names, making this a conscientious formulation that respects the culture and highlights the global movement simultaneously.

Guido Van Helten. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Erho Aalto)

Like many of today’s mural festivals and far from their illegal Street Art/graffitti roots, many of UPEA 17 are mega-murals; multi-story and sophisticated images borrowing from many strains of art history and popular culture – even conceptual art – as much as anything else.

These and other signs of curatorial/organization maturity are not typically hallmarks of two year old festivals, and we could provide a list of rookie mistakes that have plagued others we’ve covered over the last decade. This is probably because UPEA 17 is the result of many years of on-the-ground organizing experience and street culture knowledge – and multiple false starts and obstacles that blocked organizers in the years leading up to last years inaugural outdoor exhibition. People on the ground will tell you that logistics and costs and bureaucracy and local politics are always factors to pull off a festival well. In our experience, so is time.

Teemu Mäenpää. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Tomi Salakari)

We were lucky to have an extensive interview with Jorgos Fanaris about this years successes, the challenges along the way, and his roots in the scene.

Brooklyn Street Art: How is UPEA 2017 different from the first edition?
Jorgos Fanaris: Compared to UPEA16, UPEA17 was of course much bigger. More artists and more projects, but also bigger projects. The first edition was more of testing the concept and feeling around what we could do. The second edition was really about making an impact, letting everyone know about UPEA as an event that creates notable art in public spaces, that we are serious and we are here to stay.

Millo. UPEA Festival 2017. Finalnd. (Photo © John Blåfield)

Brooklyn Street Art: You had an incredibly wide variety of artists painting: From large scale realist portraiture, to surrealism to cartoons, landscape etc…is there a specific style that resonates better with the public?
Jorgos Fanaris: The amount of talented artists that have already participated in UPEA in the first two years, is humbling to say the least. We are very privileged and honored to have had them.

If I evaluate the response the artworks have received from the public, I think raising a specific style in a position that it somehow communicates more with the audience wouldn’t be right. For example if we think realistic portraiture and classic style of Guido van Helten, its easy for anyone to understand that this is technically really difficult to execute in this scale. This year in Hämeenlinna we did the 56m high silos, which of course by the sheer size is something that makes people go “Whooaaaa, how can he do that? We must go and see”.

Dulk. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Tomi Salakari)

The project gathered and still gathers spectators in huge numbers. During the project there were traffic jams in the area on Sundays. On the other hand in Lahti, the artist named Messy Desks did the crazy cartoon style piece that has million things happening. It created a huge buzz and received a lot of response from people. She was getting gifts from people from the area and was taken out for formal dinners after for appreciation and show of gratitude. Kids are ecstatic about it, knocking on the “doors” and “windows” trying to get someone to open.

At the same time, the second wall we did in Lahti with Roberto Ciredz, a surrealistic piece with total harmony, which by no accident is totally different from Messy Desks wall, was voted as people’s favorite of the two in local newspaper. There are so many things that contribute the overall feedback. I think every style and approach has its place and purpose.

Brooklyn Street Art: Murals become part of a neighborhood, part of the storytelling and lifetime benchmark associations and memories people have – as well as part of the fabric and character of a city. How has the festival been received by the people whose daily lives will be impacted with the presence of the murals?
Jorgos Fanaris: The artworks created a lot of excitement and grassroots movement in their own areas and communities. In Kontula Helsinki, the triple walls by Fintan Magee, Apolo Torres and Pat Perry encouraged the residents to do a “night of arts” event for the unveiling of the artworks. They had food, live music, fire performance and other artistic activities. Over 1500 people attended and possibly the event will continue next year.

Eero Lampinen. UPEA Festival 2017. Finalnd. (photo © Henrik Dagnevall)

In Espoo Matinkylä, where Artez did a great piece, the residents organized an celebration event with huge number of activities, dozens of performances and speakers, about thousand people attending the event. In Kotka, where Smug did the amazing wall right in the city centre, the city made an official unveiling for the wall by closing the street and having a horn orchestra perform. Hundreds of people attended even though it was on a Friday during the work hours.

These are just few examples. We saw a lot of these type of things grow from the artworks we did this year.. We see that street art gets reactions from people who might not be too involved with art in general, like going to the galleries for example. The artworks are a refreshing injection into the community and it’s super exiting for us to see things starting grow from them.

Onur. UPEA Festival 2017. Finalnd. (photo © John Blåfield-Valmis)

Brooklyn Street Art: Do you get support from community and city officials for the festival?
Jorgos Fanaris: Yes, we are working with the officials in every city we are in. The support has been great, possibly due to the fact that we have been able to create an event this size with fairly limited organization and funding.

Still the way we execute different projects really varies. Regardless of how much the city is involved, the permits, which are always a big thing in Finland, are handled by their own unit inside the city. In some cases the city assists us in the permit process and it can be very helpful. But also in many cases we handle the whole process completely. From searching locations and handling all the permits and other things all the way to executing the artwork. The range is very wide on different projects. Still, the city is involved and even if we are doing permits and related responsibilities ourselves, it helps that they are officially supporting the project in the background. Everyone has a common goal to make the project happen and in a positive spirit they work towards that goal together.

Onur. UPEA Festival 2017. Finalnd. (photo © John Blåfield-Valmis)

Brooklyn Street Art: What drives you to make this festival happen? What is the motivation? The incentive?
Jorgos Fanaris: Upeart is a collective of people from various backgrounds; from graffiti, city development to event organizing and more. I think the motivation varies depending on who you ask. But in general, it’s about interest in the possibilities art has in public spaces. The vision to push for ambitious ideas, pushing limits further and willingness to take chances.

I personally, have a graffiti background from late 80’s to beginning of the new millennium. When I painted myself, I was mainly, especially in the later years, interested in graffiti as a tool in getting reactions from ordinary people by using public space or things that move in that space. At some point, I moved away from actively painting and started working in music projects, doing shows and stuff like that.

During those years, Finland gradually started to dismantle the very strict zero tolerance on graffiti and street art they had imposed in the country for years. Many youth and grassroot organizations worked years relentlessly on it and it started finally to show some results around 2008. At some point, I thought the time would be right to start something like this. Do it seriously and professionally. We actually tried to start an ambitious project like UPEA for few years, but it was difficult. We had of course no money at all and with that also no guarantees about anything.

Ricky Lee-Gordon. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Rikupekka Lappalainen)

Then we tried to get a group of people together with the same goal to work on the project. With 3-4 people each contributing a little, combined, it creates an effort big enough to start an interesting thing – on paper at least. It proved to be very difficult. We had actually two tries that failed to make any progress.

We came together with a couple of people, agreed about the goal and how we should work towards it. But when it came down to doing real work for it – nothing much occurred. To me it was really strange. I feel that we wasted a lot of time and energy of course, and it was really frustrating. But eventually, probably after three years or something from the original idea, Upeart started to come together and this time with people who have the drive and are actually willing to work for it. So finally, the organization and the event UPEA was born on the third try.

Brooklyn Street Art: This is a very young festival, only two editions. Did you look at other festivals as an inspiration for UPEA?
Jorgos Fanaris: Yes, of course. You look around other festivals and different things that people do everywhere for ideas. I personally think that there are a lot of new and exciting things happening in several places around the globe. That’s why keeping your eyes open and trying to learn from everything is important. You see things and think, wow that’s so cool, could we do something like that? You add your own ideas in to it and it changes to something else.

Wasp Elder. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Matti Nurmi)

It’s a notable fact that UPEA is so young, like a little baby. We are not there yet and have huge task ahead of us on refining the concept. Already this year we wanted to do several other things besides murals, but we just didn’t have the resources to execute. But its ok, things always need time. The organization needs to grow, the concept needs to be refined and we need to build up our personal networks and several other things. In this process of maturing and finding the way for you, it helps if you see what else is going on around the world.

Brooklyn Street Art: What distinguishes UPEA from other European Street Art Festivals?
Jorgos Fanaris: I guess one obvious thing compared to many others, is that UPEA is a multicity event held all over the country. Finland is a small country, only 5 million people and the biggest city the capitol Helsinki, has only 1 million. When we thought about the concept, we really had to think about what will happen when we do a large number of big artworks and how it progresses when we do this year after year. We thought we would need serious space to execute on the level that we want year after year.

Apolo Torres. UPEA Festival 2017. Finalnd. (photo © Anna Vlasoff)

One thing of course also is that we have seriously big projects, especially on the second edition this year.

Considering we had the 56m high silos, triple side by side 8 story buildings, a complete house on all four sides and several single big 6-8 story buildings and so on, the sizes of the projects were huge. However now that we are looking forward at upcoming years, I think UPEA will become more and more original and mature to something very unique. Also one thing is, that several artists have told me, UPEA is one of the best organized events they have participated in. True or not (I think they are nice and say that in every event), I think this a proper note to end an interview!

Telmo & Miel. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Antti Ryynänen)

Rustam Qbic. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Tomi Salakari)

Artez. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Tomi Kaukolehto)

Andrea Wan. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Jorma Simonen)

Smug. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Tommi Mattila)

Vesod. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Anssi Huovinen)

Roberto Ciredz. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Markus Hänninen)

Jussi27. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Anssi Huovinen)

Pat Perry. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Tomi Salakari)

Fintan Magee. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Tomi Salakari)

Jani Leinonen. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Tomi Salakari)

Logos or graffiti tags? Jani Leinonen. UPEA Festival 2017. Finland. (photo © Tomi Salakari)

BSA Images Of The Week: 05.07.17

May 7, 2017 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Whether by design or organically grown, we have always gravitated to what we call “Magnet Walls” – those graffiti/Street Art gardens in a town or city that are an open canvas for artists to get up, try out new ideas, experiment with materials, implement a strategy. These walls play an important role in the ecosystem of what we call Street Art or Urban Art. They’re not always explicitly illegal because their reputation draws 10s or 100s of artists to pile on year after year without interruption. The building owners could be allowing the expressions to take place for charitable reasons, more likely just neglect.

The role of these magnet walls is important …and so we are happy to see that while some walls have ceased to exist in some New York neighborhoods in recent years, mostly due to the voracious appetite of developers and the dulling effects of gentrification – “the shack” in Bushwick, the candy factory in Soho to mention just two of them – others are flourishing elsewhere. Today we have many images from a block known as the Great Wall of Savas in Queens.

Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring: Aito Katazaki, A Cool55, Amanda Marie, bunnyM, Dirt Cobain, Hektad, JerkFace, Key Detail, Martian Code Art, Pat Perry, Stikman, Thrashbird, What Will You Leave Behind, and WhisBe.

Top image: Thrashbird at The Great Wall of Savas. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Thrashbird at The Great Wall of Savas. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Thrashbird at The Great Wall of Savas. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Thrashbird at The Great Wall of Savas. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Thrashbird & WhisBe collab at The Great Wall of Savas. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pat Perry for Art in Ad Places. “Drop Bones Not Bombs”. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jerkface (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amanda Marie (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saint Francis reaching out to an Angry Bird – as he would, because he’s a saint. Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A Cool55 at The Great Wall of Savas. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stikman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The artist’s name is What Will You Leave Behind. “Email me your heart”(photo © Jaime Rojo)

A small poem in the corner reads, “Email me your heart. Then in the morning while we watch the sun rise, kneeling down by the river, the blood drips freely as we wash our hands clean”

bunnyM (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aito Kitazaki at The Great Wall of Favas. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aito Kitazaki for East Village Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Key Detail for East Village Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Martian Code Art and Hektad at The Great Wall of Savas. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dirt Cobain at The Great Wall of Savas. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Queens, NYC. April 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DETROIT: Murals In The Market. Dispatch 5. Details to Blow Your Mind

September 24, 2016 Artists

This week BSA is in Detroit with our hosts 1XRun for the Murals in the Market festival they are hosting with 50+ artists from various countries and disciplines and creative trajectories. In a city trying to rise from the economic and post-industrial ashes it is often the dynamic grassroots energy and vision of artists that sets the tone for how the community evolves.

Detroit rocked in many ways this week, not least because Roula David and Jesse Corey know how to manage a big moveable feast of walls and artists and food and lodging and parties and openings and donuts and a print business and gallery and still manage to have quality time with Oscar, their four year old chocolate pug-mix master who pretty much goes wherever he wants and investigates the scene.

Chris Saunders at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Together David and Corey and the team spread their wings wide to make sure everybody gets taken care of, and we salute their talent and passion. The 1XRun crew, and there are like 20 of them, don’t mess around when getting equipment and cold water bottles and cans of paint and ladders to the artists, along with a hundred other small and large favors and forms of assistance that make this thing run smoothly. And kindly.

The details can really make the difference, in life and in art of course. Today we’ll show you some of the details of a few pieces that resonate from this years collection of vibrating visuals on the street in this part of east Detroit. And you can see that some murals are close to being finished as well. A selection of the completed walls will follow soon from this successful second year of Murals in the Market.

Hueman at work on her mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Apexer at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Apexer. Process shot. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

1010 at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

1010. Process shot. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Slick. Detail. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pat Perry. Process shot. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. Jago . Xenz. Process shot. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lauren YS . Ouizi. Detail. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Felipe Pantone. Detail. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dalek . Taylor White. Detail. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DETROIT: Murals In The Market. Dispatch 4: The Beat of the Street and “Mighty Love”

September 22, 2016 Artists

Pat Perry at work on his mural. Also, his truck. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Every city, every neighborhood it seems, has its own beat on the street. It is a rhythm of movement and sound and light comprised of different elements that meter the activity, determine its pacing, its lilt, its cadence.

Cars figure heavily into the beat of this wide-spread city of Detroit of course, an inherited trait central to the story of this factory town that gives certain deference to cars and trucks careening around corners and flying up battered blocks. Riding bicycles, as we do to quickly cover ground and see murals and artists, is a curiosity and not always respected by drivers.

Greg Mike at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

But the rhythm of the human-powered bike is not entirely foreign here either, as the city boasts some of the most tricked out custom rides you are likely to see and posses of show-biking clubs like Detroit’s East Side Riders, who can shut down a few blocks at a time with flashy illuminated music thumping parades of stylish riders parading through.

The Slow Roll, which is a now a seasonal weekly biking event run by the non-profit Detroit Bike City, Inc. brings as many as 3- 4,000 bicyclists at a time to the city streets, a communal event that reintroduces people to each other and to their city.

Selina Miles at work with her camera. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

There is cacophony in the market, with deliver trucks, sixteen wheelers, and construction and forklifts and all the hallmarks of light industry. Right now there are colorful and oddly dressed artists weaving like mangy cats through the sidewalks and streets with cans in their backpacks and visions in their heads.

Add to the mix the golf-cart driving 1XRun folks who are bringing bottled water, ladders, electrical generators flying around corners and rumbling up and down The Dequindre Cut, a below-grade pathway that used to carry the Grand Trunk Western Railroad line here on the east side – suitably covered with graffiti along its sidewalls.

Kevin Lyons at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Toss in a few art gallerists, dreadlocked organic farmers, meat cutters and conduit benders in their respective aprons, graphic design shops, lifestyle brands, waitresses, drug dealers posing as fans, intrepid looky-loos with white-sneakers and cameras and maps of murals, watermelons, gladiolas, bags of string beans, the occasional pop-up DJ tent, camera grip, skateboarder, wide-eyed sophist, tattooed Romeo, army-booted art-school woman, and a random chicken who is pecking among the grass between street bricks by a dumpster and you’ll get an idea of this particular menagerie of sights and sounds.

It’s a beat on the street that is full of rumbling, beeping, clicking, thumping – sometimes placid, sometimes crashing. All full of life and possibility, and one that is only contained in this very moment.

1010. Process shot. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Xenz at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

OG Slick is gradually revealing his animated burner on a quiet side street. Process shot. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cey Adams at work on his mural, inspired by a classic mid-70s hit “Mighty Love” by the Spinners, sometimes called the Detroit Spinners. Cey took a minute for us to find the song on his iphone and pump up the sound. Then he wished he had brought some speakers, but it still sounded beautiful. A great moment of harmony on the street. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shades at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sheefy at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

English documentary photographer and fan of Street Art and featured artist of Murals in the Market this year, Janette Beckman in front of Chris Saunders mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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DETROIT: Murals In The Market. Dispatch 1

September 19, 2016 Artists

A Detroit lion taking form thanks to Atlanta’s Greg Mike at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This market place is known for its local based foods and community based Detroit roots. We’re getting rides in cars at the moment – it is Detroit after all – but the best way to see the murals is on foot. Of course you may discover that there are some cutty little behind the scenes organic graffiti and Street Art spots too and this city has a lot of those as well.

Also, football fans – an ocean of them having “tailgate” parties in parking lots not far from the stadium before, during, and after the actual game. An organic practice born from the counter culture with hippies and rock bands back in the 60s and 70s, the “tailgating” of today is full-blown commodified excess with tents, chairs, flatscreen TVs, and beer. Lots of beer.

The wiley, quirky artists painting walls in the Eastern Market were inundated yesterday with these fans in team jerseys looking for parking spots and mural fans following maps and snapping pictures, and guys asking for a loosie or a light. Between the clubs/cafes, the sports fans, motorcyclists, custom bike tours, and pop-up djs hanging with the artists-the neighborhood was thumping with and aural menagerie of classic rock, funkadelic, hip-hop, and many slices of dance/techno throughout the day into the night.

Here a just a few of the artists at work whom we caught in the late summer Detroit sun.

Greg Mike at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Greg Mike is getting to work on the facade of a factory-like abandoned, now refurbishing, building that is jammed with organic graffiti inside. He came from a design background and says he grew up loving old-school cartoons like Ren & Stimpy and 1960s Disney characters. “All of that stuff inspires me and I like to mix it up and kind of mash them together,” he says.

Aside from being the symbol of the Detroit football team, the lion figures into his piece because it reminds him of his iconic personal character “Larry Loudmouth”.

“The lion is the loudest animal in the kingdom … I have him speaking the language of love because it is all about living life loud but being positive with the message of love – not just being angry, you know what I mean? There’s a lot of angry people out here.”

Sheryo at work on a tattoo inside The Yok and Sheryo’s Ping Pong Auto Shack” at the headquarters. That girl is a machine! Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Valencia-based, Buenos Aires-born Felipe Pantone is knocking out a lateral slice of optic/ hallucinatory muralage in the heart of the Market across the street from Patch Whisky and Ghost Head’s new piece.

He usually works on walls that are taller and thinner perhaps, but he says he’s throwing himself into it by assessing it’s character and shape and creating a new mural in the moment.

“Yeah I’m used to working with every kind of format.
Every time you have to think of something specifically for the work. I didn’t bring anything from home – I saw the wall and sat across the street and looked at it for a while so I made this design that hopefully works.”

Is he a little unsure of how it is going to work, but he’s not worried about it.

“Uncertainty is the very essence of romance,” he says here on the sidewalk that is broken up and erupting. “That’s Oscar Wilde don’t give me the credit! But even when you don’t know what’s happening that still is what makes it fun.”

Mr. Jago is collaborating with Xenz on a wall and the music on this block it loud – a guy with a big grey beard and big belly just rode past blasting Foghat’s “Slow Ride,” effectively cancelling all conversation and even thoughts for a minute. Mr. Jago is himself nursing a sore shoulder, torso, head, and broken glasses from an unfortunate spill off a motorcycle recently. He moves limberly nonetheless, and keeps backing up into the traffic jam on the street, standing between cars to get some distance on his emerging composition.

“We’re going to slowly build it up I think and to add more of each other’s signature colors so they Marry,” he says of the celestial miasma emerging from the wall. He says that he and Xenz will begin with two large separate characters. “We will surround them with this sort of universe of gases and floating islands and his signature of insects and birds and make it a kind of nice place that doesn’t exist in this world.”

Detroits’ Pat Perry is taking a huge wall to address a huge issue bigger than Detroit, yet firmly rooted in its history as a car producing capital of the oil-burning 20th century. Even though it was trade agreements that turned much of this city into a shadow of that former muscular self, Perry is also looking hopefully to the end of the fossil-fuel age which is represented here by a marching band that reaches and arc and then declines.

“It’s like a timeline of the end of one chapter a humorous last celebration of the oil age,” he says.” This is kind of a look into the eight ball of the futuristic city of Detroit”

An illustrator for magazines and online publications, he says he is really a painter who has been doing a lot of landscapes lately. Painting with aerosol is not usual for him.

“I kind of don’t like the look of spray paint and I’m trying to make it feel more painterly I think if I had endless time I would try to make this all bucket paint. But I’m learning to work with this medium – like doing the big areas with bucket paint and doing small areas with line work but trying not to have the line look so huge and thick.”

“I’m from Charleston South Carolina and my buddy ghost beard lives up here so I’ve been coming here for some years now,” says Patch Whisky as we stand under a temporary tent on the street by his wall to hide from the midday sun.

His second year at Murals in the Market, Patch says the two are college buddies from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh 16 years ago and they have always had affinities for similar cultural references.

“Stylistically we are both cartoon dudes and we grew up watching those Bugs Bunny cartoons – so we both come from the same love of those characters that we grew up with.”

How would he describe his work?

“Colorful, playful, whimsical, creepy, silly.”

Fun Friday 09.21.12

September 21, 2012 Artists

Yo Yo what’s up all the Brooklyn peepuls and the New Yorkers and the LA’ers and the Chicago’ers and the Stavanger Norway buddies and shout out to Martha as she hangs in Johannesburg today and to everybody who’s brave enough to tap into the creative spirit. Today in Brooklyn it’s sunny and bright and there’s a bird singing on the chain link fence outside my house. As usual the place to be is where you’re at. Also, we’d be really happy to meet you tomorrow at our show in Red Hook if you can fly by.

1. Kit Kat Flex Dancer in Brooklyn (VIDEO)
2. GEOMETRICKS Opens Saturday (BKLYN)
3. Shai Dahan “Broken Window” (Sweden)
4. Fall Group Exhibition at C.A.V.E (LA)
5. Sydney curates a show on the Street (Australia)
6. “Luchadores” by El Hase is now open to the public at One Art Space in Manhattan.7. Ricky Powell is “Back in BK” and you can catch him tonight at Mishka in Brooklyn
7. PUBLIC WORKS PART I By Jason Wawro (VIDEO)
8. PUBLIC WORKS PART II By Jason Wawro (VIDEO)
9. Narcelio Grud: “Spiral” Invention and Graffiti (VIDEO)
10. TEJN Has a lock on Street Art (VIDEO)
11. Don John in Copenhagen by Alexander Lee (VIDEO)

Let’s start Friday by getting inspired by KitKat – a Brooklyn flex dancer who knows her stuff. (VIDEO)

GEOMETRICKS Opens Saturday (BKLYN)

Of course we had to put this one first because we have 11 cool artists showing work that collectively illustrates one of the major new directions that Street Art and Graffiti are going in right now.

The Red Hook neighborhood is where the fun will be this Saturday as the opening of “GEOMETRICKS”, curated by Hellbent, takes place at Gallery Brooklyn. With a FREE shuttle from the G/F Trains on Carroll St to the Gallery courtesy of local Brooklyn Crab restaurant, a Young Collectors Wall with dope pieces by the artists in the show all priced at $200 each (you must have valid student ID for these pieces), and music provided by Sleptember, you are going to see a slice of community we’ve all grown to love.

Support the inaugural show of “Vandal or Visionaries” Series by BSA and enjoy the beautiful art works by: Augustine Kofie, Chor Boogie, Drew Tyndell, Feral Child, Hellbent, Jaye Moon, Maya Hayuk, MOMO, OLEK, OverUnder, See One. Then join us at Brooklyn Crab to hang after the show – and the restaurant will be offering a FREE shuttle back to the G/F Trains. So what’s there not to like? And we thank our local Red Hook based sponsor, SixPoint Brewery.

For further information regarding this show click here.

See more about GEOMETRICKS on Vandalog, Graffurism, Arrested Motion, NY Taco, Donut Chocula, ArtSlant, Premium Mints, 12 oz Prophet, – we thank you all for your support.

Shai Dahan “Broken Window” (Sweden)

A Gallery in Göteborg, Sweden is hosting American Street Artist Shai Dahan with his solo exhibition titled “Broken Window” opening on Saturday.

For further information regarding this show click here.

Fall Group Exhibition at C.A.V.E (LA)

C.A.V.E. Gallery in Venice, Beach, CA invites you to their Fall Group Exhibition with an eclectic mix of fine and Street Artists including:

YOUNG CHUN * PAT PERRY * RADICAL! * BRANDON BOYD
MEAR ONE * CRAWW * MAX NEUTRA * J. SHEA

RESTITUTION PRESS * NOM KINNEAR KING * JOHN PARK

CHERRI WOOD * HANS HAVERON * KYLE HUGHES-ODGERS aka CREEPY

BAYO * SHAUNNA PETERSON * CODAK * L CROSKEY

KEN GARDUNO * SOPHIE BASTIEN * JoKa * RAFAEL DELGADO

For further information regarding this show click here.

Sydney curates a show on the Street (Australia)

It looks like the Australians’ love affair for Street Art continues strong. Ambush Gallery has teamed up with Darling Quartet, Sydney’s new precinct and public arts space to mount an outdoor exhibition opening to the public today. The works of art on view are by a handful of well known and respected Street Artists working today including: Anthony Lister (Bris/NY), Beastman (Syd), Shannon Crees (Syd) and Hiroyasu Tsuri/TWOONE (Melb). The exhibition is FREE, open 24/7 and it will be illuminated at night.

For further information regarding this show click here.

Also happening this weekend:

“Luchadores” by El Hase is now open to the public at One Art Space in Manhattan. Click here for more details on this show.

Ricky Powell is “Back in BK” and you can catch him tonight at Mishka in Brooklyn. Click here for more details on this show.

PUBLIC WORKS PART I By Jason Wawro (VIDEO)

PUBLIC WORKS PART II By Jason Wawro (VIDEO)

To learn more about LALA Arts Public Works Project with the participation of Ron English and Shepard Fairey, as well as How & Nosm, Insa, Push, Revok, Risk, Seen, Trustocorp, WCA Crew, Uglar and Zes click here.

Narcelio Grud: “Spiral” Invention and Graffiti (VIDEO)

TEJN Has a lock on Street Art (VIDEO)

Sculptor TEJN from Copenhagen broadens our conception of what street art and public art and sculpture are with his installations that he chains and locks and leaves. Basically, he’s just giving you his art, and if you really want it probably you will need a blow torch.

Don John in Copenhagen by Alexander Lee (VIDEO)

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C.A.V.E. Gallery Presents: Fall Group Exhibition (Venice Beach, CA)

September 19, 2012 Afghanistan, Artists, California, Events, Gallery, Opening, Venice Beach

CAVE Gallery

C.A.V.E. Gallery Presents

FALL GROUP EXHIBITION

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS

YOUNG CHUN * PAT PERRY * RADICAL! * BRANDON BOYD
MEAR ONE * CRAWW * MAX NEUTRA * J. SHEA

RESTITUTION PRESS * NOM KINNEAR KING * JOHN PARK

CHERRI WOOD * HANS HAVERON * KYLE HUGHES-ODGERS aka CREEPY

BAYO * SHAUNNA PETERSON * CODAK * L CROSKEY

KEN GARDUNO * SOPHIE BASTIEN * JoKa * RAFAEL DELGADO

OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday, September 22nd, 6 – 10pm

On view thru October 13

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