All posts tagged: Who Is Dirk

BSA Images Of The Week: 05.09.21

BSA Images Of The Week: 05.09.21

Nomadland won the Oscar for the best movie this year, a fact that you may not know because A. The Oscars are nearly completely irrelevant, and B. Covid era-awards programs have been the equivalent of watching your dad unclogging the kitchen drain. An unvarnished story about a growing ecosystem of Americans living in cars, trucks, and RVs in parking lots across the country, Nomadland toes a line between blaming neo-liberal vulture capitalism/ de-industrialization of the last 40 years and dipping into the American myths of people who just want to live their life free and unencumbered.

Meanwhile, in New York more people are finding the rent to be too high and are moving into RVs, according to The Daily News this week. In the article they speak with Giovanni, a first responder whom we were probably clapping for last year when he was saving lives from Covid.

In the article Giovanni says, “I was an EMT… you want to talk struggling‚ that was really rough,” he explained. “I had to have somebody rent out my living room just to be able to cover the rent. That’s how hard it was. After doing that for three, four years, I was like, I’m done with this. I quit. I’m over it.”

“I went to college, I did pretty much everything that I was told I was supposed to do in order to have a good life. And it didn’t turn out that way,” he explained.

As the moneyed Real Estate kingpins are fighting against extending a rent moratorium in the city to August 31 and to end moratoriums across the country, you have to wonder where everyone will go once the stimulus checks have dried up, inflation kicks in, and landlords evict people.

Meanwhile, we’re following the street art in a number of neighborhoods in New York this week – and wondering where the topical or political works are. The current generation who are putting work on the streets may venture into politics, but only identity politics. BLM, trans rights, that sort of thing.

New York is headed toward 70% vaccinated soon and the city is actually talking about offering to vaccinate tourists! Soon you can go to the Met, see a Broadway show, eat dinner in Little Italy, get cursed out by a homeless guy, and get a stab in the arm from Pfizer! New York, New York! It’s a wonderful town!


So here’s our weekly interview with the street, this time featuring: 2 Much, Armyan, Cautious5, Cekis, City Kitty, Cramcept, Denton Burrows, GIZ, Healer, Homesick, Leviticus, LNE Crew, Lunge Box, MalincheArt, MeresOne, MrBbaby, No Sleep, Paul Richard, Ponzi, Ramiro Davaro-Comas, Smart, and Stikki Peaches.

Stikki Peaches. Welcome Back to the streets of NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
LNE CREW (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Cekis for the Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Cekis for the Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Cekis for the Bushwick Collective. Unfortunately somebody got there before I did… (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Mr. Bbaby (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Citi Kitty with Lunge Box (photo © Jaime Rojo)
No Sleep (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Ramiro Davaro-Comas (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Zimad (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Smart and GIZ for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Smart The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
GIZ for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Denton Burrows with Cramcept (photo © Jaime Rojo)
2 Much (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Healer (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Paul Richard (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Malinche. We are trying to figure out why would the artist associate a murderous, vicious cartel leader such as El Chapo with Lady Liberty iconography. The infamous drug dealer is currently held in a Federal prison in Brooklyn serving a long, long sentence. Is Malinche asking for his release? (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Cautia5 (photo © Jaime Rojo)
MeresOne (photo © Jaime Rojo)
MeresOne (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sort of like our economy, this is Ponzi (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Armyan Nispel (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Who Is Dirk (photo © Jaime Rojo)
…and it has worked. Leviticus (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Tom Bob (photo © Jaime Rojo)
The Snoeman (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Homesick . West (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Untitled. Peony. Spring 2021. Brooklyn, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
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BSA Images Of The Week: 07.19.20

BSA Images Of The Week: 07.19.20

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week. The weather has been beautiful in NYC and the organic art popping up on the streets is still forcefully advocating for social and political solutions amidst great upheaval, even while…

Police groups want to paint a ‘Blue Lives Matter’ street mural in New York City, Federal officers are using unmarked cars to arrest Portland protesters, Trump Administration Strips CDC of Control of Coronavirus Data, Governor Cuomo Announces $1.5 Million for ‘Feeding New York State’ to Assist Food Insecure New Yorkers and State’s Farmers, 5.4 million have lost health insurance , Biden will not support Medicare for All and Liz Cheney joins forces with Nancy Pelosi to ensure taxes go to fund endless war in Afghanistan after 19 years.

Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Adam Fujita, Almost Over Keep Smiling, Billie Barnacles, Black Lives Matter, Bosko, Detor, Downtown DaVinci, Eric Haze, Fumero, Insurgo, Marco Santini, Marina Zumi, Praxis VGZ, Sara Lynne Leo, and Who is Dirk.

“I consider this mural a gift to New York City and a gift to the world,” says Eric Haze of this design he created in response to the killing of George Floyd and the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests in our city and across many others. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Adam Fujita (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Adam Fujita (photo © Jaime Rojo)
July For Art . #blacklivesmatter (photo © Jaime Rojo)
#blacklivesmatter (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Billie Barnacles (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Billie Barnacles (photo © Jaime Rojo)
“Don’t talk about it…. Be about it ! ” Detor . Bosko (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Downtown DaVinci (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sara Lynne-Leo (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sara Lynne-Leo (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sara Lynne-Leo (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Praxis for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Who Is Dirk . Insurgo (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Marco Santini for The Bushwick Collective (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Fumero (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Almost Over Keep Smiling (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Almost Over Keep Smiling. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The New York street artist who works under the moniker “Almost Over Keep Smiling” reinterprets slightly this Boston warning poster telling anybody who was black in a “free” state like Massachusetts or New York to stay away from the police because the federal government had passed a law empowering people to capture them and return them to slavery.

From Wikipedia: The Fugitive Slave Act or Fugitive Slave Law was passed by the United States Congress on September 18, 1850,[1] as part of the Compromise of 1850 between Southern slave-holding interests and Northern Free-Soilers.

The Act was one of the most controversial elements of the 1850 compromise and heightened Northern fears of a “slave power conspiracy”. It required that all escaped slaves, upon capture, be returned to their masters and that officials and citizens of free states had to cooperate. Abolitionists nicknamed it the “Bloodhound Bill,” for the dogs that were used to track down runaway slaves.[2]

The Act contributed to the growing polarization of the country over the issue of slavery, and is considered one of the causes of the Civil War.

The original appearance of a poster in Boston looked like this.
Unidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Marina Zumi (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Untitled. Central Park, NYC. July 2020 (photo © Jaime Rojo)
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BSA Images Of The Week: 05.05.19

BSA Images Of The Week: 05.05.19

The eyes have it.

Have you noticed the number of faces and eyes that are pasted, painted, drawn on the Streets right now? Maybe they are an indicator that many more of us are truly paying attention and that we see how close the danger is, even if we don’t know exactly what to do.

The first step of course, is to pay attention. Turning off the corporate controlled media helps.

What do you see?

So here’s our weekly interview with the street, this time featuring Arkane, CP Won, Dylan Egon, Eyebrows, Greta Thunberg, Himbad, Hiss, Little Rickey, LMNOPI, Lungebox, SacSix, Sara Lynne Leo, Soten, The Postman Art, and Who is Dirk.

Top image: Little Ricky imagines three icons through the eyes of a ewe – Madonna, George Washington, and John Lennon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Arkane (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Arkane (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Soten (photo © Jaime Rojo)
CP Won. Portrait of a friend and Brooklyn resident. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
CP Won. Portrait of a friend and Brooklyn resident. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
CP Won. Portrait of George C. Parker. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
SacSix (photo © Jaime Rojo)
The Postman Art (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Little Ricky (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Still Life with Lungebox. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Who Is Dirk (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Who Is Dirk (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Hiss (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Himbad (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Dylan Egon (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sara Lynne Leo (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Eyebrows (photo © Jaime Rojo)
LMNOPI (photo © Jaime Rojo)
LMNOPI (photo © Jaime Rojo)
LMNOPI (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Untitled. Perseus with Medusa’s head. Metropolitan Museum of Art. NYC. May 2019. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
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BSA Images Of The Week: 06.03.18

BSA Images Of The Week: 06.03.18

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The Bushwick Collective street party was so crowded with people and artists it felt like an open air gallery of sights and sounds. Don’t mess with BK yo when it comes to bringing it on. Roiling, boiling, thumping, bumping and yes, humping was happening in Bushwick. We even took a Street Art tour since there appears to be one every two blocks right now – and we learned a number of new things too.

Meanwhile, the new murals and independent organic unauthorized pieces are popping like your eyes watching a Nicki Minaj video. Oh no she didn’t. Oh yes, she did!

Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Alabania, Android Oi, Antennae, Bebar, Below Key, Bifido, Celia Jacobs, City Kitty, Dee Dee, Gitler, Gondek, Himbad, Invader, Jacinta, JPS, Muck Rock, Quizi, Street Art Council, Tirana, and Who is Dirk?

Top Image: JPS please stand up in the LES. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Night time shenanigans with Shady, Spidey and Gotti.” JPS (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Art Council (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dee Dee (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gitler for Audubon Mural Project. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ouizi for Audubon Mural Project. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jacinta. Detail. Audubon Mural Project. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jacinta. Audubon Mural Project. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

City Kitty (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Below Key (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Invader (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Antennae (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Himbad (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Himbad (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Muck Rock…spring here… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gondek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gondek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Celia Jacobs (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Android Oi (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bebar (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Violence sings a coward’s song to which only the weak are drawn..” Who Is Dirk (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bifido. Tirana, Albania. (photo © Bifido)

Bifido created this new work in Albania for the Tirana Mural Fest, entitled “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.”
He explains:
“This work should have been called “self portrait”, as it express how I’m feeling in this moment at the sight of the world. Working, talking, scoping, and breathing Tirana’s atmosphere I really realized for the very first time how it feels to be a woman caught in the grips of this male chauvinist society, to be a woman physically and mentally oppressed by men. As the work progressed, the sense of it changed and revealed itself to me. Now that I am back home in Italy, I’m more aware of something that makes me feel heartbroken. I’m hoping one day something will change.”

Untitled. Manhattan, NYC. Spring 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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BSA Images Of The Week: 10.23.16

BSA Images Of The Week: 10.23.16

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BSA-Images-Week-Jan2015

We have an unusually high number of “Unidentified Artist” pics this week along with some new names – which to us means the streets are alive and changing again, responding to new voices. Of course it is good to see some of the more familiar players as well.

So here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Astro Naut, BelowKey, BenFGraphic, BustArt, Cern, Faile, Free the Hearts, GB Pigeon, Megavote, Panmela Castro, SheWolf, Specter, Tatiana Fazlalizadeh, Who is Dirk.

Our top image: Panmela Castro borrows a phrase from Hillary Clinton to make her point. Or did Hillary borrow it from Panmela? (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Tatiana Fazlalizadeh (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Specter updates the Yusuf Hawkins mural again. See our story on the last time he did this here. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Faile through the window (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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GB Pigeon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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“The Thinker” from Bustart (photo © Bustart)

“I just finished a huge wall for the Kettenreaktion,” Bustart says. “This is an art project in a abandoned factory in Switzerland. The last two months lots of artist were working in and on the factory and made installations, paintings, performances and much more. After the transformation the area will be open for cultural events. For more information please click HERE.

 

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Bustart (photo © Bustart)

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Unidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Stikman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Unidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Unidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Unidentified Artist. A miniature piece can be just as impressive as the largest of murals. Is this vandal tossing an aerosol can? (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Shewolf (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Belowkey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Unidentified Artist. Good luck cat. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Who Is Dirk (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Unidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-cern-jaime-rojo-10-23-16-web

CERN (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Ben F Graphic (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Megavote (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Unidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Astro Naut at an abandoned factory in Reggio Emilia, Italy. (photo © Astro Naut)

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Astro Naut at an abandoned factory in Reggio Emilia, Italy. (photo © Astro Naut)

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Loose lips sink ships! Lip Slip (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Utitled. SOHO, NYC. October 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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