To use a mangled metaphor, it looks like street artist Specter has thrown his terry cloth headband into the basketball ring in the ongoing Atlantic Yards dispute between pro-development and anti-gentrification forces in downtown Brooklyn.
For those of you who have been living under an IKEA, gentrification has been plowing through New York City since at least the 1950’s and it went on steroids in the 1990’s as developers began mowing down anything in their path by brandishing a legal claim of “Eminent Domain”.
Don’t take my word for it, even conservative stalwart George Will wrote about it’s perceived mis-use a few weeks ago in the Washington Post.
For my money, and I’m broke, social critique doesn’t get richer than this, and this series will get tongues wagging if these posters stay up for any period of time before being bulldozed. Start the clock!
Included in the Atlantic Yards plans are new condos and a giant shiny new stadium for the basketball team The New Jersey Nets (huh?). That is helpful to know when looking at these hand made posters that have appeared in the affected neighborhood; the gentrifying forces of the moneyed class are depicted as parodies of movie genres; a Kung-fu movie, a horror movie, and a high-stakes pimps-n-hos movie.
The genres are employed effectively, and point clearly to topics not usually so blatantly discussed when talking about gentrification – I’m thinking specifically of the one called “Caucasian Invasion”. That one might get some of our more socio-politically astute neighbors in a frothy choked-up indignation.
As you can see across the bottom of the pieces, the hand painted posters are also for an art show at the MoCADA gallery in two weeks. But these are more than merely advertisements.
The one styled as a high-end gourmet grocery store poster also hits home – I need to get one of those locally-grown pineapples! Maybe Dean & Deluca?
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
Yesterday we celebrated International Women's Day HERE with a campaign in the United Kindom by artists Aida Wilde in collaboration with UNCLE. Spanish artist Marina Capdevila reminds us that women's ...
Fans of manga and anime are mourning the loss of a legendary figure in the industry, Akira Toriyama, who passed away on March 1, 2024, at the age of 68. Born in Aichi Prefecture, Japan, he was not ju...
In the tradition of modern street photography, Brock Brake is finding places for you to get access to. Sometimes these are physical locations, like under a cavernous underpass and skateboarder hangout...
Today we want to shout out a photographer on the street and to ask you to support the KICKSTARTER for Leanna Valente's very first book project. YOUR CHANCE TO GET ART and support her KICKSTARTER ...
Ah, the feckless, sebaceous, inward-turned man; Bumbling through the world unaware and uncaring how his actions may impact the lives of others. Little does he know that the fire he starts will burn h...