Over the last decade Street Artist DAIN has made many famous actresses from the silver screen his muse in his collages for the streets of Brooklyn: Betty Davis, Liz Taylor, Audrey Hepburn…all popular icons from an era he didn’t grow up in but has a fascination for. For him, the women of that era exemplified a time of demure glamour, one that didn’t need to disrobe to draw avid attention, leaving something to your imagination. His modern remixes that jump from walls and pop out of doorways on the street invariably grab the eye and garner a second look, creating a new sense of mystery that can seem futuristic and nostalgic at once.
The Brooklyn native and former graffiti writer told us that he thinks he gained his appreciation for mid-century Hollywood aesthetics from listening to his parents talk about their favorite stars and points to them as an influence on his work. “I guess it was maybe my folks. They’re from Brooklyn – Coney Island. And they’re kind of caught up in that. One of my favorite movies is On the Waterfront. I remember being a little kid and my father telling me ‘You gotta see this movie’,” he says. “I love that stuff. I love black and white. You use your imagination in black and white.”
Born in Leberstrasse 65 on the Rote Insel in Schöneberg (now a district of Berlin) in 1901, Dietrich became a star of screen, stage, and music with a career that some would easily call legendary. While she became an American in 1939 and continued her career giving concerts and appearing in movies around the world into the 1980s, she also famously included in her singing repertoire a song called, “Ich hab noch einen Koffer in Berlin” (“I still keep a suitcase in Berlin”).
“I chose Ms. Dietrich because she was one of the most famous German American actresses. She had a style and look that were both glamorous and exotic. I love the fact that she continually reinvented herself – not only within acting but as a show performer later in her career,” says DAIN
DAIN in Brooklyn, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)
DAIN in New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Check out the Facebook page for PERSONS OF INTEREST
See Full Press Release HERE
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
This week BSA is in an unusual location in Colombia by invitation to see a new initiative with Street Artists in an abandoned distillery now being brought back to life with their imaginations and pe...
Bear with us, it’s a new installation by Bordallo II Bordalo II. Nancy, France. February 2020. (photo courtesy of Mathgoth Gallery) "This is the first time I've made a polar bear,” says Street ...
For the past week the Turin-born artist Corn79 has been creating a new mural in Villa Lagarina, a small town of less than 4,000 in the lush mountains of Trentino. Working on a lift only a hundred mete...
In the midst of ongoing turmoil, the Gaza Strip is engulfed in a conflict that has now stretched into its fifth harrowing month. The escalating violence has led to the tragic loss of over 30,000 live...
"Street Art Tourism" Is Capturing More Attention Eco-tourism is so popular for vacation travelers right now. You know, treading light and your carbon footprint and all that. Then there is Plastic Sur...