Reception Saturday August 15th from 6-9 pm at Joshua Liner
Group Exhibition
Summer Group Exhibition
August 15 to September 5, 2009
Artists
Candice Tripp
Chloe Early
Cleon Peterson
Damon Soule
Dave Kinsey
Evan Hecox
Greg Simkins
James Roper
Joe Sorren
Jud Bergeron
Kenji Hirata
Pat Rocha
Robert Hardgrave
Ryan McLennan
SUB (Tony Curanaj)
Shawn Barber
Stanley Donwood
Stella Im Hultberg
Sylvia Ji
Tat Ito
Tiffany Bozic
Travis Louie
Tristram Lansdowne
ZAnPon
OCULAR ECHOISM: THE AUTONOMY OF ELLIS GALLAGHER.
VERNISSAGE: Thursday, July 23rd, 2009 7:00 P.M.
Collective Hardware.169 Bowery (Between Broome Street and Delancey Street) New York City.
featuring special music guests:
THE DRUMS
deLA@delautonomy.com
JMR: As a Brooklyn native, I am inspired by the flux of the city: memories and photographs of painted elevated trains, illuminated windows in nocturnal cityscapes, broken glass shimmering in dull sidewalks, and the panoply of cultural pluralism, increasing by the day, even in a city already as diverse as New York. In the public space of the city, street artists appropriate the urban environment by layering ideas on top of one another. Wheat pasted posters, aerosol designs, white rolled lettering, advertisements, stickers, peeling and decaying paper, brick. The process I use in my work is an attempt to mimic this. I collage the initial surface or leave it clean, and then paint projected drawings over it. This layering technique results in an interplay of tangled, swooping, and jutting lines, which coalesce into unexpected shapes, emerging as vivid fields of color. Ultimately these images are informed by urban iconography, but they also contain a more personal narrative. Much time is spent filling pages with autonomous ink drawings, rendered and defined, before projection. The viewer is presented with a dichotomy, as, despite its condensed and chaotic appearance, the work strikes the eye as both simple and open. The projections abstract the original surface image; the process creates a nocturnal environment, leading me beyond the physicality of the urban landscape.
The pressure of “live” performance sometimes can stress a girl out (Marthalicia and helper) (photo Anthony J. Causi)
What makes you “street”? What makes you “hard”?
A lot of street art and graff culture glorifies a kind of toughness that is born of the streets; Yeah Brooklyn We Go Hard! That’s right, we’re down with that. From Rock to Rap to Tech to Funk to hoods to spikes to cans to fire-tags, the right to be rebellious and wreck sh*t feels like a birthright in Brooklyn.
We’re also down with giving back, giving support, sharing your talent. We met a cool street artist/artist named Marthalicia Matarrita recently and she reminded us that these gifts can be shared in a positive way too. She’s a street artist, a graff artist, a fine artist. From her blog you’ll find out she is also “mother, sister, daughter, entrepreneur, community advocate, and former National Guard”. She grew up in Harlem and went to La Guardia High School of Music and Arts in lower Manhattan.
She also spent time homeless and living in shelters. Okay, how “street” do you want it?
These days Marthalicia is doing a lot of live painting with Art Battles, a New York based creation of artist/event thrower/entrepreneur Sean Bono, who produces live art events and competitions to expose emerging artists to the masses. Marthalicia is also performing live art painting tonight in Brooklyn – at Cafe Europa as a celebration of independent women, something she teaches you about in the most gentle way.
Brooklyn Street Art: What kind of art you do?
Marthalicia Matarrita: I paint on canvas with acrylics. I unify the concept of traditional figurative subject matter and those of the comic book/urban graff illustrations (graffiti) to create a conversation about contemporary issues that affect all of us; environmentalism, homelessness, the military, etc.
Brooklyn Street Art: Have you done work on the street?
Marthalicia Matarrita: I used to create images on the street on the Upper West Side and I have a piece currently that I did this spring on the rooftop for a fundraiser at The New School of Design in the Lower East Side. It was such a thrill to know that I was part of something so cool and now I’m a “Rooftop Legend”. So many great artists had the opportunity to BLESS those walls with so much creativity and it humbled me to look at their art.
Marthalicia’s piece on the roof of The New School of Design at Parsons (photo courtesy the artist)
Brooklyn Street Art: What has it been like working the Art Battles events and doing live painting with them?
Marthalicia Matarrita: I have been painting live since the spring of 2006. And since then my art has developed well into the theme of live audience and painting in an allotted time. I have been painting at different art functions, shows and events all over New York City and its’ 5 boroughs.
Since early 2008 I have been invited to participate with Art Battles at many art programs. It’s been an incredible experience working with Art Battles and its team. and what I have learned about painting “live” is that time and environment (the audience and music) has made me a more concentrated artist and more focused as an artist. Art Battles also recognizes the struggles of the artist and reimburses and also purchased materials.
Brooklyn Street Art: “Do you think you have to be “hard” to be “street”?
Marthalicia Matarrita: The street conditions you, even if you do have a soft heart or one hard like a stone.
Brooklyn Street Art: Some street artists feel like they have to destroy to get respect or credibility.
Marthalicia Matarrita: Some people say that “most street artist have no siblings so they feel like they need to break stuff to get attention”. Others don’t have the means of an art education such as studio art. Street artists feel the need to express art just as strongly as a studio artist, but they do it without an easel and canvas. For them it’s much better to create images of thought or reflections of life in a cheaper way with cans and use THE WALLS as a canvas.
“I unify the concept of traditional figurative subject matter and those of the comic book/urban graff illustrations (graffiti) to create a conversation about contemporary issues that effect all of us; environmentalism, homelessness, the military, etc.” Atomic, by Marthalicia (image courtesy the artist)
Brooklyn Street Art: Can you speak about the July 10th event and what it means to you.
Marthalicia Matarrita: The whole event is a fundraiser and the proceeds go to help a young child named Chanty, who lives in Cambodia. Felecia Cruz is the organizer of the program at her bar, Club Europa. I was called one day by Felecia to ask me to participate in her upcoming show July 10th as a live painter. She described this little girl Chanty, who she met in Cambodia during a recent trip, and she explained how she was determined to help her and her family to send Chanty to school to improve her future. That touched me to know that a stranger from another country was willing to invest her time and energy to genuinely help a young child in great need of education. It convinced me to join in her program and her mission because I wanted to be a part of something good, something that in the end would show a child hope and help her progress. I was given a similar opportunity when I was a young teenager, and I know how important it was to me.
Brooklyn Street Art: This show is more than just about Chanty, it is about Women’s empowerment. Can you talk about the importance of having strong women today?
Marthalicia Matarrita: As you see, without strong women, you have disrespectful children, who walk around with their pants half off their ass and girls that think more about sex and sneakers then their future. In history woman struggled to have their voices heard.
It’s very important to have events like these to display not only that we are capable of making great achievements as our male counterparts, but also as individuals.
“Frida of Brooklyn” Marthalicia shot by Alex Bershaw (courtesy the artist)
Brooklyn Street Art: The Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo, used her personal experiences, including some that were very painful, in her work. Has she affected you as an artist, and how?
Marthalicia Matarrita: Tremendously. I learned painting with oils and acrylic in high school. Most of my paintings were self-portraits. College was the time where I was exposed to her and her works and how amazed I was when I learned about her history. I felt somewhat connected to her because of her personal struggles; I too had some of my very own. The more I learned from her the more I saw my art footsteps evolving, not to copy her style or her intensions but her communication of her life with her art. I do the same with my art.
My life wasn’t a great one. I struggled here and there with poverty, being in the shelter, both parents were alcoholics, and my mom suffered a lot and she became schizophrenic.
My art saved me from dwelling on the negative activities in my environment.
Frida learned in her art to communicate her personal life story with Diego (Rivera) and about WAR. I painted with political themes when I was in the Army National Guard. I was called twice to Iraq and I painted how I felt about being toyed around with…fighting a cause that’s not our own.
Frida showed me that whatever kind of personality you have, art is a tool to show others how similar we all are and how we can help and teach one another.
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An arsenal of female talent coming together to show Chanty and other young girls around the world that they can be whatever they want.
Performances by:
Eyeris with Radio Rose
Bless Roxwell
Jeanette Berry
Linda Laporte
Dama Nilz
Jasmine Solano
Her Virgins
Diva from CYM
Special Guest:Miz Metro
Music By: DJ ILL P
A short film:”Married Girl” by Alexandra Lopez
Live Art and Displays by Marthalicia
Make-up and Design by Lauren Weakly
Club Europa
98 Meserole Ave
Brooklyn, NY 11222
The India Street Mural Project is the inaugural project by a new public art group called North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition (NbPac), a loosely knit group of volunteers whose mission it is to join with local artists, community members, arts organizations and businesses to put up as much public art and street art as possible and re-connect community in the public sphere.
A lot of words all at once there, I’ll pause here while you digest.
Yes, someone else is taking Street Art and Street Artists seriously and is making a point to work with the artists and the community to bring more of it.
For the sceptical and jaded among you, I’ll translate: “GOOD NEWS”.
We’ll be talking to NbPac in more detail in an upcoming post but in the mean time, take a look at this cool new piece for the India Street Mural Project below. You’ll recognize the collabo is from three of your favorite street artists! Mos Def some freshness in Greenpoint, even though Alphabeta has left.
Welcome to Greenpoint by Ad Deville, Chris Stain and Logan Hicks (images Jaime Rojo and Steven P. Harrington)
Brooklyn Street Art: How did you guys get involved with this project?
Logan Hicks: The good ol boys over at Skewville asked me to get involved, and I gladly obliged.
Chris Stain: It was a dark night in early spring. I was contacted by a liaison who said they worked for someone at a factory in Bushwick…. oh wait that’s classified information.
Adam DeVille: I heard about NbPac and the mural project competition they had going on in Greenpoint on India Street. Originally I contacted them about trying to get help funding a mural idea I had in Bushwick. I know the owner of the building next to the Factory Fresh (gallery); It’s a 300’ wall down a back alley that everyone dumps trash on. My idea was to spell out “Bushwick” in the Skewville font and have 8 different artists fill in the letters, kinda like an old school postcard. Ciara, from NbPac was down with the idea but also asked me to submit to the India Street mural project. Being a die-hard “Bushwickian”, at first I said no, but at the last minute I decided to give it a shot.
Brooklyn Street Art: So how big is this piece? 20′ x 25′ ?
Chris Stain: I’m not sure.
Adam DeVille: It’s 30’ wide by 20’ high, when they told me there was 40 feet between each mural I stretched ours 5 feet… 40 feet of space was a waste…
Originally I submitted an idea to do the whole wall at India Street by spelling out “Greenpoint” and having the artist of their choice fill in the letters. The main idea was to unify the whole wall instead of having separate murals with no connection to each other. As a back-up I submitted a 20’x 25’ version, which they ultimately chose.
I remember the day Ciara called to congratulate me on winning the contest. I was excited and asked if I got to do the whole wall. When she said they liked the idea but chose the smaller version, I was kind of a little…bummed they didn’t choose the big one. I’ll save that for Bushwick.
Brooklyn Street Art: What is the inspiration behind the lettering and style of the piece? With its bold greeting and poppy colors, it looks kind of like a giant Postcard you might get from Niagara Falls.
Adam DeVille: You called it. It’s like a postcard but instead of a beauty shot inside it would have a lil ghetto flavor. The main idea was to include other artists but to still have an overall Skewville feel.
Gimme a Beeeeeee! (image courtesy Chris Stain)
Brooklyn Street Art: Chris and Logan, how did you choose the images you used to fill in the B and K?
Logan Hicks: I took Chris’s lead on this. I had asked him what he was thinking and he said he was leaning towards something nautical because Greenpoint was a working class ship building area back in the day. I tried to mirror his thinking.Chris and I are both from Baltimore, which is a working class town, so we both come from that blue collar mindset. For me it was about the work force that was behind this. I have been doing these pieces that have tons of people in them, and I had this image that I loved so I used that as the jump-off point for my side of the piece (the “K”). I used the same color scheme (grey, black, red) that I normally use but tried to mix it up by using brush this time. In the end I think the execution parallels what Chris’s does, so it holds together nicely.
Chris Stain: Yeah, I did a little research on the area and found that Greenpoint was a shipbuilding town. I had some images I cut some time ago and decided they would work well for the piece.
Brooklyn Street Art: The images look like they are working class or poor people.
Chris Stain: The image I used is of a dockworker actually from the South Street Seaport back when it was functioning.
Gimmee a Kaaaaaaaayyy! Logan’s piece in progress (image courtesy Chris Stain)
Brooklyn Street Art: What role does a public art project play in the community? Does it impact people’s perceptions of a neighborhood?
Chris Stain: Ultimately its subjective but I feel it does affect how people view the area, especially outsiders.
Adam DeVille: It’s weird because I don’t think anyone goes down this street anyway except to get high. Maybe now more people will come down this block and or have something to look at when they get high.
Brooklyn Street Art: Do you see yourself as an artist only, or also as a communicator?
Logan Hicks: I try not to define what I do, but I’d say that any good artist is a communicator, so in that sense, I am both.
Chris Stain: I think an artist is a communicator. Each painting tells a story about the person who created it. Some stories are easier to figure out than others.
Brooklyn Street Art: Is there an overall message or meaning to this piece?
Chris Stain: The meaning to me is one of history of the area and (it’s a) a show of admiration for the hard work of the people who built the community.
Adam DeVille: The meaning is “Welcome to Greenpoint”, but you should really check out Bushwick.
We don’t have anything profound to say about Michael Jackson, and certainly nothing that hasn’t already been said better by others.
We just know that this city was affected strongly; from the sounds of his music pumping from cars and windows and rooftops over the last 12 days, to the spontaneous conversations in offices and bars and delis in many different accents, to the small written tributes on the streets, to T-shirt vendors seemingly instantly selling his image, to 24-hour a day MJ on the radio with call-in memories from listeners, to the gatherings on the pavement in front of jumbo-trons, to crowds jamming into theaters to watch the memorial on screen together, and our impromptu communal memorials at places like the Apollo Theater in Harlem.
His music accompanied most of us for a large percentage of our entire lives, and we know it will continue to; that’s the good part. We’ll hear it at house parties, block parties, clubs, bars, discos, in teenage bedrooms, in steamy backseats, at wedding receptions, high school proms, church barbecues, and, of course, blasting from stereos out on the streets of this city — this summer and probably every summer for a long time.
Almost everyone who mourns him says Michael was more like a brother than simply a pop star and agrees that this was a candle that went out too soon.
Click here to see the street art tribute we posted the day he passed.
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BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
