Street Artist Bortusk Leer’s smiling and devious characters drawn and colored with a childlike mind continue to make people on New Yorks’ streets smile. As previous artist neighborhoods like Williamsburg are overrun with helicopter moms jogging behind strollers, the professional parents taking their progeny to playdates probably think the wheatpastes are the Universe’s welcome to their bundles of joy.
Bortusk Leer (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Actually, Bortusk’s demented and happy monsters predate many of the new arrivals and his googly eyed crew is now in many cities around the world, and more often these days galleries too. Mr. Leer sure gets around with these unruly companions who have a disarming way of bringing the hype all down a notch to the simple joys of swinging mindlessly on the monkey bars and giving Billy Blickstein a wedgy and pulling Danisha’s hair and sticking bubblegum up your nose.
Bortusk Leer (photo © Jaime Rojo)
On the occasion of his solo show now on view (extended to June 26) at Tony’s Gallery in Shoreditch, East London’s Don’t Panic conducted an interview with the artist and along with his answers they give us a good view of the multicolor mad man installations:
Bortusk Leer “Bortusk Took a Trip” (image © courtesy Don’t Panic)
“I get to Bortusk’s playground just as the rain starts to fall. An Oompa Loompa lets me in through the main gate and guides me across the psychedelic courtyard. I take shelter under the peppermint trees and wait for my maniacal host to arrive. The walls are lined with weird, nu-rave creatures; a colourful assortment of monsters and mismatched porcelain dolls, watching through beady, fluorescent eyes as I wait for their master…“
Click here to continue reading the interview and to see more images
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
Mint. Surf. Mirf. Smurf. Good to see Mint and Surf on the streets again here in NYC. We wondered where they had gone. Wishing all of you a Happy Thanksgiving this week, whether you are alo...
"Art should comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable." - Cesar A. Cruz Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! The fog of war obscures our vision, confuses our thoughts, and s...
Just in time New York’s Pride Month events, Street Artist Buff Monster unveils a wash of color and melty characters in lower Manhattan to commemorate the 50 anniversary of the Stonewall Riots in Gree...
It's been weeks since we had an "Images of the Week" posting with you, due to the end of the year spectacular we presented for 13 days; a solid cross section of the talented photographers who a...
The appearance of a new mural by Banksy in Dover, England caught the attention of many followers on his Instagram account and the mass media folks quickly reported on the new piece that comments on th...