October 2014

Nick Walker Falls in Love With NYC

October 20, 2014 Artists

Bristol born graffiti / Street / fine artist Nick Walker has fallen in love with New York during these last couple of years. The stencilist whose work pre-dates the popularity of his town-mate Banksy, has been bringing his bowler-hatted avatar to streets around the world after beginning in Bristols 80s-90s graffiti scene. The well meaning and smartly dressed quizzical investigator is a vandal at heart of course, but one who appreciates culture and architecture.

Nick Walker (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nick Walker. Here is the piece featured above which he painted on the streets of New York in 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Walker’s pop-up show “All I Ever Wanted Was My Name On Fire” opened last Friday and if you don’t want to miss it we recommend you take a trip to the Lower East Side to see it before it closes this Friday. In it you see the myriad new venues that Nick has discovered in Gotham and you get a simplistic sense of the discovery that so many newcomers have when first developing a romance with dirty old New York. It’s a romance that you never want to end actually.

A new print run is nearly sold out (if not already) but you also have the opportunity to purchase a copy of his new book at the gallery.

Nick Walker (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nick Walker’s “All I Ever Wanted Was My Name on Fire” is currently open to the public until this Wednesday, Oct 22nd. Click HERE for location and hours.

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

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BSA Images Of The Week: 10.19.14

October 19, 2014 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

We start this weeks images of the week with a postering campaign by nice, friendly, educated photo-journalists who illegally put up wheatpastes of their artistry this week in many parts of the city. “We’re not trying to vandalize,” says a member of #Dysturb in an article published yesterday by The New York Times, “It’s pure journalism”. Following on the heels of the arrest of wheatpaster COST the week before, you have to wonder if these folks, whose full names are given in the Times piece, will gather praise or condemnation for doing essentially the same thing.

Or is there a difference? Not quite Street Art, not quite a campaign for a concert or a perfume or shampoo, these folks use the same techniques as many others on the streets and say it is for high-minded purposes. Similarly, there are a number of Street Artists who address social and political themes which we all could agree on are honorable in some way or another. Gentrification, child slavery, sexual harassment, racism, the housing crisis, indigenous peoples issues, human trafficking, environmental issues – all of these have been addressed on the streets in the last handful of years by artists whose work we follow and present here daily. The waters are invariably muddy when it comes to this form of expression.

On a related side note: It is interesting that in published articles about COST and #Dysturb, we learn what kind of ride they each have; Porshe versus Cadillac. We totally have to up our game next time we rent a Zipcar to go on a studio visit.

Meanwhile, here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring #Dysturb, Clint Mario, Crummy Gummy, James Bullough, ME, Myth, Pyramid Oracle, Ramiro Davros-Coma, Sexer, She Wolf, Smarty, Smeller, and Thievin’ Stephen.

Top Image >>#Dysturb photograph by Alvaro Canovas. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pyramid Oracle for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pyramid Oracle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Crummy Gummy. It is a fact of life that in order to make it in NYC one should be equipped with more than one skill and be prepared to work more than one job at a time. E.T. knows the drill and to that extent he wants you to know that if his acting chops are not what you are looking for perhaps you might consider his exotic good looks and hire him as a spokesmodel for an advertisement campaign. Also, his keyboard skills are fierce. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Yeah, you and me both, doll. Sexer for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Myth dips back to the nineties for this version of Darkwing Duck. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A singular Mexican musician here to serenade a senorita outside the window. Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The tide is high. Ramiro Davaros-Coma (photo © Jaime Rojo)

An illustration outside Lucky Chengs in The Lower East Side. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FRESH! Me and Clint Mario team again for this telephone booth take over. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Smeller and Smarty on a sunny day. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Thievin Stephen has all the fried chicken you can eat for The Bushwick Collecive (photo © Jaime Rojo)

She Wolf (photo © Jaime Rojo)

James Bullough for The Bushwick Collecive (photo © Jaime Rojo)

HOME (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. NYC Sky Landscape. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Could We Kill a Panda The Same Way We Kill a Bull? Michael Beerens in Paris

October 18, 2014 Artists

The Bullfight! The historic tradition! The glorious danger of a confused and raging bull ready to charge at his tormentor. The bulging manhood of the Matador as he proudly steps around the coliseum in his ornate and regal costumery!

And now ladies and gentlemen, the Pandafight! Watch as the athletic and handsome slayer taunts the raging Panda with a red flag and runs quickly away! See how he stabs with colorful blades into the panda’s back, thrusting his sword between the shoulder blades!

Michael Beerens. Paris, France. Oct 2014. (photo © Alexis Masurelle)

On a wall in Paris’ Chinatown (Belleville) Street Artist Michael Beerens re-imagines the national animal of China standing in the place of the traditional bull, ready to be killed slowly and publicly to entertain the assembled fans.

“I noticed that in the eyes of man, all animals do not have the same value,” says Bereens, who challenges an ingrained thought pattern that finds the cuddly cute photogenic ones more valuable in some cultures than others. “For example, crushing a spider is good but a ladybug is saved; rats are killed but we like squirrels and hamsters.”

Michael Beerens. Paris, France. Oct 2014. (photo © Alexis Masurelle)

To complete this wall, which he says he did not have permission for, Bereens simply showed up to it with a lot of equipment and paint cans. He says some people stopped to thank him for putting color on the walls, and others stopped to take photos of the wall, of him, of themselves in front of the wall. “It’s a free exchange,” he says, “I try to convey a human message but I have nothing to sell except my ideas. I’m not trying to sell Coca Cola,” he explains.

Which reminds of those white polar bears…

Let’s go to a Polar Bear Fight!!

Michael Beerens. Paris, France. Oct 2014. (photo © Alexis Masurelle)

“The three ‘bandrilles’ that the panda has in his back represent the 3 countries where the bullfight is still practiced legally; France, Spain and Portugal,” says artist Michael Beerens. Paris, France. Oct 2014. (photo © Alexis Masurelle)

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BSA Film Friday: 10.17.14

October 17, 2014 Artists

Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.

Now screening :

1. Sofles in Paris
2. Russians Hi-Jack an Electronic Billboard in Hong Kong
3. Kid Acne: The Birth of Hip-Hop
4. RO: “Les Saigneurs”
5. David Zayas: “Animalia” From Tost Films.

BSA Special Feature: Sofles In Paris

Selina Miles has directed a few outstanding videos of Sofles in abandoned warehouses and in this comparatively tame new piece she takes you with style to a couple of quick spots on the streets of Paris, with a cameo at the end from duo Sobekcis. We say quick only because Sofles can knock huge burners out while other guys are still organizing their cans, and because he makes it look effortless. But check the concentration.

Russians Hi-Jack an Electronic Billboard in Hong Kong

‘During our last visit in Hong Kong, not only did we take a lot of awesome pictures, but we also made a video which was shot a few hours before our flight to Tokyo. The venue is the very heart of Hong Kong, a skyscraper with a huge billboard.”

Or so they SAY! God if you ever want your buzz to be instantly killed read the YouTube comments under this video – or any video for that matter.

But it still looks like it is totally possible for billboards to be Hi-Jacked these days. And it looks like a few Go-Pros and a drone can capture all the excitement. Main question remains – why didn’t they put up some pro-revolution message, or a shout out to their favorite band, or at least some guy giving his partner the old Russian sausage up on the screen. C’mon – you’re teenagers aren’t you?

Kid Acne: The Birth of Hip-Hop

One of the few Street Artist rappers out there, Kid Acne gets all Yes Yes Ya’ll on his new wall, a nativity scene to remind us what the upcoming holidayze are all about.

RO: “Les Saigneurs”

You really can’t say that you see many hand painted ink wheatpastes up under an overpass. Usually it’s a giant roller or a series of aerosol works. Here Ro is wheat pasting be-headed figures painted with average studio brushes in an illustration style remniscent of political cartoons near the dawn of the printing press.

Distinctly anti-fashion and pro-collabo D.I.Y. it is nonetheless somewhat difficult to follow with its frequent jump cuts to black and patchy audio, you gotta give Collective Souslesmurs (The Wall Collective) credit for getting out there to break some new ground.

David Zayas: “Animalia” From Tost Films.

“Hablamos un poco con David sobre sus principios como artistas, su motivo y su idea del muralismo dentro de su obra plástica,” says Tost films in this interview with 30 year old Puerto Rican painter David Zayas.

“Being an artist is not just about being talented. It’s a responsibility. and that has made me passionate,” says Zayas.

DAVID ZAYAS ANIMALIA from TOSTFILMS on Vimeo.

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Flora Turns to Fauna as dalEAST is in Łódź, Poland

October 16, 2014 Artists

Thinking of going out hiking this weekend to see the fern and the flora and the fauna? Face it, you have to go out of the city to see these things – or at least to Central Park. When was the last time you saw a deer prancing up Flushing Avenue or sifting through vinyl platters at Brooklyn Flea market?

Actually if you were in Łódź right now you would catch dalEAST completing his new deer for Urban Forms 2014, the mural program that has given the city a place of distinction for its quality work installed over a multi-year period. dalEast has again distilled a moment in the imagination where atoms and elements in the ether coalesce and take formation, as these flora actually become fauna before your eyes.

We’re pleased to partner with Urban Forms and photographer Michał Bieżyński to bring BSA readers these exclusive new images of dalEast.

DALeast at work on his mural for Urban Forms 2014. Lodz, Poland. (photo © Urban Forms/Michał Bieżyński)

DALeast. Urban Forms 2014. Lodz, Poland. (photo © Urban Forms/Michał Bieżyński)

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www.urbanforms.org

www.facebook.com/urbanforms

www.vimeo.com/urbanforms

www.instagram.com/urbanforms

www.youtube.com/user/UrbanFormsFoundation

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Painting the Desert : Urban Artists in the Navajo Nation

October 15, 2014 Artists

It’s an unusual pairing: Street Artists who are accustomed to the grit and grime of deteriorating neighborhoods in the city translating their skills to the desert where the environment is outstandingly more natural than built.

In the third year of his experiment inviting artists to paint and wheat-paste in the Navajo Nation, organizer Chip Thomas, whose own street persona is Jetsonorama, appears to have hit a community service vein. “The relationship with the community became deeper,” he says as he relates the integration of some of the artists work relating directly to the history and the stories people tell in this sunbaked part of Arizona. More residency than festival, “The Painted Desert Project” began as a retreat offered to artists Thomas had met through his own association with Street Art festivals like Open Walls in Baltimore.

Troy Love Gates AKA OTHER. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Invited to come for an extended stay, compared to the 4 or 5 days of a typical Street Art festival, these artists are encouraged to study their new environment and to fully immerse themselves before conjuring a new work. Not only does the technique avoid the often levelled charge of cultural imperialism that is associated with the big festivals around the globe, it produces work that has impact and relevance to the community who will be looking at it year round.

Even though there can be a disconnect between the art and the community occasionally, as in the case of one work by the artist Troy Lovegates that was interpreted as being out of sync with some tastes, the majority of works are so closely related to people and the life here that a sense of ownership takes hold quickly. Any cultural worker associated with larger mural projects and programs in cities will tell you corollary stories about how the public responds to the voice of the artist, and one measure of success is the level of engagement by the community. “The project has always focused on creating art that is culturally sensitive,” says Thomas of his approach to the artists and the community, and he says that this year, “I feel like the project moved to the next level.”

Here are fresh images from the third installment of “The Painted Desert Project” that took place this spring and summer, along with some details about the works and their relationship to the people and places that hosted the artists.

Troy Lovegates AKA OTHER. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Street Artists Troy Lovegates and Labrona stayed for a few weeks in the Navajo nation and focused most of their work on a water tank in Rocky Ridge. While Lovegates initial mural was buffed when it “was found to be offensive by members of the community,” says Thomas, their new pieces on the tank were greatly embraced. “We were hosted in Rocky Ridge by the family of Louise Shepherd where we spent the night in a traditional hogan and ate food fresh from Louise’s garden.”

Labrona and Troy Lovegates AKA OTHER Detail. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Troy Lovegates AKA OTHER and Labrona. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Troy Lovegates AKA OTHER. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Labrona. Detail. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

“In Beauty it is finished” by HYURO. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Street Artist Hyuro was created only her second mural in the US here this summer; significant because her first one in Atlanta for Living Walls last year featured nudity that set fire to the passions of religious sensitivities in the neighborhood that were further fanned by showboaters.

For “Painted Desert” the native of Valencia, Spain looked closely at the customs of the community when conceiving her depiction of a prayer ritual, which when viewed in this simple animation, reflects the connection native people have to their agricultural customs and history. “Moved by the simplicity and beauty of the traditional Navajo morning prayer Hyuro positioned her female figure facing the rising sun,” says Thomas, “and she illustrated the movements of this prayer that is performed with white corn pollen.”

HYURO. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

HYURO. Local resident Sharston Woody is a storm rider on this vehicle people call a “4 track”. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Jaz and Mata Ruda. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Kaibeto, Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

JAZ. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Kaibeto, Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

New to the project this year were Street Artists Jaz, LNY, and Mata Ruda, each known for their large scale murals that are interpretive of history and in the case of the latter two, advocacy of social and political causes. This building “was part of the old Bureau of Indian Affairs school system from the 1950s to the 70s, after which it fell into disuse.” Shortly after the revival of the walls, says Thomas, the community began talking about making new plans to convert it into a youth center.

“Local food during the time Jaz, LNY, and Mata Ruda were here was catered by Mrs. Woody and her family,” says Thomas.

Mata Ruda. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Kaibeto, Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Jaz . Mata Ruda. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Kaibeto, Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

JAZ. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Kayenta, Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Near Monument Valley in Kayenta, Arizona, the Argentinian Street Artist Jaz painted a mural inspired by the plight of wild horses that are starving due to overgrazed pastures, says Thomas. In the image the horses are running to escape capture, he says.

LNY. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Kaibeto, Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

LNY at work. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Kaibeto, Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

LNY. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Kaibeto, Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

This vast view of Machu Picchu at the top is a cultural gift from the artist LNY to the community. “He wanted to bridge indigenous cultures of his home in Equador with that of the Navajo nation,” says Chip Thomas, the organizer of “The Painted Desert Project”.

Doodles . Avant Gardener. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

In this mural the artists Doodles and Avant Gardener including important animals that are symbolic to the Navajo like the eagle and hawk, among traditional rug pattern designs, a mountain range, and a rainbow. LNY incorporated a small circle painting in black and white of a woman holding a lamb.

Monica Canilao prepping an installation. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Artists Doodles and Monica Canilao “turned my backyard into a fabrication shop, running chop saws and table saws late into the night,” says Thomas of their work to rebuild a roadside food stand that had burned to the ground. Having made friends with the proprietor, Mrs. Woody, during a previous edition of “Painted Desert,” the two constructed the sides of the food stand and painted them behind his home. As evidence of the bond created between residents and program participants, the artists spent 10 days doing this work, according to Thomas. The family of Mrs Woody came to the house often during the construction and painting to assist and to bring home made food to the artists. Since the artists departed at the end of the summer they have kept in contact with the Woodys via Facebook and Instagram.

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Jetsonorama extends his most heartfelt gratitude to all the people who came together and help with donations of all kind to make this project possible, including to all the donors at http://www.gofundme.com/painted-desert-project

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!
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This article is also published on The Huffington Post

QRST Flowers and Ephemerality of Life and Death

October 14, 2014 Artists

We see a lot of ugly and pretty things on the street – that’s just the range you will run into in the glorious public sphere. Hell I saw a guy almost get killed by a double decker NYC tour bus on Friday at dusk on 15^th Street and 5^th Avenue, no lie. Dude just decided he should jay-walk-jog across the street and ended up realizing his unwitting mistake and running away at top speed in front of the bus for about 15 feet while it was jamming on its brakes and throwing those camera-gripping tourists forward in their seats.

No one flew off the top deck though. And I didn’t see any cameras or fanny packs land on the pavement. The 22 year old chubby collegiate fresh-faced apple-cheeked white boy who caused it all kept running until he could get between cars to his left and cut to the sidewalk.

That would have been ugly. Preppie road pizza.

QRST (photo © Jaime Rojo)

On the other hand, Street Artist QRST has had a very pretty turn recently – painting flowers. Yes. Also framing them and posting them on wooden utility poles. They have been appearing in different locations around Brooklyn recently and we contacted him to see if he was feeling okay. He said yes but he’s been thinking about death a lot lately. And flowers.

“I realize that placing small, quiet pieces out in a world of screaming traffic, crowded sidewalks and enormous murals is like being silent in a room full of yelling people,” he says of the new campaign that features fresh sunflowers and lilies and that will be followed by more dying ones soon – a way of acknowledging the normal cycle of life and death. “We can all watch them decay together,” he explains of the existential Street Art bouquet,”to wilt and slough off into nothing, just like a flower should.”

QRST (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Of using flowers as a subject for art on the street QRST says, “They’re beautiful and weird looking, complicated and easy and trite all at the same time. They’re a strange, very temporary currency. They’re for happiness and sadness and ends and beginnings and apologies and rememberings.”

For those of you tempted to pick these to create an arrangement of your own, beware; they will probably die in the process. “The pieces are designed to self-destruct if someone tries to remove them,” he warns, “that’s part of the point.” So enjoy them for the moment. Then the moment will be gone.

“You can’t own a flower, not really,” says QRST. “Even uncut the best you can do is watch it run its course, a tiny encapsulated version of everything you’ve ever set your mind to, everyone you’ve ever known, every person that is here right now.” Meanwhile, please stay on the sidewalk and cross when the when the sign has that little white walking figure illuminated.

QRST (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Bluebird” : BIFIDO In Italian Jail Teaching Art Methods to Youth

October 13, 2014 Artists

Part of the lore surrounding graffiti and Street Art is that you are at some point playing cat and mouse with the police and probably doing illegal work and will possibly land in jail because of it. Opposite that stereotypical lore is the story where the Street Artist goes into jail specifically to paint, or to teach about art making.

It happens all the time.

Olek went to jail in Poland, both JR and Eine went to New York’s Rikers Island, and organizations like Young New Yorkers and the Philadelphia Mural Arts Restorative Justice program routinely benefit from the volunteerism of Street Artists who give their talents and time to people caught up in the criminal justice system. So much for the simplicity of stereotyping.

Today we have a fresh new piece from Street Artist Bifido, who just created this work in the Istituto Penitenziario Minorile di Airola, a prison for youth in Airola, Italy. Entitled “Bluebird” it contains metaphors about freedom that one could easily read into. “My work speaks of hope and a desire for rebirth that a person in prison can have and of the possibility for them to reinvent their life,” says the artist.

“In the prison I explained to the young people there about what street art is and taught them some techniques about creating art,” he says of the experience. “I talked with them about how an artist feels painting or making something on the street. They assisted me during the work and we worked together.”

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Bifido. Ariola, Italy. 2014 (photo © Bifido)

BSA Images Of The Week: 10.12.14

October 12, 2014 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Bishop203, Blek le Rat, Caratoes, Cone SP, Cost, Dasic, Eelco “Virus” van den Berg, ENX, Enzo Sarto, Jerk Face, Nemo’s, Ripo, and Trash Bird.

Top Image >>Eelco “Virus” van den Berg (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Wanna taste of this? NemO’s new site specific installation in Sicily, Italy. (photo © NemO’s)

COST. ENX (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Veteran New York Street Art/graffiti artist COST was in the news this week after being nabbed for putting up illegal work, and as you might expect, is instantly a hero to some because of it. Literally the same day as the police press release about the arrest we noticed a fellow artist mask taping some letters on a buffed portion of this legal wall where COST and his fellow artist ENX have been riding for a while. We returned a day later to find the message below.

COST . ENX (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dasic new wall for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dasic (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Trash Bird shows how the evolution of man has been affected by cellphones. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Decolonizing Street Art” Gives Voice to More than the Usual

October 11, 2014 Artists

Politically themed Street Art or murals have a long tradition – as long as people have had something to advocate for or against. The modern Street Art movement may trace its roots to political postering that came with the printing press or 20^th century Mexican muralism or the 1968 student demonstrations around the world, especially in Paris – but artists have used and been used to communicate ideas and opinions in the public sphere much longer than this.

Today, whether it is the Arab Spring or the Occupy movement or simply a personal campaign to combat harassment by cat-callers or the economic violence of local gentrification, politically charged speech of one sort or another takes place on the street when artists give it voice.

“Decolonizing Street Art”, a festival an project that took place in August in Canada, convened with the idea that carrying issues directly to the public can affect opinions and possibly produce positive change for people whom the organizers would like to give voice to.

Since the high profile and increasingly moneyed version of the current Street Art festival scene is populated worldwide primarily by men with characteristics of the dominant culture, the organizers and participants of “Decolonizing Street Art” may also be commenting on that backdrop as well. Whatever the motivation, these are voices that not many hear or see.

Hosted in and programmed “on unceded territory, in so-called Montreal”, this handful of artists speak of the indigenous people of the planet and the history of colonialism, the Arab/Israeli conflict, the poisoning of the environment and its effect on humans and animals, and the rights of many marginalized categories of people.

With a concentrated effort this first entry into a still-forming circuit of Street Art festivals and programs worldwide, Decolonizing Street Art makes a formal statement about making space for more radical views comparatively than one typically sees. Whether it is native communities or disenfranchised poor or disappeared women, this effort aims to bring more voices to the street to speak their truth.

To learn more about Decolonizing Street Art click HERE.

See videos from five of the participating artists on BSA Film Friday 10.10.14.

BSA FIlm Friday: 10.10.14

October 10, 2014 Artists

Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.

Now screening :

1. LMNOPI: Decolonizing Street Art
2. Mitra Fakhrashrafi: Decolonize History
3. Jessica Sabogal: Decolonizing Street Art
4. SWARM: Decolonizing Street Art
5. Chris Bose: Decolonizing Street Art

BSA Special Feature: Decolonizing Street Art : Five Videos, Five Artists

“All of my work is dealing with recognizing the presence of people who are often ignored,” says Street Artist LMNOPI in this video. In fact each of the five artists this week on BSA Film Friday are addressing the unaddressed.

A simple yet powerful individual voice on the street can amplify the story of another person, or in these cases, many other people. Here laid bare is one of many junctures where it is possible to fall in love with the Street Art scene all over again, as it continues to evolve and reinvent itself.

The recently completed “Decolonizing Street Art” project in Canada this August quietly and loudly gave voice to personal and political, local and international issues as broad as patriarchy and genocide, and as personal as queer identity and being an immigrant.

Told through the voices of people who put their art in the street, the messages are simple, poignant, and meaningful. Tomorrow we’ll give you photos but today you can enjoy this collection of five artists speaking about their work.

LMNOPI: Decolonizing Street Art

Mitra Fakhrashrafi: Decolonize History

Jessica Sabogal: Decolonizing Street Art

SWARM: Decolonizing Street Art

Chris Bose: Decolonizing Street Art

A Miami Waterfront Stadium Slaughtered by Street Artists to Save It

October 9, 2014 Artists

Just over 50 years ago Cuban architect Hilario Candela designed the Miami Marine Stadium using modernist design to create a great open air theater along the water to watch powerboat racing. In the thirty or so years between its construction and Hurricane Andrew, the 6,566 seat stadium on Miami’s Virginia Key provided natural shade and entertainment including the races, orchestral music, popular music, political events, prize fights – all in a very original and unusual setting. And who can forget it was in “Clambake” with Elvis on skis!

Because of damage sustained during the 1992 hurricane storm, subsequent inspections have left it condemned by the city engineers and a six-year-old restoration and preservation project has been drawing attention to the site and raising money with the hopes of funding its return. While the restoration organization has received support from the original architect, local dignitaries, celebrities and even some corporate funds, the $30 million dollar renovation is still some distance away.

Recently a group of Street Artists and graffiti artists were invited to continue the visual adornment begun by many uninvited writers over the years. “Graffiti artists have been drawn to the stadium and its architecture,” says Street Artist/ fine artist Logan Hicks who participated in and helped organize many of the artists to check out the mid-century modern structure.

“While the city forgot about the stadium, artists continued to embrace it, illegally painting while the city left it to decay,” he says. In fact it is an irony to consider that one city demonizes the same behavior that another invites, but this isn’t the first time that a subculture is recognized for its contribution. Naturally, we know that the work of these artists will most likely be obliterated in the final design.

Now a part of an official campaign to draw attention to the restoration effort, artists from around the country and world have been traveling to the stadium to add their visual signature to the interesting venue. Today we share with BSA readers recent shots by photographer Martha Cooper, who spent some time with Logan and some of the artists for a few days this summer as they explored and hit up some spots in the stadium.

Artists invited to the site include Stinkfish, Axel Void, HoxxoH, Tatiana Suarez, Abstrk, Pixel Pancho, Logan Hicks, Joe Iurato, Rone, Elbow Toe, Risk, Doze Green, Evoca1, Ian Kuali’i, Luis Berros, Dabs Myla, Ron English, Tristan Eaton, The London Police, Crash, Johnny Robles, Reinier Gamboa, Jose Mertz, and Lucy McLauchlan.

A view from the stadium when it was doing live shows floating in the water offshore from the Miami Herald website (thus the watermark). To look at original photos the paper has for sale click on the photo or HERE.

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Nick Walker (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nick Walker. Here is the piece featured above which he painted on the streets of New York in 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nick Walker (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nick Walker (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nick Walker (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nick Walker (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nick Walker (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nick Walker (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nick Walker (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nick Walker (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Top Image >>#Dysturb photograph by Alvaro Canovas. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pyramid Oracle for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pyramid Oracle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Yeah, you and me both, doll. Sexer for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Myth dips back to the nineties for this version of Darkwing Duck. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A singular Mexican musician here to serenade a senorita outside the window. Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The tide is high. Ramiro Davaros-Coma (photo © Jaime Rojo)

An illustration outside Lucky Chengs in The Lower East Side. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FRESH! Me and Clint Mario team again for this telephone booth take over. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Smeller and Smarty on a sunny day. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Thievin Stephen has all the fried chicken you can eat for The Bushwick Collecive (photo © Jaime Rojo)

She Wolf (photo © Jaime Rojo)

James Bullough for The Bushwick Collecive (photo © Jaime Rojo)

HOME (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. NYC Sky Landscape. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Michael Beerens. Paris, France. Oct 2014. (photo © Alexis Masurelle)

Michael Beerens. Paris, France. Oct 2014. (photo © Alexis Masurelle)

Michael Beerens. Paris, France. Oct 2014. (photo © Alexis Masurelle)

Michael Beerens. Paris, France. Oct 2014. (photo © Alexis Masurelle)

“The three ‘bandrilles’ that the panda has in his back represent the 3 countries where the bullfight is still practiced legally; France, Spain and Portugal,” says artist Michael Beerens. Paris, France. Oct 2014. (photo © Alexis Masurelle)

BSA Special Feature: Sofles In Paris

Russians Hi-Jack an Electronic Billboard in Hong Kong

Kid Acne: The Birth of Hip-Hop

RO: “Les Saigneurs”

David Zayas: “Animalia” From Tost Films.

DALeast at work on his mural for Urban Forms 2014. Lodz, Poland. (photo © Urban Forms/Michał Bieżyński)

DALeast at work on his mural for Urban Forms 2014. Lodz, Poland. (photo © Urban Forms/Michał Bieżyński)

DALeast. Urban Forms 2014. Lodz, Poland. (photo © Urban Forms/Michał Bieżyński)

DALeast. Urban Forms 2014. Lodz, Poland. (photo © Urban Forms/Michał Bieżyński)

DALeast. Urban Forms 2014. Lodz, Poland. (photo © Urban Forms/Michał Bieżyński)

Troy Lovegates AKA OTHER. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Labrona and Troy Lovegates AKA OTHER Detail. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Troy Lovegates AKA OTHER and Labrona. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Troy Lovegates AKA OTHER. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Labrona. Detail. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

“In Beauty it is finished” by HYURO. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

HYURO. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

HYURO. Local resident Sharston Woody is a storm rider on this vehicle people call a “4 track”. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Jaz and Mata Ruda. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Kaibeto, Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

JAZ. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Kaibeto, Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Mata Ruda. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Kaibeto, Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Jaz . Mata Ruda. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Kaibeto, Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

JAZ. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Kayenta, Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

LNY. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Kaibeto, Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

LNY at work. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Kaibeto, Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

LNY. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Kaibeto, Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Doodles . Avant Gardener. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

Monica Canilao prepping an installation. The Painted Desert Project 2014. Arizona. Navajo Nation. (photo © Jetsonorama)

QRST (photo © Jaime Rojo)

QRST (photo © Jaime Rojo)

QRST (photo © Jaime Rojo)

QRST (photo © Jaime Rojo)

QRST (photo © Jaime Rojo)

QRST (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bifido. Ariola, Italy. 2014 (photo © Bifido)

Top Image >>Eelco “Virus” van den Berg (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Wanna taste of this? NemO’s new site specific installation in Sicily, Italy. (photo © NemO’s)

COST. ENX (photo © Jaime Rojo)

COST . ENX (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dasic new wall for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dasic (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Trash Bird shows how the evolution of man has been affected by cellphones. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Blek le Rat in collaboration with Low Brow Artique. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Blek le Rat in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Enzo Sarto (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Enzo Sarto (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Caratoes for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cone SP (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RIPO for The L.I.S.A. Project. (photo © Jaime Rojo)