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:
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! The clocks fell back last night, which means it gave NYC marathon runners a much needed extra hour to lie in bed and stare at the ceiling thinking about the ra...
It's definitely quieter here in Wynwood when there are no art fairs. But there is still so much activity. The daytime neighborhood is pounding with construction and new buildings and restaurants/...
While city birds sing and traffic swells and murmurs, Street Artist ROA shows BSA how his great unsung animals are made. One of ROA's new Brooklyn birds (photo © Jaime Rojo) The eagerly anticipate...
Here's our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Bifido, Caserta, Dylan Egon, Gaia, Gurld Master, Hunt, Joe Iurato, IMNOPI, Nando Zeve, Rubin 415, and Sean9Lugo. Top Image >&...
BSA is in Moscow as curators of 50+ international artists in the Artmossphere Biennale 2018 for its 3rd edition called Street Art Wave. Till the end of the month we’ll working with a stellar cross...