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:
Yes, Broken Crow was in town to participate in two art shows and put up three walls before heading on back to Minneapolis, where they participated in a 24 hour art creating event and painted a gigundo...
The celebrated but now ruinous Arnau Theater in Barcelona sits patiently awaiting to be revived. Once an effervescent center of spectacle and entertainment the theater opened its doors in 1894 and thr...
The streets have been anticipating the arrival of the new president and vice president for a few months now. Today it took place and the U.S. has a 46th President - Joe Biden and 49th Vice President ...
Mando Marie, an American artist currently dividing her time between Amsterdam and Portugal, stands out with her unique blend of stencil art and painting. Her work subtly echos themes of childhood nos...
Photographer Martha Cooper just returned to New York from Hawaiian paradise and the 5th Pow! Wow! Festival, which this year featured an unprecedented number of artist that some estimate at 100. Natur...