December 2016

Clément Martin : Wishes & Hopes for 2017

December 31, 2016 Artists

As we near the new year we’ve asked a special guest every day to take a moment to reflect on 2016 and to tell us about one photograph that best captures the year for him or her. It’s an assortment of treats for you to enjoy and contemplate as we all reflect on the year that has passed and conjure our hopes and wishes for the new year to come. It’s our way of sharing the sweetness of the season and of saying ‘Thank You’ for inspiring us throughout the year.

The self-possessed savoir faire of a Frenchman in New York is not so surprising, but try keeping up with photographer Clément Martin who literally slept on the streets of New York for a month and see how elegant you will remain. As the official photographer for conceptual street performance artists Boijeot & Renauld, Clément has been traveling and shooting on the street for the last three years in Tokyo, Brussels, Berlin, Venice, Paris, Zurich, Dresden, Basel, and of course New York. Since Times Square is such a famous place to be for New Year’s Eve Clément shares with BSA readers this scene of repose suitable for enjoying the spectacular view with opera singer Dan Cory singing Carmen classics in bed.

Artists: Boijeot & Renauld
Location: Times Square, New York
Photograph by Clément Martin

Each “performance” is unique, and for the New York one called “Hotel Empire” we used living units (a furniture assortment that includes beds, tables and chairs) to occupy public space in the city, setting up camp in various neighborhoods, regularly moving from one street to another.

The artists (and I) regularly move the furniture by hand from one stop to another and we offer all pieces of furniture- available to anyone who wants to take a nap, have a coffee or simply to chat. The performance brings intimacy in the public space, since the furniture can be (and really is) used by everyone.

You get to interrupt the city rhythm by sitting or laying down, but on a social interaction level, it also offers a chance to the people involved to create a shared memory

“Mental graffiti” some will call this.

What I’m sure of is that on this October day in Times Square we offered the opportunity to the man in this picture to live in this place that never sleeps for a few minutes- part of the 732 continuous hours we lived on New York City streets for this performance.

Roula David and Jesse Corey : Wishes & Hopes for 2017

December 30, 2016 Artists

The dynamo Detroit couple who run Inner State Gallery and the 50+ artist festival called Murals in The Market, Roula David and Jesse Cory are perhaps best known for owning and operating 1xRun, a stellar and sophisticated artists’ print business that boasts an impressive roster of street and street culture-related creators. More impressively, these folks value community, family, Detroit culture and its history: What these two (and Oscar) build is so much more than bricks and mortar.

Title: @oscarfromtheblock holding down his shipping desk at the @1xRUN offices.
Location: Service Street, Detroit, Michigan
Date: 2016
Photo by Jesse Cory

The back entrance to our studio is where Oscar welcomes artists, guest, clients, collectors from across the globe, his excitement and greeting is memorable and makes for quite a first impression.

This entrance and this block is also incredibly special to us. Service Street in Detroit is well known as being one of the most creative blocks for over 30 years. Some of the city’s first artist lofts and loft parties happened here. This is where we relocated our business, gallery, and home 4 years ago. This past year we hosted the kickoff for @muralsinthemarket on Service Street and it is alway a very Detroit (and a very American) landscape to bring our artists to as soon as they land.

“Our photo is a little combo of all. It has our sticker door at 1xRUN on our favorite street, Service Street, with our favorite little puppy Oscar.”

Follow them : @jessecory @rouladavid @oscarfromtheblock

Selina Miles : Wishes & Hopes for 2017

December 29, 2016 Artists

Australian filmmaker and nomad Selina Miles specializes in street art and graffiti, and is also in love with music video, documentary, and most people she meets. First making her mark with a series of mind-baking action videos with Sofles a few years ago, Ms. Miles is now a dynamic storyteller. She is just as likely to be shooting artists as she is plundering their histories and connecting the dots of their influences, aspirations. Willing to take creative risks and to push her own limits, look out in 2017 for Selina to craft a piece on one of the biggest documentary subjects whom she’s profiled yet – in a way that only Selina can do.

Image of Charles and Janine Williams
Papeete, Tahiti
October 2016

Photo by Selina Miles

I love this photo because Charles and Janine Williams really embody my hope for the future street artist. I still love graffiti, the more ignorant/illegal the better, but if artists are entering into a community and putting up a huge mural in the context of street art, this is the right way to do it in my opinion.

They worked together on this wall in Papeete, Tahiti as part of a series they are working on, painting different species of birds native to a particular area, particularly focusing on endangered species. The CR on this painting of a Tahitian Monarch means the bird is critically endangered. They collaborated with the local bird watching group, who provided the photos and also attended a blessing when the wall was finished, where Charles and Janine sung a traditional Māori song as thanks.

In my opinion, this kind of deep, genuine engagement with people and place is the future of street art, in contrary to the commercialisation and trivialisation we see from sponsored / branded events. As a film maker, these are the kinds of stories I look forward to documenting in the future.

Christian Omodeo : Wishes & Hopes for 2017

December 28, 2016 Artists

Christian Omodeo is an art historian, art critic, book collector, and streetwise diplomat at Le Grand Jeu, the cultivated webzine and urban art association. This year Christian was one of three curators for “Street art Banksy & Co. The urban state of mind” at Museum Palazzo Pepoli in Bologna, Italy, which he refers to as “one of the biggest retrospective ever dedicated to graffiti & street art, with more or less 300 artworks, photos, videos, documents coming both from Europe and US, and belonging to public and private collections.” It also sparked some controversy, a counter exhibition, and many heated conversations.

Today Christian shares with us the work of a graffiti photographer from Rome.

Title: A writer is using a fire extinguisher against security guard to escape easier in a trainline tunnel
Location: Rome, Italy
Date: 2016
Photo:Valerio Polici

I finally met Valerio Polici a few weeks ago, during Paris Photo. He was there to present his first artist’s book, Ergo Sum, that is actually part of my top ten 2016 books. Valerio, like the French Sylvain Largot, represents this new generation of photographers who are looking for different ways of portraying the 2010s graffiti culture. While looking at Ergo Sum, I stopped in front of A writer is using a fire extinguisher against security guard to escape easier in a trainline tunnel, because this photo from 2013 summarizes this attempt to show graffiti as an individualist fight for a right to the city.

My wish for 2017? More democracy, less walls.

But also more sun, less rain.

Maria Enriqueta Arias : Wishes & Hopes for 2017

December 27, 2016 Artists

Mexico City based writer and cultural interlocutor Maria Enriqueta Arias studied journalism, acting, and communications before landing gigs with PangeaSeed Foundation, Juxtapoz Latin America, and her current position as managing editor at Instagrafite. Maria Enriqueta’s enthusiasm about the scene is infectious and her eye well attuned, so it’s good to learn what image she chose to share with us for the year-end.

Artist: Ericailcane
Mexico City, Colonia Roma
July 20th, 2016
Photograph by @enriquetarias

I love this picture of Ericailcane’s most recent mural in Mexico City because it is not only located in my neighborhood, but because he’s one of the most committed artists and urban artists nowadays.

His work in Mexico always has an amazingly touching message about the social and political issues occurring in Mexico at the moment. He cares about the country and he’s so involved with Latin American culture that his pieces reflect perfectly his position and his critiques of this system.

Guillaume Trotin : Wishes & Hopes for 2017

December 26, 2016 Artists

Curator at this years Urban Art section for Berliner Liste, the first time for the traditional art fair, Guillaume Trotin is used to breaking new ground in the Street Art scene. Co-founder of Berlin’s OPEN WALLS gallery with partner Elodie Bellanger, the Frenchmen have championed innovative, edge-pushing artists such as Vermibus, OX, and Thomas Marecki aka Marok (founder of Lowdown magazine). An avid fan of urban art and photography, Guillaume tells us why he selected this image by the photographer Thomas von Wittich shot at this iconic Berlin location.

“The F Word”
Berlin, Germany
2016
Photograph by Thomas von Wittich

This photo is from the Berlin Kidz series. It shows Berlin Kids (on top on the rope) and Alaniz (on the bottom with a pole) painting over the wall that Blu covered in black.

To me this wall is the most iconic wall of Berlin, it’s been on the cover of every single edition of Kai Jakob’s Berlin Street Art book for a decade, and what happened on this wall this year summarizes the challenges we currently face in Berlin

The action took place the day after Blu recovered his large scale mural with black paint as a protest against gentrification and the monetization of street art. The property management painted everything black again the next day & this photo is the only documentation we have. It’s a piece of Berlin history.

As a side note it features some of the very few people that are still authentic in the scene (in the sense that they do large scale mural illegally and spontaneously): Berlin Kidz and Alaniz. Being a careful observer of the street art and graffiti scene in Berlin for a decade, I consider Berlin Kidz to be what’s currently the most relevant in the streets of Berlin, as well as in German graffiti as a whole.

Merry Christmas 2016 from BSA

December 25, 2016 Artists

Jaime’s Christmas/Navidad-inspired sculpture on the beach in Florida on Christmas Eve. Materials: found pieces of driftwood, coconuts, seashells, and electric lights. December 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

To all of our families, friends, collaborators, co-conspirators, community, tribe around the world: we wish you peace and happy holidays. This year Hannukah starts on Christmas Eve, so it’s sort of mash-up of those two holidays. Kwanzaa starts any minute, and Winter Solstice was a few days ago.

Bottom line is, if you celebrate one of these, or none at all – we’re sending you love and good vibrations and gratitude for taking this ride with us.

TOR STÅLE MOEN : Wishes & Hopes for 2017

December 24, 2016 Artists

Tor Ståle Moen is a Norwegian executive turned passionately engaged Street Art fan and photographer whom we first met in Stavanger during the Nuart Festival a few years ago. Donating his vacation time to volunteer with the artists at Nuart, the atmosphere is charged with Tor’s enthusiasm and knowledge about Street Art, artists, and the history of the people and Norway. Today Mr. Moen shares with us one of his photos from this year of art on a very quiet Norwegian island.

Artists: Ella & Pitr from Saint Etienne, France
Location: Utsira Island on the west coast of Norway
Date: August 27, 2016.
Photograph by Tor Ståle Moen

The beautiful island Utsira was the first public financed port in Norway. Since it was finished in 1870, it has provided safe shelter for lobstermen and merchant ships in the harshest part of the North Sea.

Today there are only 200 residents left on the tiny island – a vibrant mix of people of all ages and different corners of the world who share the love of nature and the windy life on an island far at sea.

Even though the community is tiny and isolated, their living tradition of welcoming strangers in distress sets an example to us all. In a time when world leaders calls for protective walls against foreign trade, religion and people escaping war and poverty – the people of Utsira reflects the opposite. They are known for their philanthropic engagement and heartfelt empathy.

Also when it comes to art, they have open-mindedly welcomed a number of street artists to work on their tiny island. The inhabitants are very proud of the art and memories the artists have left behind. The artists visiting have been struck for life by the beauty of the place and the warm, safe and welcoming atmosphere they experienced here.

This person, painted by the french artists Ella & Pitr on a roof top on Utsira, has obviously found his own peaceful and safe haven – and together with him I wish all BSA friends a relaxing festive season and a tolerant and peaceful 2017

Wayne Rada & Rey Rosa : Wishes & Hopes for 2017

December 23, 2016 Artists

Stalwart proponents of Street Art and New York’s Little Italy neighborhood, Wayne Rada and Rey Rosa have shepherded many artists onto walls of this historic commercial and residential community over the five years with their L.I.S.A. Project and the LoMan Art Festival. With a comedians’ sense of timing and serious Gotham grit, since 2012 these guys have been responsible for welcoming artists like Crash, Daze, Ron English, Olek, Bishop 203, Invader, … and many more to install their work legally in the heart of Manhattan. Today they tell the story of an experience with a mural by Shepard Fairey this year that reassured them that their hard work is worth it.

Manhattan, NYC
September 2016

Photo by Rey Rosa

For their “Hopes & Wishes” posting the guys share a letter they received this year after working with Shepard Fairey’s crew to put a new mural up. They say that stuff like this makes all their efforts seem worth it.

“I really feel that the teacher at TASS school, sums up about how we feel, and why we spit blood for this mural program,” says Wayne.

“I wanted to write to thank you again for taking time out of your busy schedule to meet with my art students. They loved meeting and talking with you, and have been excited watching your progress from classroom window,” begins the letter from Kristen Miller, a teacher at Technology, Arts, and Sciences Studio.

“Our students usually do not have the opportunity to be exposed to formalized art outside of school. Being able to meet and talk with a professional artist not only was an amazing way to help them make connections between the street art they see around them everyday, but also to what they are learning in my art class. It was a great opportunity to show them that street art/graffiti is a form of “real art” that has value, and that it can have real meaning.”

The L.I.S.A Project NYC : lisaprojectnyc.org
Instagram/Twitter: @thelisaprojectnyc
The LoMan Art Fest (Lower Manhattan Arts Festival): lomanartfest.org
Instagram/Twitter: @lomanartfest

James Finucane: Wishes & Hopes for 2017

December 22, 2016 Artists

Nuart Festival general manager (Daglig Leder) and the winning right-hand man of the cheerful troublemaker and visionary Martyn Reed, James Finucane has often firmly taken the reins on this Norwegian Urban Art festival to bring forward a remarkable cultural event for the last two years. The Stourbridge native was previously at London’s Serpentine Galleries as a researcher but his scope is vastly wider now and if you see the steel-nerved and unflappable James seeming to glide easily through the cloud of artists, volunteers, and installations in Stavanger, its because he has the patience of a saint – and a sharp eye. Today he shares with us a piece by an artist best known for his painting, prints, drawings, and animated films.

Triumph & Laments
Artist: William Kentridge
Location: Rome, Italy
Date: October 2016
Photograph by Giulia Carpignol

This project by South African artist William Kentridge was his first public art commission at the age of 61 and a project that took 12 years from concept to completion. Whilst it was inspiring to see the work of one of the world’s foremost painters on this scale, for me, it also represented a clarion call to Street Art organizers and advocates the world over.

If public space is the last frontier of Contemporary Art what does this mean for the Street Art movement? In particular, how do we retain the activist, bottom-up and community-based spirit of Street Art and its associated movements and continue to challenge the contemporary art establishment as they begin to flex their institutional muscles in public space ever more frequently?

Disrupting the hermetically sealed art world is at the core of Street Art and ever more important in an era of unprecedented public interest in visual culture.

An exciting thought for 2017!

Tee Byford : Wishes & Hopes for 2017

December 21, 2016 Artists

Artist and director Tee Byford from London/Totnes produced a series called “Driving Sideways” this year for Channel 4 about “Drifters” who like smoke, noise, and pushing car motors to the limit. After that went live he did some drifting of his own across the United States capturing the work Street Artist Louis Masai along with his co-filmmaker Emil Walker. We got to see him at the beginning in Brooklyn and three months later in Miami after he boomeranged to the west coast and back. Today he shares with you one of his favorites from 2016.

Julia
Austin, Texas, USA
Date: November 13, 2016
Photograph by Tee Byford

This image represents people power and the people who are I have met along my journey in the States.

For me these are the young people who will change this country for the better and that’s why this image represents a hero image.

Emil Walker : Hopes & Wishes for 2017

December 20, 2016 Artists

London filmmaker Emil Walker just crossed the US twice from Brooklyn to LA to Miami and many points in between with two buddies – artist Louis Masai and his co-filmer Tee. They were capturing and documenting Masai’s “Art of Beeing” tour to raise awareness of endangered species and the era of extinction we are in right now. Emil shares with us one of his favorite shots of 2016 of his friend Tee – and tells us why it resonates for him.

Tee
Brooklyn, New York USA
Date: October 2016
Photograph by Emil Walker

This year has been insanely epic! I’ve met so many people, developed skills and experienced some amazing new places. I took this photo a little over a month ago in Brooklyn, NYC, at the beginning of a project I’m currently working on in North America.

The subject is Tee, one of my oldest friends, a fellow filmmaker and also one my biggest inspirations. His attitude towards taking his own pathway and staying clear of trends or what is ‘cool’ is something that so many people sadly lack but is such a vital component to creating that original work we all strive to make.

I’m looking forward to the new year, continuing to figure out what the hell I’m doing on this planet and hopefully spending some more time out of rainy London!

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