October 2017

Boston’s “Underground Mural Project” Opens With 11 Artists

Boston’s “Underground Mural Project” Opens With 11 Artists

“I love transforming a raw space for everyone to discover. It’s the best feeling to see people enjoying themselves in front of my art,” says artist Cey Adams in Boston as he finishes his “LOVE” mural in a letter style recalling the funky late 70s.

Cey Adams. Urban Art Park. Beantown, Boston. September 2017. (photo © Todd Mazer)

At the start of September Adams and 10 other artists joined the Underground Mural Project to transform 150,000 square feet of walls and pavement in a park here, curated by Street Theory Gallery, a creative studio founded by Liza and Victor ‘Marka27’ Quiñonez. The 8-acre public underpass located between Boston’s South End and South Boston neighborhoods has been leased to a privately owned company that has turned it into “an active urban park, cultural attraction and parking amenity”, now named Underground Ink Block.

Ewok-MSK. Urban Art Park. Beantown, Boston. September 2017. (photo © Todd Mazer)

Our thanks to photographer Todd Mazer who shares some of his images with BSA readers today from the event. Todd also conducted an interview with painter, muralist and graffiti artist Rob “Problak” Gibbs, a native of Roxbury, a neighborhood in the southern part of Boston. As participant in the project, community arts advocate, and a lifetime Boston citizen who believes strongly in the power of public art, graffiti, and HipHop culture, Poblak offers a unique perspective to the Underground Mural Project.

Todd Mazer: In your origins as a writer you have spoken about the importance of outdoor classrooms like Peters Park what are your hopes that a place like the Underground at Ink Block can be a catalyst for?
Problak: I hope that the Underground at Ink Block can be a catalyst for the next generation of graffiti writers, muralist and landscape artist to be inspired to take what we contributed to the space and add on to the practice. If our times are documented the stories can be told better through a variety of disciplines artist come to the table with.

When a place like the Underground exists, up and coming artist can work on creative ways to contribute towards a venue that exhibits community art for the people of greater Boston at a world wide scale. The Underground can be a bridge that takes anyone (young or old) on an adventure through the creative process of an artist that may have work in that space.

VyalOne. Urban Art Park. Beantown, Boston. September 2017. (photo © Todd Mazer)

Todd Mazer: As an artist, activist and architect/educator how have you discovered the importance to expand your skill set in order to create opportunity for your own and others artistic endeavors?
Problak: I discovered how important it is have to have a variety of ways to tell your story. Pose2 always told us “your only as good as your last piece” and Kem5 added “ and the people you place yourself around” When that whole phrase is combined positioned my mind in a place to have my skill set be in a good position to always grow.

“Walking the talk” confidently comes from paying dues. Dues that range from humble beginnings to bad experiences that I learned the greatest lessons from. Expanding my skill set opened up new doors to meet and build a variety of relationships with other artist who too are skilled and tackle tasks through creative problem solving. The more skill you have the less you’ll find yourself saying NO to a majority of the challenges you’ll get approached with.

HOXXOH. Urban Art Park. Beantown, Boston. September 2017. (photo © Todd Mazer)

Todd Mazer: As a follow up more specifically could you offer some insight from 91 til infinity… in other words how has your involvement in AFH (Artists For Humanities) shaped your actions and given you perspective on the importance of this new space?
Problak: LOL from 91 til………..

My involvement with AFH is very instrumental to what I do because the creed we practice in our studio has become the DNA to my life’s work. I grew up around a small nit of artist who are gifted and who challenged me along our journey. That small crew grew into the organizations leadership. The ethos has evolved and revolved off of our actions. We took responsibility for our own learning and shared that practice with a large amount of youth for the past 25 years.

Don Rimx . Problak . Marka27. Urban Art Park. Beantown, Boston. September 2017. (photo © Todd Mazer)

The importance of this new space is that concept of giving space and opportunity for a genre that is powered by energy in this city that is untapped. An energy that has the interest of the youth and the ability to challenge them to think, digest, seek their own truth and hopefully contribute. Sometimes you have to be exposed to or shown the examples to develop your voice. This space could serve as a megaphone to help project it. The examples are the trailblazers who show everyone in the space what’s possible.

Todd Mazer: Why is it so important to artistically reclaim overlooked spaces?
Problak: It’s important to “Add to” vs. reclaim because with all due respect to the city’s architecture, I view these spaces as a series of blank canvases embedded inside of what I would compare to the city’s respiratory system. The work we do would breathe life into these spaces so that the city would not have to hold its breath and encourage others to do the same. These spaces can be landmarks and spark the next mind to be great or be that picture worth a 1000 words that would speak to the generations to come.

The participating artists include: Vyal One, Imagine, Cey Adams, Don Rimx, Marka 27, Problak, Ewok MSK, Thy Doan, Upendo, Percy Fortini-Wright and Hoxxoh. Our thanks to Todd Mazer for sharing his photos and interview with BSA readers.

Marka27. Urban Art Park. Beantown, Boston. September 2017. (photo © Todd Mazer)

Ewok-MSK . Thy Doan. Urban Art Park. Beantown, Boston. September 2017. (photo © Todd Mazer)

Thy Doan. Urban Art Park. Beantown, Boston. September 2017. (photo © Todd Mazer)

 

Perci Fortini-Wright. Urban Art Park. Beantown, Boston. September 2017. (photo © Todd Mazer)

Perci Fortini-Wright. Urban Art Park. Beantown, Boston. September 2017. (photo © Todd Mazer)

Imagine876. Urban Art Park. Beantown, Boston. September 2017. (photo © Todd Mazer)

Upendo. Urban Art Park. Beantown, Boston. September 2017. (photo © Todd Mazer)

Problak . Vyal . Marka27. Urban Art Park. Beantown, Boston. September 2017. (photo © Todd Mazer)

Having fun at the block party. Urban Art Park. Beantown, Boston. September 2017. (photo © Todd Mazer)

Having fun at the block party. Urban Art Park. Beantown, Boston. September 2017. (photo © Todd Mazer)

 

 

Underground at Ink Block from National Development on Vimeo.

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12 Finalist Artists Announced for Contorno Urbano Mural in Barcelona

12 Finalist Artists Announced for Contorno Urbano Mural in Barcelona

Almost 300 artists and collectives from around the world (42 countries) have entered the 2018 Contorno Urbano competition for this wall/residency/7000€ prize in Barcelona! It is astounding how many high caliber artists are at work today in cities everywhere, bringing innovative new techniques and unique perspectives to public space like never before.

After reviewing all applications and submitted materials during a process begun this summer, today we are excited to announce that this list has been narrowed to just 12 finalists. Next month their names will go to the final stage of selection in Barcelona with esteemed co-jurors from organizers and creators in the areas of art academia, mural art, public art, and Street Art to narrow the list to one.

The 12 premiere finalists for the Mural de la Salut in Sant Feliu de Llobregat (Barcelona, Spain) are:

Axel Void
Borondo
Colectivo Licuado
David de la Mano
Escif
Guido Van Helten
Hyuro
Innerfields
Millo
Otecki
Sabotaje al Montaje
San

Congratulations to each artist! It wasn’t an easy task for the pre-selection committee to decide the best from 300, but your work rose to the top 4% of the applications according to the selection criteria.

#MuralSalut: Finalistas – Finalists from Contorno Urbano on Vimeo.

Among the considerations for selection were academic studies, experience and history creating murals in public space, previous internships or residencies, and suitability of artwork style to the central purpose of this 400 square meter mural.

Each of the 12 finalists will be asked to submit a sketch and a written proposal.

The final stage of the selection will be on November 15th and 16th, with the following professionals travelling to Sant Feliu de Llobregat:

Monica Campana (Cofounder of Living Walls and project manager for the urban art exhibition Open Source),
Fernando Figueroa (PHD in History of Art and independent researcher specialized in graffiti and urban art),
Esteban Marin (President of Contorno Urbano and mural artist),
Jaime Rojo (co-founder of Brooklyn Street Art and curator), and
Veronica Werckmeister (painter and muralist, curator).

The mural will commemorate the neighborhood’s fight 30 years ago to have this public square created for the neighbors instead of building a gas station. After meeting with the Association La Salut and the neighbors who live in the area, members of the jury will review previous artworks and experience of the 12 finalists to help them to select the artist who is best suited for painting the mural.

The winner will receive an artistic residence beginning in Spring 2018 and will receive a 7000€ prize. The wall will be painted after an artistic residency in order for the artist to become acquainted with the historic context of the project and the city itself.

The project is a collaboration between the municipality (Ajuntament) of Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Fundacion Contorno Urbano and Kaligrafics.

Kaligrafics: Founded in 1999, it’s the oldest non-profit organization dedicated to graffiti and street art in Cataluña, and a significant record of experience in Spain.

Contorno Urbano: The first Foundation in Spain to be fully dedicated to street art and graffiti. The team has over 10 years’ experience organizing murals and urban art dissemination locally and internationally.


Following in no particular order are the 12 finalists:

Guido Van Helten / United Kingdom

Guido Van Helten for Nashville Walls Project. Nashville, TN. June 2017. (photo © Eric E Johnson)

Borondo / Spain

Borondo for Urban Nation this spring (UN) in the Tegel section of Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Escif / Spain

Escif. Living Walls Atlanta. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Daniel “SAN” Muñoz / Spain

Daniel Muñoz. The curtain ( 983 followers). The Highlands, Scotland. (photo © courtesy of the artist)

Axel Void / USA

Axel Void. Los Muros Hablan. El Barrio/Spanish Harlem. NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hyuro / Spain

Hyuro. What In The World PM/12. Urban Nation Museum For Urban Contemporary Art. Berlin, May 19, 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Colectivo Licuado / Uruguay

Colectivo Licuado. Lisbon, Portugal. (photo © courtesy of Colectivo Licuado)

Millo / Italy

Millo in Kiev for Mural Social Club Festival/NGO Sky Art Foundation. (photo © Maksim Belousov)

Innerfields / Germany

Innerfields for ArtUnitedUs in Kiev, Ukraine. (photo © @dronarium)

David De La Mano / Spain

David De La Mano. Urban Nation Musuem For Urban Contemporary Art. Berlin. September 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sabotaje Al Montaje / Spain

Sabotaje Al Montaje. Los Alcazares. Murcia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)

Otecki / Poland

Otecki. Urban Forms. Lodz, Poland. (photo © Courtesy Urban Forms)

 

 

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BSA Images Of The Week: 10.29.17

BSA Images Of The Week: 10.29.17

BSA-Images-Week-Jan2015

Halloween this year is on a Tuesday so its hard for people to know when exactly to celebrate it – we had 20 or so Trick-or-Treaters Saturday night so that tells you the kids vote in this part of Brooklyn.

Of course with the folks we have running the White House, every day feels like Halloween. “Here, I’ll trick you with this POPULIST costume, and my treat will be to take whats left of your middle class chocolate.”

Trick or Trick!

It doesn’t help that Tabloid TV loves the “Zombies on Parade” – they are like sugar addicts dancing for eyeballs and advertising dollars.

But from a Street Art and public performance perspective, New York is a thrill, a regular monster mash! The East Village parade 2017 on Tuesday will have puppets, 53 bands performing different types of music, dancers, artists, and thousands of New Yorkers in costume. Be safe out here ya’ll.

Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Karl Addison, Bifido, City Kitty, Denis Ouch, Don Rimx, Elliott Routledge, Julien de Casabianca, Julieta, Lungebox, Nevercrew, Outings Project, Revok, Sipros, Strayones, and TurtleCaps.

Top image: Elliott Routledge (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Revok – MSK (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Denis Ouch (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Portraits of a clown king. Denis Ouch (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Strayones brings out Cat In The Hat. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sculptural Street Artist Strayones tells us that the story represented here is a critique of “how business people and wealthy men are making us step over the edge into the abyss”.

Nevercrew. “Dimensional recipe”. Los Angeles. Part 1 (photo © Nevercrew)

“Dimensional recipe” is a series of three interconnected mural paintings realized in Los Angeles (USA), curated by Anne­Laure Lemaitre (FatCap), 2017.

About the work:

This is a work about mankind’s relation with creation, about the mutual influences between creativity and reality and the anthropological loop
that originates from this continuous correlation. It is about the feeling of being part of a system, of being a participant and being able to view it from a certain point of view, for what it is and for what it could be.”

Nevercrew. “Dimensional recipe”. Los Angeles. Part 2 (photo © Nevercrew)

Nevercrew. “Diposing Machine”. Melano, Switzerland. Part 1 (photo © Nevercrew)

“Disposing Machine” is the new mural from Nevercrew in Melano, Switzerland for Artrust. Their statement:

“Habits, attitudes, principles and awareness are conditioned by reality, and reality is conditioned by the perception everyone has of it. The position of humankind in its environment, in its World, is at the same
time part of its nature and a point of view from which to perceive it.

Systems are then interpretations, a way to give human shape to
something that’s not necessarily made for it, as well as a way to decide
which shapes to give and how to read them. As reality could be built and
altered by systems, so nature could then risk to be detached from
human sensing; an human reconstruction of something that exists
outside this given shape but that still is directly subjected to each action
that’s made on it.”

This image of Dreamers reminds us of our grandfathers and grandmothers and the stories of refugees all over the world overcoming obstacles to make a better life.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dom Rimx (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Collaboration between Bifido and Julieta in Lecce, Italy. (photo © Bifido)

The Italian Street Artist Bifido and Spanish artists Juelieta completed this fantastical work in Lecce, Italy this week for the 167 Art Project. Bifido tells us that the title is “First Fire” and it “talks about the possibility to love each other in a fantastic way, and it focuses on the importance of play in our lives.”

Collaboration between Bifido and Julieta in Lecce, Italy. (photo © Bifido)

Turtlecaps . City Kitty (photo © Jaime Rojo)

An atmospheric Addison Karl . “Okchamali Nebulae”. Washington, DC. (photo © Addison Karl)

Lungebox (photo © Jaime Rojo)

One question: what is a furring channel? Sipros for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Outings Project in Paris. (photo © Julien de Casabianca)

Outings Project in Paris. (photo © Julien de Casabianca)

Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Brooklyn, NY. October 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Selections From “SHINE” Mural Festival in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Selections From “SHINE” Mural Festival in St. Petersburg, Florida.

Here are new images from St Petersburg, Florida, where The SHINE mural festival was thrown in September for the 3rd year in a row.

Kryptk. Shine Mural Festival. St. Petersburg, Florida. October 2017. (photo © Iryna Kanishcheva)

“Shine is a good example of a mural project when the community is involved,” says an organizer Iryna Kanishcheva, who has had a great deal of experience working with Street Artists in the last few years, including a very successful program in Kiev.

Regarding this Floridian community she says, “They started in 2015 with many local artists and family-friendly public activities. The event received good support from the community, so much so in fact that produced more murals next year.”

Mikael B. Shine Mural Festival. St. Petersburg, Florida. October 2017. (photo © Iryna Kanishcheva)

Included this year are names you’ll find familiar like Cryptic, Hueman, Joram Roukes, Lauren YS and Yok & Sheryo. You’ll also find a fair share of local talents at SHINE because the festival makes a point to keep the mix local and international.

“They try to keep the ratio 5:10 local artists versus traveling artists, thanks to curator Chris Parks,” says Kanishcheva.

Axel Void . L. E. O. Shine Mural Festival. St. Petersburg, Florida. October 2017. (photo © Iryna Kanishcheva)

So what stood out in 2017?

The difference in this year’s edition is an exhibition, a group show called “Outside In” with large-scale installations by The Yok and SheryoJames OlesonThe Artwork of Ricky WattsVitale Bros.Sentrock and artwork by many more,” says Kanishcheva. “I’d like to acknowledge Axel Void’s piece, which is based on a series called ‘Nobody.’”

“A few years ago Axel painted a mural in Atlanta and he used a portrait of a boy – a random image from the Internet. Months later he received an email from a man in the original photo – his sister had alerted him to it after spotting it in a magazine. Axel Void kept in touch with him and even developed an idea for the film, show and canvas series. One of them is here in the ‘Inside In’ collection.”

See the original Axel Void wall shot by Jaime Rojo at “Living Walls” in Atlanta that year here; Living Walls 2013 ALIVE in Atlanta

Hueman. Shine Mural Festival. St. Petersburg, Florida. October 2017. (photo © Iryna Kanishcheva)

Jose Mertz. Shine Mural Festival. St. Petersburg, Florida. October 2017. (photo © Iryna Kanishcheva)

Jujmo. Shine Mural Festival. St. Petersburg, Florida. October 2017. (photo © Iryna Kanishcheva)

Joram Roukes. Shine Mural Festival. St. Petersburg, Florida. October 2017. (photo © Iryna Kanishcheva)


2017 SHINE artists:

Axel Void & L.E.O.,Cryptic, Daniel “R5” Barojas, Herbert Scott Davis, Hueman, James Oleson, Joram Roukes, Jose Mertz, Jujmo, Lauren YS, Mikael B, Ricky Watts, Sentrock, Sam Young, Stephen Palladino, Suarezart, Thirst & Zulu Painter, Vitale Bros., Yok & Sheryo.


We wish to thank Iryna Kanishcheva for sharing her observations and photos with our BSA readers. Please visit http://kanishcheva.com/ to learn more about Ms. Kanishcheva projects.

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BSA Film Friday: 10.27.17

BSA Film Friday: 10.27.17

bsa-film-friday-JAN-2015

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

Now screening :
1. Joe Caslin: “We will let no life be worth less”
2. VERMIBUS – IN ABSENTIA
3. Fernando Leon / 12 + 1 Contorno Urbano
4. Graffolution. By Carl Friedrich

bsa-film-friday-special-feature

BSA Special Feature: Joe Caslin: “We will let no life be worth less”

Street artist Joe Caslin, known for his large-scale black and white drawings, has released a compelling and emotive short film entitled ‘The Volunteers – We will let no life be worth less’. The film follows his installation of a four story drawing on House Two in Trinity College’s Front Square. The film focuses on drug addiction, mental health, and our collective response to both and showcases the efforts of 20 people in Ireland working toward re-framing the conversation around de-criminalization and rehabilitation.

 

VERMIBUS – IN ABSENTIA

BSA has brought you Vermibus since he started messing with glamour, testing the limits of passersby ability to ignore his melted models. A protest against the classist beauty brands that insult us in our public space, Vermibus’ posters re-frame the conversation, jolting you into a grotesque brutalism, sometimes ornate, sometimes darkly disturbing. Here his latest solvent-based poster campaign appears on the metro in Paris, neatly framed and waiting to catch you eye. He calls it “In Absentia”.

 

Fernando Leon / 12 + 1 Contorno Urbano

The latest video from Contorno Urbano with Fernando Leon.

 

Graffolution. By Carl Friedrich

A post-modern meditation on mark-making. A soul-stirring piano score accompanies this layered montage of graffiti writing and abstract painting. Here there is destruction. And deconstruction. And recollecting of playful errant thoughts and passionate impulses and suite soliloquies, machine gunned and splashed like hot massage oil across the surface like so many erudite dialogues you pined for. Masterful? Maybe. Poignant. Positively. Transcendent! You decide.

Also, it’s an ad for a book duo called Graffolution and Dead and Afterlife of Graffiti, both which we hope to read one day. Until then, this video puts us in a great state of mind.

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Spogo for Parees Fest 2017 in North of Spain

Spogo for Parees Fest 2017 in North of Spain

“Spogo is one of the most reknowned abstract street artists in Spain,” says photographer Fernando Alcalá of the Barcelona based geometrist who has installed a balanced composition that anchored at the base of an elevated freeway here in Oviedo, Asturias in the North of Spain.

Spogo. Parees Fest. Oviedo, Asturias. Spain. October 2017. (photo © Fer Alcalá)

The festival is called Parees, a slang derivation of paredes (walls), and this one is meant specificially for Noche Blanca.

Currently having an exhibition at GKO Gallery in Guipúzcoa, Spogo has also had a busy year painting outside in Madrid, Barcelona, Cantabria, Gante, Oviedo, Badalona and Tolosa, says Alcalá. Enjoy the video directed by Titi Muñoz, and image here from Mr. Alcalá.

Spogo. Parees Fest. Oviedo, Asturias. Spain. October 2017. (photo © Fer Alcalá)

Spogo. Parees Fest. Oviedo, Asturias. Spain. October 2017. (photo © Fer Alcalá)

 

Spogo. Parees Fest. Oviedo, Asturias. Spain. October 2017. (photo © Fer Alcalá)

Spogo. Parees Fest. Oviedo, Asturias. Spain. October 2017. (photo © Fer Alcalá)

Spogo. Parees Fest. Oviedo, Asturias. Spain. October 2017. (photo © Fer Alcalá)

Spogo. Parees Fest. Oviedo, Asturias. Spain. October 2017. (photo © Fer Alcalá)


Spogo: La Noche Blanca. Oviedo, Asturias. Spain.

 

Location: Ramón Prieto Bances esquina con Rafael Sarandeces
Video Director: Titi Muñoz
Music: “Pli”, by Jumo

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Don Rimx in El Barrio with Revered Poet Jesús “Tato” Laviera

Don Rimx in El Barrio with Revered Poet Jesús “Tato” Laviera

The revered Nuyorican poet Jesús “Tato” Laviera will be honored this weekend with a new mural by artist Don Rimx in Spanish Harlem/El Barrio in addition to the re-naming of 123rd Street after him. Wearing his signature suit and fedora, Laviera gazes skyward below Rimx’s depiction of plants and architectural elements of New York and Puerto Rico painted with an exalted glow, recalling the stained glass of church windows.

Don Rimx tribute to Tato Laviera at Taino Towers Community Center in Spanish Harlem/El Barrio. NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Puerto Rican poet and playwright, whose acclaimed work addressed language, cultural identity and race, passed away in 2013 and is very much missed by the community, many of whom take comfort in the writings he left behind. The artist and man became Don Rimx’s focus this summer and fall, immersing himself into the life of the individual – even staying in his former home at the invitation of Laviera’s family.

We spoke with Don Rimx about the painting and the project:

Brooklyn Street Art: What is the importance of Tato Laviera in New York City and specifically here in El Barrio?
Don Rimx: Tato Laviera was an important and influential writer who left a mark as one of the founders of a movement in the Puerto Rican community in NYC. He set the standard to follow and we learn from his work, his spirit and his integrity as he worked with the community here in NYC but also in Puerto Rico and other states in the union.

Don Rimx tribute to Tato Laviera at Taino Towers Community Center in Spanish Harlem/El Barrio. NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA: Can you talk about his contributions to the Nuyorican movement?
Don Rimx: Tato Laviera is one of the founders of the Nuyorican movement. He promoted what we now know as “spanglish”. One can read in his work the combination of the two languages and the sense of identity in a group of people who live between two geographically distinct places but who share the same feelings of patriotism and community.

BSA: Can you describe your experience working on this mural and the reaction of the community?
Don Rimx: Here what touched my heart was the memory of Tato in the minds of the people. The more I hear them talk about him the better an image of him I have in my mind. Their anecdotes about him were so powerful that without personally meeting him I was able to understand his greatness as an artist as well his persona.

Don Rimx tribute to Tato Laviera at Taino Towers Community Center in Spanish Harlem/El Barrio. NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA: We understand that you were actually given his rooms to stay in while you were working on this mural. Is it true? What sort of experience did you have while sleeping on his bed and looking at his possessions?
Don Rimx: Being able to live for a few days in his apartment was part of the search and research on him. I immersed myself in the intimacy of his writing. His books, his photographs are still there. So as I was able to experience the trust and the open arms in which his family received me I was able to share my responsibility for his legacy with through my work. I was able to honor his legacy with respect and with my work I continue to promote the legacy, which he left behind for all of us.

BSA: Can you tell us your favorite poem from Tato’s work?
Don Rimx: AmeRícan


AmeRícan

By Tato Laviera

we gave birth to a new generation,

AmeRícan, broader than lost gold

never touched, hidden inside the

puerto rican mountains.

we gave birth to a new generation

AmeRícan, it includes everything

imaginable you-name-it-we-got-it

society.

we gave birth to a new generation,

AmeRícan salutes all folklores,

european, indian, black, spanish

and anything else compatible:

AmeRícan,       singing to composer pedro flores’ palm

                           trees up high in the universal sky!

AmeRícan,       sweet soft spanish danzas gypsies

                           moving lyrics la española cascabelling

                           presence always singing at our side!

AmeRícan,       beating jíbaro modern troubadours

                           crying guitars romantic continental

                           bolero love songs!

AmeRícan,       across forth and across back

                           back across and forth back

                           forth across and back and forth

                           our trips are walking bridges!

                           it all dissolved into itself, an attempt

                           was truly made, the attempt was truly

                           absorbed, digested, we spit out

                           the poison, we spit out in malice,

                           we stand, affirmative in action,

                           to reproduce a broader answer to the

                           marginality that gobbled us up abruptly!

AmeRícan,       walking plena-rhythms in new york,

                           strutting beautifully alert, alive

                           many turning eyes wondering,

                           admiring!

AmeRícan,       defining myself my own way any way many

                           many ways Am e Rícan, with the big R and the

                           accent on the í!

AmeRícan,       like the soul gliding talk of gospel

                           boogie music!

AmeRícan,       speaking new words in spanglish tenements,

                           fast tongue moving street corner “que

                           corta” talk being invented at the insistence

                           of a smile!

AmeRícan,       abounding inside so many ethnic english

                           people, and out of humanity, we blend

                           and mix all that is good!

AmeRícan,       integrating in new york and defining our

                           own destino, our own way of life,

AmeRícan,       defining the new america, humane america,

                           admired america, loved america, harmonious

                           america, the world in peace, our energies

                           collectively invested to find other civili-

                           zations, to touch God, further and further,

                           to dwell in the spirit of divinity!

AmeRícan,       yes, for now, for i love this, my second

                           land, and i dream to take the accent from

                           the altercation, and be proud to call

                           myself american, in the u.s. sense of the

                           word, AmeRícan, America!

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Fintan Magee and “Follow the Leader” in South of Paris

Fintan Magee and “Follow the Leader” in South of Paris

Back to the south of Paris today to see a trio of children on the new wall done in late September by Sydney based muralist Fintan Magee.

Fintan Magee. For Wall Street Art in Savigny-le-Temple, France. September 2017. (photo © Mathgoth Gallery – Paris)

“He asked 3 young people to come with winter clothes and he took photos,” says Gautier Jourdain, who organized the wall for his Wall Street Art festival, as well as the solo art show for Fintan at his Galerie Mathgoth.

“Follow the Leader” appears to be a commentary on the current obsessive behavior of humans toward their phones, even the little ones. Placed on a wall in the center of the city very near the railway station, the 22 x 18 meter mural in Savigny-le-Temple is sure to capture the attention of commuters…if they look up from their phones long enough.

 

Fintan Magee. For Wall Street Art in Savigny-le-Temple, France. September 2017. (photo © Mathgoth Gallery – Paris)

Fintan Magee. For Wall Street Art in Savigny-le-Temple, France. September 2017. (photo © Mathgoth Gallery – Paris)

Fintan Magee. For Wall Street Art in Savigny-le-Temple, France. September 2017. (photo © Mathgoth Gallery – Paris)

Fintan Magee. For Wall Street Art in Savigny-le-Temple, France. September 2017. (photo © Mathgoth Gallery – Paris)

Fintan Magee. For Wall Street Art in Savigny-le-Temple, France. September 2017. (photo © Mathgoth Gallery – Paris)

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Dusty Rebel Captures Street Life and Art in Eclectic NYC

Dusty Rebel Captures Street Life and Art in Eclectic NYC

The Dusty Rebel in action in this still from the documentary Stick To It.

Dusty Rebel has been delivering New York street life and Street Art to you for close to two decades and now he’s bringing it to your photos. A native of the suburbs living in the city, Daniel Albanese aka The Dusty Rebel has a keen sense for the eclectic performers, insurgents, kooks, and iconoclasts who grace our public space and he captures them in their element.

Performer Matthew Silver (2014) Union Square, NYC (© The Dusty Rebel)

Sartorially somewhere betwixt a bemused beekeeper and refined bartender, the Dapper Dan whom wields a camera may appear to be from a more genteel era with his poker face and unassuming demeanor on the sidewalk, but don’t assume. He’s Gotham street-smart and he has his eyes peeled for the next pirouetting diva, barking shaggy activist or furtively sticker slapping Street Artist who he can catch in action.

A collaboration by Street Artists Balu and Art is Trash, NYC (© The Dusty Rebel)

These are the people who give the gritty flavor to a city that has always celebrated quirksome expressions of originality, expressive creativity, cross-eyed wonder, love-lorn poetry and blistering outrage. Sometimes on the same block.

A writer, lecturer, and guide as well as a documentarian, Dusty Rebel launches a new project today with a growing collective of celebrated street artists from around the world who are turning their art into sharable digital stickers called “Street Cuts” with artists like Abe Lincoln Jr, City Kitty, and Hiss.

Performer in Union Square, NYC (© The Dusty Rebel)

We asked him about his experience on the street and how his affinity for New York has brought a trove of his rich observations to so many.

Brooklyn Street Art: You have become somewhat of a fixture on the New York street scene—really immersing yourself in life on the streets. Can you talk about what you like to shoot?

The Dusty Rebel: Much of what I shoot today is what drew me to New York in the first place. I love the vibrant street life of this city, which is what I’m primarily known for documenting: buskers, protests, Street Art, and people who hang out with pigeons. I love that in New York people are free to explore and live outside the box. As much as people want to say ‘New York is dead,’ it’s still an amazing place to be artist or straight-up weirdo.

City Kitty, NYC (© The Dusty Rebel)

BSA:How did you connect with Street Art and how did you forge friendships with Street Artists?

The Dusty Rebel: Since I was kid in the late 80s/early 90s, I was fascinated by graffiti and Street Art, particularly Jim Powers’ “Mosaic Trail” in the East Village—I was so curious to know who made them and what they meant. I loved the idea of people just taking to the street and putting art out there. I grew up in the suburbs just outside of New York City, and I used to sneak into the city every chance I could. I hated the suburbs; the city was a place of freedom.

City Kitty, NYC (© The Dusty Rebel)

As the years went on—and digital cameras made photography more affordable—Street Art became something I loved to document. Then in 2011, I decided to make The Dusty Rebel a public blog rather than just photos I shared privately on Facebook. My friends kept asking to share the photos, so I thought a site would make it easier. I never thought much about the world outside, but soon after, street artists began contacting me to thank me for the photos or asking if they could use them. Then they started inviting me to shoot them in their studios or when they put work out on the street. It might seem weird to some now, but before Banksy came to New York in 2013, there wasn’t a massive army of people shooting Street Art.

Anyway, before I knew it, I went from an observer to a friend of many of these artists. I’ve collaborated with several of them over the years, particularly City Kitty. And I guess in some ways became one, with my Resistance Is Female and Resistance Is Queer ad-takeovers.

 

A photograph of a photographic takeover for the #ResistanceisFemale campaign, NYC (all © The Dusty Rebel)

BSA: There are many character-based artists working on the streets right now—especially on wheatpastes and stickers. Have you shot many of these?

The Dusty Rebel: I think so. I love original characters who bring us on an adventure in the street. I’m always curious to see what Frank Ape, City Kitty, or one of Chris RWK’s characters are up to. I also love to see what “should” be a flash-in-the-pan kept fresh in creative ways, such as Clint Mario’s ingenious ad-takeovers with ME.

 

One of Dusty Rebels photos with new stickers from his Street Cuts app. (© The Dusty Rebel)

BSA: What makes you excited to find on NYC streets?

The Dusty Rebel: I’m excited by people using the public sphere to connect with one another. In terms of Street Art, I really love work that’s mysterious and tells a story (Dee Dee is great at this) or the one-of-a-kind, handmade pieces, such as Bunny M, HISS, or REV’s sculptures. Nora Breen blows my mind: She puts video installations out on the street! Her work pushes the boundaries of Street Art and technology in a way I have very rarely seen. And it’s pretty obvious to anyone who follows me that I particularly love finding work by Robert Janz—perhaps New York’s most prolific artist working on the street—who happens to be an 80-something year old.

One of Dusty Rebels photos with new stickers from his Street Cuts app. (© The Dusty Rebel)

 


Portrait of the artist, photographer, documentarian Daniel Albanes aka The Dusty Rebel (© Gianluca Vassallo)

***

Meet The Dusty Rebel in person tonight at Arlene’s Grocery as he and number of Street Art friends and fans celebrate the launch party and art show for STREET CUTS.

Here’s the event https://www.eventbrite.com/e/street-cuts-app-launch-party-art-show-tickets-38849397594

And here’s the new Street Cuts APP: https://streetcuts.co/

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BSA Images Of The Week: 10.22.17

BSA Images Of The Week: 10.22.17

BSA-Images-Week-Jan2015

Absent worries that the banks and oligarchs are poised to crash our economy into the ground and that the privatized profiteering war machine wants Trump to start WWIII its been a fantastic and sunny and crisp warm week in New York.  Of course the city is a little more somber since the Yankees missed their chance at the World Series last night. In the spirit of sportspersonship we wish the best to the Astros.

Aside from new street art pieces going up on the street JPO had an opening at Wall Works in the Bronx, Bezt was at Spoke Art, Royce Bannon and Matt Siren had Ember City, Philipe Pantone was at GR Gallery, Dusty Rebel is launching his “Street Cuts” App Monday, and we’re just getting a look at the new show we’re co-curating for VINZ Feel Free in a couple of weeks.

Speaking of Pantone, the two walls he did this week were strong and optically dizzying/thrilling as you would expect – while the subtley more sophisticated walls were inside for Planned Iridescence near by at the GR Gallery on Bowery. The big wall done with The L.I.S.A. Project presented several technical and material difficulties which the artist eventually solved but not without having to spend a whole lot more of time on it than originally estimated: a remarkable feat, even if the wall itself isn’t a large one compared to many others he’s executed around the world. Sure enough it got the New York welcome from a graffiti artist who took the liberty to vandalize it under the cover of darkness and on the very same night of the opening party for his show.

We have grown accustomed to see the artworks by Street Artists and muralists in public vandalized, disrespected and gone over. We don’t know what justification or reasons a graffiti writer has when tagging a well executed wall and the so-called “rules” on the street depend on who’s telling them. It is interesting that the color fits right into the palette, almost as if the tagger found an unspent can that had been left on the sidewalk nearby.

Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Arrex Skulls, Bunny M, City Kitty, D7606, Dain, Felipe Pantone, Fintan Magee, Gods in Love, Megzany, RUN, Stikman, Stray Ones, and Thrashbird.

Top image: Felipe Pantone in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project NYC in Little Italy, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Felipe Pantone in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project NYC in Little Italy, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Felipe Pantone in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project NYC in Little Italy, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Andrew Tarlow (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain in collaboration with The L.I. S.A. Project NYC in Little Italy, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Strayones (photo © Jaime Rojo)

bunny M (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gods In Love in Cerignola, Italy. (photo © Gods In Love)

The Street Artist who goes by the name Gods in Love did this mural in the San Samuele district of Cerignola, Italy last month. He says that this part of the city is called “Fort Apache” by the locals – an indirect reference to the 1981 movie (and 1976 book) about a crime-ridden neighborhood in the Bronx during the 1960s-70s. The Native American tribe named The Apache that preceded the European’s arrival who lived/live in the mid-western part of this continent were known for being fierce warriors – thus the connotation with a violent proud, yet financially destitute, neighborhood in The Bronx, New York.

“A totem is a natural or supernatural entity that has a particular symbolic meaning for a person or tribe, and to whom it feels bound throughout life,” explains the artist. The term derives from the word ototeman used by the Native American people Ojibway. My choice of working on this figure arises from the need to create an image that can be symbolic of belonging to a neighborhood to a group, a symbol of belonging to the protection of the offspring and therefore of the future, a need for legality and correctness to fight or understand, integrating and accepting it, the illness stemmed from the discomfort of life in a changing neighborhood, willing to redeem. Mine is a metaphor, a symbol in which the neighborhood can fully recognize.”

Thrashbird (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stikman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stikman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stikman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stikman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stikman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RUN in Anacona, Italy. (photo © RUN)

City Kitty in collaboration with D7606 and Arrex Skulls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Megzany (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Fintan Magee in Raiatea, French Polynesia for ONO’U Tahiti 2017. (photo © Jean Ozonder)

Untitled. Busker in the NYC Subway. October 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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In-Studio Preparation for “Innocence” with Vinz Feel Free, Models, New Screenprints

In-Studio Preparation for “Innocence” with Vinz Feel Free, Models, New Screenprints

Vinz Feel Free hand-customizing one of the new prints in studio for “Innocence” (photo © Vinz Feel Free)

Fresh new images today from behind-the-scenes preparation for the Vinz Feel Free exhibition here in Brooklyn in a few weeks. Over the past two months or so Vinz has been in his studio in Valencia as well as a workshop he rented in Perpigan, France doing photoshoots of art models as the first phase of creating the new works for “Innocence”.

Vinz Feel Free photoshoot in studio for “Innocence” (photo © Vinz Feel Free)

Emulating the guerilla-style and often controversial protests by the feminist activists FEMEN and combining them with the knit hooded Russian Pussy Riot, VINZ brings in his own established archetypes that feature nude bodies topped with heads of the animal world. It’s a symbiotic blending that is producing imagery that evokes a mix of emotions. We happy to provide a sneak-peek inside the process that helps build the images.

Vinz Feel Free art models preparation in studio for “Innocence” (photo © Vinz Feel Free)

“Usually I ask them to do specific poses,” he tells us of the art model shoots. “So first I show them some drawings that I’ve prepared in advance of the shoot and we talk about how they can position themselves to imitate the drawings. Then they have an exact idea of what I want and am hoping to achieve. Once those initial pictures are done sometimes we improvise.”

Vinz Feel Free desk and materials in studio for “Innocence” (photo © Vinz Feel Free)

In addition to the full size and large photo-painting collage pieces that he is doing for the show, Vinz Feel Free is releasing brand new prints for “Innocence” – a series that he is currently printing and many which he will hand customize as he continues to explore how to accentuate certain aspects of the image.

Vinz Feel Free poloroid test of art model for photoshoot in studio for “Innocence” (photo © Vinz Feel Free)

“Yes I’m very excited about the prints!” he tells us, and we include a small piece of video of one of the initial results here:

 

“It’s something I’ve been trying with old lithographs that I have found in flea markets,” he says. “I paint with watercolors – so it’s like those old pictures and movies in black and white that later someone painted overtop with washes and tints. “You see that it has been colorized – like in movies like The Wizard of Oz, in a wicked ghost-like way.”

Vinz Feel Free new prints in process for “Innocence” (photo © Vinz Feel Free)

“So I’ve been experimenting with 3 of my own photomontages – the figures with the rabbit head and ones wearing the balaclava (hood). I printed one as a black screenprint and later I colored it with watercolor. Each one is unique and I can say I’m so proud with the results.”

Vinz Feel Free hand painting new photo-paint collage in studio for “Innocence” (photo © Vinz Feel Free)


“INNOCENCE” Exhibition by Vinz Feel Free
Curated by BSA and DK Johnston

Saturday, November 4, 2017

6 pm – 10 pm

The Marcy Project
275 South 2nd Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211

“INNOCENCE” Facebook Event Page https://www.facebook.com/events/299402303796881/

 

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BSA Film Friday: 10.20.17

BSA Film Friday: 10.20.17

bsa-film-friday-JAN-2015

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

Now screening :
1.  INDECLINE: Rail Beast
2. INDICLINE: DREAMERS
3. Basquiat, Banksy & Brutalism in London
4. Restoring Banksy
5. Erik Burke: Park Blossom


bsa-film-friday-special-feature

BSA Special Feature: INDECLINE: Rail Beast

“This reminds why I hate vandals! All this does is create more unnecessary work for the guys at the paint shop,” says a commenter on the Vimio page where INDECLINE has posted this locomotive takeover. You see kids, this is why we can’t have nice things. I just mopped this floor and you come running in here with your muddy boots! For Pete’s sake.

Truthfully, this decidedly unpolitical piece is a surprise coming from INDECLINE. Guess they were taking the day off from railing against hypocrisy and injustice with this animated train that recalls Saturday morning cartoons like Bugs Bunny and the Road Runner.

 

INDECLINE: DREAMERS

Ahhh this is more like it, the acidic satire. A short punchy video that shows the creation of a satirical take on Trump’s frightening attitude toward kids brought across the border into the US. These days, they are called Dreamers and have protections and options to do radical things like go to college and get a job. But not if this clown has anything to say about it. Want a balloon?

Basquiat, Banksy & Brutalism in London. Brought to you by Fifth Wall TV

And all this time you thought it was abstract expressionism! Please people, you can throw those labels out the window.  Here Doug tells you about the new Basquiat exhibit and in a fit of perfect timing, the Banksy piece that appears in support of it in London. Doug says its arguably the city’s finest hour.

 

Restoring Banksy. Doug Gillen of Fifth Wall TV

This is the second time London has seen a snorting copper, since this 2006 Banksy piece has resurfaced, or rather was re-surfaced, as the case may appear.

Favorite quote out of context, “just so happened to oversee the sale of ‘Slave Labor’ “.

 

Erik Burke: Park Blossom

“My name is Erik Burke and I am a muralist,” says the Nevadan about his new blooming temporary Mall parking lot piece. For those fans playing at home, he’s also a graffiti writer/Street Artist and there are clues embedded here in the video for you to piece together.

 

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