A resting place of inspiration and elevation, that’s how we look at the final frame of every Images of the Week, which we gather many here together for you to gaze upon.
Possibly photographer Jaime Rojo searches for a counterbalance to the city from within the city, cloaked in clouds, in the stately lines enveloped by the rolling fog. Often his chosen scene is the interval that is free from the crowd, even when surrounded by it.
The course city street can be colorful and chaotic, full of cross currents and barking agenda. Behind his lens he reveals his own quiet way of finding the poetry, and it is often stirring, stately, striking.
Columns and ceilings and blinking orbs, bended branch, exposed beam, shimmering shafts of light. Surrounded by people, here is your chance to be alone in muted patterns, at peace, free to summon refuge and reverie, old ghosts and winds stirring deep and buffeting bright dreams that redden your cheeks.
“Man, what’s with this cough that never goes away?” you ask your boy Tre, who’s laying on the moss green living room rug by the radiator drawing in his black book with an extra fine tip paint pen, listening to Wu Tang. “Could be January,” he offers. “Or maybe its asbestos from that work they’re doing in the elevator shaft.”
Right. “Never mind, lets watch some Beer Bowl!”
Meanwhile on the streets the ideas never stop. We were pretty excited to get up to 167th Street station to see the new mosaics by Brooklyn artist Rico Gatson, who does painting, video, sculpture and installation. These portraits of important contributors to the culture make us all proud. Here are just a handful but there are more and you should go and see them yourself.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this time featuring Atomik, Captain Eyeliner, Deih XLF, finDAC, Go Vegan, Hoxxoh, Kai, Kevin Ledo, Lefty Out There, Mastrocola, My Dog Sighs, Pez, Rico Gaston, The Revolution Artists, Uninhibited, and What is Adam.
If art that is also vandalism is destructive then Artivism is meant to be something more constructive in the balance – even a polar opposite. For those of us who prefer to see the world holistically, the graffiti / Street Art continuum globally has always held wildly opposing instincts and missions simultaneously, neither specifically negating the other and none to be overlooked.
1UP. SeaWalls Festival / PangeaSeed Org. Nusa Penida, Bali. (photo courtesy of 1UP Crew)
The term Artivism has been around about 20 years, some saying it gained currency with artists helping the Zapatistas in Chiapas in the 90s. In the Street Art world, we’ve been witnessing its used by those artists and organizations who would like to distinguish the intent of the artist as something with a social/political goodness at its core.
It’s a generally positive trend, although one has to be as critical of it as any; because our marketing-soaked modern consciousness knows that terms like these can quickly be adopted/adapted to whitewash/greenwash so many initiatives. In practice, artists have espoused politics in their street murals and less-official works for decades before we began branding it artivism.
1UP. SeaWalls Festival / PangeaSeed Org. Nusa Penida, Bali. (photo courtesy of 1UP Crew)
The Pangeaseed initiative has been encouraging artists to put their best flipper forward for a few years when organizing painting festivals that center on aquatic themes, and notorious Berlin-based vandals 1UP Crew have actually taken the plunge in a spectacular way here in Nusa Penida, a small island off the gorgeously scenic Bali.
1UP. SeaWalls Festival / PangeaSeed Org. Nusa Penida, Bali. (photo courtesy of 1UP Crew)
“It took us a while to figure out what we can do, but we did it,” says a 1UP spokesperson about the cage they designed and built beneath the blue. “The world’s first underwater 3D installation that we hope will serve as an artificial coral reef to help regenerate corals and marine life.” It also is a giant “1Up” tag, although this one is down.
Perhaps all this communing with nature is slowly turning the attitudes of notorious vandals. “Please take care of your environment!,” they say without a trace of irony, “One United Power! One Love!” As usual, we discover that the graffiti/Street Art conversation is not always conveniently black and white.
Sometimes it is green, or aqua.
1UP. SeaWalls Festival / PangeaSeed Org. Nusa Penida, Bali. (photo courtesy of 1UP Crew)1UP. SeaWalls Festival / PangeaSeed Org. Nusa Penida, Bali. (photo courtesy of 1UP Crew)1UP. SeaWalls Festival / PangeaSeed Org. Nusa Penida, Bali. (photo courtesy of 1UP Crew)1UP. SeaWalls Festival / PangeaSeed Org. Nusa Penida, Bali. (photo courtesy of 1UP Crew)1UP. SeaWalls Festival / PangeaSeed Org. Nusa Penida, Bali. (photo courtesy of 1UP Crew)1UP. SeaWalls Festival / PangeaSeed Org. Nusa Penida, Bali. (photo courtesy of 1UP Crew)
Special thanks to: Pangeaseed Foundation and Seawalls Festival Bali team. Photos by @martincolognoli & @trax51
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.
Now screening : 1. “Shadows Of Illusion” Eduardo Cuadrado 2. One Minute of Dance Per Day, Number 1352: Nadia Vadori-Gauthier 3. The Art Of Street Photography: Just Do It…Listen to the experts. 4. Marseille Street Art Show X IPAF Festival 2018
BSA Special Feature: “Shadows Of Illusion” Eduardo Cuadrado
The problem with fences and razor wire is that if you have enough of them in a society, you may begin to lose track of whether you are free or in prison.
The core inhumanity of certain humanity means that once you have successfully made it to the other side you quickly slam a door behind you, sometimes erecting a fence behind yourself, effectively surrendering.
Conceptual artist Eduardo Cuadrado created this haunted installation outside Saint Paul’s Church in Valladolid, Spain a couple of months ago at the International Art in the Street Festival 2018, and the impact was powerful in a wordless way that few artworks are. The man playing a cello live in front of it adds to the effect tremendously.
One Minute of Dance Per Day, Number 1352: Nadia Vadori-Gauthier
A dollop of creamy cement for your Art Brut cafe au lait this morning, here is your one minute of dance, number 1352.
The Art Of Street Photography: Just Do It…Listen to the experts.
Yeah, it is an ad for an online class, but we still find it inspiring. No surprise, right?
Marseille Street Art Show X IPAF Festival 2018
Packaged as tourism, this Street Art is illegal and commissioned and somehow all rolled into one experience of seeing and shopping and tasting delights. Its the IPAF Festival in collaboration with Marseille Street Art Show and Galerie Saint Laurent at Marseille June 2018.
OKUDA is melting! Even in sub-zero frigid weather like this!
OKUDA. With Artmossphere in collaboration with the National Art Museum of the Republic of Sakha. Yakutsk, Russia. (photo courtesy of Artmossphere)
As the US Midwest suffers a once in a generation “polar vortex” over the last few days, it may be hard to believe but that level of freezing cold is typical January weather in Yakutsk, Russia, where the average day in this city of 300,000 is −38 degrees celsius (−37 farenheit).
Yakutsk temperature reading during the Okuda sculpture installation (photo copyright Мария Васильева)
Spanish
Street Artist and fine artist Okuda, who deals in powerful displays of
tropicalia geometric color in his murals and sculptures, ventures far afield
here- or should we say far atundra.
Sasha Krolikova, who curated this project with Artmossphere and the Yakut Biennale of Contemporary Art, says this is the world’s northernmost sculpture created by Okuda. The area is being developed into a modern urban space for recreation and sports and cycling area (it will be warmer this summer, promise). She says the installation is with the support of the National Art Museum of the Republic of Sakha and appears on the embankment of Sajsary Lake in Yakutsk.
OKUDA. With Artmossphere in collaboration with the National Art Museum of the Republic of Sakha. Yakutsk, Russia. (photo courtesy of Artmossphere)
“We had a lot of work to do with the colors,” says Krolikova, “because they don’t look the same as in Spain when they have been exposed to this cold.” A melting skull with a spiked mohawk in technicolor, the capital city of Sakha Republic is going to have this Okuda for a long time – since it is made of steel. Not many people are likely to see it until spring here however, we are guessing.
OKUDA. With Artmossphere in collaboration with the National Art Museum of the Republic of Sakha. Yakutsk, Russia. (photo courtesy of Artmossphere)
“endangering the morality and purity of the German race”, said §175 of the Criminal Code when referring to gay people.
Lies like that persist in other countries today, as does persecution
of sexual minorities. The World Economic Forum in 2018 said that 73 countries
still outlaw homosexuality, despite the move to legalize same-sex marriage in
26 others.
This Sunday was worldwide Holocaust Remembrance Day and the new portrait painted by Belgian-American Street Artist Nils Westergard for Urban Nation museum is that of a victim of the Nazis who was made to wear the pink triangle sewn onto his concentration camp uniform.
“I was digging through images of camps and prisoners for a few days,” says Westergard of his search for the right image for this 2 meter wide, 6-story high wall in Berlin.
“There are only so many that are classified as homosexuals
or for sex crimes in general,” he says as he describes needing to incorporate a
pre-existing sculpture of 200 metal origami birds that form a triangle into the
composition by artist Mademoiselle Maurice.
He says that he ultimately discovered the image of this individual, a 32-year old locksmith named Walter Degen who was born January 4, 1909. While it is known that he was at Auschwitz and transferred to Mauthausen, it is not known if he survived the Holocaust.
Today we shout Walter Degen’s name from the rooftops and from this new wall to remind us how wrong we humans have historically been and how much we have learned, how much we still have to learn. We’re proud of Mr. Degen’s memory and honor his right to have loved another Mr.
Our thanks to photographer Nika Kramer for sharing her excellent images of this wall with BSA readers.
URBAN NATION x Nils Westergard:
The UNforgotten – Edition 1
Thanks to Yasha Young, Urban Nation Director.
URBAN NATION MUSEUM FOR URBAN CONTEMPORARY ART.
With support of “Faces of Auschwitz”
project.
About “The Unforgotten” The wall at Bülowstraße 94 follows a very special leitmotif: it is a memorial for the victims of the Nazi regime, who were persecuted, abducted, imprisoned and murdered for homosexuality. This memorial wall in the LGBTQI-influenced neighborhood of Berlin-Schöneberg will over time transform again and again, as a reminder.
Part of the experience of making art in the street is the interaction with people passing by. Other times it’s about being out with your mates or peers, hitting up walls that are near each other – sharing opinions, jokes, paint. Of course when you are in your own creative zone you also may be able to block out everything; people and sounds and smells. You escape into the paint, the movement, the physicality, the shapes and colors.
This month Musa71 and Siro hit a tunnel together in in Rafael Casanova in Barcelona, each painting their own piece. They say they liked it and today we have pictures from their dual project – which turned into a friendly competition.
Writing graffiti since ’89, Barcelona local Musa71 says she’sa self-taught artist who is passionate about the letterform and exploring a number of styles just to get an appreciation for ways to manipulate them while keeping them legible.
Galicia born Siro studied fine arts over the last four years here in Barcelona and he says that he spends a lot of time painting and tattooing.
“After 10 years of painting, I think I have already turned this habit of painting into my little shelter, into an escape route from all the rest,” he says in a press release. He wouldn’t be the first to admit to developing an addiction to graffiti and mural making – we’ve met many.
It’s good to see how these two artists work have some overlap – at least
here in this tunnel in Barcelona.
A blended composition of communities in a somewhat theatrical and warmly surreal rendering with personal features and cross-cultural decorative finesse, these folks painted across 17 silos in Witchita are not just going for special effects.
With a meditation on otherness and inclusiveness, Colombian muralist Gleo has brought the all the neighbors to this wall, intermingling social justice themes with characters and human nature – all passed through her mystical subconscious, her appreciation for ancestral cultures, and layered visual vocabulary.
GLEO “The Original Dream” Horizontes Project. Wichita, Kansas (photo courtesy of Horizontes)
Organized by multi-disciplinary artist Armando Minjarez the new composition is part of a public painting program and community engagement project called Horizontes that is meant to give visibility to two underrepresented neighborhoods in north Wichita, the predominantly Latino NorthEnd neighborhood and the historically African American Northeast neighborhood.
It looks like a stunningly effective and positive project that draws attention to groups of people who can be rendered invisible by industrial strength systemic blindness.
GLEO “The Original Dream” Horizontes Project. Wichita, Kansas (photo courtesy of Horizontes)
Aside from its size (4,500 sm), its 650 gallons of paint, and its time and cost overruns with 5 assistants over 11 weeks, the new community mural keeps the conversation fresh, and gives a pretty modern face to the city.
Public art initiatives like this can be a powerful key to fostering community – these Witchita neighborhoods are both physically and psychologically separated by these large grain elevators. The concept of community mural continues to evolve and this one shows promise for engaging modern ways to address social issues while honoring people and traditions.
GLEO “The Original Dream” Horizontes Project. Wichita, Kansas (photo courtesy of Horizontes)GLEO “The Original Dream” Horizontes Project. Wichita, Kansas (photo courtesy of Horizontes)GLEO “The Original Dream” Horizontes Project. Wichita, Kansas (photo courtesy of Horizontes)
The turning point may have occurred Friday when Trump capitulated to the two other branches of government, released his hostages (federal workers), and allowed the US government to fully open – and planes to land at airports. This continuous attack on institutions is wearing down the wall between the wolves and the chickens. Guess which one we are?
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this time featuring Antennae, Art Dog NYC, City Kitty, Diva Dogla, Ken Hiratsuka, Pop Artoons, PostMan Art, Resa, Skewville.
Boogie Down bombers the Tats Cru representing New York in its classic flava, the Houston Wall is now blessed by some of the original mural kings, and all seems right with the world for a moment.
With a legion of fans on the sidewalk and on social media saying that Bio, Nicer, and BG183 were finally bringing New York back to this New York wall, the trio was joined by a who’s who of peers and fans over a cold 4-day installation in a way that reminds this town of its proud roots in graffiti and the myriad styles it spawned.
In the end, this is a love letter to New York on many levels. It’s a memorial to Tony Goldman, who captured the zeitgeist of the early graffiti/Street Art movement and provided opportunities for artists.
There is a black and white VIP section that reinvents a Tseng Kwong Chi of Keith Haring and Kenny Scharf standing infront of the wall – a meta experience to see NY graff royalty stopping by to tag the image of the Houston Wall that showed people tagging the Houston Wall. New aerosol contributors included people like Zepher, Terror 161, Duster, and Dez and many others.
Among other pop imagery and classic fonts and letter styles sits a stylized heart from the famous Milton Glaser design of I (heart) NY at the very center. Additional work was contributed by Daze and Crash and a special tribute is made for local activist Liz Christy who began the First Community Garden in New York City in 1973 nearby.
“’Bout time we got some real NY graff writers to rock that
wall,” said Da Kid Tac on Instagram, a possible reference to the number of
Street Artists who have been invited to paint here over the last few years.
Based on the responses and happy reunions of writers and fans we saw over many
visits to the wall during its production, Tats Cru has again created an instant
classic.
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.
Now screening : 1. 10 Year Challenge : Doug Gillen Takes It 2. Tavar Zawacki: Mixing Colors In A Parking Garage in Wynwood. 3. NUART 2018 / RE-CAP: Space is The Place
BSA Special Feature: Doug Gillen of FWTV takes the 10 Year Challenge:
Inspired by a meme (what else could be more 2019) Doug Gillen decides to to an inexact comparison of where selected Street Artists have changed and remained the same since 10 years ago. The big ones apparently are staying ahead by going bigger and perhaps developing entire marketing divisions, possibly in danger of being bloated. Elsewhere we see true evolution.
Tavar Zawacki: Mixing Colors In A Parking Garage in Wynwood. Video by Chop ’em Down Films.
Perhaps in a continued effort to bare it all, Tavar Zawacki (formerly Above) takes off his shirt in Miami and tells us about the importance of color to him.
NUART 2018 / RE-CAP: Space is The Place
“You can view it in a museum and it still feels like Street Art, but is the place of the museum the same as the space of the street,” Professor Alison Young from the University of Melbourne poses the question on the docks of Stavanger, Norway. In face, says Nuart, space is the place that determines the ultimate impact an artistic intervention can have.
Klone is prowling between states, transitory and without volume, beams of light and color washes and flickers of memory, or false memory. The Ukrainian born, Israel bound Street Artist is as good with the unforgiving street as the undefined gallery, muting features from common characters and tracing shadows, summoning foxes, crows, cats as guardians and confidants.
Klone “Few Moments Ago I Was Here”. Hell No. Publication and Distribution. Tel-Aviv 2018.
A mark-maker on the streets of Tel-Aviv since the 90s, his practice is by necessity within a hidden realm, and if you stay there long enough, it becomes yours; carefully and boldly speaking, summoning folklore and mythology, mastering the art of masked meaning and inference.
Klone “Few Moments Ago I Was Here”. Hell No. Publication and Distribution. Tel-Aviv 2018.
Tagging and graffiti gave way to other urban traditions he has been eager to author, organic in his methods for discovery. His expanding practice of multiple disciplines has led him to the street and into the gallery and back to the street in Europe, the Middle East, the US, back to Kiev. This collection of excursions appears natural, rendered and even intimately warm even when mimicking, forgetful, fragmented.
Klone “Few Moments Ago I Was Here”. Hell No. Publication and Distribution. Tel-Aviv 2018.
Even his “Movement” chapter, a section of selected works laid out in stop motion frames, stays safely within an imaginary place, fables of connection, disconnection, alienation. Perhaps most powerful are his ‘digital interventions’ imaginary hybrids of photography, illustration, aspiration. Hulking eyesores of uninspired architecture or remote land masses are embraced, supported, frolicked within, rested upon.
Here I am, even though you do not see me.
Klone “Few Moments Ago I Was Here”. Hell No. Publication and Distribution. Tel-Aviv 2018.Klone “Few Moments Ago I Was Here”. Hell No. Publication and Distribution. Tel-Aviv 2018.Klone “Few Moments Ago I Was Here”. Hell No. Publication and Distribution. Tel-Aviv 2018.Klone “Few Moments Ago I Was Here”. Hell No. Publication and Distribution. Tel-Aviv 2018.
Street art welcomes all manner of materials and methods, typically deployed without permission and without apology. This hand-formed wire piece …Read More »
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
