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Don Rimx and John A. Roebling – “Persons of Interest”

March 6, 2015 Artists

BSA is in Berlin this month to present a new show of 12 important Brooklyn Street Artists at the Urban Nation haus as part of Project M/7. PERSONS OF INTEREST brings to our sister city a diverse collection of artists who use many mediums and styles in the street art scene of Brooklyn. By way of tribute to the special relationship that artist communities in both cities have shared for decades, each artist has chosen to create a portrait of a Germany-based cultural influencer from the past or present, highlighting someone who has played a role in inspiring the artist in a meaningful way.

Today we talk to Don Rimx and ask him why he chose his person of interest, John A. Roebling.

What better symbol of connectedness than the symbol of the bridge? For PERSONS OF INTEREST we wanted to draw attention to the bonds we share with our creative communities and Brooklyn mural artist Don Rimx chose the German civil engineer who designed the Brooklyn Bridge, a feat that joined Brooklyn and Manhattan in the late 1800s and became an iconic symbol of New York.

Rimx was born in Puerto Rico and moved to Brooklyn as a young man to paint many of his architecturally inspired aerosol murals during the last decade. Inspired by the portraits of Rembrandt and paintings of Joaquin Sorolla as well as the work of Puerto Rican graphic artist Lorenzo Homar, Don Rimx is developing his own vocabulary of portraiture that often includes rough-hewn architectural elements like wooden supports, trussing, cables and limestone brick to form the contours and details of faces and features.

Born in Mühlhausen, Germany (Prussia at the time), Roebling was an immigrant to Brooklyn along with a huge number of his countrymen in the mid 1800s. It is reported that Brooklyn had a population of 200,000 in 1855 and about 30,000 of those were a new wave of immigrants from Germany. In many ways the very diverse culture of Brooklyn and its millions of immigrant stories are told as well in this portrait of a bridge maker.

“For me, Roebling fits perfectly into the line of work I’ve been developing lately. Roebling’s design aesthetic provides me with the inspiration for how to play with structure to connect and make links. I love the concept of the bridge, which reminds me how in art we carry culture and send ideas from one side of the world to the other,” says Rimx.

Don Rimx in Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don Rimx in Manhattan for a mural program called Los Murales Hablan. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Check out the Facebook page for PERSONS OF INTEREST

See Full Press Release HERE

DAIN and Marlene Dietrich – “Persons of Interest”

March 5, 2015 Artists

Today we talk to DAIN and ask him why he chose his person of interest, Marlene Dietrich.

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

A Mexican Mural “Manifesto”, Blackened Flag Colors, and Censorship

March 4, 2015 Artists

Striking and massive murals have been populating walls in Mexico City by international Street Artists in the last five years thanks to the emergence of a global Street Art scene, a rise in mural festivals, and the country’s heritage and tradition of institutional support for murals that further a socio-political mission. There hasn’t been much of the latter lately, however, and it is doubtful that a new politically charged mural campaign underway in certain central neighborhoods is likely to receive tax dollars for the paint and ladders.

Erica Il Cane. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo courtesy © Fifty24MX )

Without sighting a specific ill to address, the new mural initiative named “Manifesto” is challenging a select group of local and international Street Artists to express their opinions on weighty and topical matters through murals, “using art as a social tool to propose, reflect and inform.” Among possible topics that might be addressed, the manifesto for “Manifesto” says, are increasing poverty, glorified materialism, the exhausting of natural resources, a fraying social web, and a dysfunctional justice system.

At the heart of the matter of course is the still turbulent national discussion surrounding the series of violent events last September that resulted in the disappearance of 43 students in the state of Guerrero, igniting a public spectacle of accusations, arrests, outrage and fear with each new gut-wrenching revelation searing the senses of Mexicans at all levels of society six months later.

Erica Il Cane. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo courtesy © Fifty24MX )

“This situation exposed a deep crisis in the power structures that has shaken opinions worldwide and has created a movement within our society where people are speaking out,” says Emilio Ocampo from FIFTY24MX, a gallery that shows the work of the artists and is securing walls in neighborhoods of Roma, Juárez, San Miguel Chapultepec, Centro Histórico, and Peralvillo.

Based on the response to the mural by Italian Street Artist EricaIlcane, however, “Manifesto” may be running into resistance against certain artistic speech, and censorship has suddenly appeared . The ribbon around the neck of a cymbal-banging monkey originally contained the colors of the Mexican flag but has now been painted black. The monkey was overlooking a street in a part of town central to political marches, and Ocampo says it “is always a very ‘sensitive’ part of the city.”

Erica Il Cane. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo courtesy © Fifty24MX )

So, he says, “The owners were a little bit scared about the ribbon around the monkey.” For those living outside of Mexico, no particular association may be made from the green, white, and red bands hanging around the monkey’s neck, but here it has meaning.

“It seemed to him (the wall owner) as a direct reference to the presidential ribbon,” says Liliana Carpinteyro, Co-Director of the gallery with Arturo Mizrahi about the significance of the “banda presidencial”. Many discussions took place between all parties and “In the end the artist agreed to change it,” she says.

Erica Il Cane. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo courtesy © Fifty24MX )

“You have to consider that this piece is located in the main downtown avenue where all the protesters pass through in their way to the Zócalo, where the “Palacio Nacional”, the national government headquarters, is located,” explains Carpinteyro.

Because many people were watching the creation of the wall and sharing images of it across their devices, the blackout sparked a lively reaction that included condemnation for cowardice. “This situation created a social media reaction, people were irritated and a freedom of speech dialogue happened,” says Carpinteyro, commenting on the outcry.

Erica Il Cane. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

Unable to sway the building owner, the organizers were glad they could keep the monkey none-the-less. Ocampo sees the conversations and “the haters” as a positive development because the art and its censorship sparked just the kind of reaction people should be having right now.

“They wanted us to change the colors to black. But you know what? We like that censorship, and the reactions it produced. That also means that the message bothered someone. We love both images: with the tricolored ribbon and now with black.”

Erica Il Cane painting it black. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

No stranger to controversy, the largely anonymous Italian BLU has similarly featured the banded colors of the Mexican flag in his mural but with bluntly acidic criticism – with the green appearing as dollars, the white as lines of cocaine, and the red a dripping liquid similar to blood. Framing the flag are military figures standing guard.

You may recall the coffins draped with dollars in the BLU mural that was censored at LA MoCA in 2011 during the “Art in the Streets” exhibition – but so far this new one has not merited the same response.

Blu. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

Blu. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo courtesy © Fifty24MX )

Blu. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

Just finishing her wall for “Manifesto” is the Colombian Street Artist Bastardilla, who uses a more subdued palette to depict cherubic writers with pencils for arrows afloat on an open text signed “Vivos Los Queremos”, circled by alligators in choppy waters.

Meanwhile Erica Il Cane has just completed his second mural yesterday; much less invective, but terrorizing none-the-less in its metaphorical circumstance. A snaggle-toothed and spotted member of the leopard family lowers his snapping smile upon five rabbits standing on hind legs as if to great him. One bunny even appears to offer a carrot. Another of los conejos is wearing an arm-band with the number “43”.

Ocampo says it is a little difficult to get new walls right now, but the organizers are not giving up. “Obviously the project will not be cancelled but we are still trying to get those permissions.”

“We think this incident is a reflection of the self-censorship that we decide to live in,” says Carpinteyro, “perhaps a result of living in a political system that for years has oppressed the weakest. But its also evidence that art has the capability to move people.”

brooklyn-street-art-bastardilla-Nasser Malek-Hernández-manifesto-fifty24mx-mexico-city-02-15-web-3

Bastardilla. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

Bastardilla. Detail. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

Bastardilla. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

Erica Il Cane. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

“Manifesto” will include new works from BLU (Italy), Saner (Mexico), Swoon (US), Ericailcane (Italy), Franco JAZ Fasoli (Argentina), Curiot (Mexico), Bastardilla (Colombia), Ciler (Mexico), and Vena2 (Mexico).

Our very special thanks to Emilio Ocampo of FIFTY24MX Gallery @fifty24mx for his assistance with this article and to Nasser Malek Hernández @nssr21 for sharing his photos exclusively with BSA readers.

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

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This article is also published on The Huffington Post.

Chris Stain and Charles Bukowski – “Persons of Interest”

March 4, 2015 Artists

Today we talk to Chris Stain and ask him why he chose his person of interest, Charles Bukowski.

Street Artist Chris Stain picks German-born American poet, novelist, and short story writer Charles Bukowki as his Person of Interest and it’s not hard to tell why. In his stencils and projection paintings Stain has recalled the struggles of the working class in the US, a background similar to his own youth in Baltimore, Maryland. “I want to convey an authentic contemporary document that illustrates the triumph of the human spirit as experienced by those in underrepresented urban and rural environments,” he has said when describing his work.

Bukowski championed a grizzled hardscrabble unromantic depiction of everyday life that was informed by his own family dynamics upon moving to Los Angeles as a child with a funny accent and an abusive father. His stories gave an up-close view of ordinary lives of many of America’s poor, richly bleak with beauty in the ugliness, dread and drudgery – along with observations about coping mechanisms that could be self-destructive. In 1986 Time called Bukowski a “laureate of American lowlife”,[note]Wikipedia, Charles Bukowski[/note] a typically dismissive and classist review of his work by mainstream press, but his multiple novels, short stories, and other writings were highly valued for giving voice to many fans who saw their own lives reflected in his art. He also showed that he had of a sense of tough humor.

“I guess the only time most people think about injustice is when it happens to them.” – from Ham on Rye

“If I bet on humanity, I’d never cash a ticket.”

“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts while the stupid one are full of confidence”.

“I do think that poetry is important though, if you don’t strive at it, if you don’t fill it full of stars and falseness.”

“I started reading the works of Charles Bukowski about 20 years ago,” says Chris Stain. “I can’t say I agree with all of his opinions but what keeps me returning to his books is his sheer honesty as he relates to the common people. Throughout his literary embellishments he maintains a certain amount of hope that I believe everyone can relate to as they traverse life’s pain and wonder. I feel honored to be able to create a portrait of this German born American poet in his homeland. “

Chris Stain in Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Check out the Facebook page for PERSONS OF INTEREST

See Full Press Release HERE

CAKE and Käthe Kollwitz, “Persons of Interest”

March 3, 2015 Artists

Today we talk to CAKE and ask her why she chose her person of interest, Käthe Kollwitz.

CAKE is preparing a portrait of Käthe Kollwitz, the German painter, printmaker, and sculptor whose work spoke to the harsh realities of the human condition. “The broad spectrum of her artistic work embraces both crucial aspects of life suffering per se, poverty and death, hunger and war,” said art dealer, collector and artist Hans Pels-Leusden, who founded the Käthe Kollwitz Museum in Berlin in 1986.

For CAKE, whose wheat-pasted paintings on New York streets since the late 2000s have spoken to her own observations on emotional and physical pain, addiction, and troubled family dynamics, Kollwitz is a natural kinship, a touchstone of humanity.

“I picked Käthe Kollwitz for so many reasons. She is an artist who gives to her subjects. She gives dignity to the suffering in her work. She takes the suffering, the hungry, the dying, the scared, and she gives them humanity, she gives them the gift of themselves again, despite the life circumstances they are in the middle of.

They are not presented as less than, and she has become an advocate for them. She wanted to give through her work – she wanted to help. She was completely dedicated to the work, and as an artist I connect with and value this deeply.

I look to Kollwitz to remind me that making work is a powerful way to connect to life, and to offer one’s self to service through making it. I cannot express enough the gratitude I have for this artist. Some art has the ability to immediately bring you into the present moment, into your humanness, back into your soul, and when it does this, it is more crucial than just about anything I can think of.

Kollwitz’s work does this for me. It breaks my heart and then heals it all at once.”

A recent piece by Cake (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cake (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Check out the Facebook page for PERSONS OF INTEREST

Axel Void and DalEast In New Delhi for St+ART India 2015

March 2, 2015 Artists

Axel Void and DalEast are somehow brethren here in New Delhi at the 2015 edition of St+Art India, if not because of a shared style then because of a shared appreciation for things you cannot see – alchemists with an uncanny ability to reveal.

Axel Void begins his mural. (photo © Pranav Mehta)

Today we have excellent shots of the new murals by both of these artists taken by photographers Pravan Mehta and Akshat Nauriyal, sure to make you step back a little and appreciate some people’s ability to re-cast a public space into something much more.

Axel helps us out here with a description for his mural in Azadpur Market entitled “जिं द गी” (life), part of his “Mediocre” series. It is a simple depiction of a still life, he says, ” One of the most frequently recurring themes in the history of classical painting.”

Axel Void. Process shot. (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

He says he was inspired by the Azadpur fruit and vegetable market, one of the (or possibly the) largest in Asia, where he was surrounded by people, cars, sounds of the metro, buyers, sellers, a family of monkeys, and goats, chickens, pigs, and cows. “The wall is painted over the Delhi Cold Storage and next to the Azadpur Mosque,” he says.

After the Axel Void piece you’ll see DalEast, who tends toward the philosophical and spiritual in his compositions of forms taking shape before you. DalEast takes a somewhat typical piece of architecture and transforms it with a flooding rush of birds flowing through an open arched doorway. It is a constellation of energy and life that flying at you when the curtain goes up, instantly metamorphosing a public space into a possibly sacred place.

Axel Void. Process shot. (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

Axel Void (photo © Pranav Mehta)

Axel Void. The finished mural on the wall of Asia’s largest fruit and vegetable markets. (photo © Pranav Mehta)

DALeast. Process shot. (photo © Pranav Mehta)

DALeast. Process shot. (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

DALeast (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

DALeast. Process shot. (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!
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BSA Images Of The Week: 03.01.15

March 1, 2015 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Happy March! With the brutally frigid temperatures we had for the whole month of February it is no small wonder that we can still find fresh new pieces on the streets. Some are weeks old and others are days old — all are executed under bitterly cold conditions. Just ask the artists…if you catch them.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Agni, Alex Seel, Alex 25, Bifido, Brown Boyz, Don Rimx, Eder Muniz AKA Calangoss, Foxx Face, LMNOPI, LNY, Clint Mario, Mata Ruda, McDemott & McGough, Mr. Prvrt, Osch,

Top Image >> LMNOPI. Boy holding a pigeon. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LMNOPI (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. PRVRT (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Eder Muniz AKA Calangoss. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Alex25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Agni (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bifido. New piece in Marseille, France. (photo © Bifido)

McDermott & McGough collaborate on most of their projects in a varied range of disciplines such as painting, photography, movies, sculpture and the occasional piece of performance art. Add to that Street Art if you will. From their Facebook page, “From our recent tribute to the late Andy Warhol. In 1986, when were were living in Naples, we were inspired by the Italian tradition of posting posters to commemorate the recently deceased. After we returned to NY and were confronted with the untimely death of Warhol we decided to plaster to the East Village with commemorative posters in his honor. This year, since we find ourselves once again in Italy during the anniversary of his death, we had the poster reposted all over NYC. Look for them in Chelsea, LES, Williamsburg and Bushwick!” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Any takers? He is asking politely. Artist Unknown. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A well placed collab between Clint Mario and Foxx Face. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

OSCH. New piece in Shoreditch, London. (photo © OSCH)

Signed by Brown Boyz, the piece was executed by Don Rimx, Ricardo Cabret, LNY, Alex Seel and Mata Ruda. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Central Park, NYC. Winter 2015 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

AIKO in New Delhi for St+Art India 2015

February 28, 2015 Artists

New York Street Artist Aiko is cutting a new stencil in a dusty warehouse space with huge windows, but instead of being in an industrial neighborhood in Brooklyn, this time she’s in New Delhi. The new image of a woman and child and sword is not quite standard fare for the feisty streetwise Aiko, who has depicted scantily clad women in very sexualized scenes as a way of expressing power in the last few years. Perhaps bowing to local norms, the new Indian mural is much more modestly attired, yet still an image one will interpret as powerful.

Aiko cutting the stencils at the studio in Delhi. (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

Here for the 2015 edition of St+Art India, a mural festival featuring mainly Street Artists from around the world, the artist whose work has appeared on New York walls many times is here with the help of the Japan Foundation. With excellent assistants on the ground Aiko knocked out the first of many murals in India’s capital which we’ll be posting for BSA readers.

Aiko at work on her wall with the help of assistants. (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

Aiko at work on her wall with the help of assistants. (photo © Pranav Mehta)

Aiko at work on her wall with the help of assistants. (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

Aiko (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

BSA Film Friday: 02.27.15

February 27, 2015 Artists

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

Now screening :

1. Banksy in Gaza: Vacation Promo
2. SOFLES Projection Mapping of His Mural in Melbourne
3.OLEK takes a Victory Lap Through 2014
4. Ben Eine Tags A Museum

Banksy in Gaza: Vacation Promo

This new video from Banksy takes you on a grim tour of Gaza that is laced with sarcasm bordering on total cynicism. Released on his website Wednesday with a few photos from his trip, Banksy appears to have stenciled the last standing door in the ruins of a building. The anonymous UK Street Artist uses his art and satirical way with the language to make his point. “Gaza is often described as ‘the world’s largest open air prison’ because no-one is allowed to enter or leave. But that seems a bit unfair to prisons – they don’t have their electricity and drinking water cut off randomly almost every day,” he says on his page. His video says he climbed through tunnels to get there but maybe Banksy was in Tony Blair’s suitcase – the UN website says the former Prime Minister of the UK was there mid-month. “Gaza is a metaphor for all that is wrong,” wrote Mr. Tony Blair in an article after visiting Gaza on 14 February.

SOFLES Projection Mapping of His Mural in Melbourne

Selina Miles again directs and produces a film of Sofles at work that transcends the experience and gives you a sense of awe at his work, which truthfully is already often awesome. We’ve been a fan of and producer of events with projection mapping so we are glad to see a talented street artist use the technology in an effective way. The video begins innocently enough with some inking out an illustration on a canvas, then buffing of a wall in Melbourne. Later the sun goes down, and BAM!

OLEK takes a Victory Lap Through 2014

Expect to see Olek everywhere, we do!

Ben Eine Tags A Museum

London based street and graffiti artist Ben Eine knocked out a wall inside the Middlebury College Museum of Art as part of the upcoming exhibition OUTSIDE IN: ART OF THE STREET.

“Big City Life Rome” Exclusive Shots of All the Walls

February 26, 2015 Artists

The first thing you’ll notice is that all the walls are the same size. For “Big City Life Rome” all of the artists were given equally large walls for their murals, which is good because you avoid fights that way. We have seen a few festivals where there are heated discussions about which artists have what walls, how large or small they are, and where they are located. This sort of uniformity is rather unique in that way.

The second thing you may notice is that there are only men here. Even the children in photos on the website are male. There may be a couple of females on the Street Art scene here, but this is a male dominated game in Rome.

“Big City Life Rome” brings some of the names you are familiar with, and undoubtedly one or two of your favorites are represented here. Given the similar generous scale of the walls the artists have it is easier to make comparisons between the geometric minimalism of Moneyless, the calligraphic pulsating patterning of Domenico Romeo, and the metaphoric wrestling musclemen of Jaz. Each of these artists has a distinct voice and seeing them revealed over a the period of 7 week festival provides you ample opportunity to appreciate them individually and as a group.

Our very special thanks to Stefano S. Antonelli, who curated this show for the 999 Contemporary Gallery, for sharing these exclusive images with BSA readers.

BSA GIVEAWAY — Stikman 2015 Calendar !

February 25, 2015 Artists

You have seen the little character on walls, lampposts, the pavement, window sills, behind bars, peeling off windows, peeking through back alleys, climbing bridges and on gallery walls.

Wouldn’t you like to see him hanging from a picture hook on your kitchen?

Now is your opportunity!

It’s a BSA GIVEAWAY of the 2015 Stikman Calendar!

Yes, it’s nearly March and only 10 months of the calendar will be useful but frankly, you are reading this on a cellphone that does everything but make pancakes for you, so most likely you won’t be laboriously planning your life writing notes on it to remember cousin Fred’s birthday or when to pay the milk man.

You’ll just be pleased to have your very own Stikman art to display proudly in your spacious home, even if our awkward little friend is being held in a bird cage and taunted by a raving beauty.

Here’s how you win. Be one of the 10 people who Instagram us a photo of a Stikman piece by tagging it @BKStreetArt #Stikman2015 by Friday 2/27 at 6 pm EST. You can even Regram if you like, but give credit to the photographer.

We’ll pick 10 of the best pics and our decision is final, so no hot tears on your cheeks if you don’t win. You know we love you just the same.

Start tagging! Good Luck!

Do It Here: FRA Biancoshock X Erotik

February 24, 2015 Artists

We’ve been fascinated by the conceptual work of the self-described “Urban Activist” Fra. Biancoshock recently. He appears to be in the midst of distilling some of the fundamental arguments of the street art scene, from a provocative perspective of course. His earnest examination of these arguments sheds a light on their nature and provides a spark for further discussions.

A few weeks ago he stenciled the word “Toy” across a graffiti piece in the urban wild, and the genuine act contained the obvious insult as well as a meditation on its many implications about “rules” and history of the game. By committing the act of dissing purely as an academic exercise, he took us one step back from a simple act of rivalry to consider what it means to call someone a toy and to use a stencil to do it with.

Today he creates a piece for the viewer to consider another contested debate; Where does graffiti rightly belong, assuming it belongs anywhere? More to the point, is it correct to call a piece of work “graffiti” if it is made specifically to be hung in a gallery? Stripped of its illicit nature, is it actually graffiti when it is in the gallery? Further complicating the discussion, he uses a stencil for the inside piece, a technique many graffiti artists wouldn’t consider graffiti.

brooklyn-street-art-fra-biancoshock-erotik-02-15-large

For Fra. Biancoshock’s new project, in which he collaborated with one of the historically well known and celebrated Italian graffiti writers, Erotik, he fairly decisively tells us his opinion on definition and gives a pretty straightforward directive. Perhaps he is advocating that graffiti and street artists not show their work as fine art in a gallery setting at all.

“This is a provocative project that underlines the importance of clarifying what graffiti is, where it were born, and where is the natural place to create it,” he says. “The phrase is simple and immediate. Similarly the concept is simple: Do graffiti in the street, illegally, without sponsors, not on the canvases for exhibition spaces,” he says. In other words, you cannot make a work for the gallery and call it graffiti, and that is not where it belongs.

We think that’s what it means anyway.

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Don Rimx in Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don Rimx in Manhattan for a mural program called Los Murales Hablan. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAIN in Brooklyn, 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAIN in New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Erica Il Cane. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo courtesy © Fifty24MX )

Erica Il Cane. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo courtesy © Fifty24MX )

Erica Il Cane. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo courtesy © Fifty24MX )

Erica Il Cane. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo courtesy © Fifty24MX )

Erica Il Cane. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

Erica Il Cane painting it black. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

Blu. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

Blu. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo courtesy © Fifty24MX )

Blu. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

Bastardilla. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

Bastardilla. Process shot. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

Bastardilla. Detail. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

Bastardilla. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

Erica Il Cane. MANIFESTO. Mexico City. February 2015. (photo © Nasser Malek Hernández)

“I guess the only time most people think about injustice is when it happens to them.” – from Ham on Rye

“If I bet on humanity, I’d never cash a ticket.”

“The problem with the world is that the intelligent people are full of doubts while the stupid one are full of confidence”.

Chris Stain in Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain in Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

They are not presented as less than, and she has become an advocate for them. She wanted to give through her work – she wanted to help. She was completely dedicated to the work, and as an artist I connect with and value this deeply.

Kollwitz’s work does this for me. It breaks my heart and then heals it all at once.”

A recent piece by Cake (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cake (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Axel Void begins his mural. (photo © Pranav Mehta)

Axel Void. Process shot. (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

Axel Void. Process shot. (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

Axel Void. Process shot. (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

Axel Void (photo © Pranav Mehta)

Axel Void. The finished mural on the wall of Asia’s largest fruit and vegetable markets. (photo © Pranav Mehta)

DALeast. Process shot. (photo © Pranav Mehta)

DALeast. Process shot. (photo © Pranav Mehta)

DALeast. Process shot. (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

DALeast (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

DALeast. Process shot. (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

Top Image >> LMNOPI. Boy holding a pigeon. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LMNOPI (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. PRVRT (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Eder Muniz AKA Calangoss. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Alex25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Agni (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Agni (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bifido. New piece in Marseille, France. (photo © Bifido)

Any takers? He is asking politely. Artist Unknown. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A well placed collab between Clint Mario and Foxx Face. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

OSCH. New piece in Shoreditch, London. (photo © OSCH)

Signed by Brown Boyz, the piece was executed by Don Rimx, Ricardo Cabret, LNY, Alex Seel and Mata Ruda. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Central Park, NYC. Winter 2015 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aiko cutting the stencils at the studio in Delhi. (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

Aiko at work on her wall with the help of assistants. (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

Aiko at work on her wall with the help of assistants. (photo © Pranav Mehta)

Aiko at work on her wall with the help of assistants. (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

Aiko (photo © Akshat Nauriyal)

Banksy in Gaza: Vacation Promo

SOFLES Projection Mapping of His Mural in Melbourne

OLEK takes a Victory Lap Through 2014

Ben Eine Tags A Museum

Seth (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Seth (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Seth (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Seth (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Seth (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Gaia (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Gaia (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Gaia (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Gaia (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Domenico Romeo (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Domenico Romeo (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Domenico Romeo (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Moneyless (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Moneyless (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Moneyless (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Alberonero (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Alberonero (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Alberonero (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Diamond (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)

Diamond (photo courtesy © 999 Contemporary Gallery)