Brooklyn Street Art | …loves you more every day.

Images Of The Week: 01.12.14

January 12, 2014 Artists

Great week in NYC with the new mayor shaking hands for hours in the cold outside City Hall with all New Yorkers last Sunday, then we got smacked with the devastating cold, then sleet, then high winds. Next up, ice locusts! Also, if your Christmas tree is still up, don’t plug it in because that puppy will go up in 25 seconds of flaming glory. Wait until it is safely on the street before igniting.

This week we also featured not one but two yarn artists, which has gotta be a first for us – London Kaye and the Olek. Yarn on the street isn’t exactly a trend, but it is sort of a trend.

– In a related story, Olek is now reporting that the piece we documented her installing in 4 degree temperatures has mysteriously disappeared. Street Art vanishes all the time but the size of this piece was gargantuan and it was a complicated install and it was hung in a very heavily traversed part of Little Italy. Says Olek in her FB/Twitter all-points-bulletin “Alert: 376 square feet of #crochet art stolen.” Keep your eye on Grandma, also Aunt Betty. ‘Cause you know, knitters sometimes get competitive, that’s all I’m saying.

And here we are with our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Beau Stanton, EC13, Etnik, Haculla, Icy & Sot, Miron Milic, Olek, Pyramid Oracle, Rene Gagnon, Seville, Sexer, Steep, Swoon, Team Low Brow, Team Mishka, and Zimad.

Top Image >> Haculla. We are happy to see this veteran Street Artist on this old spot in Manhattan and of course back on the streets of NYC. Nice stash. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pyramid Oracle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon’s collaboration with Groundswell was tagged very heavily during the most recent snow storm in the city. Luckily, the color palette of the new graffiti work complements the overall scheme. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Miron Milic’s sketch for his most recent work in Croatia. (photo © Miron Milic)

The finished piece by Miron Milic. When translated, we still didn’t understand the meaning but here it is: “We played at war because it was healthy that were as much in the air.” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Steep at The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy and Sot depict a feeling of impotence fighting the war machine and the ubiquity of guns and violence. What’s your interpretation? (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Beau Stanton for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A new piece in Turin, Italy by Etnik, who is preparing for his first solo show at Square23. Dude’s got skillz. (photo © Etnik)

Zimad at The Bushwick Collective. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RIPO for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

EC13 new installation in Spain. (photo © EC13)

Team Mishka vs Team Low Brow for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sexer at The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“There is no such thing as part freedom”. Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rene Gagnon opened with an extensive solo show at the new Mecka Gallery last night. Heavily attended. Read more about the venue, the show, and an interview with the artist HERE. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. The Golden Hour becomes the Manhattan skyline. January 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA

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!

<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA

Rene Gagnon Inaugurates Mecka Gallery : Opening Today in Brooklyn

January 11, 2014 Artists

“HI! My name is…

Brooklyn hasn’t opened a new Street Art gallery in a little while – in fact it has lost some formal spaces that welcome artists of the street kind over the past couple of years. So you’ll be happy to know we can now announce a new Street Art show at a new Street Art centric gallery is opening tonight. And you’ll jump out of your boots when you find out there will be a free print release to the first hundred people in line.

Rene Gagnon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“HI! My name is… A Solo Exhibition of This and That”, a new show by Rene Gagnon opens tonight and inaugurates the Mecka Gallery in Bushwick, or East Williamsburg, depending on which real estate agent or Midwestern transplant is showing you the neighborhood.

“Its really fitting actually,” says Gagnon, whose wheat-paste and stencil work was more prevalent on the streets in North Brooklyn in the mid to late 2000s when the neighborhood was still an industrial wilderness for arriving scrappy artists looking for space, and Ad Hoc gallery was the only game in the area. “This show is a formal introduction of me and my conceptual work in a gallery setting in NYC and a formal introduction of Mecka Gallery. I think it’s perfect.”

Rene Gagnon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ironically, it was at another event begun by Ad Hoc’s Garrison and Alison Buxton in Queens in recent years that facilitated this opportunity for Gagnon and Mecka to work together.

“I met Justin DeDemko at the Welling Court Mural Project,” says Gagnon of the huge free Street Art event sponsored by the Buxtons as an opportunity for artists to get get exposure and, not surprisingly, it worked. After discussing the idea of a smaller show with a second artist at Bottleneck Gallery, Justin offered a new possibility.

“He was like, ‘we got something better for you’,” recalls Gagnon about the brand new raw space that DeDemko had in mind as a showcase for street artist. “I was super excited and overwhelmed at the same point,” he says of the October conversation. “I went into high gear and completed the entire body of work for this show in about two and a half months.”

Along with partners Joseph Bouganim, Arseny Libon, and Joshua Harris, DeDemko runs the small south side Williamsburg gallery that focuses on pop art and posters. Mecka Gallery however plans to be more of a street art and contemporary art gallery space.

“I have been collecting street art for years,” says DeDemko of his primary expression of interest in the scene thus far. He lists favorites of his eclectic collection to include How & Nosm, Miss Bugs, Judith Supine, Faile, Priest and Banksy. Although this venture will include his three other friends, DeDemko says they “just starting to get into” collecting work by Street Artists. “They have been slowly grabbing some pieces from Phlegm, Faile and Banksy.”

Rene Gagnon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Already Mecka is lining up a varied roster of artists for planned installations that is spread widely among folks known for Street Art, graffiti, murals, fine art, and one remarkable one known for photography – many of which are not commonly associated with one another. 2014 will showcase names like Pr1est, Judith Supine, a dual show with Martha Cooper and ELLE, a group show with GraffitiPrints including artists like Martin Whatson and Dot Dot Dot, and another duet by Pahnl and Romacouch. DeDemko says the selections are based on who the partners like personally as artists and who is looking to push themselves forward with a certain degree of creative risk involved.

“We want to challenge the artist – we want them to push the boundaries of what they thought their gallery show would be,” says DeDemko of the open approach to planning and installing that Mecka plans to offer artists and that will combine elements of the street in an environmental way rather than simply as a storefront with pieces for sale. “We want to infuse the street and a viewing gallery into one place,” he says. Also, “Expect some very large scale installations down the road.”

The choice of Rene Gagnon as the inaugural show is remarkably appropriate because the artist has ventured into a wide variety of styles that reflect the contemporary idea of what urban art is during his career as a graffiti writer and Street Artist, which started around 1986. Over that time his work has reflected the visual language popular at the time as he likes to investigate processes and techniques that he sees and hopefully to create a new take on a style. Notably, he’s had a few hits that are his and his alone, like the “Cash Rules Everything Around Me” stencil.

Rene Gagnon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“As you know I have a very diverse body of work,” explains Gagnon when describing the array of pieces he’ll be showing tonight. “It’s always been hard for me to lock down to one approach when creating my work – but honestly it’s the most fulfilling aspect of being an artist. I get to do something different every day which is an extreme positive but the negative is that galleries never know what to expect from me. So when I got this opportunity I wanted to take a look at what I envisioned was one of my greatest strengths. I believe my conceptual ability was at the forefront.”

Will visitors see works that span the previous twenty plus years? You bet. There are plenty of stencils and wheatpasted works that he considers some greatest hits –as well as some more sculptural installations and video work that he has explored in recent years.

Rene Gagnon at work on his installation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“When I decided to go the conceptual route for this show I went back into my print and street archives and realized there were a lot of classic images that I had never made fully realized pieces of fine art so that was my starting point. Also during the first month of preparation I was on a super creative high. I think one day over 20 concepts I deemed worthy of creating were recorded. When I finally had to go into production mode I think I had enough fodder for two or three more shows,” says Gagnon of the font of ideas and inclinations that flooded his mind.

“I’ve always had the ability to turn my creative flow on and off, but that doesn’t mean ideas don’t strike me on a daily basis. I just usually have a balance between creating and producing. For this show it was all creating then a mad fury of producing.”

Rene Gagnon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Doors open at Mecka Gallery tonight at 6 pm and the first hundred or so people in the door will score “Heart Breaker” a print release that will not be offered for sale, as well as a copy of a book by Michelle Gaudencio titled ‘A small collection of This and That’. It is a pretty generous gift that most galleries and artists would never think of, but Gagnon feels like it is a cool way for people who are not familiar with his work to get to know him better. “It was produced to give the gallery goers some insight into the vast array of artistic approaches I have experimented with.”

Rene Gagnon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mecka Gallery
65 Meadow Street
Brooklyn, NY 11206

More information on “HI! My name is… A Solo Exhibition of This and That” is HERE.

<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA

BSA Film Friday: 01.10.14

January 10, 2014 Artists

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

Now screening :

1. Vhils x Pixel Pancho in Lisbon
2. How Nosm in Lisbon
3. NEKST FOREVER from Pose & Revok in Detroit
4. Knarf, Mafia and Fresh Max “3500” in Vienna
5. Bisser in London “Last Breath I” at Blackfriars Cafe

BSA Special Feature: Lisbon Double Feature from Underdogs
Pixel Pancho x Vhils
and How Nosm

Two beautiful videos in a row this week from the platform called Underdogs. “Underdogs is an international working platform based in Lisbon, Portugal that aims at creating space within the contemporary art scene for artists connected with the new languages of urban visual culture.” Since one of the original organizers is Street Artist Vhils, it makes sense that these two videos capture that additional essence of the experience of art making, the discipline, the dedication, the drive. The camera work, editing, and story telling are fresh and above par here.

Pixel Pancho and Vhils for Underdogs. Lisbon 2013

How & Nosm for Underdogs. Lisbon 2013

NEKST FOREVER from The Seventh Letter: Pose & Revok

With baritone narration from Pose about the impact of one guy on many, this video relates the level of respect the late graffiti artist Nekst had among his peers. Together with Revok and other members of the MSK crew you’ll see them knock out one of the biggest tributes yet in Detroit.

Knarf, Mafia and Fresh Max “3500” in Vienna

KNARF, MAFIA and FRESH MAX spent the last 3 months working on a 3500 square meter wall complex near Vienna. Here is a brief overview of their process. They will also be releasing a book on the 24th documenting the project, sketches, and images of the entire painted building.

Bisser in London “Last Breath I” at Blackfriars Cafe

A local cafe of 35 years is going to be torn down with the entire building it has been housed in Southwark (South-London). Artist Bisser did an installation, a “one-off beautification” last month to say goodbye to the place. As it turns out, an entire project has been spawned to create more work by more artists in the building before it is slated for demolition. This video is the first of the series for “The Last Breath Project”

More about the project here: lastbreathproject.co.uk

Olek Warms Little Italy With Giant Multi-colored Freedom

January 9, 2014 Artists

The previous NYC record for frigid cold on January 7th was 6 degrees (F).

Tuesday broke that record at 4 degrees.

Olek decided we needed a blanket.

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

With the help of Shir Lieberman, London O’Donnell, and Whitney Spivey, the crochet Street Artist installed a 60 foot long multicolored comforter to warm a parking lot fence in coordination with Wayne Rada and RJ Rushmore of the Little Italy Street Art Project. The LISA Project, as it is more commonly referred to, is a private initiative that has brought a variety of street and graffiti artists to this tourist neighborhood in the last two years.

Olek never does a project half way, and the size and scope of her psychedelic camouflage skin street projects continue to barely keep pace with her imagination. The sentiment of the slogan appears to augment the work ethic and of course, and it is perfectly timely as the concept and practice of freedom is debated daily in the public and digital spheres.

Having part freedom is like being part pregnant. More germanely perhaps, we think of those “free speech” zones set up outside of political conventions that are basically just cages to contain people and prevent them from moving about freely to protest. They are part free speech/ part totalitarianism. Is there such a thing?

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek is surprised to see you. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Photographer Martha Cooper braved the very low temps for the occasion. Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Climbing fences sort of comes with the job. Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“…the path of progress, the struggle for equality for all, is a life-long endeavor, achieved through persistence and faith, never wavering. Each individual must participate in this progress through any way available, including public displays of solidarity, creations of art, reliance on the legal system and vocalizations of opinion. Equality for all in some parts of the world is not total equality; it must be worldwide.” -Olek

Olek begins the process of fully encasing a willing participant in crochet for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

You shoot me, I’ll shoot you. Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

To learn more about the L.I.S.A. Project NYC click HERE.

<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA

REVS is the Iron Man in New York Graffiti

January 8, 2014 Artists

How often do you find a new tag from an 80s graffiti writer? How often is it made of iron?

REVS is back.

Or maybe he never left. It is impossible to tell when the tag is a welded sculpture on a large rusted I-beam, or soldered on an oxidized chain link fence that rattles back and forth in the wind as city traffic rumbles by. Since this elusive graffiti artist doesn’t do too much talking to the public about his work the small cold piece before you could potentially be years or even decades old by the time you discover it.

REVS (photo © Jaime Rojo)

In 2010 we wrote about REVS for the Huffington Post in 10 Best Street Art Moments of the Decade;

“Fiercely reclusive Street Artist REVS surprises everyone following his arrest in 2000 by abandoning his practice of creating monumental roller tags on walls and instead makes dozens of metal sculptures. He installs them, mostly legally, around New York, including many in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Williamsburg, known for being an epicenter of Street Art growth in the early 2000s. REVS and his buddy COST are pointed to as inspiration by many of a new generation of Street Artists.”

In 2014 we keep finding more of these sculptures, most of which look like they must have required permission, and we thought you’d like to see a few of them. Some say REVS, often written cleverly, other times cryptically, and variously under one of his other nom de plumes like Shiesta, Toots REVS or the more declarative Fuckin REVS.

REVS (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Finding these metal REVS can be a little like discovering the Holy Grail for graffiti and Street Art photographers not just because they are hard to locate, but because of the stories people tell about the sheer number of times you saw his name rolled out in New York in the 1990s. Then there are the multiples and replications of photocopies he pasted around town with his running mate Cost that included a real phone number you could call – an unheard of use of interactive elements long before the word “interactive” became associated with clicking a button or swiping a screen.

And what about the hundreds of real-life diary pages he painted in train tunnels then, each one a recounting of his life experiences, some posing existential questions. You can still see some of these mini-diatribes when the train stops mid-tunnel, scrawled in black aerosol across a primed white rectangle on a concrete wall two inches from your face as you glance out the window.

“REVS holds a special place in NYC graffiti lore for two reasons. For one there’s his creative output, which is hard to beat: from writing on trains to painting highly visible rollers to wheatpasting the city in a first-of-its-kind campaign to almost completing an ambitious project to paint diary entries between every single stop in the NYC subway system to taking it to the next level and sculpting his name out of steel,” says one of the most intrepid of today’s graffiti photographers, Luna Park, who has published around 200 REVS photos on her Flickr page in the last decade.

REVS (photo © Jaime Rojo)

She continues, “Combine that output with a devil-may-care reticence and a complete disdain for the mechanisms of the art market and you’ve got the makings of a legend.”

That last part is notable in this time where a growing number of artists appear to be using the street to advance their fine art or commercial careers. REVS has done very little to capitalize on his work on the street publicly and is quoted in interviews as having a deep aversion to commercializing his work. Nonetheless, as the marketing mavens like to say, Brand REVS continues to strengthen and photographers are not the only people hunting for stuff by the man of steel.

“Given the propensity for REVS sculptural work to be stolen – and unfortunately there has been a lot of that recently – for his most loyal fans, locations of REVS pieces are closely guarded secrets,” says Ms. Park.

REVS (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ironic then, that for some urban art fans this work is far more important than that of, say, the British Street Artist Banksy, who alerts the world using the Internet and social media as soon as a new piece is up, sometimes with hints about location.

“He’s the greatest living graffiti artist,” Jake Dobkin of The Gothamist was recently quoted saying, “You know how some people feel about Springsteen or Bob Dylan? That’s who Revs is for New York graffiti enthusiasts.”

Our beat is Street Art, so we’ll trust Jake about this, but as a stylistic and creative lynchpin between graffiti and what would eventually be widely called Street Art, no one is questioning REVS steely staying power.

REVS (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This article was also published on The Huffington Post

<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA

A New Knitter on the Block, London Kaye Brings her “Ballerinas”

January 7, 2014 Artists

Yarn Bombing! Yarn Storming! Tell me another yarn.

Knitting and crocheting for the street is hardly new, but it is experiencing a great surge of interest right now – to the thrill of some who find it adorable and cute, and to the utter disgust of graffiti and Street Art dudes and dudettes who think it is all a trifle – not hardcore or STREET enough to be allowed up on walls and fences or on the, uh, STREET.

Also there are those mild-mannered fans who just think it is a cool thing to stumble upon some seemingly random hand knitted yarn things in a loud grimey underpass.

London Kaye (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ah, but that is just the point isn’t it? Artists who put their work up in the public sphere don’t usually ask for anyone’s permission and London Kaye joins that ever-growing list of bad-ass bombers, even if they are ballerinas.

On a side note: Have you noticed ballet has been all the freaking rage for Street Art over the last year? Faile did their Pas de deux with the New York City Ballet last spring, JR is getting ready to mount his project with them presently, and this series of dancers climbed a fence sometime in mid-December. Remember our first picture of the year LAST year? It’s like it was a telepathic message from the street – a vast conspiracy of so-called HI and LOW culture. It’s just as well that ballet get a kick in the leotards; since it was becoming an art form enjoyed by a dwindling number of patrons who are clumped on both ends of the human timeline but few in between those core constituencies of 6 year olds and 600 year olds.

London Kaye (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Back to our main story; A genuine newcomer on the street scene, knitter London Kaye follows her own whims and subject matter – not just ballerinas. She actually did a pretty cool reinterpretation of one of Invader’s tile pieces just after his went up at the turn of November, and which we posted that week. She joins the Street Art scene like most do and did – an artist in her early 20s who is churning out new work almost daily, a relatively new type of “bomber” who just wants her stuff to be seen by as many passersby as possible – before it dances away.

London Kaye (photo © Jaime Rojo)

<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA

El Sol 25 – New Figurative and “Ransom Note” Style Wheatpastes

January 6, 2014 Artists

El Sol 25 has appeared again suddenly with a handful of the collage style paintings in two distinct styles that have distinguished his work from many others on the New York scene for the last handful of years.

We are now getting accustomed to the ransom letter style phrases that he began over the last year or so – bringing to mind other font fans on the street like D*Face, Eine, and Greg Lamarche. The difference here is the technique where El Sol 25 hand paints each collaged message on paper in studio and then wheatpastes the one-of-kind piece on the street.

El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The figurative works that you are more familiar with are also back, a product of mixing and matching limbs, torsos, and heads from myriad sources that result in unusual, nearly incongruous compositions stretching your area of acceptance and narrative comprehension ever further to consider what is harmony, and what is chaos. Again you may see similarities to others on the street – most notably the sort of slash and slice and recollecting collage work currently on the street by practitioners like Judith Supine, Dain, and more recently, Dee Dee. Not surprisingly, El Sol 25 takes it in a more painterly direction again by hand painting with brushes the entire collaged figure on butcher paper (or similar) and pasting the one-off composition on a wall.

El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

It is perhaps because of this highly labor intensive one-off process that you do not see the former graffiti bomber on the street very often. If he had made multiples and repeatedly placed them all over the city like taggers in the graffiti tradition, the name would be possibly be more ubiquitous. But as it turns out, these one-of-a-kind pieces appear quietly and loudly and singularly and standing in a doorway or on a wall for a few months, then fading and decaying and disappearing without a lot of fanfare.

Not sure if this panda in a suit is part of the piece from El Sol 25, but it probably is. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The pileup manner that the pieces are placed on walls that are sometimes already heavily bombed has also brought attention to the artist from writers and other Street Artists because it sometimes is interpreted as being too close to other works or placed directly over works that may not be considered to have had their full run or to have fallen far enough into disrepair. That is probably why you see new tags or works appearing quickly over El Sol’s sometimes. Other times the painted paste ups lay amidst the visual chaos untouched as if the new composition/collaboration/conversation has been deemed amenable to all parties.

To the majority of passersby who are not tuned into the conversation among artists or even the concept of it, El Sol 25 is an unusual and puzzling and usually gratifying discovery. Like so much Street Art and graffiti, you are welcomed to make your own storyline to accompany it.

El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA

Images Of The Week: 01.05.14

January 5, 2014 Artists

It’s been weeks since we had an “Images of the Week” posting with you, due to the end of the year spectacular we presented for 13 days; a solid cross section of the talented photographers who are documenting this important moment before it passes.

As a collection 13 From 2013 exemplified the unique and eclectic character of Street Art and graffiti photography today. Each person contributed a favorite image and along with it their insight and observations, often personal, very individual, and with a real sense of authenticity. Each day we were sincerely grateful for their contributions to BSA readers and to see the street through their eyes.

Thank you again to Yoav Litvin, Ray Mock, Brock Brake, Martha Cooper, Luna Park, Geoff Hargadon, Jessica Stewart, Jim Kiernan, Bob Anderson, Ryan Oakes, Daniel Albanese, James Prigoff, and Spencer Elzey for 13 from 2013. Also if you missed it, that list kicked off just after our own 2013 BSA Year in Images (and video) were published here and on Huffington Post, all of which was also a great honor to share with you.

And so we bring back to you some documentation of moments before they passed – our weekly interview with the street, this week including $howta, Appleton Pictures, ASVP, BAMN, Chase, Dceve, Doce Freire, EpicUno, Hot Tea, Jerkface, Judith Supine, Leadbelly33, LoveMe, Meres, Olek, Rambo, Ramiro Davaro-Comas, Square, and Swoon.

This weeks top image is a reprieve from the winter we’ve been enduring – a small hand cut frog clinging to a verdant fern – created by Swoon and snapped during a visit to her studio over the holidays. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA

Entes Y Pesimo del Barrio, New from Peru

January 4, 2014 Artists

Peru’s Entes & Pésimo are back in Lima after a nice few days painting in Miami last month and have brought their eye popping color palette to the side of a handful of homes that line the hills of this city. Local favorites who consider their work to be as close to the community as it can be, the graffiti artists are integral to the cityscape, telling the stories of its inhabitants one or two at a time.

Sometimes E&P consider themselves community activists because of their advocacy for people on the ground but even moreso they are poets in love with their culture. Using citric hues on forms that are serious yet resolute in their longing, perhaps the color acts as a lantern to shine a universal light on the struggle and joy intertwined with daily life in densely populated cities where populations outpace our will to meet their needs.

<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA

BSA Film Friday: 01.03.14

January 3, 2014 Artists

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

Now screening :

1. “SOMOS LUZ” – Boa Mistura in Panamá City
2. Giulio Vesprini by Alessandro Moglie
3. Ox Alien x Spider Tag in Rotterdam
4. Borondo in Rome with some Piety from The Blind Eye Factory

BSA Special Feature: “SOMOS LUZ” – Boa Mistura

We start off the BSA Film Friday for 2014 with a newly released story about the majority.

That is, the poor. Somehow despite the miracles and wealth and technological breakthroughs of the modern age we have allowed the majority of our brothers and sisters and neighbors around the globe to live in harsher conditions and mounting insecurity.

Madrid-based Street Art quartet Boa Mistura created a project they call SOMOS LUZ when they created a transformative piece of art taking over an entire housing project building in Panamá City. Their short documentary is a thoughtful examination that features daily scenes, observations on the political climate, the militarization of life, crime, the brutal cost of daily life.

As any mature artist will likely tell you, the work doesn’t resound so deeply until you have some skin in the game, and Boa Mistura make a serious study to learn from the people in El Chorrillo whose 50 homes they paint.

In the process, they bring a lot to light.

Giulio Vesprini by Alessandro Moglie

While painting a mural in Montegranaro for an event called Casa Museo, artist Giulio Vesprini was happy to have some musical accompaniment. Also, some interpretive dance to keep spirits high.

Ox Alien x Spider Tag in Rotterdam

With only six hours to spend in Rotterdam, Spidertag met up with Ox in December to do three collaborative works despite an ongoing spate of rain. The geometric interventions balance the styles of the two Street Artists, each preferring to let the lines do the talking.

Borondo in Rome with some Piety from The Blind Eye Factory

Two languid figures in repose are made from deliberate and raw impressionist swaths, relaxing in one anothers’ company across a large wall in composition entitled “Piedad”. See how Barondo moves along and defines the figures on this wall for the Museo dell’Altro e dell’Altrove di Metropoliz, and cross yourself.

Canemorto (Dead Dog) at the Side of Road

January 2, 2014 Artists

There is something about the billboard takeover that still feels like a world of possibilities untapped. Billboard Liberation Front showed how to subvert with style, and urban pranksters like Ron English showed how to integrate soft social critique in the détournement dance, but in many cases the visual language has remained within the advertising rubric.

Canemorto shows that it’s possibly even more arresting to repurpose a commercial space with blunt hand-rendered artistic imperfection, converting the space into an actual painters canvas.

We have grown completely accustomed to the slick billboards alongside highways luring us with $69 motels and attorneys who promise to make you rich if you just put on a neck brace and dial 1-800-WESUE4U. When they are thoughtfully subverted/inverted/perverted you may run the risk of missing the new message entirely, so inured we have become to the medium and its methods.

Italy’s Canemorto troupe thinks that a large raw Picassoesque portrait painted on it, however maniacal and disturbed it may be, is an improvement. It is also possible that this visual jolt will cause you to steer your car into a ditch. Still, a wild-eyed portrait is possibly more edifying than seeing a real estate tycoon comb-over or a warning about the Judgement Day that came and left you here with the sinners.

Canemorto shared some images here of roadside madness they recorded last summer including three new pieces off a highway near Milan. They admit that the pieces themselves “are not our best”, but the personal hand, the brute rawness of the images, make them stand out in this impersonal no-mans land and offer perhaps a counterbalance to a different sort of brutishness that sends roaring truck and car traffic to saw jaggedly through the natural beauty we inherited.

Happy New Year 2014 from BSA

January 1, 2014 Artists

Thanks for all of your support and all the best wishes from us at BSA to you and your loved ones for a happy healthy new year.

Photos of BSA 2025 # 6
December 29, 2025
It's not all doom and gloom, but sometimes you may get that impression. In New York—like everywhere else—economic stress, global …Read More »
Photos of BSA 2025 # 7
December 28, 2025
Somewhere along the King’s Road, punk hardened into a classic ‘look’ - or dictionary of ‘looks’. Stripped of its insurgent …Read More »
Photos of BSA 2025 # 8
December 27, 2025
“When I watch people holding their smartphones, I often ask myself: are they holding their phones because they want to, …Read More »
Photos of BSA 2025 # 9
December 26, 2025
This was the year that rappelling from high places tipped the balance in New York graffiti. No matter the style …Read More »
Merry Christmas 2025 From BSA
December 25, 2025
We’re celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of the next by thanking BSA Readers, Friends, and Family …Read More »
Photos of BSA 2025 # 10
December 24, 2025
This one caught our eye for the merging of classic graffiti nerve, blunt style execution, sentimental velvety roses, inspirational verses, …Read More »
Photos of BSA 2025 # 11
December 23, 2025
Praise the labor of painting and painters: the technical mastery, the arduous strategic planning, the bodily toll. We usually encounter …Read More »

Top Image >> Haculla. We are happy to see this veteran Street Artist on this old spot in Manhattan and of course back on the streets of NYC. Nice stash. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pyramid Oracle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon’s collaboration with Groundswell was tagged very heavily during the most recent snow storm in the city. Luckily, the color palette of the new graffiti work complements the overall scheme. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Miron Milic’s sketch for his most recent work in Croatia. (photo © Miron Milic)

The finished piece by Miron Milic. When translated, we still didn’t understand the meaning but here it is: “We played at war because it was healthy that were as much in the air.” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Steep at The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy and Sot depict a feeling of impotence fighting the war machine and the ubiquity of guns and violence. What’s your interpretation? (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Beau Stanton for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A new piece in Turin, Italy by Etnik, who is preparing for his first solo show at Square23. Dude’s got skillz. (photo © Etnik)

Zimad at The Bushwick Collective. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RIPO for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

EC13 new installation in Spain. (photo © EC13)

Team Mishka vs Team Low Brow for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sexer at The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“There is no such thing as part freedom”. Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rene Gagnon opened with an extensive solo show at the new Mecka Gallery last night. Heavily attended. Read more about the venue, the show, and an interview with the artist HERE. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. The Golden Hour becomes the Manhattan skyline. January 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“HI! My name is…

Rene Gagnon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rene Gagnon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rene Gagnon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rene Gagnon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rene Gagnon at work on his installation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rene Gagnon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rene Gagnon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rene Gagnon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rene Gagnon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rene Gagnon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rene Gagnon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rene Gagnon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Special Feature: Lisbon Double Feature from Underdogs Pixel Pancho x Vhils and How Nosm

Pixel Pancho and Vhils for Underdogs. Lisbon 2013

How & Nosm for Underdogs. Lisbon 2013

NEKST FOREVER from The Seventh Letter: Pose & Revok

Knarf, Mafia and Fresh Max “3500” in Vienna

Bisser in London “Last Breath I” at Blackfriars Cafe

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek is surprised to see you. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Photographer Martha Cooper braved the very low temps for the occasion. Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Climbing fences sort of comes with the job. Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek begins the process of fully encasing a willing participant in crochet for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

You shoot me, I’ll shoot you. Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

REVS (photo © Jaime Rojo)

REVS (photo © Jaime Rojo)

REVS (photo © Jaime Rojo)

REVS (photo © Jaime Rojo)

REVS (photo © Jaime Rojo)

REVS (photo © Jaime Rojo)

REVS (photo © Jaime Rojo)

London Kaye (photo © Jaime Rojo)

London Kaye (photo © Jaime Rojo)

London Kaye (photo © Jaime Rojo)

London Kaye (photo © Jaime Rojo)

London Kaye (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Not sure if this panda in a suit is part of the piece from El Sol 25, but it probably is. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This weeks top image is a reprieve from the winter we’ve been enduring – a small hand cut frog clinging to a verdant fern – created by Swoon and snapped during a visit to her studio over the holidays. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

EpicUno (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rambo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Leadbelly33 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LoveMe (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BAMN (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Judith Supine (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ASVP and Square (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Special Feature: Lisbon Double Feature from Underdogs
Pixel Pancho x Vhils
and How Nosm