Artists: Nina Pandolfo
Location: The Outsiders Newcastle
There’s never been a better time to be a young lady, thinks Brazilian artist Nina Pandolfo (almost certainly correctly). Her Spice Angels portraits are part Manga, part bandes desinées, and part fashion illustration presented with all the lurid and enthralling fantasy of feminist novelist Angela Carter. These large, ambitious canvases in beguiling bright pastels will bring a balmy dollop of sunshine to The Outsiders Newcastle this January.
With over 20 years of writing graffiti behind him, NOXER is still ubiquitous throughout New York City. Over the years his work has only gotten more refined, and his style has constantly evolved. NOXER’s latest street work contains subtle references to ancient Egyptian art; The Book of the Dead is a more thorough exploration of this theme. The show includes several new paintings by NOXER that combine the aesthetics of ancient Egypt with the styles of New York City street culture.
NOXER has appeared in countless books and magazines; in Marc Ecko’s Getting Up video game; and in the famed graffiti documentary State Your Name. He recently released his first zine entitled No Love. The Book of the Dead is the artist’s first solo exhibition.
The walls of Berlin are so slammed with graffiti and Street Art that artists and writers have no choice but to go over each other. While Germany (and France for that matter) have foresworn the laissez-faire approach of unregulated economics that led to the financial collapse, Berlin’s approach to graffiti and Street Art here is still relaxed.
Since the fall of the wall nearly a quarter century ago, the sense of liberation is still exploding on a cellular level throughout Berlin’s creative scene; a pent-up energy of free expression that has given the city a truly magnetic quality which draws artists from around the globe. Each visitor seems energized by their experience here where artists continue to seed, germinate and grow a dynamic scene that continues to take surprising shape. As of yet, it hasn’t been capitalized on entirely, but you can be sure that it will be one day very soon, if the pattern of other artist-led movements in cities of the Western world are indicators.
“The walls of Berlin are heavy with an exclusive cultural history. A city once divided, now converges into a thriving epicenter of artistic expression,” says New York Street Artist Gilf!, who just got back from this place of relative artistic freedom. Even as she toured the blanketed walls she says she knows that it is a temporary condition, and wonders if the “the rattle of spray cans” will fall silent one day. Today on BSA we have exclusive insights and photos of the scene from her perspective as a New Yorker in the early twenty-teens.
“Layers upon layers of spray paint, wheatpastes, murals, and installations make this metropolis a street art mecca. The energy is contagious, inspiring, and thought provoking. When discussing art, often times people compare modern day Berlin to New York in the nineteen eighties: expressive, prolific, and all-encompassing.” – Gilf!
“The extreme censorship of decades past, contrasting with the current overwhelming display of personal expression on the walls of Mitte, Kruezberg and many other neighborhoods became my internal obsession as I walked the streets. As this art form becomes more and more censored in US cities like New York and Chicago, I can’t help but draw a reverse parallel with Berlin.” – Gilf!
“The above piece in reference to Malala Yousufzai, the 15 year old girl in Pakistan who was shot in the head by the Taliban for promoting women/girls education. She was transferred to a hospital in the UK, where she was recently released. The QR code next to her sends the viewer to a BBC news page that explains her ordeal”
“I am trying to educate people with this piece. It’s funny how the Arabic really scares people, like it’s some sort of terrorist threat. Even with the translation “knowledge is the deadliest weapon” written in English on her body- it’s not enough to keep this piece up in certain places. People fascinate me. It’s almost subconscious, that choice of ignorant disregard for other cultures, hate is a strong word, but it feels like that sometimes.”-Gilf
Wild boars, fanged street cats, raging bears and bulldogs. These brightly portrayed wildlife are on many walls of Lima, signatures of Peruvian Street Artist and graffiti writer Seimiek. Just completing this new piece of a carnivorous big fish in the shantytowns of Lima, Seimiek traces the influences of his work to the typical mask from the folklore tradition. In much of his work you’ll also see the influence of Peruvian textiles and a healthy dose of Santeria, comic books, and street theater.
Faile. Along with their recent announcement of their partnership with the New York City Ballet Arts Series came a marketing campaign blitz that saw the New York City transit system and streets blanketed with the promotional posters. So once again Street Artists see their work in place it was previously, but because a fee has been paid, this time it is legal.
Brooklyn born graffiti/street/fine artist DAZE completed two walls while in Miami during Art Basel 2012. The first wall done in conjunction with Wynwood Walls has been extensively documented, including a couple of great shots from Martha Cooper here on BSA.
Favoring illustration and symbols in a muralist style, Daze, who was hitting trains in the late 70s and early 80s, brings some of that New York flavor to this wall. Here are a few images along with a new timelapse video from Daze in quieter spot outside the buzz of Wynwood Art District.
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.
Now screening: A debut from UR New York, Cola de Farinha, Pigeon in the Venice of the North, En Masse in Miami MMXII, and a promo for “Working Class”.
UR New York Spends 10 Days in Miami
In this video debuting today on BSA, 2Esae and Ski Mst of UR New York spray, stencil, wheatpaste, play with kids from the Children’s Bereavement Center, flirt and give the finger at openings, cavort in front of the camera, and otherwise act a fool in pursuit of the one thing that made these trouble makers who they are, art.
Cola de Farinha – Brazilian Wheat-pasting
A small documentary interviewing some wheat-pasters in São Paulo, that gives an idea of how the scene takes on the personality and style of the culture. A unique opportunity to learn what it means to artists and how it is perceived as a means of communication.
Pigeon Wheat-pasting in the Venice of the North
Follow Street Artist Pigeon on an icy river in a canoe.
En Masse: Miami MMXII
The great collaborative feeling of working together on the streets is epitomized here with En Masse in Miami last month. Featured artists in their two week roll-through were;
Mke Maxwell, OverUnder, NDA, Omen514, ASquidCalledSebastian, Jason Botkin, Fred Caron, Melissa DelPinto, LezaOne, Alan Ganev, Dustin Spagnolia, Mas Paz, Optimo, Pat Lazzo, Marc PaperScissor, Carmelo Blandino, Five Eight, Pixel Pancho, Never 2501, Sam Parker, Samson Contompasis, Linsey Carron, Anne Preece, Victor Cox
“Working Class”
A brief taste of the new film about the work of artists Mike Giant and Mike Maxwell.
Rio is today. And tomorrow. A dagger sharp contrast of rich and poor, it is a model that grows throughout the rest of the world wherever the middle class is being attacked and steadily whittled down to a thin whisper.
When Brazil takes the world stage for the 2014 World Cup and the 2016 Olympics, most of Rocinha will miss the events. A slum that houses 200,000 people on the hillside in Rio, people there are borrowing electricity from the neighboring rich São Conrado and Gávea communities and figuring out how to meet their most basic needs. According to Mundoreal “Residents subsist in conditions of abject or near abject poverty, residing in small shanties stacked one on top of another, sometimes as many as 8 stories high.”
Street Artist Jetsonorama was in Rio de Janeiro to visit with friend Lea Rekow as part of Green My Favela (GMF), a more formal structural approach to bringing social and environmental remediation to Rocinha, one of the 10 largest slums in the world. “GMF was formed to reclaim degraded land and to create more productive green spaces inside Rocinha. GMF works with Rocinha residents to green what we can through collaborations with individuals, families, NGOs and schools.”
While there to learn about GMF and study how to offer support Jetsonorama also installed a few wheat-pastes he made to sort of lend a figurative hand. One of them appears as a symbolic way of reactivating a decidedly run-down site. He explains, “I had a chance to visit Lea’s project and to meet some of the Rocinha community members who are working with her to develop the site into a community garden space.”
The four panels across from Woodward Gallery have provided an ongoing gallery show on the street for a handful of years now, exhibiting the work on a fine line of gallery and urbanity. The exhibit space on the Lower East Side has featured the likes of near legends Stikman and Lady Pink, and also has played host to newer players along the Street Art/ graffiti continuum including Moody, Skewville, Cash4, DarkCloud, and a number of others well known to New York scene watchers. The space itself is a little more polished than it used to be and there are no dumpsters or the rancid stench of urine to accompany your viewing pleasure, but that’s what you have to put up with as Manhattan continues it’s descending transformation into maul of America.
Saturday night during the print show opening at Woodward that features a number of Street Artists, guests were sure to step across Eldridge to check the new installation by the emotional expressionist Kosbe, an artist whose biography and practice encompass graff, stickers, Street Art, fine art, and increasingly, Jackson Pollack. Like we said last year on BSA and Huffington Post, dude is one to watch, and if you were looking for an opportunity to dig through the layers, here’s a chaotic psycho-graphic in 4 parts splashed across the public promenade for you. Free.
January 12—February 9, 2013
Opening Reception: Saturday, January 12, 7—9pm
Jonathan LeVine Gallery is pleased to present Portal, a series of new works by New York-based artist Aakash Nihalani, in what will be his first solo exhibition at the gallery.
Known in the street art community for his fluorescent tape interventions, Nihalani combines a bright color palette with geometric abstract shapes, resulting in striking contrasts within the context of the urban landscape. Expanding on his exploration of form and space, the artist continues to build upon this body of work in his studio practice, through works on canvas and wooden panels.
Nihalani’s bold, flat shapes continue to evolve into complex multi-dimensional patterns, often producing intricate optical illusions that challenge the viewer’s relationship with their surrounding environment. The imagery appears to extend or recede from the surface of the picture plane through the artist’s carefully developed variations on color theory and architectural elements with influences of Op art and Mathematical perspectives.
Mighty Tanaka presents:
Vis-á-vis
Featuring the artwork of Tony DePew, Toofly & Quelbeast
Everyone is unique. From the moment we take our first breath to the moment we take our last, there resides a remarkable spark of individuality that exists in each and every one of us. The ways in which we each choose to outwardly express ourselves may vary greatly, yet we all must embrace the differences that separate us all. It’s been said that the eyes are the gateway to the soul, however, it is the expressions of the face that communicate another’s thoughts and desires. Therein lies the magic of portraits, a method that provides a visual communication with the subject, who has been captured within a moment in time. The viewer has the unique opportunity to study those feelings and emotions which have been forever captured on the face of the subject. Mighty Tanaka is pleased to bring you our next show, Vis-á-Vis, featuring the artwork of Tony DePew, Toofly & Quelbeast. Each artist represents a different interpretation of the way they choose to create portrait work.
This one caught our eye for the merging of classic graffiti nerve, blunt style execution, sentimental velvety roses, inspirational verses, …Read More »
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
