The desire to regenerate Viking manhood through heroic struggle meets Dior. (El Sol 25) (photo Jaime Rojo)
Interstitial musings on cranial sacral therapy (El Sol 25) (photo Jaime Rojo)
Coming to terms with his own past as a weak and sickly boy. (El Sol 25) (photo Jaime Rojo)
A futuristic and intense psycho drama playing out with xray vision enabling the clear view of Janet’s nether region. (photo Jaime Rojo)
The national savings rate must increase, even if a few coins at a time. (Tian) (photo Jaime Rojo)
The noble hippie, bare-chested and defiant, sucks in his gut and clutches his ham and swiss hero. (Trovadour) (photo Jaime Rojo)
Apolo Torres, Mundano, & Loro Verz at Factory Fresh (photo Jaime Rojo)
I hate to seem aggressive but I really need you to use your bathroom. Please give me the key. (Bast) (photo Jaime Rojo)
Sepia Beauty (photo Jaime Rojo)
And which one would we call illegal? (El Sol 25) (photo Jaime Rojo)
With manly legs pumping furiously, Ned, Accounting Super Hero, rushes to deposit the clients’ jewelry before the bank closes. (El Sol 25) (photo Jaime Rojo)
Un aplauso por el Conejo! (Gaia) (photo Jaime Rojo)
Time to come out of the bushes! (Know Hope) (photo Jaime Rojo)
Know Hope behind the grating (photo Jaime Rojo)
Last night I really blew it. Two packs of smokes, a tin of tuna, some lemonade soda, and a tub of watermelon. I really gotta stop before I lose an arm or something. (Know Hope) (photo Jaime Rojo)
Natural beauty in the garden of Eldridge (Lady Pink) (photo Jaime Rojo)
I’m thinking of a small town I visited last night in a dream (Os Gemeos) (detail) (photo Jaime Rojo)
Yes, we’ll go in a minute, I’m just checking my messages (Os Gemeos) (detail) (photo Jaime Rojo)
And when he leans over the railing, I’ll pounce! (Space Invader) (photo Jaime Rojo)
139 West 14th St between 6th and 7th Ave, Manhattan.
Runs July 17-July 31
Motion, flow and scale are common influences that conjoin the art of Alexandra Pacula and JMR. Individually, they are daring to explore uncharted terrain within their own unique style and progression of form. Opening July 17, Mighty Tanaka is proud to present Alexandra Pacula and JMR, in a double-solo show. Bringing forth a rehashed idea to Dapper Dan’s Imperial Gallery, the two artists both juxtapose and complement one another in such a way that exemplifies the range and breadth of a style all their own.
In their own words-
Alexandra Pacula: My work investigates a world of visual intoxication. It captures moments of enchantment associated with urban nightlife. I am fascinated by the ambiance of the city at night and its seductive qualities. The colorful lights become a magical landscape with enticing opportunities and promises of fulfillment. In our seemingly content society there is a struggle to achieve greater levels of enjoyment. We explore various environments and activities in search of pleasure. Extravagant lights of night environments seduce us to participate in curious events, enticing us to experience new forms of satisfaction. In my oil paintings I aim to capture various atmospheres that occur in such environments. Through observation and documentation I assemble images, which become visual tools for my paintings. I concentrate on how the mind perceives and evaluates surroundings while under the influence of a social climate. I recreate the feeling of dizziness and confusion by letting the paint blur and allowing shapes to dissolve. I suggest motion in order to slow down the scene and capture the fleeting moments, which tend to be forgotten. By interpreting lights in graphic or painterly ways, I create a sense of space, alluding to a hallucinogenic experience. Color is the main factor for setting the mood. By using mostly warm browns and reds I create an inviting, candle-lit atmosphere and by introducing cool blues, and contrasting colors the environment becomes energetic and noisy. I want the viewers to experience my paintings as if they were in a place of nighttime entertainment where the mood changes as the night goes on.
JMR: As a Brooklyn native, I am inspired by the flux of the city: memories and photographs of painted elevated trains, illuminated windows in nocturnal cityscapes, broken glass shimmering in dull sidewalks, and the panoply of cultural pluralism, increasing by the day, even in a city already as diverse as New York. In the public space of the city, street artists appropriate the urban environment by layering ideas on top of one another. Wheat pasted posters, aerosol designs, white rolled lettering, advertisements, stickers, peeling and decaying paper, brick. The process I use in my work is an attempt to mimic this. I collage the initial surface or leave it clean, and then paint projected drawings over it. This layering technique results in an interplay of tangled, swooping, and jutting lines, which coalesce into unexpected shapes, emerging as vivid fields of color. Ultimately these images are informed by urban iconography, but they also contain a more personal narrative. Much time is spent filling pages with autonomous ink drawings, rendered and defined, before projection. The viewer is presented with a dichotomy, as, despite its condensed and chaotic appearance, the work strikes the eye as both simple and open. The projections abstract the original surface image; the process creates a nocturnal environment, leading me beyond the physicality of the urban landscape.
The pressure of “live” performance sometimes can stress a girl out (Marthalicia and helper) (photo Anthony J. Causi)
What makes you “street”? What makes you “hard”?
A lot of street art and graff culture glorifies a kind of toughness that is born of the streets; Yeah Brooklyn We Go Hard! That’s right, we’re down with that. From Rock to Rap to Tech to Funk to hoods to spikes to cans to fire-tags, the right to be rebellious and wreck sh*t feels like a birthright in Brooklyn.
We’re also down with giving back, giving support, sharing your talent. We met a cool street artist/artist named Marthalicia Matarrita recently and she reminded us that these gifts can be shared in a positive way too. She’s a street artist, a graff artist, a fine artist. From her blog you’ll find out she is also “mother, sister, daughter, entrepreneur, community advocate, and former National Guard”. She grew up in Harlem and went to La Guardia High School of Music and Arts in lower Manhattan.
She also spent time homeless and living in shelters. Okay, how “street” do you want it?
These days Marthalicia is doing a lot of live painting with Art Battles, a New York based creation of artist/event thrower/entrepreneur Sean Bono, who produces live art events and competitions to expose emerging artists to the masses. Marthalicia is also performing live art painting tonight in Brooklyn – at Cafe Europa as a celebration of independent women, something she teaches you about in the most gentle way.
Brooklyn Street Art:What kind of art you do?
Marthalicia Matarrita:I paint on canvas with acrylics. I unify the concept of traditional figurative subject matter and those of the comic book/urban graff illustrations (graffiti) to create a conversation about contemporary issues that affect all of us; environmentalism, homelessness, the military, etc.
Brooklyn Street Art: Have you done work on the street? Marthalicia Matarrita: I used to create images on the street on the Upper West Side and I have a piece currently that I did this spring on the rooftop for a fundraiser at The New School of Design in the Lower East Side. It was such a thrill to know that I was part of something so cool and now I’m a “Rooftop Legend”. So many great artists had the opportunity to BLESS those walls with so much creativity and it humbled me to look at their art.
Marthalicia’s piece on the roof of The New School of Design at Parsons (photo courtesy the artist)
Brooklyn Street Art:What has it been like working the Art Battles events and doing live painting with them?
Marthalicia Matarrita: I have been painting live since the spring of 2006. And since then my art has developed well into the theme of live audience and painting in an allotted time. I have been painting at different art functions, shows and events all over New York City and its’ 5 boroughs.
Since early 2008 I have been invited to participate with Art Battles at many art programs. It’s been an incredible experience working with Art Battles and its team. and what I have learned about painting “live” is that time and environment (the audience and music) has made me a more concentrated artist and more focused as an artist. Art Battles also recognizes the struggles of the artist and reimburses and also purchased materials.
See Marthalicia in this Art Battles video from this spring (click the little PLAY button in the lower left of navigation bar):
Brooklyn Street Art: “Do you think you have to be “hard” to be “street”?
Marthalicia Matarrita: The street conditions you, even if you do have a soft heart or one hard like a stone.
Brooklyn Street Art:Some street artists feel like they have to destroy to get respect or credibility. Marthalicia Matarrita: Some people say that “most street artist have no siblings so they feel like they need to break stuff to get attention”. Others don’t have the means of an art education such as studio art. Street artists feel the need to express art just as strongly as a studio artist, but they do it without an easel and canvas. For them it’s much better to create images of thought or reflections of life in a cheaper way with cans and use THE WALLS as a canvas.
“I unify the concept of traditional figurative subject matter and those of the comic book/urban graff illustrations (graffiti) to create a conversation about contemporary issues that effect all of us; environmentalism, homelessness, the military, etc.” Atomic, by Marthalicia (image courtesy the artist)
Brooklyn Street Art:Can you speak about the July 10th event and what it means to you. Marthalicia Matarrita:The whole event is a fundraiser and the proceeds go to help a young child named Chanty, who lives in Cambodia. Felecia Cruz is the organizer of the program at her bar, Club Europa. I was called one day by Felecia to ask me to participate in her upcoming show July 10th as a live painter. She described this little girl Chanty, who she met in Cambodia during a recent trip, and she explained how she was determined to help her and her family to send Chanty to school to improve her future. That touched me to know that a stranger from another country was willing to invest her time and energy to genuinely help a young child in great need of education. It convinced me to join in her program and her mission because I wanted to be a part of something good, something that in the end would show a child hope and help her progress. I was given a similar opportunity when I was a young teenager, and I know how important it was to me.
Proceeds from tonight’s benefit will go to Chanty, who appears in the video below :
Brooklyn Street Art: This show is more than just about Chanty, it is about Women’s empowerment. Can you talk about the importance of having strong women today?
Marthalicia Matarrita: As you see, without strong women, you have disrespectful children, who walk around with their pants half off their ass and girls that think more about sex and sneakers then their future. In history woman struggled to have their voices heard.
It’s very important to have events like these to display not only that we are capable of making great achievements as our male counterparts, but also as individuals.
“Frida of Brooklyn” Marthalicia shot by Alex Bershaw (courtesy the artist)
Brooklyn Street Art: The Mexican painter, Frida Kahlo, used her personal experiences, including some that were very painful, in her work. Has she affected you as an artist, and how?
Marthalicia Matarrita: Tremendously. I learned painting with oils and acrylic in high school. Most of my paintings were self-portraits. College was the time where I was exposed to her and her works and how amazed I was when I learned about her history. I felt somewhat connected to her because of her personal struggles; I too had some of my very own. The more I learned from her the more I saw my art footsteps evolving, not to copy her style or her intensions but her communication of her life with her art. I do the same with my art.
My life wasn’t a great one. I struggled here and there with poverty, being in the shelter, both parents were alcoholics, and my mom suffered a lot and she became schizophrenic.
My art saved me from dwelling on the negative activities in my environment.
Frida learned in her art to communicate her personal life story with Diego (Rivera) and about WAR. I painted with political themes when I was in the Army National Guard. I was called twice to Iraq and I painted how I felt about being toyed around with…fighting a cause that’s not our own.
Frida showed me that whatever kind of personality you have, art is a tool to show others how similar we all are and how we can help and teach one another.
That’s one of the things I wanted to do with my art in the long run.
Ad DeVille from Skewville collaborates with Chris Stain and Logan Hicks
The India Street Mural Project is the inaugural project by a new public art group called North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition (NbPac), a loosely knit group of volunteers whose mission it is to join with local artists, community members, arts organizations and businesses to put up as much public art and street art as possible and re-connect community in the public sphere.
A lot of words all at once there, I’ll pause here while you digest.
Yes, someone else is taking Street Art and Street Artists seriously and is making a point to work with the artists and the community to bring more of it.
For the sceptical and jaded among you, I’ll translate: “GOOD NEWS”.
We’ll be talking to NbPac in more detail in an upcoming post but in the mean time, take a look at this cool new piece for the India Street Mural Project below. You’ll recognize the collabo is from three of your favorite street artists! Mos Def some freshness in Greenpoint, even though Alphabeta has left.
Welcome to Greenpoint by Ad Deville, Chris Stain and Logan Hicks (images Jaime Rojo and Steven P. Harrington)
Brooklyn Street Art: How did you guys get involved with this project?
Logan Hicks: The good ol boys over at Skewville asked me to get involved, and I gladly obliged.
Chris Stain:It was a dark night in early spring. I was contacted by a liaison who said they worked for someone at a factory in Bushwick…. oh wait that’s classified information. Adam DeVille: I heard about NbPac and the mural project competition they had going on in Greenpoint on India Street. Originally I contacted them about trying to get help funding a mural idea I had in Bushwick. I know the owner of the building next to the Factory Fresh (gallery); It’s a 300’ wall down a back alley that everyone dumps trash on. My idea was to spell out “Bushwick” in the Skewville font and have 8 different artists fill in the letters, kinda like an old school postcard. Ciara, from NbPac was down with the idea but also asked me to submit to the India Street mural project. Being a die-hard “Bushwickian”, at first I said no, but at the last minute I decided to give it a shot.
Brooklyn Street Art: So how big is this piece? 20′ x 25′ ? Chris Stain:I’m not sure. Adam DeVille: It’s 30’ wide by 20’ high, when they told me there was 40 feet between each mural I stretched ours 5 feet… 40 feet of space was a waste…
Originally I submitted an idea to do the whole wall at India Street by spelling out “Greenpoint” and having the artist of their choice fill in the letters. The main idea was to unify the whole wall instead of having separate murals with no connection to each other. As a back-up I submitted a 20’x 25’ version, which they ultimately chose.
I remember the day Ciara called to congratulate me on winning the contest. I was excited and asked if I got to do the whole wall. When she said they liked the idea but chose the smaller version, I was kind of a little…bummed they didn’t choose the big one. I’ll save that for Bushwick.
Brooklyn Street Art: What is the inspiration behind the lettering and style of the piece? With its bold greeting and poppy colors, it looks kind of like a giant Postcard you might get from Niagara Falls. Adam DeVille: You called it. It’s like a postcard but instead of a beauty shot inside it would have a lil ghetto flavor. The main idea was to include other artists but to still have an overall Skewville feel.
Gimme a Beeeeeee! (image courtesy Chris Stain)
Brooklyn Street Art: Chris and Logan, how did you choose the images you used to fill in the B and K?
Logan Hicks: I took Chris’s lead on this. I had asked him what he was thinking and he said he was leaning towards something nautical because Greenpoint was a working class ship building area back in the day. I tried to mirror his thinking.Chris and I are both from Baltimore, which is a working class town, so we both come from that blue collar mindset. For me it was about the work force that was behind this. I have been doing these pieces that have tons of people in them, and I had this image that I loved so I used that as the jump-off point for my side of the piece (the “K”). I used the same color scheme (grey, black, red) that I normally use but tried to mix it up by using brush this time. In the end I think the execution parallels what Chris’s does, so it holds together nicely. Chris Stain:Yeah, I did a little research on the area and found that Greenpoint was a shipbuilding town. I had some images I cut some time ago and decided they would work well for the piece.
Brooklyn Street Art: The images look like they are working class or poor people. Chris Stain:The image I used is of a dockworker actually from the South Street Seaport back when it was functioning.
Gimmee a Kaaaaaaaayyy! Logan’s piece in progress (image courtesy Chris Stain)
Brooklyn Street Art: What role does a public art project play in the community? Does it impact people’s perceptions of a neighborhood? Chris Stain:Ultimately its subjective but I feel it does affect how people view the area, especially outsiders. Adam DeVille: It’s weird because I don’t think anyone goes down this street anyway except to get high. Maybe now more people will come down this block and or have something to look at when they get high.
Brooklyn Street Art: Do you see yourself as an artist only, or also as a communicator? Logan Hicks: I try not to define what I do, but I’d say that any good artist is a communicator, so in that sense, I am both. Chris Stain:I think an artist is a communicator. Each painting tells a story about the person who created it. Some stories are easier to figure out than others.
Brooklyn Street Art: Is there an overall message or meaning to this piece? Chris Stain:The meaning to me is one of history of the area and (it’s a) a show of admiration for the hard work of the people who built the community. Adam DeVille: The meaning is “Welcome to Greenpoint”, but you should really check out Bushwick.
We don’t have anything profound to say about Michael Jackson, and certainly nothing that hasn’t already been said better by others.
We just know that this city was affected strongly; from the sounds of his music pumping from cars and windows and rooftops over the last 12 days, to the spontaneous conversations in offices and bars and delis in many different accents, to the small written tributes on the streets, to T-shirt vendors seemingly instantly selling his image, to 24-hour a day MJ on the radio with call-in memories from listeners, to the gatherings on the pavement in front of jumbo-trons, to crowds jamming into theaters to watch the memorial on screen together, and our impromptu communal memorials at places like the Apollo Theater in Harlem.
Times Square (photo Steven P. Harrington)
His music accompanied most of us for a large percentage of our entire lives, and we know it will continue to; that’s the good part. We’ll hear it at house parties, block parties, clubs, bars, discos, in teenage bedrooms, in steamy backseats, at wedding receptions, high school proms, church barbecues, and, of course, blasting from stereos out on the streets of this city — this summer and probably every summer for a long time.
Hands in the air at the Apollo, where the Jackson 5 performed, and where Motown 25 gave Michael the chance to show us the moonwalk (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Almost everyone who mourns him says Michael was more like a brother than simply a pop star and agrees that this was a candle that went out too soon.
Action! That’s what is happening in the street art scene in New York,
despite the wretched economy and artists losing their dayjobs, and galleries of all types dreaming up new innovative ways to stay afloat, the street art keeps coming.
In one week only (the week we lost Michael Jackson) we hit only a few of the events going on that featured street artists – we’re considering rollerskates and interns at this point – and even if you can’t afford it, you feel rich! Plus the refreshments are usually free… just don’t take it on the street or you get a ticket.
Welcome to the new Brooklynite Pop Up Shop in the East Village. The main gallery remains in Bed Stuy, where Ray and Hope hope it will stay! (photo Steven P. Harrington)
New Specter Print at Brooklynite – he did 8 versions of this, and they are much more impressive in person (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Zbiok and Remed, Various and Gould at Brooklynite (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Cool Aiko pieces on cupboard doors at Brooklynite (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Michael in the Headlines (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Hundreds of fans crowded together to dance and shout and shake their bodies down to the ground outside the Apollo Theatre in Harlem on Friday (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Imminent Disaster at Ad Hoc – sorry no good pics from Gaia – you can check our interview with them a couple days back (photo Steven P. Harrington)
An impressive number of new canvas pieces by Bishop 203 at Eastern District (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Ever cheerful Dennis McNett (McMutt) at Eastern District (photo Steven P. Harrington)
The crowd at Eastern District (photo Steven P. Harrington)
The captions are the funny part. But no closeups here, sorry. Dick Chicken at Eastern District (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Can you name these 4 album covers? Invader at Jonathan Levine (photo Steven P. Harrington)
WK Interact wall sculpture at Jonathan Levine Gallery (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Vixen with cougar by WK Interact (courtesy Jonathan Levine) (photo Steven P. Harrington)
WK Interact courtesy Jonathan Levine Gallery (photo Steven P. Harrington)
A series of new portraits of WK’s friends adorned the gallery – with friends like these… (WK Interact at Jonathan Levine Gallery) (photo Steven P. Harrington)
A blur in motion, WK Interact signs fresh copies of the new Drago volume about him at Jonathan Levine (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Skewville’s donated piece at the fundraiser for NbPAC (North Brooklyn Public Art Coalition) in Greenpoint (photo Steven P. Harrington)
W.K. Interact will be in attendance for this special speaking engagement with an exclusive presentation about his new exhibition of work. WK will be available for Q&A and will also sign copies of his newly released book, published by DRAGO.
The publishing house and trend bureau known as Drago is a portal into the international mindset that is fueled by the ideas and values of the current generation. The worldwide creative evolution that Drago has sparked is based on the thoughts and actions of these avant-garde thinkers. It acts as the gatekeeper of a new youth movement that Drago has coined, “S.I.C: System of Independent Culture” in contrast to the “System of Official Culture.” As a cultural symposium, Drago creates and presents forums for exchange by remixing pop culture and undiscovered trends. It is from these creative platforms the that the lifestyle revolution that began on the street and over the internet will continue to expand and evolve. Drago represents the mainstream of minorities, where under is over and over is under.
Drago’s current project is the 36 Chambers Series. Within the next three years Drago is to produce thirty-six books that are dedicated to the work of thirty-six artists. The title of the project is inspired by the martial arts classic Enter the 36 Chambers of Shaolin. Like the 36 Chambers of Shaolin’s monastery, each of the thirty-six books represents a room for each artist to exhibit his or her artistic strength. The artists are confined to the use of only black, white, and a single color of their choice, yet this limited palette also serves as tool for creative liberation. The images that result are a pure impression, a powerful image without distraction, that mixes tradition and innovation.
The first twelve books have already been published and together they are known as the Bronze Series, including artists like Ivory Serra, Mike Giant, Pax Paloscia, and TV Boy. The thirteenth book 2.5 New York Street Life is the first of the Silver Series and is dedicated to the work of WK Interact. Other artists from the second collection include Logan Hicks and Nick Walker and an upcoming edition for the New York and Paris based artists JonOne and his wife and photographer Mai Lucas.
Drago is working in association with the Jonathan LeVine Gallery in New York who will inaugurate an exhibition of WK Interact in June 2009. Jonathan LeVine opened his gallery in Chelsea in 2005 after four years of operating as the Tin Man Alley Gallery in Philadelphia and New Hope, Pennsylvania. Jonathan LeVine acts as proprietor and curator of the gallery and focuses on a genre of work that is influenced by illustration, graffiti art, and pop culture images and exhibits a variety of celebrated, controversial, and unknown artists.
WK Interact is a French born artist who now lives and works in New York City. He made his first trip to the United States when he was eighteen and was instantly struck with an affinity for New York. Within only a few short years WK made the decision to leave his Provencal village and return to the City at the age of twenty-one. From there he began to grace New York’s urban landscape with his ferociously innovative, hand-painted, black and white figures.
WK’s creation of the figure in motion serves as a synonym to the haste and frenzied pace of the New Yorker lifestyle. His images are as forceful and energetic as a tornado and just like a force majeure these figures leave a lasting impression on anyone who have happened across their paths. The subjects are vigorous and unyielding in their action, yet despite their powerful motion and strength of presence there remains something eerie, an ephemeral quality, that is almost ghost-like.
WK demonstrates the ability to capture the most pertinent moment of the figures’ gesture and it is that specific aptitude which translates for the viewer what logically is a transient moment into an interminable memory.
The “canvas” for each image is carefully chosen with the intention to optimize the synergy between the location, the artwork, and the passersby. Each figure is life size or larger, not only to interact with its viewers, but to engage the given location, generate a response, and make an impact. These flash moments in time are from the perspective of someone who sees life from 360 degrees at all time and now WK has given New Yorkers the opportunity to see more, from more angles, even if we can’t slow down.
WK’s figures have their own stories to tell, but nuances of the narratives are added, subtracted, and transformed by the tales told by the streets and walls on which they now live. Each space has been molded by those who have walked down those streets and touched those walls. Each location contributes another level of vitality to the subject and just as the space’s history redefines the image, the image in turn redefines the space.
WK Interact has shown extensively in galleries and his work can be seen on the streets of Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. While he has received great public renown and worked with some of today’s greatest street artists, he continues to place public pieces that are socially provoking and visually magnificent.
Cool dude Know Hope from Tel Aviv is in town and was was out last night at an approved spot by the Chelsea Hotel and the “Empty No Longer” gallery putting up a new piece. Thanks to Chris Stain for catching a couple pics for us.
The preliminary blocking by Know Hope (photo Chris Stain)
His character, showing up in singles and multiples throughout his work is always going through different stages, stumbling around, observing, breaking, healing, peering inward.
Know Hope reaching into his heart as time goes by. (photo Chris Stain)
Tall, thin, and uncomfortable, the gangly character interacts with his world awkwardly, looking for answers we’re not sure he’s found yet. Sometimes a copy of him helps him to heal or props up and supports him as he stumbles and limps through scenes of sadness and even horror.
In almost every case, the character’s heart figures prominently as something to be referenced, to be taken care of.
Someone else fills in the empty space (Know Hope) (photo Steven P. Harrington)
3-Dimensional figure knitting a sweater of tears at Ad Hoc Gallery (Know Hope) (photo Steven P. Harrington)
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
Yes, we’ll go in a minute, I’m just checking my messages (Os Gemeos) (detail) (photo Jaime Rojo)
Yes, we’ll go in a minute, I’m just checking my messages (Os Gemeos) (detail) (photo Jaime Rojo)
