All posts tagged: Brooklyn Street Art

MARTHA: A Picture Story. World Premiere Today at TriBeCa (Video Teaser)

April 25, 2019 Artists, Documentary

After two and a half years of intense filming, editing, and researching, Director Selina Miles will share her story of iconic photographer Martha Cooper on the big screen tonight at the World Premiere of “Martha: A Picture Story”.

A culmination of talents and passion from two great women in the graffiti-Street Art world, the film has been selected to screen in competition at the famed and respected TriBeCa Film Festival in New York City.

In the case of Ms. Cooper, it is a fascinating insight behind the scenes of the life of a person with a determined intellect and uncanny timing. You get a true sense of her focus and passion as she marches above and below the streets and the globe over more than five decades with camera in hand eager to discover and document. Only a director like Miles can tell the story like this, her sixth sense for detail and nuance driving her to the roots of a complex tale, complimented by her savvy ability for precisely timed editing and sound that keeps the viewer on pace for a story that takes many turns.

The first of four screenings (the newest added due to public demand) takes place today at the sold-out premiere.

Click HERE to read our interview with Martha and Selina.

All images here © “Martha: A Picture Story” 2019

Below are the screenings and times:

8:45 PM – THU 4/25Village East Cinema

8:00 PM – FRI 4/26Regal Cinemas Battery Park

9:30 PM – TUE 4/30Village East Cinema

3:45 PM – WED 5/1Village East Cinema

Click HERE to find out if tickets are still available.

Sebastien Waknine: “Learning from Migrants and Refugees” In Barcelona

April 24, 2019 Artists

Owing to the scarceness of resources that are usually allotted to those who arrive as refugees, Street Artist and muralist Sebastien Waknine relies solely upon the thinnest piece of charcoal as he works on this new wall.

Sebastien Waknine. Barcelona, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive)

“Learning from Migrants and Refugees” is the name of the collection of scenes that document the situations that people can be in when escaping from strife and fear – the human aspect of appealing to the help of another society. After five weeks of intensive work, Waknine stood aside during a public introduction as a Syrian man held the microphone and described the scenes to an assemble crowd in Barcelona.

Created in the gardens on the Hospital of Sant Pau in Barcelona, the mural was commissioned by the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and will be exhibited in various locations within the city of Barcelona.

Organizers say that the mural highlights the journey of refugees from the ravages of war and poverty in their countries as well as the realities of their living conditions in their host countries.

It is an unusual technique for a public work these days, as many have become accustomed to the splashy nature of big murals and festivals that present them. Here the warmth of the rendering and the humanity conveyed in the faces and gestures is only magnified when one gets close enough, even intimate with, the artwork.

The detached impersonal nature of war by drone has enabled such masses of people to be uprooted and chased from their lives – and a viewer may contrast the experience of the driver of that drone drawn in the sky with close-up terror of innocents whom Waknine depicts.

Clearly there is much for us to learn.

Earth Day 2019

April 22, 2019 Artists

Rachel Carson died on this day in 1964 – her life awakening man/womankind’s environmental conscience.

Today on Earth Day we remember that corporations hire PR firms to tell us misinformation about the damage they are doing – or as Carson once said, we are “fed little tranquilizing pills of half truth.”

The street, and Street Artists, are these days pulling no punches. We celebrate that.

Shepard Fairey (photo © Studio Number One)

The art works featured here from Studio Number One are available to download for free as posters for printing or squares for Social Media. Click on the link below to download your free poster:

http://www.studionumberone.com/free-downloads?mc_cid=cb0a4a3d34&mc_eid=12fc9da511

For more information and tips about what to do to protect our earth and about climate change click HERE and HERE

BSA Images Of The Week: 04.21.19

April 21, 2019 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

This week has been on fire.

Notre-Dame has been sorrowfully tested this week by fire. The Hasidic Jews in Brooklyn burned fires of bread in the streets Friday in a religious ritual for Passover known as chometz. Even the Orthodox Christians have Holy Fire celebrations on the day before Easter, which was yesterday.

Thanks to the visions of artists, the street continues to set imaginations on fire as well. Just don’t get burned.

So here’s our weekly interview with the street, this time featuring Antennae, Captain Eyeliner, Caze, Franco “Jaz” Fasoli, Hiss, Hot Tea, Pyramid Oracle, Rek La Blatte, Samuffa, Sensbale, Smells, Steve ESPO Powers, and Texas.

Pyramid Oracle in Philadelphia (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist in Philadelphia (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rek La Blatte in Philadelphia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ephemeron in Philadelphia (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Steve ESPO Powers in Philadelphia (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Scamuffa in Philadelphia (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Smells . Texas . Sensbale . Surts . Caze (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ode to Spring 2019

April 20, 2019 Artists

We have been chasing this Spring 2019, beginning in Madrid late February Bilbao early March, mid-March the tulips in Berlin, then the warmth of spring in Queretaro, Mexico. Finally, we caught up with it here in our beloved NYC… and today is Saturday, some say Holy Saturday.

Because it is spring, it is cool and warm, the birds are singing with abandon in New York neighborhoods. Because the sweet smell of hyacinth and chocolate mixes here with the smells of pavement and gasoline and the smoke from yesterdays burning bread fires lit by the Hasidim. Because art on the streets is not always by the hands of men and women. Because you are alive.

Enjoy this New York photo essay by Jaime Rojo.

In the glad springtime when leaves were green,
O merrily the throstle sings!
I sought, amid the tangled sheen,
Love whom mine eyes had never seen,
O the glad dove has golden wings!

Between the blossoms red and white,
O merrily the throstle sings!
My love first came into my sight,
O perfect vision of delight,
O the glad dove has golden wings!

Ode On The Spring ~ Poem by Thomas Gray

“I am starry-eyed and vaguely discontented
Like a nightingale without a song to sing
Oh, why should I have Spring fever
When it isn’t even spring?

I keep wishing I were somewhere else
Walking down a strange new street
Hearing words that I have never heard
From a girl I’ve yet to meet

I’m as busy as a spider spinning daydreams
I’m as giddy as a baby on a swing
I haven’t seen a crocus or a rosebud or a robin on the wing
But I feel so gay in a melancholy way
That it might as well be spring

It Might As Well Be Spring ~ Rogers & Hammerstein

Spring in my step
Spring in the air
Spring!
Spring!
Lingering everywhere.

Spring fever to follow,
But I don’t care,
Spring, for new journeys,
I’ll meet you there!

Where?
By the garden gate,
You silly thing,
It’s an invitation to frolic
So let’s begin to sing.
It’s Spring!

A Secret ~ Dorothy Alves Holmes

BSA Film Friday: 04.19.19

April 19, 2019 Artists, BSA Film Friday

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

Now screening :
1. Okuda San Miguel. The World is Ours
2. Vhils – Annihilation
3. C215 Au Pantheon
4. On Set / Kenny Scharf

BSA Special Feature: Okuda San Miguel. The World is Ours

The awesome expanse of one artists’ life during the course of a year, as expressed visually in the travels of Okuda San Miguel. Prolific, pro-people, kaleidoscopic in his imaginings; Okuda’s public works are as engaging as any artist working outside today, and in some cases, very inspiring. This is a good era for the artist, and with talented people on his team galavanting the globe, at this moment the world is theirs.

Okuda San Miguel. The World is Ours

Vhils – Annihilation

Finding the right partner for collaboration is no easy matter, and Vhils is here studying the contrasts and shiny chaos of the US in late stage capitalism, finding that harmony can be struck from the most unlikely of pairings. Europeans can’t believe the disparity here, and we know its setting aflame the very fabric of our society – but it’s so dazzling as it burns. Feel your pulse quicken as you see Vhils chip away at the veneer with Shepard, Retna, and a jackhammer.

C215 Au Pantheon

Stencil master C215 continues his move into other arenas, in this case the crypt of the Pantheon with his portraits of great men and women. Full of character and dignity, his people are somehow brought to life in his depictions through multi-layered stencils.

On Set / Kenny Scharf

Is this a commentary on the times, or a commentary on The Times? Maybe Kenny knows

Icy & Sot: “Giving Plant” Gives Plants to Refugees

April 17, 2019 Artists

Springtime makes you do spontaneous acts of nature – like running to the local plant store or corner deli to buy a plant for your mom, or your grandma, or that colorful guy who runs the laundromat on the corner.

There is something very gratifying in the act of giving a living thing to another person that makes you feel grounded to the earth, connected to the family of humanity.

For the next five days Street Art brothers Icy & Sot are giving us all an opportunity to give plants to people who live in refugee camps, while they wait for a better future.

Icy & Sot *“Giving Plant”* (photo courtesy of Icy & Sot)

With the goal of improving quality of life and fortifying the dignity of the refugee population in Greece, Icy & Sot will be in Lesvos in person next month to hand out plants to the people there together with the foundation Movement On The Ground .

For the next five days, until April 22nd at midnight (EST) you can help by purchasing their new print, “Giving Plant”.

“The Idea is to give hope and joy to the people in the refugee camps while they are waiting for a better future,” says Sot.

Girl with flowers at the Olive Grove. (photo courtesy of Icy & Sot)

“Basically with buying a print you are buying plants for the refugees,” explains Icy.

Please Click on the link below to purchase the print:

https://givingplant.bigcartel.com/product/giving-plant

Please forward this link to friends and family as well – It’s an excellent way to give and show support in a place where nature will be welcomed.

Family at the Olive Grove. (photo courtesy of Icy & Sot)

From Movement On The Ground Website: Movement On The Ground, is a group of independent business people responding to a humanitarian crisis affecting the innocent men, women, and children forced from their homes by climate change, poverty, and war. Movement On The Ground sets a new blueprint for humanitarian help worldwide.

The organization aims to maintain a fixed presence on the island of Lesvos. They work as much as possible with the local community in the attempt to connect locals with refugees. Their projects are all based on the goal of improving dignity for the refugee population.

Instagram Spotlight: @catcallsofnyc

April 16, 2019 Artists

Sophie Sandberg says she founded Cat Calls of NYC a handful of years ago, but word spread. “It’s not until recently that it’s become a collective,” she says of the network of largely college age people who are using public art to raise awareness about street harassment and the importance of words and their effect on women and our society at large.

The practice of publicly commenting on a strangers’ appearance or other characteristics has marred the daily experience for many women and some men for decades and it doesn’t take a social scientist to interpret the motivations. Thanks to public art campaigns from people like Street Artist Tatyana Fazlalizadeh and others like this collective, public space can feel safe and free to enjoy without the annoyance and in some cases, fear of simply traversing their city.

Cat Calls of NYC uses chalk on the streets to quote actual “commentary” that people report on their hotline, often at the same spot it took place. Shining a light on the veiled or explicit threats of aggression that many women face daily on the streets of our cities and towns around the world, the practice shames the harasser and opens the public conversation. If you ask people about the harassment they are subjected to, they will tell you that most likely they don’t know one woman who hasn’t been harassed one way or another on the streets.

Today we bring you some recent images from Cat Calls Of NYC, which has inspired numerous other women (and some men) to start their own chapters in different cities in the USA and around the world.

BSA Images Of The Week: 04.14.19

April 14, 2019 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Thanks for stopping by to survey with us some of the most arresting new images we found in the last days of art and artists making work in the public sphere – this weekly mainly NYC.

So here’s our weekly interview with the street, this time featuring Captain Eyeliner, CIty Kitty, De Lys, Hiss, LMNOPI, Lunge Box, ESPO, Street Beans, Vizie, and #HighLinerResist.

De Lys LA. FYI This is an actual photo printed on metal. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Steve ESPO Powers. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified philosopher. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

#HighLinerResist: Unidentified artist with an identified person of interest. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

City Kitty always on point… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This is the 25th anniversary of Kurt Cobain’s death. Here he still shines like the sun. Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. NYC Subway. Manhattan, NYC. May 2019. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cristina Lina: “Tommy” Cat and the Kids at Ferran Sunyer School

April 13, 2019 Artists

Yes, it is Saturday. It’s also #Caturday if you are a fan of the felines and you want to contribute to or simply scroll through the roughly 7.5 million photos with that hashtag on Instagram.

Cristina Lina. “Tommy”. Contorno Urbano Foundation. 12+1 Project. Barcelona, April 2019. (photo © Clara Anton)

This Spanish cat named Tommy looks like he could have belonged to Matisse, due to the overlapping abstract collage method, but British artist Christina Lina says he was her grandmother’s cat – so we guessed wrong. The artist and educator often creates props, temporary sculpture, and installations for kids and places they frequent, and finds her work easily moves from public to private space and back again.

“My work as artist and my work as educator are not easily or tidily separated,” she says of her work. “Mostly I work within a sort of collapse between the two.”

This mural part of a public art program done in concert with local Ferran Sunyer school (so-named after the mathematician) in a neighborhood of Barcelona and students had the opportunity to create puppets during the final phase of the program.

With special thanks to the 12 + 1 walls program by Contorno Urbano.

BSA Film Friday: 04.12.19

April 12, 2019 Artists, BSA Film Friday

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

Now screening :
1. David Shillinglaw: Alive In The Human Hive
2. Flavita Banana in Barcelona for 12+1 Project
3. JR at the Louvre
4. A NYC Subway Train in Queretaro, Mexico

BSA Special Feature: David Shillinglaw: Alive In The Human Hive

“The artworks I make are an absurd visual taxonomy listed in no particular order the ingredients that we all consume and produce,” explains the British painter and Street Artist David Shillinglaw. Clearly, he’ll have enough to paint until his dying day, as we cannot stop producing.

Another gem here: “We are funky little space monkeys orbiting a ball of hot gas”

David Shillinglaw: Alive In The Human Hive

Flavita Banana in Barcelona for 12+1 Project

“With a nod to La Danse by Henri Matisse and many human tribes’ rites of Spring, artist Falvita Banana creates her new “Juntes sumem” (add together) here on the façade of Cotxeres Borrell in Barcelona,” we wrote a few weeks ago when she first finished her mural. Today we have video of the event. See the original article here: Flavita Banana & Women in a Springtime Dance

JR at the Louvre

This time-lapse movie shows the installation of street artist JR’s paper trompe l’oeil at the Louvre Pyramid in Paris, France.

“On the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Louvre Pyramid, JR created a collaborative piece of art on the scale of the Napoleon Court. Three years after having made the Pyramid disappear, the artist brought a new light to the famed monument by realizing a gigantic collage, thanks to the help of 400 volunteers !

Each day hundreds of volunteers came to help cut and paste the 2000 strips of paper, making it the biggest pasting ever done by the artist.”

A NYC Subway Train in Queretaro, Mexico

When local graff writers in Queretaro, Mexico heard that New York’s famous photographer Martha Cooper was going to be in their town for a new exhibition they decided to welcome her in the best way they knew how: A graffiti jam on a train.

Elbi Elem “HOME” IN Córdoba, Spain.

April 11, 2019 Artists

Sometimes as an artist you go away to the city to chase opportunity, to pursue new paths, to develop your repertoire. Sometimes you return home to give your city a gift.

Elbi Elem. “Home”. Córdoba, Spain. April, 2019. (photo © Manu Blanco)

Known more recently for her works on the street and on street walls in Barcelona, Street Artist and sculptor Elbi Elem continues to develop her geometric reach, even as it leads her to alleys, roofs, and houses in her hometown of Cordoba, Spain.

Taking inspiration from the large scale installations in cities like Rio where Dutch artists Jeroen Koolhaas and Dre Urhahn transformed the Santa Marta Favela, Elbi began to work with the multiple textures and angles and surfaces that occur in a grouping of building.

She says it was a big challenge creating anomorphic images within different planes upon adjacent buildings, but, “After a long period of waiting, some demanding walls, using a large dose of patience, a lot of hard work and negotiations with the expected rain, I finally finished this work in my beautiful and dear Córdoba,” she says. Appropriately, she’s calling it “Home”.

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