All posts tagged: Chicago

Faring Purth and “Grace” in Forest Park (Chicago)

Faring Purth and “Grace” in Forest Park (Chicago)

“A woman’s guess is much more accurate than a man’s certainty.”
~Rudyard Kipling

We mention this Kipling quote in this description of Street Artist Faring Purth because

a.) she often seems like she’s plucked out of a traveling adventure from a Kipling tale,
b.) her instincts for creating new pieces are frequently on-point and a bit happenstance and magic, and
c.) we know enough men who are resolutely, absolutely certain of their opinion who are also wrong on a semi-regular basis. Like Uncle Marty, for example, and that guy Hakeem at the bagel store on Bedford Avenue who is always pontificating about the METS or the right way to barbecue a steak…but let’s not get into that.

Faring Purth. Grace. Forest Park, Chicago. March 2017. (photo © Faring Purth)

So here Faring Purth is in Chicago just for the weekend and she decides to paint one of her ladies. It was just a quick trip with a friend from St. Louis to visit with a friend for a couple of days; “mostly just to explore and touch surfaces,” she says.

“I wandered on foot from where I was staying, bundled up, head phones echoing, and came across signs that read, ‘I (heart) FP’,” she says, still not really knowing what the abbreviation stood for. In fact, as we have learned, she felt “like Alice down the rabbit hole – no idea of exactly where I was.”

So how did this painting happen? Oh, you know, people you meet in your travels…

Faring Purth. Grace. Forest Park, Chicago. March 2017. (photo © Faring Purth)

“I then met some community members in a local coffee shop,” who happened to like her artwork and asked her if she’d like to paint a mural. Or as she says,” I was introduced to Forest Park via a small spontaneous mural on the corner of Madison and Circle Avenue.”

The name of the new piece in Forest Park? “Grace.”

“The embrace of this small Chicago community was truly heart warming. Excited to wander back in the near future. Perhaps after Uruguay in May.”

Faring Purth. Grace. Forest Park, Chicago. March 2017. (photo © Faring Purth)

Faring Purth. Grace. Forest Park, Chicago. March 2017. (photo © Faring Purth)

Read more
BSA Images Of The Week: 01.24.16

BSA Images Of The Week: 01.24.16

brooklyn-street-art-dodworth-street-jaime-rojo-01-24-16-web

BSA-Images-Week-Jan2015

Happy blizzard weekend New York! Who knew it would be so much fun to run free literally in the streets thanks to a travel ban on all non-emergency cars. It’s a bit of genius really, because if you DO get hit by a car, its probably an ambulance.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Anser, AX, Blek le Rat, BK Foxx, Cern, Domenico Romeo, Horace Panter, Key Detail, LMNOPI, Marthalicia, READ, Sean9Lugo, Solo Selci, This Is Awkward, and WERC.

Our top image: BK Foxx does a black and white mural based on a photograph by Brenda Ann Kenneally for JMZ Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-lmnopi-jaime-rojo-01-24-16-web

LMNOPI for Top To Bottom. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-solo-selci-blind-eye-factory-sabina-italy-01-24-16-web

Solo Selci in Sabina, Italy. (photo © BlindEyeFactory)

brooklyn-street-art-david-bowie-jaime-rojo-01-24-16-web

A restaurant uses David Bowie to sell food in Manhattan (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-horace-panter-david-bowie-jaime-rojo-01-24-16-web

Horace Panter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-cern-jaime-rojo-01-24-16-web

Cern heating things up for “Top To Bottom.” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-marthalicia-jaime-rojo-01-24-16-web

Marthalicia for “Top To Bottom“. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-read-books-jaime-rojo-01-24-16-web

READ (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-blek-le-rat-blind-eye-factory-rome-italy-01-24-16-web-1

Blek le Rat for Wunderkammen Gallery. Rome, Italy. (photo © BlindEyeFactory)

brooklyn-street-art-blek-le-rat-blind-eye-factory-rome-italy-01-24-16-web-2

Blek le Rat for Wunderkammen Gallery. Rome, Italy. (photo © BlindEyeFactory)

brooklyn-street-art-blek-le-rat-blind-eye-factory-rome-italy-01-24-16-web-3

Blek le Rat for Wunderkammen Gallery. Rome, Italy. (photo © BlindEyeFactory)

brooklyn-street-art-this-is-awkward-jaime-rojo-01-24-16-web

This Is Awkward (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-key-details-jaime-rojo-01-24-16-web

Key Details for “Top To Bottom“. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-artist-unknown-jaime-rojo-01-24-16-web

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-anser-jaime-rojo-01-24-16-web

Anser for Top To Bottom. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-bathroom-graffiti-jaime-rojo-01-24-16-web

Bathroom graffiti in layers (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-domenico-romeo-blind-eye-factory-monza-italy-01-24-16-web

Domenico Romeo. Monza, Italy. (photo © BlindEyeFactory)

brooklyn-street-art-sean9lugo-jaime-rojo-01-24-16-web-2

Sean9Lugo for Top To Bottom. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-sean9lugo-jaime-rojo-01-24-16-web-3

Sean9Lugo for Top To Bottom. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-ax-chicago-01-24-16-web

Ax on the streets of Chicago. (photo © AX)

brooklyn-street-art-werc-jaime-rojo-01-24-16-web

WERC for Top To Bottom. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-jaime-rojo-01-24-16-web

Untitled. Brooklyn, NY. January 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

<<>>><><<>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<<>>><<<>><><<>>><>

Read more
BSA’s Piece on “Submerged Motherlands” Acclaimed for Year

BSA’s Piece on “Submerged Motherlands” Acclaimed for Year

BSA with Swoon at Brooklyn Museum Sited by Huff Post Editors as Proud Moment of 2014

We’re very pleased and thankful to be included in this short list chosen by the editors of Huffington Post Arts & Culture as a story they are most proud of publishing last year.

In her introduction to the list, editor Katherine Brooks writes:

“It turns out, 365 days is hard to summarize in anything but a laundry list of seemingly disparate phenomena, filled with the good — woman-centric street art, rising Detroit art scenes, spotlights on unseen American art– and the bad less than good — holiday butt plugs, punching bags by Monet, Koonsmania. But, as a New Year dawns, we found ourselves just wanting to focus on the things that made us beam with pride in 2014. So we made a list of those things, a list of the pieces we’re proud of.”

Brooklyn-Street-Art-740-Huffpost-Swoon-Most-Proud-2014-Screen-Shot-2015-01-03-at-12.53

Describing why we thought this was an important story for us we wrote:

“We loved a lot of stories this year, but this hometown Brooklyn one about a street artist with humanity mounting her first solo major museum exhibition was a special turning point — and an astounding success. For us street art is a conversation, a continuum of expression, and Swoon is always a part of it. From following her street career to her transition to international fame to witnessing this exhibition coming to fruition in person in the months leading up to the Brooklyn Museum show, it is easy to understand why Swoon still remains a crucial part of the amazing street art scene and continues to set a standard.”

-Jaime Rojo & Steven Harrington, HuffPost Arts&Culture bloggers and co-founders of Brooklyn Street Art

In fact, we wrote 48 articles that were published on the Huffington Post in 2014, and as a collection we hope they further elucidate the vast and meaningful impact that the Street Art / graffiti / urban art movement continues to have on our culture, our public space, and our arts institutions.

Together that collection of articles published by BSA on Huffpost in ’14 spanned the globe including stories from Malaysia, Poland, Spain, France, Norway, Switzerland, Germany, New York, Arizona, The Navajo Nation, Philadelphia, Sweden, Istanbul, New Jersey, Lisbon, The Gambia, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand, Rome, India, Italy, Delhi (India), Montreal, San Francisco, London, Coachella, Chicago, Kabul (Afghanistan), and Kiev (Ukraine).

Here on BSA we published another 320 postings (more or less).

We thank you for allowing us to share these inspirational and educational stories with you and we are honored to be able to continue the conversation with artists, art fans, collectors, curators, academics, gallerists, museums, and arts institutions. Our passion for Street Art and related movements is only superceded by our love for the creative spirit, and we are happy whenever we encounter it.

Our published articles on HuffPost in 2014, beginning with the most recent:

 

Read more
New Stinkfish in The Pilsen in Chicago

New Stinkfish in The Pilsen in Chicago

The dudes from Pawnworks are back in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago with the “Art in Public Places” project and Stinkfish is here for his first time in the US. Nick Marzullo tells us this is only the second outdoor piece in the US. “He is also going to be showing an entire new body of work here in Chicago for his first ever Solo show in US with Vertical Gallery entitled Savage Gaze and that opens on Saturday May 3rd,” says Nick.

The program will continue work here in Chi-town this year as well and they have another project beginning this week in Cleveland. “We will also be facilitating a couple of really great installs in Brooklyn this year also!” More news on that later.

 

brooklyn-street-art-stinkfish-pawn-works-gallery-chicago-04-14-web-1

Stinkfish. Detail. Chicago. April 2014. (photo © Pawn Works Gallery)

brooklyn-street-art-stinkfish-pawn-works-gallery-chicago-04-14-web-3

Stinkfish. Chicago. April 2014. (photo © Pawn Works Gallery)

brooklyn-street-art-stinkfish-pawn-works-gallery-chicago-04-14-web-4

Stinkfish. Process shot. Pilsen, Chicago. April 2014. (photo © Pawn Works Gallery)

brooklyn-street-art-stinkfish-pawn-works-gallery-chicago-04-14-web-5

Stinkfish. Process shot. Pilsen, Chicago. April 2014. (photo © Pawn Works Gallery)

brooklyn-street-art-stinkfish-pawn-works-gallery-chicago-04-14-web-6

Stinkfish. Process shot. Pilsen, Chicago. April 2014. (photo © Pawn Works Gallery)

brooklyn-street-art-stinkfish-pawn-works-gallery-chicago-04-14-web-2

Stinkfish. Pilsen, Chicago. April 2014. (photo © Pawn Works Gallery)

Stinkfish “Savage Gaze” solo show at Vertical Gallery in Chicago opens on Friday, may 3rd. Click HERE for more details.

 

<<>>><><<>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

Read more
A Chicago Humorist Named “Dont Fret” Cracks Up The Street

A Chicago Humorist Named “Dont Fret” Cracks Up The Street

Oh, so you’re a comedian now hah? A real funny boy hah?

Art on the streets is not always neatly folded into archetypes. Street Artists and graffiti writers are not all anti-social miscreants intent on running afoul of the law, although that is a satisfying and simple characterization some critics default to.

 

brooklyn-street-art-dont-fret-jaime-rojo-03-14-web-3

Don’t Fret (photo © Jaime Rojo)

In truth, these days there are a variety of voices in the conversation on the street. Some are social commentators, others are anarchists, showmen, activists, nihilists, narcissists, dreamers, storytellers, poets.

Then there are the comedians. We’ve noticed that a surprising number of them come from Chicago. Possibly the harsh winters in that windy city turns people silly on the street. Among the funniest Chi-town hoodlums we’ve seen are Left-Handed Wave, Nice One, and of course the incorrigible Goons.

brooklyn-street-art-dont-fret-jaime-rojo-03-14-web-10

Don’t Fret (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Add to this list the humorist human Don’t Fret, who knows how to depict us in all our eclectic and imperfect wonder without passing judgment but causing a cryptic cackle of recognition when you run into him. It’s a sophisticated comedian who knows how to pull off common scenes with an insider wink. It’s not that you know his people personally – wait, that is exactly what it is like. Even when he is just using text to describe a person, you know the people he’s referring to because they live in your neighborhood, cook your Halal street meats, coach little league, cook your books, are at your family barbecue.

brooklyn-street-art-dont-fret-jaime-rojo-03-14-web-2

Don’t Fret (photo © Jaime Rojo)

To quote ourselves when we talked about Don’t Fret last year “His acute eyes and poignant observations as an artist enable him to put everyday pedestrians on the wall for everyday pedestrians to look at.  He captures what he sees and transfers his musings into wittily drawn characters that are hand colored and wheat pasted.

More acute than ever, Don’t Fret was recently in New York and we caught the jokes he was pitching. Ready?

brooklyn-street-art-dont-fret-jaime-rojo-03-14-web-11

Don’t Fret (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-dont-fret-jaime-rojo-03-14-web-4

Don’t Fret (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-dont-fret-jaime-rojo-03-14-web-8

Don’t Fret (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-dont-fret-jaime-rojo-03-14-web-9

Don’t Fret (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-dont-fret-jaime-rojo-03-14-web-1

Don’t Fret (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-dont-fret-jaime-rojo-03-14-web-7

Don’t Fret (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-dont-fret-jaime-rojo-03-14-web-6

Don’t Fret (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-dont-fret-jaime-rojo-03-14-web-5

Don’t Fret (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
 
This article is also published on The Huffington Post
 
Brooklyn-Street-Art-Huffpost-740-dont-fret-Screen-Shot-2014-03-19-at-11.08
 
 
 
Read more
The Power of Color via Street Art, Graffiti, and Murals

The Power of Color via Street Art, Graffiti, and Murals

No doubt it is the grey days of late winter that is making us think about this as we brace for the next snowstorm, but today we’re considering the impact that Street Art color has on architecture that never asked for it.

We’re not the first to think of hues, shades, tones, and palettes when it comes to the man made environment of course, but it does strike us that most of the buildings that are hit up by street art and murals today were designed by architects who never imagined art on their facade.

brooklyn-street-art-os-gemeos-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Os Gemeos in Boston. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Modern architecture for some reason is still primarily grey, washed out greens, beige, eggshell, snore.

“Color is something that architects are usually afraid of,” said internationally known and awarded architect Benedetta Tagliabue in an interview last May about the topic of color.  A generalization probably, and you can always find exceptions of colorfully painted neighborhoods globally like the Haight in San Francisco, La Boca in Buenos Aires, Portafino in Italy, Guanajuato in Mexico, Bo-Kaap in Capetown, the favelas of Rio de Janeiro and the Blue City of India, but many of those examples speak to color blocking and pattern.

brooklyn-street-art-interesni-kazki-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Interesni Kazki in Baltimore. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

We’ve been looking at the power of Street Art to reface, re-contextualize, re-energize, and re-imagine a building and its place in the neighborhood. Some times it is successful, other times it may produce a light vertigo. The impact of work on buildings by today’s Street Artists and muralists depends not only on content and composition but largely on the palette they have chosen. It sounds trite, and self-evident perhaps, but much of Street Art is about color, and primarily on the warm scale first described by Faber Birren with his OSHA colors and color circle in the 1930s .

brooklyn-street-art-faile-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Faile in Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Birren developed his color system with the observation that artists favor the warm colors more than the cold, from the violet side of red and extending beyond yellow because “, their effect is more dynamic and intense and because the eye can, in fact, distinguish more warm colors than cold.

It’s common now to think of 21st century Street Art as the graffiti-influenced practice that primarily activates the detritus of the abandoned industrial sector blighting western cities in the wake of trade agreements that sent all the jobs to lands without protections and regulations. While that is definitely the sort of neglected factory architecture preferred for “activation” by many graffiti artists and Street Artists alike, we also see more curious couplings of color with the delicately ornate, the regal, or even modernist structures today thanks to artists being invited, rather than chased.

brooklyn-street-art-shepard-fairey-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Shepard Fairey in Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The results? Abstractionist, cubist, geometric, letter-based, illustrative, figurative, text-based, outsider, folk, dadaist, pop.  One common denominator: color.

“The environment and its colors are perceived, and the brain processes and judges what it perceives on an objective and subjective basis. Psychological influence, communication, information, and effects on the psyche are aspects of our perceptual judgment processes,” writes Frank H. Mahnke in his recent piece for Archinect. The author of Color, Environment, & Human Response has made it his mission to explore psychological, biological effects of color and light and to help creators of the man-made environment make good choices.

Whether all of these choices are good, we leave up to you. But it is worth considering that Street Artists have been part of the conversation on the street for decades now, making powerful suggestions to architects and city planners , so maybe it’s worth taking another look at what they’ve been up to lately.

brooklyn-street-art-ever-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Ever in Baltimore. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-escif-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Escif in Atlanta. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-kenton-parker-roa-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Kenton Parker and Roa in Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-ludo-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

LUDO in Chicago. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-anthony-lister-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Anthony Lister in Los Angeles. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-kobra-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Kobra in Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-smells-cash4-spiro-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Smells, Cash4 and Spiro in Brooklyn, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-don-rimx-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Don Rimx in El Barrio. Harlem, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-agostino-iacurci-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Agostino Iacurci in Atlanta. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-barry-mcgee-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Barry McGee in Brooklyn, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-cern-jaz-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Jaz and Cern in Brooklyn, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-revok-pose-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Pose and Revok in Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-rime-dceve-toper-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Rime, Dceve and Toper in Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-pixel-pancho-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Pixel Pancho in Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-deeker-david-papaceno-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Deeker and David Pappaceno in Brooklyn, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-reka-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Reka in Brooklyn, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-rrobots-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

RRobots in Brooklyn, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-momo-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

MOMO in Brooklyn, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-skewville-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Skewville in Brooklyn, NYC with an old NEKST tag on top. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-elias-3ttman-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

3ttman and Elias in Atlanta. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-chris-stain-billy-mode-roa-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Chris Stain and Billy Mode tribute to Martha Cooper in Brooklyn with ROA on the water tank. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-rubin-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Rubin in Brooklyn, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-os-gemeos-futura-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Os Gemeos in Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-jmr-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

JMR in Brooklyn, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-greg-lamarche-jaime-rojo-02-14-web

Greg LaMarche in Brooklyn, NYC. (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

This article was also published on The Huffington Post

Huffpost-Color-Feb-6-2014-740-wide-BSA-Screenshot

 
 

 

Read more

Of Slumlords and Satan : Specter in Baltimore and Chicago

Is there anything lower than a slumlord? Slumlords: Those building owners who basically abandon their properties to fall into disrepair, endangering individuals and threatening communities with physical and economic harm? Okay, maybe some reality TV stars are lower than slumlords, but that’s a different sort of poverty.

brooklyn-street-art-specter-baltimore-sulmlords-project-08-13-web-1

Specter. Detail. WallHunters: The Slumlord Project. Baltimore. July 2013. (photo © Specter)

Historically Street Artists have been drawn like bears to honey when it comes to decayed buildings and abandoned places. Aside from it not feeling patently illegal, painting or wheatpasting the decay also feels like a contextual installation full of meaning, even when it is not. So it appeared a natural alliance when local Baltimore Street Artist Nether decided to join forces with the local organization named Slumlord Watch and create Wallhunters in his city last year. In an ironic twist, Street Artists are currently being credited for improving a community – at least until they are bashed for encouraging gentrification, but that won’t be till next year probably.

Born from the corporate free-trade economic abandonment of American workers that took off during the Reagan administration and which continues to ravage our cities right now, a huge swath of Baltimore’s housing stock stands empty, whistling in the wind as the blue collar jobs that sustained the city for decades sought shelter in lands with no worker protections, pesky regulations, and near-zero taxes. With no tenants and no income to pay Baltimore property taxes or to keep up homes, many owners simply abandoned them, in turn leaving the city with a bill it was unable to pay. Yes, we’re generalizing, but that’s the part of the cycle that we’re swirling in now.

brooklyn-street-art-specter-baltimore-sulmlords-project-08-13-web-3

Specter. WallHunters: The Slumlord Project. Baltimore. July 2013. (photo © Specter)

Last month Street Artist Specter joined a growing list of Wallhunters, artists who use their tools to draw attention to the landlords who effectively abandoned neighborhoods and who are creating progressively unsafe conditions and evolving eyesores for an already hurting community. When it doesn’t get the attention of landlords, it does get the attention of the city. In Baltimore, where entire blocks have been boarded up, it is not unusual to find only one or two hapless families still trying to eek out a life while the structures to the left and right are falling, or worse, providing shelter to drug dealers or other unsavory types. For the few who have managed to keep their homes here, this is the reward paid for their perseverance.

“Artists illegally paint on abandoned property owned by notorious slumlords in Baltimore,” explains Specter, who recently did this installation for WallHunters: The Slumlord Project, . What happens next is instructive. Because the art draws attention, the neighbors begin targeting the owner of that specific property. Specter, who calls the abandonment an epidemic, says that some of the former homes are beginning to generate positive action because the neighbors are feeling connected and empowered to change their neighborhood. “It encourages and helps to facilitate local residents to take action,” he says. “Once the painting is finished and residents hear about the new artwork, someone will paste a notice with the name of the owner and all the information necessary to properly report a complaint.” He says the sudden attention often has results.

brooklyn-street-art-specter-baltimore-sulmlords-project-08-13-web-2

Specter. WallHunters: The Slumlord Project. Baltimore. July 2013. (photo © Specter)

Specter and Seitan in Chicago

We said Satan in the headline just to grab your attention, but really we were referring to that wheat based meat substitute increasingly favored by an increasingly vegetarian population, Seitan. Specter is down with seitan and last week put up his own painting for Uptons Naturals, a company that produces it. BSA is not sponsored by anybody so don’t worry, this is not a clever “integration” into our editorial. But we do think vegetarians are generally very sexy, agreed?

“My piece comments on how eating meat alternatives like Seitan is good for the environment,” explains Specter, who debuts this work on BSA today. But what’s the cloud connection – are people starting to store Seitan via cloud computing? Specter tells us that those are cow farts. More Seitan equals less bovine flatulence. “Seitan can heavily reduce the methane gas that is released into the air by large animal farms,” he explains. Hence the bright clouds.

brooklyn-street-art-specter-chicago-08-13-web-3

Looking for that pot of seitan. Specter. Chicago. August 2013. (photo © Specter)

brooklyn-street-art-specter-chicago-08-13-web-4

Specter. Chicago. August 2013. (photo © Specter)

brooklyn-street-art-specter-chicago-08-13-web-1

Specter. Chicago. August 2013. (photo © Specter)

brooklyn-street-art-specter-chicago-08-13-web-2

Specter. Chicago. August 2013. (photo © Specter)

<<>>><><<>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

Read more

Maxwell Colette Gallery Presents: “Equilibrio” Rodrigo Level and Gabriel Kieling (Chicago, IL)

Equilibrio

Brazil’s vibrant street art scene has been producing compelling work both in the streets and in the galleries for years. The current wave of social and political unrest that the country has been experiencing seems to have emboldened those who would utilize the streets as a canvas and magnified the timeliness of their actionsTwo Brazilian artists we’ve been watching thrive amid this chaos are Rodrigo Level and Gabriel Kieling. These artists share more than the primarily black and white palette of Brazilian Cordel Art, they both pass freely between the street and the gallery scene without compromising their style or the depth of their messaging.
Rodrigo Level and Gabriel Kieling: EQUILÍBRIO
Co-Curated by Holiday Exploits and Maxwell Colette Gallery
August 09, 2013 – September 14, 2013
Opening
Friday, 09 August, 2013 from 6pm – 10pm


Gallery Hours
Wednesday – Saturday, 12-6pm


Maxwell Colette Gallery
908 N Ashland Ave
Chicago, IL 60622


Transit
The gallery is located south of the Division stop on the Blue Line


Price
FREE
Read more

Images of the Week: 06.16.13

Big week for street festivals on BSA where we blew up our server on the LODZ murals in Poland, the MURAL Festival in Montreal, and now the most community based of them all – the Ad Hoc Wellington Court block party Street Art jamboree thing in Queens, which we have some new images of today. Not to mention we got up on some roofs and Klub7 got down on the ground. So much fun, sun, and good times to be had with art and the creative spirit cut loose in the streets.

Here’s our weekly interview of the street, this week featuring Alice Mizrachi, Amuse, Andy Pants, Billy Mode, Chris Stain, Dan Witz, Dennis McNett, Droid 907, Icy & Sot, JCHM-IX, Lucx, Nice-One, Okuda, Olek, PRTL, Stefan Ways, This is Awkward, and UNO.

Shout out to Garrison and Alison Buxton for the big throw-down at Welling Court, which they do so well and with such love. We’ll have more images coming up.

Top image > Alice Mizrachi and OLEK’s 3-D collaboration for Welling Court 2013. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Alice Mizrachi and Olek. Welling Court 2013. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Droid 907 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dennis McNett for Welling Court 2013. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dennis McNett. Welling Court 2013. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Okuda (photo © Jaime Rojo)

PRTL (photo © Jaime Rojo)

UNO for Cheap Festival. Bologna, Italy (photo © UNO)

UNO for Cheap Festival. Bologna, Italy (photo © UNO)

Alison Buxton for Welling Court 2013. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dan Witz for Welling Court 2013. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stefan Ways experiments with assemblage with his most recent piece in Baltimore. A mix of paint and sculpture. (photo © Stefan Ways)

Chris Stain and Billy Mode for Welling Court 2013. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nice-One, Amuse and Lucx collaborate on a large wall in Chicago (photo © Andy Pants)

Nice-One, Amuse and Lucx (photo © Andy Pants)

JCHM-IX in Barcelona (photo © Federica Marrone)

JCHM-IX. Barcelona, Spain (photo © Federica Marrone)

Untitled. High Line Park, NYC. Spring 2013 (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

 

Read more

EVER, Immigrants, and the Eagles Wings in Chicago

Street Artist “Ever” spread his wings in Chicago last week to radiate his kaleidoscopic vision of the immigrant multitudes across a huge expanse of wall in the Pilsen neighborhood.  Just outside the University Station Condominium, one the neighborhoods most diversely populated, this inclusionary vision of the American eagle refers directly to the experiences of the immigrant community who negotiate themselves through the obstacles and opportunities inherent in moving from one country to another. Says Nick Marzullo of Pawn Works, Ever “had a blast as he was getting quite a lot of positive attention and press while here in Chicago.”

EVER (photo © Joseph Kayne)

EVER (photo © Joseph Kayne)

EVER (photo © Joseph Kayne)

EVER (photo © Joseph Kayne)

EVER (photo © Joseph Kayne)

EVER (photo © Joseph Kayne)

To learn more about the Art in Public Places Initiative, CLICK HERE.

Read more

Brett Flanigan and Cannon Dill in Chicago

Brett Flanigan and Cannon Dill just finished this huge mural in Chicago’s Pilsen neighborhood combining abstract black and white renderings of the animal world and bright popping abstracts wrapping forms from head to toe. On their way across the country from hometown Oakland they stopped off to see their buddies at Pawn Works for this ongoing “Art in Public Places” project, before they continue on to New York. Expect to see more from these two.

Brett Flanigan and Cannon Dill. (photo © courtesy of Pawn Works Gallery)

Brett Flanigan and Cannon Dill. Detail. (photo © courtesy of Pawn Works Gallery)

Brett Flanigan and Cannon Dill. Detail. (photo © courtesy of Pawn Works Gallery)

Brett Flanigan and Cannon Dill. Detail. (photo © courtesy of Pawn Works Gallery)

Brett Flanigan and Cannon Dill. (photo © courtesy of Pawn Works Gallery)

 

<<>>><><<>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

Read more

Galerie F Presents: “Goons World” (Chicago Illinois)

Galerie F presents “GOONS WORLD

“Anything Is Possible. When the restrictions of this physical world are chipped away, all that remains is ‘Goons World’. A world which the imagination rules, and laws of man bend and crumble.” -Goons
AND THE SAME NIGHT AT THE SAME PLACE:
View the world premier of GOONS WORLD…an animated film only at Galerie F

Opening Reception: Friday, April 26th [6-10pm]

GOONS ‘GOONS WORLD’

Read more