It’s no joke, this feeling of connectedness across cities and time zones that the street art and graffiti scene encourages – and often, it all overlaps in NYC, yo! This week, we have Martin Whatson and Hama Woods from Norway on the wall in New York, and it was a pleasure to see them both. It’s another honor to see Niels “Shoe” Meulman in the hood for only a minute, but long enough to see his new wall in Bushwick go up! We’ve been very lucky over these last 15 years to meet so many great people and talents worldwide, making streets in new cities seem like home because we see the work of friends and acquaintances wherever we are exploring. This week we have shots of New York and LA mixed together – enjoy the show!
Here is our weekly interview with the street: this week featuring Adam Fujita, Martin Whatson, Adam Fu, Niels ‘Shoe’ Meulman, Solus, Danielle Mastrion, Optimo NYC, Hama Woods, Cody James, BK Sckler, Toe Flop, Hiero Veiga, Hydrane, Notice, Jayo V, Alexali Gonzales, TBanbox, and Fenji93.
Following the evolution of The Bushwick Collective and its annual block party in Brooklyn has been a captivating journey akin to an anthropological exploration into the growing embrace of street art and murals within the realms of graffiti and HipHop. Back in the day, as the neighborhood began transforming with the influx of gentrifiers, street art faced outright dismissal or was treated as a rare phenomenon, a curiosity.
Unaware of the previous codes that roughly governed the practices of graffiti writers on the street, art-students-cum-street-art-poets often obtusely stomped their way into public view to circumvent a gallery system and to express their right to self-expression in public; something HipHop culture had been encouraging for years but had perhaps not envisioned this way. The rivalry between graffiti aficionados and street artists/muralists was sometimes palpable, with throwies vandalizing fresh paint, the OGs asserting territorial dominance, and at times, even resorting to threats and insults in person and in online forums.
As the block party, now in its twelfth year, unfolded, its early editions predominantly featured international and some local street artists eagerly seeking out BC’s visionary leader, Joe Ficalora, for an opportunity to leave their mark on his neighborhood walls. Local street art forums found fault with Ficalora, masking a barely hidden contempt for a streetwise guy taking a leadership role and betraying their own classist privileged opinions about the right to curation. That has all melted appreciably; this year’s event evidenced the remarkable shift that has been underway. Graffiti writers took the stage alongside the muralists in prime spots, sometimes seamlessly collaborating to create art transcending boundaries, all while the electrifying sounds of live HipHop performances reverberated through the air and TikTokers danced in front of them.
Let’s raise a bottle to those who always believed in the possibility of this transformative phenomenon, and to those who championed inclusivity over exclusivity. It’s yet another reason why our hearts beat for this extraordinary international art movement, the embodiment of the people’s democratic spirit and the unlimited creative spirit that is in every person. And most importantly, it’s a reminder of why we hold you dear.
Joe Ficalora and the Bushwick Collective crew took over the streets of Bushwick again this year to entertain the locals, the visitors, and everybody else with his annual block party. When you look at the variety and quality of murals produced on these streets regularly, you realize that it’s a splendid fusion that you rarely find in organized festivals.
Maybe it’s just us talking, but these artists are not usually hamstrung by organizers’ dictates or those of advertisers – they just let their imaginations go. Yes, there are still beefs, and there are battles between styles and histories and all the baggage that writers and artists carry. But in general, this is a somewhat mediated part of street culture, with an opportunity for you to shine if you have the skillz.
We published a handful of the completed walls on BSA HERE; now we bring you the rest…
The summer storms keep coming, and yet somehow so does the incredible show of creativity on our streets; the celebration of murals and graffiti burners and painters and sculptors and characters and opinions and cogitations. However hot and steamy and hard New York can be sometimes, it also is positively ebullient and inspiring. We know our many differences are our greater asset, our combined aspirations a stunning new possibility.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring A. Smith, Captain Eyeliner, China, Cody James, CP Won, David Puck, Gabriel Specter, Huetek, Iquene, Jason Naylor, Jitr!, Amanda Valdes, Lorenzo Masnah, M.R.S.N., Not Your Muse, Peachee Blue, Sara Lynne Leo, Sasha Velour, Say No Sleep, Tyler Ives, and Winston Tseng.
CP Won (photo @ Jaime Rojo)Say No Sleep (photo @ Jaime Rojo)Say No Sleep (photo @ Jaime Rojo)Say No Sleep (photo @ Jaime Rojo)Winston Tseng (photo @ Jaime Rojo)Sara Lynne-Leo in collaboration with Tyler Ives. “Remedial Purge” (photo @ Jaime Rojo)Captain Eyeliner (photo @ Jaime Rojo)A Smith (photo @ Jaime Rojo)Specter (photo @ Jaime Rojo)Huetek. Detail. Work in progress for The Bushwick Collective 10th Anniversary edition. (photo @ Jaime Rojo)Cody James. Work in progress for The Bushwick Collective 10th Anniversary edition. (photo @ Jaime Rojo)Jason Naylor. Work in progress for The Bushwick Collective 10th Anniversary edition. (photo @ Jaime Rojo)China (photo @ Jaime Rojo)Jitr! (photo @ Jaime Rojo)David Puck (photo @ Jaime Rojo)Iquena (photo @ Jaime Rojo)Not Your Muse (photo @ Jaime Rojo)Peachee Blue (photo @ Jaime Rojo)Amanda Valdes (photo @ Jaime Rojo)Masnah (photo @ Jaime Rojo)M.R.S.N. (photo @ Jaime Rojo)Unidentified artists (photo @ Jaime Rojo)