Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! New York has endured a week of choking smoke from Canadian wildfires, 98-degree (37°C) heat, and pounding summer thunderstorms. Today, the FIFA World Cup Final arrives, briefly transforming the city once again. Bars in Argentine and Spanish neighborhoods are overflowing with fans, an estimated 50,000 people will gather before giant screens in Central Park, and across the Hudson, 83,000 will pack MetLife Stadium. The match has also turned the region into a temporary diplomatic capital, drawing President Trump, Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum, Spain’s King Felipe VI, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez, and Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney.
Yet New York has a way of absorbing even the grandest spectacles. While the sporting euphoria fills many spaces, someone in Jackson Heights is comparing the price of canned beans and reaching for the store brand, another is watering tomatoes at M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden on the Lower East Side, someone else is doing the week’s laundry at Ludlow Laundromat, while another is stretched out beside a rooftop pool in Williamsburg. As they say on Broadway, come hell or high water, the show must go on.
Here is our weekly interview with the street, this time featuring CRKSHNK, Debt, Hops Art, IMK, JerkFace, Little Ricky, Makatron, Sara Lynne Leo, SOOBEK, and Worst Timer.
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! Longest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere today, so presumably we can see more with all this daylight. And yet, the view is somehow clouded from here. The machinations of the city, the state, our institutions, the financial industrial complex, the welfare state – all whir mysteriously before us and behind us. The new Fed Chair made his first public/opaque utterance, and there is some kind of new peace agreement between the US and Iran, yet new bombs explode in Lebanon. In other interesting and unrelated news items, investors gawped as SpaceX dropped 20 percent from its peak during its first week, New Yorkers are worried about videos of unknown people entering and exiting the sewers through manhole covers, and leaders from OpenAI, Anthropic, and DeepMind participated alongside elected world leaders at the G7 in closed-door meetings.
On the streets, the art, graffiti, and individual commentary tell a multitude of stories as well, including love, hope, fear, celebration, humor, frustration, mourning, and defiance. Here’s our weekly survey, including Arioh, Buttsup, CRKSHNK, Derek Fordjour, Funk, Homesick, JerkFace, Jocelyn Tsaih, Modomatic, Onur, Optimo NYC, Prez NCE, Stop Men, Werds, and ZimerNYC.
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week. We are following, with you and the rest of the world, the negotiations between Iran and the Trumpsters. We imagine that you cannot trust anything that comes from a foreign leader who said earlier in the week “a whole civilization will die tonight” in a social media post. Meanwhile, a 2-liter Coke is $4.10 at your local deli – about the same as a gallon of gas nationwide, and all young men 18-26 are going to be automatically registered for the draft. We’re trying to think of a clever joke to insert here, but nothing is coming up.
70s/80s NYC train writer Fab 5 Freddy has been on a book tour tied to a new memoir, “Everybody’s Fly” out this spring, re-centering his role as a connector between uptown graffiti writers, the downtown art world of the 1980s, and his early hip-hop media crossover in the 90s. Meanwhile, nobody is doing trains today, as rooftops and rappelling are the current popular practices in graffiti in Brooklyn and Queens, with names like Notice + Rams (MSK), Qzar, Vods, Timer, Sokem, Sickpay, and Dase circulating again for getting up—names you’ll recognize mixed with newer hands. And of course, the murals are starting to come out in force; private, community-led, and corporately sponsored.
Here are some new shots we caught this week on New York streets, featuring Eternal Possessions, Shev Lunatic, BESRK, IMK, El Avo, STOP, CRKSHNK, DEBT, FCM, Jenna Morello, Damsel, and Charm
Across thousands of U.S. cities and streets yesterday, speakers at the ‘No Kings’ marches framed the protests as a mass rejection of executive overreach—calling for protection of civil rights, enforcement of limits on presidential power, and an end to aggressive anonymous immigration crackdowns. The dangerously growing war—and concerns about its escalation and its potential cost in blood and money—surfaced but appeared as one thread among several.
According to what’s often called the ‘3.5% rule,’ drawn from the research of Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan, nonviolent movements that mobilize roughly 3.5% of a population at their peak have historically been difficult to ignore—and often capable of forcing major political change, although that is not a guaranteed tipping point. Current estimates put the recent ‘No Kings’ marches at about 7 million people nationwide, or roughly 2.1% of the U.S. population, organized through a decentralized web of grassroots groups including Indivisible. Impressive—and it’s being read as a signal in many quarters, but it’s hard to see how it is moving the needle. For now, it’s clearly a swelling, emotionally charged expression of public will; whether it hardens into something with leverage will depend on its ability to sharpen its focus, its demands, and its impact on policy.
Meanwhile, in some street art-related news, Trump has large banners of himself on the Department of Justice and Department of Labor buildings. History is full of examples of leaders blowing up large images of themselves and filling public space with them. Not usually in the US, though.
On the streets, we are seeing some of these themes pop up, if tangentially. You’ll see many doves of peace, figures twisted with anxiety, expressions of anger and suspicion, and bewilderment among the more pleasant and palatable prettiness that much of the current generation gravitates toward. Local pride, tribute walls, romance, pop culture affiliations, and conciliatory sentiments still rule the scene, but amongst the bursting crocuses and daffodils, you definitely discern descent dancing with diffidence.
You have read it here for a decade, but finally larger media outlets are confirming that New York is measurably inhospitable to its artists, chasing them from one neighborhood to the next at a rapacious clip. Gentrification feels like a formula now traced with exactitude by developers and private equity, not an organic pot-smoking beast with stylistic panache that evolves over time. Now, the artists population in this creative capital is verifiably going backwards for the first time in anyone’s memory; it is as if living without health insurance in an overcrowded apartment with 5 of your best friends well into your 30s or 40s is somehow, not exactly the New York dream you had imagined.
For street artists, most galleries have discovered that it’s hard to sell much of it, and with these high rents, they have closed or “diversified” their offerings to include Mickey Mouse with paint drips in eye-popping color. Even the venerable and much-loved publication Juxtapoz, at a moment of transition as The Unibrow opens on Substack, has experimented with different formulas—blending street with contemporary, eye-catching scintillation or a measure of self-aware irony—to keep things viable over the last decades. Striking the right balance for a fickle art audience and a K-shaped economy is nearly unicornary.
Street artists thought they could cut out the middleman by taking their art to Instagram, but many have discovered that it is a lot more work to market themselves than they thought, or that they lack the business acumen or Social savvy needed to make it a profitable model. Also, followers do not pay the rent. Despite promising developments in street art’s growing recognition by some institutions a decade ago, it looks like major museums and auction houses steadfastly omit all but a handful of recurring big names in graffiti and street art – a position of safety, if you will. While outlets like The New York Times and The Guardian have only begun to touch on it, the patterns are already well established, if you know where to look.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this time featuring CAMI, CRKSHNK, Goldloxe, Hi Bye, LISA, RATCHI, Skulz, Abe Lincoln Jr, Mr. Moustachio, El Toro, and Stikman.
Snowy. Hard to see through right now. The physical temperature here in NYC is low, but the rhetorical temperatures are spiking across the land. The battle for freedom is in the courts and Congress and in the streets again, with the demonized and disenfranchised reeling back on their heels. When pressure like this builds, it surfaces everywhere at once—across institutions and culture, on ballots, in courtrooms, and eventually on the street—because culture absorbs, and sometimes rejects, what power attempts to normalize.
Humans never tire of this story—our story—the one where autocrats punch down, reign briefly, and are eventually upended by resistance. Otherwise, why does it recur across centuries, across societies and school districts and states and strata and Shakespeare? Silly and careless as we are, immigrants and the descendants of immigrants let our guard down again, and those who mistake domination for virtue rise again, attempting to strip us all of liberty, to fracture us, to manufacture narratives of the “other.”
One thing people don’t tire of is what keeps reappearing on walls and signs in cities nationwide: reminders of our ideals of welcoming the stranger, embracing difference, and becoming stronger because of it. Walls—often instruments of exclusion—remain contested surfaces for street artists and rebels, carrying rebuttal, invoking memory, and thrashing out dissent in public view. Immigrants are the heart of New York, our DNA melded through toil, competition, and chutzpah. We know tyrants, many of us, as did our parents and grandparents—having escaped them, named them, and fought back against them.
Lo, beware of those who forget where we came from: everywhere.
Here is our visual interview with the streets, this week featuring ACE, Caryn Cast, CRKSHNK, DELUDE, Dieka, Garrett Wasserman, Homesick, Jibz, Jim Power, Mosaic Man, Naiver, Qzar, Rae, Salami Doggy, and Wellnoo.
“Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free… The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Chag Sameach to all who are celebrating Passover. The Hasidim in Brooklyn kicked off the public festivities by lighting fires on sidewalks in various neighborhoods—a surprising and bright flickering of orange, yellow, and white dancing flames are a sight against the cold gray downpour of April. As the smoke wafts through the streets, there’s a moment of panic—wondering if a building is on fire or if war has broken out.
Yes, there are wars of many kinds across this country and worldwide—and times of tumultuous change like these may augur even more conflict. We’re tempted to say “Dark Times,” as it appears we are amid a slow-motion demolition, but we want to reserve such pronouncements.
On the street, New York is—as ever—bratty and bright, bracing and beatific. Someone may cut you off to grab a subway seat, but another person might offer you theirs. We know things aren’t right, and the fog of propaganda seems designed to make us fearful of one another. However, New Yorkers largely settled the identity politics conversation a quarter century ago, and we’re generally not interested in rehashing it. We’re more likely to wonder why the subway still feels rickety, why prices on everything from rent to groceries to concert tickets and restaurant entrées keep jumping out of reach. At the same time, the official inflation rate still claims it’s 2–3%. Really? Where did you get that number?
The most remarkable image we caught this week comes courtesy of someone who may be a new “Splasher” in New York—bloody flash installations dripping down walls and onto sidewalks. The symbolism could apply to so much happening in the world, and the beauty of most street art is this: you create the narrative.
We continue with our interviews with the street, this week including CRKSHNK, Modomatic, Michael Alan, Alex Itin, Word on the Street, Mini Mantis, The Splasher (2?), AS+ORO, Baz Bon, Winnie Chiu, and Priz.
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week. Congratulations to our Muslim neighbors in NYC on the occasion of Eid al-Fitr, and we wish them peace, joy, and blessings as they mark the end of Ramadan.
The popping rumble of customized mufflers is back on the streets, a rite of spring as familiar as purple crocuses and snowdrops pushing through browned grass, old 40 bottles, crumpled chip bags, and cigarette butts. The warming weather softens the ground and lets loose the mingled scents of hydrangea and dog pee. And once again, Saturday night Romeos are rolling down their windows, cruising slow, and blasting tracks like Jack Harlow and Doja Cat’s new banger “Just Us”—hoping someone’s paying attention.
On the street art tip, you’ll see Faile has come back with some of their new and old icons remixed, Trump and Elon are widely critiqued in caricature, and vertical graffiti is the new horizontal.
We continue with our interviews with the street, this week including Faile, John Ahearn, CRKSHNK, Modomatic, Qzar, EXR, Ollin, Sto, REW X, Want Pear, Batola, Ooh Baby, Thug Life, and Jayo.
This week, we have new stuff from New York and Miami, in our visual interview with the streets, featuring Homesick, Smells, SRKSHNK, Crisp, Dr. Revolt, TBanbox, Urwont, OSK OSK, ASIK107, Man in the Box, Dam Crew, Stef Skills, COF Crew, Danny Doya, JAYDEE, Cinco, and WKS Crew.
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! Set your clocks back one hour today.
A chilly but warm NYC welcome to the 50,000+ marathon runners from around the globe as they journey through the dirty, potholed streets of all five boroughs in this rudely friendly, alluring, and romantically gritty city. We’ve already forgotten that we lost the World Series this week and are concentrating instead on welcoming our haplessly plodding runners on the street—with raucous cheers in Queens, impromptu bands in Brooklyn, and dancing in the Bronx, the city becomes a big block party today.
Make sure to check out our graffiti and street art on the way!
Also, early voting is in effect in NYC. The new president of the US will be selected, possibly by you.
Here’s our weekly conversation with the street, this week featuring: City Kitty, Homesick, CRKSHNK, Degrupo, Modomatic, Sticker Maul, Leon Keer, Dot Dot Dot, Raddington Falls, D7606, SacSix, Muebon, Werds, RX Skulls, C3, EXR, OSK, She Posse, Outersource, Semz, Silkmoth, Glenn Ligon, Isa De Prez, and All Over Grey.
“Although different views and opinions are important for a healthy society, we can experience a greater increase in polarization in recent decades, which severely limits bridging or interactions.
In this work I would like to express that we are all connected despite differences in opinion. I see communication with positive sentiment and respect as a good carrier for social connection.” -Leon Keer
“The idea for the original Statue of Liberty was conceived in 1865, when the French historian and abolitionist Édouard de Laboulaye proposed a monument to commemorate the upcoming centennial of U.S. independence (1876), the perseverance of American democracy and the liberation of the nation’s slaves
Liberty holds a torch above her head with her right hand, and in her left-hand carries a tabula ansata inscribed JULY IV MDCCLXXVI (July 4, 1776, in Roman numerals), the date of the U.S. Declaration of Independence. With her left foot, she steps on a broken chain and shackle commemorating the national abolition of slavery following the American Civil War. After its dedication, the statue became an icon of freedom being subsequently seen as a symbol of welcome to immigrants arriving by sea.
In Dotdotdot’s version, just a few days before the upcoming election, much of whose campaign has been marred by racist and anti-immigrant rhetoric, the torch is replaced by a distress flare. A warning to us all.” ~ Nuart Festival, Stavanger, Norway
Here is our weekly interview with the street: this week featuring Faile, Stikman, Elle, Queen Andrea, CRKSHNK, Shiro, Espo, Homesick, DeGrupo, Michael Alan, Dark Clouds, Gats, Manik, Drones, ICU463, El Chalvo Del Ocho, Saxgraf, Smart RIS, Bianca Does New York, Uloang, and Chespirito.
Welcome to Memorial Day Weekend in NYC, when New Yorkers remember those who died in wars, and we have parades, barbecues, smoke reefer on the stoop, ride the Circle Line, go to the Met Museum, hit Ellis Island, stroll through the park, play kickball with your neighbors, see fireworks, ride your bike across the bridge, blast loud music out of car windows, spray paint on walls, bring food to the elderly, and head to the beaches, which are officially open now.
Each year we try new foods too, because there are so many dishes you have heard of but haven’t tried – one venue with live music here in Brooklyn is touting a menu that Smash Burgers, Lobster Rolls, Snow Cones, and Fresh Coconuts. Haven’t tried all of those before, but that does sound like a recipe for summer. It’s Fleet Week so welcome Sailors! Welcome immigrants! Welcome trans folk! Welcome summer. Welcome Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Christians, Sikhs, Atheists. Get in here! Celebrate us all ya’ll. This is worth fighting for.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: City Kitty, CRKSHNK, Jet, Eternal Possessions, Manik, Gent, SKAM, BEOR, Natadee, Ivan J. Rogue, Phaser, Goders, Peso Neto, Liz Christy, Danana Tree, Mini Mantis, Peto, Budar, Geps, Riotk, void, Mung, Dats, and Kalypso Manu.
Where is the mafia news? Have you noticed how there is no news anymore about the mafia in the US? No sting operations, uncovered networks, perp walks, or wagging tongues? The New York tabloids used to go for days about Don this and Don that, accompanied by blurry surveillance photos in black and white. Did the mafia disappear? All our companies and industries and institutions are relatively free of corruption now, right?
Now our gripping concerns across the country are wokeism, racism, transphobia, ableism, ageism, pronouns, immigrants on the border, the government itself, abortion, and gun control. There are two teams, two sides; One is patently evil, and the other clearly is virtuous. Patriot vs Terrorist. Your solemn, weighty decision is to pick which team you are on and to join in the great debate as we head into election season, evidence of our thriving democracy! Go Team Good!
This week we wander through the seemingly emptier streets of Manhattan’s Lower East Side, The Village, and Soho to discover what street artists are bringing to their audience with earnest amor de primavera. The results are bracing, racing, effete, mysterious, hip hop, heady, graphic, and subversive: even as the flowering trees and ground vegetation is abloom, and the April rains have been prodigious.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: Praxis, CRKSHNK, VOZ, Lexi Bella, Pear, Zexor, CP Won, Ollin, Phetus88, Eternal Possessions, Humble, Font147, and Whatifier.
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
