The United Nations showed its disunity this week—and the limits of its power against oligarchy, demagoguery, resource grabs, and the machinery of war. Then came the steaming pile of speeches, dissembling, and B-rate political theater, with one speech prompting 77 delegations to walk out. So unifying. Congratulations, us.
Cheering and reassuring proof that phones are not hypnotic to everyone, Printed Matter’s New York Art Book Fair returned to MoMA PS1 this week and was flooded with celebrants of its 20th anniversary, displaying hundreds of independent publishers, artists, zine-makers, and small presses together in Queens.
Also a fall tradition, the city is ablaze with art fairs at the moment, including The Armory Show, with some 230 galleries and a strong Caribbean focus; Independent 20th Century, spotlighting overlooked and under-recognized artists of the last century; and SPRING/BREAK Art Show, the curator-driven fair that takes over unconventional spaces and has long felt closer in spirit to street art and graffiti — provisional, site-responsive, independent, and comfortable operating outside the polished white-cube model.
Here is our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring City Kitty, COEY, Dan Bunn, Egore, Gasy, IMK, Jerkface, Jimbo is God, Jorit, Kuba, Lee Holin, Nimek, Ninja Turtle, Obey, Praxis, Slow, and Toofly.
The penalties for painting in gang territory are steeper than you may expect in El Salvador, but mural festivals like PigmenTrip Muralism Festival has been slowly taking over walls for the last 8 years. Controversial human rights accusations against President Nayib Bukele since his war on gangs began in 2022 aside, this news story says people are happy to see these new murals on walls and are breathing easier these days. Festival founder Isaac Sosa says in Barron’s that “art a “magical tool” for “social transformation”.
Finally, in the ongoing debate about who controls the wall, who gets to redefine public space, and whose claim to it has more power, Glasgow brought 23 international and local artists to paint columns under Kingsbridge last year, but the wealth of one more (yawn) Batman movie has painted over all of them suddenly. Some were pretty fresh paint, having been completed in the last few months. In their rush to report the stars of the movie, the breathless Scottish press doesn’t bother to mention the artists’ names or credit their work. Here you are: The “Art Under the Bridge” installation comprises 23 painted pillars by these street/graffiti/mural artists: Phill Blake, Mr Cenz, Conzo Throb, Mikhaela Martin, Vernis, Molly Hankinson, Erin Bradley Scott, Robert Cook, Good Night Vienna, Wee Thistles, Frodrik, Emsky, Ikul, Keiti Forbes, Gillian Law, Christian Kerr, Kitsa, Nitram Joke, and Aroe.
Here is our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Cern, Dan Bunn, Delphinoto, Homsick, IMK, Jaek El Diablo, Ratch, ROMAK, Sinclair, and of course San Francis of Assisi. Go forth.
Graffiti has spent decades being chased off trains, scrubbed from walls, prosecuted in courtrooms, and occasionally welcomed into museums with …Read More »
TRIPL a.k.a. Furious. Repainting Subway Art. Ruyzdael Publishing. The Netherlands, 2024. Reprinted from the original review. Before opening this book, …Read More »