All posts tagged: Factory Fresh

Fun Friday 05.21.10 from BSA

Fun-Friday

Thanks to everybody for the shout-outs about Fun Friday.  We love you too.

Style Curator Natalie Kates Went to the “Street Art New York” Auction with her Video Camera

I saw her at the party/auction/fundraiser on April 24th at Factory Fresh but I didn’t know she was shooting a video!  So cool because she captured the fun crowd and the funnier DJ mixologists Sifunk and Garmunkle, who really rocked our already over stimulated brains with a rhythmic cut-copy-paste blend of funkiness. (get Paul’s New Mix FREE here) Anyway, thanks Natalie!

Free Arts NYC

And on that note, thank you to all of the street artists who generously donated their time and work and creativity to the auction, which raised $16,000 for the programs at Free Arts NYC.  Thank you also to the staff and many volunteers who helped make that show work – BSA recommends these people and these programs that provide valuable services to our neighbors and to NYC kids.  A number of Street Artist already know about their programs and have volunteered as Big Brother/Sister mentors and worked with kids and families in the programs.  Here, Cynthia and Alexis talk about their experience:



This year again, Free Arts NYC has committed to serving an additional 1,000 children to meet the high demand in New York for their programs. We hope you will consider donating today by clicking here to help them reach this important milestone and close the remaining $25,000 gap needed to expand their programs.

“UR New York” Shows You How They Do It

UR New York, true born and raised New Yorkers, not transplants like most of us, are taking their street art game another step forward in a positive way. You see their cool canvasses, but do you have any idea how many steps are involved in making a print?

Here’s a studio stop-action video that shows how the New York Duo 2Easae and Ski just churned out their first print called “Arsenic” with Art Asylum Boston.  They only made 10, but it looks like a lot of effort.  Using cans and brushes, these brothers are combining the best of their experience into their work.

Ron English Hits the Welling Court Walls Early

UR New York, Street Artist Ron English has put up a bunch of new wheat paste posters on the Welling Court Mural Project in Queens, NY. The festival starts tomorrow and already the stuff that is up is worth the trip for this community event. English is taking the opportunity to lambaste Consumerism, Greed, Militarism, Religious Hypocrisy, Romanticizing Guns, and Advertising Hammerlocks on your Head — you know, all the lite topics – with a variety of graphic lampoons a la Mad Magazine in the 70’s.ee

Ron English's new work at Welling Court Walls this weekend

Ron English's new work at Welling Court Mural Project this weekend (image courtesy Ron English)

See more pictures from Ron English’s online journal at Juxtapose HERE.

ROA on the Roof

You may have missed this, and I’m so happy with it – so that’s two really good reasons to post this new NEW YORKY video we made with ROA this week.  Have a great weekend!


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Artists that were part of the “Street Art New York” Auction Benefit for Free Arts NYC were Abe Lincoln Jr., Alex Diamond, Anera, Avoid Pi, Billi Kid, Bishop 203, Blanco, BortusK Leer, Broken Crow, C Damage, C215, Cake, Celso, Chris RWK, Chris Stain, Creepy, Dain, Damon Ginandes, Dan Witz, Dark Clouds, Dennis McNett, Elbow Toe, EllisG, FKDL, Gaia, General Howe, GoreB, Hargo, Hellbent, Imminent Disaster, Infinity, Jef Aerosol, Jim Avignon, JMR, Joe Iurato, Jon Burgerman, Keely, Know Hope, Logan Hicks, Mark Carvalho, Matt Siren, Mint and Serf, Miss Bugs, NohJColey, Nomadé, Peru Ana Ana Peru, PMP/Peripheral Media Projects, Poster Boy, Pufferella, Rene Gagnon, Roa, Royce Bannon, Skewville, Specter, Stikman, Swoon, The Dude Company, Tristan Eaton, UR New York (2esae & Ski), Veng RWK

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NEW VIDEO: ROA IN NYC

HIGHLY ANTICIPATED NY SOLO OPENING FACTORY FRESH Today FRIDAY May 14

The new video about ROA’s arrival into New York and his creation of a stunning long-necked Ibis on the exterior of a tattered and weathered former rope factory in Brooklyn has the stop-action jerkiness of the mechanical crane; bowing and pecking and snapping forward and backward, mimicking the movements of a long necked bird in the wild while ROA meticulously wields a spray can to cover the fine-feathered friend.

ROA'S NEW PIECE FOR THE SHOW. IMAGE COURTESY OF THE GALLERY
A new piece by ROA in the show. (image courtesy Factory Fresh)

READ the Interview Part 1 HERE :

Winging It With ROA – FreeStyle Urban Naturalist Lands Feet First in Brooklyn

READ the Interview Part 2 HERE :

Flying High With ROA in Brooklyn, NYC

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Winging It With ROA – FreeStyle Urban Naturalist Lands Feet First in Brooklyn

Winging It With ROA – FreeStyle Urban Naturalist Lands Feet First in Brooklyn

While city birds sing and traffic swells and murmurs, Street Artist ROA shows BSA how his great unsung animals are made.

One of ROA’s new Brooklyn birds (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The eagerly anticipated arrival of one of Street Arts’ spray can naturalists in New York was begun with a marathon 15 hours of painting of two walls in Brooklyn that in the early morning hours of today.

Energetic and excited to be here fresh from a successful show in London at Pure Evil Gallery, where he sparked great interest with his loud-speaking silent animals inside and outside the box, the down-to-earth realist ROA began his NYC tour with two incredible gifts to his host city. With days to go before his first New York solo show at Factory Fresh gallery in Brooklyn, it only seemed natural to ROA to get up strong on BK walls before heading inside to knock out new pieces.

 

ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Brooklyn Free Style” was the word ROA decided to describe the approach he had yesterday to his work – a nod to the hip-hop culture of creating on-the-fly as well as the sometimes chaotic path a day in Brooklyn can take for a jet-lagged Belgium who didn’t really know where his new walls were, let alone what they would look like. Just like you might expect from a former graffiti/skater kid who still listens to Public Enemy and Suicidal Tendencies to keep balanced, this guy only wants to hit higher more difficult walls than the last time, and he does.

ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

As we saw throughout the day, a bit of chaos is a natural environment for ROA and one he relishes creating within – embrace the imperfect world. He likes to take what comes flying at him and deal with it with dexterity and an intuitive flow. Our day included rented cars, roaring trucks, ladders, chairs, bricks, soil, plants, trees, a monstrous cherry picker (thanks Joe), pleasant sun/punishing sun, high winds, dark skies, blowing rain, flying garbage, old vines, utility lights, fat caps and thin, good paint and bad, rollers, a harness, utility lights, hand-rolled cigarettes, and some of Brooklyn’s best family biz food.

ROA

ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Like a wild willow sprouted from a patch of SuperFund soil in an abandoned industrial city lot, ROA bends and twists and re-configures effortlessly, ultimately standing strong no matter what flies his way. His credo is to find inspiration in adversity and yesterday he made obstacles seem effortless – welcoming the challenge, incorporating design issues and moving forward. It makes sense that his chosen subjects are the animals that get overlooked, are many times missed, yet persevere despite man’s dreadful determination to destroy.

ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

In this first of a two-part interview, ROA talks to BSA about his approach to his work and his animals.

ROA: I’m not really prepared, but I have a lot of things with me. I have a lot of cans, caps, things with me so I can decide what I want to do at the point at whatever point I am in the piece.

Brooklyn Street Art: A little Brooklyn Freestyle
ROA:
Yeah a little Brooklyn Freestyle.

Brooklyn Street Art: How did you decide on this particular bird today?
ROA:
I think because of the shape of the wall and with the stuff that is in front of it, it makes sense. It is really important when you enter a place that the animal looks at you. If not, it would not the same dynamic. Also it is not necessary to fill up the whole wall – it is filled but it is not filled.

ROA

ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: It genuinely occupies the rest of the wall without really being there.
ROA:
Yeah. That is not always possible, sometimes you have a ladder, sometimes you do not have a ladder to reach, some times you have a pole, some times you do not. What you make all depends on what you have and how high the wall is.

ROA

ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: So that is one of the first things that art students learn about : how to recognize and deal with positive space and negative space compositionally. A lot of your work definitely utilizes the negative space surrounding it.
ROA:
Yeah, I think it grew by doing so many walls. In the end you begin to feel how something should be on a wall. It’s logical when you are a little kid and you begin painting graffiti and you have six cans and a wall and you just start right there. As you paint more and you paint bigger you begin to see the thing in its totality. I think placement is kind of important for the piece. But it is also the possibilities that exist that tell you what you can and cannot do. It’s always depending on the possibilities. You can see immediately what it should be, and you see what is actually possible. If the two come together then you’ve got the perfect situation.

ROA

ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: So you do what you can with what you have.
ROA:
Yes, I think that is the main rule. And the wall is part of that. In a way, the wall tells you what you should make.

Brooklyn Street Art: You do tend to favor more difficult surfaces instead of smooth flat pristine surfaces.
ROA:
Yeah, I like texture: I like when a wall, or an area, or a building tells a little bit of a story. It is sometimes really boring to paint on a wall that is just one color. It is always better to start from something that is interesting. That is probably the same reason why I don’t paint normal canvasses. There is not a lot of inspiration. But if you’ve got some dirty materials, it’s got a little bit of the story already. In that way it is like the walls… The shape and the textures tell you immediately what the possibilities are. There’s always more than one way.

ROA

ROA  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Do you have any animals at home?
ROA:
Yes I have a cat and a turtle. The turtle was a gift from a really good friend of ours and the cat chose our home as its home so that’s how the cat came. At a certain point she was there and she didn’t want to leave so she stayed. We had moved to a new house with a basement and we were there for a month and I decided to check out the basement and I left the door open. At night we were watching TV and the came in. I thought it belonged to one of the neighbors so I put it outside and the next day she was back in the basement. So probably she was living there for a long time before us. We moved to 3 different houses and she moved with us and 10 years later she is still our cat.

ROA

ROA  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA

ROA  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Did you ever do a portrait of her?
ROA: No. That’s not true I did some sketches of her – her form, a study of a cat. But I never painted her on a wall or something like that. I think animals like cats, even though they are powerful and beautiful, when you draw them you you can end up really easily with something that is a clichéd image of them. I have done an image of a cat with its skeleton inside but I’m always a little bit scared of doing cats, dogs, tigers – you know what I mean?

ROA

ROA  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Have you seen the cats that C215 does? He does those pretty successfully while avoiding “cute”.
ROA:Yeah, it’s true. The way he does it is not like a postcard or a cheesy album cover from the 80’s, you know what I mean? Anyway I like to paint unpopular animals. In a certain way I think it’s nice to paint animals that people expect.

Brooklyn Street Art: You also like rats…
ROA: I like rodents. Birds and rodents. Without having made a choice, I feel really good painting birds and rodents.

 

ROA (Photo©Jaime Rojo)

ROA (Photo©Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Do you feel like you are telling their story?
ROA: I’m definitely representing for them. That’s for sure. Regarding their “story”; I don’t know what they want to be told. If you could ask a bird what they are thinking about what I’m doing…. Definitely people eat chickens, pigs, and cows but they are not so familiar with the animal itself. They know it as food and these animals are more useful animals in a “product” sort of way so I think it’s good to confront people with what they are eating or what they are not familiar with. But I leave it more for people to see what they want in the animal. There is not a message – maybe for myself but it should not be seen that way. It’s just nice to do animals that are not typical. A lot of people hate pigeons and rats but I like them a lot. I think it is fascinating that certain animals really did not die out because of humanity but instead they use humanity to survive. I think it is interesting to see birds making nests in old buildings.

Brooklyn Street Art: They persevere..
ROA: in spite of our total f*ckups and global destruction. So I think it’s really fascinating – more than our cats and dogs that are totally domesticated as pets.

 

One of ROA's two new Brooklyn birds (photo © Jaime Rojo)

One of ROA’s two new Brooklyn birds (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tune in tomorrow for PART 2: Amazing images of ROA’s giant second Brooklyn piece and we talk about his start as a graffiti kid, how he transitioned to street art, and why we may be entering the “second wave” of street art.

READ PART 2 HERE

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Street Artists Give to NYC KIDS: A gift of Art and Self-Confidence

With 60 artists, 73 artworks, over 500 guests, and a happy vibe created by the mad-scientists Sifunk & Garmunkle at music mission control, the Street Art New York Silent Auction Benefit for Free Arts NYC was a huge success. At the end of the night most of the walls were bare, and most of the pieces remaining had been purchased by absentee bidders. With animated conversations, excited bidding, and occasionally rambunctious dancing (Andrew), the night was really an excellent example of how the street art community is alive and well, and how the work of street artists is in demand.

Thank you to Ali and Ad at Factory Fresh for co-hosting the event, thank you to all the volunteers from Free Arts NYC who helped to hang it, pack it, and execute the auction, and special thanks to all the artists who so generously donated their pieces to the event.  Also special thanks to all the blog friends (so many!) who wrote about this event and all the people who Tweeted it continuously, as well as the print publications who helped get the word out.  We hope to thank you all personally some time, if not via email. Because of your help, the gallery and back yard were jammed with more people than anyone could remember.

Thank you to Reid Harris Cooper for sending us these pictures he took at the crowded party (we threw in a couple crowd shots from the cellphone). Reid actually scored the Blanco piece in the auction.  If anyone else has pics from that night we would love to see them.

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For more images by Reid Harris Cooper see his Flickr page HERE

See images and details of the pieces at our Flickr – which will be updated by the end of the day

Participating artists were: Abe Lincoln Jr., Alex Diamond, Anera, Avoid Pi, Billi Kid, Bishop 203, Blanco, BortusK Leer, Broken Crow, C Damage, C215, Cake, Celso, Chris RWK, Chris Stain, Creepy, Dain, Damon Ginandes, Dan Witz, Dark Clouds, Dennis McNett, Elbow Toe, EllisG, FKDL, Gaia, General Howe, GoreB, Hargo, Hellbent, Imminent Disaster, Infinity, Jef Aerosol, Jim Avignon, JMR, Joe Iurato, Jon Burgerman, Keely, Know Hope, Logan Hicks, Mark Carvalho, Matt Siren, Mint and Serf, Miss Bugs, NohJColey, Nomadé, Peru Ana Ana Peru, PMP/Peripheral Media Projects, Poster Boy, Pufferella, Rene Gagnon, Roa, Royce Bannon, Skewville, Specter, Stikman, Swoon, The Dude Company, Tristan Eaton, UR New York (2esae & Ski), Veng RWK

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MISS BUGS FLIES THROUGH VOLCANIC ASH to Brooklyn

I know, everyone has their own Icelandic Volcanic Ash Story, right?

Well, Miss Bugs just arrived, and we were afraid it wouldn’t make it to the auction on time — and jumpin’ jumbo jets, it’s a high flying winner!   Nothing but BLUE SKIES do I see…

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See more of Miss Bugs HERE

See more pieces from the auction at http://www.flickr.com/photos/streetartnewyork/.

Learn more about the Street Art New York Silent Auction Benefit

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Ellis G. Lands Inside and Outside the Banksy Film

Ellis G. Lands Inside and Outside the Banksy Film

BAM!  The opening montage flies by with the raucous music and your pulse is quickening, spotting art and artists and graffers and wild creatures and you may be wondering where this is all going until it becomes clear — you have landed in Banksy world. He’ll let somebody else tell the time-twisting story inside a story, and then he’ll weigh in with acerbically insightful bonmots….much like the stuff he leaves on the street.

Ellis G. was doing backflips when he saw footage of himself in that opening sequence, and was stoked to be seeing it with a group of people directly related to the street art scene.  As is customary for the Brooklyn street artist, Ellis G. had already traced with thick chalk the shadows outside the spot where the movie was previewed .

In a short time, he was doing it inside too.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Ellis-G-TITLE-Banksy-Movie-April2010-4006367

Brooklyn Street Art: How did your work come off the sidewalk and into this theater?

Ellis G: Marc and Sara Schiller invited me out to a private screening of the film last week and I did a couple street pieces out in front of the venue and also in front of the afterparty for the screening.  Banksy caught wind that I did those, and requested that I do work inside and outside of the Sunshine Theater for the New York premiere of the film.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Ellis-G-Banksy-Movie-April2010-4006367

Brooklyn Street Art: How would you describe what you do as an artist?

Ellis G. : My work is directly related to everyday life. The content and subject matter of my work are all items or objects we deal with on a daily basis consciously and subconsciously;  Items and objects on the street outside as well as inside. Fortunately, my sources for subject matter are never-ending.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Ellis-G-TITLE2-Banksy-Movie-April2010-4006367

Light is everywhere, creating shadows from all types of different light sources. I capture and enhance it. Outside, it can be fleeting.  Weather, pedestrian and vehicular traffic are considered.  Building owners or maintenance hose it away with water. One minute it’s here, the next it’s gone. Inside is a whole different ball game. It becomes photography and screen prints. It becomes installation and sculpture. Most times there is a rhyme and reason behind which objects I work with. Sometimes I like to randomly choose objects, in random geographical locations when I am outside. It really depends on what is catching my eye at the moment. The light source comes into play, as does color, dry or wet streets, surface, backgrounds, architecture, chalk brand, location, and vehicular as well as pedestrian traffic.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Ellis-G-Banksy-Movie-April2010-1564475_n

Brooklyn Street Art: Since you are working with Banksy, does this mean you are going to start wearing a hood and talking like Darth Vader?

Ellis G.: No, I will not be rocking a hoodie and talking like Luke Skywalker’s father anytime soon.
Here is Ellis’s donation the Street Art New York Silent Auction Benefit:

Directory-Street-Art-New-York-Silent-Auction33

See more pieces from the auction at http://www.flickr.com/photos/streetartnewyork/.

Learn more about the Street Art New York Silent Auction Benefit

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NohJColey New Piece Ponders Career Choices

Street artist NohJColey took the mission of the programs at Free Arts NYC to heart and head when creating his piece for the Street Art New York Silent Auction Benefit.

This mixed-media piece focuses on a youth contemplating what path he will take in more grown-up pursuits. With typical NohJColey erudition, this portrait is revealing of an inner dialogue.

NJC’s attention to detail and his uncommon handling of technique and medium truly makes his statement purely his.  You don’t need us to tell you that this talent is one to watch. But what’s up with that eyeball? Jus’ kidding.

Directory-Street-Art-New-York-Silent-Auction55

See more of NOHJ’s work HERE

See more pieces from the auction at http://www.flickr.com/photos/streetartnewyork/.

Learn more about the Street Art New York Silent Auction Benefit

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Dan Witz Donates “Dark Doings” to Do Just the Opposite

Dan Witz has been painting for just over 3 decades since moving from Chicago to New York to study, and he has both a healthy fine art career and has garnered a wide swath of respect for his work on the street. In the piece Dan donated to the auction, it is evident why.

A realist, Dan seeks ways to master space and light with his work – as a street artist over many years, Dan has toyed with the obvious parts of the urban environment that you normally stroll by unthinkingly, subverting normal expectation.  Part of the “Dark Doings” series he began on the street last year, this piece snaps you out of your daily doze as you walk by it affixed to a steel door.

“Did I just see that?”

What lurks there on just the other side of the window is disturbing, and you may need to become involved.

Brooklyn-Street Art-DAN_WITZ_NEW-Directory-Street-Art-New-York-Silent-Auction_

Learn more about “Dark Doings” from his show in November at Carmichael Gallery HERE

See more of Dan Witz’s work HERE

See more pieces from the auction at http://www.flickr.com/photos/streetartnewyork/.

Learn more about the Street Art New York Silent Auction Benefit

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Broken Crow’s Self Portrait for the Auction

These fellas have a good grasp on stencils, if not fashion. The natural world frequently is at odds with the man-made, and the topic is always munching and crunching around the pieces that Minneapolis duo Broken Crow do.

This piece is obviously a farce – John would never wear blue headphones – but otherwise the likenesses are uncanny.  The second self portrait is even more entertaining, if you can imagine.  We are so pleased that these talented muralists were willing to participate in the Street Art New York Silent Auction Benefit and to give their work so generously.

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See more pieces from the auction at http://www.flickr.com/photos/streetartnewyork/.

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General Howe: Historically Speaking Street Art

It wasn’t so long ago that these Brooklyn streets were at war, in a real army v. army battling sort of way, not just rappers out-rhyming each other at a block party.

Street artist General Howe researches significant sites in Brooklyn that relate to the Revolutionary War aka Battle of Brooklyn.  It’s probably an extension of his childhood, where the General waged war regularly with these same toy soldiers.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-General Howe FAITH2010closeup

Now the tiny plastic men are historically placed in exact locations around the city where battles actually took place. If you don’t notice the small cluster, you might smush an entire brigade with your foot – which is usually what happens.  In the loud grit of the street, the bright little dudes, detritus and Duco cement mix with history, movies, and the nostalgia for childhood.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-General Howe FAITH2010

For the Street Art New York Silent Auction, the General has contributed this piece that ties in all his favorite themes and labeled it “Faith”.  He says it’s “an icon to reflect on the experience of creating these battles in the streets of Brooklyn.” The scene is actually part of the Domino Sugar Factory on Kent Avenue, and the style is part of a new series he is doing to evoke the aesthetic of coloring books that children use.

See more pieces from the auction at http://www.flickr.com/photos/streetartnewyork/. We also uploaded Veng, UR New York (2easae & Ski), Tristan Eaton, Bishop 203, Royce Bannon, and Skewville today.  More to come

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DAIN’s ERA-Mashing Piece Donated for the Auction

Hollywood starlets and sweethearts from your grandma’s 1943 high school yearbook have been peering at passersby from doorways in Brooklyn and Manhattan for a couple of years now. These black and white portraits, posed formally yet calmly reassuring in their steady gaze, are festooned with flourescent splashes, symbols, overlays, and hand sprayed plumes.

Brooklyn-born DAIN has been updating a bygone period when the “greatest generation” flourished, the modern war machine was birthed, and “middle class” almost became a birthright.  His rowdy re-working of those symbols from a genteel age into a modern street context stays just this side of sentimentality or cute – rather DAIN’s balance keeps off just enough for you to know what a badass he really is.  Here is DAIN’s generous contribution to the Street Art New York Silent Auction Benefit.

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We’d recognize those eyes anywhere…

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C215 Donates a Smoking Piece to the Auction Benefit

It isn’t unusual to look at the heavily lined faces of this artist and find that you drift away for a moment, lost in a thought. This particular portrait by French street artist C215 of Jon Cartwright has appeared on the streets of New York, London, Paris, and Sao Paulo.* C215, well known for his intricate stencils and portraits of people that somehow allow their inner glow to come out, generously donated this piece for the Street Art New York Silent Auction Benefit this Saturday.

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Using the bottom side of what was once a letterpress sorting drawer of heavy wood, C215 chooses a subject that looks off into a haze of smoke, reflecting for a minute on the issue of the moment, or remembering someone, a conversation, or a phrase.

* source Metro.co.uk

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