All posts tagged: finDAC

BSA Images Of The Week: 07.09.23

July 9, 2023 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! Hello Friends! Lots of good new graffiti and street art and murals out there this week as the city was pausing for some fireworks – nearly every day including the official ones on Tuesday night. The illegal fireworks never completely go away, but they ebb and flow from year to year. The rotating sculpture of the Statue of Liberty that was made of drones really impressed the crowds of New Yorkers this year as they were waiting for the show on the 4^th.

In the news, our Mayor may have had some curious donor scheme, our delivery people are getting resistance from corporate powers to a minimum wage for their work, and our ultra-rich citizens, whose income tax is capped so they pay only about 1% of it – are positioning themselves to take away Social Security from millions of their fellow Americans who depend upon it.

And a word on cluster bombs, which America is intending to deploy in Ukraine? They are not “controversial”, they are immoral. According to the Guardian, “More than 100 countries, including the UK, France and Germany, have signed an international treaty – the Convention on Cluster Munitions – that outlaws the use or stockpiling of these weapons due to their indiscriminate effect on civilian populations.

Children are particularly prone to injury as the bomblets can resemble a small toy left in a residential or farmland area and are often picked up out of curiosity.

Human rights groups have described cluster munitions as “abhorrent” and even a war crime.”

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: finDAC, Jenna Morello, DepsOne, TomBoy NYC, Tom Bob, Hiroshi Masuda, Cale K29, Fel 3000 Ft, Edospac, Seb Bouchard, Quaker Pirate, GOAT, and Trasheer.

Cale K29 in Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Fel 3000 Ft in Wynwood, Mimai. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Queens in Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

An old Findac surrounded by graffiti in Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Sunset. Summer 2023. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 02.16.20

February 16, 2020 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

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Welcome to BSA Images of the Week!

Here’s our weekly interview with the street featuring Add Fuel, Almost Over Keep Smiling, BR163, Crash, Degrupo, Disordered, Early Riser, finDAC, Fours, Jason Naylor, Leleus, JL, Maya Hayuk, Obey, Sara Lynne Leo, Surface of Beauty, Telmo & Miel.

Crash x BR163 for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FinDac. Wynwood, Miami. December, 2019 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Telmo Miel in Wynwood Miami combined their portraiture with abstraction. Detail A. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Telmo Miel in Wynwood Miami combined their portraiture with abstraction. Detail B. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Maya Hayuk work in progress. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Almost Over Keep Smiling (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Brooklyn. February 2020. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Selina Miles Captures Bordallo II, FinDac, Millo and Case Maclaim at ONO’U 2019

November 23, 2019 Artists

There are times when an artist needs to be completely obvious to get their message out into the world, and Bordalo II is setting the tone for this year’s unofficial ONO’U festival in the gorgeous natural wonder called Tahiti. Using refuse he gathered around the islands of French Polynesia the Lisboan trash artist created a colorful replica of the oceans greatest predator, a shark, using the ocean’s greatest predator, trash.

Vandals at ONO’U 2019 (photo © Selina Miles)

Thanks to filmmaker Selina Miles’ eagle eye we have a brilliant array of scenes today with your from Selina’s trip last month to this uncommon Street Art rendevous in paradise that is organized every year by ONO’U creator Sarah Roopinia.

You may recognize a few of these artists as alumni of previous editions and note the familiar tone that these images relate – like this one with Bordalo II and his co-conspirator modeling fluorescent plastic netting over their heads. It’s funny when you do it to entertain your friends, but not when it gets stuck on your head in the ocean for days or weeks or months and prevents you from eating, like when you are duck, for example.

Bordalo II. ONO’U 2019 (photo © Selina Miles)

Case Maclaim. ONO’U 2019 (photo © Selina Miles)

Bordallo II. ONO’U 2019 (photo © Selina Miles)

Millo. ONO’U 2019 (photo © Selina Miles)

FinDac. ONO’U 2019 (photo © Selina Miles)

finDAC Shines as Poseidia Rises In Berlin

November 14, 2019 Artists

Atlantis didn’t arise, as the prophetic clairvoyant Edgar Cayce said it would, but Poseidia certainly did only six months ago here on a Berlin street thanks to Irish Street Artist and fine artist finDAC.

finDAC for Urban Nation Berlin 2019. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

By appropriation and inspiration, her manner and fashion may think she comes forth from the Pacific, this masked muse named Low Flying Angel, but in fact she’s closer to the Atlantic here on the River Bülowstraße. In any case the artist continues his expertise and evolution in rendering the richness of fabrication, volume and subtle textures on his street figures that you may wonder if this is canvas.

BSA Images Of The Week: 02.03.19

February 3, 2019 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week, Graffiti, Mural Art, Street Art, Urban Art

“Man, what’s with this cough that never goes away?” you ask your boy Tre, who’s laying on the moss green living room rug by the radiator drawing in his black book with an extra fine tip paint pen, listening to Wu Tang. “Could be January,” he offers. “Or maybe its asbestos from that work they’re doing in the elevator shaft.”

Right. “Never mind, lets watch some Beer Bowl!”

Meanwhile on the streets the ideas never stop. We were pretty excited to get up to 167th Street station to see the new mosaics by Brooklyn artist Rico Gatson, who does painting, video, sculpture and installation. These portraits of important contributors to the culture make us all proud. Here are just a handful but there are more and you should go and see them yourself.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this time featuring Atomik, Captain Eyeliner, Deih XLF, finDAC, Go Vegan, Hoxxoh, Kai, Kevin Ledo, Lefty Out There, Mastrocola, My Dog Sighs, Pez, Rico Gaston, The Revolution Artists, Uninhibited, and What is Adam.

Supreme Justice Sonia Sotomayor immortalized by Rico Gatson in the NYC Subway. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Poet Laureate Maya Angelou immortalized by Rico Gatson in the NYC Subway. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Singer Celia Cruz immortalized by Rico Gatson in the NYC Subway. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lefty Out There in Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Atomik and friends in Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

What Is Adam in Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Collaboration between FinDAC and Kevin Ledo in Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Uninhibited in Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Revolution Artists in Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A collaboration among different artists in Miami (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mastrocola in Miami (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Wynwood, Miami. December 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 06.10.18 X ONO’U Tahiti Festival Special

June 10, 2018 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Hello from French Polynesia! All week we have been hopping around the islands from Papeete to Raiatea and now in Bora Bora. Celebrating its 5th anniversary/birthday last night at the huge community street party with founders Sarah Roopina and Jean Ozonder and with this years ONO’U festival artists slamming walls like crazy here – you can see that hard work pays off sometimes.

Grassroots, not overly commercial, inclusive, responsive to the neighbors, high quality artworks – its a solid, even golden mix. Also Sarah’s parents are always happy to pitch in, whether it is pushing a broom or making lunch for everyone at home in their kitchen and bringing it to the work site to make sure that everyone eats. It is touches of warmth like this which reminds you that in many ways this scene that started in the street is as much about community as it is self expression.

For BSA readers who are just catching up with ONO’U we thought we’d use Images of the Week as an ONO’U Greatest Hits collection today. Most of these have never before published on BSA from the four previous editions. We took winding streets, back alleys, roundabouts, promenades, rooftops, abandoned lots and just about any place we could enter alongside Martha Cooper and had a blast for three days finding these walls again. Enjoy and Māuruuru roa!

DalEast. ONO’U Tahiti 2015 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Seth . HJT. ONO’U Tahiti 2015. Papeete. In 2016 this particular wall was chosen by the French Polynesia Postal Service as a stamp. We wrote about it HERE. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Suiko. ONO’U Tahiti 2014 / Papeete. Roosters, hens and chicks run wild on the streets of many towns in French Polynesia. We haven’t figured out who feeds them, or how they survive, but they seem to roam free of owners and masters. One can hear the roosters making their distinctive call (here is what they sound like) every morning – sometimes before you are fully aware that the new day has begun. It is also not unusual to see a mother hen with her chicks crossing the roads at their leisure, sometimes stopping traffic. We of course stop for them. Always. Lore has it that there are big mean centipedes in the archipelagos and that the chickens eat them. See they earn their keep balancing the natural population of insects, besides being very effective alarms clocks. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Leon Keer’s anamorphic Street Art, literally on the street, creates a mind-bending illusion with perspective. ONO’U Tahiti 2016 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DalEast. ONO’U Tahiti 2015 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mast’s tribute to the NYC Subway creates a new faux subway stop that is roughly 6,300 miles (10,103 km) from New York. ONO’U Tahiti 2016 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

INTI. ONO’U Tahiti 2014 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

MadC. ONO’U Tahiti 2014 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FinDac. ONO’U Tahiti 2017 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

KOBRA. ONO’U Tahiti 2017 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

PEETA. ONO’U Tahiti 2016 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Marko93. ONO’U Tahiti 2017 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Besok. ONO’U Tahiti 2014 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Charles & Janine Williams. The Ōma’o is a bird from the island of Hawaii is placed at the highest risk of extinction thus the “Critically Endangerd” or CR designation. ONO’U Tahiti 2016 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Abuz . HTJ . JUPS. ONO’U Tahiti 2016 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA. ONO’U Tahiti 2015 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Askew . Sofles. ONO’U Tahiti 2015 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Inspired by the Polynesian legend of “The Coconut Tree” the mural has to do with an eel’s head, a forgetful young girl and the birth of the coconut tree:

“The coconut tree is one of the most common trees in The Islands Of Tahiti. The Polynesians always tell a legend about its creation… The coconut tree legend…

A long time ago, a young girl called Hina was of real beauty due to her sun kissed skin and silky hair. She was meant to marry the prince of eels. Frightened by the physique of her suitor, who had a gigantic body and an enormous head, Hina ran away and took refuge in the house of the fishing God – Hiro.

The latter was dazzled by the beauty of Hina and touched by her history, so he took one of the young woman’s hairs and with it fished the approaching eel. Hiro cut up the prince of eels and wrapped his head in leaves. Before dying, the eel said to Hina: “of all the Men who hate me, including you Hina, you will one day kiss me to thank me. I will die, but my prediction is eternal.”.

Hiro entrusted the head of the eel to Hina and then advised her:

‘Hina, girl of beauty, you can return to your family and there, you will destroy this head. But throughout your journey do not put it on the ground because then the curse of the eel will come true.’

On her way back, the beautiful young woman and her followers who accompanied her, became tired and decided to take a bath in the river, forgetting the warning of the God Hiro. The eel’s head which had been put on the ground penetrated the earth, and from it a large tree was born, with a long trunk just like an immense eel, and with foliage similar to hair; the coconut tree had just been born.

Hina was then condemned by the Gods to remain close to this river because the tree had become taboo… Life went on until the day when a terrible dryness struck the lands and during which only the coconut resisted the sun. Thus, in spite of the God’s prohibition to touch this tree, men picked its fruit full of clear and nutritive water. Each fruit was marked with 3 dark spots laid out like two eyes and a mouth on which the men put their lips in order to drink the coconut water…. Hina did the same thing ….. And the prophecy of the prince of eels had just come true.”

Askew . Sofles. ONO’U Tahiti 2015 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faith XLVII. ONO’U Tahiti 2015 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dabs & Myla . Kems. ONO’U Tahiti 2014 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dabs & Myla . Pose. ONO’U Tahiti 2015 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 05.13.18

May 13, 2018 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

A lot of action in Brooklyn these last few weeks thanks to a number of artists swinging through town for the Moniker Art Fair in Greenpoint, as well as the annual peregrination of artists who are arriving in the city that begins in earnest after the last danger of frost has passed.

If you are in NYC you may like to swing by the Quin Hotel to see the “In Bloom”group show in the lobby that opened Thursday co-curated by DK Johnston and Lori Zimmer and the “Chimera” 3-artist show at GR gallery with 1010, Ron Agam, and Nelio. We def recommend the Rammellzee show at Red Bull Arts – many praises to Carlo McCormick and Max Wolf and team for pulling that one off. In case you missed our interview with Carlo, here it is: Rammellzee, Racing For Thunder, and Interview with Carlo McCormick

Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Brusk, Buff Monster, False, finDAC, King Amsterdam, Knox, Lady Courage, Low Key Steezo666, Lunge Box, Sonny Sundancer, Swoon, and Wellnoo.

Top Image: Sunny Sundancer finishes his final mural for his #totheboneproject , a grizzly titled “Standing Tall” looking out over Greenwich Village, done in conjunction with The L.I.S.A Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Skewville for Moniker Art Fair. Greenpoint, Brooklyn. TRAP on top. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Skewville taking a break to gossip. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FinDac for Moniker Art Fair in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Buff Monster for Moniker Art Fair in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brusk for Moniker Art Fair in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lunge Box (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Low Key Steezo666 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lady Courage (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon at Moniker Art Fair. Greenpoint, Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Welinoo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

King Amsterdam (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Knoz . False (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Moniker BK 2018 Catalogue Introduction Text by BSA

May 2, 2018 Artists

For the past few days we’ve been highlighting some of the artists whose brand new works will be debuted this week at Moniker International Art Fair this week. We are pleased that our editor in chief, Steven P. Harrington, was asked to write the Moniker catalogue introduction and today we share with you his original text to give you an idea of his perspective on having this art fair in BK.

From the seedy to the sublime, Brooklyn’s underground and street culture always bubbles up to the surface like hot gritty pavement tar when you least expect it – maybe because it’s character is so diverse and scrappy; a perpetual underdog, a fighter who never tires. Likewise Moniker has blazed many dark streets during its first nine years in search of new unusual inspiration and authentic voices. For its New York debut Moniker again short-circuits expectations and takes up a seriously innovative residence in the street culture epicenter of BKLN.

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

In the modern Urban Art story Brooklyn is known for giving birth to epic 1970s train writers like Dondi, 80s train/canvas artists like Daze, crossover iconoclast graffiti/Street Artists like REVS in the 90s, and Street Art innovators like Bäst, Faile, Judith Supine, Skewville and Swoon in the 00s. Currently it claims the thickest density of international murals by urban aerosol wizards anywhere in the city – with the Bushwick Collective proliferating an epic scene of styles in the 2010s that brings a river of fans and tours out on the L train on any given sunny Saturday.

An earlier Bast in Brooklyn (photo ©Jaime Rojo)

Curated, experiential, and immersive, Moniker again goes right to the source of this Street Art scene that has jolted many international collectors out of their comfort zones and sparked life into Contemporary Art in a way that nobody foresaw.

With an awesome shot of Gotham across the river and just adjacent to Williamsburg this site is where 4,000 workers in factories manufactured nautical rope for the Merchant Marine in the previous century, later becoming a marginalized and abandoned industrial neighborhood that was like a powerful magnet to Street Artists and graffiti writers until only recently.

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Right here only a decade ago my partner and I threw a Street Art burlesque show for 300 avant-art fans behind a graffiti supply store; acrobats, fire tagging and drunken DJs included. Months later, with abandoned buildings and empty lots at our disposal, we projected Street Art images meta-style on walls around the neighborhood along with 20 or so projection artists for BK’s own version of a renegade Nuit Blanche.

ASVP (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Only a block or two from where Moniker is sited graffiti throwups and bubble letters were scattered everywhere, squatters started fires to keep warm and scare off rats, skater kids regularly rode the underground paradise called “Autumn Bowl” by sneaking through a hole in the wall, and Banksy did one of his famous New York residency pieces here in 2013, “This site contains blocked messages.” The hardcore and anonymous REVS himself used a blowtorch to weld a dozen or so sculptures around this neighborhood during the 00s and ‘10s. There is at least one remaining.

FaithXLVII (photo © Jaime Rojo)

And now Moniker 2018 beams out a new international signal to you from here, channeling that explosive Brooklyn DIY creative spirit up to the soaring ceilings of the Greenpoint Terminal Warehouse, effectively recreating the kind of immersive street carnival atmosphere that proved the ideal laboratory for Street Artists in BK like like Skewville, Dan Witz, Aiko, Mark Jenkins and countless others.

Now Moniker is introducing you to a dynamic crop of work by street practitioners on Brooklyn streets like Icy & Sot, Specter, and ASVP as well as the international high-profilers who have put work on the street here like Faith XLVII, FinDAC and Vermibus.

Vermibus (photo © Jaime Rojo)

As Urban Contemporary takes a solid hold in art world parlance it’s only right that a unique event like this challenges the rules for installations. All original new work from a handpicked highly curated group of 27 exhibitors, you will not have seen these installations and pieces previously. Judging by the hefty buzz leading up to Moniker 2018 in Brooklyn, you might not see them again.

Reminds me of Street Art.

FinDAC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA “Images Of The Year” for 2017 (VIDEO)

December 15, 2017 Artists

Of the thousands of images he took this year in places like New York, Berlin, Scotland, Hong Kong, Sweden, French Polynesia, Barcelona, and Mexico City, photographer Jaime Rojo found that Street Art and graffiti are more alive than every before. From aerosol to brush to wheat-paste to sculpture and installations, the individual acts of art on the street can be uniquely powerful – even if you don’t personally know where or who it is coming from. As you look at the faces and expressions it is significant to see a sense of unrest, anger, fear. We also see hope and determination.

Every Sunday on BrooklynStreetArt.com, we present “Images Of The Week”, our weekly interview with the street. Primarily New York based, BSA interviewed, shot, and displayed images from Street Artists from more than 100 cities over the last year, making the site a truly global resource for artists, fans, collectors, gallerists, museums, curators, academics, and others in the creative ecosystem. We are proud of the help we have given and thankful to the community for what you give back to us and we hope you enjoy this collection – some of the best from 2017.

Brooklyn Street Art 2017 Images of the Year by Jaime Rojo includes the following artists;

Artists included in the video are: Suitswon, Curiot, Okuda, Astro, Sixe Paredes, Felipe Pantone, Hot Tea, Add Fuel, Hosh, Miss Van, Paola Delfin, Pantonio, Base23, R1, Jaune, Revok, Nick Walker, 1UP Crew, SotenOne, Phat1, Rime MSK, Martin Whatson, Alanis, Smells, UFO907, Kai, Tuts, Rambo, Martha Cooper, Lee Quinoes, Buster, Adam Fujita, Dirty Bandits, American Puppet, Disordered, Watchavato, Shepard Fairey, David Kramer, Yoko Ono, Dave The Chimp, Icy & Sot, Damien Mitchell, Molly Crabapple, Jerkface, Isaac Cordal, SacSix, Raf Urban, ATM Street Art, Stray Ones, Sony Sundancer, ROA, Telmo & Miel, Alexis Diaz, Space Invader, Nasca, BK Foxx, BordaloII, The Yok & Sheryo, Arty & Chikle, Daniel Buchsbaum, RIS Crew, Pichi & Avo, Lonac, Size Two, Cleon Peterson, Miquel Wert, Pyramid Oracle, Axe Colours, Swoon, Outings Project, Various & Gould, Alina Kiliwa, Tatiana Fazalalizadeh, Herakut, Jamal Shabaz, Seth, Vhils, KWets1, FinDac, Vinz Feel Free, Milamores & El Flaco, Alice Pasquini, Os Gemeos, Pixel Pancho, Kano Kid, Gutti Barrios, 3 x 3 x 3, Anonymouse, NeSpoon, Trashbird, M-city, ZoerOne, James Bullowgh, and 2501.

Cover image of Suits Won piece with Manhattan in the background, photo by Jaime Rojo.

Street Art’s Tropical Spray into Tahiti: ONO’U Murals Wow

October 18, 2017 Artists

The Completed Murals from Okuda, Felipe Pantone, Astro, FinDAC, MrZL & Kalouf

“I think it’s the island that inspired me to do the painting,” Okuda says of this brand new surrealist dream on a four story wall here in Tahiti.

With multi-colored geometric planes that form her bare shoulders, the Spanish artist says this architectural woman holding a piece of fruit is based on a painting by another famous European artist, the French post-Impressionist Paul Gauguin, who lived here in French Polynesia the 1890s.

It is a radical yet reassuring interpretation of a contemporary painter who counts surrealism painters like Dali, Ernst, and Magritte as favorites over the more romantic Impressionists. Aside from some of the rich hues and compositional elements, Okuda’s newer painting is a stunning departure from the revered original.

Akimbo looking out with Okuda on the lift. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Okuda’s wall is one of five large new murals at ONO’U, the Tahitian mural festival now in its fourth year that has invited international Street Artists to this neighborhood in Papeete to paint and to get to know the locals, many of whom work in the tourist industry, sell produce, crafts, and jewelry.

Okuda, who has become a world traveler of late and a name that is sure to grow in the Contemporary Art field, says memories of his days playing soccer in the neighborhood as a boy with his brother while their parents worked at a restaurant keep him aware of the struggles of the workers whom he runs into. However fantastic the interpretation of a figure or form, he says that his works are often improvised in the moment and he wants them to come from the heart. In this case he used Gauguin’s original as his sketch but felt free to play with size and proportion of the figures and elements in the background.

“I think the most important aspect of my work is to change the place in a more positive way and I hope all of the Papeete community can feel it, you know?” he says on a hot muggy afternoon where the breeze from the nearby marina doesn’t seem to come far in shore.

“I remember that a teacher said to us one day when he was watching me paint that this wall is so important for the kids because they will be affected by my positivity,” Okuda says. “You can’t imagine how much you can change kids lives with art – and it is so important. Maybe the adults are too distracted to see it and to feel it but the kids are very receptive.”

The week-long festival included a museum installation, projection mapping, a block party, and even a fashion show that included local beauties modeling gowns painted by graffiti writers like Astro, Phat1, Abuz, Marko93, Lady Diva, Rival, Soten and Inkie.

Here we give you a few of the exceptionally strong pieces from the tight and high quality curation of ONO’U 2017; including works from Okuda, Felipe Pantone, Astro, FinDAC, Kalouf, MrZL, and Inkie on a box truck. Our thanks to all the volunteers and to the ONO’U Festival organizers Sarah Roopinia and Jean Ozonder.

Paul Gauguin. Where Are You Going?, or Woman Holding a Fruit . 1893. Current location: The Hermitage Museum. Russia.

This mural was conceived of as an animated projection mapping installation which we arrived a day late for. There is supposed to be a video for the event and animated chameleon coming soon.

Inkie. The festival wouldn’t be complete without a painted box truck. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Marko93 & MrZL Video Mapping Collaboration

Using a tracked central element as their starting point, French aerosol artist Marko93 and French digital mapping artist MrZL collaborated on this installation piece that debuted last week at the Tahiti Museum of Street Art.

This article is also published on The Huffington Post

Bending Perceptions at ONO’U: ASTRO, OKUDA & Graffiti Couture: ONO’U TAHITI 2017: DISPATCH 3

October 4, 2017 Artists

This week BSA takes you to the French Polynesian Islands to see the new murals going up for this tropical island cultural festival called ONO’U Tahiti 2017. We’re happy to bring you the daily events and the insights as we discover them.

After some logistical challenges with the cherry picker, Astro has wasted no time converting the side of a building into a perception-bending illusion for downtown Papeete here in Tahiti.

But then, illusions and perception are all we have, right? And it is many artists pastime to play with both.

This new ONO’U Festival mural is next to a huge gas station and across the street from a gun store selling high-powered firearms (they might be toys) and here we have a French graffiti writer hailing from two crews (ODV and CBA) that appears to reconfigure the basic structure of a building while adorning it.

Additionally the dude is crafting a uniquely personal career with his optic artworks on buildings, roofs, pavement, t-shirts, screenprints, and canvasses.

Likewise Okuda is playing with traditional figurative forms and natural symbols that recalls abstract geometry of the Art Deco filtered through surreal wire-framing models. The cheerful palette is right at home here in the tropical islands, the somewhat domestic scenes popping up in your dreams, symbols of something, but you’re not sure what.

Aside from that, there is a daily slow unveiling of the piece, with it’s bricked faced mom from the 1940s and chirping birds near her head. We watched as it halted at least one small boy who walking by and holding his mothers’ hand. He surveyed the work in progress and begin and pointing and questioning and explaining … and refusing to leave the parking lot.

ONO’U director Sarah Roopinia with ASTRO and crew sorting the lift. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Tropical birds are showing up in FinDAC’s piece as well, a balancing act of some manner that we need to ask him about. Felippe Pantone is making progress on his mammoth piece as well and a general fragrance of aerosol spray permeates the activities within the museum in preparation for the block party on Friday night.

Although that aerosol fragrance was also flooding the bank lobby last night during the chic and street flavored fashion show extravaganza conceived of by ONO’U festival visionary Sarah Roopinia, who paired graffiti writer/Street Artists with fashion designers and models and presented some grand visions to this tony crowd of Tahitians.

With Soten and Marko93 actively spraying tags on models dresses before the crowd in the multi-story foyer during the cocktail/ hor d’oeuvre/ orchid soaked reception, one wondered if it was the tropically fresh minty drinks or the freshly sprayed paint fumes that were getting us high.

Add to this a thumping soundtrack, psychedelic motion graphics, and high-heeled gently-swerving models careening down the runway and you begin to wonder where you are exactly.

Amidst the flashing lights and live TV coverage, the crowd was drinking in the sight of spray painted couture-meets-street-culture-meets-traditional Polynesian fashion, something many hadn’t seen before. The climax was seeing the artists on the arms of models for the final curtain call; a final head-spinning communal experience of perception-bending illusions on parade.

See images from the fashion show below, followed by a video of highlights by Jaime Rojo.

The ONO’U Fashion Show featuring a model wearing a garment painted by Phat1, 3 dancers, and a TV camera man. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

The ONO’U Fashion Show finale with models and artists including Astro, Phat1, Abuz, Marko93, Lady Diva, Rival, and Inkie. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Credits for the ONO’U Fashion Show 2017:
Concept and design by Sarah Roopinia, Dressmaker: Myrna from Kahaia Couture, Accessories: Turere & Rio from O’TAHI Creations & Tevei from TEVEI PERLE, Choreographed by Sarah Roopinia and Hiro from HANATIKA, Decoration by Hiro, MUA by Teura Allain and Jad’Art, Hair by Mr. Johns & Hiti from UNIK HAIR

VHILS, LEIS, and Roosters: The Charm of ONO’U Tahiti 2017: Dispatch 1

October 2, 2017 Artists

Closer to Auckland than Oakland and closer to heaven than Marge Simpson’s hair, the islands of French Polynesia are sort of difficult to get to but once you are here, the marina and mountain and the cats and the chickens will charm your lei right off of you.

Yes, in fact, we did receive a traditional maeva at the airport this morning at 5 am from Sarah Roopina and Jean Ozonder – a hand strung necklace of frangipani and orchids placed around the shoulders. Before you can get wowed at the previous murals from their earlier “ONO’U” festivals like stuff from Inti, Seth Globepainter, Bordalo II and Okuda just sprinkled through downtown Papeete, you are undoubtedly stunned by the power of their flower game.

No joke, with the leis and the blossom behind the ear, the people know how to bring an enchanting portion of poetry to everyday exchanges. Often a gardenia and often fragrant, it is not easy to overlook the wearer and appreciate their simple floral addition.

Turn the corner and at the table of a sidewalk café is the piece de resistance, as they may say here: a warm and smiling woman joking conspiratorially with her lunchmate and smoking a cigarette with a veritable crown of blossoms. This tiare is fragrant and gently cushioned by green these floral crowns, made of blossoms of yellow, white, fushia… that’s probably why the new Vhils piece proudly showcases this crown of blooming tropical nature in full glory. Sorry kids, these folks have the flower situation on lockdown.

Meanwhile the mother hen and her chicks whom we almost ran over with the mural-catching truck could not have been freer. Jaime jumped out of the truck after we jammed on the brakes and flashed the parking lights so cars behind us didn’t smash into the bumper. Sort of unperturbed by the kerfuffle, the white/beige mama chicken with a red beak flew a couple of feet back into the dirt driveway and the orbish chick fluttered after her.

And we gotta name check the strutting attitude and fantastic feather patterns on the roosters that are in the streets, on lawns, strolling on the waterside signing at the top of their lungs. We’ve heard more roosters belting out the hits in the last 12 hours here in Tahiti than Mrs. Sinatra heard during a long weekend at Ceasar’s Palace.

Yes, there are Street Artists arriving right now and whom we are yet to meet and some talents are already scaling walls like FinDAC and Okuda and Felipe Pantone and Astro. Last night the trio called BLAST ART blew 300 peoples mind’s with modern projection mapping piece combining a newly painted chameleon on a wall and a number of Jedi mind tricks to kick off the festival yesterday, but for us today, the flowers and the chickens are the winners of ONO’U.

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DalEast. ONO’U Tahiti 2015 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Seth . HJT. ONO’U Tahiti 2015. Papeete. In 2016 this particular wall was chosen by the French Polynesia Postal Service as a stamp. We wrote about it HERE. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Leon Keer’s anamorphic Street Art, literally on the street, creates a mind-bending illusion with perspective. ONO’U Tahiti 2016 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DalEast. ONO’U Tahiti 2015 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mast’s tribute to the NYC Subway creates a new faux subway stop that is roughly 6,300 miles (10,103 km) from New York. ONO’U Tahiti 2016 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

INTI. ONO’U Tahiti 2014 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

MadC. ONO’U Tahiti 2014 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FinDac. ONO’U Tahiti 2017 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

KOBRA. ONO’U Tahiti 2017 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

PEETA. ONO’U Tahiti 2016 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Marko93. ONO’U Tahiti 2017 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Besok. ONO’U Tahiti 2014 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Charles & Janine Williams. The Ōma’o is a bird from the island of Hawaii is placed at the highest risk of extinction thus the “Critically Endangerd” or CR designation. ONO’U Tahiti 2016 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Abuz . HTJ . JUPS. ONO’U Tahiti 2016 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA. ONO’U Tahiti 2015 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Askew . Sofles. ONO’U Tahiti 2015 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Askew . Sofles. ONO’U Tahiti 2015 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faith XLVII. ONO’U Tahiti 2015 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dabs & Myla . Kems. ONO’U Tahiti 2014 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dabs & Myla . Pose. ONO’U Tahiti 2015 / Papeete. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Top Image: Sunny Sundancer finishes his final mural for his #totheboneproject , a grizzly titled “Standing Tall” looking out over Greenwich Village, done in conjunction with The L.I.S.A Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Skewville for Moniker Art Fair. Greenpoint, Brooklyn. TRAP on top. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Skewville taking a break to gossip. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FinDac for Moniker Art Fair in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FinDac for Moniker Art Fair in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Buff Monster for Moniker Art Fair in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brusk for Moniker Art Fair in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brusk for Moniker Art Fair in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brusk for Moniker Art Fair in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lunge Box (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Low Key Steezo666 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lady Courage (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon at Moniker Art Fair. Greenpoint, Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Welinoo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

King Amsterdam (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Knoz . False (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ASVP (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FaithXLVII (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vermibus (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FinDAC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Okuda. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Akimbo looking out with Okuda on the lift. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Okuda. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Okuda. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Paul Gauguin. Where Are You Going?, or Woman Holding a Fruit . 1893. Current location: The Hermitage Museum. Russia.

Okuda. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ASTRO. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ASTRO. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ASTRO. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ASTRO. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Felipe Pantone. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Felipe Pantone. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Felipe Pantone. Detail. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Felipe Pantone. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FinDAC. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FinDAC. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FinDAC. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FinDAC. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FinDAC. Detail.. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © FinDAC)

FinDAC. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © FinDAC)

Kalouf and MrZL collaboration. Detail. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kalouf and MrZL collaboration. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Inkie. The festival wouldn’t be complete without a painted box truck. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Inkie. The festival wouldn’t be complete without a painted box truck. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Papeete, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Marko93 & MrZL Video Mapping Collaboration

ASTRO. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ASTRO. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ONO’U director Sarah Roopinia with ASTRO and crew sorting the lift. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

OKUDA. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

OKUDA. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The ONO’U Fashion Show featuring a model wearing a garment painted by Phat1, 3 dancers, and a TV camera man. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

The ONO’U Fashion Show featuring a model wearing a garment painted by Inkie. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

The ONO’U Fashion Show finale with models and artists including Astro, Phat1, Abuz, Marko93, Lady Diva, Rival, and Inkie. (photo © Martha Cooper)

FINDAC. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FINDAC. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Felipe Pantone. Process shot. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)