All posts tagged: Frank Whitney

Living Walls : Albany Roundup

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RECAP – BSA and Living Walls : Albany

This weekend in Albany very important Street Art presentations were made at the New York State Museum during “Living Walls: Albany”, including one from Street Art duo Broken Crow, pictured here in custom made aluminum foil head gear that reflected light rays all around the Clark Auditorium.

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There were so many moving parts in this large and easy going cultural festival this weekend, and we were really happy to meet so many people in the street, at the Marketplace encampment, in St. Joseph’s Church, at the tile factory, and during our keynote lecture at the New York State Museum Saturday. Thanks to Samson Contompasis for asking BSA to partner with him for LWAlbany and a quick shout out to other local partners James Shultis at Grand Street Community Arts, Sivan Shimoni, the staff at NYS Museum, and local blogger KC Orcutt at KeepAlbanyBoring.com along with photographers Andrew Franciosa, Bob Anderson, MC3, Frank Whitney, and Ken Jacobie.  Also big ups to Monica Compana, who c0-spearheaded Living Walls Atlanta, which we covered a lot when it began last year.  For all the locals mentioned, they are just the tip of the iceberg of a large committed creative and professional community in the Upstate New York region who helped to pull this thing off with almost zero dollars and tons of planning and hustling. For the first year, it is/was a major achievement.

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Broken Crow (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Of course our main focus is always the Street Artists and the creative spirit that is alive and well on the streets so it was a total honor to see the artists and see brand new stuff going up, like the last one before catching a train last night – Broken Crow’s ram under a bridge.  There are still some pieces being finished by NohJColey, Clown Soldier, Doodles, and one we missed from Michael DeFeo. Also coming up should be Hellbent and possibly some other artists this fall, so we’ll get back to you on that. Not all these pics are from Living Walls : Albany by the way — when you are combing the streets you find all kinds of stuff you didn’t expect.

Check out all BSA coverage on the archive page here.

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Broken Crow (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Broken Crow (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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White Cocoa (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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White Cocoa (photo © Jaime Rojo)brooklyn-street-art-artist-unknown-jaime-rojo-albany-living-walls-09-11-web

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Doodles at work on his wall. He explained to BSA that it will eventually contain 5 frames of a figure gradually being crushed under a backpack, which he will shake himself from and run into the wild. It’s meant to symbolize the fears and problems that can accumulate in life and our need to shake the “baggage” if possible.  — and some more esoteric descriptors that we can tell you about if you want to know.  Stay tuned for the finished piece. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Doodles at work on his wall (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Doodles wall in progress (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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NohJColey at work on his wall (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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NohJColey at work on his wall (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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NohJColey at work on his wall (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Cake, Infinity (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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(photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Overunder (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Overunder next to an old Radical! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Overunder (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Veng RWK (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Clown Soldier (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Michael DeFeo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Radical (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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N’DA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Take your own tour this fall with the Living Walls : Albany MAP

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Chris Stain in Church, Museum : 9/11 Mural With “Living Walls: Albany”

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The Street Artist Creates 40 Foot Mural Marking 10th Anniversary

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Living Walls with Chris Stain

Words by KC Orcutt
with photos from Andrew Franciosa, Frank Whitney, and Ken Jacobie

Working in the monumental landmark of St. Joseph’s church, the focal point marking Albany’s Ten Broeck Historical District, everything echoed. The shake of the spray paint can, Chris Stain’s soft but direct voice, friends casually eating out of take-out containers and the sliding of a huge ladder against the wooden floor echoed against the high, detailed ceilings of the church, breaking the silence in what felt like both a privileged and private setting to be working in.

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Samson prepares the wall at St Joseph’s church for Chris Stain (photo © Ken Jacobie)

This portion of the “Living Walls: Albany” project directly faced the challenge all artists face: make something out of nothing. For the organizer, Samson Contompasis, that challenge was making a 40 by 16 foot wall out of 20 wooden pieces for Chris Stain to create his contribution to the project. Challenge met. Next.

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Chris Stain (photo © Andrew Franciosa)

As Chris Stain humored me in talking about Albany, the culture of zines and independent art books, doing his art homework on the train up here and how the quietness of the church was peaceful, he worked very swiftly. With one can of spray paint on deck in his back pocket and one in his hand, he got to work on his installation piece, depicting a scene of firefighters, an American flag and slanted city buildings, working with the ‘perfect’ red and an assortment of spray paint cans aligned like soldiers ready to go.

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Chris Stain (photo © Andrew Franciosa)

The finished piece alongside the ornate details of the church allowed for a natural moment of silence, soaking in what Stain sprayed before us, ready to be taken apart and installed in the setting of the New York State Museum the next day as a part of the new exhibit, “Reflecting on September 11, 2001.”

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Chris Stain (photo © Andrew Franciosa)

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Chris Stain (photo © Andrew Franciosa)

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Chris Stain (photo © Andrew Franciosa)

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Chris Stain (photo © Andrew Franciosa)

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Chris Stain (photo © Andrew Franciosa)

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Chris Stain (photo © Andrew Franciosa)

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Chris Stain’s mural being installed at the New York State Museum (photo © Frank Whitney)

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Chris Stain’s mural being installed at the New York State Museum (photo © Frank Whitney)

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“Reflecting on September 11, 2001” opens at the New York State Museum Friday 10.9.11. Please click here for more information.

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