All posts tagged: Gilf

Betty White, Beloved Comedian (and Street Art Icon), R.I.P

Betty White, Beloved Comedian (and Street Art Icon), R.I.P

It is hard to pinpoint the precise moment a star becomes beloved currency in culture but perhaps one of the flashpoints is the day they become street art.

Gilf! homage to Betty White on the streets of NYC from 2011. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For us the realization that Betty White had transcended the realm of popular comedy actress to a scale bordering on icon when then-new street artist GILF appropriated her visage for a simple one-color stencil sometime in the late 2000s.

Not avid television watchers, we were of course aware of her roles in the sitcoms of the 70s and 80s, and that over time The Golden Girls program was taking on a cult-like glow among certain campy sectors.

But when we first saw a GILF! tag in Bushwick, Brooklyn, sprayed on the street, we knew Betty had crossed over into a beloved pop culture family member. Maybe she reminded you of your aunt, or the Home Economics teacher in junior high, or a sales representative at the jewelry counter at a department store, or behind the glass at the movie theater, or the nice lady setting out a pleasant picnic on the grass near the fountain in Central Park, or the grandmother you might like to have – even if for one afternoon.

Everyone knew someone like Betty White who was raised in a different era, who smelled nice, had a teased cotton-candy cloud of a hairdo and wore a smart blouse and a smart mouth with equal panache.  Sweet, but sharp, her delivery featured an  innate polished sixth sense of comic timing – making you spit your soda out through your nose – a sudden pokerfaced barb that was almost blue, delivered without sullying anyone in the room

She made it 99.9 years, which is more than any of us have, and she kept her style and her sharp wit, and many across the culture grew to love her in one way or another – a link to a time, or a part of the past, that we appreciated. Of the thousands of tributes pouring in on social media since she passed away on December 31, one sentiment sticks with us. While we’re sad to see her go, at least many people got to tell Betty White that they loved her while she was still alive.

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BSA Images Of The Week: 05.26.19 – Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ*

BSA Images Of The Week: 05.26.19 – Greetings From Asbury Park, NJ*

Happy Memorial Day Weekend! – we are smack in the middle of it today.

Colloquially thought of as the first weekend of summer in the US, it is also the first weekend when there are lifeguards at the beach. Since New Yorkers love to head to the Jersey Shore (no offense Coney Island) we thought we’d regale you with some fresh shots this week of cool murals on the boardwalk in Asbury Park, New Jersey.

Most of these are part of the “Wooden Walls” a program created by Jenn Hampton, co-director of Parlor Gallery, who tells us that it was inspired by the destruction of a hurricane here that pulled up so much of the wooden boardwalk that is iconic to the shore experience here.

Haculla . Mike Shine . Porkchop. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“I started doing it after Hurricane Sandy because they were all these boards up from the devastation,” she explains. “It kind of reminded me of when you go into an artists’ studio and there are little excerpts of paintings that the artist is working on. Some may feel sad because they see unfinished  paintings – but for people who are creative it creates excitement because it is about ‘what’s to come.’”

Haculla . Mike Shine. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

She’s always trying to bring art to the public space, so this devastation prompted her to write proposals to start the program and it worked. “It’s weird that it took a natural disaster for me to get funding for an art project!” she laughs. Five years of steadily growing the list of artists, the project now includes local, national, and internationally recognized street artists.

Wooden Walls producer Angie Sugrim says that this project is as personal as it is public. “Jenn and I both feel a deep sense of stewardship in our community and this project and all it entails are our way of giving back and helping to grow what we love about our town. We both are eternal believers in the power of art and seeing it help to transform Asbury Park.”

Haculla . Porkchop. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“I try to curate it from the eyes of a six-year-old and a 20-year-old and a 80 year-old – because we get such a diverse crowd on the boardwalk,” says Hampton. “I just want to make sure that there is art in that spirit of creation next to the ocean. I think that there is something really poetic about.”

Time and the elements have begun to fade and weather the walls, but she thinks it just adds character.

“I think people get too attached to public art,” she says. “The impermanence of it makes it really special and you have to see it and engage with it – Mother Nature will take it back when it wants!”

Ann Lewis AKA Gilf!. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

So here’s our weekly interview with the street (or boardwalk), this time featuring Ann Lewis, Art of Pau, Beau Stanton, Dee Dee, Fanakapan, Haculla, Hellbent, Indie 184, James Vance, Jessy Nite, Joe Iurato, Lauren Napolitano, Lauren YS, Logan Hicks, London Kaye, Porkchop, RC Hagans, Rubin 415, and Shepard Fairey.

Hellbent. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
James Vance. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Rubin 415. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Lauren Napolitano. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Lauren YS. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Jessy Nite. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Dee Dee. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Fanakapan. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Fanakapan. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Art of Pau. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Art of Pau. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Joe Iurato. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Joe Iurato. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Shepard Fairey. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Indie 184. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Beau Stanton. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Logan Hicks. Wooden Walls Project. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
London Kaye. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
RC Hagans. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
RC Hagans. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
RC Hagans. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Untitled. Asbury Park, NJ. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

*The classic 1973 album from Bruce Springstein, “Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ” – more HERE

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BSA Images Of The Week: 02.26.17

BSA Images Of The Week: 02.26.17

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Always good to get to Berlin to see what waves of text and pattern and outrage and snark and myriad metaphor are more-or-less relentlessly rippling across buildings and empty lots. The rippling effect was swelled by 4 days of rain, which makes windows streak with rivlets and wheat-pastes peel from the top, leaning forward and down and toward their demise, often sticking to themselves, halved and horrid in the process.

Nonetheless we got a lot of work done, seeing artists, urban gallerists, and of course the labyrinthine interior of the ‘secret’ project that is no secret any longer, the five floor Berlin HAUS, a former bank building in a well trafficked part of the city that is swarmed every day and nearly every night with graffiti writers, professional painters, Street Artists, illustrators, and the like – mainly, if not entirely, Germany based artists doing elaborate installations throughout.

Also checked out the new Project M show opening this week at Urban Nation “RADIUS” curated by Boris Niehaus (JUST), Christian Hundertmark (C100 and Art of Rebellion books) & Rudolf David Klöckner (URBANSHIT). The show runs for 6 weeks and again is exclusively German in its roster including names like Case Maclaim, Dave the Chimp, Flying Förtress, Formula 76, Low BrosMadCMoses & TapsNomadPatrick Hartl & C100Rocco and his brothersSatOneSweetunoVarious & GouldZelle AsphaltkulturXOOOOX, and Hatch Sticker Museum.

Across the street in the under-construction UN museum space the scene was a “secret dinner” for 100 thrown by Director Yasha Young to stir up the buzz for the inaugural exhibit in September as well as take stock of the hundreds of artist locally and internationally who have been part of the UN before the doors even open. In attendance were artists, graffiti writers, arts writers, photographers, academics, cultural organizers, supporters, elected officials, a spare ambassador or two, all lined up to hear of few speeches, a video or two about programming – and eat off plates designed by 100 or so artists.

But the real story of course was the stuff we found on the streets – legal and illegal, a bit of dashed text and time intensive murals. Berlin doesn’t stop surprising you, and regardless of rain that completely drenched us, we didn’t care frankly.

Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring: 1Up, Alaniz, Berlin Kidz, BoxiTrixi, C215, Crisp, Damien Mitchell, Dave the Chimp, Don John, Eins92, Fink 22, Gilf!, Icy & Sot, K, Missing Girls, Priznu, Rinth-WLNY, Sozl35, Telmo & Miel, and Various & Gould.

Top image: Telmo & Miel. Detail. In collaboration with The Haus. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Telmo & Miel. In collaboration with The Haus. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Telmo & Miel. Detail. In collaboration with The Haus. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Various & Gould. In collaboration with Urban Nation Museum For Urban Contemporary Art. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dave The Chimp. In collaboration with Urban Nation Museum For Urban Contemporary Art. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dave The Chimp. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

C215. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

C215. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

1UP. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

1UP. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

1UP. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

1UP. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Alaniz and friends. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Damien Mitchell (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sozl35. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gilf! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Priznu. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

#missinggirls. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Eins92. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don John. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Berlin Kidz. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Berlin Kidz. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Berlin Kidz. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Fink 22. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rinth_WLNY. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BoxiTrixi. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

K. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

We liked the composition between this Icy & Sot stencil and the Korn sticker. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Crisp. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist. Berlin. February 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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BSA Film Friday: 08.05.16

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Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.

Now screening :

1. “Watching My Name Go By”
2. Nicolas Romero AKA Ever: “Logo II”
3. Gilf! …and counting

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BSA Special Feature: “Watching My Name Go By”

Directed by Julia Cave and originally shown on the BBC documentary series OMNIBUS in December of 1976, this was actually the second half of a program that followed a tour through the art gallery scene of Soho.

A hidden gem that surveys the variety of opinions held by citizens, historians, police and front stoop sociologists about the graffiti scene on trains and the streets, the story is measured and inquisitive. It’s without glamour, although there may be guile.

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This documentary predates Style Wars by about seven years and you get a surprising understanding about the priorities of the day at a time when New York was financially in a tailspin and socially ready to boil over. You see this resignation in the body language and descriptors about the state of the city, and while there is a stated desire by many to rid the city of graffiti, there are fervent fans of it as art and impassioned allies of the practice as political speech.

Notably, one commenter who is familiar with law enforcement practices says that police were actively encouraged to focus more on violent offenders like muggers and rapists than graffiti writers. The hand style is pretty basic, certainly not wild, and check out the difficulty of painting with those cans; but that doesn’t detract from the ubiquity of the social-art phenomena and the fact that many consider these early writers as pioneers of what became so much more.

“Watching My Name Go By” © Karen Goldman, Philip Bonham-Carter, BBC. 1976

Nicolas Romero AKA Ever: “Logo II”

Nicolas Romero, the Street Artist variously known as EVER or EVERSIEMPRE brings you a conceptual performance from his recent stay in Cordoba, Argentina for the exhibition “Pioneros de un viaje a ningún lado”.

A would-be heroic/holy/handsome businessman/pop star/savior marches through the street buckling under the weight of his brand.

Logo II is a public test”, EVER tells us. “It is a study that I have been conducting on the relationship between the ‘individual’ and the ‘logo’. The logo by definition usually includes some symbol that is associated with almost immediate way what it represents. This means that the individual summarizes his being as a symbol. In this case I wanted to use two logos, one with a political charge and one with a purely economic burden. Both carried in a theoretical context are antagonistic, but in your reality are quite similar.

Based on this, we decided to take this intervention in the most literal way.”

 

 

Gilf! …and counting

Street Artist and political activist GILF! recently created an installation called “And Counting” in Cleveland during the Democratic National Convention there. Focusing purely on the surface data of the persons killed during a police encounter this year, she says that the installation will continue to enlarge as it will eventually cover the entire year.

It presents the facts around each police involved death in America during 2016,” she says. “By presenting only the facts this project gives the viewer an objective and all encompassing opportunity to face our nation’s heartbreaking and ubiquitous problem of death at the hands of police, which will aid in developing solutions.”

 

 

 

 

 

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BSA Images Of The Week: 07.03.16

BSA Images Of The Week: 07.03.16

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Heading into the 4th of July we reflect upon patriotism, our declaration of independence from England, and Britain’s new declaration of independence from the EU. Are there similarities?

Now, we’re all off the park for a barbecue! Where is the frisbee? Where are those hotdog buns?

And here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Agostino Iacurci, Alaniz, Aron Belka, Buttsup, Float Art, Gilf!, King, London Kaye, Pixel Pancho, QRST, Reed B More, Sipros, and WK Interact.

Our top image: London Kaye. Peace, please!! (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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QRST (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Agostino Iacurci (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Pixel Pancho. The Italian artist was in NYC early in June to participate in a group show and painted this mural in Chelsea in NYC. While the mural appears unfinished by the blotch of white paint on the bottom that is not the case. The artist’s completed piece was tagged and as per the artist’s request the gallery removed the tag with the white paint. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Float Art (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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WK Interact (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Reed B. More has been leaving these translucent pieces suspended about the fray. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Reed B. More (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Reed B. More tagging the sky. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Reed B. More (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Sipros for the Buschwick Collective. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Gilf! did this piece to honor the victims of the mass shooting in Orlando and debuted it in time for the LGBT Pride weekend in NYC. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Aron Belka did this portrait of jazz pianist and composer Allen Toussaint, who passed away last autumn, for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC in Little Italy/China Town. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Alaniz pointing in every direction at the abandoned NSA spy compound in Teufelsberg Hill in Berlin. Berlin, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Buttsup (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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King (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Untitled. Brooklyn, NY. June 2016. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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“SOLD” Mag Hits Brooklyn

“SOLD” Mag Hits Brooklyn

A spotlight today on a new grassroots publishing project by artists for artists called SOLD. The product of three editors, two of whom are Street Artists, the paper/magazine debuted last Thursday at a raucous and fun-filled party and art show at 17 Frost gallery space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.

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“I’ve always wanted to make a street art magazine that’s given away for free to expose the unknown artists to the street art neighborhoods of New York,’ says JPO in the opening letter from himself, BD White, and Greg Frederick. The cover story is on Elle and Gilf!, with features and studio visits with artists London Kaye, Jenna Morello, Mishab & Hiss, each talking about their practice in the studio and on the street. The issue also includes a selection of photos from Miami’s Art Basel, cartoons, and a map of where to find street art in Williamsburg.

Funded by the donations of money, art, and time from artists and street art fans, SOLD is a proud achievement that speaks to the vision of its editors and a community. We are well acquainted with the number of hours and effort it takes to produce such a labor of love and we’re proud to recommend that BSA readers check out SOLD.

See the Instagram @soldmag for more information.

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Photos © Jaime Rojo

 

For more information about where to purchase a subscription and/0r to get SOLD on your hands click HERE

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BSA Galavanting, The New Year and You

BSA Galavanting, The New Year and You

BSA galavanted through the streets last year and here we re-paste our recent newsletter to BSA readers. Sign up for it if you like. Here’s the original.

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Happy New Year from BSA!

From Berlin to Norway to Rochester and Mexico, Faile to Swoon to Ron English to Dan Witz and Gilf!, BSA was in museums, galleries, artists studios, at festivals, on panel discussions, on stages, on TV, radio, in theaters, and of course in the street.

Here are some highlights of the some of the amazing things BSA did with you in 2015. We sincerely thank you for your support and send love to you and yours in the new year!

***

In ’15 BSA Created “Persons of Interest” with UN in Berlin
Brought 12 Brooklyn Street Artists to Berlin with “Persons of Interest” show for Urban Nation Museum (UN)/ProjectM7

Reviews in:
Juxtapoz, VNA, Hi-Fructose, Huffington Post, Butterfly

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The (almost) complete “Persons of Interest” crew courtesy ©Sandra Butterfly

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BSA Presented “On the Radar” in Coney Island
With Jeffrey Dietch’s Coney Art Walls program at Coney Island Museum for Coney Art Walls, we presented 12 artist to watch who are on our radar.

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BSA Presented Faile at the Brooklyn Museum
A beautiful experience to be a part of the FAILE exhibition from its earliest planning stages to its full summer run at Brooklyn Museum, the cherry on top was to host an in-depth presentation and conversation with Faile’s Patrick Miller and Patrick McNeil and BKM curator Sharon Matt Atkins in front of an enthusiastic Brooklyn audience.

Aside from The Pope landing in New York at the exact time people were traveling to the show and some microphone difficulties at the beginning of the show, it was a complete and total thrill for us. See the full video on LiveStream here.

What Happened with BSA + FAILE at the Brooklyn Museum?

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Steven P. Harrington, Patrick Miller of Faile (top), Sharon Matt Atkins, Patrick McNeil, and Jaime Rojo (image © by and courtesy of The Dusty Rebel) (@DustyRebel on Instagram)

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BSA Joined Swoon to Inaugurate Her New Heliotrope Foundation
The tenacious and visionary Street Artist grounded her dreams in a formal foundation in 2015, allowing her to pursue even greater reach in her growing projects in New Orleans, Haiti, and Braddock, PA. We were honored to interview her and to help celebrate the official beginning of The Heliotrope Foundation with the help of special guest and board member Kaseem Dean aka Swizz Beatz.

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Callie Curry (aka Swoon), Kasseem Dean (aka Swizz Beatz), Jaime Rojo, Steven P. Harrington inaugurate The Heliotrope Foundation

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photo ©Daniel Feral

BSA Hosted Martha Cooper, Bortusk Leer, and Herman De Hoop at Nuart Plus
For presentations from each of the guests and panel discussion on the intersection of “Play” and public space at NUART 2015 in Stavanger, Norway.

Read our published essay for the academic conference at Nuart: “TECHNOLOGY, FESTIVALS AND MURALS AS NUART TURNS 15

NUART 2015 Roundup: A Laboratory on the Street

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Jaime Rojo, Harmen De Hoop, Martha Cooper, Bortusk Leer, Steven P. Harrington at Nuart Plus (©MZM Projects)

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Banksy Does New York Took Us to Theaters Around the World
Good News: The movie got on NetFlix, iTunes, in festivals, and in theaters in cities around the globe
Bad News: People think we have a museum

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We Flew Over World’s Largest Mural
Flew by helicopter above the world’s largest mural by Ella and Pitr in Stavanger, Norway with two of our most admired photographers; Martha Cooper and Ian Cox. Thanks Nuart!

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Ella & Pitr © Jaime Rojo

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Ian Cox, Martha Cooper, Jaime Rojo getting ready to fly over Ella & Pitr in Norway (photo selfie ©Ian Cox)

We presented BSA Film Friday Live at MAG Gallery
Under the direction of Jonathan Binstock at University of Rochester Museum the MAG Gallery hosted us during the Wall\Therapy festival.

This is the grassroots sort of festival that rings true to us these days and the down-to-earth volunteers and organizers of this event, along with those of our associates at Urban Nation (UN), made this a highlight of the summer.

WALL\THERAPY 2015 : Surrealism and The Fantastic

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Steven P. Harrington at MAG Gallery for Wall\Therapy (photo ©Jason Wilder)

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BSA moderated 1st panel for 1st event of 1st edition of LoMan Festival
“OMG Is this Street Art?” was the name of our panel with guest panelists Ron English, Gilf!, Dan Witz, and Jonathan Levine.

LoMan Art Festival Launches Its First Blast in NYC

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Ron English, Ann J Lewis, Dan Witz, Jonathan LeVine, and Steven P. Harrington for first LoMan festival event in August (photo ©Rodrigo Valles‎).

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BSA in Berlin Radio Interview with Vantage Point
We talked about Jay-Z, Bowie, Bushwick, the democratization of Street Art, cultural imperialism, the UN and what it is like to bust out a blog seven days a week and still keep your mind and heart open to discovery.
Listen to it here on Vantage Point and Soundcloud:

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BSA completed its fifth year in partnership with The Huffington Post in June 2015 (225+ articles) and was translated in Spanish on El Huffington Post, in French on Le Huffington Post, in Italian on L’Huffington Post, in Korean on Huff Post Korea, in Portuguese on Brasil Post, and in Greek for Huffington Post Greece.
BSA posted every single day and did 23 interviews and studio visits and published articles about street art in 103 cities
BSA was reference or appeared in the media in The New York Times, The Today Show, Le Monde, Agence France Press, German Rbb Tv, Borås Tidning, El Diario, El Heraldo, ArtNet News, Juxtapoz, VNA, Hi-Fructose, and others.
BSA’s Director of Photography Jaime Rojo took more than 10,000 images and we picked 143 as BSA 2015 Images of the Year.
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Special thank you to photographer Martha Cooper and Nuart Festival director Martyn Reed for the banner image from this years festival.

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BSA “Images of the Year” for 2015 : New Video

BSA “Images of the Year” for 2015 : New Video

Was 2015 the “Year of the Mural”?

A lot of people thought so, and the rise of commercial festivals and commissioned public/private mural programs probably brought more artists to more walls than in recent history. Judging from the In Box, 2016 is going to break more records. Enormous, polished, fully realized and presented, murals can hold a special role in a community and transform a neighborhood, even a city.

But they are not the “organic” Street Art that draws us into the dark in-between places in a city, or at its margins.

We keep our eyes open for the small, one-off, idiosyncratic, uncommissioned, weirdo work as well, as it can carry clues about the culture and reveal a sage or silly solo voice.  It also just reinforces the feeling that the street is still home to an autonomous free-for-all of ideas and opinions and wandering passions. For us it is still fascinating to seek out and discover the one-of-a-kind small wheatpastes, stencils, sculptures, ad takeovers, collages, and aerosol sprayed pieces alongside the enormous and detailed paintings that take days to complete.

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The main image above is from a vinyl subway advertisement that was high-jacked and we published it in February of this year on our Images of the Week posting. It’s small, personal, and very effective as you can see someone suspiciously similar to Batman is jumping out of the mouth of someone looking awfully similar to Hedwig of “Angry Inch” fame.

Of the 10,000 or so images photographer Jaime Rojo took in 2015, here are a selection 140+ of the best images from his travels through streets looking for unpermissioned and sanctioned art.

Brooklyn Street Art 2015 Images of the Year by Jaime Rojo

 

Brooklyn Street Art 2015 Images of the Year by Jaime Rojo includes the following artists;

365xlos43, Amanda Marie, Andreas Englund, Augustine Kofie, Bisser, Boijeot, Renauld, Bordaloli, Brittany, BunnyM, Case Maclaim, Casg, Cash4, CDRE, Clet, Cost, Curve, Dain, Dal East, Dan Budnik, Dan Witz, David Walker, DeeDee, Dennis McNett, Don Rimx, Ricardo Cabret, LNY, Alex Seel, Mata Ruda, Don’t Fret, Dot Dot Dot, ECB, El Mac, El Sol25, Ella & Pitr, Eric Simmons, Enest Zacharevic, Martha Cooper, Martin Whatson, Ever, Faile, Faith47, Findac, Futura, Gaia, Gilf!, Hanksy, Hellbent, Hot Tea, How & Nosm, Icy and Sot, Inti, Invader, Isaac Cordal, James Bullough, Janet Dickson, Jef Aerosol, Jilly Ballistic, Joe Iurato, John Fekner, Le Diamantaire, Li Hill, LMNOPI, London Kaye, Low Brow, Marina Capdevilla, Miss Van, Mr. Prvrt, Mr. Toll, Myth, Nafir, Nemos, Never Crew, Nick Walker, Nina Pandolofo, Old Broads, Oldy, Ollio, Os Gemeos, Owen Dippie, Paper Skaters, Pet Bird, Kashink, Smells, Cash4, PichiAvo, Pixel Pancho, QRST, ROA, Ron English, Rubin415, Saner, Sean 9 Lugo, Shai Dahan, Shepard Fairey, Sheryo & The Yok, Sinned, Sipros, Skewville, Slikor, Smells, Sweet Toof, Snowden, Edward Snowden, Andrew Tider, Jeff Greenspan, Specter, Stray Ones, Sweet Toof, Swil, Willow, Swoon, The Outings Project, Toney De Pew, Tristan Eaton, Various & Gould, Vermibus, Wane, Wk Interact

 

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

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This article is also published on The Huffington Post

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BSA Images Of The Week: 12.13.15

BSA Images Of The Week: 12.13.15

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As the snow birds flew back to NYC this week from their Miami art debauchery with dark circles under their eyes and paint under their nails we tossed them right back in the roiling red & white mash of SantaCon in the streets, 2 more politicians going to jail, and the alleged hunk-hiring Bronx priest resigning from his parish. You can really feel the spirit of Christmas and Hannukah all around.

BSA was proud to co-sponsor the talk with DAZE, LEE Quinones, and Jane Dickson for the special reception at DAZE’s “The City is My Muse” show currently on exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, hosted by Sean Corcoran. The three are vital to the historical thread that reaches back to NY’s earliest graff days and it was evident from seeing their newest works as they each presented them on screen that they refuse to be nostalgic about the city – but prefer to be on top of it. Case in point was Lee’s opening the following night that showcased his new mural on the ceiling at the Indigo Hotel – his Sistine Chapel if you will.

P.S. We’ll be at MCNY with DAZE March 2 – mark your calendar.

Invader finished his 42 piece wave of tile installations in New York, according to reports, Banksy struck out with political pieces addressing immigration and xenophobia (videos at end of this posting), and Gilf! wrapped the façade of a Williamsburg bar with “gentrification in progress” tape to mark its death by market forces. As artists continue to grapple with socio/political events, the art of the street keeps mutating forward.

Side note: “Images of the Week” takes a hiatus for the next few weeks thanks to special Holiday programming. It returns in 2016.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Banksy, Bunny M, City Kitty, Cost, Daze, Dee Dee, Gilf!, Invader, Jaye Moon, Jordan Seiler, KET, Labrona, Lee Quinones, Lex56, Mint&Serf, Never, Pet Bird, Read, Sipros, Specter, Wing, and WK Interact.

Top Image: Sipros and a father of surrealism for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Specter in Paris. (photo © Specter)

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Specter in Paris. (photo © Specter)

Specter was in France last month with FKDL and Upian, among others. Here are some examples of paintings and ad takeovers in Paris as well as an abandoned factory called La Rodia in Besancon. The Brooklyn based artist tells us that “It was a trying time to be there but supporting my friends and creating some colorful distractions was more important.”

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Specter in Besancon. (photo © Specter)

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Read More (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Invader (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Inva…sions are Cost…ly (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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City Kitty (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Lex56. Noted. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Jordan Seiler (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Gilf! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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For Dotty & Pearl (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Wing (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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bunny M (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Dee Dee (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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The company you keep… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Labrona and Ket in Montreal. (photo © Labrona)

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Labrona and Ket in Montreal. Detail. (photo © Labrona)

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Labrona in Montreal. (photo © Labrona)

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Mint & Serf (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Detail of Lee Quinones’ inventive ode to New York at a newly opened hotel in the LES. The artist, who grew up in the hood was commissioned to paint on the ceiling of the hotel’s reception room a map of the neighborhood to which he attached painted “poloroid” portraits (sourced from previously existing photographs) who lived and played on those streets “Between Two Bridges”. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Daze standing in front of a portrait of him taken decades ago. This piece is currently being exhibited at Chris “Daze” Ellis: The City is My Muse at the Museum Of The City of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Tom Warren with Christopher “Daze” Ellis
Portrait of Daze with Tags, 1983, Acrylic on Gelatin silver print

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Jaye Moon has a sense of “awe” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Never created this memorial to Peter Caroll AKA Pet Bird, who passed away suddenly in September. We love you Peter…and you too Never. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Untitled. Balloons. Manhattan, NYC. November 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

From The Guardian:
“Street artist Banksy has painted a depiction of Apple founder Steve Jobs on a wall in a migrant and refugee camp in France known as the Calais ‘Jungle’. The artist, who has never revealed his identity, released a rare public statement challenging the perception that migrants and refugees from Syria are a drain on Western economies, UK media reported”

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BSA Images Of The Week: 11.29.15

BSA Images Of The Week: 11.29.15

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Rounding out the Thanksgiving week here as people think back on what they have to be thankful for in New York and across the US. Despite the class war on the poor, near-weekly proof of systematic racism and extremism, gun violence that feels out of control, and 3 songs on the top ten by Justin Beiber, we have to admit that all is not lost – and we still have a pretty strong union of cool people who actually love our neighbors and multi-cultures and are willing to show it every day.

The art we see in the streets continues to evolve; People like Gilf! are combining experimentation and activism in the public sphere while others are looking for ways to address a variety of social/political ills, – meanwhile many artists now seek and secure legal spots to put up their work, use hash tags and Instagram as marketing directly to collectors, advertisers are mimicking street art to promote brands, and Wynwood in Miami is preparing to showcase some of the flashiest displays of sponsored murals and participants yet during Basel next week.

There is a rising chorus of horrified detractors who say an organic grassroots art form is being commodified. It’s not political enough! It’s narcissistic! It’s all privileged white kids who don’t appreciate the true roots of graff culture! Calm down everybody, we can handle this. There is room for all ya’ll, like they say down south.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Ai Wei Wei, Dee Dee, Ernest Zacharevic, Gilf!, Gum Shoe, Himbad, Invader, Isaac Cordal, Jilly Ballistic, Le Diamantaire, Osch aka Otto Schade, Ouizi, Sipros, and Swoon.

Ernest Zacharevic interprets Martha Cooper’s photograph of Lil’ Crazy Legs. This is their final piece in this collaborative series.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Ernest Zacharevic interprets Martha Cooper’s photograph from 1978 of this boy playing with a makeshift gun from the leg of a baby’s crib. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Ernest Zacharevic interprets Martha Cooper’s photograph from 1978 of this boy playing with a makeshift gun from the leg of a baby’s crib. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Ernest Zacharevic interprets Martha Cooper’s photograph from 1978 of this boy trapping flies in glass bottles. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Ernest Zacharevic. Adam De Coster (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Tongue in cheek, Ernest Zacharevic’s ironic blend of brandalism and vandalism.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Isaac Cordal staged a scene of drowning businessmen in this Manhattan puddle. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Jilly Ballistic (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Gilf! continues to influence the conversations around rampant inequality and with her “gentrification in progress” tape project, now outside the museum, someday in the museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Ai Wei Wei (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Swoon . Ouizi (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Swoon . Ouizi. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Sipros for The Bushwick Collective and Mana Urban Projects. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Gum Shoe (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Dee Dee (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Non-controversial lampooning cast as tough political stance, The Peralta Project is a commercial lifestyle brand that is using the street to advertise their product line, cashing in on a very popular dislike for this reality TV star. Like a mezcal company did this summer these posters are popping up to emasculate – and possible help move product. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Himbad for The Bushwick Collective and Mana Urban Projects. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Osch aka Otto Schade in London’s Brick Lane (photo © Urban Art International)

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Invader’s tribute to Andy Warhol with The L.I.S.A Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Invader’s tribute to Woody Allen with The L.I.S.A Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Invader’s tribute to Bugs Bunny with The L.I.S.A Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Invader’s with The L.I.S.A Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Le Diamantaire (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Untitled. Blue is the warmest color. Manhattan, NYC. November 2015 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

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BSA Images Of The Week: 08.23.15

BSA Images Of The Week: 08.23.15

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Such a pleasure and honor to give a tour to Brooklyn Museum members yesterday – mainly because of the mixture of people who traipsed through Brooklyn streets with us: older, younger, academic, street smart, curiosity seeking, students, teachers. The questions and observations helped push our perspectives wider.

Good to be schooled by someone who knew a lot about REVS & Cost, and to learn that LMNOP may have chosen her name with QRST’s in mind. Who knew? It was also great to describe the linotype process as it pertains to Swoons’ practice – and only a block later to discover an original carved plywood version of a linotype drilled to a wall by TipToe!

It was especially refreshing was talking with the woman who had not heard of Banksy or Faile or JR but thought she had heard of Swoon – and to see her write these names in a small book for further research.  Sometimes we think all this Street Art stuff is such a big deal, then that “perspective” thing kicks in.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Dain, DeeDee, Don Rimx, Elbow Toe, Faile, Gilf!, Klone, LMNOPI, London Kaye, Myth, Os Gemeos, QRST, Rae, Royce Bannon, She Wolf, and TipToe.

Top image above >>> QRST (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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London Kaye (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Artist Unknown with Bast on top. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Tip Toe didn’t just put a printed poster up. He put the actual printing device with which you make the posters. This could indicate that he wants you to bring your own paper and ink! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Myth had his text crossed out -originally it said “Bovine lives matter! Go Vegan”. The cartoon image stayed.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Myth quotes Lenin here: Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners.”(photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Myth has the Venom character quoting the feminist Lucy Parsons, “Never be deceived that the rich will allow you to vote away their wealth.” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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She Wolf (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Klone (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Dee Dee (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Dee Dee (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Don Rimx “La Rumba” in Little Havana, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Rae is back on the street sculpture tip, a little bit pop this time (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Looks like Elbow Toe gave Royce Bannon some flowers. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Faile does a piece from their series about native peoples coming to reclaim lands. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Faile (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Gilf! going for a conceptual timepiece that recalls names of Americans shot by police, with reference to how often it occurs. This is one of two recent time pieces.  The other contains high profile nationally known names that have sparked protests – this one has names that are more recent but we didn’t recognize them or understand their significance till we started Googling. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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LMNOPI depicts Indira, a child who works in a marble quarry with her parents near Katmandu. The same image was also featured in her Welling Court mural this year. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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A child soldier forced into conscription in Myanmar by LMNOPI (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Os Gemeos (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Dain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Dain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Untitled. Times Square, Manhattan. August, 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!
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LoMan Art Festival Launches Its First Blast in NYC

LoMan Art Festival Launches Its First Blast in NYC

In a Street Art story rich with irony, Lower Manhattan has just hosted its first official mural festival.

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Space Invader (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

It’s not that the island has been bereft of murals of late – the Los Muros Hablan festival in Harlem has been through a couple of iterations way uptown, Brooklyn has the Bushwick Collective, and Queens has been hosting the Welling Court Project.

The irony lies in the fact that this Lower Manhattan Arts Festival (LoMan) is really the first codified effort to highlight the work of graffiti and Street Art creators in a section of NYC known from the 1970s-90s for the free-range street stylings of artists like Jean Michel Basquiat, Al Diaz, Keith Haring, Dan Witz, Jenny Holzer, Richard Hambleton, John Fekner, WK Interact, REVS/Cost, and artist collectives like AVANT, among many others.

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A major coup of sorts, LoMan exhibited the sculpture of NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden that mysteriously showed up in a New York park this spring by Andrew Tider and Jeff Greenspan (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

In other words, on this baked concrete slab of downtown New York that was once a creative cesspool and Petri dish for on-the-street experimentation calling upon all manner of art making, today’s newly arriving young artists have no dream of moving in. In fact, most have fled in search of affordable rent.

Now the entrepreneurial spirit of a couple of guys, Wayne Rada and Rey Rosa, is luring artists back into Lower Manhattan, if only to paint a mural and help the tourist trade in Little Italy. That is how the L.I.S.A. Project (Little Italy Street Art) began three years ago, bringing in about 40 artists – a list that includes big names and small with varying degrees of influence on the current scene.

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Dain and Stikki Peaches (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Despite the historically inhospitable demeanor of hard-bitten and often bureaucratic old New York greeting him at many junctures, Rada has had some measured and great successes along the way, convincing local wall owners to give a  mural a try and raising funding from local businesses and art fans to help artists go larger.

So LoMan Fest’s first edition has finished this year, and along with a few volunteers, a smattering of helpful partners, and nearly continuous negotiations with local building owners, art supply companies, cherry picker rentals, and a collection of local and international artists, Rada and Rosa have pulled off a new event. Impressively it included large murals, smaller street installations, a couple of panel discussions, some live music performances, outdoor film screenings, a sticker battle, a live painting battle, live podcasts, a graffiti zine table, and a sculpture garden in an emptied parking lot on Mulberry Street.

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Damien Mitchell (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Struggle would be a good word. But like anything else when you are starting something for the first time you are spending a lot of time putting systems in place,” says Rada of the process. “There have been interesting challenges with the building owners and with the artists but when it is all said and done it has been all worth it.”

For a scene that was initiated by autonomous un-permissioned art-making on private property, the process of organizing graffiti and Street Artists to do approved pieces on legal walls may try the patience of the rebels who look on mural festivals as lacking ‘street cred’. But Rada sees it differently.

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Tatyana Fazlalizadeh expands on her campaign with brand new portraits for “Stop Telling Women to Smile.” (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

“You know there are people in this world that don’t appreciate this and I just want people to enjoy the pieces as long as they can. Isn’t the fun part of street art that moment when you turn the corner and discover it? That’s really what we are trying to do here. For me it’s a collaborative process of trying to find them a spot – which is also normally something bigger where they can take their time and really think it out. In turn, when that work is complete their existing fans enjoy it, and also it helps them get new fans.”

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Tatyana Fazlalizadeh (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

A final irony is that LoMan is joining a long list of Street Art-inspired mural festivals worldwide that you might have thought New York would have been near the front of.

Brooklyn Street Art: I imagine you’ve seen the rise of Street Art festivals and you’ve seen the character perhaps of specific festivals in different parts of the world. Do you think there is something specific about New York’s current Street Art scene that has a personality or specific voice?
Wayne Rada: First of all I studied every single festival out there from Pow! Wow! to Nuart, every single one. I’ve also had conversations with people who coordinate those festivals so that I could do a better job with this. I just feel like New York is, and this is grandiose to say, the nexus of the universe for the art world. It just seemed there was something missing and it made sense to have something here.”

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Tatyana Fazlalizadeh (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Given the history and the populations of NYC, maybe the strength is the diversity of styles and international artists who are drawn to this particular city to drop a piece throughout the year on rooftops, under bridges, on abandoned lots and doorways. After a minute, Rada decides that this may be what makes a festival like this distinctly New York.

“So in the art world there are so many artists and there are so many Street Artists – and Lower Manhattan especially is represented by something like 126 different cultures and many different races and languages that make up downtown,” he says, “so it makes sense to try to be as diverse as possible and have as many of those voices represented as we could – men and women, all ages, and all walks of life.”

Here’s your first look at LoMan, but it won’t be your last. Rada and Rosa tell us they already have 2016 all planned.

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Art Is Trash typically uses actual trash found on the street to create impromptu dioramas (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Art Is Trash (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Ron English added a pink “Temper Tot” shortly before LoMan commenced. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Nicolas Holiber uses found wood to create a new “Venus” (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Nicolas Holiber. “Mars” (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Hanksy (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Sonni (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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The DRiF pimping a statue of David. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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As in “The Lower East Side” by Russell Murphy (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Faith47 (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Buff Monster (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Buff Monster (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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BD White and JP Art (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Gilf! (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Ori Carino (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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A new sculpture by Leon Reid IV (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Tats Cru in monochrome (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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J Morello (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

At press time the works of ASVP, Beau Stanton, Crash, Solus and Ludo were either not completed or had just begun. We’ll bring you these pieces on a later article.

To learn more about the LoManArt Fest click HERE

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This article is also published on The Huffington Post

Brooklyn-Street-Art-740-copyright-Jaime-Rojo-Invader-Loman-Fest-Huffpost-Screen-Shot-2015-08-12-at-10.57.38-AM

 

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