All posts tagged: Herakut

Rocking “THE HAUS” : A 5-Floor Berlin Bank is Transformed by Artists

Rocking “THE HAUS” : A 5-Floor Berlin Bank is Transformed by Artists

“Normally we paint advertising – hand-painted advertising, mostly with cans. So we work all over Germany, with a lot of crews, “ says Kimo, a bearded, bald energetic and sharp witted guy who is lighting up a cigarette in this tattered, beige ex-conference room.  That explanation doesn’t prepare you for what you will see in the rooms upstairs.

Size Two. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The floors are piled with unopened paint buckets and brushes and cans and the walls in this organizing office are covered with scotch-taped project timelines, to-do lists, and floor plans of the old bank. Each former office space is plainly labled with names of German Street Artists or graffiti  crews, some you recognize, others you don’t. More recent Street Art names are next to classic Graff heads, installation  artists mix freely with Optic Artists, photographers, sculptors, even a live moss installation.

Case Maclaim is right next door to Turbokultur with Stohead out in the hall on floor 1.  El Bocho and Emess are in small rooms to either side of 1UP on the 3rd. Herakut in a corner room numbered 506 is right next to Nick Platt and Paul Punk in 505.

1UP Crew. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

What are all these artists, more than 175 of them and almost entirely German, all doing throughout a five-floor bank building in central Berlin on the Kudamm?

You’ll find out in April when the doors open to thousands of graffiti/Street Art/contemporary art fans to tour through THE HAUS, an enthusiastic life-affirming  joyful and pissed-off D.I.Y.-flavored fun-haus of fully realized installations, painting, projections, exhibits, and interventions.

You’ve been to (or at least read about) these last-hurrah urban art installations before – celebrations of artists’ visions that inhabit a building destined to be demolished soon. Possibly because of their ephemeral nature or a lack of serious interest in art-making, often the artworks and their execution are a bit slap-dash and loosely committed.

Not at THE HAUS. You’ll likely be surprised by the conceptual sophistication at times and wowed by technical dexterity, stagecraft, attention to details, and genuinely mind-challenging immersive environments.

Super Bad Boys. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

But this is Berlin after all, an urban art capital where graffiti crews are known for getting way up on impossible walls with foolhardy and militarily precise plans – sometimes implemented with rehearsal and execution under cover of night.

The logistical planning of Street Art and graffiti interventions here often centers around devising a slick and ingeniously resourceful roll-out of the aesthetic attack- some times given as much attention as executing the artwork.

Innerfields. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“We do not curate any of the room concepts,” explains Kimo as he leads you from room to room, sometime removing protective tape over doorways and turning on lights to allow a guest to see inside. “There is no over all concept. It has to be really really nice, but that’s it.”

Okay, there are some challenging themes around violence, graphic sexuality, and the horror of human trafficking. More often they are driven by character, text, and slaughtering with paint and pattern. As with most creative ventures of this size, it is impossible for organizers to know when or if to draw the line on content.

 

Herakut. Process Shot. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

There is also a darkened and completely life-sized realistic portion of a train-yard with a capped train over head, rails below, and cables and ground stones. A companion “white box” installation is said to be somewhere right now inside an underground Berlin train station. It is evident that weeks of preparation went into many of these dioramas and scenes.

“We just called around 50 artists to invite them here to take a look at the building and we told them, ‘If you know guys who have skills like you, just tell them.’ We’re looking for more artists,” Kimo says.

With more than three times that number coming and installing in the HAUS building over the last four months, there are still more artists who are clamoring to get in. “Now we have 100 artists on the waiting list”.

Case Maclaim. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The existence of this list would sound like bragadoccio coming from another organizer of an event like this, but when you see the calendars, lists of names, video scheduling, website design schedule, team responsibilities, art materials, contracts, even marketing plans printed and thumb-tacked on the walls of the Orga, you know that these three partners have created a supportive art-making environment with a sense of purpose.

“Bolle and Jörni  have been painting for 25 years,” says Kimo of his two partners. The three are members of their own crew called DIE DIXONS. Kimo says he cannot paint. “I tried but I can’t, I don’t have the patience to paint”. Instead he says he has great organizational abilities and love for the art  subculture and the graffiti/Street Art game.

 

Kaleido. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Together the DIE DIXONS also own the professional sign-painting company Xi-Design who originated THE HAUS project, and it is their multiple contacts with real estate, construction, lifestyle brands, paint suppliers, and highly-skilled commercial painters that makes this endeavor a POWER HAUS like few you’ll find.

This show is planned to be destroyed in a few months along with the building for a new project with condos and retail, but the quality here in many cases actually rivals art fairs we have seen in the last few years. Based on the buzz it has it safe to say that by the time the doors open in April, it will already have been declared a success.

Ostap. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Please note: Under the agreement with the organizers we agreed to publish only details of the pieces, so the surprise is not ruined. Some of these are installations in progress along with completed installations.

Tape That. Process Shot. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tomislav Topic . Thomas Granseuer. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

Dr. Molrok. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Steffen Seeger. Process shot. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

Base23. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vidam. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Telmo & Miel. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Paulo Consentino. Process shot. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

Anne Bengard. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Arsek . Erase. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amanda Arrou-Tea. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Go Go Plata. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Honsar. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Insane51. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Popay. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Daniela Uhlig. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

Felix Rodewaldt. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DeerBLN. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

Klebebande. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mario Mankey. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

One Truth. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Koikate. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rotkäppchen . Goliath. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Señor Schnu. Process Shot. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Urzula Amen. The Haus. Berlin. March 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

We wish to express our sincere thanks to Kimo, Bolle, Jörni and their team for all the time and assistance provided to us for the production of this article. Thank you to Katrin for helping with the artists IDs, and to Lisa Schmidt for her help with information as well.

 

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Nuart Aberdeen 2017: Full Roster of Artists Confirmed

Nuart Aberdeen 2017: Full Roster of Artists Confirmed

And then there were 11.

With yesterday’s official announcement that Norwegian artist Martin Whatson and Belgian artist Jaune will be participating this April at NUART / Aberdeen the full line up of artists has been announced. It’s 11 international artists from 10 different countries, sort of like a New York melting pot in Scotland over Easter Weekend. Nuart Aberdeen 2017, it’s on, and we’ll be there with you.

Here are some highlights of each artist courtesy the folks at Nuart.

“Leading the line up for Nuart Aberdeen is Scottish-born artist and Venice Biennale participant Robert Montgomery, whose text-based artworks come in the form of light installations, murals and temporary paste-ups.

Image courtesy of Nuart

Julien de Casabianca is founder of the global participatory art initiative Outings project, which embellishes the streets with portraits plucked from classical paintings. He’ll be raiding the archives and liberating characters from the prestigious collection of Aberdeen Art Gallery.

From BSA:

Julien De Casabianca, Angry Gods, and Hacking Disaster in Kathmandu

Image courtesy of Nuart

“Jasmin Siddiqui and Falk Lehmann AKA HERAKUT will be making the trip to Scotland. Widely regarded as leading lights of the global street art movement, we can’t wait to see what these two get up to in The Granite City!”

From BSA:

Herakut In Paris With A Message for the Kids About Magic

Image courtesy of Nuart

“Portugese visual artist and illustrator Add Fuel is known for producing optical illusions with painstaking attention to detail, Add Fuel’s interventions hint at the history and heritage that lies beneath our cities. We couldn’t think of anyone better to dig below the surface of The Granite City!”

Image courtesy of Nuart

 Transferring his participatory art project, Mission Directives, from Stavanger to Aberdeen this Spring is Bergen-based artist Nipper. Through utopian ideals of sharing, creativity and citizen-led communication in public space, Mission Directives questions who has the power and authority to communicate messages and create meaning in our shared spaces.”

Image courtesy of Nuart

“Born in 1985 in Lismore, Australia but of Scottish descent, Fintan Magee is considered one of the world’s leading figurative street artists. Following his blockbuster ‘rorschach’ inspired mural for Nuart Festival 2016 we can’t wait to see what Fintan has up his sleeve for Nuart Aberdeen!

From BSA:

Fintan Magee in Rome and Rising Tides Around Your Knees

Image courtesy of Nuart

“M-City is an artist and lecturer at the Academy of Art in Szczecin, Poland. A long-time collaborator of Nuart, M-City is best-known for his large-scale, industrial-themed murals, which involve piecing together hundreds of carefully cut stencils to create a coherent imagined cityscape. Always a joy to work with and guaranteed never to disappoint, we can’t wait to let him loose on Aberdeen’s walls!”

From BSA:

M-City Meets the Commercial Buff in Mexico City

Image courtesy of Nuart

“Alice Pasquini is a multimedia artist from Rome whose affectionate street art explores the brighter side of human relationships. Encompassing murals, paintings, and illustrations which tell stories about various acts of kindness and love, Pasquini leads a new breed of female street artist bringing some much-needed femininity to our public spaces.”

From BSA:

Australian Italian Museum Honors Immigration With Alice Pasquini Mural on Façade

Image courtesy of Nuart

Leading our penultimate artist announcement is Spanish sculptor and interventionist Isaac Cordal, whose small-scale installations capture the humour and absurdity of human existence. At just 25cm tall and hidden in multiple locations throughout the city, little by little Cordal’s characters transform the urban environment in its natural habitat.”

From BSA:

Nuart Day 1: Isaac Cordal Installs His Preoccupied Little Businessmen

Social Isolation, Isaac Cordal, and Neighbors (Sasiedzi) in Łódź

Massive Installation by Isaac Cordal in Nantes “Follow The Leaders”

JAUNE

Celebrating the unsung heroes of our everyday lives is Jaune, a stencil artist and urban interventionist from Brussels. Sanitation workers (Jaune’s ex-profession) are the protagonists in his humorous installations and paintings, which playfully draw on the paradox between the visible and the invisible in our cities. Jaune’s participation comes courtesy of our good friends at The Crystal Ship festival in Ostend, Belgium.

Martin Whatson

Image courtesy of Nuart

Completing this year’s artist line-up is a Nuart favourite and one of Norway’s leading stencil artists, Martin Whatson. Cleverly combining the aesthetics of abstract graffiti and stencil art, Martin Whatson’s distinctive urban scenes have brought him worldwide acclaim and an international band of fans and followers. We are greatly looking forward to seeing how he responds to the unique environment of Aberdeen!

 

For more info go to:

Website: http://www.nuartaberdeen.co.uk/

Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/nuartaberdeen

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/nuartaberdeen

 

 

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BSA Images Of The Week: 01.08.17

BSA Images Of The Week: 01.08.17

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Over the holidays we made a quick stop in West Palm Beach, Florida to take a look at the murals from the CANVAS program, adjacent to the neighborhood of the Trump resort where he spent New Year’s Eve where he charged guests a minimum of $525 per person to attend his party. Scrubbed clean of any actual graffiti or organic Street Art, the downtown West Palm Beach shopping neighborhood adds these murals to a sleepy commercial area to pick up the glitter of a current fascination with Street Art.

With the highly contentious and disputed Trump right next door at his Mar-a-Lago estate, one wonders if any political messaging will be visible in the future, or will the neighborhood expressions of art in the streets be comprised of these decidedly apolitical and attractive murals created in advance of his presidency.

So here’s our first weekly interview with the streets for the year, this week featuring Anthony Hernandez, Astro, Bikismo, Case Ma’Claim, EMC, Grafftoyz, Greg Mike, Herakut, Hoxxoh, Kobra, Lonac, Michael Dweck, Pastel, PHD Graphitti, Pichi & Avo, Pipsqueakwashere, Sipros, Tristan Eaton, and WRDSMTH.

First image above: Lonac for Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kobra for Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kobra for Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tristan Eaton in West Palm Beach, Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pichi & Avo. Side A. Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pichi & Avo Side B. Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Herakut for Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Anthony Hernandez. West Palm Beach, Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Case Maclaim for Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Case Maclaim for Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Collaboration between Grafftoyz, EMC and PHD Graphitti in West Palm Beach, Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Collaboration between Grafftoyz, EMC and PHD Graphitti in West Palm Beach, Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Collaboration between Grafftoyz, EMC and PHD Graphitti in West Palm Beach, Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sipros for Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ASTRO for Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pastel for Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Michael Dweck for Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bikismo for Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hoxxoh for Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hoxxoh for Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WRDSMTH for Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pipsqueakwashere for Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Geg Mike for Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Greg Mike. Side A. Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Greg Mike side B. Canvas West Palm Beach. Florida. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Landing. New York City. January 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

To learn more about CANVAS WPB click HERE

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Top 15 Videos on BSA Film Friday From 2016

Top 15 Videos on BSA Film Friday From 2016

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Your 15 Top Videos of 2016!

Every Friday we invite you to stop by and take a look at new videos that have been submitted or recommended or we just tripped over in the alleyway.

We call it BSA Film Friday and it doesn’t exist only online these days – we take the show to lectures in classrooms and museums and festivals to show people what kind of dope, strange, illuminating, elevating, soaring, and pedestrian films are being made about artists working in  the public sphere.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-copyright-Frank-Embacher-Steven_Harrington_Ethel_Seno-Carlo-McCormick_Jaime_Rojo-Dresden-Magic-City-740We even curated a film program this year for the Magic City exhibition in Dresden, Germany with 12 of the best – and it was our honor to present ‘Live’ there to audiences with those folks last month.

Today we’re giving you the BSA Top 15 Videos from 2016 – the ones that garnered the most traffic and conversation online. We are never quite sure what you will find interesting, so to see this collection of videos all together gives us a good idea that we have some of the smartest and savviest readers !

Included with each one is an excerpt of what we said for the original posting.

Grab the popcorn and enjoy the show!

 


No. 15
Sofles / Wayfarer by Selina Miles

From BSA Film Friday 03.11.15

“Selina Miles has just directed an epic excursion through the pleasant looking Collingwood and Fitroy areas of Melbourne and the graffiti culture there. The prolific and talented writer Sofles rides and runs center screen on this guided tour of his aerosol stomping ground and this (nearly) one continuous shot drone film is a revelation. Again Miles pushes the documentation category forward, going beyond merely recording toward capturing, creating a sense of drama, certainly poetry.

Omar Musa grabs you with his words before you even know where you are and holds your heart tethered to a string and pulling you along these streets and alleys and back lots. Many times this piece is soaring in its singularity and its sense of collaboration.”

 


No. 14
Chump for Trump. Ron English x The Sutcliffes

From BSA Film Friday: 07.01.16

“Seeing the new Ron English mural of Donald Trump in Bushwick, Brooklyn last week we were reminded of the video he released in April with a soundtrack by The Sutcliffes, a Beatles tribute band. It uses footage from Trump rallies and commercials interspersed with illustration and animation in an approachable folky way. Once you go down the rabbit hole of Trump satire and parody videos that have been made in the last year, you’ll find enough to begin a film festival.”

 


No. 13
Between The Lines With RISK

From BSA Film Friday: 04.15.16

“Risk talks about his evolution from a kid in New Orleans sketching in his notebook at school to getting up with a crew in LA, painting all over public space and property to gain a higher profile and retain the thrill of hit-and-run, and some highlights of his professional career. In route from illegal to legal he developed a reverence for color, form, and technical experimentation and aspirations for museum quality work and large scale public sculpture. Just don’t tag his stuff please.”

 


No. 12
“Street Food” from Mathieu Roquigny

BSA Film Friday: 09.30.16

“Some simple stencil activism well placed can be very effective. Vulgar, absurd, playful. Call it what you want, but Mathieu Roquigny is the first one we have seen do it. Do not view during your morning donut and coffee.”

 

 


No. 11
Faith 47, No Standing Anytime

From BSA Film Friday: 01.08.16

“A gorgeously ambient tribute to New York through the eyes of a visitor who takes some alternate routes through the city along with the more obvious ones to capture vignettes of mundanity and of wonder. Rowan Pybus shoots this city poetry as a series of visual stanzas stacked unevenly, accompanied by the occasional Faith47 mural (she has accumulated a few in NYC now) as well as the wistful sound recordings of lemurs by Alexia Webster that melt into the gentle audio cacophony of the street as designed by Jonathan Arnold.

The combined passages allow you to slow down and contemplate the whirring city and a handful of its moments as sweet parenthesis in this run-on sentence called New York. Okay, that’s enough, move along now, no standing.”

 


No. 10
Ella & Pitr: Utsira Island

From BSA Film Friday: 08.26.16

“It is funny to see this video stamped with the name “Street Art, Utsira ” because Utsira is an island with about 200 inhabitants off the coast of Norway, and there not many streets.  Also, this piece is not on a street.

Regardless, french roof painting couple Ella & Pitr made a trip there recently and squeezed in one of there cuddly characters, who looks like he is on the lamb from the huge childrens story book that he escaped from. Stay tuned for some exclusive shots and reportage on the making of this piece and their upcoming show at the local pub!”

 


No. 9
Herakut: “Masters Of Wrong”

BSA Film Friday: 04.01.16

“HERA + AKUT=HERAKUT – a back-to-basics introduction to Herakut today, since new fans are joining the fold and need to become acquainted with a duo that has been on the street around the world for years and has been moving into galleries for a while also.

Here at the white box Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles for their “Masters of Wrong” show it is a different view entirely from the street surely, including paintings evenly spaced across white walls as well as an area for a more immersive environment.

Outside, “The wolf that wins is the one you feed” is the Cherokee wisdom they paint on the side of the local high school, and in the commercialization of the Street Art world, we see this enmeshed dichotomy more daily.

Let the softly kinetic paddling of the marimba escort you through their political and social commentary, now more overt and obvious and  satirical than ever, as they show you their new show and their new works for exhibition and for sale.”

 


No. 8
“Watching My Name Go By”

BSA Film Friday: 08.05.16

“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.”

 


No. 7
Os Gemeos Mural: Hangar Bicocca Building

BSA Film Friday: 04.29.16

“Graffiti writers and assorted urban artists have a romantic fixation with the steel monsters that snake through our cities and across the backyards and fields of entire countries. For the urban art culture subways and freights have distinct but overlapping associations with freedom, wanderlust, a daredevil mentality, … and Brazilian brothers Os Gemeos have just created their latest ode to the subway train in Milan – almost as big as any writer’s dream.”

 


No. 6
David Choe: The Perfect Day in Cambodia

From BSA Film Friday: 01.15.16

“This looks like a trailer for a larger piece:

Artist David Choe writes “This trip to Cambodia was not a news trip, we were there strictly to spread the message of love, light, beauty, joy, free expression and creativity. I didn’t realize how many millions of musicians, artists, writers and creative people had been murdered in the Cambodian genocide, so I wanted to bring the best artists in the world to Cambodia, a country that has virtually no murals or street art. Our goal, working through the #IglooHong Foundation, was simple: to spread some light, joy and beauty to a country with such a dark past.”

 


No. 5
The Restoration of Blu for “Street Art Banksy & Co”

BSA Film Friday: 06.10.16

“Part II of a behind the scenes look by Good Guy Boris at the controversial show in Bologna that features art works by BLU and others that were originally not intended to appear in a museum, like most things in museums.

Here we learn about less sexy topics like copyright law and one lawyers interpretation of the realistic expectations of artists when painting illegally and legally as it applies to copyright in Italy and France. We also receive a quick education about traditional and modern techniques for the restoration of works for archival purposes, which is why people will be looking at these things long after you and we are gone.”

 


No. 4
Lister Prepares for “MAD PROPS STREET CRED“

BSA Film Friday: 02.05.16

“On the occasion of his show last fall at New Image Art in Los Angeles, artist/street artist Anthony Lister had an emotional meltdown. Told with the help of top name graffiti writer RISK, gallery owner Marsea Goldberg, and the artist himself we learn about a tumultuous personal backstory that informs his experience while creating new works on the street and for the show. Especially rewarding in this new short directed by Mark Simpson is an unobtrusive examination of the artists gestural technique, a revelation in itself.

Additionally, the performance artist Ariel Brickman on stage at the show opening is the personification of Lister’s  fantasic/heroic/treacherous figures; a spot-on example of his work come to life.”

 


No. 3
Pixel Pancho: “Teseo e il Minotauro” in Rome

From BSA Film Friday: 03.04.16

“In a city steeped in art history where every camera shot looks like a classic movie scene you have to be cognizant of the critical analysis that will be directed at your new mural from every Giovanni, Adriana, and Luca who are walking by or hanging out of the window.
These are the countrymen and women of Pixel Pancho so he takes it all into consideration and presents a classic of his own, merged with a steam-punked futurism of robots who are rather romantic in their own way.”

 


No. 2
Narcelio Grud: Public Music Box

BSA Film Friday :01.22.16

“Narcelio Grud has a track record of transforming public space in an unassuming manner that actually engages people directly. Here is his latest urban intervention – a music box for pedestrians to listen to while waiting for the light to change.”

 

No. 1

In Memory: Giulio Vesprini

From BSA Film Friday: 07.15.16

“Murals have an entirely different function in the urban environment than Street Art and graffiti, although some folks use the terms interchangeably. One of the time-honored functions of a public mural in many cities has been the “memorial mural,” the one that recalls a person or people or a  significant event that has impacted a neighborhood, even a nation. Because it is artwork mounted publicly, it can be used as a meeting point for people in a community to gather and talk about it, trading stories and impressions and gaining understanding.  At its’ worst, a memorial mural can be superficial or overwrought, moralizing, even stunningly unartful.

Sometimes however, it can provide to a community a sense of pride or history, and it can be empowering. Other times there is a mental, emotional catharsis that takes place with the artwork providing a forum, a safe space to discuss the undiscussible in a public forum or simply to share in a common sense of loss, or experience some sense of healing.

‘It’s not mere decoration, but deals with ethics,’ says Giulio Vesprini as he paints this mural remembering Camp No.70 Monte Urano, a WWII prison camp a mile or two from the sea and Porto San Georgio, in Italy. ‘So it has been very important to me that I could give my contribution.’ “



 

We dedicate this compilation to the filmmakers who bring so much joy, knowledge and awareness with their artistry and technical wizardry every day and especially every Friday from BSA Film Friday to all of us here at BSA and to our readers. Cheers for a wonderful 2017…

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Wynwood Awakes: BSA x UN BERLIN ART BASEL 2016: Dispatch 1

Wynwood Awakes: BSA x UN BERLIN ART BASEL 2016: Dispatch 1

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The gallerists and merchants have begun arriving in the South Beach area of Miami to uncrate the art they’ve shipped for the enormous Art Basel and the assorted satellite fairs of Art Basel Miami 2016. Across the Venetian Way heading inland and minutes to the north you see that artist have already been painting on walls in the Wynwood neighborhood.

brooklyn-street-art-fluke-jaime-rojo-miami-art-basel-2016-web-1

Fluke from Canada at work on his mural in Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

First adorned by an entirely organic graffiti and Street Art scene in the late 90s and early 2000s, the low-income neighborhood with a light-manufacturing base has been transformed by real estate and economic development. Now after a decade of inviting local and international artistic talent to come and paint, the Wynwood area of Miami is a beacon of mural art that showcases this moment in its evolution.

brooklyn-street-art-fluke-jaime-rojo-miami-art-basel-2016-web-3

Fluke from Canada at work on his mural in Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Urban Nation (UN) returns this year as well, having worked with many of these artists who will be getting up throughout Wynwood, and BSA is on the streets here with you to see the action as it unfolds with exhibitions, shows, and possibly a party or two. While Wynwood events certainly popped up in the shadow of the annual Art Basel exhibition, art fair patrons and a modicum of celebrity have made the pilgrimage here in greater numbers every year for some urban decay realness, now sprinkled with glitter.

It is no surprise that many of these same artists are now featured in the art fairs as well, represented by new and established galleries and hired by lifestyle brands and moneyed corporations to carry their messages. It’s a heady mix of power, rebellion, politics, aesthetics, and aerosol; and sometimes it is a pure revelation to see the transformations, given the anti-establishment undercurrents that have run through graffiti and the more socio-political activist elements of Street Art throughout the last half-century.

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Fluke from Canada at work on his mural in Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

On a sunny Sunday afternoon in the 70s, minutes away from the sand and the ocean, this grit is just getting stirred up again, and the aerosol fumes are already wafting through the blocks that are now looking less run-down, and decidedly under development.

West Coast based mural magician and philosopher Chor Boogie, with his protective air mask perched like mini-horns atop his head, smiles and welcomes a visitor happily because this time is just before the flood, before the sidewalks are thick with ipad-photographers and selfie-takers and fans of all sorts.

With moving vans and ladders and boxes of cans being unpacked, this neighborhood is clearly gearing up for a party again, and many artists have already laid down line work to play alongside pieces that have survived previous years. As the events unfold we’ll keep you apprised of the ones we trip into.

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It could just be us, but does this look like Al Pacino to you? Greece’s INO in Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Chor Boogie at work on his tribute mural for his mother. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Chor Boogie at work on his tribute mural for his mother. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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D*Face from a previous edition of Art Basel. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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CERO from a previous edition of Art Basel. This mural was made with tiles and mosaics. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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CERO from a previous edition of Art Basel. Detail. This mural was made with tiles and mosaics. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Crash. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Dasic Fernandez from last year edition of Mana Urban Arts Project X Bushwick Collective at Art Basel. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Sipros from last year edition of Mana Urban Arts Project X Bushwick Collective at Art Basel. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Mateo. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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This Herakut mural was executed in 2o12 and it is still in a remarkable condition. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Herakut. Detail. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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MSK. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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TCP. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 


This article is the result of a collaborative partnership with BSA and Urban Nation (UN).

 

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“Magic City” in Dresden : Exhibition of Street Artists and City as Muse

“Magic City” in Dresden : Exhibition of Street Artists and City as Muse

An unusual amalgam of the interactivity of the street combined with the formality of a gallery environment, Magic City opened this fall in a converted factory in Dresden, Germany with an eclectic selection of 40+ artists spanning the current and past practices of art in the street.

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Skewville. Children enjoying Skewville’s “tete-a-tete” shopping cart. Ernest Zacharevic’s mobile in the background. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

With revered culture critic and curator Carlo McCormick at the helm alongside curator Ethel Seno, the richly marbled show runs a gamut from 70’s subway train writers and photographers like Americans Daze, Henry Chalfant, and Martha Cooper to the Egyptian activist Ganzeer, Italian interventionist Biancoshock, popagandist Ron English, and the eye-tricking anamorphic artist from the Netherlands, Leon Keer.

Veering from the hedonistic to the satiric to head-scratching illusions, the collection allows you to go as deep into your education about this multifaceted practice of intervening public space as you like, including just staying on the surface.

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Ernest Zacharevic mobile with a “listening station” on the left. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

It’s not an easy balance to strike – some of these artists have heavy hearts and withering critiques of human behaviors and institutional hypocrisies ranging from 1st World treatment of refugees to celebrity culture to encroaching surveillance on individual rights, government oppression, and urban blight.

Magic City doesn’t try to shield you from the difficult topics, but the exhibition also contains enough mystery, fanboy cheer, eye candy and child-like delight that the kids still have plenty of fun discoveries to take selfies with. We also saw a few kissing couples, so apparently there is room for some romance as well.

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 A visitor to Magic City enjoys a “listening station”. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“We believe that even the typical city is uncommon, and that the idiosyncrasies that make each city unique are collectively something they all have in common,” says McCormick in his text describing the exhibition. “This is then a celebration of the universal character of cities as well as a love letter to their infinite diversity. The special magic that comes from our cities is germinated in the mad sum of their improbable juxtapositions and impossible contradictions.”

Of particular note is the sound design throughout the exhibition by Sebastian Purfürst and Hendrick Neumerkel of LEM Studios that frequently evokes an experiential atmosphere of incidental city sounds like sirens, rumbling trains, snatches of conversations and musical interludes. Played at varying volumes, locations, and textures throughout the exhibition, the evocative city soundscape all adds to a feeling of unexpected possibilities and an increased probability for new discovery.

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Olek’s carousel from above. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Obviously this Magic City cannot be all things to all people, and some will criticize the crisp presentation of a notably gritty series of subcultures, or perhaps the omission of one genre or technique or important artist. It’s not meant to be encyclopedic, rather a series of insights into a grassroots art and activism practice that continues to evolve in cities before our eyes.

For full disclosure, we curated the accompanying BSA Film Program for Magic City by 12 artists and collectives which runs at one end of the vast hall – and Mr. Rojo is on the artist roster with 15 photographs of his throughout the exhibition, so our view of this show is somewhat skewed.

Here we share photographs from the exhibition taken recently inside the exhibition for you to have a look for yourself.

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Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Ron English (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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A MadC installation made with thousands of spray can caps. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Belgian urban naturalist ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Skewville . ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Skewville (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Daze (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Martha Cooper at the gallery. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Henry Chalfant at the gallery. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Bordalo II (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Andy K. detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Dan Witz (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Dan Witz (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Isaac Cordal. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Isaac Cordal (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Anders Gjennestad AKA Strok (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Icy & Sot with Asbestos on the left. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Replete (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Truly (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Leon Keer (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Jaime Rojo. A young visitor enjoying the Kids Trail through a peephole with Jaime’s photos inside an “electrical box”. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Jaime Rojo. The Kids Trail wasn’t only for kids it seems. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Tristan Eaton on the right. Olek on the left. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Aiko at the Red Light District. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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The Yok & Sheryo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Herakut. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Herakut (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

Full list of participating artists:

Aiko, AKRylonumérik, Andy K, Asbestos, Benus, Jens Besser, Biancoshock, Mark Bode, Bordalo II, Ori Carino & Benjamin Armas, Henry Chalfant, Martha Cooper, Isaac Cordal, Daze, Brad Downey, Tristan Eaton, Ron English, Shepard Fairey, Fino’91, Ganzeer, Anders Gjennestad, Ben Heine, Herakut, Icy & Sot, Leon Keer, Loomit, MadC, OakOak, Odeith, Olek, Qi Xinghua, Replete, Roa, Jaime Rojo, Skewville, SpY, Truly, Juandres Vera, WENU, Dan Witz, Yok & Sheryo, Ernest Zacharevic.

 

Visit MAGIC CITY DRESDEN for more details, news, videos and the blog.

 


This article is also published on The Huffington Post

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BSA Film Friday: 10.21.16

BSA Film Friday: 10.21.16

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

Now screening :

1. “What If You Fly” Sean Yoro AKA HULA
2. Herakut in Paris for “100 Walls for Youth”
3. Cleon Peterson: “Endless Sleep” at the Eiffel Tower
4. The Yok & Sheryo “Ping Pong Auto Shack” Murals In The Market 2016 /1xRUN/Detroit

 

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BSA Special Feature: “What If You Fly” Sean Yoro AKA HULA

This is outdoor painting that tests concepts of precariousness, ephemerality, temporality.

“It’s too bad that it didn’t last but that’s the way the world works. Not everything lasts very long,” says Inuit native Jesse Mike of the experimental portrait by Hula on a floating chunk of ice.

“One of my main priorities for working outside is to interact with the environment,” says the artist lying on a small raft of snow bobbing gently in ice cold water – his painting literally mixed into the snow next to him.

This is painting in the arctic, in between the drift ice and the main pack ice. Before it melts.

Herakut in Paris for “100 Walls for Youth”

A fascinating intermingling of realism, fantasy, and poetry, the composition features a helmeted youth sees a winged horse in the sublime otherworld that children so easily inhabit. Part of the 100 Walls for Youth program just begun with Street Artist C215, this wall also neatly aligns with the upcoming exhibition of the artists at the gallery November 25th

Gautier Jourdain, co-owner of Mathgoth, tells us that Jasmin (Hera) and Falk (Akut) looked no further than the streets of Paris for inspiration. “They asked a student who passed by in the street if she would like to be a model for their painting. She said yes and they took pictures and used them for direct reference.”

For our article and photos of this installation go here:

Cleon Peterson: “Endless Sleep” at the Eiffel Tower

Cleon Peterson tells the story of how he developed “Endless Sleep”, his painting at the base of the Eiffel Tower in Paris during the Nuit Blanche festival.

The Yok & Sheryo “Ping Pong Auto Shack” Murals In The Market 2016 /1xRUN/Detroit

Those Krazy Kids from Singapore and Down Under somehow have landed in Detroit briefly and have decided to Shack Up. Sexy ladies, devils, and tattoos all mill about.

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Herakut In Paris With A Message for the Kids About Magic

Herakut In Paris With A Message for the Kids About Magic

“Le duo allemand vient de signer sa première fresque à Paris,” says Galerie Mathgoth as they present Herakut and their new mural on rue Goscinny in #Paris13.

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Herakut. Paris. (photo © courtesy of Galerie Mathgoth)

A fascinating intermingling of realism, fantasy, and poetry, the composition features a helmeted youth sees a winged horse in the sublime otherworld that children so easily inhabit. Part of the 100 Walls for Youth program just begun with Street Artist C215, this wall also neatly aligns with the upcoming exhibition of the artists at the gallery November 25th

Gautier Jourdain, co-owner of Mathgoth, tells us that Jasmin (Hera) and Falk (Akut) looked no further than the streets of Paris for inspiration. “They asked a student who passed by in the street if she would like to be a model for their painting. She said yes and they took pictures and used them for direct reference.”

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Herakut. Paris. (photo © courtesy of Galerie Mathgoth)

Hera composed a poem and painted it after Akut placed the figure- a total of three days from start to finish. The text is a gentle reassurance to the young who may be confused or frightened by events that take place in this adult-run world right now.

Translated it is:

“This message is for the kids. Even though our times make it hard to see, there is magic. (We have seen it)”

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Herakut. Paris. (photo © courtesy of Galerie Mathgoth)

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Herakut. Paris. (photo © courtesy of Galerie Mathgoth)

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Herakut. Paris. (photo © courtesy of Galerie Mathgoth)

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Herakut. Paris. (photo © courtesy of Galerie Mathgoth)

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Herakut. Paris. (photo © courtesy of Galerie Mathgoth)

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Herakut. Paris. (photo © courtesy of Galerie Mathgoth)

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Herakut. Paris. (photo © courtesy of Galerie Mathgoth)

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Herakut. Paris. (photo © courtesy of Galerie Mathgoth)

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Herakut. Paris. (photo © courtesy of Galerie Mathgoth)

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Herakut. Paris. (photo © courtesy of Galerie Mathgoth)

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Herakut. Paris. (photo © courtesy of Galerie Mathgoth)


 

And speaking of Magic…

Herakut’s work can also be seen in Dresden, Germany right now for the “Magic City” exhibition, which BSA are curators of the Film Program and photographer Jaime Rojo is an artist in. See an interview with Herakut here and learn about how they used artist Ernest Zacharevic as their model for that piece.

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Icelandic Murals, Northern Lights, “Wall Poetry 2016” in Reykjavik

Icelandic Murals, Northern Lights, “Wall Poetry 2016” in Reykjavik

The concept album was born in the Stoned Age when TV was black and white, back when disaffected teens had to trudge for blocks and blocks outside on the sidewalk to the record store and carry their rock and roll home on large heavy vinyl platters called albums, sometimes double albums.

In the snow. Barefoot.

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Heather Mclean collaborated on her wall with Minor Victories and the song “A Hundred Ropes”. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

Rewarded for their hard work and sacrifice, these pioneering music fans opened those two record concept albums and used the big flat surface to pick the seeds out from their marijuana stash and roll a reefer.

Then they dropped the needle, turned up the dial, and lied on their back on their single beds surrounded by the two speaker stereophonic sound that gently vibrated their black-light posters on the wall, reading the song lyrics and metaphorically taking a wild and magical trip inside the cover art of the album.

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Heather Mclean. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

“We paint the music you love to hear,” says Yasha Young in Reykavik, Iceland, as she imagines the thousands of music fans who will inundate this city in a few weeks for “Iceland Airwaves”.

For the second year Urban Nation, the Berlin-based arts organization working primarily within the Urban Contemporary Art scene, brings the musicians a powerful visual partner called “Wall Poetry”.

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Heather Mclean. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

By pairing one musician/group with one visual artist/group, Young, the director of UN, wants to re-create the concept album where the eyes have a newly created entryway into the music. Of course its only one interpretation but countless stories can be evoked from this intercultural exchange.

It’s the second year for the program, and we are very lucky to have these exclusive shots from Nikka Kramer of some of the first walls going up in advance of the festival, which this year features over 200 bands. Check out the stunning atmospheric images featuring northern lights; a poetry of their own.

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Heather Mclean. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Strøk collaborated on his wall with MAMMÚT and the song “I Pray For Air In The Water”. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Strøk. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Phlegm collaborated on his wall with MÚM The Band. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Phlegm. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Phlegm. Detail. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Lora Zombie. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Lora Zombie was inspired by the songs of L.A. based band War Paint for her wall. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Lora Zombie. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Lora Zombie. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Herakut collaborated on their wall with Kronos Quartet. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Herakut. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Herakut. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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INO. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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INO. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Don John. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Don John collaborated on his wall with Swedish musician Silvana Imam’s “Naturkraft”. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Don John. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Wes21 and Onur. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Wes21 and Onur. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Wes21 and Onur collaborated on their wall with the Icelandic band Of Monsters and Men. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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DotDotDot publicly collaborated on his wall with all the volunteers, locals, strangers and passers by using the word “perfection” as officially described on Google/dictionary. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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DotDotDot. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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DotDotDot. Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

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Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves 2016 artists in no particular order: Don John, Onur, Wes21, Ino, Heather Mclean, Herakut, Lora Zombie,Phlegm and Strok. Reykjavik, Iceland. (photo © Nika Kramer)

Wall Poetry/Iceland Airwaves is presented in partnership between Urban Nation Museum For Urban Contemporary Art (UN Berlin) and Iceland Airwaves. For for about Wall Poetry read here.

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“Magic City” Premieres in Dresden : Seno and McCormick as Alchemists

“Magic City” Premieres in Dresden : Seno and McCormick as Alchemists

40 Artists Up Along Main Street, 12 More in the BSA Film Program

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Curators Ethel Seno and Carlo McCormick in front of a new mural by German duo Herakut announcing the premiere of Magic City in Dresden. (photo © Rainer Christian Kurzeder)


 

“Nature is a petrified magic city.” – Novalis

Curator Carlo McCormick quotes Novalis by way of describing this new exhibit of an eclectic blend of terrific troublemakers, pop-culture hijackers, and show-stopping crowd pleasers drawn from cities all around the Street Art/ graffiti /urban art scene today – and forty years ago. This is a welcoming walk of unexpected intersections that only McCormick and co-curator Ethel Seno could imagine – and pull together as a panoply of street wizardry that acknowledges activism, artistry, anarchy, and aesthetics with a sincere respect for all. It will be interesting to see how this show is viewed by people who follow the chaotic street scene today in the context of its evolution and how they read the street signs in this city.

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Curator Ethel Seno with Managing Director Dieter Semmelmann and exhibition Designer Tobias Kunz cutting the ribbon at the premiere of Magic City in Dresden, Germany. (photo © Rainer Christian Kurzeder)

McCormick, in his customary self-effacing humor, expects there to be some shit flying – as anyone who is involved in this scene expects from the hard-scrabble rebellious margins and subcultures that this art-making interventionist practice rises from. There also are a growing and coalescing mini-legion of scholars and academics who are currently grappling with the nature and characteristics of this self-directed art-making practice rooted often in discontent – now organized inside an exhibition that is ticketed and sold as a family friendly show.

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Street Artist and pop mashup painter Tristan Eaton in front of his new mural wall at the premiere of Magic City in Dresden, Germany. (photo © Rainer Christian Kurzeder)

In his descriptions of the public sphere, the writer, historian, author, and cultural critic McCormick often refers to graffiti and street artists messing with “contested space”. It’s an apt description whether we are talking about the public space in high-density gleaming metropolises or the bombed-out grid-less and polluted quagmires of human fallibility and urban un-planning that dot our globe; all public space its nature is contested.

Here is a place used by many artists to protest, agitate, advocate, or deliver critique – and many of the artists in this exhibition have done exactly this in their street practice, often pushing limits and defining new ones. Dig a little into many of the individual story lines at play here and you’ll see that the vibrant roots of social revolution are pushing up from the streets through the clouds of propaganda and advertising, often mocking them and revealing them in the process.

Ultimately, this Magic City experience is an elixir for contemplating the lifelong romance we have with our cities and with these artists who cavort with us within them. “Our Magic City is a place and a non-place,” McCormick says in a position statement on the exhibit. “It is not the physical city of brick and mortar but rather the urban space of internalized meanings. It is the city as subject and canvas, neither theme park nor stage set, but an exhibition showcasing some of the most original and celebrated artists working on and in the city today.”

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Mixed media Street Artist Asbestos from Dublin, graffiti master/ painter Chris “Daze” Ellis from NYC, and Tristan Eaton from Los Angeles at the premiere of Magic City in Dresden, Germany. (photo © Rainer Christian Kurzeder)

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Curator Carlo McCormick with New York billboard/culture jammer and artist Ron English in front of his new wall mural at premiere of Magic City in Dresden, Germany. (photo © Rainer Christian Kurzeder)

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Dutch anamorphic art master Leon Keer with Polish crochet transformer/Street Artist Olek at the premiere of Magic City in Dresden, Germany. (photo © Rainer Christian Kurzeder)

BSA curated the film program for Magic City with a dynamic array of some of the best Street Art related films today presented together in a relaxed environment. In this video hosted by Andreas Schanzenbach you get a taste of the works that are showing that we draw from our weekly surveys on BSA Film Friday. Over the last few years we have had the honor of presenting live in-person to students and scholars and fans an ever-evolving collection of videos that speak to the spirit experimentation, discovery and culture-jamming outrageousness of urban interventions, graffiti and Street Art.  The BSA Film Program at Magic City presents a survey of some of the very best that we have seen recently.

Magic City artists include:
Akrylonumerik, Andy K, Asbestos, Ben Heine, Benuz, Biancoshock, Bordalo II, Brad, Downey, Dan Witz, Daze, Ernest Zacharevic, Ganzeer, Henry Chalfant, HERAKUT, Icy & Sot, Isaac Cordal, Jaime Rojo, Jens Besser, Juandres Vera, Lady Aiko, Leon Keer, Loomit, MAD C, Mark Bode, Martha Cooper, Oakoak, Odeith, Olek, Ori Carin / Benjamin Armas, Qi Xinghua, Replete, ROA, Ron English, Shepard Fairey, Skewville, SpY, Tristan Eaton, Truly, WENU Crew, Yok & Sheryo

The BSA Film Program for Magic City includes the following artists:
Borondo, Brad Downey & Akay, Ella + Pitr, Faile, Farewell, Maxwell Rushton, Narcelio Grud, Plotbot Ken, Sofles, Vegan Flava, Vermibus

Some behind the scenes shots days before the Premiere

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Popagandist Ron English preparing his Temper Tot at Magic City in Dresden, Germany. (photo © Rainer Christian Kurzeder)

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Popagandist Ron English preparing his Temper Tot at Magic City in Dresden, Germany. (photo © Rainer Christian Kurzeder)

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DAZE reviewing his work at Magic City in Dresden, Germany. (photo © Rainer Christian Kurzeder)

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Urban naturalist ROA at Magic City in Dresden, Germany. (photo © Rainer Christian Kurzeder)

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Sheryo strikes a pose while the guys build the installation she did with The Yok at Magic City in Dresden, Germany. (photo © Rainer Christian Kurzeder)

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BSA Film Friday 04.01.16

BSA Film Friday 04.01.16

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

Now screening :

1. Herakut: Masters Of Wrong from Eric Minh Swenson
2. Shark Toof by Koncrete
3. HM Heads – Copenhagen. Spray Daily
4. Gary Stranger. The London Wall. Global Street Art

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BSA Special Feature: Herakut: “Masters Of Wrong”

HERA + AKUT=HERAKUT – a back-to-basics introduction to Herakut today, since new fans are joining the fold and need to become acquainted with a duo that has been on the street around the world for years and has been moving into galleries for a while also.

Here at the white box Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles for their “Masters of Wrong” show it is a different view entirely from the street surely, including paintings evenly spaced across white walls as well as an area for a more immersive environment.

Outside, “The wolf that wins is the one you feed” is the Cherokee wisdom they paint on the side of the local high school, and in the commercialization of the Street Art world, we see this enmeshed dichotomy more daily.

Let the softly kinetic paddling of the marimba escort you through their political and social commentary, now more overt and obvious and  satirical than ever, as they show you their new show and their new works for exhibition and for sale.

 

Shark Toof by Koncrete

Good to hear the story directly from the LA artist about the deliberations that go on when creating the image. It is interesting to see what the construction is, and how skillfully Shark Toof integrates his formal painting training into the vocabulary of graffiti and the street. His sharks are pleasantly realistic and scary and comical all at once – how is that possible?

 

HM Heads – Copenhagen. Spray Daily

And for those of you who are bored with the legal walls, here is a collection of videos of aerosol train pieces that appear to be largely illegal and immense. HM Heads in Copenhagen lead the tale with stealthy crawling through the weeds on hands and knees up to the locomotive over a dramatic/thoughtful guitar duo of anxious plunking and low wailing. After finding a suitable location between parked trains and some testing of the aerosol valves, the outlining begins in a deliberate and planned lay of lines and fills. The lyrics begin and within the first few lines the vocalist says “I have lost the will to live”.

Shortly thereafter a wall of scourging guitars builds and the camera shot gets shakey – and the shot quiets down again for some smooth linework and polka dots. Aside from the blurred faces and the jaunty, somewhat tentative movements of the painting crew, you would not have reason to think that this is done without permission. Is it? The video ends with a very long sequence of trains pulling into stations – crisp modern cars with colorful outcroppings of characters and letters, sometimes complete cars. The volume hikes upward, the Prodigy starts talking about smacking their bitch up, corks are popped and the furtive busting through fences increases as the unfettered aerosol continues.

 

Gary Stranger. The London Wall. Global Street Art

And we end this weeks collection with Gary Stranger from the MSK Crew doing this completely legal mural on something called The London Wall, a rotating art gallery that has works related to, you guessed it, London.

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Yasha Young and Herakut : 15 for 2015

Yasha Young and Herakut : 15 for 2015

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What are you celebrating this season? We’re celebrating BSA readers and fans with a holiday assorted chocolate box of 15 of the smartest and tastiest people we know. Each day until the new year we ask a guest to take a moment to reflect on 2015 and to tell us about one photograph that best captures the year for him or her. It’s our way of sharing the sweetness of the season and saying ‘thank you’ for inspiring us throughout the year.

Yasha Young is the director and curator of Berlin’s Urban Nation, the first museum worldwide that will exclusively collect and exhibit contemporary graffiti and street art. She also is the director of UN’s sub-project named Project M, bringing 100 or so artists to the UN and Berlin streets in just the last couple of years. A former gallery director for 15 years focusing on LowBrow and Urban Contemporary Art, Young has curated, produced and been an enthusiastic catalyst and visionary for countless collaborative art initiatives in the public sphere; this year included projects in Berlin, Iceland, Rochester (NY), Hawaii, and Miami.


Berlin, Germany
May 2015
Herakut
Urban Nation One Wall Project
Photograph by Aurelio Schrey

“Wenn ich wüsste das die Welt morgen untergeht würde ich heute einen Apfelbaum pflanzen”

(translated) “If I knew that the world would end tomorrow I would plant an apple tree today” ~ Martin Luther 1483 – 1546

I would like to dedicate my image choice to Herakut and this particular piece. To me this is about hope and the belief that there is always more good left on this planet than the incredible evil and hardship we see around us every day no matter where in the world.

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Hope is the foundation of change. It is universal and knows no restriction, no prejudice. Hope is what we need across the world at the moment and what we can give and spread at no cost and abundance – just like love.

This mural, with the Martin Luther quote written in several different languages, unites the thought of hope and the possibility of change via generations to come across the globe even in the face of a world on fire and displaced cultures  hope remains always.

 

 

 

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