Welcome to BSA Images of the Week. Photographer Jaime Rojo hit the ground running upon getting back to dirty old Brooklyn this week from a Berlin/Prague tour. Lots to report from there on the walls, in the gallery, and in the museum spaces – and more to come for you to enjoy. In the meantime, here’s what he found on the streets of NYC; a mash-up of handstyles, graphics, pop cues, fine-art chops, humor, sarcasm, reverence, and straight-up rebellion — cultures colliding and talking back.
We begin the show with a new portrait of the much-loved graffiti and street art photographer Martha Cooper, based on a photo by Corey Nickols and painted by Swed Oner (Mathieu Taupenas) in Bushwick with Joe Ficalora and the Bushwick Collective by his side. Born in the south of France in the 80s, a graffiti writer in the late 90s, Swed Oner is now known for his hyper-realistic, monochrome portraits of people transformed into religious icons – featuring a “halo” motif for framing.
Featuring Dzel, EAZV, EXR, Gloom, Homesick, IMK, ISB, Jodi Da Real, KAMZ, Mike King, Notice, RIP Money, Shwan McArt, Silent, Smaer, Two Five, VENG, Warios, Werds, and ZOZS.
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! New York’s streets are in overdrive—diplomats and protesters jostle around the UN, teens climb a tree outside a storefront to chase FakeMink’s latest haircut on the Bowery, fans mob Cardi B as she perches on an SUV outside a deli in the Bronx, throngs pour through the 99th San Gennaro Festival in Little Italy, and a sudden storm of black-windowed SUVs swarms with cameras at the Soho Grand—just as a double-decker tour bus lumbers onto the block, because of course it does. You skip the spectacle, grab a sour pickle from the Pickle Guys on Grand Street, and pedal home on your e-bike to the cat.
Re: the latest sniper shooting in the US that tears hearts and inflames passions; Fox News says, ‘America is divided and headed for civil war.’ What they should admit is, ‘We’ve spent 25 years programming division—and now we’re congratulating ourselves for the results. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.’
The sun is warm and bright, like that fateful New York day 24 years ago. It’s a shame that a generation of New Yorkers has grown up since then, and there is more war than ever.
At least we still have bodegas open at 3 a.m., subway preachers who bark and yelp, and the Mets breaking our hearts! Aaron Judge and the Yankees are still keeping the World Series on the perennial wish-list.
Oh yes, and Anna Wintour is leaving Vogue. For some, that will feel like the end of an era. Others will ask, “Anna who?”
On our weekly interview with the street, we feature new stuff from De Grupo, Divock Okoth Origi, Eternal Possessions, Faile, Fumero, ICU463, IMK, Neko, Ollin, Turtle Caps, and ZamArt.
“Flow on, river! flow with the flood-tide, and ebb with the ebb-tide! Frolic on, crested and scallop-edg’d waves! Gorgeous clouds of the sunset! drench with your splendor me, or the men and women generations after me! Cross from shore to shore, countless crowds of passengers!” ~ Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, Walt Whitman, 1860
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this time featuring Caryn Cast, Chris (Robots Will Kill), Christian Penn, Fumero, Hugus, IMK, James Vance, Jenna Morello, Joao is Typing, Kosuke James, LeCrue Eyebrows, Luch, Mike Shine, Nandos Art, Ninth Wave Studio, Ottograph, Peachee Blue, Prez Arecta, Renek X, and VEW.
The George Floyd mural at Elgin and Ennis in Houston’s Third Ward has been quietly demolished — a move that caught many off guard, especially as the fifth anniversary of his death approached. More than a painting on a wall in the margins of the city, it was a community’s act of remembrance, a public reckoning, and a visual anchor for a moment when the country seemed to shift. To awaken.
And yet, here we are. Five years later, and it’s hard to say what lasting change took root. In some camps, being ‘woke’ is a pejorative, and going back to sleep is encouraged. The arc of justice bends, but it bends slowly. Or maybe it bends into circles.
Meanwhile in New York, a Banksy mural on a six-ton wall hit the auction block and… nothing. Not a single bid. Cue speculation: are we finally past the Banksy-buoyed street art boom that’s defined the last two decades? Or was the opening price just too steep? Maybe the rollout was sloppy. Maybe it was the economy. Whatever the reason, the silence in the salesroom is rare — and could signal a shift in the so-called urban contemporary art market.
And yet, the Banksy machine rolls on. At this point, there may be more Banksy museums than Starbucks — none sanctioned by the artist, of course, but still packing in the crowds. There’s The Banksy Museum in NYC, The World of Banksy in Paris, Museu Banksy in Barcelona and Madrid, and the touring Art of Banksy show, rolling through Jakarta, Melbourne, and Vancouver. It’s a brand now — maybe not quite as big as Mickey Mouse, but it’s definitely what cultural tourists reach for when they want a little edge with their museum day. What this says about the artist, the audience, or the architecture of commodified rebellion… you draw your own conclusions.
So here’s some of this week’s visual conversation from the street, including works from Shin, Crash One, GO, Ham, Hasp, Homesick, IMK, Jeff Henriquez, Mike King, Nela, Piggie the Pig, Queen Andrea, Stesi, Wetiko, Wild West, and Zimer.
This week, St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue was suddenly flooded with pealing bells and congregants. In a historic moment for the Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, born in Chicago, was chosen, following in the footsteps of his predecessor Francis and his namesake Leo XIII, who was widely admired for his steadfast advocacy for migrants and laborers at the turn of the 20th century. Many observers have noted that the selection of an American pope may reflect a conscious decision by the College of Cardinals to offer a moral counterbalance to the growing tide of authoritarianism and exclusionary politics seen in some of today’s global leadership. With roots in a city shaped by immigration, industry, and social struggle, Leo XIV arrives at a time when such grounding may prove especially relevant. Best wishes to all of us.
So here’s some of this week’s visual conversation from the street, including works from Homesick, Gabriel Specter, Clint Mario, Werds, IMK, EXR, Jorit, Wild West, JEMZ, Ribs, Diva, Ellena Lourens, APE, NOEVE, ENEKKO, Rene, Happy, Disoh, Peuf, and Off Key.
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! Feeling that Valentine’s chocolate buzz? Gearing up for President’s Day? Thank goodness for holidays—little pauses in the relentless, whiplash-inducing news cycle we’re all riding.
First, some street art news:
San Francisco street artist Rabi Torres taps into ad culture subversion with his new “We Buy Souls” campaign, echoing the tactics of Cash For Your Warhol artist Hargo—right down to the cryptic answering machine message and documentation website. This kind of remixing of commercial signage also has historical roots in Ed Ruscha’s experiments with text, Barbara Kruger’s billboard-style commands, Jenny Holzer’s wheat pasted provocations, Corita Kent’s screen prints, and the bold aesthetics of the Colby Poster Printing Co. Certainly Rabi is getting people’s attention in a San Francisco cityscape that some may describe as hammered with advertising. Call the number on the signs, and you might get pulled into an existential rabbit hole—if you’re up for the game. SF Gate breaks it down here.
It looks like the card company using Banksy-style artwork for its designs may soon put the anonymous street artist in the public eye, as its trademark case with Full Color Black continues to progress in court. Depending on the twists and turns of this legal case, you may see Banksy making a public appearance.
Meanwhile, here’s our interview with the streets this week, including Nick Walker, Clown Soldier, IMK, EXR, W3RC, Sluto, Short, Zaver, Katie Merz, Geraluz, Helch, HVC, TOD, Peter Daverington, Carve, and Kee:
We’re celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of the next by thanking BSA Readers, Friends, and Family for your support in 2024. Picked by our followers, these photos are the heavily circulated and “liked” selections of the year – shot by our Editor of Photography, Jaime Rojo. We’re sharing a new one every day to celebrate all our good times together, our hope for the future, and our love for the street. Happy Holidays Everyone!
The polarity of positions is popular for simple journals today, a shamefully reductive assessment of the world and our complex interactions. If you were to fall for such easy explanations about politics and power, your only responsibility would be to pick a team. Sadly, that is the formula that takes hold right now, making citizens believe that life is just so black and white, left and right, wrong and right.
In truth it is a thin line, and many of those lines are blurred, leaving many vacillating between love and hate. And they feed off one another. Shakespeare’s famous depiction of love and hate comes in Romeo and Juliet, which is the most famous love story bought and sold. The young lovers’ intense and pure love contrasts sharply with the hatred between their families, the Capulets and Montagues.
“My only love sprung from my only hate!” encapsulates this tension. Love exists in a world filled with hatred.
Right out of the gate, Pres-elect Trump is telling us that one must destroy the government to save it, just like the towns in Vietnam in the 70s. His candidate for a brand new Department of Government Ethics, Elon Musk, says they have a ‘Mandate to Delete” cumbersome rules and regulations. Trump’s selections to head various arms of government this week also include RFK Jr. and Matt Gaetz . Next week, rumors are that Ex-Subway Sandwich Spokesman Jared Fogle will be nominated to Childcare Secretary, and the Hamburgler will be nominated to head the Commerce Department. Meanwhile VP Harris could be polishing up her resume to get some speaking gigs at Cantor Fitzgerald and the Carlyle Group once she leaves office. Oops, sorry, that was Obama’s reported move in 2017 when he left the White House.
In New York, the weather has been so dry that we have been warned about more fires like the one in Prospect Park recently. Up along the Hudson River, the fall foliage is still putting on a show, though many leaves have turned brown due to the lack of rain. Meanwhile, if you venture north for a weekend escape, don’t miss the career retrospective of Brooklyn artist Deborah Masters at the farm she shares with her husband, Geoff. The exhibit has been a popular destination this autumn, drawing hundreds of visitors on weekends who are eager to see her impressive outdoor works and many smaller sketches, drawing, and painting spanning 50 years. Masters’ large-scale figurative sculptures grace numerous parks and private collections. Still, she is perhaps best known for “Walking New York,” a monumental 350-foot-long relief in JFK Airport’s Terminal 4, which won the Municipal Arts Society Award for Best Public Art. The show, Deborah Masters: A Life in Art, is still on view, making it the perfect excuse for a scenic country drive.
The city feels like it is resting now between holidays, a rare 10 days or so when we are not absolutely overtaken by tourists clamoring for tickets to Broadway and entry into sexy burlesque entertainment clubs like The Slipper Room, Duane Park, and House of Yes. Sure, the ice skating in Bryant Park has begun and we know Thanksgiving is around the corner, but we just passed Veterans Day, Election Day, the World Series, Halloween, and the New York Marathon – and we’re all taking one big breath before the holiday vortex begins.
Naturally, Street Artists and graffiti writers are here to accompany us on the way, surprises in tow.
Here’s our weekly conversation with the street, this week featuring; Jason Naylor, Jappy Agoncillo, IMK, Deborah Masters, Dais, ScoJo, HOP Krew, Kenji Chai, Szel, The Girl with the Brushes, Skwerm, and Loose Tea.
New York is slamming, as ever, when it comes to new street art and graffiti popping up in expected and unexpected places. Here’s our weekly conversation with the street, this week featuring: The Yok, Sheryo, Lexi Bella, Calicho Art, Humble, IMK, Manuel Alejandro, EXR, Zoot, Great Boxers, Thobekk, Aaron Wrinkle, OTOM, Poor Rupert, Paige Bowman, Elena Ohlander, MUSKA, Motomichi Nakamura, and TABBY.
Here is our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring City Kitty, Degrupo, Eternal Possessions, Dirt Cobain, RX Skulls, Le Crue, IMK, Outer Source, Sluto, ICU463, Manuel Alejando, Sule Cant Cook, Cheer Up, Jacob Thomas, Urban Ninja, 613 Hawk, and LeCrue Eyebrows.
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! It’s our Labor Day weekend special for you this week featuring some fresh old school styles popping up again in a bid for capturing your nostalgic feelings for early graffiti and hip hop. And of course, we have some of the new stuff as well. Keep keeping it real and F-R-E-S-H!
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: NohJColey, Modomatic, Tomokazu Matsuyama, IMK, WRDSMTH, Ottograph, POEM, The Postman, Nandos Art, Atelier Jolie, Fat Cap Sprays, Fuck with Love, Ester, 1984.YO, and Mattaya Fitts.
The 66th Annual Puerto Rican Parade will loudly, buoyantly, exuberantly traverse and sway along the iconic 5th Avenue in Manhattan today. Subsequently, numerous Brooklyn neighborhoods will burst into a party with lively street festivities and impromptu fiestas adorning sidewalks, sitting on stoops, and hanging out on window ledges. A collective joy and relief are in our hearts across the city this weekend, stemming from the restoration of clear air in the city; after a disheartening episode of a Dystopian Orange haze that tainted our skies for days this week.
Forest fires in Canada had blown smoke down the Hudson River to surprise everyone, and flummox many. The consequences forced people to illuminate their homes during daylight hours and drive their car with headlights on. This extraordinary event posed a threat to both the well-being and livelihoods of countless individuals, with people working outside at great danger. However, for those who turned to our local National Public Radio (NPR) station for insight, rather than talking about construction workers, municipal employees, or street food vendors, their primary concerns were remote work arrangements, ordering from Doordash, and worrying about the smoke’s effect on dogs during their daily walks. The poor and working class are routinely erased from public discourse, which is why unmediated street art often does the work.
Currently, the cityscape is adorned with captivating street art and mesmerizing murals, offering a wide array of entertainment, education, and aesthetic gratification. We hope you take pleasure in exploring photographer Jaime Rojo’s compilation.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: Maya Hayuk, Below Key, Little Ricky, Mint & Serf, Billy Barnacles, Homesick, David Puck, Panic, IMK, Aidz, Robert Vargas, Salo Panto. Artistcjg89, Herman, Gabe, Tank, FLWR, and Sasha Colby.
Born outside Sydney and based in Glasgow, Sam Bates—SMUG—began the way many graffiti writers do: skateboards, hip-hop, and late-night missions …Read More »
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BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
