It’s great to see that artists on the streets are actually reaching out to help passersby with enthralling words of encouragement these days – the signs and messages we’re seeing are sentiments such as “We will persevere!” and “No Fear. Keep Going!”
Perhaps it is the vacuum of support that has been created by the Divider in Chief – as well as the acquiescent one-party corporate Demoblicans who all haven’t the slightest desire to lead or actually support you in these times of crisis for millions.
And to this we add our voice; Hang in there people! You got this! We are going to pull through this stronger and more united, despite the disinformation war that is arrayed before us. Today people are once again taking to the streets around the world in a populist fervor not seen since the ’60s when Baby Boomers hadn’t abandoned their principles yet. What a pendulum we swing on!
Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Buff Monster, Dan Witz, Gianni Lee, Mtitya Pisliak, Praxi, Skewville, and Techno Deco.
Under the initiative of Barcelona based street artist, Xupet Negre, around 15 artists responded to an invitation to participate in the project #theblackwallmovement at Parc De 3 Xemeneies in Barcelona.
Police brutality is not a foreign concept in Barcelona and the images coming out from the United States have hit a nerve within the creative community of this Catalan Metropolis, we are told, and the artists here decided to show their support for the protest against racism in Barcelona by painting these walls.
Photographer and frequent BSA contributor Lluis Olive shared his photos of the project with us.
The anonymous artist(s) who painted the mural above, titled “Here the police also kill” decided to paint the names of a number of the immigrants killed by the police in Barcelona since the ’90s. An individual who happened to be on the scene where the mural was painted and wishes to remain anonymous related the what unfolded once the police got wind of the mural:
“Here the police also kill…and censor!
Yesterday I visited Parc De 3 Xemeneies in Barcelona to support #theblackwallsmovement event organized by Xupete Negre. I wasn’t there as an artist, but rather in support of my fellow artists who were participating and painting in the event.
What caught my attention was a mural where a crew of anonymous artists decided that rather than paint images on the wall they wrote a list of the names of immigrants assassinated by the police in Barcelona from the ’90s to the present time. Shortly after the mural was completed a police squad arrived. The officers wanted to know the name of the artist(s) who painted the mural so they could charge the artist(s) of defamation and demanded that the mural be painted over.
The artists who were present at the time refused to name names and refused to paint over the mural. The following day the portion of the mural that reads: “Here the police also kills” was painted over. I find it abhorrent that crimes that took place are being censured and that the collective memory of said crimes is being erased.
Never mind that the event in question was to fight racism and police brutality and to denounce the murder of George Floyd in The United States.
“This is the end of pretty pictures,” wrote the artists at the end of the mural. “-by anonymous.
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.
Now screening : 1. Steven Siegel, Like a Buoy, Like a Barrel 2. Mural Intervention by Ana Barriga in Nau Bostik 3. The Revolution Starts in The Earth w/ the Self. Jess X Snow & Gavriel Cutipa-Zorn
BSA Special Feature: Steven Siegel, Like a Buoy, Like a Barrel
We’ve seen public works made with recycled materials in the street art scene for a few years – Bordalo II and Icy & Sot come to mind. American environmental artist Steven Siegel has been pulling apart and reassembling in public space for forty years or so, amassing a body of work that examines and reveals the geologic sedimentation of earth, bodies, memory, emotion.
A recent work, Like a Buoy, Like a Barrel in Providence, Rhode Island presents our collective waste in a container, front and center for all to look into, marvel at, perhaps be dismayed by.
“Piling a bunch of, for lack of a better word, ‘trash,’ is not going to move anybody. Whereas if you can articulate it into a form that is beautiful and surprising, they’re going to say ‘that’s beautiful and surprising. What does it mean?”
Mural Intervention by Ana Barriga in Nau Bostik
On the occasion of the closing of the TÀPIA exhibition, B.murals invited Ana Barriga to paint on the walls of Espai 30 La Sagrera, inspired by her tireless searches for inspiration in markets such as “El Rastro” in Madrid. Using a found item she enlarges it and takes comfort in the simple depiction of mutual affinity.
Project Highlight: Like buoy, like a barrel by Steven Siegel
The Revolution Starts in The Earth w/ the Self. Jess X Snow & Gavriel Cutipa-Zorn
Across the United States and in other parts of the world protestors are bringing down the last vestiges of sculptural racism etched in marble or bronze. Statutes of slave traders and confederate generals have been pulled down from their pedestals. Even Christopher Columbus lost his head in Boston this week. So yes, heads are rolling.
It’s not a moment too soon to have this conversation, to listen to others, and to confront the idea that we should revere and immortalize with monuments those who were not human enough to treat other humans fairly. The demonstrators protesting against racism and police violence are having an impact in our daily discourse on matters of race, violence against minorities, and police brutality. It’s not about time, it’s been time.
Bristol, a seaside city in the United Kingdom saw its own symbol of racism toppled down by protestors this week. It involved the monument of Edward Colston, a Tory Member of Parliament and an English merchant who profitted from the slave trade and died in 1721.
Bristol also gave us street artist Banksy, who looks to inject levity even in the darkest moments. He has come with an irresistible and clever idea about what to do with the monument that was thrown into the harbor at an anti-racism protest on Sunday, and has since been retrieved from the waters. Having already offered his serious commentary on the #blacklivesmatter movement on his Instagram account he decided to give us his humorous take on the fate of the statue.
“What should we do with the empty plinth in the middle of Bristol? Here’s an idea that caters for both those who miss the Colston statue and those who don’t.We drag him out the water, put him back on the plinth, tie cable round his neck and commission some life size bronze statues of protestors in the act of pulling him down. Everyone happy. A famous day commemorated.” Bansky
Taking a decade long view of your creative life can be astoundingly instructional if you are brave enough; perusing over the body of work that you have taken with eyes focused and blurred may reveal broad outlines and finer features of a creative life-path – a psychological mapping of the inner world and its outer expression with all its impulses, longings, expressions of received truths and newly discovered wisdom.
Publico. Privado. Jaz Franco Fasoli. 09-2019
Franco Fasoli aka JAZ has looked over his last decade (2009-2019) of work as a street artist and fine artist and offers you the opportunity to examine his public and private side as well in this new two-volume compendium. Painting on the streets since the mid-nineties and his mid-teens in his hometown of Buenos Aires, the visual artist knew his path would be a creative one. His family and role models, comprised of well-schooled artists and educators, had provided a foundation of critique and appreciation for him to build upon from the earliest years.
Now with many miles of travel on his personal odometer and introduction
to greater opportunities and institutions his visual output is here codified,
examined, and assessed in printed and bound form, to be respected and valued.
As observed in an essay by his street painting compatriot Elian, “Today it is
no longer about what physical space we select for each of these terms and their
respective experiences, it is about extremely sensitive decisions on what we
decide to transport from mental territories to others.”
Extremely sensitive is an appropriate descriptor. These massive and fragile and indestructible works all respond to weighty matters of history, struggle, nationalism, mythology, archetypical roles; now mingled uncomfortably with the ethereal nature of modern living that collapses, compresses, cheapens aesthetic values and relationships. Here is adolescence clamoring for maturity, idealism melting with monsters of the imagination, truth abutting uncomfortable irony.
In “Publico: Privado” JAZ has invited you to go on the trip with him. Artist,
teacher, and curator Diana Aisenberg writes in her essay, “I imagine the work
as a ship, a means of transport, as close to teleportation. It is the one that
moves and finds its place, there where it is necessary.”
Irish street artist Asbestos likes peeking
out, just his inquisitive orbs taking you in from a safe space. “We all wear
masks every second of the day.” Naturally that’s not hard to do since much of
the world has been in quarantine a lot lately.
But all these world events have left
him feeling fragile to tell the truth.
“I am fragile,” he says. “And I can
feel how fragile we all are right now.”
This new mural in Dublin speaks to
health, communities, our very lives, he says. It also speaks about masks that
people wear to hide how they’re really feeling right now in a time of great social,
political, and financial upheaval that you know is irreversible but you cannot
predict where it goes.
“We deny how
fragile we are. I wear these masks to hide the irrelevant parts of my identity,
and this mural let’s my eyes speak, if not shout out how fragile I am. It’s
empowering to admit that I’m fragile.”
When a socio-political-economic nexus is forged with such historically contentious factors, it only takes a spark. If you are wondering who will win, merely look at history, as past is prologue. Sorry, we won’t be spoilers.
Historically sky-high unemployment in an economy headed for depression, a somnolent political-corporate class standing listlessly by to watch as you are lowered deep into the well, an unprecedented heist of the US cupboard in broad daylight, the flames of social inequity fanned by a muscular and shiny fascism. What’s not to like?
In one irony (among many) New York City is opening tomorrow. Except for the curfew at 8pm. It’s also boarding up. Just as graffiti and street art were effectively scrubbed from Manhattan, the city offers artists and poets thousands and thousands of brand new plywood canvasses. It’s a jubilee!
Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Captain Eyeliner, Niko Alexander, Cadex Herrera, Greta McLain, Xena Goldman, Pablo Helm Hernandez, Dusty Rebel, No Sleep, Pajtim Osmanaj, Russian Doll NYC, and Soul Thundre.
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.
Now screening : 1. BCN Rise & Fall. Documentary History of Street Art in Barcelona
BSA Special Feature: BCN Rise & Fall, Documentary History of Street Art in Barcelona
The
permissive nature of the city created a golden age of art in the streets, unencumbered
by the police or the city itself, an
exciting destination for artists like Banksy, Space Invader, Os Gemeos, Aryz,
BTOY, Kenor, Mark Bode, and Obey – but really it was an aerosol family reunion with
relatives arriving from around the world.
Today we feature a well-researched and presented re-telling of the golden age of muralism born here in the first few years of the 2000s, spawning careers of many and attracting culture watchers of all kinds. As is the case with gentrifying spaces, the next phase after artists make everything pop with energy and new ideas, the vultures moved in to capitalize on it, and kill it.
Strict laws, strict penalties, and putting on a nice commercial face for the corporations and shoppers. Later, the creative spirit seems quashed – and the city that gave birth to a stunning spectacle seems completely unaware of how they shot themselves in the foot – until they have to pay to see the stuff in a museum exhibition later.
Now years
later we have a clearer view of what transpired and why thanks directors Aleix Gordo Hostau and Gustavo López Lacalle, who painstakingly
construct and deconstruct the story through colorful stories and an ocean of
imagery. Political and sometimes divisive? Sure. A form of speech, undoubtedly.
Pity it is manipulated sometimes to fit an agenda, even when the artist hadn’t
intended it to be.
BCN Rise & Fall. Documentary History of Street Art in Barcelona
The demonstrations and protests in support of George Floyd and against racism and police brutality continue in many cities across the US. Similarly, new reports from other countries of people marching in solidarity have brought the message to an international audience. Today we have a new mural by Tim Marsh sent to us by BSA contributor and photographer Lluis Olive who shares these images from Barcelona, Spain.
As one may expect, subtleties of language may get lost in translation, so we’ll briefly mention why “Black Lives Matter” is not the same as “All Lives Matter”, and in fact the latter is received by many in the US as a dismissal of blacks, a de-facto denial of the suffering of people in an effort to erase the magnitude of a deliberately designed unfair system that threatens black people’s lives.
First, it’s good to know that Black Lives Matter is actually an organization founded by three black women in 2013 – used as a hashtag to begin with – soon spawning a movement. The BLM name came to be known as a response to the casual denigration of the sanctity of the life of Trayvon Martin, who was shot by George Zimmerman and who was found “not guilty.” So, today using the term is directly tied to that organization and time no matter the current context.
Secondly, as a slogan, it is directly implied that the dominant white culture has done everything it can to deny the humanity to persons with dark skin, whether through a thousand tiny subtleties on a daily basis or through big obvious examples like state-sanctioned violence – and a gamut in between. It is a defiant statement that is made so obvious in intent that people cannot mistake its meaning. Consequently, for many, saying “All Lives Matter” is yet one more example of denigration, a sideways denial of the utter toxicity of racism and its impact, a re-direction away from the dire facts.
We know
that our international friends, like this artist here, are undoubtedly trying
to be inclusive when they say “All Lives Matter”. We just wanted to share that
some Americans won’t understand it as such, and they may even interpret the
slogan as an underhanded insult to blacks and other persons of color. After
all, Women’s Rights wouldn’t even be an issue if women’s rights were equally encoded
by law and absolutely insured by a fair process in greater society. Until then
we’ll talk about Women’s Rights, GLBTQ Rights, Disabled Rights, etcetera.
Black Lives
Matter.
UPDATE: Since publishing this article we received a message from the artist of this work above. He let us know that he had already painted over this slogan with “Black Lives Matter” – only a day after he first painted it and not as a result of this article. He had in fact not understood the implications and once he did he wanted to be clear with his intentions. This is a win for everyone, and to whatever extent we can share information and ideas to raise our collective awareness with each other and learn from each other, we say “yes!”
PLEASE TAKE THE TIME TO READ. First wall after the lock down. I wanted to paint something else, but the news over the world have made me react. What the actual fuck, people. It seems that all over the world, racism has been increasing lately…
This is just an example of what white supremacism is causing over the
world. The latest news happened in the USA, but some similar stories
happened lately in france too, With people from other origins. . This is why at first i used the sentence “All lives matter”. And then some of you explained that white supremacists were using this beautiful phrase to protest against the protests. Which led me to go correct the text on the wall. Which leaves me with a wierd feeling, like forgetting about ALL the other cases. AND I REALLY HOPE TO SEE YOU ALL SUPPORTING THEIR CAUSE TOO.
I strongly encourage ALL the people over the world to keep fighting.
Bring justice to all those abused by the police, and by all acts of
racism. MAKE RACISTS ASHAMED. BE ANTI-RACIST All my support goes to all the people protesting, and fighting against racism, all over the world. ✊✊?✊?✊?✊?✊?
Hispanic and African American communities have suffered disproportionately due do entrenched social and economic disparities in American society during the COVID-10 pandemic. Not only are larger proportions of each community affected by the illness, they are also heavily represented as caretakers and front-line workers.
While the systemic inequalities are also fueling the current demonstrations and abuses of people and press in 10s of cities across the country in ways that shock the conscience, we turn briefly here to honor the work of those who have helped our families and our friends with the virus outbreak.
Cuban-American land artist and contemporary artist Jorge Rodriguez Gerada and his team have been in Queens the past few days painting this enormous mural to celebrate the heroism of our front line workers. The most diverse population in the US, Queens is truly a symbol for the harmonious possibilities of people living and working together that defies any right wing ideologue – with an estimated 800 languages being spoken in this fair borough.
So its undeniably
appropriate that Gerada chose this location in the heart of Queens entitled
‘Somos La Luz,’ (We are the Light), which memorializes the late Dr. Decoo, a
Latino physician who lost his life after battling this pandemic in NYC. A
striking portrait to be seen from the sky, it is a broad gesture of gratitude
from all New Yorkers to those who truly have our collective and individual best
interests at heart every day.
This
project was curated by @henryrmunozlll, sponsored by @SOMOSCare and with
production assistance by @GreenPointInnovations / @GreenPoint.EARTH. Mr. Gerada
says he is proud to partner with the @queensmuseum, @elmuseo del
Barrio @maketheroadny and @NYCParks on this incredible project.
Part of the ongoing drama that your life becomes as someone who knows street art is you never feel like you are alone on the street. The appearance of a tag or an artwork reminds of you people and it becomes part of a continuum of communication you have with them, even if they left this missive a long time previous, it may feel like a new salutation from an old friend, or a mystery-cloaked announcement from a new one.
Brooklyn street art collective FAILE just appeared with these new pieces, after being absent for a couple of years. On the streets of BK for more than two decades, here are three new stencils of collaged images – one that we’ve seen before and two that look new to us. Some things change, some stay the same.
The streets are alive with street art and pointed political protest. NYC citizens are joining the cities and communities across the country who are demonstrating furiously over the newest examples of systemic, latent, and explicit racism and police brutality that have characterized our society for so long. Of course it’s just one fire that has been waiting to spark as economic conditions run parallel with social inequity. In the face of sky-high unemployment, unpaid rents, increasing food insecurity, a “rescue” program that gave the store to the rich, and the ever-growing gap between hyper-rich and the chronically poor/ newly poor, the summer here looks like it could be torrid.
We won’t need or see a large number of street art festivals for a while. This show of politically/socially inspired artworks and text messages is probably just warming up on the streets and you can imagine that artists won’t find it appealing to be sitting on panels and pontificating about the genesis of mark-making, the original roots of punk anarchy, or how they are incorporating being woke or inter-sectionalism into their “street practice”. The creative class, however you define it, has suffered a huge blow and many are out of work, and patience. Based on what we have been witnessing here these past few weeks, you may predict that the more aesthetically inclined will seize the opportunity to make art for the city, on the city.
Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring 1UP Crew, Adam Fujita, Almost Over Keep Smiling, Billy Barnacles, Combo-CK, Denis Ouch, Indecline, Jason Naylor, Lunge Box, Matt Siren, Mr. Toll, and Woof Original.
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
