All posts tagged: Jaime Rojo

WK Interact in “360”, A Survey of Conflict in Degrees

“If his work on the street is an indication, it has been a constant state of war. Look at these images and themes that reappear in WK’s work since he first came to New York; Ever-present fear, violence, anxiety, overheated sex-play, fishnets & firearms, contorted figures racing, martial arts kicks to the head, hand-to-hand combat, boxers swinging, prisoners tied and bound, hooded figures snapping heads of bound businessmen, terrifying escapes in progress, maniacal twined and twisted forms and faces, propaganda, undercover spies, official seals, gun assembly diagrams, digitized labels, ID fingerprints, cameras, surveillance, camouflage, radioactive symbols, streaming codes and bureaucratic text passages, black military choppers hovering overhead, contorted soldiers screaming “bring me back”, a permanent state of survivalism…” – to quote ourselves from our 2 part series on WK Interact a few years ago.

WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Now in 2013 Jonathan Levine Gallery plays host to a survey of the Street Artist that blew our minds when we traipsed through Soho in the 1980s and 90s, when Manhattan was still cool and had the authentic atmosphere of a vibrant arts “scene”.  As we look at the new display that spans his career from street to gallery so far, the cultural explosions of that time and their dancing reflection as captured by WK in his large scale street installations of black and white, we realize it was an accurate depiction, and a prophetic one.

WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

As a result, a brand new visitor will be just as taken by this collection as one twenty years ago. Given the increasingly militarized aspects of the modern day, what might have seemed like a paranoid future vision by WK now looks like contemporary society. What keeps all of it immediate and alive is how WK infuses the most static piece with the movement, the speed, the rush of the street.

“My work is very black, it’s very bold, it’s very graphic, it’s very strong.  There is nothing really friendly like a little bird flying around or a pink piglet… it’s totally not that.  But I live in New York City and I am responding to that kind of contrast.” ~ WK on BSA

WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WK Interact. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WK Interact. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WK Interact “360 A 25 Year Survey” is currently on view at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery Pop-Up at 557 W 23 Street, NYC. Click here for more details.

Click here to read our interview with WK “The 25 Year War: WK Interact in New York. Part I

Click here to read our interview with WK “The 25 Year War: WK Interact in New York. Part II

 

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

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STIK on London Streets and Walls

London Street Artist Stik has breathed a relaxed at-ease quality into the familiar stick man of your childhood and expanded his reach across walls, boarded windows, doorways, and buildings. Working on the street (and sometimes living on it) for the last ten years, the former live art-school model has grown in stature on the scene with his ability to imbue this archetype of the human with some measure of humanity, while keeping it purely graphic.

“The Street Art scene is a dialogue. It’s more than a dialogue – it’s a whole forum,” he says in the video posted below, a promotion for a new issue of Big Issue, where his figure is given center stage.

Here are a couple of photos recently taken by photographers Jaime Rojo and Geoff Hargadon as well as a look at the new figure from Stik that he says is “perfect… balanced.”

Stik on the roofs Brooklyn, NY. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stik on the streets of London. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

STIK ON THE STREETS

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LNY Talks About “The Golden Hour”

Street Artist LNY was in the Fountain Art fair this weekend and is on the street 24/7 right now in lower Manhattan as part of a Fourth Arts Block public arts project directed by Keith Schweitzer.

The sweeping careening necks of the long billed birds are wrapped around a malfeasant from below, wrestling in a violent and epic struggle while both are tossed by the waves in a lyrical, illustrative hand.

LNY “The Golden Hour” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LNY tells BSA what “The Golden Hour” refers to; “Its name comes from the medical term referring the period of time after traumatic injury during which treatment is most likely to prevent death,” he says. As the city continues to struggle with rebuilding and relocating our dispossessed neighbors four months after Hurricane Sandy, the Street Artist says this mural relates to the unprecedented damage lower Manhattan sustained from the natural disaster.

“Its a dense, violent narrative but the colors make it pleasant so I am very happy with the reactions so far, ” he says.

LNY “The Golden Hour”. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LNY “The Golden Hour”. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LNY “The Golden Hour” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This mural is part of Fourth Art’s Block public art program and was produced by MaNY.

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

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Images of the Week 03.10.13: Happy 70th Birthday Martha Cooper

“I can’t believe it. I never expected this, ever.”

The Houston Street Wall was the site of a sidewalk surprise birthday party Saturday  for photographer Martha Cooper, who was planning to stop by for what she thought would be a new mural shoot. The world famous graffiti photographer had no idea that artists How and Nosm had begun masking the letters of her nickname out of their mural at 7 a.m. to prepare for an all-star cast of some big graffiti and street art names from the last 4 decades to create a larger-than-life birthday card for her.

Thanks to speedy social media, a sunny early spring day, and her stature as an historic photographer of fortitude and integrity, the impromptu guest list ballooned throughout the day for this street side celebration, while the boisterous honking New York traffic rolled by.

Above: Happy Birthday Martha Cooper (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The “Marty” wall begins at the Houston Wall in NYC as How and Nosm buff their mural and mask out her name. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

By the time Martha and her cousin Sally arrived with wall organizer Meghan Coleman just after noon, the “MARTY” letters had already been half completed and she stood staring with mouth smiling and agape, waving at the cluster of photographers shooting her atop the Houston Street meridian. A second later she was laughing and racing across the street, camera in hand, ready to capture the painting action and get mobbed with well wishers. Cooper confessed to being pretty overwhelmed by the sight of her name so big. For her part, Sally, a confidant and buddy since they attended grammar school together in their hometown of Baltimore, busted out into tears.

How & Nosm at work. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Just inside of one day the famed wall that has hosted the likes of Haring, Scharf, Fairey, and Faile was suddenly regaled in eye-popping color and a variety of styles by Lady Pink, How and Nosm, Bio from Tats Cru, Freedom, Free5, Crash, Daze, Terror 161, Faust, and Aiko – producing a head spinning and sweet greeting to a person whom they all respect and admire for her work and determination. In addition to the steady flow of fans, writers, artists, bloggers and photographers asking to have a photo taken with one the few photographers of New York’s 1970s subway graffiti scene, a number of friends stopped by to have some birthday cake and watch the painting – like Wild Style director Charlie Ahearn, his brother artist John Ahearn, hip-hop photographer Joseph Conzo, and master sculptor Simon Verity, among others.

The brand new “Marty” mural is up for an incredibly short time, possibly only days, so if you have an opportunity or inclination, catch this personal and public display of affection for a lady who helped us all appreciate art in the streets.

Bio from the Tats Cru at work. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Crash shows his sketch for his portion of the wall. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko(photo © Jaime Rojo)

Crash at work. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Martha (center) arrives and gets a big surprise. Flanked by Meghan Coleman on the left and Cousin Sally on the right. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Davide (Nosm) greets Martha. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faust at work. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Freedom at work. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Freedom signs a book and talks to a young admirer. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Daze at work. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Terror 161 at work. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bio at work. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A possible devotee of the Seapunk movement walks past “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A New Yorker captures the action from the comfort of his taxi while waiting for the light to turn green. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bio does the official birthday wish.”Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lady Pink at work. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

How & Nosm at work. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aiko at work, or rather, her shadow. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Laboutins and aerosol make a riveting combination for Aiko. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

All the artists with Marty. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Marty poses for us. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA loves Martha Cooper. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko. (photo © Leah )

The final shot. “Marty” at the Houston Wall in NYC; A tribute to Martha Cooper in collaboration with How & Nosm, Faust, Freedom, Terror 161, Bio, Daze, Lady Pink, Free5, Crash and Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

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

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Fountain 2013 Shots of Street Art Above and Below

The Fountain fair raised the Street Art to the rafters this year with an installation curated by Mighty Tanaka Gallery and Robots Will Kill. The canvasses wave above the exhibit floor in this historic Armory space while below thousands of people milled through the booths of a varied collection of this years offerings. Here are new shots of the work we found Friday in the first full day of this weekend full of art fairs.

Fountain Art Fair 2013: Alan Ganev, Dark Clouds, CERN, Chris RWK, Veng, Danielle Mastrion, NEVER, ND’A, Joe Iurato, Chris Stain, See One, CAM, Miguel Ovalle, JMR, Apolo Torres, Keely, Quel Beast and Cake. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cern. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ND’A. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris. RWK. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cake. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Apolo Torres. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Fountain Art Fair 2013: Alan Ganev, Dark Clouds, CERN, Chris RWK, Veng, Danielle Mastrion, NEVER, ND’A, Joe Iurato, Chris Stain, See One, CAM, Miguel Ovalle, JMR, Apolo Torres, Keely, Quel Beast and Cake. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Uphues. Detail. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

John Breiner. Detail. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

En Masse doing some live painting. Detail. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Fumero does Marilyn, Biggie, Keith. He says he has coined a term to describe the school of work he and others are evolving within as “Grafstract Expressionism” (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Sinxero. Detail. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

A delightful guest at Fountain. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Light artist Vicki DaSilva has video and photos of her work. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Pop Mortem has some political commentary dripping with drama, or oil. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Art performances with nearly naked people tend to draw an appreciative crowd. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

LNY prints being discussed. Detail. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Labrona. Detail. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

 

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

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BSA Film Friday 03.08.13

ESSAM (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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

Now screening: Drones and Street Artist Essam.

 

BSA Special Feature:

Drones, Rand Paul, and Street Artist Essam

Street Artists use their medium of message on the street sometimes to entertain, engage, or educate the passerby. Whether it’s a personal, cultural, or politically relevant message, often the work provides a mirror for us to look at and examine ourselves. Sometimes the sentiments are seemingly irrelevant, other times prescient. Last year photographers of Street Art, who already had been accustomed to the multiple fake and usually comical “official” messages posted around the city on signposts by Trustocorp, began noticing the street signs that warned of drone surveillance.  Most people had a vague idea of what drones were, but couldn’t see the connection between drones and our streets. This week we had a 13 hour national education when the very conservative Libertarian Kentucky Republican Rand Paul filibustered on his feet about the use of drones in the US and abroad, stirring up a huge controversy about their use that could actually rise to become a genuine crisis for this president as citizens contemplate the constitution and the use of technology like this.

It brings to mind of course the Street Artist and his further work and what may ultimately be revealed as his role as the canary in the coalmine. According to news reports he is still under arrest for putting his art up, and there is a fundraiser for his benefit, and while the major networks talked about his signs when they came out (New Yorker, Complex Magazine, Portland Press Herald, CNN, Fox Business…), you don’t see as much news about it today. Today we feature this mini-doc about Essam and consider the impact of Street Art on public policy and how sometimes it can have the power to advance important conversation and debate.

ESSAM (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

A new mini-documentary on events of the past year surrounding Street Artist Essam and the national and local news coverage it generated.

To read more about this visit: http://www.freeessam.com/

 

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BSA Guide to Street Art @ Armory Week

Armory Week is back in New York for the 2o13 Edition. Millions will be traded, thousands sold, and probably more will go unsold. Works by artists who are identified as Street Artists are on target for more exposure in these more formalized settings than five years ago thanks to the globalization of the phenomenon, but collectors are thinking  carefully when considering a variety of factors including track record, quality of materials, authenticity, originality, street rep, and yes, Internet buzz. Also, do you love it? There are many who would be king or queen, but as usual, you have homework to do.

If you think walking streets in Brooklyn or the Bronx looking for new Street Art and graffiti is hard, you’ll be surprised how much walking this is – and how expensive it can be – to walk through the fairs. So pack a sandwich and some chips and a bottle of water, pace yourself, bring a map, and check out the action. The smaller newer fairs feel more real and the larger ones are about reputation and perceived prestige, but they all have their moments of perfect chaos.  Here are a few venues that will be showing at least one Street Artist:

Armory Show 2013

Mar. 7th – 10th, 52nd Street and 12th Avenue, New York.

Assume Vivid Astro Focus in Wynwood Walls, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Assume Vivid Astro Focus At The Suzanne Geiss Company. FOCUS, Booth 907

Shepard Fairey at PACE Prints. Pier 92 Booth 412.

Barry McGee at Roberts & Tilton. Pier 94, Booth 726.

Ryan McGinness and Retna at Michael Kohn Gallery. Pier 94, Booth 509

Click here for a complete list of artists and exhibitors at Armory Show.

 

Mark Jenkins in NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Greg Haberny at Lyons Wier Gallery

Mark Jenkins at Now Contemporary Art

Click here for a complete list of artists and exhibitors at VOLTA Art Fair

Cassius Fouler in Brooklyn, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RERO at Fabien Castanier Gallery

SANER at FIFTY24MX Gallery

Gilf! at Galerie Swanström

Sheryo &  The Yok at Krause Gallery

Cassius Fouler at Weldon Arts Gallery

TMNK Nobody at Amstel Gallery

Amanda Marie at Andenken Gallery | Kallenbach Gallery

Ron English “Culture Jam Supermarket” Site Specific Installation

Click here for a complete list of artists and exhibitors at SCOPE Art Fair

Chris and Veng RWK. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Robots Will Kill and Brooklyn’s own Mighty Tanaka Gallery are talking about a floating installation at Fountain Art Fair. Artists include: Dark Clouds, CERN, ChrisRWK, Veng, Danielle Mastiron, Hellbent, NEVER, ND’A, Joe Iurato, Chris Stain, See One, CAM, Miguel Ovalle, JMR, Apolo Torres and Cake, among others.

Fumero and Sinxero at Bowl of Mixed Art.

Leon Reid IV

Pop Mortem / BlueBeard

Click here for a complete list of artists and exhibitors at Fountain Art Fair.

John Breiner will be showing at this Pop-Up Art Fair.

Click here for a complete list of artists and exhibitors at The (UN)Fair

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For Crochet Street Artist OLEK “The End is Far”

For those who follow this sort of thing Street Artist Olek has monopolized the category for pink and purple camouflage crochet sculpture on the street.

It wouldn’t be a stretch to say she actually invented the category, owing as much to the D.I.Y. and hand-crafting movements as to public artists Christo and Jeanne-Claude, whose work also lusts for custom wrapping everything that occupies space. Where Christo might prefer tarps and massive scale multi-week installations, Olek is content for now to hand-crochet her bespoke skin covers for bicycles, shopping carts, strollers, the Wall Street Bull sculpture, and every inanimate object in her apartment.

Now we can add to that list candelabras and human skeletons.

Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

In her new solo show “The End is Far” at Manhattan’s Jonathan Levine Gallery, the Polish born Street Artist (please don’t say “yarn-bomber”) again covers the entire interior of the exhibition space with the sweet poppy palette in which so much of her street work has been sheathed. Possibly new here is the focus on adornment; brocade and appliqué treatments that are deliberately fussy and feminine, and a dining set that curves toward Victorian.

Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Somehow this added ornamentation clouds the candy camo and cushions the blow of her cursively tart twists on homey axioms like “All We Need Is Love and Money,” and “Being Beautiful on the Inside is What Counts Ha Ha Not Really”. With metallic yarn stretched across skulls and wine bottles and chalices, the tough stuff is softened by the thickness of the cover, and the attitude of pure play.

Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Fresh from very publicly beating a rap for assault in London, she happily calls sexism on the carpet and champions human rights as part of her work, and you’ll see elements of this here too. Call this a show about candy colored empowerment. Call her a creative force to reckon with, and possibly adore (But don’t be too saccharine; she’ll call you a pussy). With this much attitude and determination, you can expect expansion and refinement to intensify during this still blooming career, and one can imagine Olek crocheting a way to wrap an entire city before it is all over.

Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The hand crocheted pugilistic art of Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek “The End is Far” is currently on view at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery. Click here for further information.

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

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New Lesuperdemon in Mexico City

In the Mexico City neighborhood of Condesa a new mural from Lesuperdemon appears on a long wall of a historic house. The act of adding a mural to a wall is part of tradition in Mexican culture, so any new developments like this, even as they intersect with the relatively new graffiti or Street Art scenes, always have to be seen at least partially through that objetivo, or lense.

Partnering with ARTO, Lesuperdemon created “The Infinite Knowledge Machine”, the latest collaboration produced in his series of Street Art works around the city, which he calls #ARTOseries. Adding a hashtag to your efforts makes them much more sharable socially, no?

Lesuperdemon. “The Infinite Knowledge Machine”. Mexico City. (photo © courtesy ARTOSeries)

Lesuperdemon. “The Infinite Knowledge Machine”. Mexico City. (photo © courtesy ARTOSeries)

Lesuperdemon. “The Infinite Knowledge Machine”. Mexico City. (photo © courtesy ARTOSeries)

Lesuperdemon. “The Infinite Knowledge Machine”. Mexico City. (photo © courtesy ARTOSeries)

Lesuperdemon. “The Infinite Knowledge Machine”. Mexico City. (photo © courtesy ARTOSeries)

Lesuperdemon. “The Infinite Knowledge Machine”. Mexico City. (photo © courtesy ARTOSeries)

 

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

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Street Artist AIKO in “Edo Pop” at The Japan Society

Tidal waves of fertility and good luck are stenciled across the walls inside the Japan Society right now by Street Artist Aiko as part of the Edo Pop show that is examining the impact of Japanese prints on the work of contemporary artists.  Using motifs like the rabbit and butterfly, two of Aiko’s favorites that recur throughout her street stencils, this installation also references more mature themes of physical attraction and sexual liberation.

Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Throughout her piece are reoccurences of works she has done in the street, including the stenciled back of a crouching figure derived from a photograph by Martha Cooper from the 1970s. With Japan providing the formative cultural backdrop for the artist, she also makes sure to include a shout out to Brooklyn in the front and center of this collaged installation – the place where her work on the streets began in earnest about a decade ago. Like the Aiko installation, Edo Pop features a long list of artists whose work has been influenced by Japanese prints and is on view until June 9.

Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aiko. Wall reflection on glass panels. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aiko. Reflection of the installation on the gallery’s skylight makes it appear as a tower rising above the gallery. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Edo Pop: The Graphic Impact of Japanese Prints opens at The Japan Society on March 09. Click here for further details.

 

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

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Images of the Week: 03.03.13

NY weather remains cold/rainy/crappy on the streets still but we actually saw a Street Art tour guide plodding through Williamsburg yesterday pointing out Os Gemeos, El Sol 25, Mr. Toll, and COST paste-ups and telling stories about “beefs” to a handful of cellphone snapping Street Art fans, so Spring must be coming!

By the way, in case you were interested, “The Splasher” identity apparently applies to anyone who splashes paint anywhere today. Remember that dude who was the first “Splasher” and who enlivened many a PBR cocktail party conversation in the late two thousandzies? Remember the outraged manifestos about Street Art years ago – weren’t those wheat-pasted with shards of broken glass? Did he move on to other things? Teaching art therapy? Training sea lions? People magazine should do a “where are they now” story about “The Splasher” right?

Here’s our weekly interview of the street, this week featuring Bast, Blacksheep, Centrifuge, Daan, FRYMS, Hellbent, JM, Joe Iurato, Matthew Deston Burrows, Meer Sau, ND’A, Olek, Saane, Skount, and Young and Sick.

Top image > Joe Iurato (photo © Jaime Rojo)

OLEK (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ND’A (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ND’A (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Meer Sau. “Real World”. Salzburg, Austria. (photo Meer Sau)

A lot of advertisers have used QR codes on the street to guide you to more “content” if you simply scan them off the poster or billboard with your cellphone. That’s exactly where Street Artist Meer Sau hopes to meet people in this new conceptual piece on the street that ponders how everyday life is completely infiltrated by digital, and how it’s winning our attention from the physical. “I often catch myself walking around and just looking at my f-ing smartphone, checking office mails, typing text messages or just seeing what´s new…instead of keeping my eyes open for the real world – the weather, the people around me, nature …  simply everything,” explains Sau.

“But when I raise my eyes I just see everyone else is doing the same thing – especially the youth – Sitting next to each other, not talking to each other, but using Facebook to contact each other. They are hunting “likes” and judging their friends by their popularity on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, Instagram and so on. I’m interested in seeing how far this is gonna go. Actually, I don´t wanna know.” – Meer Sau

Young and Sick (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Skount “Empty Salvation” Amsterdam, The Netherlands. (photo © Skount)

Skount with Daaan and Saane. “Masks”. Den Haag, The Netherlads. (photo © Skount)

FRYMS (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Blacksheep (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bast (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown on the left. JM on the right. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Matthew Deston Burrows on the center with Hellbent on left and right. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Matthew Deston Burrows (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. SOHO, NYC. March, 2013. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

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BSA in New York Issue of Graffiti ART Magazine

The French contemporary art magazine Graffiti ART has just released their New York issue, giving an overview of historical and current players on the graffiti/street art scene in New York City. Along with profiling the work of people like Keith Haring, Patty Astor, Crash, Dan Witz, and How & Nosm, you’ll find a nice piece about your favorite street art blog, Brooklyn Street Art (BSA).

Special thanks to editor Samantha Longhi, who once wrote a regular column here on BSA with her Top 5 Stencils of the Week, for her inclusion of us in this issue, and to BSA readers for your continued support. We appreciate the recognition for our work and labors of love.

GraffitiART issue #17 on news stands now. (photo © courtesy of Graffiti ART)

BSA shares the spread with some true leaders At149th Street in the New York Issue of GraffitiART. Thank you to Martha Cooper for the photo! (photo © courtesy of Graffiti ART)

 

Click here for more on the Graffiti ART Magazine New York Issue.

 

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