All posts tagged: Jaime Rojo

Print Release Today with OBEY! Martha Remixed by Shepard Courtesy BSA and UN

Print Release Today with OBEY! Martha Remixed by Shepard Courtesy BSA and UN

Today at 10:00 AM PDT Shepard Fairey will release his newest print and collaboration with Martha Cooper, “People’s Discontent”. Shepard’s long friendship with Martha has brought several collaborations throughout the years with Shepard remixing some of Martha’s most iconic photos from her Street Play series from the mid-’70s. The print already saw its European release in Berlin last Friday, October 30th at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin with us and Martha in attendance.

Martha Cooper poses with the print “People’s Discontent” in front of the original artwork by Shepard Fairey on display at the “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures” retrospective exhibition at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer for Urban Nation Berlin)

“I teamed up with my good friend and documentary photographer, Martha Cooper, on a new print release called “People’s Discontent.” Martha Cooper has been photographing creative kids in action on city streets since the mid-1970s. I remixed one of Martha’s iconic photos from her book, Street Play, titled “Hitchhiking a Bus on Houston Street” that she shot in 1978 in the Lower East Side of New York City. There was no advertisement on the back of the bus in her original photo, and since disco was the rage in the late ’70s, I thought it made sense for me to add a disco radio station with the slogan, “Listen To The Sounds of People’s Disco.” I added the “DISCO-ntent” and the spraypaint can in the kid’s hand as if he sprayed that on there. It’s a nod to that era but also to what’s going on now with the unrest around social justice issues.”

“This limited edition print was first released through Urban Nation Museum in Berlin as part of their current show “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures” curated by Jaime Rojo and Steven P. Harrington of Brooklyn Street Art and will soon be up on my website this Thursday at 10 AM PT. Check it out!”
– Shepard Fairey

The stage is all set for the European release of the Martha Cooper x Shepard Fairey print release “People’s Discontent” at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin last Friday, October 30th. (photo © Nika Kramer for Urban Nation Berlin)
Mr. Markus Terboven, Co-Managing Director & Director at Gewobag introduces the Martha Cooper x Shepard Fairey print release “People’s Discontent” at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin last Friday, October 30th. (photo © Nika Kramer for Urban Nation Berlin)
Dr. Hans-Michael Brey, vice chairman of the non-profit foundation Berliner Leben at the Martha Cooper x Shepard Fairey print release “People’s Discontent” at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin last Friday, October 30th. (photo © Nika Kramer for Urban Nation Berlin)
The audience in attendance listens to the speech given by Dr. Hans-Michael Brey, vice chairman of the non-profit foundation Berliner Leben at the Martha Cooper x Shepard Fairey print release “People’s Discontent” at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin last Friday, October 30th. (photo © Nika Kramer for Urban Nation Berlin)
Martha Cooper, Steven P. Harrington, and Jaime Rojo speak at the Martha Cooper x Shepard Fairey print release “Peoples Disconten’t” at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin last Friday, October 30th. (photo © Nika Kramer for Urban Nation Berlin)
Still image of Shepard Fairey speaking to the audience via video at the Martha Cooper x Shepard Fairey print release “People’s Discontent” at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin last Friday, October 30th. (photo © Nika Kramer for Urban Nation Berlin)
Martha Cooper explains the nature, context, and history of the original image used by Shepard for the remix at the Martha Cooper x Shepard Fairey print release “People’s Discontent” at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin last Friday, October 30th. (photo © Nika Kramer for Urban Nation Berlin)
Martha Cooper signed copies of the print for a brief period of time for the lucky fans in attendance at the Martha Cooper x Shepard Fairey print release “People’s Discontent” at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin last Friday, October 30th. (photo © Nika Kramer for Urban Nation Berlin)
Martha Cooper signed copies of the print for a brief period of time for the lucky fans in attendance at the Martha Cooper x Shepard Fairey print release “People’s Discontent” at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin last Friday, October 30th. (photo © Nika Kramer for Urban Nation Berlin)

To purchase a copy of the print click HERE and if sold out click HERE.

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Giulio Vesprini: “S Y N” / Struttura G056.

Giulio Vesprini: “S Y N” / Struttura G056.

Giulio Vesprini is going vertical!

In other words, this new mural is not painted on a basketball court, as has been the case in many of our recent stories about this lover of pop abstract.

Giulio Vesprini.  “S Y N” / Struttura G056. In collaboration with Outbox – Urban Art in South Tyrol. Bressanone, Italy. (photo © Luca Guadagnigni)

“My latest work is multiform and communicative,” he says, “an extension of the structure and the natural landscape in which it connects.” Based in Bressanone, Brixen in the northern part of Italy, Vestprini is considering this an intervention between art and architecture.

“Union, connection, cohesion, completion, complexity, contemporaneity,” he says, “these are the meanings that I bring with my new work.”

He’s calling it “S Y N” / Struttura G056.

Giulio Vesprini. “S Y N” / Struttura G056. In collaboration with Outbox – Urban Art in South Tyrol. Bressanone, Italy. (photo © Luca Guadagnigni)
Giulio Vesprini. “S Y N” / Struttura G056. In collaboration with Outbox – Urban Art in South Tyrol. Bressanone, Italy. (photo © Luca Guadagnigni)
Giulio Vesprini. “S Y N” / Struttura G056. In collaboration with Outbox – Urban Art in South Tyrol. Bressanone, Italy. (photo © Luca Guadagnigni)
Giulio Vesprini. “S Y N” / Struttura G056. In collaboration with Outbox – Urban Art in South Tyrol. Bressanone, Italy. (photo © Luca Guadagnigni)
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SAYPE Hits DUBAI With His “Beyond Walls” Project

SAYPE Hits DUBAI With His “Beyond Walls” Project

Checking in today with Saype and the “Beyond Walls” project he has been taking around the world in iconic and high-profile style for a few years now.

Saype. “Beyond Walls” Project. Dubai UAE. October 2021. (photo © Valentin Flauraud for Saype)

Now in Dubai for the Expo 2020 World Exhibition, the artist is supported by his home country of Switzerland to create this 1500 square meter image of unity. This installation, his 11th of the series, was completed on October 28th, and of course was created with biodegradable paint using charcoal, chalk, water, and milk proteins.

Saype. “Beyond Walls” Project. Dubai UAE. October 2021. (photo © Valentin Flauraud for Saype)
Saype. “Beyond Walls” Project. Dubai UAE. October 2021. (photo © Valentin Flauraud for Saype)
Saype. “Beyond Walls” Project. Dubai UAE. October 2021. (photo © Valentin Flauraud for Saype)
Saype. “Beyond Walls” Project. Dubai UAE. October 2021. (photo © Valentin Flauraud for Saype)
Saype. “Beyond Walls” Project. Dubai UAE. October 2021. (photo © Valentin Flauraud for Saype)
Saype. “Beyond Walls” Project. Dubai UAE. October 2021. (photo © Valentin Flauraud for Saype)
Saype. “Beyond Walls” Project. Dubai UAE. October 2021. (photo © Valentin Flauraud for Saype)
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SatOne is “Coming Home” for His New Mural in Spandau, Berlin for UN

SatOne is “Coming Home” for His New Mural in Spandau, Berlin for UN

Venezuelan-born, Munich-based SatOne has graffiti-writing credentials dating back to the early 90s. Over time his letters went post-graffiti to imaginary worlds and science-fiction-inspired abstractions. Employed by big lifestyle, sport, and automotive brands over the last decade, his own work is full of movement and visual adventure-seeking.

SatOne. “Coming Home”. One Wall Project for Urban Nation Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer for UN Berlin)

Here in Berlin to participate in the Urban Nation One Wall initiative in the neighborhood of Spandau, SatOne (Rafael Gerlach) says he thinks of it as “Coming Home”, and names his new massive mural the same.

“The strict, vertical lines of the balconies can be interpreted as overlapping plateaus or levels,” says the project description. “They are arranging themselves in a dynamic pictorial composition on the surface, and just as life itself they seem constantly in motion.”

SatOne. “Coming Home”. One Wall Project for Urban Nation Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer for UN Berlin)

With stunning new shots from Nika Kramer we bring you the newest piece by SatOne, who says “Thanks to the daredevils Samuel, Flo and Michelle.” You know who you are.

SatOne. “Coming Home”. One Wall Project for Urban Nation Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer for UN Berlin)
SatOne. “Coming Home”. One Wall Project for Urban Nation Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer for UN Berlin)
SatOne. “Coming Home”. One Wall Project for Urban Nation Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer for UN Berlin)
SatOne. “Coming Home”. One Wall Project for Urban Nation Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer for UN Berlin)
SatOne. “Coming Home”. One Wall Project for Urban Nation Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer for UN Berlin)
SatOne. “Coming Home”. One Wall Project for Urban Nation Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer for UN Berlin)
SatOne. “Coming Home”. One Wall Project for Urban Nation Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer for UN Berlin)
SatOne. “Coming Home”. One Wall Project for Urban Nation Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer for UN Berlin)
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BSA Images Of The Week: 10.31.21

BSA Images Of The Week: 10.31.21

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Happy Halloween and welcome to BSA Images of the Week!

People have been in the Halloween spirit here in Berlin – and we keep seeing new pieces which may or may not be related to the holiday, but remind us of it anyway. Here’s a short collection of new stuff we discovered, including fresh pieces from Jaime Paul Scanlon AKA JPS and Nafir, who were both in town and hitting the streets with new collections of works.

Stay Safe and have fun!

Our interview with the street today includes JPS, Nafir, and a few anonymous pieces.

Oh Jesus, the artists’ life is so perilous, a huge cross to bear. JPS. Urban Nation Berlin. October 2021. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
A thrilling and detailed stencil in miniature – the subtlety in the application produces very lifelike qualities. JPS. Urban Nation Berlin. October 2021. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
JPS. Urban Nation Berlin. October 2021. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
JPS. Urban Nation Berlin. October 2021. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
A stunning and horrifying car crash scene – in miniature. JPS. Urban Nation Berlin. October 2021. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
JPS. Urban Nation Berlin. October 2021. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
JPS. Urban Nation Berlin. October 2021. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist. Berlin. October 2021. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Nafir. Urban Nation Berlin. October 2021. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Artist Nafir poses with his brand new piece on the reverse of an Iranian carpet. Urban Nation Berlin. October 2021. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist. Berlin. October 2021. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Untitled. Berlin. October 30th. 4:00 am. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
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“Peoples Discontent” Debuts with Video Greeting from Shepard / Martha Cooper Signed New Print at UN

“Peoples Discontent” Debuts with Video Greeting from Shepard / Martha Cooper Signed New Print at UN

BSA X UN X MARTHA COOPER X SHEPARD FAIREY

When we asked Shepard Fairey if he would be up for a new remix of a Martha Cooper photo for our exhibition celebrating her career, he quickly said yes. Not only did he create a new original piece of art based on one of her classic “Street Play” images to hang in the gallery of our “Marth Remix” section, but he and his excellent team have also produced a new print – 250 of which sold out in 20 minutes on the Urban Nation website last night.

Shepard Fairey. ⁠”People’s Discontent”⁠ 2020. ⁠75,00€ ⁠Screenprint on thick cream Speckletone paper. ⁠Limited Edition of 550. ⁠24 x 18 inches (61 x 46 cm)⁠ Embossed with Martha Cooper’s tag and Hand-signed & numbered by Shepard Fairey⁠

The good news is Shepard will be selling another block of them on November 4th, so watch his announcements on social media!

But we still had a long line of lucky buyers snaking through the museum last night waiting for their opportunity for Martha to counter-sign their print, which had already been signed by Shepard. Because Shepard himself couldn’t attend he sent a warm video message to guests at a ceremony we had celebrating the print.

Martha Cooper’s original photo as shown in the exhibition next to the original art by Shepard Fairey.

What a complete HONOR it is for us to introduce this unique collabo between Martha Cooper and Shepard Fairey to celebrate our curation of her very FIRST career-wide retrospective, now showing at Urban Nation museum until May of 2022.

Very special thanks to our beautiful partners at YAP Berlin for making this event happen.

Martha Cooper holding a print in the Remix section of “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures” at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin. (photo © Nika Kramer)
Shepard Fairey. ⁠”People’s Discontent”. Detail.⁠ 2020. ⁠75,00€ ⁠Screenprint on thick cream Speckletone paper. ⁠Limited Edition of 550. ⁠24 x 18 inches (61 x 46 cm)⁠ Embossed with Martha Cooper’s tag and Hand-signed & numbered by Shepard Fairey⁠ (photo courtesy of Urban Nation)
Shepard Fairey. ⁠”People’s Discontent”. Detail.⁠ 2020. ⁠75,00€ ⁠Screenprint on thick cream Speckletone paper. ⁠Limited Edition of 550. ⁠24 x 18 inches (61 x 46 cm)⁠ Embossed with Martha Cooper’s tag and Hand-signed & numbered by Shepard Fairey⁠. (photo courtesy of Urban Nation)

Click HERE to purchase your print now or HERE to purchase your print on Nov. 4.

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BSA Film Friday: 10.29.21

BSA Film Friday: 10.29.21

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

Now screening:
1. Shepard Fairey Talks About New Collaboration with Martha Cooper During Studio Visit via New Deal
2. “Landless Stranded” by Pejac

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BSA Special Feature: Shepard Fairey Talks About New Collaboration with Martha Cooper During Studio Visit via New Deal

BSA is proud to debut a new collaborative print with Shepard Fairey and Shepard Fairey – a true honor really. Released by Urban Nation today it is a print made from a brand new original artwork commissioned for the Urban Nation Museum and our exhibition “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures”.

During his development of the canvas last year Shepard was interviewed in Studio Number 2 by New Deal. See this video and you can learn a little about the new print going on sale today.

Shepard Fairey Studio Visit via New Deal

“Landless Stranded” by Pejac

As long as we’re in Berlin, we’ll be checking out PEJACs new show here this week and of course, we’ll be heading out to Holy Cross Church to see this powerful new public statement, “Landless Stranded.”

“As most people are familiar with distressing scenes involving refugees only through television images, it’s a bewildering sight to behold in an urban setting, high above street level. It’s as though reality has been dismantled in one location and anomalously constituted anew somewhere else,” says Pejac.

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“Artists At Work” Reveals a Vast Survey at UN’s Career Retrospective of Martha Cooper

“Artists At Work” Reveals a Vast Survey at UN’s Career Retrospective of Martha Cooper

50+ years of taking photos of artists at work means you have thousands of images of graffiti writers straddling trains, street artists leaning off ladders, muralists hovering 20 stories above the street in cherry pickers. One of 11 sections comprising “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures”, our Artists at Work area has 400 printed images from around the world, floor to ceiling, and across a half dozen decades.

Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures. Martha at the section of the exhibition ARTISTS AT WORK. (photo © Nika Kramer for Urban Nation Berlin)

Not only can people find their graff and street art heroes on these walls as seen through Martha’s eyes, we have also created a database searchable iPad of 1300 more images of Artists of Work that have never been seen before. Just enter a country name, or artist’s name, or even a Street Art festival name, and you’ll get a whole lot of eye candy, artists, and tools of the trade.

Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures. Martha at the section of the exhibition ARTISTS AT WORK. With artist Paola Delfin above and John Fekner below. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures. Martha at the section of the exhibition ARTISTS AT WORK. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures. Martha at the section of the exhibition ARTISTS AT WORK. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Martha and AIko Collaboration for Urban Nation Museum in Berlin

Martha and AIko Collaboration for Urban Nation Museum in Berlin

Since the beginning of the week, we’ve been reporting from Berlin on the Martha Cooper entire career retrospective “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures” exhibition curated by Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo of BrooklynStreetArt.com.

To celebrate the one-year anniversary of the opening and some 40,000 visitors despite a few closings due to covid, a new facade honoring the photographer had just been painted on the Urban Nation museum here in the Schöneberg neighborhood of Berlin. Lady Aiko, the Japanese street artist living in New York City was asked to paint the facade of the museum with selected portraits from Martha’s best-known documentation of breakers who formed the Hip Hop scene – along with Aiko’s own iconic bunny character.

Martha Cooper x Aiko. Urban Nation Museum. Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Martha is in Berlin with us to see the exhibition for the first time to actually see Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures in person since travel restrictions held us all back from being here in person up to now. Here she is looking at the mural for the first time as well. And, of course, taking pictures of it.

Martha Cooper x Aiko. Urban Nation Museum. Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper x Aiko. Urban Nation Museum. Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Martha Cooper x Aiko. Urban Nation Museum. Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
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Martha Arrives in Berlin for “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures”

Martha Arrives in Berlin for “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures”

After Covid kept us all away from this exhibition, BSA and Martha finally got a chance to see her retrospective in person, rather than through virtual 3-D tours or videos and photos. Here she is at a vitrine this morning for our first official tour together in person.

“Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures”. Graffiti Section. Urban Nation Museum. Martha pointed out an original sketch for a subway car by SHY. into the Graffiti vitrine with a foto that Martha took of a young Futura above the vitrine. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
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Bifido on the Futility of Meaningless Work in Northern Italy

Bifido on the Futility of Meaningless Work in Northern Italy

Suffer from migraines? Troubled love life? Unhappy with how your children turned out?

Bifido understands.

Bifido. “Hell is round the corner”. Bosco Urban Project. Gambettola, Italy. (photo © Bifido)

The Italian street artist has created this new old guy on the wall of an abandoned tobacco factory here in the small village of Gambettola in the north of the country. He’s pensive and possibly despairing for sure, possibly because he worked at this factory for decades, Bifido surmises.

“A life at work, a life without life. Life in your free time, spent being entertained in some refreshing recreational activity,” he says.

Bifido. “Hell is round the corner”. Bosco Urban Project. Gambettola, Italy. (photo © Bifido)

“I often think of the concept of free time. I hate free time. It is the charity of a society that wants us to be slaves. full with a sweat that exhausts us, without giving joy. Making a work on the concept of work for me meant expressing all my dissent against this absurd idea that work (as mere sustenance) gives meaning to our life.”

Surely there is something redeeming to be said of a lifetime of work in a tobacco factory, but Bifido was not feeling cheerful today. Well, at least he feels more positive about his own work, he tells us. “Making art is my job and I love it.”

Bifido. “Hell is round the corner”. Bosco Urban Project. Gambettola, Italy. (photo © Bifido)

This work is part of the Bosco Urban Project.

Read more about the project HERE.

Bifido. “Hell is round the corner”. Bosco Urban Project. Gambettola, Italy. (photo © Bifido)
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BSA Film Friday: 10.22.21

BSA Film Friday: 10.22.21

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

Now screening:
1. Ocean Cleanup: “That’s A Big A** Catch”
2. PichiAvo: Venus de Mil in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
3. ASVP in NYC via Tost Films

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BSA Special Feature: Ocean Cleanup: “That’s A Big A** Catch”

Are you looking for career fulfillment? To do work that actually matters? Here’s a path you may look into. Just look at the reactions and the faces of the people involved.

“The crew offshore in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch achieved our largest ocean plastic catch to date in a single extraction with System 002 on September 22nd, 2021. This load amounts to 3.8 tons and concludes the last short test of the campaign.”

Ocean Cleanup: “That’s A Big A** Catch”

PichiAvo: Venus de Mil in Sao Paulo, Brazil.

A fresh new wall from the dynamic duo PichiAvo in Largo da Batata square in São Paulo. One of their strongest works to date, for the Nalato Festival.

ASVP in NYC via Tost Films

Filmmaker Mario of Tost Films captures a brand new abstract wall by Brooklyn’s own ASVP.

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