Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Boy Kong, Cane Morto, Dmote, El Sol 25, Hower, Invader, Joe Iurato, Logan Hicks, Pixel Pancho, Resistance is Female, Rime, Sean9Lugo, Smells, UFO 907, Vhils, Vik, Voxx Romana, XSM, and Zimad.
All posts tagged: Joe Iurato
BSA Images Of The Week: 07.08.18 Selections From Welling Court 2018
“Anxiety is normal in an unjust society” says the new piece by Disordered in Welling Court, Queens, a working class neighborhood of New York where the latest Ad Hoc mural party was held a couple of weekends ago under the direction of Garrison Buxton. He started this festival with his former partner Alison Buxton nine years ago to create community here with a number of artists from across the graffiti/Street Art spectrum, and it has always been a great day to see families and kids interacting with artists on the street.
Anxiety rings true when the giveaways to business interests for nearly four decades under both dominant parties have gradually placed folks like these in this neighborhood constantly in fear of missing the rent, the grocery bill, the car payment, the cost of providing for their kids.
Some companies adore this dynamic exactly the way it is because when you are always feeling anxiety about losing your job and worried about paying the bills you won’t speak up to notify anyone when your boss is dumping poison in the river or placing his hand upon your seat. Imagine working so hard and getting paid so little that you are still relying on public assistance, as Walmart is known for now. Anxiety is normal for many today, and it is reflected in the art on the streets as well.
Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Cern, Caleb Neelon, Col Wallnuts, Damien Mitchell, Daze, Disordered, FKDL, Hellbent, JCBK, Joe Iurato, John Fekner, Lena McCarthy, LMNOPI, Maria Wore, Michel Velt, Never, NYC Hooker, Praxis, Queen Andrea, Robots Will Kill, Rubin415, Seeone, and Toofly.
Top image: Joe Iurato . Rubin 415. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
John Fekner. Don Leicht. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Disordered. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Michel Velt. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Queen Andrea. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Lena McCarthy . Caleb Neelon. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
LMNOPI. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Daze . Crash. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
JCBK. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Praxis. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Never. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Hellbent. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Col Wallnuts . WaneOne . EpicUno. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Hooker. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
SeeOne. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Toofly. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Robots Will Kill. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Cern. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
FKDL. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Damien Mitchell. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Maria Wore. Welling Court 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Images Of The Week: 02.11.18
Got anything lined up for Valentines Day? No pressure bro. Just be yourself sis! All that baloney about wine and dine and flowers – oh HELL NO! We’re all on a budget up in here! In fact we did some research for you and here’s 8 Cheap Valentine’s Day Dates in NYC thanks to writer Melanie Gardiner.
And for the rest of you non-attached and gorgeous BSA Readers may we recommend the delightful new cinematic pleasure from Urban Spree and the Berlin Kidz called “F**k the System” now available for the price of a movie house soda on Vimeo. Each time you think they won’t do it, they totally do it. Including riding bikes on top of the train. That part is NOT recommended.
In other news, the people in Washington are playing with fire and it looks like a large percent of them probably want to burn the whole government down. A second shutdown in one month? We have pyromaniacs bent on destroying basic stuff that the people built and need. Now that the taxes for the rich have been lowered so that social programs will go on a feeding tube, how many minutes will it take before they say, “we simply can’t afford to pay for Medicare and Social Security’? Tick Tick Tick.
Corporate taxes are now the lowest that they have been since 1939. Because that is the standard of living you want right? The 1930s. Ask your grandma and great grandma what life was like in the 1930s before they hiked the tax rate on the rich. MAGA, baby.
Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Avocado, Baston, City Kitty, Dede, Duke A. Barnstable, Irak, James Goldcrown, Joe Iurato, Little Ricky, Nora Breen Project, Pear, Smiler, Tez, The Joe Miller, Token 3784.
Top Image: Unidentified artist. We spot some similarities with the work of Nick Walker but we don’t think this is his piece. (with Token 3784 sneaking in) (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Joe Iurato (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Nora Breen Project with thanks to Billy Joel (photo © Jaime Rojo)
James Goldcrown. “It’s Not All That Black And White…” (photo © Jaime Rojo)
The Joe Miller tribute to Charles Bradley. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Pear (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Tez . Irak (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
City Kitty (with Token 3784 sneaking in for second time this week) (photo © Jaime Rojo)
City Kitty (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Baston (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Baston (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Baston (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Duke A Barnstable (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Avocado (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Little Ricky (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Little Ricky (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Dede (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Smiler (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Untitled. Sunset over Manhattan. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Exploring From Coney To Harlem: Fresh Art on The Streets This Summer in NYC
Summer brings people out onto the streets. New Yorkers especially love to congregate on corners, stoops, public parks and plazas, sidewalks and on the streets to soak in the sun and the excitement of summer after its long winter season. With that in mind we want to point you to what’s new on the streets of the city when it comes to Street Art and Graffiti, scenes that are constantly reinventing themselves and moving.
Here are five destinations with fresh new murals and Street Art painted this year that you can track down and enjoy on your own in an afternoon. Take a break by sitting on a stoop or a bench and enjoy the sounds and energy of each neighborhood and have a hot dog or a slice of watermelon, a slice of pizza – maybe an Italian ice!
Case Maclaim and Pixel Pancho updated their collaboration for this year’s edition of The Bushwick Collective Block Party. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
The Bushwick Collective in Brooklyn.
This 6 year old project spearheaded by Bushwick native Joe Ficalora continues to host international artists on walls spread on five blocks in this gentrifying neighborhood of Brooklyn. With more than a dozen freshly painted murals that were completed for this months annual block party, the cheek-to-jowl collection of murals feels like a treasure hunt of global styles all here to show off their best. While we still have the L train you can take it Jefferson et voilà!
Logan Hicks and Joe Iurato updated their collaboration for this year’s edition of The Bushwick Collective Block Party. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Coney Art Walls in Coney Island, Brooklyn.
In its third year, Coney Art Walls is an initiative of Thor Equities and in a curatorial collaboration with art maven Jeffrey Deitch….This year’s edition of Coney Art Walls brings ten freshly painted murals by American and international artists to add to the collection of 30 or so murals painted during the past two editions. Here you will see an eclectic mix of 1970s era train writers to some of today’s multi-conceptualists take on the broader theme of Coney Island, its characters, its rides, its foot long hot dogs. A plethora of trains will take you there and be prepared to enjoy native graffiti in the “wild”on walls throughout the roughly 45 minutes train ride as your view rises on the elevated tracks. Take the N, Q, F, and D trains to Coney Island.
Lee Quinones. “Graffiti 20/20”. “If The Battle Chooses You. Choose What You Battle With” reads the caption on top of the mural. Lee recreates an updated version of his original “Graffiti 1979” mural painted on a handball court on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, which he updated as “1990” and climbed down it in the opening of “Wild Style”, directed by Charlie Ahearn. Bringing the graffiti explosion back for a third time, you see he’s already planned ahead three years. This is one of the new walls for Coney Art Walls 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Chris Stain’s mural for Coney Art Walls 2017 integrates a photo taken by Martha Cooper on a New York street in the 1980s with an ocean swell of graffiti washing up around the young lovers. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Welling Court Mural Project in Queens, NY.
The most community oriented among all of the festivals taking place in NYC, Welling Court just completed its 8th edition this month a part of Queens that feels ignored, yet now strangely is getting some high-end real estate? With a less-structured program and a philosophy of inclusiveness the project attracts a diverse group of local, national and international artists seeking to participate and interact with these neighbors, some of them New Yorks’ newest members, in a weekend-long genuine summer block party. Located in Welling Court in Long Island City in the borough of Queens the walls spread over five blocks or so and can be accessed via the N train to 30th Ave. Take a bus to Welling Court or walk for about 15 minutes on 30th Ave towards the East River.
LMNOPI. Welling Court Mural Project. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Dennis McNett. Detail. Welling Court Mural Project. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
The L.I.S.A. Project NYC in Little Italy and The Lower East Side.
This Mural Program is the brainchild of Wayne Rada and Ray Rosa, who host artists from all over the world to come and beautify the old neighborhoods of Little Italy and parts of the Lower East Side both in Manhattan. Because its Manhattan and space and turf are contested, you’ll find the works scattered and surprisingly integrated into spots – evoking the element of “discovery” that organic Street Art and graffiti produces.
Not necessarily located on a specific set of blocks the murals are more spread out on several streets in and around Little Italy and can be reached taking a number of subways lines. We’ll advise you take the B or the D trains to Grand Street Station and make your way to Mulberry Street where you’ll enjoy large murals by Ron English and Tristan Eaton and a number of smaller pieces. As you wander, walk, stroll, or crawl through Little Italy you’re bound to discover big and small pieces that run a spectrum of Shepard Fairey, JPO, BKFoxx, KanoKid, The Drif, and Buff Monster.
Kano. L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
D*Face. L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Monument Art in El Barrio, Harlem.
Monument Art really concentrates on large high quality murals for El Barrio in NYC. Beginning in 2015 a dozen international artists were invited to paint for two weeks including massive murals by ROA, El Mac, Celso, Ever Siempre, Faith 47 and others others. This year German artist Case Maclaim was invited to paint one highly realistic mural on a school wall located at 310 East 113th Street. Take the 6 train to 110 Street and walk north on Lexington ave towards 113th street.
As you make your way north you’ll see some of the murals painted in 2015.
Case Maclaim. Work in progress. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Case Maclaim. Work in progress. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Case Maclaim. Monument Art. El Barrio, Harlem. NYC. June 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
BSA Images Of The Week: 06.11.17
“Yes, I’m an infowarrior,” says the African American yelling about how CNN is promoting Sharia Law in downtown Manhattan for the #MarchAgainstSharia and a short distance away someone is wrapping the “Fearless Girl” statue with a black burka. The infowarrior is wearing a red “Make America Free” baseball hat and very much seems like he might be gay. And then your head explodes.
Welcome to the “Disinformation Age.”
But New York is waaaaaay too diverse to even countenance this weird new wave of anti-Islam sentiment and the counter-demonstrators with their signs dwarfed the haters– and being good liberals, they probably invited them to come over for dinner after all that yelling.
Otherwise the weather has been gorgeous and Street Artists have been getting up in New York, when they are not too busy fighting about the David Choe wall and calculating new ways to spray over it. We have brand new mural works from people like Dasic, Cekis, and Case Maclaim, and there is a lot more political content in the new free-range Street Art that we are seeing, with much of it focused on the corruption at the top of the national government, racism, environmental matters, the growing police state.
The Puerto Rican Day Parade is today down 5th Avenue, with people celebrating – and also fighting over the “freedom fighter”/ “Terrorist” Oscar López Rivera, who was going to be the Grand Marshall but whom will now simply be a marcher. And Lucy Sparrow tells us that “Vagisil” and champagne are the two big sellers at her temporary bodega under the Standard Hotel that is 9000 items made entirely of Felt. Our own story on that this week, so there’s something to look forward to, along with 90 degree weather and more brain-frying tweets from 45 in the White House while the Congress is emptying all the cupboards, privatizing everything that used to be the people’s and leaving the back door open for banks.
Other than that, everything is dope!
So here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Adam Fujita, Beast, Blanco, Brandon Garrison, Cekis, Dasic, Dirty Bandits, El Sol 25, FKDL, Jetsonorama, Jerk Face, Joe Iurato, Logan Hicks, Mataruda, Mr. Toll, Myth NYC, Opiemme, S0th1s, and She Wolf.
At the top: Dasic and Cekis collab for The Bushwick Collective Block Party 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Dasic in action. The Bushwick Collective Block Party 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
S0th1s (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Joe Iurato and Logan Hicks restored collab for The Bushwick Collective Block just in time for the block party 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
FKDL for The Bushwick Collective Block Party 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Roof top view of The Bushwick Collective Block Party 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)
She Wolf (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Brandon Garrison (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Trainwwg (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Adam Fujita and Dirty Bandits. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Blanco has a new piece about prison and police reform, including advocating for the closure of New York’s Rikers Island. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Mataruda (left) and Jetsonorama (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Myth and She Wolf collab. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Myth (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Myth (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Myth (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Myth (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Jerk Face (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Disney Dollars (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Opiemme in and abandoned USA base in Ligure, Italy. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Mr. Toll (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Beast (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Untitled. Bushwick, Brooklyn. June 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
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!
Urban Contemporary Inside the Fair : BSA x UN BERLIN ART BASEL 2016: Dispatch 6
Art Basel in Miami is part of an annual three city fair that includes Hong Kong and it’s name sake Basel in Switzerland. This years fair in Miami hosts 269 galleries and your brain will be fried after the first 150, in an excellent way.
Okuda at Retrospect Galleries. Scope / Art Basel Miami 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
An art fair is not really a rarefied environment but many patrons walk with that air, presumably because they find it to be a flattering look, but most people are just excited to discover new ideas and techniques for channeling the creative spirit in a multitude of ways.
Far from the action of the actual graffiti and Street Art scene in long rows of white wall cubicles that average the price of a new car to rent for four days, SCOPE nonetheless has a healthy number of Street Artists represented with studio pieces that rock as hard as any killer piece under a bridge.
Felipe Pantone at Mirus Gallery. Scope / Art Basel Miami 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Inside this environment we’re probably calling the category Urban Contemporary and it’s always interesting to see how the street practice translates to a frame on a wall – and who can do it successfully. Maybe it shouldn’t, but it’s always surprising to see how many other derivative, hackneyed, or underwhelming works are proudly on display – by artists whose main connection to actual street culture is tenuous at best.
But imitators and replicators have existed in every genre of the plastic arts for as long as anyone reading this has been alive, so it shouldn’t be a shock when you have seen 5 Banksy-esque canvasses even before you stop at the commissary for your $14 pressed vegetable panini.
Hueman at Mirus Gallery. Scope / Art Basel Miami 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
For the actual fans and collectors of actual graffiti and Street Artists, it may be irksome to see the common tropes of colorful paint drips and ironic pop images mutated and slapped with cleverness – especially in view of the fact that there is a fleet of new kids outside in our cities and streets today whose work is regularly amazing.
Since many of the current generation of Street Artists have had a little or a lot of formal training as artists, the quality of work in the good spots is very high and we were happy to find many excellent pieces throughout the fair by folks whose name you may recognize. Here is a sampling of pieces we found during an audit of this year’s SCOPE just so you have an idea of the offerings.
Cinta Vidal at Thinkspace Gallery. Scope / Art Basel Miami 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Cyrcle at Station 16 Gallery. Scope / Art Basel Miami 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Clet Abraham at Graffik Gallery. Scope / Art Basel Miami 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Dotmasters at Graffik Gallery. Scope / Art Basel Miami 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sitk at Graffik Gallery. Scope / Art Basel Miami 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
2501 and Cryptik at Innerstate Gallery. Scope / Art Basel Miami 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Pixel Pancho at Innerstate Gallery. Scope / Art Basel Miami 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Swoon at Chandran Gallery. Scope / Art Basel Miami 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Logan Hicks and Joe Iurato at Station 16 Gallery. Scope / Art Basel Miami 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
C215 at Next Street Gallery. Scope / Art Basel Miami 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Kurar at Next Street Gallery. Scope / Art Basel Miami 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Denis McNett at Paradigm Gallery. Scope / Art Basel Miami 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
This article is the result of a collaborative partnership with BSA and Urban Nation (UN).
Welling Court 2016 Part II and AD HOC’s 10th Anniversary this Weekend
Long before Bushwick Open Studios and the Bushwick Collective there was Ad Hoc Gallery in a part of Brooklyn better known for bullet proof plexi-glass at the corner deli than being any kind of artists haven. Kool kids were actually filtering in to find cheap rents and space in the early 2000s and Garrison and Alison Buxton and a few other closely knit creatives, teachers, entrepreneurs, and activists created a gallery/community center that welcomed Street Artists and graffiti peeps.
Rubin 415 and Joe Iurato (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Their gallery featured solo and group shows that included Shepard Fairey, Swoon, C215, Chris Stain, Know Hope, and many others over a five year period and Ad Hoc provided an entrance to the contemporary art world. Somehow they did it in a way that honored the roots of the culture, not simply cashing in on it. Smart and worldly, they also had open hearts to other people’s projects. We even had our inaugural BSA show and book launch there in 2008, donating all the money to Free Arts NYC and selling work from an impressive number of talented artists whose name you might recognize.
I am Eelco (photo © Jaime Rojo)
10 years later the actual gallery is long closed and they moved to Vermont to get more space to raise their daughter Halcyon, but the Buxtons still sell art, curate the occasional show, and have stayed seriously in the New York mix by hosting an annual street mural jam called Welling Court for the last half decade. True to their community roots, they keep the roster very wide and inclusive. This year the mural painting continued long after the actual event, so we recently went back to Queens to catch the ones we didn’t during this summers jam.
Coming up this weekend there is a big 10th Anniversary party for Ad Hoc here in Brooklyn again, we thought we’d show you the murals we missed for the first collection of 2016 murals HERE. Hope to see you at this weekends Ad Hoc 10th Anniversary event at 17 Frost.
Free Humanity (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Mr. PRVRT (photo © Jaime Rojo)
SeeOne and Hellbent (photo © Jaime Rojo)
SONI (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Daze . Crash (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Crash (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Daze (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Esteban Del Valle (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Werc and Zèh Palito (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Lady Pink . J Morello (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Epic Uno . M7Ser (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Mr. June (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sinned (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Katie Yamasaki . Caleb Neelon (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Depoe (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Queen Andrea (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Ramiro Davaros-Coma (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Ad Hoc Art. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Halcyon from Ad Hoc Art Crew… (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Ad Hoc Art 10th Year Anniversary and Luna Park’s book launch Art Show will take place this Saturday, October 22nd at 17 Frost Gallery in Brooklyn. Click HERE for further details.
The Bushwick Collective Turns 5
BSA has been promoting and supporting The Bushwick Collective and the artists who paint there from the very beginning.
Before The New York Times. Before Time Out. Before The Daily News and many other news or culture outlets. Before there were any videos of Joe Ficalora telling his story. Before Social Media turned every private act into an object for mass consumption. Before the street art tours. Before Street Art was a cottage industry in our borough.
Case MaClaim (photo © Jaime Rojo)
As we celebrate five years of Bushwick Collective we have a question for you: Do you remember it’s original name before he changed it to Bushwick Collective? Joe contacted us out of the blue one day to ask us to curate some walls with him and to help him contact some artists and we immediately sensed a determination in Mr. Ficalora that was stellar. However, we never could have envisioned the huge daily festival it has become or how many people would celebrate or malign it.
Case MaClaim (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Bushwick Open Studios was already in full effect by that time – another artists’ effort we were among the first to support – and Manhattan art fans were beginning to make the trek a little further out on the L train to Bushwick now that Williamsburg had been clobbered by consumers by the late 2000s.
The first Bushwick Collective party had a DJ and 10 muralists. Jim Avignon, KLUB 7, and Gabriel Spector among them. Unofficially included was the huge “return” of COST, who slammed an entire defunct garage shop with posters and paint – a site that he often returned to in the months that followed to revise and expand.
Case MaClaim (photo © Jaime Rojo)
It’s been a rollicking and sometimes rocky ride with the Collective, with mostly the voices of fans and few detractors, including silly art-school gentrifiers who bemoaned the gentrification that these murals brought to the neighborhood. Also local graff writers felt disrespected or overlooked by what they perceived as an invasion, and you can’t blame them for feeling that way.
Mostly, it has been a celebration of the creative spirit in these twenty-teens in Brooklyn and we all know that this too is a temporary era, as New York is continually reinventing itself. Enjoy these murals smacked cheek-by-jowl for block after block by an international train of talents running through Bushwick today, because they are here for you to enjoy in this moment. Like David Bowie wisely told us, “These are the golden years.”
Nychos. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Nychos (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Joe Iurato and Logan Hicks collaboration. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Joe Iurato and Logan Hicks collaboration. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Joe Iurato and Logan Hicks collaboration. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Li-Hill (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Celso (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Don Rimx (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sipros. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sipros (photo © Jaime Rojo)
D*Face (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Damien Mitchell (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Atomik (photo © Jaime Rojo)
FKDL (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Dasic (photo © Jaime Rojo)
BG183 . Tats Crew (photo © Jaime Rojo)
NICER . DAZE . BIO . Tats Crew (photo © Jaime Rojo)
CRUSH . Tats Crew (photo © Jaime Rojo)
JMR (photo © Jaime Rojo)
KLOPS (photo © Jaime Rojo)
NEPO . CORO (photo © Jaime Rojo)
BSA “Images of the Year” for 2015 : New Video
Was 2015 the “Year of the Mural”?
A lot of people thought so, and the rise of commercial festivals and commissioned public/private mural programs probably brought more artists to more walls than in recent history. Judging from the In Box, 2016 is going to break more records. Enormous, polished, fully realized and presented, murals can hold a special role in a community and transform a neighborhood, even a city.
But they are not the “organic” Street Art that draws us into the dark in-between places in a city, or at its margins.
We keep our eyes open for the small, one-off, idiosyncratic, uncommissioned, weirdo work as well, as it can carry clues about the culture and reveal a sage or silly solo voice. It also just reinforces the feeling that the street is still home to an autonomous free-for-all of ideas and opinions and wandering passions. For us it is still fascinating to seek out and discover the one-of-a-kind small wheatpastes, stencils, sculptures, ad takeovers, collages, and aerosol sprayed pieces alongside the enormous and detailed paintings that take days to complete.
The main image above is from a vinyl subway advertisement that was high-jacked and we published it in February of this year on our Images of the Week posting. It’s small, personal, and very effective as you can see someone suspiciously similar to Batman is jumping out of the mouth of someone looking awfully similar to Hedwig of “Angry Inch” fame.
Of the 10,000 or so images photographer Jaime Rojo took in 2015, here are a selection 140+ of the best images from his travels through streets looking for unpermissioned and sanctioned art.
Brooklyn Street Art 2015 Images of the Year by Jaime Rojo
Brooklyn Street Art 2015 Images of the Year by Jaime Rojo includes the following artists;
365xlos43, Amanda Marie, Andreas Englund, Augustine Kofie, Bisser, Boijeot, Renauld, Bordaloli, Brittany, BunnyM, Case Maclaim, Casg, Cash4, CDRE, Clet, Cost, Curve, Dain, Dal East, Dan Budnik, Dan Witz, David Walker, DeeDee, Dennis McNett, Don Rimx, Ricardo Cabret, LNY, Alex Seel, Mata Ruda, Don’t Fret, Dot Dot Dot, ECB, El Mac, El Sol25, Ella & Pitr, Eric Simmons, Enest Zacharevic, Martha Cooper, Martin Whatson, Ever, Faile, Faith47, Findac, Futura, Gaia, Gilf!, Hanksy, Hellbent, Hot Tea, How & Nosm, Icy and Sot, Inti, Invader, Isaac Cordal, James Bullough, Janet Dickson, Jef Aerosol, Jilly Ballistic, Joe Iurato, John Fekner, Le Diamantaire, Li Hill, LMNOPI, London Kaye, Low Brow, Marina Capdevilla, Miss Van, Mr. Prvrt, Mr. Toll, Myth, Nafir, Nemos, Never Crew, Nick Walker, Nina Pandolofo, Old Broads, Oldy, Ollio, Os Gemeos, Owen Dippie, Paper Skaters, Pet Bird, Kashink, Smells, Cash4, PichiAvo, Pixel Pancho, QRST, ROA, Ron English, Rubin415, Saner, Sean 9 Lugo, Shai Dahan, Shepard Fairey, Sheryo & The Yok, Sinned, Sipros, Skewville, Slikor, Smells, Sweet Toof, Snowden, Edward Snowden, Andrew Tider, Jeff Greenspan, Specter, Stray Ones, Sweet Toof, Swil, Willow, Swoon, The Outings Project, Toney De Pew, Tristan Eaton, Various & Gould, Vermibus, Wane, Wk Interact
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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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This article is also published on The Huffington Post
Borås “No Limit” 2015: Graffiti Tags, Murals, Greco-Roman Antiquities
The Spanish Street Art duo Pichiavo brought the antiquities and modern day graffiti together last week on a soaring multi-story wall in Borås, Sweden. Ironically both are under attack at any given time these days – one by terrorists eager to erase and loot symbols of unholy civilization and the other by the municipal buffing of unsanctioned aerosol tags. In one mural the Valencia-based duo are encompassing many battles and, as it rises amidst a building complex that was once a textile mill here by the Viskan River, the duality of the piece is awash with color and movement like so many fabric dyes being dumped into a stream.
Pichiavo. Detail. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
For Pichi and Avo, who merge their names as one on artworks, the creation process of their murals includes first laying down a blanket of aerosol tags and then precisely rendering the figures of Greek and Roman mythology and sculpture over top as a semi-transparent screen. In this case the fierce Greek goddess Latona guards her son Apollo and his sister Artemis, commanding the bricked space and raising questions.
As a passerby looks at this mashing of imagery one may be reminded of the fiery and perplexing tensions that exist in discussions in academic and public-policy circles about the worthiness of graffiti, street art, and urban art alongside traditionally more revered art forms and styles. Another audience will see the battles between the various practices on the streets themselves, of which Pichiavo are well acquainted. Witness the faded “Toy” bubble branded on the infants hip – a term used to disparaged new unskilled graffiti writers.
Pichiavo. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Pichiavo tell us that the supportive relationship depicted extends between the mother and her children and that the figures are deliberately chosen to portray their own experiences. “Our aim was to represent graffiti and Street Art and the overall movement through Leto’s figure. Here her children are the writers, or artists. According to Greek mythology Apollo and his sister Artemis were the most important protectors of Leto, defending her from attackers of all kinds. This allegory can be applied in the Street Art world, where many people try to take advantage of something that it is growing and we, the writers ourselves, need to defend and protect that which we care about.”
Pichi & Avo showing off their work at No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
This is No Limit, the second installation of murals done primarily by Street Artists in Borås, a pristine and pleasant city about 45 minutes east of Gothenberg. With the leadership of artist Shai Dahan and organizers Stina Hallhagen and Anders Khil the local tourism office works year round to promote this festival and the quality of the pieces are top notch due to the careful choices of international big names and up-and-comers.
In addition to this diversity, the scale is varied with massive walls like those by the Chilean Inti and Poland’s Robert Proch, and more personal-sized installations in surprise locations around town by American illustration artist David Zinn and New Jersey’s sculptural stencillist Joe Iurato.
Pichiavo. Detail. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
With maps, food trucks, tours, and near daily coverage from local media, including the largest outlet “Borås Tidning”, whose façade was painted this year by Los Angeles native Tristan Eaton, this city of about 65,000 turns out small crowds to watch the progress from the sidewalk and interact with the artists.
“The people here are enthusiastic about the artists and their works and really engage with the art,” says Dahan, who serves as director of the “No Limit” festival and who also organized a pop-up gallery show of work by international and local artists in the heart of the city.
David Zinn. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Across the street from the university is a “first” for a mural by the Chinese-born artist DALeast, who has not previously worked in the industrial cerulean hue that dyes the fibre-like threads weaving an enormous flying bird’s wingspan across a graduated modern façade. Dahan tells us that it is meant to be seen from the ground level for students and faculty at The Swedish School of Textiles.
“When he arrived in town he sat with his black book right here,” he says, motioning to the contiguous wooden seating platform running along steps leading up to the august bird. “He sketched the entire mural from this vantage point, and this is the best perspective to see it from.”
Next year the city is planning a sculpture festival and the murals will return in 2017. In the mean time, have a look at new work from Curiot, DalEast, David Zinn, Dulk, Inti, Joe Iurato, Logan Hicks, Robert Proch, and Tristan Eaton.
Robert Proch. Detail. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Robert Proch. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Robert Proch. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Curiot. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Joe Iurato. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Joe Iurato. Detail. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Joe Iurato. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Tristan Eaton. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Dulk. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Dulk. Detail. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Logan Hicks. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Logan Hicks. Detail. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Dal East. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Dal East. Detail from a photo taken above ground. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Inti. Detail. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Inti. Detail. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Inti. No Limit 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
See our previous updates:
“No Limit” in Borås, Update 1 : Temporary, Anamorphic David Zinn
“No Limit” in Borås, Update 2: Joe Iurato Climbing the Streets
“No Limit” in Borås: Update 3: Shots of Murals in Process
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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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“No Limit” in Borås, Update 2: Joe Iurato Climbing the Streets
The city of Borås, Sweden is picturesque already when you are wandering through its cobbled side streets and along the Viskan River that whispers and weaves through it past churches, old textile factories, and small rolling green parks and sweeping willow trees. Suddenly finding a small impromptu but perfectly placed installation from New Jersey’s Joe Iurato is just another surprise you weren’t expecting.
Joe Iurato. No Limit Festival 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
A skateboarder, hiker, rock climber, and young father, Joe brings a sense of discovery to a spot with his stenciled cut-out 2-d sculptures. Over the last couple of years he has really mastered the art of placement and it was not uncommon this past week to see the clean-cut cargo-shorted dude scoping the streets and facades of this 400 year old city looking for the perfect spot to pitch one of his figurative elements.
A couple of years ago in a feature we did on Joe he said he isn’t looking for longevity with the pieces, just a moment of recognition of the humanity of the scene. “I’m not under any false impressions that these could be landmark pieces or anything,” he told us.
Joe Iurato. No Limit Festival 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Each piece has a specific personality and usually is caught mid-movement, adding a story to the moment if you care to use your imagination and place the piece into your own tale.
“I try to see the possibilities for a larger picture within a smaller space: a puddle can become a lake, a small crack in a cement wall can become a magnificent climb, a curb or window ledge can fall away into a desperate void, a planter box can become a place for a child to play, and a shadow might be a tangible space for a few seconds a day. There’s no limit to the possibilities and I find myself more and more looking at the environment for ways to interact.”
Here are some examples of Joe’s pieces in Borås during the last few days. One in particular featuring Joe’s two sons proved to be a perfect posing spot for some Swedish youth who sat for our photographer to get the shot on this bridge over the Viskan.
Joe Iurato. No Limit Festival 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Joe Iurato. No Limit Festival 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Joe Iurato. No Limit Festival 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Joe Iurato. No Limit Festival 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Joe Iurato. No Limit Festival 2015. Boras, Sweden. September 2015. (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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A Community Mural Festival in NYC, Highlights From Welling Court 2015
An annual mural tradition of non-pretense, New York hosted the 6th Annual Welling Court mural festival this weekend in a working class neighborhood in Queens, thanks to a grassroots couple who hustle to match artists with walls and opportunity. More than a hundred artists, whose styles span the graffiti-urban art-street art spectrum, participate every year in this community event that eschews the creeping fingers of commercial interests and the pontificating tongues of the art critics.
That is not the point here. That’s not why you fell in love with Street Art and the unvarnished expression of the creative spirit.
LMNOPI. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Thanks to hearty and big-hearted organizers Alison and Garrison Buxton, the selection is as varied as the participants and the neighbors who come out to share home made dishes, music, and personal stories. Invariably the kids are racing around on their bikes and skates, people are meeting artists and posing for selfies, and some of the kids get to try their hand at painting.
So if you want to see what some of the organic art work is on the scene at the moment, walk through this unassuming Queens neighborhood with us and enjoy the real beat of New York. It’s a small selection, but you can get the flavor.
LMNOPI. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
LMNOPI (photo © Jaime Rojo)
John Fekner (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Amanda Marie (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Icy & Sot. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Icy & Sot. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Icy & Sot. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)
XO. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Rubin415 . Joe Iurato (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Too Fly. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Too Fly (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Peace (photo © Jaime Rojo)
WANE (photo © Jaime Rojo)
C. Cardinale. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
C. Cardinale (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Damien Mitchell (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Queen Andrea . Mick La Rock. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Queen Andrea . Mick La Rock (photo © Jaime Rojo)
SHIRO (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Andy Golub . Leif G. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Andy Golub . Leif G. (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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