All posts tagged: JR

BSA Film Friday: 01.11.19

BSA Film Friday: 01.11.19

bsa-film-friday-JAN-2015

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

Now screening :
1.  Ella & Pitr “Heavy Sleepers”
2. Faith XLVII Astronomia Nova, Los Angeles
3. Sights, Sounds and a Recap of Juxtapoz Clubhouse 2018
4. “60 Minutes” and JR

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BSA Special Feature: Ella & Pitr “Heavy Sleepers”

A culmination of five years of murals visible from planes, French duo Ella & Pitr nudge you awake on a sleepy Friday to say “Thank you  for being part of this story!” You didn’t even realize that you were a part of it, did you? In a way, you can see your own reflection somewhere here.

Their sleeping giants have appeared in cities around the world, often too big even for the massive rooftops they are crammed uncomfortably atop. With a true knack for childhood wonder and illustration, perhaps because they have a couple of them at home for inspiration, Ella & Pitr bring the petite rebel spirit to these characters; imperfect specimens with stylistic idiosyncrasies and sometimes ornery personalities. In the end, they were all “heavy sleepers” resting temporarily, as is often the case with (sub)urban interventions variously referred to as Street Art, public art, land art, pavement art…  Make sure you stay for the end of this video that comprised most of the giants.

Faith XLVII Astronomia Nova, Los Angeles

A moment of restive stirring tranquil wonder from artist Faith XLVII, who continues to expand her sphere of study and influence beyond the street. The 2nd installation of a hologram called “Astronomia Nova” in cooperation with artist Lyall Sprong is captured here by Cory Ring of Chopemdown Films. The Los Angeles Theatre installation in the fall was part of Summit LA 2018. The immersive site specific installation transforms the environment and becomes something new, astronomically familiar.

Sights, Sounds and a Recap of Juxtapoz Clubhouse 2018

Highlights from the Juxtapoz Clubhouse in Miami this year during the Basel art fairs, proving again the ethos of inclusivity that BSA has always been down with- and frankly that the D.I.Y. street culture demands from us.

“60 Minutes” goes behind the lens with French artist JR

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BSA Images Of The Week: 11.18.18

BSA Images Of The Week: 11.18.18

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Kobra is rumored to have left New York this week, 18 murals later, a survey of pop cultural icons known to postcard buyers in the city for years – all in technicolor and in very large scale.  In a story with many layers of irony, a skatewear brand got reprimanded by a Sacsix, a New York street artist, for postering over his wheatpaste.  And Street Artist Ron English bought a street Banksy this week at auction and announced to the press that it was part of his strategy to discourage people from taking illegal art off the streets.

Meanwhile new stuff is popping off in Ridgewood, Queens, where some of the stuff below is from, proving that the scene is still incredibly relevant to artists and fans alike.

So here is our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Boy Kong, Chris RWK, City Kitty, Chance Paperboy, Damien Mitchell, Jaye Moon, Kashink, Kirza, K Liu Long, MeresOne, Myth, Raf Urban, Rx Skulls, Square, Squid Licker, Gane, Texas and Zimad.

Top Image: Squid Licker for Superchief Gallery. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kashink for Superchief Gallery. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

Chris RWK for 212 Arts. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jaye Moon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

It looks like Myth is bolting out from NYC…So long pal. We’ll miss you but BSA will always love you:-) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

MeresOne (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Writers with pigeons… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kashink . Boy Kong . K Liu Long. Superchief Gallery. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gane . Texas (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Since JR completed his collaboration with Time magazine on the Houston/Bowery Wall there have been two mass shootings with multiple fatalities in the USA. And by the way the shooters were not immigrants, asylum seekers or refugees. They both were white male, American citizens. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JR . Time magazine and an anonymous artist updates the wall to reflect the number of fatalities from the new mass shooting in the USA… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Raf Urban with a message of hope. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Zimad gives Edgar Allen Poe some love and The Raven… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Square (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Squid Licker . Boy Kong for Superchief Gallery. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

City Kitty . Rx Skulls (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Damien Mitchell paints Chance Paperboy. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Falcon with tag on a rooftop in NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Brooklyn, NY. November 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

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BSA Images Of The Week: 11.04.18

BSA Images Of The Week: 11.04.18

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Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! The clocks fell back last night, which means it gave NYC marathon runners a much needed extra hour to lie in bed and stare at the ceiling thinking about the race. Speaking of race, people of different colors are accused of vandalizing in New York with hate crime messages like the anti-semitic messages in a Brooklyn synagogue and anti-African American messages at an African  burial ground. We publish a lot images of Street Art and graffiti here and sometimes people call the pieces vandalism, but let’s be clear – this is a different situation altogether.

It seems like everyone is on edge right now as the mid-term elections this Tuesday are causing dark money and vile candidates to gin up feelings of racism, xenophobia, classism, homophobia, you name it. Friday it even caused one rageful white guy in a Cadillac SUV to punch another driver because he nabbed his parking space. Oh, wait, that was just Alec Baldwin. “What kind of example are you setting for your kids with your little temper tantrum?” asked a New York Post reporter as the Trump impersonator left the police precinct, according to the paper. “Can’t you afford a garage at this point with all the money you make?”

So here is our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Ad Tumulum Arts, Al Diaz, Anthony Lister, Claw Money, Duke A. Barnstable, Grimm The Street Kat, Invader, Jeffrey Beebe, JR, Kobra, Raf Urban, and Tomokazu Matsuyama.

Top Image: Raf Urban with Duke A. Barnstable joining in on the side with a somewhat related serenade (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Raf Urban (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jeffrey Beebe #trumprat (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JR. Houston/Bowery Wall with a forced collaboration that wrote the number “11” as a reference to the mass shooting at a synagogue in Pittsburgh last Saturday. They also splashed red paint across the area of the image where people are holding rifles. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JR. Houston/Bowery Wall with a forced collaboration. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Invader (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Invader (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tomokazu Matsuyama and Snoopy and his little bird friend Woodstock. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tomokazu Matsuyama (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Al Diaz (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kobra’s invocation of immigrants who came to New York through Ellis island. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kobra (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kobra (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Robert Janz (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lister (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Claw Money (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Undidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Grimm The Street Kat (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ad Tumulum Arts lambastes the comedian Louis CK “for repeated sexual harrassment of women”. He has denied certain claims made against him. Here’s an article about the claims. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Undidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Manhattan, NYC. November 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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BSA Film Friday: 11.02.18

BSA Film Friday: 11.02.18

bsa-film-friday-JAN-2015

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

Now screening :
1. Borondo – Mites Terram Possident
2. OS Gemeos: Artists in Residence
3. JR x Time: Guns in America Video
4. PORK Extinguisher on the Houston/Bowery Wall

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BSA Special Feature: Borondo – Mites Terram Possident

In the rumbling terrain of our minds and emotions the topography is marked by our experiences; cutting ravines that fill with water and craters to get stuck inside and caves to repair to and trees to scale and balance in and feel the breeze. So mark making in the physical world strikes us an opportunity to make new paths, new memories, new associations.

In this weeks first film we see Italian Street Artist and fine artist Borondo offering children the opportunity to carve into a building façade with forged metal tools here in the city of Malegno in the Province of Brecscia as part of his larger mural that references our pre-linguistic forms of communicating and story telling with images and symbols.

“I like that my murals have many interpretations, many layers of stratification,” says the artist and indeed this is one of the qualities that leads you to visit and revisit, to decode and to discover his work. He may be a mastermind creating many meanings for you to find, or he may be a providing a platform for discussion and interpretation, or he may be democratically inviting others to participate in this most public of art, this collective history. Seeing how the piece is embraced and surrounded here in the valley by these mountains, it returns us to the contemplation of our internal topography, while we contemplate the collaborative one.

 

OS Gemeos: Artists in Residence

Can you imagine such big artists as OS GEMEOS as artists in residence? At the Mattress Factory for the next year you can see the results and here the São Paulo brothers discuss their childhood, their processes of creation, their dream world, and their new installation called “Lyrical”.

 

 

JR x Time: Guns in America Video

Many have seen the mural on the Bowery Wall this week in New York and the 3 page fold-out on the cover of TIME, but not everyone is fully aware that the project is not in fact static – it is continuous movement. JR and his team captured hundreds, perhaps thousands of hours of video for this project and composited small videos together as one large live piece, which is currently on display at PACE gallery in Manhattan.


Read our coverage of the project and interview with the artiste here:

JR on Houston Wall, at PACE Gallery, on Cover of Time Magazine with “Guns In America”

For more on this project and to know about each of the subjects featured on the photograph and to listen to each of their stories and opinions on the issue click on the link below:

http://time.com/guns-in-america/

 

PORK Extinguisher on the Houston/Bowery Wall

Last week as a preamble to the JR opus, graffiti/street/fine artist PORK had a moment on the Houston wall under the blazing night lights.

 

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JR on Houston Wall, at PACE Gallery, on Cover of Time Magazine with “Guns In America”

JR on Houston Wall, at PACE Gallery, on Cover of Time Magazine with “Guns In America”

On a day in the United States with yet another mass shooting, this one at a synagogue in Pittsburg, JR has introduced a new massive artwork that talks about guns in America, a seemingly intractable, unsolvable issue that makes the country rank as one of the most violent year after year.

JR x Time “Guns In America”. Pace Prints. New York City. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“It’s a metaphor of what’s happening in the US,” says photographer, filmmaker, Street Artist, and social commentator JR, who has just installed a new mural on the Houston Wall in New York City on a sunny Friday where hundreds of curious New Yorkers stop and examine the new artwork while heavy trucks, honking cars, and periodic police and fire alarms whiz by.

The night before at Pace Gallery in Chelsea the conservatively stylish French art phenom hosted an unveiling of the same image, rather a composited video of 245 separately shot moving images, projected across a huge wall in the space for guests to contemplate. A masterstroke of art and sociology, “The Gun Chronicles: A Story of America” presents opinions and perspectives from Americans across the range – hunters, victims, law officers, medical professionals, religious leaders, politicians, activists, surviving family members.

JR x Time “Guns In America” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

As we gaze at the quietly glowing and slowly moving images, we comment to the artist that it has a strangely calming and hypnotic quality, considering the range of deep feelings and emotions that the topic of gun violence engenders throughout the country, including many of these subjects. He tells us that he didn’t necessarily know the individual stories of everyone he was filming at the time of the sessions, but “I was aware of the emotions that were happening in many of the subjects. They were quite strong.”

By providing this very thorough collection of voices to be heard inside of one project, the artist enables viewers to truly countenance the complexity of a wrenching topic that much of the talking-head media flatly reduce to its simplest polarity. He walks on the sidewalk and rides in the lift carefully scanning the faces of the subjects and talks with the handful of them who have travelled here with him to watch the installation. In a way, JR is doing the job that many have been unsuccessful at; contemplating the vast grey area and finding common ground.

JR x Time “Guns In America”. Pace Prints. New York City. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA: When you went into the project did you have one idea of the issue, but after completing it something perhaps changed in your mind about it? Was there something voiced by others that helped you understand how volatile the issue is?
JR: I think that when I got into this project I knew very little about the issue except what I heard in the media and it was really hard for me to understand, being French. To see how little kids could have access to such firearms and to see that such drama can happen across the country. So I really went naively trying to understand from every angle, every perspective, trying to learn from the people’s narrative, from the people’s story, and to hear what they have to say.

And it is interesting because you find a lot of common ground between people. There is fear, fear of the other, what people might say about them or about their beliefs and actually what I realized when you listen to a lot of the stories was that a lot of people would agree on a common ground that certain people should not have access to certain firearms and they would almost all agree to a certain regulation. It’s just that that conversation is not really happening. So I hope that this mural can be one part of starting that conversation between people.

JR x Time “Guns In America”. Houston / Bowery Wall. New York City. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A collaborative project with TIME magazine, the three-page fold out cover of the November 5th edition features a carefully diagrammed listing of all the participants on the reverse side. The website created for the project gives more depth into each individual.

By clicking on the person a visitor to the site will learn their name, age, and position professionally or in life – along with a concise recorded statement from the person. The voices are resolute, halting, tender, defiant, wisened, sobbing, proud.

JR x Time “Guns In America”. Houston / Bowery Wall. New York City. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The editor of the magazine Edward Felsenthal, recalls on the website that the cover of the magazine in June of 1968 also featured a contemporary artist for that time, Roy Lichtenstein, who “marked a series of heart-breaking assassinations” with his artwork on the cover with the title “The Gun in America.”

The artwork now hangs in the National Portrait Gallery and is as relevant 50 years later as the day it was published, with the new pluralic title of “Guns in America” today possibly referring to the measureless proliferance of weapons in the US over the intervening five decades, the $13.5 billion dollar revenue of guns and ammunition sold annually and the 263,223 full-time jobs related to the firearm industry. Guns are America.

“I shoot competitively all over the country… ,” says Rob Vadasz, 44, “a firearm is as engrained in our culture as almost any other part of the American story and it’s not something that can be turned off,” says a stern looking white man with short hair who is listed on the website as an agent for the U.S. Border Patrol in Tampa, Florida.

JR x Time “Guns In America”. Houston / Bowery Wall. New York City. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amy Dillon, 38

U.S. Marine Corps veteran and firearms instructor / Summerville, South Carolina

“We’ve been afforded certain rights by our constitution..”

Omni Jahwar, 17

High school student / Grand Prairie,Texas

“I go to school fearing that my life may be taken in Pre-Calculus or Astronomy..”

Candace Fleming, 40

Youth mentor and training director, Urban Specialists / Desoto, Texas

“My first encounter with guns was when my father was shot and killed in the head. I was five years old..”

Sung Song, 42

Respiratory therapist and U.S. Army veteran / Dallas, Texas

“My experience in the Army and in the military has helped shaped how I feel and think about the gun control debate..”

Brittany Fairchild, 30

Emergency-room nurse / Dallas, Texas

“I was in charge on the night of the police shootings. It is a very difficult subject to talk about. It’s a night that I will never forget.”

Michael Foreman, 65

Trauma surgeon / Dallas, Texas

“I deal with it professionally, taking care of victims of gunshot violence… I also am what most people would refer to as a “gun nut”.

JR x Time “Guns In America”. Houston / Bowery Wall. New York City. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


Dianna Muller from Tulsa, Oklahoma stands in front of the JR mural on Houston Street:

“As a woman I really feel like the bottom line is, the gun issue is a woman’s issue, it’s the great equalizer. It doesn’t matter if a 250 pound man is trying to kick in my door and eventually does, I have a way to defend myself. I don’t have to be a victim, and I do not have to get raped, and I do not have to get murdered, I do not have to get beat up. I don’t want that on anybody so I really want everybody to know how to protect themselves”.


JR x Time “Guns In America”. Houston / Bowery Wall. New York City. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JR x Time “Guns In America”. Houston / Bowery Wall. New York City. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JR x Time “Guns In America”. Houston / Bowery Wall. New York City. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


Lauren Hartnett of Staten Island, New York stands in front of the JR mural on Houston Street:

“As an advocate for the second amendment it gives me a different perspective on a lot of other issues that have been brought up and are a high topic of discussion. One of those being feminism and women empowerment, and in my opinion nothing is more empowering, or nothing screams feminism like a woman being capable and able to take care of herself and protect herself and her family”.


JR x Time “Guns In America”. Houston / Bowery Wall. New York City. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


Antong Lucky from Dallas, Texas stands in front of the JR mural on Houston Street:

“Once I got out of prison I began a war to end the cycle of gangs and guns in our community. I wanted people to understand that we got a lot of stuff in common than we do against each other and that we needed to work together. A lot of times in this culture you can never find the common thread, the common cause because we are so busy screaming our point and trying to be right. I wanted to make sure that for me and for my kind in order to be able to find the right solutions you have to be able to listen, you have to be able to talk and you have to be able to find a common ground and agree on a common ground.”


JR x Time “Guns In America”. Houston / Bowery Wall. New York City. The team who helped JR installed the mural on the wall. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JR x Time “Guns In America”. Houston / Bowery Wall. New York City. JR shown here with Jessica Goldman Srebnick of Goldman Global Arts and owner of the Houston Wall. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JR x Time “Guns In America”. Houston / Bowery Wall. New York City. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 


For more on this project and to know about each of the subjects featured on the photograph and to listen to each of their stories and opinions on the issue click on the link below:

http://time.com/guns-in-america/

 

 

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BSA Images Of The Week: 08.05.18

BSA Images Of The Week: 08.05.18

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Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring AJ LaVilla, Boy Kong, BunnyM, ColpOne, Cycle, Haculla, Jappy Lemon, JR, Lungebox, Raddington Falls, RX Skulls, SacSix, SAMO, Sheryo, The Yok and Winstont Seng.

Our top image: The Yok & Sheryo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cycle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cycle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cycle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Winstont Seng (photo © Jaime Rojo)

SAMO©4 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This is the same newsstand…not sure about the artist… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This is the same newsstand…not sure about the artist…but it looks like RX Skulls… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

but no one was interested in the facts. They preferred the invention because this invention expressed and corroborated their hates and fears so perfectly.” ~ James Baldwin, from Notes of a Native Son.

Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RX Skulls (photo © Jaime Rojo)

An old Haculla gate… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jappy Lemon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Boy Kong (photo © Jaime Rojo)

bunny M (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lungebox (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Street Terror”, ColpOne (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pussy Power Chocho with ColpOne (photo © Jaime Rojo)

AJ LaVilla (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist’s hand drawing. Original. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

We’ll go with just RAD this time… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

SacSix takes on a classic (photo © Jaime Rojo)

SacSix takes on a master… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JR (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Magda Danysz Brings “Art From The Streets” to Singapore Art Science Museum

Magda Danysz Brings “Art From The Streets” to Singapore Art Science Museum

“Art From the Streets”, an exhibition at the Art Science Museum in Singapore opened this weekend to coordinate with Singapore Art Week that runs from tomorrow until the end of the month with fairs, festivals and art exhibitions. Commercial art dealer and writer Magda Danysz curated the show with names she represents and whom you will be familiar with – Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Faile, and Futura, for example.

Two versions of the catalogue, one by Felipe Pantone, the other by Futura, are available on the Magda Danysz website .

But she also brings an eclectic mix of others on her roster and possibly lent from some private collections. Collectively they span many of the high profile, the saleable and known over the past 5 decades from various disciplines and philosophical practices; In the case of Jacques Villeglé, whose practice of lacerating posters in the 1960s predates Failes’ by 4 decades, a lineage can be drawn. Other connections are not as easy.

Ultimately the collection gives a sense of the vast number of personalities and techniques that have characterized the street practice in Europe and North America primarily without focusing on any one specialty too greatly. Here are the revered names along with mid-career folks and current darlings who are sure to leave a mark. There is also a small inclusion of more regional favorites like Eko Nugroho from Indonesia, and Singapore’s Speak Cryptic, who each were on hand this weekend with many of the artists for the opening.

Giving tours with microphone in hand during the opening days, the energetic Ms. Danysz educates new fans and potential buyers about an organic artists scene that grew from the streets and is now more frequently being offered for sale in places such as her three gallery locations in London, Paris, and Shanghai. Today it is slowly appearing more often in museums as well.

“Conscious that promotion of the emerging scene is necessary, Magda Danysz took part in many fairs,” says a press release, “such as for example Art Brussels, Arte Fiera in Bologna, Artissima in Torino, Fiac in Paris or Pulse in New York, and is one of the four galleries at the origin of the Show Off Paris art fair.”

This weekend’s activities included short presentations panel discussions and a screen of Wild Style.

Art from the Streets tickets are $17.00 on the Marina Bay Sands website.


A complete list of artists varies online with artists listed on the museum website including:

Banksy, Tarek Benaoum, Stéphane Bisseuil, Blade, Crash, Speak Cryptic, D*face, Fab 5 Freddy, FAILE, Shepard Fairey (aka Obey), Futura, Invader, JR, L’Atlas, Ludo, M-City, Nasty, Eko Nugroho, Nunca, Felipe Pantone, Quik, Lee Quinones, Blek le Rat, Rero, Remi Rough, André Saraiva, Seen, Seth, Sten Lex, Tanc, Hua Tunan, Yok & Sheryo, YZ, Zevs “and many more“.

Elsewhere online the roster is said to include 2Koa, Jef Aérosol, Ash, André, A-One, Aplickone, Banksy, Benjamin Duquenne, Tarek Benaoum, Stephane Bisseuil, Blek Le Rat, Boulaone, C215, Crash, Dface, Dondi, Dran, Eror729, Shepard Fairey, Faile, Futura, Keith Haring, Isham, Jayone, Jonone, Jr, Katre, Kaws, L’atlas, Lem, Ludo, Barry Mc Gee, Mikostic, Miss.Tic, Mode 2, Steve More, Nasty, Nord, Yoshi Omori, Os Gemeos, Psyckoze, Quik, Rammellzee, Recidivism, Rero, Remi Rough, Seen, Seth, Skki, Sore, Space Invader, Spazm, Spécio, Swoon, Tanc, Toxick, Vhils, Jacques Villeglé, Nick Walker, West, Yz, Zevs, Zhang Dali, Zlotykamien and Zuba.

 

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BSA Film Friday: 07.07.17

BSA Film Friday: 07.07.17

bsa-film-friday-JAN-2015

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

Now screening :
1.Vegan Flava. Throwing Leaves Against Machines.
2. Andrew Hem “Misty Blue”
3. Laura Llaneli: 12 + 1 in Barcelona
4. Misha Most. Evolution -2. The largest mural in the world. Vyksa, Russia
5. Agnès Varda JR’s Faces Places (Visages, Villages). Trailer.

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BSA Special Feature: Vegan Flava. Throwing Leaves Against Machines.

“We are exploring crossroads where different creative paths such as painting, video-making, dancing and music meet,” Vegan Flava tells us about this new collaborative performance he has just completed with his friend Mario Perez Amigo.

They call it “Throwing Leaves Against Machines” and it is the third video chapter of a series named Northern Street Sketches. This painting and dance performance took play at Subtopia in the Botkyrka municipality of Stockholm – the city where both artists hail from.

Taking place the same night that Donald Trump pulled the US out of the Paris agreement on climate change, Vegan Flava tells us that the video is “a climate action performance addressing the costs consumerism today imposes on future generations, and time is limited.”

 

Andrew Hem “Misty Blue”

Street culture and impressionism filter into the singular form compositions of Los Angeleno Andrew Ham. In this hand painted mural with The Avenue Concept in Providence, he tells the story of a child he met. The artist shoes how he mixes paint and speaks of his practice of going far from the wall to make sure the mural “reads” well from a distance.

 

Laura Llaneli: 12 + 1 in Barcelona

Back in June we showed you process photos of this wall in Barcelona in a posting entitled Laura Llaneli “OUR ACTIONS BECOMING THE POLICY”. It is an interesting concept of translating a short speech, a tirade actually, of a singer upbraiding audience members for not fitting his image of them -as if his self-image was derived from the audience. True, mom always said, “Show me your friends and I can tell you what kind of person you are.”

 

 

Misha Most. Evolution -2. The largest mural in the world. Vyksa, Russia

Periodically you hear a claim of a mural being the largest. This one by Misha Most with the folks from Artmossphere looks pretty close!

Agnès Varda JR’s Faces Places (Visages, Villages). Trailer.

A trailer for JR’s new movie follows his team as he travels from place to place wheatpasting photos of people to walls in their towns.

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BSA “Images Of The Year” for 2016 (VIDEO)

BSA “Images Of The Year” for 2016 (VIDEO)

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Of the thousands of images he took this year in places like New York, Berlin, Dresden, Moscow, Marrakesh, Detroit and Miami, photographer Jaime Rojo found that the figurative image still stands prominently in the Street Art scene – along with text-based, abstract and animal world themes.

Surprisingly the scene does not appear to be addressing the troubled and contentious matters of the political and social realms in a large way, but the D.I.Y. scene keeps alive and defies the forces of homogeneity with one-of-a-kind small wheat-pastes, stencils, sculptures, and aerosol sprayed pieces alongside the enormous and detailed paintings that take days to complete.

Every Sunday on BrooklynStreetArt.com, we present “Images Of The Week”, our regular interview with the street. Primarily New York based, BSA interviewed, shot, and displayed images from Street Artists from more than 100 cities over the last year, making the site a truly global resource for artists, fans, collectors, gallerists, museums, curators, academics, and others in the creative ecosystem. We are proud of the help we have given and thankful to the community for what you give back to us and we hope you enjoy this collection – some of the best from 2016.

Brooklyn Street Art 2016 Images of the Year by Jaime Rojo includes the following artists;

1Up, Above, Adele Renault, Alaniz, Amy Smalls, George Vidas, GEN2, Apexer, BordaloII, Buff Monster, C215, Collin Van Der Sluijs, Super A, David Choe, D*Face, Duke Riley, El Sol 25, Sean 9 Lugo, EQC, Faile, Faith47, Faust, Shantell Martin, Felipe Pantone, Hueman, Droid907, Icy & Sot, InDecline, Invader, JJ Veronis, Jilly Ballistic, John Ahearn, JR, London Kaye, Louis Masai, MadC, Marshal Arts, Mongolz, MSK, Rime, Myth, Nina Chanel, Optic Ninja, Otto Osch Schade, Panmela Castro, Plastic Jesus, QRST, Reed b More, Remi Rough, REVS, Self Made, Sharon Dela Cruz, Maripussy, Specter, Stikman, Strok, Swoon, Ted Pim, Thievin’ Stephen, Farin Purth, Thomas Allen, Tobo, Uriginal, Vermibus, Vhils, Wing, Yes Two, Zola.

The artist featured on the main graphic is D*Face as shot by Jaime Rojo in New York.

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BSA Images Of The Week: 07.17.16

BSA Images Of The Week: 07.17.16

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BSA-Images-Week-Jan2015

Welcome!

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring American Puppet, Ant Carver, CDRE, Consumer Art, Crisp, Dain, David Hollier, Dee Dee, El Sol 25, Jules Muck, Myth, Ron English, The DRIF, and VJZ .

Our top image: Dee Dee (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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JR from his Ellis Island Series. Sorry we don’t know the name of the original artist. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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JR from his Ellis Island Series. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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American Puppet (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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David Hollier (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Text on  the illustration from Steppenwolf’s  “Monster/Suicide/America”, written in 1969

“America where are you now?
Don’t you care about your sons and daughters?
Don’t you know we need you now
We can’t fight alone against the monster”

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Speaking of monsters…Donald Trump as re-imagined by Ron English. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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…and by Consumer Art. This is a takeoff of a Banksy piece (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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…and by an unidentified artist. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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But Jules Muck has hope and so do we… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Ant Carver (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Ant Carver (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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CRISP (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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CRISP does “Bling Vader” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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The Drif for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

And let’s pay tribute to all the ballerinas out there who train so hard for years and years and days and days and hours and hours and go on the stages big and small all over the world who rapture us with their grace and artistry. We salute you!

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CDRE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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CDRE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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VJZ (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Okay, okay! No shampoo. We get it. Myth (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Myth (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Dain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Untitled. China Town, NYC. July 2016. (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!

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“The Art Of The Mural: Volume 01” Captures a Moment

“The Art Of The Mural: Volume 01” Captures a Moment

Murals hold their own place onstage in public space today for a variety of reasons that we discuss regularly on BSA. From grassroots and public, to private and corporate, we have watched the genre professionalize as Street Art festivals and other initiatives are often coupling artists with brands and are selling canvasses through the organizers galleries. Today we have the first of a promised four-part book series by Art Whino gallerist and organizer of the Richmond Mural Project in Virginia, Shane Pomajambo, that features many artists he has worked with in the brand new “The Art of the Mural”.

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Shane Pomajambo The Art of The Mural Volume 01 Foreword by Carlo McCormick. Schiffer Publishing. 2016

Featuring more than fifty current graffiti/Street Artists, the survey pays special attention to the show-stopping eye candy that commands attention for these nomadic painters who are developing their craft before an ever larger and more appreciative international audience.

Culture critic and curator Carlo McCormick, who writes the introduction to the Schiffer published hardcover, notes that this mural renaissance is quite unlike the US government funded New Deal era mural programs that produced “hundreds of thousands of murals for schools, hospitals, post offices, housing projects, and various government facilities”. And he’s right, these are emanating from a different place entirely.

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Antony Lister. Shane Pomajambo The Art of The Mural Volume 01 Foreword by Carlo McCormick. Schiffer Publishing. 2016

The world-traveling media-soaked artists, of which this collection is subset, have had vastly more exposure to corporations and branding perhaps than, say, arts institutions, and a sophisticated self-handling is often on display with artists ever more savvy in their choices of style and content.

A greater percentage are now entering into private collections, galleries, and museums thanks to unprecedented platforms for huge exposure on the Internet, and their public works are adding rich character and dialogue to our neighborhoods and public spaces.

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Curiot. Shane Pomajambo The Art of The Mural Volume 01 Foreword by Carlo McCormick. Schiffer Publishing. 2016

With academia, art critics, and auction houses all grappling with the rightful place of these artists in contemporary art and society at large it will be instructive to know the history and their lineage, content, context, and patronage. One has to agree when McCormick says that all of these “are helpful for us to consider in looking at and understanding the artists’ walls of today.”

This collection of talent is strong, with many of the mid-large names that are at play in this generation of painters whom are primarily born in the 1970s and 80s. In their work is a cultural appreciation for modern graffiti history as they now channel it along with formal training, art history, advertising, and a multitude of media. With few exceptions, it’s a tight list of artists, the images are riveting (though uncredited to their photographers), and the brief introductions by Pomajambo contain just enough biographical information and artist’ quotes to ground the story and give it context.

“As with everything I do,” says the Queens, New York native Pomajambo, “I always question and observe, and as we reach critical mass with murals I felt compelled to create this project and capture a moment in time.”

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Evoca 1. Shane Pomajambo The Art of The Mural Volume 01 Foreword by Carlo McCormick. Schiffer Publishing. 2016

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Fintan Magee. Shane Pomajambo The Art of The Mural Volume 01 Foreword by Carlo McCormick. Schiffer Publishing. 2016

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Miss Van. Shane Pomajambo The Art of The Mural Volume 01 Foreword by Carlo McCormick. Schiffer Publishing. 2016

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MOMO. Shane Pomajambo The Art of The Mural Volume 01 Foreword by Carlo McCormick. Schiffer Publishing. 2016

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Onur & Wes 21. Shane Pomajambo The Art of The Mural Volume 01 Foreword by Carlo McCormick. Schiffer Publishing. 2016

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Telmo & Miel. Shane Pomajambo The Art of The Mural Volume 01 Foreword by Carlo McCormick. Schiffer Publishing. 2016

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Tone (Robert Proch). Shane Pomajambo The Art of The Mural Volume 01 Foreword by Carlo McCormick. Schiffer Publishing. 2016

 

All photos of the spreads by Jaime Rojo

 

The Art of The Mural: Contemporary International Urban Art. Volume 01 by Shaen Pomajambo. Schiffer Publishing. Atglen, PA. USA.

Participating Artists
Amose, Arraiano, Augustine Kofie, Axel Void, Bezt (Etam Crew), Chazme 718, Chor boogie, Clog Two, Curiot, Cyrcle, DALeast, Decertor, Dface, ETNIK, Faith47, Fintan Magee, Hense, INTI, Jade, Jaz, JR, Kenor, Lister, Logan Hicks, Low Bros, Meggs, Miss Van, Momo, Mr Thoms, Muro, Natalia Rak, Nosego, Onur, Pener, Reka, Robert “Tone” Proch,Ron English, Rone, Sainer (Etam Crew), SATONE, SEACREATIVE, Sepe, Smithone, Sten Lex, Stormie Mills, Telmo Miel, Tristan Eaton, TWOONE HIROYASU, Vhils, Wes21 and Zed 1

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“Art Silos” Rise in the Harbor of Catania, Sicily

“Art Silos” Rise in the Harbor of Catania, Sicily

They’ve been here since the 1950s, these silos for wheat and corn on the harbor of Catania on the east coast of the island of Sicily at the foot of Mount Etna. 28 meters tall and facing the Ionian Sea, they are now some of the largest canvasses in Italy by a small group of international and local Street Artists.

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Interesni Kazki. Detail. (photo © VladyArt)

The “Art Silos” project includes works completed during an eight month installation begun in June 2015 as part of Festival “I-ART” organized by “Emergence”, thanks to Angelo Bacchelli, curated by Giuseppe Stagnitta. The artists taking part in the project were Okuda (Spain), ROSH333 (Spain), Microbo (Italy), BO130 (Italy), VladyArt (Italy), Danilo Bucchi (Italy) and the duo Interesni Kaxki (Ukraine), mostly all from the graffiti/Street Art world. A separately organized but related project on the harbor-facing row of eight silos was completed by one artist alone, the Lisbon-based Vhils.

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Interesni Kazki. Detail. (photo © VladyArt)

The project’s completion at the turn of the year culminated in one of the largest Street Art/Graffiti artists’ collective shows in Italy held in the city’s main public gallery Palazzo Platamone, entitled “Codici Sorgenti” (Source Code), which was curated by Stefano S. Antonelli and Francesca Mezzano from Rome’s 999 Contemporary Gallery.

There is talk about the possibility that this exhibition of about 60 artists work will tour throughout Europe with its message of the historic roots of modern graffiti and Street Art along with many of its most impactful practitioners pushing into the contemporary art world.

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Interesni Kazki. Detail. (photo © VladyArt)

According to Arianna Ascione in Artsblog.it, the gallery exhibition was “divided into three sections that tell the birth, interactive development and consecration of the (graffiti/street art) phenomenon” Indeed, the list contains works by 108, A One, Augustine Iacurci, Alexis Diaz, Alexone, Bo 130, Boris Tellegen (aka Delta), Brad Downey, C215, Clemens Behr, Conor Harrington, Crash, Delta 2, Dondi White, Doze Green, El Seed, Ericailcane, Eron, Escif, Evol, Faile, Feitakis, Gaia, Herbert Baglione, Horfee, Interesni Kazki, Invader, Jaz, Jeff Aerosol, Mark Jenkins, Jonone, JR, Judith Supine, Kool Poor, The Atlas, Lek & Sowat, Lucy McLauchlan, Matt Small, Maya Hayuk, Mensanger, Miss Van, Momo, Moneyless, Peeta, Rammellzee, Retna, Roa, Seth, Philippe Baudelocque, Sharp, Shepard Fairey, StenLex, Swoon, The London Police, Todd James,Toxic, and the aforementioned Vhils.

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Interesni Kazki. Detail. (photo © VladyArt)

Ironically the genre-melting inclination of so-called “urban art” has eroded the silo mentality of many who follow these art forms as they become known, followed, collected, and exhibited; As a metaphor “Art Silos” may more accurately refer to the past and the dogmatic separation of genres such as graffiti, tattoo, illustration, ad jamming, and Street Art for example.

Although not strictly what you might call public art either, the scale of “Art Silos”, with its major artworks that typically may take years to be approved in large cities elsewhere, is an occurrence routinely happening in cities around the world.

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Vlady Art and BO130. Detail. (photo © VladyArt)

For us this is one more example of the “New Muralism” that is enabling Street Artists to do major works in public spaces via non-traditional routes. On par with a public art works of other committee-approved sorts, this silo project was a private/public collaboration that made selections, secured funding and permissions from the harbor authorities, city figures, politicians and the manager of the silos themselves, according to VladyArt, who along with Microbo is one of the artists and a resident of Catania.

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Vlady Art (photo © VladyArt)

He says the size of the project and the power of the imagery combined with the process of watching them go up has drawn a lot of attention to the area lately. “The people here were amazed by our speed and the large scale operation. Catania had no large murals like this… this was the very first time for Sicily. They can be seen from far away and even from taking off from and landing at the airport – or coming by cruise line on the sea. It seems that nobody really paid that much attention to this spot before, and everyone is talking about it now.”

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BO130 and Vlady Art. Detail. (photo © VladyArt)

To understand why a project of this nature can happen so quickly these days, look no further than the location. As we have recounted numerous times, often these efforts are deliberately programmed to draw attention to economically challenged areas as a way of encouraging tourism and investment.

In fact VladyArt says that this historic region and city that dates back many centuries before Christ is having a very challenging time economically and socially and could use positive attention from a crowd that appreciates art. “Catania is somehow the most dynamic city of Sicily, because of its industrial and commercial features,” he says.

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Lucamaleonte. Work in progress. (photo © VladyArt)

“Having said that, please be aware that the south of Italy is no way wealthy or an easy place, despite its beauty and lucky location in the sun. Almost the whole city is rough, I can name a many neighborhoods where this is the case.”

So it is all the more remarkable that a multi-artist iconic installation can happen here in Catania and people are exposed to a grassroots-fueled art scene that is currently galloping across the globe.

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Lucamaleonte. Work in progress. (photo © VladyArt)

“Regular people around here don’t know much about the whole thing, street art and stuff,” says Vlady Art. “So, quite frankly they wouldn’t care much about Okuda, Vhils or Interesni. They never heard of them before and probably people will find hard to spell their names. They cannot catch the meaning or the purpose of this. They simply like what they see – they like this energy. They do get the ‘message’, the power of art.”

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Danilo Bucchi (photo © VladyArt)

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Okuda (photo © VladyArt)

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Microbo (photo © VladyArt)

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ROSH333 (photo © VladyArt)

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The Silos facing the city. (photo © VladyArt)

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Vhils on the side of the silos facing the water. (photo © VladyArt)

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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 in The Huffington Post.

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