Welcome to Part I of II of our photo collection from the 14th Annual Bushwick Collective Block Party. This year’s edition, held on May 31, 2025, brought together a powerful fusion of beats, paint, and community spirit—just the kind of vibrant energy we at BSA love to celebrate.
The day’s star performer, hip-hop legend Rakim, set the stage alight with an electrifying set that fused old-school authenticity with Bushwick’s forward-thinking street culture – an intelligent merging of underground and old-school. Sharing the spotlight were dynamic artists Statik Selektah, Gorilla Nems, Termanology, and Evil Dee, among others.
On the mural front, the Block Party again transformed Troutman Street into a living gallery. This year’s visiting muralists included Sef1, Contrabandre, Huetek, Gigstar & Minus One, Tymon de Laat, Ashley Hodder, and Enzo a psychotropic summer stew that again sampled from acrss the graffiti and street art spectrum.
It was a weekend where paint met poetry, beats met brushstrokes, and each corner of Bushwick told a fresh story. We hope these images capture the creative dialogue that unfolded. Stay tuned for Part II, where we continue to explore more of this year’s murals and moments.
We were looking at the description and lineup of this new Punk exhibit and thinking about how it extends to the early and current mural/street art scene at play today… Opine, as one may, about the roots of this scene and our rigorous academic attempts at qualitative mastery, but the average street artists cares nary a whit what you think, for the most part. It isn’t just our anti-intellectual age; it may simply be antithetical to what street art was ever intended to be. There are those who construct gates to enclose a favored few to make pronouncements about what street art is or isn’t, but the artists who produce work on the streets may not bother climbing the fence to get in their club.
It’s the ironic, rebellious, spirit of D.I.Y. that makes street art and graffiti most attractive for us —not its ability to make money for some nor burnish the reputation of another but to draw us together. The open access to self-expression is so alluring, and it is a testament to how truly innovative artists know how to seize a moment, transform a space, begin a dialogue, or weigh in on one. Create camps? Attempt to consolidate power? It is a folly. Why reject a corrupted and unfair pecking order only to reconstruct one? As we see more anniversary shows heralding punk and its origins, we recall that it was the liberty promised that was so appealing and the destruction of corrupt institutions that was most needed. The aesthetics may have become commodified. It’s spirit, never.
Here is our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Alice Pasquini, Homesick, Judith Supine, Mike King, WERC, Pussy Power, Kane, Kone, Chris Haven, 6147, SLASH FTR, Geraluz, Coes Sneakers, AIC, and Skribblz.
Summer in the city with the hot asphalt, the humming of air conditioners, the tantalizing tune of the ice cream truck, the delightful shrieks of children in the playground, the BBQ smells on the sidewalks, the breeze coming from the ocean, the cacophony of songbirds, and the desires that long days bring.
Who can conjure a more intoxicating feeling than the feeling of summer? We let ourselves feel free from layers of woolen clothes and stiff limbs. When only a pair of shorts and a tattered T-shirt will do, we lay down and look at the sky, the grass soft beneath us. We hold court on rooftops, fire escape stairs, and front stoops. We celebrate the outdoors and soak in the summer rain. We are all children again, refusing to come back inside.
Joe Ficalora’s Annual Bushwick Collective Block Party is one of our official summer parties in New York City. This block party is unique, with a perfectly balanced combination of art, music, performance, and food trucks. This year’s edition was no different. International, national, and local artists came prepared to get up and get it done. Graffiti writers and street artists took over blocks and walls, bringing a vibrant palette of color, forms, ideas, icons, idols, themes, thoughts, and games with them. The public who came to see them painting live spent a full day enjoying art being made and dancing to the energy of hip-hop performers. We invite you to enjoy Part 1 of the offerings on the street, with Part 2 coming soon.
The New Year has been good so far, except if your country is in a war and is being pulverized.
We captured some exceptional street art during our visits to Miami last month. It’s encouraging to see that, despite commercial pressures, the artists’ untamed creative spirit continues to shine through. To balance the collection, we have dirty old New York pieces that pull no punches, and tell no truths, I mean lies. Happy to share these new and dynamic pieces with you.
Here is our weekly interview with the street: this week featuring Tats Cru. Homesick, Werds, Deih XLF, Melski, West, Dase, Banksy Hates Me, Wizard Skull, Johann Art, Arlex Campos, Professorx, d1a5, Salute, Urban Ruben, HITC, Heat, and Kane.
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
