All posts tagged: Kid Zoom

Happy New Year! BSA Highlights of 2010

Year-in-review-2010-header

As we start a new year, we say thank you for the last one.

And Thank You to the artists who shared their 11 Wishes for 2011 with Brooklyn Street Art; Conor Harrington, Eli Cook, Indigo, Gilf, Todd Mazer, Vasco Mucci, Kimberly Brooks, Rusty Rehl, Tip Toe, Samson, and Ludo. You each contributed a very cool gift to the BSA family, and we’re grateful.

We looked over the last year to take in all the great projects we were in and fascinating people we had the pleasure to work with. It was a helluva year, and please take a look at the highlights to get an idea what a rich cultural explosion we are all a part of at this moment.

The new year already has some amazing new opportunities to celebrate Street Art and artists. We are looking forward to meeting you and playing with you and working with you in 2011.

Specter does “Gentrification Series” © Jaime Rojo
NohJ Coley and Gaia © Jaime Rojo
Jef Aerosol’s tribute to Basquiat © Jaime Rojo
***

January

Imminent Disaster © Steven P. Harrington
Fauxreel (photo courtesy the artist)
Chris Stain at Brooklyn Bowl © Jaime Rojo

February

Various & Gould © Jaime Rojo
Anthony Lister on the street © Jaime Rojo
Trusto Corp was lovin it.

March

Martha Cooper, Shepard Fairey © Jaime Rojo
BSA’s Auction for Free Arts NYC
Crotched objects began appearing on the street this year. © Jaime Rojo

April

BSA gets some walls for ROA © Jaime Rojo
Dolk at Brooklynite © Steven P. Harrington
BSA gets Ludo some action “Pretty Malevolence” © Jaime Rojo

May

The Crest Hardware Art Show © Jaime Rojo
NohJ Coley © Jaime Rojo
The Phun Phactory Reboot in Williamsburg © Steven P. Harrington

June

Sarah Palin by Billi Kid
Nick Walker with BSA in Brooklyn © Jaime Rojo
Judith Supine at “Shred” © Jaime Rojo

July

Interview with legend Futura © Jaime Rojo
Os Gemeos and Martha Cooper © Jaime Rojo
Skewville at Electric Windows © Jaime Rojo

August

Specter Spot-Jocks Shepard Fairey © Jaime Rojo
“Bienvenidos” campaign
Faile studio visit © Jaime Rojo

September

BSA participates and sponsors New York’s first “Nuit Blanche” © Jaime Rojo
JC2 © Jaime Rojo
How, Nosm, R. Robots © Jaime Rojo

October

Faile “Bedtime Stories” © Jaime Rojo
Judith Supine © Jaime Rojo
Photo © Roswitha Guillemin courtesy Galerie Itinerrance

November

H. Veng Smith © Jaime Rojo
Sure. Photo courtesy Faust
Kid Zoom © Jaime Rojo

December

Read more
Images Of The Week 12.19.10

Images Of The Week 12.19.10

Brooklyn-Street-Art-IMAGES-OF-THE-WEEK_05-2010

Our weekly conversation with the street, this week featuring Alec, C215, Cash4, DestroyRebuild, Egypt, Katsu, Kid Zoom, Kouka, KR, NohJColey, ROA, Samson, and WK Interact.

brooklyn-street-art-roa-jaime-rojo-12-10-web

ROA had a brief stopover in Brooklyn from LA before returning home, and he had a moment to leave us a gift on the driveway gates at Factory Fresh in Bushwick (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-cash4-egypt-jaime-rojo-12-10-web

Cash4, Egypt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-katsu-destroy-rebuild-jaime-rojo-12-10-web

Katsu DestroyRebuild (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-alec-jaime-rojo-12-10-web

Alec does Twiggy, Andy, and Graffiti (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-c215-monkeys-jaime-rojo-12-10-web

C215 with Monkeys (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-KR-jaime-rojo-12-10-web

KR at Monster Island (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-kouka-jaime-rojo-12-10-web

Kouka (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-nohj-coley-jaime-rojo-12-10-web

NohjColey enters the street as a sculptor for the first time.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-share-jaime-rojo-12-10-web

A Holidays sentiment, and the case for Collective Consumption. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-swirl- candy-jaime-rojo-12-10-web

Here’s a nice lollipop.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-wk-interact-jaime-rojo-12-10-web

This WK Interact piece has been on this wall for a long time. This time I liked the late Autumn light and the play between the climber and the stair case shadows against the white wall. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-samson-jaime-rojo-12-10-web

The mighty Samson has finished his mural in Bushwick (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-kid-zoom-jaime-rojo-12-10-web

Kid Zoom’s Bear and Hands currently on view at the Opera Gallery Pop Up Shop in The Meat Packing District of Manhattan (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Read more

Fun Friday 12.10.10

Fun-Friday

It’s beginning to look a lot like Kwanzannukah

Roman Klonek & Jim Avignon at Factory Fresh

brooklyn-street-art-WEB-factory-fresh-roman-klonek-jim-avignon

An unusual breed of pop art with two oddities that are well jump-suited for each other. Expect the unexpected, including a special appearance by His Doodleness Jon Burgerman.

Speedy Wonderland

Factory Fresh Gallery Presents: Roman Klonek & Jim Avignon “Speedy Wonderland” (Brooklyn, NY)Opening Reception FRIDAY, DECEMBER 10, 7-10pm

ART to be Sold Off the Walls at “12×12”

Hopefully no one will be trampled for the holidays just getting in the door tonight, but you are bound to see something dope here, including a number of street artists you are familiar with at this group show.  Wonder how big the pieces are?

Brooklyn-street-art-mighty-tanaka-12x12-dec2010

brooklyn-street-art-mighty-tanaka

Opening Reception, Friday, December 10th, 6pm – 9pm!Mighty Tanaka presents:
12×12 -A Group Show for the Holidays

FEATURED ARTISTS
Abe Lincoln Jr., Adam Miller, Alexandra Pacula, Alexis Trice, Anthony Sneed, AVOID, Briar Elyse, Bruno Perillo, Bryan Raughton, Buxtonia, CAM, Chris RWK, Chris Stain, Dark Clouds, Destroy and Rebuild, DOIT, Don Pablo Pedro, DROID, Ed Shawn Herrera, Ellen Stagg, Ellis G, Eric DeFrancesco, Fedele Spadafora, Gary Carlson, Gigi Chen, Gigi Spratley, Hannah Rose Fierman, Hellbent, Hiroshi Kumagai, Infinity, Jac Atkinson, Japa, Jason Grunwald, JMR, John Breiner, John McGarity, John Sunderland, Julia Colavita, Julian Duran, Justin Rymer, Katie Decker, Keely, KOSBE, Lauren Asta, Lee Trice, Lionel Guzman, Mari Keeler, Matt Siren, Max Greis, Melissa Carroll, Mike Schrieber, Nathan Pickett, Nathan Vincent, Nick Chatfield-Taylor, QRST, Quel Beast, Reginald Pean, Rick Midler, Robbie Busch, Royce Bannon, SADU, Skewville, Soosan Joon Silanee, Steven Schreiber, Thomas Cecchi, Tony Bones, Tony DePew, Toofly, UFO, URnewyork, Veng RWK

New Video from Sten & Lex

Street Artist Cake: A Collection of Drawings

Brewer’s Mansion is happy to present A Collection of Drawings, a show by Brooklyn street artist Cake, opening Saturday the 12th at this little known place where artists hang out.

brooklyn-street-art-WEB-brewers-mansion-cake-11-10

From the artist, “I use anatomy to describe the intricate relationship structures humans have with themselves and others. I frequently take from the pool of human suffering for subject matter and inspiration. When people disconnect from themselves in any way, it will somehow show up in their faces, bodies and gestures. I prefer to make drawings describing those results.”

Brewer’s Mansion

Cake Opening December 11, 6-9

55 Waterbury between Scholes and Meserole in Bushwick, Brooklyn

Kid Zoom Pop-Up Saturday

“Kid Zoom, Rembrandt with a Spray Can, represents the future of this movement.” – RON ENGLISH

With a Street Art celebrity endorsement like that, you know he’s going to wear a clean shirt to the show, right?  But wait, this is Lo-Brow so maybe just a freshly stained t-shirt.  See our studio visit Here.

brooklyn-street-art-kid-zoom-opera-gallery

OPENING PARTY – SAT 11th DECEMBER – 7PM till Late – MEATPACKING – NYC

72 Gansevoort St
NEW YORK, NY, 10014
Meatpacking District
Read more

The New Kid Zoom on the Block: A Steady Hand, Taxidermy and His Solo Show in NYC

A frigid Brooklyn late night studio visit with Australian street artist Kid Zoom includes an impressive roaring taxidermied brown bear on his hind legs, a cache of finished canvasses spread all around, and a tiger-striped kitten named Trouble rambunctiously attacking anything that moves, including your foot. In this large industrial hideout infused with spray fumes, Kid Zoom is madly joyfully preparing for his first solo show in New York City.

brooklyn-street-art-kid-zoom-jaime-rojo-12-10-web-5

A big bear hug from Kid Zoom.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kid Zoom’s only tools are aerosol cans, a free hand and his imagination. For the Opera Gallery pop up in the Meat Packing District this Saturday he’s completed 25 pieces since summer. Looking at the varied lot of canvasses, painted swords, and the bear, he feels well prepared.

brooklyn-street-art-kid-zoom-jaime-rojo-12-10-web-1

Kid Zoom photo © Jaime Rojo

A relatively new kid on this block, Kid Zoom began as a graffiti artist back home seven years ago, eventually mastering a vocabulary of realism with amazing speed and branching out into a mock horror genre of beasts and phantasma in street art that took over walls and even sides of suburban houses. The young buck brings a love of dark film to the game; the human body parts, hands, eyes, skulls and even some of his portraits resemble stills from movies. His Hitchcockian black and white paintings are detailed and precise – with a sudden shard of crimson slicing through them. Dredging the fearful underground sewers of the subconscious, his subject matter often appeals to our current fascination with vampires and zombies.

brooklyn-street-art-kid-zoom-jaime-rojo-12-10-web-2

Kid Zoom photo © Jaime Rojo

This new show will also reveal his natural talent for rendering portraits of the living with a realism hard to get from the aerosol can – which is probably why his street art has brought him into the gallery. For his colorful portraits he “sketches” his subjects in black and white paint until the full portrait emerges. Afterward he builds the portrait with color until the black and white paint is not visible anymore. Two canvasses of giant gesturing hands are intimidating and boldly lyrical.

brooklyn-street-art-kid-zoom-jaime-rojo-12-10-web-6

Kid Zoom photo (© Jaime Rojo)

At BSA we always say that everyone drinks from the same river of ideas and creativity that passes by – it’s a river full of possibilities. What differentiates one artist’s work from the others is their personal imprint, and the level of their craftsmanship. Kid Zoom’s development of both qualities in a relatively short period is remarkable and we’re looking forward to seeing the currents of his own distinctive style fully merging into a body of work that is sure to come. We also encourage him to wear a mask when spraying!

brooklyn-street-art-kid-zoom-jaime-rojo-12-10-web-7

The spoils. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-kid-zoom-jaime-rojo-12-10-web-4

Kid Zoom (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-kid-zoom-jaime-rojo-12-10-web-3

Kid Zoom (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-kid-zoom-jaime-rojo-12-10-web-8

Kid Zoom portrait (photo © Jaime Rojo)

To learn more details about his show click here

To see more of Kid Zoom’s work click here

Read more

The Opera Gallery Presents: Kid Zoom First Solo Show In NYC “This City Will Eat Me Alive” (Manhattan, NY)

Kid Zoom

brooklyn-street-art-kid-zoom-opera-gallery
OPENING PARTY – SAT 11th DECEMBER – 7PM till Late – MEATPACKING – NYC

Kid Zoom, Rembrandt with a Spray Can, represents the future of this movement.” – RON ENGLISH

After relocating from his homeland of Australia to New York. Ian “KID ZOOM” Strange is presenting his first ever solo show in the USA – ‘THIS CITY WILL EAT ME ALIVE”, in New York’s Meat Packing district…

The 3000′ sq show will feature 25 new works and installations completed entirely freehand with spray-paint. This promises to bea breakthrough exhibition for the young Australian artist. If you’re going to be in New York this December, head over to theMeatpacking District – December 11 – 30.

OPENING PARTY – SAT December 11th – 7PM

IAN “KID ZOOM” STRANGE
THIS CITY WILL EAT ME ALIVE
11 – 30 December 2010
72 Gansevoort St
NEW YORK, NY, 10014
Meatpacking District

Read more

Images of the Week 08.08.10

Brooklyn-Street-Art-IMAGES-OF-THE-WEEK_05-2010

Our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Ron English, El Sol 25, $howta, Kid Zoom, Anera, Alive,QRST, Shepard Fairey, and Quel Beast.

Ron English in Beacon for Electric Windows (© Jaime Rojo)
Ron English in Beacon for Electric Windows (© Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25
El Sol 25 (© Jaime Rojo)

$howta
$howta (© Jaime Rojo)

Ron English in Williamsburg (© Jaime Rojo)
Ron English in Williamsburg (© Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 (© Jaime Rojo)
El Sol 25 (© Jaime Rojo)

Kid Zoom (© Jaime Rojo)
Kid Zoom (© Jaime Rojo)

Anera in Beacon for Electric Windows (© Jaime Rojo)
Anera in Beacon for Electric Windows (© Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 (© Jaime Rojo)
Give me your camera or else!  El Sol 25 (© Jaime Rojo)

Alive (© Jaime Rojo)
Alive (© Jaime Rojo)

QRST (© Jaime Rojo)
QRST has a message over top of Shepard Fairey. We wouldn’t know it by this Summer’s output.   (© Jaime Rojo)

Quel Beast (© Jaime Rojo_
Quel Beast (© Jaime Rojo)

And Now A Word From Our Sponsors (© Jaime Rojo)
And now a word from our sponsors. Ron English in Williamsburg (© Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 (© Jaime Rojo)
El Sol 25 (© Jaime Rojo)

Ron English in Beacon for Electric Windows (© Jaime Rojo)
Ron English in Beacon for Electric Windows (© Jaime Rojo)

Read more

Electric Windows 2010; Street Arts and Community

Sure, there are a lot of things wrong with our country these days. People are hurting financially, are losing homes and jobs, feeling insecure – and obstructionists fight against every possible people-centered bill that comes up in our legislative branch. Our sad legacies of racism and classism are stoked to pit us against one another rather than moving toward an equitable future for everyone. If you were to never go outside and only gathered your news from Yeller TV you might get the worldview that we are in an intractable war with one another.  But the State of our Union is on Main Street, not cable.

Main Street in Beacon, NY for example. Electric Windows, the Street Art event put together by the tireless duo Dan and Kalene (owners of the Open Space Gallery) and three other friends, is a prime example of what’s good in our country these days. Appreciation for the creative spirit that lies inside each person brought together a large and a very diverse group of people to this small town on Saturday. Music (live and DJ), street dancers, screen printing on your clothes… Folks were moved, changed, challenged and inspired by the art being made in front of their eyes: Unrestricted, unfiltered and in direct contact with the artists that were creating it.

The day was glorious not only because of the low humidity and breezes up the Hudson Valley but mostly because we had the opportunity to witness the faces of delight of the community while watching the artists do what they love to do most: Paint.  Saturday was important to America not because Chelsea Clinton was getting married a few miles north of Beacon but because a whole town literally opened its doors to everyone that wanted to come and make and experience art: Free of charge and uncensored.

We love art and artists of course but when we see people actually enjoying it and supporting it in a respectful and festive environment we are reminded once again that the stories that we are told about ourselves on TV are not often real or true. We are better than we are being told we are. We need to do a better job at getting the word out and at making sure that the good stuff gets reported.

Chris Stain (© Jaime Rojo)
Chris Stain pays homage to the workers. (© Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain. It looks beeter sitting down. (© Jaime Rojo)
It looks beter sitting down. (Chris Stain) (Elbow Toe on the door from last years event) (© Jaime Rojo)

Kid Zoom
Kid Zoom installed probing eyes in the windows of a building. (© Jaime Rojo)

Two generations admiring the work of Elbow Toe
Two generations admiring the work of Elbow Toe (© Jaime Rojo)

Cern discussing what's next. (© Jaime Rojo)
Cern discussing what’s next as the canvasses cascade down Main Street. (© Jaime Rojo)

And when one needed a quiet brake from it all this bucolic site was just a mere feet away. (© Jaime Rojo)
If you needed a quiet break from it all, this bucolic site was just a mere feet away. (© Jaime Rojo)

Anera and PeruAna Ana Peru prepping for their installation. (© Jaime Rojo)
Anera and Peru Ana Ana Peru prepping for their installation. (© Jaime Rojo)

Chor Boogie
Chor Boogie flew in from the west coast to participate. He’ll be in NYC this week. (© Jaime Rojo)

Gaia (foreground) and PaperMonster (background) and a striking pose. (© Jaime Rojo)
Gaia (foreground) and PaperMonster (background) and Kim striking a thoughtful pose. (© Jaime Rojo)

Gaia and Papermonster pieces almost finished. (© Jaime Rojo)
Gaia and Papermonster pieces almost finished. (© Jaime Rojo)

JC2 Army of One. (© Jaime Rojo)
JC2 Army of One. (© Jaime Rojo)

Michael DeFeo piece goes up first. (© Jaime Rojo)
The Michael DeFeo piece goes up first, causing an eruption of applause from the crowd on the street. (© Jaime Rojo)

Peat Wollager eyes. (© Jaime Rojo)
Peat Wollaeger brought inflatable versions of his signature eye to hang. (© Jaime Rojo)

An attentive art fan with Ron English piece on the background. (© Jaime Rojo)
An attentive art fan with Ron English piece behind her. (© Jaime Rojo)

Joe Iurato. (© Jaime Rojo)

Joe Iurato. (© Jaime Rojo)

Joe Iurato's piece goes up. (© Jaime Rojo)
Joe Iurato’s piece goes up. (© Jaime Rojo)

Measure Twice! Skewville. (© Jaime Rojo)
Measure Twice! Skewville. (© Jaime Rojo)

Skewville (© Jaime Rojo)
Skewville (© Jaime Rojo)

Logan Hicks. (© Jaime Rojo)
Front seats to watch Logan Hicks at work. (© Jaime Rojo)

Sailor Hicks. (© Jaime Rojo)
Sailor Hicks takes his puppet for a march up the tracks. (© Jaime Rojo)

To read BSA interview with Dan and Kalene go here:

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/?p=12873

Read more

Fun Friday 07.30.10

Fun-Friday
Fun Friday 07.30.10 on BrooklynStreetArt.com

Last Chance to see “Radiant Child” Movie this Weekend at Film Forum

A gem of a film, isn’t that what those old timey movie reviewers used to say?  The previously unseen footage of Basquiat shot by his friend Tamra Davis in his studio is probably the most revealing about his short personal history, his meteoric rise, and wild free child within. Less illuminating is some of the self- aggrandizing by those who now lay claim to his history. Equally it is an indictment of a society dealing with it’s legacy of racism, and the misplaced value given to critics with personal agendas. Nonetheless most viewers will understand intuitively the work for what it is and focus on the Brooklyn guy who made it cool to be outside.

Jef Aerosol

Jef Aerosol doing a tribute to Basquiat in Brooklyn earlier this year (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don Pablo Pedro this Saturday at Pandemic

“Fuck Don Pablo Pedro” is the second solo show for this talented Bushwick painter tomorrow and is sure to be fun, colorful, libidinous, and nauseating.  Pandemic Gallery

Don Pablo Pedro Poster (© Jaime Rojo)
Don Pablo Pedro Poster (© Jaime Rojo)

Faile in Lisbon (Video)

Brooklyn Street Art duo Faile recently took their sculptural installations to an earlier classical period of the Biennial Portugal Arte 10. The pop culture influences are re-contextualized, as they say….

Electric Windows Tomorrow in Beacon New York

Take the Metro North about an hour up the Hudson to see 30 Street Artists painting live. Is there more to say?

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Electic-windows-copyright-Thundercut-Electric-Windows-FINAL_building_arial

Read about Electric Windows HERE.

A book signing of “Street Art New York” by Jaime Rojo and Steven P. Harrington will be in the Open Space Gallery from 2 pm to 3 pm.

Read more

Buxtonia at “Electric Windows”, Ad Hoc in the House

Garrison and Alison Buxton, known together as Buxtonia, continue to carry the spirit of Ad Hoc wherever they are. See them at Electric Windows Saturday. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Garrison and Alison Buxton, known together as Buxtonia, continue to carry the spirit of Ad Hoc wherever they are. See them at “Electric Windows” Saturday. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Among the many street artists flooding into Beacon for Electric Windows on Saturday will be a couple almost all of them know for their dedication to building and maintaining the community. Godparents to a street art gallery/collective/community in Bushwick, Brooklyn at a crucial time for Street Art in the mid 2000’s, Garrison and Alison Buxton are now on the road across the country 6 months a year continuing their collaboration with the Street Art community.  It was a good five year run at Ad Hoc, the gallery, which officially closed late last year, having given many a street artist their first show while creating a sense of connectedness between Street Artists, Graff writers, photographers, screen printers, and social activists who all responded to the high vibrational pull Alison and Garrison created.

Brooklyn-Street-Art_Garrison-2-Quote

For the For the Buxton’s it was never about the hype. She’s full of industry and energy and organizing, while he’s full of a youthful wonder about life and loves to talk with you about social/spiritual movements. Together they have traveled a lot in the last 9 months across the States participating in art shows, re-connecting with friends, teaching screen printing, painting walls, organizing exhibitions, and discussing plans for a sustainable living project at their Vermont farmhouse, an old Buxton family homestead from the 17 & 1800′s.  Amazingly, the Buxtons have recently learned that their old homestead was also where one of their favorite modern art forms, screen printing, was brought to life by a man named Harry Shokler, who lived and worked at the home & studio for over 40 years.  Shokler is referred to as father of contemporary screen printing, a seminal figure in bringing screen printing from the world of industrial application to being accepted and recognized as a distinct fine art form. When you speak with either one of them for more than a few minutes you’ll learn they both sincerely believe we are here to share, learn, and teach lessons to each other and that now is time to do so.

Saturday Garrison and Alison will be making art at Electric Windows, and talking to friends about how to bring about the better world that is possible.

Brooklyn Street Art: How long has Buxtonia been working as an entity?
Garrison Buxton: I actually used Buxtonia as the title of my first website in like 2002/3.  Alison and I have referred to it as a state-of-being for years, with our first Buxtonia mural manifesting in Peru in 2008.  It has been coming into being for a while now and it seemed natural that we start referring to the works we did together as such.  We did Buxtonia murals with Broken Crow in Minnesota in 2009, and with NOLA Rising in New Orleans in 2010.

Unified Love Movement, by BuxtoniaThe installation for Unified Love Movement included a structure that arched in four directions and cast light from the center that emulated the patterns in their paintings on the ceiling. (Buxtonia)

Our first gallery work that I currently recall using Buxtonia was in October 2009 for an installation we did in Oklahoma called:
Buxtonia {Garrison & Alison Buxton}, Unified Love Movement

 

Installation from "Unified Love Movement" by Buxtonia, a commentary on belief systems, beauty, and global awareness of spiritual themes.

Installation from “Unified Love Movement” by Buxtonia, a meditation and commentary on the worlds’ major belief systems, their interconnectedness, and a global awareness of spiritual themes.

 

BSA: Your work is layered and multi-dimensional – can you describe a typical process you two go through in creating a piece?
Garrison Buxton: Firstly, we come up with what the vision of the piece is, laying out and building the compositional aspects like imagery, arrangement, aesthetic, layers, and forms.  After we have that in mind, then comes breaking it back down to the base and working up each of the aspects.  Construction, Deconstruction, Reconstruction, on and on…  After priming, we start out with washes and/or gradients to unify the background, then we build out light & dark areas based on the piece’s color palette.  Once the background is built up, we then use layers of stencils to create textures and develop areas of light & pattern.  We incorporate screen printing as well, either directly on the surface or via collage.  Using hand painting and drawing helps to bring in the upper layers.  Certain aspects are predetermined, like a border design, but building up the stencils and textures is a very participatory and engaged process.  The action of assembling the pieces to the puzzle encourages reflection, dialogue, and feedback.  It is a dialogue with all of us, humans, materials, and the voice of the work.  We change with each other.  Every piece is that moment’s exploration into human interaction and relationship.

A mechanized hand combines industrial revolutionary diagrammatic style with a surreal quality of modern possibility. From a mural done with NOLA Rising (Buxtonia)

“Resistance is Fertile”; a mechanized hand combines industrial revolutionary diagrammatic style with a surreal zeal of modern possibility. The piece repositions the struggle of the worker in a future context. From a mural done with NOLA Rising (Buxtonia)

BSA: Where do you draw upon for inspiration thematically?
Garrison Buxton: The core of it for me would be that we are all part of the same thing, the singularity and inherent oneness of existence.  Until we truly get that, we are not making real progress.  There is a lot of misery being generated by the intention of a select minority on this planet enabled by the masses of under-informed.  Most days, the urgency of our times inspires me to maintain a sense of peace in a world run by sociopaths gone utterly mad.  I have a hard time believing that we are destined to go out this way, like a stupid rampaging beast, smashing to bits anything and everything in our path as we careen over the cliff.  Another world is possible in every instant.  The power to share, to contribute, to change is abundant and always around us.

Brooklyn-Street-Art_Nola-copyright-Buxtonia

BSA: For both Willoughby Windows in Brooklyn and Welling Court Queens also participated as artists. What about being in these group shows is gratifying to you?
Garrison Buxton: Bringing creativity and beauty to people directly is very fulfilling.  It is one of the most unfiltered ways to bring art to a culture largely starved of non-corporate, non-advertising-generated media.  One of the fundamental aspects of street art is the democratization of public space.  Maybe it is all an illusion, but it is fulfilling to believe in the power of art to create, inspire, and plant seeds of observation as well as shared experience.  People relating to one another is what will get us to the other side.  People fearing one another will not.  Relating comes when people take the time to simply do it, relate.  Seeing the direct results of these art projects has been profound and definitely inspires us to keep taking things to the next level.  The bonds that result from bringing generations of different peoples together for a celebration of the human experience are so strong.  Together we can do amazing things.  I have seen it.

BSA: What are you planning to show the people at the Electric Windows show?
Garrison Buxton: We have been working with a figure, Metatron, for a while now.  Metatron is typically depicted as a eye with wings.  The Electric Windows piece is going to have a small flock of Metatrons flying up on the horizon with rays and shapes of light emerging from behind.

Is the loosest of senses, Metatron is the messenger of the divine, translating the beyond-human transmissions to be human-comprehensive.  I believe we are all Metatrons, our own divine messengers, and that we all transmit this divine information to our selves and each other.  When we are still and listen to that part of us that existed before we can remember existing, the knowledge we seek is there.  We are all self contained enlightenment, divinity, god, whatever you want to call it.  How to illustrate that is the never ending pursuit.  It has become important for us to focus on sending positive transmissions. We aim to send a net positive charge into the matrix.  The grid is cracking.  It needs all of our help.  This piece depicts the strength of coming together and building something with a whole greater than the sum of its parts.

Brooklyn-Street-Art_Garrison-3-Quote

BSA: How has your life changed for both of you since leaving Ad Hoc?
Garrison Buxton: For clarity’s sake, we never left Ad Hoc, as Ad Hoc Art still exists as an entity and we are still doing art events and projects like the previously mentioned Willoughby Windows and Welling Court projects as well as currently featuring many AHA artists with us in a screen printing project at SummerStage in Central Park through September.  The mission of Ad Hoc Art is to promote awesome work made by badass human beings.  We’ll keep doing that as long as we can, in myriad manifestations, which is the method to the madness.  On the front burner is a fall/winter tour where we will be working with artists across the country, many of which we worked with at Ad Hoc, as well as artists we have worked with since then.

So, I’m assuming that you are referring to how have our lives changed since moving out of Bogart St, yes?  That question is an expansive one, so many changes happening in so many ways.  Like any era in a relationship coming to a close, it is largely in how one perceives it. Boiling it down, there are times we’re missing the great times, all the magic; we’d wish we were still making a difference in the Bushwick hood and wonder if there were somehow an angle we didn’t think of that could have kept the hull together.  Then we quickly remember how working 18 hour days for years takes it toll, how there were days of stress and frustration, and how five years flew by in the blink of an eye and I hadn’t seen some good friends in years.  Overall, we are much healthier and happier and realize we are blessed to have the opportunities that we have and don’t look back.  There is so much to be accomplished now, more so than ever.  We are still working crazy hours, but in a way that serves us better and is sane.  We are operating at a more tenable, sustainable pace, training and running with a marathon mindset for a race of enduring as opposed to the frenetic burst of the 100 yard dash.  Short term focus will not get us to the other side.  Thinking beyond ourselves will get us there.

Some things we are loving: working our own creative endeavors/projects; less daily stress; the ability to be more dynamic and mobile (we’ll be on the road about six months of the next year, taking art love coast to coast and doing projects with people in places we never had time to visit before); more time to be human; & more time to work on altruistic projects.  Basically, we have a lot more time to take care of ourselves, spiritually, mentally, and physically.  As everything emanates from within, if the core is not stable, all that comes out contains that fundamental lack of stability.  In taking time to be, we saw an immediate and direct positive return which correlates directly with overall happiness.

BSA: Any advice for people who are planning to go to Beacon for the show?
Garrison Buxton: Bring sunscreen and drink lots of water.  Beacon is a nice lil’ town and the show is going to be awesome event.  Open Space again delivers a solid roster of fun.  We are excited to be working with some of our favorite partners in crime and a whole slew of new peoples.  Plan on staying late Saturday night if you like to dance.  Bring clothes if you’d like to have them printed.  We are going to be screen printing live and dropping some brand new images that Saturday.

We love you.

Brooklyn-Street-Art_ali+G_Minneapolis-copyright-Buxtonia

Electric Windows will feature Buxtonia, BoogieRez, Chris Stain, Depoe, Elbow Toe, Mr Kiji, Michael De Feo, Peat Wollaeger, Rick Price, Ron English, Big Foot, Cern, Chor Boogie, Chris Yormick, Elia Gurna, Erick Otto, Eugene Good, Faust, Gaia, Joe Iurato, Kid Zoom, Logan Hicks, Lotem & Aviv, Paper Monster, Ryan Bubnis, Ryan Williams, Skewville, and Thundercut

A book signing of “Street Art New York” by Jaime Rojo and Steven P. Harrington will be in the Open Space Gallery from 2 pm to 3 pm.

Some things we are missing: seeing all the wonderful people that were a part of our Bogart St. existence, from the daily regulars to the stroll-ins showing up from all over the world to check out what was going on; all the wonderful things that can happen with having a space, like supporting and fostering community, facilitating people relating with one another, and providing a platform for diverse creative forms to manifest.  It was a true pleasure to see all of the things that came out of having that space, a true nugget of fun, and a moment in time I wouldn’t trade for anything.  We learned so much and met so many phenomenal people from all walks of life.  Literally a life altering experience.

Read more
Electric Windows: Thundercut and Street Art in “North Brooklyn”

Electric Windows: Thundercut and Street Art in “North Brooklyn”

Together with new neighbors and old friends from back in the city Thundercut are steadily creating a cultural festival built around one of their first loves: Street Art.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-copyright-Thundercut-Electric-Windows-2008_crowd

The Street Art couple known as Thundercut are not the first Brooklyn artists to head to Beacon, New York, a picturesque phoenix on the Hudson River 59 miles north of Grand Central Station. Kalene Rivers and Dan Weise are just two of the most visionary and fun to talk with.

Once a town known for it’s hat making, Beacon (pop. 16,000) had a reputation as a sketchy drug and crime ridden place when Dan and Kalene were growing up in the Hudson Valley during the 80s and 90s. When the Dia Arts Foundation (also of Dia:Chelsea in Manhattan) renovated a 34,000 sf former factory in Beacon to create Dia:Beacon and to house a collection of Warhol paintings, hulking Richard Serra sculptures, and fluorescent Dan Flavin monuments, among other post 1960 art, interest grew in the town and an artist community largely from New York began to blossom. Many of the original artists who had brought a bohemian caché to rundown neighborhoods like Williamsburg, Greenpoint, and Red Hook in Brooklyn relocated to Beacon as their neighborhoods blanded in the mid 2000s. Much like those original artist enclaves, Beacon has become home to artist collectives, house parties, and experimentation.

Tina Darling poses in front of her work at Electric Windows (all photos courtesy and copyright of Thundercut)

Tina Darling poses in front of her work at Electric Windows (all photos courtesy and copyright of Thundercut)

While DIA was an important catalyst when it opened in 2003, Dan says the new residents brought a creative community that grew organically in it’s own direction.

“The people that have moved here have a very DIY spirit and have created something very special that continues to reinvent itself each year,” says Dan. In addition to Dan and Kalene opening their own gallery, Open Space, which shows fine art by many friends and artists in the street art scene, they recount inititiatives by neighbors who organize live concerts, have annual open studio events, host drawing nights at home, and began non-art related groups like soccer and ping pong clubs. Open Space itself has hosted a series of comedy nights that play to packed houses.

Says Dan, “If someone sees something missing in the community, they try to make it happen.”

Begun as a place to house their graphic design business, Open Space took root as a gallery and a community gathering spot. Explains Kalene, “We are both very passionate about giving something back to the community, from bringing new artists to show in the gallery, to organizing events like Electric Windows, these are things that we think are great and we are excited to share them with the town.”

Brooklyn-Street-Art-copyright-Thundercut-Electric-Windows-buildingWithLift

Which brings us to the third year of Electric Windows, a project that fills the eyes of a moribund electric blanket factory with new canvasses painted live on the street by artists while the public mills about. Now in it’s third year, with thirty artists, three buildings and live performances, EW is organized with their neighbors Jon Miles, Jeff Ashey and Nicole Romano.  With support from the mayor, a grant from the county arts council, donations from businesses of supplies and money, and even neighbors who are opening their homes to house the visiting artists, Electric Windows is thoroughly a community celebrating the creative spirit and the talent of Street Artists. The artists are traveling from Australia, Portland, San Francisco, St Louis, Milwaukee, New Jersey, and of course, Brooklyn without compensation and are all doing it for the love of the project.

Thundercut at work against a backdrop of lush Hudson Valley trees (© Thundercut)

Thundercut at work against a backdrop of lush Hudson Valley trees (© Thundercut)

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Electric-Windows-2010-quote1

Brooklyn Street Art: How did the Electric Windows project first develop?
Dan Weise:
The Electric Windows building is what we see when we look out of the windows of Open Space. It is a beautiful turn-of-the-century factory building which, when we first got the space, still had the partially broken glass windows in the frames. It was a postcard for urban decay and having just moved up from Brooklyn, felt like home. Shortly after we opened the gallery, the owner removed all the glass and installed grey plywood window protection in its place. This was far from an improvement in our opinion, so we started discussing what could be done to bring life back to the building. This is when we began seriously talking about the idea of “Electric Windows”.

Our neighbors at the time, an art store named Burlock Home, really loved the idea and were on board to help make it happen. The four of us teamed up and put the whole project together in three months.

Elbow Toe returns this year to Electric Windows (© Thundercut)

Brooklyn Street Artist Elbow Toe returns this year to Electric Windows (© Thundercut)

BSA: This year features 3 buildings, instead of one.  Do you have enough artists?
Kalene Rivers:
We are excited about expanding the project to include more locations in the same area and all surfaces are accounted for. Everyday we think about how lucky we are to know so many incredibly talented artists and we just keep meeting more and more. Not only are they talented but they are amazing friends willing to donate their time and talents to events like Electric Windows for the love of making art and supporting positive projects.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Electric-Windows-2010-quote2

BSA: Street Art is normally associated with large metropolitan areas. How does Beacon fit in to the equation?
Dan:
Historically, Beacon was a town of manufacturing and the evidence still remains. There are some really phenomenal factories here in town, some vacant, some in the process of renovations and others like the Nabisco Factory, which now houses DIA, have been transformed into something new. I think this helps bring a bit of an urban feel to a quaint little upstate town. Also, when we moved up here we realized that not many people even knew about Street Art. This being the something that we are both very passionate about we wanted to open the gallery and share this world with people beyond the Bronx. Open Space Gallery was formed, Electric Windows was conceived, and slowly the infiltration has begun!

Alison from PMP shows kids how to screenprint (© Thundercut)

Alison from PMP shows kids how to screenprint (© Thundercut)

BSA: Would you say most of these artists are Street Artists? Or are there also graffiti artists, fine artists….
Kalene:
I would say that most of the artists are Street Artists but there certainly is a good group of graffiti and fine artists in the mix. Of course the first people we think to invite to the project are friends. Being involved in the Street Art scene for seven years means that these are the people we know best. However, it is wonderful to work with a variety of people from different backgrounds. The artists have to be able to paint big and fast so our selection of qualified participants is pretty limited to a certain kind of artist.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Electric-Windows-2010-quote3

BSA: What’s your favorite part of the event?
Dan:
Well, after we stress out for months planning and trying to take care of all the details, it is great to look up and see it all in action. Music filling the air, fumes wafting by, people admiring the amazing murals being created, children laughing and dancing. That is when it feels like it has all been worth it. But the event is just the beginning once the crowds leave and the art has been installed the projects gives back to the community, to visitors and to us each and every day.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-copyright-Thundercut-Electric-Windows-Building_02

Returning Artists for Electric Windows: Buxtonia, BoogieRez, Chris Stain, Depoe, Elbow Toe, Mr Kiji, Michael De Feo, Peat Wollaeger, Rick Price, Ron English

New Artists for 2010: Big Foot, Cern, Chor Boogie, Chris Yormick, Elia Gurna, Erick Otto, Eugene Good, Faust, Gaia, Joe Iurato, Kid Zoom, Logan Hicks, Lotem & Aviv, Paper Monster, Ryan Bubnis, Ryan Williams, Skewville, Thundercut

Daryll Peirce at Electric Windows (photo © Thundercut)

Daryll Peirce at Electric Windows (photo © Thundercut)

This year’s event, which includes two days of preparation by the artists, a one-day exhibition and street fair, music and dancing by M*POWER ELITE TEAM, live screen printing by Buxtonia, and an Open Space after-party, is expected to draw approximately 5,000 people to Beacon’s Main Street corridor.

The line-up of live music at ELECTRIC WINDOWS includes: Ben Neill, Aabaraki, Hart Costa, DJ Birds in the Building, DJ Bobby Collins, DJ Krisis, Dr. Ambassador, Gold Monkey, and Scambler Seequill.

See Chor Boogie's "Romanticism" and other works by Electric Windows at Open Space online by clicking this picture.

See Chor Boogie’s “Romanticism” and other works by Electric Windows artists at Open Space online by clicking this picture.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-copyright-ELECTRIC_WINDOWS

Electric Windows Beacon

Read more