All posts tagged: Leon Keer

Wynwood Walls 2023 Edition

Wynwood Walls 2023 Edition

Art Basel and Wynwood Walls was a buzzing hive of artistic and cultural activity, and this year’s event at Wynwood Walls was initiated by an invite-only party featuring the iconic British DJ, Fatboy Slim, who played an hour-long set in the open courtyard. Made very famous by his hits of the early late 90s/2000s, his legendary beach parties and appearance at music festivals lock crowds in the 10s of thousands into paroxysms of dancing ecstasy.

There’s a new tot in town. Ron English has a new sculpture welcoming visitors. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The event also marked unveiling the 2023 artist lineup and theme – “The Power of Purpose” by Wynwood Walls’ owner and real estate businessperson Jessica Goldman Srebnick. Among the notable artist attendees included Ron English, Dan Lam, London Police, Lauren YS, Mantra, Elle, Greg Mike​, Anthony Reed, Sandra Chevrier, Kai Art, Allison Heuman, Leon Keer, Shok_1, Deferk, and the much-feted artist Lauren YS, who painted an enormous mural on the WW compound depicting a surrealist vision of the scope of LGBTIQ+ community, entitled “Say Gay”. The title references Florida’s “Don’t Say Gay” initiative and legislation enacted in Florida, officially known as the “Parental Rights in Education” bill. Signed into law in March 2022, this legislation prohibits classroom instruction and discussion about sexual orientation and gender identity in certain grades in public schools.

Political or not, the compound and its wide selection of artistic styles still have their own energy, now primarily the energy of the family audience and the selfie, and it is good to see many street artists still making the pilgrimage.

Leon Keer. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Leon Keer. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Lauren YS. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Lauren YS. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Lauren YS. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Lauren YS. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Lauren YS. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Lauren YS. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Lauren YS. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sandra Chevrier. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
KAI. This year KAI had a solo exhibition at the project space in the compound. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Anthony Reed II. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
SHOK1. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
The London Police. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
The London Police. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
The London Police. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
The London Police. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
The London Police. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
The London Police. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
The London Police. Sadly we didn’t get to see the completed mural. Here’s a lil’ video of the wall in the process. Wynwood Walls. Miami Art Week 2023. Wynwood, Miami. (video © Jaime Rojo)
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The Crystal Ship – Collection from Past Editions

The Crystal Ship – Collection from Past Editions

Yesterday, we shared with you the current edition of The Crystal Ship, a Belgian street art festival located in Ostend, which is located in the Flemish Region of Belgium. The collection of images that we presented was taken by photographer Martha Cooper, a frequent collaborator of BSA, during her recent trip to Ostend as a special guest of the festival.

Adele Renault. The Crystal Ship 2022. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)

In line with her usual practice, Ms. Cooper did not limit her work to capturing photos of the murals being painted for this year’s festival edition; she also endeavored to take as many photos of murals painted during previous editions of the festival. We are pleased to present a selection of these murals, painted over several years, with photographs taken by Martha Cooper herself.

Miss Van. The Crystal Ship 2019. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)

This selection of murals is an exciting representation of the diverse and captivating street art that has been featured at The Crystal Ship Festival throughout the years, much of it creating a gallery of contemporary artists whose work is arresting and appealing to a general audience. The dedication and hard work put forth by Martha Cooper in capturing these pieces in all their artistic glory is genuinely commendable. We hope you enjoy this glimpse into the festival’s vibrant history and the incredible art showcased in the public square in Ostend over the years.

BEZT. The Crystal Ship 2022. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Escif. The Crystal Ship 2019. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
BUCK. The Crystal Ship 2017. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Guido van Helten. The Crystal Ship 2016. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
C215. The Crystal Ship 2017. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Alex Senna. The Crystal Ship 2022. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Phlegm. The Crystal Ship 2017. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
DZIA The Crystal Ship 2021. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Joachim. The Crystal Ship 2018. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Husk Mit Navn. The Crystal Ship 2021. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Matthew Dawn. The Crystal Ship 2018. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Broken Fingaz. The Crystal Ship 2022. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Paola Delfin. The Crystal Ship 2019. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Zenith. The Crystal Ship 2020. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Erin Holly. The Crystal Ship 2018. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Hyuro. The Crystal Ship 2017. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
TelmoMiel. The Crystal Ship 2018. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Case Maclaim. The Crystal Ship 2020. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Colectivo Licuado. The Crystal Ship 2018. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Helen Bur. The Crystal Ship 2019. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Helen Bur. The Crystal Ship 2019. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Iñigo Sesma. The Crystal Ship 2022. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Leon Keer. The Crystal Ship 2019. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
David Walker. The Crystal Ship 2019. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Franco Fasoli. Detail. The Crystal Ship 2022. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Franco Fasoli. The Crystal Ship 2022. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Maya Hayuk. The Crystal Ship 2022. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Aryz. The Crystal Ship 2021. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Aryz. The Crystal Ship 2021. Ostend, Belgium. (photo © Martha Cooper)

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BSA Film Friday: 11.04.22

BSA Film Friday: 11.04.22

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

Now screening:
1. The Wanderers – Guido van Helten. A Film by Selina Miles
2. Leon Keer. “Misfit”
3. Duality: A graffiti story. Trailer

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BSA Special Feature: The Wanderers – Guido van Helten. A Film by Selina Miles

We focus today on one episode of a brilliantly human street art-related video-short series on artists called The Wanderers, directed by Selina Miles. Today we follow the muralist/portraitist/photographer Guido Van Helten as he travels to a small town in Australia to pursue stories, personalities, and a 10-car project on the train. Train writing, indeed!

“I am very interested in portraiture in a documentary style,” he says as you watch him almost tentatively introduce himself to new people. “I was a painter first, and now through this style of working, I’ve become very interested in meeting people and photography. Now I’m pushing myself to involve that in the process.”

A young veteran of storytelling, Miles allows the details of the scene to illustrate unique aspects of life and the people here. Without gawking, the subjects and their environments, and their body language are observed with the same respectful eye that the artist has as well. Each person responds differently, each brave to allow the film camera to capture them while Van Helton establishes a rapport. Ironically, he’s not comfortable with the process himself. “Sometimes this is challenging for me to introduce myself to people.”

These hand paintings of his subject’s eyes on the cars of a train may remind you of the photography of JR plastered across surfaces everywhere with a sense of spectacle – but these take such adept technical skill rendered with a unique warmth that it wouldn’t be fair to compare. Van Helten doesn’t even seem sure what his agenda is, aside from connecting in a human way to another.

Each chapter of this short film illustrates the connections, and you are rewarded with sumptuous sweeping views of the final results as well as the disarming pleasure the artist takes from it. “I enjoyed the idea of not knowing what reaction it could have with the people who see it,” he says of the project. “No one has any idea what this is going to do in the town. Maybe nothing, maybe something. Maybe someone will go home and say, ‘You know what I saw today! –  Something really strange on the side of a train.’ I think that is exciting.”

The Wanderers – Guido van Helten. A Film by Selina Miles



Leon Keer. “Misfit”

Anamorphic street artist Leon Keer does a special project here at Château du Taureau in Baie de Morlaix France. His 3D floor painting ‘MISFIT’, is a reference to the previous use of this compound as a prison for the aristocracy – or at least certain members of their families who might cast them into dishonor.

“Under the Ancien Régime, most of the prisoners at the Château were Breton aristocrats,” says Leon’s description of the previous residents, “which were put in prison at the request of their own families, anxious to avoid dishonor. Libertinism, misalliance, madness, and an immoderate taste for alcohol or gambling could certainly lead to a forced stay at the Château during those days.”



Duality: A graffiti story. Trailer

A new film striking at the heart of the graffiti practice – the fact that many writers have a ‘straight’ life that doesn’t exactly run parallel to their night-time illegal escapades can in hand.

Director by Ryan Dowling, the stories of many are illustrated by the testimony of a small handful of writers who clearly elucidate the complexities of a form of expression that runs the gamut between criminalized and celebrated. Featuring a cast of DUAL, SLOKE ONE, JABER,  MERES ONES, and NEVER – the stories vary, but the narratives return to foundational truths even as the scene evolves. Well produced and executed, Duality will join the list of ‘must-see’ documentaries about graffiti, street art, and everything in between.

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“The Great Reset” by Leon Keer in CA

“The Great Reset” by Leon Keer in CA

You may think of that unelected global body called the World Economic Forum when you see the word, “Reset” today.

Leon Keer. Reset. Assisted by Massina. We.Create Art Mural Festival. Sand City. Monterey, CA. (photo courtesy of Leon Keer)

The buzzworthy term is bandied about so often today that you could be forgiven for thinking about the death of cash, programmable CBDC currency, streaming surveillance, and social credit systems. The would-be a major reset, wouldn’t it?

For anamorphic street artist Leon Keer participating at the We.mural festival in Sand City, California, his mind travels to someplace perhaps less sinister. He just knows that we appear as a global society to be going in the wrong direction in so many ways.

Leon Keer. Reset. Assisted by Massina. We.Create Art Mural Festival. Sand City. Monterey, CA. (photo courtesy of Leon Keer)

“This reset button may not be big enough,” he says. “For me, it is not about everyone’s personal situation, but a reset to a different way of dealing with each other and with how we deal with the world.”

Keer, along with artist Massina, completed this astounding perspective-bending feat right on the street. But you have to be in just the right spot to appreciate it.

Leon Keer. Reset. Assisted by Massina. We.Create Art Mural Festival. Sand City. Monterey, CA. (photo courtesy of Leon Keer)

Title: Reset
Where: Sand City – Monterey Bay California
Size: 59 ft x 13 ft
Material: Acrylics on asphalt

Artwork made with help of Massina.
Festival: We.Create Art mural festival with the support of Sand City Art Commitee and the Sand City Council

Leon Keer. Reset. Assisted by Massina. We.Mural Festival. San City. Monterey, CA. (photo courtesy of Leon Keer)
Leon Keer. Reset. Assisted by Massina. We.Mural Festival. San City. Monterey, CA. (photo courtesy of Leon Keer)
Leon Keer. Reset. Assisted by Massina. We.Mural Festival. San City. Monterey, CA. (photo courtesy of Leon Keer)
Leon Keer. Reset. Assisted by Massina. We.Mural Festival. San City. Monterey, CA. (photo courtesy of Leon Keer)
Leon Keer. Reset. Assisted by Massina. We.Mural Festival. San City. Monterey, CA. (photo courtesy of Leon Keer)
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Leon Keer “Equality Diversity” in Tampa, Florida

Leon Keer “Equality Diversity” in Tampa, Florida

Ah Florida! So close to heaven, so far from sane.  But as New Yorkers, we appreciate this.

We just returned from holidays there after a 48-hour Amtrak ride through a snowstorm and can confirm all those adages about the gorgeous sunsets, storks, sandpipers, beach babes, and whacked-out/ semi-menacing sea-creatures that walk the streets and in the frozen food section at Publix.

Leon Keer. “Equality Diversity” in collaboration with Casscontemporary and WaterStreetTampa. Tampa, Florida. (photo courtesy of the artist)

In Tampa, home of the revered Busch Gardens, the Big Cat Rescue refuge, and the hottest housing market of 2022, a new AR animation by designer Joost Spek allows you to see Dutch pop-surrealist street artist Leon Keer’s new mural blast apart into pieces.  Entitled “Equality Diversity”, the artist says that the project focuses on people of all talents and abilities regardless of their background.

Leon Keer. “Equality Diversity” in collaboration with Casscontemporary and WaterStreetTampa. Tampa, Florida. (photo courtesy of the artist)

“The mural depicts the balancing of different colored stones to represent the diversity of the individual,” says Keer of this project where he collaborated with Cass Contemporary and Water Street Tampa.

“Equality comes with recognizing, respecting, and celebrating each other differences. A diverse environment is one with a wide range of backgrounds and mindsets, equality gives us an empowered culture of creativity and innovation.” Where else to enjoy all this diversity, than in Florida?

Leon Keer. “Equality Diversity” in collaboration with Casscontemporary and WaterStreetTampa. Tampa, Florida. (photo courtesy of the artist)
Leon Keer. “Equality Diversity” in collaboration with Casscontemporary and WaterStreetTampa. Tampa, Florida. (photo courtesy of the artist)
Leon Keer. “Equality Diversity” in collaboration with Casscontemporary and WaterStreetTampa. Tampa, Florida. (photo courtesy of the artist)
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BSA HOT LIST 2021: Books For Your Gift Giving

BSA HOT LIST 2021: Books For Your Gift Giving

It’s that time of the year again! BSA has been publishing our “Hot Lists” and best-of collections for more than 11 years every December.

Our interests and understanding and network of connections continued to spread far afield this year, and you probably can tell it just by the books we featured: stickers, illustration, murals, copyright law, a cross-country spraycation, anamorphic street installation, Hip-Hop photography, graffiti writers community, and a lockdown project that kept an artists sanity.

So here is a short list from 2021 that you may enjoy as well – just in case you would like to give them as gifts to family, friends, or even to yourself.

Leon Keer: “Break Glass In Case Of Lost Childhood”

From BSA:

One of the challenges in creating a book about anamorphic art is presenting images that tell the viewer that they are being tricked by perspective yet hold onto the magic that this unique art conjures in people who walk by it on the street.

In a way, that brass skeleton key that allows entry into another world is precisely what Dutch pop-surrealist artist Leon Keer has been seeking for decades to evoke in viewers’ heads and hearts. Some would argue he is preeminently such; certainly, he is the wizard whose work on walls and streets has triggered memories for thousands of children and ex-children of the fantastic worlds they have visited.

“You develop your senses all your life. Through what you experience, you involve affinities and aversions,” he says in his first comprehensive bound collection of gorgeous plates entitled In Case of Lost Childhood Break Glass. “Your memories shape the way you look at the world. When it comes to reflecting my thoughts, my memories are key. I needed to feel some kind of affection or remorse towards the object or situation I want to paint.”

Leon Keer. “Break Glass In Case Of Lost Childhood”. Published by Lannoo Publishers, Belgium, 2020

Street Art Today 2 by Bjorn Van Poucke: An Update on 50 “Most Relevant” Artists

From BSA:

A worthy companion to the original tome, Bjørn Van Poucke and Lanoo publishers extend the hitlist of favored muralists that he & Elise Luong began in Street art/ Today 1 – and the collection is updated perhaps with the perceived cultural capital many of these artists have garnered since then.

Replete with full-color plates from the artists’ own collections and garnished with brief overviews of their histories, creative background, and philosophies, the well-designed and modern layout functions as an introduction for those unfamiliar with the wide variety of artworks that are currently spread across city walls as large scale opus artworks in public space. As organizer and curator of The Crystal Ship mural festival in Oostende, Belgium, Mr. Van Poucke has had his pick of the litter and has showcased them during the late twenty-teens.

Street Art Today 2: The 50 most influential street artists working today. By Bjorn Van Poucke. Published by Lannoo Publishers, Belgium.

WAONE Opens Monochrome “Worlds Of Phantasmagoria”

From BSA:

A new illustrated tome capturing the black and white work of one-half of Ukraine’s mural painting duo Interesni Kazki welcomes you into the past wonders and future imaginings of a world framed in “Phantasmagoria.”

Full of monochromatic fantasies at least partially inspired by the worlds unleashed by Belgian inventor and physicist Étienne-Gaspard “Robertson” Robert, Waone’s own interior expanding fantascope of miss-appended demons, dragon slayers, riddle-speaking botanicals, and mythological heroes may borrow as deeply from his father’s Soviet natural science magazines that brimmed with hand-painted illustrations – which served as his education and entertainment as a child.

This book, the first of two volumes of graphic works, explores Waone’s move from the street into the studio, from full color into black and white, from aerosol and brush to etching, lithography, augmented reality, and sculpting.

“Worlds Of Phantasmagoria” By WAONE Interesni Kazki. Vol. 1. Graphic Works 2013-2020. Wawe Publishers.

“Closed (In) for Inventory”: FKDL Makes the Most of His Confinement, 10 Items at a Time

From BSA:

The world is slowly making movements toward the door as if to go outside and begin living again in a manner to which we had been accustomed before COVID made many of us become shut-ins. Parisian street artist FKDL was no exception, afraid for his health. However, he does have a very attractively feathered nest, so he made the best of his time creating.

“March 17, 2020, the unprecedented experience of confinement begins in France,” writes Camille Berthelot in the introduction to Closed (in) for Inventory, “Time that usually goes so fast turns into a space of freedom, and everyone has the leisure or the obligation to devote himself to the unexpected.”

FKDL quickly began a project daily, sorting and assembling 10 items and photographing them. He posted them to his Instagram by mid-day. Eventually, he saved the photographed compositions together and created this book.  

“My duty of tidying up and sorting out turned into a daily challenge. I dove like a child into the big toybox my apartment is to select and share my strange objects, my banalities, my memories, my creations, and those of others,” he writes. “I gather these treasures, valuables or not, in search of harmony of subject, forms, materials, and nuances.”

(EN)FERME POUR INVENTAIRE by Les Editions Franck Duval. Paris, France.

“Unsmashed” A Street Art Sticker “Field Guide”

From BSA:

The street sticker, be it ever so humble and diminutive, is profligate and sometimes even inspiring. An amalgamated scene that is anonymous, yet curiously stuck together, the organizers and sponsors of so-called sticker jams have been overwhelmed in recent years by thousands of participants.

Artist and organizer IWILLNOT has compiled, organized, archived, and preserved this collection as a ‘field guide,’ he says, and another artist named Cheer Up has laid out page after page. It is a global cross-sample from 60 countries and a thousand artists – a treasure trove of the witty, insightful, snotty, and sometimes antisocial street bards of the moment, seizing their moment to speak and mark territory.

UNSMASHED: A Street Art Sticker Field Guide. Compiled by IWILLNOT, Designed by Cheer Up. A Collection of 1,229 full color sticker designs by 1,000 artists from more than 60 countries. Published by IWLLNOT and Cheer Up. December 2020.

MOMO Leaves His “Parting Line”

From BSA:

A year after its close, we open the book on American street artist MOMO’s new book chronicling the exhibition “Parting Line.” Writing about and covering his work for 15 years or so, we’re always pleased to see where his path has led – never surprised but always pleased with his evolution of decoding the lines, textures, practices, serendipity of discoveries unearthed by this wandering interrogator.

Here, along the river Seine banks, we see his exhibition for the still young Hangar 107, the recently inaugurated Center For Contemporary Art in Rouen, France. While we think of his work in New York in the 2000s, we see the steady progression here – his cloud washes, raking patterns, his experimental, experiential zeal. This is the spirit of DIY that we first fell in love with, the lust for uncovering and the desire for making marks unlike others across the cityscape, quizzically folding and unfolding, pulling the string, drawing the line.

MOMO “Parting Line”. Hangar 107. Edited by Christian Omodeo – Le Grand Ju. Published by Hangar 107. Rouen, France. 2020.

“Born In The Bronx” Expanded: Joe Conzo’s Intuitive Eye on Early Hip Hop

From BSA:

Born in the Bronx: A Visual Record of the Early Days of Hip Hop

Yes, Yes, Y’all, it’s been a decade since this volume, “Born in the Bronx,” was released. The images here by photographer Joe Conzo seem even more deeply soaked in the amber light of early Hip Hop culture from the late 1970s and early 80s, now taking on a deepened sense of the historical.

As the city and the original players of this story have evolved through the decades that followed the nascent Hip Hop era, it’s clearer than ever that this was nothing less than a full-force eruption, a revelation that cracked and shook and rocket-fueled an entire culture. Thanks to Conzo it was captured and preserved, not likely to be repeated.

Born in the Bronx is full of gems, insider observations, interviews, and personal hand-drawn artworks. One critical cornerstone is a timeline from Jeff Chang that begins in 1963 as the boastful but failed Urban Planner Robert Moses constructed the Cross Bronx Expressway – painfully destroying and displacing people and families, severing culturally significant, vibrant areas of the borough and producing a dangerous malaise.

BORN IN THE BRONX: A Visual Record of the Early Days of Hip Hop. Expanded edition published in 2020 by 1xRUN with support from ROCK THE BELLS & BEYOND THE STREETS. Detroit, MI. 2020.

Enrico Bonadio: Protecting Art in the Street

From BSA:

Enrico Bonadio is a contributor to BSA Writer’s Bench OpEd column, he is a Reader in Intellectual Property Law at City, University of London, and a street and graffiti art aficionado. His current research agenda focuses on the legal protection of non-conventional forms of creativity. He recently edited the Cambridge Handbook of Copyright in Street Art and Graffiti (Cambridge University Press 2019) and Non-Conventional Copyright – Do New and Atypical Works Deserve Protection? (Elgar 2018). He is currently working on his monograph Penetration of Copyright into Street Art and Graffiti Sub-Cultures (Brill, expected 2022).

Enrico is a Member of the Editorial Board of the NUART Journal, which publishes provocative and critical writings on a range of topics relating to street art practice and urban art cultures.

His academic research has been covered by CNN, Wall Street Journal, Bloomberg, BBC, Washington Post, The New York Times, Financial Times. Reuters, The Guardian, The Times, Independent, and The Conversation, amongst other media outlets.

Enrico’s current title is Protecting Art in the Street: A Guide to Copyright in Street Art and Graffiti (Dokument Press), with a foreword by Zephyr

A “Gentle People” Aussie Tour: Paint, Fun, and Run with 1UP & Olf

From BSA:

It’s almost sublimely subversive to publish your illegal graffiti escapades in a handsomely bound photo book with creamy paper stock and gauzy, professional photos. Positioned as a travelogue across the great Australian continent (complete with a hand-drawn map), the international troupe of sprayers named 1UP from Germany provides a genteel accounting of their expansive itinerary in a diary here for you, dear reader.

The stories are not without surprise and carefully touch on all the necessary road trip tropes you may wish for but cannot be assured of in a cross-country graffiti tale of skylarking and aesthetic destruction: angry rural police, security cameras, sleeping in rolled-up carpets, fancy receptions with Aperol Spritz, climbing over fences, sudden fire extinguisher tags, exploding paint cans, smoky wildfires, beaches, wallabies, long never-ending-stretches of road, the Sydney Harbor, an emergency-brake whole-car in Melbourne, and yes, a large kangaroo smashing into your car on a darkened country path.

PAINT, FUN, RUN, 1UP & OLF: GENTLE PEOPLE TOUR. 1UP CREW BERLIN. PRINTED AND BOUND IN GERMANY

“Nation Of Graffiti Artists” Opens Another Chapter of NYC Writer History

From BSA:

SCORPIO, BLOOD TEA, ALI, STAN 153, SAL 161, CLIFF 159. It was the mid to late 70s in New York and train writing was in its foundational stages, later to be referred to as legendary. For a modest crew of teenagers, it was the hypest stage you could be on, and going all city constructed many dreams of fame and recognition on the street.

Jack Pelsinger wanted to help shepherd these talents and energies into something they could develop into a future, maybe a profession. With a lease on a storefront from the city for a dollar in 1974, he made way for the Nation of Graffiti Artists (NOGA). An artists workshop and haven for a creative community that was regularly sidelined or overlooked, the author of this new volume, Chris Pape (acclaimed OG Freedom), says “Like moths drawn to a light, the kids showed up, hundreds of them.”

With extraordinary photos shot by Michael Lawrence, the book serves as a true document for the New York of that moment and opens doors to a chapter of graffiti history you may not even have known of until now.

NATION OF GRAFFITI ARTISTS, NYC. WRITTEN BY CHRIS PAPE WITH PHOTOGRAPHY BY MICHAEL LAWRENCE. PUBLISHED BY BEYOND THE STREETS, 2021.

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Leon Keer Triggers Childhood Nostalgia with “Kit de Secours” in Plougasnou, France

Leon Keer Triggers Childhood Nostalgia with “Kit de Secours” in Plougasnou, France

Leon Keers is subversive, if that is the way your mind works. His mind-bending plays on real and surreal perspectives may lead you down a path of suspicion, for it appears that he is adept and agile when playing with perspective.

Leon Keer. MX Art Tour Festival. Kit de Secours. MX arts tour festival. Plougasnou, France. (photo © Massina)

For this seaside mural in Plougasnou, France, however, it is more likely that he taps into childhood nostalgia. A package of small plastic boats like this was an object of longing for many a child – a door to adventures of the imagination and an opportunity to imitate the real ships you can watch from shore. Possibly, this Kit de Secours (Rescue Kit) is still desirable among a certain set of would-be sailors.

Kit de Secours is part of the MX arts tour festival.

Leon Keer. MX Art Tour Festival. Kit de Secours. MX arts tour festival. Plougasnou, France. (photo © Massina)
Leon Keer. MX Art Tour Festival. Kit de Secours. MX arts tour festival. Plougasnou, France. (photo © Massina)
Leon Keer. MX Art Tour Festival. Kit de Secours. MX arts tour festival. Plougasnou, France. (photo © Massina)
video 🎥 by @marijespelbos.
Leon Keer. MX Art Tour Festival. Kit de Secours. MX arts tour festival. Plougasnou, France. (photo © Massina)
Leon Keer. MX Art Tour Festival. Kit de Secours. MX arts tour festival. Plougasnou, France. (photo © Massina)
Leon Keer. MX Art Tour Festival. Kit de Secours. MX arts tour festival. Plougasnou, France. (photo © Massina)
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Leon Keer: “Break Glass In Case Of Lost Childhood”

Leon Keer: “Break Glass In Case Of Lost Childhood”

One of the challenges in creating a book about anamorphic art is presenting images that tell the viewer that they are being tricked by perspective yet hold onto the magic that this unique art conjures in people who walk by it on the street.

Leon Keer. “Break Glass In Case Of Lost Childhood”. Published by Lannoo Publishers, Belgium, 2020

In a way, that brass skeleton key that allows entry into another world is precisely what Dutch pop-surrealist artist Leon Keer has been seeking for decades to evoke in viewers’ heads and hearts. Some would argue he is preeminently such; certainly, he is the wizard whose work on walls and streets has triggered memories for thousands of children and ex-children of the fantastic worlds they have visited.

“You develop your senses all your life. Through what you experience, you involve affinities and aversions,” he says in his first comprehensive bound collection of gorgeous plates entitled In Case of Lost Childhood Break Glass. “Your memories shape the way you look at the world. When it comes to reflecting my thoughts, my memories are key. I needed to feel some kind of affection or remorse towards the object or situation I want to paint.”

Leon Keer. “Break Glass In Case Of Lost Childhood”. Published by Lannoo Publishers, Belgium, 2020

Looking through the various venues he creates with and within, you can find an imagination that fully entreats you to join in the fun. Whether they are street paintings. floor paintings, anamorphic rooms for you to pose in, experiments in augmented reality brought alive on your phone, enormous land art paintings, or oddly shaped painted canvasses, Keer is not keeping the fun to himself. You are the welcomed and necessary ingredient that will supremely complete the scene.

Los Angeles art dealer Andrew Hosner writes an introduction to the book, representing Keer to collectors and curating his work commercially. He is felicitously taken by the artist’s ability to conjure a familiar yet unusual world, describing the mind-melt that occurs during a typical Leon Keer encounter. “Bending your perspective, and opening your mind along the way, has never been more rewarding.”

Leon Keer. “Break Glass In Case Of Lost Childhood”. Published by Lannoo Publishers, Belgium, 2020

As you turn the pages, you wonder what some of the stories behind the pieces are, and he’ll often give you a clear description of what was going through his mind when he created it or what the particular significance is to him. You may also marvel at his dedication to preserving that precious world that each of us once lived in. Ingenious, witty, technically precise, Keer is a responsive and trustworthy guide.

Leon Keer. “Break Glass In Case Of Lost Childhood”. Published by Lannoo Publishers, Belgium, 2020

“Every day I try to be a child, but when I look in the mirror I am reminded that time is marching on,” he writes. “Gray hairs in my beard and a receding hairline make me realize that my childhood years are far behind. Yet my curiosity is never burned so bright.”

Leon Keer. “Break Glass In Case Of Lost Childhood”. Published by Lannoo Publishers, Belgium, 2020
Leon Keer. “Break Glass In Case Of Lost Childhood”. Published by Lannoo Publishers, Belgium, 2020
Leon Keer. “Break Glass In Case Of Lost Childhood”. Published by Lannoo Publishers, Belgium, 2020
Leon Keer. “Break Glass In Case Of Lost Childhood”. Published by Lannoo Publishers, Belgium, 2020
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Leon Keer Bellows “Dream Big” in Gainesville.

Leon Keer Bellows “Dream Big” in Gainesville.

“Dream Big” or go home, champ. We don’t need any half-solutions today. This alligator with a hidden nature revealed in its’ shadow appears quite prepared to bellow and bite in Gainesville, Florida.

Leon Keer. “Dream Big” Gainesville, Florida. February 2020. (photo and curation by Iryna Kanishcheva)

The Dutch pop surrealist and anamorphic muralist Leon Keer imagined the scene here with a regional animal archetype and took it for a spin. The innovative artist always has hidden magic in his works, even if you don’t realize it the first time you look. So it was an original and slick decision by the team who invited him and his assistant Massina to paint this new 20’ x 7’ mural on a retail store.

Shout out to Iryna Kanishcheva, Deborah Butler and Mary Reichardt for making this project happen.

Leon Keer. “Dream Big” Gainesville, Florida. February 2020. (photo and curation by Iryna Kanishcheva)
Leon Keer. “Dream Big” Gainesville, Florida. February 2020. (photo and curation by Iryna Kanishcheva)
Leon Keer. “Dream Big” Gainesville, Florida. February 2020. (photo and curation by Iryna Kanishcheva)
Leon Keer. “Dream Big” Gainesville, Florida. February 2020. (photo and curation by Iryna Kanishcheva)
Leon Keer. “Dream Big” Gainesville, Florida. February 2020. (photo and curation by Iryna Kanishcheva)
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Leon Keer Goes Beyond Anamorphic and Into Augmented Reality

Leon Keer Goes Beyond Anamorphic and Into Augmented Reality

Street Artists continue to embrace new technologies as we race toward our own version of Huxley’s Brave New World. Personally, we’re still looking forward to the sleep-learning.

Leon Keer & Massina. “Once Upon A Time” Created for Vibrations Urbaines Festival in Pessac, France. (still from the video)

Anamorphic artist Leon Keer suggest you download his app on your phone before walking past his new mural created with Massina using Augmented Reality (AR) in Pessac, France. Otherwise the large piece on the side of an apartment complex will just look like an oversized den.

It’s not the first piece he’s done with AR of course, and we have seen a number of works in public space activated within phones and tablets, but Keer is excited because this one is viewable on his newly released APP, title appropriately Leon Keer.

Leon Keer & Massina. “Once Upon A Time” Created for Vibrations Urbaines Festival in Pessac, France. (still from the video)

The AR feature is created by Netherlands-based Joost Spek, a 3D Art Director for 3Dpicnic. They’ve worked collaboratively previously and you can expect more from this duo in the future. To get the full effect of “Once Upon a Time”, check out the installation in AR on the video below.

Leon Keer & Massina. “Once Upon A Time” Created for Vibrations Urbaines Festival in Pessac, France. (still from the video)

Leon Keer & Massina. “Once Upon A Time” Created for Vibrations Urbaines Festival in Pessac, France. (still from the video)

 

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UPEA Finland 2018, A Cross Country Installation of Quality Murals

UPEA Finland 2018, A Cross Country Installation of Quality Murals

UPEART 2018 in Finland took place during the month of September including 20 international and local artists in 12 different cities across the country.

Case Maclaim. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Today we give you a recap of some favorite scenes from the festival across many cities of Finland thanks to the vision and organizing of Jorgos Fanaris and his team who collectively direct the festival from their headquarters in a post-industrial neighborhood of Helsinki. While there is a proud graff scene and history here, and the city has areas like the Pasila Street Art District, the capital is usually known as a sparkling international city of islands and a peninsula by the Gulf of Finland facing Tallinn, Estonia across the bay.

Proudly humble, elegant and rationally romantic, the city is flanked on all sides by arts and culture, low and high, with historical art institutions like the National Museum as well as the more contemporary Kiasma and cross disciplinary Kunsthalle Helsinki. A deeper rooted cultural history is also apparent in the traditional wooden architecture, the influence of its neighbors Sweden and Russia, and its ability even today to evolve with the most modern of global design practice.

Case Maclaim. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For urban explorers like ourselves who wander the margins and explore the forgotten, neglected parts of the metropolis, it was a bit of a shock to see 8 charming Finnish cities and towns in only a few days – interspersed with millions of birch tree forests and sweeping vistas of farmland, with Russia visible at one point just across a canal.

We drove from uncongested towns surrounded by woodlands like Joensuu and Hyvinkää to midsized cities like Tampere and Espoo, using a stick shift Volkswagen and minding the speed cameras on a smooth and well maintained system of roads and highways. Usually we’re looking out for rats and broken glass and homeless drug users, not slow-moving farming tractors and wily-eyed moose who may cross your path.

Case Maclaim. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

But the murals! Choosing from among some of the most accomplished painters and planners of design in the current international scene, Fanaris relies on his own history with graffiti, hip hop, and perhaps the Finnish National Opera when selecting participants to invite.

The quality is high in many instances throughout the mural program and municipalities are gifted with some works may prove timeless – until they fade. Perhaps more decorative than transgressive as a whole, these are public works made in collaboration with local tastes. Some meanings are buried beneath layers, others more obvious and on the surface. An unrealized irony of many “legit” mural programs like this one is many of these artists used to do the illegal stuff too.

As UPEART travels and evolves it will be interesting to see how it changes. Fanaris tells us that the future will include installations, sculpture, even performance as the festival becomes more integrated with communities. With a solid foundation of curation on a massive country-wide scale in these first three years, we look forward to see where UPEART moves next.

Mantra. UPEArt Finland 2018. Hyvinkää, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“When I was a child I was not curious about painting,” Mantra says, “I was more curious about what I could find in the garden so that’s why I spent a lot of time studying these insects and these animals.” Later he shows us images of butterflies and other winged creatures rendered in high fidelity inside decaying factory rooms, including a large dead bird lying on its side. “I painted this because I had seen a dead bird in the garden only a week before.”

Read more: Mantra in Hyvinkää for UPEART Festival 2018 Finland – Dispatch 5

Mantra. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Hyvinkää, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Mantra)

Mantra. UPEArt Finland 2018. Hyvinkää, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Mantra)

Sainer. UPEArt Finland 2018. Helsinki, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“I think my work is changing recently,” he says. “I have liked to do plainer paintings – like small landscapes . I’m not really into the characters that much in the same way that I was. When I do paint characters they are in the shadow. I like the idea of making portraits where the portrait is not the most important part of the painting.”

BSA: That’s so anti-intuitive – because normally that would be the center focal point, right?

Sainer: Yes – even here the portrait is central but I am trying to play all around it just to hide it. It’s just one of the ideas that I am trying to work with these days.

Read more from our interview with Sainer here.

Sainer. UPEArt Finland 2018. Helsinki, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Waone. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Kotka, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ukrainian artist Waone, of Interesni Kazki titled his mural “Spirit of Antique Book”.

“Reading the real book in the age of technology and internet may look rare and a kind of old fashioned, but not for me,” he says. “This mural ‘Spirit of Antique Book’ I dedicated to all book lovers. It represents the wonderful way to escape from ordinary life to extraordinary worlds, and depicts that magic moment when you read the book and lose yourself between the pages.”

BSA: Does it concern you that school children today are becoming unfamiliar with reading traditional books on paper?

Waone: Hmm I didn’t think about books in schools, in Ukraine we still use “normal” books… But I’m sure normal books will become more and more rare. I don’t judge it and I’m not saying that’s good or bad. I just love the book esthetic, a strong symbol of knowledge.”

Waone. UPEArt Finland 2018. Kotka, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Natalia Rak. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Joensuu, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Natalia Rak. UPEArt Finland 2018. Joensuu, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sepe. UPEArt Finland 2018. Jyväskylä, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

David De La Mano. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Jyväskylä, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

David De La Mano. UPEArt Finland 2018. Jyväskylä, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

David De La Mano. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Jyväskylä, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Helen Bur. UPEArt Finland 2018. Kotka, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Eero Lampinen. Work in progress. UPEArt Finland 2018. Helsinki, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Of his own work, he says, “It’s like a mix of fantasy with contemporary and realistic elements – kind of magic realism. I like to play around with fashion different types of characters.”

The characters are here in the evolving mural – three figures who are working the runways of the street in distinctly different styles.

“There is a night demon, a rubber-outfit person, and then an older character,” he says, “They are all walking separate ways in the streets – and it plays around with this street.”

Read more with Eero Lampinen here.

Eero Lampinen. UPEArt Finland 2018. Helsinki, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Eero Lampinen)

Pertti Jarla. UPEArt Finland 2018. Tampere, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Fabio Petani. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Salo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Fabio Petani. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Salo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Fabio Petani. UPEArt Finland 2018. Salo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

How & Nosm. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Lisalmi, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

How & Nosm. UPEArt Finland 2018. Lisalmi, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Leon Keer. UPEArt Finland 2018. Salo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Leon Keer. UPEArt Finland 2018. Salo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Robert Proch. Detail. UPEArt Finland 2018. Joensuu, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Robert Proch. UPEArt Finland 2018. Joensuu, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Isaac Cordal. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Isaac Cordal made a number of interesting installations in Karakallio in Espoo, including a haunting series of small buildings attached on trees throughout the forest.

Read more about Isaac Cordal at UPEA Art Festival 2018 – Finland. Dispatch 3

Isaac Cordal. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Isaac Cordal. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Isaac Cordal. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Isaac Cordal. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Isaac Cordal. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Isaac Cordal. UPEArt Finland 2018. Espoo, Finland. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

NOTE: No trees were damaged by installing the birdhouse sculptures on them.


All the participating artists on UPEArt 2018 are: Andrew Hem, Case Maclaim, David De La Mano, Eero Lampinen, Fabio Petani, Gummy Gue, Helen Bur, How & Nosm, Isaac Cordal, Jussi Twoseven, Kenor, Leon Keer, Mantra, Natalia Rak, Pertti Jarla, Robert Proch, Sainer, Sepe, Silja Selonen and Waone.

 

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BSA + UPEA in Finland

BSA + UPEA in Finland

BSA is excited to bringing you new works from Finland next week as we explore Helsinki and nearby cities that are part of the UPEA 2018 Festival. A unique model of mural festival that invites international and local artists to paint across the entire country, UPEART has quietly entered the global Street Art and graffiti stage without entering the fray: providing top caliber artists with uncommon opportunities to create works in cities for a handful of years now.

Waone Interesni Kazki at UPEART (image © the artist)

The full line up for this year’s stellar UPEART edition is:

Andrew Hem, Case Maclaim, David de la Mano, Eero Lampinen, Fabio Petani, Gummy Gue, Helen Bur, How & Nosm, Isaac Cordal, Jussi TwoSeven, Kenor, Leon Keer, Mantra, Natalia Rak, Pertti Jarla, Robert Proch, Sainer, Sepeusz, Silja Selonen and Waone Interesni Kazki, who poses here yesterday with the mural he’s been working on for 10 days


To keep on top of the action on the ground and up on the lifts click on UPEA’s FB link below:

https://www.facebook.com/upeart/

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