All posts tagged: Martha Cooper

Project M/3 Opens for UN in Berlin and Martyn Reed on Table Etiquette

March 20, 2014 Artists, Interview

“good table manners, social awareness, whether or not they are house trained…”

Project M sounds like a James Bond plot feature, and if you’ve seen the smartly swarthy man of mystery at the helm of this installation you may expect him to scale the facade of the Urban Nation, instead of simply curate it.

But that is what Nuart’s founder Martyn Reed is doing in Berlin right now – cultivating a diverse program of urban artists on the ground level of a promising new project now under construction. Last week Martyn met with a number of the participants who flew, drove, walked to this neighborhood in transition to install their works for M/3 – including New York’s Martha Cooper, Melbourne’s Buff Diss, and Berlin’s Various & Gould, among others.

Martha Cooper. Shot from inside the window. (photo © Luna Park)

Project M, now in it’s 3rd edition, is a rotating street level exhibition to draw attention to the birth of an auspicious new cultural and art project that will anchor Berlin even further in the minds of fans and academics alike who follow the scene that continues to evolve around art in the streets.

An international presence in an internationally revered street art/ graffiti/ urban art/ mural city, so far Project M has featured artists such as Faile, Ron English, Know Hope, Sandra Chevrier and Strøk, and by the end of this series will have featured many more who are lending shape and form to this global scene with many names.

Martha Cooper poses in front of her window, 33 years after taking the original photo. (photo © Luna Park)

On hand for the installation action a few days ago was New York based photographer Luna Park, who shares with BSA readers some of the installation action, and we spoke with Mr. Reed about his curatorial vision for this iteration of Project M.

Brooklyn Street Art: Can you tell us about Project M and what you will be drawing attention to here?
Martyn Reed: It’s an interesting project and quite unusual in that it uses the inside of windows to house the work, and due to the nature of the project has quite a few restrictions that we’re not used to on the street or gallery. But like working on a canvas, these restrictions can often focus the mind.

For this iteration of Project M (the third), we set ourselves three tasks; to integrate Berlin artists into the group, to focus primarily on Stencil Art, and to mix well know names with emerging talent. We also asked a few of the artists, Martin Whatson and Ernest Zacharevic for example, to work site specifically.

So much for the “Broken Window” theory. Martha Cooper (photo © Luna Park)

Brooklyn Street Art: When you were thinking about which artists to choose for this project that is still in its early days at UN, what qualities were you looking for?
Martyn Reed: As ever with Nuart, it’s not always just about the art. This was to be a pretty intense 12 hour working period in a relatively small space with a crew who hadn’t yet met the artists. In cases like this it is important, like at all great dinner parties, to get the mix of guests just right.

Failing that, it is important to ensure that there’s plenty of alcohol available. Other qualities we looked for were good table manners, social awareness, whether or not they are house trained, and whether they can they be trusted with sharp implements etcetera. – For the most, I think we got the balance just right.

Levalet at work on his piece. (photo © Luna Park)

Brooklyn Street Art: Berlin obviously is a major city for street/urban/graffiti/mural art. How would you describe the influence of the local scene as factoring in to your curatorial vision on this project?
Martyn Reed: I think it’s important to get to know as much as possible about the artists and area you’re working in. Fortunately we have a lot of friends based in Berlin and a pretty intimate knowledge of the scene.

I knew which artists and style of work I wanted for this project and also those I thought who would be valuable allies for the UN project in the future. Berlin’s an interesting place to work with its heady mix of activism, anarchy and youthful abandon. I guess finding a way to harness and present this without becoming it, is key.

Levalet (photo © Luna Park)

Brooklyn Street Art: You have had some view of this already during the installation – but which artist do you think will provoke the most response from passersby?
Martyn Reed: For me it is Martha Cooper’s “Cops” from 1981, a vintage photo install chosen specifically for this location that is overlooked by the U-Bahn, Berlin’s Subway. It’s 20% larger than life and is really imposing in situ and when viewed from the train. It has already garnered the most interest and I’m sure is on its way to being a “future classic”.

I’m really happy bringing this particular work to the street and presenting it as a work of art in its own right, and of course, it’s always a pleasure to honour such a legend as Martha.

Various & Gould at work on their piece. (photo © Luna Park)

Various & Gould (photo © Luna Park)

Martin Whatson at work on his piece. (photo © Luna Park)

Martin Whatson (photo © Luna Park)

Buff Diss at work on his piece. (photo © Luna Park)

Buff Diss (photo © Luna Park)

Evol. Detail. (photo © Luna Park)

Plot Bot at work. (photo © Luna Park)

Ernest Zacharevic at work on his piece. (photo © Luna Park)

Ernest Zacharevic stands aside his new installation for M/3 (photo © Luna Park)

Poland’s M-City through the glass. Detail. (photo © Luna Park)

M-City with David Hochbaum on the right. (photo © Luna Park)

Rone on the facade, upper portion. Curated by Urban Nation. (photo © Luna Park)

David Hochbaum on the lower facade. Curated by Urban Nation. (photo © Luna Park)

We wish to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Luna Park for sharing her photos with us. If you wish to see more of Luna’s work click HERE

PROJECT M/3, curated by Martyn Reed of Nuart features: MARTHA COOPER (US), DOTDOTDOT (NO), ERNEST ZACHAREVIC (LT), VARIOUS AND GOULD (DE), M-CITY (PL), LEVALET (FR), PLOTBOT (DE), MARTIN WHATSON (NO), EVOL (DE), BUFF DISS (AUS)

For more information on Urban Nation, click HERE.

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

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More Pow! Wow! Hits as Picked by Martha in Hawaii (Part II)

February 25, 2014 Artists

Today we jump right in to the warm Honolulu waters for a swim before padding barefoot up to the painted walls of Pow! Wow! where photographer Martha Cooper is waiting camera in hand and looking for a fly swatter to smack down a camera drone that is buzzing around her head and getting in the way of her shots.

Here’s part deux of some of Ms. Cooper’s pics from PW 2014, beginning with an aquatic version of the sort of poker-playing canines popularized by illustrationist and painter Cassius Marcellus Coolidge about a hundred years ago that still persist in the offices of law firms and investment banks today. This large scale variation is by street humorist Ron English.

High stakes in Hawaii. Ron English takes a gamble at Pow! Wow! (photo © Martha Cooper)

“Ron English painted marine animals playing poker. His brother-in-law who lives in Hawaii (I think) had been begging for this wall for a long time so Ron finally did it,” says Martha.

Trav MSK at work on his wall. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Wayne White working on his sculpture/mask. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Wayne White in his Elvis mask with Trav MSK doing the backup singing. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Know Hope has painted himself into a corner (photo © Martha Cooper)

123 Klan in action. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Brenden Monroe (photo © Martha Cooper)

We think it is possible that REKA was really influenced by his wardrobe when choosing the palette for his wall. (photo © Martha Cooper)

REKA at work on his wall. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Tristan Eaton before. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Tristan Eaton after. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Remi Mead at work on her wall. Detail. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Remi Mead and an unidentified artist on the right. (photo © Martha Cooper)

AIKO (photo © Martha Cooper)

Reach in action. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Jessie and Katey (photo © Martha Cooper)

INTI in action. (photo © Martha Cooper)

James Jean in action. A detail of Rone and Wonder on the right from last year’s edition. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Lars Pedersen really getting up. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Apex in action. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Dabs & Myla with Misery. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Drones in action. (photo © Martha Cooper)

“One of the craziest things I saw was the use of camera drones operated by remote control. There were a couple and they could fly high or swoop down to shoot.” -MC

“Not everyone loves Pow!Wow!–an anti-PW poster here: Although it is not clear what the specific objections are”- MC (photo © Martha Cooper)

Our special thanks to Martha Cooper for sharing her images with BSA readers.

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Martha Picks Some Hits from Pow! Wow! Hawaii (Part I)

February 24, 2014 Artists

Photographer Martha Cooper just returned to New York from Hawaiian paradise and the 5^th Pow! Wow! Festival, which this year featured an unprecedented number of artist that some estimate at 100.

Naturally with a herd that big, you’d have to be a regular cattle hand with a camera to capture all of the action, but the fast moving Cooper collected a number of images that we can share here with BSA readers over the next couple of days, along with her notes on the experience.

Gaia’s portraits of Queen Lili’uokalini and King Kalakaua. Solomon Enos and Prime collaborated on the rest of the wall. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Kaka’ako is the name of the neighborhood where most of the murals are located and Ms. Cooper compares it to the Miami site that also has hosted a large number of legal walls for the last few years. “It’s a Wynwood-type neighborhood but with a longer, more esteemed history,” she says, and “Like Wynwood it’s slated for development.” For example a library that many of the local Hawaiian artists painted will soon be torn down to make space for condos. Good thing Street Artist Gaia and Vhils were there to bring some of the local historical and mythological elements, including portraits of Hawaiian royalty.

VHILS portrait of King Lunalilo. (photo © Martha Cooper)

An interesting aspect of this event, and there were many, was the pairing of many artists on walls to combine and merge their styles to create new works. “There were a surprising number of unusual collaborations at Pow! Wow!,” says Martha. “Some were odd mashups like Tatiana Suarez and Woes, and Buff Monster and Nychos seemed like a good match. I think it must have been challenging for the artists. Cope & Indie also asked Buff Monster and 123Klan to collaborate on their wall.”

Tatiana (photo © Martha Cooper)

Tatiana and Woes collaboration. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Cope2 and Indi184 with Buff Monster and 123Klan. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Cope2 and Indi184 getting a few pointers from daughters Samara and Samira (photo © Martha Cooper)

Cope2 and Indi184 (photo © Martha Cooper)

Another trend this year: Elvis. “Elvis is big in Hawaii,” Martha remarks, and she says it is because of his celluloid records in addition to his vinyl ones. “He made three movies in Hawaii,” and she mentions the Elvis mask that Wayne White made as a good example of Presley magic on the tropical island of Honolulu. “I especially liked the way Madsteez incorporated existing graffiti into his wall because he made good use of the corrugated iron surface which was difficult to paint on but it had a nice patina when finished.” Interestingly, Madsteez gave his blue Elvis an eye patch that mimics the artist’s own worldview.

Madsteez (photo © Martha Cooper)

INSA and Roid (photo © Martha Cooper)

Insa is one of the first GIFFITTI artists – and his wall with ROID for Pow! Wow” recalls the typography and graphic style of commercial 1980s TV shows like Miami Vice and the New Wave as interpreted by MTV. The resulting GIF is a funny simple animation that somehow brings the nostalgia alive. Looks like paradise from here!

INSA and Roid (photo © Martha Cooper)

Seth working on his wall on the left. ZesMSK, Askew and Reyes wall on the right. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Katch (photo © Martha Cooper)

Katch did a lil’ animation to go with his wall also, which you can see HERE.

Katch (photo © Martha Cooper)

Meggs and Bask collaboration. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Yoshi and Estria collaboration. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Buff Monster and Nychos collaboration. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Andrew Shoultz (photo © Martha Cooper)

Kawaisan and Maozhidong collaboration and commentary on the Honolulu traffic. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Meanshaka (photo © Martha Cooper)

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“The City As Canvas” Opens with the Collection of Martin Wong

February 4, 2014 Artists

Last night the graffiti and early Street Art history from New York’s 1970s and 80s was celebrated by the City of New York – at least in its museum. Criminals and outlaws then, art stars and legends today, many of the aerosol actors and their documentarians were on display and discussed over white wine under warm, forgiving, indirect lighting.

DAZE in the background sliced by a wall of cans at the opening of “The City As Canvas” (photo via iPhone © Jaime Rojo)

“City as Canvas: New York City Graffiti From the Martin Wong Collection” is an exhibition as well as a book released last fall written by Carlo McCormick and Sean Corcoran, with contributions by Lee Quinones, Sacha Jenkins and Christopher Daze Ellis, and all the aforementioned were in attendance. Also spotted were artists, photographers, curators, writers (both kinds), art dealers, historians, family, friends, peers and loyal fans – naturally most fell into a few of these categories at the same time.

“The City As Canvas” exhibition at Museum of the City of New York welcome text with pieces by Futura 2000 and Zephyr to the right. (photo via iPhone © Steven P. Harrington)

“City as Canvas” is possible thanks to the foresight, eye, and wallet of collector Martin Wong, an openly gay Chinese-American artist transplanted to New York from San Francisco, which is remarkable not only because of the rampant homophobia and near hysterical AIDS phobia at the time he was collecting but because the graffiti / Street Art scene even today throws the term “fag” around pretty easily. A trained ceramacist and painter whose professional work has gained in recognition since his death of AIDS related complications in 1999, Wong is said to have met and befriended a great number of New York graffiti artists like Lady Pink, LEE, DAZE and Futura 2000, who were picking up art supplies where he worked at the Pearl Paint store – a four story holy place on Canal Street that thrived at that time.

The show contains black books full of tags and drawings as well as canvasses and mixed media Wong purchased, commissioned, and painted, including a portrait of graffiti artist Sharp wearing a respirator and standing before a canvas he’s working on entitled Sharp Paints a Picture (1997-98).

The mood at the museum was celebratory as guests looked at the 140+ works from Wong’s collection; a cross between an art opening and a graffiti trade show, with enthusiastic peers and fans waiting patiently to speak with, pose for pictures with, and gain autographs or tags in their black books from artists in attendance. The only officers that could be seen were holding back the line of guests to make sure there was no overcrowding of the exhibit.

The famous Martha Cooper photograph of Dondi in action in the train yards. “The City As Canvas” exhibition at Museum of the City of New York. (photo via iPhone © Jaime Rojo)

A Keith Haring and LA2 collaboration at “The City As Canvas” exhibition at Museum of the City of New York. (photo via iPhone © Steven P. Harrington)

Artist LA2 with Ramona “The City As Canvas” (photo via iPhone © Jaime Rojo)

Keith Haring (Smiling Face) from 1982 at “The City As Canvas” exhibition at Museum of the City of New York. (photo via iPhone © Steven P. Harrington)

Lee Quiñones speaking with a never ending stream of fans before his canvas Howard the Duck, 1988, at “The City As Canvas” (photo via iPhone © Jaime Rojo)

Digital prints of images shot by photographer Henry Chalfant brought the trains alive. On top is an image of a train with Sharp/Delta 2 from 1981 and below is “Stop the Bomb” by LEE (Quiñones), 1979 at “The City As Canvas” exhibition at Museum of the City of New York. (photo via iPhone © Steven P. Harrington)

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A Sudden Secret Street Art House Party in Manhattan

January 15, 2014 Artists

It’s a House Party Y’all!

With studio apartments in Manhattan now hitting nearly 3K a month the closest thing most Milennials will ever get to a house party in Gotham will be snagging a VCR tape of the Kid ‘n Play danceoff movie at their parents stoop sale. Last week during the “polar vortex” cold freeze some lucky invitees did get access to a secret house party in a dilapidated building on the Lower East Side for 2 hours however. There wasn’t much heat, no DJ, and your flask of Jack Daniels substituted as the bar, but if you made it in you scored a free condensed Street Artist show that is as rare as a New Jack Swing hit these days.

A subtle beam of light from Heaven (or Kevin) above Hanksy. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A little more than 40 (mostly) Street Artists brought the four floor former tenement building to life one last time before it will be destroyed – and they did it almost entirely in secret over the course of a week. Just how secret this event was is debatable considering the multitude of blog posts and photos of it that appeared in the days following but in the Internet age, news about stuff like this goes viral no matter what.

All tolled, the varied collection of participants was a cross-section; a blurry screenshot of Street Artists on the New York scene along with a few graff writers, taggers, sticker slappers, painters, illustrators, aerosol experts, installationists, art school students, and visitors to the big city who happened to be around at the right time. Also, a couple of pyros.

A collaborative wall for “Surplus Candy” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

While this sort of artist takeover of an abandoned house or building is increasingly occurring in bankrupt cities and neighborhoods in America and Europe where no one wants to live except the creative types, you don’t find this unruly and freewheeling expression much in the increasingly scrubbed and mall-like playground for the rich in Manhattan.

Similarly, producers of large Street Art/Urban Art events in global cities can deliver murals that make you salivate and on a scale that dwarfs this “event” thanks to corporate underwriters and shills for sneakers/sodas/urban-themed tampons these days, but few can truthfully rival the unpolished impromptu spirit of a semi-secret House Party jam session. For one week during installations and on opening night it was like the ghost of New York’s downtown 1970s-80s Bohemia was coming back to the island in all it’s imperfectness to remind everyone of Manhattan’s former greatness as a petri dish for experimentation and discovery.

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Considering the huge increase in sanctioned walls over the last two years in New York, this work looks surprisingly alive, and is just the sort of balm needed for the raw nerves of anarchists everywhere who have bemoaned the polished soul-deadening mural painting of late. Even if some of this looks sort of slap-dash and ragged in spots, and it does, it also gives off an air of being authentic and in-the-moment.

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Notably, the ratio of penis, breast, and defacation-related themes was higher than your average art show but as you know, there is an audience for every artist, even the ones gravitating to bathroom humor as creative wellspring. Judging by the few hundred images floating around on Flickr and elsewhere, this pop-up was a hit for the people.

Given the growing number of artists communities that have blossomed outside of Manhattan, this could have been one of its last jams for Street Art. Yo! That’s my jam!

And now please step aside as we build another luxury condo.

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gilf! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Alice Mizrachi (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Trap (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ASVP (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tony DePew (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tone Tank (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sonni (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Royce Bannon at work on his installation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Royce Bannon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LNY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ELLE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dee Dee (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Foxx Face (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rusell King (photo © Jaime Rojo)

CB23 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Col Wallnuts (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cosbe (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This show, “Surplus Candy” was organized by Hanksy, and is now closed.

A near complete artist list includes:

Alice Mizrachi/AM, ASVP, BD White, Bishop203, CB23, Cernesto, Col Wallnuts, Cosbe, Dee Dee, Dick Mama, Drippings, Edapt, EKG, El Sol 25, Elizabeth Glaessner, Elle, Enzo and Nio, Foxxface, GILF!, Hanksy, Icy and Sot, Left Handed Wave, Lunar New Year, Magda Love, Martha Cooper, Mata Ruda, Moustache Man, Mr. Toll, Mr. Two Three, Mrs. Big Stuff, NDA, Never, Nicolas Holiber, Royce Bannon, Russell King, Sonni, Tako, Tone Tank, Tony Depew, Trap, UR New York, Vulpes Vulpes, Wizard Skull, and Wretched Beast.

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Olek Warms Little Italy With Giant Multi-colored Freedom

January 9, 2014 Artists

The previous NYC record for frigid cold on January 7th was 6 degrees (F).

Tuesday broke that record at 4 degrees.

Olek decided we needed a blanket.

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

With the help of Shir Lieberman, London O’Donnell, and Whitney Spivey, the crochet Street Artist installed a 60 foot long multicolored comforter to warm a parking lot fence in coordination with Wayne Rada and RJ Rushmore of the Little Italy Street Art Project. The LISA Project, as it is more commonly referred to, is a private initiative that has brought a variety of street and graffiti artists to this tourist neighborhood in the last two years.

Olek never does a project half way, and the size and scope of her psychedelic camouflage skin street projects continue to barely keep pace with her imagination. The sentiment of the slogan appears to augment the work ethic and of course, and it is perfectly timely as the concept and practice of freedom is debated daily in the public and digital spheres.

Having part freedom is like being part pregnant. More germanely perhaps, we think of those “free speech” zones set up outside of political conventions that are basically just cages to contain people and prevent them from moving about freely to protest. They are part free speech/ part totalitarianism. Is there such a thing?

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

Olek is surprised to see you. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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

Photographer Martha Cooper braved the very low temps for the occasion. Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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

Climbing fences sort of comes with the job. Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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

“…the path of progress, the struggle for equality for all, is a life-long endeavor, achieved through persistence and faith, never wavering. Each individual must participate in this progress through any way available, including public displays of solidarity, creations of art, reliance on the legal system and vocalizations of opinion. Equality for all in some parts of the world is not total equality; it must be worldwide.” -Olek

Olek begins the process of fully encasing a willing participant in crochet for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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

You shoot me, I’ll shoot you. Olek for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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

To learn more about the L.I.S.A. Project NYC click HERE.

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Images Of The Week: 01.05.14

January 5, 2014 Artists

It’s been weeks since we had an “Images of the Week” posting with you, due to the end of the year spectacular we presented for 13 days; a solid cross section of the talented photographers who are documenting this important moment before it passes.

As a collection 13 From 2013 exemplified the unique and eclectic character of Street Art and graffiti photography today. Each person contributed a favorite image and along with it their insight and observations, often personal, very individual, and with a real sense of authenticity. Each day we were sincerely grateful for their contributions to BSA readers and to see the street through their eyes.

Thank you again to Yoav Litvin, Ray Mock, Brock Brake, Martha Cooper, Luna Park, Geoff Hargadon, Jessica Stewart, Jim Kiernan, Bob Anderson, Ryan Oakes, Daniel Albanese, James Prigoff, and Spencer Elzey for 13 from 2013. Also if you missed it, that list kicked off just after our own 2013 BSA Year in Images (and video) were published here and on Huffington Post, all of which was also a great honor to share with you.

And so we bring back to you some documentation of moments before they passed – our weekly interview with the street, this week including $howta, Appleton Pictures, ASVP, BAMN, Chase, Dceve, Doce Freire, EpicUno, Hot Tea, Jerkface, Judith Supine, Leadbelly33, LoveMe, Meres, Olek, Rambo, Ramiro Davaro-Comas, Square, and Swoon.

This weeks top image is a reprieve from the winter we’ve been enduring – a small hand cut frog clinging to a verdant fern – created by Swoon and snapped during a visit to her studio over the holidays. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

EpicUno (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rambo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Leadbelly33 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LoveMe (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BAMN (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Judith Supine (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ASVP and Square (photo © Jaime Rojo)

$howta (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JerkFace (photo © Jaime Rojo)

HotTea (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek’s very latest piece completed on New Year’s Eve in Vancouver, Canada. (photo © Olek)

Olek. “Kiss the Future” detail. (photo © Olek)

Meres has a message for Gerry. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Meres (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chase (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Doce Freire in Sharjah City, UAE for the Al Qasba Festival. (photo © Doce Freire)

Dceve (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Appleton Pictures (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ramiro Davaro-Comas (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Manhattan, December 2013. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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13 from 2013 : Martha Cooper “A Train Runs Through Mandela’s Kliptown”

December 22, 2013 Artists

Happy Holidays to all you stupendous and talented and charming BSA readers! We thank you from the bottom of our socks for your support this year. The best way we can think of to celebrate and commemorate the year as we finish it is to bring you 13 FROM 2013 – Just one favorite image from a Street Art or graffiti photographer that brings a story, a remembrance, an insight or a bit of inspiration to the person who took it. For the last 13 days they will share a gem with all of us as we collectively say goodbye and thank you to ’13.

No matter how far she strays in the world photographer Martha Cooper is never far from the work that made her famous in the graffiti and Street Art world. An avid globetrotter, Ms. Cooper is always observing and shooting in new cities. In recent years she has been pursuing a project entirely unrelated to her “Subway Art” days, an ethnographic study and cultural photographic comparison of two similarly named spots half a world away from one another: Sowebo (in Baltimore, MD) and Soweto in South Africa. This fall while shooting for her Sowebo/Soweto project, Cooper’s past suddenly came rumbling across the tracks above her, and she new she had one of her favorite shots of 2013.

Kliptown. Soweto, South Africa 2013. (photo © Martha Cooper)

A Train Runs Through Mandela’s Kliptown

I took this photo in September in Kliptown, an historic district in Soweto, South Africa. Although pursuing a project that had nothing to do with street art, I couldn’t take my eyes off the commuter trains with graffiti passing through. One evening I waited in the heart of Kliptown hoping to catch a shot of a painted train. This was exactly how I had photographed subway graffiti in the early ’80s in the Bronx. Back then I could never have imagined that 30 years later I would be attempting a similar shot on the other side of the globe.

By great good fortune a train passed by with graffiti in colors complimentary to my pre-selected foreground. The tiny child at the door of the typical corrugated iron Soweto shack was a poignant touch I could not have anticipated.

Kliptown is famous for its Freedom Charter signed in 1955 in an early protest against apartheid. Graffiti represents a different kind of freedom. Here’s to freedoms of all kinds, to the memory of Nelson Mandela who lived in Soweto and to a better life for the children of Kliptown and beyond.

~ Martha Cooper

Location: Kliptown, Soweto, South Africa, 2013.

#13from2013

Check out our Brooklyn Street Art 2013 Images of the Year by Jaime Rojo here.

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The 2013 BSA Year in Images (VIDEO)

December 18, 2013 Artists

Here it is! Our 2013 wrap up featuring favorite images of the year by Brooklyn Street Art’s Jaime Rojo.

Before our video roundup below here is the Street Art photographer’s favorite of the year, snapped one second before he was singled out of a New York crowd, handcuffed, and stuffed into a police car – sort of like the Banksy balloons he was capturing.

“Among all the thousands of photos I took this year there’s one that encapsulates the importance of Street Art in the art world and some of the hysteria that can build up around it,” he says of his final shot on the final day of the one month Better Out Than In artist ‘residency’ in NYC this October. It was a cool day to be a Street Art photographer – but sadly Rojo was camera-less in a case of mistaken identity, if only for a short time.

Released two hours later after the actual car-jumping trespasser was charged, Rojo was happy to hear the Chief Lieutenant tell his officer “you’ve got the wrong man”, to get his shoelaces back, and to discover this photo was still on his camera. He also gets to tell people at parties that he spent some time in the holding cell with the two guys whom New York watched tugging down the B-A-N-K-S-Y.

What’s everybody looking at? Jaime Rojo’s favorite image of the year at the very end of the Banksy brouhaha. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Now, for the Video

When it came to choosing the 112 images for the video that capture the spirit of the Street Art scene in ’13, we were as usual sort of overwhelmed to comb through about ten thousand images and to debate just how many ‘legal’ versus ‘illegal’ pieces made it into the mix. Should we include only images that went up under the cover of the night, unsanctioned, uncensored, uncompromised, unsolicited and uncommissioned? Isn’t that what Street Art is?

Right now there are a growing number of legal pieces going up in cities thanks to a growing fascination with Street Art and artists and it is causing us to reevaluate what the nature of the Street Art scene is, and what it may augur for the future. You can even say that from a content and speech perspective, a sizeable amount of the new stuff is playing it safe – which detracts from the badass rebel quality once associated with the practice.

These works are typically called by their more traditional description – murals. With all the Street Art / graffiti festivals now happening worldwide and the growing willingness of landlords to actually invite ‘vandals’ to paint their buildings to add cache to a neighborhood and not surprisingly benefit from the concomitant increase in real estate values, many fans and watchers have been feeling conflicted in 2013 about the mainstreaming that appears to be taking place before our eyes. But for the purposes of this roundup we decided to skip the debate and let everybody mix and mingle freely.

This is just a year-end rollicking Street Art round-up; A document of the moment that we hope you like.

Ultimately for BSA it has always been about what is fresh and what is celebrating the creative spirit – and what is coming next. “We felt that the pieces in this collection expressed the current vitality of the movement – at least on the streets of New York City,” says photographer and BSA co-founder Rojo. It’s a fusillade of the moment, complete with examples of large murals, small wheat pastes, intricate stencils, simple words made with recycled materials or sprayed on to walls, clay installations, three dimensional sculptures, hand painted canvases, crocheted installations, yarn installations etc… they somehow captured our imaginations, inspired us, made us smile, made us think, gave us impetus to continue doing what we are doing and above all made us love this city even more and the art and the artists who produce it.

Brooklyn Street Art 2013 Images of the Year by Jaime Rojo includes the following artists;

A Dying Breed, Aakash Nihalini, Agostino Iacursi, Amanda Marie, Apolo Torres, Axel Void, Bagman, Bamn, Pixote, Banksy, B.D. White, Betsy, Bishop203, NDA, Blek le Rat, br1, Case Maclaim, Cash For Your Warhol, Cholo, Chris RWK, Chris Stain, Billy Mode, Christian Nagel, Cost, ENX, Invader, Crush, Dal East, Damien Mitchell, Dase, Dasic, Keely, Deeker, Don’t Fret, The Droid, ECB, el Seed, El Sol 25, Elbow Toe, Faile, Faith 47, Five Pointz, Free Humanity, Greg LaMarche, Hot Tea, How & Nosm, Icy & Sot, Inti, Jilly Ballistic, John Hall, JR, Jose Parla, Judith Supine, Kremen, Kuma, LMNOPI, London Kaye, Love Me, Martha Cooper, Matt Siren, Elle, Mika, Miss Me, Missy, MOMO, Mr. Toll, Nychos, Okuda, Alice Mizrachi, OLEK, Owen Dippie, Paolo Cirio, Paul Insect, Phetus, Phlegm, Revok, Pose, QRST, Rambo, Ramiro Davaro, Reka, Rene Gagnon, ROA, RONES, Rubin, bunny M, Square, Stikki Peaches, Stikman, Swoon, Tristan Eaton, The Lisa Project 2013, UFO 907, Willow, Swill, Zed1, and Zimer.

Read more about Banksy’s last day in New York here and our overview of his residency in the essay “Banksy’s Final Trick” on The Huffington Post.

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Women Rock Wynwood Walls at Miami Art Basel 2013

December 7, 2013 Artists, Interview

An international team of heavy hitting women in Street Art are the centerpiece of the Wynwood District this weekend as Jeffrey Deitch returns to Miami to co-curate Women on the Walls. Reprising a more central role for Wynwood Walls that he played when Tony Goldman first established this outdoor mural playground, Deitch says he is reserving center stage exclusively for the women this year as a way of highlighting their history and growing importance in the graffiti/street art scenes around the world.

“It’s to correct the historical imbalance,” says Deitch as he talks about the new wall murals painted this week and the accompanying gallery exhibition showcase that celebrates the contributions of outstanding women artists in a scene that, with a few notable exceptions, has been primarily run by the guys.

“After this historical imbalance there was something that needed to be addressed about the misperception that graffiti is just a boys club,” says the enthusiastic bespectacled curator who shares the role for this show with the team of Janet Goldman, Jessica Goldman Srebnick, Meghan Coleman, and Ethel Seno.

As with the Living Walls Atlanta festival on the streets in 2012, this show gives full voice to women in a holistic and powerful way that rather redefines the context of a graffiti/street art/tattoo/skater scene which sometimes veers too close to being overtly sexist, if not outright misogynist in it’s depiction of women and their roles.

Maybe it’s the scene itself – much of the graff / Street Art scene has always had partially skewed perceptions about the gals because they were traditionally populated almost exclusively by males. Since work on the streets is a mirror that reflects society back to itself, it makes sense that we’re looking at a funhouse on the walls sometimes. But you don’t have to accept the narrative entirely and shows like this argue for greater authorship of the visual dialogue. Right now in civic life you’ll see strong positive images as more women are assuming more history-making leadership roles than ever, but there are also a lot messages in media and pop culture that portray women as little more than one dimensional giggly jiggly sex toys.

For Parisian artist Fafi, a show with this theme could not be more timely.

“The atmosphere about women these days is really fucked up, especially towards younger ones,” says the street artist as she relates the sentiment of conversations at a late dinner she recently had with co-participants Miss Van and Maya Hayuk.

“There’s something in the air that’s telling us we absolutely need to talk about empowering women in our female artist life,” she explains as she describes the condescending and denigrating attitudes she still encounters from some men even after she has been painting on the streets and in studio for more than two decades.

Fafi says that there are still some who tell her and her female peers that what they do is cool “for a woman”, and more worryingly, “it’s something that comes up more and more often nowadays.”

“It seems like in 2013 it is almost a passé sort of gesture that a bunch of women would have to get together to make a statement when we’ve all been doing this for so long,” says Maya Hayuk, whose bright geometric patterns were on the forefront of a current Street Art fascination with the abstract. “Hopefully in the future we don’t have to do ‘all women’ or ‘all men’ or ‘all anything’ shows,” she says sort of wistfully, “We can do shows on ‘all awesome’.”

So perhaps Deitch and Co. are rebalancing much more than they realize by creating this environment that values the contributions of artists who also happen to be women. Whether it was their original intention or not, the experience this week for many participants has been about empowerment – and networking. The complexity of the list itself speaks to the varied and unique stylistic influences that are now brought to the street by women and a certain validation of these voices is reflected in the fact that many here have had commercial success on their own terms.

“I think it’s a great privilege to be here with these women artists, to be in a show with them, and to create this work in a public space,” says the Polish born Brooklynite Olek, who has made a singular name for herself on the street in the last handful of years by covering bicycles, shopping carts, public sculptures, even people with her hand-crocheted pink and purple camouflage. We have called her the Christo/Jeanne Claude of the streets, which gives an apt sense of the skin-like quality of her wrapping as well as the interventionist instinct she follows, but it doesn’t quite tap the personal level of involvement Olek has with her pieces.

For Wynwood she has been hand-crocheting covers for the large heavy boulders that dot the inner grounds of the complex in a blunt and rugged manner. “Of course I love these rocks because I like to highlight things in the existing environment and to give them a new life, a new beginning,” she says while sitting on the grass joining the pieces of her new coverings by hand.

Does she think the energy and atmosphere here is positive? “All the girls are really wonderful and I love working with them – we are all just working here, eating, talking, and I think we have made some friendships that will last a very long time.”

So why does Deitch think it is important to create a show that specifically draws attention to women artists at this time?

“It’s a very simple thing,” he says, “The first reason is that some of the major talents in Street Art are women.” He then speaks about the individual contributions and talents of some of the participants this week before he comes to Lady Pink, the NYC graffiti artist who painted trains in the 70s and who went on to serve as an active role model to girls and young women around the world, giving them confidence to assert and explore their creative talents. “We wanted to celebrate Lady Pink, whose work is better than ever.”

Speaking of the 70s, the other woman in the show whose work extends back to those times is photographer Martha Cooper, who shares her work here for this article and whose images of the new walls will be projected in the gallery show tonight. Deitch can not be more pleased with the results of the work from this new collection of artists, and traffic on the streets from fans has been thick and exuberant, whether it is for South Africa’s Faith 47 or London’s Lakwena.

“These walls by Maya Hayuk, Miss Van and Sheryo are outstanding and as fresh as ones that many male street artists are doing now,” he says as he talks about the new collection of work this year.

Singapore’s Sheryo, who also spends much of her time in Brooklyn, says that her walls actually reflect the extended two year aerosol “spraycation” around the world that she’s been on with her male cohort The Yok (her assistant this week). “We have been chasing summer weather, we love warm weather!” she says as she looks up at her wall. “My characters are seen painting, surfing, drinking rum coconuts and chilling out around palm trees and lush forest environments, which is what we usually do on our vacations.”

As with many of the women in Women on Walls Sheryo has been in a number of these Street Art festival type of events as well as numerous ad hoc painting sessions on roofs, climbing fences, hitting walls, all primarily with men. How does the environment change when all this female energy hits the streets? Not to trash the guys, but Sheryo’s response is very similar to women we spoke with here and at Atlanta’s Living Walls last year.

“It is a whole lot of fun! Girls are way more caring and there are a lot more hugs going down, which I love.” To be fair, boys probably give good hugs too.

For Fafi, the motivation is also simple for her and many of the solid talents involved in this show, “We felt it’s the time now more than ever for more “Girl Power”. The goal of all this is to inspire younger girls to do the best they can, to search for new ideas, and to come up with something new and different as soon as it gets too easy and comfortable. I want them to be inspired.”

Some male alumni of previous Wynwood Walls shows gather with many of the Women on the Walls crew for a group shot here by Martha Cooper. Front row from left to right: Kashink, Janet Goldman, Lady Pink, Miss Van, Aiko and Maya Hayuk,. Second row from left to right: Shepard Fairey, Olek, Jessica Goldman, Sheryo, Lakwena, Jeffrey Deitch, Faith 47 and Dal East. Back row from left to right: Ron English, Fafi, Myla and Kenny Scharff. Wynwood Walls. Miami, Florida. December 2013. (photo © Martha Cooper for Wynwood Walls)

Women on the Walls is on display in the Wynwood District of Miami. For more on Wynwood Walls click here.

Artists included are Aiko, Claw Money, Fafi, Faith 47, Jess & Katie, Kashink, Lady Pink, Lakwena, Martha Cooper, Maya Hayuk, Miss Van, Myla, Olek, Shamsia Hassan, Sheryo, Swoon, and Too Fly.

With Special Thanks to Ethel Seno.

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Images of The Week: 11.17.13

November 17, 2013 Artists

A beautiful week weather-wise in New York – a brisk and sunny week that was great for discovering your city without sweating like a hog. Before we all get clobbered by the holidays and start piling on pounds it has been stupendous just to wind through the streets and burn off the calories and see lots of good new pieces popping up.

Also, we see a lot of street related movies and videos pretty regularly and were fortunate to attend the NY premiere this week of a documentary by Cheryl Dunn that you’ll probably dig too. It’s called “Everybody Street” and it floods you with decades of NY street photography by so many great shooters in this every-changing weird and wooly city we all love. Photographers include Bruce Davidson, Elliott Erwitt, Jill Freedman, Bruce Gilden, Joel Meyerowitz, Rebecca Lepkoff, Mary Ellen Mark, Jeff Mermelstein, Clayton Patterson, Ricky Powell, Jamel Shabazz, Martha Cooper, and Boogie, and also featured are historians Max Kozloff and Luc Sante. Yes, this is a short list of all the great photographers who have been capturing the NY scene, but its a cool collection. Look it up while it is here and if you aren’t living here it’s also on paid Vimeo too.

So here is our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Axel Void, Bunny M, Danielle Mastrion, Don Rimx, Icy & Sot, Invader, Kitty Kitty, Labrona, LMNOP, Mr. Toll, Nepo, Pixel Pancho, Reka, and Robert Janz.

Top Image >> Icy & Sot create a stenciled image based on the Hollywood adage about the good cop and bad one. See Slate’s full examination of the technique and whether it is actually a real thing – plus they made a video compilation of scenes from many movies here. Also, here’s some clip art that looks familiar doesn’t it? (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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BSA Images Of The Week: 10.27.13

October 27, 2013 Artists

This weekend Halloween began early, and with Banksy leading the way on Friday night, it looks like there will be more tricks in store before the end of October (Thursday). Another surprise came when Swoon took her turn at the Houston wall. As of right now, everyone is keeping their eyes open for what will happen next. Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Banksy, Blanco, HDL, JR, London Kaye, and Swoon.

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