All posts tagged: Nychos

Art Basel Special – Miami 2014 Murals

December 15, 2014 Artists

Art Basel has wound up another successful year in Miami and artists, dealers, buyers and sun seekers have departed. In their wake the streets of Wynwood have sustained yet one more onslaught of murals from an international mix of graffiti writers, street artists, and large format illustrators as the Street Art scene’s thick syrup of spontaneity hardens into a slick shell of commercial opportunity. The average working person with two jobs (or no job) may not have noticed that there is a fabulous boom in this economy for some, and the bubbly is flowing all around fairs like this, out into the streets, into the galleries, receptions, cocktails, and celebrity DJ appearances. While it lasts Brock Brake takes BSA readers through the brand sponsored cloud of opportunity and keeps the focus on what made Street Art interesting to begin with; the artists and their work. We think you’ll dig his photos and for the first time here, an essay in his words:

brooklyn-street-art-swoon-Brock-Brake-art-basel-miami-2014-web-1

Swoon (photo © Brock Brake)

By Brock Brake

Miami’s Art Basel might be the world’s largest summer camp for artists. Every year, artists, galleries and enthusiasts from around the world come together in one place to paint, party and socialize. With a never ending list of desired activities and events during the week, it’s impossible to see and do it all. And many of the artists whose work towers on the walls of Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood have been there a week or so longer than anyone.

Evoca1 (photo © Brock Brake)

You know you’ve made it to the right neighborhood coming from the airport when all you see from the highway are large murals and roadside graffiti…and you’re most likely stuck in traffic.

Every single street in Wynwood was filled with artists from various parts of the world who all share one goal: to create. Artist like Meggs, Word To Mother, Hush, Spencer Keeton Cunningham, Lauren Napolitano, Aaron Glasson, Pose, Cleon Peterson, Ron English, Rone, Swoon and many others were all present and active.

Evoca1 (photo © Brock Brake)

It was hard not to get distracted by all of their process while walking from event to event. I spent a total of three full days in Wynwood documenting, visiting some walls more than once. It’s impossible to see it all.

When the fairs close around 7pm, the streets of Wynwood and South Beach explode. There are live painting events like Basel Castle and Secret Walls, pop up galleries, live concerts by hotel pools and, of course, The Deuce; South Beach’s best dive bar beehive of visiting artists.

I’m grateful for my annual “camp” reunion trips to Miami. Reconnecting with old friends you haven’t seen in years while making plenty of new ones. It’s fun to see that as the years go by, everyone is just as much a kid as you remember them. You see the same friend throughout the week wearing the same shirt for four days covered in paint, with no shower or sleep. All of these artists work very hard to do what they do and that’s why I do what I do.

Until next year – BB

Shout (photo © Brock Brake)

Cleon Peterson in collaboration with Shepard Fairey. (photo © Brock Brake)

Rone in action. (photo © Brock Brake)

Rone (photo © Brock Brake)

Bicicleta Sem Freio (photo © Brock Brake)

Aaron Glasson (photo © Brock Brake)

Lauren YS in action. (photo © Brock Brake)

Lauren YS (photo © Brock Brake)

Tatiana Suarez (photo © Brock Brake)

D*Face in action. (photo © Brock Brake)

D*Face (photo © Brock Brake)

Nychos (photo © Brock Brake)

Hush in action. (photo © Brock Brake)

Hush (photo © Brock Brake)

Space Invader (photo © Brock Brake)

Ckue and Soduh (photo © Brock Brake)

Aaron Kai in action. (photo © Brock Brake)

Aaron Kai (photo © Brock Brake)

Meggs in action. (photo © Brock Brake)

Meggs (photo © Brock Brake)

Soduh (photo © Brock Brake)

Word To Mother. Detail of a wall in progress. (photo © Brock Brake)

Word To Mother (photo © Brock Brake)

Pose and Revok (photo © Brock Brake)

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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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Project M/6 Curated By Jonathan LeVine

November 10, 2014 Artists

The sixth installment of Project M at the Urban Nation (UN) comes from a clever collection of painters, illustrators, and urban interventionists. Curated by gallerist Jonathan Levine, whose gallery consistently stages quality shows in Manhattan’s Chelsea art district, the street level windows, façade, and pop-up show feature deep, dark, and richly storied works that resonate.

DAL East at work on the facade. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Entitled “Greetings From New York City,” the show features artists who have intersected with the street primarily from outside of Gotham such as China/South Africa’s Dal East, Austria’s Nychos, Mexico’s Saner, and the Californian Jeff Soto. Two exceptions like Brooklyn’s Dan Witz and Olek are both currently active on the New York street art scene and in the case of Witz, dating back to his student days in the East Village in the late 1970s.

Consistent with his street pieces hidden in plain sight for street watchers, Mr. Witz drilled his hooded and gated prisoners to the installation board display and Olek crocheted a provocative slogan in her blaringly neon tableau, brightening and possibly flummoxing the grey Schöneberg streets.

DAL East at work on the facade. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Saner’s magically real folk references are meaty and disturbing – evoking the monstrous events currently happening back home, while Nychos’ cartoonish dissection of animals and people in 3-D trace directly to his family’s traditions of hunting and Jeff Soto straddles the street and the dark pop fantasy world that frequents the pages of magazines like Juxtapoz and Hi-Fructose. For his exterior façade mural Dal East gathers the life force energy of an eagle to rise above and preside above the street in stark relief.

On the whole Mr. Levine’s stable communicates through layers both humorous and heavy, myriad meanings touched by a sardonic gloss of advertising finesse; sometimes slyly laughing, sometimes deadpan, always musing. Project M/6 smartly invites this view into the frame of modern contemporary as art in the streets continues to conflate.

DAL East with a detail of the facade on the background. (photo © Henrik Haven)

DAL East to the right. The center piece by mixed media collage artist Handiedan is not part of ProjectM/6 (photo © Henrik Haven)

SANER at work on his panels. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Jeff Soto at work on his panels. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Nychos at work on his panels. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Nychos. Sketch book. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Olek and assistant at work on her panels. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Dan Witz at work on his panels. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Jeff Soto on the left. Dan Witz on the right. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Dan Witz (photo © Henrik Haven)

Jeff Soto . Dan Witz . Olek (photo © Henrik Haven)

Olek (photo © Henrik Haven)

Nychos (photo © Henrik Haven)

SANER (photo © Henrik Haven)

SANER. Detail. (photo © Henrik Haven)

SANER (photo © Henrik Haven)

Jeff Soto (photo © Henrik Haven)

To learn more about Urban Nation and ProjectM click HERE

We wish to thank photographer Henrik Haven for sharing his work with BSA readers, and to UN Director Yasha Young.

URBAN NATION PRESENTS PROJECT M/6

BSA Film Friday: 10.03.14

October 3, 2014 Artists

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

Now screening :

1. PREMIERE of 3D Grátis Frutas / Free Fruit – Narcelio Grud
2. Vero Rivera and a Small Gold Leaf Brush in Santurce, PR
3. NYCHOS, a Spider, and Judas Priest Soar in Germany
4. IBUg 2014 – Der Film
5. Mica Still in Auckland, NZ

BSA Special Feature: PREMIERE of 3D Grátis Frutas / Free Fruit

We have no hesitation declaring Narcelio Grud as one of our favorite experimenters on the street. Part installation, part performance, part interactive sociology experiment, Grud often invites passersby to participate in the process.

In his brand new video premiering here on BSA Film Friday, Narcelio wonders what would happen if he were to give fresh fruit away on the street. Find out now.

Vero Rivera and a Small Gold Leaf Brush in Santurce, PR

Celebrating their first year of making videos, Tost Films brings this gold filigreed doorway to life after six days of painting in Santure, Puerto Rico. Vero Rivera is unassuming and allows this portrait to trace her steps: Thoughtful, intimate, alive, and fresh. Her painstaking process and careful brushwork carries a swirl of intoxication and a welling of celebration. Also like to see her dog hanging out to keep her company.

NYCHOS, a Spider, and Judas Priest Soar in Germany

Just in time for the Urban Art Festival in Hamburg this weekend, Nychos splits an enormous spider in half and allows you to see its colorful dripping guts, set to a delightful soundtrack of “Halls of Valhalla”, the 2014 version of Judas Priest. Heroic and soaring, what more can we say?

IBUg 2014 – Der Film

Celebrating its 9th edition IBUg 2014 took place at the end of August in Crimmitschau, Germany with about 100 artists from 10 or so countries. A cultural festival that runs the gamut with graffti, murals, video projection, and performance the weeklong program also features movies, talks, lectures and tours. Primarily in German, this video gives you an idea what the event is like.

Mica Still in Auckland, NZ

Produced by a small creative agency in Auckland last week and finished a couple of days ago, this stop action shows artist Mica Still as she creates a mural.

BSA Film Friday: 05.02.14

May 2, 2014 Artists

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

Now screening :

1. Da Mental Vaporz and ‘The Wall’
2. YZ – Lost in the City
3. NYCHOS: Pen and Paper
4. Stealing Banksy
5. E1000 x Pablo Herrero at Memorie Urbane 2014

BSA Special Feature: Da Mental Vaporz and ‘The Wall’

To mark their new show that opened this week at BC Gallery, the 10 member France-based collective known as “Da Mental Vaporz” release this panoply of inventive and tight wall work and, as it turns out, canvasses. It is reassuring to see original thinking and solid skills still can win the day, and good to see artists sticking together to make great collaborations.

Included are Bom.k, Blo, Brusk, Iso, Dran, Kan, Lek, Gris1, Jaw and Sowat.

“The works of these artists can speak for themselves independently, differentiating from each other mostly in medium as in style and technique that which as soon as they are shown in a common context, creates an extraordinarily interesting and thrilling relationship. As can be deduced from the name ‘Da Mental Vaporz’, which, translated, means “The Vapors of the Psyche” it is for the artists a matter of concern to make the observer aware of the abyss of the personal psyche.” – from the description on Vimeo.

YZ – Lost in the City

YZ takes us on a trip through her city and invites us to get lost with her. For those non-French speakers, it is still a rewarding discovery that comes two thirds of the way through the small film that features jazz rhythms that wend you through the avenues of Paris, the suburban streets and into her studio.

NYCHOS: Pen and Paper

“All of my family – my dad, my grandpa, they all are hunters,” says Nychos at the picnic table as he explains his fascination for slicing apart animals and allowing us to see what organs and systems are arranged within. While listening to heavy metal you learn that Nychos was elated when he discovered his love of depicting dissection in graphic detail. He said, “Okay this is something I can stick to and go crazy on it.” May we all be so fortunate to find that thing too.

Stealing Banksy

“It’s like looking at a collection of hunting trophies severed from their natural environment,” our narrator intones, “stuffed into frames and soon to be seen by the privileged few”. Fair enough, you say, as long as I’m one of them. Wendy Hurrell says in her description of her new documentary “Stealing Banksy”, that she has been following Banksy’s work for a decade or more, and “it has been my privilege to wallow through the moral dilemma that is taking his works from the streets, legally and selling them for charity – never to be seen by the masses again.”

E1000 x Pablo Herrero at Memorie Urbane

The Blind Eye Factory shot this very large mural painted on the wall of a cemetary for the 2014 Memorie Urbane Street Srt festival in Gaeta, Italy

Images Of The Week: 04.27.14

April 27, 2014 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Here our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Adam Fujita, Billy Mode, Cabaio, CB23, City Kitty, Damon, Dylan Egon, JB, Li Hill, Nychos, Olek, Roma411, Tec, Un Pez Verde, and Zola.

Top Image >> Zola (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dylan Egon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

City Kitty (photo © Jaime Rojo)

CB23 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nychos new piece in Oakland, CA (photo © Steven Ballinger)

TEC for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Li Hill (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Un Pez Verde (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Roma 411 for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olek does a special installation for Earth Day this week. That’s Mother Earth to you. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Balu. We are always happy to see Frida Khalo on the streets. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Balu. The same artist talking about war. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Adam Fujita for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JB strikes a “Balance” in Rome, Italy. (photo © JB)

Cabaio. Detail. The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Caballo for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Damon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Billy Mode for The Bushwick Collective (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Manhattan, NYC. Spring 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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 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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Marilyn as Missy “Works It” in Miami: New Shots from Art Basel 2013

December 16, 2013 Artists

Put My Thang Down Flip It and Reverse It

Pete Kirill process shot of his work on Marilyn Monroe / Missy Elliot tribute. (photo © Matt Fox-Tucker)

Miami and the just-ended Art Basel 2013 is a holy magnet, a veritable showcase for big murals and pieces (and a few taggers here and there naturally) and we thought you’d like to see a few walls we missed before all the Miami excitement fades with the intense sun. If you get a chance to tour the works in Miami in the next few months we recommend the trip – and a skateboard.

New stuff here from Peter Kirill, Bezt, Jaz, Entes y Pesimo, and Nychos. Dang!

Show me how you work it. A Pete Kirill process shot of his work on Marilyn Monroe tribute depicts her in a seriously fly hoodie and style channelling Hip Hop Star Missy Elliot. (photo © Cesar Mieses)

Bezt. Process shot. (photo courtesy © Inoperable Gallery)

Bezt (photo courtesy © Inoperable Gallery)

Entes y Pesimo (photo © Entes y Pesimo)

Jaz (photo courtesy © Inoperable Gallery)

Nychos. Process shot (photo courtesy © Inoperable Gallery)

Street Art in Honolulu as Pow! Wow! Hawaii Enters Fifth Year

December 4, 2013 Artists

Before the year wraps we wanted to take a look at images from Pow! Wow! Hawaii as it enters its fifth year with a collection of images recently captured in Honolulu where it happens.

Begun by founder Jasper Wong in Hong Kong, Pow! Wow! Hawaii is a non-profit gathering in his hometown that he co-produces with another artist named Kamea Hadar. In a promo video for the festival Wong says that the festival is about “beautifying a neighborhood, changing a neighborhood through art”.

Rone and Wonder spell it out in their largest collaboration to date. (photo © Yoav Litvin)

A criticism of street art festivals often leveled has been that the stars of the international circuit overpower the local tastes or are somehow insensitive to them, and the hip doesn’t always respect the homegrown.

Pow! Wow! Hawaii steadily avoids that criticism by including local community throughout open participatory events and it makes sure to include artists who work with traditional motifs and values in their pieces, bringing indigenous cultures into the mix in a meaningful way.

Woes, Meggs, Peap, Tarr, Mr. Jago and Will Barras (photo © Yoav Litvin)

Since the rich pop colors of the modern age are also the visual lengua materna for these Street Artists and graffiti artists, it is common to see figures and patterns from the past updated with punch. The waterside commercial neighborhood along the southern shores of the island of Oʻahu is called Kaka’ako and the name itself has inspired some of the artists to include it in their pieces.

Recently photographer Yoav Litvin took a trip to the neighborhood where Pow! Wow! takes place and we bring you some of the images from Honolulu to get a taste the work that has been left there by an estimated 100 artists since 2010.

Faith 47 (photo © Yoav Litvin)

Askew pays tribute to the Tuhoe Iwi and references the time of the Treaty of Waitangi (photo © Yoav Litvin)

Nychos and Jeff Soto (photo © Yoav Litvin)

Scribe (photo © Yoav Litvin)

Roids and Madsteez punch up the color when paying tribute to King Kalakua. (photo © Yoav Litvin)

Dal East (photo © Yoav Litvin)

Ekundayo (photo © Yoav Litvin)

Kamea Hadar and Rone (photo © Yoav Litvin)

Eddie Colla (photo © Yoav Litvin)

From the website:

“Centered around a week-long event in Hawaii, POW! WOW! has grown into a global network of artists and organizes gallery shows, lecture series, schools for art and music, mural projects, a large creative space named Lana Lane Studios, concerts, and live art installations across the globe. The central event takes place during Valentine’s Day week in February in the Kaka’ako district of Honolulu, and brings over a hundred international and local artist together to create murals and other forms of art.”

For more about Pow! Wow! Hawaii click HERE

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Unbridled Berlin Street Art : Spencer Elzey in Europe

November 21, 2013 Artists

Berliners are hard to crack, they say, but probably not for New Yorkers. We “get” them because of their no-nonsense frankness, sometimes sharp tongues, and because their “creative types” are unhinged in a way that New Yorkers have been historically.

When it comes to the volume and variety of art that is being loosed in Berlin these days, they are setting some standards that many are still catching up with. Right now when you look at the freewheeling expression that bolted out from a broken wall more than 20 years ago and never looked back, you realize that Street Artists in Berlin are not hard to crack, they may simply be a little bit cracked.

Various & Gould (photo © Spencer Elzey)

In the third city of our series this week for Spencer Elzey’s residency on BSA, we visit Berlin, which some argue is the preeminent scene for urban art right now. It does appear to have a perfect mix for vibrant arts growth – a creatively permissive atmosphere and affordable lifestyle prevails in this city of design. And while uncommissioned public art is not legal, it is also not verboten.

The kids may come for the music and the art collectives and the dance parties, but they stay for the aerosol and the expressive faces and figures that accompany you while you walk. So far, people seem happy to let this arts scene continue to evolve and not surprisingly, tourists are magnetically drawn to it.

Victor Ash (photo © Spencer Elzey)

As you walk through certain neighborhoods you may prepare to have your pre-conventions subverted and inverted. Awash with a decade plus of unbridled art, the scale, style, influences, and techniques of pop, illustration, and graffiti are all truly playing with each other.

Where a large spate of legal mural work has monopolized creative energies of many Street Artists in New York recently, some players have commented that the content is being tamed and neutered and the resulting scene is less risk-oriented stylistically. As you look at the work Elzey found in Berlin, you are reminded what it looks like when art laborers don’t have to self-censor or look over their shoulder. Also, it is still affordable for artists. Oh, wait, did we already mention that?

Robi The Dog (photo © Spencer Elzey)

“Out of the cities I visited the one that contrasted the most with NY was Berlin. It felt like a beautiful lawlessness with graffiti and rollers everywhere,” says Elzey as he tries to put his finger on the attitude of exploration and discovery that floods large areas of the city.

“Berlin by far had the most graffiti and Street Art in its most raw and authentic form, which is how I think it should really be experienced. It felt more free and genuine. Besides RAW and Urban Spree, which are commissioned areas, Berlin felt like a giant playground. There was graffiti and rollers everywhere and lots of abandoned factories to explore and have fun in.”

Blu (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Berlin has been an international draw for artists and arts institutions for the last decade at least and many of the Street Art world make sure to head here at least once, sometimes staying months and couch surfing and partying an staying out all night. Since the graffiti scene and the Street Art scene are not so polarized in the minds of people here there is also a freedom to experiment without fear of upsetting your peer group.

Luckily for BSA, local Street Artists Various & Gould were very hospitable and more than helpful and willing to tour Spencer around some of the hot spots and to give him some background on the Berlin streets. “Meeting someone you admire, be it an artist, musician, or actor, is always a special experience,” he says about being with V&G, “It feels a little different when that person is a Street Artist, or at least it does to me. The fact that part of their job means that they do illegal things, being trusted enough to be welcomed into their inner circle has deeper meaning.”

Blu. Detail. (photo © Spencer Elzey)

So he was in good hands with these two who have deep roots with the artist community and who frequently challenge themselves to look at their own work with new eyes – and to find new ways to engage with passersby with their art and a bit of theater. “In the case of Various & Gould in Berlin and C215 in Vitry I was able to meet these artists on their own turf. They showed me some of their new work in their studios and then toured me around the neighborhoods that they know best,” he recalls with some delight.

“While seeing art on the streets is one thing, getting the first hand history behind it makes it more meaningful,” he says. “You get more history and depth that way.”

Blu (photo © Spencer Elzey)

How long Berlin will continue to be a petrie dish for experimentation and discovery? Forever. Just kidding. But for the moment this ephemeral art movement is fiercely alive and more independent than many cities. Artists have always made life a bit of a moveable feast. Today its Berlin, tomorrow it could be Mexico City, or Lima, who knows?

“I think I would recommend it if you were a younger artist who was trying to break into the game and establish a name for yourself,” says Elzey.

Our sincere thanks to Various & Gould for their hospitality and time.

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Street Art in Vitry-sur-Seine (France) : Spencer Elzey in Europe

November 18, 2013 Artists

BSA is lucky to be a clearinghouse for many people who participate in and celebrate the Street Art scene – artists, curators, designers, collectors, galleries, museums, researchers, academics, historians and fans. Because we have never taken advertising readers tend to trust our platform and people in the community give us great behind-the-scenes opportunities to learn and share freely with others about the creative process and the culture on the street. It also gives us the freedom to do whatever we want when planning editorial or content.

Recently we had this idea about giving our site out to artists or art-lovers a week at a time so they could also fully share their personal experiences of the Street Art/public art/graffiti/ scene. So this week before Thanksgiving we’re giving the whole week to one person as a “residency”, our way of sharing this valuable platform and inviting you to have a greater voice in this conversation.

Spencer Elzey loves art in general and is an avid Street Art fan in particular and he likes to take trips that include shooting images on the street in whatever city he visits. He also supports artists by buying their art, regularly attending art exhibitions, reading and studying about them and following their evolution. Over the last couple of years we have seen that he is also a dedicated Street Art hunter with camera in hand on the streets of New York City when he isn’t at his regular job – and he loves to share what he finds with others on social media and as an occasional contributor to BSA.

When we heard that Spencer was planning a trip to Europe this fall we proposed to him the idea of him keeping a photo journal to be shared exclusively with BSA readers and we offered to help connect him with some friendly guides on his trip so he could get some splendid and exclusive photos. He enthusiastically accepted the offer and here is the first day of Spencer’s one-week residency on BSA, an edited treasure trove of images and insights from the guy himself. We know you’re going to dig it.

Here’s this weeks schedule:

Monday is Vitry-sur-Seine Street Art.
Tuesday will be Paris Street Art.
Wednesday will be a special collection of the installations from the Le Tour Paris 13 project.
Thursday will be his adventures in Berlin.
BSA Film Friday will feature a selection of videos reflecting the cities he toured.
Saturday will be Spencer’s London showcase.

Of all four cities Spencer visited over a two week trip, this one seemed to really embrace the value of street art to the culture, he says. “In terms of which city was the most welcoming of street art I’d have to say Vitry-sur-Seine was because this is really a grassroots campaign kickstarted by C215,” he says of this city of 83,000 that is called a commune and lies on the outskirts of Paris.

It’s not hard to believe that the scene is attributed in large part to the influence of the well-regarded stencil artist C215 as this is a guy who considers his work to be community service and who regularly features people from the city he is in as subjects of his portraits. That’s why he was the perfect guide for Spencer, who says he learned a huge amount of information in a short time.

“I have to say that C215 is one of the more interesting, opinionated and knowledgeable artists that I have come across. We started the morning at his local café with a coffee. I explored around a little by myself while he was attending to some prior engagements with his gallery and then he caught up with me out on the streets. We eventually had lunch and then went back to his house. Topics ranged from his opinion on the scene in general, on other artists, on galleries and it even touched on street art websites and documenters.

“I hadn’t realized that he has only been doing stenciling for seven years but it was easy to see how far his pieces have come from the few monochrome stencils that still remain around Williamsburg (Brooklyn) from around 2008,” remarks Elzey.

“What C215 has done in Vitry-sur-Seine is much bigger than I expected it to be, both in terms of quantity of work in the area as well as the impact on the community. The first piece that he put up there was about five year ago and within that time there have appeared at least 150 different pieces from him and other artists throughout the area,” says Spencer.

Naturally, Elzey was shooting whatever odd or curious or thrilling piece he found on his travels through this city that celebrates artists, in addition to the work done by his host. “I was definitely surprised with how much Street Art there was in Vitry-sur-Seine. I took around 200 pictures of different pieces while there and I’m still seeing pictures on Instagram of things that I had missed,” he says.

One piece in particular by C215 impressed him a lot – because of it’s impact visually and its perfectly contextual placement. Additionally, Elzey felt that it illustrated the regard that the residents have for the artists work and the fact that people didn’t appear to think of it as illegal or vandalism, per se. “While I was exploring and taking pictures, various residents pointed with excitement about pieces just around the corner that I should go look at,” he says.

“There was one older gentleman, probably in his 70s, who just simply said “La porte” and smiled while pointing in a certain direction. I rounded the corner to see a stencil of the Virgin Mary on the back door of the main church,” he says of one of the few religious themed pieces that the artist has created. “C215 had indicated that this was one of his favorite pieces in the area and it was nice to see that residents appreciated it as well. Had it not been for this project there really would be no other reason for me to have travelled down to Vitry-sur-Seine but it was definitely worth it.”

We hope you enjoy this one week residency on Brooklyn Street Art and we congratulate Spencer for his dedication, professionalism and enthusiasm.

Our sincere thanks also go to those who offered their hospitality and agreed to give Spencer a tour on our behalf; to the stencil artist C215, who graciously took him around Vitry and who shared with him a history and background on the scene there, to Maroune and Mehdi at Itinerrance Gallery for providing Spencer with special solo access to Le Tour Paris 13 while hundreds were queing outside, and to the dynamic German duo Various & Gould who welcomed him into their studio and showed Spencer some really cool spots around Berlin. This open and generous community spirit really makes the work that we do feel so inspiring to us, and we thank each of you for playing host to Spencer and for sharing your knowledge with the BSA family.

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Images Of The Week: 10.06.13

October 6, 2013 Artists

New York was rattled by uncertainty and worry this week as all eyes turned to Washington to witness the forced governmental shutdown that was prompted by a undeniably deep resentment toward the governed. How dare the people try to protect their health and pocketbook against the vulturish free market – one that has left tens of millions of our neighbors without medical care? As a collective punishment we are now nervously marking one week without a working government.

Launched parallel with the shutdown was the startup of a new Street Art/digital campaign by a global patron saint of the 2000s repositioning on New York streets in the 2010s. Through a website about his own secret/public spraying, Banksy is creating a sort of funhouse reinvention; A winking campaign of digital manipulation of friends and detractors alike. Circumspect humor and treasure hunts have triggered a bit of a circus – and we are willingly parlaying the details and conjecture across social media with hashtags and photos and exclamation points. Reviews of the work itself range from tepid to thrilled but the sugary buzz of near daily revelations have given these events a feeling of an October surprise. If the brand can sustain interest for the the entire announced “residency” of one month it will indeed be an accomplishment, as New Yorkers are voracious consumers of culture and attention spans mimic that of the tsetse fly.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring B.D. White, Banksy, Blind Eye Factory, Cost, Specter, Holymafia, Judith Supine, Knarf, Mike Shine, Nychos, and Zed1.

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