All posts tagged: Phlegm

13 from 2013 : Bob Anderson “Watching the Process Unfold with Phlegm”

December 27, 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.

Today we go to New York State’s capital Albany to hear from photographer and occasional BSA contributor Bob Anderson whose intense love for photography is usually expressed through natural beauty and domestic scenes but occasionally he can indulge in a true passion; street art photography. In 2013 Bob had the opportunity to meet the illustrator and street artist Phlegm who was visiting from Sheffield, a city in South Yorkshire, England. While he caught some excellent shots for BSA readers during that marathon of painting, this one stood out as his favorite of 2013.

Phlegm. Albany, NY 2013. (photo © Bob Anderson)

Watching the Process Unfold with Phlegm

~ Bob Anderson

Whether it’s a sticker, a tag, or a mural, the streets are the judge of what will stand the test of time. Sometimes it is the aesthetic or the message, or simply the placement that weighs in an efforts favor. The end result will garner a cover, a buff, or appreciation.

Not to distract from the work itself, but I find more appreciation in both the process and the artist. Yes, I want to see new work, but viewed from a computer or in real life after it’s completed, it does not carry the intensity as watching it unfold. Maybe in a completely selfish way, it’s to learn the process. Everyone has their own technique. It’s not something one is willing to share in an email or to a passer by. But if you’re willing to lug paint & ladders, stay out all night, hop fences, or sit in a dirt lot all day – you will learn something.

As for the photos. It’s easy to walk up to a finished wall and frame a nice photo – but it can still feel empty. Photos of the actual process show the evolution and effort behind the work. Creativity comes by working with whatever gear you may be able to pack in, the time and lighting given (which will never be ideal) and shooting around faces that can not be shown.

Lastly, the most important part is the people.

Well known names with no associated faces come together with random strangers.

During those countless hours late at night or under the sun in a dirty parking lot, drinks are shared, hilarious stories are told, and friendships are made.

And a wall is left standing.

Photos document the party that only a few were privileged to attend.

Get out, and get up!

Thanks to all!

Artist: Phlegm

Location: Albany, NY. 2013

#13from2013

Check out our Brooklyn Street Art 2013 Images of the Year by Jaime Rojo 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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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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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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Eye on London Street Art : Spencer Elzey in Europe

November 23, 2013 Artists

For the first week-long “residency” on BSA, Spencer Elzey has been sharing his experiences and Street Art photos from his recent trip to Europe. Today we finish with London, a polished and presentable collection of some of the current scene from the streets.

The city has long played host to a rolling panoply of urban art and artists and is a prime example of the professionalization of the practice featuring a greater absorption into the culture and economy at large with galleries, museums, shops, and paid tour guides all joining in. The upshot is you will see some of the best examples of talent and it may at times seem all quite combed over and generally safe for a general audience. Not that there isn’t dynamism and risk taking, and you will still find unsanctioned work to be seen inside and outside of the tourist hotspots.

Sweet Toof and Roa (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Hosting the Olympics last year brought a self cleansing of much of the organically grown graffiti and Street Art, and the chilling effect of living in an electronically surveilled society with cameras nearly everywhere will undoubtedly be sited to when historians look at the nature of art on the streets from this era.

“London had a lot of Street Art but it felt more corporate and organized for the masses,” says Elzey of his time walking through Shoreditch, Brick Lane, Hackney, Bethnal Green, and Camden. “In the week that I was there I walked by around five Street Art tours.”

Sweet Toof (photo © Spencer Elzey)

“Most of London’s street art is confined to these places – The other areas that I explored around London all seemed pretty clean. This may have been due to the fact that there are security cameras everywhere,” he says. An international first world city, London usually is a destination for the international “circuit” of Street Artists whose names tend to reappear on lists of the various street/graffiti/urban art festivals that now pop up in global cities from Lima to Łódź and Living Walls to Nuart to Upfest and the recently ended FAME.

As with any art form that begins as transgressive and underground and evolves to be adopted by the dominant culture, at times the whole scene begins to resemble the commercial and institutional interests it once mocked or attempted to subvert. “London is great but felt more catered to the bigger players and had the most street art in commissioned form (by the various Street Art organizations), which is good to see some amazing work but cheapens the art a little,” he says.

In the images he shares with BSA readers today you can see the really strong work that is throughout those neighborhoods as many of the artists consider strongly what they will do – and it results in some quite striking pieces. As always, you want to keep an eye on London. Surely it will keep an eye on you.

Miss Van and B. Schu (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Otto Schade (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Shok 1 (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Gnasher (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Alexis Diaz (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Ben Eine (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Cranio (photo © Spencer Elzey)

For The Love Of Dog (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Banksy (photo © Spencer Elzey)

A sculptural installation by D*Face (photo © Spencer Elzey)

ROA (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Swoon (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Guy Denning (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Urban Solid (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Sokaruno (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Vinie and Reaone (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Anthony Lister (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Finabarr DAC (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Phlegm (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Faith 47 (photo © Spencer Elzey)

El Mac (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Conor Harrington (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Klone (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Dal East (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Dscreete (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Insa (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Martin Ron (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Jana & JS (photo © Spencer Elzey)

Christian Nagel (photo © Spencer Elzey)

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Phlegm Flees With a Marauding Animal Exodus in Albany

September 11, 2013 Artists

Exclusive Photos of the Wildly Charging Herd by Phlegm

As the global geopolitical-econo-social storms continue to swirl us into and out of oil wars and natural disasters and disease and pestilence and famine – or at least the threat of them, you may rightly feel as if you are living inside a comic book or a late summer blockbusting thriller.

Phlegm (photo © Bob Anderson)

The gift of an illustrator like Sheffield-based Street Artist Phlegm is that he can, at will, play the master of chaos in a Dionysian drama, creating the horror afoot, and he can as well create the salvation. It is up to his imagination and his hand/can. Today we look at a new installation of exodus, the stretching and contorting competition of man and animal to flee imminent disaster. Or maybe they’re headed to the Apple store.

Phlegm (photo © Bob Anderson)

The New York State capital of Albany hosted an extensive series of walls across many neighborhoods two years ago this month, but has since been relatively quiet, as local Street Art fan and photographer Bob Anderson can attest. But for the longest time Bob says, “I have had my eye on an 85′ wall of Earthworld Comics, the oldest comic book store in town.” As luck would have it, Phlegm was in Bushwick BK finishing up a wall just as this one opened up north, and the floodgates of exodus were let loose across the expanse of brick.

Not a bad venue for an outsized illustrator like Phlegm, who is as adept at small hand-rendered drawings as he is of this happily hellish scene of a rumbling and frenzied herd charging forward. It helps that the wall is shot by an artist behind the camera and augmented by the invisible hand of the god of light and shadow.

If this is a film still, it is still moving. If this is a painting, may it never stop. Long live Phlegm.

Our special thanks to Bob Anderson for capturing and sharing these images with BSA readers.

Phlegm (photo © Bob Anderson)

Phlegm blending with his characters as he makes progress on the wall. (photo © Bob Anderson)

Phlegm (photo © Bob Anderson)

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Images Of The Week: 09.01.13

September 1, 2013 Artists

September is the perfect time of the year for Street Art in NYC – and shout out to the NYTimes who ran a double spread and video this week with images of Street Art and graffiti you can see here every week – including the great MOMO piece in Dumbo that was commissioned by Two Trees, and walls from the Bushwick Collective, 5 Pointz, Welling Court, Hunts Point, Coney Island and more. Seeing the collection made us think about how much BSA really covers throughout New York and the world every month and that made us happy as Bill DiBlasio, the apparent next mayor of NYC.

Also it was cool this week to step back and see everybody at the “Wild Style” 30th Anniversary free show in the park by the East River – to see so many people including Lee Quinones, both Ahearn brothers, Cold Crush brothers, Lady Pink, Fab Five Freddy, Futura, Mare 139, Jane Dickson, Lisa Lee, Patti Astor, Joe Conzo, Martha Cooper, among others – and Busy B, who reminded us that the early days of hip-hop were about “peace, love, unity, and having fun”. Yeah, we’re on board for more of that.

Stay tuned this month for exclusive BSA coverage of Nuart ’13 in Stavanger, Urban Forms in Lodz, Faile at the Dallas Contemporary, a number of new gallery shows with the new crop of artists on display, and even a chance for BSA to meet you in Bushwick at a special event on the 19th, wink wink.

So here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week including Amanda Wong, Bunny M, Case Maclaim, Dede, Droid 907, Freddie 111 Street, Gilf!, Josh McCutchen, Judith Supine, Meer sau, Phetus, Phlegm, PRVRT, r1, Reme821, SARZTKG, and Vexta.

Top image is by Judith Supine (photo © Jaime Rojo).

Judith Supine. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

PRVRT (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vexta, Gilf! and the Boyz. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Phlegm (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Phlegm. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

r1. Johannesburg, South Africa. (photo © r1.)

“The piece is made of reclaimed plastic bottles that were assembled in a large wire mesh,” says South African installation artist r1, who created this piece in a way that reminded us of the El Anatsui show this year at the Brooklyn Museum and on the Highline. “Community and street art seems to work well together,” r1 says when recalling the spontaneously posing kids who arrived to get in the picture.

brooklyn-street-art-r1-Johannesburg-01-09-13-web-2

r1. Johannesburg, South Africa. (photo © r1.)

Phetus . Reme821 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DEDE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Meer Sau. Translation: “Damn, looking good today!” Salzburg, Austria. (photo © Meer Sau)

Meer Sau shares these smiles with BSA readers this week, where a crosswalk is emblazoned with some words of encouragement. He did the installation and then stood around waiting to see what expressions he could capture. “Everybody wants compliments,” Sau explains.

Josh McCutchen (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Freddie 111 Street. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Case Maclaim (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Droid907, Amanda Wong and SARZ TKG in Atlanta. (photo © SARZ TKG)

Magnet Wall in Chelsea with some regulars and new additions. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

bunny M (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Lower East Side, Manhattan, NYC. 2012 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Phlegm at Boombarstick Brings a Theatre/Church Alive in Croatia

July 15, 2013 Artists

Sheffield, England-based Street Artist, fine artist, and illustrator Phlegm took part in the zero edition of Boombarstick in Croatia last month, and today we have some images of his new work there. Now abandoned, the building previously held a cinema and was originally a church. Many Street Artists pine for this sort of architectural opportunity, a pre-built stage with just enough existing detail to play foil for their work.

Phlegm. Boombarstick. Vodnjan, Croatia. (photo © Swen Serbic)

As is usual for the meticulous Phlegm, the facade was well played as an exterior staircase leading up to the bellfry – presumably where a bat or two may come flying out. A good example of working within the context of the locality, the five day transformation was an intensive public display of the dedication to the imagination of one artist, and an opening to the inner world of many who would care to travel there with him.

See Hitnes on our posting about Boombarstick last week, and special thanks to Swen Serbic for sharing his photos here for BSA readers.

Phlegm. Boombarstick. Vodnjan, Croatia. (photo © Swen Serbic)

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Hitnes at Boombarstick: Street Art in Croatia

July 11, 2013 Artists

50 points awarded for the name: Boombarstick !

Also, baby goats in your promo video melts even the meanest graff writers heart, so another 25 points for that. (see adorable video below)

In fact, if you look through all the walls and materials and listen to the voices of the organizers, you find a serious consideration of humor as a force for creativity, so we’re pretty close to a perfect score of 100 with this original and inviting concept for a city Street Art festival.

Mercifully, the art is also good.

Hitnes. Boombarstick. Vodnjan, Croatia. (photo © Swen Serbic)

All things considered, this ZERO edition (not 1^st) of the Croatian festival that features a solid selection of international (mostly European) Street Artists along with local and regional musicians was very successful. The city is called Vodnjan/Dignano situated in the peninsula and county of Istria. It prides itself on its multicultural patrimony and the festival was meant to convey the artistic and cultural point of view that it has. Says Marco Contardi, one of the volunteer organizers, “The festival stands as a link between Istria and Europe, encouraging a reciprocal fruitful connection.”

Hitnes. Detail. Boombarstick. Vodnjan, Croatia. (photo © Swen Serbic)

So we’ll be bringing you some exclusive images of the pieces that Street Artists completed during Boombarstick. The first here is by Rome’s Hitnes, who completed this flight of imagination among the strong and well worn roots of the old city. He uses aerosol, brush, pencils, and whatever else brings out the detail in his alternate reality, which often meditates on the animal kingdom and a sense of magic.

Look forward in coming days to new exclusive photos of the completed pieces on BSA from some of the participants in this unique festival who include Franco Manzin, Phlegm, OKO, Sam3, Giorgio Bartocci, Hitnes, Eme, Ufocinque, Interesni Kazki, NeSpoon, Miron Milic, and Liqen.

Hitnes. Boombarstick. Vodnjan, Croatia. (photo © Swen Serbic)

Click HERE for more information about Boombarstick.

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MURAL Festival in Montreal Stakes a Claim for Street Art North

June 19, 2013 Artists

The MURAL Festival in Montreal took over Saint-Laurent Boulevard over the weekend with the work of more than 25 local, national and international Street Artists working separately and in concert across large walls for this first ever event, and many have taken notice. Nevermind the gossip on the street about mayoral corruption and an ongoing rancorous debate here about a perceived graffiti problem in the city, MURAL and its supporters clearly are staking a claim on a growing world Street Art stage with a strong show that can legitimately brag about a solid mix of talent and styles.

Judging from the attendance, the hashtag enthusiasm, and the cameras hoisted into the air, there should be no debate about how much the kids actually love this stuff – and how many non-kids are also fueling the current explosion of art in the public sphere. “From 5 to 80 years old, the crowd discovered amazing talents and learned to appreciate a public art form that had been cast aside and misidentified as vandalism for the past 20 years,” says Fred Caron, one of the organizers and a cultural worker in the public art milieu. “The cultural values and power of murals is finally back in the North thanks to a crazy bunch of young Canucks.”

ROA (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas). Another view of this wall with the artists’ description appears below.

For an expansive event like this to succeed right out of the gate, it doesn’t hurt that Montreal is a relatively homogenous city with a very strong tax base, an engaged business sector, and a vibrant arts culture chock full of ideas, performances, and participatory aspirations. With an appreciative audience thronging into the four day festival for fun and culture, the numerous large mural walls in multiple locations were accompanied by body painting, a paint battle, painting with your feet, block parties, live music, djs, a photo booth, tours on foot and bike, skateboard lessons, kite making, urban “street” inspired dance troupes, night time projections, and naturally, beer.

“What captivated me most about this trip was the level of community, cross pollination and camaraderie shared between the different artists groups, institutions and organizations in the city,” enthuses LNY, a New Jersey based Street Artist who has been part of a few of these city-centric festivals over the last couple of years. Rather than cheaply plugging a downtown area with a momentary hype, a sort of “Ghetto Olympics” that fades quickly, leaving no real value to a community, LNY notes that the main organizers of MURAL continued to be engaged with the needs of the artists and were involved with the various satellite organizations to make sure they were thriving.

“This to me is the perfect gauge for healthy communities and for worthwhile festivals that can transcend their original novelty and spectacle to really give something back,” he remarks.

Reka One. Detail. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

For Street Art photographer Daniel Estaban Rojas, whose work here displays most of the finished pieces at press time, MURAL was an inspiring opportunity to meet many new artists and to be proud of the city. “The face of Montreal has changed with this festival and I think that Street Art will be a lot more accepted in this city. Most people that I spoke to while shooting on the streets had one thing in common to say, and that was ‘thank you’,” he reports with some relief and pride. “Knowing that people were so grateful and being surrounded by such positive vibes made it all the better.”

Included in the MURAL Festival lineup (though not all represented here) were A Squid Called Sebastion, A’Shop, Chris Dyer, Christina Angelina, En Masse, Escif, Fin and Christina, Gaia, Jason Botkin, Labrona, Le Bonnard, LNY, Omen, Other, Other (aka Troy Lovegates), Paria Crew, Phlegm, Pixel Pancho, Reka One, Ricardo Cavolo, ROA, Shantz Brothers, Stare, Stikki Peaches, Troy Lovegates, and Wzrds GNG, among others.

Reka One (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

A Squid Called Sebastian (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Phlegm. Detail. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Phlegm (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

For his first visit to Montreal, the Belgian Street Artist named ROA says that he had a great time creating this “still life” with a bison and a bear. When talking about his inspiration, ROA says that he was impressed with the history of the so-called American bison, which was incredibly abundant in the early 19th century, numbering more than 40 million. After being hunted almost into extinction with a population of 200 a century later, the bison slowly have reestablished their numbers in Canada to 700,000. He decided to add a bear laying on top because it tells a similar story of a native mammal in the region.

ROA (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas).

A’Shop (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

“I decided to speak about the Americas and the aspects that unite us though history and conflict,” explains Street Artist LNY about his portrait of his cousin Leslie. He chose her because he considers her, “a person who represents the unification of north and south in an individual; a sort of cultural hybridism.” She is handling maiz, or corn, “as a metaphor for PanAmerican unity; as a crop that has sustained the continents since ancient times and that is now a shell of it’s former self after being thoroughly genetically modified for gain and profit.”

LNY (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

OMEN (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

En Masse (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Escif (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Pixel Pancho (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Chris Dyer (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Paria Crew (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Ricardo Cavolo (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

For his participation in the MURAL Festival, it was primarily about coming home for the Canadian artist named Other (AKA Troy Lovegates). “All my spare moments were playing frisbee and catching up with old friends,” he says as he describes the events.

But what about the fellows he painted for the wall? Actually, they are two representations of one man, a troubled sort of guy he met recently.

“The painting I did is of a man I met in Ottawa a few days before the festival who was lost and homeless and wanted to return home to Montreal. But he was scattered, laying in a parking lot talking nonsense. He seemed very gentle and I hope I brought back a part of him to Montreal.”

Other (AKA Troy Lovegates) (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Gaia (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Jason Botkin (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Wzrds GNG (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Mural Festival in Montreal: Day 4

June 17, 2013 Artists

DAY 4 at #MuralFestival

Drawing to an end in Montreal, the artists are completing their murals even as the vendors and weekend art fans vacate the scene. Montreal enjoyed a heavy hammering of wall spectacle going up, paint battles being splashed, and throngs of fans going through many venues as there were more cameras than beers held aloft – just kidding, of course there were more beers.

Here are new images from A Squid Called Sebastion, A’Shop, Fin and Christina, Gaia, Jason Botkin, Labrona, LNY, Omen, Other (aka Troy Lovegates), Phlegm, Pixel Pancho, ROA, Shantz Brothers, and Stikki Peaches.

BSA captures the action from this Canadian city thanks to our partners at MURAL and to the talented Daniel Esteban Rojas behind the lense. A full onslaught of all the completed murals will flood the screen as soon as we collect them together for you.

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Mural Festival in Montreal, Day 2

June 14, 2013 Artists

DAY 2 at #MuralFestival

The Mural Festival is well underway and the Saint-Laurent Boulevard route is getting festooned by A’Shop, Chris Dyer, En Masse, Escif, Gaia, Jason Botkin, Le Bonnard, LNY, Other (AKA Troy Lovegates), Omen, Paria Crew, Phlegm, Ricardo Cavolo, ROA, and Wzrds GNG, among others.

Here are exclusive on the scene photos for BSA readers from Daniel Esteban Rojas, who has a special eye for composition all his own.

Gaia rocks the pink socks on a yellow letter while the buffalo roam. Detail of work in progress. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Gaia. Detail of work in progress with a portrait in hand of Rene Leveseque who is floating over a copy of a John Kane painting of British Colombia. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

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Montreal Has The Spotlight: MURAL Festival, Day 1

June 13, 2013 Artists

DAY 1 at #MuralFestival

Starting today in Montreal is MURAL, a four day open-air market on Saint-Laurent Boulevard that turns into a Street Art party. Running June 13-16, the 2 km street will be clobbered by about 20 Street Artists during the day, and dancing and cavorting at night.

BSA is proud to bring you exclusive shots of the action you can only find here as these walls go up for the full four days. ROA, GAIA, Labrona and others have already started killin’ their spots and folks are already wandering through the closed streets to get a free show of art-in-progress. As is happening more often, Street Artists are getting their own walls and not hitting up the big collaborative cacaphonic multi-piece walls that we used to associate with festivals like these. Unless you count En Masse, who specialize in just that, but only in black and white.

So dial up MURAL on your Instagram machine here http://instagram.com/muralfestival# for quick flix of whatever is happening and check back at BSA every day because we’ll be bringing you a dope mix of shots from some of these artists who are making the MURAL scene; Jason Botkin, Omen, Escif, Labrona, ROA, Pixel Pancho, Other, A’Shop, Le Bonnard, Paria Crew, Phlegm, Reka One, Ricardo Cavolo, LNY,WZRDS GNG, Chris Dyer, Christina Angelina, Squid Called Sebastian, Stare, GAIA, and of course, local heroic collaboratists En Masse.

In the meantime enjoy these beauties just for BSA readers by talented photographer Daniel Esteban Rojas.

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LNDMRK Presents: Muralistes / Mural Street Art Festival (Montreal, Canada)

May 21, 2013 Afghanistan, Artists

Mural Festival

MURAL réunira plus de 35 artistes locaux et internationaux sur 2 km de marché à ciel ouvert sur le Boulevard St-Laurent, fermé à la circulation pour l’occasion. Le festival présentera la création de près de 20 murales uniques qui redéfinieront l’image de la Main pour la prochaine année, en plus de présenter un évènement spécial chaque soir qui permettra aux festivaliers de se réunir en un lieu différent afin de poursuivre la fête créative.

Festival international d’art public déterminé à célébrer la créativité et démocratiser l’art urbain, MURAL transformera l’espace d’une semaine le boulevard Saint-Laurent en véritable musée à ciel ouvert où s’unissent créativement les talents d’artistes locaux et internationaux.

Rendez-vous unique dans le nord-est américain, l’événement annuel rassemble l’avant-garde en arts visuels afin de concrétiser Montréal comme pôle artistique incontournable en Amérique du nord.

Participating Artists: Jason Botkin, Omen, Escif, Pixel Pancho, ROA, Labrona, Le Bonnard, A’Shop, Other, Reka One, Paria Crew, Phlegm, Wzrd GNG, Ricardo Cavolo, LNY.

http://muralfestival.com/

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