All posts tagged: Shiro

BSA Images Of The Week: 11.12.23

November 12, 2023 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week!

A Chagall painting is stolen from a midtown gallery, Fab Five Freddy is in Vanity Fair, Carlo McCormick opened his curated “Wild Style” show at Deitch, the Christmas tree is going up in Rockefeller Center, the mayor’s phones have been seized in a mystery investigation, students are walking out of class and people are hitting the streets at Columbus Circle, Grand Central, and the Brooklyn Bridge to demand a ceasefire in Israel/Gaza. The frenetic muse is you, trying to make it make sense.

Here is our weekly interview with the street: this week featuring Faile, Stikman, Elle, Queen Andrea, CRKSHNK, Shiro, Espo, Homesick, DeGrupo, Michael Alan, Dark Clouds, Gats, Manik, Drones, ICU463, El Chalvo Del Ocho, Saxgraf, Smart RIS, Bianca Does New York, Uloang, and Chespirito.

ULOANG’s portrait of Chespirito as El Chavo del 8. A beloved character from one of the most popular shows on Latin American television ever. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saxgraf and Shiro collaboration. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bianca Does New York (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Elle and Queen Andrea collaboration (photo © Jaime Rojo)

GATS for East Village Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

HOMESICK, Degrupo, Manik and KimSHT. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist’s portrait of David Bowie. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Last Sunday’s edition of BSA Images Of The Week included a WIP photo of Michael Alan’s new mural. Here’s the completed version. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 05.30.21

May 30, 2021 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

New York is crushing it right now.

The volume of Street Art has picked up full steam with more graffiti on walls than many OG graff fans can remember were on the trains in the 80s. Competition for spots large and small is more fierce than a Saturday afternoon rush at the nail salon. The quantity of pieces and tags and stencils ebbs and flows, as does the quality and freshness. But looking at it as you walk makes you feel like New York street and cultural life is in full bloom. Large-scale and small, the works appear like mushrooms popping up in the urban forest after a late-spring rain storm.

In other news, we’re really digging the miniatures of New York life made by artist Danny Cortes, the 1980s NYC train writer Futura is evolving himself into light fixture design with new works in a Noguchi Museum show (plus new collaborations with Comme des Garçons and Uniqlo), and Tesla’s Elon Musk is looking for “awesome graffiti” to adorn his company’s new mega-factory in Berlin. Let’s see how many graffiti and street artists get trampled in the stampede to “sell out”! Go Bro! Go Sis! Just don’t lecture us on heavy topics like gentrification, or the sullying of “our culture” by arrivistes. Yawn.

Let’s take to the streets, no?

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Conse, D. Scribblings, Damien Mitchel, False, Fhake, Kest Gak, Lorenzo Masnah, Matt Siren, Menace Resa, Michael Zelehoski, Mint & Serf, Mort Art, Royce Bannon, Shiro, Smells, Swif, The Yit Foreward, Toxic, UFO 907, and Zexor.

“Miguelito” by Michael Zelehoski (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This wooden sculpture installed in McCarren Park in Williamsburg is made from recycled wood from boarded-up windows. It will remain in place until October 2021.

Act Like You Know by an unidentifed artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Royce Bannon. Matt Siren (photo © Jaime Rojo)

I Love You Always Too! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 07.05.20

July 5, 2020 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week.

Hanging tough is what New York does, and the art in the street is 10X more potent than six months ago. It’s almost cliche to say that Street Art and graffiti are about a conversation on the street, but the words and sentiments being expressed right now on monuments, edifices, and in doorways are a direct reflection of the high-emotion, high-stakes conversations that we must have about the true state of race, freedom and social mobility in 2020 US.

Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Art 2 Heart Art, Calicho Art, Chris RWK, Col Walnuts, Eortica, Irena Kenny, Jilly Ballistic, John Ahearn, Know Justice, Sac Six, Scratch, Shiro, Top Bun Artist, Zachary Ginsberg, and Zero Productivity.

Its The Fucking Face (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Zachary Ginsberg. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shiro, Erotica, Scratch. Hunts Point. The Bronx. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Art 2 Heart Art . Calicho Art (photo © Jaime Rojo)

John Ahearn. Hunts Point. The Bronx. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Zero Productivity, Chris RWK (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 11.03.19

November 3, 2019 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Happy New York Marathon! Turn your clocks back an hour! Also, protest against police brutality against black and brown youth on the subway! The latter is really disheartening for us all to see – and young people of all colors were fighting back this weekend in protest.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this time featuring Abe Lincoln Jr., Adam Fujita, Alexcia Panay, Anthony Lister, Below Key, BK Foxx, Bobby Hundreds, Downer Jones, Dragon Art, Hops Art, Maia Lorian, Mastro NYC, Muebon, Pricey Alex, Shiro, Sinclair the Vandal, VKrone, and Want.

Top banner Maia Lorian and Abe Lincoln Jr. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BK Foxx portrait of Nipsey Hussle, the American Rapper, artist, activist assassinated in March 2019 in Los Angeles, CA. Ms. Foxx used a photo by Bobby Hundreds as a reference for her painting. For JMZ Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Abe Lincoln Jr. & Maia Lorian A Presidential Parody Project. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist portrait of the real Abe Lincoln and the model for what a real leader AND real president should be. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Want . Hound . Pear (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Imidiana Garcia & Alexcia Panay (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shiro for JMZ Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Below Key for JMZ Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sinclair The Vandal (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pricey Alex . Downer Jones . Mastro NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Muebon for JMZ Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

CNO PCU SBP ROC ARI16 JADA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 10.13.19

October 13, 2019 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week – and what a week it has been. The Jews have a new year, the daily amNewYork newspaper was closed, Brooklyn is breaking up gambling dens, and some people are still celebrating Columbus Day tomorrow. The streets have so many different voices adding to the visual dialogue, rather unlike the illusion of variety the corporate media presents us regarding geopolitics, democratic institutions, banks, oil, austerity, the world economy as casino, the war industry, the rise of fascism and autocrats generally.

Now that we think of it, all of these topics are directly and indirectly addressed through our Street Art as well.

Hope you are out strolling today in your neighborhood looking for Street Aart, in a park looking at the leaves on the trees, or outside the city in an apple orchard or pumpkin patch. Do anything you can to strike a sense of balance – we all need it!

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this time featuring Alex Face, Buff Monster, Chapter 23, Dan Kitcher, Elyaz, The Pansy Project, Inside Out Project, JR, Michel Velt, N.Dergund, Mishka, Little Ricky, Nass, Rubin415, Shiro, Tar Box, and Winslow World.

Top banner Dan Kitchener (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dan Kitchner for East Village Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Alex Face for East Village Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Looks like Anna Wintour is having some female trouble. Little Ricky (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mishka Says…oh my my! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Almost Over Keep Smiling (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Michel Velt for East Village Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tar Box for East Village Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JR Inside Out Project for the Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A Community Mural Festival in NYC, Highlights From Welling Court 2015

June 17, 2015 Artists

An annual mural tradition of non-pretense, New York hosted the 6th Annual Welling Court mural festival this weekend in a working class neighborhood in Queens, thanks to a grassroots couple who hustle to match artists with walls and opportunity. More than a hundred artists, whose styles span the graffiti-urban art-street art spectrum, participate every year in this community event that eschews the creeping fingers of commercial interests and the pontificating tongues of the art critics.

That is not the point here. That’s not why you fell in love with Street Art and the unvarnished expression of the creative spirit.

LMNOPI. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Thanks to hearty and big-hearted organizers Alison and Garrison Buxton, the selection is as varied as the participants and the neighbors who come out to share home made dishes, music, and personal stories. Invariably the kids are racing around on their bikes and skates, people are meeting artists and posing for selfies, and some of the kids get to try their hand at painting.

So if you want to see what some of the organic art work is on the scene at the moment, walk through this unassuming Queens neighborhood with us and enjoy the real beat of New York. It’s a small selection, but you can get the flavor.

LMNOPI. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LMNOPI (photo © Jaime Rojo)

John Fekner (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amanda Marie (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

XO. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rubin415 . Joe Iurato (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Too Fly. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Too Fly (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Peace (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WANE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

C. Cardinale. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

C. Cardinale (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Damien Mitchell (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Queen Andrea . Mick La Rock. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Queen Andrea . Mick La Rock (photo © Jaime Rojo)

SHIRO (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Andy Golub . Leif G. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Andy Golub . Leif G. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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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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Happy New Year 2015 – BSA Readers Choice Top 10

January 1, 2015 Artists

Happy New Year to All! Thank you for inspiring us to do our best and to those of you who continue to support our personal art project / cultural examination, we extend our gratitude more than ever.

Begun as an enthusiastic discovery of what was happening in a few neighborhoods in New York, we continued to expand our view into more cities around the world last year and into the history and future of the scene. We also aimed to provide you with a critical platform for examination of the street art/ graffiti / public art/ contemporary art continuum with interviews with artists, curators, collectors, organizers, observers and thinkers in the street, studio, gallery, and museum – trouble makers and taste makers alike.

In the end, it’s your observations and the conversations on the street that are most important. As we begin the year with over 300K fans, friends, and followers on social media platforms and 225 articles on the Huffington Post (thanks HuffPost team!), we feel like we get a valuable good survey of current opinions heading our way daily.

With in-depth interviews, investigative articles, opinion infused examinations, plain celebratory reverie, occasionally silly non-sequitors, and public appearances where we get to meet you, we get a good analytical look at an ever-evolving movement, glittery polish and warts and all.

As the new year begins we take a look back at the top stories chosen by BSA Readers in the last 12 months. Among them are two takeover pop-up shows in soon-to-be demolished buildings, a story about commercial abuse of artist copyrights and the effort to fight back, a street art community’s response to the sudden death of an activist street artist, a Street Art tourist trip, and a few inspirational women, men, and Mexican muralists. Even though we published at least once a day for the last 365 days, these are the most popular pieces, as chosen by you, Dear BSA Reader.

10. Exploring Lisbon as a Street Art Tourist

Os Gemeos / Blu (photo © Stephen Kelley)

9. Kara Walker and Her Sugar Sphinx at the Old Domino Factory

Kara Walker. The artist portrait in profile with her sugary sphinx in the background. (photo via iPhone © Jaime Rojo)

8. Women Rock Wynwood Walls at Miami Art Basel 2013

Fafi (photo © Martha Cooper for Wynwood Walls)

7. A Sudden Secret Street Art House Party in Manhattan

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

6. Niels Shoe Meulman Balancing “Unearthly” Paintings

Niels “Shoe” Meulman. Process shot. (photo © Adele Renault)

5. It’s All the Rage, Street Artists Filing Lawsuits Left and Right

4. Shok-1 Street Art X-Rays Reveal a Unique Hand at the Can

Shok-1 (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

3. 12 Mexican Street Artists Stray Far from Muralism Tradition In NYC

Sego (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2. Army Of One, Inspiration To Many : Jef Campion

Army Of One AKA JC2 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

1. Graffiti and Street Art Lock Up “21st Precinct” in New York

Pixote in action. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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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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Graffiti and Street Art Lock Up “21st Precinct” in New York

August 14, 2014 Artists, Interview

This weekend the NYPD police precinct is hosting a graffiti and street art show, and the public is welcome to see every floor completely swimming in aerosol and plastered in wheat-paste.

Admit it, it is not often you receive an invite like that.

Pesu (center), Pixote (left) and Bill Claps Morse code writing the history of the building on the walls. (right) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“When this precinct was built it was a very bad, very poor neighborhood. When the cops came in there was a lot of brutality and there was a lot of corruption,” says curator Robert Aloia of this building architected for the NYPD in 1863 and closed down fifty years later. A quick search on the web shows a history of thuggery born of Dickens. Records at the time of closure indicated there were 9,500 arrests annually and this tiny slice of Manhattan alone had 37 brothels.

So why not have a graffiti show here before tearing it down, right?.

Savior, El Mundo, Ben Angotti, Depoe, Esteban Del Valle and Chris Soria. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: So you literally could hit every wall here and it wouldn’t matter because it is coming down at the end of the month?
Robert Aloia: Yeah the inside walls. The outside walls they don’t want us to touch.

In a twist of events pulled from a satire, one of the artists on display this weekend was arrested this month in Brooklyn and spent the night in jail before seeing a judge. The following day he came to this precinct and hit up some walls with impunity.

Savior, El Mundo, Ben Angotti, Depoe, Esteban Del Valle and Chris Soria. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“It’s just amazing that these artists can put their time, their money, and their talent into something that is just coming down,” says Aloia while touring us through rooms and stairways during one of the four visits we made for these exclusive first images, “ and it is only going to be seen for a certain amount of time.”

Hellbent has his own room. So does Rambo. Cash4 and Matt Siren are sharing one together, as are Sheryo and the Yok. Elle spent an entire night in hers watching her black wax sculpture melting away with the candles she planted in it. An unconfirmed story says it is a sculpture cast of the elusive Judith Supine.

“She painted it black, melted it and filmed it,” says Aloia.

Faust (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Have you thought of the irony behind the fact that this is a former police precinct and many of the artists would have been running away from this place instead of trying to get into it?
Robert Aloia: That is true, I didn’t think of that aspect of it really, but the gallery area was the actual holding cell.

Brooklyn Street Art: So how did you draw these people together?
Robert Aloia: Every show I’ve done I start with my friends, and then it’s friends of friends, and that’s it. It’s just about one degree of separation.

In the last three years the New York native has curated a number of shows heavily weighted with graffiti artists and Street Artists, primarily on Manhattan’s Lower East Side at bars, event spaces, and venues with downtown history like Fuse, White Box, and La Mama.

Vexta (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A bartender and DJ who has mixed with a lot of New York nightlife and street life without becoming hardened, Aloia and co-curators like Erik Foss and Ricky Powell have been doing sometimes star-studded yet unassuming one-off shows the past few years with Street Art names like Bast, Supine, and Aiko and some of the newer kids like N’DA and Icy & Sot.

“I am from New York and I always knew a lot of graffiti artists, that’s how I ended up getting into it. I was just lucky enough to have access to some venues to do stuff.”

Brooklyn born, Aloia’s been on the LES since the 80s, which explains his devotion to the memory of “outlaw parties” where people would set up an illegal bar and a pumping sound system in improvised celebrations at unsanctioned locations. Outlaw parties and pop-up speakeasies still exist of course, but more often they are in Brooklyn now as Manhattan is shoving artists out by the truckload.

Vexta (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For “21st Precinct” he’s called in nearly 50 artists from as far away as Japan, Australia, California, and nearby New Jersey. The mix of artists is eclectic and sometimes quite powerful like the tribute to SAMO (Basquiat) in the gallery by his co-conspirator Al Diaz, and the dark room built by Swedish photographer Jesper Haynes which features images from the downtown New York in the Reagan era.

“I definitely always have a mix with fine art, photography, installation, but you know I always have old-school graffiti artists and street artists,” he says as he looks over the four floors of thickly gritty splendor by renowned and unknown.

For those lucky enough to see the show in this venue this weekend or next, “21st Precinct” is a quintessential New York minute, a steamy grimy melting pot of authentic attitude that begs to differ and perhaps stick a finger in your chest just before the wrecking ball hits. Thank Aloia while you’re there. Not surprisingly, the new building that replaces this one will be for…..wait for it…. luxury residences.

Jesper Haynes (photo © Jaime Rojo)

KET (photo © Jaime Rojo)

N Carlos J (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Li-Hill (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rambo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

URNew Yrok (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rae (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shiro (photo © Jaime Rojo)

bunny M (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ASVP (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris RWK (center) URNew York (left) ASVP (right). (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NEPO (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. Toll (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Never (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Matt Siren . Cash4 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Al Diaz (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amanda Marie (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nick Tengri (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Joseph Meloy (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hellbent (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bishop203 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Yok and Sheryo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Iena Cruz (photo © Jaime Rojo)

X-O (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pixote in action. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Justin Carty (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Curb Your Ego (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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OUTLAW ARTS Presents: “The 21st Precinct”
Curated by Robert Aloia & VNA Mag

The show will be in the old 21st Precinct located on 327 East 22nd Street. More information HERE.

Contributing Artists:

Adam Dare, Al Diaz, Amanda Marie, ASVP, Bad Pedestrian, Ben Angotti , Bill Claps, Bishop203, Bunny M., Cash4, Chris RWK, Chris Soria, Coby Kennedy, Curtis Kulig, D. Gaja, Danielle Mastrion, Dasic, Dizmology, Duel, ELLE, Erasmo, Esteban del Valle, Faust, Ghost, GIZ, Hellbent, Hue, Icy & Sot, Iena Cruz, Jesper Haynes, Justin Carty, Ket, Lexi Bella, Li-Hall, Lorenzo Masnah, Matt Siren, Mr. Toll, N. Carlos Jay, Nepo, Nick Tengri, Pesu, Phil, Pixote, RAE, Rambo, Ricardo Cabret, SAE, Savior Elmundo, Shery-o & The Yok, Shiro, Tone Tank, URNY, Vexta, X-O.

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“Outdoor Gallery” Surveys Current Street Art Scene in NYC

February 20, 2014 Artists

Outdoor Gallery – New York City by Yoav Litvin

The outdoor gallery is the one we visit most and NYC is always front and center in our heart even as we branched out to about 100 other cities and towns last year. Outdoor Gallery – New York City is also the name of the brand new book by photographer and writer Yoav Litvin, who has spent the last couple of years shooting New York streets and meeting many of the artists who make the painting and wheat pasting that characterizes the class of 2014.

Outdoor Gallery – New York City by Yoav Litvin. Art by Chris Stain.

Published by Ginko Press, the large 235 page hardcover features nearly 50 street artists / graffiti artists whose work you see here regularly (with the exception of two or three) along with comments and observations from the artists about their practice, their experiences, and the current Street Art scene primarily in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

When Yoav told us of his hope to publish a book last year we offered whatever advice we could – but primarily we advised him to stick to his vision and not to let anyone discourage him. A true fan of the scene, he has worked tirelessly to do just that and now he can share with you a personal survey and record of many of the artists who are getting up today in New York.

Outdoor Gallery. New York City by Yoav Litvin. Art by Joe Iurato.

“Outdoor Gallery – New York City grew organically to embody my process of exploration and discovery on the streets of New York City. It is a creation that was born out of love for New York City streets and their people, and focuses on artists as leaders with a unique and necessary role in a society that aspires for freedom and change,” says Litvin in his introduction, and throughout the book you can sense the respect he has for the art and the dedication he has put into this project.

Careful to let the artists speak for themselves, he presents their work without commentary and with ample space given for expression. Using primarily his own photos, it is carefully edited and presented as an uncluttered and measured overview of each artists work.

Outdoor Gallery – New York City by Yoav Litvin. Art by Jilly Ballistic.

For us it is a proud moment to see someone’s dream realized after so much effort and dogged determination – especially in a scene whose challenges we are well familiar with. No one knows how hard it is to make something happen unless they do it themselves. So congratulations to Yoav for sticking to his vision and having the fortitude to finish this and thanks to him on the behalf of the artists whom he is helping to receive recognition for their work as well.

To that end, you are invited to the big launch party this Saturday at 17 Frost in Williamsburg. We’ll be there and we hope you can make it out for a great New York Street Art family reunion. You can’t miss the entrance, it’s been newly smashed by El Sol 25, Bishop 203, Royce and some other people we can’t remember right now but who will remind us as soon as this goes up ; ) .

Outdoor Gallery – New York City by Yoav Litvin. Art by Gilf!

You can find out more about it on the Facebook Event Page, but we understand there will be a newly debuted video from Dega Films, a special tribute to Army of One, and a full show of new works from many of the artists in the book, including;

Adam Dare, Alice Mizrachi, Army of One / JC2, Astrodub, ASVP, Billy Mode, Bisho203, Bunny M, Cern, Chris RWK, Chris Stain, Cope2, Dain, Dirty Bandits, El Sol 25, Elle Deadsex, Enzo and Nio, Free5, Fumero, Gaia, Gilf!, Hellbent, Icy and Sot, Indie 184, Jilly Ballistic, Joe Iurato, Kram, Lillian Lorraine, LNY (Lunar New Year), Miyok, ND’A, OCMC, OverUnder, Phetus88, QRST, Russell King, Shin Shin, Shiro, Sofia Maldonaldo, The Yok, Toofly, and Veng RWK.

Outdoor Gallery – New York City by Yoav Litvin. Art by Icy & Sot.

Outdoor Gallery – New York City by Yoav Litvin. Art by Hellbent.

Outdoor Gallery – New York City by Yoav Litvin. Art by QRST.

Outdoor Gallery – New York City by Yoav Litvin. Front and back cover art by Bishop203, LNY, Alice Mizrachi, QRST, Gilf!, Cern and Icy & Sot.

Below is a look at behind-the-scenes of the making of the mural for the cover of the book.

Outdoor Gallery – New York City will be launched in conjunction with an art exhibition this Saturday, February 22nd at 17 Frost Art Space in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Click HERE for more details.

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BSA Images of The Week: 10.20.13

October 20, 2013 Artists

The leaves in Central Park are aflame and so are the passions of Street Art fans (and artists) this week in New York where the general public is now conditioned to be on alert for a near-daily announcement of a new Banksy installation nearly anywhere in the city. It can be a stencil, a sculpture, a performance, a rolling truck gallery, or a canvas suspended from the Highline – but don’t worry about finding it – it will be announced on the website first…

We’ve tried to keep it all in perspective and not slavishly cancel life to run out and capture the latest installation, but the buzz is unavoidable and we get sucked in. It is now taking on some air of a circus, complete with barkers and clowns and otters flapping their flippers (and lips). As a branding “re-fresh”, it’s been a very successful campaign so far with news reportage, Instagramming and re-tweets, crowds assembling at a moments notice to snap images of and/or with the work, and we even found vigilante fans tackling vandals who are vandalizing the vandalism. You can’t engineer that sort of irony. Now an elected leader or two are talking about trying to capture the president of Banksy Inc. LLC – which would send a clear message to all Street Artists that this really is the best way to market your work.

Meanwhile there are many other Street Artists and fine artists in general who are still at work on the streets of New York, and you may even give their content, quality and placement more praise than some from this Banksy campaign. We’ve always celebrated the creative spirit however it is expressed and invariably find some of the greatest work is done by people we’ve never heard of, or barely know much about. At a time where large media is consolidating and the individual voice is being marginalized and commodified, we find this to still be an amazingly democratic practice of joining the conversation, if imperfect and confusing. And New York doesn’t stop just because one new guy is getting a lot of attention – Hell, we barely notice when Obama or the Pope or even the Queen of England visits – she’s just one queen after all and we have the entire neighborhood of Chelsea.

So here is our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Banksy, Bifido, Cali Killa, Dede, Don Rimx, El Kamino, El Sol 25, JC, London Kaye, Meres, Nepo, Pastey Whyte, Shin Shin, and Shiro.

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Looking at 5Pointz Now, Extolling a Graffiti Holy Place

June 26, 2013 Artists

While famed LA/Chicago/Detroit graffiti artists Revok and Pose are in town getting up on the Houston Street wall this week and many members of the MSK crew were in Bushwick doing tributes to Nekst over the weekend, New Yorkers have had the opportunity to talk with a lot of visiting friends who are in town in advance of the Revok/Pose dual show at Jonathan Levine this Saturday. As graffiti culture continues to assert its place in modern art history even while expanding and redefining itself on the street and in homes, galleries, and museums along a storied continuum, we are reminded again about the foundational role that graffiti has played in our aesthetic, helping to define urban culture and at least partially fueling the evolution of what we call a Street Art scene today.

As with most subcultures in a capitalist society, there are a fair amount of commercial influences swimming around and through the graffiti world too, the products and motifs employed to sell them somehow simplifying graffitis complex nature and diluting its emotional resonance for many. This is the water we’re all swimming in, however, and you could drown trying to fight it. Despite commercial pressures and their mutations, it is evident that the graffiti style is alive and well and building upon itself in new ways. For some, graffiti is analogous to the early punk scene for some others it could be inextricably tied to hip hop. But as it continues to morph into multiple subgenres it still seems perfectly clear that it is born from a scream, a helluva celebratory and defiant yell ; very individual, often powerful, it is tied to an agonizing drive to be heard and to be seen, to capture by hand something that is channeling by its own volition through your mind and from your gut. Probably. That incisive wisdom from BSA and $2.50 will get you a ride on the subway.

BSA will never be versed enough to speak authoritatively about graffiti culture, nor do we pretend to – it is so vast and storied and sort of outside our wheelhouse. But seeing all this graff action this week brings our minds to a place like 5Pointz in Long Island City, Queens. Begun as Phun Factory and eventually changing its name, this 200,000 sf factory building cannot be overestimated in its impact visually over two decades as well as for the community service it has provided for many artists, young and older, to practice, experiment, and even hit a level of mastery of their craft. We won’t call it a Mecca, as we’ve been schooled that some of our brothers and sisters think that’s disrespectful – So we’ll just call it a Holy Place for many here and around the world. An ever evolving canvas viewable from the street and passing trains, many a tourist has made the pilgrimage to check it out; a touchstone for the true New York, and perhaps one that is disappearing.

As the fevered pitch of cries from fans and community for the preservation of 5 Pointz runs up against the dual realities of a crumbling infrastructure and an increasingly desirable location for real estate development, we all reluctantly cede that the writing is probably on the wall (pardon the pun). Absent a deep-pocketed philanthropist who wants to preserve it (Jay-Z?) or a groundswell of citizenry demanding public seizing of private property (torches and pitchforks anyone?), you have to know that this can’t last forever despite what many see as its importance and relevance to this culture, history, and this time. But really, just take a look around this spot. If you are here now, or are planning to come soon, you know that 5Pointz has the power of a beacon for many; a living thriving vessel for the creative spirit to be expressed in myriad ways, many personal. All hail 5Pointz and those who have made it successful all these years.

Here is a small collection of more recent images of 5Pointz.

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Images of the Week: 04.21.13

April 21, 2013 Artists

Here’s our weekly interview of the street, this week featuring $hota, Armer, bunnyM, C215, Curtis Kulig, DAO, Demian Smith, Essencia, Gyser, Irade, Joseph Meloy, Judith Supine, Love Me, Meres, Monsieur Plume, Patch Whiskey, Raid Crew, Mr. Blob, Robert Janz, SEN2, Shiro, Smogk, Spagnola, Theo David, and Thomas Buildmore .

We’ve seen a lot of fat cats, but never one this big. French Street Artist C215 finished it this week on a wall in the 13th arrondissment of Paris. Demian Smith, founder of Underground Paris, says the chat géant is “part of the neighborhood’s strategy to create an alternative tourism industry in this pretty ugly, working class area in the south of Paris.” – Not the first time that Street Artists have perked a place up, just usually not on this scale. The strategy has so far included murals by Shepard Fairey, Inti, and Vhils, he says. Special thanks to Théo David for sharing these exclusive shots for BSA readers.

This forced collab with bunnyM and Robert Janz has a wild untamed energy, like a group of teens on a train at 3 pm. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Ain’t nothin I’m just tryin to get my paper, my paper.” That’s right Mr. Blob is getting paid at 5Pointz. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Usually catching walls down south, Patch Whisky stopped in at the Bushwick Collective and also hit the En Masse installation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Thank you to Théo David for shooting the C215 wall in Paris for BSA. Visit Théo’s site here for more of his work.

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LMNOPI. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LMNOPI. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LMNOPI (photo © Jaime Rojo)

John Fekner (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amanda Marie (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

XO. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rubin415 . Joe Iurato (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Too Fly. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Too Fly (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Peace (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WANE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

C. Cardinale. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

C. Cardinale (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Damien Mitchell (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Queen Andrea . Mick La Rock. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Queen Andrea . Mick La Rock (photo © Jaime Rojo)

SHIRO (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Andy Golub . Leif G. Process shot. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Andy Golub . Leif G. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Os Gemeos / Blu (photo © Stephen Kelley)

Kara Walker. The artist portrait in profile with her sugary sphinx in the background. (photo via iPhone © Jaime Rojo)

Fafi (photo © Martha Cooper for Wynwood Walls)

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Niels “Shoe” Meulman. Process shot. (photo © Adele Renault)

Shok-1 (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sego (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Army Of One AKA JC2 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pixote in action. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pesu (center), Pixote (left) and Bill Claps Morse code writing the history of the building on the walls. (right) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Savior, El Mundo, Ben Angotti, Depoe, Esteban Del Valle and Chris Soria. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Savior, El Mundo, Ben Angotti, Depoe, Esteban Del Valle and Chris Soria. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faust (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vexta (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vexta (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jesper Haynes (photo © Jaime Rojo)

KET (photo © Jaime Rojo)

N Carlos J (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Li-Hill (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Li-Hill (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rambo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rambo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

URNew Yrok (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rae (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shiro (photo © Jaime Rojo)

bunny M (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ASVP (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris RWK (center) URNew York (left) ASVP (right). (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NEPO (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. Toll (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Never (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Matt Siren . Cash4 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Al Diaz (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amanda Marie (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nick Tengri (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Joseph Meloy (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hellbent (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bishop203 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Yok and Sheryo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Iena Cruz (photo © Jaime Rojo)

X-O (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pixote in action. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Justin Carty (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Curb Your Ego (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Outdoor Gallery – New York City by Yoav Litvin

Outdoor Gallery – New York City by Yoav Litvin. Art by Chris Stain.

Outdoor Gallery. New York City by Yoav Litvin. Art by Joe Iurato.

Outdoor Gallery – New York City by Yoav Litvin. Art by Jilly Ballistic.

Outdoor Gallery – New York City by Yoav Litvin. Art by Gilf!

Outdoor Gallery – New York City by Yoav Litvin. Art by Icy & Sot.

Outdoor Gallery – New York City by Yoav Litvin. Art by Hellbent.

Outdoor Gallery – New York City by Yoav Litvin. Art by QRST.

Outdoor Gallery – New York City by Yoav Litvin. Front and back cover art by Bishop203, LNY, Alice Mizrachi, QRST, Gilf!, Cern and Icy & Sot.

Bishop 203. (photo © Yoav Litvin)

Icy & Sot balancing a stencil. (photo © Yoav Litvin)

Taking a step back to assess the progress. (photo © Yoav Litvin)

The final piece. (photo © Yoav Litvin)