All posts tagged: Specter

See the Gallery Show! The BSA-UN PM/7 Pop-Up Exhibition

March 21, 2015 Artists

Behind the Scenes for the Brooklyn-Berlin Pop-Up

Last Saturday the 14th the public was invited to an open reception to meet the artists who had flown to Berlin to create new portraits for Urban Nation (UN), curated by BSA.

Don Rimx checks his original illustration on his phone while creating much larger color version on the wall at the UN Gallery Pop-Up show (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The companion show for “Persons of Interest” at the UN Gallery is a pop-up show by the same Brooklyn artists whose portrait works were in the windows of the future museum but there were two important differences from those installations:

1. The artist had no limitations or guidelines regarding the subject or style of their chosen piece
2. The installation was to be mounted directly on the wall and not for sale.

Don Rimx (photo © Jaime Rojo)

After asking each artist to research and select their “person of interest” for the main windows and façade of the UN, it only seemed fair that we put no restrictions on the content or inspiration for their other piece for the opening to allow more free expression.

While we like gallery shows that sell art it felt much more natural to see the artists hit the walls directly as they would on the street – from floor to ceiling and side by side, they created a sort of continuum that lead out of the gallery doors out to the walls of this much-decorated city.

Don Rimx “Ache”, a bendicion in the spirit of his birthplace of Puerto Rico.(photo © Jaime Rojo)

Because these new artworks will have a limited run that ends in their destruction, the experience for the gallery goer of viewing them is an acknowledgement that the roots of this art-making practice embraces its ephemeral quality.

Something about that fact makes the work more immediate, more consequential, knowing that the work you are viewing on the street may not be there tomorrow. Each one of these artists knows this on the street, something another kind of artist may find difficult to accept or incorporate into their thinking.

Cake (photo © Jaime Rojo)

In the first couple of days everyone was recovering from serious NY-Berlin jet lag, and a handful of the artists were wearing the same clothes they arrived in while waiting for their luggage that was stuck in Düsseldorf because of a strike by bag handlers. One artist missed his plane, others got a little lost on the metro, and there were two lost phones – but these are small problems once you are confronted with a blank wall next to 11 peers on which to create something amazing.

Cake (photo © Jaime Rojo)

It is a prospect full of opportunities and maybe a little bit of anxiety, but each artist brought their A-game and knew they were in a supportive environment. They also created it – reaching out to help with a brush or a ladder or can of paint, a word of advice and some problem solving too. Ultimately they were total professionals with skillz to lay down. By adapting and excelling at their work, the collective effect that this eclectic harmony produced clearly energized the crowd that overflowed onto the sidewalks Saturday night.

Cake (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The result on the gallery walls is an acid rainbow pop of personality, metaphor, text, pattern, socio/political commentary, activism, and a tribute to ancestors. Each artist brought their individual style and approach to gallery walls in much the same way that appears on the street. For a few it was the first time meeting while others were long-time friends and clearly some were fans of each others work.

NohJColey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

One coincidence that sort of blew us away was that Don Rimx and Specter both told us that their pieces were meant to be a “blessing” to their hosts; Rimx featuring a re-worked traditional image of a Puerto Rican grandmother and overflowing bucket of water – “the source of life” he said, and Specters post-modern repetition of leaves from a plant that he said you would bring someone as a gift. Neither had consulted with the other or us, and yet both mounted these pieces side-by-side.

Any day you get to work with artists is a good day – especially driven dynamic talented ones who are always challenging themselves, digging deeper to pull out something that speaks, that means something. These few precious days in Berlin with these few artists were very good days indeed for us and we hope for them too.

NohJColey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon’s undulating biomorphic and ornate paper cuts were at center stage of the gallery, wrapped around the columns in the middle of the room.(photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olivia from Swoon’ Studio working on the installation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter took off his shoes to create but remained in his long-johns while waiting for his luggage to arrive a day and a half after him. This plant was understated and yet commanded attention – this guy is one of the most intellectually adventurous in his street practice, easily sliding between mediums and concepts. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain prepped his wall by tagging the surface multiple times in multiple colors and mucking it up with a roller – effectively bringing the street into the gallery so he could paste his new longer form enigmatic collage portrait on it and within the sea of colors and texture. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain likes to work alone so he took his body parts and pieces into the adjacent store room to assemble and reassemble, spray, color, cut out, selectively damage or damask – a process that allows for experimentation and discovery while the artist relies on some intuitive guidance to get to the final piece. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain and Swoon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Some place in there you’ll find Chris Stain at work on his piece – an artist whose work always reflects the people you see on the street and in your neighborhood. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain brings a bit of Brooklyn to Berlin (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia’s gallery piece was directly related to his portrait of Fereshta Ludin that he completed for the “Persons of Interest” window installation. An artist who makes a fulsome study of his subject matter and the historical/social/political/anthropological factors that surround it – Gaia here incorporated the marching mass of right wing anti-Islamic Pegida demonstrators as a backdrop to a disembodied draped head scarf, a symbol of religious expression by Muslim women. Posted on the front, with dropped shadow to pop it forward, is a published interview with Ms. Ludin -who attended the opening reception last Saturday, meeting the artist and us in person for the first time. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia, Ms. Farestha Ludin and Steven P. Harrington (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia and Esteban Del Valle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Esteban Del Valle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 and the German translation of “Here today, gone tomorrow”, his reference to the ephemerality of the graffiti/street art game, and perhaps larger existential considerations. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For some, these are two essential products to survive while painting in a foreign country (or at home) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot used this opportunity to create something more abstract than the work that they are known for, which can be quickly understood. According to a few people at the opening, they liked it more than the brother’s typical work for that reason, so it was successful in that respect. Icy explained that it is a crouching figure with a mashup of a destroyed city within it. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nice Keds dude… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cake . Swoon . Dain . Gaia . Chris Stain CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon . El Sol 25 . Esteban Del Valle . NohJColey . Gaia CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don Rimx . Specter . Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Project M/7 “Persons Of Interest” Street level exhibition and the Pop-Up show are currently on view and free to the general public at:

URBAN NATION
Bülowstraße 97
10738 Berlin-Schöneberg, Germany

Opening Hours
Monday-Friday 10.00 -18.00

http://www.urban-nation.net/

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BSA 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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Complete “Persons of Interest”: Brooklyn in Berlin

March 18, 2015 Artists

All the Works Completed for Project M/7 at Urban Nation with BSA

Our trip to Berlin with 12 of Brooklyn’s finest street artists was a quintessential cultural exchange; bringing together artists, curators, social activists, ministers of art, museum board CEOS, collectors, gallerists, fans, and the director of a future museum called Urban Nation. The seventh Project M, a program to draw artists and attention to the enormous UN haus while it is under construction, was called “Persons of Interest”. All week we got to meet interesting people – not a surprise in this raw cultural hot spot that bubbles with an effervescent underground and creative laboratory that is full of youthful vigor and serendipity.

Icy & Sot. “Persons of Interest” Portrait of an unknown girl from Brooklyn to the people of Berlin. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

How fitting then that our first youthful arrivals were Icy & Sot, who set the tone with their 4 story portrait of an anonymous Brooklyn woman with “Freedom” scrawled across her face, an iconic scene of the celebrants at Berlin’s fallen wall inside her. With one of the brothers turning 24 that week, it was even more touching to see them marking an important event that predated him by one year – a new generation of artists helping us identify what events of the modern age are truly touchstones.

The 176 piece stencil had taken about 10 days for them to cut back in Brooklyn and the brothers methodically sprayed their missive to Berlin’s people over the course of 5 more days. This, their largest mural ever, was enormous and peaceful and an incredible act of discipline, determination, and dedication to teamwork.

Icy & Sot. “Persons of Interest” Portrait of an unknown girl from Brooklyn to the people of Berlin. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot. A passer by spans a photo of the completed mural with her iPad. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Persons of Interest” was meant to celebrate the connections between the lively artists communities in these sister cities over the last few decades, and being in Berlin felt like home to most of the artists in many ways. The curatorial vision was also meant to counter the criticism of many of the new Street Art mural festivals that have taken hold in cities around the world that they are not considering their hosts and to help focus on the neighborhoods where the new works appear.

Icy & Sot. “Persons of Interest” Portrait of an unknown girl from Brooklyn to the people of Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cake at work on her portrait of Käthe Kollwitz. “Persons of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Undeniably the Internet has supercharged this worldwide peoples’ art movement and has allowed us to learn about and connect with artists and their street work as we never would have encountered previously. It also has created a strata of international artists whose names appear again and again on these festival lists and while it is sort of exciting, it also is producing a sort of cultural imperialism that leaves a sour taste in the mouths of locals who don’t feel a connection to the artists or the art works that remain in their neighborhoods long after the festival has ended.

Our aim with “Persons of Interest” was to suggest a new model that may also be considered, one that is based on impactful work and meaningful exchange.

From this experiment that took us roughly six months to conceive, organize, and execute, we discovered two things:

1. Artists actually like to do research and create art that is meaningful and relevant to their personal stories, and
2. Many street passersby and art audiences are elated to find work that they can relate to – that reflects their lives, history, and culture.

Cake at work on her portrait of Käthe Kollwitz. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cake her portrait of Käthe Kollwitz. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Each of the artists had really challenged themselves to learn about the city they were making work for, and each had a story that also spoke of their own. Every day we were learning from them and they were learning from each other and without hesitation our hosts were schooling us as well.

Of course it helps when you are working with a dynamic urban contemporary art expert like Yasha Young, who has a deep well of ideas about community and more connections than the WiFi router at a One Direction concert. All week we were treated to a rotating list of visiting photographers, videographers, art directors, reporters, radio hosts, writers, culture mavens — and to many artists who were in town to put up new walls, show us their black books and iPhoto libraries, or just to meet their New York friends who were painting in the gallery.

Dain on the left with Gaia on the right at work on their portraits for “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shout out to Onur Dinc, Andreas Englund, Herakut, The Never Crew, KKade, Various & Gould, Strok, David Walker, FKDL, James Bullough, Vermibus, Roland Henry, Nika Kramer, Butterfly, Mark Rigney and other very cool well-wishers. While we’re at it, we all send a gold-plated shout out to the three women who kept us all cared for in so many ways in the gallery and on-site at the UN – Alejandra, Elisabetta, and Ana were indispensable.

Dain at work on his portrait of Marlene Dietrich. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain. Portrait of Marlene Dietrich. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Speaking of meeting interesting people, a huge highlight of the program for us was when two of the artists got to meet their “Person of Interest” face to face. We had arranged a surprise visit of one of them; NohJColey had no idea that Katharina Oguntoye would walk on the sidewalk in front of the UN and peer in the window where he was preparing his portrait of her.

To witness the enthusiasm with which they greeted one another and to hear them excitedly asking and answering each others questions regarding his work as an artist in Brooklyn and hers as an Afro German feminist in Berlin was the epitome of art as a catalyst for cultural exchange. We didn’t know life could be so rich.

Gaia at work on his portrait of Fereshta Ludin. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia’s person of interest, Fereshta Ludin also attended the opening in person on Saturday night, the first time that the two had met in person. Only two days before a Berlin law had been overturned allowing Muslim school teachers to wear headscarves – and Ms. Ludin has been a social activist advocating for the right for the last decade and a half.

The politics around this of course are highly charged and there have been xenophobic right-wing marches against Muslims and others in their defense in the streets in Berlin in recent months. Meeting Ms. Ludin in person and seeing her reaction to Gaia’s portrait of her gave such a powerful additional dimension to the entire experience of “Persons of Interest” that we never could have predicted when we first conceived of it. Gaia said it was a “life affirming moment”.

Gaia’s portrait of Fereshta Ludin in progress. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Probably what is most gratifying is when you see someone’s eyes light up with recognition at seeing one of their icons brought to life. One woman told us that she couldn’t believe that El Sol 25 knew Hannah Höch so well. Was it that she couldn’t imagine a former graff writer honoring the central female figure of Berlin’s Dada movement? We were shocked when a UN board director told us Marlene Dietrich had grown up in the same neighborhood where this new DAIN portrait of her was going up – we even met someone who went to her funeral here in ’92!

In the final analysis once again we witnessed the creative spirit alive and well in the street and in the gallery. Unlike early graffiti writers, these artists come from different backgrounds and disciplines – yet all intersected with art in the public sphere in New York; graffiti writers, muralists, painters, wheat-pasters, paper cutters… In Berlin you would have thought that they all had been working together for years, the collaborative spirit was so high – and luckily for us, Berlin welcomed them all.

Gaia. Portrait of Fereshta Ludin. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon. Olivia from Swoon’s Studio at work on “Cairo”. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon and her tribute to Turkish immigrants for “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NohjColey at work on his portrait of Katharina Oguntoye. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The photo above captures the moment when NohJColey learns that Ms. Oguntoye is outside on the sidewalk looking at him through the window working on his portrait of her.

In the photo you see Ms. Oguntoye meeting NohJColey for the first time.

NohjColey at work on his portrait of Katharina Oguntoye. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NohjColey. Portrait of Katharina Oguntoye. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter at work on his portrait of Sally Montana. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter. Portrait of Sally Montana in progress. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter. Portrait of Sally Montana. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don Rimx at work on his portrait of John A. Roebling. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don Rimx. Portrait of John A. Roebling. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Esteban Del Valle at work on his portrait of George Grosz. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Esteban Del Valle. Portrait of George Grosz. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 at work on his portrait of Hannah Höch. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25. Portrait of Hannah Höch. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain at work on his portrait of Charles Bukowski. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain portrait of Charles Bukowski in progress. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain. Portrait of Charles Bukowski. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Urban Nation Project M/7 “Persons of Interest” is currently on view on the streets of Berlin until June 22nd at Bülowstraße 97
10738 Berlin-Schöneberg, Germany.

For more details on each artist’s Person of Interest click on the links below:

CAKE and Käthe Kollwitz, “Persons of Interest”

Chris Stain and Charles Bukowski – “Persons of Interest”

DAIN and Marlene Dietrich – “Persons of Interest”

Don Rimx and John A. Roebling – “Persons of Interest”

Esteban Del Valle and George Grosz – “Persons of Interest”

El Sol 25 and Hannah Höch – “Persons of Interest”

GAIA and Fereshta Ludin – “Persons of Interest”

ICY & Sot and Berlin’s People – “Persons of Interest”

NohJColey and Katharina Oguntoye – “Persons of Interest”

Specter and Sally Montana – “Persons of Interest”

Swoon and Turkish Immigrants – “Persons of Interest”

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From Katherine Brooks at the Huffington Post, an interview with us and more images to recap.

Dispatch from Germany: Pop-Up Show at UN Gallery with BSA

March 14, 2015 Artists

A great many things underway here in Berlin for the debut of “Persons of Interest”, a show of 12 artists who have worked on the streets of Brooklyn bringing their A Game to Berlin. This group of talented people have transformed the Urban Nation Pop-Up gallery with an astounding array of styles, skillz, techniques, and a lot of imagination. We couldn’t be happier with the results. The camaraderie is strong and the creative display directly on the gallery walls is iron-clad.

If you are in Berlin anytime Saturday come see the windows being installed in the UN Haus and at 7 pm come to the reception. Both events are curated by Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo co-founders of BrooklynStreetArt.com and we will be very happy to meet you.

Here is a preview of the Pop-Up Exhibition…more to come

Swoon. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon with Chris Stain on the backgorund. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NohJColey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NohJColey asses his progress. Swoon on the right. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cake (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don Rimx (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter tries some yoga. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 (“Here Today”) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Esteban Del Valle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy and Sot (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Click HERE for the FaceBook event and more details about UN Project M/7 Persons of Interest and Pop-Up Exhibition.

Specter and Sally Montana – “Persons of Interest”

March 11, 2015 Artists

BSA is in Berlin this month to present a new show of 12 important Brooklyn Street Artists at the Urban Nation haus as part of Project M/7. PERSONS OF INTEREST brings to our sister city a diverse collection of artists who use many mediums and styles in the street art scene of Brooklyn. By way of tribute to the special relationship that artist communities in both cities have shared for decades, each artist has chosen to create a portrait of a Germany-based cultural influencer from the past or present, highlighting someone who has played a role in inspiring the artist in a meaningful way.

Today we talk to Specter and ask him why he chose his person of interest, Sally Montana.

Specter is multi-disciplinary on the street, including sculptural installations, photography, and hand-painted large-scale one-off wheat pastes. It was the latter practice that first drew us into his personal stories and portraits on the streets in the 2000s, enlarged versions of people you might meet in the neighborhood. There was the guy with a grocery cart full of recyclable bottles, the food delivery dude on a bicycle, the burly homeless gent wrapped in a red blanket.

These are everyday people on the streets of Brooklyn, and Specter elevates them for passersby to stop and consider.

For his PERSON OF INTEREST Specter is painting another Brooklyn artist as a way of honoring the thousands who have made a thriving and buoyant scene in the 1990s-2010s in neighborhoods like Bushwick, Gowanus, BedStuy, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint – similar in many ways to Berlin’s neighborhoods of Kreuzberg, Friedrichshain, Prenzlauer Berg, Schöneberg and Mitte.

To find his portrait subject, Specter just looked next door to his studio. “Sally Montana is my neighbor. She is from Germany but lives in Brooklyn and is a professional photographer and one of the nicest people anyone could ever meet. The reason I choose her is because I feel she embodies this project. The connection between NY and Berlin art communities being the two of the largest in the world and the back-and-forth sharing of people and influences from each others cultures.”

Specter in Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Check out the Facebook page for PERSONS OF INTEREST

See Full Press Release HERE

BSA Images Of The Week: 02.01.15

February 1, 2015 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Eric Simmons, Eurotrash, Flood, Jordan Seiler, LMNOPI, London Kaye, Myth, Neon King Kong, Nick Walker, Paper Skaters, Silkor, Snowden, Snownyc, Specter, Thievin’ Stephen and Zach Meyer.

Top Image >> Nick Walker (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Flood (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LMNOPI. The artist painted this mural last summer. The word EVOLVE was recently added as a way to restore the piece which was recently vandalized. See the damaged piece below. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LMNOPI (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter. NYC Subway AD Takeover. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jordan Seiler. NYC Subway AD Takeover. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A small but effective intervention on a Hedwig And The Angry Inch Ad by Eric Simmons on the NYC Subway. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Snowden (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Paper Skaters (photo © Jaime Rojo)

London Kaye (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Myth (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Zach Meyer (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Thievin’ Stephen (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Eurotrash (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Neon King Kong (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Slikor “Lets Stay Together” Yes let’s. At Low Brow Artique. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Central Park. Manhattan, NYC. January 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA 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! <<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA

BSA Images Of The Week: 01.04.15

January 4, 2015 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

It’s our first Images of the Week of the new year and we’ve missed you! The city is recovering from disasters and triumphs and heartbreaks and infatuations as normal. The police union is attacking the Mayor in the sky and elsewhere, the NY Times is questioning their tactics, the city is grieving violence against two police with a memorial in the street, the protestors spurred by police brutality continue to demonstrate, the mayor marks his first year, a Staten Island congressman resigns in disgrace, a million people were in Times Square three days ago, the minimum wage is going up a little, and liberal lion and 3 time governor Mr. Cuomo passed away New Years Day.

Here’s to you and your family and a great tumultuous spectacular 2015 that is in store for all of us on the street, in boardrooms, behind cash registers, on walls, in galleries, museums – wherever you are. We’re celebrating the creative spirit wherever we find it and when it comes to Street Art and graffiti and public art you can be sure there will be plenty of new things to see.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring $howta, Clint Mario, Crummy Gummy, Dame Edna, Damien Mitchell, Don’t Fret, Eurotrash040, Fred63, Gordo Pelota, Jerkface, Jon Burgerman, Kashink, Korn, Myth, Smartcrew, Specter, Sweet Toof, and Yenta

Top Image >> Jon Burgerman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sweet Toof (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter reframes the environment. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter. A couple of anonymous collaborators engaging on the conversation of the streets… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kashink (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Yenta. Dame Edna, Australia’s National Treasure… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Crummy Gummy. Stick it…see what happens! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Crummy Gummy. Looks like ET scored a temp job during the holidays…he is still unemployed though. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Crummy Gummy (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Myth (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dont Fret (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kermit as interpreted by an unknown artist. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Damien Mitchell (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Eurotrash 040 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gordo Pelota . Eurotrash 040 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Clint Mario (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Fred63 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jerk Face for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Double Jesus (photo © Jaime Rojo)

$howta (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Smart Crew tribute to the late Jeffrey Gamalero AKA Korn, who passed away in December. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. A mourner takes a photo at the site of the street memorial in Brooklyn to honor police officers Wenjian Liu and Rafael Ramos. (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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The 2014 BSA Year in Images (VIDEO)

December 17, 2014 Artists

Here it is! Our 2014 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: Ask Jaime Rojo, our illustrious editor of photography at BrooklynStreetArt.com , who takes thousands of photographs each year, to respond to a simple question: What was your favorite photo of the year?

For 2014 he has swift response: “The Kara Walker.” Not the art, but the artist posed before her art.

It was an impromptu portrait that he took with his iPhone when the artist unveiled her enormous sculpture at a small gathering of neighborhood locals and former workers of the Domino Sugar Factory, informal enough that Rojo didn’t even have his professional camera with him. Aside from aesthetics for him it was the fact that the artist herself was so approachable and agreed to pose for him briefly, even allowing him to direct her just a bit to get the shot, that made an imprint on his mind and heart.

Of course the sculpture is gone and so is the building that was housing it for that matter – the large-scale public project presented by Creative Time was occupying this space as the last act before its destruction. The artist herself has probably moved on to her next kick-ass project after thousands of people stood in long lines along Kent Avenue in Brooklyn to see her astounding indictment-tribute-bereavement-celebration in a hulking warehouse through May and June.

But the photo remains.

And Rojo feels very lucky to have been able to seize that quintessential New York moment: the artist in silhouette before her own image, her own work, her own outward expression of an inner world.

Jaime’s personal favorite of 2014; The site specific Kara Walker in front of her site specific installation at the Domino Sugar Factory in May of this year in Brooklyn. Artist Kara Walker. (photo via iPhone © Jaime Rojo)

Now, for the Video

And our holiday gift to you for five years running, here is the brand new video of favorite images of graffiti and Street Art by Brooklyn Street Art’s editor of photography, Jaime Rojo.

Of a few thousand these 129 shots fly smoothly by as a visual survey; a cross section of graffiti, street art, and the resurgence of mural art that continues to take hold. As usual, all manner of art-making is on display as you wander your city’s streets. Also as usual, we prefer the autonomous free-range unsolicited, unsanctioned type of Street Art because that’s what got us hooked as artists, and ultimately, it is the only truly uncensored stuff that has a free spirit and can hold a mirror up to us. But you have to hand it to the muralists – whether “permissioned” or outright commissioned, some people are challenging themselves creatively and still taking risks.

Once again these artists 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. We hope you dig it too.

Brooklyn Street Art 2014 Images of the Year by Jaime Rojo includes the following artists;

2Face, Aakash Nihalani, Adam Fujita, Adnate, Amanda Marie, Andreco, Anthony Lister, Arnaud Montagard, Art is Trash, Ben Eine, Bikismo, Blek Le Rat, Bly, Cake, Caratoes, Case Maclaim, Chris Stain, Cleon Peterson, Clet, Clint Mario, Col Wallnuts, Conor Harrington, Cost, Crummy Gummy, Dain, Dal East, Damien Mitchell, Damon, Dan Witz, Dasic, Don’t Fret, Dot Dot Dot, Eelco Virus, EKG, El Sol 25, Elbow Toe, Etam Cru, Ewok, Faring Purth, Gilf!, Hama Woods, Hellbent, Hiss, Hitnes, HOTTEA, Icy & Sot, Jana & JS, Jason Coatney, Jef Aerosol, Jilly Ballistic, Joe Iurato, JR, Judith Supine, Kaff Eine, Kashink, Krakenkhan, Kuma, Li Hill, LMNOPI, London Kaye, Mais Menos, Mark Samsonovich, Martha Cooper, Maya Hayuk, Miss Me, Mover, Mr. Prvrt, Mr. Toll, Myth, Nenao, Nick Walker, Olek, Paper Skaters, Patty Smith, Pixel Pancho, Poster Boy, Pyramid Oracle, QRST, Rubin 415, Sampsa, Sean 9 Lugo, Sebs, Sego, Seher One, Sexer, Skewville, SmitheOne, Sober, Sonni, Specter, SpY, Square, Stay Fly, Stik, Stikki Peaches, Stikman, Swil, Swoon, Texas, Tilt, Tracy168, Trashbird, Vexta, Vinz, Willow, Wolfe Works, Wolftits, X-O, Zed1.

Read more about Kara Walker in our posting “Kara Walker And Her Sugar Sphinx At The Old Domino Factory”.

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This article is also published on The Huffington Post

Specter Shows Versatility in His Approach to the Street

December 8, 2014 Artists

Specter’s Ad Takeovers Signal a New Direction Toward Photography and Abstraction, for now

A curator at a major American museum told us this weekend that he’s discovered there are two major categories of great artists: the first one hits on a great idea or process or technique and stays with it throughout the rest of their career, employing the creative spirit to evolve and reinforce the same idea again and again. The second artist type is more taken with the creative spirit itself and moves nimbly from one technique or process or discipline to another, exploring and experimenting with new approaches, discovering and often mastering one after another.

Specter appears to be the latter.

Only five years ago Specter was a realist painter who wheatpasted his large labor intensive portraits of people who collect scrap metal and other materials in New York neighborhoods. These social studies captured hours of time in studio carefully rendering and depicting – and when the enormous works appeared across old signage or construction walls, you felt like you had just run into someone you knew.

Other more sculptural installations were still lifes and ready-made in nature, employing shopping carts, bottles, hardcover books. Specter is not afraid to experiment with new mediums and messages and to carry them to fruition.

In the last year or so Specter began a much more conceptual and abstract series of bus stop takeovers using his own photography. Less obvious in their meaning, they nonetheless are contextual – often reflecting, refracting, relating to the geometry and perspectives of their location. Easy to miss as Street Art installations, they can be arresting as well – especially when you realize they may be mimicking their immediate surroundings…and that they are not selling you shampoo. Some times you realize he has ingeniously taken the street you are standing on and tilted it into a parallel world – which you may or may not occupy.

As a one-off, we were a little intrigued about this new creative direction for Specter. Now that time has passed and we have a little collection gathered of these installations, we can see that he is helping us see the city differently once again.

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BSA Images Of The Week: 12.07.14

December 7, 2014 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Adnate, Amanda Wong, Clet, Dasic, David Walker, Droid 907, Eurotrash, Hunt, Jim Vision, Mr. Oneteas, Specter, and WUFC Crew.

Artist Unknown. This stencil appears to depict an orthodox Hasidim man with a Woman from an Arab country wearing a burka. Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kenny Scharf . Julian Schnabel. An unidentified artist spot marked the names of the two well known artists on a wall famous for Graff writers to get up in Brooklyn. Not sure what the story is. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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BSA Images Of The Week: 11.30.14

November 30, 2014 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Aiko, City Kitty, Clet, Dain, Deekers, JB Rock, KCIN, LUC, Mr. One Teas, Obey, Peros, PX$H6XD, Shepard Fairey, Smells, Specter, Tank Petrol, and Tom Fruin.

According to some conversations on social platforms about this issue, some NY ladies are not getting the full benefits in this arena. Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 11.23.14

November 23, 2014 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Starting to think about what we are thankful for this week as we approach Thanksgiving. So many of our neighbors here in New York are going to be truly thankful that immigration reform, the first in about 28 years, will begin to protect many families and workers from the threat of arrest and being torn apart. For those doing the math, we are talking about probably hundreds of thousands of our neighbors who are sleeping tonight a little better, even if the economy is still pressing people down. “It’s fair to say that we have never seen anything quite like this before in terms of the scale,” said Peter J. Spiro, a Temple University law professor in a Times piece.

Meanwhile, we’re seeing new artists pop up on the Street Art scene, and witnessing some voices getting stronger. Honestly, with the everchanging feast on the streets, you can never get bored in New York. Actually that is still against the law as far as we know – getting bored in NYC.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring 2 Face, Icy & Sot, JB Rock, Jerk Face, L’Atlas, LUC, Madame Moustache, Nénão, Nerr, Rita MacDonald, Specter, SPQR, Stikman, Trap, Zed1.

Icy & Sot created a memorial/tribute to their friends who fell victims to gun violence a year ago. The Buschwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JB Rock/SPQR stirring up the pot in Sicily, Italy with this image by Shepard Fairey and signature from Banksy. (photo © JB Rock)

Speaking of nuns, have you seen this remake of Like a Virgin by Sister Christina in Rome? Indeed!

The French Street Artist Madame Moustache left some of her quirky collage drawings wheatpasted around town. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This piece is a collage made with yarn and shredded fabric depicting a winged creature by an unknown artist. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

L’Atlas at work on his new mural in Rome, Italy in collaboration with Wunderkammern Gallery for his solo exhibition. (photo © Giorgio Coen Cagli)

L’Atlas at work on his new mural in Rome, Italy in collaboration with Wunderkammern Gallery and his solo exhibition. (photo © Giorgio Coen Cagli)

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BSA Images Of The Week: 11.09.14

November 9, 2014 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

It’s a free-for-all bag of mushrooms this week – or psychedelic toads to lick, in the case of Don’t Fret, who starts us off with a 2014 NYC tourist dressed head to toe in an Ebola suit. Naturally, he still has a fanny pack. Also notable are the new bus stop takeovers by Spector, who makes his new and subtly startling installations more contextual than you’ve seen before.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Borf, Bunny M, Cali Killa, Don’t Fret, Eelco Virus, Esteban Del Valle, Evoke Fym, Gold Dust, Matthew Reid, June, Knarf, Meer Sau, Not Your Police Dept, SAMO, Senz, Specter, The Broke MC, and This is Awkward.

Specter takes your brain up a notch in these brand new bus stop takeovers that frame the exact scene they are a part of, demonstrating that art is everywhere you look, and bus stops are incredible new vehicles for expression. Talk about an outdoor gallery…. Ad take over (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Hit The North” Belfast 2024. Completed Murals. Part 1.
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You might not expect it, but the Belfast Cathedral Quarter was quite a mad rush of activity on Sunday morning. …Read More »
“Hit The North” Belfast 2024 – Dispatch 1
May 4, 2024
As the busy streets of Belfast hum with anticipation for the weekend’s festivities, an air of artistic energy and cultural …Read More »
Arriving in Belfast, Seeing the Bobby Sands Mural
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BSA has arrived in Belfast to attend the Hit the North Festival and hopefully gain a greater appreciation for the …Read More »
Paul McCartney Holds Your Gaze: Scenes from ‘Eyes of the Storm’
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Touring is not unusual for Paul McCartney, who has traversed the globe nearly non-stop for six decades. Yet, this time, …Read More »
Books in the MCL: ROA Codex
April 30, 2024
As founding members of the Martha Cooper Library at the Urban Nation Museum in Berlin, Brooklyn Street Art (BSA) proudly …Read More »
BSA Images Of The Week: 04.28.24
April 28, 2024
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! Spring is astoundingly colorful on the street in New York this year, with …Read More »

Behind the Scenes for the Brooklyn-Berlin Pop-Up

Don Rimx checks his original illustration on his phone while creating much larger color version on the wall at the UN Gallery Pop-Up show (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don Rimx (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don Rimx “Ache”, a bendicion in the spirit of his birthplace of Puerto Rico.(photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cake (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cake (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cake (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NohJColey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NohJColey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NohJColey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NohJColey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon’s undulating biomorphic and ornate paper cuts were at center stage of the gallery, wrapped around the columns in the middle of the room.(photo © Jaime Rojo)

Olivia from Swoon’ Studio working on the installation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain prepped his wall by tagging the surface multiple times in multiple colors and mucking it up with a roller – effectively bringing the street into the gallery so he could paste his new longer form enigmatic collage portrait on it and within the sea of colors and texture. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain and Swoon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Some place in there you’ll find Chris Stain at work on his piece – an artist whose work always reflects the people you see on the street and in your neighborhood. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain brings a bit of Brooklyn to Berlin (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia, Ms. Farestha Ludin and Steven P. Harrington (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia and Esteban Del Valle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Esteban Del Valle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Esteban Del Valle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 and the German translation of “Here today, gone tomorrow”, his reference to the ephemerality of the graffiti/street art game, and perhaps larger existential considerations. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For some, these are two essential products to survive while painting in a foreign country (or at home) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nice Keds dude… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cake . Swoon . Dain . Gaia . Chris Stain CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon . El Sol 25 . Esteban Del Valle . NohJColey . Gaia CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don Rimx . Specter . Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

All the Works Completed for Project M/7 at Urban Nation with BSA

Icy & Sot. “Persons of Interest” Portrait of an unknown girl from Brooklyn to the people of Berlin. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot. “Persons of Interest” Portrait of an unknown girl from Brooklyn to the people of Berlin. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot. A passer by spans a photo of the completed mural with her iPad. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot. “Persons of Interest” Portrait of an unknown girl from Brooklyn to the people of Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cake at work on her portrait of Käthe Kollwitz. “Persons of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

From this experiment that took us roughly six months to conceive, organize, and execute, we discovered two things:

1. Artists actually like to do research and create art that is meaningful and relevant to their personal stories, and 2. Many street passersby and art audiences are elated to find work that they can relate to – that reflects their lives, history, and culture.

Cake at work on her portrait of Käthe Kollwitz. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cake her portrait of Käthe Kollwitz. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain on the left with Gaia on the right at work on their portraits for “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain at work on his portrait of Marlene Dietrich. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain. Portrait of Marlene Dietrich. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia at work on his portrait of Fereshta Ludin. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia’s portrait of Fereshta Ludin in progress. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia. Portrait of Fereshta Ludin. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon. Olivia from Swoon’s Studio at work on “Cairo”. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon. Olivia from Swoon’s Studio at work on “Cairo”. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon and her tribute to Turkish immigrants for “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NohjColey at work on his portrait of Katharina Oguntoye. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NohjColey at work on his portrait of Katharina Oguntoye. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NohjColey at work on his portrait of Katharina Oguntoye. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The photo above captures the moment when NohJColey learns that Ms. Oguntoye is outside on the sidewalk looking at him through the window working on his portrait of her.

In the photo you see Ms. Oguntoye meeting NohJColey for the first time.

NohjColey at work on his portrait of Katharina Oguntoye. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NohjColey. Portrait of Katharina Oguntoye. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter at work on his portrait of Sally Montana. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter at work on his portrait of Sally Montana. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter. Portrait of Sally Montana in progress. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter. Portrait of Sally Montana. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don Rimx at work on his portrait of John A. Roebling. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don Rimx at work on his portrait of John A. Roebling. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don Rimx. Portrait of John A. Roebling. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Esteban Del Valle at work on his portrait of George Grosz. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Esteban Del Valle at work on his portrait of George Grosz. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Esteban Del Valle at work on his portrait of George Grosz. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Esteban Del Valle. Portrait of George Grosz. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 at work on his portrait of Hannah Höch. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 at work on his portrait of Hannah Höch. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25. Portrait of Hannah Höch. “Persons Of Interest” UN PM/7 Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

1. Artists actually like to do research and create art that is meaningful and relevant to their personal stories, and
2. Many street passersby and art audiences are elated to find work that they can relate to – that reflects their lives, history, and culture.