All posts tagged: Steven P. Harrington

“Beautiful Times” hits Brooklyn, Beacon and Back to Colorado

August 28, 2014 Artists

The “Beautiful Times” tour by Amanda Marie and X-0 has brought them back to Denver Colorado where it began. We shared with you images and a semi-travelogue for their earlier installations along this summer tour in Denver and Philadelphia. In this final installment of their easy-going art-making project we find them in Brooklyn and the upstate small town of Beacon, New York, where many New Yorkers went to settle in the 2000s, creating a kinship that continues to today.

An now a quick look at their respective public works in Brooklyn, most of it in the DUMBO neighborhood. “We got our paint for this leg of the journey at a place called Park Delicatessen,” X-O says as he lists the items on offer there – and would you care to guess which ones he likes most? “Here is what they sold there…skateboards, flowers, spray paint, and smart sexy porn zines,” he relates. “Are you freaking joking? This is the most perfect shop ever.”

Amanda Marie. Beautiful Times. Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amanda Marie. Beautiful Times. Brooklyn. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amanda Marie cutting stencils at a makeshift studio in DUMBO. Beautiful Times. Brooklyn. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

X-O. Beautiful Times. Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

X-O. DUMBO, Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Heading north up the Hudson River, the two found that, “After being fully infatuated with the hustle and bustle of Brooklyn, it was an unseen and uber appreciated change of pace to have our next stop in Beacon,” says X-0.

They liked to small town sophisticated vibe and couldn’t believe how nice the people were. “Amanda painted an amazing ‘campground’ scene alongside the Beacon Natural Market,” he says, and he made a new ‘lost object piece’ in the same spot that a Ron English piece had run on for a while. “I also made one small #emogarden called ‘real sweet noise’ while waiting for Mando to get done with her big wall.”

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Amanda Marie. Beautiful Times. Beacon, NY. (photo © Alan Goldsmith)

Amanda Marie. Beautiful Times. Beacon, NY. (photo © X-O)

Amanda Marie. Beautiful Times. Beacon, NY. (photo © Alan Goldsmith)

X-O. Beautiful Times. Beacon, NY. (photo © Ethan Harrison)

X-O. Beautiful Times. Beacon, NY. (photo © X-O)

X-O. Beautiful Times. Beacon, NY. (photo © Ethan Harrison)

Going back to Colorado after being pretty much city struck for the last few weeks was a welcome return.

“Immediately I escaped to the Rocky Mountains and made some ‘string stretches’ in the woods. One of the most successful was a gravity piece I’ve called ‘Gravity Log 1’. I left the cotton twine…Is that littering? Hmmm.”

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Amanda Marie. Beautiful Times. Aztlan Skate Park. F. Collins, Colorado (photo © courtesy of X-O)

X-O. Beautiful Times. Launch. Colorado. (photo © X-O)

X-O. Beautiful Times. Rocky Mountains, Colorado. (photo © X-O)

Amanda Marie and X-O would like to thank Todd Masters from Masters Projects in Dumbo, Brooklyn.

They would also like to thank Dan and Kalene from Thundercut/OpenSpace in Beacon, as well as a number of neighborly photographers who were generous with their time and talents in Beacon.

They would also like to thank Andy Weiss in Colorado.

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Amanda Marie and X-O “Beautiful Times” in Denver, CO

Amanda Marie and X-O “Beautiful Times” in Philadelphia

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Shepard Fairey and the Future in New York’s Little Italy

August 27, 2014 Artists

Before the summer ends New York is still happily awash in myriad public festivals, concerts, street fairs, free Shakespeare in the park, stoop sales, fire hydrant fountains, rooftop parties and of course tourists who would like to scale a bridge. Last week our August dog days extended to welcome one of Street Art’s bigger names to swing through with a new mural that drew small crowds with a decidedly optimistic message.

Shepard Fairey in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. NYC. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey doesn’t really do small. It has to be a vast designed and balanced swath of red, black and ochre that takes over an entire wall or it is nothing. Well, maybe he’ll slap up a couple of stickers on lamp posts while you’re not looking.

He also doesn’t appear to do fake. When that extended crane lift finally lowers him to the ground he makes time to say hello to admirers, artists, and the occasional antagonist and to sign his name, shake a hand, listen to a story and offer a thoughtful opinion. In this age of quickly spreading news across social media, word of Fairey’s new mural on Bowery and Broome didn’t take long to ricochet across phones and before you knew it there were people on the sidewalk and dangling off roofs to get a good view.

Shepard Fairey in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. NYC. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Not strictly Street Art and not strictly in Little Italy, the new work is part of a commercial neighborhood improvement initiative that has brought pleasing murals by Street Artists to the tourist frequented area of Little Italy over the past two years. Over the course of three days the socially conscious Fairey and his brand Obey scored one wall for a symbol of peace during a summer that has pounded in our ears with war drums in Ukraine, Russia, Syria, Libya, Israel, Palestine, and Iraq, among other sites of strife on the world stage.

A slogan at the bottom of the banner says “Transform Our World With Creative Response”; a nebulous enough sentiment that may be interpreted a few ways, and somewhat ironic on this island that is no longer open to young struggling creatives unless they can pay the $5K monthly rents this neighborhood often demands. But the burning fire in the chest of the dove – we’ll just take a chance and say that it stands for our collective yearning for peace and freedom.

Let’s hope Fairey sees something in the future many of us are missing.

Shepard Fairey in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. NYC. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

To learn more about The L.I.S.A. Project, click HERE.

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Faring Purth Repairs “Cookie”, Somber in St. Louis

August 26, 2014 Artists

Faring Purth just wrapped up another large mural piece in St. Louis and it was a rough ride to the finish.

“Some idiot vandalized the latest work from new-to-St. Louis artist Faring Purth Thursday,” reported The Riverfront Times when the painting in progress was strewn with words common to boys in seventh grade.

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Faring Purth. “Cookie” St. Louis, MO. August 2014. (photo © Virginia Harold)

“Her name is Cookie,” say Ms. Purth about the character on the red brick wall. “She was actually tagged the night Mike Brown was shot,” she says of the killing of a young man in the St. Louis suburb of Ferguson that has gripped much of the country this month, and she can’t help but see a connection. “A random act of violence across her heart – they always get the soft spots,” she says.

With her customary tact, Purth has repaired her rather somber painting, and we’re happy to share it here with BSA readers. If only all wounds could be healed so quickly.

Faring Purth. “Cookie” St. Louis, MO. August 2014. (photo © Mark Jankowski)

Faring Purth. “Cookie” St. Louis, MO. August 2014. (photo © Virginia Harold)

Faring Purth. “Cookie” Detail. St. Louis, MO. August 2014. (photo © Faring Purth)

Faring Purth. “Cookie” St. Louis, MO. August 2014. (photo © Faring Purth)

Faring Purth. “Cookie” Detail. St. Louis, MO. August 2014. (photo © Faring Purth)

Faring Purth. “Cookie” St. Louis, MO. August 2014. (photo © Faring Purth)

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BSA Images Of The Week: 08.24.14

August 24, 2014 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Angelina Christina, Azores, City Kitty, Colettivo FX, Damon, EaseOne, Fidel Evora, F.S., Gone Postal, HDL Corporation, JR, Kraken, Love is Telepathic, Mark Samsonovich, Mesa, Never, Pixote, Rubin415, Seher, Smithe, Specter, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Wrdsmth, and X-O.

Top Image >> Smithe, Seher and Kraken new mural for Savage Habbit in Union City, New Jersey. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Smithe, Seher and Kraken new mural for Savage Habbit in Union City, New Jersey. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

X-O (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Smithe for Savage Habbit in Union City, New Jersey. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter for the Walk and Talk Art Festival in Azores, Portugal. August 2014. (photo @ Specter)

Specter and Mesa in Cadiz, Spain. August 2014. (photo @ Specter)

Fidel Evora for the Walk and Talk Art Festival in Azores, Portugal. August 2014. (photo @ Specter)

Specter Ad-Takeover (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WRDSMTH clearly knows his audience. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Damon is caught in a lip-lock. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

City Kitty has the four panel street exhibit for Woodward Project Space. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

HDL Corporation in Detroit. August 2014 (photo © HDL Corporation)

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh clarifying things in case you were not sure. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rubin415. Detail of both ends of his large new mural in Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mark Samsonovich in Jersey City, New Jersey. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Collettivo FX. Portrait of Abidi. Reggio Emilia, Italy. August 2014. (photo © Collettivo FX)

Collettivo FX explains the portrait above:

“In our city of Reggio Emilia in Italy there is a very big factory named Officine Reggiane that is completely abandoned. It was famous in Italy for its metal work production (they made the Orient Express train, the crane used for the Costa Concordia, and then there was the longest occupation of a factory in the history of Italy here).

Now this is a major venue for graffiti and a refuge for homeless people. We began going to the factory more that two years ago and some of the people living there became our friends; in particular a man named Abidi, who we named “the boss of the Officine Reggiane”.

So a few weeks ago Abidi announced to us that he is leaving the factory to go back to Tunisia: he had found a wife! So, we thought about a gift we could give him. We are poor, very poor, we just had the paint, so one night we went in the factory (usually we go during the day) and we painted a big portrait of Abidi in the principal part of the place. It’s a gift for Abidi but also for us and for our memories of the Officine Reggiane.”

Pixote (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gone Postal (photo © Jaime Rojo)

F.S. We are intrigued by this bubble tag. Was the stencil work done by a different artist? Is this the original piece as first installed by the artist? (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JR (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Angelina Christina, EaseOne and Never collaboration for Savage Habbit in Jersey City, New Jersey. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Manhattan, NYC. August 2014. It looks like Spiderman has found a formidable adversary. Last time he saw him battling this monster hanging from wire cables in Williamsburg. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Fauxreel Immortalizes Local Tai Chi Practitioners in Toronto

August 23, 2014 Artists

“It’s nice to install photo-based portraits that have permanency,” Toronto based Street Artist Fauxreel, otherwise known as Dan Bergeron, tells us. In his new series of works in the public sphere you’ll agree that it isn’t strictly Street Art since it is an approved and organized installation, but even so it retains the markings of a D.I.Y. conceptualized series that follows the vision of one artist. The subjects here are residents from the area who come to Grange Park in the morning to do Tai Chi exercises and possibly to glance upward at the Ontario College of Art and Design’s Sharp Centre that hovers above like a black and white checkered Memphis-Milano tabletop on multi-colored stilts. These new series of works were commissioned as part of StreetART Toronto.

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Dan Begeron AKA Faux Reel. Grange Park. Toronto, Canada. August 2014. (photo © Dan Bergeron)

This isn’t Fauxreel’s first project with the residents of this area. BSA first covered him in 2008 when we first met him after seeing his work on New York streets (see Regent of the People for Real). Bergeron’s work with the community is given a more durable quality this time than his earlier large wheatpastes and wood cut silhouettes of people on the street, mounted as they are on tiles but similar to his earlier works, they focus on populations within the community.

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Dan Begeron AKA Faux Reel. Grange Park. Toronto, Canada. August 2014. (photo © Dan Bergeron)

The human forms and various poses are grounding from a human point of view. They also appear to hover above the ground in a spirit-like manner as if astute talismen and erudite taliswomen for the neighborhood. Ironically, the models are posed in front of facades that have been hit up with various aerosol tags, yet the neighborhood they are hung in is as clean as Disney World.

Dan Begeron AKA Faux Reel. Grange Park. Toronto, Canada. August 2014. (photo © Dan Bergeron)

While clearly this is public art, it retains some of the influences we have experienced with the sudden and immediate interaction one can have with photographic unilateral installations done by freethinkers and rebels on the Street Art scene. Let’s see how long these pieces run before being defaced or added to by those more traditional practitioners. Who knows? – maybe they will remain untouched.

Dan Begeron AKA Faux Reel. Grange Park. Toronto, Canada. August 2014. (photo © Dan Bergeron)

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“Banksy In New York” by Ray Mock

August 21, 2014 Artists

Ray Mock, the one man publisher who photographs, designs, and writes insightful observations of his daily Banksy revelations in his new book is no stranger to the New York graffiti and Street Art scene. “I had mostly been shooting graffiti in recent years, preferably grimy tagged up doors, man-size fill-ins, freight trains and illegal pieces in abandoned buildings or along railroad tracks,” he says in the introduction to Banksy in New York, one of the first books dedicated to the one month “residency” the superstar Street Artist mounted in October of 2013.

Banksy In New York by Ray Mock. (photo of book cover by Jaime Rojo)

Filled with photos of the various installations of his “Better Out Than In” show, as well as the scenes that popped up around them, Mock finds that the personal experience is a fitting voice for description when it comes to how you see art on the street. With humor and a bit of sarcasm not unlike the subject of the book, Mock leads the reader along the path of the near-daily occurrences of new aerosol stencils, paintings, sculptures, mobile performances, and even a bucolic diorama in the back of a box truck.

Only a street watcher like Mock is able to reveal through observations and posing questions just how much of the great Banksy caper may be staged, and how much is real. If the art doesn’t get your attention, the circus that surrounded it for a month in New York streets will.

Banksy In New York by Ray Mock. (re-photo by Jaime Rojo)

To purchase your copy of “Banksy In New York” By Ray Mock click HERE, published by Carnage.

In Istanbul the “Language Of The Wall”, Street Art, and Graffiti

August 20, 2014 Artists

“The Language Of The Wall. Graffiti / Street Art” Pera Museum. Istanbul, Turkey

No Street Artist is a prophet in his own land, to paraphrase the Latin “Nemo propheta in patria”.

To see a large show of new Street Art in a museum right now don’t think of New York. Surprisingly a vibrant and impactful art scene that has foundational roots in NYC streets and culture is once again celebrated more often by major museum exhibits elsewhere in the world.

In Istanbul they even invite you to paint on trains.

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With portraits by C215 of his daughter in the background, Evol moves his sculptures for his installation. Pera Museum. Istanbul, August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

The nine year old Pera Museum is currently hosting 20 artists from America, Germany, France, and Japan, along with some more local talents and is featuring photographers whose New York work is considered seminal such as Martha Cooper, Henry Chalfant, and the California skate culture documenter Hugh Holland.

The detailed study of New York graffiti, train writing, hip-hop culture, and the evolution that pushed this current explosive growth of Street Art are all evident in the curation and choices by Roxane Ayral. Language of the Wall is cognizant of the weight of graff history while looking squarely in the eye of the present and considering the interdisciplinary nature of today’s scene, the show is at once expansive and tightly lyrical. The swath of new works inside the museum and out on the streets of Istanbul is a mix of respected older graff writers and some of the newer practitioners including Futura, Carlos Mare, Cope 2, Turbo, Wyne, JonOne, Tilt, Psyckoze, Craig Costello (aka KR), Herakut, Logan Hicks, C215, Suiko, Evol, Gaia, Tabone, Funk, and No More Lies.

Over the course of the installation, Martha Cooper traveled the city and captured the new works by the artists and she shares with us her shots and some of her observations.

Parisian Street Artist C215 working on his stenciled installation outside. His daughter and frequent muse, Nina, on the street is assisting him. Istanbul, August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

C215. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Evol. Pera Museum. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Evol working on an outdoor installation. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Carlos Mare (Mare 139) working on his installation. Pera Museum. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

“Mare worked with a local foundry to produce 3 big welded sculptures and 2 little “B-Boy” ones,” says Ms. Cooper. “The foundry was able to produce pieces of metal with Islamic patterns, which I found impressive. This was the first time Mare was able to design the metal in this way.”

Tilt. An assistant helps hang the bus as canvas. Pera Museum. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

“Tilt painted a garbage truck with his iconic throwup,” says Ms. Cooper, of the actual truck he painted on the street. “The garbage men gave him an official shirt to wear and he painted their names (and mine) on the truck. He also painted an entire bus that had been cut apart and hung on the wall of the museum.”

Tilt in action. Pera Museum. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Tilt painted a garbage truck. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

No More Lies. His assistant and girlfriend, an artist named Merve Berkman, is shown here painting an intricate stencil. Pera Museum. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Suiko working on his installation. Pera Museum. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

“Suiko is from Hiroshima, Japan. We were in the museum on the anniversary of the bombing on August 16th,” says Martha. “Hiroshima, synonymous with nuclear bombs, now sells spray paint for graffiti bombing. Crazy world!”

Suiko. Pera Museum. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Herakut sits atop their outside installation. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

“Imagine you had to teach your kids never to laugh” is the translation of the text, which Martha says was Herakut’s response to a Deputy Minister’s outrageous statement that women shouldn’t laugh in public.

Herakut in action inside the Pera Museum. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

JonOne “came last and painted fast,” says Martha. Pera Museum. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Gaia in front of his installation. Pera Museum. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Street artist Gaia did very labor intensive pieces inside and outside the museum “commemorating those that have lost their lives in construction murders due to lack of safety, regulation and corruption,” he says. For more information on Workers’ Families In Pursuit of Justice please go to http://iscinayetleriniunutma.org/ .

Gaia. Pera Museum. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Gaia at work on his outdoor installation of workers helmets and Forget-Me-Not flowers. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Turbo in action. Pera Museum. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Shoot To Kill . Turbo. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

“Turbo has the reputation of being one of Turkey’s first writers. He’s an archivist with many graff related collections (cans, markers, books etc). His crew is S2K—Shoot to Kill,” says Ms. Cooper.

Logan Hicks in action. Pera Museum. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Logan Hicks photo-realistic stenciling on display in this outdoor installation. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

The New York legend Futura was one of the first graffiti writers to break new ground into abstraction, and more than 30 years after his first foray, is kicking it. Pera Museum. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Mist in action. Pera Museum. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

“Mist painted a bold abstract wall in the museum and numerous pieces outside,” remarks photographer Cooper. “I liked his ‘Mistanbul’ piece the best.”

The Mist rolldown gate, “Mistanbul”. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Psyckoze. Pera Museum. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

“Psyckoze is famous for being the king of the Paris catacombs. He knows every nook and cranny,” reports Ms. Cooper. “I once spent the night there—scary and completely confusing if you don’t have a guide. Psyckoze made an installation replicating a room in the catacombs reproducing paintings that were actually there.”

KR. Pera Museum. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

“KR did his extinguisher thing inside the museum and it turned out great—sort of a delicate blizzard of criss-crossing spray. I liked this shot of the cleaning lady in his room – Who’s to decide what needs cleaning?” asks Martha.

The action at the train yards. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

A highlight of the events was the opportunity for many of the artists to legally hit a number of train cars in the yards, and archetypal right of passage immortalized by a handful of New York photographers in the 1970s and 1980s like Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant, among others. Martha was at least as excited as the artists and felt like she was in a movie she had seen before, but with new enthusiastic actors and actresses – and without the fear of being arrested.

Psyckoze at the train yards. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Suiko at the train yards. Istanbul. August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

A new classic by Martha Cooper of the action at the train yards. Istanbul, Turkey August 2014. (photo © Martha Cooper)

“Language Of The Wall Graffiti / Street Art” exhibition is currently on view at the Pera Museum in Istanbul, Turkey. The show closes on October 05, 2014. For more information click HERE

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X-O and Amanda Marie Go To Philadelphia

August 19, 2014 Artists

‘Beautiful Times – Philly Stop’

As we follow the “Beautiful Times” summer tour of X-O and Amanda Marie we find them in the city of brotherly love laying down layers of stencils and building out abandoned places with found object constructions. All tolled, the number of completed projects in this city made it the most prodigious of the tour so far.

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Amanda Marie at a Community Garden. Beautiful Times. Philadelphia. August 2014 (photo © courtesy Amanda Maire and X-O)

First off they took a nice tour of Steve Powers ‘Love Letters’ murals that he did a couple of years ago with the Philadelphia Mural Project, and worked with that program to create their own project – something X-O refers to as an #emogarden called ‘High 5 Times’. Most likely that is about walking on stilts, we’re guessing.

As another project Amanda made some time to create a ‘camping’ scene in one of the many community gardens that dot the city of Philly, thanks to friends at HAHA x Paradigm, a magazine and gallery respectively. “Painting in the community garden was a good match for the ‘Beautiful Times’ vibe,” says X-O.

Amanda Marie at a Community Garden. Detail. Beautiful Times. Philadelphia. August 2014 (photo © courtesy Amanda Maire and X-O)

On their next investigation the two went on the hunt for more destitute architectural decay and hit the jackpot when X-O “found a beautiful demolition / construction site that had a super good sunken window temporarily covered in plywood,” he says excitedly. Did anyone mind that he created a new piece with various pieces of wood in the framed ventana? “The owners were happy to get a ‘lost object’ piece for the space,” he says, “and the neighbors are happy to have something more interesting than blank plywood to look at.”

X-O at a Community Garden for Mural Arts. Beautiful Times. Philadelphia. August 2014 (photo © courtesy Amanda Maire and X-O)

Moving along, the two found “Tattooed Mom,” and they thought they were in a celestial graff palace. “If the paint store equals the candy store, then ‘Tattooed Mom’ equals the playground,” he exclaims the legendary graff writer / Street Artist hangout on South Street. “The whole upstairs is completely smashed with tags and pieces and a constantly shifting smorgasbord of aerosol madness,” says X-O.

Here Amanda Marie made some more urban ‘camping’ vignettes while X-O gave a Hanksy piece of his namesake actor some gender-reassignment surgery. “I dropped in a field of flowers behind him and updated his substantial forehead with the slogan ‘I Like Your Girlfriend’.”

Amanda Marie at work on the street. Beautiful Times. Philadelphia. August 2014 (photo © courtesy Amanda Maire and X-O)

“The last thing that got done before we split town was a big beautiful total street move from Amanda where she painted a few of her ‘Pretty Baby’ images on 5th street just a half block off of South Street … a really nice match of image with the hodge podge coloring of the empty building behind it,” X-O says.

“For both Amanda and me, one of the most impressive things about Philly were all of the walls that have been left exposed when adjacent buildings are torn down,” he says. It looks like the great experience with the mural program and these more organic adventures have gotten their wheels turning on even larger ideas for Philadelphia in the future.

Amanda Marie. Beautiful Times. Philadelphia. August 2014 (photo © courtesy Amanda Maire and X-O)

X-O. Beautiful Times. Philadelphia. August 2014 (photo © courtesy Amanda Maire and X-O)

X-O. Detail. Beautiful Times. Philadelphia. August 2014 (photo © courtesy Amanda Maire and X-O)

Amanda Marie at Tattooed Mom. Beautiful Times. Philadelphia. August 2014 (photo © courtesy Amanda Maire and X-O)

Amanda Marie at Tattooed Mom. Detail. Beautiful Times. Philadelphia. August 2014 (photo © courtesy Amanda Maire and X-O)

X-O at work at Tattooed Mom. Beautiful Times. Philadelphia. August 2014 (photo © courtesy Amanda Maire and X-O)

X-O at Tattooed Mom. Beautiful Times. Philadelphia. August 2014 (photo © courtesy Amanda Maire and X-O)

X-O gives Hanksy a make over at Tattooed Mom. Beautiful Times. Philadelphia. August 2014 (photo © courtesy Amanda Maire and X-O)

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Project M/5 Curated by Roland Henry & VNA in Berlin

August 18, 2014 Artists

The Berlin adventure entitled Urban Nation is readying for substantial renovation over the next year and meanwhile has embarked on rotating external exhibition of artists from many disciplines called ProjectM. Today we bring you images of the most recent in the series called M/5, curated by Roland Henry in conjunction with VNA Magazine and give an idea of the range of contemporary works and artists influencing the street art scene today through his eyes.

The works are completed inside the future museum and displayed on the street along with a huge façade painting by Ben Eine. Here are images from the new headquarters as the artists prepared their works for Project M/5 and the list of artists includes Mark Lyken, Pam Glew, Will Barras, Eine, Steff Plaetz, Nick Walker, O.Two, Sickboy, Zenx and Ben Frost.

To learn more about Urban Nation and ProjectM click HERE

We wish to thank photographer Henrik Haven for sharing his work with BSA readers.

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BSA Images Of The Week: 08.17.14

August 17, 2014 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

This weeks “21st Precinct” show of graffiti and street art style mural / installation work did blow some minds for sure, as did last nights official opening – mostly because of the great display of work on four floors. But additionally all sorts of paranoia was afoot when people began writing on social media and to us that they really thought this was a sting operation of some sort.

Aside from the fact that we clearly said in our postings on BSA and Huffpost that the building had long since been decommissioned as a precinct and we were simply focusing on the irony of the facts, minds and nerves were blown nonetheless. Truth is, this is a good show with some thoughtful pieces and installations and not surprisingly, many thematically addressed the contentious relationship some have with the police traditionally. But there is lots of other stuff too and it is worth your time. Just don’t get arrested. Kidding!

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring APC Crew, Art is Trash, Bishop203, Castellaneta, Chekos, Cruz, Foxx Face, Franksy, Gaia, Hek Tad, JJ Veronis, Lorenzo Maza, Mark Samsonovich AKA Love is Telepathic, Melty Cats, Mr. PRVT, Mr. Toll, Nekst, Opiemme, Pixote, Shantell Martin, Skrew, UR New York and Wolfe Metal Work, Tommy Wolfe.

Top Image >> Mark Samsonovich says open your mind, although it looks like someone blew this guys. See the video of the Delfonics at end of posting if that song is running through your brain now. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Who is he? Who is that other one?”

“These are the questions that people asked most often while Chekos and I were painting in Castellaneta.
Ernest Hemingway, Sean Connery, Sigmund Freud, Steve Jobs, Padre Pio, Van Gogh, Giuseppe Verdi, George Clooney, Lenin, Cavour, Garibaldi…are some of the guesses.

The work came from Chekos’s idea, a reflection on the father of psychoanalysis, Sigmund Freud. We tried to bring the spectator to have an experience close to a personality test, with an iconographic work that recalls the Rorschach test. The words “Stereotype” in the center of the composition refer to the process that brings people to recognize different famous people.” ~ Opiemme

Didn’t I Blow Your Mind? The Delfonics

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OLEK Drops A Bomb In The Bottom Of The Ocean in Mexico

August 16, 2014 Artists

As a rejoinder to our Film Friday post yesterday, today we take you into deep waters where OLEK has just crocheted a bomb or two.

If you think our land is being stripped of entire mountains and trees and our soil and drinking water is being poisoned by factory farming and fracking, consider that it is estimated that 100 million sharks are killed each year to create shark fin soup. They have been at the tops of the oceanic food chain for about 450 million years but we are on track to knock them out in the next 20.

Does that sound like an ecological ticking time bomb to you?

OLEK says she wants to “bring awareness to the state of the world’s oceans and promote the preservation of marine life.” With this new project she is definitely making waves.

In a new project with PangeaSeed and sculpture Jason DeCaires Taylor, the Brooklyn based street artist dove to the ocean floor off the Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico to create these astounding, poetic, and inspiring underwater images. As she has done in other projects on land OLEK created costumery for friends and others to model, and these crocheted mermaids are the bomb. The yarn bomb.

To learn more about Pangeaseed click HERE

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BSA Film Friday 08.15.14

August 15, 2014 Artists

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

Now screening :

Sea Walls – Murals For Oceans. Isla Mujers, Mexic
HERR BÜTTNER for Whale Rights in Penang, Malaysia
“90 Percent” from Save Our Seas Foundation

BSA Special Feature: Sea Walls – Murals For Oceans

Isla Mujers in Mexico provides a gorgeous venue for these street artists to come and paint. If you didn’t get to go on vacation this year, now is your chance, if only vicariously, to be on spraycation with this talented crew.

“Sea Walls: Murals for Oceans is a ground-breaking street art project created by PangeaSeed to bring the beauty and the plight of the world’s oceans into streets around the globe. By collaborating with internationally renowned artists, we create large-scale murals that focus attention on pressing environmental issues the oceans are facing.”

Street Artist HERR BÜTTNER in Penang, Malaysia

It doesn’t get more D.I.Y. than this home made video showing the process of making and wheat-pasting various oceanic life onto the streets in Penang. Roberto Blanco posts this video on Vimeo of HERR BUETTNER, who calls himself an “offshore warrior for fish and whale rights all over the world.”

As a side note, the drawings upon which he makes his sea creatures are notices of death from a Chinese newspaper, drawing a direct connection to the death of sealife.

“90 Percent” from Save Our Seas Foundation

Life began in the ocean. Now 90 percent of the big fish, including sharks and rays, are gone. Find out more about the threats facing our oceans and what you can do to help at saveourseas.com

Directed by Stefan Kubicki (stefankubicki.com)

BSA Images Of The Week: 01.11.26
January 11, 2026
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week, our first of the year. We started 2026 with a Wolf Moon, which …Read More »
ONLY HUMAN at Wynwood Walls: Murals, Memory, and the Hand-Made Mark in Miami Art Week
January 8, 2026
Wynwood Walls made its presence felt throughout Miami Art Week this December with a familiar mix of new murals, established …Read More »
Buff or Delete Elfo? The Last One For ’25, the First One For ’26
January 6, 2026
Elfo isn’t wrong, as they like to say these days. This photograph shows the phrase “You can remove graffiti with …Read More »
Photos of BSA 2025 # 1
January 4, 2026
Street art doesn’t only regale walls, it often reflects us, cracks and all. Call it protest or simply commentary, this …Read More »
Photos of BSA 2025 # 2
January 3, 2026
Street art welcomes all manner of materials and methods, typically deployed without permission and without apology. This hand-formed wire piece …Read More »
Photos of BSA 2025 # 3
January 2, 2026
The most successful murals are created within the context of a community. Too often, street art festivals operate with little …Read More »
Happy New Year 2026 From BSA
January 1, 2026
Okay let's do this! The future is unwritten. Get out your marker.Read More »

Amanda Marie. Beautiful Times. Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amanda Marie. Beautiful Times. Brooklyn. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amanda Marie cutting stencils at a makeshift studio in DUMBO. Beautiful Times. Brooklyn. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

X-O. Beautiful Times. Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

X-O. Beautiful Times. Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

X-O. DUMBO, Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Amanda Marie. Beautiful Times. Beacon, NY. (photo © Alan Goldsmith)

Amanda Marie. Beautiful Times. Beacon, NY. (photo © X-O)

Amanda Marie. Beautiful Times. Beacon, NY. (photo © Alan Goldsmith)

X-O. Beautiful Times. Beacon, NY. (photo © Ethan Harrison)

X-O. Beautiful Times. Beacon, NY. (photo © X-O)

X-O. Beautiful Times. Beacon, NY. (photo © Ethan Harrison)

Amanda Marie. Beautiful Times. Aztlan Skate Park. F. Collins, Colorado (photo © courtesy of X-O)

X-O. Beautiful Times. Launch. Colorado. (photo © X-O)

X-O. Beautiful Times. Rocky Mountains, Colorado. (photo © X-O)

X-O. Beautiful Times. Rocky Mountains, Colorado. (photo © X-O)

Amanda Marie and X-O would like to thank Todd Masters from Masters Projects in Dumbo, Brooklyn.

They would also like to thank Dan and Kalene from Thundercut/OpenSpace in Beacon, as well as a number of neighborly photographers who were generous with their time and talents in Beacon.

They would also like to thank Andy Weiss in Colorado. *****************************************************************

Shepard Fairey in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. NYC. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. NYC. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. NYC. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. NYC. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. NYC. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. NYC. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. NYC. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. NYC. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. NYC. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. NYC. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. NYC. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. NYC. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey in collaboration with The L.I.S.A. Project. NYC. August 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faring Purth. “Cookie” St. Louis, MO. August 2014. (photo © Virginia Harold)

Faring Purth. “Cookie” St. Louis, MO. August 2014. (photo © Mark Jankowski)

Faring Purth. “Cookie” St. Louis, MO. August 2014. (photo © Mark Jankowski)

Faring Purth. “Cookie” St. Louis, MO. August 2014. (photo © Virginia Harold)

Faring Purth. “Cookie” Detail. St. Louis, MO. August 2014. (photo © Faring Purth)

Faring Purth. “Cookie” St. Louis, MO. August 2014. (photo © Faring Purth)

Faring Purth. “Cookie” Detail. St. Louis, MO. August 2014. (photo © Faring Purth)

Faring Purth. “Cookie” St. Louis, MO. August 2014. (photo © Faring Purth)

Top Image >> Smithe, Seher and Kraken new mural for Savage Habbit in Union City, New Jersey. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Smithe, Seher and Kraken new mural for Savage Habbit in Union City, New Jersey. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Smithe, Seher and Kraken new mural for Savage Habbit in Union City, New Jersey. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

X-O (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Smithe for Savage Habbit in Union City, New Jersey. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter for the Walk and Talk Art Festival in Azores, Portugal. August 2014. (photo @ Specter)

Specter and Mesa in Cadiz, Spain. August 2014. (photo @ Specter)

Fidel Evora for the Walk and Talk Art Festival in Azores, Portugal. August 2014. (photo @ Specter)

Specter Ad-Takeover (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WRDSMTH clearly knows his audience. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Damon is caught in a lip-lock. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

City Kitty has the four panel street exhibit for Woodward Project Space. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

HDL Corporation in Detroit. August 2014 (photo © HDL Corporation)

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh clarifying things in case you were not sure. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rubin415. Detail of both ends of his large new mural in Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mark Samsonovich in Jersey City, New Jersey. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Collettivo FX. Portrait of Abidi. Reggio Emilia, Italy. August 2014. (photo © Collettivo FX)

Pixote (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gone Postal (photo © Jaime Rojo)

F.S. We are intrigued by this bubble tag. Was the stencil work done by a different artist? Is this the original piece as first installed by the artist? (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JR (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Angelina Christina, EaseOne and Never collaboration for Savage Habbit in Jersey City, New Jersey. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Manhattan, NYC. August 2014. It looks like Spiderman has found a formidable adversary. Last time he saw him battling this monster hanging from wire cables in Williamsburg. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dan Begeron AKA Faux Reel. Grange Park. Toronto, Canada. August 2014. (photo © Dan Bergeron)

Dan Begeron AKA Faux Reel. Grange Park. Toronto, Canada. August 2014. (photo © Dan Bergeron)

Dan Begeron AKA Faux Reel. Grange Park. Toronto, Canada. August 2014. (photo © Dan Bergeron)

Dan Begeron AKA Faux Reel. Grange Park. Toronto, Canada. August 2014. (photo © Dan Bergeron)

Dan Begeron AKA Faux Reel. Grange Park. Toronto, Canada. August 2014. (photo © Dan Bergeron)

Dan Begeron AKA Faux Reel. Grange Park. Toronto, Canada. August 2014. (photo © Dan Bergeron)

Dan Begeron AKA Faux Reel. Grange Park. Toronto, Canada. August 2014. (photo © Dan Bergeron)

Dan Begeron AKA Faux Reel. Grange Park. Toronto, Canada. August 2014. (photo © Dan Bergeron)

Dan Begeron AKA Faux Reel. Grange Park. Toronto, Canada. August 2014. (photo © Dan Bergeron)

Banksy In New York by Ray Mock. (photo of book cover by Jaime Rojo)

Banksy In New York by Ray Mock. (re-photo by Jaime Rojo)

Banksy In New York by Ray Mock. (re-photo by Jaime Rojo)

Banksy In New York by Ray Mock. (re-photo by Jaime Rojo)

Banksy In New York by Ray Mock. (re-photo by Jaime Rojo)

Banksy In New York by Ray Mock. (re-photo by Jaime Rojo)

Banksy In New York by Ray Mock. (re-photo by Jaime Rojo)

“The Language Of The Wall. Graffiti / Street Art” Pera Museum. Istanbul, Turkey

They would also like to thank Andy Weiss in Colorado.

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