“Flow on, river! flow with the flood-tide, and ebb with the ebb-tide! Frolic on, crested and scallop-edg’d waves! Gorgeous clouds of the sunset! drench with your splendor me, or the men and women generations after me! Cross from shore to shore, countless crowds of passengers!” ~ Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, Walt Whitman, 1860
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this time featuring Caryn Cast, Chris (Robots Will Kill), Christian Penn, Fumero, Hugus, IMK, James Vance, Jenna Morello, Joao is Typing, Kosuke James, LeCrue Eyebrows, Luch, Mike Shine, Nandos Art, Ninth Wave Studio, Ottograph, Peachee Blue, Prez Arecta, Renek X, and VEW.
Spring is in full swing, and so are the artists. We’re expecting a few international names to pass through New York this week, including Saype, who’s creating something extraordinary at the UN.
It’s also New York Art Week — a citywide celebration of contemporary art that brings together fairs, gallery openings, and museum shows across all five boroughs. Among the marquee events are Frieze New York at The Shed, Independent at Spring Studios, and NADA at the Starrett-Lehigh Building.
In fact, this week New York hosts Frieze New York, Independent Art Fair, The Other Art Fair Brooklyn, NADA New York, TEFAF New York, SPRING/BREAK Art Show, Future Fair, 1-54 Contemporary African Art Fair, The American Art Fair, and Clio Art Fair.
With so much happening against the backdrop of a turbulent political and economic climate, we’ll be keeping our eyes open for artists and artworks that speak with clarity, urgency, and heart.
So here’s some of this week’s visual conversation from the street, including works from City Kitty, Degrupo, Qzar, Ollin, Stu, Smile, Erotica, Son, H Kubed, VEW X, The Splasher, Never Satisfied, Salem, 1992 Crew, Brady Scott, Chris Bohlin, Frozen Feathers, and Monk.
“People have the Power” from musician and poet Patti Smith.
“Where there were deserts I saw fountains like cream the waters rise and we strolled there together with none to laugh or criticize and the leopard and the lamb lay together truly bound I was hoping in my hoping to recall what I had found I was dreaming in my dreaming God knows a purer view as I surrender to my sleeping I commit my dream to you
The people have the power The people have the power The people have the power The people have the power”
Welcome to BSA’s Images of the week. Mockingbirds are bringing sprigs from the cold, grey, churning East River to build nests on the banks of abandoned lots of Williamsburg/Greenpoint before further ugly gentrification paves it over. Up and down the Brooklyn waterfront, it’s a procession of architectural mediocrity—glass boxes and bland slabs posing as progress. With few exceptions, these vertical office parks evoke visions of photocopier showrooms or surplus staplers stacked in a supply closet.
Magnolias and cherry blossoms are starting to bust out all over Brooklyn. Spring is here, and it’s coming in hot—and cold. April’s throwing weather tantrums like a toddler on espresso, bouncing us around like a pinball between heatwaves, cold snaps; all while dodging the political side-swipes we read and hear on social media and the press room. Add in soaring grocery bills (despite what the “official” numbers say), and it’s no wonder everyone’s feeling a little punch-drunk.
In a notable week for New York’s graffiti and street art scene, Dutch artist Tripl, also known as Furious, unveiled his decade-long project, Repainting Subway Art. This ambitious endeavor meticulously recreates the iconic 1984 book Subway Art by Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant, with Tripl reproducing each original piece on European trains and re-enacting the accompanying photographs. The project culminated in the publication of the 196-page book that was featured Friday night and feted Saturday night.
Friday to a packed auditorium the Museum of the City of New York hosted a panel discussion on featuring Tripl, Cooper, Chalfant, and artist John “Crash” Matos. Moderated by graffiti scholar Edward Birzin and introduced by MCNY’s Sean Corcoran, the conversation delved into the evolution and global impact of graffiti and street art culture and the powerful reverberation of the book’s influence on generations of writers and artists.
Last night, Crash’s gallery WallWorks New York in the Bronx inaugurated the Repainting Subway Art exhibition, offering an immersive experience juxtaposing pages from the original Subway Art with Tripl’s reinterpretations. As word gradually spreads about this project, the graffiti and related communities will undoubtedly debate its significance—as homage, reinterpretation, and artistic intervention—while celebrating the obsessive dedication it took to recreate one of graffiti’s foundational texts from a contemporary, transnational perspective.
We continue with our interviews with the street, this week including stuff from Homesick, Kobra, Humble, Sluto, Wild West, V. Ballentine, Bleach, Toast, CAMI XVX, Vew, Tover, Dreps, Leaf!, Aneka, Kam S. Art, and John Sear.
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
