As we draw closer to the new year we’ve asked a very special guest every day to take a moment to reflect on 2018 and to tell us about one photograph that best captures the year for them. It’s a box of treats to surprise you with every day – and conjure our hopes and wishes for 2019. This is our way of sharing the sweetness of the season and of saying ‘Thank You’ to you for inspiring us throughout the year.
Today’s special guest:
Joe Russo, Brooklyn-born former graffiti writer now photographer, Joe captures Street Art, celebrities, big name music heroes, and entertainment portraits ..always on a relentless pursuit to capture the raw energy, beauty, and emotion of everything he shoots.
I first met and photographed Portuguese Graffiti / Street Artist Alexandre “VHILS” Farto on July 11, 2018 in New York City. He was in town to release a special limited edition artist label Hennessy bottle. While here, the good folks at L.I.S.A. Project had lined up a wall at 140 Elizabeth Street for him to create / install his latest mural. The subject of the mural is of the late RUN DMC Jam Master Jay’s son TJ Mizell as part of his ‘Scratching The Surface’ project.
To understand VHILS’ process is something to be seen in person. Using a myriad of power tools, chemicals, chisels, hammers and sometimes even pryotechnics / explosives, he carves through and peels back layer upon layer of brick, stucco, plaster, etcetera to reveal his latest subject matter. The artist believes that ‘destruction is a form of construction’.
I am almost inclined to believe that this philosophy is being mirrored and applied currently in the political chaos that we here as Americans are currently enduring and trudging through…after all of the chaos, digging and probing; when the dust settles…what beauty, infrastructure, message, will be revealed.
Photographer: Joe Russo
Artist: Vhils
Location: Manhattan, NYC
Date: July 2018
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
"This is an exhibition focusing on a very specific concept: design. I had to think about how we use the space in the Design Museum as a whole, and the exhibition offers a rich experience of what desi...
The hits just keep on coming in Lower Manhattan (despite the closing of LIT Lounge) as Beau Stanton, Ludo, and ASVP finished their murals in a tie-breaker this week for the LoMan Arts Festival. Somewh...
CALL FOR ACTION: PARTICIPATE IN A NEW VIDEO PROJECT Today we're lending a hand to Street Artist and fine artist AKUT, who is using his name and privilege to organize a new video project that he ho...
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! Coming up Thursday is Thanksgiving. What are you thankful for? We're thankful for you and the indomitable spirit of New York. It looks like many New Yorkers...
BSA has arrived in Belfast to attend the Hit the North Festival and hopefully gain a greater appreciation for the role political murals have played here, even as a new generation of painters move...