Veteran New York Street Artist WK Interact has been depicting the rush and clamor and violence of the streets of New York since the 80s. With stark black and white imagery that captures and distorts the action layered with precise mechanical renderings and computerized symbology, WK creates a portrait of the kinetic chaos of the life on the street and delivers it back.
WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)
His new project installed in Brooklyn on 9/9/11 commemorates the events marked citywide 2 days later, when WK watched our streets convulse. With 10 years distance, the memory is just as close as ever for some, including firefighters who plunged themselves into the disaster instead of running from it. While WK is highly gifted verbally, he is most powerful when he uses his Street Art to talk about the impact of that day and pays tribute here to those firefighters while looking at the disaster. “Project Brave” is not his work in solitary – WK did this in partnership with the Yonkers Fire Department and the support of the Fire Commissioner Anthony Pagano and his Deputy Chief William Fitzpatrick and other firefighters in the city.
WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)
The huge installation expanse alludes to the overwhelming nature of the events and gives viewers the opportunity to contemplate the loss of firefighters and the people they left. Without musty museum stilted pomp, this modern depiction casts the events in a contemporary context fitting for the times; one more example of the contribution that Street Art can make to the culture and life of the city.
WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)
WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)
WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)
WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)
WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)
WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)
WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)
WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)
WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)
WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)
WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)
WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)
(all photos copyright Jaime Rojo)
>><< <><><>>>>><<>><>><<<>><<
See our 2 part interview from September 2009 with WK Interact;
The 25 Year War: WK Interact in New York, Part 1 : Brooklyn Street Art
The 25 Year War: WK Interact in New York, Part 2 : Brooklyn Street Art
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
Welcome to the beginning of fall in New York, hopefully not the Fall of New York - although you can never tell when monetary policy is incredibly loose and we're living in an "everything bubble"...
Rafael Schacter Takes a More Nuanced Approach to the Migration Crisis Commerce and technology have been eroding traditional constructs of the borders and boundaries, especially in the age of the In...
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities. Now screening : 1. Faith47, No Standing Anytime 2. Graveyard For The Forgotten: Sonny 3. Andreco: Clima...
Many people say that Street Art by its nature is necessarily ethereal because it is often damaged by the elements or destroyed by others. Your expectation for it's brief lifetime is tempered with the...
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! Happy Pride parade! Happy Os Gemeos show at Lehman Maupin! Happy retirement Mr. Biden! There is so much more to say, but gotta run. New York streets ...