Florida

Miami Recap ’12 : Brand New Art in the Streets

December 10, 2012 Art Fair, Artists, Florida, Miami, On the Street

Shots from the weekend here by photographer, artist and frequent BSA contributor Geoff Hargadon. He caught a lot of new pieces as they were being installed, as well as some newly fresh ones.

Heads were rolling as soon as Anthony Lister hit the ground in Miami. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

These tires on the back of large vehicle looked like they were going to burst loose, which alarmed some and thrilled others. Rob “Bear” Fogle. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Obey was there to meet people at the dead end of the tracks. Shepard Fairey (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Obey . Shepard Fairey (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

People took a break on the grass in front of the wall-sized Tony Goldman tribute at Wynwood Walls by hepard Fairey (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Artists are often asked to give their work for free. You don’t typically see signs like this for accountants or plumbers. ISO… (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Invader (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Cash For Your Warhol has something new in Miami this year. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

CFYW (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

The ever more conceptual Cash For Your Warhol takes it to a abstract level here, purposely obscuring his own message while placing the real thing in relief. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Action shot of one of Paris’ early stencil artists, Speedy Graphito, at the Art Miami fair. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Melbourne’s REKA on tour and in town. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Os Gemeos. Detail. The Brazilian Twins were represented by their Brazilian Gallery at the Main Fair: Art Basel this year. From the Street to the Glitz. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

A Nathan Vincent and Alex Emmart collab exhorts you to behave at Fountain via Mighty Tanaka Gallery. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Asif’s Guns. A pop-up with cardboard replicas of the machines that kill. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Asif’s Guns (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Banksy. Is the guard there to protect or to reclaim stolen goods? (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

While there was some mindlessly pompous chatter surrounding the heralded display of actual walls by Banksy at the Context fair, the sometimes vandal’s work was surprisingly unremarkable to most attendees, who glanced at it and kept walking. If anything, the security guards helped garner a little interest. It is illuminating to find that outside of the hyper-excited Street Art fandom bubble that we are often in, an actual Banksy work doesn’t have as much magnetism that you might expect.

The walls (or pieces of walls) that were on display are said to have been stolen and the artist is said to be angered about it, but no arrests have been made and no property seized. Since the majority of graffiti or Street Artists are not wont to ask for permission to do their thing, most understand that no “rules” are typically invoked to protect their work on the street, or off it. Now that Banksy’s work is so high profile and sells at auctions and is in museums, it’s like putting a luxury watch or crystal vase on a wall out in the public – its market value is just too tempting for certain individuals. While this is an unsavory outcome to some, it’s not likely to change much.

“I am not a fan of what Bankrobber did, but, presuming it’s not some elaborate collaboration, I’m amused by the fact that Banksy doesn’t control it, and how his work is being displayed: among people who apparently don’t care about it nor did they come to see it… where Banksy is not necessarily the center of attention,” says Hargadon, remarking that one piece is shown behind a velvet rope.

La Pandilla returns to Miami again. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Chanoir and El Xupet Negre (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Occupy All The Streets…with parties. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

En Masse collective took over a wall in their monochromatic way(photo © Geoff Hargadon)

The Bask Truck was giving out free stickers from a leggy art lover (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

DWOT . All Nation Team from Vancouver was doing some night work in the Miami heat. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

DWOT . All Nation Team. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Dabs & Myla collab with Craola and Witnes. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Best Miami Street Art: BSA Picks Awesomest for Basel ’12

December 5, 2012 Art Fair, Artists, Florida, Miami

BSA Recommends: Where to Hit for the Best Street Art

Art Basel is set to whip Miami into a sea-foamy art-star laden froth this weekend, but art on the street is the unofficial engine that will be keeping it real. No one can doubt that the wave of Street Art, this first global grassroots peoples art movement, is sort of everywhere now, haters be damned.

The ugly streets of the Wynwood District easily get as much traffic as the big commercial art fairs even though there is no guest list or ticket price. It feels remarkably different to see the marbled horde exploring art in the public realm, posing for photos with each other in front of pieces, talking with the artists as they paint, sharing their favorite discoveries on Instagram. This is the art of this moment, and there is just something more democratic about it all.

Our list, in no particular order, doesn’t even include the main fair actually. Hit the streets!

1. Wynwood Walls
2. Fountain Art Fair
3. The Factory Art Show
4. Scope Fair
5. Pulse
6. Miami Project Art Fair
7. Context
8. Primary Projects
9. BLADE at Adjust Gallery
10. A Box Truck Caravan from Klughaus
11. Snyder “Urban Pop Up Gallery”

We have sifted through the offerings in Miami for 2012, and made some selections to help you see Street Art inside and outside, by brand new artists and some with 40 years in the game. Take your camera, take your sneakers, and take your love of the creative spirit.

Wynwood Walls

Arguably one of the main reasons that Street Artists began pouring into Miami in the late 2000s, Wynwood Walls opened the streets to the gallery world and increasingly galleries are opening doors to these artists from street. Wynwood Walls founder Tony Goldman would have wanted it that way and is credited by many artists as the first guy to give their art a chance to be seen.

WW doesn’t stop this year even as the recently departed real estate developer will be on many minds, not the least because of the huge wall installation by Shepard Fairey honoring him as a benefactor of the arts.

A well mixed list of internationally known and emerging names are featured on a slightly shorter list this year including: How & Nosm, MOMO, DAZE, Shepard Fairey, Jesse Geller (Nemel, IRAK), Faith47, Daleast, Santiago Rubino, POSE and Kenny Scharf. The out door walls are complemented with an indoor exhibition featuring new works on canvas by AIKO, Logan Hicks, How & Nosm and Futura.

How & Nosm. Wynwood Walls 2011. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For more information about wall locations and all the artists click here.

Fountain Art Fair

A loosely spun ball of misfits and future art stars, Fountain Art Fair always flies just under the radar of it’s more tony neighbors with its somewhat haphazard staging and the kind of unpretentious collaborative punk flophouse environment that gives rise to many Street Artists on the scene today. If you don’t need your art spoon-fed, you’ll find a link to the future here in the motley D.I.Y. parade. Also, a few really strong talents. As usual Fountain is making certain to spill outside the white box, onto the streets and onto the walls. This year line up of Street Artists painting the Fountain Wall include:

RONE. Wynwood Arts District, Miami 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For more information and schedule of events for Fountain Art Fair click here.

The Factory Art Show

A little more on the commercial tip, Juxtapoz Magazine and its minion are leaders in blasting open minds to help you enjoy delicious tattoo art, graffiti art, Street Art, pop surrealist and dark pop, erotic art, and of course hypnotically animated gifs. Here Jux teams up with Mixed Media Collective to bring you an indoor and outdoor exhibition featuring a left coast imbued view of the street with national and international artists including: 131, Abstrkt, Alex Yanes, Myla (of Dabs & Myla), DALeast, Evoca1, Faith47, Jose Mertz, Lebo, Tatiana Suarez, Toofly, and La Pandilla among others.

Tatiana TATI Suarez at The RC Cola Factory in The Wynwood Arts District of Miami, 2009. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For more information about THE FACTORY art exhibition click here.

Scope Fair

Scope Art Fair is a few steps removed from the street, even as it deeply mines that vein and packages it for sale. Big sale. Usually high quality and undoubtedly commercial, the fair aims for deeper pockets and the art trade while still trying to maintain the accessible, challenging works that accomplished GenX collectors are looking for. Not surprisingly, artists once known exclusively as Street Artists are all up in there too.

Scope’s roster of galleries includes many that represent Street Artists from around the world including: Cory Helford Gallery from Culver City, CA will be presenting D*Face and Buff Monster. Galerie Swanström from NYC will be presenting Gilf! White Walls Gallery from San Fransico, CA. will be presenting C215, Herakut, Augustine Kofie, Logan Hicks and Niels Shoe Meulman. Andenken Gallery / The Garage from Amsterdam, Spoke Art Gallery from San Francisco and Thinkspace from Culver City, CA will also have booths at Scope. Scope Art Fair includes a large variety of programs along with their main exhibition including Red Bull Curates with artists Cosbe and Claw Money among others and Anthony Spinello curates TYPOE.

Buff Monster at Wynwood Arts District, Miami. 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For a full listing of exhibitors, programs and other details click here.

Pulse

Pulse Art Fair insists on paring works on canvas with art installations as a way to engage the public and make the art viewing experience (and hopefully the art buying experience) far less clinical and more accessible. Detailed, immaculate, and approachable, Pulse is always a must to visit if you are doing the fair circuit. This year as in previous years Pulse has included some of the most important art galleries representing and promoting the work of internationally established Street Artists. Some examples: LeBasse Projects from Culver City, CA will be presenting Herakut, The Joshua Liner Gallery from NYC will be presenting Stephen “ESPO” Powers, and The Jonathan LeVine Gallery from NYC will be presenting a solo exhibition by French Street Artist and tilest INVADER.

Invader. South Beach, Miami. 2010 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For a full listing of exhibitors, programs and other details click here.

Miami Project Art Fair

One to watch, The Miami Project Art Fair originates from peeps in Williamsburg, Brooklyn and has about 70 galleries in its inaugural showing with contemporary and modern art offerings. We expect this fair to provide the already charged air with an extra bolt of energy. One worth hitting is the Cooper Cole Gallery from Toronto, Canada will be presenting Brooklyn’s own Maya Hayuk.

Maya Hayuk. Monster Island, Brooklyn, NYC. November, 2009. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For a full listing of exhibitors, programs and other details click here.

Context

Context is one of the newest fairs, and will feature French Street Artists RERO and Speedy Graphito, represented by the Fabien Castanier Gallery from Studio City, CA.

Speedy Graphito “Urban Dreamer” (photo courtesy of the gallery)

For a full listing of exhibitors, programs and other details click here.

Primary Projects

Honorable mention here for the originators of the Wynwood outdoor graffiti (and Street Art) exhibitions that pre-date the official Wynwood Walls and were run on a shoelace budget and lots of hustle, Primary Flight. This year as a gallery project they have refocused their scope and present a full installation by multidisciplinary artist Kenton Parker. He is planning to bring his “Taco Shop” to the 8th floor of the Soho Beach House in Miami Beach.

Kenton Parker. “Las Lucky’s” Taco Shop. (photo © Peter Vahan)

From the Primary Flight press release: “How do you encapsulate the underground, past-midnight culture of Los Angeles into a single structure? For multimedia artist Kenton Parker, his establishment stationed outside the fashionable Las Palmas nightclub brings the beautiful people back to their basic needs; everyone pays the same dollar for the same after-party, hangover fare. Sharply crafted from tile mosaic, Parker’s standalone shop offers patrons everything from sodas to recovered fake Louis Vuitton wallets, from spray paint to Nerds candy boxes”

For a full listing of Primary Projects exhibitions and other details click here.

ALSO HAPPENING IN MIAMI THIS WEEKEND:

In addition to the perhaps 100 or so Street Artists participating this year in the established art fairs and galleries, there will be dozens of installations outside the sanctioned venues. So far Miami is still in love with it all – both legal and illegal installations provide the essential ethos of an art world invasion. Without these artists and independent stagings away of the glitzy openings and glare of cameras, these art fairs and just feel like “commerce”. Some other gigs to check out :

BLADE at Adjust Gallery

Adjust Gallery in Miami will be hosting an exhibition of legendary Graffiti New York artist BLADE. Vernissage: December 6 from 4:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. at Adjust Gallery Miami, 150 NW 24^th Ave (305) 458-2801.

Blade in MoCA Los Angeles for Art in The Streets. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A Box Truck Caravan from Klughaus

Klauhhaus Gallery has been mounting some of the best graffiti/Street Art/tattoo/low brow shows in NYC since the gallery opened in Chinatown in 2011. We give it up for these ruggedly smart idea people who will be making their inaugural trip to Miami. With a caravan of box trucks parked strategically in the Wynwood Arts District their artists will be live painting on the trucks and the trucks will parade around showcasing a mobile gallery as the trucks will in fact be moving canvases. The trucks will feature art by: RIME, TOPER, DCEVE, WANE, SP, CES, OBLVN, STAE2, GOREY among others.

Rime . Dceve . Toper (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For more information about live painting schedule and locations click here.

Snyder “Urban Pop Up Gallery”

And finally there is Snyder, who is just one of the intrepid D.I.Y. artists who inspire you with their will to succeed – even without being plugged in to the scene. From the artist’s press release: “Snyder, a Southern California based street artist, will be installing his ‘Urban Pop Up Gallery’ in the streets of Miami. With no contacts, no pre-arranged walls, no assistants and in a city never previously visited, Snyder attempts to install 30+ pieces of art in the streets of Miami over a 7 day period, ultimately curating his 2nd large scale ‘Urban Pop Up Gallery”.

FIRST LOOK at Miami 2012: Walls, Street Art, Action!

December 4, 2012 Art Fair, Artists, Florida, Miami, On the Street, Street Art Festival

Street Art is already smacking up Miami walls – an aerosol advance committee of art in the streets to welcome the bacchanal of collectors, performers, artists, fans, galleries, hoodlums, charlatans, thumping beats, and very famous and important celebrities you have never heard of are all here for Art Basel and related fairs.

Just for you, we have some of the first images of the walls as they are going up…

..from Martha Cooper, who is on the ground documenting all the walls going up for Wynwood Walls as she has done officially for them for a few years now, and she talks about the new OBEY tribute to Wynwood Walls founder Tony Goldman who passed away this autumn, and shows us DAZE in action.

We also have on-the-beat stuff from photographer and BSA contributor Geoff Hargadon – who has an insatiable thirst for clever spots and a keen eye for capturing them. We’ll be bringing more from him to you later this week too.

Finally the ever clever twins How & Nosm offer you images of their just completed Wynwood Wall mural, a collabo with VHILS.

Herakut. Wynwood Arts District. Miami 2012. This seven story tall mural is part of Herakut’s Giant Story Book Project. The German Duo will be creating large scale murals across several cites to introduce characters from the children’s book the artists are in the process of creating. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Shepard Fairey/OBEY. Wynwood Walls. Wynwood Arts District, Mimai 2012. “This Wall was a tribute to Tony Goldman with a central figure of him surrounded by people he admired and was inspired by -MLK, Warhol etc…” (photo and text © Martha Cooper)

Shepard Fairey/OBEY. Detail. (photo © Martha Cooper)

“The biggest and maybe most interesting wall this year is the one by OBEY. They completely re-did their first Wynwood wall from 2009. That one was all wheat pasted. This time they used a technique similar to that of Sten & Lex. They lightly pasted pre-printed sheets on the wall and then cut out the black parts with X-Acto knives, making a stencil. After spraying, the paper was peeled away, leaving the paint” – Martha Cooper

Shepard Fairey/OBEY. Detail. (photo © Martha Cooper)

MOMO gives it a modernist splash at Wynwood Walls. Wynwood Arts District, Miami 2012. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Oh, wait, this may be the real splash; Krink at Wynwood Walls. Wynwood Arts District, Miami 2012. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Krink . Nemel. Wynwood Walls. Wynwood Arts District, Miami 2012. (photo © Martha Cooper)

In an epic DAZE at Wynwood Walls. Wynwood Arts District, Miami 2012. (photo © Martha Cooper)

DAZE. Wynwood Walls. Wynwood Arts District, Miami 2012. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Faith 47 throws on a head scarf and drapes herself across a Wynwood wall. Wynwood Arts District, Miami 2012. (photo © Martha Cooper)

DALeast. Wynwood Walls. Wynwood Arts District, Miami 2012. (photo © Martha Cooper)

How & Nosm . VHILS. “Cut Out For You” Wynwood Walls. Wynwood Arts District, Miami 2012. (photo © Martha Cooper)

How & Nosm . VHILS. “Cut Out For You” Detail. Wynwood Walls. Wynwood Arts District, Miami 2012. (photo © How & Nosm)

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Tes One and Bask create “Drastic Park” in St. Petersburg, FL

May 14, 2012 Artists, Florida, On the Street

How often do you walk by one of those community murals and feel like you are being “schooled” by obvious representational symbols purveyed by a well meaning but slightly overbearing school marm or your local Marxist? Oh, I get it; these big toothy gears that are catching the shirt of this man and pulling him in between the wheels and grinding him into mincemeat represent the capitalist system and the working man, right?

Other times you look at an artists wall and say to yourself, “Um, what?”

Tes One at work on “Drastic Park” (photo © Joey Clay)

It’s all good, of course, and community standards usually determine what is acceptable, offensive, beneficial, benign. The intention of the artist to articulate a message and their ability to effectively communicate is purely individual. So, consider for a moment the new piece by Florida-based Street Artists Tes One and Bask in St. Petersburg. Two markedly different artistic styles converge and some sort of cleaning machines are scrubbing away a firey palette of prehistoric animals.

Bask at work on “Drastic Park” (photo © Joey Clay)

The artists are calling it “Drastic Park”, are happy with the results and interested with your take on what it might mean. Tes One says that many people inquired about it’s meaning while the guys were putting it up and since they finished it. “We want the work to speak for itself,” he says, “Some of the local reactions already have provided interesting perspectives thematically ranging from corporate greed to oppression and gentrification. It’s been great to hear what others see in it.”

The guys say that St Petersburg has begun an initiative to have more public art in the city. Whatever the interpretation of the individual pieces, it’s good to see that the public has an opportunity to see new stuff, and naturally, to offer opinions.

Tes One and Bask “Drastic Park” (photo © Joey Clay)

Images of the Week 02.12.12

February 12, 2012 Artists, Brooklyn, Florida, Manhattan, Miami, NYC, On the Street

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring 131, Captain Baby, Dan Witz, Dekrd, Don’t Fret, Ema, Entes, Gaia, LNY, Miyok, ND’A, OverUnder, Pesimo, Shida, SSDD, Stikman, and Willow.

Dan Witz (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don’t Fret (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LNY looking wistfully askance. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Overunder (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Willow (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Miyok (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stikman experiments with a glass tile. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ND’A (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dekrd (photo © Jaime Rojo)

SSDD. We have been seeing these cozies all over the city. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shida (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Entes y Pesimo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Captain Baby (photo © Jaime Rojo)

EMA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

131 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Optimo : Hometown Primo in a Top Hat

February 1, 2012 Artists, Brooklyn, Florida, Manhattan, Miami, NYC, On the Street

Optimism Straight Outta NYC

BSA doesn’t spotlight too much graffiti because we’re not very smart about it, and there are a lot of geniuses on graff out there. Plus the S-A part of our name precludes much BS on the graff tip. But some artists straddle the edge of graff and Street Art, and one artist who keeps catching our eye because of his placement and the light-hearted comedic quality of his character is Optimo, sometimes referred to as Werds (depending where you are surfing).

Optimo. Werds (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Short for Optimo Primo (best cousin), the graffiti artist Optimo grew up as a boy in Chelsea in the 1980s excited and ignited by the colorful graffiti he saw on trucks and trains around him. As a true original New Yorker, he names some of his stylistic influences as 1990s graffiti writers including Wolf1, Revs & Cost, Seen, Reas, and Sabe. His signature character has been on the streets since 2006, the American flag bandana as a symbol of free expression and the First Amendment, and the showman top hat something the artist likes to wear as well.

Now a full time artist selling his stuff on the streets of Soho, Optimo has showed his work in a gallery setting with a 40-piece show at Revolution Studios in Chelsea last summer and in a group show at Brooklyn Fire Proof in Bushwick as well as Culture Fix on the LES in the fall. His soft spot is box trucks, which he says he’s painted over 100 of, according to his bio on Tumblr, and he aspires to retain his signature style of “optimism”. Here is a BSA collection of images of work in New York and Miami by Optimo NYC.

Optimo. Werds (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Images of the Week 01.29.12

January 29, 2012 Artists, Brooklyn, California, Florida, L.A., Los Angeles, Manhattan, Miami, NYC, On the Street, San Francisco

The streets have been seeing an uptick in socio-political messages recently, whether because of the Occupy protests, or because artists are exercising their speech in low cost, low-tech, person-to-person methods. The very personal nature of this kind of messaging actually feels impactful when it catches your eye with a sense of intention, grabbing you by the ear and making you think. This week we have Street Art commentary about housing, class inequality, the abuse of poser, erosion of privacy and fears of a police state. It makes sense that art on the streets is reflecting us back to ourselves.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street; this week featuring Buff Monster, Cash4, Cope, Dirty Teddies, Ema, Enzo & Nio, Essam, Faile, Hush, Ment, Shiro, XAM, and XXX.

ESSAM. A more conceptual culture-jamming series of new signs in certain New York neighborhoods is meant as a way to raise awareness by an Iraq war veteran turned civil libertarian, according to news reports published recently. This sign warns about alleged plans for Police surveillance drones could be ubiquitous in society. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Wolf rides, anyone? Faile (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hush gets to know some of the local neighbors while busy at work in San Francisco (© courtesy Hush)

Hush has been on the street in San Francisco this week (photo exclusively for BSA © courtesy of Hush). Stay tuned for a Hush special feature on Monday of his current show.

Ema (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The billionaire Mayor of New York is taking a hit here from this Street Art poster by Enzo & Nio. Styled as Marie Antoinette, Michael Bloomberg is portrayed as a haughty royal who is disconnected from the rabble, and cares not a wit. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A masters graff wall in Miami (photo © Jaime Rojo)

XAM is addressing the ongoing bank mortgage crisis in the US with this street sculpture installation on Skid Row in Los Angeles (photo © XAM)

Cash4 with Ment (photo © Jaime Rojo)

You see! XXX (photo © Jaime Rojo)

You can always spot the tourist dinosaurs with their fanny packs in Times Square. Dirty Teddies (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Images of the Week 01.22.12

January 22, 2012 Artists, Brooklyn, Florida, Manhattan, Miami, NYC

Welcome to our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Destroy All Design, En Masse, False, Goel, Lisa Enxing, Logan Hicks, NTAS 1979, Pez, Pink Clouds, Ron English, and this snappy new one from VINZ that was set free in Williamsburg last week.

You can tell she’s cold. Know how? Vinz (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A camoflauged buck from Ron English grazes before a streetscape by Logan Hicks for Wynwood Walls. Miami (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“He is SUCH a party animal” Lisa Enxing (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pink Clouds Yellow Bunny. Red heart bunny by unknown artist. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A collective mass of illustrations by En Masse in Miami for Art Basel 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NTAS 1979 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pez in Miami (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JR (photo © Jaime Rojo)

False (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Goel in Miami (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Destroy all Design new wall in Los Angeles (photo © JB Jones)

Untitled (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Images of the Week 01.08.12 Miami Special Part II

January 8, 2012 Art Fair, Artists, Florida, Miami, On the Street, Primary Flight

Here is the 2nd half of the Miami images we captured for you from the massive blocks long street installation party called Art Basel this year. Most of these pieces are legal, many are not. You can call them Street Art, but not all are actually on the street and many could also be classified as murals.

Now is a perfect window of opportunity to go see these as many will be buffed in the next few weeks and months, as property owners sell the buildings or decide they didn’t actually dig the art as much as they thought they would. Within a decade or so, this area in Miami will most likely be less enthused with and even hostile toward graffiti and Street Art in general, but the red carpet is laid out at the moment. Artists are flocking from all over the world to jockey for walls, hoping to be seen by potential fans and collectors, or at least to hang out with peers and make new friends. This is a moment on a timeline and, for right now, the colors, patterns, textures, messages and lucid dreams are pulsating on walls everywhere; a mountain of creativity set free.

So here are more than 50 images in our interview with the street, this week featuring 2501, Adjust, AM, Andrew Schoultz, Art Basel 2011, AWR, Bask, Ben Eine, Bik Ismo, Buff Monster, C215, Chris Stain, Clown Soldier, Col, Cope, Dabs&Myla, Des, Ema, Emo, Entes Pesimo, Ethos, Ever, Florida, Gaia, Interesni Kazki, Jade Uno, Jaz, Joe Iurato, Liqen, Miami, Michael DeFeo, Neuzz, Nomade, Nomads, Nunca, Pancho Pixel, Pez, PHD, Pi, el Pancho, Primary Flight, Remote, Retna, Roa, RONE, Shark Toof, Shiro, Smells, Spagnola, Stormie Mills, Vhils, Wynwood Walls, and Zed1.

With special thanks to all the people who helped us out, showed us around and provided insight and background, especially the good folks from Primary Projects and Wynwood Walls.

Liqen (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Liqen’s metaphoric mural of miserable corporate finance workers in a labyrinthine maze may have been the singular most powerful and timely image this year. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Liqen (photo © Jaime Rojo)

International star Vhils and crew created a few signature portraits using his very original method of destruction and creation, a low relief sculpture that emanates from the wall (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rone’s model looked skyward from a few locations on the street. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shiro (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Now, why is that? Smells Like Junk (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA and Ben Eine hit up this little corner spot with Primary Flight. The unusual free-standing structure called “The Living Room” has played host to a number of graffiti, mural, and street artists over the last few years, and this year also featured a pop-up piano ensemble performance. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JAZ (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Neuzz (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Assume Vivid Astro Focus killed this wall last year and it still looks fresh. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Famed duo Assume Vivid Astro Focus (photo © Jaime Rojo)

New Jersey’s Joe Iurato (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jade Uno . Entes Pesimo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia and C215 appeared frequently with one another this year on the street. This one is bookended by some Nomade posters (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia, C215 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bik Ismo, a custom hot rod, and of course a couple of appreciative dudes. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Zed1 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Despite relative domestic tranquility, sometimes Felix and Ana were not sure if they were seeing the same thing. Ever (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Retna stretched his alphabet tall, and tucked in many tributes to local friends. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Interesni Kazki . Liqen (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Interesni Kazki and Liqen combined forces on this mural referencing the world wide web. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Interesni Kazki . Liqen (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Michael DeFeo lit up a desolate spot under the highway. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ethos (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Emo, PHD, Remote (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Emo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ema (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A killer repetition from Des (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dabs & Myla collaboration with AWR (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Col on a bed of seafoam blue (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain brought some friends from New York and Baltimore. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This bull head popped out at discrete locations. Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bask bolted to a post. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

One of the few blatantly political pieces from Spagnola, with additional commentary added by a third party. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Images of the Week 01.02.12: Miami Special Part I

January 2, 2012 Art Fair, Artists, Florida, On the Street

Ding Ding Ding! The New Year has been rung in and your head has stopped ringing, so it’s back to work – and back to Images of the Week, our weekly interview with the street. This week we’re bringing you incredible new work from Miami. In fact there is so much there since Art Basel hit a month ago that we’re gonna split it over 2 (or 3!) episodes of Images of the Weeks. With all this art on the streets surrounding you, it feels like a prosperous way to start 2012.

So here’s our first part interview with the Streets of Miami, today featuring 2501, Above, Adjust, Aiko, Anthony Lister, B., Ben Eine, CFYW, Chu, Cope, Dabs & Myla, Dan Witz, Date Farmers, Faile, Fila, Hargo, How & Nosm, Interesni Kazki, Jaz, Jeff Soto, JR, Kenny Sharf, Kenton Parker, Know Hope, La Pandilla, Liqen, Logan Hicks, LRG, MDR, MPR, Pez, Pixel Pancho, Retna, REVOK, ROA, Robots, Rone, Saner, Sego, Shark Toof, Shepard Fairey, Spencer Keeton, Tati, and Vhils.

With special thanks to all the people who helped us out, showed us around and provided insight and background, especially the folks from Primary Projects and Wynwood Walls.

Kenny Scharf did an installation for Wynwood Doors/Walls similar to his installation earlier in the year at LA MOCA. Trailer Interior (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Images of the Week 12.11.11

December 11, 2011 Artists, Atlanta, Brooklyn, Florida, Manhattan, Miami, NYC, On the Street

Thank you for all the excellent and splendid and wacky and warm submissions to the BSA Holiday Giveaway this week. BSA just has the smartest, knowledgeable, talented and most badass readers! Our panel of judges will be casting their votes for the five winners soon and we’ll be revealing the winners during “12 Wishes for ’12” at the end of the month. A sincere “Thank You” to everybody (from everywhere!) who took the time and made the effort to share their personal wish and image. We value each and every one.

The bachanal of Street Art known as Art Basel washed like a typhoon over walls of Miami last weekend and more Street Artists than ever put up work before heading home to locations around the globe. By all accounts it was an overwhelming experience for many and artists, fans, photographers, and promoters are taking a little time to consider the experience and think about the ramifications for Street Arts’ direction. You may have seen a couple of postings we had as the work was going up last weekend here and here.

This week we show you a handful of somewhat reflective shots from the streets of Miami (and some from New York too). With time for consideration and after letting the aerosol settle, BSA will give you a huge overview of the whole Miami Street Art scene as it stands on January 2nd.

For now, here is our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Dain, Gaia, Hargo, Love Me, Need You, Pez, La Pandilla, Rone, and Spencer Keeton Cunningham. Photographs by Jaime Rojo and Geoff Hargadon.

Artist Unknown. This collage was made out of two different wheat pastes by two different artists at two different times. A side bust. The B&W photos were superimposed on the original wheat paste (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Here are Geoff Hargadon’s images for BSA from his adventures in Miami for Art Basel 2011.

Rone. This is a fine example of the spontaneous and unsanctioned art that takes place on the streets of Miami during the four days of Art Basel. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Geoff caught this cru from Atlanta working in the middle of the night. The painting is a tribute to a friend of theirs who passed away not long ago. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Miami Sunday Update : Street Art In Process

December 4, 2011 Art Fair, Artists, Florida, Miami, On the Street, Primary Flight

Still burping from those last hors d’oeuvres that you dumped in your backpack at the chic opening we went to at the regular Art Basel last night? God, what was that? Anchovy paste or snot on a cracker? Pass me that pizza box please, I think I left a crust in there. Come on, let’s get outside to the street and find some coffee and we’ve got to see who’s putting new stuff up this afternoon.

Photographers Mike Pearce and Kendra Heisler are on the ground in Miami documenting the happenings and sending updates.

You can’t really avoid the gossip at these sort of affairs. Here Shark Toof whispers something into the ear of Anthony Lister. (photo © Mike Pearce)

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