NYC

Optimo : Hometown Primo in a Top Hat

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)

Optimo. Werds (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Optimo. Werds (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Optimo. Werds (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Optimo. Werds (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Optimo. Werds (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Optimo. Werds (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Optimo. Werds (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Optimo. Werds (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Optimo. Werds (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Optimo. Werds (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Optimo. Werds (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Images of the Week 01.29.12

Images of the Week 01.29.12

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)

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“Making Faces” at Opera : A New York Party

“Making Faces” is as much about mix mastery as it is happenstance – kind of like walking on the street in New York. The boldly unmatching collection of portraits on view at Opera Gallery in Soho is sometimes thrilling, even challenging in it’s dismissal of category. There is this new crop of many of the Street Artists you’ve seen in the wild these last few years hanging with stars of the Chinese new wave, early 20th century European revolutionaries, an historic leader of impressionism, a surrealist – you know, a gamut. You could call it cleaning out the closets, or you could call it “Girl Talk curates the gallery”.  Either way, it can be thrilling to see these pieces in this context; sparring, harmonizing, both.

The divine madness of Street Artist Judith Supine loses none of it’s wild energy here. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Art springs at you when you are in ratty decayed lots in Bed Stuy, and similarly here you have rely on your own intellectual strengths to process the work in it’s surroundings, analyzing and imagining the coupling, or tripling.  Is this a master or a pretender? You’ll figure it out eventually but the stimulation lies in your ability to let go of hard classifications and surprise prejudices to re-assess the faces and appreciate an occasional revelation at this New York mixer.

b. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

b. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Yue Minjun (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Alexandros Vasmoulakis (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lita Cabellut (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Paul Insect (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kid Zoom (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ron English (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rostarr (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artists include Yasmina Alaqui, Marco Guerra, Karel Appel, B., Jean-Michel Basquiat, BAST, Simon Birch, Bernard Buffet, Lita Cabellut, Marc Chagall, Sas Christian, Mauro Corda, Dinorah Delfin, Jean Dubuffet, Lori Earley, Ron English, Paul Insect, John John Jesse, Kid Zoom, Li Tianbing, Bengt Lindstrom, David Mach, Henri Matisse, Joan Miro, Phiippe Pasqua, Pablo Picasso, Gerard Rancinan, Pierre-Auguste Renoir, Rostarr, Judith Supine, Alexandros Vasmoulakis, Tom Wesselman, Yan Pei Ming, Zhang Xiaogang.

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Urban Folk Art Gallery Presents: “The Collected Works of Adam Suerte” (Brooklyn, NY)

Adam Suerte

1st Anniversary of Urban Folk Art© Gallery
Adam Suerte:  The collected works
Presented by Urban Folk Art©
 
Date of Exhibit – Jan 27th-Feb 27th
Opening Friday, January 27th 7-11pm
 
Urban Folk Art© is proud to present at their first anniversary celebration, the collected work of the gallery’s head curator and founder of the Urban Folk Art© Collective.
 

Adam Suerte, Founder of Urban Folk Art© Studios and the UFA© Gallery, as well as co founder of Brooklyn Tattoo® will show painting, printmaking, illustration, and some mixed media, and artfacts from his 11 year tattoo career. Most of Suerte’s work consists of urban styled imagery often directly depicting the surrounding neighborhoods he grew up in. Adam was born and raised in South Brooklyn in the late 60’s and 70’s. He wrote graffiti as a teenager, attended Music and Art High School, and earned a BFA in Illustration at Rhode Island School Of Design. He returned to Brooklyn in the early 90’s and co-founded the artist collective Urban Folk Art©. In the late 90’s he apprenticed tattooing as tattooing became legal in NY in ’97. By 2001 he co-founded Brooklyn Tattoo® with his current business partner Willie Paredes. In Jan 2011 they set up the most current physical manifestation of the collective next door to the Tattoo studio. This show celebrates the first year of Urban Folk Art© gallery’s effort to  bring emerging, established and legendary artists of all mediums and backgrounds into view through their venue. There will be a limited edition ‘year in review’ gallery guide to the past years artshows available the night of the opening as well as other tshirts and merch adam suerte has been known to create.

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Pandemic Gallery Presents: “All Talk” A Group Show (Brooklyn, NY)

All Talk


“ALL TALK”

Feb.17th – March 11th, 2012

Opening Reception: Fri. Feb. 17th, 7-11pm

Featuring works by:

Aakash Nihalani

Andrew H. Shirley

Cassius Fouler

Destroy & Rebuild

Gabriel Specter

Isabel Lasala

J. Ralph Phillips

Jenna Hicock

Jesse Edwards

Jesus Saves

Map

Merk

NohJColey

“ALL TALK” features some of New York City’s boldest anti-heros, cynics and preachers. Those that run us through the gauntlet of fine art, design, and graffiti. From spray paint to oil paint to print making, this group of artists will display a collection of work to be hung in a gallery, but that can also be seen on the streets, walls and rooftops of New York. Their consistency and work ethic have been unparalleled in a scene that seems to be full of come and go artists looking for quick fame. This group has proved themselves time and time again to be among the most authentic and dedicated creators around. Engulfed with the love for what they do, they demonstrate their undaunted drive and creative dominance…………… unless it’s just all talk.

 PANDEMIC gallery
37 Broadway btwn Kent and Wythe
Brooklyn, NY 11211
www.pandemicgallery.com
 
Gallery hours:
Tues.-Fri. 11-6pm
Sat. & Sun. 12-7pm
closed Monday
or by appointment 

L train to Bedford ave, J train to Marcy ave, or Q59 bus to Broadway/Wythe


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Skewville Turns 80. A Bday Bash-Retrospective At Factory Fresh (Brooklyn, NY)

Skewville
The boisterous Skewville Twins turn 80 years old combined and they are inviting you to come and celebrate with them at Factory Fresh in Bushwick for an evening of art, fun and mischief.

With great pleasure Factory Fresh presents Skewville’s 80th Birthday: A Retro Retrospective to celebrate the art and life of this duo. The  Skewville twins has been making  things since  birth,  from building club houses in  the 70’s,  graffiti in the 80’s, then on to commercial ventures in the 90’s. In  the  past 13 years,  they have been making innovations on the street and in the art galleries with their stylized work and installations. Best known for their wooden sneaker mission ” When Dogs Fly”  which continues to evolve and has grown to many new cities and editions.
This past year they returned from there final european show in the UK at High Roller Society and did a coast to coast tour showing at Pawn Works in Chicago, Black Book in Colorado & White Walls in San Francisco. They have also done a large scale murals for Brooklyn’s North Side Festival As well as Creating The Bushwick Art Park and making an outdoor Prototype at the New Museum. The Bushwick neighborhood summer favorite for 2011 was when  Skewville  painted  an entire building to look like boombox.

As the largest collectors of their own work.  Skewville will showcase past favorites such as the original giant “Hype” signs from Wooster Collective’s 11 Spring Street show in 2006. as well as the Skewville “Lawnmower Stamper” that prints out ” Keep on Grass” and The Secret Laboratory Book Shelf Door from Basement AIr Show in 2005. Also featuring their wooden sneaker archives from 1999 to present as well as  recent artworks from the past few years will also be available and on display.
Skewville’s 80th Birthday

A Retro Retrospective
Opening reception Friday February 3rd from 7-10pm

Show ends Sunday, March 11 at 7pm

Anxieteam play at the twins birthday party and unveil their one off

special Hasidic Street-Art Duo – Jewville

Factory Fresh is located at 1053 Flushing Avenue between Morgan and Knickerbocker, off the L train Morgan Stop

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Images of the Week 01.22.12

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)

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Opera Gallery Presents: “Making Faces” A Group Show (Manhattan, NY)

MPaking Faces

Paul Insect (image © courtesy of the gallery)

Eric Allouche and the Opera Gallery team are pleased to present Making Faces, a group survey show bringing together a global collection of artists from a variety of time periods and styles to interpret the theme of portraiture. A once and still great exploratory genre, portraiture is the tool in which the artist can tell a thousand stories about their subject, whether real or imaginary, with one brushstroke or one drop of ink. Through these artists, Making Faces demonstrates how the aesthetics of portraiture is one of the best vehicles for artistic creativity and expression, technical mastery and the evocation of emotional strength.

Each artist participating in Making Faces has the ability to widely manipulate and interpret their portrait through their own specific and unique artistic abilities encompassing a wide variety of mediums including oil on canvas, matchsticks and photography. Artists such as Yasmina Alaoui and Marco Guerra have the ability to evoke serene emotions through their photographs while contemporary Chinese artist Yan Pei Ming invites the viewer into his dark portrait through his use of rough charcoal strokes. Realistic master portraitists like Pierre-Auguste Renoir and Bernard Buffet share wall space with abstract and fantastical contemporary artists such as BÄST and B.

Additional Making Faces artists include Gerard Rancinan, Karel Appel, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Marc Chagall, Jean Dubuffet, Bengt Lindstrom, Henri Matisse, Joan Miro, Pablo Picasso, Simon Birch, Lita Cabellut, Sas Christian, Paul Insect, Dinorah Delfin, Lori Earley, John John Jesse, Kid Zoom, Ron English, Philippe Pasqua, Rostarr, Judith Supine, Xiao Gang Zhang, Tianbing Li, Alexandros Vasmoulakis, Maura Corda and David Mach.

Making Faces
January 27- February 19
Free admission: 11:00 – 7:00 daily
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The Power of Pun : Steve “ESPO” Powers’ Signs in Brooklyn

Philadephia born New York Street Artist Stephen Powers AKA ESPO has been covering walls in Brooklyn since last summer with puns, phrases, and messages that hide in plain sight. Borrowing from a visual vocabulary of mid 20th century commercial signage and injecting his low-brow sarcasm and a knack for wordplay, the former graffiti writer perfected this kind of lettering more than a decade ago doing non-commissioned street art work in broad daylight on storefront grates in dilapidated New York neighborhoods.

Steve ESPO Powers (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Like his barking carney signage for famous Coney Island, the work has all the subtlety of a cannonball. But you may be bamboozled. The sharply sweet uptown fonts and punchy retro palette could look like he’s giving you the straight dope, but a second glance reveals the winking eye of a court jester.  With an advertisers  sensibility, his recent expansive public art installations  – “Love Letters” to Philadelphia, Syracuse, and now Brooklyn – have a tough-as-nails enamel gloss while the soft center swirls a sentiment more gooey, even maudlin.

Steve ESPO Powers (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Using phrases snatched directly from Brooklyn folks conversations on the street as well as his penchant for the parlance of snake oil salesmen, Powers yells boldly these non-sequitur and illusory missives across a parking garage, regularly looking back to see if “yah heard?”.  It’s what emotional signage this size demands and gets, if only for a second.

Steve ESPO Powers (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Steve ESPO Powers (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Steve ESPO Powers (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Steve ESPO Powers (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Steve ESPO Powers (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Steve ESPO Powers (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Steve ESPO Powers (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Steve ESPO Powers (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Steve ESPO Powers (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Steve ESPO Powers (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Images of the Week 01.15.12

So, what have you been up to so far this year? Watching Sh*t Cats Say? We’ve been learning cool stuff like Specter and friends Russell and Peter getting up in the JCC center , imagining who on earth might create a Street Art piece lionizing Ron Paul, seeing the spanky new Aiko and Bast reunited wall, and reading impressive 2 page email press releases for Street Artists who apparently get up in NYC but we never actually see and no one talks about.  It’s a weird fun life and we’re totally okay with it.

Meanwhile, here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week including Aiko, Anthony Lister, TMNK, Bast, C215, Dain, ECB, Gaia, Gilf!, Gold Dust, Gufo, How & Nosm, Cope, Juango, KCA, Oiler, Palladino, Shin Shin, Snort, and Xavier.

Cope. Xavior (photo © Jaime Rojo)

How and Nosm in Miami (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ECB (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A colorful and powerful Snort and Report tribute to Oiler (RIP) in Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

TMNK (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aiko and Bast (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aiko and Bast. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aiko and Bast. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Palladino in Miami  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shin Shin (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Anthony Lister for Wynwood Walls Miami (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gufo over Gilf! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Duplex, Gilf!, Gold Dust (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Juango and Michael in Miami (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia, C215, KCA in Miami (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

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Klughaus Gallery Presents: Jesse Edwards “Dialogue of the Streets” (Manhattan, NY)

Jesse Edwards
“Dialogue of the Streets” will feature a selection of Edwards’ strongest paintings produced over the last two years, including the classic landscapes and unconventional still lifes he is known for. Edwards’ rare appeal lies in a uniquely successful ability to cross-pollinate the classical 19th Century style of the Old Masters he idolizes with a contemporary subject matter from his personal street life. His oils on canvas are as likely to depict a marijuana plant or a crack pipe as they are a calming Tompkins Square landscape. A still life of a Playboy, a sock, and a jar of Vaseline is rendered as tenderly as a sweeping view of a Pacific Northwest park.

Opening Reception:
Date: Friday, January 13, 2012
Time: 6:00pm-10:00pm
Location: 47 Monroe Street New York, NY 10002

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