NYC

Images of the Week 10.18.09

Images of the Week 10.18.09

Our Weekly Interview with the Street

Brooklyn-Street-Art-IMAGES-OF-THE-WEEK_1009

Know Hope
Time is Running Out on this INCREDIBLE OFFER!! (Know Hope) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Know Hope (Detail)
Know Hope (Detail) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Know Hope (detail)
Know Hope (detail) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Mr. Term Limits

Mr. Burns for Mayor! (photo Jaime Rojo)

Read about Mr. Burns candidacy in yesterday’s Street Signals posting.

Hellbent
Hellbent for Bridges and Beer (Hellbent) (photo Jaime Rojo)

PorkWith a name like Pork you wouldn’t think it would be so pretty (Pork) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Pork (detail)
Pork (detail) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Pork (detail)
Pork (detail) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Pork Signed
Pork Signature (photo Jaime Rojo)

Revs
Revs and Espo (photo Jaime Rojo)

Skewville (Side A)
Skewville, Side A (photo Jaime Rojo)

Skewville (Side B)
Skewville, Side B (photo Jaime Rojo)

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Street Signals 10.17.09

Brooklyn-Street-Art-STREET-SIGNALS_1009

Los Angeles Spends 3.7 million Dollars to Remove Largest Graffiti Tag in America

NO, this was not a story lifted from The Onion, although it sounds like it. I don’t think the total amount is for that one tag, but rather the whole L.A. River.

Brooklyn is on the opposite coast of the US, so we don’t really know what it’s like to see the graff on the concrete of that river.

But California, the world’s 8th largest economy, is on the brink of financial calamity, school classes are ballooning to 45 students, and the rising price of fish tacos on the beach is negatively affecting the surfers.  Is today UPSIDE DOWN DAY?

As reported by Ed Fuentes in BlogDowntown.com, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers hired contractors to spray over the giant tag and made a big show of it, complete with a press conference.

“At 2,000 feet long by 60 feet tall, the MTA tag near the 4th street bridge was said to be one of the largest graffiti tags in the United States.

On Thursday it proved plenty large enough for a press conference that included the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers, a pair of City Councilmembers and the L.A. Sheriff’s department.” More here

NYC Mayoral Race ’09 HEATS UP with Bloomberg, Thompson, and Mr. Burns

Vote for Burns
Creative Commons License photo credit: ChrisGampat

Why limit the race for mayor to only ONE BILLIONAIRE? Spending like a drunken sailor during Fleet Week, Mike Bloomberg, the richest man in the state, has reportedly spent $16 for every $1 that his opponent Bill Thompson has.  Not so fast, Mike!  Here comes Mr. Burns, a real leader of the people and believer in democracy.

courtesy
photo David Hershkovits in Papermag.com

In a press conference Mr. Burns attacked the end-run Bloomberg did around election laws to get himself on the ballot for a third term. “The man shows no guts, he should have simply declared himself king over these slack-jawed troglodytes, I mean good citizens. But that’s democracy for you”

Recently these campaign posters for Mr. Burns have been appearing all over New York, indicating that he is taking the race very seriously.

Papermag.com

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Now Showing: Peru Ana Ana Peru Colorful Absurdities at Brooklynite

Now Showing: Peru Ana Ana Peru Colorful Absurdities at Brooklynite

 "...And Then We Jumped into the Abyss of Numbers: Memories in Absurdity From the Bowels of Peru Ana Ana Peru"

“…And Then We Jumped into the Abyss of Numbers: Memories in Absurdity From the Bowels of Peru Ana Ana Peru” opening October 17 at Brooklynite Gallery

Brooklyn-based street artists Peru Ana Ana Peru see action on the street as cinema in progress, full of color, adventure, and absurdity.

In fact, with their fantastical approach they are telling us what we already know; the logic of the street is illogical, so why begin to explain it. To embrace the swirling and jagged movement, color, texture, smell, sound, and architecture of the street is to embrace chaos theory. You can tell that Peru Ana Ana Peru find it invigorating.

Peru Ana (photo Jaime Rojo)

Peru Ana Ana Peru (photo Jaime Rojo)

While graffiti culture has become somewhat codified in many respects, the rules of street art are being written before our eyes. Art theorists, facing ever-increasing irrelevance and impotence, find explanations being flushed out into the ocean as they clutch institutional inner-tubes to stay afloat. Street Art, or any name we finally settle on, is not going to be that easy to explain for a while.

PeruAna AnaPeru

Peru Ana Ana Peru (photo Jaime Rojo)

While a public gallery curated by chaos is unsettling to many, Peru Ana Ana Peru have jumped into the abyss and brought riotous color and an ever twisting fantasy narrative that makes sense to – them?

Flying over the poppy fields (Peru Ana) (Jaime Rojo)

Peru Ana Ana Peru (photo Jaime Rojo)

Embracing the “traditional” wheat pasting is only one option, and while it may be the most pragmatic, don’t be surprised if they move their multi-media paintings, drawings, sculptures and video installations into the public sphere more in the future. And they will not be alone, if nascent trends in projection art (and technology), installation art, performance art, and flash mobs are an indication. Individuals are simply taking their voice to the street and claiming public space more than before.

Peru Ana Ana Peru (courtesy Brooklynite)

Peru Ana Ana Peru (courtesy Brooklynite)

Maybe the only irony in this first solo show by Peru Ana Ana Peru at Brooklynite Gallery opening is that it is located in a formalized gallery at all.  Bringing the abyss inside 4 walls, a ceiling, and a floor feels limiting.  But maybe that’s just my need to define Peru Ana Ana Peru and their work. Obviously the energy and vitality that steams out and around the colorful collection suggest that the idea of venue is no concern  to PAAP’s adventurous minds.  The calliope plays merrily on.

Peru Ana Ana Peru (courtesy the artist)

Peru Ana Ana Peru (courtesy the artist)

Brooklyn Street Art: Do your street pieces express fantasy or reality?
Peru Ana Ana Peru:
We are heavily drawn to the fantastic in our work, be it in street art, or even film to a certain extent. Perhaps this is an extension of our beginnings in the avant garde film/video scene more than anything else, but it’s something that seems to have stuck with us. More than that though, we find ourselves repeatedly drawn toward things of a more whimsical nature in our work, things that might express a ‘joy of life’ aspect of things, rather than a heavy handed ‘real life’ aesthetic. In addition to this, we are shamelessly addicted to color, and lots of it, so perhaps this lends itself rather nicely to the realm of fantasy


PERU ANA ANA PERU |

Brooklyn Street Art: What is the importance of cinema in your work?
Peru Ana Ana Peru:
We consider ourselves to be primarily filmmakers/video artists first, and artists/street artists after that. It is the medium that we are most comfortable in, and in which we feel we have the most to offer. In this sense, cinema is our most important undertaking, and we are most happy when we are working on our films.

Peru Ana Ana Peru (courtesy Brooklynite)

Peru Ana Ana Peru (courtesy Brooklynite)

Brooklyn Street Art: If Peru Ana Ana Peru had only one medium to express itself in, would it be painting, drawing, sculpture, or video?
Peru Ana Ana Peru:
It would most likely be film/video, but with the exception that inside the video we’d use paintings and drawings and sculpture and what not.

…And Then We Jumped into the Abyss of Numbers: Peru Ana Ana Peru even made a promotional video for their first solo show (above)

Brooklyn Street Art: How would you characterize the experience of mounting your first solo show?
Peru Ana Ana Peru:
Dizzying.

Three new pieces waiting to be hung for the show (photo courtesy the artist)

Three new pieces waiting to be hung for the show (photo courtesy the artist)

Brooklyn Street Art: Do the streets of New York have a particular personality that you speak to?
Peru Ana Ana Peru:
It feels like New York has different personalities that speak differently to everyone. And quite frankly, it wasn’t really until after our foray into the street art/graffiti world that we realized where we fit in to the whole scheme of things. It would seem that graff/street artists can be lumped into a category of people that, when it comes down to it, just want to be noticed, just want to be seen, by anyone really. And from this point, it would seem that New York’s personality is one of indifference, like a rude bartender in a busy bar, and that by trying to put your name out everywhere, you’re really just saying, ‘hey, bartender, get me a beer.’

Peru Ana Ana Peru (detail) (courtesy Brooklynite)

Peru Ana Ana Peru (detail) (courtesy Brooklynite)

Brooklyn Street Art: What messages would you hope the viewer will walk away with after seeing the work at Brooklynite?
Peru Ana Ana Peru:
That we are just getting started.

Video still from Peru Ana Ana Peru

Video still from Peru Ana Ana Peru

Brooklynite Gallery

…AND THEN WE JUMPED INTO THE ABYSS OF NUMBERS:
Memories in Absurdity From the Bowels of Peru Ana Ana Peru
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ……………………

October 17 – November 14
Brooklynite Gallery

OPENING NIGHT – October 17th, 2009, 7:00pm – 10:00pm

MUSICAL GUEST: BOMB SQUAD


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NohJColey’s Plush Life: Intricate Wordplay and Carefully Rendered Humanity

NohJColey’s Plush Life: Intricate Wordplay and Carefully Rendered Humanity

A talented Street Artist Schools BSA about his work.

“Good readers make good writers”.

Truey trueness truthfully told by my true-friend Jodi. Which is why one summer I read a stack of Jimmy Peabody’s Mad magazines that he kept hidden under his bed, along with a few dog-eared copies of Penthouse and Playboy.  See what all that reading did for me?  I write on a blog for 17 readers and my mom.  Once somebody taps into the creative spirit, there are no limits to where it will take them.

Three of his biggest influences; Dali, Basquiat, and Time (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Three of his biggest influences hover over NohJColey while he works; Dali, Basquiat, and Time (photo Steven P. Harrington)

You can take that advice any way you want, but thinking about the path that NohJColey has taken, it’s ringing true.

NohJColey wants to be a great something. He just winces at every label you offer up, but don’t be put off by it.  We’ll be very bold and say “Artist”.  He’s been a graffiti artist, a street artist, and a fine artist. To become a great artist, he practices self-education and discipline. With an agile mind and inquisitive nature, he does a great deal of due-diligence; history, background, planning, experimentation and practicing of technique. Then he starts the piece, frequently a personal story or a social commentary of some kind.

jj

A recent Ebay shopping trip netted a selection of vintage artist technique books. (photo Steven P. Harrington)

In fact, so much goes on inside NohJ’s head in the preparation of his work that a viewer may never completely appreciate the final product. That’s okay, he may not intend it to be understood either.  He doesn’t lose too much sleep over it, either way.  He stays up all night working at a kitchen table with a picture of Salvador Dali and one of Jean-Michel Basquiat on the wall staring down on him, but be assured that he’s not worrying.  He’s just working.

Kutztown's Favorite by Nohj Coley (photo Nohj Coley)

“Kutztown’s Favorite” by Nohj Coley (photo Nohj Coley)

“Kutztown’s Favorite” was the first image BSA posted on the “Images of the Week” feature. Not that big a deal for you, I’m sure. If it was a big deal for you, I would worry. But when I consider  that image I think about why BSA loves street art; at it’s best it is a celebration of the creative spirit, wherever you can access it. It seems unlimited.

In this case it was a tribute to Keith Haring, an artist who was doing what could later be classified “Street Art” in NYC in the ’80s.  The creative spirit that Haring had tapped into 25 years earlier was like a radio frequency or satellite transmission from the creative gods – Haring tapped into it and ran with it, not consulting with experts, anointed, self-proclaimed or otherwise.  To see that somebody was doing a street tribute in a distinctly different style all these years later was very notable.

You don’t have to totally understand NohJ’s work to appreciate it, and that’s a good thing because it may take some studying at Noh J High School to get it.  Some times you have to go slow for certain students, so BSA recently took some summer remedial classes with Professor Coley in the studio.  August was dragging on outside the window and other kids were playing on the jungle gym, but in school, between the endless chain of cigarettes and the loud air conditioner and the louder Thelonius Munk and Charlie Parker, we think it was completely Edutaining.

NohJColey in his home studio.

NohJColey in his home studio. (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Buddies called him “Stiffy” when he was out doing teen rollerblader tricks because NohJ didn’t do diamondz. For that matter he wasn’t even smooth.  But he defends his skills as an aggressive rollerblader, “I was a pretty good skater, though. Learning how to fall, that’s the key to skating. But I didn’t have the moves. It’s hard to worry about style when you don’t want to die!  I would get hurt sometimes badly.  Those days are over”.  Lesson learned.

He used to be a graff writer too, hanging out with the 333 Crew, and his tag was Motive for a while. In the mid-1990s he raced from high school in the afternoon to hang out at the Phun Factory, an aerosol Mecca in Queens for graffiti writers run by a guy named Pat DiLillo, who had worked out a deal with the landlord to let graffiti artists go wild on the walls and practice and teach without fear of breaking the law. Pat had been a professional graffiti buffer until he fell in love with talented work and became a huge proponent, clearing the way for what eventually became 5 Pointz, directed by Meres.

Pat even got NohJ into a show at P.S.1 in 1999 with people whose skills he admired – “It was Iz the Wiz, I’m pretty sure it was Elite, Slam4, Spec, and me. The real piecers were of course IZ, Bisc, and Elite.  I was Motive 333 – I didn’t actually go to the show. We were sitting across the street ”

"Egalitarian Quench", Oil pastel, stencil, painters tape and acrylic paint on paper pasted on discarded lumber. by NohJColey (photo Steven P. Harrington)

“Egalitarian Quench”, Oil pastel, stencil, painters tape and acrylic paint on paper pasted on discarded lumber, by NohJColey (photo Steven P. Harrington)

He’s not thinking that he has the graff thing licked, but he’s moving on to other things these days.  Some people are calling it street art.  His linotype prints are usually portraits of people he has known or studied about and his text stickers have puzzling word combinations and phrases.

Brooklyn Street Art: So what’s important to you?
NohJColey: Accomplishing stuff. Not being swayed by others’ opinions. Being original. Being true to myself. Family is important, learning is important. Everything is kind of important. Fashion isn’t important

Brooklyn Street Art: Politics?
NohJColey: Of course, that has to be important.

Brooklyn Street Art: Music?
NohJColey: Yeah of course, that is really important.

Brooklyn Street Art: Basquiat?
NohJColey: Yeah he was important to me at some time but not really anymore.

Brooklyn Street Art: Why was he important before?
NohJColey: Probably just because of his lifestyle.  He kind of lived precariously. The way he spoke to people.

Basquiat at 19 years (a still from the movie “Downtown 81”)

The choices of words for NohJ’s stickers are directly influenced by another artist of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s who transferred his graff writing directly into his fine arts canvasses, Jean-Michel Basquiat.  Writing on the street as SAMO, Basquiat created stuff that looked like pointed non-sequitors, or abbreviated observations that confused and attracted fans.

“I think he always will be important to me just because of the things he wrote like ‘Plush Safe He Think’, or ‘Jimmy Best on his back to the suckerpunch of the world’ (some sources report it was actually Jimmy Best/ On his back/ To the suckerpunch/ Of his childhood files) – stuff like that is the reason I do stickers because it’s a way of basically saying your piece and not having to listen to what anyone else’s input is on the subject. You can basically tell everyone without actually having to tell people individually.  Like stopping people and saying ‘You’re a closet racist’.”

photographs-jean-michael-basquiat-lee-jaffe-1

NohJ’s sticker text is strongly influenced by the writing style of Brooklyn-born Basquiat. This is a recently released image of Jean-Michel Basquiat by photographer Lee Jaffe.

What? Okay, now I think I get it. These cryptic stickers are a sublimation of true feelings and opinions that NohJ understands, but the reader may not.

Brooklyn Street Art: So it’s a direct-indirect way of addressing issues?
NohJColey: Yep.  Even though it’s bad because it isn’t as personal as I would like it to be, but…

The image came from a sketch of his nephew (photo Jaime Rojo)

The image came from a sketch of his nephew (photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: So, about that text that you put on stickers, can you describe a little bit about how you arrive at the choices?
NohJColey: Like I did a sticker that said, “Adolescent Racists Present Parental Perspectives” – Basically it refers to young kids that I see around who are racist because of their parents. It’s not something natural. It has nothing to do with the kid’s choice but if you go into their household he’s going to hear certain terms and attitudes. People just get labels.  Like somebody talking about Mexicans, and a Mexican woman who has seven children, and then they talk about whether the health care system should support them; and it’s like, you don’t even know this person, you know?  This person actually owns a restaurant and they came here with nothing in their pockets. And her husband actually went to a prestigious college and had a high GPA.  And people are judging a book by its cover.

On the wall, one of NohJ's earlier fine art pieces, "Children of the Wrong" (photo Steven P. Harrington)

On the wall, one of NohJ’s earlier fine art pieces, “Children of the Wrong”  (photo Steven P. Harrington)

NohJ talks about another sticker, “ ‘Observe Hands’ is different – it’s about reading someone’s mind. Like looking at someone’s hands in conversation. And noticing their reactions like picking their nail could be an indication that someone is nervous. Or like someone rubbing their leg, could mean they are bored, or not interested in what they are doing right now.”

The individual pieces that NohJColey creates on large linoleum blocks are surrealist applications of recognizable components into realist line-drawn portraiture.  The components can be literal or metaphorical, and always autobiographical. The piece is usually has a murky title that perplexes in the same way as the sticker text. When the linoleum piece isn’t enough, NohJ combines painstaking lace-like geometric cutouts arranged on top of or beside them.

The original plate of Sace (photo Steven P. Harrington)

The original plate of Sace (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Brooklyn Street Art: So can you talk about the series that you’ve begun, that started with an image of Dash Snow?
NohJColey: Yeah it’s the “Sprayed in Stone” series. I’m basically just trying to solidify these graffiti writers names a bit more.  After someone passes everyone mourns because this person’s gone, and everyone forgets about it. Like maybe a few times a year someone might look at their photograph but it’s not the same as actually seeing this person like proportionally. Like you can walk up to this piece, the Dash Snow piece, and it’s pretty much the same size (as he was). I never met him but I’m guess that he was that size.  It’s kind of a little larger because I wanted him to be more prominent. That’s kind of what it’s about. You never really know what a graffiti artist looks like so that is another reason why I wanted to do a portrait of him.  A person passes away and you are not given another chance to see them at the same size that they were.

NohJ Coley Detail

A detail of NohJ Coley  shows limbs made of a paint roller, markers, ladders, cans, etc. (photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: And yet you render the figure with non-human limbs and other elements, so you are not really bringing back a true replica of the person.  Where did those come from?
NohJColey: The spray can of course was a tool he would use, and the markers as well.  The fire-extinguisher shirt – you know like a like a lot of graffiti writers use fire extinguishers to do enormous tags on sides of buildings.  I guess they are just things he would use as a graffiti artist. Like the spray can coming from his neck.

Brooklyn Street Art: Yeah it’s surrealistic. And this is the first of the series of three?
NohJColey: It’ll be three. The problem with this series is that I’m not able to take photographs of the artist, which to me really hinders the work – because it would be a way better piece.  I don’t even like to work from someone else’s eye but they passed on so I’ve gotta use what there is.

Brooklyn Street Art: Right, you didn’t actually have a picture of Dash Snow?
NohJColey: No I didn’t. I used someone’s picture.

NohJ created an amalgam of images first before drawing the Tie One image on the linoleum block. (photo Steven P. Harrington)

NohJ created an amalgam of images first before drawing the Tie One image on the linoleum block. (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Brooklyn Street Art: And who’s next in line in the series?
NohJColey: It’s Jonathan See Lim AKA Tie One

NohJ Coley Detail

NohJ Coley Detail

Brooklyn Street Art: So tell me about Tie One.
NohJColey: Yeah he was from San Francisco. He was shot in the Tenderloin by William Porter. And he was basically climbing up on the roof. He went there to do a graffiti spot on St. Patrick’s Day. It’s kind of also like – I don’t really want to shed too much light on a graffiti artist faults in life. Whether he was vandalizing, even though that’s what graffiti is…I know that. It’s more about the strides in this persons’ life that he took. Like Tie was 18 when he passed away. And Iz The Wiz, who is the third person in the series, he was like the king of the trains, you know.

The ink is still wet on this just finished 3rd installment in the "Sprayed In Stone" series, Iz the Wiz, by NohJColey

The ink is still wet on this just finished 3rd installment in the “Sprayed In Stone” series, Iz the Wiz, by NohJColey

Brooklyn Street Art: Did you ever hang out with Iz the Wiz?
NohJColey: No I never got a chance to meet him but I remember Pat DeLilo telling me a bunch of stories about him.  Iz was always sick even in those days when I was hanging out there. Wow, ten years.  That’s why I’m glad I did that show with him when I was young.

The original study for

The original study for “Nothing=Obtained” by NohJColey

Brooklyn Street Art: What about the final work of “Nothing=Obtained” – how did you get that? Can you talk about your process? How did you get that multi-armed creature?
NohJColey: Basically I just had my ex-girlfriend pose. This one I just saw before I did it. I already knew what I was going to do.  It was just basically figuring a way in which to place each arm so it sort of made sense.

NohJColey

NohJColey (photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Does the placement of the arms indicate something about her personality?
NohJColey: Well when she walks in a room you pretty much feel her presence.  She’s kind of like pulling her head back like she’s stressed out. The mouth is like she’s in awe, her eyes are open because she’s just noticing a bunch of opportunities and then like her grabbing herself because of stress. And this one is her bracing herself.

Brooklyn Street Art: And the words “Nothing = Obtained”?
NohJColey: She never accomplishes the goal, you know? She never gets to the end result. Everything is always left open. There is no conclusion. Like nothing is ever obtained. Like she says she’s trying to change that but it’s not really evident to me.  But whatever.

(Nohj Coley) (photo Jaime Rojo)

(photo Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: You did another piece last year that was about a cousin of yours?
NohJColey: “Uncondition(al) Solace”?
Brooklyn Street Art: Huh?
NohJColey: Like I try to separate letters sometimes, so you can use the letters different ways.

Brooklyn Street Art: Okay so tell me the story behind that one. You told me about her going into a hospital room to see your aunt.
NohJColey: That piece is about a cousin of mine – I went to see her mother, my aunt, because she had a stroke. And like the right side of her body is paralyzed. To see a person go from walking through a doorway to rolling through a doorway on a stretcher is bad. She doesn’t really react to anything except to her daughter, my cousin. And the piece is her holding up a banner that says “Solace” because I feel like once she walked into the room, my aunt lit up. My cousin is the only one that puts a smile on her face. So that is why I made the piece so that my aunt can look at her daughter whenever she’s awake.

Brooklyn Street Art: You are making your stuff on paper and wheat paste, which means it disappears in about five rainstorms. Then it’s gone, but you put a lot of work into it.
NohJColey: Yeah it’s ephemeral. That’s a good thing about it. It has a life of it’s own and you can’t control it. That’s another reason I like it. You can’t control it. You put it out there and it’s free, you don’t have a leash on it, like a pet.

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Street Art Photographer: Vincent Cornelli

There are many photogs on the street today; intrepid wanderers and investigators who are always on the lookout for the most recent Elbowtoe or Bortusk Leer or Deekers.

The affordability of camera technology and it’s rapid deployment have flooded us all with choices and variety of images we scarcely considered even a decade ago.

Stencil artist Indigo must have the gift of clairvoyance to have planned this image for this day. (photo Vincent Cornelli)
Stencil artist Indigo must have the gift of clairvoyance to have planned this image for this day. (photo Vincent Cornelli)

Compound that fact with a large pool of knowledgeable photographers who have a thirst for adventure, many of them with skills in other creative trades like fashion, theater, music, video, fine art, and even art history (egad!), and New York’s street art scene has to be one of the best covered and understood scenes today.

A storm in the afternoon drove almost everyone inside for cover. Almost. (photo Vincent Cornelli)
A storm in the afternoon drove almost everyone inside for cover. (photo Vincent Cornelli)

One way to shoot street art of course is to document it; that is to capture it and record it for posterity with an eye toward the historical. Another approach is to contextualize the art in a sociological or cultural milieu, to give it a greater sense of place in the family of man and it’s inter-relationships.

Truthfully, there are about 57 different approaches that I’ll list in that encyclopedia I’ve been working on.

(photo Vincent Cornelli)
(photo Vincent Cornelli)

One street art photographer whose work you may dig is Vincent Cornelli, who shoots with heart and with an artist’s eye.  When you see the image, you also see the composition, the rhythm, and a bit of Vincent.  Here are some of the great shots he got this weekend at the MBP Urban Arts Festival in Bushwick.  Something about them gives you an additional understanding of what the day was like, and what it felt like to be there.

(photo Vincent Cornelli)
(photo Vincent Cornelli)

If you are Facebook, you can see more of Vinny’s pictures from the event HERE.

Evening came and so did the beer and the smiles (photo Vincent Cornelli)
Later that same day… It was NIGHT. Evening came and so did the beer and the warm smiles (photo Vincent Cornelli)

A multi-layered talent, Vincent has a multi-layered site HERE. Thanks to him for contributing his work.

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Images of the Week 10.04.09

Images of the Week 10.04.09

Our Weekly Interview with the Street

Bast Krsna
$469? I can’t pay that much for a sports coat!  I just need it for an interview anyway, I’m not going to wear it hardly. (Bast, KRSNA) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Super Tanned Bangel. Bishop 203
A flash of calf makes me flushed and tingly with excitement (Bishop 203)

(photo Jaime Rojo)

Blu at Deitch Studios LIC
Blu at Deitch Studios

(photo Jaime Rojo)

Blu (detail)
Blu (detail) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Blu (Detail) Money Does Not Grow on Trees
Blu (Detail) Please make your rent payments in crisp unmarked one-hundred dollar bills. Sincerely, Acme Landlords Inc. (photo Jaime Rojo)

Celso and the Bridge
An odd little blue tarp that reminds you of those Mexican decorations – Papel Picado. (Celso) (photo Jaime Rojo)

From the International Folk Museum, an example of papel picado
From the International Folk Museum, an example of papel picado

Chris Uphues
My heart is so bluuuuuuuuuuue without youuuuuuuuuuuu. (Chris Uphues) (photo Jaime Rojo)

GreedAnd now, a word from our sponsor. (photo Jaime Rojo)

The siege of Obey by lightining and serpents. Shepard Feirey Hellbent Christian Paine
The siege of Obey by lightning and serpents. (Shepard Fairey, Hellbent, Christian Paine) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Hellbent

Blaaaaaaaa! Me hates bad coffee! (Hellbent) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Hugh Leeman Shin Shin Billi Kid
Yeah, this skinny-butt anchor lady said I needed a makeover before I could go on her interview show.  I said, “Fine, but I’m not putting out my cigarette.” (Hugh Leeman, Shin Shin, Billi Kid) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Matt Siren
It is our fervent hope that New York never stops being a freakshow. (Matt Siren) (photo Jaime Rojo)

The Dude Company

The Dude Company

Shin Shin Cornucopia
Autumn’s bounty of genetically modified apples, and a box of DickChicken McNuglets  (Shin Shin, Dick Chicken) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Yep, the leaves are just starting to turn in the Big Apple – a little color in the trees, temperature is a little cool so you might feel a bit frisky in your 70’s shorts now. Sunny day like this is a good time to go running in the park – you never know who you gonna meet.  Hopefully, she’s not already taken…

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QUICK LOOK – MID WAY THRU A RAINY MBP URBAN ARTS FEST

7 pm

In to each festival a little rain must fall.  Drat!

That’s okay, a loose posse of people pulled off some work before the deluge.  And now the rain is over and the air is clean and crisp and the darkness falls and the dancefloor is being created before our eyes and hung with lights so the dance party can start in earnest!

A lot of Bushwick artists only awakened 3 hours ago and are on their second cup of coffee anyway, so by 9 p.m. there should be a steady throng of beer-guzzling peeps streaming in for the fresh smell of aerosol and Quicksilver. Organizers estimated 800 people have come through the doors and bobbed in and out of the multiple galleries, store spaces and checked out the bands, DJs and painters, stencilers, wheatpasters. Not bad for the first time MBP!

A BRIEF insight from camera phone, phone camera thing that I can barely figure out …

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Bushwick Pride is all over these t-shirts by J. Mikal Davis and Salome
Typical party attendees, no? (Celso, Royce Bannon, and Veng from Robots Will Kill) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Typical party attendees, no? (Celso, Royce Bannon, and Veng from Robots Will Kill) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Is this Damian from the Omen? (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Is this Damian from the Omen? (Remo Camerota) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Destroy & Rebuild with Project Super Friends (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Destroy & Rebuild with Project Super Friends (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Hellbent is such a charmer (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Hellbent is such a charmer (photo Steven P. Harrington)

In this economy I guess everyone is!  I know I've been saving all my returnable bottles. They are only a nickel but that stuff adds up! (photo Steven P. Harrington)

In this economy I guess everyone is! I know I've been saving all my returnable bottles. They are only a nickel but that stuff adds up! (photo Steven P. Harrington)

The loaves and the fishes - this is one of the stencils Mania was putting up (photo Steven P. Harrington)

The loaves and the fishes - this is one of the stencils Mania (from Indigo and Mania) was putting up (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Speaking of stencils, Remo Camerota did this naughty nurse fantasy with the fly-away hair do stencil (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Speaking of stencils, Remo Camerota did this naughty nurse fantasy with the fly-away hair do stencil (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Beards are the new moustache, which was the new fauxhawk, which was the new truckers cap. (Chris from Robots Will Kill) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Chris from Robots Will Kill proves that beards are the new moustache, which was the new faux-hawk, which was the new trucker's cap. (Chris from Robots Will Kill) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

These hastily snapped pics are just a quick look. Stay tooned in the next couple of days for an insightful photo essay that will just send chills down your spine.

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Street Signals 10.03.09

Street Signals -News Off the Wires from Brooklyn Street Art

Madonna’s Latest Released this Week with new cover artwork by Street Artist Mr. Brainwash (MBW)

Cover art by MBW for a re-packaged collection of songs.

Cover art by MBW for a re-packaged collection of songs.

Calling it a collection of music that “changed the world”, McDonna uses the the energy and irony of real world street art splatter to re-face past hits. The 3rd greatest hits collection appropriates street artist MBW’s recent campaign of Andy Warhol “Marilyn”-inspired large pasteups which appeared on New York streets this spring and summer.

A 19 year old image of the performer during the height of her popularity is photoshopped inside the 1967 image of pop artist Andy Warhol’s silkscreened series of Marilyn Monroe.  Warhol had appropriated a publicity photo of Monroe for the 1953 movie “Niagara”, revolutionizing the art world by employing a mass-production technique that simultaneously cheapened the image and canonized it.

MBW pieces this spring in New York featured Madonna and Angelina Jolie-like faces inside a Marilyn Monroe hairdo (photo Jaime Rojo)
MBW pieces this spring in New York featured Madonna and Angelina Jolie-like faces inside a Marilyn Monroe hairdo (photo Jaime Rojo)

In his own satiric twist on the modern icons of celebrity culture, the French street artist had similarly placed competitors for the Marilyn throne such as Britney Spears and Angelina Jolie alongside others clearly not in the running such as Larry King and Leonard Nimoy.  The large scale of the pieces drove home the comedic effect and simultaneously elevated and parodied the meek contributions of pop fame.

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Quick Reader Technology: Deal directly from the gallery on the Streets with your iPhone

Will this knock out the bricks and mortar gallery middleman?

Example QR Code

In a development in Street Art that may have ramifications previously unthinkable, some online re-sellers of street art are testing QR two-dimensional codes that can be read by your cell phonte as a way of connecting with your favorite street artist’s work. A two-dimensional bar code (like the one above) is intended to contain information which can be scanned quickly and easily by electronic devices.

Street Art Dealer is one of the first online re-sellers (but not the last) to use QR technology.

Of course this will not stop taggers from going over the little QR code carefully placed on or near your piece, and it may make it easier to track you down by law enforcement if your work is illegal, so no one expects a fool-proof employment of this technology.  But imagine going on a gallery-of-the streets tour with your headphones on, listening to an online tour that is triggered by scanning the QR code.  Or imagine doing some holiday shopping and never walking into a store.

Using your phone and a QR reading software, you could find out where to see Dain's show! (image Steven P. Harrington)
Using just your phone you could get an artist bio, price list, a GPS map to see more examples at a gallery, order a piece directly… (image Steven P. Harrington)

In London, street artists C6 and Steal From Work have already begun testing the idea. This innovative use of QR code technology was be showcased during an exhibition on the streets of Bristol in July.  Read more HERE.

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Habana Outpost, “All the Pieces on the Wall”

Veng, NohJColey, Milo Carney, Billy Russomano, Alex Mosley, Ca$h4, Awol, Erizk, Avone, Christian Vargas, Brandon Cox, Gabriel Smith, Jay Roberts, Carlito Bragonti, Jenevieve&!#, Nikeisha Nelson, Maximiliano Ferro, Royce Bannon

All The Pieces on the Wall Opening Reception

October 6th, 7-9pm Exhibition

Runs October 6th-27th, 2009

Habana Outpost 757 Fulton Street Brooklyn, NY 11217

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OS Gemeos: Brazilian Street Artists’ Mural was a highlight of Summer’s Crop on the Streets of New York

The consensus is that the summer in the City goes by way too fast. This year is not an exception.  But the harvest has been good.

The green markets that dot NYC’s 5 boroughs boast some great fresh produce that isn’t sprayed with pesticides or that will give your children 3 eyes. From Bay Ridge to Borough Park to Bowling Green to Bronx Borough Hall to Sunnyside and St. Georges, the tomatoes were the superstars this September – big and meaty and fragrant.

And the bold brassy sunflowers have been clamoring into our little apartments and putting a smile on our worried faces.

The summer crop of Street Art of course has been bounteous! The creative output from the indomitable, wild, and restless street artists – home-grown and imported – seems record-breaking.  From commissioned public murals with photo-ops for  politicians to the secret stick-up kids on newspaper boxes, the voices of people on the streets grew.

The Mural
The mural by Os Gemeos (photo by Jaime Rojo)

One truck-load of fresh produce that won a NYC Street Art blue-ribbon this summer was the giant colorful pop-surrealist mural by the hard-working and gentle twins from São Paulo, Os Gemeos.

Gustavo working on the mural
Gustavo of Os Gemeos (photo Jaime Rojo)

During a brief 2-week growing period, Gustavo and Octavio labored in the fields of dreams and eye-popping colors while the curious and the hungry stood by on the sidewalk in clusters of cameras and black books, day after day watching the fantasy open up and reveling in the sunshine.

Os Gemeos
The ladder meets the scissor lift (Os Gemeos) (photo Jaime Rojo)

With cans of aerosol and buckets of latex, they worked the fertile soil of Deitch Projects orchards on the corner of Houston and Bowery under an intense heat and punishing sun.

Os Gemeos. Detail
Detail from Os Gemeos mural (photo Jaime Rojo)

In a location that had been painted in previous summers by other migrant street artists including Haring and Scharf, the Brazilians delighted the weary New Yorkers and curious tourists with their vivid imaginations.

The Twins
Octavio and Gustavo; Os Gemeos (photo Jaime Rojo)

To say goodbye to the summer of 2009 we pay homage to their industry and talent once more. Long after the summer sun fades and the grey cold winter takes us over, this bright gift from Os Gemeos will remain on Houston Street.

Octavio working couldn't help himself and found time to paint on a truck
With a history that started in writing graffiti in the late 1980’s, the brothers also found time to paint on a truck (photo Jaime Rojo)

Os Gemeos
Os Gemeos (photo Jaime Rojo)

Os Gemeos Detail
Detail from Os Gemeos (photo Jaime Rojo)

Os Gemeos Detail
Detail from Os Gemeos (photo Jaime Rojo)

Os Gemeos
A tribute to Dash Snow was added when he died during the creation of the mural, adding a historical touchstone to the event. (Os Gemeos) (photo Jaime Rojo)

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Images of the Week 09.27.09

Images of the Week 09.27.09

Our Weekly Interview with the Street

Caper (Caper) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Celso
A sale on melons at Met Supermaket this week? (Celso) (photo Jaime Rojo)

dark clouds
A melange of soot, chain links, and dark clouds (Dark Clouds) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Elbow Toe
Elbow Toe (photo Jaime Rojo)

Elbow Toe
“That’s funny, we’ve had a bumper crop of tomatoes this year. We’ve been canning them, freezing them, Arlene even made chutney!  Maybe you should have the soil tested,” offered Farmer Bob at the Union Square green market. (Elbow Toe) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Skewville and Elbow Toe
Skewville lending words of support to Elbow Toe (photo Jaime Rojo)

Gaia
Going through life as a lone wolf may not be as romantic as it sounds. (Yote) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Gaia
I’m a male 9 year old adventurous intuitive Libra, medium-sized with brown eyes and no ear-tufts. I like squirrels and woodrats and occasional truffles. I’m looking for a lady soulmate who likes flying across the park on sunny days and enjoys long stretches of sitting on a branch just observing and talking about the mysteries of life. (Yote) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Infirm Society
The healthcare debate is inspiration for commentary on the streets these days (Infirm Society) (photo Jaime Rojo)

Keely
Keely and the bridge (photo Jaime Rojo)

Michael Defeo Smart Crew
Michael Defeo, Smart Crew, and a tall glass building jutting through space (photo Jaime Rojo)

QRST
You two are just a couple of lovebirds, anybody every tell you that? (QRST) (photo Jaime Rojo)

SHIN SHIN
Looking forward to that applebee honey! (Shin Shin) (photo Jaime Rojo)

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Street Art Conversations on Gentification, Mayor Mike, and PIGS

In 2005 a 175-block area of North Brooklyn (mainly the neighborhoods of Greenpoint and Williamsburg), was rezoned for architects and developers who had watched the influx of artists in the previous 15 years turn the area into a hotbed for creativity and exploration of new art, music, and performance.

Miss Bugs on the site (photo Jaime Rojo)
Miss Bugs on the site of a new building going up in Williamsburg. (photo Jaime Rojo)

It’s a well-worn story of course. The surge in popularity that follows when artists bring new cultural life to a dying industrial part of town is the double edged sword for a neighborhood, and not everyone is going to be happy with the cause or the effect.  Today, nearly five years into an unprecedented building boom of glass and steel rectangular residential buildings marketed to professional consumers and their Boomer parents, the hard-hitting recession has killed some construction projects, stalled many, and slowed others.  Condos are even turning into affordable rentals! Egad.

A Mike Marcus troop keep watch over the new arrivals. (photo Jaime Rojo)
A Mike Marcus troop keeps watch over the new arrivals. (photo Jaime Rojo)

Street artists probably know their days in Williamsburg are numbered because soon the same people who were attracted to the neighborhood for it’s quirkiness and free spirit of creativity will effectively squelch it – but as long as there are construction sites, there is still scaffolding to adorn.  In fact, one developer went as far as hiring artists a couple of years ago to hit up his scaffolding with work that resembles a street art aesthetic, as written in the Gothamist by Jake Dobkin.

A huge postering campaign
A huge campaign of thousands of posters on construction site scaffolding for a clothing company was hacked this spring when street art collective Faile placed animal kingdom heads over Lou Reed’s (photo Jaime Rojo)

The real competition for space are the advertisers who plaster multiples of posters for cell-phones and hair gel in block-long mass-appeal campaigns, far dwarfing the amount of space any street artist could hope to cover with their home-made wheat-pasted piece.  Aside from construction sites of course,  as long as there are still abandoned and moribund buildings that have yet to be demolished, a canvas on the street beckons.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-PIGs Political Interactive Gaming Systems sept09-DSC01773
The title of PIGS’ program

A brief street installation on one of these construction sites this past weekend by an artists/activist group attempted to open the conversation about gentrification to the young pretty passersby who have been attracted to the cache of a hip neighborhood with close proximity to the island of Gotham (and NYU).  In a dramatically metaphorical way, Political Interactive Gaming Systems (PIGS) points to the wooden walls that guard the open construction sites and contends that they are purely a way of hiding the wounds of a freshly lacerated and bleeding part of the city, rather than a public safety precaution.

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People putting words in the mayor’s mouth.

Part of the Conflux Festival, the art and technology festival for the creative exploration of urban public space, PIGS put up a large magnetic board on one of these blue-walled construction sites with the words of a speech from the mayor of New York, Mike Bloomberg.  Much like the refrigerator game it resembles, the words were yours to rearrange. With the goal of raising awareness about gentrification, luxury condos, and displacement of the poor, Josh and Jessica Public happily participated.

OMG!  I, like, could like say SO MUCH right now but I'm like rully rully busy?
OMG! This is like so great!  I, like, could like say SO MUCH right now but I’m like rully rully busy texting?

Or as they say, “PIGS invites you to play a game: Can you get Mike to express how you feel about your changing city? Rearrange the words, and feel the pleasure of getting a politician to actually represent you.”

It’s hard to measure success on a street installation like this because anybody who walks by may or may not know what in the Sam Hill you are talking about. According to somebody from PIGS who spoke with anonymity, “We observed that many players focused their arrangements around the words  ‘defeated’ and ‘enterprise,’ while the word ‘liberty’ was almost never used.  We also observed that when passersby saw something written that they didn’t like or agree with, they took the liberty of rearranging the text to reflect their sentiment – which to us, is what politics should be: the work of reciprocal exchange where the rights and sentiments of each person are present in an equal discussion.”

fsgf
“Believe in Yourself”
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