On the Street

Ben Wolf and Heidi Tullmann: A Night Wall in Williamsburg

May 22, 2012 Artists, Brooklyn, NYC, On the Street

You don’t often find a Street Artist doing an installation at night, unless it is followed by a siren..

Ben Wolf and Heidi Tullmann (photo © Jaime Rojo)

You also don’t often find Ben Wolf and Heidi Tullman pirouetting and dancing with their shadows under blasting klieg lights, casting long shadows and painting a pointy Elizabethan finger. Call it luck or a curse to be creating in Williamsburg after the fall of Williamsburg, where the last vestiges of Street Art are being politely expunged and the 10,000^th flat screen is being hung in the 30th glass box building. An apparition of the early settlers, the duo enact a painting play to be captured by curious cell phones on the way to clever cocktails.

In the morning sunlight, the brightly primitive pointer could be a rude gesture, slightly indicting, or merely a helpful directional signal for the wandering mistaken artist in search of Bohemia – pointing east to yonder Bushwick, Bed Stuy, and Ridgewood.

Ben Wolf and Heidi Tullmann (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Open Walls: Itenerant Street Gallery. (Paris, France)

May 21, 2012 Artists, Events, France, On the Street, Opening, Paris

Open Walls
Open Walls

OPEN WALLS EN RESIDENCE A PARIS

OPEN WALLS s’installe à Belleville du jeudi 24 mai au mercredi 6 juin 2012 et décrète PARIS ZONE LIBRE pour une exposition et une série d’interventions urbaines qui réunira 5 artistes majeurs de la scène berlinoise, présentés pour la première fois à Paris.

BR1, SP38, ALIAS, VERMIBUS & TONA, 5 artistes authentiques et radicaux, légitimés par la rue, armés pour réveiller la capitale française.

BR1 (Décollage & Peinture)

Dans la lignée des affichistes du siècle dernier, cet artiste italien créée des affiches uniques, peintes à l’aide de couleurs vives et découpées à la main, représentant des femmes voilées dans leur quotidien de femmes. Il colle ensuite ses peintures dans les rues des grandes métropoles occidentales. Son emplacement de prédilection: les panneaux d’affichages publicitaires de grande taille.

En représentant des femmes voilées en mère de famille, en copines qui s’amusent, en activistes du printemps arabe ou bien simplement dans des scènes banales de la vie quotidienne, son oeuvre est un outil de transmission de messages sociaux et de prise de conscience entre les différents groupes humains. La démarche de l’artiste se veut donc sociale.

SP38 (Sérigraphie & Peinture)

Après la chute du mur de Berlin en 1989, la capitale allemande est devenue le refuge privilégié des artistes alternatifs et radicaux. SP38 s’y est exilé au début des années 90 et n’a depuis cessé de contribuer quotidiennement au développement du Street Art à Berlin.

Au fil des années, la ville s’est embourgeoisée mais le peintre s’y sent toujours à l’aise. Ses affiches clament des slogans ironiques tels que “Esacpe”, “Vive la bourgeoisie” , “I Don’t Wanna Be U’re Friend on Face-Book” ou plus récemment “Vive La crise”. Sa typographie unique, rouge sang, a fait le tour du monde. Il sera en Mai pour quelques semaines à Belleville.

ALIAS (Pochoir)

Figure emblématique du street art en Allemagne, anonyme et discret, son oeuvre est omniprésente dans les rues berlinoises depuis 10 ans et l’on reconnaît immédiatement son style. Alias travaille minutieusement chacun de ses pochoirs et soigne particulièrement la découpe. Sobre, il aime jouer sur les ombres et les reliefs, il utilise un éventail de couleurs réduit. Ses pochoirs représentent principalement des enfants et questionnent l’avenir de notre société.

Très attaché à son travail dans la rue, il a longuement hésité à travailler en galerie, un pochoir sur toile ce n’est pas très intéressant. L’artiste a donc décidé d’amener la rue dans la galerie et il attache un soin particulier au choix de ses supports. Chaque pièce, unique, est réalisée exclusivement à partir de matériaux trouvés dans la rue la nuit lorsqu’il travaille. Il affectionne particulièrement le bois et le métal.

VERMIBUS (Détournement Publicitaire, Peinture à l’Acide)

L’oeuvre de VERMIBUS commence et se termine dans la rue, qui joue un rôle essentiel dans la démarche de l’artiste. Né aux Baléares, cet artiste espagnol fait partie de la dernière génération d’exilés à Berlin. Il y collecte les affiches publicitaires dans le métro et les utilise ensuite comme matériau de base. Le processus de transformation commence dans son atelier: utilisant des dissolvants à base d’acide il efface les visages et la chair des modèles apparaissant sur les affiches ainsi que les logos des marques. Une fois la transformation achevée, il réintroduit ces affiches dans leur contexte d’origine et transgresse l’espace publicitaire.

Le catalogue de l’exposition est constitué d’une vingtaine d’oeuvres originales.

PARIS ZONE LIBRE
Vernissage Jeudi 24 mai à partir de 19h en présence des artistes.
Grolsch, fidèle à son engagement dans l’art, soutiendra cet évènement.

Espace “Frichez-nous la Paix” 22 bis rue Dénoyez, 75020 Paris. Métro: Belleville
Ouverture continue tous les après-midi du du Jeudi 24 mai au mercredi 6 juin 2012.
Accès libre.

Pour plus d’informations sur la galerie et nos artistes: http://www.openwallsgallery.com

Size Matters: INSA Kills Biggest L.A. Free Wall

May 17, 2012 Artists, California, L.A., Los Angeles, On the Street

The great thing about a California King Size mattress is you can fit six people on it comfortably. Five if you need to accommodate beer, corn chips, coffee cake, and a bong.

The point is California is a quintessential long-ass big-ass state that rivals many entire countries in terms of the size of the overall economy, the miles of beach, quantity of Mexicans, and metric tons of silicone injections. That’s why it hardly surprises us when Daniel Lahoda reports that recently his LA Freewalls project crossed the 100th wall mark and that INSA just completed the biggest project so far. Clocking in at 9,300 square feet, the Street Artist covered more space with paint than the Kardashian sisters use preparing for a poolside photo shoot. But these results are spectacular and the scale is quite fitting for this city.

Our thanks to collaborator and photographer Todd Mazer, who doesn’t just capture the action here. He rhapsodizes with it before revealing the full project at the end. Enjoy the largesse.

INSA (photo © Todd Mazer)

INSA. Wow, that’s a big set of cans. Which ones would you take? (photo © Todd Mazer)

INSA (photo © Todd Mazer)

INSA (photo © Daniel LaHoda)

INSA had a mission to complete on the walls of this building. He also has a philosophy and a work ethic when doing his craft. Click on the link below to read how he came about to see this project completed:

http://www.insaland.com/blog/mission-to-la/

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Mexico City: High Art in Thin Air

May 16, 2012 Artists, Events, Interview, Mexico, Mexico City, On the Street, Street Art Festival

Capital Soars with Huge New International Street Art Murals

An Amazing Week in DF with Interesni Kazki, El Mac, Saner, Sego, Roa, Herakut, Vhils, and Escif

Gazing out at the sweep of metropolis that is modern Mexico City, you’ll have to catch your breath once in a while. A culture known for it’s historic public murals of the 20^th Century, it looks like a resurgence is at hand, but this time the muralist are international Street Artists, and the scale is soaring.

Escif (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

The project “All City Canvas” invited nine artists from around the world and locally to use some of Distrito Federal’s prime real estate as just that – a canvas. With cranes and rollers instead of ladders and cans, these are some of the largest works we’ve seen by some of these artists. Here’s Portugals’ Vhils on the Dolores Building near La Alameda, there’s Germany’s Herakut on the side of the oldest newspaper in Mexico El Universal, and look way up to see LA’s El Mac signature portrait on the side of the Hotel Reforma Avenue. After eleven months of work getting permission from building owners, convincing city leaders, and securing major corporate sponsors, the capital of Mexico now has a few more major public art pieces that will blow you away and the resulting collection further secures this city of 21 million as one of the growing hubs of the Street Art scene.

ROA (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

We spoke with the three guys who organized the festival to get an understanding of the logistics and their aspirations for the project. As organizers and innovators with ties to their own arts organizations in Mexico City, each one of these guys hustled to make it happen; Victor Hugo Celaya of ARTO, Roberto Shimizu of MUJAM, and Gonzalo Alvarez of MAMUTT. Participating artists were Interesni Kazki (Ukraine), El Mac (USA), Saner (Mexico), Sego (Mexico), Roa (Belgium), Herakut (Germany), Vhils (Portugal) and Ecif (Spain).

Brooklyn Street Art: Often Street Artists are relegated to the buildings that are abandoned and in a state of decay. In this case, your program featured work on the sides of some of the most important buildings in Mexico City. How did you get permission to do this?
Victor Hugo Celaya: Since the beginning, we wanted to offer an unique experience to the city so we took urban art to everybody – youth, businessmen, doctors, moms… In order to make a huge impact, we worked to obtain the best spots in Mexico City. Each of these buildings is seen by thousands of people each day and are all located in the city center of Mexico City. It was a difficult job, but in the end we got everything set up. The impact would not have been the same if we had painted other walls.

ROA (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Brooklyn Street Art: Mexican culture has a proud tradition of public murals. How does the style of Street Art in 2012 differ from that tradition?
Roberto Shimizu: Obviously the Mexican history with mural painters and our cultural background, with artists like David Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Rivera – played a big part while we were conceptualizing the project. Mexico City has the perfect moral background to invite the best urban artists in the world to intervene its walls to create huge murals. We wanted to innovate and create a new link with the past with some of the renowned urban artists of our time.

Brooklyn Street Art: Did you have difficulty persuading building owners to allow this work on their property?
Gonzalo Alvarez: It was difficult to get to the owners, since these people are important business people that don’t have “a lot of time”. Nevertheless, after a lot of work and perseverance we got to show them the project. Once we got to them, we realized they are great people who were interested in getting involved in new innovative projects for the city. At the end, all of them were very happy with the outcome of the festival.

ROA. Detail. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Brooklyn Street Art: Is there a graffiti/Street Art “scene” in certain areas of D.F.?
Victor Hugo Celaya: DF is one of the biggest cities in the world – the 2nd biggest, so it is a natural hub for the urban art scene. The movement is very alive at the moment and it is giving Mexican artists an opportunity to show themselves to the world. With this project we wanted to make a statement to the world, that urban art is not only for young people that live in and around big cities – it’s for everybody – doctors, politicians, business people, Moms, merchants… For example, the intervention of the W Hotel, which is located in one of the most “posh” neighborhoods in the country, was very disruptive because nobody could have imagined an urban artists painting a huge mural on the same terrace where they usually eat their lunch or have their business meetings.

SEGO (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Brooklyn Street Art: In the last few years we have been seeing many international Street Artists traveling to large cities around the world doing commissioned work for local festival organizers. How do these traveling artists affect the art scene in the local Mexican context?
Gonzalo Alvarez: This was also very important to us when we were conceiving “All City Canvas”. First we wanted to show young artists that if you do a good job doing what you like, you can actually earn money and travel around the world. You can take your art to other cultures and if you are good enough, you could influence someone else.

Secondly, many artists in Mexico have no money to travel to other countries, and many of their influences come from the pictures they see on the Internet. To have this world-known urban artist in Mexico City was an unique opportunity for these young artists to watch, compare and learn their techniques.

SEGO. Detail. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Brooklyn Street Art: Can you talk about the vibrant youth culture in Mexico City and how it responds to this kind of work?
Roberto Shimizu: Yes, Mexico is a young country, and more than half of the population is under 30 years of age. We noticed how important cultural events like this are for the young people. Each day thousands of young Mexicans congregated outside of the buildings the artists were painting – they wanted to watch the work and to understand the artistic process of the artwork. Also we offered a series of conferences called WORDS and a gallery exposition called WORKS to offer different points of view of the urban art scene. What we found is that young people in Mexico are very keen to learn and participate in these kinds of projects.

Also on the other hand, the feedback from the Mexican youth is very honest and direct. If you are doing something wrong they will let you know – also they’ll let you know if you are doing something right.

Vhils. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Vhils. Detail. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Sego and Vhils process shots. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Herakut (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

SANER (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

SANER. Detail. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Interesni Kazki (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

El Mac (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

El Mac. Detail. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

For more information about the “All City Canvas” project, please click here.

ARTO (www.arto.mx)

MAMUTT (www.mamutt.mx)

MUJAM (www.museodeljuguete.mx)

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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)

Heartbeat in the Barrio: Caribbean and Central American Street Art

May 9, 2012 Artists, On the Street

“Worked in some countries – in others, not so much.”

Newsflash: Global Street Art is not homogeneous. If you were beginning to think that international Street Art superstars like Banksy and Shepard Fairey had the whole scene on lockdown, Jim Avignon can assure you that will never happen. Each local scene is as individual as the culture it grows from, subject to the opinions and perceptions of the people, politicians, and police in each city. When the Berlin/Brooklyn – based artist traveled to seven countries this spring to organize walls with local artists, Avignon found that scarcity of art supplies or water can just as easily derail a mural as feelings of competition and the fear of the Devil Himself. Working with about 50 artists over six weeks in a cross-cultural Street Art program sponsored by the Goethe Institute, he learned that local is not necessarily global, and all manner of comedy will crop up on the road to a dope wall.

“The main intention was not to have just a wall with ten paintings next to each but to find ways for people to work together,” explains Avignon about the program he brought with Brazilian DJ Holger Beier and curator Alicia Zamora from Nicaragua. “We did an open call via the Internet and Facebook and we asked people to send in designs,” he explains while talking about the mix of Street Artists, graffiti artists, graphic designers, and illustrators who were ultimately selected. The plan included a week of painting and wheat-pasting, followed by a community party to celebrate the new work. Admittedly, they could have been a bit better prepared, but Avignon and team found a variety of working styles, weather conditions, and perceptions about the nature of the art and it’s proper place that they didn’t realize would face them. While the tour was a success in terms of building cultural relationships via Street Art, Avignon says getting people to work together, “Worked in some countries – in others, not so much.”

In English speaking countries the project was called “Urban Heartbeat” and in Spanish speaking countries “De Mi Barrio A Tu Barrio”. Here are images of the various walls and Jim Avignon’s personal observations and experiences, which are illuminating and sometimes very entertaining.

San Jose, Costa Rica (Duration: 7 days)

Our beautiful wall was not only in the center of the city but was also part of the Parliament, which ultimately caused us a couple of problems that we could not have foreseen. Street Art and graffiti art seem to have a long tradition in Costa Rica and our group was well organized and held together by a local artist named Mush. The guys worked so fast that the wall almost looked finished after a day.

Since the wall was a part of the Parliament the press was very keen to find any political statements in our work. They found plenty. Freddy Masis’ monkey character, which had a couple of similarities in appearance with a local politician was next to a gate that let the cars in. So every once in a while when the gate swung open the monkey was behind the gate, giving the appearance of being in jail. TV teams came and made a big fuss, placing upset politicians on camera in front of our wall and all the attention achieved a complete halt of the whole project after three days. The German ambassador had a long discussion with the minister of cultural affairs, and they eventually allowed us to continue and finish.

Freddy Masis. San Jose, Costa Rica (photo © Jim Avignon)

MUSH. San Jose, Costa Rica (photo © Jim Avignon)

Kingston, Jamaica (Duration: 3 days)

Our official wall next to the national stadium was postponed because we couldn’t show a sketch of it in advance. We were moved to a wall that was next to an empty lawn in the middle of nowhere. There were a lot of local kids who came to help but most of the locals were rather skeptical.

Most of these artists had never done a wall before, and they needed some help on how to work large. There was a tendency to start late, with some people only showing up in the morning of the last day. This was our first country and we had no idea how to organize everything – like where to buy paint and get water and provisions, etcetera. In the end there was a nice mood with everybody working at their own place. Some local people thought we were doing the Devils work, unfortunately. The paste-ups that we put up next to the wall all got destroyed in the night. At another time while artists were painting a policeman arrived and told us it would be better if we remove certain images which were considered devilish – like one portrait that showed a third eye. It was clear that if we didn’t repaint, the walls would be repainted for us, and that actually happened in the night after the opening party. It seemed like it would be a difficult country for young artists.

For our celebration party the sound system was giant and very impressive – too bad nobody knew about our party and only a few people came, the foreign minister among them – which didn’t impress the local artists.

Group Wall. Kingston, Jamaica (photo © Jim Avignon)

Managua, Nicaragua (Duration: 5 days)

We had a very dusty and moldy wall next to the university. There were a lot of trees around so we had some shadow but also it was a bit difficult to take photos. We had to prime the wall by ourselves – a task that consumed almost half of the time we had allotted for the project. Finding and purchasing the paint at the Mercado Oriental (a very big local market) turned out to be difficult and we got lost and almost didn’t find our way out there.

The Nicaragua experience was rather tough as most of the artists didn’t speak any English and we had to deal with 3 generations of sprayers, who were all a bit suspicious about us and the project. They believe that Graffiti in Central America started in Nicaragua, and therefore didn’t want anyone to come and tell them how to do it (which we never had in mind). Additionally, the painters didn’t want to deal with the paste-ups or collaborate with the participants from other countries. The final challenge was that they understood the whole project as a competition that they wanted to win, and they kept claiming that they were the best. Indeed one could say that they had a very unique style; they were all focusing on natural and pre-Columbian imagery, a bright range of colors, and avoiding “negative” images like skulls or guns. They also avoided any influences of contemporary pop culture and did not want to put their images on any blogs or Facebook. I was fascinated and irritated about it and for 3 days the mood while working was relatively down, while only on the last day it cheered up a bit.

STK, Danser. Managua, Nicaragua. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Stchex, STK. Managua, Nicaragua. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Simer. Managua, Nicaragua. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Dorian Serpa. Managua, Nicaragua. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Brake Rivas. Managua, Nicaragua. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Jim Avignon. Managua, Nicaragua. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Panama, Panama (Duration: 7 days)

Our walls were in a very nice place in the old part of the city with two walls facing the ocean, the others on the side of a building. Kids came and skated around and played football while we painted but there were no shadows and there was a lot of direct sun beating down on us.

Panama City seems to be on the way to becoming the next Singapore or Dubai; There is a brand new skyline in the south of the city, money is a big issue, and the population is very mixed, almost like New York. We had a nice mix of artists, and they were pretty open to letting their work merge with one another’s art. Also all of them seem to be quite professional – trying to make a living from their art and many saw our project as a promotional platform. Sadly, the local organizers tried to cut down expenses and it resulted in no water for the artists and no money for paste-ups. To overcome these obstacles, we made our planned paste-ups out of a hundred A4-sized sheets of paper and some bad moods. There were also plans to make some money with our opening party, which would have stopped the nice people from coming. We fought against it and in the end the party was free and there were more than 400 guests.

Gladys Turner, Alexandr, Jaramillo Levleva. Panama, Panama. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Alexandr. Panama, Panama. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Port of Spain, Trinidad (Duration: 4 days)

We had a nicely prepared wall next to the Savanna – a big arena where the Carnival happens every year.

The situation was a bit like the one we had in Jamaica. Music is the much bigger business here and there is not a big tradition for painting in the streets. There is only one famous Street Artist, who had painted birds in black and white all over the city, but he now has moved to Mexico.

None of our artists had worked on walls before and they came from a graphic design background. It was a well mixed group but also I had a feeling that many of the artists were sort of introverted and they just focused on their individual work without interacting with the other artists. I didn’t do a piece of my own but helped everybody with the backgrounds and the graduations. This was the first time we were done with the wall a day earlier than planned. Our celebration party in Trinidad was the biggest one of the tour with over 500 people, free food and drinks, a bunch of DJs, and a big capoeira dance group performing.

Kriston Banfield. Port of Spain, Trinidad. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (Duration: 7 days)

Because all of the central part of Santo Domingo is a historical landmark it was impossible for us to get a wall there. The organizers considered the suburbs to be too dangerous so instead they found us an abandoned tower next to the harbor with a large semi-indoors space. Here they covered the walls with four giant canvasses. In front of the canvasses was a big scaffolding, making it pretty much impossible to get a view of the wall while we working on it.

There is not much of a big Street Art culture in Santo Domingo and during a tour through the suburbs we saw some nicely painted shags and delis – but that was it. Naturally it was no surprise almost all our painters came from at least a semi-academic background and when you combine that background with the fact that everybody had to paint on canvas, it pushed the entire project in a different direction. Paint was difficult to get and only came in pre-mixed colors that were not very bright. We were disappointed by some of these things but on the other hand the organizers brought food every two hours. It was no surprise that everybody worked rather slowly and thoughtfully. We decided pair up two artists for each canvas, and the nice results told us that it was a good decision.

Sadly, after one week of sunshine there was a heavy thunderstorm on the night of the opening party and it destroyed any party feelings that we had.

Citlally Miranda. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Ana Leon and Luis Geraldino. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Guatemala, Guatemala (Duration: 4 days)

For our final city we had a 120 meter wall that was pre-painted cyan blue in the heart of the city next to the main square. Also there was electrified barbed wire on top of the wall, which we were told we should not touch under any circumstance.

Our group of artists was mixed in a good way; graffiti guys, illustrators, street artists, half guys, half girls, and all of them spoke English. Artist Fla K.O., a local hero, helped to get everything organized and the mood was really nice, with us meeting the artists every evening for drinks.

Painting the wall was more of a difficult situation. Many people were carrying guns around there and brutality on the streets is a big issue. One artist Lily Acevedo made the stencil of the portrait of an 8 year old kid that had been killed in the streets a few weeks earlier. Just as we began painting the wall the city began a construction project that included tearing up the street and replacing the old cobblestones with new ones. Artists mixed with street workers, and there was a TV team around us making a documentation of the project. It was difficult to get good photos of the wall without artists standing in front of it. It was a bit of a mess but also it was funny situation many times.

Zapato Verde. Guatemala, Guatemala. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Jim Avignon. Guatemala, Guatemala. (photo © Jim Avignon)

The list of participating artists in the program are as follows:

Trinidad:

Brianna McCarthy, Richard Taylor (para Richard Williams), Danielle Boodoo-Fortune, Luis Vasquez La Roche, Dean Arlen, Jennifer Perez, Kriston Banfield, Alicia Milne, Raquel Vasquez y Maria Elena Joseph

Nicaragua:

Dorian Serpa, Caroline Broisin, Moises Garcia, Jose Luis Zapata, Rafael Antonio Rivas, Danilo Espinoza, Roger Roke Romero, Guimel, Angel Soto, Jean Philip Meio, Christian

Guatemala:

Fla.Ko, ES Bird, Alebara, Cheks, Petunia, Lily Acevedo, Zapato Verde, Luis Fer Izquierdo, FUENTES, WAKA, ZOAD1, Sexi Zombie, Rodrigo Aguilar, Hans Uno, ARIZ y Mr.KrazyMan

Dominican Republic:

Angel Urelly, Luis Geraldino, Luis Hidalgo, Ana de León, Coller Art, Citlally Miranda, Jose Ramia, Carlos Estrada, Patricia Grassals

Panama:

Fabrica de Malvaviscos, Purple King Crew, Nel One, Alexandr Jaramillo Ievleva, Rolodesedas, Manuel Choy, Thomson Moore, Jaqueline Brandwaym Fallenbaum, Veco La Tienda de Remedios, Gladys Turner Bosso

Costa Rica:

Mush, Piloy, Piem Quesada Cedeno, Alfredo Flores, Ghoke, Zisco, Gussa, Yiyo, Nava Remix Bang, Jairo Miranda, Chesr, Diego Fournier y Freddy Masis

Jamaica:

Naecia Dixon, David DaCosta, Amanda Choo Quan, TAJ, Dahcia Hong, Ikem Smith, Naita Chamberlain and Jonoi Messam

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In The Belly Of The River Thames

May 8, 2012 Artists, Features, London, On the Street

Occasional BSA contributor Garry Hunter writes today about a mural in London that may appear a bit more conventional than your average Street Art piece but carries a thoroughly modern message about our devastating effect on the environment. And electric eels!

Electric Soup in England’s Capital City
by Garry Hunter

When George Cruikshank illustrated the imagined contents of the heavily polluted River Thames in his satirical cartoon Monster Soup, he included mutant river denizens in a microscopic examination of a 19^th Century London lady’s cup of tea.

New Zealand artist Bruce Mahalski has just completed a new mural on Orchard Place that references not only Cruikshank’s work, but the legacy of electromagnetic pioneer Michael Faraday, whose laboratories were located at nearby Trinity Buoy Wharf. The looping River Lea that here merges with the Thames once had a thriving fishing village, which combined with Faraday’s research, gives rise to the mural’s focus on electric animals.

An Eco-activist, Mahalski incorporates an existing buddleia bush growing out of a window of the former shop that hosts his Electric Soup creation. He draws on his wide experience working with the Island Bay Marine Education Centre in Wellington, introducing more exotic submarinal characters, many of which are endangered species. He was shocked by an electric ray while working on a research boat when a metal shovel he was using to examine sealife conducted a charge right through him.

Clearly visible from passenger windows of airplanes landing at City Airport, the painting is part of a series of permanent works made by visiting artists based out of Boiler House (1954) in the centre of Trinity Buoy Wharf, a haven of independent thought away from the corporate developments that now line this part of East London.

Trinity Buoy Wharf is at 64 Orchard Place, London E14 0JW with the mural on the corner of the approaching road to the gatehouse.

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Images of the Week 05.06.12

May 6, 2012 Artists, Brooklyn, Manhattan, NYC, On the Street

Our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring AIPOTV, Dain, Jaye Moon, JR, Miyok, Rae, Sanpaku, Tate & Modern, Tazz, Tripel, Willow and Wing.

Tate & Modern in Manhattan. “Pardon us for noting, but the last vaguely interesting viral wheatpaste idea occurred in 2002” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Mecha, a Firefox in Seville’s Port

May 5, 2012 Artists, On the Street, Seville, Spain

The third installment of “Savage Planet” from Jeice2 is called “Mecha, the Firefox”. He might surprise you walking by an open window, even though he appears to be taking a nap.

Click here and here to see Jeice 2 first two installments for his Savage Planet Series.

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Interesni Kazki at Living Walls Atlanta

May 3, 2012 Artists, Atlanta, Features, On the Street, Street Art Festival

For our third installment in our series for Living Walls Atlanta: The City Speaks 2012 we are proud to present the Ukranian team of AEC and WAONE most commonly known as Interesni Kazki. The guys as usual are praised for their excellent craftsmanship and work ethic and, may we add, discipline. It must be hard to stay out of the bars when your spot is in the night-time entertainment district but then again maybe Interesni Kazki are of the abstemious sort. Whatever the case, their work and talent is garnering more attention daily in the Street Art world and beyond.

Interesni Kazki

Text by Alexandra Parrish
Photos by Dustin Chambers
Video by Dustin Chambers

Our process with artists is, in essence, quite simple – we house and feed the artists, purchase their paint and materials, and ensure mural completion by offering assistants and steady schedules. In reality, this simple process is foiled by secondary factors, namely weather and compelling distractions. However, when Interesni Kazki arrived in Atlanta, everything fell perfectly into place. They came here to paint with an impeccable work ethic.

AEC and WAONE of Interesni Kazki finished their large mural situated in the bar-heavy neighborhood of East Atlanta Village in only five days. They woke up early, ate a modest meal and set off to their wall. From dawn to dusk they meticulously incorporated every finishing touch to their work.

The completed mural epitomizes their signature style, integrating science fiction and religion with obvious Escher influences. The meaning, however, is left for interpretation. AEC noted early on that their work personifies a multitude of meanings. Four days into the process, Monica and I came up with an intoxicated interpretation after a bar crawl – the Shepard (who remarkably looks like Atlanta’s own Evereman) opens Pandora’s box which harvests the “Big Bang,” creating the solar system and human kind. Interesni Kazki’s work truly incites a heap of explanations.

The Ukranian duo plans to return to Atlanta later in the year to complete a much larger mural in the heart of downtown, hopefully to cook the Living Walls team more borscht.

Neuzz, fellow Wynwood Walls artist, and Evereman are next to follow.

To learn more about Living Walls Altanta: The City Speaks and to make a donation to help this year’s conference click here. BSA thanks you for supporting this good work.

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Springtime in Paris : Une Petite Revue of New Street Art

May 2, 2012 Artists, France, On the Street, Paris

Cities in all the hemispheres take turns being the pre-eminent location for Street Art and street culture as the influences that lead to a lively scene cropping up in a city and becoming popular are in continual flux. Whether its economics, demographics, politics, or the various timelines of cultural evolution intersecting, the conditions must be just right for a Street Art scene to blossom and endure in all it’s idiosyncratic splendor. At the moment it is Springtime in Paris and photographer Sandra Hoj says during her visit to the city, “I was overwhelmed by the amount of street art. It was not just limited to a single area, but all over the place, in every crack and corner.”

While the current Street Art movement in French cities can be traced to the late 1970s and early 80s stencillists with names like Jef Aerosol, Mis Tic, Speedy Graphito, and the guy who Banksy credits for influencing his rodential proclivities, Blek Le Rat – the last decade has brought a new generation of wheat-pasters, pop appropriaters, culture jammers, and fine artists of every discipline who have put their own mark on the modern age. Some, like C215, are even called new masters of the stencil genre. This quick survey gives just a taste of what’s happening at the moment and there are many names regularly up in addition to these.

Sandra reports “There are pieces from the ever-present Space Invader, of course, and Jef Aerosol, Nick Walker, Jand & JS (Janaundjs), Fred le Chavalier, and Dast, as well as some I don’t know the names of. There is a lot of stencil work and many paste up’s, a rare freehand piece by Dast, and even some collage work from Frank Duval of FKDL.” Enjoy.

Click here to visit Sandra Hoj’s site Classic Copenhagen for more Street Art eye candy.

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Fintan Switzer: Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore

May 1, 2012 Artists, On the Street

Irish Street Artist and realist painter Fintan Switzer has completed a new outdoor painting entitled “Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore”, which debuts here on BSA for you dear reader. With an abandoned lot that is overgrown with green framing his new piece, you may think you’ve entered a curated museum show. The placement may cause you to infer that you are seeing a previous inhabitant; a slightly stern or worried expression crosses the face of a man who pauses for a moment while sweeping to answer a visitor’s inquiry.

Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore (1974, Martin Scorsese). Ellen Burstyn sings “When Your Lover Has Gone”

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BSA Images Of The Week: 11.24.24
November 24, 2024
Aunt Marge is on the phone to see if your mom can locate the recipe for the cranberry relish dish …Read More »
“Above Ground” : How Martin Wong Preserved the Underground Soul of Graffiti
November 21, 2024
Museum of the City of New York PresentsAbove Ground: Art from the Martin Wong Graffiti Collection In the heart of …Read More »
ELFO: Don’t Use This Wall!
November 19, 2024
Elfo is a graffiti writer and social commentator whose work intentionally sidesteps traditional notions of style or technical lettering. This …Read More »
BSA Images Of The Week: 11.17.24
November 17, 2024
Right out of the gate, Pres-elect Trump is telling us that one must destroy the government to save it, just …Read More »
SpY’s “ORB” Lands in Montreal: A Mirror of Street Art’s Evolution
November 14, 2024
SpY, a prominent public artist hailing from Madrid, has unveiled his latest sculptural work titled “ORB” in Montreal’s renowned Place …Read More »
Birch Bark, Rosehips, and a Family Affair: Faring Purth’s New Chapter in Mural Form
November 12, 2024
In her latest mural, Faring Purth delivers a powerful reflection on connection, continuity, and the complexity of evolving relationships—a true …Read More »
BSA Images Of The Week: 11.10.24
November 10, 2024
Well, the world ended this week—again. Yet here we are, still standing, and so are you. It turns out Donald …Read More »

Ben Wolf and Heidi Tullmann (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ben Wolf and Heidi Tullmann (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ben Wolf and Heidi Tullmann (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ben Wolf and Heidi Tullmann (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ben Wolf and Heidi Tullmann (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ben Wolf and Heidi Tullmann (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ben Wolf and Heidi Tullmann (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ben Wolf and Heidi Tullmann (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ben Wolf and Heidi Tullmann (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ben Wolf and Heidi Tullmann (photo © Jaime Rojo)

INSA (photo © Todd Mazer)

INSA (photo © Todd Mazer)

INSA (photo © Todd Mazer)

INSA (photo © Todd Mazer)

INSA (photo © Todd Mazer)

INSA (photo © Todd Mazer)

INSA. Wow, that’s a big set of cans. Which ones would you take? (photo © Todd Mazer)

INSA (photo © Todd Mazer)

INSA (photo © Todd Mazer)

INSA (photo © Todd Mazer)

INSA (photo © Todd Mazer)

INSA (photo © Todd Mazer)

INSA (photo © Daniel LaHoda)

Capital Soars with Huge New International Street Art Murals

An Amazing Week in DF with Interesni Kazki, El Mac, Saner, Sego, Roa, Herakut, Vhils, and Escif

Escif (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

ROA (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

ROA (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

ROA. Detail. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

SEGO (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

SEGO. Detail. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Vhils. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Vhils. Detail. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Sego and Vhils process shots. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Herakut (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Herakut (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

SANER (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

SANER. Detail. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Interesni Kazki (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Interesni Kazki (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

El Mac (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

El Mac. Detail. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

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

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

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

“Worked in some countries – in others, not so much.”

San Jose, Costa Rica (Duration: 7 days)

Freddy Masis. San Jose, Costa Rica (photo © Jim Avignon)

MUSH. San Jose, Costa Rica (photo © Jim Avignon)

Kingston, Jamaica (Duration: 3 days)

Group Wall. Kingston, Jamaica (photo © Jim Avignon)

Group Wall. Kingston, Jamaica (photo © Jim Avignon)

Managua, Nicaragua (Duration: 5 days)

STK, Danser. Managua, Nicaragua. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Stchex, STK. Managua, Nicaragua. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Simer. Managua, Nicaragua. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Dorian Serpa. Managua, Nicaragua. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Brake Rivas. Managua, Nicaragua. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Jim Avignon. Managua, Nicaragua. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Panama, Panama (Duration: 7 days)

Gladys Turner, Alexandr, Jaramillo Levleva. Panama, Panama. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Alexandr. Panama, Panama. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Port of Spain, Trinidad (Duration: 4 days)

Kriston Banfield. Port of Spain, Trinidad. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (Duration: 7 days)

Citlally Miranda. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Ana Leon and Luis Geraldino. Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Guatemala, Guatemala (Duration: 4 days)

Zapato Verde. Guatemala, Guatemala. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Jim Avignon. Guatemala, Guatemala. (photo © Jim Avignon)

Bruce Mahalski (Photo © Garry Hunter)

Bruce Mahalski (Photo © Garry Hunter)

The artist Bruce Mahalski by Garry Hunter. (Photo © Garry Hunter)

Bruce Mahalski (Photo © Garry Hunter)

Jaye Moon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jaye Moon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Wing (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Wing (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Looks like RAE has been hanging out in Chinatown lately (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Willow experiments with ceramic tiles. (photo © Jaime Rojo)