All posts tagged: Charles Williams

BSA “Images Of The Year” For 2018 Video

December 16, 2018 Artists

Here it is! Photographer Jaime Rojo of BSA selects a handful of his favorite images from his travels through 9 countries and around New York this year to present our 2018 BSA Images of the Year.

Seeing the vast expressions of aesthetics and anti-aesthetic behavior has been a unique experience for us. We’re thankful to all of the artists and co-conspirators for their boundless ideas and energy, perspectives and personas.

Once you accept that much of the world is in a semi-permanent chaos you can embrace it, find order in the disorder, love inside the anger, a rhythm to every street.

And yes, beauty. Hope you enjoy BSA Images of the Year 2018.

Here’s a list of the artists featured in the video. Help us out if we missed someone, or if we misspelled someones nom de plume.

1Up Crew, Abe Lincoln Jr., Adam Fujita, Adele Renault, Adrian Wilson, Alex Sena, Arkane, Banksy, Ben Eine, BKFoxx, Bond Truluv, Bordalo II, Bravin Lee, C215, Cane Morto, Charles Williams, Cranio, Crash, Dee Dee, D*Face, Disordered, Egle Zvirblyte, Ernest Zacharevic, Erre, Faith LXVII, Faust, Geronimo, Gloss Black, Guillermo S. Quintana, Ichibantei, InDecline, Indie 184, Invader, Isaac Cordal, Jayson Naylor JR, Kaos, KNS, Lena McCarthy, Caleb Neelon, LET, Anthony Lister, Naomi Rag, Okuda, Os Gemeos, Owen Dippie, Pejac, Pixel Pancho, Pork, Raf Urban, Resistance is Female, Sainer, Senor Schnu, Skewville, Slinkachu, Solus, Squid Licker, Stinkfish, Strayones, Subway Doodle, The Rus Crew, Tristan Eaton, Vegan Flava, Vhils, Viktor Freso, Vinie, Waone, Winston Tseng, Zola

The Painted Buses of Raiatea and Bora Bora – French Polynesia

July 11, 2018 Artists

Box trucks are a favorite canvas for many graffiti writers in big cities and have become a right of passage for new artists who want the experience of painting on a smooth rectangular surface that becomes a rolling billboard through the streets advertising your name, making you truly “All City”.

Charles and Janine Williams. ONO’U Tahiti 2018. Raiatea, French Polynesia. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

When in French Polynesia a few weeks ago with the ONO’U festival, a number of artists were given the significant gift of a large truck or school/commuter bus on which to create a mural, a message, a bubble tag.

Together on the islands of Raiatea and Bora Bora there were about 10 of these long and low autobuses that became sudden celebrities in the sparsely travelled streets, debuted as some of them were in Raitea, when painted live at an all night party for the public.

Charles and Janine Williams. ONO’U Tahiti 2018. Raiatea, French Polynesia. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

With a similar sized surface to paint, the comparing and contrasting between styles and techniques among the artists was suddenly on full display. In contrast to the cities that many of these artists began in, you could not have found a more appreciate audience of people for these artists and their talents. The best part is that these buses are currently rolling through the streets even though the festival is over.

Cranio. ONO’U Tahiti 2018. Raiatea, French Polynesia. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Soten. ONO’U Tahiti 2018. Raiatea, French Polynesia. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bordalo II. ONO’U Tahiti 2018. Raiatea, French Polynesia. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cola. ONO’U Tahiti 2018. Bora Bora, French Polynesia. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Okuda. ONO’U Tahiti 2018. Bora Bora, French Polynesia. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bordalo II. ONO’U Tahiti 2018. Bora Bora, French Polynesia. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 06.24.18

June 24, 2018 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

As upbeat as celebrations like today’s LGBTQ Pride events are here in NYC, they are rooted in defiance of the suffocating unjust norms that entrapped people in this city and across the country for generations – newly emancipating broad groups of people over the last 50 years or so. As New York City led the way with the Stonewall riots for sexual minorities, it sends this message today to people across the globe that you will be free too, even if it doesn’t feel that way right now in your country.

But LGBTQ folks needed straight allies to get their rights over five decades. Today we have to speak up loud and proud for immigrants. If you need to punch, figuratively, don’t punch downward. These people have done nothing to hurt you and are bringing a the identical aspirations your parents, grandparents, great grandparents did. Don’t believe the hype of the traumatizer who blames the traumatized.

Punch UP at the folks who shifted all the jobs away, just lowered their own taxes to their lowest rate in your entire lifetime, who are shredding the social safety net, who are creating jobs that pay so little you still have to get food stamps, who are trying to convince poor people that poor people are their enemy. It’s an old old trick and it appears to still work marvelously.

This week on BSA Images of the Week we see that just a few Street Artists are addressing these new disgusting revelations and systemic problems, even as 700 Migrant Kids Separated From Parents Are in NY.

Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Anthony Lister, Bordalo II, Charles Williams, City Kitty, Danny Minnick, Etnik, FKDL, Lapiz, LMNOPI, Individual Activist, Niko, Nick Walker, Olivia Laita, Revaf, Sofles, Soten, and Strayones.

Top image: This beautifully hand rendered drawing is signed but unfortunately we can’t read the language so we can’t identify the artist. Please help. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This beautifully hand rendered drawing is signed but unfortunately we can’t read the language so we can’t identify the artist. Please help. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Individual Activist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Anthony Lister being entertained by The Drif in Little Italy for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

An outstanding collaboration between Charles Williams and Bordalo II in Moorea, French Polynesia for ONO’U Tahiti Festival 2018. (photo © Olivia Laita)

Strayones (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NIKO (photo © Jaime Rojo)

City Kitty in collaboration with LMNOPI. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LMNOPI (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lapiz. Farblut Festival 2018. Bremen, Germany. (photo © Lapiz)

“The soccer world cup has begun and I took the opportunity to paint a mural about Russia’s president, Vladimir Putin. It was painted during the FARBFLUT festival which took place last weekend where 200 artist painted a 1000 m wall. The mural itself measures 6 x 3.50 m.

The motive shows the Russian president Vladimir Putin kissing Vladimir Putin. The colours are those of the rainbow flag and it has the words ‘One Love’ written above it. The picture addresses Putin’s narcissism and even more the homophobic tendencies supported by the Russian
government.”

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Soten. Moorea, French Polynesia for ONO’U Tahiti Festival 2018. (photo © Olivia Laita)

Etnik. Prato, Italy. (photo © Etnik)

Sofles. Tahiti, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Danny Minnick for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nick Walker. The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Not Invaders in Tahiti, French Polynesia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gulf Revaf (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FKDL (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. West Village, NYC. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tahiti So Long : BSA X ONO’U Festival 5: Bora Bora

June 19, 2018 Artists

Last week BSA was checking out French Polynesia to get an appreciation for the Street Art, graffiti and street scene there while the 5^th Annual ONO’U was taking place. BSA readers joined in the tropical action while we took you to Tahiti, Raiatea, Bora Bora, and Moorea to see the artists and the action.

Here’s our last posting from Tahiti, now that we’re recovered from the jet lag and are back in dirty old New York. We parted ways with the artists on Bora Bora who continued to paint in a place where the word ‘paradise’ is redundant. How many times did artists here simply jump in the water to cool off after painting and installing in the tropical sun for a few hours?

Vinie. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The community was involved as well, with public officials and traditional representatives hosting welcoming ceremonies and receptions, artists like Pixel Pancho and Bordello II teaching students about technique in an art class, and countless interactions with clusters of interested onlookers who provided a revolving audience for the muralists while they created new works. Local artists Rival and Abuzz helped with explanations and communications also while they joined in with their international guest artists in painting new walls.

Vinie. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

French muralist Vinie reimagined her popular female figure as an underwater explorer in a way that delighted and reassured some of the kids in the neighborhood. In an unexpected twist, Portugal’s BordalloII and Spain’s Okuda decided to collaborate on a piece, a unique collaboration of pop surrealism and spontaneous sculpture with recycled materials on the end of a seaside home.

In the end ONO’U is always far more than you expect, a unique collection of settings, interactions with people, meeting of new friends, learning of history and communing with nature that inspire the artists to dig a little deeper inside to find a response to all they are seeing and experiencing.

Vinie. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vinie. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Olivia Laita)

Okuda . BordaloII. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Akimbo. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Akimbo with Narvila who inspired the artist for the themes on this wall of human rights, inclusion, acceptance, GLBTQ rights and love. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lady Diva. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cranio. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Yellow Buff: Cranio painted the character plus the door and the walls next to it. As you can see most of what he did got buffed with yellow paint by the owners of the wall. They told us they didn’t like the words and lettering on the other walls, preferring the figurative to the text-based. A shame that the hard work was destroyed so quickly. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pixel Pancho. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Charles Williams. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Charles Williams and Soten. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Charles Williams . Soten . Abuze. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Abuze. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A triptych from Charles Williams, Soten, and Abuze at ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Olivia Laita)

Rival. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rival. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Olivia Laita)

Bordalo II. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bordalo II. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Bora Bora. June 2018. (photo © Olivia Laita)

BSA X ONO’U Festival 5: Day 6 – Raiatea Wrap Up

June 13, 2018 Artists

This week BSA is checking out French Polynesia to get an appreciation for the Street Art, graffiti and street scene here while the 5^th Annual ONO’U is taking place. Join in the tropical action while we take you to Tahiti, Raiatea, Bora Bora, and Moorea to see the artists and the action.

The walls in Raiatea have been completed and the town folks came out for a block party with music and food and for the unveiling of Spanish artist OKUDA’s fiberglass sculpture of dolphins playing with the globe that he created specifically for this festival and for the the people of Raiatea.

Each of the artists created new walls while our traveling troupe was stationed here so before moving on to Bora Bora action here are some finished walls in Raiatea. We’ll report on the happenings of that beautiful island soon (when we are not cavorting in the ocean) but in the meantime we leave you here with the Raiatea Walls.

Okuda. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Raiatea. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vinie. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Raiatea. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vinie . Lady Diva. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Raiatea. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lady Diva. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Raiatea. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Soten. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Raiatea. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ABUZE. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Raiatea. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ABUZE. The artist painted a sunset dedicated to his father. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Raiatea. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cranio. We wrote a piece with WIP shots of this piece here. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Raiatea. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Charles Williams. We wrote a piece with WIP shots of this piece here. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Raiatea. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Christina Angelina working on the sketch for her wall. This is a portrait of ONO’U Tahiti co-founder. Sarah Roopinia. ONO’U Tahiti 2018 / Raiatea. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA X ONO’U Festival 5: Day 4 – Charles Williams (Phat1) in Raiatea

June 11, 2018 Artists

Auckland’s Charles (Phat1) and Janine (Lady Diva) Williams bring the wildlife wherever they are, and not just on the wall. A graffiti writer with mad skillz and founder of TMD Crew, Charles considers family, history, nature and his Māori heritage when creating new pieces that often combine the natural world with graphic and geometric elements. Here in Raiatea the aerosol naturalist took time and special attention to detailing the plumage of an U’upa, a species of fruit dove that is frequently seen on the islands of French Polynesia.

ONO’U Tahiti – Murals from the Raiatea 2016 Edition

October 12, 2017 Artists

This week BSA takes you to the French Polynesian Islands to see the new murals going up for this tropical island cultural festival called ONO’U Tahiti 2017. We’re happy to bring you the daily events and the insights as we discover them.

As we were scouting around the island of Raiatea with Martha Cooper and Selina Miles and the artists watching the new murals going up for ONO’U Tahiti this week we thought we would collect the walls put up by artists in last year’s edition. To say that this island is picturesque isn’t enough praise, and that its inhabitants are friendly doesn’t capture the kindness – on this homeland of the Māori people that was/is called Havai’i.

In the main township of the island called Uturos most of the 12,000 or so inhabitants live and many folks stop to watch the artists paint, asking questions, making observations to one another. In an environment like this the artists noticeably recalibrate their work to be be more relevant to the context, responsive to the people who live here and meaningful to the daily living of everyday.

Here are some shots of murals from 2016.

The text reads “I am the seed scattered from Havai’i”. Havai’i is the traditional name of Raiatea. Askew One writes about the wall on his blog:

“On first visiting the wall it struck Charles & Janine Williams that it had the shape of a Wharenui (Māori meeting house) and the vacant lot in relation was like the grounds of a Marae. Charles had the idea to take the Māori proverb featured in the Tupaia documentary which was ‘He kakano ahau, ruia mai I Rāngiatea’ or ‘I am a seed scattered from Rai’ātea’ in english. After consulting with Viliamu we got the Maohi (Tahitian) translation which read ‘E heuro puehu vau no te fenua Rai’ātea” and then after further advice from many locals we changed Rai’ātea to Havai’i – the islands original name. Janine took on the task of painting the text onto the wall.”

ONO’U Tahiti 2017: “Personal Genesis” ONO’U 2017 Conférence, Dispatch 6

October 7, 2017 Artists

ONO’U 2017 Conférence

BSA was proud to host the first ONO’U Conference on Thursday night to bring alive a somewhat academic experience to the festival for a curious crowd of 175 in the showroom of a local car dealership. The theme of “Personal Genesis” invited our 7 panelists to talk about their unique entryway into the graffiti and Street Art scene, and we were treated to genesis stories, images, and video about all of them.

“Personal Genesis’ From left to right: Steven P. Harrington, Martha Cooper, Inkie, Soten, Marko93, Charles Williams, Kalouf and Selina Miles. ONO’U Tahiti 2017. Panel discussion. Tahiti, October 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

With Steven P. Harrington, BSA Editor-in-Chief running the panel, we heard from American photographer and documentarian Martha Cooper, Australian film maker Selina Miles, French graffiti writer/ light writer Marko93, Dane graffiti/ fine artist SOTEN, UK graffiti/Street Artist/ illustrator Inkie, Maori graffiti writer/naturist muralist Phat1, and French graffiti writer/ hyperrealist naturalist Kalouf.

With each panelist asked to speak about their start in the graffiti/Street Art/ Urban Art world, guests were treated to stories of discovery and aspirational routes to success that took many directions. Each guest narrated images and videos of their work and illustrated that no one comes to this scene from the same vantage point, yet there are many who With so many panelists it was obvious that the stories could have filled three hours easily, but we kept it to an hour and a half, with questions from the audience being particularly illuminating.

Our thanks to hosts Sarah Roopinia and Jean Ozlander at ONO’U Festival for helping translate to French and then back to English sometimes, and our thanks to all of the talented artists and documentarians who participated.

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