All posts tagged: Daze

Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is His Muse

January 30, 2016 Artists

Active on the city’s urban art scene since the 70s and 80s as a teen hitting up trains on the Broadway line, this New Yorker transitioned to studio art thirty five years ago and never lost his love for his city. Currently on view at the Museum of the City of New York, this collection rightly typifies an era and is the best way to appreciate the inspirations that have driven him.

DAZE. Reflections on Time Square #2. 2013. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

There are personal and topical narratives here and storylines to investigate, always rendered with the distinct DNA of the original aerosol train writers, his own style and undampened sense of wonder throughout.

Looking at the collaged approach to painting figurative scenes you may feel like they are frozen in a moment, a near relief of archetypes, character, symbols and typical New York scenes assembled at different perspectives.

DAZE. Electric Boogaloo. 1982. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

His people are ones you recognize, sometimes with ghosts mingling with the earthbound. Coney Island and the beach, the Staten Island Ferry, Times Square, taxi cabs, police – these are his memories colored brightly and rendered palpable.

“City as Muse” ultimately is a commentary and diary that fuses memory with emotion, attesting to an undimmed romance with NYC.

DAZE. Revisitn a Dream. 2004. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. Coney Island Pier Study. 1999. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. Parachute Drop. 1997. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. The Duel. 2012. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. Queensborough Plaza. 2010. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. The Odyssey. 2015. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. The 7 Yard. 2011. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. Portrait of Daze by Tom Warren and Tagged by Chris “Daze” Ellis. 1983 Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris “DAZE” Ellis” The City Is My Muse is currently on view at the Museum Of The City Of New York. Click HERE for more information.

See Daze February 9th at 6:30 with Alan KET and Nick Walker for “Urban Art Legends“

See Daze March 2nd at 6:30 with BSA’s Steven Harrington & Jaime Rojo for “Street Art Stories”

Queens Hit “Top To Bottom” by New Mural Project in L.I.C.

January 20, 2016 Artists

The spirit of New Yorks’ 5 Pointz graffiti/Street Art holy place has popped up in the same Queens neighborhood where it was demolished in 2014, and since last summer more than 50 local and international aerosol artists have been hitting a new project “Top to Bottom”.

brooklyn-street-art-icy-sot-arts-org-LIC-jaime-rojo-01-16-web

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The choice of “Top to Bottom”, a graffiti term that recalls 1970s trains painted their entire height, is no mistake as creative director James P. Quinn reveres the classic style and histories of those original writers like internationally and institutionally celebrated artists Crash and Daze, who have collaborated on a mural here.

Additionally, in yet another sign that the celebration of art on the streets is ever more ecumenical, Quinn and his project lead Geoff Kuffner are bringing the newer Street Artists who are expanding and defining the current era for art in the streets like Case Ma’Claim and Rubin 415. Not surprisingly, both of these artists started in graffiti, as did nearly every name here.

Case MaClaim (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“I felt like a comfortable amount of space should be allocated to certain styles,” says Quinn as he describes the process of parceling out spots for the façade and roof of the 124,000-square-foot former warehouse. Truthfully, he tells us, not all the surfaces and shapes are attractive to graffiti artists, so a variety of styles is best.

“I tried to fit them in where I felt that graff writers could enjoy themselves and do something expansive. There are only a couple of spaces here that fit the epic, horizontally spaced forms of style writing. There are a lot of strange shapes to navigate as a painter here, rather than easy space to develop style as a writer.”

Cern (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Quinn and Kuffner give a couple of visitors a tour around the entire block on a gray day where heavy fog hangs in the air obscuring the top half of Manhattan and they excitedly recall stories about the many installations in this first project of their newly formed Arts Org NYC. Using the word “garden” often, Quinn reiterates that this project for them is a “proof of concept” for bigger projects that will spread further through the city. “Ultimately I’m approaching it as a mural project,” says Quinn, who has organized mural programs a number of times since the 1990s. “It’s just a beginning.”

Street Art has evolved into districts of murals in cities as a gentrification device in the last five years and despite the critique that it is often used for economic development, many urban art watchers would also agree that we’re in the middle of a renaissance of public/private art. Quinn says he wants to capture part of the public’s new interest and make it grow. “I’d like to leverage the current hype and acceptance of mural painting to open up doors to people – old women, young kids, everybody.”

Cern (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The neighborhood itself feels like it is in transition but it is not clear where it is heading. With Silvercup Studios and the number 7 subway line nearby and MoMA PS1 within a 10 minute walk, a quick survey reveals mixed light industry, sweatshops, corner delis, and the occasional strip club. Below the off-ramp of the Queensboro Bridge, which sweeps past the “Top to Bottom” exhibition, you will see first and second generation immigrants from the areas’ latin and African communities walking by, and Quinn reminds you that the Queensbridge Projects where Hip-Hop storyteller NAS grew up is just a short walk from here.

Conversation turns to plans for more focused programming on the walls in Phase II, possible fine art shows with local gallery spaces, and ultimately a city-wide mural project that offers art and art-making to greater audiences, including school kids.

DMOTE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“I do feel like murals get focused in certain locations but I feel like the entire city as a whole is still suffering. Huge demographics aren’t getting the painting,” he says, invoking the civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. “I feel like my ‘I Have a Dream’ speech about this project is that I hope it gets to the point where 10 year-olds can have as much access to a neighborhood as developers.”

Does he think that projects like this are pawns for business interests to draw investments into the neighborhood and push poorer populations out? “You can debate whether or not we are opening the way for more shiny condos… but that shit is happening whether we do this or not. For me the importance is keeping us here; So we’re not totally pushed out 30-45 minutes away from here”

DMOTE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Because of its proximity to the now destroyed 5 Pointz, where hundreds, perhaps thousands, of urban artists painted a much larger block repeatedly for two decades, we ask Quinn if he’s concerned with comparisons.

“I’ve always managed other projects like this in my own style and my own way. There are comparable aspects and I have nothing but a huge sensitivity and respect for Meres and 5 Pointz,” he says, referring to the artist and de facto director of the hallowed spot. “It’s comparable only because it’s a building and it’s in Long Island City. But this is only a jump-off. I want to do way more projects like this across the city.”

DMOTE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

As the business partners walk past new pieces by DMote, Li-Hill, Icy & Sot, and Jick, the topic of the historically strained relationship between graffiti writers and Street Artists appears to be addressed head-on by the project by the inclusion of all manner of painter. The guys say that it is less of an issue than some people would have you think. As a long-time artist and muralist and curator of projects like this, Quinn says he’s over the supposed rivalry of the two camps, and sees mainly just one camp these days.

“I don’t know what the fans of graffiti or Street Art have any problem with. To me it’s all awesome.”

DMOTE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Alexandre Keto (photo © Jaime Rojo)

EGS (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Binho (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cekis (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NEVER and Dirty Bandits (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sean9Lugo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LMNOPI (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Zumi (photo © Jaime Rojo)

PORK (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rubin415 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Key Details (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Li Hill (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Yes Two (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pixote (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kans115 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Daze . Crash (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Erasmo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For more about ArtsOrg please go to www.artsorg.nyc.

#ArtsOrgNYC and @artsorg on Instagram

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This article is also published on The Huffington Post

BSA Images Of The Week: 12.13.15

December 13, 2015 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

As the snow birds flew back to NYC this week from their Miami art debauchery with dark circles under their eyes and paint under their nails we tossed them right back in the roiling red & white mash of SantaCon in the streets, 2 more politicians going to jail, and the alleged hunk-hiring Bronx priest resigning from his parish. You can really feel the spirit of Christmas and Hannukah all around.

BSA was proud to co-sponsor the talk with DAZE, LEE Quinones, and Jane Dickson for the special reception at DAZE’s “The City is My Muse” show currently on exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York, hosted by Sean Corcoran. The three are vital to the historical thread that reaches back to NY’s earliest graff days and it was evident from seeing their newest works as they each presented them on screen that they refuse to be nostalgic about the city – but prefer to be on top of it. Case in point was Lee’s opening the following night that showcased his new mural on the ceiling at the Indigo Hotel – his Sistine Chapel if you will.

P.S. We’ll be at MCNY with DAZE March 2 – mark your calendar.

Invader finished his 42 piece wave of tile installations in New York, according to reports, Banksy struck out with political pieces addressing immigration and xenophobia (videos at end of this posting), and Gilf! wrapped the façade of a Williamsburg bar with “gentrification in progress” tape to mark its death by market forces. As artists continue to grapple with socio/political events, the art of the street keeps mutating forward.

Side note: “Images of the Week” takes a hiatus for the next few weeks thanks to special Holiday programming. It returns in 2016.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Banksy, Bunny M, City Kitty, Cost, Daze, Dee Dee, Gilf!, Invader, Jaye Moon, Jordan Seiler, KET, Labrona, Lee Quinones, Lex56, Mint&Serf, Never, Pet Bird, Read, Sipros, Specter, Wing, and WK Interact.

Top Image: Sipros and a father of surrealism for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter in Paris. (photo © Specter)

Specter was in France last month with FKDL and Upian, among others. Here are some examples of paintings and ad takeovers in Paris as well as an abandoned factory called La Rodia in Besancon. The Brooklyn based artist tells us that “It was a trying time to be there but supporting my friends and creating some colorful distractions was more important.”

Specter in Besancon. (photo © Specter)

Invader (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Inva…sions are Cost…ly (photo © Jaime Rojo)

City Kitty (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lex56. Noted. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jordan Seiler (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gilf! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For Dotty & Pearl (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Wing (photo © Jaime Rojo)

bunny M (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dee Dee (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The company you keep… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Labrona and Ket in Montreal. (photo © Labrona)

Labrona and Ket in Montreal. Detail. (photo © Labrona)

Labrona in Montreal. (photo © Labrona)

Mint & Serf (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Detail of Lee Quinones’ inventive ode to New York at a newly opened hotel in the LES. The artist, who grew up in the hood was commissioned to paint on the ceiling of the hotel’s reception room a map of the neighborhood to which he attached painted “poloroid” portraits (sourced from previously existing photographs) who lived and played on those streets “Between Two Bridges”. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Daze standing in front of a portrait of him taken decades ago. This piece is currently being exhibited at Chris “Daze” Ellis: The City is My Muse at the Museum Of The City of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Tom Warren with Christopher “Daze” Ellis
Portrait of Daze with Tags, 1983, Acrylic on Gelatin silver print

Jaye Moon has a sense of “awe” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Never created this memorial to Peter Caroll AKA Pet Bird, who passed away suddenly in September. We love you Peter…and you too Never. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Balloons. Manhattan, NYC. November 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

From The Guardian:
“Street artist Banksy has painted a depiction of Apple founder Steve Jobs on a wall in a migrant and refugee camp in France known as the Calais ‘Jungle’. The artist, who has never revealed his identity, released a rare public statement challenging the perception that migrants and refugees from Syria are a drain on Western economies, UK media reported”

Daze Does a “Paix” Piece in Port Au Prince, Haiti

October 10, 2015 Artists

New York graffiti artist DAZE just got back from Haiti where he was inaugurating a mural project for The Academy of Peace and Justice in Port Au Prince, Haiti. Along another admired and well-revered New York graffiti artist KET, DAZE worked with local students to create some new pieces for a huge new project spearheaded by pop artist and APJ advisory board member, Peter Tunney, who hopes to launch it as the “Haiti Walls” project.

Daze (photo © Daze)

“The design that I came up with doesn’t deal with peace in a political or military sense, but is more about inner peace,” DAZE tells us. “I wanted to create something that would be offering a kind of inner peace in order to achieve further goals.”

Daze (photo © Daze)

In his original design (above) for the huge piece DAZE included an area for students to add their own voice, enabling this school of nearly 3,000 students on 100% scholarship to take ownership of the artwork as well. Not only did students paint, they also played music for the team just in time for the beginning of the school year.

Taking inspiration from the letter forms, patterns, and color palette used in signage and everyday street life, DAZE incorporated a gently held and supported “PAIX” (peace) to the streets as well.

Daze. Selfie. (photo © Daze)

“During my time in Haiti I did see many examples of extreme poverty that were hard to bear,’ DAZE says of his daily explorations while there. “A lot of the students I worked with came from an area called ‘Cite de Soliel” which is the largest slum in Haiti. I also saw many examples of the 2010 earthquake that remained. Having said that, I saw many examples of a resilience, resourcefulness, and creativity that could only be found there. The Hatian people were kind, generous and open to my presence there. The cultural creativity there is incredible. Haiti is a really beautiful country that I encourage people to experience firsthand.”

A lot of horse power in the Puissance Devine bus! Daze. Haiti bus. (photo © Daze)

Daze. Market (photo © Daze)

KET (photo © Daze)

Daze . KET (photo © Daze)

Daze (photo © Daze)

Daze. Students (photo © Daze)

Daze. Students group shot. (photo © Daze)

Landscape (photo © Daze)

Daze. CLICK on photo to enlarge. (photo © Daze)

BSA Film Friday: 08.28.15

August 28, 2015 Artists

Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.

Now screening :

1. Lilith and Olaf at Nuart ’15 by Ella & Pitr
2. Come Enjoy the Wonderful World of Dismaland!
3. Wall Therapy 2015: Eder Muniz
4. Wall Therapy 2015: Handiedan

BSA Special Feature: Lilith and Olaf at Nuart ’15 by Ella & Pitr

Straight from Nuart 2015 to you, a possibly world record breaking outdoor figurative mural! It could be the largest one ever!

Completed in Klepp, Rogaland, in only four days this week, French artists Ella & Pitr and an “army of volunteers” covered 21,000m2 on Block Berge Bygg’s roof with their original composition entitled Lilith and Olaf. For you non-Norwegians, King Olaf 1 ruled for the final five years of the first millenium. Olaf Tryggvason gets a comparatively small role in this mural – as if he is a toy dropped from Lilith’s hand as she slumbers here on the roof.

This project was completed so freshly that we only have this silent drone footage for you right now. We’re sure there will be a finished video of this in the future and actually BSA will be able to inspect this in person in a couple of days as we travel to Nuart 2015 so we’ll let you know just how big it is.

The mural will be officially ‘opened’ by the Mayor of Klepp, Ane Mari Braut Nese, next Friday at 4, which means we will still have time to bring her back to see our BSA FILM FRIDAY LIVE at the theater in downtown Stavanger. Hope you can come too!

Come Enjoy the Wonderful World of Dismaland!

If this doesn’t send the whole family running for the mini-van then you are not a true believer in the Magic Thingdom. See our review of this heavy-hitting satirical art installation just opened : The Wonderfully Dismal Kingdom of Banksy.

Wall Therapy 2015: Eder Muniz

All you gotta do is check out this dude dancing while he works to appreciate how much he loves to paint and where the joy comes from.

Wall Therapy 2015: Handiedan

Handiedan was the first muralist this year, and one of the most eclectic. Her distinctive cut collages of currency and curvaceous beauties in her fine art is translated in wheatpaste across the facade of this Rochester former church.

$WALL\THERAPY 2015 : Surrealism and The Fantastic$

WALL\THERAPY 2015 : Surrealism and The Fantastic

July 29, 2015 Artists

Surreal is the way the world is portrayed across all of our devices today.

It may be the shrinking staff and budgets of newsrooms who are veering ever closer to the sensational or simply the yellow journalism and the PR-planted hyperbole that is rushing to fill the vacuum, but the presentation of our own world is becoming outlandish.

Orwell could have seen this time when war is described as a peace effort, oligarchy is called democracy, and Reality TV is anything but. Combined with rapid technological developments that produce outcomes previously only imagined, we may feel like our grip on the genuine is definitely loosening somewhat.

So fitting it is that a mid-sized US city hosts a mural festival celebrating the surreal and the fantastic in 2015.

Brittany Williams. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

We don’t know for sure if it was our current funhouse mirror atmosphere that drove the Wall\Therapy festival in Rochester, NY to choose this years’ themes. It may simply be a way of organizing artists whose work reflects these notions back to us and to illuminate one specific growing trend in street culture and murals.

Surely Magritte, Dali, and Ernst would be very pleased by the uptick of modern surrealists and practitioners of the bizarre, fantastical, and dream-like in galleries, in the public sphere, and throughout popular culture in recent years.

Brittany Williams. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

In partnership and as a cultural exchange with Berlin’s Urban Nation (UN) this year, Wall\Therapy 2015 curated this selection of international and local street artists who bring doorways and mirrors for you to step through.

We were glad to be there in person this year and relieved to see that this largely homespun venture continues to be strong and community-minded despite the very hard work that it requires to pull it off. In the face of a rapidly commercializing Street Art festival scene, not only is the grassroots rather refreshing, it is a bit surreal.

Without doubt it is fantastic.

Brittany Williams. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jeff Soto . Maxx242. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Classic graffiti style from NYC’s Daze has always contained elements of surreality. In his three walls he sampled even more styles.”So I used a lot of influences – photo-realistic, almost cubist, there is some lettering, window panes as metaphor. I was also thinking about fabric and the way it folds, and it turned into water,” he says. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Daze. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vexta. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vexta: I’ve been doing a lot of collage as my source material – birds, abstract plant shapes, and the galaxy painted over.
BSA: She’s like an earth mother, or universal mother
Vexta: She is every woman.

Vexta. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Andreas Englund’s mural features his superhero vexed by a stone in his boot. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Andreas Englund. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NeverCrew’s Christian Rebecchi and Pablo Togni created a whale inside an ice whale. “We usually work with themes about the balance between humans and nature,” says Togni, “In this situation we wanted to do a piece about the balance between the elements.” Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NeverCrew. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Handiedan. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“She is sort of a goddess of East meets West,” says Amsterdam’s Handiedan. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nate Hodge. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Onur . Wes21. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A highly detailed original sketch that is culled from photographs and their own staging of a model in boots, Onur and Wes21 spent many long hours into a few nights to complete their wall.
Onur: It is more of a scene than a classical mural. The wall is perfect for something like this.
BSA: So it is nature taking a bite out of its aggressor
Onur: Yes, kind of. That’s not bad. We have a sign that says beware of beaver crossing. The animals are a metaphor for something else and we are always looking for stuff like this when we are on the streets.

Onur . Wes21. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jason Wilder Courtesy of WallTherapy)

Li-Hill. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Matt Roberts . Joe Guy. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“We knew we had a week and we thought ‘what can we accomplish?’” says Rochester local Matt Roberts on a break from his wall with Joe Guy Allard. “I do monsters all the time and Joe does those robots. It’s a big old fight scene. I mean, who doesn’t want destruction, some mahem? I grew up on Godzilla movies and Ultraman, stuff like that. Just a lot of B-horror. I’m really into it. The new Godzilla movie is like my Crème Brulee.”

Matt Roberts . Joe Guy. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Eder Muniz. Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Eder Muniz. (CLICK ON IMAGE TO ENLARGE) Wall Therapy 2015. Rochester, NY (photo © @MarkDeffPhoto Courtesy of Wall Therapy)

Our deep gratitude to the Wall\Therapy Family; Ian Wilson and Erich Lehman for their invitation to participate at this edition, and to Yasha Young, director of Urban Nation and this year’s co-curator. To the artists for sharing their talent with us in such a public and generous way. To all of the volunteers including Jason Barber and Maureen Malone for their sincere dedication and attention to detail and to the production team for making certain we all had what we needed and for making our job far easier. To the photographers for sharing their work with us throughout the process. To Jonathan Binstock, Director of the Memorial Art Gallery at The University of Rochester for hosting our BSA Film Friday Live event and to Meg Colombo and Mike Besaw at MAG for helping us with everything we asked for and then more. To the city of Rochester.

Click HERE to learn more about WALL THERAPY

<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA
Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!
<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA

This article is also published on The Huffington Post

$Wall\Therapy 2015 Day 6$

Wall\Therapy 2015 Day 6

July 25, 2015 Artists

These have been a stunning few days here in Rochester with a dedicated crew of volunteers and artists is coming to it’s culmination as murals are finished or in their final stages. Again last night Onur and Wes21 were heading back to their wall right after the big celebratory dinner at The Yards – or as people call it, “The Nest”.

“This structure was designed to create a space for rest, relaxation, and rejuvenation. It was designed to rest tired minds flying back at the end of the day in the hot sun, on a lift and far from home,” said Yards member Sylvan Hemingway in a speech he gave to the group of 40 or so folks gathered at long tables in the collaborative art space. “The energy in this room is real and I am truly grateful that everyone in this wild family reunion is helping to create a dream-like production.”

Eder Muniz. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This small city in Northwestern New York State is warm and very green and lush in this part of the summer, and neighbors assemble on lawnchairs in the shade of leafy trees to watch the artists going up and down in their cherry pickers or ladders – keeping a respectful distance so they don’t interrupt progress, but sometimes its too irresistible not to ask a question or two or take a picture.

As murals are completed the volunteers help to keep the paint and water supplies replenished and to keep an eye on the situation as many of the painters are here in the States for the first time or are simply not familiar with the environment. Aside from the occasional raving opinionator shaking a finger or asking curiously incomprehensible questions, the average observer is amenable.

Eder Muniz. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Today it is raining and the sky is overcast so there is some sleeping-in late in the morning, but of course if you are still painting, it can be a rather unwelcome occurrence. Let’s see those last horses coming round the final corner to cross the finish line (which officially is Sunday).

Tomorrow we’ll give you a mini-wrap of the week –including our trip into some sketchy underground explorations off the beaten path infused with the sound of water gushing out of pipes and the smell of teen spirit wafting through the dimly tunnels that serve as magnets for restless youth with cans in hand. Have a look at these more sunny scenes from Thursday and Friday in the mean-time.

Eder Muniz hit the ground running in style on Thursday, quickly tracing out the natural/fantastic forms and figures that he later would be adding dimension and character to across a saturated cyan sea wall. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Trading tales and sketches and tags in black books after dinner at The Yards (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Never Crew. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Daze. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Troy Lovegates aka Other from August ’14 when he stopped by to see the Wall Therapy folks. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Matthew Roberts . Joe Guy Allard. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“People of Rochesterrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!” Sung to the tune of “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” by Joe Guy Allard. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vexta acknowledges the people who stop by below with a sign of peace. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vexta. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Local talent Nate Hodge in the zone as he becomes ever-more abstract and gestural working across his wall. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Andreas Englund with reference material in hand. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Andreas Englund’s superheroic figure putting on his boots, or maybe he is shaking a stone out. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Andreas Englund. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For wall locations, schedule of events and further details about Wall Therapy 2015 Rochester click HERE

$Wall\Therapy 2015 Day 3$

Wall\Therapy 2015 Day 3

July 22, 2015 Artists

In Rochester the weather has been warm but workable, as evidenced by the progress that all the artists have been making. You don’t have a long summer in this city of Kodak so we happily have images to share from a dedicated crew of photographers who are catching all the action while the sun is still blasting and slowly baking the artists.

You’ll see that the Jeff Soto and Maxx242 is nearing completion, Daze is already making plans for a production wall with FUA crew around the corner and Andreas Englund has a number of inquiries from local passersby while he’s painting his first mural here. We’re thinking it will be something rather superhuman.

Jeff Soto – Maxx242. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © @MarkDeffPhoto/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

Jeff Soto. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jason Wilder/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

Li-Hill. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Lisa Barker/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

Li-Hill. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jenn Poggi/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

Joe Guy Allard . Matt Roberts. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © @MarkDeffPhoto/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

Vexta. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jason Wilder/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

Onur . Wes21. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © @MarkDeffPhoto/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

Onur . Wes21. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jason Wilder/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

Onur . Wes21. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Lisa Barker/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

NeverCrew. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © @MarkDeffPhoto/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

NeverCrew. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Lisa Barker/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

Andeas Englund. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jenn Poggi/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

Andreas Englund. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jenn Poggi/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

Brittany Williams. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jason Wilder/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

Daze. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jason Wilder/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

Nate Hodge. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jason Wilder/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

Nate Hodge. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo ©Jenn Poggi/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

Nate Hodge. Process shot. Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jenn Poggi/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

For wall locations, schedule of events and further details about Wall Therapy 2015 Rochester click HERE

$Wall\Therapy 2015 Day 2$

Wall\Therapy 2015 Day 2

July 21, 2015 Artists

A lot of great action at Wall\Therapy yesterday with Daze, Jeff Soto, Maxx Gramajo, Onur, Never Crew, Nate Hodge, Vexta, and Andreas making a lot of progress on their murals in Rochester.

“The artists have settled in and everyone is really enjoying the environment and vibe here in Rochester, especially the warm-welcoming from everyone involved. It’s very much about community, about becoming part of our ‘family’,” says organizer Erich Lehman.

We start with this sculptural installation by Li-Hill.

Jeff Soto. Process shot of a collaborative piece he is doing with Maxx Gramajo . Wall Therapy 2015. (photo © Jason Wilder/Courtesy Wall Therapy)

For wall locations, schedule of events and further details about Wall Therapy 2015 Rochester click HERE

$Handiedan Sets a Pinup Tone for Wall\Therapy 2015 in Rochester$

Handiedan Sets a Pinup Tone for Wall\Therapy 2015 in Rochester

July 9, 2015 Artists

Rochester, New York is the home of the Wall\Therapy festival and BSA is partnering with the team and Urban Nation (UN) to bring you coverage of the grass-roots mural festival for 2015. It will begin in a few weeks but the Amsterdam-based Handiedan got into town early due to being in New York for her show with Jonathan Levine Gallery.

Her curvaceous pin-up girls and orientally adorned femme fatales from noir films and rockabilly imaginations intricately layered with patterns and designs from currency – sometimes it is all about getting that paper.

In this case the paper in use is covering the facade of a beautiful brick building dating back to 1890 that was originally a church and later became a machine shop and home to the Rochester Community Players theater group for a half century or so. After a fire a few years back the building has sat vacant for a while. At least, that is what most people from the area can remember.

Here Handiedan’s specially treated custom designed paperwork brings added dimension while stunningly emulating the template shape and color palette. In many ways it is bringing the building back to life – perhaps in anticipation of its new use as another playhouse to open at the end of the summer.

Wall\Therapy 2015 has released its line up of artists curated in collaboration with Yasha Young, director of Urban Nation (UN) Berlin. This years theme of surrealism and the fantastic is off to a rather spectacular start obviously and in addition to bringing you daily updates BSA will be in the house on Friday July 24th for a special live edition of BSA Film Friday at the Memorial Art Gallery at the University of Rochester. We are really looking forward to meeting you in person.

Artists included for this years Wall\Therapy include: Andreas Englund, Onur, Wes21, Never Crew, Vexta, Li Hill, Handiedan, Daze, Jeff Soto, Maxx242, Eder Muniz, Brittany Williams, Matthew Roberts and Joe Guy Allard.

To learn more about Wall Therapy and more details, schedules, program and dates click HERE

Coney Art Walls : 30 Reasons To Go To Coney Island This Summer

June 24, 2015 Artists

The gates are open to the new public/private art project called Coney Art Walls and today you can have a look at all 30 or so of the new pieces by a respectable range of artists spanning four decades and a helluva lot of New York street culture history. We’ve been lucky to see a lot of the action as it happened over the last five weeks and the range is impressive. These are not casual, incidental choices of players lacking serious resumes or street/gallery cred, but the average observer or unknowing critic may not recognize it.

By way of defining terms, none of this is street art. These are murals completed by artists who are street artists, graffiti writers, fine artists, and contemporary artists. In the middle of an amusement park, these are commissioned works that respond in some way to their environment by thirty or so local and international heavy hitters and a few new kids on the block comprising a 40+ year span of expertise.

Open to many strata of the public and fun-seekers who dig Brooklyn’s rich cultural landscape, this outdoor show will surely end up as backgrounds for selfies — while perhaps simultaneously elevating a discourse about the rightful place of graffiti/street art/urban art within the context of contemporary art. Okay, maybe not such loftiness will result, but let’s not rule it out entirely.

It should come as no surprise that it is the dealer, curator, perennially risk-taking showman Jeffrey Deitch who is the ringmaster of this circus, or that the genesis of this cultural adventure is perplexing to some who have greeted his newest vision with perplexity and derision. His Deitch Projects and related activities in the 2000s regularly presented and promoted the street-inspired D.I.Y. cultural landscape, having done his due diligence and recognizing that new life springs from the various youth movements always afoot. The Jeffrey-conceived “Art Parade” itself was a street-based all-inclusive annual panoply of eye candy and absurdity; inflicting humor, sex, gore, fire, glitter and possibility into the minds of Manhattan sidewalk observers.

As MOCA Los Angeles director Deitch also flipped the script with his “Art In The Streets,” organizing a vast survey of a half-century of the modern grassroots genres including graffiti/street art/urban art/tattoo/punk/hip-hop/skater culture that far surpassed anyone’s predictions for audience attendance and public engagement. Aside from tripping wires and a public misstep here and there, the show earned critical praise, pinched art-school noses, and pushed skeptical institutions and patrons to question their prejudices. It also gave voice to a lot of people.

Notably, that MOCA exhibit drew a little over 200,000 attendees in four months. Coney Island beach and boardwalk gets about 14 million annually. Even if the Smorgasbord pop-up village food trucks feed a fraction of that number, there will be more folks viewing art and interacting with it here than, say, the Four Seasons dining rooms, which also display street artists and contemporary artists in the restaurants’ artistic programming. Side by side comparisons of Smorgasbord/Four Seasons diners ethnic diversity, income, age, education level, museum board membership or real estate investments were not available at press time. But neither can be fairly described as exploitative to artists or audience without sounding patronizing.

These multicolored and monochromatic murals illustrate a wide and balanced smorgasborg of their own; examples of myriad styles are at play with some engaging in activism and local politics and Coney Island history. From original train writer Lady Pink to aerosol drone sprayer Katsu, from eL Seed’s lyrical Arabic calligraffiti to Retna’s secret text language to graffitist-now-collagist Greg Lamarche, from Shepard Fairey’s elegant Brooklyn salute to polluters and blasé consumerism to Tatyana Fazlalizadeh’s spotlight on current Coney Island neighbors, from urban naturalist ROA’s monochrome marginalized city animals to How & Nosm’s eye-punching and precise graphic metaphors, you are getting a dizzying example of the deep command Deitch has of this multi-headed contemporary category that is yet to settle on a moniker to call itself.

Coney Art Walls assembles world travelers from NYC and LA and Miami and internationally; Belgium, Barcelona, Brazil, Paris, Tunisia, London. Some are 80s Downtown NYC alumni, others were train writers in the 70s or big crew graff heads and taggers from the decades after. Some are considered historical originators of a form and cross-genre risk takers pushing beyond their comfort zone. Take a close look and you’ll find names that are in major collections (private, institutional, corporate) and that go to auction.

Some are regularly showing in galleries and are invited to street art festivals, exhibited in museums and discussed in academia and print. Others have studio practices spanning three decades, are lecturers, panelists, authors, teachers, community advocates, art stars, reality TV personalities, film actors, product endorsers and art product makers working with global brands. One or two may be considered global brands themselves. A handful have been painting on the streets for 40 years. Monolithic they are not.

One more notable aspect occurred to us as we watched this parade making its peregrination to these summer walls – either because of Deitch or the romance or history of Coney or both; When you are looking at the range of ages and ethnicities and family configurations and listening to the variety of accents and opinions expressed and seeing the friendly but tough-stuff attitudes on display — you might guess you were in Brooklyn. You are.

Our previous weekly updates track the installation period of Coney Art Walls:

Coney Art Walls: First 3 Completed and Summer Begins

DEITCH Masters, Coney Art Walls Part 2 : Coney With a Twist

Eine, Hayuk: A Riot of Color at Coney (Update III)

Coney Art Walls: Gypsies, Stallions, Mermaids, and Pop Optics! Update IV

Coney Art Walls Opens for the Mermaids! Update V

This article is also published on The Huffington Post

Coney Art Walls: First 3 Completed and Summer Begins

May 23, 2015 Artists

Summer Just Got More Fun in NYC as Coney Reinvents Itself Again

You know the scene: Cotton candy, blasting music, bold fonted signs, city beach, sticky fingers, tattoos, carnival barkers, rollercoaster barfing, stolen kisses under the boardwalk, big bellied men with their shirts off, giggling girls in flipflops smelling like coconut sunscreen, garbage on the sand, mermaids, porta potties, stuffed animals, concrete, cigars, hot dogs, butts, boobs, lipstick, screaming, flashing old-timey light bulbs, kids passed out in strollers, boozy Romeos, sketchy snake oil salesmen, aerosol painted walls by New York’s old skool graff writers. That last part is now in effect, actually.

Instead of being hunted down for catching a tag or bubble lettered throw up, a couple dozen graffiti/street art painters are invited to hit up Coney Island this summer and since today is the inaugural Saturday of the first unofficial weekend of summer in New York, we’re bringing you the first three freshly completed pieces. Part of “Coney Art Walls”, the muralists began taking the train out to this seaside paved paradise that is re-inventing itself once again, this time courtesy of art curator Jeffrey Deitch.

This week while the sun was still struggling to get a handle on Summer, we captured the early crew hitting up the temporary two sided walls outside and inside the compound that will share space with food vendors, picnic tables and a stage for music performances. Some brought family while they worked and a few even took a ride on the Cyclone with Martha Cooper just to scream their heads off. The artist lineup is looking stellar, with golden names predominantly associated with New York’s 70s-80s graff heyday sprinkled with a few of the current street art contenders, but you never know what is popping up next, or who. It’s Coney Island after all.

Here are the first three completed murals with the Tats Cru twins How & Nosm leading the pace, followed by Crash and Daze.

This article is also published on The Huffington Post

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DAZE. Reflections on Time Square #2. 2013. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. Electric Boogaloo. 1982. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. Revisitn a Dream. 2004. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. Coney Island Pier Study. 1999. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. Parachute Drop. 1997. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. The Duel. 2012. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. Queensborough Plaza. 2010. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. The Odyssey. 2015. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. The 7 Yard. 2011. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DAZE. Portrait of Daze by Tom Warren and Tagged by Chris “Daze” Ellis. 1983 Chris “DAZE” Ellis: The City Is My Muse. Museum Of The City Of New York. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Case MaClaim (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cern (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cern (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DMOTE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DMOTE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DMOTE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DMOTE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Alexandre Keto (photo © Jaime Rojo)

EGS (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Binho (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Binho (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cekis (photo © Jaime Rojo)

NEVER and Dirty Bandits (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sean9Lugo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LMNOPI (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Zumi (photo © Jaime Rojo)

PORK (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rubin415 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rubin415 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Key Details (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Li Hill (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Li Hill (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Yes Two (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pixote (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kans115 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Daze . Crash (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Erasmo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Top Image: Sipros and a father of surrealism for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter in Paris. (photo © Specter)

Specter in Paris. (photo © Specter)

Specter in Besancon. (photo © Specter)

Read More (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Invader (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Inva…sions are Cost…ly (photo © Jaime Rojo)

City Kitty (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lex56. Noted. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jordan Seiler (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WK Interact (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gilf! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For Dotty & Pearl (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Wing (photo © Jaime Rojo)

bunny M (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dee Dee (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The company you keep… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Labrona and Ket in Montreal. (photo © Labrona)

Labrona and Ket in Montreal. Detail. (photo © Labrona)

Labrona in Montreal. (photo © Labrona)

Mint & Serf (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jaye Moon has a sense of “awe” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Never created this memorial to Peter Caroll AKA Pet Bird, who passed away suddenly in September. We love you Peter…and you too Never. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Balloons. Manhattan, NYC. November 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Daze (photo © Daze)

“The design that I came up with doesn’t deal with peace in a political or military sense, but is more about inner peace,” DAZE tells us. “I wanted to create something that would be offering a kind of inner peace in order to achieve further goals.”

Daze (photo © Daze)

Taking inspiration from the letter forms, patterns, and color palette used in signage and everyday street life, DAZE incorporated a gently held and supported “PAIX” (peace) to the streets as well.

Daze. Selfie. (photo © Daze)

A lot of horse power in the Puissance Devine bus! Daze. Haiti bus. (photo © Daze)

Daze. Market (photo © Daze)

KET (photo © Daze)

Daze . KET (photo © Daze)

Daze (photo © Daze)

Daze. Students (photo © Daze)

Daze. Students group shot. (photo © Daze)

Landscape (photo © Daze)

Daze. CLICK on photo to enlarge. (photo © Daze)

BSA Special Feature: Lilith and Olaf at Nuart ’15 by Ella & Pitr

Come Enjoy the Wonderful World of Dismaland!

Wall Therapy 2015: Eder Muniz