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

Now screening :

1. In Memory: Giulio Vesprini
2. “The Yarn” Trailer.
3. Michael De Feo: Crosstown Traffic

BSA Special Feature: In Memory: Giulio Vesprini

Murals have an entirely different function in the urban environment than Street Art and graffiti, although some folks use the terms interchangeably. One of the time-honored functions of a public mural in many cities has been the “memorial mural,” the one that recalls a person or people or a  significant event that has impacted a neighborhood, even a nation. Because it is artwork mounted publicly, it can be used as a meeting point for people in a community to gather and talk about it, trading stories and impressions and gaining understanding.  At its’ worst, a memorial mural can be superficial or overwrought, moralizing, even stunningly unartful.

Sometimes however, it can provide to a community a sense of pride or history, and it can be empowering. Other times there is a mental, emotional catharsis that takes place with the artwork providing a forum, a safe space to discuss the undiscussible in a public forum or simply to share in a common sense of loss, or experience some sense of healing.

“It’s not mere decoration, but deals with ethics,” says Giulio Vesprini as he paints this mural remembering Camp No.70 Monte Urano, a WWII prison camp a mile or two from the sea and Porto San Georgio, in Italy. “So it has been very important to me that I could give my contribution.”

“The Yarn” Trailer.

“Meet the artists who are redefining the tradition of knit and crochet, bringing yarn out of the house and into the world. Reinventing our relationship with this colorful tradition, YARN weaves together wool graffiti artists, circus performers, and structural designers into a visually-striking look at the women who are making a creative stance while building one of modern art’s hottest trends.”

Also, OLEK is in it!

Michael De Feo: Crosstown Traffic

The Flower Guy has found a way to parlay his decorative style further, coupling advertising imagery with his simple organic abstract shapes and patterns. Here he tells you how he rather stumbled upon this new direction, an approach that looks like it has taken off! Couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.