All posts tagged: graffiti

Sweden Starts “No Limit” Mural Festival in Borås

September 17, 2014 Artists

It isn’t just Nuart any more.

Scandinavia is taking their mural festivals seriously thanks to buoyant economies, arts programming support, and a growing global appreciation for art in the streets in general. Included in the list of recent festivals are Denmark’s Galore (Copenhagen) and We Aart (Aalborg) and Sweden’s Artscape (Malmö) as well as the more graffiti-inflected Örebro, Helsinki’s Arabia and of course the one-kilometer long graffiti/Street Art slaughter that accompanies the mammoth music festival Roskilde.

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ECB. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

This month humbly began No Limit in the small city of Borås, Sweden, and artist / curator Shai Dahan hopes to enliven the daily views for this population of 66,000 with his curated collection of international artists from street / graffiti / fine art backgrounds.

An artist and entrepreneur who moved here from New York three and a half years ago, Dahan has been rallying local building owners and government institutions to aid in his idea of mounting a show on walls in the city that emulates the success of such festivals elsewhere.

Isaac Cordal. The small scale installations by the Spanish artist provide a welcome answer to the ever more massive tendencies of wall installations in mural programs. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

“I’ve been on quite a journey and accomplishing this project has been something I have been working on personally for over a year,” he says. With participation and funding from the city of Borås, No Limit this month invited and hosted artists from countries such as The Netherlands, Brasil, France, Italy, Germany, Poland, Spain and Sweden and included artists like Natalia Rak, ETAM Cru, Peeta, ECB, The London Police, Kobra, Ollio, Ekta, Carolina Falkholt, Issac Cordal and one of the earliest Street Art stencilists, Blek le Rat.

Isaac Cordal. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

“And best of all, we had no bad weather. The day Natalia landed (she was the first to arrive) the sun came out, and it stayed out until the very last day,” says Dahan of the festival that he deemed “phenomenal” and included guided tours for over 200 people at a time.

“After everyone left, it began raining, ” he smiles.

For countries that have a so-called “zero tolerance” for illegal art or any kind like Sweden, mural festivals like these effectively circumvent the rigid approval process that typically characterizes public art projects and many make inroads into engaging public space with art in a new way that is emblematic of a vibrant global movement. It may be a tenuous line to walk, but more cities seem willing to embrace this swing of the pendulum with art in the streets.

The Brazillian Street Artist named Kobra created a portrait of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish chemist, engineer, industrialist, and inventor of dynamite. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

Kobra. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

The London Police began stripping because of the hot sun and of course, Jane Fonda. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

The London Police. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

Natalia Rak. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

Natalia Rak. Detail. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

The graffiti writing artist from Venice named Peeta basically killed his wall with a signature three dimensional tag that floats off of the wall. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

Simple. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Simple)

Ollio. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

Carolina Falkholt. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

Ekta. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

Etam Cru. No Limit Borås, Sweden. September 2014. (photo © Anders Kihl)

Click HERE to learn more about No Limit Borås.

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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!

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Beneath The Streets, New York’s Century Old Underground in Photos and Aerosol

September 15, 2014 Artists

New York’s train system carries an estimated five million per day, is a little over a hundred years old, and for most is limited to the ride. Urban explorers, graffiti writers, artists, photographers and homeless people have often found it to be a destination they are drawn into for myriad additional reasons. You will most likely pass through the tunnels of course while encapsulated in a train car perhaps multiple times in a day, but few will ever venture off the end of the platform or through a hole in a fence to explore the hidden world beneath the streets of New York.

“Beneath The Streets” Matthew Litwack and JURNE. Gingko Press, 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

And that is good, says Matthew Litwick, who along with JURNE released Beneath the Streets (Gingko Press) this summer, because along with the thrill of exploring the forbidden tunnels and abandoned stations beneath the feet of millions, a certain deadly threat of the third rail exists as well. During a recent presentation of images and stories from the new hardcover Litwick stressed a number of times the instant electrocution that can result from accidentally touching it, a point underscored by the death this July of graffiti writer Jason Wulf, a titan of the New York scene.

“Beneath The Streets” Matthew Litwack and JURNE. Gingko Press, 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

So with that in mind, your fascination will be either sated or encouraged by the eerily vast and sometimes wondrously lit tunnels in some of these photos as well as the more everyday snapshots culled from many collections that illustrate the book. Punctuated throughout with descriptions that lean toward the educational, you also find personal experiences and viewpoints from well known graffiti writers and explorers about their time underground that helps put scenes in context.

Included among the piles of rotting trash, debris, crash walls, bumpers, taggers, throwies, and REVS diary pages is at least one completely legal installation, the Masstransiscsope by artist Bill Brand in collaboration with Creative Time, a 228 panel display from 1980 visible from passing trains that creates the illusion of an animation.

“Beneath The Streets” Matthew Litwack and JURNE. Gingko Press, 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Steering carefully away from depicting the abandoned stations and hidden spots as simply a bombers wet dream, the authors notably give a solid appreciation to understanding the trains and the system itself, including scholarly passages and photographs about the history of the planning, building, and maintaining of the tunnels and tracks, as well as the conditions that workers endured during its creation.

“Until now, graffiti writers, subway enthusiasts, and transit workers have been some of the only people to take notice of these environments,” say Litwick and Jurne in their forward. “This book intends to provide an up-close and introspective look at a world that a handful … have been able to experience and observe outside of the confines of a speeding train.”

“Beneath The Streets” Matthew Litwack and JURNE. Gingko Press, 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

See examples of the photos in the book by following their INSTAGRAM @beneaththestreetsnyc

It’s All the Rage, Street Artists Filing Lawsuits Left and Right

September 13, 2014 Artists

In what could be charitably described as a sign that Street Art has entered a new phase of cultural acceptance and appropriation, some creators of art in the public sphere are attempting to lay legal claim to the profit-making that they didn’t necessarily sign on to. In just the last few months a handful of artists from New York, Los Angeles, and Buenos Aires have discovered their murals have been used in fashion, music, and cinema to great effect, but sadly, they say, without their knowledge or permission.

Of course this sort of inspiration/appropriation has been going on for years – if you want to meet models on the sidewalk just move to Bushwick, Brooklyn and you’ll probably accidentally end up in a fashion spread yourself. Here is where countless fashion shoots, video shoots, movie scenes all happen continuously and money is exchanging hands to make it happen – just not for the artists. Usually they are essentially unpaid, uncredited backdrop artists for the edgy “street” fantasies of stylists.

The courts ultimately will have to decide the relevance of these recent claims but the topic does raise fascinating questions about public space, intellectual property, copyright, and the reasonable expectations of the artists once their work is set free into the streets. In these cases the artists had permission and encouragement to create their works and perhaps thousands of images of the works are in existence since the work is made public. The concern here is raised once those images are privatized or pass into the purely commercial world of selling product.

More interesting will be to see if these lawsuits will extend in the future to include the unsanctioned, un-permissioned, acts of vandalism that appear on private property as well. Will artists seek protection from a legal system they actively transgressed? Can the pieces of art placed illegally be re-claimed by the artist when the work is found printed on a lycra bodysuit or embossed on a wallet? If so, how will the artist claim ownership?

Here are just three recent examples of lawsuits reportedly being filed by artists laying claim to the benefits of their work.

Maya Hayuk

Street Artist and fine artist Maya Hiyuk is reportedly suing pop star Sara Bareilles, Sony, and Coach for using her Houston Street wall in New York as a back drop to sell their products.

Hayuk on the left, the wall used in a campaign on the right (Screenshot from New York Post, Page Six)

A detail from the Houston street wall by Maya Hayuk (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Revok, Reyes and Steel

MSK crew members Revok, Reyes and Steel have filed a claim saying that designer Roberto Cavalli was a little more than just inspired by their collaborative mural in San Francisco when designing a line for his “Graffiti Girls” collection sold through the website. A quick Google search shows that the line extends to clothing, accessories, sneakers, even a phone case and is sold at stores like Nordstom, Neiman Marcus, and online giant Amazon.

Worse, says the claim, “Sometimes, Cavalli added what appears to be a signature, creating the false impression that Roberto Cavalli himself was the artist.”

An view of the original wall by Revok, Reyes and Steel (image © MSK) and a screenshot of one of the dresses for sale at Cavalli’s website.

See more about this at Mass Appeal.

Jaz, Ever, and Other (aka Troy Lovegates)

Street Artists and muralists Jaz, Ever, and Other are suing for copyright infringement because the newest Terry Gilliam (Twelve Monkeys, Brazil) film The Zero Theorem allegedly featured a mural that looks startlingly similar to one they painted together in Buenos Aires about four years ago.

You can actually still see a number of stills from it it on The Zero Theorem Facebook page right now if you like.

See a pdf of the lawsuit here.

From Other’s Flickr page, the original mural in progress (image © Other)

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BSA Images Of The Week: 08.24.14

August 24, 2014 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Angelina Christina, Azores, City Kitty, Colettivo FX, Damon, EaseOne, Fidel Evora, F.S., Gone Postal, HDL Corporation, JR, Kraken, Love is Telepathic, Mark Samsonovich, Mesa, Never, Pixote, Rubin415, Seher, Smithe, Specter, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Wrdsmth, and X-O.

Top Image >> Smithe, Seher and Kraken new mural for Savage Habbit in Union City, New Jersey. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Smithe, Seher and Kraken new mural for Savage Habbit in Union City, New Jersey. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

X-O (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Smithe for Savage Habbit in Union City, New Jersey. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter for the Walk and Talk Art Festival in Azores, Portugal. August 2014. (photo @ Specter)

Specter and Mesa in Cadiz, Spain. August 2014. (photo @ Specter)

Fidel Evora for the Walk and Talk Art Festival in Azores, Portugal. August 2014. (photo @ Specter)

Specter Ad-Takeover (photo © Jaime Rojo)

WRDSMTH clearly knows his audience. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Damon is caught in a lip-lock. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

City Kitty has the four panel street exhibit for Woodward Project Space. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

HDL Corporation in Detroit. August 2014 (photo © HDL Corporation)

Tatyana Fazlalizadeh clarifying things in case you were not sure. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rubin415. Detail of both ends of his large new mural in Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mark Samsonovich in Jersey City, New Jersey. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Collettivo FX. Portrait of Abidi. Reggio Emilia, Italy. August 2014. (photo © Collettivo FX)

Collettivo FX explains the portrait above:

“In our city of Reggio Emilia in Italy there is a very big factory named Officine Reggiane that is completely abandoned. It was famous in Italy for its metal work production (they made the Orient Express train, the crane used for the Costa Concordia, and then there was the longest occupation of a factory in the history of Italy here).

Now this is a major venue for graffiti and a refuge for homeless people. We began going to the factory more that two years ago and some of the people living there became our friends; in particular a man named Abidi, who we named “the boss of the Officine Reggiane”.

So a few weeks ago Abidi announced to us that he is leaving the factory to go back to Tunisia: he had found a wife! So, we thought about a gift we could give him. We are poor, very poor, we just had the paint, so one night we went in the factory (usually we go during the day) and we painted a big portrait of Abidi in the principal part of the place. It’s a gift for Abidi but also for us and for our memories of the Officine Reggiane.”

Pixote (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gone Postal (photo © Jaime Rojo)

F.S. We are intrigued by this bubble tag. Was the stencil work done by a different artist? Is this the original piece as first installed by the artist? (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JR (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Angelina Christina, EaseOne and Never collaboration for Savage Habbit in Jersey City, New Jersey. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Manhattan, NYC. August 2014. It looks like Spiderman has found a formidable adversary. Last time he saw him battling this monster hanging from wire cables in Williamsburg. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Stovington23 Hi-Jacks the Sofa Store (and a few more)

July 24, 2014 Artists

Ever Get The Feeling You’ve Been Cheated?

Hi-jacking of billboards and signage is part of the grand legacy of Street Art and one that we consider part of the daily conversation on the street. From the Billboard Liberation Front to the Situationists to Jenny Holzer and John Fekner, the simple act of re-framing public/private space and the messages within it began at least forty or fifty years ago, and the critiques continue apace today with various forms of culture jamming and high-minded/low brow hijinks.

Stovington23. Bedford, England. March 2014. (photo © Stovington23)

It’s an ongoing struggle to claim what is called public space, physically as well as what advertisers claim as the real estate of our minds. These artists are thinking first, then hoping to short-circuit, questioning our learned acceptance of commercial ideas and views of the world. Some say that this activist form is successful only if it raises questions and awareness. If it falls short of those goals, it may be interpreted as a prank, a cryptic insider joke, or form of poetic conceptual art evoking feelings of ennui.

Stovington23. Feltham, England. April 2014. (photo © Stovington23)

The Street Art collective Stovington23 from the UK engages the spirit of détournement by employing the simplest of forms, the stencil letter, in some of the most banal pseudo public spaces like shopping centers. In black and white photos that they provide here it appears that they add a well placed rejoinder or slogan very near the names and slogans that greet you as you enter the store, or see from the highway as you drive by.

“We want to take advertising techniques – the crafted slogan, the well-chosen billboard spot – and turn them against the admen’s corporate paymasters,” they tell BSA when describing the motivations for this conception. As always, work like this is open to interpretation, and we would love to be in the parking lot with a sound recorder interviewing people about their impressions upon first seeing things like, “One Day This Will be a Bombsite,” or an earlier installment of the Johnny Rotten quote “Ever Get The Feeling You’ve Been Cheated?”

Stovington23. Leeds, England. March 2014. (photo © Stovington23)

Stovington23. Romford, England. April 2014. (photo © Stovington23)

Stovington23. Staines, England. May 2014. (photo © Stovington23)

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BSA Images Of The Week: 07.20.14

July 20, 2014 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring 907 Crew, Ainac, Aero, Afrodoti Galazios, Blanco, Bleeps, Cash4, Daek, Dasic, Elbow-Toe, Fecks, Icy & Sot, IDT Crew, Mike Makatron, Miss 17, Mr. Penfold, Overunder, Seth, Sheryo, Smells, Sonni, Sweet Toof, The Yok, Tripel, UFO 907, Wolftits, and You Go Girl!.

Top Image >> IDT Crew. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

IDT Crew. IDT is a Chinese Crew. It reads on the background “5ive” to celebrate their 5th anniversary piece. Miss 17 on top was a later addition. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

You Go Girl (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sweet Toof. Smells. Cash4. UFO907. Please help ID the rest of the tags. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mike Makatron with an assistant at work on his recent mural in Williamsburg. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mike Makatron (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Elbow Toe. The stencils below are by Ainac and Tripel. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot (we think) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bleeps new piece in Athens, Greece. (photo © Afroditi Galazios)

Blanco new piece in Saratoga Springs, NY. (photo © Blanco)

Blanco. Detail from the piece above. (photo © Blanco)

The Yok, Sheryo, Daek and Fecks for Zoetic Walls in Cleveland, Ohio. (photo © Pawn Works)

DAEK for Pawn Works/NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sheryo with Sonni on the background for Pawn Works/NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sonni for Pawn Works/NY. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. Penfold for Pawn Works/NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aero for Pawn Works/NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dasic (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Wolftits is even more Art Brut than ever. 907 Crew. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rarf! Seth in Baton Rouge for The Museum Of Public Art. (photo © Overunder)

Untitled. Gowanus Canal. NYC. July 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“MURAL” Roundup, Montreal Arts Festival Keeps The Quality for Year 2

June 19, 2014 Artists

Montreal has shown up again on our radar this summer because of the second annual MURAL festival, a large gathering of art fans, performances and live painting. The quality of the work is high and appropriately placed center stage, and the caliber of the event draws a good cross section of modern public art fans who are there to see the art and meet the artists rather than rush past it on the way to the next music performance, beer tent, or drug deal.

Kashink. Mural Festival 2014. Montreal, Canada. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

A majority of the 20+ artists made their mark initially by doing graffiti/street art, about a third of them are Canadian, and all of them were stunted by heavy rains the first two days of the four-day event. By the weekend the sun had cleared the way for block parties, DJs, live painting, tours, and commercial vending along the Saint-Laurent and the golden age of murals was in full effect once again.

Bryan Beyung. Mural Festival 2014. Montreal, Canada. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Impossible to place into one stylistic category, many of the massive pieces this year are singular portraits, or at least figurative, appealing on the whole, and with a handful of abstract and surreal tableaus. Transgressive themes, as in many street festivals around the world, are almost disappeared or nearly imperceptible — an irony of sorts considering the rebellious street culture that many of these artists evolved from. Ultimately, it is the quality of the endowment that gives it staying power and many of these new pieces will endure into the future in Montreal.

Seth. Mural Festival 2014. Montreal, Canada. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Artists for the MURAL festival include:

123 Klan, Bezt from the Etam Cru, Zilon, Alex Scaner, Inti, Vilx, Cyrcle, Zema, Alex Diaz, Seth, Fred Caron, 2501, Zoltan, Kashink, Kevin Ledo, Bryan Beyung, Miss Me, Stikki Peaches, Mathieu Connery, Alex Produkt, and Le Diamantaire.

Rone. Mural Festival 2014. Montreal, Canada. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

RR & DB. Mural Festival 2014. Montreal, Canada. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

INTI. Mural Festival 2014. Montreal, Canada. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Cyrcle. Mural Festival 2014. Montreal, Canada. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Zoltan. Mural Festival 2014. Montreal, Canada. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Bizt/Etam Cru. Mural Festival 2014. Montreal, Canada. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Vilx. Mural Festival 2014. Montreal, Canada. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Fred Caron. Mural Festival 2014. Montreal, Canada. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Zilon. Mural Festival 2014. Montreal, Canada. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Zema. Mural Festival 2014. Montreal, Canada. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

Kevin Ledo. Mural Festival 2014. Montreal, Canada. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

2501. Mural Festival 2014. Montreal, Canada. (photo © Daniel Esteban Rojas)

MURAL Montreal Festival: Day 1 and 2

Mural Montreal Festival: Day 3

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Touring the Other Side of Town, A Taste of Asheville Graffiti

May 24, 2014 Artists

When you first pull into a new town you have to trust your personal barometer; a series of individual metrics you have devised over time with which to measure its personality and state of mind.

For example, you may see how good the grilled cheese and tomato is at the diner, inquire whether there is an organized bowling league, ask if there are any dive bars with jukeboxes. Also is there an Olive Garden, can you buy fireworks, do children wear helmets when riding bikes, do tween girls wear Uggs, how many confederate flags are in the windows, what is the overall ratio of skaters to jocks, choppers to fixies, lawnmowers to yard furniture, tacos to fish-n-chips, tracksuits to chinos, tattoos to sports bras, pigtails to pigs?

It’s a personal formula, a mix of criterion that helps you to measure the world, and if we could be so bold, would help somebody else measure you.

Nekst and Gus Isrich’s portrait. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Our featured photographer today is known for checking out things like home made and semi-professional signage that announces important stuff in front of the VFW, Bob’s Big Boy, the car wash, and Latoya’s House of Hair.

Of special interest are those illuminated roadside box signs with the easy-slide letters that are always falling off – like the ones preaching hellfire out front of The First Baptist Church of Baconbit. Clever upcoming sermon titles aside, if the church is offering marriage counseling on Thursdays at 6:30 or concealed weapons classes every second Monday at 7 pm or the Men’s Pancake Breakfast coming up on Saturday, Geoff feels like he’s getting some very important information to parse together about a community.

Naturally, he also likes to sample the local graffiti. And that is why we are here today, dearly beloved.

Cash4, Avoid, Valet and Rezu (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

When Hargadon told us he was heading to Moogfest in Asheville, North Carolina a few weeks ago he also surmised he might check out its graff spots. Organic and locally grown, this aerosol outcrops on certain spots around town, especially the abandoned warehouses and back alleys in the River Arts District. Geoff loaded up his camera card and came back with a treasure trove. Not only that, he found local graffiti expert Mr. Zen Sutherland, who himself is a gold mine on the subject of aerosol and who helped ID the creators of these fine graffiti images.

Our sincere thanks to both for this great taste of Asheville. Burp.

Nomad offers this petulant ascertainment on a post (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Dogman (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

This area is known locally as Trackside Gallery. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Valet, Stuk, Ahgen, Trek, Unknown. Also a car that might have a pack of Salem 100s in the glove compartment. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Berth. In the foreground and installation by a sculptor who studied at the University of Blairwitch (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Ahgen, Uret, Dogman (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

TFL Crew, Gus Isrich and helpful handle and hashtag. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Fisho, Amanda Wong, Sicr, Sjay (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Uret, Valet, Relek (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Firey Hell and damnation with Berth, GTB, Gyser, Gus Isrich, Wins. In the background the original burning monk by Dustin Spagnola. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Gus, Tribute to Hal, Valet, Fowl, Ahgen, Houla. On the background Dustin Spagnola’s tiger. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Fowl (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Uret (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Eaws (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Still Life with Chairs and Graff. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Marze, Fowl, Ruin (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Kagn, Valet, Tribute to a fallen artist. Building 10 (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Connie, Valet, Aside, Dogman (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

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Graffiti and Street Art Show Some True Colors in NYC

May 17, 2014 Artists

“This really made my day honestly,” says Cope2, the Bronx bomber as he finishes his new rainbow striped iconic bubble letters in the Boogie Down. It’s a sunny, warm perfect Saturday in New York, and he writes on his phone as he puts it up excitedly on his Instagram, “It’s international day against homophobia this ones for my GLBT brothers and sisters!!”

Cope2 in the Bronx in front of his brand new rainbow striped tag. “Love is all we need”. May 17, 2014

He instinctively knows he’s bracing for some negative comment on his feed – this is New York after all and this is a guy some people in the graffiti scene call a “King” with a 30+ year history on the street as well as an established gallery career. And yes, there is a scattered disapproval and disbelief among the majority positive responses. “Why, Cope, why?!”, asks one, and “Fuck tolerance shit,” responds another. Earlier in the day someone had written “that SHIT gay as fuck boy,” and another “Fuck fagz bun a batty man” – but these voices were more or less drowned out by shows of support and thanks throughout the day.

“So clean and freshh”, “Beautiful,” “Memeo contigo”, “Great stuff bro,” “LOOOOOVEE!!!” and “maybe the haters will shut the fcuk up now. Way to take the high road.”

That last comment was probably a reference to the firestorm that erupted as he took on the big Houston Street Wall this past week and his own past use of homophobic slurs and insults on social media called into question his attitudes toward folks, and the meaning of his choice for this iconic Manhattan location that has hosted many big names including the openly gay Keith Haring . The discussions were hot and a genuine volley eventually took it in the wrong direction for all parties before finally public apologies were made and some people have granted forgiveness. But bruises still exist, and Cope wants to do his part to at least build some bridges.

On a day like today Cope is on top of it and for all his GLBT friends and fans he says he wants to make clear his position on gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender folks once and for all. “Love is all we need!!”…and we’re probably just going to go ahead and agree on that one.

A screenshot of Cope2’s Instagram page shows a number of the things that have been on his agenda lately.

But why bring it up to begin with, some would ask. Isn’t this sort of beyond the point of aerosol and bubble tags and graffiti and art? One of Cope2s Instagram commenters says, “cuz we don’t ignore shit that is wrong.” Truth is, there are a lot of folks victimized every day everywhere, and like a guy with a conscience Cope2 knows he has a voice on the street where it can matter.

“Given his stature in the graffiti community I think it sends an important message,” says Luna Park, the well respected photographer and documentarian of the graffiti and street art scene, particularly over the last decade. Park says that when a revered graff writer and artist takes a position on any issue like this, it has an impact on the peers and kids who idolize them.

“It is a signal. And from my perspective it is welcomed. I don’t think you can underestimate the importance of sending signals like that. And if you look at the feedback he has already received in social media – there is an immediate positive impact. He has an enormous platform and a lot of people look up to him and regardless whether you personally like his work or not, the fact is that it is important how he uses his platform.”

Street Artist Olek created this public performance installation directly in front of the Houston Street Wall today to mark International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (#IDAHOT).

“So many kids are looking up to him,” says Street Artist Olek, known for her crochet street installations that have taken her around Europe and the US, covering the Wall Street Bull sculpture and even landed her in the Smithsonian. The Polish born Brooklynite wanted to do her own installation today by the Houston Street wall to show support of a community she feels close to, so she staged her crochet camouflaged models in front of it with rainbow crocheted cans in hand.

Street Artist Olek created this public performance installation next the Houston Street Wall today. The words read “Respect The Rainbow.com” – referring to a webpage she created for it also. (#IMAHOT).

“This is subject that I want to stand by,” she says by way of reclaiming some of the negativity that has been associated with the Houston Street wall that was once actually covered by one of the first openly gay artists painting in the street back in the 80s and 90s. “I want to be part of it and to make a statement and encourage positive vibes.”

Throughout the day there has been a lively banter about these new developments on the street and on social media and in private offline conversations. Most think that a page has been turned, at least a little one, and that some bridges recently burned may yet be built.

Street Artist Gilf! reposted her 2010 piece online called “Empower Equality”, saying “Today is International Day against Homophobia and Transphobia. It’s time to celebrate love, instead of honoring hate. We live in a world that exponentiates your energy.”

Cope2 tells us he has his eye on generating some positive energy in the graffiti and Street Art scene and with his new piece he’s telling us “Love is all we need!!”. We’re down with that.

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Abandoned Graffiti-Covered New Jersey : NSFW

March 12, 2014 Artists

With New York’s hallowed graffiti hotspot 5 Pointz buffed and freshly hit up with GILF! and BAMN’s yellow gentrification tape installation, we’ve been thinking about the disappearing quantity of ratty real estate in the Go-Go 20-teens.

Not only does the cycle of industry abandonment–artists discovery–developer revival now occur so quickly for some neighborhoods when it comes to gentrification, it seems like sometimes the bong smoke doesn’t even have time to clear before the wrecking ball swings, the latte quotient doubles, and a woman in a sports bra runs you over with a stroller.

So today we’re heading to Jersey!

Numskull (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Yes, the Garden state has become a punch line lately – what with the unfolding scandals around the George Washington Bridge and the once-hopeful-now-doubtful presidential governor. So the bridge is closed, you got a problem with that?

But you know what? Jersey has some of the best graffiti-covered abandoned and neglected real estate west of the Hudson River and unlike NYC, which likes to knock down perfectly good buildings long before their expiration date, Jersey knows how to let them decay. These buildings have a patina, have character, and can even feel haunted and full of adventure to your average urban explorer.

Numskull (photo © Jaime Rojo)

We know Street Art and graffiti is ephemeral, transitory, a moment in time. Here is one of those moments; somewhere between the 20th century industrial world and the hoisting of new I-beams toward a fabulous glass and steel future – we find the aerosol tags, pieces, fill-ins, bubble letters, and characters whose bended boobs spell out your name.

In this interstice of time between abandonment and development these artists will entertain, confuse, disgust and possibly entreat you to wander further along. These galleries are not advertised and you should be careful since safe building codes don’t apply here and a falling block could clock you, but the admission price is right and gentrification is still up the street a distance. Hurry, before the artists move in and start squatting.

Numskull (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lush (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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This article is also published on The Huffington Post

Hot Tea Brings Back Dondi on the Trains, If Only For a Minute (VIDEO)

December 2, 2013 Artists, Interview

Conceptual Piece Lifts a Toast to “The Style Master General”

“Every time a subway passes through the station, it is as if Dondi’s work is back on the trains,” Hot Tea says as he describes his new work of yarn. The renowned New York graffiti artist was immortalized straddling between two trains in a photo by Martha Cooper while painting outside the law and inside the train yards during the late 1970s and early 80s. Today Dondi White is still looked to as a pacesetter and open-minded innovator for new generations even 15 years after his passing.

“Dondi was lovingly referred to as ‘The Style Master General,’ as it was commonly accepted that he was the artist who set the standards for graffiti art in his time,” said noted graffiti artist ZEPHYR in his eulogy of his close friend in 1998. “He crafted letters that were both acrobatic and aerodynamic in nature and committed them to metal with remarkable precision.”

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Today style masters in Street Art endeavor to set standards as well, and one of them is the Minneapolis born Hot Tea, a former graffiti artist who stopped hitting walls and is now an installation artist who defines dimensions and planes and calls attention to use of space with yarn. Closer to Fred Sandback than Dondi perhaps, Hot Tea departs from the formers’ minimalism but embraces the kaleidoscopic color choices of the latter. One of the Street Artists you need to watch, Hot Tea has impressed many quietly with his ingenious ability to redraw planes in our everyday existence using a simple medium in a non-destructive way – it is a sophisticated definition of working in context that creates a new context in the process. Handmade, personal, and often letter based, this is typography that typifies today’s D.I.Y. while nodding to the writers of New York’s storied streetstyle – it’s a narrative thread that travels decades backward and brings it to the present.

His new project isn’t even mounted on the street, but in his mind Hot Tea is bringing back one of his heroes by evoking his name and splashing his letters, and paying tribute here on the digital street. On a recent fall afternoon he used yarn, aerosol paint, and the side of a 1950s baby crib to put Dondi back on MTA trains at least for a minute. If you were there shooting you may have gotten a glimpse of what Henry Chalfant saw when catching one of his famous train photographs.

With two of today’s ardent graffiti/Street Art photographers, Luna Park and Jaime Rojo, in tow, the circle seemed complete as Hot Tea hoisted Dondi into the air and laid his tag onto trains passing overhead against a bright blue sky. As the conceptual piece travelled the afternoon from one Brooklyn elevated station to another, Hot Tea helped us imagine Dondi alive again on the J line into Bed Stuy. Now in that zone and seeing the hulking steel trains rumbling by, hearing their ear piercing screams as they roll the rusted curves of the tracks, the wonder of being in the yards may flash through your imagination. Hot Tea is there with you, seeing past the obvious to try and see much more.

Brooklyn Street Art: You were a graffiti writer for over a decade – can you tell people why Dondi White became such an important figure in the imagination of this generation?

Hot Tea: I think it has a lot to do with all of the iconic images of Dondi painting “Children of the Grave”. For those who weren’t part of the subway movement, those images gave it a kind of glamour. It seems a lot of graffiti writers imagined themselves in his shoes. I know I did. Painting whole cars on the NYC transit system was such a mystery until those photos came out and the light it shed was exciting and contagious. After subway trains became nearly impossible to paint all we could do was paint the streets. When that happened, it’s as if those photos and moments in the subway yard became even more special.

Brooklyn Street Art: When we speak with train writers from the 70s and 80s and the people who followed them, there is a nostalgia for that time because they lived it. When we talk to writers and Street Artists today, many of whom were born after those halcyon aerosol days, there is a nostalgia for what they imagine it must have been like to try to go ‘all-city’, to hit up train yards, to practice and develop in a city with a burgeoning hip-hop and punk scene. How would you describe your nostalgia for those times, if you have any.

Hot Tea: Being that I no longer practice writing graffiti, I do have a nostalgia of painting. When I first started out, I admired writers from all over. It was 1996 and the Internet was slowly coming to form so my main outlet for graffiti was magazines, books, and videos. My vision of NYC graffiti through viewing those sources was magical. I imagined the subway trains as I saw them in Subway Art, with graffiti on the outside and in. After realizing the NYC subway trains were now clean, it made me want to re-create that same energy and color on what was accessible to me – which were freight trains.

My main influences from the freight train movement were NACE, CRISPO, SIEN5, SLEJ, REFA & ASIA, DRONE, and lots of other west coast freight writers. Seeing all of those 90s freights rolling by allowed me to experience art like I have never before. The concept of rolling graffiti art and having it travel all nation was exciting. I can still remember painting our layup on a warm summer Sunday afternoon. My friends and I painting and enjoying each others company; I truly miss it.

Brooklyn Street Art: Can you describe this sense of camaraderie that artists on the street today have sometimes for the graffiti writers and early Street Artists who came before them?

Hot Tea: It’s interesting because there is an unwritten rule of ethics, mostly between graffiti writers about respecting the writers who have put in work before them. I think a lot of this stems from the nostalgia that was mentioned earlier. Many of us weren’t able to experience what it was like to paint in NYC during the 1970s and 80s. If there are any remaining artworks from that era that is all we have to remember, along with any documentation. Many of us try to preserve that history by going around it or not painting that wall or spot all together. As for street art… the thing is, graffiti started before the Internet. All we had were a few sources to go by on what was taking place on the subways and in the street.

Street Art started when the Internet was becoming a growing source, which means that it formed on a global scale. People from all over the world started doing street art influenced by many different things and not just hip hop and break dancing. In my opinion, I think this lead to a much different atmosphere in which street artists exist in. Since there were so many people doing it globally and for different reasons the camaraderie that we see with graffiti artists and writers that came before them doesn’t always exist in the street art world. Not to say that it doesn’t exist at all within street art, I just don’t think it’s as relevant as in the graffiti culture.

Brooklyn Street Art: This new project is really unusual – we’ve never seen something like it before – that a graffiti artist is lionized by a street artist using yarn, and in a conceptual way that is perhaps more performance than paint. Did the idea appear you while you were staring at trains, or maybe in a dream?

Hot Tea: I like to build upon what I have already done and this just felt like the natural step I had to take. I have worked with empty spaces and the architecture that exists within a given area before. Now I wanted to work with what was moving within a space. My initial thought for this concept was the New York City subway system. Being that I wasn’t able to experience graffiti on the subways, I wanted to re-create that with the medium I am using now, which is yarn. It was very exciting to finally have come up with a way to create that experience people had in the 80s of seeing whole DONDI cars roll into the station. Sometimes it does feel like a dream, but one that came true.

Brooklyn Street Art: Having documented and followed the birth and evolution of the current Street Art movement since the turn of the 2000s, we’ve always seen the intersection between the D.I.Y. practices of young artist neighborhoods and those on the street. In a way, yarn is a perfect tool for expression on the street today because it reflects the hand-made arts and ethos of back-to-basics in the arts – and the act of reaching back to a non-digital life. Do you think you were influenced by this D.I.Y. approach?

Hot Tea: Totally. I love what artists prior to me have accomplished all just by a few simple gestures with everyday materials. If you have a good idea and a lot of determination anything is possible.

Brooklyn Street Art: Does your work get grouped together with the work of Olek and Knitta Please and other who have used yarn on the street? Is it a fair or relevant comparison? Does it matter to you?

Hot Tea: It does. I am glad you asked this. What I am doing is NOT “yarn bombing”. The term yarn bombing is derived from the term graffiti bombing, meaning quick acts of painting or painting the streets illegally. “Yarn Bombers” do not face the same consequences graffiti writers face and I don’t think it is fair for people using yarn to share the term with people who are facing hard jail time. As far as being grouped with other artists who use yarn – that is something I would like to leave open for discussion. I just don’t agree with the term “yarn bombing”.

Brooklyn Street Art: You carry a photo of your grandmother with you wherever you go. Lee Quinones is known for tributes to his mom and has spoken about her influence when he painted New York trains in the 70s. What role does this family connection play in inspiring your work on the street?

Hot Tea: The reason I use yarn is because I didn’t want to end up in jail again. My family has seen me in there twice and both times were extremely painful. They have directly impacted my decision to switch from using spray paint to yarn and practicing non-destructive street art. I carry my grandmothers photo whereever I go because whenever we would visit her she would love to hear my stories about traveling. Now that she has passed away, she is with me where ever I travel experiencing it with me as I do.

Brooklyn Street Art: Did your grandmother make you hot tea on cold winter days?

Hot Tea: No she did not, but she did make me tamales on cold winter days. She was always so worried about me eating. Every time I would visit, the first thing she did was go to the kitchen and start cooking. She didn’t even ask, she just approached me with a large plate of mole, tamales and rice. I didn’t have much of a choice but to eat. I miss her.

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Hot Tea: “Children Of The Grave”, Shot and Edited by Patrick Sullivan

“As an ex-graffiti writer of 12+ years there is no denying the influence of 80’s NYC subway graffiti had on me. I still remember the first time watching Style Wars and how much of an impact it had on me and my work. Dondi’s work stood out to me amongst them all. The way he spoke about his work, the colors and the style in which he wrote his letters were very inspiring. I no longer practice writing graffiti and have taken on yarn as my new medium of choice. I wanted to create a piece about one of my biggest influences non-destructively. The result was a performance piece with Dondi’s “Children of the Grave” series split up into small rectangles. Each rectangle was built up using individual strands of yarn in a grey color scheme to mimic the color of the subway. I then took Dondi’s iconic subway whole cars and created stencils of them. I broke up the stencil into sections and created what you see. Every time a subway passes through the station, it is as if Dondi’s work is back on the trains, just like they were back in the 80’s. Rest peacefully Donald. You are missed by so many. April 7, 1961 — October 2, 1998″ Hot Tea

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REVOK AND POSE and the Transformation of The Houston Wall

July 3, 2013 Artists, Interview

It took 80 hours and 7 humid sticky days and nights to complete, longer than it took God to make Heaven and Earth, according to scriptures. But the powerful transformation of the famed Houston Street Wall that took place last week had as profound an effect on many New York fans of Street Art and Graffiti as the melting of the North and South poles. And that was probably intentional.

The resulting flash flooding of emotions and summer storms washed over LA’s Revok and Chicago’s Pose as they joined each other with other MSK brothers to create a feast of popping color, styles, texture, tribute, and pure character – each climbing and gripping tightly to one another on a 90 degree diagonal grid that pushed it all together in one riotous composition.

Ultimately, the visually cacophonic mural, born amidst endless honking, screeching, sirens and a parade of curious passersby who pummeled the painters with a fusillade of questions and requests, is a joyous compilation for many, a perplexing mix of influences for others. With layers of tributes to fallen graffiti writers, shout-outs to friends and family, and heartfelt thanks to the host city that sparked a global graffiti scene decades earlier (including this very spot), the visiting thirty something graffiti brothers couldn’t quite quantify the depth of feeling they were experiencing as they slowly smashed a big wall in the heart of Manhattan.

For New York fans of a wall made famous by a long list of Street Artists including Haring, Scharf, Fairey, Faile, and others, most on the street hadn’t heard the names of these new guys but, like true New Yorkers, welcomed them nonetheless, usually emphatically. If there were worries about a strict adherence to rules of graffiti culture or whether the work borrows some conventions from pop, advertising, graphic design, or even Street Art, not many appeared to care about those distinctions. If anything, this wall is the apt expression of today’s’ blurred lines, where a throwie, a Lichtenstein, a sharply abstract pattern, and a hungry gorilla salivating over a police cruiser can all coexist harmoniously.

In fact it appears that Revok and Pose are metaphorically and technically casting aside once and for all the artificial divisions on the streets when it comes to styles and methods. Whether its the joint gallery shows, collaborative outdoor art festivals, or institutional venues like the sweeping “Art in the Streets” exhibit at MoCA a couple of years ago, it looks like graffiti and Street Art have been put into a room and encouraged to work out their differences. Now of course they’re copying off each others exam paper in the back row of class, but at least they’re not fighting so much. Okay, true, that announcement is still premature, but you can see the horizon ahead. Naturally in a city like New York that often typifies global diversity and routinely gives wide latitude for freedom of expression, the creative spirit as expressed with such technical skill and this kind of whole-hearted passion is invariably afforded a welcome. At least for a minute.

But that didn’t mean that Pose wasn’t feeling the pressure of doing this wall well, a pressure level that he estimated at ten times more than he would feel on a typical wall, even though both guys have been graff writers for more than two decades. “We’ve all painted a million walls. This is something that is sort of a landmark and for our culture it means a lot,” he said of the involvement of contemporary graffiti artists right here, right now. “The history is very daunting because you want to honor it, you want to pay tribute, but you also want to push the boundaries by really doing your best. It’s a really insane kind of platform.”

For Revok, the LA based writer who also is spending a lot of time in Detroit these days, the opportunity brings him back to a holy place he revered growing up, and he’s not going to miss it or take it for granted. Speaking about the profound impact that New York’s’ subway artists of the 1970s and 1980s had on the imaginations of countless youth in cities around the world, Revok envisions a booming audio tower emanating concentric circles in waves traveling to all who would hear.

“I imagine it as this kind of ring that just exploded and a ripple was sent out everywhere as far as it could go – and I’m one of those receivers, I’m one of those people who felt that,” he says as he describes weaving references into the mural by including names like Dondi and Iz The Wiz and even the letter “T” from the Beat Street movie poster. “You know all of those names in there – not all of them, but a lot of them – they were New Yorkers, they were a part of that movement at that time, they were people that created this world, this idea, this language that I’ve connected to and that is so dear and important and powerful to me. And now they’re not here, they are gone.”

“But what they created and what they gave to the world will live on forever. And coming here to New York, it’s a culmination – this wall right here, there is a tremendous amount of history right here, everybody that’s done it is important in their own right. For us to be fortunate enough to be given the opportunity to do this as outsiders I feel there is a responsibility to acknowledge the people and the culture that created me and my friends and now as it is coming back home, I’m paying tribute to New York graffiti, I’m paying tribute just to the general movement as a whole,” says Revok.

Of the many references are three call outs to their recently and painfully departed MSK brother Nekst, who a handful of crew members had joined together to eulogize on smaller walls in Brooklyn the previous weekend. Among the other names included are Ayer, Vizie, Cheech Wizard, Omenz, Sace, Case 2, Semz, Tie One, Rammellzee, and “All You See is Crime in the City” – a phrase associated with a famous train car work by Skeme from the 1980s documentary “Style Wars”. The guys even did shout outs to their kids.

Aside from the art category labels and the odes to community, both Revok and Pose are doubled up on this wall because of their common regard for sampling – that is, the combining of a variety of disparate elements and re-contextualizing them. As a basis for their fine art show that just opened at Jonathan Levine Gallery while they were in the city, the two have found that they both have a fairly active studio practice that they can collaborate on also.

Both say they sample from their environment, but how they go about it is unique to each. “I sample from all the years of being on the street and climbing around. After a while you start really having an appreciation for the environment,” Revok says as he describes his affinity for textures, details, and the underlying history of the built environment.

For Pose, it may be more of an atmospheric and emotional sampling where he takes “everything from everywhere. There are no rules. It’s like “Oh that sign is gold with a white outline and that is really impressive, like that is fucking beautiful – so I should do my name that way because I’ll catch as much attention as that sign does. It’s really those rudimentary kinds of things that I feel validated by and that are where I go with my art, it’s just that basic. That’s what was powerful for me – just taking from things around you and using them to express yourself, to create a dialogue, to create a narrative.”

Revok and Pose invited Rime as a guest artists, shown here at work. Houston/Bowery Wall. June 2013, NYC. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

A closer examination of how some of the more commercial elements in the mural were achieved by Pose shows how he used a cut and paste process in the re-purposing of old signage. Drawing from a stash of “pounce patterns” that were given to him by a buddy while he was a professional sign painter in Chicago for a decade, Pose says his method of choice is pretty randomized, and he is sometimes as surprised as anyone about what he’ll pull out. “I’ve got all these old pieces of signage rolls from this guy – these are already a slice of history. My wife hates it; my whole garage is filled with his old pounce and all this stuff. And we started bringing them to walls – almost like rolling the dice and finding this kind of completely unforeseen elements to the wall.”

With all these plans and all these cans, the guys made sure that this transformation was a collaborative effort and they had some solid support help from other MSK members, the occasional volunteer, and the well known RIME, who Revok reflexively calls, “The best graffiti writer in the world.”

As each guy reflects on the team, the same topic of the importance of collaboration arises – a sort of progressive vision where crew members alternately work as assistants on each others projects. “We’re all really close and we play a significant role in one another’s lives and what we paint – it’s really natural for us to collaborate. I think that one of our strengths is how we feed off one another and how we motivate, influence and learn from one another. In the actual act of painting often times we work together with one kind of common goal,” explains Revok.

“We will all work together and it is all kind of a community effort to make things happen. It’s much more fun that way. I’ve been painting graffiti for 23 years now. After a certain point, just like going and painting your name all the time – it gets redundant, it gets boring. You know, you want to have fun, you want to experiment, you want to do different things. My friends and I over the last 10 years or so have really had a lot of fun experimenting and painting on a collaborative level, which is probably not that common for traditional graffiti guys. It’s a lot of fun.”

Pose agrees that collaboration was crucial in creating the new piece on the Houston Street Wall, and for him the goals were pretty clear from the beginning. “All I care about is reaching people,” he says earnestly at 4 a.m. on the fourth consecutive overnight session while sanitation trucks gather garbage from the curb. “I believe in the power of art, especially artwork that is on the street,” says the more philosophical of the duo.

“What I care about is the therapy, the unexplainable, and the powerful, and everybody in my crew, and everybody on this wall will say – ‘Graffiti saved my life’. It’s so cliché but it’s profound and it’s true. Because it is something that is really universal and it crosses so many socio-economic divides and racial divides.”

Pose pauses a beat, “Guess what, the rest of the world would be a lot better fucking place if people caught on that we are all connected.”

The talented crew. From left to right Pose with his assistant Mike, Revok with his assistant Travis. Props to Travis and Mike for unflinchingly supporting the artists. Houston/Bowery Wall. June 2013, NYC. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

You can check out the Revok and Pose transformation for free all summer in NYC at the corner of Houston and Bowery.

Special thanks to Travis and Mike, Meghan Coleman, Martha Cooper, Jonathan Levine, Alix Frey, Maléna Seldin, Roger Gastman, and all the great New Yorkers we met on the streets last week.

Check out the REVOK and POSE exhibition “Uphill Both Ways” at the Jonathan Levine Gallery.

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This posting also appears on The Huffington Post

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