There is a lot of activity on the street right now, and despite the rain in Florida and the upcoming Heat Dome we’re promised here in the Northeast, the graffiti and Street Art never stop. Here, we mix some pieces from Belfast with Brooklyn. See if you can tell regional differences in style.
Here is our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Veng RWK, Praxia VGZ, Below Key, Fanakapan, Christina Angelina, Reme821, BK Ackler, WRDSMTH, KVLR, Staylo, CHAZ, Visual Graficalia, NEVOC, Voyder, REGOR, AMC, ESTEME, and Rob Hilken.
How’s your summer been so far? Many people say that Memorial Day unofficially begins Summer, so this week was the first one. Indeed! Baseball, soccer, and kickball are in the park, and movies or cocktails are on the roof. Lifeguards are on the beach, and kids are throwing up on the Cyclone at Coney Island or throwing frisbees on Central Park grass. The air in some neighborhoods smells like lilac bushes, urine, french fries, marijuana, or aerosol paint. Or all of it at once. When it all swirls around you, it is a heady mix. Cute girls in short shorts and cute boys on skateboards may not fall in love given these circumstances, but they might!
This week, 45 was found guilty on 34 counts in court. We New Yorkers, who have known him for years, are unsurprised.
Here is our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Specter, Alice Pasquini, Degrupo, Optimo NYC, Enzo, Nite Owl, Miki Mu, NYC Kush Co., Klonism, Max Grax, Friz, KMG, Agent Decay, Jare, SYE5, Benny Cruz.
The first time artist Specter painted this memorial for Yusuf Hawkins in Brooklyn was in 2011. He’s restored it and added more to the environment of the mural, two times since then. This is the second restoration that he did in the past few weeks.
And welcome to Belfast, Northern Ireland, where history and modernity converge in its mural narratives and lively streets, telling stories of resilience, an evolving culture, and a pensive optimism. As street art observers, our journey through Belfast’s neighborhoods has been eye-opening. The murals here are not just art; they reflect the city’s tumultuous past, vibrant present, and hopeful future. Belfast’s predominantly Victorian architecture is a testament to the city’s industrious heritage, particularly its shipbuilding legacy linked to the RMS Titanic. Still, some of the kids are rocking new attitudes, and a sizeable multi-disciplinary artist community is making new spaces for exploration.
The punk movement, which provided a rebellious soundtrack during the Troubles, has left a lasting mark on the city’s sonic legacy. Today, local musicians, DJs, and electronic artists draw inspiration from traditional instrumentation and this era of lucid experimentation, performing live in clubs and bars. There is an unmistakable convivial, welcoming atmosphere in Belfast’s pubs and a raucous laughter that shakes your ribs in many a cluster of revelers out for the night. We also noticed a gentle generosity – from its bakeries and cheesemongers to checkout clerks and museum provosts and park bench poets.
For an old shipbuilding city wracked by civil strife, this feels like a young city, eager to move forward while honoring the sacrifices made during the Troubles. Some of the murals here encapsulate perhaps a different spirit, blending poignant tributes, more muted political statements, and a willful optimism amidst the general confusion that is now plaguing most of the Western world.
So here’s this week’s interview with the street, featuring ROA, Conor Harrington, BustArt, MTO, Asbestos, Dan Kitchener, Kitsune Jolene, Aches, Evoke, KFIVEMFU, Studio Giftig, and Annatomix.
The “Hit the North” street art festival in Belfast is possibly Ireland’s largest street art event, established in 2013 by Seedhead Arts and the Community Arts Partnership.
This is our Part II compilation of works completed from the 2024 edition, an annual festival directed by Adam Turkington, who invites over 60 local and international artists to transform the city’s walls and create an urban gallery. The event features a live painting, workshops, and a fair amount of beer and culminates in a “paint jam” on Kent Street.
BSA was proud to be invited to Belfast to witness this grassroots organization at work, producing opportunities and fostering a genuine community spirit. The DJ, food trucks, and picnic tables in the streets create a festive atmosphere enjoyed by both artists and spectators. With open hearts and a wide variety of styles that engage an impressive range of art fans on the street, “Hit the North” is a vital creative force for Belfast and Northern Irish culture.
Dalal Mitwally is a multidisciplinary artist based in Amman, Jordan, and Rotterdam, Netherlands. Her work focuses on the interaction between art and public space, often addressing themes related to community and social issues.
RAZER is a graffiti artist from Derry City, Ireland, and has been active since 2006. As a member of the Choke On It (C.O.I) crew and Altered Mindz Crew (A.M.C), his works are found not only on the streets of Ireland but also in locations across Europe, the United States, and elsewhere. RAZER’s art emphasizes themes of unity, self-expression, and the transformative power of graffiti.
You’ve seen this guy many times in New York, so we felt like we were back home, even though we were on his turf for the first time. Solus is a prominent Dublin-based street artist. Using spray paint as his primary medium, he paints walls and canvases and creates sculptures across Europe, America, and Asia.
Shona Hardie is an artist from Edinburgh, Scotland, specializing in painting, illustration, murals, and spray paint. Her style combines acrylics and spray paint, focusing on portraiture and community themes, and she also works with pyrography and sculpture. Influenced by the Scottish festival scene and collaborations with businesses like The Scotch Malt Whisky Society and Innis & Gunn, her work often features dynamic and colorful compositions.
Danni Simpson is an Australian artist based in Belfast, Ireland, who specializes in commercial murals and illustrations. She is well known locally for her vibrant murals throughout Belfast and has worked extensively with school groups and communities.
Neequaye Dreph Dsane, known as Dreph, is a London-based visual artist renowned for his large-scale portrait murals and perhaps less known for the early graffiti roots that led him here. Born in Nottingham to Ghanaian parents, Dreph’s work celebrates the everyday heroes and heroines from African and Caribbean communities, highlighting their contributions to society. His “You Are Enough” series is well known on the streets of East London, featuring portraits of inspirational women. Dreph’s murals are characterized by their strong sense of community engagement, aiming to present narratives through his powerful visual storytelling.
Somewhere between Ireland and London, Qwynto brandishes his pop culture illustration style that brings character and gentle wit to large commercial projects, and small personal ones as well.
Sarah, the creator and illustrator behind Sweat, Tears and the Sea, is inspired by personal experiences and stories of resilience and connection with nature. Her illustrative style is full of positive affirmations that remind her of what is important.
Kilian, a graffiti artist based in Belfast, began his journey in 2009. Initially focused on traditional graffiti lettering for about a decade, he has since expanded his repertoire to include a variety of subjects. A version of this piece is also currently on Belfast’s Peace Wall.
Looks nice doesn’t it? Noys is a graffiti artist originally from Derrycity, and is renowned for his vibrant and dynamic works that blend traditional graffiti elements with modern artistic techniques. Active since 2009, Noys has developed a unique style and is dedicated to pushing the boundaries of street art and muralism.
Malarko is a street artist originally from Southeast London, known for his playful murals that are heavily influenced by low-brow art and early skate consumer culture. Malarko’s artistic practice extends to ceramics, where he creates pieces that merge popular culture with found objects, giving his work a unique and outspoken character.
Leo Boyd is a Belfast-based street artist and screen printer known for his playful and experimental approach to art. Born in Hastings and educated in Bristol, Boyd moved to Ireland where he has been involved in various artistic endeavors, including residencies and exhibitions locally and internationally. Portraying scenarios from day-glo pop culture to surveillance capitalism and the absurdities of modern life, Boyd is a founding member of Vault Artist Studios and contributes significantly to the Belfast art scene.
“Drum & Bass” – David J. McMillan is a Northern Irish illustrator and mural artist based in Bristol, England. His work is characterized by bold shapes, strong colors, and playful compositions featuring eccentric characters. McMillan draws inspiration from cities like Belfast and Berlin, incorporating quick, sketchbook-like mark-making into his pieces.
The war on our minds continues apace, advertising and propaganda selling shampoo and wars and sowing confusion at such a rate that increasingly, we are willingly forgoing critical thought – willing to be triggered.
Asbestos has seen this as well and suggests that it’s all too much. Here in Belfast for Hit The North Festival, his new masked figure the human pantoscopic, the master of surveilling, seeing all.
He is calling this new mural, “Let Me Unsee”.
“It feels like the world is bashing more and more through my eyes, filling me with more and more and more,” he tells us. “It’s all consuming, screen after screen, scroll after scroll, ad after ad, another painting, banana jelly, cat memes, peppermint fondant paint, the texture of her hair, conversations, work, war, conflict, love, lust, art, friends. Everything is new, bigger, brighter, better, faster, smoother, sexier.”
His commentary on this glut is engaging, and so are these new eye-popping visuals, virtually guaranteeing his new mural a place alongside the stream of cat memes and banana jelly that are flooding feeds.
“It’s impossible to not be enraptured by it all, but it’s bloody exhausting,” he says. “I feel I need to unsee, to switch off a few of my eyes, and to try to process fewer things. I’m overstimulated, which I love, but sometimes I just need a break.”
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
