All posts tagged: Icy & Sot

Happy New Year 2015 – BSA Readers Choice Top 10

January 1, 2015 Artists

Happy New Year to All! Thank you for inspiring us to do our best and to those of you who continue to support our personal art project / cultural examination, we extend our gratitude more than ever.

Begun as an enthusiastic discovery of what was happening in a few neighborhoods in New York, we continued to expand our view into more cities around the world last year and into the history and future of the scene. We also aimed to provide you with a critical platform for examination of the street art/ graffiti / public art/ contemporary art continuum with interviews with artists, curators, collectors, organizers, observers and thinkers in the street, studio, gallery, and museum – trouble makers and taste makers alike.

In the end, it’s your observations and the conversations on the street that are most important. As we begin the year with over 300K fans, friends, and followers on social media platforms and 225 articles on the Huffington Post (thanks HuffPost team!), we feel like we get a valuable good survey of current opinions heading our way daily.

With in-depth interviews, investigative articles, opinion infused examinations, plain celebratory reverie, occasionally silly non-sequitors, and public appearances where we get to meet you, we get a good analytical look at an ever-evolving movement, glittery polish and warts and all.

As the new year begins we take a look back at the top stories chosen by BSA Readers in the last 12 months. Among them are two takeover pop-up shows in soon-to-be demolished buildings, a story about commercial abuse of artist copyrights and the effort to fight back, a street art community’s response to the sudden death of an activist street artist, a Street Art tourist trip, and a few inspirational women, men, and Mexican muralists. Even though we published at least once a day for the last 365 days, these are the most popular pieces, as chosen by you, Dear BSA Reader.

10. Exploring Lisbon as a Street Art Tourist

Os Gemeos / Blu (photo © Stephen Kelley)

9. Kara Walker and Her Sugar Sphinx at the Old Domino Factory

Kara Walker. The artist portrait in profile with her sugary sphinx in the background. (photo via iPhone © Jaime Rojo)

8. Women Rock Wynwood Walls at Miami Art Basel 2013

Fafi (photo © Martha Cooper for Wynwood Walls)

7. A Sudden Secret Street Art House Party in Manhattan

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

6. Niels Shoe Meulman Balancing “Unearthly” Paintings

Niels “Shoe” Meulman. Process shot. (photo © Adele Renault)

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

4. Shok-1 Street Art X-Rays Reveal a Unique Hand at the Can

Shok-1 (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

3. 12 Mexican Street Artists Stray Far from Muralism Tradition In NYC

Sego (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2. Army Of One, Inspiration To Many : Jef Campion

Army Of One AKA JC2 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

1. Graffiti and Street Art Lock Up “21st Precinct” in New York

Pixote in action. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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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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The 2014 BSA Year in Images (VIDEO)

December 17, 2014 Artists

Here it is! Our 2014 wrap up featuring favorite images of the year by Brooklyn Street Art’s Jaime Rojo.

Before our video roundup below here is the Street Art photographer’s favorite of the year: Ask Jaime Rojo, our illustrious editor of photography at BrooklynStreetArt.com , who takes thousands of photographs each year, to respond to a simple question: What was your favorite photo of the year?

For 2014 he has swift response: “The Kara Walker.” Not the art, but the artist posed before her art.

It was an impromptu portrait that he took with his iPhone when the artist unveiled her enormous sculpture at a small gathering of neighborhood locals and former workers of the Domino Sugar Factory, informal enough that Rojo didn’t even have his professional camera with him. Aside from aesthetics for him it was the fact that the artist herself was so approachable and agreed to pose for him briefly, even allowing him to direct her just a bit to get the shot, that made an imprint on his mind and heart.

Of course the sculpture is gone and so is the building that was housing it for that matter – the large-scale public project presented by Creative Time was occupying this space as the last act before its destruction. The artist herself has probably moved on to her next kick-ass project after thousands of people stood in long lines along Kent Avenue in Brooklyn to see her astounding indictment-tribute-bereavement-celebration in a hulking warehouse through May and June.

But the photo remains.

And Rojo feels very lucky to have been able to seize that quintessential New York moment: the artist in silhouette before her own image, her own work, her own outward expression of an inner world.

Jaime’s personal favorite of 2014; The site specific Kara Walker in front of her site specific installation at the Domino Sugar Factory in May of this year in Brooklyn. Artist Kara Walker. (photo via iPhone © Jaime Rojo)

Now, for the Video

And our holiday gift to you for five years running, here is the brand new video of favorite images of graffiti and Street Art by Brooklyn Street Art’s editor of photography, Jaime Rojo.

Of a few thousand these 129 shots fly smoothly by as a visual survey; a cross section of graffiti, street art, and the resurgence of mural art that continues to take hold. As usual, all manner of art-making is on display as you wander your city’s streets. Also as usual, we prefer the autonomous free-range unsolicited, unsanctioned type of Street Art because that’s what got us hooked as artists, and ultimately, it is the only truly uncensored stuff that has a free spirit and can hold a mirror up to us. But you have to hand it to the muralists – whether “permissioned” or outright commissioned, some people are challenging themselves creatively and still taking risks.

Once again these artists gave us impetus to continue doing what we are doing and above all made us love this city even more and the art and the artists who produce it. We hope you dig it too.

Brooklyn Street Art 2014 Images of the Year by Jaime Rojo includes the following artists;

2Face, Aakash Nihalani, Adam Fujita, Adnate, Amanda Marie, Andreco, Anthony Lister, Arnaud Montagard, Art is Trash, Ben Eine, Bikismo, Blek Le Rat, Bly, Cake, Caratoes, Case Maclaim, Chris Stain, Cleon Peterson, Clet, Clint Mario, Col Wallnuts, Conor Harrington, Cost, Crummy Gummy, Dain, Dal East, Damien Mitchell, Damon, Dan Witz, Dasic, Don’t Fret, Dot Dot Dot, Eelco Virus, EKG, El Sol 25, Elbow Toe, Etam Cru, Ewok, Faring Purth, Gilf!, Hama Woods, Hellbent, Hiss, Hitnes, HOTTEA, Icy & Sot, Jana & JS, Jason Coatney, Jef Aerosol, Jilly Ballistic, Joe Iurato, JR, Judith Supine, Kaff Eine, Kashink, Krakenkhan, Kuma, Li Hill, LMNOPI, London Kaye, Mais Menos, Mark Samsonovich, Martha Cooper, Maya Hayuk, Miss Me, Mover, Mr. Prvrt, Mr. Toll, Myth, Nenao, Nick Walker, Olek, Paper Skaters, Patty Smith, Pixel Pancho, Poster Boy, Pyramid Oracle, QRST, Rubin 415, Sampsa, Sean 9 Lugo, Sebs, Sego, Seher One, Sexer, Skewville, SmitheOne, Sober, Sonni, Specter, SpY, Square, Stay Fly, Stik, Stikki Peaches, Stikman, Swil, Swoon, Texas, Tilt, Tracy168, Trashbird, Vexta, Vinz, Willow, Wolfe Works, Wolftits, X-O, Zed1.

Read more about Kara Walker in our posting “Kara Walker And Her Sugar Sphinx At The Old Domino Factory”.

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This article is also published on The Huffington Post

BSA Images Of The Week: 11.23.14

November 23, 2014 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Starting to think about what we are thankful for this week as we approach Thanksgiving. So many of our neighbors here in New York are going to be truly thankful that immigration reform, the first in about 28 years, will begin to protect many families and workers from the threat of arrest and being torn apart. For those doing the math, we are talking about probably hundreds of thousands of our neighbors who are sleeping tonight a little better, even if the economy is still pressing people down. “It’s fair to say that we have never seen anything quite like this before in terms of the scale,” said Peter J. Spiro, a Temple University law professor in a Times piece.

Meanwhile, we’re seeing new artists pop up on the Street Art scene, and witnessing some voices getting stronger. Honestly, with the everchanging feast on the streets, you can never get bored in New York. Actually that is still against the law as far as we know – getting bored in NYC.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring 2 Face, Icy & Sot, JB Rock, Jerk Face, L’Atlas, LUC, Madame Moustache, Nénão, Nerr, Rita MacDonald, Specter, SPQR, Stikman, Trap, Zed1.

Top Image >> Nénão (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Zed1. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Zed1 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot created a memorial/tribute to their friends who fell victims to gun violence a year ago. The Buschwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rita MacDonald for Domino Walls 2014. Detail/Reflection. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rita MacDonald (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter. Ad/phone booth take over. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JB Rock/SPQR stirring up the pot in Sicily, Italy with this image by Shepard Fairey and signature from Banksy. (photo © JB Rock)

JB Rock new work in Sicily, Italy. (photo © JB Rock)

LUC. Talkin’ ’bout nuns. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Speaking of nuns, have you seen this remake of Like a Virgin by Sister Christina in Rome? Indeed!

The French Street Artist Madame Moustache left some of her quirky collage drawings wheatpasted around town. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Madame Moustache (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2 Face. The faux fence was done by an unknown artist. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Trap (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nerr . WUFC Crew (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This piece is a collage made with yarn and shredded fabric depicting a winged creature by an unknown artist. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stikman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

L’Atlas at work on his new mural in Rome, Italy in collaboration with Wunderkammern Gallery for his solo exhibition. (photo © Giorgio Coen Cagli)

L’Atlas at work on his new mural in Rome, Italy in collaboration with Wunderkammern Gallery and his solo exhibition. (photo © Giorgio Coen Cagli)

Jerk Face (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. From the series American Playground. NYC. 2014. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Icy & Sot on a European Street Art Tour

November 12, 2014 Artists

New York’s adopted Street Art brothers Icy & Sot have been spreading their wings in Brooklyn for a couple of years since we first interviewed them upon their arrival in the US from Iran. In that time they have continued to develop their personal style and voice, which is probably strongest when they use their work to address social issues and express opinion. To say that their New York experience has been a roller coaster of good and bad fortune for these two is an understatement, including having a solo show in Manhattan, being part of a supportive art community formed by ex-pats and street artists, and a horrifying shooting in their home that left three friends dead and Sot injured.

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Icy & Sot. Ad take over in Paris, France. 2014 (photo © Icy & Sot)

The intensity of the experience was fed by a media frenzy, and for a few months the brothers were in a surreal state of mind. The music and art community rallied to support them and they continued working and focused on more positive endeavors, like curating a cross cultural dual show between Brooklyn and Tehran in galleries in both cities this summer.

Now for the first time the brothers were free to travel this fall and they wasted no time hopping a plane to Norway for the Nuart Festival in September and continued their trip through Switzerland, France, and Germany to paint and meet friends and (gasp) collectors. Yes, these 20-somethings who work very closely together to conceive of and produce their work have garnered a growing following of fans in a relatively short period of time. While Icy and Sot have no plans to return to Iran in the near future, the brothers were excited to see Europe for the first time and to experience the sometimes pronounced differences in acceptance of street art and graffiti in various cities they visited.

Icy & Sot. Ad take over in Paris, France. 2014 (photo © Icy & Sot)

“It was our first time traveling and painting around Europe and it was a great experience,” says Sot of their various venues which included in-town interventions and a more intricate and contextual piece high in the mountains of Switzerland. They did some normal tourist stuff of course and Icy says, “From painting in a different environments and cultures to meeting artists, people and friends, we just loved it.” Aside from the many free-wheeling installations, including painting, stencil work, and bus shelter takeovers, they still are relishing the huge wall they did about homelessness in Stavanger, Norway they say. “We were so honored to be part of Nuart Festival,” says Sot, “which is our all time favorite festival.”

Icy & Sot. Paris, France. 2014 (photo © Icy & Sot)

Icy & Sot. Tout Scene indoor installation in Stavanger, Norway for NUART 2014. (photo © Icy & Sot)

Icy & Sot. Outdoor installation in Stavanger, Norway for NUART 2014 (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Icy & Sot. Ad takeover in Stavanger, Norway. 2014 (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Icy & Sot. Crans-Montana, Switzerland. 2014 (photo © Icy & Sot)

Icy & Sot. Vitry, France. 2014 (photo © Icy & Sot)

Icy & Sot for Urban Nation’s One Wall Project. Berlin, Germany. 2014. (photo © Icy & Sot)

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NUART 2014 Roundup : Activism, Muralism, Graffiti and Aesthetics

September 10, 2014 Artists

The Norwegian mural festival named Nuart took place last week with a marked tilt toward the conceptual and the interventionist, a direct debate about the relevance of activism amidst a rising tide of sanctioned murals, and Tilt leading us down a path toward traditional graffiti.

Ironically graffiti seemed a rather tame topic for once.

TILT. “Panic Room” Installation at TOU Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Henrik Haven)

“Urban interventionism is about not only making social commentary through artistic expression, but actually intervening in a public and social space in a poetic, unexpected or provocative way,” said architect and organizer Nicola Markhus when speaking to the local Stavangernews. Markhus may have been thinking about the Portuguese artist ±Maismenos±, who constructed a miniature oil tanker platform from found objects and installed it temporarily atop a sculpture honoring canning workers in Lervig Courtyard, by way of contrasting the past with the present.

±MaisMenos± NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Or maybe she was thinking about the Madrid-based SpY, who painted a massive red-lettered “ERROR” on two sides of a brutal block long building in decay down by the waterside, an ironic judgment on the eyesores of unfortunate urban decay. Among the contextual social commentary as well were the oil-dripping sentiments of geologist/artist Andreco, who regaled the façade of a classic Norwegian building with his geometric interpretation of rocks found poking up from the soil, and the three dimensional mural of homeless people by Brooklyn-based Iranian brothers Icy & Sot only three blocks from an outdoor encampment of homeless travelers whom some locals call gypsies.

SpY. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Such is one of the traditions of Street Art: social and political commentary that some call activism because of its advocacy, or at least its stubborn acknowledgement of imperfections in the human condition. This year’s Nuart fosters the spirit and intellectual pursuit associated with academic examination and in doing so again separates itself from the growing number of Street Art festivals who implicitly or explicitly censor the choices of the invited due to commercial or political pressures. Even during the painting this year there were conversations among artists about a high profile festival underway elsewhere that had just dis-invited certain Street Artists because of their “political” work in the past.

John Fekner. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

As if to drive the point home, New York street and multimedia artist John Fekner, who created hundreds of environmental, social, political and conceptual works consisting of stenciled words in NYC beginning in the 1970s that highlighted failed urban planning and public policy, was invited to reprise his classic text based “False Promises” stencil here. The choice of Fekner was perhaps atypical and one that could be overlooked if Nuart founder Martyn Reed didn’t decide to champion the artists work in his mini-retrospective indoors.

And need we mention that his indoor installation space for Saturday’s gallery opening was shared by Fra.Biancoshock’s instantly controversial merging of the nazi flag with the Facebook logo? Moments after we posted an early image of the installation in progress, cheers and condemnation populated our social media feeds – a happy discord that Nuart isn’t traditionally spooked by.

Fra.Biancoshok. Installation at TOU Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

“This is a representation of two different iconic movements; the Nazis and the Facebook age,” says the Milan based Fra.Biancoshock who specializes in street interventions, not Street Art, per se. “I wanted to unite the two concepts in a unique logo as a way of describing two different ways to have control of the masses in two different ages. It is a provocative representation that is meant to say, ‘Imagine if these two things had met in the same period,’ ” he explains of the illuminated wheel of instantly recognizable letter f’s popping from a four alarm red background at the temporary gallery show in “tunnels” at Tou Scene.

“Obviously the story of the Nazis is very dramatic and heavy and Facebook is only social media but for me if it is not used in the right way it could result in some serious damage; in the areas of privacy, in having control (of people). So I wanted to make this interpretation of our contemporary situation of a certain totalitarianism in our communications today.”

DOT DOT DOT. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Comparatively the graffiti writer on display this year is a relative lightweight! Toulous-based Tilt actually created one of the more visually compelling installations (and an instant hit) at the indoor gallery of Tou Scene entitled “Panic Bathroom”, which consists of a tiled men’s restroom evenly split between YMCA and CBGB. The untouched half is pristine and gleaming white while its brother across the line is slaughtered floor to ceiling by pugilistic color, swollen bubbles and drippy tags; all just out of reach of the velvet rope that holds guests back.

±MaisMenos± NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

For the Norwegian born Street Artist named Strøk, Nuart this year is as much about aesthetics and the beauty of the moment as it is the intellectualizing that was on display here during the pub debate and two days of presentations for Nuart PLUS, organized by Eirik Sjåholm Knudsen. He shows us his rendering of figures casting long shadows across the wall on his glossy tablet and he talks about composition, negative space, and the serendipity of catching figures in motion.

Strøk. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

“I like watching people running around and seeing these movements, these frozen moments when they are heading somewhere but you don’t know exactly where – like a moment when time has frozen,” he says. “It’s a snapshot and you just happened to be there.”

Fortunately for many Nuart still knows how to produce a memorable shot of art in the public sphere, and we have some here for you to enjoy.

±MaisMenos± created Norway/No Way as a commentary about joining the European Union. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

±MaisMenos± Detail. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

±MaisMenos± Installation at TOU Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

TILT. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Andreco. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Andreco. Deatil. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Andreco. Detail of his installation at TOU Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Henrik Haven)

SPY. Installation at TOU Scene enabled you to see the “error” part of the word only when the black light revealed it. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Martin Whatson. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Martin Whatson. Installation at TOU Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Martin Whatson completed this new mural at the airport – after being stranded on top of the cherry picker for a few hours the first day because the balance was off. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Strøk’s new mural on the right and a large ground installation on the left by ±MaisMenos±. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Anders Gjennestad)

Levalet was one of many of the artists this year who made direct or indirect reference to the oil industry – the one that powers the economy in this town and much of the country. Installation at TOU Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Levalet. Installation at TOU Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Icy & Sot created this mammoth 3-D installation with wooden cut-out stencils rising above the edge of the the building. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Icy & Sot. Installation at Tou Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Not an official guest this year Hama Woods was one of a number of artists who autonomously brought work to put up during NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Etam Cru. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

M-City. Installation at TOU Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Borondo. Installation at TOU Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Borondo. By scratching paint from the front of the glass and painting diagrams or symbols on the back, Borondo created a full illustration with shadow on the wall when illuminated correctly. Detail of the installation at TOU Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Levalet’s outside installations. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Levalet. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Mathieu Tremblin created an interactive piece that guests could participate in by photographing themselves before a bluescreen wall and sending the image to him. Installation at TOU Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Due to torrential rains Borondo couldn’t complete this wall before we left for NYC. Here is a composite image of the wall in progress. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

BSA would like to extend special thanks to photographers Butterfly and Henrik Haven for sharing their work with BSA readers.

Our sincere thanks to Nuart director Martyn Reed and the entire staff of Nuart and Nuart PLUS, including all of the volunteers and organizers.

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NUART 2014 Begins with “Broken Promises”

ETAM CRU AND NUART 2014 X BSA

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This article is also published in The Huffington Post

NUART 2014 X BSA UPDATE 6

September 8, 2014 Artists

Now back in Nueva York but what a blast! Nuart 2014 and Nuart Plus and Numusic wound down to a screeching halt on Sunday as revelers from the opening at the scene the night before held their heads and spoke in gentle quiet tones while squinting through the misty grey day.

Actually Krystel Talv and her husband seemed surprisingly fresh under orange umbrellas as they led a small army of 200+ people on a tour through the streets to see the new walls, so apparently some people know the meaning of moderation. Also photographers Henrik Haven and Butterfly were pleasingly perched high in the bucket atop an extended cherry picker snapping the new Tilt grenade wall while academic/author Peter Bengtsen was crouched in his rain slicker, camera in hand, before the 3-D Icy & Sot wall.

As punctuation to a full week of murals, Street Art, lectures, movies, panels, pub debates, pizza, art and aerosol fumes, Dotmasters spontaneously brought a fresh stencil out to spray outside the Nuart temporary HQ (see below) bringing a stunning week to a perfect ending. Stay tuned for a Nuart roundup!

Coke adds life! Icy & Sot. Ad Take Over. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Have a Coke and a smile! Icy & Sot. Ad take over. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Icy & Sot)

Icy & Sot working late into the night drilling wood stencil silhouettes of homeless folks into their wall for NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Icy & Sot managed to do a cool workshop with local Stavanger youth on Saturday in addition to their installations at Tou Scene and around town. Here is the result – a group photo of the students transformed into a large stencil. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Borondo at work on his wall. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Henrik Haven)

Strøk at work on his wall. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Henrik Haven)

±MaisMenos± Detail of his installation at Tou Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

TILT working on his installation “Panic Bathroom” Friday night with assistant Vince at Tou Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

TILT at work on his wall. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Henrik Heaven)

TILT up in a bucket while Vince teeters on the ladder. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Henrik Heaven)

TILT at work on his wall. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Butterfly)

TILT caught a couple bubbles while in Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Butterfly)

New York’s John Fekner. Detail of his installation in progress at Tou Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

The French Street Artist Levalet along the main tunnel wall at Tou Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Levalet. Detail of his installation at Tou Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

We caught Dotmasters putting up a stencil in the backyard just before grabbing a taxi to the airport on the last day in Stavanger. Dude had been tirelessly directing all the installation at Tou Scene all week, including the logistics and the stunning lighting. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

David Choe making a sandwich with Swoon from a previous edition of NUART. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

NUART 2014 Begins with “Broken Promises”

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NUART 2014 x BSA Update 5 : Tou Scene Opens Tonight

September 6, 2014 Artists

Beautiful weather here in Stavanger this week – perfect for riding bike all over to find artists walls and check out some hidden spots under bridges and abandoned lots. On a side note, this hotel has a gymnasium so you can keep in shape during your visit – which seems rather superfluous considering right behind the hotel the houses are built on a hill at a 70 degree angle! Just getting around town on this bicycle you will lose 7 pounds in a week. Then the Norwegian beer will add it back on.

Tou Scene, the former beer factory now music and art venue officially opens tonight for the public to hear your favorite electronic music performer like Juan Maclean or Tôg or Hubbabubbaklubb and to of course see the installations by many of the artists invited to Nuart 2014. The morning edition of the Stavanger Aftenblad has arrived and they like the Brooklyn based Street Art brothers Icy and Sot piece for the cover of the Lokal & Kultur section understandably – but you know that the FraBiancoshok Facebook flag piece is going to raise eyebrows across social media with its references to, well, you take a look here below. We are fortunate to have interviewed the artist as he was setting this up so look forward to those comments in a coming post. Okay, gotta run and get ready for Day 2 of Nuart Plus and Icy and Sot teaching local youth how to cut stencils!

Fra.Biancoshock has completed his installation for the opening of Nuart’s Tou Scene tonight. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

SPY. Detail of his installation in progress. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

SPY team pulling the strings. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

SPY. “ERROR” Detail of his installation in progress. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Martin Whatson at work on his wall. A young photographer wants to get close to the action. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Martin Whatson. Detail. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P.

±MaisMenos± cut a stencil out f the NUART Porgram. Contextual Baby. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Strøk begins work on his wall. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Strøk. Sketch of his wall. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Strøk begins work on his wall. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Icy & Sot at work on their wall. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Icy & Sot. Detail of their installation faor Tou Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Borondo works on a piece for his Tou Scene installation. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Borondo sketching ideas for his outdoor wall at the NUART Studio. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Click HERE for NUART 2014 full schedule of events and details.

NUART 2014 Begins with “Broken Promises”

ETAM CRU AND NUART 2014 X BSA

NUART 2014 X BSA UPDATE 3

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NUART 2014 x BSA Update 4 : Andreco, Icy & Sot, Martin Whatson, Tilt

September 4, 2014 Artists

Stavanger is fully in action today with Borondo, Fra.Biancoshok, Mathieu Tremblin, Evan Pricco, Henrik Haven, and others newly arriving and taking their respective places in the Nuart festival. Sophie at Nuart headquarters got BSA a bicycle yesterday and it was easy to discover that all these hills are much more easy to trek!

Creative Director Martyn Reed is eagerly unpacking classic stencils and ephemera from John Fekner to help with the rather retrospective installation he is creating of the artists’ presageous public work for the Tou Scene opening, and Leon from Dotmasters is giving a punchlist tour of work to be done by the lighting and electric crew that will give artists work in the best stage for Saturday.

Very close to finishing their rather elaborate indoor installation, Iran-via-Brooklyn brother duo Icy & Sot have begun to spray their 80 piece hand-cut stencilled piece on a wall outside now that the Kristel Tav has shown them how to use the lift, and in only two days Andreco has clearly changed the city-scape of Stavanger already with his oil-dripping rock placed primely on the ocean-facing exterior of a quintessential example of Norwegian architecture.

Andreco at work on his wall. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

For inspiration, the geologist, artist, and researcher only had to look down and dig through the soil of the city to decide what he would paint. “I found these rocks here in the soil,” he says, “I always look at the rocks where I am and I take reference from the shape and the material.”

The masking tape has been peeled from the intersections of planes in this stylized version of a rock that reminds you of 3-D digital renderings, but the dripping oil he is planning to add will make the connection more down to earth.

With a PhD in environmental engineering, this Street Artist takes the work quite seriously and with a surprisingly light disposition considering the weighty matters he works with. “This piece of work for me is a symbol of the environment and of the earth. Basically I took inspiration from rocks that I found around here and I created a shape to mimic the shape and the architecture of the buildings here. I decided to make the color template range from blues, greens and black. These are the colors of the rocks originally and when they are covered with oil,” he says.

Masking tape that has been peeling tor reveal sharp geometric shapes as Andreco and assistants work on his wall. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Andreco at work on his wall. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Andreco is a geologist and his new work for Nuart 2014 is influenced and inspired directly by rocks he has collected here. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Andreco at work on his wall. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Icy & Sot installation at Tou Scene in progress. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Icy & Sot prepare to tackle their wall outdoors. They came prepared with about 80 hand-cut stencils. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Icy & Sot at work on their wall. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Sot gives us a sneak peek of their compositional sketch that will feature a collection of images of people who are homeless. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Icy & Sot. As we said, they came prepared. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

A new collaboration: Icy & Sot’s lil’ friend walks by a DOT DOT DOT stencil from a previous Nuart edition. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Martin Whatson’s installation in progress at the bottom of a steep street. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Team Tilt busily tiling for his installation at Tou Scene in progress. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Click HERE for NUART 2014 full schedule of events and details.

NUART 2014 Begins with “Broken Promises”

ETAM CRU AND NUART 2014 X BSA

NUART 2014 X BSA UPDATE 3

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NUART 2014 x BSA Update 3

September 3, 2014 Artists

On this third day at NUART we’d like to bring you a bit of the good humored craze that’s happening right now as some of the artists are finding their spots. We also wanted to give a sense of the existing Street Art scene flavor – with individual ad hoc pieces in hidden little spots along with some Nuart pieces still riding from previous years. The neighborhood is a quiet one (at least with New York ears), with cleanly rational homes built on steep angles going up hills of this former town of fishermen famous for their sardines and herring factories.

But you can feel the excitement rippling; Nuart and Numusic are concurrent festivals that bring a certain electricity and anticipatory activation to the streets here as summer turns to fall. Wandering on foot up and down hills with artists to see them preparing walls and having Thai takeout on a green picnic table or watching someone spraying their new stenciled piece in a window at Tou Scene, you will run into folks who have seen this activity before and would like to know the schedule of events.

The posters and banners are hung, the printed programs, postcard, the many stickers are all around town, artists are arriving, paint is allotted, and Kristal is ferrying guests swiftly in her car from one location to the next – offering history of the town, the festival, apple juice, and maybe piece of Norwegian chocolate if you like. Also Martin Whatson got stuck for an hour and a half fully extended up on a lift at the airport yesterday.

±MaisMenos± new word stencil at Tou Scene. Nuart 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

In this new piece ±MaisMenos± employs the double meaning that he typically uses in his communication on the street. A form of activism sometimes, but more accurately he considers it an initiation or continuance of a conversation on the street as well as his acknowledgement of the duality of most situations in life. In his new piece here ±MaisMenos± makes reference to the famous phrase from Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, where one longs for something. He offers hope, and at the same time he wonders about what are the resulting machinations in the act of offering hope – something not tangible

“I like people to have a double feeling about stuff. I do that a lot in my work. When there is a direct message you can always see another point of view. There are always two sides of a coin, another perspective,” says ±MaisMenos±, who will be giving a presentation on his work at the Activism Seminar Day Saturday for Nuart Plus.

Strøk has been invited back t0 Nuart 2014. This is an old piece from last year. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Icy & Sot. Nuart 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Icy & Sot working on their installation for Tou Scene. Nuart 2104. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Andreco working on his wall. Nuart 2104. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Dotmasters did a much larger version of this on a entire building side for a previous edition of Nuart. This one is a tiny hidden version with the bear about the size of a hand-span. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Volunteers leaving Nuart Studio and an old but hugely dramatic Dotmasters stencil from a previous edition of Nuart hangs on the right. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Missed Connections with Lionel Ritchie. Nuart 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Jamie Paul Scanlon, alias JPS. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

A poster advertising an upcoming event and a piece by Ernest Sacharevic from last year’s editon of Nuart. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Posters advertising Reed Projects, NUART and NUMUSIC events are all over this part of town. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

**A wall with a cluster of previous NUART alumni: C215, HUSH, Word To Mother and D*face. NUART 2014.** Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

A Dan Witz piece from a previous Nuart edition. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Artist Unknown. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Artist Hama Wood putting up a fresh stencil at Tou Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Aakash Nihalani from a previous edition of Nuart. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Artist Unknown. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Team Borondo working on the installation for Tou Scene. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

This Is Not @rt. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Artist Unknown. NUART 2014. Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Click HERE for NUART 2014 full schedule of events and details.

NUART 2014 Begins with “Broken Promises”

ETAM CRU AND NUART 2014 X BSA

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Graffiti and Street Art Lock Up “21st Precinct” in New York

August 14, 2014 Artists, Interview

This weekend the NYPD police precinct is hosting a graffiti and street art show, and the public is welcome to see every floor completely swimming in aerosol and plastered in wheat-paste.

Admit it, it is not often you receive an invite like that.

Pesu (center), Pixote (left) and Bill Claps Morse code writing the history of the building on the walls. (right) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“When this precinct was built it was a very bad, very poor neighborhood. When the cops came in there was a lot of brutality and there was a lot of corruption,” says curator Robert Aloia of this building architected for the NYPD in 1863 and closed down fifty years later. A quick search on the web shows a history of thuggery born of Dickens. Records at the time of closure indicated there were 9,500 arrests annually and this tiny slice of Manhattan alone had 37 brothels.

So why not have a graffiti show here before tearing it down, right?.

Brooklyn Street Art: So you literally could hit every wall here and it wouldn’t matter because it is coming down at the end of the month?
Robert Aloia: Yeah the inside walls. The outside walls they don’t want us to touch.

In a twist of events pulled from a satire, one of the artists on display this weekend was arrested this month in Brooklyn and spent the night in jail before seeing a judge. The following day he came to this precinct and hit up some walls with impunity.

“It’s just amazing that these artists can put their time, their money, and their talent into something that is just coming down,” says Aloia while touring us through rooms and stairways during one of the four visits we made for these exclusive first images, “ and it is only going to be seen for a certain amount of time.”

Hellbent has his own room. So does Rambo. Cash4 and Matt Siren are sharing one together, as are Sheryo and the Yok. Elle spent an entire night in hers watching her black wax sculpture melting away with the candles she planted in it. An unconfirmed story says it is a sculpture cast of the elusive Judith Supine.

“She painted it black, melted it and filmed it,” says Aloia.

Brooklyn Street Art: Have you thought of the irony behind the fact that this is a former police precinct and many of the artists would have been running away from this place instead of trying to get into it?
Robert Aloia: That is true, I didn’t think of that aspect of it really, but the gallery area was the actual holding cell.

Brooklyn Street Art: So how did you draw these people together?
Robert Aloia: Every show I’ve done I start with my friends, and then it’s friends of friends, and that’s it. It’s just about one degree of separation.

In the last three years the New York native has curated a number of shows heavily weighted with graffiti artists and Street Artists, primarily on Manhattan’s Lower East Side at bars, event spaces, and venues with downtown history like Fuse, White Box, and La Mama.

A bartender and DJ who has mixed with a lot of New York nightlife and street life without becoming hardened, Aloia and co-curators like Erik Foss and Ricky Powell have been doing sometimes star-studded yet unassuming one-off shows the past few years with Street Art names like Bast, Supine, and Aiko and some of the newer kids like N’DA and Icy & Sot.

“I am from New York and I always knew a lot of graffiti artists, that’s how I ended up getting into it. I was just lucky enough to have access to some venues to do stuff.”

Brooklyn born, Aloia’s been on the LES since the 80s, which explains his devotion to the memory of “outlaw parties” where people would set up an illegal bar and a pumping sound system in improvised celebrations at unsanctioned locations. Outlaw parties and pop-up speakeasies still exist of course, but more often they are in Brooklyn now as Manhattan is shoving artists out by the truckload.

For “21st Precinct” he’s called in nearly 50 artists from as far away as Japan, Australia, California, and nearby New Jersey. The mix of artists is eclectic and sometimes quite powerful like the tribute to SAMO (Basquiat) in the gallery by his co-conspirator Al Diaz, and the dark room built by Swedish photographer Jesper Haynes which features images from the downtown New York in the Reagan era.

“I definitely always have a mix with fine art, photography, installation, but you know I always have old-school graffiti artists and street artists,” he says as he looks over the four floors of thickly gritty splendor by renowned and unknown.

For those lucky enough to see the show in this venue this weekend or next, “21st Precinct” is a quintessential New York minute, a steamy grimy melting pot of authentic attitude that begs to differ and perhaps stick a finger in your chest just before the wrecking ball hits. Thank Aloia while you’re there. Not surprisingly, the new building that replaces this one will be for…..wait for it…. luxury residences.

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OUTLAW ARTS Presents: “The 21st Precinct”
Curated by Robert Aloia & VNA Mag

The show will be in the old 21st Precinct located on 327 East 22nd Street. More information HERE.

Contributing Artists:

Adam Dare, Al Diaz, Amanda Marie, ASVP, Bad Pedestrian, Ben Angotti , Bill Claps, Bishop203, Bunny M., Cash4, Chris RWK, Chris Soria, Coby Kennedy, Curtis Kulig, D. Gaja, Danielle Mastrion, Dasic, Dizmology, Duel, ELLE, Erasmo, Esteban del Valle, Faust, Ghost, GIZ, Hellbent, Hue, Icy & Sot, Iena Cruz, Jesper Haynes, Justin Carty, Ket, Lexi Bella, Li-Hall, Lorenzo Masnah, Matt Siren, Mr. Toll, N. Carlos Jay, Nepo, Nick Tengri, Pesu, Phil, Pixote, RAE, Rambo, Ricardo Cabret, SAE, Savior Elmundo, Shery-o & The Yok, Shiro, Tone Tank, URNY, Vexta, X-O.

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BSA Images Of The Week: 08.03.14

August 3, 2014 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

It’s the Dog Days of Summer and there are a lot of cool cats on the street right now.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Adam Fujita, Be Everything, Che Man, Clint Mario, Dan Witz, E.L.K. Icy & Sot, Ishmael, JR, Kenny Scharf, LMNOPI, Mika, Mike Makatron, Rusebk, Sabio, Solus, Sweet Toof, and You Go Girl!

Top Image >> As the world is watching, Icy & Sot again address the Iraeli/Palestinian crisis on a wall in this uncharacteristically openly political piece for the Bushwick Collective, who typically require artists to stay within content guidelines. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JR’s 2006 “Holy Tryptich” appeared here in Manhattan, originally installed on the separation wall in 2007. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vivache has created “Che Man” and has mounted this message in San Francisco, Oakland, Cambridge, and now Bushwick Brooklyn with this Pak Man inspired solution to world ills. This Bushwick spot was up only two days before it was buffed over in green again, presumably because the message rubbed someone the wrong way. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Clearly the wolves are running unimpeded in the valley of the skyscrapers. Ishmael. The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dog Days – Florence and the Machine

Cool For Cats – Squeeze

BSA Images Of The Week: 07.27.14

July 27, 2014 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Tragedy is grabbing world headlines again and we can’t help but be swayed by it as the downed passenger aircraft in Ukraine smells of a lawless future and the international community seems rather helpless to address it meaningfully. Simultaneously the Israeli / Palestinian crises flares for the seemingly millionth time along with international opinion, a fire now fed with large helpings of social media oxygen, buffeted by various marches in the actual streets around the world and here in NYC.

Our banner today is a relatively new collage/painting currently on view in the Italian Cultural Institute of New York by the Street Artist BR1, who depicts the strife in somewhat cartoonish exaggerated simplicity, flattening the complexity of history with two dimensional caricature. Comments some made when we ran it a couple of weeks ago for the opening of the show (before the current events had begun) made it clear that even art about the conflict seems radioactive.

Our top image this week is an actual street piece from Icy & Sot and it brought more comments on Instagram than most other photos, so strong are people’s reactions to it. As far as the Ukraine/Russia news, we haven’t seen any Street Art about that – except maybe for that Billi Kid caricature of Putin as a cowboy earlier in the year but you couldn’t really say it is directly related.

With this pall of strife filling screens and streets right now its no wonder the one image below of Ewok’s wall full of discontented people was shared so many times on our FB Fan Page this week. “Hey these grumpy faces make me happy,” said one commenter.

So anyway, here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Art is Trash, Atom, BustArt, Cold World, E.L.K., Ewok, False, GG, Gualicho, Icy & Sot, Kuma, Myth, Osch, Otto Schade, Post No Selfie, QRST, Sean9Lugo, Sebs, Sexer, Topaz, UFO907, Unvale, Wing, and Zaria.

Sexer is thinking perhaps you have to hit people over the head with love. At The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gualicho from Buenos Aires likes to merge organic with mechanic, natural with industrial, offering cross sections and diagrams from his imagination. This abstraction of a fish and water is in downtown Warsaw, Poland. (photo © Gualicho)

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