Certain sectors of Mexican society have a women problem. More accurately, they have a lack-of-reverence-and-respect-for-women problem.
Ongoing violence against women has pushed many in civil society to fight back in an organized fashion across classes, ages, trades, professions, religious and academic spheres. With marches, protests, street art, and speeches millions of Mexican women from all sectors of life and demographics have been coming out to the streets to let their leaders know that they are fed up.
“Ni una más” is the slogan most often used; “Not one more”.
In March protests in more than 20 states across the country women called for an end to gender-based violence. The Mexican newspaper Milenio reported extensively on protests in Mexico City and included news about marches in cities large and small; Mexico City, Guadalajara, Monterrey, Tijuana, León and Puebla – all saw marches, as did numerous smaller cities including Morelia, San Luis Potosí, Saltillo, Cancún, Mérida, Oaxaca, Guanajuato, Los Cabos, Veracruz, Zacatecas, Hermosillo, Tlaxcala and Chilpancingo.
Several women’s rights organizations have accused President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador of not making the problem a top priority in his administration. Even worse, some assert that he has callously blamed the problem on the victims themselves, adding to a general perception in the country that the president really doesn’t care. According to the Guardian, ten women are killed every day in Mexico.
This week in the historic district of San Luis Potosi we saw more references to this topic than any other in the street art and graffiti on walls. The technique and format of creation varies, but the messages are empowering and they illustrate a determination and resilience of people who are advocating for change.
Slogans are stenciled on fencing, wheat-pasted graphics are stuck to door ways. Here in La Calzada de Guadalupe, a green and vibrant park that tourists flock to, a statue paying tribute to woman’s rights is adorned with fresh flowers and information about the Femenicidios (or Femicides) that terrorize people lays at its feet.
Every few blocks you can see a poster seeking missing young women taped to light posts. In a city that has such a strong reverence for history and the sacrosanct place of women in its evolution, it is striking to see such issues so fervently discussed in the art on the street.
Intergenerational conflict ebbs and flows through history – and right now, along with so many other points of societal contention, it appears to be flowing.
In a matter of a decade, for example, the term “Baby Boomer” has transformed from something to be admired to the shortened term “Ok Boomer”. Coined by their own progeny – it is meant as a dismissive, even contemptuous disregard of the generation born after WWII. Sort of ironic, given the rebellious young hippies that the Boomers once were, to see them openly derided by Millenials.
And the youth… ahh, the youth. They’ve been bothersome for years – or centuries, to be exact. 4th Century B.C.E. carries a quote from rhetoric by Aristotle about those darn kids:
“[Young people] are high-minded because they have not yet been humbled by life, nor have they experienced the force of circumstances. … They think they know everything, and are always quite sure about it.”
Bifido. Everything changes but you’re always the same shit. Sicily, Italy. (photo courtesy of the artist)
While we aren’t sure what the backstory is of this new photo-pasted mural by the Italian street artist Bifido, one may surmise the screaming old and young subjects have reached a tipping point in the high-intensity arguments that occur between generations. Added to this fight is that the one the young artist tells us surrounded it’s installation here in Sicily, Italy.
“This piece is the fruit of many days of work. Work often hindered both by the hosting community and by the very people who commissioned it. It was a process made up of arguments, silences and distances difficult to bridge. During my stay, many times I changed my mind about what I was going to do and I finally decided to honor some teenagers I met there, without whom I couldn’t have done anything. Those teenagers come up every single day against a narrow-minded and short-sighted mindset which they stubbornly try to change.”
Bifido. Everything changes but you’re always the same shit. Sicily, Italy. (photo courtesy of the artist)
It sounds like it was a very intense experience, and yet we all know the fervor the artist speaks of. Diplomats also council that the only way forward is usually some form of compromise.
“So, no compromises,” says Bifido of his experience. The name of the work also indicates the rancor that can lead us to wars – again it rings through the centuries; “everything changes but you’re always the same shit”
Bifido. Everything changes but you’re always the same shit. Sicily, Italy. (photo courtesy of the artist)Bifido. Everything changes but you’re always the same shit. Sicily, Italy. (photo courtesy of the artist)Bifido. Everything changes but you’re always the same shit. Sicily, Italy. (photo courtesy of the artist)
The sheer number of organic and community walls in Berlin means that you are exposed to a great variety of styles and opinions and perspectives through art daily on the street. There is a sense of pride about this as well – and we’re pleased to see free speech here while privately held social platforms are growing tumors of censorship. Long live the contradictory opinions that challenge our minds and our assumptions.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: 1UP, Dave the Chimp, Lacuna, Anne Bengard, Murad Subay, Caro Pepe, Sam Crew, Dafne Tree, Little Ms. Fierce, Emily Strange, Anne Baerlin, Kiexmiezn030, Cippolini187, Artmos 4, Juliana Zamoit, Paris, Urteil, and Mate X.
As the weather turns warmer, activities on the streets become more fevered, energetic, free.
Graffiti writers burst out of the doors to their apartments and houses with backpacks filled with markers and cans, looking for opportunities to express themselves, to claim space, to be seen. Last week in Spain, a crew of the most actively known writers in Catalonia got together for a graffiti jam on the embankments of the Rio Congost a few miles from Barcelona. BSA contributor and photographer Lluis Olive took a day trip to the area to document and share the results of the jam with our readers.
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.
Now screening: 1. George Booth life at The New Yorker 2. DOES X JORIT team up for a large mural in Napels, Italy. 3. PichiAvo in Linz. Timelapse video.
BSA Special Feature: George Booth life at The New Yorker
Directed by Nathan Fitch, the iconic artist George Booth looks back on fifty years of work for The New Yorker.
Drawing Life: George Booth
DOES X JORIT team up for a large mural in Napels, Italy.
You may still be wondering what Post-Graffiti is, since the term has appeared as early as the 1980s and yet, graffiti persevered decades afterward and is just as vital today as it ever has been. Perhaps we’re being too literal.
The Speerstra Gallery says in their new press release that “Seven’s characters have taken over the walls of Paris. Accompanied by a text calling out to passers-by, Seven’s figures are the voice of the oppressed whose lives have been turned upside down by horror, whether they are from Africa, Syria, Ukraine or elsewhere.”
Seven. “Borders”. Speerstra Gallery. Paris, France. (photo courtesy of the gallery)
At times illustrative, figurative, you can see forms congregating, laying down in a group, rising from the group. The scenes bring to mind those chased by war, now reduced to a number, simplified to a logo of human. It reflects these people as much as our desensitized approach to others in need. To address the complexity of the masses, Seven appears to be stripping away to the most elemental, looking to evoke a storyline with his characters. With “Borders”, he is on his way.
Seven. “Borders”. Speerstra Gallery. Paris, France. (photo courtesy of the gallery)Seven. “Borders”. Speerstra Gallery. Paris, France. (photo courtesy of the gallery)Seven. “Borders”. Speerstra Gallery. Paris, France. (photo courtesy of the gallery)Seven. “Borders”. Speerstra Gallery. Paris, France. (photo courtesy of the gallery)
Exhibition and artists reception: Saturday 14 MAY at 2:00 pm
SPEERSTRA GALLERY / PARIS / FRANCE 24 rue Saint Claude 75003 Paris
Street artist Pejac is raising funds for NGOs that provide services to war-torn populations, with a new auction of his latest print entitled So Far, So Close.
Senseless loss comes from war, and artists again rise to the occasion to aid those who are hurt by it.
The artist says that 100% of the proceeds will be given to the NGOs Voices of Children, which focused on helping children who have suffered as a result of military operations to recover psychologically and psychosocially, and Acted, a French NGO that works to provide basic necessities to the population as well as helping in evacuation and crisis management training.
Pejac. So Far, So Close. Charity Auction For Ukraine. (photo courtesy of the artist)
The auction starts today, tomorrow the 12th of May at 16:00 hrs (CET) and will run until the 26th of May at 16:00 hrs (CET). It will be held by the Tate Ward auction house together with the online art platform Artsy. To take part online you can use the following link. Potential buyers will need to register for an account with Artsy on their website.
Pejac. So Far, So Close. Detail. Charity Auction For Ukraine. (photo courtesy of the artist)Pejac. So Far, So Close. Detail. Charity Auction For Ukraine. (photo courtesy of the artist)
SPECIFICATIONS
So Far, So Close – Artist’s Proof Print 110 x 80 cm (43.3 x 31.5 inch) Single-coloured hand-pulled photopolymer on hand-coloured monotype Okawara paper on Velin d’Arches cotton paper 300 gsm Hand-finished by the artist by use of acrylic paint and pencil Signed and numbered by the artist A certificate of authenticity will be issued six months after the purchase Packed and delivered in a custom-made wooden crate featuring a laser-engraved image of one scene of the artwork.
Pejac. So Far, So Close. Postcard Lottery ticket. Charity Auction For Ukraine. (photo courtesy of the artist)
The artist invites anyone who’d like to spread awareness of the fundraising to do so through his Instagram profile @Pejac_art. To say thank you for the help and support there will be a giveaway of 5 hand-painted, signed postcards from the SFSC collection.
So Far, So Close – Postcard Lottery Ticket 21 x 14.8 cm (8.27 x 5.83 inch) High-quality digital print in colour Finesse Premium Silk 350 gsm paper mounted on 2.25 mm grey cardboard Hand-finished by the artist by use of acrylic paint Signed by the artist
Enigm. New Surrealism. BSMT Space. London, UK. (photo courtesy of BSMT)
We’ve been seeing an uptick – perhaps you have too – in the surrealist inspired works on the street over the past couple of years. In fact it has heightened our interest so much recently that we will soon be looking at originals by Leonora Carrington to reacquaint ourselves with a master of the 20th century movement and to perhaps divine what is coming during globally turbulent times. For this reason it is not a surprise to see these street/studio artists opening a new show next week in the gallery/street that will be endeavoring to stare through the surrealist lens in London as well.
Enigm. New Surrealism. BSMT Space. London, UK. (photo courtesy of BSMT)
Given our poor choices in leaders, our unresponsive institutions, our heaving movements in society and science, and the march of the war industry directly toward what may already be the beginning of WWIII, it is appropriate to consider the role that surrealism played the last time we were slip-sliding toward Hell.
Here in London, the gallery BSMT Space presents what they are calling a New Surrealism with a selection of four new horseriders of the apocalypse: Ed Hicks, Enigm, Perspicere, and Ronch. Grandchildren of the original surrealism movement, they have the distinct honor of living beyond it. Now at the dawn of artificial intelligence, drones, and realistic robots, perhaps it is time to paint surreally, really.
Ed Hicks. New Surrealism. BSMT Space. London, UK. (photo courtesy of BSMT)
Siting Andre Bretons pronouncements in the ‘20s about dreams and realities, this quartet “aims to explore this famous cultural movement through the lens of a new wave of artists whose dream-like scenes and illogical or bizarre imagery collectively explore the workings of the mind,” in these ‘20s. Here their unfamiliar landscapes are welcomed and complex – and familiar.
“From the automatic drawings and paintings of Stefano Ronchi and Enigm which attempt to unlock ideas and images from their unconscious minds to the dream worlds of Ed Hicks or hidden psychological tensions of Perspicere, this exhibition attempts to engage with this new reality through the veil of the Surrealist movement.”
With the foundation’s Dr. Hans-Michael Brey doing the intro, with YAP’s Sam Walter in the audience along with our show catalog contributor Christian Omodeo, and us in the front row – it was a great way to end our “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures” exhibition at Urban Nation by looking forward at library plans while surrounded by the best team ever.
On our last Friday night in Berlin, we celebrated inside the exhibition with a live panel discussion featuring the evenings host Nika Kramer, and her guests Martha Cooper and the German graff writer and abstract painting powerhouse MadC. During a far-ranging discussion before a two-room audience in the museum and a live audience online, the three spoke about the graffiti/street art/mural scene from personal and professional perspectives – and how often the street has intersected with contemporary art in the gallery setting over the last decades.
The occasion was an inaugural MCL Talk that officially begins another component of programming related to the research library that we’ve been working on here, now open, called the Martha Cooper Library at Urban Nation. We will aim to make it the premier research library of graffiti, street art, and related urban art: the first place you think of when you need to begin your investigation into this remarkable global democratic people’s art movement.
There was a lively discussion of MadC’s evolution from being an artistically inclined child to one who would develop a signature style as she traveled worldwide to paint increasingly complex and massive walls. Creative challenges and cultural roadblocks were discussed and hard-earned philosophies were described; giving an opportunity for greater appreciation for the routes these people took to participate in, to put their mark on, the graffiti/street art environment. Ms. Kramer skillfully steered to parallels in the pioneering photography and documentary career of Martha Cooper. In the open and inclusive way that Cooper’s career has always been, many questions from the audience were welcomed, considered and addressed as well.
After the talk ended and people mingled and chatted with one another, we took one more quick walk through the museum to admire the wealth of materials and deep dives into history guests could learn about Ms. Cooper. We hovered above the table, looking from the 2nd floor walkway down to the lobby where the three women signed the exhibition catalog and MadC’s new hardcover for patient fans. Finally we left the museum and hung out on the sidewalk in the spring night air with new friends and old and many fans of the night’s special guests at UN.
Thank you again Berlin.
MC Library Presents Martha Cooper, MadC & Nika Kramer. From Street to Canvas. Urban Nation Museum Berlin. (photo still from the video)
Constant rain for days, but the street art is blooming, baby! As are the riotous news waves about the Supreme Court, abortion laws, the efficacy of the vaccine, the ridiculous/tone deaf Met Ball, the new electric bikes just released by Citi, a rise in anti-semitism in New York, the legalization of weed, the 60 Collective 3 show in Dumbo, Swoon’s new “Sanctuary” Project, Elon Musk buying Twitter, a virtual unknown winning the Kentucky Derby, and Meghan McCain selling only 244 copies of her new book. Who is she again?
Nevermind, we’re back on the streets where we belong, tracking the exciting new directions it is taking us.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: Jason Naylor, INSA, Sticker Maul, Stikman, Degrupo, Diva Dogla, Mike Raz, Corn Queen, Jorit, Eric John Eigner, Smet Sky Art, Bad Boi, O. Grey, Steven Paul Judd, Katie Merz, and Delphinoto.
Originating or traveling from places like Romania, Greece, Essen (Germany), Sweden, Poland, Turkey, France, Finland, Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic, and the United Kingdom, nearly every artist has the immigrant experience in one way or another here at the Fresh A.I.R. Residency at Urban Nation.
The current theme for this sixth edition of the residency, “Reflecting Migration,” naturally strikes a chord in each – but that is where the similarities stop in this widely varied and complex examination of the immigrant experience.
On a recent visit to the current exhibition on the second floor of a well-illuminated historical Berlinian building on Bulowstrasse inSchöneberg, the works and installations in separate galleries reflect the span of interests and disciplines. Thanks to a wide selection of artists, the story of the immigrant experience here is told from multiple perspectives. Participants in the “Migration” exhibition draw from the fields of education, photography, independent art spaces, architecture, data technology, science, philosophy, fine arts, graphic design, and film. The show gives a well-rounded collection of viewpoints, with various routes of expressing those observations.
The storylines can be quite personal, such as the installation by Romanian artist Denise Lobont, whose own parents labored as an itinerant worker in Germany “because there was not enough work available in her small hometown.” The long mounds of soil are planted with printed screenshots of social media postings of fields and workers, bringing a historical capitalist reality to the current moment. The timing seemed especially appropriate as Berlin is brimming with the annual white asparagus crop – appearing on grocery shelves and restaurant menus for a limited number of weeks every year – dependent on migrant labor to make it possible.
Elsewhere the Essen-based documentary photographer and performer Andreas Langfeld features interviews with and photographs of persons familiar with racist attitudes and behaviors of the dominant German society directed toward them in ways obvious and subtle. His frank observations are refreshingly open in the project “Encounters in a post-migrant society (which unfortunately is not able to overcome its racism,”. Here Langfeld uses his experiments, public performances, and observations to move the social discourse forward on those and related topics, including sexual and other minorities in a pluralistic, evolving society.
One of the more striking examples of migrant life includes no physical representation of migrants themselves but the places they live and work, rebuilt painstakingly in miniature by Ecaterina Stefanescu, a UK-based architectural designer and artist. Visitors can lift the roof off and closely examine her models of homes and businesses she has mapped here in Berlin belonging to Romanian immigrants, revealing detailed environments that respond to the inhabitants’ cultural, psychological, and physical needs. She calls the project “Rooms.”
By carefully recreating these “intimate portraits of their interior spaces and possessions through a series of large-scale models and paper collages,” she says she illustrates the “liminal identity of immigrants and how this is expressed through their material culture.”
Here you glean a better understanding through “the transient domestic places they inhabit, the objects they surround themselves with during their migratory experience.”
Using techniques as varied as film, sound, gouache, painting, illustration, photography, and sculptural installation, the artists at Fresh A.I.R. present the impact of migration on people and societies from a great range of perspectives. One sees colder, harder themes of data collection, xenophobia, survival, and sacrifice contrasted alongside more inspired viewpoints of liberation, independence, equality, – and even the development of bohemian culture. Clearly, one can take away something meaningful from this migration experience.
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.
Now screening: 1. MadC – The Jersey City Mural in collaboration with Jersey City Mural Arts Program 2. Foim & Friends via System Boys 3. Muelle, The Madrid Graffiti Legend
BSA Special Feature: MadC – The Jersey City Mural
A week ago, we were in Berlin to celebrate the closing of our exhibition Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures at Urban Nation Museum. On our last day, we sat front row inside the show at the panel discussion with Martha Cooper and MadC moderated by Nika Kramer.
The three intelligent, hard-working, and accomplished women spoke about their work and the relationship between painting on the streets and the transition of art into the gallery; painting on canvases. Among other topics, MadC spoke about her fear of heights and how this mural in Jersey City proved challenging for her, but in the end, she conquered her fears and set her mind to work on the mural. To her surprise, one morning, she experienced a magnificent sunrise view over Manhattan that she said was worth being high up painting as she wouldn’t otherwise have witnessed such a peaceful and immensely gratifying sight.
MadC – The Jersey City Mural in collaboration with Jersey City Mural Arts Program
Foim & Friends via System Boys
It’s astounding to see the level of Mission Impossible shenanigans that Foim & Friends appear to execute to get into train yards to paint. The results are tight, bright, bubble tags that ride on the lower 2/3 of train cars throughout the city. They are so ubiquitous that you think the train looks like something is missing when it glides past without adornment. But for the writers, its still about competition to get up and its about presence, if not turf.
Muelle, The Madrid Graffiti Legend
“Little did I know. Not only did the Town Hall buy it. But they restored it.” This is when graffiti writers get the recognition by greater society that makes them “legendary”.
Elfo is a graffiti writer and social commentator whose work intentionally sidesteps traditional notions of style or technical lettering. This …Read More »
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
