All posts tagged: Mafia

BSA Film Friday: 01.10.14

BSA Film Friday: 01.10.14

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

Now screening :

1. Vhils x Pixel Pancho in Lisbon
2. How Nosm in Lisbon
3. NEKST FOREVER from Pose & Revok in Detroit
4. Knarf, Mafia and Fresh Max “3500” in Vienna
5. Bisser in London “Last Breath I” at Blackfriars Cafe

BSA Special Feature: Lisbon Double Feature from Underdogs
Pixel Pancho x Vhils
and How Nosm

Two beautiful videos in a row this week from the platform called Underdogs. “Underdogs is an international working platform based in Lisbon, Portugal that aims at creating space within the contemporary art scene for artists connected with the new languages of urban visual culture.” Since one of the original organizers is Street Artist Vhils, it makes sense that these two videos capture that additional essence of the experience of art making, the discipline, the dedication, the drive.  The camera work, editing, and story telling are fresh and above par here.

Pixel Pancho and Vhils for Underdogs. Lisbon 2013

How & Nosm for Underdogs. Lisbon 2013

NEKST FOREVER from The Seventh Letter: Pose & Revok

With baritone narration from Pose about the impact of one guy on many, this video relates the level of respect the late graffiti artist Nekst had among his peers. Together with Revok and other members of the MSK crew you’ll see them knock out one of the biggest tributes yet in Detroit.

 

Knarf, Mafia and Fresh Max “3500” in Vienna

KNARF, MAFIA and FRESH MAX spent the last 3 months working on a 3500 square meter wall complex near Vienna. Here is a brief overview of their process. They will also be releasing a book on the 24th documenting the project, sketches, and images of the entire painted building.

 

Bisser in London “Last Breath I” at Blackfriars Cafe

A local cafe of 35 years is going to be torn down with the entire building it has been housed in Southwark (South-London). Artist Bisser did an installation,  a “one-off beautification” last month to say goodbye to the place. As it turns out, an entire project has been spawned to create more work by more artists in the building before it is slated for demolition. This video is the first of the series for “The Last Breath Project”

More about the project here: lastbreathproject.co.uk

 

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Street Artist John J. Mahyo Takes on the Mafia

When was the last time you saw Street Art addressing organized crime? No, not posters for Uggs, silly, the Godfather/Tony Soprano kind of thing…

Take a look at these photos by artist John J. Mahyo, who traveled to an abandoned stone quarry in southern Italy for a representational retelling of stories related to the reported crime family, Camorra. Influenced by the book, “Gomorrah” by Roberto Saviano that reportedly unmasked a modern day crime family, thus meriting 24-hour police protection for the author, Mahyo worked with photographer and artist Elp Supra to create this homage to the victims of organized crime. In his words, “It’s a simple guerrilla action against Mafia and a support to the civic engagement of Roberto.

John J. Mahyo. Caserta, Italy. (Photo © Elp Supra)

John J. Mahyo. Caserta, Italy. (Photo © Elp Supra)

Mahyo, who speaks oddly in the third person about himself, answered a few questions about the work.

Brooklyn Street Art: Can you expand a bit on the use of death (skeletons) and the “business men” in the large mural?
John J. Mahyo: Certainly… The skeletons represent the Mafia’s victims ready to relive and get revenge against their nemesis, represented by a mobster and his killers and assistants.

John J. Mahyo "Ginevra Risman" (Photo © Elp Supra)

John J. Mahyo “Ginevra Risman” (Photo © Elp Supra)

Brooklyn Street Art: The portrait of the lady sits on a bed of arms. Could you expand on those symbols and their juxtaposition?
John J. Mahyo: The lady is Ginevra Risman (anagram of a notorious Italian actress); she looks like an “Avenging Angel” just emerging from a pool of blood, AK-47, Thompson and Beretta guns

John J. Mahyo. "Ginevra Risman" (Photo © Elp Supra)

John J. Mahyo. “Ginevra Risman” (Photo © Elp Supra)

Brooklyn Street Art: Can you tell us a little bit more about you and about Roberto? Who is John J. Mahyo?
John J. Mahyo:
Well, he was born as a graffiti artist in 1997 and at the sunrise of the 3rd Millennium he began to also create Street Art (the evolution of “writing”). Mahyo doesn’t consider himself an artist but a communicator; he asserts that art is a genuine communication that can be used as a weapon to win lost causes. Just like Roberto Saviano, who wrote “Gomorrah”, the best-selling book translated in 51 countries, where he describes the clandestine particulars of the Camorra business.

More info at:
http://johnjmahyo.wordpress.com/2010/10/04/fighting-mafia/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roberto_Saviano

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