One of the hardest weeks of our lives. But we’re still here to give you another posting of new shots of street art and graffiti on the streets. Thank you for your support, and thank God for the creative spirit that keeps us inspired, our cities alive, informed, and in-touch with the common person.
The so-called ‘Red Wave’ (red tsunami, red hurricane, etc.) didn’t materialize in the mid-term elections Tuesday despite the drumbeat on corporate media. On the other hand, the Democratic party can’t be too proud of their “squeaker” win – or their incremental moves to the corporate right for four decades. Nothing to sing and dance about.
In other NYC news, do you ever feel like a slowly boiling frog? NYPD is talking about partnering with Amazon’s Ring network; the New York Times explains that all those 5G network towers going up on the streets around the city are really just upgraded cell phone equipment, the police will begin a “Drone Unit” to fight crime– “said to be equipped with night vision technology,” this article says, they “won’t be weaponized,” and the NYPD digi-dog program from Boston Dynamics has been discontinued for right now and drones patrolling streets soon, right? Also on Friday the New York Federal Reserve announced plans for a new Fed digital dollar – a CBDC (Central Bank Digital Currency) and the new UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak is all in favor of completely digitized money. Meanwhile, it looks like NYC schools are going to be a lot safer with new initiatives to put biometric screening in them including maybe facial recognition. Nothing to worry about, right?
The city pays tributes to its heroes in different ways, and NYC street art loves Biggie Smalls more than anyone, along with folks like Spike Lee and Jean Michel Basquiat. This week we spotted a few new ones among the bevy of new street art beauties we discovered below.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: Jason Naylor, Homesick, Savior El Mundo, King Baby, Mutz, Glare, Banksy Hates Me, Ashley Hodder, Raisa Nosova, Qzar, Spin, INU, Cheatz, Ultraboyz, Humble, Carlos RMK, and Yuzly Mathurin.
Religion and its practices should be voluntary, not mandatory. For some reason historically, it takes men longer to realize this than women.
The killing of Jina Mahsa Amini for not wearing a headscarf (or hijab) in Iran recently may remind you of the various women’s rights movements internationally in the last century – a loud, messy, often violent insurrection of the oppressed – and the raised voices of those acting in solidarity. Unfortunately, this is how real change happens sometimes; by fighting for it.
Anonymous Artist Collective for Iran. Guggenheim Museum. New York City. October 22, 2022. (photo courtesy of the Anonymous Artist Collective for Iran)
Obviously, the young Kurdish Iranian had the right to decide whether to wear a scarf, or not. The ocean of women’s voices from inside Iran and outside over the past few weeks has been a resounding rejection of certain men’s authoritarian attempts to presume to dictate over women – including about completely personal topics like what to wear.
We bring you some exclusive shots of a visual protest inside the Guggenheim Museum in Manhattan over the weekend. Unfurling banners from the top end of the continuous winding street of galleries that lead to the ground, a group of activists/artists called Anonymous Artist Collective for Iran, let loose yells and clapping as the red strips rolled toward the floor and captured the attention of museum-goers.
Anonymous Artist Collective for Iran. Guggenheim Museum. New York City. October 22, 2022. (photo courtesy of the Anonymous Artist Collective for Iran)
The lateral design alternated a stenciled portrait of Ms. Mahsa Amini with graphic text echoing those slogans shouted in streets in Kurdish, Persian, English, and many other tongues. “Zan zendegi azadi! Woman, life, freedom!”
History tells us that these riots and demonstrations will work gradually, in waves, until the oppressor gives up and concentrate on better uses of their intellect. By choosing a Manhattan museum of such stature, allies may be reaching new audiences who, in turn, will join the crowds at recent demonstrations like those in cities like Berlin, Washington, and Los Angeles – even Tempe, Arizona.
Anonymous Artist Collective for Iran. Guggenheim Museum. New York City. October 22, 2022. (photo courtesy of the Anonymous Artist Collective for Iran)Anonymous Artist Collective for Iran. Guggenheim Museum. New York City. October 22, 2022. (photo courtesy of the Anonymous Artist Collective for Iran)Anonymous Artist Collective for Iran. Guggenheim Museum. New York City. October 22, 2022. (photo courtesy of the Anonymous Artist Collective for Iran)Anonymous Artist Collective for Iran. Guggenheim Museum. New York City. October 22, 2022. (photo courtesy of the Anonymous Artist Collective for Iran)A security guard from the museum is photographed removing the banners from the premises. Anonymous Artist Collective for Iran. Guggenheim Museum. New York City. October 22, 2022. (photo courtesy of the Anonymous Artist Collective for Iran)
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
