Rounding out the Thanksgiving week here as people think back on what they have to be thankful for in New York and across the US. Despite the class war on the poor, near-weekly proof of systematic racism and extremism, gun violence that feels out of control, and 3 songs on the top ten by Justin Beiber, we have to admit that all is not lost – and we still have a pretty strong union of cool people who actually love our neighbors and multi-cultures and are willing to show it every day.

The art we see in the streets continues to evolve; People like Gilf! are combining experimentation and activism in the public sphere while others are looking for ways to address a variety of social/political ills, – meanwhile many artists now seek and secure legal spots to put up their work, use hash tags and Instagram as marketing directly to collectors, advertisers are mimicking street art to promote brands, and Wynwood in Miami is preparing to showcase some of the flashiest displays of sponsored murals and participants yet during Basel next week.

There is a rising chorus of horrified detractors who say an organic grassroots art form is being commodified. It’s not political enough! It’s narcissistic! It’s all privileged white kids who don’t appreciate the true roots of graff culture! Calm down everybody, we can handle this. There is room for all ya’ll, like they say down south.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Ai Wei Wei, Dee Dee, Ernest Zacharevic, Gilf!, Gum Shoe, Himbad, Invader, Isaac Cordal, Jilly Ballistic, Le Diamantaire, Osch aka Otto Schade, Ouizi, Sipros, and Swoon.

Ernest Zacharevic interprets Martha Cooper’s photograph of Lil’ Crazy Legs. This is their final piece in this collaborative series.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ernest Zacharevic interprets Martha Cooper’s photograph from 1978 of this boy playing with a makeshift gun from the leg of a baby’s crib. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ernest Zacharevic interprets Martha Cooper’s photograph from 1978 of this boy playing with a makeshift gun from the leg of a baby’s crib. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ernest Zacharevic interprets Martha Cooper’s photograph from 1978 of this boy trapping flies in glass bottles. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ernest Zacharevic. Adam De Coster (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tongue in cheek, Ernest Zacharevic’s ironic blend of brandalism and vandalism.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Isaac Cordal staged a scene of drowning businessmen in this Manhattan puddle. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jilly Ballistic (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gilf! continues to influence the conversations around rampant inequality and with her “gentrification in progress” tape project, now outside the museum, someday in the museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ai Wei Wei (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon . Ouizi (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon . Ouizi. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sipros for The Bushwick Collective and Mana Urban Projects. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gum Shoe (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dee Dee (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Non-controversial lampooning cast as tough political stance, The Peralta Project is a commercial lifestyle brand that is using the street to advertise their product line, cashing in on a very popular dislike for this reality TV star. Like a mezcal company did this summer these posters are popping up to emasculate – and possible help move product. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Himbad for The Bushwick Collective and Mana Urban Projects. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Osch aka Otto Schade in London’s Brick Lane (photo © Urban Art International)

Invader’s tribute to Andy Warhol with The L.I.S.A Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Invader’s tribute to Woody Allen with The L.I.S.A Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Invader’s tribute to Bugs Bunny with The L.I.S.A Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Invader’s with The L.I.S.A Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Le Diamantaire (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Blue is the warmest color. Manhattan, NYC. November 2015 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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