All posts tagged: Mint and Serf

Miami 2010: Tales of the Streets

Welcome to Miami!  Now go home.

– It’s a paraphrase of the Christmas crabby New Yorker who relies on the tourists who pump money into Broadway and Times Square restaurants and FAO and who actually eat those hot dogs and pretzels on the street.  In the case of Miami, Art Basel 2010 draws to a close now and one billion dollars are estimated to have been transacted. When you pair that figure with the estimated 2-3000 artists participating, it looks like the artists must have made out rather well, right?

Certainly there were more Street Artists than ever attending the events and transforming walls everywhere with their work and creativity – at least in the unofficially sanctioned areas. At the moment Miami is “The only city in the US where graffiti appreciates property value,” ironically says Mint and Serf, a Street Art collective visiting the tropical city from frigid New York.  In an odd twist on the “broken window theory” and urban blight, artists who are normally looking over their shoulder can actually wave to and talk with police who are driving by in some run-down areas where they are given free reign over large swaths of walls. At this sunny moment in time various agendas are intertwined and one wonders how long this golden age lasts.

Street Art photographer and observer Geoff Hargadon took in the breadth of the week on the street and attended a number of the events over the past weeks’ art orgies.  He captured many jewels and quick moments with his camera and his 6th sense, which are below. As various larger pieces are unfinished right now, we’ll be going back in a few weeks for a year-end overview.

In addition to an intuitive eye about the art trends happening that impact the scene, Geoff gives a commentary about what else he’s thinking about: “Here is the other thing that’s a trend: property owners have their hands over all these walls for artists to takeover, and then suddenly they are leased out to restaurants, coffee shops, and other businesses. It’s hard to know who’s playing whom here – maybe it’s a happy co-existence – but when does the property owner step up to support these guys in other ways? (Unless, of course, it’s already happening.) Either way, artists are playing a big role in the development of these neighborhoods, and whether they know it or not, as the area gets more developed and gentrified, they will eventually run themselves out of town. Whether they are getting paid or not, they are creating their own extinction in Miami.”

brooklyn-street-art-aiko-miami-2010-webAiko (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

brooklyn-street-art-amaze-miami-2010-webAmaze (photo and clever Photoshop © Geoff Hargadon)

brooklyn-street-art-coco-miami-2010-webCoco (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

brooklyn-street-art-gaia-hands-miami-2010-webGaia’s Hands (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

brooklyn-street-art-down-on-the-demon-miami-2010-webBurning Candy Crew Members Tek33 and Dscreet at work on Dawn Of The Demon.(photo © Geoff Hargadon)

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Cash for your Warhol  (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

brooklyn-street-art-gaia-invider-miami-2010-webInvader (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

brooklyn-street-art-lister-miami-2010-webLister in progress (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

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Gaia (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

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The London Police in progress (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

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The London Police close up (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

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Shepard Fairey (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

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Invader (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

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Remed in progress (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

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Invader and friends (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

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Obey Overunder! (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

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PopUp Lister (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

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Ron English color explosion (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

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Obey shop! (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

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Ryan McGuinness (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

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Skewville gets his wings and soars (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

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Mint and Serf (photo © Mint and Serf)

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Mint and Serf (photo © Mint and Serf)

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Light Graffiti photo © Vicki Da Silva

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Lyons Wier Gallery Presents: Mint and Serf “SGU” (Special Graffiti Unit)

Lyons Weir Gallery
Mint and Serf

Mint & Serf

Special Graffiti Unit

Opening:

Wednesday, July 28

6:00 – 10:00 pm

Exhibition Dates:

July 28– August 15

Gallery Hours: Monday – Saturday 11-7, Sunday 12-6

Gallery Located: 175 Seventh Avenue on the NE corner of 20th and 7th Ave.

Nearest Subway: C, E exit 23rd @ 8th Ave., 1, 9 exit 23rd @ 7th Ave.

Contact: Michael Lyons Wier, Gallery@LyonsWierGallery.com

Mint&Serf SGU (Special Graffiti Unit) is an exhibition at Lyons Wier Gallery, curated by Derrick B. Harden, featuring new work by New York visual artists Mint&Serf.  The exhibition pays homage to the longest running television program that defines  New York City. Mint&Serf SGU is a multi-disciplinary exhibition incorporating painting, photography and video that is an interpretation of the artists’ personal encounters with the law in New York City and within their community.

Mint&Serf SGU (Special Graffiti Unit) cleverly captures Mint&Serf and company in their habitat by placing them in their own adapted version of Law & Order. By appropriating this iconic television drama, Mint&Serf: SGU turns photographed moments of vandalism, street-art and nightlife into a series of silk-screened vignettes. In Mint&Serf: SGU, the two artists portray themselves as part of the “Special Graffiti Unit,” an elite graffiti squad.

Most recently, Mint&Serf created and curated original artwork for the Ace Hotel in New York City.  However, for the past ten years, Mint&Serf have been collaboratively producing artwork generating a vast range of large-scale murals, paintings, photographs, sculpture and street art throughout New York City and around the world. In 2005, as an extension to their art, they launched The Canal Chapter, a gallery platform for emerging artists, designers and musicians. In 2008, after the success of The Canal Chapter, they launched The Stanton Chapter, a street level art space in Lower East Side neighborhood of New York City. Mint&Serfhave exhibited throughout the United States and abroad. They have created commissioned work for the Ace Hotel, Nike, Marc Jacobs, Red Bull, Ogilvy&Mather, Adidas, Yahoo, Boost Mobile, PowerHouse Books among other clients.

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Fun Friday 05.21.10 from BSA

Fun-Friday

Thanks to everybody for the shout-outs about Fun Friday.  We love you too.

Style Curator Natalie Kates Went to the “Street Art New York” Auction with her Video Camera

I saw her at the party/auction/fundraiser on April 24th at Factory Fresh but I didn’t know she was shooting a video!  So cool because she captured the fun crowd and the funnier DJ mixologists Sifunk and Garmunkle, who really rocked our already over stimulated brains with a rhythmic cut-copy-paste blend of funkiness. (get Paul’s New Mix FREE here) Anyway, thanks Natalie!

Free Arts NYC

And on that note, thank you to all of the street artists who generously donated their time and work and creativity to the auction, which raised $16,000 for the programs at Free Arts NYC.  Thank you also to the staff and many volunteers who helped make that show work – BSA recommends these people and these programs that provide valuable services to our neighbors and to NYC kids.  A number of Street Artist already know about their programs and have volunteered as Big Brother/Sister mentors and worked with kids and families in the programs.  Here, Cynthia and Alexis talk about their experience:



This year again, Free Arts NYC has committed to serving an additional 1,000 children to meet the high demand in New York for their programs. We hope you will consider donating today by clicking here to help them reach this important milestone and close the remaining $25,000 gap needed to expand their programs.

“UR New York” Shows You How They Do It

UR New York, true born and raised New Yorkers, not transplants like most of us, are taking their street art game another step forward in a positive way. You see their cool canvasses, but do you have any idea how many steps are involved in making a print?

Here’s a studio stop-action video that shows how the New York Duo 2Easae and Ski just churned out their first print called “Arsenic” with Art Asylum Boston.  They only made 10, but it looks like a lot of effort.  Using cans and brushes, these brothers are combining the best of their experience into their work.

Ron English Hits the Welling Court Walls Early

UR New York, Street Artist Ron English has put up a bunch of new wheat paste posters on the Welling Court Mural Project in Queens, NY. The festival starts tomorrow and already the stuff that is up is worth the trip for this community event. English is taking the opportunity to lambaste Consumerism, Greed, Militarism, Religious Hypocrisy, Romanticizing Guns, and Advertising Hammerlocks on your Head — you know, all the lite topics – with a variety of graphic lampoons a la Mad Magazine in the 70’s.ee

Ron English's new work at Welling Court Walls this weekend

Ron English's new work at Welling Court Mural Project this weekend (image courtesy Ron English)

See more pictures from Ron English’s online journal at Juxtapose HERE.

ROA on the Roof

You may have missed this, and I’m so happy with it – so that’s two really good reasons to post this new NEW YORKY video we made with ROA this week.  Have a great weekend!


BSA…………BSA…………BSA…………BSA…………BSA…………BSA…………BSA…………BSA…………

Artists that were part of the “Street Art New York” Auction Benefit for Free Arts NYC were Abe Lincoln Jr., Alex Diamond, Anera, Avoid Pi, Billi Kid, Bishop 203, Blanco, BortusK Leer, Broken Crow, C Damage, C215, Cake, Celso, Chris RWK, Chris Stain, Creepy, Dain, Damon Ginandes, Dan Witz, Dark Clouds, Dennis McNett, Elbow Toe, EllisG, FKDL, Gaia, General Howe, GoreB, Hargo, Hellbent, Imminent Disaster, Infinity, Jef Aerosol, Jim Avignon, JMR, Joe Iurato, Jon Burgerman, Keely, Know Hope, Logan Hicks, Mark Carvalho, Matt Siren, Mint and Serf, Miss Bugs, NohJColey, Nomadé, Peru Ana Ana Peru, PMP/Peripheral Media Projects, Poster Boy, Pufferella, Rene Gagnon, Roa, Royce Bannon, Skewville, Specter, Stikman, Swoon, The Dude Company, Tristan Eaton, UR New York (2esae & Ski), Veng RWK

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Street Artists Give to NYC KIDS: A gift of Art and Self-Confidence

With 60 artists, 73 artworks, over 500 guests, and a happy vibe created by the mad-scientists Sifunk & Garmunkle at music mission control, the Street Art New York Silent Auction Benefit for Free Arts NYC was a huge success. At the end of the night most of the walls were bare, and most of the pieces remaining had been purchased by absentee bidders. With animated conversations, excited bidding, and occasionally rambunctious dancing (Andrew), the night was really an excellent example of how the street art community is alive and well, and how the work of street artists is in demand.

Thank you to Ali and Ad at Factory Fresh for co-hosting the event, thank you to all the volunteers from Free Arts NYC who helped to hang it, pack it, and execute the auction, and special thanks to all the artists who so generously donated their pieces to the event.  Also special thanks to all the blog friends (so many!) who wrote about this event and all the people who Tweeted it continuously, as well as the print publications who helped get the word out.  We hope to thank you all personally some time, if not via email. Because of your help, the gallery and back yard were jammed with more people than anyone could remember.

Thank you to Reid Harris Cooper for sending us these pictures he took at the crowded party (we threw in a couple crowd shots from the cellphone). Reid actually scored the Blanco piece in the auction.  If anyone else has pics from that night we would love to see them.

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For more images by Reid Harris Cooper see his Flickr page HERE

See images and details of the pieces at our Flickr – which will be updated by the end of the day

Participating artists were: Abe Lincoln Jr., Alex Diamond, Anera, Avoid Pi, Billi Kid, Bishop 203, Blanco, BortusK Leer, Broken Crow, C Damage, C215, Cake, Celso, Chris RWK, Chris Stain, Creepy, Dain, Damon Ginandes, Dan Witz, Dark Clouds, Dennis McNett, Elbow Toe, EllisG, FKDL, Gaia, General Howe, GoreB, Hargo, Hellbent, Imminent Disaster, Infinity, Jef Aerosol, Jim Avignon, JMR, Joe Iurato, Jon Burgerman, Keely, Know Hope, Logan Hicks, Mark Carvalho, Matt Siren, Mint and Serf, Miss Bugs, NohJColey, Nomadé, Peru Ana Ana Peru, PMP/Peripheral Media Projects, Poster Boy, Pufferella, Rene Gagnon, Roa, Royce Bannon, Skewville, Specter, Stikman, Swoon, The Dude Company, Tristan Eaton, UR New York (2esae & Ski), Veng RWK

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STREET ART NEW YORK BENEFIT AT FACTORY FRESH FOR FREE ARTS NYC

Street Art New York at Factory Fresh
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“Street Art New York” Silent Auction Benefit for Free Arts NYC

For more information please contact:
Email: info@StreetArtNewYork.com; Web: www.StreetArtNewYork.com

“Street Art New York” Silent Auction Benefit for Free Arts NYC
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Event Time: 7-11 pm

Auction Time: Promptly 7 pm to 9:30 pm EST
Absentee bidders please register with Bernadette DeAngelis at bernadette@freeartsnyc.org or call 212.974.9092.

Location: Factory Fresh Gallery
1053 Flushing Avenue
Bushwick, Brooklyn, New York 11237
between Morgan and Knickerbocker, off the L train Morgan Stop


SILENT AUCTION BENEFIT BY STREET ARTISTS FOR “FREE ARTS NYC” AND A PARTY TO MARK THE RELEASE OF NEW BOOK
“STREET ART NEW YORK”.

To celebrate the release of the new book “Street Art New York” and to benefit the programs of Free Arts NYC, original artworks by a stellar array of today’s Street Artists from New York and beyond will be featured in a silent auction to take place on April 24, 2010, from 7 pm to 9:30 pm at Factory Fresh Gallery in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

The Benefit and the Artists

The Benefit, to be held at one of New York’s epicenters for the thriving new Street Art scene, Factory Fresh Gallery, will feature an incredibly strong selection of today’s Street Artists joining together for one night as a community to benefit NYC kids from disadvantaged backgrounds as the numbers of poor and low-income children in New York continues to rise. Representing a renaissance in modern urban art at the dawn of a new decade, this artists will very likely be the largest collection of 2010’s street artists in one location.

With exciting new work by 60 of today’s Street Artists

Abe Lincoln Jr., Alex Diamond, Anera, Avoid Pi, Billi Kid, Bishop 203, Blanco, BortusK Leer, Broken Crow, C Damage, C215, Cake, Celso, Chris RWK, Chris Stain, Creepy, Dain, Damon Ginandes, Dan Witz, Dark Clouds, Dennis McNett, Elbow Toe, EllisG, FKDL, Gaia, General Howe, GoreB, Hargo, Hellbent, Imminent Disaster, Infinity, Jef Aerosol, Jim Avignon, JMR, Joe Iurato, Jon Burgerman, Keely, Know Hope, Logan Hicks, Mark Carvalho, Matt Siren, Mint and Serf, Miss Bugs, NohJColey, Nomadé, Peru Ana Ana Peru, PMP/Peripheral Media Projects, Poster Boy, Pufferella, Rene Gagnon, Roa, Royce Bannon, Skewville, Specter, Stikman, Swoon, The Dude Company, Tristan Eaton, UR New York (2esae & Ski), Veng RWK

About the Book

Street Art New York, by Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo, with a foreword by Carolina A. Miranda, published in April 2010 by Prestel Publishing (Random House).

The authors of the successful Brooklyn Street Art book (and founders of BrooklynStreetArt.com) expand their scope and take readers on a fast-paced run through the streets of New York, along the waterways, on the rooftops, and up the walls of today’s ever-morphing vibrant Street Art scene as only NYC can tell it.

With an introduction by noted cultural journalist Carolina A. Miranda (C-Monster.net) putting Street Art in the context of the personal experience of a New Yorker, readers will be taken aback by this compelling portrait of the state of urban art featuring work on the streets of New York from 102 artists from around the world. With a collection of aproximately 200 images by exciting new comers as well as beloved “old masters” such as New Yorkers Swoon, Judith Supine, Dan Witz, Faile, Skewville, WK Interact, LA’s Sphepard Fairey, Brazil’s Os Gemeos, Ethos, Denmark’s Armsrock, France’s Space Invader, C215, Mr. Brainwash, Germany’s Herakut, Belgium’s ROA, London’s Nick Walker, Connor Harrington, and the infamous Banksy.

About the Publisher, Prestel Publishing (Random House):

With its impressive list of titles in English and German, Prestel Publishing is one of the world’s leading publishers in the fields of art, architecture, photography, design, cultural history, and ethnography. The company, founded in 1924, has its headquarters in Munich, offices in New York and London, and an international sales network.

The Silent Auction

Commencing at 7 p.m. and ending at 9:30 p.m., the silent auction will be administered by Free Arts NYC, and all proceeds from the auction go directly to the non-profit. Highest bidder wins!

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Year In Images 2009 from Jaime Rojo

Street Art photographer Jaime Rojo captured a few thousand images in 2009 to help document the wildly growing Street Art scene in New York.

A veteran of 10 years shooting the streets of New York, Rojo has amassed a collection of images that capture the scene with the appreciation of an artist. To celebrate the creative spirit that is alive and well on the streets of New York, this slide video gives a taste of what happened in ‘09, without pretending to present the whole scene or all the artists, known and anonymous, who add to the ongoing conversation.

Included in this collection of images (in no particular order) are pieces by Skewville, Specter, The Dude Company, Judith Supine, C215, WK Interact, Anthony Lister, Miss Bugs, Bast, Chris from Robots Will Kill (RWK), Os Gemeos, Cake, Celso, Imminent Disaster, Mark Cavalho, NohJ Coley, Elbow Toe, Feral, Poster Boy, Bishop203, Jon Burgerman, Royce Bannon, Damon Ginandes, Conor Harrington, Gaia, JC2, Logan Hicks, Chris Stain, Armsrock, Veng from Robots Will Kill (RWK), Noah Sparkes, Robots Will Kill, Heracut, Billy Mode, Revs, Skullphone, Spazmat, Mint and Serf, Roa, Aakash Nihilani, Broken Crow, Peru Ana Ana Peru, & Cern

All images © Jaime Rojo

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