All posts tagged: Mr. June

The Bushwick Collective 11th Annual Block Party – 2022

June 15, 2022 Artists

Joe Ficalora and the Bushwick Collective crew took over the streets of Bushwick again this year to entertain the locals, the visitors, and everybody else with his annual block party. When you look at the variety and quality of murals produced on these streets regularly, you realize that it’s a splendid fusion that you rarely find in organized festivals.

Elm Status. The Bushwick Collective. 11th Annual Block Party. Brooklyn, NY. June 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Maybe it’s just us talking, but these artists are not usually hamstrung by organizers’ dictates or those of advertisers – they just let their imaginations go. Yes, there are still beefs, and there are battles between styles and histories and all the baggage that writers and artists carry. But in general, this is a somewhat mediated part of street culture, with an opportunity for you to shine if you have the skillz.

We published a handful of the completed walls on BSA HERE; now we bring you the rest…

Jason Naylor. The Bushwick Collective. 11th Annual Block Party. Brooklyn, NY. June 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. June. The Bushwick Collective. 11th Annual Block Party. Brooklyn, NY. June 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dean Zeus Colman tribute to ZEXOR. The Bushwick Collective. 11th Annual Block Party. Brooklyn, NY. June 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Loste. The Bushwick Collective. 11th Annual Block Party. Brooklyn, NY. June 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Robert Vargas. The Bushwick Collective. 11th Annual Block Party. Brooklyn, NY. June 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cody James. The Bushwick Collective. 11th Annual Block Party. Brooklyn, NY. June 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

1440. Detail. The Bushwick Collective. 11th Annual Block Party. Brooklyn, NY. June 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

HUETEK tribute to DEZ. The Bushwick Collective. 11th Annual Block Party. Brooklyn, NY. June 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nap Don’t Sleep. The Bushwick Collective. 11th Annual Block Party. Brooklyn, NY. June 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stem And Thorn. The Bushwick Collective. 11th Annual Block Party. Brooklyn, NY. June 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Urban Ruben. The Bushwick Collective. 11th Annual Block Party. Brooklyn, NY. June 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. Hydde. The Bushwick Collective. 11th Annual Block Party. Brooklyn, NY. June 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hoddy. The Bushwick Collective. 11th Annual Block Party. Brooklyn, NY. June 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

MR. Blob. The Bushwick Collective. 11th Annual Block Party. Brooklyn, NY. June 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hops Art. The Bushwick Collective. 11th Annual Block Party. Brooklyn, NY. June 2022. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

STRAAT Museum of Amsterdam Sails with Maiden Exhibition Catalogue

March 5, 2022 Artists

In a space massive enough for a Dutch sea vessel, the Street Art Museum of Amsterdam (STRAAT) has one of the largest collections of today’s mural stars anywhere. During its official maiden voyage, curious street art/graffiti/contemporary art fans look to see if this ship is seaworthy. The brainchild of former graffiti writer, curator, and publisher Peter Ernst Coolen in the early 2010s, the D.N.A. of the museum is rooted in his forward vision as much as the ideal waterfront warehouse that showcases close to 200 international artists.

Housed in a massive yet austere ship hull-welding hanger that closed in the 1980s, the airy space later hosted flea markets and similar events. Today the STRAAT is evolving into something more closely resembling a museum space due to recent structural and lighting improvements, but it hasn’t become a white box. If its origination story of punk culture, D.I.Y., and a well-loved graffiti Hall of Fame still holds water, this street art home by NDSM Wharf has the potential to be a world-class icon that retains credibility and out-paces other contenders.

The museum delivers a promise with a significant renovation, focused programming, public/private tours, an investment in marketing, branding/partnering, a sexy website, invited curators, and (no Banksy jokes, please) a gift shop. We’ve encountered the palpable energy of the select crew of creative directors, curators, content creators, and experience managers over the last few years. There is the desire to forge a soul of the new enterprise, as helmed by Coolen’s original business partner and civil engineer Peter Hoogewerf.

STRAAT Museum of Amsterdam. Kobra on the facade.

To appreciate where it may be heading, you now have a guidebook of works by the 200 or so artists who have created canvasses and sculpture here in the permanent collection. Given the wide span presented, the challenge will be to define a direction for this 8000 square meter shipyard space – aside from merely offering a broad survey of current names on the global stage.

STRAAT: Quote from the Streets (Lannoo Uitgeverij) is the name of the opening exhibition and a thick softcover tome of attractive art plates. It offers a collection of artists’ profiles, reflections, and artworks laid out in a spare and modern way, allowing the mind to wander or rest. With an intro by curator and founder of the Paris-based agency Le Grand Jeu Christian Omodeo, the travel/street art blogger Giulia Riva and writer Giovanna Di Giacomo are authors. Their essay explains that the STRAAT collection is organized here according to categories of Aesthetic, Ground, Empathic, and Conscious – with detailed descriptions of the respective characteristics and rationale laid out in the opening texts.

The range of styles and techniques here mirrors many of the mural movements on streets around the world today. The writers give valuable contextual background for decoding what often are high-quality artworks. A unifying and concise overview of each artist is a supporting firmament with enough academic rigor to enlighten the reader – no small feat in a world populated with fanboys and pseudo-intellectualizing. Because of it, this introduction to the museum is more than average data reportage – helping to broaden understanding of this multi-headed hydra called the street art scene. With a firm grip guiding the rudder, this ship looks like it is ready to sail.

Guido van Helten paints STRAAT’s Peter Hoogewerf. STRAAT Museum of Amsterdam.

Ben Slow. STRAAT Museum of Amsterdam. Lannoo Uitgeverij.

Adele Renault. STRAAT Museum of Amsterdam. Lannoo Uitgeverij.

Ever. STRAAT Museum of Amsterdam. Lannoo Uitgeverij.

Mr. June. STRAAT Museum of Amsterdam. Lannoo Uitgeverij.

Dan Kitchner. STRAAT Museum of Amsterdam. Lannoo Uitgeverij.

Icy & Sot. STRAAT Museum of Amsterdam. Lannoo Uitgeverij.

Alaniz. STRAAT Museum of Amsterdam. Lannoo Uitgeverij.

STRAAT Museum of Amsterdam. Lannoo Uitgeverij.

STRAAT MUSEUM: Quotes From The Streets. Published by Lannoo. Click HERE to learn more about STRAAT and to purchase the book.

BSA Images Of The Week: 01.26.20

January 26, 2020 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

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The city is in mid-winter “blah” mode. We suffered a fire at the New York City’s Museum of Chinese in America this week, and the Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams used his Martin Luther King Day speech to tell recent arrivals to ‘Go back to Iowa,’ Things can be tough out here people.

In Street Art and graffiti news, New York has had some “whole car” pieces on the subway line recently, including one that looked like a whole train! Old timers were rubbing their eyes. According to a local media outlet, legendary graffiti artist Chris “Freedom” Pape gave his assessment; “..based on the artist’s philosophy, he gives it an “A” but based on the quality of the graffiti on old subways, he gives it a “C”. Also a new film about New York octogenarian Street Artist Robert Janz opened this week at the Anthology Film Archives. Janz in the Moment is the passion project of Filmmaker Joanna Kiernan that features many corners and crazy details of New York’s streets that are familiar to us – and probably to you.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week from Miami, and this time featuring Add Fuel, Atomik, Bisco Smith, CRKSHNK, Dal East, Feik, Hysterical Men, Jilly Ballistic, Kai, Mr. June, Pure Genius, Rick Azevedo, WCKT, What Will You Leave Behind, Will Power, and Winston Tseng.

London Kaye gives a shout out to the Australian’s wildlife, and of course to the people as well. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Feik. Wynwood. Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bisco Smith. Wynwood. Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Add Fuel. Wynwood. Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Atomik. Wynwood. Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kai. Wynwood. Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

What Will You Leave Behind (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. June. Wynwood. Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ric Azevedo. Wynwood. Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. NYC Subway. January 2020. Manhattan, NY.(photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Film Friday 07.27.18

July 27, 2018 Artists

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

Now screening :
1. Yok & Sheryo: Mumbai “Varuna Vessel”
2. Mr. June Paints in June
3. Concreto #4 , Fortaleza, Brazil
4. Doug Gillen takes on Email Art Scams

BSA Special Feature: Yok & Sheryo: Mumbai “Varuna Vessel”

The Street Art duo of Sheryo and Yok plumb the depths of the urban environment in their travels, getting to know a culture and the people there – a full immersion practice that helps them conceptualize and fashion street murals, gallery shows and exhibitions that utilize the traditions, lore, language, and even the skills of local tradespeople.

This week we have a travelogue to the Sassoon docks in Mumbai where they collaborate with fisherman and women friends, fabricators and textile designers in the street, on a boat, and ultimately in an exhibition called “Varuna Vessel”. Extra points awarded here for the soundtrack, dropped on you in typical S&Y style like a needle on a record, no fade, all funk.

Mr. June Paints in June

Last month Mr. June was in Greensboro, North Carolina to paint a 45 meter diameter water tank roof. In the southern heat for 13 days painting? Give it up for Mr. June, who calls this job for a water resources facility his ode to the beauty of water.

Concreto #4 , Fortaleza, Brazil

Before the 5th Concreto Festival kicks into motion this November it’s good to look at the final video they made from the last one.

The brainchild of artist and organizer Narcélio Grud, the festival is in partnership with an urban art school that provides students with a theoretical background and support for intellectual experimentation with this kind of art in the streets that melts barriers.

Doug Gillen takes on Email Art Scams

As if it isn’t already challenging enough to be an artist – for the 99% without who are decidedly stressed for time, money, and a publicist. No matter, there are still lowlifes who will try to scam you bro/sis. Occasionally right through your inbox!

Public Security Officer Gillen introduces this underworld of squirrelly types who will try to persuade you into giving over your money to them for massaging your ego. We know that may sound appealing to some of you but in this case the only stripper involved is you, sexy.

BSA Images Of The Week: 06.17.18: The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018

June 17, 2018 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Bushwick is in the mix this week as the new murals made to augment the collection for this years Bushwick Collective Block Party brought more persons and personality to the streets here. As murals are ruling this moment in the Street Art scene, today for your edification, this is how its looking out here.

Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Bert, BK Foxx, Cabaio Spirito, Franck Duval, Golden 305, Hops1, Jeff Henriquez, Li-Hill, Loomit, Michel Velt, Mr. Hydee, Mr. June, Niels Shoe Meulman, Reme821, Ruben Ubiera, Sipros, Skewville, and Solus.

Top image: A new Biggie by Sipros for The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sipros. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Niels Shoe Meulman. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BK Foxx. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Li-Hill. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ruben Ubiera. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Skewville. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Reme821. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cabaio Spirito. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Solus. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jeff Henriquez. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Golden 305 (with the work of Celso “Work” on top from a previous edition). The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Michel Velt. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hops1. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Loomit . Bert. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Franck Duval. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. Hydee. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. June. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 01.21.18

January 21, 2018 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

The streets across the US were again flooded with justifiably angry, determined women yesterday. Nothing we can say here will do justice to the enormity of the crowds protesting in 250 cities on the first anniversary of the inauguration, nor the range of political and social fronts that are being contested.

Clearly the world stage has been thrown off kilter by the the erosion of trust and confidence in this government, in the economy, in the fraying social fabric, the attacks on people and the earth. “The decline in confidence in the U.S. president has been severe in some countries since Trump took office on Jan. 20, 2017,” says FactCheck.org, and it “is especially pronounced among some of America’s closest allies in Europe and Asia, as well as neighboring Mexico and Canada,” the Pew Global Attitudes Project found. That’s in only one year.

Oh, did we mention that the US has a government shutdown right now?

Today we chose the top image by Alex Senna to symbolize the people who are in the shadows who are hiding and who think we don’t know they are there and that no one is looking out for them. Immigrants across the country are being threatened, yet exploited day after day – afraid to go to the police or even hospitals when abused by employers, by family members, by misguided racists. We see you and we hear you. As a nation descended from immigrants, the indigenous, and the enslaved, we remember our history. Similarly, people who are being sex trafficked, or who are unable to speak up because of financial restraints, religious restraints, psychological restraints. We see you.

Heavy topics, but these are the streets, our streets, all of us. Roberta Smith said this week in The New York Times when reviewing the Outsider Art Fair; “Art Is Everywhere”. We’ll widen that sentiment and say that art is for everyone, and the street is more than ever a perfect place to see it.

Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Adam Fujita, Ai WeiWei, Alex Senna, Cholula, Ernest Zacharevic, Fontes World, Mr. June, Retna, Roman, Stray Ones, Terry Urban, and Zola.

Top Image: Alex Senna ( photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ai Weiwei. “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors”. NYC wide multimedia/multi site exhibition for Public Art Fund. Brooklyn, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Art Council (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Terry Urban (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Adam Fujita and Fontes World collaboration brings to mind our recent article about artists endless fight for affordable housing in NYC Indeed a Dying Breed. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stray Ones (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ernest Zacharevic fills the space with a cube. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified Artist in Cholula, Puebla. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Paris (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Zola (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn vs Everybody (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Retna in Cholula, Puebla. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Román in Cholula, Puebla. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. June for The Buschwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This public ad campaign against fur borrows from the street art stencil technique. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified Artist in Mexico City. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. January 2018. Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Two Miami Schools Enveloped in Murals : The RAW Project in Wynwood

January 24, 2017 Artists

Reimagining Art in Wynwood: The RAW Project.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) received $148 million in 2016. The war budget, also called the “Defense Budget”, was approved for $582 billion for this year.

For comparison’s sake, that means the “Defense Budget” is 3,900 times the size of the NEA.

Paola Delfin at work on her mural at The Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Arts and artists get very little or no financial or institutional support from the federal, state, or local government in the United States, which is always a shock for Europeans to learn – and many won’t believe it when you tell them. This website, for example, receives no funding or grants from any organization despite publishing daily for almost nine years, and it has remained non-commercial during that entire time.

Paola Delfin with some fans. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

It may be getting even worse for the arts in the US now that the new Trump administration in Washington is proposing cutting all funding from the National Endowment for the Arts. Arts and music programs in many American schools have already been eliminated slowly but surely over the last 40 years since the beginning of trickle-down economics in the 1980s.

That is why it is rather astounding that two of Miami’s Wynwood schools, Eneida M. Hartner elementary school and Jose De Diego middle school, are completely covered in murals.

Mr. June. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Raw Project in Wynwood, Miami is the initiative of Robert De Los Rios, who partnered with private contributors, did fundraising, and asked a coalition of artists to paint the walls of the schools for the kids.

Part of its success of course is due to the status of the Wynwood neighborhood as a magnet for graffiti and Street Artists over the last decade or so. Already coming to Wynwood for Art Basel or to partake in a related art event, these artists have given of themselves and their talents to create a completely unique and dynamic environment for students to learn and grow up around.

Zed1. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

We captured a number of these walls during successive visits over the last few years and share them with BSA readers today.

Please consider donating to the school organization to continue this program and to refresh or replace murals as they age. http://www.projectwynwood.com/raw/

Martin Whatson. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2501. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

INO at work on his mural at The Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

INO. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © INO)

Kevin Ludo at work on his mural at The Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kevin Ludo. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Louis Masai at work on his mural at The Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Louis Masai. The Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Emil Walker)

Dan Witz. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pip Squeak. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Axel Rod. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bik Ismo. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Findac. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face on the left with Pixel Pancho on the right. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

MTO. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Paola Delfin. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Spencer Keeton Cunnigham. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Word To Mother. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pastel. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jose Mertz . Lister. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Looks like the kids at the Jose De Diego middle school are being inspired by the art of Ben Eine. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Martin Whatson. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Txemy. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

New “Uninhibited” Art Scene in Allapattah, Miami

January 3, 2017 Artists

Clara Vanessa Avalo and her Uninhibited Urban Art Magazine mounted their own celebratory event full of artists and fans this year in Allapattah, a gritty neighborhood adjacent to the glaring spotlights of Wynwood during Art Basel Miami.

Bordalo II . Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Celebrating the magazine’s first anniversary Ms. Vanessa Avalo’s project brought a number of artists to paint live at “The Collective” during Basel week and to meet new folks and art fans at their big party out back at the compound and gallery. A self-described Luxury Real Estate Broker, Ms. Vanessa Avalo has managed to parlay international travel and art-world relationships with her affection for urban artists and is growing a scene of her own with some well-known and newer names on the scene. Ms. Avalo is the curator, organizer and creator of Uninhibited Urban Art Magazine and Uninhibited Mural Festival Allaphatta.

Bordalo II (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Loosely referred to by some as “The Collective Art Miami” this noisy front/quiet back block encompasses all the organic bohemian stuff that fuels a grassroots artists community and draws interest – a radio station (Jolt Radio), record store, live performances, small gallery shows, in-gallery yoga, design startups, production teams, dance, fashion.

With the exception of The London Police pieces all the murals featured here were created this year from November 21st. through December 2nd. These photos can give you a taste of the new grassroots scene growing out of, or perhaps in response to, the madness that is Wynwood.

Miles Toland (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Miles Toland . Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The London Police (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Miami Basel/Wynwood 2016 Wrap: Parade of Eye-Popping Beauty at a Portentous Time

December 7, 2016 Artists

An embarrassment of riches in so many ways, the Wynwood Street Art and mural scene is outrageously sexy, flashy, ugly, posey, pretty, proliferate and quizzically content-free. The annual outdoor urban art visual carnival that accompanies Art Basel in Miami is full of hi/low expectation and spectacle, and it confidently delivers on both.

Long-limbed and shimmery sleek women are often working the sidewalks like runways, the men are carefully posing/not posing/posing with open shirts and genial braggadocio, and there are thousands, more likely millions of selfies taken in front of painted walls.

International art fans are mixing with skater kids and hip hop heads and egg-headed social scientists and teenage marching bands and they are all gawking and interacting with loquacious mamacitas and bearded lumbersexuals; this is not your average clambake.

Sometimes it is just weird; flourescence mixed with plaid, shot-callers and violins, strollers and stillettos, an undertone of aggression and sexual tension, salt-of-the-earth with self-admiring clubbers, perfect skin and aerosol painted hands, a whiff of weed and a sense of wonder waiting to be discovered.

While there was a parade of 40 or so citizens and activists carrying signs and handing out flyers down the street to protest the oil pipelines taking sacred lands from native tribes and polluting natural water supplies, the thousands of art fans flooding the Wynwood neighborhood of Miami would have been hard pressed to find any Street Art talking about those topics.

Ironically the political shockwaves this year in Miami seemed to emanate from behind doors at the fair with Sam Durant’s “End White Supremacy” piece that many interpreted as a direct response to the election of a president whose followers include radical organizations that champion white supremacy. Alas, the piece was made in 2008, and although its hand-style emulates the hit and run scrawl of some graffiti on the street, it was a thoughtfully executed piece constructed as an illuminated sign.

With one very notable exception, the enormous and frightful mural featuring Donald Trump as Heath Ledger’s Joker wielding a knife at the neck of the Statue of Liberty with the screaming headline “Come On… What the Hell Do You Have to Lose?” by 12 artists for The Bushwick Collective/Mana Urban Arts Project, the professionalization of Street Artists and their murals may be steering the paintings in Wynwood away from in-your-face activism.

Granted, no one is thinking that commercially branded ventures that actually pay artists to paint will encourage the outright expression of social or political opinions – that may challenge or frighten potential customers and investors. Hotel lobbies need murals, sport cars need decorative painting, beer cans need labels. A number of liquor and lifestyle companies have invited artists here over the last few years and paid them to make their special events and products visually appealing, but little else.

David Choe portrait of Martha Cooper and her cat Mélia. Goldman Global Arts. Wynwood Walls. Art Basel Miami 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The newly refurbished Hard Rock stadium a few miles north of Miami features huge mural installations by international Street Artists that are curated by Goldman Global Arts, a division of Goldman Properties, the same real estate organization that has brought artists from around the world to the Wynwood Walls compound and featured their fine art canvasses in gallery expositions since the late 2000s. The pieces are opus works in an unusual setting and now sports fans are going to be up close and personal with some of the bigger names in Street Art right now.

It would be hypocritical for anyone to expect that these artists should accept commercial work and yet disrespect guidelines about the content. Similarly, expecting artists not to seek commercial opportunities for fear of “selling out” is arrogant and unrealistic and often the convenient provenance of privileged youth who dabble in “slumming” as a rebellious lifestyle. Later they are bankers.

Even so, where’s the anger right now? Why didn’t you see a lot of furious diatribes, challenges to power, and mockery of small-minded thinking on the street in Wynwood – and what would it take for Street Art to embrace its power to affect social and political change?

Just posing the question here now, again – as the topics of impending fascism, the increasing acts of racism, anti-Semitism, homophobia, corruption, oligarchy, state-corporatism, and a systematic eroding of respect for our institutions – all came up in conversations at bars, art openings, panel discussions, and roof parties.

The murals you see here are often technically superb and their themes, while muted, may address some of the larger themes affecting society, but one wonders if there is an internalized censorship that we have accepted.

These images are admittedly of a modest percentage of the hundreds of legal murals and illegally dashed-off pieces we saw this week, but that’s only because we have edited for our individual aesthetics, not because of content. Also admittedly, as people in the arts, we are exhausted from the recent election and all it portends, and we were happy for some glorious eye candy to salve the psychic wounds – so maybe we were selectively seeing what we wanted to.

Probably not too much though.

For an art practice with some serious and proud roots in activism, the walls in Miami are curiously quiet. But they definitely look amazing.

Martin Whatson. The Raw Project. Eneida M. Hartner Elementary School. Wynwood / Art Basel Miami 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Our week’s coverage on BSA:

Wynwood Awakes: BSA x UN BERLIN ART BASEL 2016: Dispatch 1

Police Arrest in Miami: BSA x UN BERLIN ART BASEL 2016: Dispatch 2

You’ll Need Good Shoes: BSA x UN BERLIN ART BASEL 2016: Dispatch 3

Clubhouse Chemistry in a Warehouse : BSA x UN BERLIN ART BASEL 2016: Dispatch 4

Paint, Protest, Party : BSA x UN BERLIN ART BASEL 2016: Dispatch 5

Urban Contemporary Inside the Fair : BSA x UN BERLIN ART BASEL 2016: Dispatch 6

This article is the result of a collaborative partnership with BSA and Urban Nation (UN).

This article is also published on The Huffington Post.

Welling Court 2016 Part II and AD HOC’s 10th Anniversary this Weekend

October 17, 2016 Artists

Long before Bushwick Open Studios and the Bushwick Collective there was Ad Hoc Gallery in a part of Brooklyn better known for bullet proof plexi-glass at the corner deli than being any kind of artists haven. Kool kids were actually filtering in to find cheap rents and space in the early 2000s and Garrison and Alison Buxton and a few other closely knit creatives, teachers, entrepreneurs, and activists created a gallery/community center that welcomed Street Artists and graffiti peeps.

Their gallery featured solo and group shows that included Shepard Fairey, Swoon, C215, Chris Stain, Know Hope, and many others over a five year period and Ad Hoc provided an entrance to the contemporary art world. Somehow they did it in a way that honored the roots of the culture, not simply cashing in on it. Smart and worldly, they also had open hearts to other people’s projects. We even had our inaugural BSA show and book launch there in 2008, donating all the money to Free Arts NYC and selling work from an impressive number of talented artists whose name you might recognize.

10 years later the actual gallery is long closed and they moved to Vermont to get more space to raise their daughter Halcyon, but the Buxtons still sell art, curate the occasional show, and have stayed seriously in the New York mix by hosting an annual street mural jam called Welling Court for the last half decade. True to their community roots, they keep the roster very wide and inclusive. This year the mural painting continued long after the actual event, so we recently went back to Queens to catch the ones we didn’t during this summers jam.

Coming up this weekend there is a big 10^th Anniversary party for Ad Hoc here in Brooklyn again, we thought we’d show you the murals we missed for the first collection of 2016 murals HERE. Hope to see you at this weekends Ad Hoc 10^th Anniversary event at 17 Frost.

Ad Hoc Art 10th Year Anniversary and Luna Park’s book launch Art Show will take place this Saturday, October 22nd at 17 Frost Gallery in Brooklyn. Click HERE for further details.

Photos of 2024 on BSA – #7: Optimo NYC and Friends Under the Bridge
December 24, 2024
We’re celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of the next by thanking BSA Readers, Friends, and Family …Read More »
Photos of 2024 on BSA – #8: Never Satisfied “Forever Forward”
December 23, 2024
We’re celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of the next by thanking BSA Readers, Friends, and Family …Read More »
Photos of 2024 on BSA – #9: Nekst, Guess, and Ethics in Street Art
December 22, 2024
We’re celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of the next by thanking BSA Readers, Friends, and Family …Read More »
Photos of 2024 on BSA – #10: Flaco the Owl a Folk Hero for a Minute in NYC
December 21, 2024
We’re celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of the next by thanking BSA Readers, Friends, and Family …Read More »
Photos of 2024 on BSA – #11: Support the Kids
December 20, 2024
We’re celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of the next by thanking BSA Readers, Friends, and Family …Read More »
Photos of 2024 on BSA – #12: Lady Pink’s Love Letters to the City at UN
December 19, 2024
We’re celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of the next by thanking BSA Readers, Friends, and Family …Read More »
Photos of 2024 on BSA – #13: Inkman’s Thin Line
December 18, 2024
We’re celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of the next by thanking BSA Readers, Friends, and Family …Read More »

BSA Special Feature: Yok & Sheryo: Mumbai “Varuna Vessel”

Mr. June Paints in June

Concreto #4 , Fortaleza, Brazil

Doug Gillen takes on Email Art Scams

Top image: A new Biggie by Sipros for The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sipros. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Niels Shoe Meulman. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BK Foxx. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Li-Hill. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ruben Ubiera. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Skewville. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Skewville. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Skewville. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Reme821. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cabaio Spirito. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cabaio Spirito. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Solus. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jeff Henriquez. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jeff Henriquez. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Golden 305 (with the work of Celso “Work” on top from a previous edition). The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Michel Velt. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hops1. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hops1. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hops1. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Loomit . Bert. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Loomit . Bert. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Franck Duval. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. Hydee. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. June. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. June. The Bushwick Collective Edition 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Top Image: Alex Senna ( photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ai Weiwei. “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors”. NYC wide multimedia/multi site exhibition for Public Art Fund. Brooklyn, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Art Council (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Terry Urban (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Adam Fujita and Fontes World collaboration brings to mind our recent article about artists endless fight for affordable housing in NYC Indeed a Dying Breed. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified Artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stray Ones (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ernest Zacharevic fills the space with a cube. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified Artist in Cholula, Puebla. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Paris (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Zola (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn vs Everybody (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Retna in Cholula, Puebla. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Román in Cholula, Puebla. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. June for The Buschwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This public ad campaign against fur borrows from the street art stencil technique. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified Artist in Mexico City. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. January 2018. Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Reimagining Art in Wynwood: The RAW Project.

The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) received $148 million in 2016. The war budget, also called the “Defense Budget”, was approved for $582 billion for this year.

For comparison’s sake, that means the “Defense Budget” is 3,900 times the size of the NEA.

Paola Delfin at work on her mural at The Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Paola Delfin with some fans. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

That is why it is rather astounding that two of Miami’s Wynwood schools, Eneida M. Hartner elementary school and Jose De Diego middle school, are completely covered in murals.

Mr. June. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Raw Project in Wynwood, Miami is the initiative of Robert De Los Rios, who partnered with private contributors, did fundraising, and asked a coalition of artists to paint the walls of the schools for the kids.

Zed1. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

We captured a number of these walls during successive visits over the last few years and share them with BSA readers today. Please consider donating to the school organization to continue this program and to refresh or replace murals as they age. http://www.projectwynwood.com/raw/

Martin Whatson. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Martin Whatson. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2501. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

INO at work on his mural at The Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

INO. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © INO)

Kevin Ludo at work on his mural at The Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kevin Ludo. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Louis Masai at work on his mural at The Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Louis Masai at work on his mural at The Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Louis Masai. The Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Emil Walker)

Dan Witz. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pip Squeak. Eneida M. Hartner elementary school. Wynwood, Miami. 2016 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Axel Rod. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bik Ismo. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Findac. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face on the left with Pixel Pancho on the right. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

MTO. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Paola Delfin. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Spencer Keeton Cunnigham. Jose De Diego middle school. Wynwood, Miami. 2014 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

We captured a number of these walls during successive visits over the last few years and share them with BSA readers today.

Please consider donating to the school organization to continue this program and to refresh or replace murals as they age. http://www.projectwynwood.com/raw/