We’re celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of the next by thanking BSA Readers, Friends, and Family for your support in 2024. Picked by our followers, these photos are the heavily circulated and “liked” selections of the year – shot by our Editor of Photography, Jaime Rojo. We’re sharing a new one every day to celebrate all our good times together, our hope for the future, and our love for the street. Happy Holidays Everyone!
They say it takes a village. This photo pays homage to the community of writers and artists in New York and to tried-and-true, born-and-bred New Yorkers like Optimo NYC, who bring it to the street year after year with a lot of heart.
Societal norms and entertainment ethics change, sometimes radically, as time progresses. It would be fantastic if you could determine which era is more shocking and if its behaviors indicate a golden age or a declining one. Just look at New York history at Coney Island, which may seem barbaric and beyond the pale by today’s standards, alongside oddly similar occurrences in contemporary Western society.
On Friday night, during the opening ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, X was all atwitter with self-proclaimed Christians expressing outrage over a small segment of the three-and-a-half-hour show that featured a few well-known French drag performers doing a campy modern homage to The Last Supper paintings of the Renaissance. Decades of austerity budgets have starved our education system, and it shows, as many were scandalized by this portrayal of ‘Sodom and Gomorrah’ and other ‘disgusting’ scenes referencing French history, such as the French Revolution, the Enlightenment, World War I and II, the Industrial Revolution, and the Cultural Renaissance. And that depiction of Marie Antoinette holding her head under her arm? There’s a story behind that.
And here is our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Aiko, Adam Fujita, Homesick, Degrupo, Optimo NYC, Werds, DEK2DX, Lee Holin, Snoeman, NAY 281, Bogus, EXR, Uwont, Jacob Thomas, Chido, Smooth, Kasio, Wild West, JDI, and FAQ COP.
How’s your summer been so far? Many people say that Memorial Day unofficially begins Summer, so this week was the first one. Indeed! Baseball, soccer, and kickball are in the park, and movies or cocktails are on the roof. Lifeguards are on the beach, and kids are throwing up on the Cyclone at Coney Island or throwing frisbees on Central Park grass. The air in some neighborhoods smells like lilac bushes, urine, french fries, marijuana, or aerosol paint. Or all of it at once. When it all swirls around you, it is a heady mix. Cute girls in short shorts and cute boys on skateboards may not fall in love given these circumstances, but they might!
This week, 45 was found guilty on 34 counts in court. We New Yorkers, who have known him for years, are unsurprised.
Here is our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Specter, Alice Pasquini, Degrupo, Optimo NYC, Enzo, Nite Owl, Miki Mu, NYC Kush Co., Klonism, Max Grax, Friz, KMG, Agent Decay, Jare, SYE5, Benny Cruz.
The first time artist Specter painted this memorial for Yusuf Hawkins in Brooklyn was in 2011. He’s restored it and added more to the environment of the mural, two times since then. This is the second restoration that he did in the past few weeks.
“Art is not a mirror held up to reality, but a hammer with which to shape it.”
– Bertolt Brecht
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week!
Our current reality appears quite bent, and maybe art has the power to straighten it out, but you won’t see a lot of political stuff on the streets right now ironically. Here and there, yes, but as the US stirs the embers of resentment into a third world war in the Middle East that will possibly metastasize with other warring regions, it appears that we collectively look again at our belly buttons.
Brooklyn is booming with some fresh work this week, with a winter snowstorm that left us with a white blanket to augment the freshest street art and graffiti. This week, Barcelona’s KRAM shows up in BK with their eclectic styles interplaying. Sice is nice, QUAZAR climbs up, and Toney crosses, and Parisian/Londoner/Brooklyn-based Oscar Nett is hyperrealistic and geometrically dramatic, giving us some Li-Hill vibes, no?
Here is our weekly interview with the street: this week featuring Obey, Cost, Jason Naylor, Degrupo, Optimo NYC, Kram, Hek Tad, Muebon, Slomo, Oscar Lett, Konozco, Toney, Mishka Bobisha, Rack, Klash, QUAZAR, Trip, Sice.
We’re celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of the next by thanking BSA Readers, Friends, and Family for your support in 2023. Picked by our followers, these photos are the heavily circulated and “liked” selections of the year – shot by our Editor of Photography, Jaime Rojo. We’re sharing a new one every day to celebrate all our good times together, our hope for the future, and our love for the street. Happy Holidays Everyone!
In Manhattan, at the corner of Houston Street, the Bowery Wall has reclaimed its voice in the visual dialogue of the streets this year. Marked by a vibrant array of characters, letter styles, and slogans, the wall has transformed from just another graffiti-covered surface to a vehicle for promotion and commerce, a vociferous platform for protest and argument, a landmark of artistic expression that is with and without permission. Originating in past decades as one in a sea of graffitied walls, it served as a laboratory for many artists, including the famously renowned Keith Haring.
During the go-go 2010s, the wall underwent a change that shook and reshaped its character. Owners and real estate champions of the arts Tony Goldman and later his daughter Jessica, transformed it into a more formally curated showcase. This shift occasionally sparked controversy among local graffiti enthusiasts due to its blend of artistic and commercial interests, attracting a surge in bombers and detractors.
This year, with a relaxed approach to curation, the wall has witnessed a resurgence of street-led creativity. The result is an ever-evolving, organic display of visual artistry – a dynamic and eye-popping chaotic showcase that continually engages the New York audience. A notable figure in this artistic whirlwind is Optimo NYC, a native talent often seen at the forefront, almost like a de facto Mayor of New York, complete with his signature top hat and tails.
The war rages again in Gaza, and the street art in New York reflects the cultural response with more pieces every week. New York’s Fifth Avenue will be closed on three Sundays this month to allow more foot traffic to enjoy the holidays and avert car deaths now that the tree and skating rink are open at Rockefeller Center. Our esteemed New York politicians keep doing us proud this week, with George Santos getting expelled from Congress, and Trump being forced to face criminal charges like everyone else. We say goodbye to the first female Supreme Court Judge Sandra O’Connor, and to a person whom most of the world’s press contend was one of the biggest international war criminals responsible for millions of deaths, Henry Kissinger. Remarkable for some that Jimmy Carter outlived him.
Here is our weekly interview with the street: this week featuring Optimo NYC, Kram, Gats, Eternal Possessions, Muebon, El Hase, Stay Busy, Words on the Street, Alex Itin, Madison Storm, Jocelyn Tsajh, Homer, Siomo, Clams, Celeb, and Under Control.
How are feeling? Did you have a good Thanksgiving day, and did you see the crowds and balloons and marching bands along the parade route and the still intact orange and yellow leaves on the trees on Central Park West? Did you see Dolly Parton dressed as a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader singing at the halftime game, and did you see your girl Ava from up the block with her vintage vest and platform boots when grandma sent you out for a can of whipped cream for the pumpkin pies?
“Have you kept pace with the latest revelation in the art world? A remarkable BBC interview with Banksy, dating back two decades, has recently surfaced, sparking renewed excitement. These are indeed vibrant times for art enthusiasts and creators alike. Take, for instance, the Brooklyn Museum’s current showcase. It features an engaging Spike Lee exhibition alongside the innovative ‘Copy Machine Manifesto.’ This zine exhibition is a deep dive into five or six decades of subcultural and counter-cultural movements. It highlights a diverse range of self-published works, including gossip magazines, graffiti newspapers (a nod to David Schmidlapp and Phase 2), and expressions from queercore to hardcore. The exhibit is an eclectic mix of self-aware conceptual art, original fashion, explorations of sexual desire and confusion, comix, handmade collage, and expressions of nihilism, ennui, satire, humor, and lamentation. It’s a vivid reflection of art and expression – and inspirational to any artist who wants to have a voice.
We’re going back for a second helping.
Here is our weekly interview with the street: this week featuring Stikman, Cosbe, Below Key, No Sleep, Huetek, Optimo NYC, Jay Shells, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, OH!, Muebon, Humble, Jappy Agoncillo, Jeff Roseking, Hu, Manual Alejando, Deter, Jason Shelowitz, and KIR.
New York is drying out after the most intense storm we can remember just clobbered us on Friday. The loss of life, property, and minds that can happen when two months of rain falls in one day is hard to describe. Because we are such a dirty city, you can imagine the plume of detritus that got flushed out to sea, viewed from above. Our hearts go out to fellow New Yorkers who really suffered as a result of this pounding storm.
Here is our weekly interview with the street: this week featuring Nychos, No Sleep, Optimo NYC, Huetek, Zexor, Mike Makatron, Tempt, Lango, Viva Che Man, Carly Ealy, 2DX, Sucioe, and Colder.
It’s no joke, this feeling of connectedness across cities and time zones that the street art and graffiti scene encourages – and often, it all overlaps in NYC, yo! This week, we have Martin Whatson and Hama Woods from Norway on the wall in New York, and it was a pleasure to see them both. It’s another honor to see Niels “Shoe” Meulman in the hood for only a minute, but long enough to see his new wall in Bushwick go up! We’ve been very lucky over these last 15 years to meet so many great people and talents worldwide, making streets in new cities seem like home because we see the work of friends and acquaintances wherever we are exploring. This week we have shots of New York and LA mixed together – enjoy the show!
Here is our weekly interview with the street: this week featuring Adam Fujita, Martin Whatson, Adam Fu, Niels ‘Shoe’ Meulman, Solus, Danielle Mastrion, Optimo NYC, Hama Woods, Cody James, BK Sckler, Toe Flop, Hiero Veiga, Hydrane, Notice, Jayo V, Alexali Gonzales, TBanbox, and Fenji93.
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! And how beautiful this city is, even when the heat is on. The amount of talent on our streets is so overwhelming, thank you New York.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: Homesick, Mort Art, Optimo NYC, Savior El Mundo, Neckface, Lungebox, DEK2DX, Hektad, Paolo Tolentino, Jappy Agoncillo, SMURFO, Mike King, Mat Lakas, Lasak Art, Snith Node, Big808, Talia Lempert, Individual Activist.
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! These are our longest days of the year. Savor them, luxuriate in them, celebrate the light. The trees, the grass, the plants, all richly green. The breezes are smooth against your cheek, the sound of kids screaming as they play in the park is like music.
The ebb and flow of humanity washes across the pavement daily here in our gritty city – forlorn, inquisitive, raucous, opinionated, gentle, buoyant, clever, blunt, wonderous, rarely neutral. Our murals are mighty, our styles can be wild, illustrative, fantastic, inertly corporate, romantically impressionist, electric and eclectic. Unlike many downtowns, this collection is organic and unmediated – perfectly imperfect. As inhospitable as this city can feel to a newcomer, remember this; You are welcome. Do your thing.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: Faile, Joe Iurato, Queen Andrea, Dasic Fernandez, Optimo NYC, CES, Hef, Spot, KMS Crew, Ange, Bekah Bad, Logan Hicks, Hiraku, Agud, Lexi bella, and Jeff Hernandez.
Interpreting Warmia’s Hidden Patterns from Above and Within Bartek Swiatecki’s latest book, Warmioptikum, is a striking fusion of abstract painting …Read More »
Reprinted from the original review. “Graffiti Grrlz: Performing Feminism in the Hip Hop Diaspora” by Jessica Nydia Pabón-Colón provides an …Read More »
“CHRYSALIS” Installation by Gonzalo Borondo Spanish artist Gonzalo Borondo is again blurring the lines between architecture and illusion, history and …Read More »
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