All posts tagged: Pejac

BSA Film Friday: 06.23.23

BSA Film Friday: 06.23.23

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

Now screening:
1. Narcelio Grud. Escultura Sonora Cinetica

2. Faith XLVII – Calgary

3. NEW WAVE BY Pejac

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BSA Special Feature: Narcelio Grud. Escultura Sonora Cinetica

This is exactly why your kids have fun things to play with at the park and to challenge their imaginations. Former/current street artist and public kinetic art sculptor Narcelio Grud shares with us how he made this new interactive kinetic and sound sculpture in Casa do Governador Cultural Park, in Vila Velha/ES. The action is powered by you: a conveyor belt triggers three mechanisms and pulling the strings activates the clappers of bells.

Narcelio Grud. Escultura Sonora Cinetica



Faith XLVII – Calgary

In her ongoing search for meaning and answers to existential questions, Faith XLVII shares a spoken-word piece to accompany this stop-action video of a mural she called “Calgary”.

NEW WAVE by Pejac

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Nuart Reconnects in Aberdeen 2022

Nuart Reconnects in Aberdeen 2022

We were fortunate to have been invited to participate in the very first edition of Nuart Aberdeen back in the quaint days of 2017. We had a blast, and in the process fell in love with this city made of granite. The locals and our hosts made certain that we had all we needed to do our job and to enjoy the festival, the city, and of course its people. With a theme of reconnection, the new iteration of the festival last month brought fresh murals to city walls, perhaps revitalizing people’s connection to the built environment in a new way.

Martin Whatson. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)

A franchising, of sorts, of the original Norwegian Nuart festival and its originators, this offshoot festival was so successful that year that city officials here funded another few editions. The events that engage the community feature live painting, a speaker program, walking tours, a pub fight/debate, and children’s art programming. All told it’s a warm example of street art culture mainstreaming itself right into the daily fabric of this prosperous Scottish city often called the “Oil Capital of Europe”

Martin Whatson. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Photographer Martha Cooper was invited to participate in Nuart’s newest event and she shares with us and our readers her documentation of the 11 artists’ artworks on the streets of Aberdeen.

“Most of the buildings in Aberdeen are built of granite giving the city a distinctive, very gray, look,” says Ms. Cooper of this city that boasts a long industry of granite work. “Martin Whatson’s mural this year shows a stone mason trimming off “excess” graffiti to make a straight edge along a graffiti-covered wall.” Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Martin Whatson. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
James Klinge and Martin Whatson. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
James Klinge and Martin Whatson. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
James Klinge paints a portrait of his wife. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Erin Holly. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Erin Holly. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Nuno Viegas. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Nuno Viegas. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Nuno Viegas’ “Queen of Hearts” is a match to the “King of Hearts” mural he painted for Nuart in 2019. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Miss Printed. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Miss Printed. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Miss Printed. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Miss Printed. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Jacoba. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Jacoba. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Jacoba. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Jofre Oliveras. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Jofre Oliveras. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Slim Safont. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Slim Safont. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Martha tells us that this “I Will Pay Taxes” mural is painted on a building whose owner didn’t pay his taxes. It was controversial but in the end, the organizers of the festival prevailed to keep the wall up without alterations or censorship.

Slim Safont. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Mohamed Lghacham. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Mohamed Lghacham. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Mohamed Lghacham. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Mohamed Lghacham based his mural on a vintage ad from a magazine. He collects these images for inspiration. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Elisa Capdevila. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Elisa Capdevila. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Pejac. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Pejac. Nuart Aberdeen Festival 2022. Aberdeen, Scotland. (photo © Martha Cooper)
Rubislaw Quarry is the biggest (or one of the biggest depending on the source)
man-made holes in Europe” says, Ms. Cooper. “Now it is filled with water to make a man-made lake in the center of the city of Aberdeen.” (photo © Martha Cooper)
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Pejac. So Far, So Close: Charity Auction for “Voices of Children” and “Acted”

Pejac. So Far, So Close: Charity Auction for “Voices of Children” and “Acted”

Street artist Pejac is raising funds for NGOs that provide services to war-torn populations, with a new auction of his latest print entitled So Far, So Close.

Senseless loss comes from war, and artists again rise to the occasion to aid those who are hurt by it.

The artist says that 100% of the proceeds will be given to the NGOs Voices of Children, which focused on helping children who have suffered as a result of military operations to recover psychologically and psychosocially, and Acted, a French NGO that works to provide basic necessities to the population as well as helping in evacuation and crisis management training.

Pejac. So Far, So Close. Charity Auction For Ukraine. (photo courtesy of the artist)

The auction starts today, tomorrow the 12th of May at 16:00 hrs (CET) and will run until the 26th of May at 16:00 hrs (CET). It will be held by the Tate Ward auction house together with the online art platform Artsy. To take part online you can use the following link. Potential buyers will need to register for an account with Artsy on their website.

Pejac. So Far, So Close. Detail. Charity Auction For Ukraine. (photo courtesy of the artist)
Pejac. So Far, So Close. Detail. Charity Auction For Ukraine. (photo courtesy of the artist)

SPECIFICATIONS

So Far, So Close – Artist’s Proof Print
110 x 80 cm (43.3 x 31.5 inch)
Single-coloured hand-pulled photopolymer on hand-coloured monotype
Okawara paper on Velin d’Arches cotton paper 300 gsm
Hand-finished by the artist by use of acrylic paint and pencil
Signed and numbered by the artist
A certificate of authenticity will be issued six months after the purchase
Packed and delivered in a custom-made wooden crate featuring a laser-engraved image of one scene of the artwork.

Pejac. So Far, So Close. Postcard Lottery ticket. Charity Auction For Ukraine. (photo courtesy of the artist)

The artist invites anyone who’d like to spread awareness of the fundraising to do so through his Instagram profile @Pejac_art. To say thank you for the help and support there will be a giveaway of 5 hand-painted, signed postcards from the SFSC collection.

You can follow this link for all the terms and conditions.

So Far, So Close – Postcard Lottery Ticket
21 x 14.8 cm (8.27 x 5.83 inch)
High-quality digital print in colour
Finesse Premium Silk 350 gsm paper mounted on 2.25 mm grey cardboard
Hand-finished by the artist by use of acrylic paint
Signed by the artist

Click HERE to register and to bid

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BSA Film Friday: 02.25.22

BSA Film Friday: 02.25.22

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

Now screening:
1. BSA Special Feature: Pejac: “SO FAR, SO CLOSE”
2. ‘APNEA’ Exhibition by Pejac. Berlin, Germany.
3. MadC – Mural Oasis

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BSA Special Feature: Pejac: “SO FAR, SO CLOSE” The making of a print.

A recent print by street artist Pejac has a sudden additional resonance as we consider it. The Russian invasion of Ukraine is directly adjacent to Europe and NATO member countries, yet in another perspective, it feels far away for many Europeans.

In an interconnected world that is reliant upon trade and diplomatic ties, and one that is weighted with entrenched war industry interests, no one is far from it today.

“This delicate piece of art depicts a bird’s-eye view of a battle in an infinite trench. ‘‘Sometimes perceiving someone as a friend or foe is just a matter of perspective’, Pejac comments in reference to his artistic rendition of the absurdity of combat.”

“At the tail end of October 2021, a former train manufacturing site in Berlin was home to a 10 days-long exhibition. It was Pejac’s fourth self-produced solo show that saw the Spanish artist push his exposition practice to new levels. Having at his disposal eight different rooms and spaces, Pejac put on display over forty new artworks that literally came in all shapes and sizes.”

MadC – Mural Oasis

“MadC paints 3 murals for Mural Oasis at Prizm OPutlet in Primm, Nevada in 2019, video by Chop ’em Down”

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BSA Film Friday: 02.18.22

BSA Film Friday: 02.18.22

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

Now screening:
1. BSA Special Feature: ‘Gold Mine’ by Pejac
2. Graffiti & Jail: Doug Gillen and FWTV
3. Said Dokins, Cix, and Spaik: Memoria Canera

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BSA Special Feature: ‘Gold Mine’ by Pejac

Pejac recently completed a series of interventions within the oldest prison in Spain, the Penitentiary Center of El Dueso. Located at the entrance of artist’s hometown of Santander, overlooking the Cantabrian sea and surrounded by marshes, the prison built at the beginning of the 20th century on the remains of an old Napoleon’s fort was another challenging setting to carry out his poetic interventions.

For 11 days, its walls, courtyards, and corridors became the artist’s workplace, giving life to the Gold Mine project in that sense. The project integrates three singular pieces, which as a whole represent the value of the human condition, its resistance to adversity, the need to create, and its desire, above all, to leave a mark.

“A prison itself is a place wrapped in harsh reality and at the same time, I feel that it has a great surrealist charge. It is as if you only need to scratch a little on its walls to discover the poetry hidden inside.” PEJAC


Graffiti & Jail: Doug Gillen and FWTV

And on another side of the coin, Doug Gillen of FifthWall TV talks about graffiti and street artists who go to prison as punishment for doing illegal graffiti on the streets.


Memoria Canera

Said Dokins, Cix, and Spaik: Memoria Canera was part of a three mural series made by the outstanding Mexican Street Artists Said Dokins, Cix, and Spaik at the Maximum Security Penitentiary in Morelia, Michoacán.

The project intended to shed light on a discussion about Cultural Rights and how artistic and cultural practices can be a valuable tool to mediate against exclusion and marginalization. By disrupting the space with color and text, symbols and patterns, the environment is transformed. The new murals are “Puedes Volver a Volar” (You can Fly Again) by Spaik, “Estado Mental” (Mental State) by Cix, and “Memoria Canera” (Memories from Jail) by Said Dokins.

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Pejac Transforms Decay With a Fine Brush in Madrid

Pejac Transforms Decay With a Fine Brush in Madrid

“A minimalist artwork charged with surrealism,” says the press release about this new street art piece by Madrid-based Pejac in his city. Taking the opportunity of disrepair as an expanse in the imagination, the tiny forms are ant-like in their industry with flake paint providing oddly shaped morsels to save or cavort with.

Here in the neighborhood of Antoñita Jiménez, the artist adorns the exterior of the new VETA Gallery, perhaps as a meditation on artists role in gentrifying parts of cities – drawing attention to a place generally overlooked. In the southernmost area of the city, “this traditionally working-class neighborhood is one of the most diverse areas of the capital.” That is usually how it begins.

Pejac. “Everything Is Relative”. Madrid, Spain. (photo courtesy of the artist)
Pejac. “Everything Is Relative”. Madrid, Spain. (photo courtesy of the artist)
Pejac. “Everything Is Relative”. Madrid, Spain. (photo courtesy of the artist)
Pejac. “Everything Is Relative”. Madrid, Spain. (photo courtesy of the artist)
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BSA Film Friday: 10.29.21

BSA Film Friday: 10.29.21

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

Now screening:
1. Shepard Fairey Talks About New Collaboration with Martha Cooper During Studio Visit via New Deal
2. “Landless Stranded” by Pejac

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BSA Special Feature: Shepard Fairey Talks About New Collaboration with Martha Cooper During Studio Visit via New Deal

BSA is proud to debut a new collaborative print with Shepard Fairey and Shepard Fairey – a true honor really. Released by Urban Nation today it is a print made from a brand new original artwork commissioned for the Urban Nation Museum and our exhibition “Martha Cooper: Taking Pictures”.

During his development of the canvas last year Shepard was interviewed in Studio Number 2 by New Deal. See this video and you can learn a little about the new print going on sale today.

Shepard Fairey Studio Visit via New Deal

“Landless Stranded” by Pejac

As long as we’re in Berlin, we’ll be checking out PEJACs new show here this week and of course, we’ll be heading out to Holy Cross Church to see this powerful new public statement, “Landless Stranded.”

“As most people are familiar with distressing scenes involving refugees only through television images, it’s a bewildering sight to behold in an urban setting, high above street level. It’s as though reality has been dismantled in one location and anomalously constituted anew somewhere else,” says Pejac.

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BSA Film Friday: 10.01.21

BSA Film Friday: 10.01.21

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

Now screening:
1. Nathan Paulin on a High Wire Between Tour Eiffel & Theatre National
2. Man on Wire. Twin Towers with Philippe Petit
3. Pejac: Apnea

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BSA Special Feature: Nathan Paulin on a High Wire Between Tour Eiffel & Theatre National

After gawking at the Arc de Triomphe here last week we wandered into one of our favorite outdoor arts – the tight wire walker, specifically Nathan Paulin, who walked above the crowds at the Eiffel Tower September 18th. A precursor perhaps to Parkour and more likely progeny of the circus, the art of walking high above the ground and risking life and limb and managing poetry at the same time is outrageous to some, sublime to others.

Nathan Paulin entre la Tour Eiffel and the Theatre National de Chaillot in Paris

Man on Wire. Twin Towers with Philippe Petit

In 1974, Philippe Petit, a 24 years old artist from France, performed what to this date we consider to be the most extraordinary unauthorized street art act ever pulled off in the world. On the morning of August 7, Mr. Petit walked across the Twin Towers on a high-wire without any safety precautions. No net, no harness. Just his mind, his balancing pole, and his body.

Mr. Petit’s meticulously planned stunt involved illegally rigging a 440-pound cable between the towers with the help of a small crew. He performed for 45 minutes at 1,312 ft (400 meters) walking 8 times back and forth along the wire, sitting, looking down, and waving to the stunned crowd below. Nobody will ever do that again. The Twin Towers are gone but Mr. Petit is still here, with us in NYC.

The Spanish street artist Pejac debuts a 45 piece collection of artworks for his show called APNEA in Berlin at the end of this month, his largest show to date.

“Most of the works were conceived while the world was holding its breath. APNEA for me means breathing again’’, Pejac comments in reference to both the pandemic and the title of his show. ‘‘During a time of lockdown, painting within the four walls of my studio felt like a liberation and a lifeline. APNEA represents this contradiction.’’

Pejac: Apnea

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BSA Film Friday: 11.20.20

BSA Film Friday: 11.20.20

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

Now screening :
1. “Strength” from Pejac
2. Chant – Faith XVII
3. Spells, The Salton Sea – Faith XLVII
4. EDOARDO TRESOLDI, An Interview

BSA Special Feature: “Strength” from Pejac

Santander, Spain has suffered from COVID, of course, as has most of the country. Local street artist PEJAC says he wanted to contribute to his local hospital, the University Hospital Marqués de Valdecilla, by painting in public areas for people to enjoy. He says the common theme that unites the three distinctly different styles he used, is Strength.

“It’s a gesture of gratitude to the heath workers of Valdecilla, for their work in general and during this Covid crisis in particular,” says PEJAC

PEJAC / STRENGTH

FAITH XLVII / CHANT

Reliably enigmatic, street artist Faith XVII is using the medium of video to add impressions and associations to her works here on a text series called “Chant”. The irony of using the letter C that may call to mind Chase bank is drawn tighter as you see neighborhoods and walls probably redlined by corporate banks, or targeted for annihilation through neglect. In the context of our older societies, one may see in her work the power of chanting to focus a larger group to act in union with purpose, and power.

SPELLS / SALTON SEA / FAITH XLVII

60 miles south of Palm Springs, California, the Saltan Sea is disappearing, it’s shore moving miles in only a couple of decades, along with its population. Faith XVII is a Californian these days and she is here pondering the “beach” that remains, full of mercury, arsenic, selenium. California’s largest inland body of water now turns into dust, and Faith pours herself into the soil and the air that carries it; and the drought, well…  How this translates to her art on the street or in the studio, it is in alignment with her ongoing concerns about climate change – and you can be sure this project will appear again in her work.

EDOARDO TRESOLDI, An Interview

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BSA Film Friday: 06.28.19

BSA Film Friday: 06.28.19

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

Now screening :
1. Gonzalo Borondo “Merci” Temple des Chartrons
2. ELLE in Allentown
3. Pejac: YIN-YANG
4. “Beyond The Streets” In A New York Minute – By Chop ‘Em Down Films
5. LL Cool J – I’m Bad

BSA Special Feature: Gonzalo Borondo “Merci” Temple des Chartrons, France. 2019

Finally opened, its the spirit of man and nature working in concert in this vast emporium, a transformatorium, of images and pieces of memory from Street Artist Borondo. If you are in Paris before August 18, it is a must see.

ELLE in Allentown

Former tagger and now fulltime muralist, Elle talks about a new work in Allentown, PA, which is trying to kindle a creative arts / high tech reputation after the iron industry left. “The gist of the entire collage is that all of women are more powerful together,” says Elle.

Pejac: YIN-YANG

Spanish Street Artist and studio artist Pejac is back with one of his visual aphorism that addresses climate change ironically.

“Beyond The Streets” In A New York Minute – By Chop ‘Em Down Films

Like we said earlier this week when this video debuted:

“It’s a unique talent to capture the fervor of an opening like “Beyond the Streets” in one minute. The show spreads over two floors and fifty years – the reunions alone were enough for an hour movie. But somehow Zane catches an individual, personal, flavor in a New York minute.”

LL Cool J – I’m Bad

Also, the because it’s Friday and because LL is Bad

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BSA “Images Of The Year” For 2018 Video

BSA “Images Of The Year” For 2018 Video

Here it is! Photographer Jaime Rojo of BSA selects a handful of his favorite images from his travels through 9 countries and around New York this year to present our 2018 BSA Images of the Year.

Seeing the vast expressions of aesthetics and anti-aesthetic behavior has been a unique experience for us. We’re thankful to all of the artists and co-conspirators for their boundless ideas and energy, perspectives and personas.

Once you accept that much of the world is in a semi-permanent chaos you can embrace it, find order in the disorder, love inside the anger, a rhythm to every street.

And yes, beauty. Hope you enjoy BSA Images of the Year 2018.


Here’s a list of the artists featured in the video. Help us out if we missed someone, or if we misspelled someones nom de plume.

1Up Crew, Abe Lincoln Jr., Adam Fujita, Adele Renault, Adrian Wilson, Alex Sena, Arkane, Banksy, Ben Eine, BKFoxx, Bond Truluv, Bordalo II, Bravin Lee, C215, Cane Morto, Charles Williams, Cranio, Crash, Dee Dee, D*Face, Disordered, Egle Zvirblyte, Ernest Zacharevic, Erre, Faith LXVII, Faust, Geronimo, Gloss Black, Guillermo S. Quintana, Ichibantei, InDecline, Indie 184, Invader, Isaac Cordal, Jayson Naylor JR, Kaos, KNS, Lena McCarthy, Caleb Neelon, LET, Anthony Lister, Naomi Rag, Okuda, Os Gemeos, Owen Dippie, Pejac, Pixel Pancho, Pork, Raf Urban, Resistance is Female, Sainer, Senor Schnu, Skewville, Slinkachu, Solus, Squid Licker, Stinkfish, Strayones, Subway Doodle, The Rus Crew, Tristan Eaton, Vegan Flava, Vhils, Viktor Freso, Vinie, Waone, Winston Tseng, Zola

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BSA’s 15 Most Popular Murals of 2018: A “Social” Survey

BSA’s 15 Most Popular Murals of 2018: A “Social” Survey

There’s street cred, and then there’s social media credit. These are 15 of the latter, compiled by BSA by our own rigorous methodology.

Bears lead the pack! A monkey is here as well. Skulls and Biggie Smalls make it in again. Text wisdom also wins along with representations of the natural world like Pejac’s tree and Naomi Rag’s flower. And a rep for Game of Thrones and the horrors of Hitchcock as well – you knew popular culture would represent.

These are the top murals from 2018 via tabulations of our website, Instagram, Twitter, and two Facebook pages. In a thoroughly unscientific survey that calculates “likes” and “clicks” and “re-Tweets” and “impressions”, and every year we cannot predict which one’s are going to be popular, but sometimes you can guess. We don’t publish a lot of murals of cats, but if we did, they would probably win. Just guessing.

This year we’re drawn to the two written word pieces, likely because they are erudite and witty to some extent – and because it is good to see how smart BSA readers are. Brilliant, we say!

Welcome to your favorite murals of the year:


15 – Banksy.

A tribute. A plea. A denunciation. A well used example of the artist’s platform to bring awareness of the plight of artists who dare to set themselves free with their art. Depicted here is Ms. Zehra Doğan, an editor and journalist from Turkey. She is presently serving time in jail for painting Turkish flags on a painting showing destroyed buildings and posting the painting on Social Media. Marking the time with tick

Banksy. Free Zehra Doğan. NYC. Houston/Bowery Wall. March 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

14 – Sonny Sundancer.

Sonny Sundancer finishes his final mural for his #totheboneproject , a grizzly titled “Standing Tall” looking out over Greenwich Village.

“Standing Tall” was done in conjunction with The L.I.S.A Project NYC. May 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

13 – Axe Colours.

Axe Colours goes GOT and the question going into 2019 in many people’s minds is: Will she or won’t she?

The Mother of Dragons on the streets of Barcelona as interpreted by Axe Colours. This photo was taken on November 2017 but shared on Instagram on February of 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

12 – Owen Dippie.

New Zealand artist Owen Dippie is known for pairing pop characters in his realistic large scale work. Here’s an odd couple of film director Hitchcock and Brooklyn rapper Biggie Smalls.

Pigeons, Ravens, Cigars, Mystery and Music on the streets of Brooklyn. September 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

11 – Kobra.

Brazilian artist Kobra gave himself a residency in NYC this year with the goal of painting as many murals as time and available walls would permit him. He succeeded by painting 18 walls throughout NYC – mostly the top level easy to identify icons found on t-shirts, posters and postcards for decades here. One of his portraits of Amy Winehouse proved to be hugely popular.

Kobra. Amy Winehouse. Manhattan, October 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

1o – Disordered.

Anxiety rings true when the giveaways to business interests for nearly four decades under both dominant parties have gradually placed folks like these in this neighborhood constantly in fear of missing the rent, the grocery bill, the car payment, the cost of providing for their kids. Disordered is right.

#DISORDERED. Done in Welling Court, Queens for Welling Court 2018. July 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

9 – Kaos.

The KAOS Factory, colloquially named because the German graffiti artist by the same name has slowly taken it over with his work during the last few years, by default converting the former steam factory into his de facto “residency”.

KAOS. The Kaos Factory. Leipzig, Germany. October 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

8 – Naomi Rag.

Not specifically a Street Artist, Naomi Rag crochets her favorite things and puts them up mainly on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. This simple rose on a school yard fence steadily garnered attention throughout the year – and reminded us of this song from the 1960s.

“There is a rose in Spanish Harlem
A red rose up in Spanish Harlem
It is a special one, it’s never seen the sun
It only comes out when the moon is on the run
And all the stars are gleaming
It’s growing in the street right up through the concrete
But soft and sweet and dreaming…”

Jerry Leiber & Phil Spector

Naomi Rag. Red Rose in Spanish Harlem. March 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

7 – GlossBlack.

New York is a constant source of inspiration for countless artists of all disciplines who have made a home and hopefully a career in this dynamic city of endless serendipity and challenge. GlossBlack hit the mark with this tough and tumble tribute to the city.

GlossBlack in collaboration with Klughaus in Manhattan. March 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

6 – Bordalo II.

Bordalo II has evolved a spectacular practice of creating street works from our refuse that shock and thrill many a passersby with his ingenuity and evocative image making – while raising our collective consciousness about our responsibility to the earth.

Bordalo II. Lisbon, Portugal. June 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

4 – BKFoxx.

With a commercial eye toward the natural world and larger societal issues BKFoxx chooses subjects for their emotional impact and their ability to translates easily for an image-savvy audience whose endless hours of personal screen entertainment has produced an expectation for a big budget Hollywood and consumer culture slickness with high-production values.

BKFoxx in collaboration with JMZ Walls. Bushwick, Brooklyn. April 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

3 – Terry Urban.

Inspiration to create flows from many rivers and tributaries. Many times that inspiration comes from a fellow artist as is the case here. Art is for everyone, and the street is more than ever a perfect place to see it.

Terry Urban channeling Basquiat in Manhattan. January 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

3 – Egle Zvirblyte.

Egle’s feminism is abundantly clear on her work. A mixture of pop and riddles and unabashedly self assured.

Egle Zvirblyte. A project curated by BSA with the production assistance and wall access from Joe Franquinha / Crest Hardware and paint donated by Montana Cans. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2 – Pejac.

The Spaniard Pejac came for a few weeks to New York this spring and left this piece in Bushwick. The wall is a brick façade typical of many Brooklyn neighborhoods, but this one appears to have grown a tree this week. Perhaps he chose to paint this tree because the promise of spring had inspired him, or because this neighborhood remains industrial and could benefit from some more of nature’s influence. For us it’s all about context so it is good to see that a tree grows in Brooklyn.

Pejac. The Bushwick Collective. Brooklyn, NYC. March 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

1 – Adrian Wilson

Just in under the wire and straight to number 1, this cleverly turned phrase and hooded ideogram is an ironic amalgam of Banksy and Warhol that hit the nerve of readers who are becoming acutely aware of us all slipping into a surveillance society. Also, it’s funny.

We only published this mural in December but the number of hits and comments across social media indicated that it resonates strongly across a wide demographic. Photographer, videographer, former gallery owner and infrequent Street Artist Adrian Wilson clearly is not shooting for anonymity.

Top image: Adrian Wilson plays with words to reflect our pop culture trolling both Warhol and Banksy. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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