On any typical Wednesday, New York is a freak show on the subway, streets, in the corner deli. In a good way! This spooky time of year brings a larger allotment of costumes to the streets. Because it is Halloween, these alter egos also brings hidden fears and anxieties to the surface, revealing characters that lie deep within some people.
Only a few days before a US national election that feels pivotal and frightful to many, voters express fear and uncertainty toward both major candidates. In the wooly street art scene, symbols of the underworld reappear and linger year-round, waiting to be uncovered. Here, we present a collection of recent productions, large and small, peppered with quotes to celebrate Halloween.
“Deep into that darkness peering, long I stood there, wondering, fearing, doubting, dreaming dreams no mortal ever dared to dream before.” – The Raven, Edgar Allen Poe
“Ghosts are real, this much I know. There are things that tie them to a place, very much like we do.” – Crimson Peak by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins
Fast and furious, that’s how the neighborhood filled with people – and how the paint hit the walls yesterday. Returning today long after the aerosol cloud dissipated, we discover so many things the first time we missed. In truth, it wasn’t all finished when we left earlier, and the artworks came to life while we were gone. Some even climbed walls. Here’s a quick rundown of the first few that we capture in their entirety, as artists for this years’ ‘Hit the North’ boarded planes, trains, and automobiles to places in the country and out – leaving behind a stunning array of new pieces in Belfasts’ Cathedral Quarter.
A dynamic duo whose steps are in sync, Vibes has the style and the letters, and Odisy wows with the characters precisely drawn. Together this London based team show you how their world pops off the wall like a page from your favorite graphic novel. With solid skills in graffiti for years, it is good to see such a shared dedication to the culture and an updated version of it as well.
Perspicere, a leading figure in East London’s street art scene, mesmerizes with his enchanting string portraits and large-scale installations. Using single long threads, he creates intricate, nostalgic narratives that evoke themes of vulnerability and self-discovery. With exhibitions in galleries, museums, and street art festivals, Perspicere’s work continues to captivate audiences with a live-action technique that borders on sorcery.
Zabou, a French street artist based in London, specializes in realistic black and white portraits, skillfully capturing expression and emotions with her subjects. With over a decade of experience, she has created about 250 large-scale murals across 22 countries, infusing each piece with inspiration drawn from everyday life in the surrounding environment. Contemporary and universal, it remains human.
The Spain-based Lidia Cao is a contemporary artist favoring emotive paintings that explore themes of identity, memory, and connection. Introspection rules the day, as do her tight lines and bold colors.
Sr. Papá Chango is a Mexican artist based in Berlin. He often paints vibrant realms of his own construction and everyday scenes, merging his fantastical characters with otherwise mundane scenes or offbeat scenes imbued with a hint of baroque opulence.
Entertaining illustrator of characters and large-scale and loved Belfast muralist Kev Largey took on a rollikick horizontal strip with his buddy Pens to liven up the corner here at Hit the North.
Veks Van Hillik is a French street artist known for his captivating and surreal murals, draws inspiration from nature (often fish), pop culture, and art history. His unique style, influenced by artists like Gustave Doré and Salvador Dalí, features intricate details, richly warmed colors, painterly strokes, and fantastical creatures. Based in Toulouse, Hillik has left his mark on cities across Europe with his paintings, aiming to evoke emotion and curiosity while inviting viewers into a world of boundless imagination.
Eoin, an enigmatic artist with roots in 90s-era graffiti, has also roamed the globe, adorning walls across four continents with his mesmerizing anamorphia and energetic abstraction. With training in Fine Art Sculpture from the UK, he delved into painting in the city’s margins, drawn to abandoned sites and the allure of vast outdoor canvases. While his outdoor escapades once took center stage, he now crafts a harmonious fusion between his street art adventures and his studio explorations, weaving together a narrative that crosses boundaries.
Hurmorous FGB – or Francois Got Buffed, is an artist in Belfast known for his versatility in illustration, painting, and cartoon art. His vibrant use of colors and tightly rendered outlines immediately draw attention, creating visual entertainment that conveys narratives or roundabout societal commentary. Through his art, FGB sometimes brings attention to overlooked or disregarded issues, connecting with viewers of all demographics and leaving a lasting impact with his ability to engage audiences regardless of background.
Kitsune Jolene, born Jolien De Waele in Ghent, Belgium, has a background in Visual Art & Architecture and experience assisting others on the street art scene. She embraced spray paint in 2017 and has expanded her reach from Belgium to Portugal and Dubai. Her portraits of women, animals, and nature reference myths, dreams, and folkloric storytelling.
Decoy likes big walls for his flat graphic abstract and plenty of the current palettes for illustration-style rendering. From Cork, Decoy can tell the real thing from a facsimile easily…
Friz, originally from Sligo, on the northwest (Atlantic) coast of Ireland, is a visual artist currently based in Bangor, Co. Down. Working fluently across both digital and traditional mediums, she adeptly blends aerosols and acrylics to realize her creations, adjusting her technique to suit the canvas at hand. Her art delves deep into the layers of history, myths, and folklore, serving as a conduit for cultural exploration and enlightenment. Her portfolio often concerns formidable female figures and their interconnectedness with the natural world, offering reflection and aspiration.
You might not expect it, but the Belfast Cathedral Quarter was quite a mad rush of activity on Sunday morning. We heard “Ave Maria” played on church bells through the fog out the hotel window, raucously accompanied by the squawks, screeches, and cries of seagulls nesting on the roof next door. Next, we heard and saw the boisterous fans of the 26.2-mile May Day Marathon who were piled 2 deep and hollering and clapping from the sidewalk as several thousand damp runners flew by with numbered banners on their chests. We signaled our support for the athletes by lifting breakfast forks full of fried eggs, boiled tomatoes, potato bread, bacon, and black pudding as we watched through the gauzy curtains of the hotel lobby.
But you are here for the “Hit the North” festival, now in its 12th year, only a few blocks from the cathedral. With the Sunflower bar at the intersection of Union Street and Kent Street, you have reached the epicenter where long wooden tables are set up in the middle of the street for visitors to have refreshments, and 50-60 artists are lining up to paint side by side up and down the block. The smell of aerosol thickens through the streets. The Seedhead Arts team—Adam, Eoin, Zippy, Rory, and a few others—are all arriving with boxes of paint supplies, t-shirts, ladders, and maps for the stream of visitors who are gathering to watch, have a beer, take selfies, and possibly talk with artists as they create.
With Seedhead, the aim is to provide platforms for artists and performers to showcase their talents while fostering connections between artists and audiences. They often collaborate with local venues, artists, and cultural organizations to create dynamic and engaging events that contribute to Belfast’s street art/public art scene.
One such example of the evolution of community art festivals was the presence of the rest of the family for Northern Irish painter and print-maker Sara Majury, who has only recently begun to translate her art to the street, having taken a course on how to do so. Her small family, with whom she traveled this morning from a rural part of the country called County Down, sat on the sidewalk across the street, watching curious visitors walk past them while she prepared her wall. Her husband Johnny spoke briefly to us while their kids Rory and Freya enjoyed a snack and knocked over their flasks of water a couple of times. While mom was testing paint cans and sifting through the bag of stencils to layer on the wall, Johnny, a leather costume designer for shows like “Game of Thrones,” tells us that the children will stay still for a few more minutes because they were promised food. A moment later, he produces small sandwiches and chips for them before describing the further entertainment he plans to offer – to take them to see the Festival of Fools performances at a location just two blocks away.
We had some other great conversations with artists and visitors here this afternoon but we’ll bring you more later. For now, here we bring you scenes of some works in progress at “Hit the North.” These walls will be completed by six pm if the weather stays dry. Then, off to the bar for some curry and a glass of beer to celebrate with the artists, many of whom have traveled a great distance, for a job well done at this year’s “Hit the North.” To summarize a sentiment that we’ve heard here a few times from organizer Adam Turkington; the artists, visitors, and advertisers all leave, but in the end, it is the art that remains here on the street.
Continuity. That is a characteristic inherent in string art, usually because one associates the act of long rolls of string repeatedly wrapped around nail heads to create a piece. In the area of street art, there have been a few notable examples of artists using string to make new artworks in public space; the American HOTTEA, who is known for his large-scale installations of colorful strings as well as more human-sized typographic slogans on chain-link fences, Spidertag from Spain who began with yarns and nails and graduated to neon and fluorescent installations of geometric, often abstract designs on surfaces. Mademoiselle Maurice is known for string and origami elements in her installations, and Jane Echelman has displayed massive aerial sculptures of woven rope and fibers in public spaces. Although you may easily make that connection, we won’t go into yarn-bombing.
Today we’re talking about the unbroken threads of artist Perspicere and his new exhibition called ‘BARE THREAD’. He has a talent for conjuring ghost-like portraits on canvasses and on the street using a technique not known or mastered by many. Wound in complex and individual patterns, the people emerge upward and outward toward you, even though they are necessarily anchored.
Perspicere. Bare Thread. BSMT Space. London, UK. (image courtesy of the gallery)
Once relegated to the realms of DIY, or crafting, string art has also gained recognition and acceptance as a legitimate art form in contemporary art circles while artists have pushed the boundaries of the medium, experimenting with various materials, techniques, and concepts. Much like its brother graffiti, whether string art is considered “high art” or not largely depends on the individual and the context in which it is presented. Here at BSMT Space gallery in London, there is no question.
BARE THREAD is Perspicere’s second solo show at BSMT Space in London, who say the works are “Truly breath-taking and thought-provoking, ‘Bare Thread’ is an exhibition that deftly weaves together themes of vulnerability, courage, and the human condition.” In a recent posting on Instagram, the gallery says “These pieces need to be seen in person, the complexity of the interwoven thread is astounding!”
Perspicere. Bare Thread. BSMT Space. London, UK. (image courtesy of the gallery)From August 6, 2022, the artist writes with this video on Instagram “Action video of a recent piece down Leake Street. Brief action appearance of @allseeing.ra …. since this video my piece has been tagged, ripped AND set on fire!! Damn… these toys hate the string!!!..”A Photoshopped image of Perspicere’s work in the streets. (image courtesy of the gallery)
‘Bare Thread’ opens at London’s BSMT gallery with a private view on May 25th, with drinks generously provided by our good friends at Magic Spells Brewery. The show runs from May 26th to June 11th, 2022. For catalogue enquiries or to attend the opening night RSVP via hello@bsmt.co.uk.
Just in time for considering Halloween costumery that evokes fantasies of alter ego, BSMT Gallery in the creative hub of North East London gives you a push, encouraging you to explore the possibilities.
Perspicere. Alter Ego. BSMT Space Gallery. London, England. (photo courtesy of the artist)
The beauty of opening the field of street art up to nearly anyone to join means that today’s “urban contemporary” scene also embraces those with formal art-school education and commercial art industry careers – sometimes delivering a fusion of street and modern aesthetics that are eye-popping. In the case of ‘Alter Ego’ opening on October 7th, you get to see portraiture that is varied as the practice, each selection presenting personality, character, and life in the post-industrial, knowledge-worker, surveillance age.
Alexander Chappel. Alter Ego. BSMT Space Gallery. London, England. (photo courtesy of the artist)
A meditative survey in the search for meaning, these profiles offer varied lenses through which one can gaze, backed by bonified painting talents. The results are distinctly human, and interpretive. As a collection the group show reflects this moment, this extended network, this Western society on the cusp of economic hardship and expanding war; the last moment before all the rules change again.
Artists include Aches, Alexander Chappel, Ange Bell, Angela Ho, Belin , Ben Wakeling, Caryn Koh, Edwin, Guy Denning, Jose Luis Cena, Joseph Loughborough, KMG, Pang, Panik, Perspicere, Stephen Anthony Davids, and Sweet Toof.
Ange Bell. Alter Ego. BSMT Space Gallery. London, England. (photo courtesy of the artist)Aches. Alter Ego. BSMT Space Gallery. London, England. (photo courtesy of the artist)Panik. Alter Ego. BSMT Space Gallery. London, England. (photo courtesy of the artist)
BSMT Space. ‘Alter Ego’ will run from October 7th through to October 30th. 529 Kingsland Rd, London, E84AR
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
