All posts tagged: Rams

BSA Images Of The Week: 02.23.25

BSA Images Of The Week: 02.23.25

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week!

A pioneer of French graffiti from Guadaloupe, Shuck One, is presenting Regeneration at the Pompidou Center’s Black Paris exhibition (March 19–June 30), honoring Black figures who shaped France’s history through large-scale paintings and collages depicting key moments like the Tirailleurs Sénégalais, the 1967 Guadeloupe riots, and the BUMIDOM migration program, alongside portraits of pioneers such as Aimé Césaire, Angela Davis, and Joséphine Baker.  

Christie’s has been flooded with fury over its AI art auction, raising questions about intellectual property, artistic integrity, and the role of technology in creative pursuits. Taking a look at the selections in the auction, you may feel like you are bobbing in the deep end. In Sotheby’s news, “I feel like street art and punk rock have the same core,” says Mark Hoppus of Blink-182 as he cashes in on his Banksy, which could go for more than 6 million, according to the AP.

In news about the ongoing policy blizzard in Washington, Trump called Zelensky a ‘dictator’, sent his team to Riyadh to negotiate with Russians, declared himself king while attempting to end New York congestion charge practices, fired more federal workers, is trying to rehire some others.

Elon Musk held a symbolic chainsaw on stage at CPAC, presented to him by Argentine President Javier Milei. Because of conflicting statements, its unclear what the plan for Medicaid is, but people are nervous. It may be that not all of these changes are what citizens expected or are willing to accept: Angry voters confronted GOP representatives at a Town Halls in North Carolina and Wisconsin,  and 9,000+ people attended one online in Oregon. It is unclear when the financial relief for the poor will come, but it must be en route.

Meanwhile, accused murderer Luigi Mangione was in court Friday, and a large gathering of supporters were in the street around the courthouse, holding signs and yelling slogans related to the broken healthcare system that leaves many feeling victimized in the US. For some reason, it doesn’t matter which party is in the White House over the decades; many people are either uninsured, underinsured, or bankrupted by healthcare costs. According to the New York Health Foundation website, “In New York State, an estimated 6% of consumers—representing approximately 740,000 adults—had medical debt in collections on their credit records as of February 2022.” We keep seeing mentions of Mangione as a sort of folk hero on the street. These are stirring and strange times.

Meanwhile, here’s our interview with the streets this week, including City Kitty, Homesick, Modomatic, Muebon, Hearts NY, V. Ballentine, Nice Beats, Rams, Batola, PEAKS, Adze, Daniel Daz Carello, Andre Trainer, and Maniphes.

Andre Treiner, Maniphes, V. Ballentine for East Village Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Andre Treiner, Maniphes, V. Ballentine for East Village Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Andre Treiner, Maniphes, V. Ballentine for East Village Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
City Kitty (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Modomatic (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Hearts NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Muebon (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Homesick (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Daniel Daz Carello (photo © Jaime Rojo)
A digital moving billboard with a rendition of Luigi Mangione during a demonstration outside the NYC Criminal Court Building. Mr. Mangione had a court appearance on Friday, February 21. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
A demonstration outside the NYC Criminal Court Building. Mr. Mangione had a court appearance on Friday, February 21. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
A demonstration outside the NYC Criminal Court Building. Mr. Mangione had a court appearance on Friday, February 21. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
A demonstration outside the NYC Criminal Court Building. Mr. Mangione had a court appearance on Friday, February 21. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
A demonstration outside the NYC Criminal Court Building. Mr. Mangione had a court appearance on Friday, February 21. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
A demonstration outside the NYC Criminal Court Building. Mr. Mangione had a court appearance on Friday, February 21. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
A digital moving billboard showing news organizations reporting on Luigi Mangione during a demonstration outside the NYC Criminal Court Building. Detail. Mr. Mangione had a court appearance on Friday, February 21. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist inspired by street artist Shepard Fairey’s work (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Looks like the vertical repeller practice is undeniably a trend in New York. PEAKS. RAMS. NICE BEATS. BATOLA. ADZE. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
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Seeing Baltimore With Martha Cooper

The Photographer Takes You On a Tour Through Sowebo

Walking in the street with Martha Cooper is part anthropology, part history, part celebrity, and always discovery. Known for 40 years of documenting with a clear eye the emergence of graffiti and hip hop culture and for introducing it to a world audience, Ms. Cooper will tell you that her primary interest has always been to simply observe closely and let the images speak for themselves.

brooklyn-street-art-rams-doke-soviet-arek-jaime-rojo-baltimore-05-11-web-28Mama Kat and White Mike welcome you to B-More. Mural by Rams, Doke, Soviet and Arik (photo © Jaime Rojo)

With a gentle frankness she repels your impulse to canonize her and her work and prefers to talk about the people she meets and her beloved hometown Baltimore, the site of her six-year photography project in the neighborhood of Sowebo. In much the same way her journalistic intuition led her to Brooklyn to meet graffiti king Dondi in the mid seventies, she has slowly earned the trust and friendship of many people in this neighborhood challenged by dire economics and the influence of drugs and guns.

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White Mike talks to Martha about the mural and some neighborhood news. Mural by Rams, Doke, Soviet and Arik (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tailing Martha, and that’s what you do in an effort to keep up with the photographer with yellow shoelaces, you soon hear young voices calling “Picture Lady!”, “It’s Picture Lady!”. Across the street, up the block, on the stoops, clusters of folk cooling themselves turn their collective heads to see Martha with her heaving backpack clipping up the sidewalk toward them. The littlest among them come right up and bob back and forth talking with animation to her and she answers each question and inquiry about her camera and what she’s been up to.

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Man and his best friend in the shade at the Sowebo festival (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Setting the backpack on the pavement under a tree, she unzips compartments and produces printed photos of the neighbors that she made since the last time she came by. With thanks and some storytelling and maybe another pose for the camera, Ms. Cooper smoothly departs up the block, scanning all sides of the street for more photo opportunities. Here we stop for a tour of a garden, there we see an abandoned lot converted to a grassy lawn-chaired community barbeque, and finally we are upon a large graffiti wall installation. “Welcome to Baltimore!” it cries and within moments some passersby greet her to talk about the piece and pose in front of their names on the rollcall – a tribute to some of the folks in the community.

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Napping on a landing at the Sowebo festival (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Your day includes a street fair with crafts and bands and crabcakes and lemonade that Martha thinks is too watery and skateboarders with tattoos and piercings doing a double take and figuring out how to approach this familiar lady with a giant camera and chat for a moment with her. Many times. Graciously. Finally a small crowd gathers as she shoots a new box truck being painted on this leafy street, with youth piled up on stoops and even sitting on the black pavement of the street for a front row seat while a skateboarder does tricks for just the right flick. It’s community. It’s creativity. It’s Cooper.

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A little girl with her puppy pose for Martha (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Three lil’ sweet rascals hop like popcorn when they see the “Picture Lady” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Action figure in a private garden (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Martha and her cousin Sally take us on a hike over the railroad tracks to a skatepark. One of the riders falls, and Sally digs through her purse to find a band-aid, which he’s too cool to accept. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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An unusual site that is normal for Sowebo; A stable with this beloved cart pony owned by an “Arab”, the old-custom name for local street vendors who sell produce from horse-drawn carts. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Tagged pigeons at the stables (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Street Artist Gaia in downtown Baltimore (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Gaia in downtown Baltimore pays tribute to Martha Cooper by interpreting a photo of hers and pasting it on the street. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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…upon close inspection, Martha approves (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Gaia pays tribute to important people in the history of Baltimore’s downtown  with a retro version of work similar to that of French Street Artist JR. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Gaia in downtown Baltimore (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Gaia in downtown Baltimore (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Unknown artist in downtown Baltimore (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Unknown artist in downtown Baltimore (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Nanook in downtown Baltimore (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Looks like AIKO was in Baltimore (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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As soon as artist Adam Stab got the news that Martha was in town he procured a small truck to paint, and waited until she arrived to begin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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A little lift helps the reach. Adam Stab (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Adam Stab (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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101 KSW in Baltimore (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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The sky going back to NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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