This 4th of July holiday weekend in New York is alive with art on the streets, on roofs, on stoops, in parks, on piers. And run down back lots, tunnels, abandoned spots. Check your local listings.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring ARC, BAST, Bibbito, Bifido, Cash4, Clint Mario, Don John, Entes y Pesimo, Faith47, JR, Keely, Smells, The Yok, and WK Interact.
Happy Holidays to all you stupendous and talented and charming BSA readers! We thank you from the bottom of our socks for your support this year. The best way we can think of to celebrate and commemorate the year as we finish it is to bring you 13 FROM 2013 – Just one favorite image from a Street Art or graffiti photographer that brings a story, a remembrance, an insight or a bit of inspiration to the person who took it. For the last 13 days they will share a gem with all of us as we collectively say goodbye and thank you to ’13.
Today we go to New York State’s capital Albany to hear from photographer and occasional BSA contributor Bob Anderson whose intense love for photography is usually expressed through natural beauty and domestic scenes but occasionally he can indulge in a true passion; street art photography. In 2013 Bob had the opportunity to meet the illustrator and street artist Phlegm who was visiting from Sheffield, a city in South Yorkshire, England. While he caught some excellent shots for BSA readers during that marathon of painting, this one stood out as his favorite of 2013.
Whether it’s a sticker, a tag, or a mural, the streets are the judge of what will stand the test of time. Sometimes it is the aesthetic or the message, or simply the placement that weighs in an efforts favor. The end result will garner a cover, a buff, or appreciation.
Not to distract from the work itself, but I find more appreciation in both the process and the artist. Yes, I want to see new work, but viewed from a computer or in real life after it’s completed, it does not carry the intensity as watching it unfold. Maybe in a completely selfish way, it’s to learn the process. Everyone has their own technique. It’s not something one is willing to share in an email or to a passer by. But if you’re willing to lug paint & ladders, stay out all night, hop fences, or sit in a dirt lot all day – you will learn something.
As for the photos. It’s easy to walk up to a finished wall and frame a nice photo – but it can still feel empty. Photos of the actual process show the evolution and effort behind the work. Creativity comes by working with whatever gear you may be able to pack in, the time and lighting given (which will never be ideal) and shooting around faces that can not be shown.
Lastly, the most important part is the people.
Well known names with no associated faces come together with random strangers.
During those countless hours late at night or under the sun in a dirty parking lot, drinks are shared, hilarious stories are told, and friendships are made.
And a wall is left standing.
Photos document the party that only a few were privileged to attend.
Before we get down to the Street Art related stuff, everybody get up and dance to some “True Romance” across a snowy mountain top with 20 of your closest backup dancers! Indian spandex space aerobics costumes not necessary. It’s FUN FRIDAY!
Can’t stop, won’t stop! That was exhilarating, wasn’t it? Now let’s see what’s up Street Art-wise around the whirl:
1. Pure Evil goes Pop @Boxpark Gallery (London)
2. Gregory Siff “There & Back” At Siren Studios (Hollywood)
3. ThinkSpace Gives You “Picks of the Harvest 2012” (LA)
4. Simple has Solo Show at Urban Art Room (Sweden)
5. “As The Crow Flies” Benefit for Art Against Knives (London)
6. Gregory Siff Time Lapse at Siren Studios Mural (VIDEO)
Pure Evil goes Pop @Boxpark Gallery (London)
Pure Evil opened his show at BOXPARK in London’s Shoreditch neighborhood. BOXPARK strips and refits shipping containers to create unique, low cost, low risk, ‘box shops’. This show opens to the general public today through the month of March.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Gregory Siff “There & Back” At Siren Studios (Hollywood)
Brooklyn born Gregory Siff had his opening last night on the Left Coast at Siren Studios and today it’s open to the general public in Hollywood, CA. In addition to the new work by Siff are 100 stickers by students in the neighborhood – see the kids and Siff making them in the video below.
Gregory Siff (photo courtesy of The Site Unscene)
For further information regarding this show click here.
ThinkSpace Gives You “Picks of the Harvest 2012” (LA)
For further information regarding this show click here.
Simple has Solo Show at Urban Art Room (Sweden)
Celebrating his birthday and his solo show Saturday (3/3), German born Street Artist SiMPLE has dynamic work on display at Urban Art Room Gallery in Gothenburg.
For further information regarding this show click here.
“As The Crow Flies” Benefit for Art Against Knives (London)
Art Against Knives is a youth-led charity which works to reduce the root causes of knife crime through arts initiatives that provide an alternative to violent gang culture.
Mother Drucker and Art Against Knives present: “As The Crow Flies” at BoxPark in Shoreditch, London. This is a print show of European emerging Street Artists to raise money for future youth community projects in East London. Artists included in the show are: Penny, Nomad, Hannah Parr, Elmar Lause, Victor Ash, Various and Gould, Dolly Demoratti and Anton Unai.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Gregory Siff Time Lapse at Siren Studios Mural (VIDEO)
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
