A powerful group of images this week as we do a drive by on Labor Day Weekend in New York. We know it’s the last weekend of Summer but hell no! I’m gonna have another strawberry ice cream out on the stoop.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Alma’s, Anthony Lemer, Arnaud Montagard, Alice Pasquini, Bast, BLY, Cesar Mieses DALeast, Dek, Jerk Face, Paul Insect, Pete Kirill, Ryan McGinness, Sean9Lugo, Seymour Chwast, Solus, Swil, Tripel, Willow, Wing, and You Go Girl!
“This is my latest wall, painted in Syracuse, Sicily with the support of the Istinto Naturale cultural association,” says Alice Pasquini of this new tableau.
“Titled ‘The myth of Arethusa and Alpheus’ it was inspired by the spring of Arethusa in Ortygia (Syracuse), a body of fresh water close to the seashore. The legend says that the nereid Arethusa, trying to escape the advances of the river god Alpheus, fled by turning into a stream, eventually breaking ground in Ortygia where Alpheus found her and was able to mingle in her waters.” ~ AP
Let the mingling begin! Although you have to admit that she doesn’t look like she’s quite committed to the idea.
Dek’s installation of Bronx native Seymour Chwast’s posters from 1987. The timeless and timeliness of a 27 year old poster on the streets is remarkable. War Is Madness. (photo @ Jaime Rojo)
C215 Prepares for “Community Service”: New Show and Book
“Painting in the streets puts limits on you, as far as the number of colours you can bring with you, how much time you have to paint, and even the subject matter since I like to put a link between the stencils I paint and the context around where I paint them.”
C215 speaks about his process, his travels, and his new book that features street images from our own Jaime Rojo and an introduction from our editor. More from the interview with Ripo on No New Enemies.
Aakash Nihilani at Bose Pacia Gallery
Aakash has been riding that tape into the gallery – including this homage to Jeff Koons. Says the gallery for the “Overlap” show that opened last night, “The common denominator of all works in the exhibition is the overlapping of isometric square shapes to create new forms that move towards figurative representation.”
The celebrated Street Artist from Brooklyn talks about her approach to her work, and how it continues to evolve.
Invader Accused of Stealing Cow
This courtesy of graffart.eu, apparently Street Artist Invader has a sidebuster called Id-iom. Invader’s iconic digital spaceship had a rather close encounter of the bovine kind on the street recently.
This new video from Nick Walker in an interview at the opening of his current show at Art Sensus Gallery contains two of the pieces he did first with us this summer on a some walls BSA secured for him in The People’s Republic of Brooklyn. The pieces also look great in the gallery, but the time hanging out with this talented and down-to-earth Street Artist was stellar and a really nice memory for summer 2010.
An earnest text-based approach to Street Art, this duo treats their work more like Public Service Announcement than Street Art. The messages posted are in support of Proposition 19, a referendum to legalize use of marijuana this past Tuesday in California, which was voted against by 53.9% of the populace.
Interestingly, the first part of the video is a primer on how to make fresh wheat paste in your kitchen. Suddenly BSA is the cooking channel!
Saber, Shepard Fairey and American Pride
From the West Coast, where smoking pot is still illegal without a doctor’s prescription, Shepard Fairey posted excellent photos by Todd Mazer of a big mural he and Saber recently completed for a project with a name that sounds kind of familiar.
“Saber and I have been friends for over 10 years and previously collaborated on the Brooklyn Projects wall on Sunset in Echo Park. We also both recently coincidentally made art inspired by the American flag,” says Fairey.
Street Artist Stephen Powers aka ESPO sends this video of an amorous train trip along the same elevated line that affords riders a birds-eye view of his “Love Letters” project in Philadelphia. On the way, the Beatles get involved, and we all start to cry.
Here’s the new video for the next chapter in adoration; Love Letters Syracuse, in a mid-sized city in the center of New York State.