All posts tagged: The Bushwick Collective

BSA Images Of The Week: 10.06.24

October 6, 2024 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week!

Who’s in town this week? New York is no stranger to visiting street artists, but the thrill never fades. Right now, we’ve got Kiwi sensation Owen Dippie here to blow minds with his latest piece, plus the wild Italian trio Canemorto. These graffiti-street artist-fishermen from Brianza, up North of Milan, are kicking off a three-day performance at Matta. Come by to see what is the catch of the day, and they might be speaking their own brand of “Canemortish”. The three-day event will be fresh Thursday through Saturday – let’s see what they’ve reeled in for you!

Shout out to the Brooklyn Museum, which hosted hundreds of guests at the gala opening of a new show featuring 200+ Brooklyn artists Friday night. A celebration of the museum’s bicentennial, the collection gives a stunning overview, a diverse array, and an appreciative stage for many artists working here today. The Brooklyn Artists Exhibition is organized by Jeffrey Gibson, Vik Muniz, Mickalene Thomas, and Fred Tomaselli and coordinated by Sharon Matt Atkins, Deputy Director for Art. If you can’t get to NYC, take a virtual tour of the exhibition.

Also congratulations to Museum of Graffitti for their first show in Shanghai. Co-founders Allison Freidin and Brooklyn native Alan Ket have mounted MOG’s very first exhibition on mainland China, “Street Echos”, right in the heart of the Changning District of Shanghai. A year in the making, the show combines an explanation of graffiti’s humble roots with the current status of the art form.

Tensions are sky-high on the streets with just a month left until the Presidential election. Hurricane Helene has already left over 200 dead and parts of the Southeast are still struggling to recover. Mayor Eric Adams seems to be clinging to his seat for now, while the anti-immigrant rhetoric is getting louder while a program 35 new billboards are welcoming immigrants to society. Meanwhile, the stock market’s flying high even though a recent report from the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) lays bare the harsh truth: for most Americans, the economy is broken. And let’s be real—it’s been that way for years, no matter which party’s been calling the shots.

But at least New York may get a Subway Series this month, so let’s go Yanks and Mets! What are the odds?

And here we go boldly into the streets of New York to find new stuff from: Jeremy Deller, Joe Iurato, Veng RWK, Jason Naylor, Stikki Peaches, Muebon, CP Won, Never Satisfied, Mena Ceresa, and Brozilla.

Joe Iurato for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lauren Eggleston and MoveOn – with an assist from ACAB. The small addition of a rectangular mustache swings the entire vibe. VOTE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Manhattan, NYC. September 2024. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 08.25.24

August 25, 2024 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA’s Images of the Week.

The conventions are done and dusted, and the candidates are locked in. Everyone’s got their pick: some are waving the Kamala flag, while others are riding the Trump train. But while the political stage is buzzing, the street art scene is still playing catch-up. The new Democratic contender hasn’t exactly made it onto many murals yet. But if you want to know how folks are really vibing, just check out the street portraits—artists are always a step ahead of the polls when it comes to capturing the public mood.

Here is our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring ERRE, Hops Art, BK Ackler, Hops1, Wane COD, PHD, DRIK, Mack Colours, Olig, Souls, No Name Stencil, RAIZE, Scottie Marsh, Ques, 718 Crew, and Wild Cat.

RAIZE for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A new piece from Madrid for Low Brow. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mack Colours for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DRIK for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Summertime napping. Photo ©Steven P. Harrington

BSA Images Of The Week: 06.23.24

June 23, 2024 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

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Welcome to BSA Images of the Week!

We were looking at the description and lineup of this new Punk exhibit and thinking about how it extends to the early and current mural/street art scene at play today… Opine, as one may, about the roots of this scene and our rigorous academic attempts at qualitative mastery, but the average street artists cares nary a whit what you think, for the most part. It isn’t just our anti-intellectual age; it may simply be antithetical to what street art was ever intended to be. There are those who construct gates to enclose a favored few to make pronouncements about what street art is or isn’t, but the artists who produce work on the streets may not bother climbing the fence to get in their club.

It’s the ironic, rebellious, spirit of D.I.Y. that makes street art and graffiti most attractive for us —not its ability to make money for some nor burnish the reputation of another but to draw us together. The open access to self-expression is so alluring, and it is a testament to how truly innovative artists know how to seize a moment, transform a space, begin a dialogue, or weigh in on one. Create camps? Attempt to consolidate power? It is a folly. Why reject a corrupted and unfair pecking order only to reconstruct one? As we see more anniversary shows heralding punk and its origins, we recall that it was the liberty promised that was so appealing and the destruction of corrupt institutions that was most needed. The aesthetics may have become commodified. It’s spirit, never.

Here is our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Alice Pasquini, Homesick, Judith Supine, Mike King, WERC, Pussy Power, Kane, Kone, Chris Haven, 6147, SLASH FTR, Geraluz, Coes Sneakers, AIC, and Skribblz.

SLASH FTR. The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

KONE. Hit The North Festival 2024. Belfast, Northern Ireland. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Alice Pasquini. Hit The North Art Festival. Edition 2018. Belfast, Northern Ireland. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Coes Sneakers. The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Spring 2024. Brooklyn, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Bushwick Collective Block Party – 13th Edition 2024 / Part 2

June 20, 2024 Artists

Superhero or superfan, there is something here for everyone, and usually high quality. Street Art festivals worldwide have become dull and safe, perhaps because some are funded by tax dollars or their curators lack vision. The selections at the Bushwick Collective may not make a cohesive story, it’s true.

However, a sense of history, respect for graffiti’s roots, community, narrative, and free-wheeling organic creativity cuts a through-line that still feels fresh as a summer breeze in the shade of a tree. We have so many images of this year’s block party celebration that we had to split the collection into two parts.

On this Summer Solstice, we wish you strength and the wisdom to see the truth. The false will fall away.

ZaOne. Sty. Nover. Ye. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Golden35. Fo Estudio (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sen2Figueroa. Epic Uno. Hoacs. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Its Candy. Kuo Wade. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Bushwick Collective Block Party – 13th Edition 2024 / Part 1

June 18, 2024 Artists

Summer in the city with the hot asphalt, the humming of air conditioners, the tantalizing tune of the ice cream truck, the delightful shrieks of children in the playground, the BBQ smells on the sidewalks, the breeze coming from the ocean, the cacophony of songbirds, and the desires that long days bring.

Who can conjure a more intoxicating feeling than the feeling of summer? We let ourselves feel free from layers of woolen clothes and stiff limbs. When only a pair of shorts and a tattered T-shirt will do, we lay down and look at the sky, the grass soft beneath us. We hold court on rooftops, fire escape stairs, and front stoops. We celebrate the outdoors and soak in the summer rain. We are all children again, refusing to come back inside.

Joe Ficalora’s Annual Bushwick Collective Block Party is one of our official summer parties in New York City. This block party is unique, with a perfectly balanced combination of art, music, performance, and food trucks. This year’s edition was no different. International, national, and local artists came prepared to get up and get it done. Graffiti writers and street artists took over blocks and walls, bringing a vibrant palette of color, forms, ideas, icons, idols, themes, thoughts, and games with them. The public who came to see them painting live spent a full day enjoying art being made and dancing to the energy of hip-hop performers. We invite you to enjoy Part 1 of the offerings on the street, with Part 2 coming soon.

Maximiliano Bagnasco (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shane Grammer features Seen, Lady Pink, and Dondi (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shane Grammer: Seen, Lady Pink, Dondi, and Skeme.(photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vargas paints our Indigenous roots with “Las Rosas” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

13th Annual Bushwick Collective Block Party

May 23, 2024 Artists

The Bushwick Collective Block Party, scheduled for Saturday, June 1, from 11:00 am to 6:00 pm at 7 Scott Ave, Brooklyn, NY, is an iconic annual event that has evolved from a simple mural painting jam into a large-scale cultural and community festival. Founded by Joe Ficalora in 2012, the event aims to renew the neighborhood through art on the street, transforming the area into an open-air gallery with murals created by artists from around the world. This transformation has made Bushwick a popular destination for locals and tourists.

This year’s festival promises an exciting lineup of live music performances, headlined by renowned hip-hop artists such as Raekwon, Fat Man Scoop, Statik Selektah & Friends, NEMS, Termanology, Tony Moxberg, Lil Dee, Chandler, Home & Abroad, XAVR, and many other special guests. Hosted by MC DStroy and featuring DJ Evil Dee in the mix, the event is set to rock the block.

Beyond music, the Block Party offers various activities and attractions. Spanning several blocks, the festival features curated NYC food vendors, artist and merchant vendors, street art merchandise, original artwork, and prints. Visitors can enjoy giveaways, product sampling, and the opportunity to meet some of their favorite street artists and graffiti writers from around the world. As Joe always ensures, the event emphasizes community engagement and celebration, drawing thousands of visitors each year who come to experience the ever-evolving cultural scene of Bushwick. With its inclusive nature, the Bushwick Collective Block Party is a much-anticipated celebration that highlights the neighborhood’s transformation and rich cultural heritage.

DATE AND TIME: Saturday, June 1, 11:00 am to 6:00 pm

LOCATION: 7 Scott Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11237

GENERAL ADMISSION: Free with some ticketed events. Click HERE to purchase your tickets.

ABOUT THIS EVENT

HOSTED BY: MC DSTROY /ON THE MIX: DJ EVIL DEE

MUSIC LINEUP – RAEKWON , FAT MAN SCOOP, STATIK SELEKTAH & FRIENDS, NEMS, TERMANOLGY, TONY MOXBERG, LIL DEE, CHANDLER, HOME & ABROAD, XAVR, & many other special guests.

VIP BEER GARDEN / Front Stage Access Requires Purchase of tickets (limited availability) In and Out Access, Private Bathrooms, Free Gifts, Pizza, Snacks, Front Stage Access, Auto Entry to a special gift prize contest, and MUCH MORE!

OPEN TO PUBLIC – 3 blocks of curated NYC Food Vendors, Artist & Merchant Vendors, Djs, Main Stage w over 35 plus live performances, street art merch, original artwork, prints, and pins available.

BSA Images Of The Week: 04.28.24

April 28, 2024 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week!

Spring is astoundingly colorful on the street in New York this year, with many new graffiti writers and street artists joining the existing throng and bringing their skills to a wall near you. At times, it appears now that we have as many artists as tourists in New York, but if they roll a suitcase, it is probably full of cans.

Here is our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Ron English, Homesick, Basquiat, Huetek, Biggie Smalls, Hops Art, Akira Toriyama, Blanca Romero, 2DX, Nike Kasio, Gouch NKC, Theme KED, Maximilian Romero, EA EO, Browine, Sintez One, FSG Park, and Jaek El Diablo.

Ron English. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jaek El Diablo. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sintez One at FSG Park (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Maximilian Bagnasco for The Bushwick Collective. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Maximilian Bagnasco for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

HUETEK 2DX. Tribute to Akira Toriyama. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

HUETEK 2DX. Tribute to Akira Toriyama. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Photos of BSA #2 : The Boy, Jean Michael Basquiat

December 30, 2023 Artists

We’re celebrating the end of one year and the beginning of the next by thanking BSA Readers, Friends, and Family for your support in 2023. Picked by our followers, these photos are the heavily circulated and “liked” selections of the year – shot by our Editor of Photography, Jaime Rojo. We’re sharing a new one every day to celebrate all our good times together, our hope for the future, and our love for the street. Happy Holidays Everyone!

It is reported that as a child of 6, Brooklyn’s Basquiat became a junior member of the Brooklyn Museum, thanks to his mom Matilde. Helping him discover and explore artists work and his own creativity was foundational to his later development in studio and as a street artist, along with partner Al Diaz as part of SAMO@. This year Jean Micheal’s sisters Lisane Basquiat and Jeanine Basquiat expanded and more fully recounted his personal story for many thousands of his fans, art world documentarians, and educators with their touring King Pleasure exhibition.

Seeing this image of Basquiat as a boy reminds us that children’s creativity should be encouraged and nurtured, no matter what field they pursue. For artist SEF 1, who painted this mural, it was his connection to the graffiti and street art story that compelled him to do this portrait on the street. “It seemed to me that I owed him this last tribute in which I present him as a child, with the innocence of kid who dreams of being someday a great artist making drawings in his notebooks, creating the basis of his adult artistic practice.”

SEF.01 for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Photos of BSA #5 : Mike Makatron and an Astronaut in Bushwick

December 27, 2023 Artists

“I didn’t feel like a giant. I felt very, very small. Mystery creates wonder and wonder is the basis of man’s desire to understand.”

– First man to walk on the moon, Neil Armstrong, in a speech to Congress, September, 1969. In a speech to Congress (16 Sep 1969).

Mike Makatron for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Photos of 2023 on BSA – #10: Huetek’s Hip Hop Roll Call of 520 Sedgwick Ave.

December 21, 2023 Artists

You heard it all year in 2023 – this has been the 50th Anniversary of Hip Hop. There has been an endless parade of commemorations taking many forms all over the city, although people like KRS-One want to know where everybody was during the first 49. But that train already left the station, so scold all you want.

This summer in Bushwick, Brooklyn, artist Huetek unveiled a mural that’s a true nod to the origins and icons of Hip Hop. Crafted in the vibrant lead-up to Joe Ficalora’s annual block party, this piece is a treasure trove for those steeped in Hip Hop lore. At its heart is 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in the Bronx, revered as the cradle of Hip Hop.

Huetek’s mural is more than just a visual feast—it’s a homage, encapsulating the essence of Hip Hop through a montage of iconic images. Each numeral of the address transforms into a canvas, featuring recreations of photographic documentation of pioneering artists who represent the raw, early days of the scene. These snapshots provide us a precious visual legacy of legendary performers.

For some it is a roll call of Hip Hop royalty. You’ll find the Bboy spirit alive in the depiction of Ken Swift, immortalized by Martha Cooper’s lens. Grandmaster Caz of the Cold Crush Brothers, captured by Joe Conzo, represents the Emcee. The Dj element features Kay Slay (Dez), as seen through Henry Chalfant’s photographic eye. And the Graffiti Writer? None other than Dondi White, again through Martha Cooper’s documentation.

Huetek’s work is a vivid reminder of Hip Hop’s roots and a celebration of its cultural pillars. It’s a visual journey through the genre’s history, inviting onlookers to delve deeper into the stories and faces that have shaped Hip Hop culture. This mural isn’t just a piece of art; it’s a slice of history, painted on the streets of Bushwick, waiting to be discovered and appreciated by those who understand its deep-seated significance.

Huetek for The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 11.19.23

November 19, 2023 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week!

It’s a new collection of works found on the street here in New York as we head into Thanksgiving week. The boisterous and celebratory party at Skewville in Bushwick last night to celebrate the new Stikman sign show was well attended and full of fans of the artist. The old fans and new donned Stikman masks and wore name stickers saying, “Hello, I’m Stikman.” The long-time imaginative artist is a fixture on New York streets as new generations of artists come and go. Completely anonymous, he never seeks the limelight, preferring to let his copious ideas on lampposts, doorways, mailboxes, and street signs talk for him. In an age of personal influencers and attention seeking, it is refreshing to see his new works quietly capturing attention and imagination on the streets in his way. Bushwick on a Saturday night is teaming with so many crowds of people you may think you are in Wynwood, Miami, complete with food trucks and neon and thigh-high patent leather boots. But the crowds are far more diverse, and the occasional rat is scurrying across the sidewalk before you.

Here is our weekly interview with the street: this week featuring City Kitty, Adam Fujita, Below Key, Eternal Possessions, Hektag, Hops Art, Aidz, Ali Six, Tkid170, Tracy 168, Hydrane, Otam1, Abloker, Nos Ck One, Madison Storm, Melissa Schainker, Wally, J$T, FatJay, Sens-Sational, Aaron Wrinkle, and 5inck.

TKid170 tribute to Tracy168. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

5inck, Otam1, Abloker, NoackOne in collaboration with The Bushwick Collective. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Below Key and Ali Six (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Eternal Possessions (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hops Art Memorial Mural to honor Sisco. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Sunset over the East River. NYC. Fall 2023. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Images Of The Week: 10.01.23

October 1, 2023 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Welcome to BSA Images of the Week!

New York is drying out after the most intense storm we can remember just clobbered us on Friday. The loss of life, property, and minds that can happen when two months of rain falls in one day is hard to describe. Because we are such a dirty city, you can imagine the plume of detritus that got flushed out to sea, viewed from above. Our hearts go out to fellow New Yorkers who really suffered as a result of this pounding storm.

Here is our weekly interview with the street: this week featuring Nychos, No Sleep, Optimo NYC, Huetek, Zexor, Mike Makatron, Tempt, Lango, Viva Che Man, Carly Ealy, 2DX, Sucioe, and Colder.

Michael Draghi in Los Angeles, CA. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lango getting ready for Halloween. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tempt in Los Angeles. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Optimo NYC and friends. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Carly Ealey in Los Angeles, CA. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Bitch Bakery (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Unidentified artist in L.A. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Viva Che Man in L.A. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Morning Glory. Summer 2023. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ELFO: Don’t Use This Wall!
November 19, 2024
Elfo is a graffiti writer and social commentator whose work intentionally sidesteps traditional notions of style or technical lettering. This …Read More »
BSA Images Of The Week: 11.17.24
November 17, 2024
Right out of the gate, Pres-elect Trump is telling us that one must destroy the government to save it, just …Read More »
SpY’s “ORB” Lands in Montreal: A Mirror of Street Art’s Evolution
November 14, 2024
SpY, a prominent public artist hailing from Madrid, has unveiled his latest sculptural work titled “ORB” in Montreal’s renowned Place …Read More »
Birch Bark, Rosehips, and a Family Affair: Faring Purth’s New Chapter in Mural Form
November 12, 2024
In her latest mural, Faring Purth delivers a powerful reflection on connection, continuity, and the complexity of evolving relationships—a true …Read More »
BSA Images Of The Week: 11.10.24
November 10, 2024
Well, the world ended this week—again. Yet here we are, still standing, and so are you. It turns out Donald …Read More »
Réunion Island’s Evolution: Eko and the Graffiti/Street Art Festival That’s Making Waves
November 7, 2024
A place you may not have heard of, Réunion Island has quickly become a remarkable hotspot for urban art, largely …Read More »
Transforming Tafí Viejo: Argentina’s First International Street Art Festival in Tucumán
November 5, 2024
The Circuito Mural: Encuentro Internacional de Arte Urbano just wrapped up its first run from October 1 to 5, 2024, …Read More »