European sentiment toward their neighbor to the east is nearly unanimous right now due to the ongoing invasion of Ukraine by the Russians. As usual, the art on the street reflects society and based on the number of works we have seen these last few days on walls here, there is a lot of dislike for Vladimir Putin.
A very cursory survey of the art in the streets yesterday turned up a multitude of small street works that mock, insult, and protest Putin. Expect many more politically charged portraits if war continues like this, and if inflation persists, and if fuel and food shortages begin in earnest….
It’s officially Spring here today – the Spring Equinox beginning in the Northern Hemisphere will be at 11:33 am. Outside of the city, away from the glare, people will be able to glimpse Mars, Saturn, and Venus. The geese have been heard honking on the river, kids have been heard screaming on the playground, aerosol cans have been heard spraying under the bridge.
We’re relieved to glimpse fresh creativity on the streets – a sure sign that people are responding to their lives in a productive visual expression. As citizens of the Precariat, the opportunity to offer unfiltered artistic expression often requires a gatekeeper to approve it. When you are a street artist, you regularly circumvent the taste-makers and the influencers, hoping to reach people directly on the street. This week we found a number of unfiltered images and messages on New York walls and felt like these works are just as fresh as crocus popping through the soil, just as relevant as the blooms pushing through branches on trees. Here we have new shots from Jersey City. These are signs of Spring!
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: Beau Stanton, UR New York, 1010, Chupa, Blaze, Melski, The Cupcake Guy, SAMO, Acro, Sory, Niceo, Mona Caron, Cheez.
Taking the current Western hysteria regarding Vladimir Putin into truly Hollywood/graphic novel territory, a Baltimore based father and daughter team Mike and Daniela Kirby chalk it all up to wild-eyed evil.
The new fantasy styled scene positions the pure, innocent and unarmed Ukraine beauty rests upon the tongue of a diabolical president of Russia who is finally delivering on his promised response to NATO’s encroachment – with a well-armed military that is now destroying the country with weaponry. They even include nuclear warheads.
Calling themselves “Murals of Baltimore” Mike and Daniela say they wanted to create a public work on Broadway Square in Fells Point to express their position on the invasion, even if they knew their hard work would eventually be washed away by early spring rains.
“No one paid for this or sponsored it. We just winged it and tried to help as best we could. The mural was made with soft pastels,” he says. “It took 7 days to complete with about 60 hours of labor.”
Up-to-the-moment street art today from Polish artist M-City (Mariusz Waras), who converts the façade of a Gdansk warehouse into a social media primer on how to support the people of Ukraine. Sharing a border with this post-Soviet state which has just been invaded by Russian forces, Poland is acutely affected by the implications of possible further aggression – as are the Baltic states and the rest of Europe.
The short list asserts that many social media users may not be fully cognizant of the implications of their posting actions – especially during wartime. M-City took to the walls today to instruct some best practices in these painted advisory messages on how to create your digital ones.
In additional acts of irony, he posts these street art messages on his social media channels – and we publish them for the BSA audience as well.
BSA:Where is this located? M-City: It’s located in a very well-known building which part of Stocznia Gdańska, now Stocznia Cesarska. It is part of the Imperial Shipyard where the workers’ movement, Soliderność (Solidarity), was born.
BSA: What would you like people to understand? M-City: Our Social media landscape is full of fakes and is full of superficial messages. Because of this, many people have a bigger challenge to make their messages visible when they try to organize something and help the Ukrainians.
BSA:Did you create this for a local audience, or specifically an international audience. M-City: It’s in English because now this is a global problem. I wanted to create simple sentences so everyone can understand.
BSA:Are you personally affected by the invasion? M-City: No, it’s still far from us. But I have a lot of friends in Ukraine and I painted there a few times. Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus are next to our border. Many Ukrainian people are working here now. They arrived here mostly after the beginning of this conflict years ago.
Conceptual artist and cultural critic Charles Steelman is fed up with today’s politicians behaving like sullen teens. He thinks their outsized egos and penchant for bullying their way to grandiosity is now totally out of control and instead of looking after the best interests of those who elected them into office they resort to blackmail if their capricious demands are not met.
Hmmmm, sounds familiar now that you think of those who can’t get their way so they shut down the government and close bridges and restrict people’s ability to vote. Maybe Steelman has a point, as he addresses the masculine / feminine continuum in his new image online satire that pokes fun at Putin’s problem with the LGBT community.
Says Mr. Steelman in his description of his new project “Penis Riot!”:
“PENIS RIOT!!! is about softening the hyper-masculine images that dominate today’s politics. From America to Russia, politicians have adopted a “by any means necessary” approach to governance, an approach which is largely self-serving and under-represents those who it claims to favor. Our democracies have become playthings for perverted egos. It is time for those men to get on their knees and pray for forgiveness. Less dick pics, more pussy licks.”
– CH
As part of his Penis Riot project Steelman will be releasing a new photo illustration along with the original photo each day for the duration of the Sochi Olympic Games. Below are day 1 and 2 images. For daily updates click the link after the photos.
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BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
