Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Boston; Another Sort of Art in the Street

October 12, 2011 Artists, Boston, Manhattan, NYC, On the Street

It’s been a few weeks since BSA first showed images of the protesting marchers of Occupy Wall Street and the number of everyday people from many walks of life in the streets has only bolstered what the kids have been saying. Now it looks like the marches have spread to hundreds of other cities in the country and around the world. All this in less than a month? It’s like it was waiting to happen.

Occupy Wall Street (photo © Jaime Rojo)

In the intervening days the rapidly blossoming movement has been endorsed and reviled by many a political figure and well-known media personality. While some shiny happy telecasters seem bewildered by the discontent – the majority of people you talk to on the street or whom you stand behind at the grocery store or bank aren’t particularly mystified by the marchers or their myriad messages. It’s the same stuff people have been talking about at their kitchen table for years now – and now they’re talking together in the public square. Oops.

Occupy Wall Street. American Economist Rick Wolff speaks to Occupy Wall Street Open Forum on October 4. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aside from the populist uprising aspect of it all, the art in the street during these Occupy marches has been pretty good. So have been the slogans, the witty turns of phrase, the clever costumes and dramatic street theater. Is there any question that Street Art will be reflecting what is happening in the streets? In many ways, it already has been – our recent talks at LA MOCA and the New York State Museum concentrated on the tea leaves of the street telling us for the last few years about homelessness, the effects of war, the struggles of the working class, and the housing crises. For many Street Artists this stuff is personal and they’ve been telling their stories with their art.

Here are some of the scenes we caught of the Occupy Boston and Occupy Wall Street marches recently; it will be very interesting to see how art and popular culture are influenced by what is now on display in the Streets. When you call yourself the 99%, you’ve cast a pretty wide net.

Occupy Wall Street (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Occupy Wall Street. “Rent Is Too Damn High” party founder and political activist Jimmy McMillan talks to the assembled on October 4th. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

What cha knitting? Occupy Wall Street. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Occupy Wall Street. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Occupy Boston. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

238

138

Other Articles You May Like from BSA:

Shepard Fairey Considers "Strategies for a Revolution" in Rome
Starting the year with “Strategies for a Revolution”, Shepard Fairey exhibits in Italy at Wunderkammern. Contemporary society is so subsumed into the corporate model that street artist/fine artist...

Winston Tseng: Money Fixes Everything
On a recent sunny May day, we followed street artist Winston Tseng to document his new series of posters installed on three locations in Manhattan. The series is titled "Money Fixes Everything." W...

BSA Images Of The Week: 12.06.15
A wild week in world geopolitics, terror, social crisis - interpret them as you may through the prism of art collecting and fandom - as Miami Art Basel and the Wynwood District were bursting with ...

Flowers Growing Out of Your Eyes: Skount Finds Fertile Soil in Ruins
A lot of people like to go hiking and exploring this time of year in the Northern Hemisphere. The weather is cooler, the leaves are turning colors, and because of our proximity to Halloween, many aban...

Various & Gould: Wishes And Hopes For 2018
As we draw closer to the new year we’ve asked a very special guest every day to take a moment to reflect on 2017 and to tell us about one photograph that best captures the year for them. It’s ...

Boston Brooklyn Street Art Jaime Rojo Jimmy McMillan Manhattan New York City Occupy Boston Occupy Wall Street Rent Is Too Damn High Rick Wolff Steven P. Harrington Wall Street

BSA Images Of The Week: 05.11.24
May 11, 2025
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week. This week, St. Patrick’s Cathedral on Fifth Avenue was suddenly flooded with pealing …Read More »
CIBO Part II – Best Before: Street Art Against a Rancid Future in Verona
May 8, 2025
Street art, food, and antifascist activism collided on the walls of Verona – and we’re back for seconds. In Part …Read More »
Best Before: Street Art Against a Rancid Future in Verona, Part I
May 6, 2025
Verona, Italy—known for Romeo and Juliet—is now also home to a very different kind of love story: one between food, …Read More »
BSA Images Of The Week: 05.04.25
May 4, 2025
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week. Spring is in full swing, and so are the artists. We’re expecting a …Read More »
Monoliths and Market Forces: SpY’s Golden Intervention in Lille
May 1, 2025
On Rue Faidherbe, where stately Haussmannian façades frame your vision and the Opéra de Lille crowns the view like a …Read More »
Do Women Have to Be Naked to Be Taken Seriously? Guerrilla Girls and the Streetwise Fight for Visibility
April 29, 2025
“Bodies Of Knowledge” People have tried to make a case for blatant sexism in the percentage of women represented in …Read More »
BSA Images Of The Week: 04.27.25
April 27, 2025
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week. Don’t miss the Brooklyn Botanical Garden right now – it is peak Cherry …Read More »