Search: michaelcuomo

The Grandscale Mural Project returned to East Harlem this summer bringing dozens of alluring new murals to East 125th Street.  Featuring a huge range of  themes and styles, the project showcases works by both established and emerging artists. The intriguing image pictured above, A Walk to Freedom, was painted by NYC-based Baltimore native Mark West as a visual ode to those slaves who risked their lives or died in their struggle to attain freedom. Several more images of newly surfaced walls follow:

Harlem-based Marthalicia Marthalicia

East Harlem-based Scratch

Brooklyn-based Jason Naylor

The legendary Bronx-based John Matos aka Crash One captured at work earlier this month

Luis F Perez and Fausto Manuel Ramos of Lost Breed Culture

Bronx-born, Yonkers-based Michael Cuomo

Keep posted to our Instagram page, as there are many more murals from the Grandscale Mural Project waiting to be captured!

Photo credits:  1, 2, 6 & 7 Lois Stavsky; 3, 4 & 5 Tara Murray

{ 1 comment }

On my first day in more than two months out of Manhattan, I was delighted to visit Underhill Walls in Prospect Park, Brooklyn. Curated and managed by Jeff Beler — with safe guidelines practicing social distance —  it is NYC’s first community-based street art project to emerge as the city begins to take steps to open. The image featured above was fashioned by the wonderfully talented Subway Doodle. Several more images I captured yesterday — as the project that began last week continues — follow:

Jason Naylor bringing brightly-hued love

 Zukie’s pepperoni pizza comes to life!

Visual artists and poets Android Oi and My Life in Yellow collaborate

Visual artist and producer Megan Watters at work to the left of  Paolo Tolentino‘s portrait of the late Shirley Chisholm

Colombian artist Calicho Arevalo‘s gift of love

Muralist and designer Majo B gift of beauty

Multidisciplinary visionary Shamanic artist Myztico Campo posing next to his work in progress

Keep posted to the Street Art NYC Instagram for more images from this ongoing project

Photos by Lois Stavsky — with special thanks to Yonkers-based multidisciplinary artist Michael Cuomo for getting me out of Manhattan!

{ 0 comments }

Eight walls and three loading docks on the exterior of Yoho Studios have a brand-new look. Described by the artist as New Earth Hieroglyphs, the art brings Michael Cuomo’s distinctly abstract, black and white spiritual aesthetic into the public sphere. Upon viewing it, I had a few questions for Michael:

How did this wonderful opportunity to share your particular aesthetic in a public space come your way?

I was granted permission by Heights Real Estate and Yonkers Arts, an organization that has been promoting and encouraging artistic ventures in the City of Yonkers.

You are a master of many different styles and techniques. How did you decide on this particular composition?

I wanted to share the power of high vibrational frequency that these designs offer. I am honored to be able to present my artwork to the community on a main street, 578-540 Nepperhan Avenue, where thousands pass daily.

How have folks responded to it?

They love it. While I was painting, many stopped by to chat. Others honked their horns from their cars, and gave me a thumbs up! The response has been thoroughly positive.

You work mostly in your studio. What has it been like to change your working environment to an outdoor one?

I love working in both settings. But I love the interaction with others that best happens in public spaces.

How do you feel about the final product?

I’m enthralled!

What’s ahead?

In addition to my studio work, I’d love to find more opportunities to paint outdoors.

How can folks best contact you?

They can drop me an email at michaelcuomoart@gmail.com. Or they can send a direct message to my Instagram account.

Great! And we’re looking forward to seeing more of your work on the streets!

Interview conducted and edited by Lois Stavsky

Photos 1, 2 & 3 courtesy of the artist; 4 & 5 Lois Stavsky

Note: An earlier version of this interview — with additional photos by Fawn Phillips — first appeared here.

{ 0 comments }

michael-cuomo-recycled-art-masks-Yonkers-waterfront

Working with a motley range of discarded objects, Yonkers-based interdisciplinary artist Michael Cuomo repurposes them into masks that he calls Heads of State. Exhibited in both outdoor and indoor spaces, his unique sculpture assemblages provoke and entertain. This past week, some of his newest smaller masks made their way onto the Yonkers Waterfront.

Pigskin

Michael-Cuomo-pigskin-recycled-art

Rex

Michael-Cuomo-mask-recycled-art-Rex

Installation in Progress

Michael-Cuomo-installs-masks

A master of neo-primitive folk art in all media, Michael Cuomo recently released a coloring book with his original soulfakes drawings. You can purchase it here.

Snowflaes-cuomo-coloring-book

Photos by Richie DiFrisco

{ 0 comments }

As featured earlier this year in the New York Times, Nic 707’s Instafame Phantom Art movement continues to bring dozens of artists — from Old School writers to contemporary painters — back into NYC subway trains. Here are a few recently-captured images:

The legendary Skeme of Style Wars fame

skeme

Gear One

gear-one-subway-art

Nic 707

Nic-707-instafame-phantom-art

Ivory

ivory-graffiti-

The legendary Taki 183

taki-183-subway-graffiti

Michael Cuomo

michael-Cuomo-abstract-subway-art

Kingbee — with fragment of Michael Cuomo on left

kingbee-subway-art-nyc

Misha Tyutyunik

M-Dot-subway-art

Photos by Lois Stavsky

{ 0 comments }

We love the way discarded and found objects — or fragments of them – are transformed into public art.  Here’s a small sampling:

RAE BK in Manhattan

rae-recycled-art-street-art-nyc

Jim Power aka the Mosaic Man captured at work in the East Village

Jim-power-recycled-street-art-east-village-nyc

Fragment from a pole fashioned by Jim Power

Jim-Power-street-art-nyc

Michael Cuomo in the Bronx

Michael-cuomo-hand-made-mask-recycled-art-NYC

Unidentified artist on the Lower East Side

recycled-art-Lower-east-sde

Photos: 1, 3-5 Lois Stavsky; 2 Dani Reyes Mozeson

{ 1 comment }

Huge fans of Michael Cuomo‘s street and subway interventions, we were delighted to visit his studio as he was getting ready for YOHO Artists Open Studio, in addition to a WallWorks NY pop-up show and a solo exhibit at Art Cafe in Brooklyn. Here’s a sampling of what we saw:

Lucky, fashioned from found objects

Michael-Cuomo-Reclaimed-art

Big Mouth, fashioned from found objects

Michael-cuomo-recycled

Self-Portrait

Michael-Cuomo-self-portrait-paper

The Tempest

Michael-Cuomo-painting

Untitled

Michael-Cuomo-folk-art

Note: Michael Cuomo’s studio is located at 578 Nepperhan Ave., Suite 505; Wall Works NY’s pop-up show — featuring a wondrous array of artists including Nick Walker, Tats Cru and Crash — opens tonight and continues through the weekend at 28 Wells Street, 2nd floor. And Michael’s solo exhibit at Art Cafe opens May 6 from 6-9 at 886 Pacific Street in Brooklyn.

YoHo

Photo credits: 1, 3-5 Lois Stavsky; 2. City-As-School intern Diana Davidova; YoHo Open Studio graphic designed by John Wujcik

You can check out a detailed schedule of what’s happening this weekend in Yonkers — including live painting by Crash, Fumero and Damien Mitchell — here.

{ 0 comments }

Nic 707‘s InstaFame Phantom Art continues to share a range of art — from tags by legendary writers to works by global artists — with NYC subway riders. Here are some images captured on a recent ride from East Tremont in the Bronx to Brighton Beach in Brooklyn.

Veteran UK graffiti writer, Pulse

Pulse

Bogota native Praxis

Praxis

The legendary TAKI 183

Taki 183

Praxis

Praxis

Nic 707

Nic707

Graffiti pioneer Skeme of Style Wars fame

skeme

Mulit-media artist Michael Cuomo 

michael-cuomo-art-in-transit

Nic 707

Nic707

Michael Cuomo

Michael-Cuomo

Photos by Lois Stavsky

{ 0 comments }

"Nic 707"

If you happen to be riding the NYC subways anywhere between the Brooklyn Bridge and Pelham Bay Parkway, you could be in for a treat – an impromptu art exhibit curated by veteran graffiti writer Nic 707Michael Cuomo, a multi-media artist based in Yonkers, accompanied Nic 707 on a recent ride to share some of his new paintings. Here’s a sampling from the InstaFame Phantom Art Project:

These women who exited the train on the Upper East Side were delighted by Nic 707’s InstaFame Phantom Art Project!

Nic 707

Michael Cuomo, Wizard’s Well

"Michael Cuomo"

Michael Cuomo, Amazon Jungle

"Michael Cuomo"

Nic 707,  Kilroy Goes Wild

"Nic 707"

Michael Cuomo, Astro-nuts

"Michael Cuomo"

Nic 707, Apocalypse Aftermath

"Nic 707"

Nic 707, The Whole World in His Hands

"Nic 707"

 Michael Cuomo, Bubblegum Ecstasy

"Michael Cuomo"

Photo of Kilroy Goes Wild by Eddie DiBono; all others by Lois Stavsky

{ 1 comment }

Michael Cuomo

Working with discarded objects he finds on the streets, Bronx-native Michael Cuomo has been busily creating an alternate universe.  Central to his cosmos are dozens of masks that he displays in a range of public spaces, engaging curious passersby of all ages.  We joined Michael this past Sunday up near Yankee Stadium.

You do magical things with what others have discarded.  When did it all begin?

The idea of working with found objects came to me after I took a three-hour class in “drawing with wire” at Bronx Community College back in 2006. I made my first masks with wire. And as I’d always been drawn to objects that others deem useless, I began to search for these objects and gradually incorporate them into my masks.

You certainly have some strange objects integrated into these masks – from car parts to broken toys to old hats. How do you manage to get hold of such a variety?

I find most of them on the streets, and recently friends and neighbors have begun giving me “donations.”

Michael Cuomo

When recycling these materials into masks, do you work with a defined concept of the final product?

Never.  It’s an organic process. When the mask is finished, it tells me so.  I have dozens of sketchbooks and constantly draw, but I don’t consciously work from my sketches.

What engages you about recycling and working with found objects?

It reminds me that we are all one on this planet.  The objects that I find help connect me with others – their original owners and our anscestors. I also feel that by recycling I am – in some small way – helping our planet.

Why have you decided to share your masks with the public out here on the streets?

It’s the best way for me to connect with the people. My art is “for the people” and “by the people.”  When strangers see my art and engage with it, they break the monotony of their daily lives. I also like the dialog that it spurs.

Michael Cuomo mask

Where have you displayed your masks?

I’ve shared them in quite a few public spaces. On 110th Street in East Harlem…in front of the Hayden Planetarium on the Upper West Side…on the 6 train.

What about galleries?

I’ve exhibited them at NYU, Gallery 69, at the Longwood Art Gallery up here in the Bronx, and I have a show coming up later this spring in New Rochelle.

How does your family feel about what you are doing?

They like it, but I can’t say they embrace it!

Michael Cuomo

What do you see as the role of the artist in society?

I see the artist’s role as a transformative one. Art enlightens. My art is an extension of the hip-hop movement that was born here in the Bronx. It is all about empowerment and change.

What’s ahead?

My artworks will continue to evolve and — eventually — will travel the world.

Photos by Lois Stavsky

{ 1 comment }