Marthalicia

At Grandscale Mural Project in East Harlem: Mark West, Marthalicia, Scratch, Jason Naylor, Crash, Lost Breed Culture & Michael Cuomo

July 30, 2021

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

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The Audubon Mural Project, Part II: On Upper Manhattan Streets and at the New York Historical Society: Snoeman, George Boorujy, Jacinta Stewart, Marthalicia & Damien Mitchell

December 22, 2020

Upper Manhattan — the place John Audubon had called home — hosts a huge range of public artworks featuring images of climate-endangered birds. Within a few blocks of the recently-installed mosaic mural — fashioned by Carlos Pinto and John Sear — over a dozen murals have made their way into the neighborhood since I’d last documented the hugely impressive Audubon Mural Project back in 2018.

The image featured above, “Goose Gets Down,” was recently painted by the legendary NYC-based Snoeman. Several more murals of endangered birds follow — all curated by Avi Gitler, who founded and spearheads this remarkable project.

Brooklyn-based George Boorujy, Gang of Warblers

Also by George Boorujy, Greater Sage-Grouse

Australian-born Jacinta Stewart, American Three-toed Woodpecker and Bullock’s Oriole — segment of larger mural that also features a Red-breasted Sapsucker

Harlem-based Marthalicia Matarrita, Gray Hawk

And as seen last week at the New York Historical Society on the Upper West Side: Brooklyn-based Australian native Damien Mitchell, Peregrine Falcon, photographed by Mike Fernandez/Audubon

Photo credits: 1 City-as-School student Jasper Shepard; 2-6 Lois Stavsky

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“Uptown Counts: Art as Activism” with Marthalicia, Danielle Mastrion, Lady K Fever, The Royal King Bee, MED, Al Diaz & More

April 2, 2020

Organized by Ayana Ayo and coordinated by Kathleena Howie aka Lady K-Fever, Uptown Counts: Art as Activism is an exhibition of artworks by over 20 artists who lent their works to a range of uptown spaces to draw attention to the importance of the 2020 Census, particularly in East Harlem.

The number of East Harlem residents who respond to the 2020 Census will determine how much of the $675 billion in federal dollars the community will receive over the next 10 years — funding essential to schools, housing, healthcare, infrastructure and food assistance. Yet, only 40 percent of East Harlem residents are predicted to respond to the 2020 Census.

Among the artists featured in the exhibit are several who also use the streets as their canvas. The image above, “Mother and Child,” painted by East Harlem-resident Marthalicia Matarrita, has found a temporary home at the legendary Sylvia’s Restaurant. A small sampling of images — featured in Uptown Counts: Art as Activism — by artists whose works also surface in public spaces follows:

Danielle Mastrion, Offering — at Harlem Yoga Studio

Lady K-Fever, Justice at Last — at Sisters Caribbean Cuisine

Royal KingBee, BEE Cautious

MED, Resist

Al Diaz, Flowers Will No Longer Grow…

Because of the pandemic, the spaces hosting the artwork are largely inaccessible for the next several weeks. But you can check out the entire exhibit — sponsored by the nonprofit organization Uptown Grand Central — online here.

And — now — be sure to take the 2020 Census! It is a political and social justice issue. You can do it online, by phone (844-330-2020) or by mail.

Images and info for this post courtesy exhibition coordinator, Kathleena Howie aka Lady K-Fever

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The New Lombardy Walls Project: Bianca Romero, Dain, Chris RWK, Marthalicia, Czr Prz, Jappy Lemon, Will Power & Albertus Joseph

August 17, 2019

Curated by Bianca Romero, the new Lombardy Walls is a delightful addition to East Williamsburg’s visual landscape, bringing color and charisma to what was once a banal North Brooklyn block. The huge mural featured above was painted by Brooklyn-based Bianca Romero in what has become her distinctly infectious signature style. What follows are several more artworks that surfaced this summer for the first edition of Lombardy Walls.

Brooklyn-based Dain on door

Street art veteran and Robots Will Kill founder Chris RWK

Harlem-based Marthalicia Matarrita

Chicago-based Czr Prz

Filipino artist Jappy Lemon, currently based in NYC, does Spiderman

Will Power and Albertus Joseph do Ol‘ Dirty Bastard

Lombardy Walls is located at Lombardy Street and Porter Avenue.

Photos by Lois Stavsky

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Styles and Storytellers: Volume I Continues at La Maison d’Art in Harlem with J.T. Liss, Misha Tyutyunik, Marthalicia and Jeff Henriquez

May 26, 2017

Currently on view at La Maison d’Art in Harlem is Styles and Storytellers, the first installment of a series of exhibits and artist talks conceived and curated by artist J.T. Liss. In this intriguingly provocative exhibit, four different artists present four unique stories in four distinct styles. Each of the four artists — J.T. Liss, Misha Tyutyunik, Marthalicia Matarrita and Jeff Henriquez — also share their talents with us on our city streets. Pictured above is Face Value by J.T. Liss. Here are several more images from the show:

J.T. Liss, Face Value II, Photographic art on canvas

Misha Tyutyunik, Mourning, Acrylic on canvas

Marthalicia Matarrita, Frida Kahlo, En la Lucha, Mixed media

Jeff Henriquez, Night Moves #5, Photographic art on canvas

Styles and Storytellers: Volume I continues until June 30th with an artist talk and open-mic poetry/spoken words/music next Friday, June 2, 6-9 pm. To schedule an appointment to visit the exhibit at another time, you can contact gallery owner Stephanie Calla at stephanie@lamaisondartny.com or at 917-533-4605. La Maison d’Art is located at 259 W 132nd Street in Harlem.

Photos of artworks by Lois Stavsky

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Not A Crime Campaign Refashions PS 92 in Harlem with See One, Tatyana Fazlalizadeh, Lmnopi and Marthalicia

October 3, 2016

The Education Is Not a Crime Campaign, a street art campaign for educational equality in Iran, continues to grace Harlem with stylishly expressive, mural art on the theme of education. Within the last two weeks, four artists brought their skills and visions to PS 92 — located at 222 W 134th St. Pictured above is Brooklyn-based See One at work. What follows is an interview conducted on site with Not A Crime founder, Maziar Bahari — a journalist, filmmaker and activist who had been arrested without charge in Iran and detained for 118 days during the 2009 Iranian election protests.

Can you tell us something about the Not a Crime Campaign? Its mission?

The Not a Crime Campaign is an awareness-raising campaign about the educational discrimination directed primarily against the Baha’is in Iran. The Baha’is of Iran are the largest minority in that country. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, they have not been able to enjoy their rights as citizens in terms of employment and education. Our campaign focuses solely on education and the fact that the Baha’is in Iran can not teach or study in universities.

Why did you choose to use street art to get your message across?

We thought that the best way to fight against suppression and bigotry is with arts and creativity. We’ve been involved with street art, music, film… At this moment the major part of our campaign involves street art. Why street art? We live in a digital age. And we thought it would be interesting to have something really analog like street art and mix it with digital technology.

Our campaign is all about dialog and discourse. And through street art we can have different layers of dialog and discourse. I am not a Baha’i myself, so I have this dialog with the Baha’i community. And, then as a team, we have a dialog with the artists and with Street Art Anarchy, the organization that helps us choose the artists and negotiate the walls. The artists, then, have a dialog with passersby. Then the passersby have a dialog among themselves. And then we create a video about each wall and we put it on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. And, finally, viewers from all around the wall can interact with the videos.

What are some of the challenges presented by this project?

We face some challenges, but they are nothing compared to what some people go through every day in different countries. People who are arrested just because they want to be educated…people who are tortured just because they want to teach, to study. I’m almost ashamed of talking about our challenges, which are really minor. But NYC is a big, crowded city with a bureaucratic government. And each wall requires negotiating with the building owners, and there are many by-laws that restrict what we can do. But, again, these challenges are minor.

How has the response been? And why Harlem?

The reaction of the Harlem community has been amazing. We have found a home in Harlem. We chose Harlem because the people here understand discrimination. Harlem is in NYC, and the media attention to NY is always amazing. And we wanted to be in NY where world leaders gather in September for the United Nations General Assembly. But also Harlem is synonymous with the Harlem Renaissance. And we see that people react to our walls here in ways that many people in other places didn’t. People in Harlem get our message immediately, and they appreciate the way we do things. And in addition to working with the street artists who create these beautiful works of art, we also work in the community in terms of outreach and other subjects.

What’s ahead?

A continuation of what we’ve started. To have more connections with the community…to see what they want from us… what we can offer them in terms of providing our expertise with street art or music. And to talk about the subject that’s dear to everyone around the world — and especially the people in Harlem — the subject of education and discrimination.

Thank you so much for the interview, Mr. Bahari. And good luck with the campaign.

Interview conducted by Karin du Maire and edited for Street Art NYC by Lois Stavsky

Images

1. See One at work

2. Maziar Bahari, founder of Not A Crime campaign, as captured during interview

3. Tatyana Fazlalizadeh at work

4. Tatyana Fazlalizadeh

5. Lmnopi mural in progress

6. Lmnopi, close-up with young admirers

7. Marthalicia

Photo credits: 1-3 & 5 Karin du Maire; 4 Tara Murray and 6 & 7 Lois Stavsky

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Lady K Fever at Marcus Garvey Park and at the Heath Gallery with Jenevieve, Natalie Collette Wood, Marthalicia, Shame 125, Bio & more

August 17, 2016

Lady K Fever has been feverishly busy! Along with creating and installing All Along the Watchtower, an interactive public art installation at Marcus Garvey Park, she was also at work curating Inside Out, a group exhibit at the nearby Heath Gallery, to coincide with her installation. This past Sunday, I had the opportunity to visit both the installation and the exhibit.

Another segment of the Marcus Garvey Park installation — at night

And at the Heath Gallery — Lady K Fever, Mystery

Jenevieve, Two Views

Natalie Collette Wood, Eliptical Star

Marthalicia, Aquatic Boy

Shame 125, Admiring

Bio,Tats Cru, Let the Games Begin

And “the crew” outside Heath Gallery

The exhibit at Heath Gallery can be seen this weekend: Saturday from 12-6pm and Sunday 12-5pm. All Along the Watchtower remains on view through the end of this month. And for a guided walk of it, you can meet up with Lady K Fever, Suprina and the Marcus Garvey Park Alliance members at the nearby Chéri Restaurant, 231 Lenox Avenue, between 6-7pm on Friday evening.

All Along the Watchtower is sponsored by the Marcus Garvey Park Alliance Public Art Initiative with funding provided in part by the Harlem Community Development Corporation.

Photos: 1-3 & 10 courtesy Lady K Fever; 4-9 Lois Stavsky

Note: Hailed in a range of media from the Huffington Post to the New York Times, our Street Art NYC App is now available for Android devices here.

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Celebrating the Launch of the Boone Room Website Tonight at Exit Room

April 20, 2015

Some of NYC’s most vibrant and striking murals–on Boone Avenue between 172^nd and 173^rd Streets in the Bronx–were demolished last year to be replaced by residential buildings. But thanks to the efforts of SLO Architecture, various artists, neighboring Fannie Lou Hamer High School, Maria Krajewski, City-As-School students and several others, the spirit of Boone Avenue lives. Featuring dozens of images, interviews and more, the Boone Room website, constructed by City-As-School students, can now be viewed online. To celebrate its launch, the public is invited to join the City-As-School family, several of the artists and a host of performers and musicians tonight at Exit Room.

Artists interviewed for the Boone Room website include: Cope2, Eric Orr, Marthalecia and Valerie Larko who has preserved the walls in her amazing photorealistic paintings.

Lady K Fever

Kashink — who was visiting NYC from Paris — to the left of Lady K Fever

Tonight at 270 Meserole Street in Bushwick

Post by City-As-School intern Zachariah Messaoud with Lois Stavsky; photos 3 and 4 courtesy Maria Krajewski

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Centre-fuge Public Art Project Cycle 16 to Continue in the East Village with: Moody Mutz, Joshua David McKenney, Marthalicia, Michael DeNicola, Lexi Bella, Foxx Faces, BK, Raquel Echanique and more

February 24, 2015

The Centre-fuge Public Art Project continues its mission to transform the Department of Transportation trailer on First Street and First Avenue into a vibrant open-air gallery. These past few wintry weeks, its 16^th cycle has brought an infectious energy to an otherwise cold and stark site. Here are a few close-ups:

Moody at work in mid-December — at the beginning of the current cycle

Joshua David McKenney at work

And to the right of Pidgin Doll — Marthalicia Matarrita, Michael DeNicola, Basil and Lexi Bella

Foxx Faces, Raquel Echanique and Marthalicia Matarrita

Vernon O’Meally, Lelex and Fade, AA Mobb

Arbiter, Miss Zukie, Foxx Faces, BK and Sest2

Pebbles Russell, who co-founded the Centre-fuge Public Art Project in 2012, reports that Cycle 16 will remain in effect for a few more weeks. If you would like to participate in future cycles of this project, send a sketch, along with reference images to other works, to centrefuge@gmail.com.

Final photo by Lois Stavsky; all others by Dani Reyes Mozeson

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Dodworth Street Mural Art Project with: Eelco, Rocko & Vera Times, David Louf, Miss Zukie & Lexi Bella, Fumero, Danielle Mastrion, CB23, Col, Marthalicia, BK, Damien Mitchell & Edob LOV3

December 17, 2014

Earlier this fall, the Dodworth Street Mural art project began a wondrous transformation of the area on and around Dodworth Street between Bushwick Avenue and Broadway. Here are just a few of the murals that have surfaced:

Eelco ’Virus’ Van den Berg, Rocko and Vera Times