Vexta

This is the twelfth in a series of posts featuring the range of faces have surfaced in NYC open spaces:

Werc in Bedford-Stuyvesant with the Open Society Foundations

werc-bk

Vexta and Askew in Williamsburg for the Greenest Point, one fragment of huge mural

vexta-and-askew-street-art-nyc

Joel Bergner aka Joel Artista in Bellerose, Queens with the DOT

joel-artista-street-art-queens

LMNOPI in Long Island City with Arts Org

lmnopi-street-art-nyc

Cern in Williamsburg, close-up

cern-street-art-williamsburg

Thiago Valdi in Staten Island with the NYC Arts Cypher

thiago-valdi-street-art-staten-island

Leticia Mandragora, Bushwick 

leticia-mandragora-street-art-bushwick-nyc

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

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.

en-play-badge 2

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This is the ninth in a series of occasional posts featuring the range of faces that surface on NYC open spaces:

James Bullough at the Bushwick Collective

"James Bullough"

Alan Aine in Bedford-Stuyvesant

"Alan aine"

Vexta in the East Village

Vexta

Zimad at the Bushwick Collective

Zimad

Anser in Bushwick

Anser

Sam Kirk in Williamsburg

provoke-culture-street-art-nyc

Rafael de los Santos aka Poteleche in Williamsburg

HD-Crew-Street-art-nyc

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

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shida-vexta-street-art- melbourne-dean-sunshine

With his keen eye and infinite passion, Melbourne-based photographer Dean Sunshine avidly documents the graffiti and street art he encounters in his hometown and beyond. His second, newly-released book, Street Art Now, is a first-rate chronicle of the art that has been surfacing  — not only on the streets of Melbourne — but in other cities across the globe that Dean has recently visited. I met up with him when he was in NYC this past fall. Soon after, his stunning second book Street Art Now made its way into print. 

STREET ART NOW-Cover-FINAL

Have you any early memories of Melbourne graffiti and street art? When did you begin to photograph it?

Graffiti and hip-hop sprouted in Melbourne in the 80’s with VHS copies of Style Wars being handed around, educating the kids here about these subcultures thriving in NYC. My first piece of graffiti art was a present for my 21st birthday in the mid eighties — a basketball backboard spray painted by Merda and Ransom – two of the stars of the Melbourne scene. Decades later this piece still hangs at my home and many of the writers who are now mates are surprised and envious of this original piece. I started taking photos in the early 2000’s.

Wane-COD-graffiti- melbourne-Dean-Sunshine

What motivated you to do so?

I loved snapping all this amazing art seen on the streets, but it was actually my partner at the time who told me I was a fool to have thousands of images on a hard drive that nobody else could enjoy. She said, “You should start a blog,” and the Land Of Sunshine was born.

Roa-street-art-melbourne-Dean-Sunshine

Adnate-street-art Melbourne-Dean-Sunshine

How do you find the time while working at a day job to photograph so many great pieces of street art, blog regularly and publish two books?

I find time during my daily grind in the rag trade driving around to appointments across the suburbs of Melbourne visiting textile factories. On these travels I often stumble over graffiti and street art, and I pull over and take a quick shot. On the weekends I often hunt out abandoned factories, get down into the drains, and search new lane-ways — always on the lookout for new work.

shida-seth- globe-painter-street-art-melbourne-dean-sunshine

Do any particular moments stand out in your street-art hunting expeditions?

There are so many highlights throughout my time documenting. I have met, hung out and I’ve been privileged to watch so many incredible artists in action including: ROA, Kid Zoom, Herakut, Hush, D*Face, Stormie Mills, Rone, Makatron, Adnate, SlicerLi-HillShida, Smug, WANE, Sofles, Kaff-eine, DEB, Heesco, Meggs, Reka, Phibs, Bailer, DVATE, Does, Twoone, Mysterious Al, Dscreet, Vexta, 2501, Faith47, DALeast, Pixel Pancho, Phlegm, Insa, Sirum, The Yok, Sheryo, Gaia, Alexis Diaz, Maya Hayuk, Crash, Daze and ELK. But the times I have spent with Futura, Henry Chalfant and Martha Cooper stand out the most, as these three are the pioneers of this scene in which we find ourselves submerged. I got to take each of them around the streets and lanes of Melbourne, proudly showing them my favorite spots in my own hometown. Such absolute legends, all with a passion that has lasted decades. I wish I will be as passionate 25 years on!

Pixel-Pancho-street-art-perth-australia-Dean-Sunshine

What brought you to NYC?

I came to New York this past September to keep my wife company who was shooting fashion week. (Yes, she is also a photographer!) As she went uptown each morning to the shows, I got on my pushbike and rode all over, snapping as I went.

kaffeine-li-hill -street-art-NYC-dean-sunshine

What other cities have you visited?

Over the last years, I’ve been lucky to have travelled to Los Angeles, Hawaii, Berlin, Paris, Italy, Mexico, Buenos Aires, Rio De Janeiro, and even Perth. It’s funny how these days it’s a priority when I’m on holidays to track down and snap all the local art I find. My recent book, Street Art Now, documents some of these findings.

yok-sheryo-street-art-zicatela-mexico-Dean-Sunshine

What’s ahead?

Well, I am soon to become a father so my priorities will change — although I will probably be doing the same, just with the little guy on my back.

KEITH HARING- mural-1984 -Dean Sunshine- Melbourne

Congratulations! I am quite certain you will.

Note: You can check out some local coverage that Dean’s recent book, Street Art Now, received here, along with a guided tour of the Melbourne scene by Dean here.

Photos of above artworks in Street Art Now:

1. Vexta and Shida in Melbourne

3. WANE in Melbourne

4. ROA in Melbourne

5. Adnate in Melbourne

6. Seth GlobePainterShida and TwoOne in Melbourne

7. Pixel Pancho in Perth

8. Li-Hill and Kaff-eine in New York City

9. The Yok and Sheryo in Zicatela, Mexico

10. Keith Haring in Melbourne, 1984

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Also occupying NYC streets is an intriguing array of skulls, skeletons and assorted eerie creatures, Here’s a sampling:

Vexta in the East Village

"Vexta street art"

N Carlos J in Bushwick

"N Carlos J"

Damien Mitchell in the Bronx for Tag Public Arts Project

"Damien Mitchell"

Nicole Salgar & Chuck Berrett in Bushwick for JMZ Walls

nicole-salagar-chuck-berrett-street-art-

Steiner in Bushwick

Steiner

Bishop203 in Bushwick

bishop203-street-art-nyc

Epic Uno in Bushwick for the Tag Public Arts Project

Epic-Uno-and-achan-street-art-Bronx-NYC 2

 Photos: 1 & 6 by Dani Reyes Mozeson; 2, 4, 5 & 7 by Lois Stavsky; 3 by Tara Murray

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On our recent visit to Jersey City this past Friday, Gregory D. Edgell aka the Green Villain gave us a tour of some of Jersey City’s newest murals, including some wonderful ones that he curated. Here’s a sampling of those:

Li Hill

"Li Hill"

Vexta

Vexta

Kem5

Kem5

Zimer

Zimer

Enoe

Enoe

Jerkface

Jerkface

Mes PFE

Mespfe

All photos by Lois Stavsky, except for Kem5, courtesy of Greg.

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These past few days have been busy at the Bushwick Collective. New walls have been surfacing daily and the Collective has launched its first indoor exhibit. Here’s a bit of what we captured yesterday and Thursday:

Vexta‘s mural — as seen yesterday — and Vexta at work here

Vexta

Adam Fu at work yesterday

"Adam Fu"

Sexer‘s newly completed mural

Sexer

Solus — in from Dublin — at work yesterday

Solus

 Vers at work yesterday

Vers

FKDL — in from Paris — checks out his progress 

RKDL

FKDL inside the gallery

FKDL-art-exhibit

Jerkface begins

"Brian Jerkface"

Jerkface inside the gallery

"Brian Jerkface"

Also on view in the gallery — located at 426 Troutman Street — in the heart of the Bushwick Collective are works by: Blek le Rat, Solus, Rubin 415, Chris Stain, Dan Witz, Zimad, Joe Iurato, Sexer, Beau Stanton and Atom.   And at tomorrow’s block party you can see and celebrate it all with live street art, bands, food trucks, a beer tent and giveaways.

Photos of Vexta, Adam Fu, Solus and Vers by Lois Stavsky; of  FKDL, Sexer and Jerkface by Dani Reyes Mozeson; gallery images of  FKDL and Jerkface by Houda Lazrak

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The finale of the Fabergé Big Egg Hunt began this past weekend and continues through Friday. Among the 260 egg sculptures on view at 30 Rockefeller Plaza are quite a few by artists with roots in the streets. Here’s a small sampling:

Vexta

Vexta

Enx

enx-street-art-egg

Dain

Dain

Seen

Seen

Indie 184

Indie

Retna

Retna

Pure Evil

"Pure Evil"

ASVP

ASVP

Friday marks the final day of the auction with all proceeds going to Studio in a School and to Elephant Family.

Photos by Dani Reyes Mozeson

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Currently on exhibit at Chelsea’s ArtNowNY is “Push It,” an exuberant show featuring works by over 20 female artists working in a remarkable range of expressive modes.  Fresh new talents are showcased alongside legendary artists — many with roots in graffiti and street art. Here’s a sampling of works by six artists who consistently share their visions with us in public spaces:

Swoon

"Swoon"

Elle

Elle

Lady Pink

"Lady Pink"

Lady Aiko

Aiko

Alice Mizrachi

"Alice Mizrachi"

Vexta, close-up

Vexta

Maya Hayuk

"Maya Hayuk"

Curated by Melissa McCaig-Welles, the exhibit continues through April 26 at ArtNowNY, 548 West 28th Street in Chelsea’s gallery district.

Images of artwork by Dani Reyes Mozeson, Lois Stavsky and City-as-School intern Dea Sumrall

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This is the third in an occasional series featuring images of males who surface on NYC public spaces:

Stik across from Dorian Grey Gallery in the East Village

Stik

Blek le Rat at the Bushwick Collective

Blek le Rat

Icy and Sot and Gilf!, close-up from huge mural for First Street Green and Centre-fuge Public Art Project

icy and sot and gilf!

Gaia at Bushwick Collective

Gaia

LNYCost and Enx in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

LNY, Cost and Enx

Vexta in Bushwick

Vexta and Gilf!

Manny Vega in East Harlem

Manny Vega

Photos by Dani Mozeson, Tara Murray and Lois Stavsky

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This is the third in an ongoing series featuring the range of faces that surface daily on NYC’s public spaces:

Pose and Revok on the Bowery and Houston, close-up

Pose and Revok

Argentinian artist Ever on Williamsburg rooftop, close-up

Ever

Australian artist Vexta at Welling Court in Astoria, Queens

Vexta

Cern on truck spotted on Manhattan’s Upper West Side

Cern

Mata Ruda and ND’A at Welling Court in Astoria, Queens

mata ruda and ND'A

Crystal Clarity on Lower East Side rooftop

Crystal Clarity

Danielle Mastrion with signature by El Niño de las Pinturas at 5Pointz in Long Island City, Queens

Danielle Mastrion

 Phetus in Bushwick, Brooklyn

Phetus

Photos by Lenny Collado, Dani Mozeson, Tara Murray & Lois Stavsky

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