Books

The Newly Launched Soi Books Celebrates Distinctly Creative Urban Artists from Across the Globe in Mini-Documentary Editions

April 19, 2023

Soi Books, a new series of delightfully curated mini books, celebrates a diverse range of hugely talented urban artists from across the globe. The artists’ varied works, distinct stories and personal histories are at once alluring and provocative. And not only do these booklets introduce us to these artists’ creations, but they acquaint us with the particular cultures and places that inspired them.

Among Soi Books,s newly published editions is TILL WE MEET AGAIN presenting an enticing array of artwork by the distinctly skilled Swiss-Peruvian woodblock printer Tania Brun. Included too is a variety of photographs — offering insights into her and her family’s lives. Crisp and infectious, Tania’s aesthetic largely reflects her Andean heritage.

“We used to live in a small town in Puno, where my father was a priest,” she relates. “He always taught us to appreciate the people of the Andes and not to take advantage of being half-Swiss.”

Another of Soi Books,’s inaugural editions focuses on the prolific Italian graffiti crew, SOOL. Curated in a feverishly frenetic and playful mode, the booklet, SOOL BOOMB BOOK, brilliantly captures the talents, energies and adventures of multimedia artists Claudio, Marco and Nicola who hail from the mountains of Northern Italy.

SUPER STRIKE presents a glimpse into Suiko, a wonderfully versatile artist who hails from Hiroshimo. With photos documenting the artist in a range of settings from his studio in Hiroshima to the streets of Nepal, along with engaging, informative text and images of hugely impressive artworks, SUPER STRIKE both educates and and inspires.

CHIP7LAND, the edition focusing on Bangkok-based Thai-American painter and Mayhen crew founder CHIP7, presents – in addition to photographs and random musings – masterful images of futuristic landscapes representing a fusion of Western and Eastern sensibilities.

And all of the booklets also give us a glimpse into the artists at work, providing further insights into the creative process.

To find out more about about these Soi Books, discover others, and find out how you can get your artwork published, check here.

All images courtey of the publisher

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Legendary NYC Graffiti Artist James Top Book Signing and Solo Exhibition at Sister’s Uptown Bookstore & Cultural Center

February 3, 2023

Tomorrow evening, Saturday, February 4, Sister’s Uptown Bookstore & Cultural Center and James Top Productions will host a book signing of James Top‘s autobiography, My Life, along with an opening reception to “Life Is Sweet on Sugar Hill,” a solo exhibition of his artwork. If you don’t already own a copy of James Top‘s memoir, this is the ideal setting to pick up a personally autographed one.

James Top, My Life not only celebrates the life of one particularly passionate graffiti artist, curator, educator and activist, but it illuminates elements of the hip-hop culture that NYC birthed.

Growing up in the projects in East New York, a neighborhood plagued by poverty and violence, it was all too easy to succumb to the fiercely brutal life of the streets. But James Top was determined from early on to somehow escape the “war zone” that was his everyday reality and “make it to the top.”

One of the last of his friends to pick up a marker, James — then JEE 2, the writer — went, within a relatively short span of time, from tagging the walls of his building to hitting trains non-stop. In 1974, along with several other writers, he founded TOP, The Odd Partners, a graffiti crew “with a mission to take over every train line and give Central Brooklyn an all-city graffiti presence.” And that TOP, The Odd Partners did, as its members — principally IN 1, MICKEY729, HURST and JEE 2 — perfected the art of the throw-up as they gained recognition as Kings.

As life evolved, so did the TOP Crew. Members died or were imprisoned; DONDI and NOC 167 were among those inducted; and whole train cars began to roll by. JEE 2 was soon JAMESTOP, and he began actively tagging the streets. “As JAMESTOP, I was a combination of a Central Brooklyn gangster and a Harlem Shaft,” he writes in My Life.

While James Top had found himself enmeshed in a range of personal struggles in the late 80’s, he effectively triumphed over them by the late 90’s after leaving Brooklyn for Harlem. Several hugely impressive accomplishments followed: he curated his first exhibition ever — a DONDI Memorial Show; he launched Graffiti NYC, a TV show centering on NYC’s graffiti art culture; he converted a wall of an abandoned school property into “The People’s Wall” — an open-air gallery, and he began to lecture on graffiti in various venues, including City College, CUNY.

In 2008, James Top had his first one-man show, “AFROLOGY,” showcasing adult versions of his signature AFRO character. And in the late 2010’s, he became actively involved in the Graffiti Hall of Fame, both as a co-director and artist.

You can meet the legendary James Top, view his artwork, and purchase an autographed copy of his memoir tomorrow evening, February 4, from 5-9pm, at Sister’s Uptown Bookstore & Cultural Center, 1942 Amsterdam Avenue @ 156 Street.

Images: 1. Cover photo Jamel Shabazz; 2-5 ©James Top, My Life

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Speaking with DC-Based iwillnot on His Famed Street Sticker EXPOs, Hugely Popular Books and More

September 6, 2022

Wildly passionate and distinctly knowledgeable about about sticker art, DC-based iwillnot has published two celebrated books and has curated five extraordinarily impressive expos on the theme. On my recent visit to DC, I had the opportunity to pose a few questions to him and catch up a bit:

Since you first introduced me to the DC street art sticker scene about 14 years ago, your contributions to the culture have been enormous — expos, books, giveaways and more. What is it about stickers that appeal to you?

I love that they are a quick and easy way to get a message — or simply your name — out there.

Can you tell us something about your name — “iwillnot?” When did you acquire it? And why did you choose it?

I began using iwillnot in 2009. It was a statement of defiance and opposition. I didn’t like what was happening around me. I could not support the direction DC was taking, particularly in terms of its gentrification. And I wasn’t happy with the way my neighborhood was evolving in the name of renovation and development.

You had been pasting, collecting and trading stickers for several years before you conceived of curating your first Street Sticker EXPO at The Fridge DC. What motivated you to launch such a huge project?

It was a natural progression. I, myself, already had amassed a huge collection, and I knew many active sticker artists out there. It was a way to share the art form that I love with so many others and to introduce these artists to a wider audience. Also, the streets in DC had become less hospitable to stickers.

How did you initially get the word out? Over a thousand artists have participated in your Sticker Expos.

At first it was largely word-of-mouth. We were a pretty tight group, Skam, RWK, V0xx Romana…and more. And social media, mainly Instagram and my website, are essential to getting the word out.

Your most recent Street Sticker EXPO took place during the pandemic. Did that present any distinct challenges?

Yes. It was stressful. Among the challenges was receiving and opening packages of stickers while we were all concerned with becoming infected with COVID-19…Just storing the boxes until we opened them was problematic!

Your second book, Unsmashed, features over 1200 colored photographs of stand-alone stickers from artists across the globe. How did you select which stickers to include?

I took one sticker from each pack that I had received for the 2020 Expo. Each of these stickers was then photographed by fellow sticker artist Cheer Up, who also did the layout and design for the book. It evolved into the ideal field guide that can easily connect anyone to the sticker art community.

Yes! It is perfect! What’s ahead?

SMASHED 2.0 is underway. It will cover the last two EXPOs, the showings at the 2020 Outsider Art Fair and Tribeca Art Night in NYC, the execution of the collage portrait and the phenomenon of sticker shows around the world.

What about EXPOs? Any ahead?

In 2023, we will celebrate our 10-year anniversary.

Congratulations! I’m looking forward to that!

Note: Be sure to check out iwillnot’s website to purchase his books and assorted merchandise. And if you’d like to receive a free sticker pack, fill out the form on this page!

All photos courtesy iwillnot; photo 2 features El Toro and Chris RWK collaboration; photo 4 – a collaboration with Mr. Zimbro

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“Moniker: Identity Lost and Found” Documents and Celebrates Hobo Railroad Art and Underground Moniker Writing

June 9, 2022

In June 2018, Ohio’s Massillon Museum hosted “Moniker: Identity Lost & Found,” an exhibition featuring a distinctly remarkable documentation of mark-making and monikers, a grassroots movement which began in rail yards in the late nineteenth century. An exhibition catalog published at the time sold out almost immediately. This month heralds the release of a second edition in softcover format of Moniker: Identity Lost & Found in conjunction and cooperation with the Black Butte Center For Railroad Culture and its current exhibit, End Of The Line.

Published by Burn Barrel Press, the just-released Moniker: Identity Lost and Found features 148 full-color pages of rare archival documents, photographs, and artwork, along with a glossary of relevant terms. A fascinating foray into a distinctly American subculture of ephemeral artworks, it also offers a glimpse into many of these artists’ minds in their own voices. What follows is a sampling of images from the pages of this significant book as it brilliantly introduces us to an art form that is often overlooked by so many, including us graffiti and street art aficionados.

Who is This J.B. King? – from The Saturday Evening Post article by Jean Muir, May 1945 — referencing the prodigious “writer” J. B. King, who was identified by his loopy scrawl

20,000th mark, 2002, From the collection of Smokin’ Joe

Writing implements, courtesy of Scot Phillips

Hoboe’s (sic) Directory, Nevada; 1910 Special Collections, University of Nevada, Reno Library, University Archives, (UNRS-P2017-07)

I Want to Be a Boss. Photograph by Sally and Jerry Romotsky, 1969. 35mm color transparency. Rail worker graffiti under the Fourth Street Bridge in Los Angeles. Courtesy Sally and Jerry Romotsky

Matokie Slaughter – Photo by Kurt Tors

You can order the paperback edition of the hugely informative and entertaining Moniker: Identity Lost & Found here.

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On “POW! WOW! WORLDWIDE!: 10 Years of International Street Art”

February 24, 2021

The following book review is by Street Art NYC contributor Houda Lazrak

For over a decade, the POW! WOW! Street Art Festival has been bringing standout murals by internationally renowned artists to cities throughout the globe. POW! WOW! WORLDWIDE!: 10 Years of International Street Art, authored by the festival’s founder and curator Jasper Wong and published by Paragon Books, pays a well-deserved homage to the hundreds of murals created during the festival’s many iterations.

POW! WOW! WORLDWIDE!: 10 Years of International Street Art, chronicles POW! POW!’s many editions in fifteen cities, with page spreads of striking murals. Each chapter begins with an image of a location’s discerning geographic or urban features: Taiwan’s sprawling nightlights, Long Beach’s palm-tree lined waterfront, Antelope Valley’s field of tulips, Haiwai’s oceanside downtown, Rotterdam’s glass-lined buildings.

Photographs of the murals follow with many in-progress images of artists at work including: Nychos, Jeff Soto, Cinta Vidal and Tran Nguyen. The process shots are dynamic and illustrate the labor of mural making. Readers are also provided with biographical information of each of the participating artists.

Featured are many examples of collaborative murals. The mural painted by James Bullough and Ricky Watts, for example, fuses Bullough’s realistic portraiture with Watts’ fluid shapes and psychedelic patterns. In another mural highlighted, Rone’s figurative signature style meets Aaron de la Cruz‘s calligraphic mazes. And featured, too, is a three-person collaboration between Cambodian, Japanese and Hawaiian artists Andrew Hem, Yoskay Yamamoto and Edwin Ushiro, respectively.

The book also features candid shots of festival goers, participants and organizers, offering a window into the festival’s atmosphere beyond the art-making. In his forward, editor-in-chief of Booooooom Jeff Hamada, describes the festival’s intention as a “naive desire to bring people together – not just to paint walls and go home, but to actually get to know each other, share stories, and form real friendships.

Jasper Wong also writes that the festival’s name itself, POW!WOW!, “is taken from a Native American term that describes a gathering that celebrates culture, music and art, which spoke to [their] core mission to beautify, educate and bring people together through art and music.” The book portrays this intention and the excitement that unravels. The unique urban culture of cities is also shown in image compilations. Among these are: Korea’s thriving music and food scene, and San Jose’s bicycle culture.

POW!WOW! is often invited to return to its host cities, attesting to the positive value that murals add to the vitality of metropolises. In flipping through the pages, the location types are noticeable: artworks are often erected in residential areas, discrete alleyways, and unpretentious parking lots. It serves as a reminder of POW!WOW!’s contribution to diverse neighborhoods, beyond hyper visible spots in downtowns areas or arts districts.

POW! WOW! WORLDWIDE!: 10 Years of International Street Art is a welcome addition to any street art aficionado’s library and can be purchased from most online book stores.

Featured images

1 Book cover, TRAV MSK, in Long Beach, California, 2018

2 Overview of Taiwan

3 Nychos & Jeff Soto, Hawaii, 2013

4 James Bullough and Ricky Watts, Hawaii, 2018

5 Jet Martinez, San Jose, 2017

6 PichiAvo, Worcester, 2017

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Netherlands-Based Karski and Tia Maria Collaborate to Launch CONTRAST with: Karski and Beyond, Sipros, Daze, SatOne & More

November 20, 2020

When the talented Netherlands-based artist Karski teamed up with the brand Tia Maria, not only was a splendid abstract design – with one-of-a-kind colors – launched for a new drink, but an elegant book, CONTRAST, was produced, as well. With its splendid selection of images by first-rate international artists and its informative, engaging text, CONTRAST — by Karski and friends — is a cause for celebration.

A small sampling of images from CONTRAST follows:

Karski, Untitled, Mixed media, Amsterdam, 2019

Karski and Netherlands-based Beyond — who have been working as a duo since 2012 — Untitled, PowWow Festival, Rotterdam, 2019

Karski and Beyond, Untitled, Bjelovar, Croatia, 2017

Karski and Beyond. The Holy Stork, The Hauge, 2019

Brazilian artist Sipros — whom Karski first met in 2013 when he had traveled to São Paulo to paint at the MuBE, the Brazilian Museum of Sculpture and Ecology — Four faces, Big ears, Wynwood Arts District, Miami, 2019

The legendary NYC-based Chris “Daze” Ellis — one of Karski’s early inspirations — Untitled, NYC, 2016

Venezuela-born, Munich-based SatOne, Counterbalance, Frankston, Australia, 2019

In addition to the captivating artworks, among the many items of interest in CONTRAST is the fascinating chronology of Karski’s life as an artist — from the moment he picked up a spray can at age 10 to his recent experimentation with abstract work. And wonderfully intriguing, too, are the artists’ intimate impressions of one another.

Also featured in CONTRAST are: the Netherlands-based duo TelmoMeil; Amsterdam-born, Buenos Aires-based Nasepop; Rotterdam-based duo Bier En Brood; Amsterdam-based Stefan Nikolai Ormeling; Colombian native Zurikt; the late Spanish artist Treze and London-based Bonzai.

A paean to contemporary street art and to the notion of bringing together opposites in a world of contrasts, the limited-edition CONTRAST delights!

Images courtesy Karski and Tia Maria

Photo 6 of Sipros: Karin du Maire

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Bill Posters: The Street Art Manual — The Definitive Guide to Reclaiming Our Streets

September 3, 2020

With street artists fiercely focusing now on addressing the social, economic and racial inequalities that the pandemic has only accentuated, Bill Posters’ new book, The Street Art Manual, is particularly timely. It is a paean to the spirit of art as activism.

For the past decade, Bill Posters — an award-winning artist, author and agitator — has worked alongside other artists and activists to create some of the world’s most illicit and impressive art projects. In The Street Art Manual, he earnestly, but playfully, presents practical guidance and advice on creating street art that challenges the inequitable status quo.

Providing tactics for successfully mounting campaigns that infiltrate the public sphere with everything from graffiti, stencils and pasteups to huge murals, projectiles and guerrilla projections, Poster discusses and describes in detail the necessary materials and techniques each mission demands. He also provides an extensive list of DO’s and DON’T’s for each of the distinct genres of street art. Should you subvert advertisements, for example, you are advised to “look like an employee of an outdoor-ad company” and not to “go out at a time that is different from when the real worker goes out to work.”

While many of the interventions featured are unsanctioned and can — if not carried out cautiously — involve a range of risks, not all are. One of the mediums included in The Street Art Manual is mural art. Large-scale murals — which so many of us have come to identify with corporate interests and gentrification — can also enrich neighborhoods. Artists painting outdoor murals have the opportunity and space to raise awareness of critical issues, celebrate distinct cultures and engage local folks. It is a way for artists, contends Posters, to give back to others while awakening consciousness.

The Italian artist Millo, for example, painted an 11-story-tall mural in the center of Santiago symbolizing “the hope that we must all find in relation to protecting the environment and reversing the ecological destruction that is causing our climate to collapse.”

Of particular interest to us street art aficionados is Post’s summary of each art form’s history. Wheat-pasting or poster-bombing can be traced back to 2000 BCE when papyrus was used to create promotional posters and flyers — formerly called bills — in such places as ancient Arabia, China, Greece, Rome and Egypt. And we learn that yarn bombing, an increasingly popular international mode of public guerrilla expression, originally started in Houston, Texas in 2005 by a woman named Magda Sayeg who went on to gather a crew, Knitta Please.

Illustrated by Matt Bonner and published by Laurence King Publishing, Bill Posters’ The Street Art Manual delights, informs and provokes. It also renews our faith in street art as a tool for progressive social change in these fragile times.

Released globally today, September 3, the book is available here.

Images courtesy Laurence King Publishing.

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UK-Based Art Project “The Shrineing” Releases Charming Booklets Featuring Berlin-Based, Argentine Artist Caro Pepe and More

August 10, 2019

First conceived in 2017 when Billy and Mernywernz curated a collaborative and immersive exhibition inspired by shrines they had seen in their travels, “The Shrineing” has continued its project with the publication of eight limited edition artist books.

One of eight books recently released by “The Shrining” is Pink, a charming, beautifully curated selection of artworks by Berlin-based Argentine artist Caro Pepe. Several more images from Pink follow:

Her signature one-eyed lady

Full-page collage of images

On the streets

The other booklets in “The Shrining’s” current project include:

Salt In The Caramel by DAVE THE CHIMP

Chairs & Stairs by BILLY

Lines & Metal by GLOTES

Wot Vargen #4 by MERNYWERNZ

Neukölln by PABLO BENZO

Free As A Bird by BUE THE WARRIOR

and Pictures Born In Chaos by BLO (not pictured)

Images in the booklets range from studio shots and paintings to street art works and musings — from the cleverly comical to the sublimely solemn. All intrigue! And any can be purchased here.

Photos of images: 1 & 6 courtesy “The Shrineing”; 1, 3, 4 & 5 Lois Stavsky (from Pink)

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

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NYC-Based Jay Shells Goes Coast to Coast With “The Rap Quotes…”

June 25, 2019

A lover of words — both spoken and written — I’ve been a huge fan of Jay Shells’ (Jason Shelowitz’s) ambitious rap project from my first glimpse of his site-specific mural on Myrtle and Broadway several years ago. The recently released The Rap Quotes Coast to Coast — published by Dokument Press — is a photographic foray into Jay Shells’ brilliant urban interventions installed in several key cities from 2013-2018. Accompanied with maps of site-specific rap lyrics, it is an homage to hip-hop, the spirit of the streets and to street art.

Traveling with photographer and award-winning videographer Aymann Ismail , Jay installed over 400 site-specific interventions. Largely displayed as street signs, the rap lyrics sometimes surfaced on billboards, bus stops, phone booth advertising takeovers and painted murals.

While the first segment of the book focuses on NYC — the birthplace of hip-hop in the early 80’s –The Rap Quotes Coast to Coast also transports us to neighboring Philly, across the country to LA and then to Atlanta and Houston.

Providing a window into the psychology and cultural differences among the varied sites, the playfully poetic lyrics are witty and sly and— in the vein of rap — often hyperbolic. And offering further insights into it all, each city documented in The Rap Quotes Coast to Coast is introduced by a hip-hop journalist.

The Rap Quotes Coast to Coast is widely available in bookstores and online and can be purchased here.

All photos courtesy Dokument Press; book review by Lois Stavsky

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Serge Louis on: His New Book, STENCILISTS POCHOIRISTES, His Passion for Stencils, His Upcoming Book-Signing at 212 Arts & more

May 30, 2019

Comprised of interviews with 17 American and European artists who use the stencil technique as their principal means of expression, STENCILISTS POCHOIRISTES, by art and culture enthusiast Serge Louis, has arrived in New York City! Featuring 444 pages and 273 illustrations, along with an introduction by stencil art connoisseur Samantha Longhi, it is Serge Louis’s second book devoted exclusively to stencil art. I recently had the opportunity to speak to Serge:

What spurred your interest in stencil art?

I’ve always been passionate about alternative forms of expression and how and why they surface. Why do folks create stencils? And how do they go about sharing them with others? And stencil art particularly appeals to me because it’s an ideal way to translate and share a message.

Yes. Stencils are quite an accessible means of communication. When did you begin working on this book?

I’ve been interested in stencil art for over a decade, and I had already published one book on the theme. Pochoirs et Pochoiristes à Bruxelles specifically focuses on Brussels’ rich stencil art scene. Three years ago, I began this book of interviews and images produced by artists in both America and in Europe.

Have you any early memories related to stencil art? Or any that stand out?

My earliest memory is of a very simple black and white one. Every stencil stands out in some way. Each one is something new. Each one is a surprise. Since I started paying attention to stencils, the way I view my environment has changed. Each city is distinct. And when I visit someplace new, I feel as though I’m on a “hunt.”

I can certainly relate to that! What were some of the challenges you encountered in producing this book?

The main challenge was convincing the artists to give me the time I needed to interview them in depth. Their time is precious, and they had to feel that taking the time to share their experiences was worthwhile and would interest others.

How can folks get a copy of STENCILISTS POCHOIRISTES?

Along with several of the artists, I will be at 212 Arts — 523 East 12th Street — on Saturday afternoon, June 1, and I will be signing copies of the book. You can also order the book through the publisher.

What’s ahead?

I’ve begun sorting through photos for my next book, and I have already interviewed six artists.

Good luck with it all! And Saturday’s book signing at 212 Arts is certainly a cause for celebration!

Interview conducted and edited by Lois Stavsky; photos courtesy of Serge Louis

Cover of book featuring stencil art by those artists interviewed for STENCILISTS POCHOIRISTES: Ben Spizz, Billi Kid, Crisp, Dave Lowell, Dipo, Docteur Bergman, ENX, Jaune, Jinks Kunst, Logan Hicks, Nice Art, Niz, Praxis, Raf Urban, Spencer, Stew and Tripel
Austin, Texas-based Peruvian native Niz
Brooklyn-based Colombian native Praxis
New York-based Colombian native Billi Kid
Austin, Texas-based Dave Lowell
Brooklyn-based, Baltimore-raised Logan Hicks

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