Host to some of the most stylish graffiti walls in NYC, Bushwick never lets us down! These were captured this past week:
And if you are anywhere in the vicinity, be sure to check out Hoacs’s brilliant solo exhibit opening tonight — Saturday — at Eden Fine Art.
Photos of Bushwick graffiti by Tara Murray
Note: Hailed in a range of media from the Huffington Post to the New York Times, our Street Art NYC App is now available here for Android devices.
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Currently based in Sweden, Peter Bengtsen is an art historian and sociologist who has been researching street art for the past nine years. The Street Art World, a 248 page book, is the result of his research based on studies of everyday interaction among artists, gallerists, collectors, bloggers and street art enthusiasts. I recently had the opportunity to read Peter’s engaging book and pose some questions to him.
When and how did you first become aware of street art?
I grew up in a small town in the Danish countryside, with virtually no exposure to graffiti or street art. As a kid I would sometimes see throw-ups by Tower and Carn in the underpasses when driving with my parents on the freeway, and those names have been stuck in my head ever since. It wasn’t until I moved to Copenhagen in 2000 that I really became aware of street art and graffiti, though.
You write that when you first discovered street art, you did not deem it “worth documenting and preserving.” What changed your mind?
When I say that street art wasn’t worth documenting, what I really mean is that for a while the immediate and brief encounters with the work on the street were enough for me. However, over time I started getting attached to some of the artworks I passed regularly, and I also began recognizing the work of certain artists like HuskMitNavn and later Armsrock and Faile. I found myself feeling a bit sad when the artworks eventually disappeared, and I felt an urge to somehow keep them. Photography was one way of doing that. The technological developments around that time had a lot to do with making this form of documentation possible. Back in the early years of the 2000s I was using a film camera and I couldn’t afford to photograph graffiti and street art, but that changed when I got my first digital camera in early 2005.
When it comes to preserving street art, I am still conflicted. As an art historian, I see a value in keeping material examples of street artworks for posterity. However, a key part of street art for me is that artworks are transformed over time, because the street is open to change and dialogue. When street artworks are placed under glass or cut out of walls to be preserved in a more controlled environment that openness is taken away. In preserving street artworks, I think one of the essential things that set street art apart from other art may be lost.
As an academic, what are some of the challenges you face when researching and writing about street art?
Even before I started my research, I found expressions of a rather strong anti-intellectual and anti-institutional mindset in the street art world. These public expressions have become less dominant in recent years as street art gets more integrated in the mainstream art world. However, academics that are seen to attempt “investigating” street art – rather than actually engaging with the art and the social environment that surrounds it – are sometimes still looked upon as a species of “culture vulture,” swooping in to pick the bones of a social and cultural environment they know little about. Over the years I have seen researchers fail in their work because they lacked a fundamental understanding of the social rules of the field they were trying to study.
To mitigate the critical attitude towards academic researchers, and the institutional art world they are seen to represent, I think first impressions are very important. In my own case, because my interest in street art was not academic to begin with, I had already been socializing with other street art fans for some time when I started doing formal research in 2006. While I have still met some skepticism and received derisive comments regarding my role as a researcher and my attempts to intellectualize street art, I think the connections I already had with other enthusiasts made it a lot easier to move forward with my project. If I had come from the outside with a research agenda, things might have been different.
How have other street art enthusiasts – from bloggers and collectors to the artists themselves – responded to your academic approach to the subject?
Apart from the skepticism I already mentioned, people have generally been very positive during the research project. When I was working on the book, I had a lot of help from people who provided me with viewpoints, information, and – very importantly – photographs of artworks I couldn’t get to myself. My research budget doesn’t allow for expenses related to image rights, so if people hadn’t been so generous and willing to let me use their images, the book would have ended up looking very differently.
In terms of the finished book, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. I was confident I had created a solid piece of scholarly work, but it was also very important to me to write something that people outside the academic world would be interested in reading and could relate to. From the comments I have received, street art enthusiasts enjoy the book and recognize the world I am describing. This doesn’t mean they always agree with everything I write, but to me that is really great. My goal with the book was never to present the “truth” about what street art is – I actually don’t believe one such single truth exists. My hope was that the book could be part of an ongoing dialogue about street art, and critical engagement and disagreement are essential to that.
What are some of the changes that you have observed in the street art “world” since you first began documenting it and writing about it?
One of the most significant changes is that the street art world has become increasingly professionalized. This can be seen in for example the establishing of commercial magazines dedicated to so-called urban art, the increasing number of print houses and galleries that produce and/or sell limited edition artworks, the companies around the world that arrange commercial street art tours, and the vast number of street art festivals that have popped up in the past decade. With a more professional system in place, I think it has become easier for some artists to make a living from their work. While this is a positive development in many ways, from a personal point of view I do find it tiresome that some artists now seem to consider doing street work simply as a way of promoting their commercial wares. This is for example reflected in the number of websites and social media handles that are now included in, or placed next to, work in the street.
Along with the professionalization, street art enthusiasts seem to have become increasingly focused on the market value of commercial products. I see this very clearly on street art forums. Members have always discussed the value of their collections, but investment potential has gradually become the main focus since 2006, when urban art really started becoming a thing with galleries and auction houses. I think this development may partly represent a change in attitude among the people who were into street art when I first started out with my studies, but I strongly suspect it is also because a different demographic has taken an interest in street art and/or urban art as an investment object. Sadly, it seems to me that critical discussion about the art itself has largely been quashed by the market.
What are some of the key factors that have contributed to these changes?
Money obviously has a lot to do with the way the street art world has developed. With the increasing recognition and popularity of street art/urban art, it has become big business for some to provide a growing customer base with consumable products like limited edition screen prints. As a result, a growing number of print houses are constantly on the lookout for new artists, and it is not uncommon to see prints from artists who have done very little street work. This is in part possible because artists today make very conscious efforts to be “discovered” quickly, for instance by placing their street work in highly photographed areas and by leaving their contact details in or next to the work.
Having witnessed the market success of some of the older generation of street artists, it is perhaps not surprising that members of a new generation see doing street work as a shortcut to a commercial career. Lack of experience and maturity on the part of these artists may be one reason a lot of the commercial work released today is very formulaic and/or blatantly rips off previous work by other artists. Despite this, much of the published work seems to sell out. It is hard to say whether this is because customers actually like the artwork, and perhaps are unaware of the source material, or because they don’t want to miss out on what is often deliberately presented to them as an investment opportunity. However, the number of prints on the secondary market is an indication that a lot of customers do see their purchases as investments.
Apart from money, technological developments have profoundly influenced the street art world. Digital photography and videography has made it simple for people to create visual material, and the internet in general – and social media in particular — enables people to share what they, and others, produce.
I think the ease of sharing content has played a very important role in the developments seen in the street art world. It is to a large degree through the online sharing of visual material that the interest in street art is spread to new people. These new enthusiasts — and potential consumers — form a basis for the continued existence of the marketplace that now constitutes a central part of the street art world.
Is street art dead? Or is it just sleeping?
I would say that all depends on your definition of street art. The notion of the death of street art comes about when someone experiences a conflict between a specific, subjective ideal of what street art should be and what they think it has become. The statement “street art is dead” has been popping up at regular intervals for as long as I have followed the street art world, yet people are still making, documenting, discussing and trading what they call street art. Although the street art world has become more professional and commercially oriented, much to the frustration of some, I don’t think this implies that street art is dead or even dying. It simply means street art – like all things – is evolving.
Note: If you are interested in purchasing a copy of the book or if you want more information about it, you can contact Peter at peter.bengtsen@kultur.lu.se. You can also check out Joe Austin‘s review of the book here
Interview by Lois Stavsky; all images courtesy Peter Bengtsen
1. Cover illustration: Ericailcane
2. Faile, polaroid of paste-up, Copenhagen, 2004
3. Armsrock, photos of the Danish artist in Copenhagen, taken in July and September 2008, illustrating how artworks are gradually transformed in the street context
4. Banksy, stencil painting behind acrylic glass, London, 2015
5. Ericailcane, mural Fame Festival, Grottaglie, 2012
6. Stencil, filling the street – a space already over saturated with commercial messages – with additional advertising
7. Stencil painting, unknown artist, Copenhagen, 2008
8. Stencil, Malmo, Sweden, 2015
9. Kissmama, paste-up, Copenhagen, 2015
Note: Hailed in a range of media from the Huffington Post to the New York Times, our Street Art NYC App is now available here for Android devices.
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Launched and coordinated by the West Harlem Art Fund, Fusion NY presented a series of panels, tours, performances and pop-up exhibits earlier this week – Armory Week 2016 – in various venues throughout Harlem. Of special interest to us graffiti and street art aficionados were the panel discussion, Basquiat Still Fly @ 55, moderated by Jeffrey Deitch and the pop-up exhibit, Street Art Gone Fusion Crazy, curated by Lady K Fever and Savona Bailey. What follows are a few more images by artists — who also use the streets as their canvas — that we captured on our visit to Street Art Gone Fusion Crazy this past Wednesday.
Curators Lady K Fever and Savona Bailey
First image is close-up from huge piece by Lady K Fever
Photo credits: 1-5 Dani Reyes Mozeson; 6 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 here for Android devices.
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Aired last year in Italy, Sky Art’s underground documentary hit Graffiti A New York brilliantly chronicles the history of graffiti in NYC focusing on several key figures in the scene. After viewing the documentary, we had the opportunity to pose some questions to its producer and director Francesco Mazza.
You grew up in Italy. What spurred your interest in NYC graffiti? And how were you first introduced to its culture?
In the early 90’s a number of original graffiti writers from the Bronx moved to Italy looking to recover — thanks to the good weather and the healthy food — from the “crazy 80’s” in New York. They, maybe, needed what we now think of as a “detox” after the tumult. At the time, graffiti writing had already come to the European consciousness through the movie Style Wars and the book Subway Art, but because of the influence of these newly migrated Masters, Italy, unlike the rest of Europe, developed a graffiti style akin to that of New York City’s. It was the kind of style created by Phase 2, who moved to Italy himself, back in the 70’s. The walls of my neighborhood, Milano Lambrate, in the early 90’s looked exactly like those in the Bronx during the 70’s and the 80’s.
To us kids playing soccer in the street, those wall paintings were a sort of a mystery, and kids love mysteries. So, out of curiosity, we started asking questions to the older guys, and we all got involved. From that point on, graffiti became an essential part of our lives — in our neighborhoods and in our identities as individuals.
What made you decide to produce a film on the topic?
Having lived in New York for three years already, I was looking for a way to show the city to an Italian audience from a fresh and original perspective. I asked myself, “What do I know best?” The answer was clear: graffiti. I figured that behind the history of the graffiti movement, there was the history of the city itself. Really, graffiti writing could flourish only because of the terrible financial situation of New York during the 70’s. I always found it fascinating that all the crime and pain and blood of the 70’s spawned, at least, the most vibrant art movement the world has ever seen.
How long did the process take — from its conception to its completion?
The film itself took about a year to be made, but there are some elements of the history that I’d still like to add. I’m hoping for the opportunity to re-shoot some parts and add additional ones for a US release. I’m searching for funding right now. As great as it was to bring this to the Italian market, it has become clear to me that the documentary was the kind of record of a movement that deserves to be a part of the American canon, as well. It’s about NYC. It documents the scene decade by decade. It’s really important to find a way to bring this history “home.” Hopefully, I’ll find the financial backers; and due to the nature of the film, I’d love to partner with a museum, if possible.
How did you decide which artists to include?
“Graffiti writer” is a label. When you look beyond the label, there is literally everything. Artists, addicts, entrepreneurs, fools, poets, murderers; you name it, I saw it. Right off the bat, you have to understand that you won’t be able to get close to everybody if you want to stay somewhat safe. It’s also very hard to gauge the importance of the single artist. Is a graffiti artist important because he had or has a great style? Cool, but what if the said writer has done only a couple of hits and nobody in the community cared about him? And what if you focus on the quantity, but then the style of that writer — whose name was everywhere — literally sucked?
There was a balancing act. I, of course, chose artists with historical importance, but I also reached out to the writers that I like and that inspired me when I was a kid. Fortunately, most of them were willing to help me with the project. I also felt strongly about making sure women were represented in the film. They were absolutely a part of the movement, but sometimes when history chronicles events, women don’t always get the due they deserve in the record. It was important to me to not fall into that trap as a director.
How did the artists respond to you?
Some of them were skeptical at the beginning, and they were absolutely right. When mainstream media talks about graffiti writing, they tend to create confusion. If we consider the art world, I think that after the 19th century, nobody considered an artist as someone who can only “make something look pretty.” Nobody thinks that Pollock, so to say, was an amazing artist because he could simply “make a canvas look pretty”; there was a complexity that was beyond — or sometimes even consciously lacking — beauty. For some reason, all around the world, when media, or institutions, or public opinion deal with graffiti writers, they consider the graffiti writers’ work just on their ability to “decorate” a wall in a happy, colorful way. To me, and I think to all graffiti writers, there is, indeed, decoration. Maybe beautiful, wonderful decoration, but graffiti writing is also something else. Graffiti writing points right to the contradiction of contemporary society where we all matter. We all pay taxes and have the right to vote — but, at the same time, to what degree do we really matter to the machine? I think it’s a question everyone asks. As a result, millions of individuals decide to express their identity, their presence in the world by writing on a wall, consciously facing the consequences of their deeds.
When I walk in my Crown Heights neighborhood in Brooklyn and I see a portrait of a dragon on a shutter, I think, nice illustration, but nothing beyond that. When I see a rough tag on a wall, I don’t say, “Look at that! So pretty!” but I think about a guy or girl that, despite the risk of getting busted and sentenced to two years of prison, decided to face the challenge and put his freedom at jeopardy to have me see his name. Now, what is more interesting, from a social/cultural point of view? The fellow who copies an illustration of a dragon and gets paid for that, or the one who takes the risk for free to screw up his life forever just to have one individual out of one hundred thousand reading his name? I personally have no doubt about which is both more interesting and matters more. So, the graffiti writers I contacted were really scared that I was another guy from the media industry with no grasp at all of the roots and the meaning of the movement. It took me a lot of time and efforts to gain their trust, but once they realized what I was talking about, they were really cooperative and with some of them I built great friendships.
What were some of the challenges you faced in producing the film?
I served as writer, director, and executive producer. The network, Sky Art, gave me a budget, and I was free to manage it however I liked. But that was hard, because as a director, I always wanted more — more days of shooting, more footage, more writers to interview — but as an executive, I had to put some limits. It was like being two different people at once. Now that I can look back, I better understand the limitations I had and their effects on me. And an American alternative presentation — that wasn’t able to be made at the time — is something important to pursue going forward, as much to “do right” by NYC.
Who was/is your target audience?
The original documentary targets an Italian audience who is fascinated with New York but doesn’t really have a knowledge of it, as well as everybody else who wants to know, once and for all, the real history of one of the most relevant artistic, cultural and, to a certain extent, political movements of the 20th century. Now I need to broaden the reach beyond Italy.
Will New Yorkers have the opportunity to view it?
Unfortunately, as of now, they don’t, and that’s a travesty. That’s where my fight is now — finding a means to change that. Everything about this movie is New York City. The residents need this film. It needs to be a contribution to their historical record. Hopefully, I’ll find the funding for what is really a “preservation” project. People aren’t around forever. The interviews with important artists in Graffiti A New York, all in English, need to come “home.”
I certainly agree! Graffiti A New York is not only a passionate homage to the roots of graffiti, but an essential visual and spoken record of a significant NYC era. What’s ahead for you? Can we expect any more films on the topic of street art or graffiti?
Currently I’m working on a project for the Discovery Channel for which I hope to be able to announce details soon. Later this year I’m doing a documentary on Stewart Brand and the Whole Earth Catalogue that I’m very excited about. This fall I’ll be shooting a short project in New York again. I’m also continuing to show Frankie: Italian Roulette, my short fictional film from last year, at festivals across the US. Next up for Frankie is the Crossroads Festival in Jackson, MI on April 2. Even Frankie is about life in NYC and fighting to stay there, so — going forward — it’s no surprise that I’ll, of course, continue to focus on the themes present in Graffiti A New York: art, actions of consequence, social responsibility of both the system and the individual, and, of course, the city of New York itself. And, fingers crossed, we can make the US adaptation of Graffiti A New York. That really must happen.
The questions for this interview were formulated by Lois Stavsky and Tara Murray after viewing the European market release Graffiti A New York.
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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This past Friday, we visited Fillin Global’s inaugural showing of curated art at Castle Fitzjohns on the Lower East Side. Featuring a diverse range of creative artworks by over two dozen artists in different media, the exhibit exudes a wonderfully expressive energy. Among the artists whose works we saw are many who also bring their talents to our city’s streets. While there, we had the opportunity we had the opportunity to speak to Thomas Feinstein — of Fillin Global — who curated the exhibit with co-curator Jackie Collins.
This exhibit is amazing! There are so many different styles and techniques represented here, and everything seems to work together. Just what is Fillin Global?
FILLIN is an artist agency, representing innovative artists from across the globe.
How did you get such a varied, talented group of artists together in one setting?
Many are friends. Some I’ve known from my childhood growing up in Long Island. Let’s just say I was a bad kid!
How long did it take you to get this exhibit together?
I began working two months ago for a February 19 launch. But during the final week, I barely slept at all.
What were some of the challenges that came your way in getting this all together?
The biggest challenge was working with such a wide range of styles and media and making it all flow.
How have folks responded to the exhibit?
They love it!
What’s ahead?
We are planning an event in a huge warehouse where artists will be able to paint directly on the walls. It will take place this summer.
That sounds great! Good luck and congratulations on this inaugural show.
Note: Today, Sunday, Feb 28, is the final day to check out the Fillin Global’s inaugural exhibit. The gallery — located at 98 Orchard Street — will remain open until 10pm.
Images:
2. Such, The Big ‘H’
3. JA & Giz, Tabs of the Rising Sun
4. Marc Evan, Limitless Undying Love
5. Dain, I Wasted Time on You
6. Phetus, Untitled
Photo credits: 1, 3 & 6 Tara Murray; 2 & 5 Dani Reyes Mozeson and 4 Lois Stavsky
More artworks and info about them can be seen here.
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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Continuing through March 8 at 212 Arts in the East Village is Graffiti Legends, an exuberant exhibit of artworks by legendary Bronx artists: Bio, BG 183, Ces, Crash, Nicer, Skeme and T-Kid. What follows is a sampling:
Another by T-Kid
And a range of tags — many, also, legendary — that surfaced on canvas opening night
Curated by 212 Arts director Marc Leader, Graffiti Legends remains on exhibit through next Tuesday at 240 East 4th Street. Hours are: Tuesday through Saturday 2:00 pm – 8:00 pm, and Sunday 2:00 pm – 7:00 pm.
Photo credits: 1 Tara Murray; 2 Houda Lazrak; 3 Lois Stavsky and 4-7 Dani Reyes Mozeson
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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Bringing flair and flavor to the walls on and off Bogart Street in Bushwick this past Saturday were some first-rate graffiti artists. Here is a sampling:
Large fragment of 4Sakn’s completed wall
Miami’s Eskae 545 at work
Hoacs at work
Trace at work
Photo credits: 1-6 Tara Murray; 7 Dani Reyes Mozeson
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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This is the tenth in a series of occasional posts featuring the art that has surfaced on NYC shutters:
Brazilian artist Izolag in the South Bronx
BK Foxx on Manhattan’s Lower East Side
Ezo in Bushwick, Brooklyn
Wane in Long Island City
Mr Prvrt and A Visual Bliss in Bushwick
Photo credits: 1 & 3 Lois Stavsky; 2 Courtesy of Woodward Gallery; 4 & 5 Tara Murray
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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Still out there each day with camera in hand documenting what has surfaced overnight, photographer Allan Ludwig aka Elisha Cook, Jr recently shared with us some of his thoughts on the changes that he’s witnessed in his downtown Manhattan neighborhood and more:
You’ve lived here in Soho for decades. At what point did the changes in your neighborhood become most apparent?
Around 2003, I noticed that the new stores in my neighborhood were — for the most part — only selling expensive items. I no longer recognized my neighbors’ faces on the streets. Tourists and shoppers were everywhere. I knew then that I must turn my lens onto the graffiti and street art here before it all disappeared.
And what are some of the changes that you have observed in the street art that surfaces here these days?
It has largely lost its edginess. Much of the street art here has gotten exceedingly commercial. It’s often difficult to tell the difference between what is sanctioned and what is done without permission. Street art and ads have become increasingly interchangeable. And too many “street artists” these days seem to use public space primarily to promote their gallery shows.
What do you suppose has caused these changes?
The monetization of it all. And I feel that the street art festivals have not only legitimized an underground movement, but have created an elite — not all that different from the mainstream art world.
We’ve noticed that you tend to focus your camera on illegal works, particularly tags and bombs. Why is that?
Because they are real and raw. I love their poetic spontaneity. I can feel the artist’s pure passion and love for it.
Not everyone would agree with you! Any thoughts about Mayor de Blasio’s proposed efforts to keep the city graffiti-free?
I don’t see any point to it. It’s a misdirected use of funds. The money should be used, instead, to help the homeless.
We noticed that you were daily documenting the impromptu David Bowie memorial in front of his home. Did you know Bowie personally?
I live just down the block from him, so I’d see him from time to time around the neighborhood. But, no, I didn’t know him personally. I would simply nod in acknowledgement and respect when I saw him. I sensed that he was my kind of person. But I did not want to invade his privacy.
And what about the memorial? What spurred you to photograph it daily and in such detail?
I loved it! I loved that it was spontaneous and inclusive. There was no hidden agenda!
Interview conducted by Lois Stavsky with Tara Murray
All photos by Allan Ludwig aka Elisha Cook, Jr, except for the first one — featuring Allan alongside Buff Monster — which was photographed by Julie Dermansky; photo 3 features Dylan Egon; photo 4 features Dee Dee and photo 5, Dasic Fernandez
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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The Newsstand, the underground zine and visual art space that ran inside the Lorimer L/G subway station from 2013 to 2014, has been recreated for MoMA‘s exhibit, Ocean of Images: New Photography 2015, And it is certain to delight not only fans of photography and zines, but graffiti and street art aficionados, as well! Here are a few images we captured on our visit:
Back in the day
With fire extinguisher in hand
Along the tracks
The Domino Sugar Factory and more
Lele Saveri‘s photos of commuters, tags on bills and more
Close-up
Produced in collaboration with Alldayeveryday, the installation remains on view through March 20th. Lele Saveri and other artists from The Newsstand and 8-Ball communities will present two free zine workshops for NYC high school students next month. You can check out the details here.
Photo credits: 1 Lois Stavsky; 2 – 7 Dani Reyes Mozeson
Note: Our highly acclaimed Street Art NYC App is now available for Android devices here.
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