Graffiti

JPO-Crash-BR163-graffiti-street-art-yonkers-new-york

In celebration of Yonkers Arts Weekend beginning tomorrow, May 1, and continuing through Sunday, May 3, several new murals will grace Downtown Yonkers. Among these is the wonderfully vibrant one curated by Wall Works NY. Here are a few more images we captured on a brilliantly sunny day earlier this week:

John Paul O’Grodnick and Crash at work

JPO-Crash-graffiti-yonkers-NY

Daze beneath his “eye” with Nicer, Tats Cru — to his left — at work

daze-Chris-Ellis-nicer-street-art-yonkers

Nicer, BG183, Bio Tats Cru and Daze 

tats-cru-daz--street-art-yonkers

Posing for a final shot

Tats-Cru-crash-daze-and-more-street-art-yonkers-ny

A perfect tribute to the revitalization of Downtown Yonkers, the mural is located at 45 Main Street near Getty Square and Broadway.

Note: Standing in the first photo are John Paul O’GrodnickCrash and BR163

Photo credits: 1 & 4 Lois Stavsky; 2, 3 & 5 City-As-School intern Diana Davidova

{ 0 comments }

Reclaimed, Meres One‘s solo exhibit at Bushwick’s Low Brow Artique, brilliantly celebrates Meres‘s wonderful talents and his love of graffiti. I spoke to Meres soon after visiting the exhibit:

meres-graffiti-art

Can you tell us something about the title of the exhibit, Reclaimed? What does it mean?

After many months of coping with the loss of 5Pointz, Reclaimed is my way of revisiting and reclaiming my early days as a graffiti artist.

Meres-graffiti-colors

When did you first come up with the concept with the exhibit?  And can you tell us something about the process of preparing for it? 

I came up with the general idea in January, and when I showed some of the pieces I was working on to Bishop, he offered me a solo show at Low Brow Artique. In preparation, I revisited hundreds of photos of walls that I had painted at 5Pointz. My next step was to reinterpret them — selecting fragments from them and honoring my appreciation of hand-style.

"Meres One"

What about the centerpiece? It is so impressive! Its texture is just beautiful. It looks as though it was painted on reclaimed wood.

Yes, I painted it on a piece of wood that was reclaimed from the Coney Island boardwalk. I love that it has taken on a new life in this exhibit.

Meres-Reclaimed-found-wood

How has the response been to the exhibit?

It’s been great! The opening was wonderful, and only two pieces remain. The others were sold shortly after the exhibit opened. I am currently preparing for a Part II, where I will take my work on this same concept to another — more abstract — level while working on a range of different surfaces.

Meres-graffiti-art-at-lowbrow-artique

Note: Reclaimed remains on view at Low Brow Artique through Saturday May 9.  Now open seven days a week, Low Brow Artique is situated at 143 Central Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn.

Interview and photos by Lois Stavsky 

{ 0 comments }

Boone-Room-Bronx-graffiti-Cope2

Some of NYC’s most vibrant and striking murals–on Boone Avenue between 172nd and 173rd 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.

Screen Shot 2015-04-14 at 3.59.41 PM.png

Lady K Fever

"Lady K Fever"

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

Kashink-Lady-K-Fever-Street-Art-graffiti-Bronx-NYC

 Tonight at 270 Meserole Street in Bushwick

Boone-Room-Launch-Party

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

{ 0 comments }

In this third in our series of interviews with artists born abroad who have made NYC home, we feature Pesu. Inspired by hip-hop, Pesu began his art career back in Japan in 1996 as a graffiti writer. Here in NYC he is best-known for his live painting in various venues and the many Art Battle competitions he has won. His works on canvas in a multiplicity of styles — from stencil art to abstract art — increasingly attract collectors, as well.

Pesu

When did you first visit NY? And what brought you here?

In 2001 I left Japan for Sacramento, California on a student visa. But life there was too slow for me. So in 2004, I decided to check out New York City.

What was your impression of it at the time?

I was thoroughly overwhelmed. I remember walking on 5th Avenue and crying – tears of joy! This city has everything: so much energy, art, graffiti, mix of people and amazing architecture. And there is always something happening here.

Pesu-black-book-graffiti

What is the image of NYC in your native country?

Back in Japan we think of NYC as the number one city in the world. It is the place of opportunity.

Do you think this is accurate? Why or why not?

Yes! I agree! Everything is possible here in NYC.

Pesu-art-face-

When did you decide to move here? And why?

I decided to move here the following year – in 2005. Why? Because I loved it!

How did your family feel about your move?

They were great. Everyone was very supportive. And they were always worried about me when I was doing graffiti back in Japan.

Pesu-blackbook-graffiti

What were some of the challenges you faced when you first moved here?

I had to find a way to earn money. And I had to worry about having a visa. I also wasn’t used to living in such a competitive city.

You now have a great space in the East Village. Where did you live when you first moved here? And why did you choose that particular neighborhood?

When I first moved here, I lived in Bed-Stuy.  I found the apartment through a broker. I chose Bed-Stuy because I love Biggie so much.

Pesu-abstract

Have you encountered any prejudice here?

Yes. I’ve encountered some. Folks here are not all that accustomed to seeing Asians in the hip-hop scene.

How has your artwork evolved or changed since you came here?

I tend to use brighter, more vivid colors. My art is more alive here in NYC! And it’s become more professional.

Pesu-and-shiro-graffiti-art

How receptive have New Yorkers been to your artwork? To you?

They seem somewhat surprised by what I do, as they are not used to seeing Asians in this scene!

What would you like to accomplish here?

As an artist, I want to make people happy. And on a more personal level, I would like to bring my parents to America.

Pesu-fine-art

What do you miss most about your native country?

My parents and the food I ate back in Japan.

Interview by Lois Stavsky with City-as-School intern Zachariah Messaoud; photos 1-4, 6 (collab with Shiro) & 7 by Lois Stavsky; 5 by Zachariah Messaoud; images  2 & 4 are from Pesu’s blackbooks from the late 90’s.

Note: Several of Pesu’s works will be on exhibit in Brooklyn is the Future opening Friday at the Vazquez at 93 Forrest Street in Bushwick.

{ 1 comment }

This is the twelfth in a series of occasional posts featuring the diverse range of trucks and vans that strike our streets.

Cern

cern-art-on-NYC-truck

Cash RFC

Cash-rfc-graffiti-on-truck

Keely, Deeker… 

Keely-and-Deeker-art-on-van-NYC

Cone

cone-graffiti-truck nyc

YNN

ynn-graffiti-truck-nyc

NME

nme-art-truck-nyc-

Frank Ape

frank-ape-art-truck

Photo Credits: 1 Tara Murray; 2, 3, 6 & 7 Dani Reyes Mozeson; 4 Lois Stavsky; 5 Houda Lazrak

{ 0 comments }

keith-haring-close-up-untitled-1984

Unlike so many of Keith Haring‘s playfully iconic works that exude a child-like innocence, the huge works on exhibit in Heaven and Hell largely suggest an eerie darkness and unfettered eroticism. Here’s a sampling:

Wide view of two untitled works, 1984

keith-haring

Untitled, 1985

Keith-haring-Untitled-1985

Untitled, 1984

keith-haring-untitled-artwork, 1984

Untitled, 1984

Keith-Haring-art

Heaven and Hell remains on exhibit at Skarstedt at 550 West 21 Street through next Saturday.

Photos of images: 1, 4 and 5 City-as-School intern Zachariah Messaoud; 2 and 3 Dani Reyes Mozeson. Note: First photo is a close-up from the huge mural below it (R).

{ 1 comment }

In an eclectic range of visual styles and themes, music makes it way to NYC walls. Here  is a small sampling:

Zeso, close-up from huge mural in Bushwick

zeso-close-up

Andre Trenier, lead artist, in the Bronx

andre-collaborative

 Kingbee, Pose2 and Chemis in East Harlem

kingbee-pose2-chemis-harlem-street-art

MeresSloneSee TFShiroIZK and more in Bushwick

hip-hop-street-art-bk

Close-up

meres-and-slone-street-art-nyc

Manny Vega in East Harlem

Manny-Vega-street-art-portraits-NYC

Sonni in Bushwick

Sonni-street-art-NYC

Mike Brown on the Lower East Side

Mike-Brown-street-art-nyc

Unidentified artist in Bedford-Stuyvesant

unidentified-bed-stuy-nyc

Photo credits: 1, 2, 5 – 9 Lois Stavsky; 3 Dani Reyes Mozeson; 4 Tara Murray

{ 0 comments }

frank-lexi-Bella-Kosbe-the-best -of-the-worst

The following guest post is by Houda Lazrak, a graduate student in Museum Studies at New York University.  

This past weekend, Hanksy’s much-anticipated show, The Best of the Worst, drew hundreds of street art fans to the former Chase Bank at 104 Delancey Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Along with some of NYC’s most notable graffiti writers and street artists, Hanksy transformed the space into a NYC playground-like arena — with a skate ramp, a Chinese massage parlor and more wonderfully-engaging site-specific installations. Dozens of intriguing, overlapping pieces, paste-ups and stickers paid homage to street art, while, also, poking fun at the scene.

Miss Zukie

Miss-Zukie-

CB23 

CB23

Magda Love and Hanksy and more

Magda-Love

Meres and more

Meres-the best-of-the-worst

Russell King, Col and UR New York

Russell-King-& more

Hanksy

Hanksy-the best of the-worst

Included, too, was a rather formally installed art exhibit in the wittily-titled Gag-Osian Gallery featuring some of NYC’s most popular street artists.

Mr. Toll at the Gag-Osian

Mr-toll

El Sol 25 at the Gag-Osian

El-Sol25

All photos by Houda Lazrak; pictured in the first photo are Frank Ape, Lexi Bella and Cosbe

{ 0 comments }

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

{ 1 comment }

The first day of spring 2015 brought wintry snow to NYC. Here are a few images I captured while in Greenpoint for the day:

 Phetus

phetus-greenpoint

Matthew Denton Burrows

matthew-denton-burrows-street-art-nyc

Cern

Cern

Tone

tone-greenpoint

 Faring Purth

Farin-Purth-greenpoint-NYC

ShiroYes One and Tone MST

shiro-yes1-tone-graffiti-greenpoint-nyc

To be identified

greenpoint-graffiti-nyc

 Miro RIS (& Shiro, top right)

Miro-graffiti-Greenpoint-nyc 

Photos by Lois Stavsky

{ 0 comments }