Icy and Sot, two brothers from Iran, have gained international recognition for their expressive stencil art. Gracing public spaces in their native city of Tabriz, as well as in Tehran, their stencils reflect everyday realities and fantasies. We recently had the opportunity to speak with Icy and Sot during their visit to NYC.
What brought you to NYC?
We have a solo exhibit coming up next week. We wanted to be present at the show, and we are excited to be able to paint walls in NYC. We’ve shown in Italy, France, the Netherlands, Brazil, Australia and Finland, but this is our first solo exhibit outside of Iran that we will be attending.

What are your impressions – so far – of NYC?
It’s an exciting city, and it’s been great meeting so many different artists and people. We never could have imagined a place with so much street art. And so many people have been so kind to us. We especially love Brooklyn — where we are now staying — as there are so many great walls. We are thrilled to paint here.
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Some wonderful walls have recently surfaced in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Here is a sampling:
Belgian artist Roa

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Two sumptuous walls surfaced in downtown Manhattan earlier this week. DALeast graced the exterior of Rag and Bone with his distinct vision, and his wife, the legendary South African street artist Faith47, graced a huge wall on East 2nd Street, part of Fourth Arts Block’s public art program with MaNY.
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Within the last year, New York City’s High Line — a huge public park atop an elevated rail structure — has evolved into one of the city’s most intriguing open-air galleries. Stretching from Manhattan’s Meatpacking District to Midtown, it features views of an eclectic range of both commissioned and unsanctioned pieces. Here are a few images recently captured:
NYC-based artist Jordan Betten

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On his recent brief visit to New York City, Sheffield-based artist Phlegm transformed the visual landscape of a Chelsea playground — adjacent to a public housing project on West 17th Street. We can’t get enough of it!

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For the third consecutive year, dozens of talented artists graced the walls of the Welling Court neighborhood of Astoria, Queens with a diverse range of images. We visited several times this past week beginning with the day before the Welling Court Mural Project, organized by Ad Hoc Art, held its official opening. On our most recent visit, we had the chance to observe and speak to neighborhood residents – all of whom expressed tremendous pride in their neighborhood’s visual landscape (and curiosity, as well, about the artists). Here are a few images whose progress we observed:
New Jersey-based Joe Iurato aka .01


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Noted São Paulo muralist Eduardo Kobra has been the talk of the town here as he has been transforming Chelsea’s visual landscape. Characterized by an impressive range of depth and realism, Kobra’s brightly hued murals pay homage to NYC’s history.
As viewed from the High Line, this piece was inspired by Alfred Eisenstaedt’s iconic photo, V-J Day in Times Square:

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Yesterday was a busy day in Bushwick, as artists from across the globe, along with locals, transformed the visual landscape of some of the neighborhood’s key spots. Here are a few images captured in the late afternoon:
Australian artists Dabs & Myla

Brooklyn-based designer Matt Dobbs

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Cake’s poignantly elegant women have been part of New York City’s visual landscape for the past five years. Earlier this month, three large ones surfaced on East Third Street off the Bowery. Soon after, we posed the following questions to Cake:
Your women have been captivating us for years. They are at once beguiling and perturbing. Are they women you know? Tell us something about them.
These women are all women I know and care about. They are: my mother, my sister, my niece, my Grandma Olga, my friend, Emily, and girlfriends of friends. And a lot of the time, some of the women end up having a part of me in them, which can’t be helped, as they all – somehow – feel autobiographical. I rarely paint men, but when I do, it’s usually my brother, Jeffrey.



At what point did you choose to use the streets as a canvas? And why did you decide to do so?
Right when I was finished with grad school, I joined in on the street stuff. It was pretty immediate and was just what I needed at that time. It was a place where I felt at home, and it was fun and natural. I haven’t wanted to leave since.
More after the jump!