News

Meeting of Styles in Mexico City: Apitatan, Diego Zelaya, Musa71, Cyfione, Main Rodriguez, YuzuRabia, Astro and Shane Hello

December 31, 2016

Among the most exuberant walls in Mexico City are those painted by both local and international artists during the city’s Meeting of Styles festival. I first discovered them on a tour with Street Art Chilango, and then I kept on returning to them. Above is the work of Ecuadorian artist Apitatan. Here are several more:

Mexican painter Diego Zelaya

Barcelona-based writer Musa 71

Tucson-based Cyfione

Main Rodriguez

Mexican artist YuzuRabia

French artists Astro and Shane Hello

Photos by Lois Stavsky; special thanks to Caro for identifying so many of the artists as I was posting Mexico City’s street art on Instagram earlier this month.

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 Art of Peace Opens Tonight at Avant Garde with Bio, Jerms, Danielle Mastrion, Murj, Hef, Stem and more

December 29, 2016

Curated by Lady K Fever and Kate Storch, The Art of Peace opens this evening from 6-10pm at Avant Garde on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. An art show and benefit in celebration of the NY Peace Coalition’s 6th Annual Peace December, it features the visual reflections of 31 artists on the theme of peace. Pictured above was painted by Bio, Tats Cru. Here are several more:

Jerms

Danielle Mastrion

Murj, close-up

Hef

And Stem, YNN on a political note

Curators Lady K Fever and Kate Storch in the gallery window — where there will be live painting tonight

And if you can’t make it tonight or would like to return, the exhibit continues through New Years Day.

Photos: 1-4, 6 & 7 Lois Stavsky; 5 courtesy of Lady K

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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DISTRICT WALLS: Abstract Mural Art in DC by Robert Proch, Reka, Waone, Jessie and Katey, Remi Rough, Above & Jason Woodside

December 23, 2016

In early fall, Blind Whino x Art Whino brought 10 internationally acclaimed street artists to Washington DC. A melding of abstraction, fine art, graffiti and street art, their murals further enhance DC’s thriving visual landscape. Pictured above is a huge segment of a mural painted by the Polish artist, Robert Proch. Here are several more captured on our recent visit to DC:

Berlin-based Australian artist Reka, segment of huge mural

Ukranian artist Waone of Interesni Kazki

Baltimore-based Jessie and Katey

UK-based Remi Rough

Berlin-based Above, close-up

NYC-based Jason Woodside

Photo credits: 1 & 7 Lois Stavsky; 2-6 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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iwillnot on the DC Street Sticker EXPO 3.0 at the FridgeDC

December 21, 2016

Currently on view at the FridgeDC is DC Street Sticker EXPO 3.0, an extraordinary ode to street art stickers. Curated by iwillnot and hosted and sponsored by the Fridge Gallery, it features over 100,000 striking stickers. They’re all here: handsome handstyles, curious characters, political posits and social statements. While in DC, I had the opportunity to speak to iwillnot.

When did you first become involved in the sticker art culture? And what attracted you to it?

It was about ten years ago. I liked the way I could easily transport stickers in my pockets and get them up quickly on the streets.

And what was it about the streets that appealed to you?

Getting my name and message across in a public space.

This is the third sticker art exhibit that you’ve curated at the FridgeDC. What inspired you to bring it indoors?

My son was born five years ago. I no longer had the time to hit the streets. Nor could I take the legal risks. DC’s laws are harsh. One can get fined $1,000.00 and be sentenced to 3o days in jail just for getting a slap up.

Gee… And with Trump here, the penalties could get even harsher. How does this current exhibit differ from the previous two that you curated?

This is the first one that covers the entire gallery. There’s been more involvement, and — with a six-week run — it will be the longest-running sticker expo that I’ve curated.

What were some of the challenges involved in curating such a huge exhibit?

It’s quite costly. Getting something like this together is expensive. And it demands endless hours of work, including time spent training volunteers.

How were you able to collect so many stickers? There are tens of thousands here!

When I first started posting my stickers online, Skam reached out to me to trade stickers. I’ve been trading with artists all over the world ever since. Every participant in the expo gets a return pack from me. It takes months to get them mailed out… but a trade is a trade. After years of trading with artists I have hundreds of thousands of stickers.

And how do you keep track of them?

I document each and every entry. I tag each one and acknowledge receiving it.

That must be some task!

It’s a year-round lifestyle.

How has the response been to this show? The opening was packed with folks of all ages!

The reaction has been great. People seem to have discovered an untapped passion for this art form. All year round, I’m asked about the “next sticker expo.”

How can folks see the exhibit?

It continues through New Years Eve at the FridgeDC, 516 1/2 8th Street SE, and is open Thursday-Saturday 1–8pm & Sunday 1-5pm.

Great! I’m already looking forward to next year’s!

Note: Among the many artists featured in the above close-ups are: Skam, Beas, Klozr, Jamie XV, Ed Gein, iwillnot Hugh Brisman, Sarah Jamison, Sladge & Konjak, 2front, Psyco, Nikolay Milushev, da_weiss, 702er, P Lust, Zas, Chris RWK, nite owl, Feln One,…(more to come!)

Photo credits: 1 Tara Murray; 2 – 6 Lois Stavsky; interview by Lois Stavsky

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Richard Best aka Xxist on Baltimore’s SectionI Project

December 19, 2016

While visiting Baltimore, we met up with Richard Best aka Xxist over at the Creative Labs — a DIY incubator for artists and creative entrepreneurs housed in a huge warehouse designed from up-cycled materials. There we had the opportunity to find out a bit about the city’s SectionI Project that he had founded.

Can you tell us something about the SectionI Project? Just what is it?

It is a non-profit dedicated to utilizing urban art to enrich our lives. Among its missions is to provide artists with opportunities to produce and promote vibrant, progressive and creative forms of urban art, while serving and enriching their communities.

How do you go about accomplishing this?

To do this, we seek vacant, underutilized and derelict sites and we work on transforming them into vibrant venues and cultural centers. Among the key projects we are working on is the development of a huge urban art park in the heart of Baltimore, between Station North Arts and Entertainment District. This Section1 Urban Art Park will not only provide nearby communities with a much-needed recreational park, but also serve as a cultural center for the entire city of Baltimore.

When and how did this project first begin?

It began in September 2012, while I was enrolled in Design Leadership — a dual masters program between Johns Hopkins Carey Business School and Maryland Institute College of Art. Upon graduation, I was provided with $10,000 in seed funding from Maryland Institute College of Art’s LAB Award. This seed funding was utilized to establish Section1 Inc.

This huge space we are visiting now — the Creative Labs — is a wonderful showcase for urban art — both outdoors and indoors — and provides space for artists to work, as well.

Yes. There are a range of work spaces, including those for woodworking and photography. One of our missions is to provide artists with studio space. Space of this kind is essential in meeting the growing needs of today’s multidisciplinary artists. Upon completion, the Labs will feature a wide variety of resources including a green screen, cyclorama, fab-lab, art gallery, design studios, conference room, paint booth, dark room, washout booth, art storage and over 5,000 sq. ft. of communal space.

That’s quite impressive! How do you get the word out on what you have to offer artists?

It’s largely organic. Artists speak to one another and let each other know. We also advertise on Craigslist.

What you’ve done here is quite amazing. What are some of your biggest challenges?

One of our greatest challenges has been identifying the property owners of potential spaces. It is often quite difficult to track down who owns a space.

And what about funding all of this? How do you do it?

We are always looking to expand our team by engaging talented volunteers.

On the grounds here there is work not only by local artists such as Nether and Pablo Machioli, but by international artists, as well.

Yes! And through a partnership with Urban Walls Brazil, several Brazilian artists — including Mateu Velasco and Mateus Bailon — have painted here.

How can folks contact you? To obtain more information? To visit? To become engaged in Baltimore’s SectionI Project?

They can reach me at Richard@section-1.org. They can also check us out on Instagram and visit our site online.

It’s looking great! Good luck with it all!

Note: The Creative Labs is located at 1786 Union Ave in Baltimore, MD.

Images

1. & 2. Baltimore-based Nether, close-up from huge mural on the grounds of the Creative Labs

3. South Africa-based Corban Lundborg painted inside the Creative Labs

4. Baltimore-based Pablo Machioli and Buenos Aires-based Alfredo Segatori, close-up from mural on the grounds of the Creative Labs

5. Brazilian artist Mateu Velasco on the grounds of the Creative Labs

6. Brazilian artist Mateus Bailon on the grounds of the Creative Labs

Photo credits: 1-4 & 6 Lois Stavsky; 5 Tara Murray; interview conducted and edited by Lois Stavsky with Tara Murray

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At Urban Evolution in Baltimore with: Syko Roxx, Emo, Spot, 4sakn, Meca, Grope, Veer One, Tiper, Torch Fuego & dlordink

December 16, 2016

While in Baltimore last month, we had the opportunity to visit Urban Evolution, a first-rate gym that is also a graffiti lover’s wonderland. Pictured above is by Newark-based Syko Roxx. What follows are several more pieces — many by NJ-based writers — that have made their way onto the walls of Urban Evolution:

NJ-based Emo

NYC-based Spot, KMS

NJ-based 4sakn

Baltimore-based Meca with fragment of piece by Grope above it

NJ-based Veer One

NJ-based Tiper

NJ-based Torch Fuego

And Baltimore-based dlordink

Note: Urban Evolution is located at 6801 Eastern Avenue in Baltimore, MD

Photo credits: 1-3, 5, 6, 8 & 9 Lois Stavsky; 4 & 7 Tara Murray

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DAIN Solo Exhibit Continues at Fat Free Art on the Lower East Side

December 14, 2016

Showcasing established artists, as well as emerging ones, Fat Free Art recently opened in an elegantly gritty space on the corner of Allen and Delancey on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. A dazzling solo exhibit presenting new works by the ever-ingenious Dain has inaugurated the space. Here is a sampling:

Several more of Dain‘s distinctly beguiling women

And on the street — Allen and Delancey — with Cost & more

Closer-up

The exhibit — produced in partnership with Street Art Direct — remains on view at 102 Allen Street through January 9.

All photos by Tara Murray

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New RAE BK Exhibit, All Systems Go, to Launch New Years Eve with DJ Kool Herc at 99 Bowery

December 12, 2016

NYC’s prolific RAE BK will join forces with the legendary DJ Kool Herc at 99 Bowery on New Year’s Eve for an unprecented event. A brief interview with RAE BK about his new exhibit and its New Years Eve launch follows:

This sure seems like a fun way to spend New Years Eve! What spurred you to do this?

After everything that has gone on with this Presidential Election in the US, I decided the best way to bring in a 2017 is with a bang. I hope it’s a way to at least turn the page for an evening for those who attend. The name of the exhibition is All Systems Go and it centers around the comparison of discarded objects and human beings.

What kinds of works can we expect to see? On the streets we’ve spotted everything from your stickers to your huge installations?

There will be about 40 pieces ranging from ‘found object’ sculptures to large scale canvases to paintings on paper. These are works I have made over the course of eight months. And what better way to say goodbye to 2016 than to have a living legend, the Father of Hip-Hop, DJ Kool Herc, to bring some bass and get people moving later on?

Can you tell us something about the found objects that you have been working with? Where did you find them?

A lot of the parts I have collected and used to make the work have come from an area in Willets Point. Queens, NYC. It’s about a 10- block section full of “chop shops,” huge pot holes and some really weathered people. The feeling is third-world for sure. For someone looking at it from the outside — like me — it’s like the land of the forgotten. Mechanics look like they’ve put in a week’s straight worth of doing car repairs. Others are selling drugs and looking to turn tricks. The work I have created is as much a reflection of the materials as it is of the environment. A lot of rusted metals, worn fabrics and scraps of plastics… Think “pop-artifacts.”

What was it like to work with these objects?

While working in my studio, I kept seeing the worn and weary faces of the people I encountered in the weathered parts. I adopted the philosphy of making the best of the materials you are given. And these materials came from the people of Willets Point. People there do what they have to do to make a living. Whatever it takes. The interesting thing is that for all the rusted, decayed, crushed pieces I found, I also found stuff that had a nice gold or silver shine or burst of color that created a cool high-end, low-end quality to the finished pieces.

How can one attend All Systems Go on New Years Eve?

Opening night will be a ticketed event with open bar and music spun on vinyl by DJ Kool Herc. I will be giving away a small original piece of work just before midnight too. You can get tickets here.

And if we can’t make it to the New Years Eve opening, will we still be able to see your show?

Yes! The show will run for at least another week after that. Check my Instagram for updates.

Interview by Lois Stavsky; photos 2 & 4 from NYC streets, 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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Ulrich Blanché on Banksy: Urban Art in a Material World

December 9, 2016

Penned by Ulrich Blanché, Banksy: Urban Art in a Material World focuses primarily on Banksy’s relationship with consumer culture. With its thoroughly-researched appendix documenting everything from Banksy record album covers to his exhibition catalogs, it is the first comprehensive academic study of Banksy’s art. An interview with the author follows:

Your book, Banksy: Urban Art in a Material World, began as a dissertational thesis. Why did you choose to focus your studies on Banksy? What is it specifically about him that so intrigued you?

I was first introduced to street art and stencils in 2006 on a trip to Melbourne, Australia. And while visiting a museum bookshop there, I discovered Banksy’s book Wall and Piece. I was instantly fascinated and found myself going through it page by page. I liked the way each of his pieces has a distinct message or lesson that is transmitted in a humorous way. I knew then that I would like to research and write about his work.

You draw parallels between Banksy and the contemporary British artist Damien Hirst. You discuss their collaborations, as well. Can you tell us something about that? What are some of the essential similarities between the two? What did each have to gain by collaborating?

It might still shock some people that Hirst, the personification of capitalism, and Banksy, the art guerilla, collaborated. They knew each other since about 2000, and Hirst supported Banksy early on. It was kind of like Warhol and Basquiat. The established artist gains coolness and the newer artist gains credibility. The two artists admired each other’s works – and both Banksy and Hirst shared a morbid and humorous sensibility.

Among Banksy’s subjects are both capitalism and religion – often merged in a particular image. Do any particular images stand out to you? And why do they?

Banksy does not really focus on religion except in relation to consumption. Shopping/ Money is the god of today. No particular work stands out for me. Some are weaker; some are better.

To what do you attribute Banksy’s extraordinary commercial success?

I suspect that Banksy actually earns much less than people think he does. His income comes from the sale of prints, books, DVDs… The people who bought a Banksy for 50 quid 15 years ago or received a Banksy as a present have profited tremendously.

As Banksy rails against consumerism, he — himself — is a master at manipulating consumers. Why might we have become such a society of consumers? Any thoughts?

We are easily manipulated, even when we know we are being manipulated.

How essential are the streets to Banksy’s success?

The street is his canvas – it is the means he uses to communicate. To remove the street from Banksy’s work is like removing a figure from a Rembrandt. If you manage to keep the context with photos, videos, background info, the work may survive indoors – once it’s no longer on the street. In Banksy’s words: “’I don’t know if street art ever really works indoors. If you domesticate an animal, it goes from being wild and free to sterile, fat and sleepy. So maybe the art should stay outside. Then again, some old people get a lot of comfort from having a pet around the house.”

Where is it all going? Will Banksy’s popularity and commercial success continue to rise? Will Banksy continue to use the streets as a canvas? Or will he become less dependent on them? What are your thoughts?

Street Art is over. Most works on the street today are authorized murals or pieces in areas where the artist wants to be seen and photographed by the “right” people — whoever that might be. Street art has become urban art for Instagram. Banksy will last. He will put a few works on the street every year and pull off a big event every few years. I hope he will publish another huge book of his works or lead a little revolution somewhere. That would be fun.

Originally written in German and published by Tectum, Banksy: Urban Art in a Material World has been translated into English and is available here.

Interview conducted and edited by Lois Stavsky; images 2, 4 & 5 Creative Commons & 3 captured by Lenny Collado in NYC

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East Coast Flavor Meets Chicago Flair with Cornbread, Booey, Fritos, Gear One, Nic 707, Boar1, Dtel & more

December 8, 2016

Earlier this fall, several Old School East Coast writers — including the legendary Cornbread — made their way to Chicago for a one-night exhibit and a day of painting alongside local Chicago artists. We recently spoke to Brian M Convery aka Booey who curated the exhibit that took place on October 15 at Loft Zero Gallery.

How did you guys end up in Chicago? What brought you there?

Skeme had told me about an opportunity to exhibit my artwork in a solo show at Chicago’s Loft Zero Gallery. I decided that I would prefer showing in a group exhibit — that I would curate — as it would be more inclusive.

How did you decide which artists to include?

I was particularly interested in showcasing the work of classic East Coast writers. And so I largely reached out to folks I know who were painting back in the day. It was my way of giving back to the community.

What were some of the challenges you faced in curating an exhibit of this nature?

The greatest challenge was collecting all of the art I’d wanted to feature before heading out to Chicago. There were some kinks along the way. And then after twenty minutes of waiting in Newark in a rented van to drive five of us out to Chicago, Gear One called to tell me that Nic 707 was no where to be found! But, eventually, it all came together.

What about the night of the exhibit? Any challenges?

Having to compete with the Cubs who had a home game the same night! We had to work on getting the info about our show out on Cubs’ message boards.

Any particular highlights of the trip?

Having the opportunity to paint alongside several first-rate Chicago-based artists in Logan Square the following day. The interaction was awesome!

Can you tell us something more about that? How did it happen?

Constantine Ashford, the owner of Loft Zero Gallery, reached out to several local artists and made it happen.

What’s next?

I’ve been working on another show — Gold Standard — that will place this Saturday evening — December 10th at Lovecraft Bar NYC, 50 Avenue B. It will feature a range of artists from the legendary Taki 183 to such contemporaries as Tomas Manon and Gem 13.

Good luck!

Images

1. Constantine Ashford, Booey and Cornbread

2. Fritos and Gear One at work; also featured on mural are Booey and Nic 707

3. Chicago-based Boar1

4. Chicago-based Dtel

Photo credits: 1 & 2; courtesy Brian M Convery; 3 & 4 Tara Murray

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