Public Art Projects

At Wide Open Walls: Lauren YS, Molly Devlin, Kirileigh Jones, David Puck, Mars-1, John Horton, Mabel Vicentef & Jessie and Katey

September 4, 2019

In its mission to “promote diversity through artistic expression” and to share public art with a wide audience, Wide Open Walls recently added 40 new murals to Sacramento’s visual landscape. The mural featured above was fashioned by the LA-based artist Lauren YS. Several more images captured during the fourth annual art festival of Wide Open Walls by travel and street photographer Karin du Maire aka Street Art Nomad follow:

Sacramento-based artist Molly Devlin

California-bred, Colorado-based Kirileigh Jones

LA-based David Puck

San Francisco-based Mario Martinez aka Mars-1

Sacramento-based John Horton

Argentine artist Mabel Vicentef

Baltimore-based Jessie and Katey

And Karin du Maire aka Street Art Nomad in front of Jessie and Katey mural segment, as captured by David Puck

Photo credits: 1-8 Karin du Maire aka Street Art Nomad & 9 David Puck

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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Tats Cru Members BG 183, Bio and Nicer — with Crash, Nick Walker and Daze — at the Legendary East Harlem Graffiti Hall of Fame

August 24, 2019

This past Thursday, Tats Cru members BG 183, Bio and Nicer — along with Crash, Nick Walker and Daze — once again transformed their wall at East Harlem’s Graffiti Hall of Fame. Featured above are BG 183 and UK native Nick Walker at work. What follows are several more photos of the artists in action– all captured Thursday by travel and street photographer Karin du Maire aka Street Art Nomad.

BG 183

Crash

Nick Walker

Daze

Bio

Nicer

The artists — Nick Walker, Daze, BG 183, Crash, Bio and Nicer

And the wall

Photos by Karin du Maire aka Street Art Nomad

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The New Lombardy Walls Project: Bianca Romero, Dain, Chris RWK, Marthalicia, Czr Prz, Jappy Lemon, Will Power & Albertus Joseph

August 17, 2019

Curated by Bianca Romero, the new Lombardy Walls is a delightful addition to East Williamsburg’s visual landscape, bringing color and charisma to what was once a banal North Brooklyn block. The huge mural featured above was painted by Brooklyn-based Bianca Romero in what has become her distinctly infectious signature style. What follows are several more artworks that surfaced this summer for the first edition of Lombardy Walls.

Brooklyn-based Dain on door

Street art veteran and Robots Will Kill founder Chris RWK

Harlem-based Marthalicia Matarrita

Chicago-based Czr Prz

Filipino artist Jappy Lemon, currently based in NYC, does Spiderman

Will Power and Albertus Joseph do Ol‘ Dirty Bastard

Lombardy Walls is located at Lombardy Street and Porter Avenue.

Photos by Lois Stavsky

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Manhattan-Based Award-Winning Artist Miguel Diego Colón at First Street Green Art Park in Manhattan’s East Village

August 15, 2019

Working with paintbrush in hand, award-winning Manhattan-based artist Miguel Diego Colón recently brought his skills and vision to First Street Green Art Park. After he had finished his mural, I posed a few questions to him:

Although your artwork surfaced publicly this past year on a huge billboard near the Kings Plaza Shopping Center, this was the first time you actually painted in public. What was that experience like?

It was amazing! I loved interacting with passersby who stopped to watch me. I loved hearing people’s interpretations of what I was doing. And I felt flattered when people took photos of the mural and of me while I was painting.

All of your images reference some kind of economic or social injustice. How did you decide which images to incorporate into your mural?

I researched online the term “social justice.” I then visually interpreted particular issues that stood out…that particularly mattered to me.

And so the overall theme of your mural is social justice — or the lack of it.

Yes. I am concerned with oppression of all kinds…what it means to have one’s rights taken away.

Is there any particular segment of the mural that you especially like?

One of my favorite segments is the image of the couple embracing during the collapse of a sweatshop. I like the way it represents connection — the way people can connect, especially during trying times.

What’s ahead?

I’m currently applying for a number of grants. And I would love, of course, more opportunities to paint in public spaces. I’m also working in my Fountain House Gallery studio on a painting modeled on my First Street Green Art Park mural, “Liberty’s Last Embrace.”

It sounds great! Good luck with it all! And, thank you, Jonathan Neville and First Street Green Art Park.

Interview conducted and edited by Lois Stavsky. Photos by Lois Stavsky

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The Masterly Italian Artist Giulio Vesprini on Fusing His Artistic Passions, Painting in Public Spaces, His Upcoming Visit to NYC & More

August 3, 2019

Born and based in the Italian town of Civitanova Marche, the wonderfully talented multidisciplinary artist Giulio Vesprini will be bringing his vision here to NYC this coming week. A brief interview with the artist follows:

You’ve studied art formally at the Academy of Fine Arts in Macerata and at the Department of Architecture in Ascoli Piceno. What spurred you to turn your talents to public spaces?

My two greatest passions are graphics and architecture. And thanks to the outstanding teachers I had in both disciplines, I came up with a way to combine my passions: archigraphia. I view painting in public spaces as a superior expression of art.

When and where did you first paint in a public space?

I started painting when I was fourteen yeas old. It was back in 1994. Using two old spray cans, I painted a big face on an abandoned wall. It seemed really ugly! I didn’t know what I was doing, but it was fun doing it. I felt free, and it was a wonderful feeling! At that moment, I understood that the wall was my only true canvas.

Your work seems to straddle the lines between graphic design, fine art and street art. Can you tell us a bit about your process? Do you work with a sketch in hand or just let it flow?

Each one of my works is planned in terms of the space that will hold it. I always combine graphic language with the language of architecture. I always bring with me a drawing, along with some landscape photos. I feel that every street artist has to consider the site on which he is working — in terms of its distinct story and locale. Urban art should fuse with the specific space and not prevail over it.

Have you collaborated with other artists? Are there any artists out there with whom you’d like to collaborate?

Yes, I have collaborated with many others street artists. Among my most interesting collaborations were those with Aris and 108, two italian street artists. I’d like to paint with MOMO and Rubin415. I very much like their styles, and I think that they have a perfect understandng of architecture.

Have you exhibited your work in gallery settings? If so, where?

I’ve exhibited in Milan, Florence and in Bologna. Now I wish to show my art works in galleries in other countries — like Germany and France. I dream of having a show in the United States.

What’s ahead?

I’ll be in NYC from August 5 though August 22. I am excited to be painting at rag & bone on East Houston Street, and I look forward to other opportunities to paint in NYC, as well. In September, I will be in France for an international street art festival and then off to projects in Rome, Turin and others Italian cities.

Photos

1 Mural for school in Civitanova Marche, Italy for project cordinated by Vedo a Colori

2 Final wall for the second edition of the Manufactory Project in Comacchio, Italy

3 Final wall for the Pennelli Ribelli Festival in Bologna, Italy

Interview conducted and edited by Lois Stavsky; photos courtesy of the artist

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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The Harlem Art Collective at the Guerrilla Gallery in East Harlem with: Tomer Linaje, Evelyn C. Suarez, Rashida Stewart, Adam Bomb, Rafael Gama, Dorothy Gale, Shani Evans & More

July 27, 2019

One of my favorite spots in town is East Harlem’s Guerrilla Gallery. Located on 116th Street, between second and third Avenues, it hosts some of the most authentic walls found anywhere. Always reflecting the spirit of the folks who either live in East Harlem or identify with its culture, the art that surfaces there is often political, provocative and celebratory. The aerosol portrait featured above was painted by Mexican artist Tomer Linaje.

This summer’s installation, produced by the Harlem Art Collective, is a salute to Harlem. Several images I captured of the current installation while exploring the neighborhood this past week follow:

Evelyn C Suarez, Rashida Stewart and more

Adam Bomb with Rafael Gama, bottom right

Rafael Gama, closer-up

Kristy McCarthy aka Dorothy Gale, Shani Evans, Rashida Stewart and more

Photos by Lois Stavsky

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Naomi RAG and Capucine Bourcart Bring Beauty and Intrigue to East Harlem’s Eugene McCabe Field

July 23, 2019

Located on 120th Street and Park Avenue in East Harlem, Eugene McCabe Field is now home to two tantalizing public art installations. Featured above is a close-up from local fiber artist Naomi RAG‘s 12 x 24 foot mural fashioned from yarn.

A larger segment of the mural

The mural, La Flor De Mi Madre, in its entirety

Harlem-based Capucine Bourcart, Eat Me!, a photographic mosaic of approximately 1,500 printed metal square pictures of local healthy food — asking to be eaten!

Photos captured at dusk in the heat by Lois Stavsky

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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Kings Spray 2019 in Amsterdam With: Cix Mugre, Dune, Malakkai, Karski and Beyond, Pipsqueak Was Here!!!, Balstroem, Richard Holmes, Blade, Soy R2F, Dominic950 & More

June 29, 2019

A cultural event that takes place on the Dutch King’s birthday, Kings Spray celebrated its 4th edition this year. Under the curatorial direction of Street Art Today founder Peter Ernst Coolen, local, national and international street artists and graffiti writers painted on container-installations scattered around the NDSM Wharf in front of the soon-to-be-open international street art and graffiti museum. The boldly-hued mural featured above was painted by Mexican artist Cix Mugre. Several more images — all captured by travel and street photographer Karin du Maire aka Street Art Nomad — follow:

Barcelona-based Dune

Spanish artist Malakkai and Dutch duo Karski and Beyond

The Amsterdam-based duo Pipsqueak Was Here!!!

Denmark-based Balstroem and Richard Holmes

The legendary NYC-based Blade posing with Queen Taraji in front of tribute mural by Swiss artist Soy R2F with pieces by Blade & UK-based Dominic950

Photos by Karin du Maire aka Street Art Nomad

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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Brazilian Artist, Activist and Art Historian Vanessa Rosa on: Her Recent Travels, NYC, the Amazon, Her Current and Upcoming Projects & More

June 27, 2019

I’ve been mesmerized by Vanessa Rosa‘s distinctly beautiful and engaging aesthetic since I first came upon the Brazilian artist’s mural painting several years ago — as part of the Faces on the Blue Wall project — outside Lisbon’s Julio de Matos Psychiatric Hospital. We initially met up as she was beginning her residency at Red Hook’s Pioneer Works in 2017 and reconnected last week.

You are quite nomadic! Can you tell us a bit about your recent travels and adventures? Where have you been in the past year?

Yes! I visited Thailand for the Dinacon, the Digital Naturalism Conference, an experimental conference about exploring new ways of interacting with nature. I then traveled to China, where I visited the Shanghai K11 Art Mall, the first art mall in Mainland China. While in China, I also visited fiber optics fabric factories in Shenzhen, because I am interested in creating crazy patterns with this material. Following a brief visit to NYC and Boston, I spent time in a music producer’s space in Sao Paulo, where I painted and got to know rappers — especially Nego Bala — from the favelas. I spent the month of September in the Amazon beginning an artistic partnerhsip with the extraordinary shaman and artisan, Same Putumi.

In October, I traveled to Frankfurt to represent my family’s publishing company, Viajante do Tempo, at the Frankfurt Book Fair. From Frankfurt I went to Berlin and then London. Finally back in Brazil, I produced a show at the Museum of Image and Sound in São Paulo, and also worked with Same Putumi and with my friend, the architect Veronica Natividade.

Wow! You are amazing! What brought you back to the US?

I’d been invited to participate in next year’s Smithsonian Folklife Festival, an annual exposition of living cultural heritage on the National Mall in Washington, DC. It is DC’s largest cultural event. In 2020, the festival will explore how diverse domains of cultural knowledge—from religion to design to science—shape the ways we understand, experience and respond to ever-changing natural, social and built environments.

And why New York City? Why did you choose to work in New York City?

I want to make things happen. And for someone who wants to have access and impact, no other city is as important as this one. I am, in fact, in the process of applying for an artist’s visa.

Your studio space here at the NYC Resistor in Downtown Brooklyn is extraordinary in terms of its equipment and resources.

Yes. My residency here at the NYC Resistor is ideal. We meet regularly to share knowledge, hack on projects together and build community. It is the perfect match as it is so rich in technology. And interacting with its other members advances my research and the projects that I’d started earlier with Same Putumi.

Can you tell us something more about your mission — particularly regarding your collaborative work with Same Putumi?

My mission is to save the Amazon through the recognition of knowledge systems possesssed by indigenous groups. The Amazon’s genetic diversity is more important than gold. We must recognize and strengthen indigenous people’s knowledge systems. It is a knowledge they have attained from a high level of observation that no scientist can reach.

And what about your new drawings?

I’m combining 16th century drawings — by the Italian artist Serlio — on how to use linear perspective with Islamic patterns and 17th century crazy character drawings by Braccelli. And I’m doing this with a drawing machine!

What about public art? Mural Art? Will you be doing anything here in NYC? Can we expect to see anything soon?

Yes! I will keep you posted!

That sounds great! I’m looking forward!

Note: On Saturday, July 13, 1-4pm, Vanessa will be presenting a workshop on watercolor at the NYC Resistor, 87 3rd Avenue, 4th Floor in Brooklyn. Information and tickets are available here.

Photo credits: 1, 4 & 5 Lois Stavsky; all others courtesy of the artist; interview conducted by Lois Stavsky

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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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