Public Art Projects

Curated by Woodward Gallery, several intriguing newly-painted shutter gates have surfaced on Broome and Eldridge Streets on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.  The image featured above was painted by Brooklyn-born neo-contemporary artist, JM Rizzi also known as JMR.  More images of these recently refashioned gates follow:

Another by JM Rizzi also known as JMR

Ecuadorian artist Lasak

NYC-based Jose Baez

Illustrator and painter Jen “PROPS” Larkin

Hudson Valley-based self-taught artist Cosbe

Additional images of these gates, along with another painted by David Weeks, can be seen here. And a perfect time to check them all out, along with Michael Alan’s wondrous 30 foot mural, is this coming Sunday’s block party hosted by Kehila Kedosha Jahina Synagogue and Museum from 12-4om  at 280 Broome Street, off Eldridge.

Photos: Lois Stavsky

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The Grandscale Mural Project returned to East Harlem this summer bringing dozens of alluring new murals to East 125th Street.  Featuring a huge range of  themes and styles, the project showcases works by both established and emerging artists. The intriguing image pictured above, A Walk to Freedom, was painted by NYC-based Baltimore native Mark West as a visual ode to those slaves who risked their lives or died in their struggle to attain freedom. Several more images of newly surfaced walls follow:

Harlem-based Marthalicia Marthalicia

East Harlem-based Scratch

Brooklyn-based Jason Naylor

The legendary Bronx-based John Matos aka Crash One captured at work earlier this month

Luis F Perez and Fausto Manuel Ramos of Lost Breed Culture

Bronx-born, Yonkers-based Michael Cuomo

Keep posted to our Instagram page, as there are many more murals from the Grandscale Mural Project waiting to be captured!

Photo credits:  1, 2, 6 & 7 Lois Stavsky; 3, 4 & 5 Tara Murray

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Timed to coincide with Mental Health Awareness Month, the first three You Are Not Alone murals surfaced across New York City in May, 2019. And this past month, the project has gone global with 14 new murals — seven in NYC, two in Texas, and one each in New Jersey, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Brazil and India. Each of the artists interpreted the message, You Are Not Alone, in a distinct visual style using a color palette of black, white, grey and yellow.

Conceived and curated by designer, illustrator and muralist Annica Lydenberg aka Dirty Bandits and Samantha Schutz, mental health advocate and acclaimed author of the anxiety disorder memoir, I Don’t Want to Be Crazy, this timely project reminds us that we are all connected through our common humanity and, therefore, never alone. The mural featured above was painted by the award-winning, Brooklyn-based artist and designer Jason Naylor earlier this month in Bushwick. Several more images of murals that have recently surfaced near and far follow:

 Brooklyn-based product designer and visual artist Adam Fu in the Bronx

Brooklyn-based creative director, designer and muralist Dirty Bandits in Chinatown, NYC

NJ-based designer and calligrapher Rodney Ibarra aka Jexpo76 in Hammonton, NJ

Texas-based graffiti artists and designers Laced and Found in Austin, Texas 

Brazilian designer and visual artist Cristina Pagnoncelli in Curitiba, Brazil

And do remember, “You are not alone!” If you or someone you care about is in need of support or information, help is available from the National Alliance on Mental Illness. The NAMI HelpLine can be reached Monday through Friday, 10 a.m.–8 p.m., ET. 1-800-950-NAMI (6264)

All photos courtesy You Are Not Alone;  photo credit for third mural — just a spectator

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Based in Manizales, Colombia, Sebastian Jiménez aka SEPC first hit the walls of his hometown with letters 12 years ago. “I never would have imagined at that time that my entire life would revolve around urban art,” he relates. “My whole life is now focused on going out and leaving a little of my art everywhere that is possible.”

The image featured above was recently painted by SEPC in his hometown of Manizales. Characteristic of the artist’s public art, it is wonderfully photorealistic with elements reflecting his career as a visual designer. And like most of his street art, it is specific to the culture of its particular site.

Several more images of SEPC‘s artworks follow:

Painted in La Dorada, Caldas for Festival Territorio Urbano with the support of Fundación REDES, 2020

Painted in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, 2018

Painted in Manizales, 2018

Painted in Bahai, Brazil for Festival Bahia de Todas as Cores, 2018

And like so many street artists across the globe, SEPC has paid also homage to several NYC-based hip-hop legends. The following mural featuring Nas was painted last year in SEPC’s hometown, Manizales.

SEPC will be visiting NYC for the first time in mid-June and is seeking opportunities to share his talents with us. The artist can be contacted at juan.jimenez.dv@gmail.com.

All photos courtesy of the artist

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For the past several years, the corner of 43rd Avenue & 38th Street in Sunnyside Queens — penned The Great Wall of Savas — has hosted a varied range of intriguing artworks. The mural pictured above was recently painted by NYC-based Argentine artist Sonni in dedication to his new wife. Several more images of mural art captured in this location follow:

Long Island-based Phetus

Manhattan-based My Life in Yellow

Moscow-born, NYC-based Urban Russian Doll

NYC-based Dirk

NYC-based Soho Renaissance Factory artist Konstance Patton

Lima, Peru-based Monks

Now a twin of the Akumal Arts Festival walls, each time an Akumal artist gets up at Savas, Thirdrail Art, the project’s curator, sends a donation to Akumal to support the local community.

Photo credit: Lois Stavsky

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The rotating walls that surface in the East Village and in Chinatown — under the curatorial direction of street art aficionado and photographer Ben L. — feature some of NYC’s most delightfully expressive murals. Largely painted by local artists, the walls occasionally showcase the talents of those visiting from abroad, as well. The image featured above is the work of Beijing-born, Brooklyn-based artist and Thrive Collective member, Peach Tao. Several more murals currently on view at East 2nd Street off First Avenue follow:

Lima, Peru-based Monks

Argentine-American artist Ramiro Davaro-Comas in collaboration with Outer Source on the First Ave. Laundry Center shutter 

Moscow-born, NYC-based Urban Russian Doll

New York-based photorealistic muralist BKFoxx

NYC-based Early Riser

Photo credits: 1-3, 5 & 6 Lois Stavsky; 4 Sara C Mozeson

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Bold and engaging, the murals that surface in Trenton, New Jersey are largely site-specific, many paying homage to those who call Trenton and its neighboring towns home. The image featured above — painted collaboratively in 2014 by Will Kasso, Luvonesta, Andre Trenier and Lank — looms large over a colorful playground, a short distance from the Trenton Transit Center. Several more artworks, far more recent, captured earlier this week on my first visit to Trenton follow:

Trenton-based legendary artist Leon Rainbow — two of four murals paying homage to frontline workers

Close-up

Trenton artist Dean ‘Ras’ Innocenzi pays homage to the late New Jersey skateboarder Brendan Wilkie —  one of several murals featured in the 2020 “Murals on Front Street” project, coordinated by Leon Rainbow

Philly-based Spanish artists Saoka and Imse  for “Murals on Front Street”

Austin, Texas-based masterly graffiti writer Sloke One  for “Murals on Front Street”

And Luvonesta and Lank bringing it inside to Trenton’s Starbucks, close-up from huge mural

Photos by Lois Stavsky

Special thanks to James J Kelewae for introducing me to the streets of Downtown Trenton

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One of my favorite spots in town, First Street Green Art Park continues to host — under the curatorial direction of Jonathan Neville — a wonderfully diverse mix of mural art and graffiti.  The image featured above was recently painted by Brooklyn-based Danielle Mastrion. Several more murals that have made an interim home in this now-legendary spot, where the Lower East Side meets the East Village, follow:

Outer Source aka Star Farther, another of his galactic space-scapes that continue to enhance our cityscape

Brooklyn-based Brazilian style master Primo1

Brooklyn-based Stavro 

The legendary Meres One 

Argentine artist Ramiro Davaro-Comas

Staten Island-based John Exit

Photos by Lois Stavsky

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This past fall, a diverse range of artists who live or work in Hoboken, NJ converted 15 utility boxes into alluring artworks. The charming image pictured above, The Hoboken Tree, featuring birds representing varied nationalities that have found a home in Hoboken, was painted by local painter, designer and illustrator Alison Josephs. Several more images — all reflecting the notion of “equality and inclusion” — follow:

Hoboken resident, Greg Brehm, Home Sweet Hoboken 

South India-native, self-taught artist Sayeed A. Syed, Clear Skies

Colombia-native, Hoboken-based multi-media artist Anita Torres Milena, Universal Lotus

Hoboken-based artist Chesleigh Meade, Venuses of Hoboken

West Coast-bred, Hoboken-based style master Matthew Dean, Hoboken United

Russia-native, Hoboken-based multi-media artist Raisa Nosova, Silver Mask

All of these artworks and more can be found along Washington Street —  from 1st to 14th — a short walk from the PATH train’s Hoboken stop. The “Art Box Mural Project” marks the first initiative of The Hoboken Arts Advisory Committee, “a group of local citizens–artists, merchants, organizational leaders and public officials–working to bring innovative, interesting and beautiful public art to the City of Hoboken.”

Photos by Lois Stavsky; more from this project to be featured on the Street Art NYC Instagram

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Charged with glorifying terrorism and insulting the monarchy in his songs, Spanish rapper Pablo Hásel was arrested and imprisoned last month. For the past several weeks since his arrest, demonstrations have erupted almost daily, and dozens of murals have surfaced advocating “freedom of expression.” While the demonstrations have, on occasion, turned violent, the street art has been a peaceful diversion.

The image above, painted by the talented Barcelona-based Catalan artist Cinta Vidal, features the rapper as he is being painted over — or obliterated — by the king.  Several more of the ephemeral murals follow:

Barcelona-based Galleta Maria depicts a double-headed snake that is preventing a woman from speaking

Graffiti writer Kader One at work painting the rapper hanging while grasping a keychain featuring a crown

Spanish artist El Edu, at work on “La Llibertat (h)a mort,” mourning the death of freedom

Graffiti writer Antón G. Seoane aka SlimROK, “Freedom or Fire”

Barcelona-based Argentine artist Zosen, “Libertad Expresion,” a call for the “freedom of expression”

All photos by Fernando Alcalá Losa; courtesy, Audrey García

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