Walls

Although nowhere as wildly diverse as the street art that makes its way onto Tel Aviv’s open spaces, Haifa’s street art — fashioned largely by locals — has a distinct charm that reflects the city’s far less frenetic pace. The image above was painted awhile back by Unga of the legendary Broken Fingaz Crew. Several more that I encountered on my wanderings around the city these past few days follow:

Swan, Acer & Erezoo

Erezoo and Swan

Tom Melnick

Erezoo and Wasabi

Swan and Trust

MashiahTrust, Erezoo Wasabi and Swan  

Photos 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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A beloved art festival, The Crystal Ship has produced over 25 installations, sculptures and murals per year for the past three years in Ostend, Belgium’s largest coastal city. Curated by Bjørn Van Poucke, its mission is to bring outstanding art directly to the center of the city “where people live and work.” While visiting Ostend last summer, travel and street photographer Karin du Maire aka Street Art Nomad captured a strong sampling of Ostend’s rich mural art, as she biked around the city. The mural featured above was painted in 2016 by Hamburg-based Polish artist 1010zzz., whose hypnotic images can be viewed through June 10 at GR gallery on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Several more artworks from The Crystal Ship — photographed by Karin — follow:

Brussels-based Hello Collective

Argentine artist Ever Siempre

South African artist Faith47

Australian artist Fintan Magee

LA-based collective Cyrcle

Self-taught Norwegian artist Henrik Aa. Uldalen

Photos by Karin du Maire aka Street Art Nomad 

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The faces that surface on Miami’s walls — like so much of the art that makes its way onto the city’s public places — represent a wide range of artistic styles, sensibilities and backgrounds. The image featured above was painted by Brooklyn-based artist Isabelle Ewing. Several more images of faces that I captured on my recent visit follow:

Jacksonville, Florida-based Nico

London-based David Walker

Australian artist Seb Humphreys aka Order 55

Miami-based Abstrk

West Coast-based Sauteezy aka A Killer’skiller

Photos 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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While in Sacramento, California for Wide Open Walls several months ago, travel and street photogapher Karin du Maire aka Street Art Nomad had the opportunity to explore the city’s streets. Pictured above is her capture of a mural painted by Sacramento-based artist Anthony Padilla aka Kinetik Ideas. Several more images — largely fashioned by Sacramento-based artists — follow:

John Horton

Shaun Burner

 Waylon Horner and Shaun Burner

Rime MSK and 18ism aka Host18

Another by Anthony Padilla aka Kinetik Ideas

Photos by Karin du Maire aka Street Art Nomad

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Pictured above is the bold and brightly-hued work of Barcelona native Pez. What follows are several more images of distinctly curious characters that I’ve recently encountered while wandering around Miami’s beguiling streets:

Barcelona-based El Xupet Negre aka the Black Pacifier

Parisian artist Combo aka Combo Culture Kidnapper, close-up

St. Pete, Florida-based Sebastian Coolidge

Mexican artist Curiot

Photos 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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What makes Miami so special for us street art aficionados is the incredible mix of cultures and styles that makes its way to the streets of Wynwood and its surroundings. The wonderfully diverse range of characters that continues to surface are testament to this. Featured above is a close-up from a huge mural fashioned by the Italian artist Zed1. Several more follow in this first of a two-part series featuring curious characters recently encountered on Miami streets.

Chilean artists Jekse & Cines aka Un Kolor Distinto

Brazilian artist Cranio

Ecuadorian artist Apitatán

Ukranian artist Aleksey Kislow

Photos 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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Growing up in the Bronx in the 70’s  Osvaldo Cruz — under different aliases — began early on tagging and piecing wherever and whenever he could. His subway train art is featured, in fact, in Martha Cooper‘s and Henry Chalfant‘s landmark book, Subway Art. These days, with occasional stints painting legal walls over at Tuff City in the Bronx, Cruz focuses primarily on fashioning abstract — graffiti-inspired — images on canvases and is represented by Fountain House Gallery. An interview with the artist follows:

When and where did you first get up?

It was around 1978. I was eight years old. I lived near Yankee Stadium at the time, and I remember getting my initials, TC –Tito Cruz — up in the yard of P.S. 156, my local elementary school.

Did you have any preferred surfaces?

Anything was fine! I, especially, liked mail trucks.

Who were some of the writers that inspired you back in the day?

I was inspired by the local writers: FDT 56, Hoy 56, Kid 56, Hazzy Haz from the D yard, Blade from the 5 layup, T-Kid from the 1 layup and Flame.

Have you any early memories that stand out?

Meeting Blade in the CC layup on Fordham Road in 1979 and soon after meeting Iz the Wiz up there. They both were already established writers by the time I had hit the subways.

But many memories that are not positive also stand out. One of my favorite graffiti names was GINSU, and that caused a log of turmoil in Chinatown, as all of the the school kids assumed that the tagger was Chinese. There were endless wars and fights back then over everything from copying one’s letters to being in the wrong place at the wrong time. There was too much disrespect. Enough to make some of us stop painting burners – knowing that someone was going to write inside or around our pieces.

Did you get up alone or did you paint together with any crews?

I didn’t paint with any crews, but I did have a sidekick, OHenry. He was my link to many different subway layups and yards. OHenry, though, has lost all interest in spray-painting and in graffiti. He doesn’t even want to talk about it. So when I see him these days, I don’t even bring it up.

Had you ever been arrested back in the day for graffiti?

I was once falsely accused up at the 183rd Street Subway Station. I connected with a Legal Aid lawyer, and the case was dismissed.

What was the riskiest thing you’ve done?

Climbing into a yard up in the North Bronx off the 2 train. The fence was really high, and it was too easy to get tangled up in barbed wire. And I didn’t know who would be there once I made it in.

Do you have a formal art education?

I graduated from Art & Design High School in 1987.

What percentage of your time is devoted to art?

About 75% — whenever I’m not attending to my personal needs, I paint.

Do you make money from your art?

Yes! Through commissions and selling canvases.

At what point did you begin working on canvases?

I actually started to experiment with graffiti art on canvas in the early 80’s, but it wasn’t until 2000 that I began to focus almost exclusively on painting on canvases.

Which mode do you prefer?

I like them both, and I’ve been commissioned to do both.

How do you feel about the engagement of the corporate world with graffiti writers and street artists? 

I have no problem with it. I’m happy for the artists.

Have you shown your work in galleries?

Yes. I’ve shown my work at Fountain House Gallery and at Pace University via Community Access.

Do you work with a sketch in hand or do you let it flow?

No. I don’t work from sketches.

What inspires you these days?

My imagination!

Are you generally satisfied with your finished work?

 Yes!

Are there any particular cultures that influence you at present?

I don’t feel influenced by cultures other than my own, but I like what the European writers are doing. I especially like the Swedish graffiti crew WUFC.

How has your work evolved through the years?

It’s more complex — more sophisticated, and I use more colors.

What’s ahead?

I just want to keep on painting.

Good luck!

All photos courtesy of the artist; interview 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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The image featured above  — one segment of a larger politically charged mural sighted at Wynwood Walls — was painted by the the legendary NYC-based Lady Pink. Several more images of guys on walls that I captured on my recent visit to Miami follow:

Florida-based, Paris-born Smog One

New Jersey-based Joe Iurato, also for Wynwood Walls

Denver-based Pharaoh One aka Pher01 & Atlanta-based David Fratu aka ILL.DES     

Toronto-based, Brazil-born Bruno Smoky

Photos 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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The image featured above was painted by the wonderfully talented Santa Fe native Miles Toland. Several more images of females on walls that I captured on my recent visit to Miami follow:

New York-based Alice Mizrachi, close-up

Miami-based Daniel Fila aka Krave

Puerto Rican artist Alexis Diaz

LA-based Audrey Kawasaki, a recent addition to Wynwood Walls

Photos 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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The following guest post is by Houda Lazrak

On Christmas Day 2017, while Sydneysiders were enjoying their day off with street cricket and family lunches, I explored the quiet streets of Newtown, Sydney’s hippest inner west neighborhood, in search of some street art. Rife with murals, graffiti and smaller street art pieces, the suburb has a history of embracing public art with large-scale murals erected on neighborhood walls since the late 1980s. The image pictured above is by Ears, who is also a classically trained violinist. Below are several more of many works — painted by an all-Australian cast of artists — that I captured on that cloudy day.

Fintan Magee, Matt Hogan Reserve —  painted through a crowd-funded project arranged by local residents and is titled after the park in which it is located

 Nico

Apeseven, Predators Folly

Phibs 

Phibs and George Rose, Save our Coral Reef — addressing coral bleaching in Australia and around the world, urging all to take active responsibility for the care of our oceans

Close-up

Several murals pictured here were organized through the Perfect Match Public Art Program, an Inner West Council initiative that matches artists’ public art proposals with local residents and business owners who volunteer their walls for transformation.

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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All photos by Houda Lazrak

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