LMNOPI

Since George Floyd, an unarmed 46-year-old black man, was murdered in broad daylight on May 26 by police in Minneapolis, Minnesota, protests have risen up throughout the world. Here in NYC, our streets have teemed with images and signs, along with daily peaceful and powerful protests in all five boroughs. The image featured above in memory of George Floyd was fashioned by Sara Erenthal in her Prospect Lefferts Garden neighborhood. Several more images recently seen on NYC streets follow:

 Lmnopi, Black Lives Matter, on the Lower East Side

An unidentified school-age child getting the message out with chalk at Riverside Park on the Upper West Side

LinkNYC for #BlackOutTuesday on the Upper West Side

Stickers posted near Gracie Mansion on the Upper East Side

Sign fashioned by West Coast — based Kate DeCiccio, seen on First Avenue in the East Village 

Protestors in Union Square Park demand that “our lives be free of police violence”

And “Justice for Floyd” — in procession walking north from Washington Square Park

Photo credits: 1 Sara Erenthal; 2, 6-9 Ana Candelaria and 3-5 Lois Stavsky

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Featured yesterday morning on NY1, Of Women, By Women, a group exhibition on view through this Sunday, December 22, presents original artwork by 18 contemporary women artists who have also made their presence on our streets. While visiting the exhibit this past Sunday at the Storefront Project on the Lower East Side, we had the opportunity to pose a few questions to its curator, Wendy Horwitz aka Love From NYC.

The word is that this is your first curatorial experience. How did this exhibition come about? 

I never planned on curating an exhibit. This wasn’t my idea. A male friend, in fact, suggested last summer that it would be a good idea to present an all-women street art show. He said, “If anyone could do it, you could do it!” And I decided to do it.

What was the greatest challenge you faced in seeing this through?

Finding a venue. And then when I heard that the owner of the Storefront Project is a woman, Gina Pagano, I approached her.

Yes! This space is ideal. How did you decide which artists to include?

I researched as many female street artists as I could. I was interested in featuring artists with a strong local presence who could work together cohesively.

How have folks responded to the exhibition?

They’ve been really enthusiastic. I’ve received very positive feedback from visitors, as well as the artists themselves. They were very excited to come together and meet one another.

What’s ahead?

I’m not sure. This has been a “passion project.” I don’t know if I will curate another show, but people are encouraging me to do a series of shows featuring women artists.

Congratulations on this! We do look forward to more! And how wonderful to be featured on NY1!

Note: A panel discussion will be held tomorrow, Thursday, December 19, from 7-8pm. Moderated by Vittoria Benzine of UP Magazine, it will feature Butterflymush, Lexi Bella and LOVEMKM. Located at 70 Orchard Street, the Storefront Project is open today through Sunday, 1-7pm and and tomorrow, Thursday, until 8pm.

Photos:

1 LMNOPI

2 Isabelle Ewing with Wendy Horwitz aka Love From NYC to her left

3 Swoon

4 Surface of Beauty

5 Dee Dee 

6 Alice Mizrachi

Also featured in Of Women, By Women are: Butterflymush, Chinon Maria, Jilly Ballistic, La Femme Cheri, Lexi BellaLOVEMKM., Magda Love, My Life in Yellow, Nora Breen, Sara Erenthal, Shiro and Toofly.

Interview conducted by Lois Stavsky and edited by Lois with Ana Candelaria

Photo credits: 1, 2, 3, 5 & 6 Ana Candelaria; 4 Lois Stavsky

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Tucked into a narrow passageway off Rivington Street east of the Bowery is the ever-evolving Freeman Alley. Even as the street art scene becomes increasingly corporate and commercial, Freeman Alley continues to remain a treasure trove of unsanctioned artwork. While some works can last for months, many are quite ephemeral. Featured above is “No Child Is Illegal” by Lmnopi. The following images were captured during these past two months.

Sara Lynne Leo, “It Wasn’t Supposed to End This Way”

 Dylan Egon, “Saint America,” with Sara Erenthal to his left

The Postman does Robert Smith of the English rock band, The Cure (Be sure to look up for this one!)

UK-based Coloquix

City Kitty and friends

10-year-old Ethan Armen with Thomas Allen

Captain Eyeliner, Who’s Dirk and friends

Photo credits: 1, 2, 4-8 Ana Candelaria; 3 Lois Stavsky

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Today, Saturday, June 9th, marks the ninth anniversary of the extraordinary community-driven Welling Court Mural Project, conceived and curated  by Ad Hoc Art. While visiting yesterday, travel and street photographer Karin du Maire aka Street Art Nomad captured several artists at work, as well as a few completed murals. Pictured above is the wonderfully talented Queen Andrea at work. Several more images follow:

John “Crash”  Matos — posing in front of his mural, based on a painting of his from 1980

Lmnopi

Joel Artista and Marc Evan at work on collaborative wall with Chris Soria

Netherlands-based Michel Velt at work

Cey Adams

KingBee at work

Peat Wollaeger aka Eyez

Herb Smith aka Veng, RWK, alongside his mural

Celebrate the launch of this model community-based mural project from 12pm – 8pm today at 11-98 Welling Court in Astoria, Queens. Check here for directions.

Photos by Karin du Maire

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Tara Houska

With her passion for justice and her elegant aesthetic, Brooklyn-based Lmnopi has been enhancing public spaces in NYC and beyond while raising our consciousness. I recently had the opportunity to visit her studio and speak to her:

When and where did your artwork first surface here on NYC walls?

I pasted up the first time in 2008, in Williamsburg, a stencil of my cat, Joe. I think it was on North 9th Street.

What inspired you to do so?

The thrill of lawlessness. Freedom, beauty, passion and communication beyond gallery walls. I just felt like it.

Delon the Pigeon

Was there anyone in particular who inspired you to hit the streets?

I remember hanging out at Ad Hoc Art on Bogart Street a bunch and meeting other artists there. Chris Stain gave me some solid advice early on about stencil painting. I used to be really into C215. I love the artist Blu. He’s probably my all time favorite, actually. It wasn’t any one person though… more the lure of freedom that inspired me.

You’ve gotten up and painted in legal spots – such as Welling Court Mural Project and Arts Org in Queens. Yet much of what you do is unsanctioned. Have you any preference?

I prefer pasting up without permission. I have favorite places that I revisit now and again. It takes me awhile to pick my spots; I watch them for a little while first. Placement becomes more important when your paste-up is the only one in existence at a particular site. I also love the aesthetic of decay as erosion happens. Right now there is a piece of mine on Jefferson — that has been there for so many years — all that is left are her eyes and her mouth. It’s uncanny how that happens. It makes me pause and wonder: Why did her eyes and mouth stay the longest? What’s that about?

Have you any preferred surfaces?

My favorite is plywood. My least favorite is brick. I love pasting on glass, especially new condo windows.

water is life

How do you feel about the increasing tie-in between street art and gentrification? The role of street art in gentrification?

People often blame gentrification on artists — instead of the underlying cause which is capitalism. Street artists are often used as tools for real estate CEO’s to increase their property’s value. However, it’s up to us as artists to decide if our work serves the community’s interest or the profit motive. I try to approach my work with the community in mind. When painting a mural on someone’s block, I take into consideration who lives there and how can I reflect their reality in my work. As great as it is to see tons of murals on walls, it turns people’s neighborhoods into destinations for outsiders to spend money in businesses that are run by non-local owners, so the financial benefit is not kept within the community, at all. The neighborhood becomes hollowed out; a place where people who grew up feel they no longer belong or can afford to live. The money spent there leaves the neighborhood when bodegas are run out by bourgie delis and trendy cafes and bars. When rich developers from other countries altogether come in and tear down perfectly good buildings and build hideous condos, it rips a hole in a community. It changes the landscape, removes the character and homogenizes the place. Gentrification is essentially urban colonialism. Creating community run-organizations which provide gathering spaces not centered around commerce and profit,  but instead around: discussion; education; making art, growing food; organizing and sharing resources, is an effective way to combat gentrification.

Yes! And in the current political climate — more necessary than ever.  I’ve also seen your work in gallery settings. How do you feel about bringing street art into galleries?

I enjoy group shows and getting out and being with the community of other street artists. I like to make miniatures of my murals for folks who want to bring them home and live with them. I struggle with the dissonance between anti-capitalism and the need to survive in a capitalist society. But it’s a great feeling to sell work.

Do you prefer working alone or collaborating with others?

I generally prefer working alone. but in the context of a larger community working towards change, I prefer being part of that wave.

Backwater Bridge

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

I look for certain people when I am out scouting locations, locally. It’s like having a delayed visual conversation on the street with other wheat paste artists like Myth NYCity KittyEl Sol 25, QRST, Sean Lugo… I also am inspired by the work the Justseeds cooperative is doing. Art and propaganda are like cinnamon and sugar on toast. So delicious. I’d like to collaborate with Chip Thomas from the Painted Desert Project. I also hope to do some painting in Indian country soon. I want to collaborate with people who are also committed to environmental justice.

Are you generally satisfied with your finished piece?

Yes. I feel like they come alive.

What percentage of your time is devoted to art?

Most of it when I am not sleeping or gardening or exploring.

Welcome

Have you a formal art education?

Yes. I studied painting and printmaking at SUNY Purchase where I got my BFA.  But most of what I am doing now is all self-taught.

What is your ideal working environment?

I’d love to have a studio in a straw bale house on land by a river with enough open area to grow food and enough forested area to forage wild mushrooms. I have a tiny studio which works all right for the time being, though, with my rooftop garden here in Brooklyn.

How do you feel about the role of the Internet in all this?

The Internet never forgets…which can be good or bad depending on what is out there to not be forgotten. For my kind of work, which is ephemeral by nature, it’s great. I love instagram because I get to see fellow artists’ work from all over the world. There is little static; it’s all visual. But as someone who was an adult before the phenomenon of the Internet existed, there was something really profound about seeing work in person that seems a bit lost now because everything is so accessible. People don’t have to travel to see anything; they just click around. Maybe that promotes a devaluation of work. I make a lot of work, but I don’t put a lot up. I think less is more…kind of a homeopathic approach.

lmnopi-Indiria-2015

Did any particular cultures influence you?

Ancient wall art. Petroglyphs. The earliest known graffiti art. I’ve seen them in person and it’s a mystical experience being in the presence of art that old.

How has your art evolved in the past few years?

From paint brush to x-acto knife back to paint brush. I went from painting with oils – high brow – to materials I could buy in a hardware store. The transition from oil painting was through stencils and spray paint. But I got really sick of using an exacto knife…too rigid. I love the paint brush. These days I like painting with house paint the most.

Do you work from a sketch or do you just let it flow?

When doing a mural, I sketch it out first; usually, I make a small painting of it prior to getting up on the wall.  When I am working in my studio, I just go to it.

Earth Revolution

What inspires you these days – with both your street art and studio art?

Right now my heart is very much with frontline communities who are bearing the brunt of the fall out from the corporate take over of the government: climate change (aka climate chaos), the fight against the fossil fuel industrial complex, the plight of kids caught in refugee situations and the Indigenous environmental movement. I am working from these struggles — working to communicate and amplify those voices, especially those of women, elders and kids.

What’s ahead?

I’m busy making art about everything that everyone else I know is also freaking out about. I am working on staying calm and making self-care a priority so I don’t burn out. I am developing some prints from paintings and drawings, a way to duplicate my work to make it more accessible for people who might enjoy having it or wearing it. I am thinking in terms of how to translate the continuous tone of painting into printable dot and line patterns for printing. I love the aesthetic of engravingsl and I have been training myself to paint in a way that mimics it. I am weaving the concept of editions that was possible with stencils together with the language of paint strokes I have been cultivating. In my painting practice, I have been destroying the object in a sense, breaking up the portrait with under-paintings of topographical maps, macro designs from botanicals and geometric forms and bringing in the occasional surrealistic imagery..Travel and time in nature are ahead of me and more frontline stands, hopefully some hot springs, plenty of walls to paint out there and forgotten doorways to paste up in.

What do you see as the role of the artist in society?

Artists are change makers and translators; art transcends borders and language barriers. Art is a unifying force. Artists can speak truth to power. We can show that the emperor is not wearing any trousers. We have artistic license; so far we still have free speech. We lift people’s spirits and let them know they are seen. We embolden people to laugh at fear. We clear out tear ducts.

Note: You can follow Lmnopi on her Instagram here and check out her online store here.

Interview by Lois Stavsky; all images courtesy of the artist

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This is the twelfth in a series of posts featuring the range of faces have surfaced in NYC open spaces:

Werc in Bedford-Stuyvesant with the Open Society Foundations

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Vexta and Askew in Williamsburg for the Greenest Point, one fragment of huge mural

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Joel Bergner aka Joel Artista in Bellerose, Queens with the DOT

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LMNOPI in Long Island City with Arts Org

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Cern in Williamsburg, close-up

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Thiago Valdi in Staten Island with the NYC Arts Cypher

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Leticia Mandragora, Bushwick 

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

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 Education Is Not a Crime Campaign, a street art campaign for educational equality in Iran, continues to grace Harlem with stylishly expressive, mural art on the theme of education. Within the last two weeks, four artists brought their skills and visions to PS 92 — located at 222 W 134th St. Pictured above is Brooklyn-based See One at work. What follows is an interview conducted on site with Not A Crime founder, Maziar Bahari — a journalist, filmmaker and activist who had been arrested without charge in Iran and detained for 118 days during the 2009 Iranian election protests.

maziar-bahari

Can you tell us something about the Not a Crime Campaign? Its mission?

The Not a Crime Campaign is an awareness-raising campaign about the educational discrimination directed primarily against the Baha’is in Iran. The Baha’is of Iran are the largest minority in that country. Since the 1979 Islamic Revolution, they have not been able to enjoy their rights as citizens in terms of employment and education. Our campaign focuses solely on education and the fact that the Baha’is in Iran can not teach or study in universities.

tatyana-painting-street-art-harlem-nyc

Why did you choose to use street art to get your message across?

We thought that the best way to fight against suppression and bigotry is with arts and creativity. We’ve been involved with street art, music, film… At this moment the major part of our campaign involves street art. Why street art?  We live in a digital age. And we thought it would be interesting to have something really analog like street art and mix it with digital technology.

tatyana-street-art-mural-harlem-nyc

Our campaign is all about dialog and discourse. And through street art we can have different layers of dialog and discourse. I am not a  Baha’i myself, so I have this dialog with the Baha’i community.  And, then as a team, we have a dialog with the artists and with Street Art Anarchy, the organization that helps us choose the artists and negotiate the walls.  The artists, then, have a dialog with passersby.  Then the passersby have a dialog among themselves. And then we create a video about each wall and we put it on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram. And, finally, viewers from all around the wall can interact with the videos.

lmnopi-street-art-in-progress-harlem

What are some of the challenges presented by this project?

We face some challenges, but they are nothing compared to what some people go through every day in different countries. People who are arrested just because they want to be educated…people who are tortured just because they want to teach, to study. I’m almost ashamed of talking about our challenges, which are really minor. But NYC is a big, crowded city with a bureaucratic government. And each wall requires negotiating with the building owners, and there are many by-laws that restrict what we can do. But, again, these challenges are minor.

lmnopi-street-art-with-kids-in-harlem

How has the response been?  And why Harlem?

The reaction of the Harlem community has been amazing. We have found a home in Harlem. We chose Harlem because the people here understand discrimination. Harlem is in NYC, and the media attention to NY is always amazing. And we wanted to be in NY where world leaders gather in September for the United Nations General Assembly. But also Harlem is synonymous with the Harlem Renaissance.  And we see that people react to our walls here in ways that many people in other places didn’t. People in Harlem get our message immediately, and they appreciate the way we do things. And in addition to working with the street artists who create these beautiful works of art, we also work in the community in terms of outreach and other subjects.

marthalicia-mural-art-harlem-nyc

What’s ahead?

A continuation of what we’ve started. To have more connections with the community…to see what they want from us… what we can offer them in terms of providing our expertise with street art or music. And to talk about the subject that’s dear  to everyone around the world — and especially the people in Harlem — the subject of education and discrimination.

Thank you so much for the interview, Mr. Bahari. And good luck with the campaign.

Interview conducted by Karin du Maire and edited for Street Art NYC by Lois Stavsky

 Images

1. See One at work

2. Maziar Bahari, founder of  Not A Crime campaign, as captured during interview

3. Tatyana Fazlalizadeh at work

4. Tatyana Fazlalizadeh

5. Lmnopi mural in progress

6. Lmnopi, close-up with young admirers

7. Marthalicia 

 Photo credits: 1-3 & 5 Karin du Maire; 4 Tara Murray and 6 & 7 Lois Stavsky

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keith-Haring-city-kids-mural-art copy

Coinciding with the Democratic National Convention, the non-profit Rock The Vote launched its Truth to Power campaign in Philadelphia earlier this week. Among its events was a three-day pop-up art exhibit featuring a varied range of socially and politically engaged works in different media. Among the artists who participated are many whose works have also surfaced in public spaces. Pictured above is Keith Haring with the City Kids Foundation. Here are several more:

Mear One, False Profits

Mear-One-political-art

Beau Stanton, Elemental Crisis 

beau-stanton-political-art

Shepard Fairey aka Obey

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Lmnopi, Tehrir

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Mata Ruda, How Can I Write My Own Future with My Hands Bound?

mata-ruda-political-art

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

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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gilf-LMNOPi-mural-art-Henley-Vape-NYC

Busy last week in the lovely backyard garden of SoHo’s Henley Vaporium were Gilf! and LMNOPi — two Brooklyn-based activist artists — collaborating on a mural in tribute to Kalief Browder.  When we stopped by, I had the chance to speak to Gilf!

It’s wonderful to see the two of you working together. How did this collaboration come to be?

When Kimyon Huggins, the curator of the Secret Garden Series, hit me up to paint a mural, I immediately thought of LMNOPi.

Gilf-LMNOPI-at-work-Henley-NYC

Yes, it seems like such a natural collaboration. How did you decide on the subject of this mural?

My work has recently focused on the kinds of issues and injustices related to the case of Kalief Browder‬. And since LMNOPi is such a wonderful portrait painter with a strong social and political consciousness,  I thought we would work well together.

What — would you say — is the intent of your art?

The only reason I make art is to change the world.

gilf-lmnopi-Kalief Browder-mural-Henley-NYC

And what is it about Kalief Browder‘s story that has triggered your work?

What happened to Kalief is, sadly, not unique.  And it is outrageous. Yet, many people aren’t aware of these kinds of widespread injustices.  Kalief was incarcerated at ‪Rikers‬ Island at age 16 for three years for a crime he never committed. Two of those three years were spent in solitary confinement. Eventually his case was dismissed. This past June, Kalief Browder committed suicide by hanging himself.

What would you like people who see the mural that you have fashioned with LMNOPi walk away with?

I would like them to question what happened and demand justice.

LMNOP! and gilf

Yes, what happened to Kalief is such a blatant, horrific injustice. We certainly need to raise awareness of the need for radical change within our prison system.

Note:  The mural will be unveiled this Saturday, July 11, at Henley Vaporium‘s backyard garden at 23 Cleveland Place, between Spring and Kenmare Streets, in Soho. The event is free and open to the public — with a BBQ and DJs — from 2-10pm. There will be a Q+A with the artists and curator at 7:30 pm.

Interview with Gilf! conducted and edited by Lois Stavsky.

Photos: 1 & 3 Dani Reyes Mozeson; 2 & 4 Tara Murray 

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Curated by Ad Hoc Art, the Welling Court Mural Project is once again bringing a wonderfully diverse array of public art to Welling Court and its neighboring blocks in Astoria, Queens. Here is a sampling of what’s been happening as artists ready for today’s official launch:

Chris Cardinale

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LMNOPI

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Wane

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RRobots and Evan Cairo to his right

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Sinned

sinned-street-art-action-welling-court

See One

See One

Queen Andrea

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The 6th Annual Welling Court Mural Project officially opens with a block party today, Saturday, June 13, at 30th Ave & 12th Street from 12-8PM.

Note: First image is of Icy & Sot.

All photos by Tara Murray.

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