New York City

This is the second in a series of occasional posts featuring images of children that surface on NYC public spaces:

Chris Stain at the Bushwick Collective

Chris Stain

Alice Pasquiniclose-up from huge mural at the Bushwick Collective

Alice Pasquini

James Rubio in the East Village

James Rubio

Sonni at the Bushwick Collective

Sonni Adrian

Icy and Sot, close-up from huge mural in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Icy and Sot

 El Niño De Las Pinturas, close-up from huge mural at 5Pointz in Long Island City

El Nino de las Pinturas

Fumero in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Fumero

Lisete Alcalde at the Bushwick Collective

Lisete Alcalde

 Photos by Tara Murray and Lois Stavsky, except for Lisete Alcalde, courtesy of the artist

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Shepard Fairey

It’s been busy in DUMBO, Brooklyn. For the past week, some of our favorite artists have been gracing its walls with stylishly striking artwork, transforming its landscape into a stunning open-air gallery.

Shepard Fairey at work

Shepard Fairey

Faith47, close-up from completed mural

Faith 47

Another Faith47 close-up

Faith 47

DALeast, close-up from completed mural

DALeast

Another close-up from DalEast’s mural

DALeast

Eltono at work

ElTono

Another close-up from Eltono mural in progress

ElTono

MOMO, close-up 

MOMO

Another close-up from MOMO mural in progress

MOMO

These murals are among eight to grace a four-block stretch along the BQE. We will continue documenting DUMBO Walls on our Facebook page.

Photos by Dani Mozeson

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An award-winning multidisciplinary artist, Brazilian native Priscila De Carvalho currently lives and works in NYC.  We recently caught up with her in the Bronx, where she was working with local teens on a mural to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the Bronx Museum of the Arts.

Priscila De Carvalho

When and where did you do your first public mural?

In Puebla, Mexico a few years ago.

Are there any particular cultures that influence you aesthetic?

The street art culture and urban life, in general. I used to skateboard and surf back in Brazil.

Your work is not only beautiful; it also intellectually engages us. Does it have a particular message or theme?

Most of my work relates to the economic and socio-political issues surrounding the out-of-control urbanization of slum dwellers. I juxtapose my observations about sub-cultural communities with other contemporary issues such as climate change and pollution

Priscila De Carvalho

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

I usually have a basic sketch design layout. But it doesn’t always go accordingly.

Do you generally work alone? How do you feel about collaborating with other artists?

Yes, most of the time I work alone or with some assistants. I enjoy working alone, but there’s also the communication and camaraderie — so important among artists — that only collaboration can bring.

What percentage of your time is devoted to your artwork?

At this point of my career, it’s a full time job. It’s not just the creative end of it. There’s also the administrative part. And gallery exhibits demand a huge amount of work…lots of business work, including networking.

Priscila De Carvalho

Any other passions?

Music. I studied piano for six years, but I just didn’t have what it demands.

As a muralist who works in sanctioned spaces, what are your thoughts about graffiti?

I’m highly inspired by graffiti — its energy and vitality.

Any thoughts about the graffiti/street art divide?

Graffiti has its distinct history and techniques.   It has evolved from tagging into a complex art form. Many street artists started as graffiti artists.  Street art and graffiti are connected.

Priscila De Carvalho

How do you feel about the movement of graffiti and street art into galleries?

It can turn art into a commodity. But it must remain an option, as every artist has to earn a living.

Where have you exhibited?

I’ve exhibited in Spain, London, Paris, Berlin, Nepal and Mexico. I had my first solo exhibition at The Jersey City Museum in 2009.

What’s the riskiest thing you’ve done as an artist?

In Nepal, I had to climb a 30-foot bamboo structure with no scaffolding. I was tied to a harness, and it was hard for me to visualize what I was painting. But it one of the most rewarding work/travel experiences I’ve had.

Priscila De Carvalho

Do you have a formal arts education?

No. I studied painting/sculpture informally for a few years before I started with my studio practice.

What’s ahead?

Some permanent public art projects and more exhibitions.

Interview by Lenny Collado; first photo by Lois Stavsky; all other images are courtesy of the artist.

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This is the fourth in an ongoing series featuring the range of faces that surface daily in NYC’s open spaces:

Alice Mizrachi aka AM at the Bushwick Collective

Alice Mizrachi

How and Nosm, close-up in the South Bronx

How and Nosm

ND’A in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

NDA

Cern and Lee Quiñones in Fort Greene, Brooklyn

Cern and Lee Quinones

Carlos Pinto in Flatbush, Brooklyn

Carlos Pinto

Paul Richard in the East Village — on the pavement

Paul Richard

ECB on the Lower East Side

ECB

Photos by Dani Mozeson, Tara Murray and Lois Stavsky

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This is the second in an occasional series featuring images of New York City’s doors that sport everything from tags and stickers to sophisticated images.

Long Island-based Reme821 in Brooklyn

Reme

Baltimore-based Gaia resurfaces in Queens with early wheat paste

Gaia

Brooklyn-based Abel Macias in Bushwick

Abel Macias

NYC-based SinXero on Bronx door

SinXero

Italian artist Federico Massa aka Cruz in Brooklyn

Cruz

Argentinian artist Sonni at the Bushwick Collective

Sonni

OCMC goes big in TriBeCa

OCMC

Brooklyn-based Judith Supine in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Judith Supine

Photos by Tara Murray & Lois Stavsky

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Armed with spray paint, paintbrushes, markers, pencils and assorted implements, a diverse group of artists have transformed the ground level of the Marina at Pier 57 into a mesmerizing medley of styles, shapes, colors and concepts. Here’s a sampling of what we recently captured on the “magic carpet” under 36 suspended shipping containers:

Iranian stencil artist IcySinned painting, top left

Icy and Sinned

Icy’s brother and partner Sot 

Sot

Daniel Patrick at work with words

Daniel Patrick

Queens-based artist Sinned, close-up

Sinned

Painter Bruce Wall at work on piece in collaboration with Josh Miller

Bruce Wall

Bruce Wall

 Garrison Buxton of Ad Hoc Art

Garrison- Buxton-art-Pier-57

NYC-based RJ Raizk

RJ Raizk

RJ Raizk

Brooklyn-based Subtexture

Subtexture

Not pictured are works by Depoe, Rrobots and In Pursuit of Magic.

Commissioned by YoungWoo & Associates, the completed artworks can be seen at the Marina at Pier 57 at West 15th Street within Hudson River Park through July.

Photos by Dani Mozeson, Tara Murray and Lois Stavsky

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This is the third in an ongoing series featuring the range of faces that surface daily on NYC’s public spaces:

Pose and Revok on the Bowery and Houston, close-up

Pose and Revok

Argentinian artist Ever on Williamsburg rooftop, close-up

Ever

Australian artist Vexta at Welling Court in Astoria, Queens

Vexta

Cern on truck spotted on Manhattan’s Upper West Side

Cern

Mata Ruda and ND’A at Welling Court in Astoria, Queens

mata ruda and ND'A

Crystal Clarity on Lower East Side rooftop

Crystal Clarity

Danielle Mastrion with signature by El Niño de las Pinturas at 5Pointz in Long Island City, Queens

Danielle Mastrion

 Phetus in Bushwick, Brooklyn

Phetus

Photos by Lenny Collado, Dani Mozeson, Tara Murray & Lois Stavsky

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This is the first in a series of images of males who surface on NYC public spaces:

Icy and Sot at the Bushwick Collective

Icy and Sot

Nick Walker on Manhatan’s Lower East Side

Nick Walker

Meres at 5Pointz in Long Island City

Meres

SinXero and Joe Conzo do the Cold Crush Brothers in the Bronx

SinXero and Joe Conzo

Fumero at the Bushwick Collective

Fumero

Tito Na Rua on Lower East Side rooftop

Tito Na Rua

Belin and the Royal Kingbee in the Bronx

Belin and King Bee

Erik Den Breejen does David Bowie in NoLita

Erik Den Breejen

Photos by Lenny Collado, Dani Mozeson, Tara Murray and Lois Stavsky

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The new FABnyc sidewalk mural, fashioned by Ecuadorian artist Raúl Ayala, is among our favorite public artworks to surface this year. On one of our many visits to Extra Place in Manhattan’s East Village, we had the opportunity to speak to the amazing artist.

When did you start creating art?

When I was a child, I had difficulty sleeping at night.  My mind was plagued by hallucinations, and I would panic. My parents didn’t know what to do with me. Then we learned that what I was experiencing is known as hypnagogic hallucinations, a kind of somnambulism.  A doctor told my parents that in earlier times, this condition was considered a gift. So to fight the fear of night, I began to draw.

And what happened to the hallucinations and panic attacks?

They stopped.

Raul Ayala

Wow! Did you go on to study art in a formal setting?

Yes. I studied Visual Arts at the university back home in Ecuador. I graduated in 2007.

Was your education helpful?

These days my art reflects mostly what I learned after I graduated, but the formal education that I received gave me the opportunity to teach, and I love teaching.

What inspired you to get up on public spaces?

While teaching inmates in Ecuador’s prison system, I came up with the idea of using the prison walls as a canvas. I see walls as the ideal canvas – as they are a metaphor for separation – all kinds of separations…social, economic, physical.

What about graffiti? When did you start doing graffiti?

I went to Argentina for one year to study painting.  There the walls are filled with graffiti. When I returned to Ecuador, I began doing graffiti with a spray can. I always preferred the brush, though, and I consider myself a muralist more than a graffiti artist.

What is the attitude of your parents towards your life as an artist?

At the beginning it was difficult for them. But now, they see me happy and productive, and they’re great about it.

Raul Ayala

What percentage of your time is devoted to art?

Just about all of it. During the day, I work as an art handler for a Chelsea gallery to pay my bills. Other times, I do my own art.

Do you prefer working alone or collaborating with others?

I like to work alone, but I also love working with others. I have collaborated with D*Face and Liqen, along with many other friends and partners in crime. I love the challenge of collaboration, and I think it’s the best learning experience an artist can have!

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

I always have lots of sketches, but I’m not faithful to them.

Are you generally satisfied with your finished work?      

No.

Raul Ayala

How do you feel about the movement of graffiti and street art into galleries?

Once art goes into a gallery, it becomes merchandise. It’s all about money. The power of graffiti is its relationship with the city and the people.  I see graffiti as a means to communicate with others and as social commentary.

Have you exhibited your work at in any gallery spaces, and how did you feel about it?

My first solo exhibit was at Arteactual FLACSO back home in Ecuador. I did it with the understanding that I could paint all the walls in the gallery. And then we sold prints. I feel that we artists have to take advantage of all the spaces available to us, and if we are going to use a gallery, we have to find a way to question that private space. I prefer outdoor walls, because my mission as an artist is to visually and intellectually engage a broad community of people.

Are there any particular cultures that influence your aesthetic?

Yes. Pre-Columbian and other Ecuadorian nationalities and cultures like the Shuar and Waorani from the Amazon Jungle, and Valdivia and Chachi from the coast.

Raul Ayala

Any favorite artists or influences? 

I have lots of influences — many that do not come from visual arts.  These days I am obsessed with the writer Roberto Bolaño, and I am also reading about the Reconstruction Era here in the USA. Among the younger visual artists I like are:  Liqen, Hyuro, Escif and Vazco Basko. The more mature ones include: Dennis McNett and  Miguel Varea.  Some of the dead ones are:  Guadalupe Posadas, Guaman Poma, Francis Bacon, el Bosco and los Muralistas Mexicanos. Tattoos and Brazilian Pixacao are other movements that I observe. In terms of music, I am more of a death metal head but I am, also, into Latin American music, specially old tunes.

What brought you to New York City?

I was living with my girlfriend in Ecuador, and she needed to move back to the U.S. to get her citizenship. We tried the long-distance relationship thing, but that didn’t work so well. So I decided to move here.  We are now staying in New York City, and I am experiencing first-hand what it’s like to live and work as an immigrant. And we recently got married!

What is your impression of New York City?

I have only been here  for a year and a half, so I am still pretty new in the city,  Although I have found friends and support, I feel it’s a hard city. I see it as a rich playground, with the rich players blind to the workers behind the scene.

Raul Ayala

How does the street art/graffiti here in NYC differ from that back home in Ecuador?

The graffiti writers in Quito are very experimental. Also, one almost never gets arrested back home. There is a bit of a stigma to the use of the spray can, and so a police officer may stop you if you are using one. But graffiti is not regarded as a criminal act!  You know that you can talk to the police, and they may leave you alone. You still need to be very careful and fast, but there is more freedom to paint in the streets in Ecuador than here in NYC.

Tell us something about your current project.

I’m working here at Extra Place with James Rubio from the Antagonist Art Movement on a FABnyc sidewalk mural. Inspired by a poem Dee Dee Ramone wrote about Joey soon after his death, it features wild creatures, representing punk rockers, carrying a dragon cloud — a symbol of Joey’s spirit. This mural is a tribute to Arturo Vega. It could have never happened without his influence and support.

What’s ahead?

I am a Fellow for the Create Change Professional Development Program at the Laundromat Project.  I’m learning how to work with socially-engaged art here in NYC.   I’m quite excited about this. I am looking forward to producing artwork in my current neighborhood in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn. I will keep you posted! Also, I am participating in the exhibit For Which It Stands at The Lodge Gallery at 131 Chrystie Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.  Curated by Keith Schweitzer and Jason Patrick Voegele, it opens tomorrow evening — Friday, June 28, 6-9pm and continues through July 28.

It sounds great! Good luck!

Photos by Tara Murray and Lois Stavsky

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Last month, Girls on Top aka GOT, UK’s all female crew established in 2000, visited NYC.  Along with some of NYC’s finest female graffiti artists, they hit up a huge wall on Boone Avenue in the Bronx on one of the rainiest days of the season. Here are some images captured this past week from the historic My Thuggy Pony All-Girlz Jam.

Manchester-based graffiti artist and educator Chock and founder of G.O.T

Chock

London-based active G.O.T. member Pixie

Pixie

Bronx-based artist, educator and leader Miss 163

Miss 163

 Queens-native visual artist Abby — with 1980’s graffiti roots

Abby

Passionate Bronx-based graffiti artist and jam facilitator Erotica 67

Erotica

NYC-based designer and graffiti writer extraordinaire, Queen Andrea

Queen Andrea

And Neks

Neks

A range of art works by members of G.O.T can be seen and purchased through this weekend at an exhibit curated by Jessica Pabon at bOb Gallery at 235 Eldridge Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. Here are two of the many on view:

Syrup

Syrup

Lyns, Da Crew, 2013

G.O.T Crew

Photos by Lois Stavsky

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