A public art and mural festival founded and run by volunteer members of the Jackson Young Professionals, Bright Walls has brought more than 70 vibrantly intriguing murals to Jackson’s downtown district within the past four years. The remarkable image pictured above — spelling out “REMARKABLE” in reference to Jackson — was painted by the masterly artist Pref, who defines his aesthetic as “Post typography.” It was captured last month at this year’s Bright Walls by travel and street photographer Karin du Maire aka Street Art Nomad, as were the following images:
Tracing the emergence of graffiti from an underground subculture into a legitimate profession, Duality: A Graffiti Story — directed by Ryan Dowling — focuses on the struggles and successes of five noted graffiti artists. In the Buffalo 8 documentary feature film, legendary writersMeres One, Dual, Sloke, Jaber and Never1959 share their challenges and ventures as they reflect on their personal journeys in this ever-evolving culture.
Many graffiti writers — who were initially deemed as vandals for their tagging and illegal interventions — now earn wide recognition and respect for their stirring murals that grace cities across the globe. Their aesthetics have made their way inside and outside a range of upscale properties from luxury hotels to major corporations — who court them to enhance the “coolness” of their brands.
Once working mainly clandestinely, these artists now foster community, as they share their talents openly with others — who are eager to learn from their skills or simply observe and photograph them as they paint. And as their artwork begins to blur the lines between graffiti, urban art and fine art, it also increasingly finds a home in galleries.
Among the film’s recurrent themes is the artists’ addiction to getting up and their deep love for graffiti. “I’ll probably never ever not want to write my name on something. It’s an addiction for sure,” states Dual. “It’s amazing that there’s that opportunity to bridge the gap from doing illegal graffiti to doing commercial work with big companies.”
Several screenshots from the riveting documentary follow:
NYC-based Meres One, founder and curator of the iconic graffiti mecca 5Pointz — whose talents continue to make their way onto walls, huge canvases, lightbulbs and varied corporate settings.
Houston, Texas-based Dual, best known for his wheat pastes — whose body of artwork includes everything from meticulously-made tape collages to sign painting to huge commissioned murals that beautify cities
Austin, Texas native Sloke — who, in addition to painting, curating and mentoring youth — has produced murals for a range of companies including Apple, Facebook, Nike, Google, Red Bull and Time Warner
West Coast-based Jaber (ala El Ninja Blanco) — who has been making his mark on the streets since the early 9o’s and now does — among other things — design for major fashion companies and film sets
Los Angeles-based Never1959 — who is best-known for his large scale murals on buildings around Los Angeles
Never‘s 50-foot high mural that parodies the 1958 Orson Welles film noir “Touch of Evil”
The premiere of this splendid homage to graffiti will take place tomorrow, October 19th, in Austin, Texas. And beginning Oct. 21, it will be available on Amazon Prime, AppleTV/iTunes, Google Play, Vudu, and YouTube movies.
On view concurrently with LeCrue Eyebrows’ solo show at Van Der Plas Gallery is ROYAL FLUSH, a group exhibition featuring delightfully intriguing artworks by ten remarkably creative artists.
The huge mixed-media artwork featured above, Numb, was fashioned by Clown Soldier, whose now-iconic signature character I first encountered on NYC streets over a decade ago. Several more images of artworks — all by artists whose works have also surfaced in public spaces — now on view in ROYAL FLUSH follow:
Brooklyn-based Canadian artist Jason McLean, “Gold Home,” 2022, Acrylic paint and acrylic ink Pental brush pen over found canvas
Legendary Lower East Side documentarian and visual artist Clayton Patterson, “Blue Knife,” 2021, Embroidery on fabric
London, Ontario-based ceramic artist Susan Day, “Untitled Mosaic No. 2,” 2022, Ceramic, glaze and underglaze
Toronto-based multimedia artist Devon Marinac, “Alpha Mantle Peace,” 2022, Acrylic on canvas
ROYAL FLUSH continues at Van Der Plas Gallery‘s downstairs showroom through October 23. Located at 156 Orchard Street, the gallery is open Mon-Tue: 12pm-5pm, Wed-Sat: 11pm-6pm and Sunday: 11am-5pm. A closing reception will take place on Friday, October 21 from 6-8pm.
When I first came upon LeCrue Eyebrows‘ artworks on the streets of my city, I was struck at once by its singular authenticity. Each piece intrigues, as it exudes a distinct aura of mystery. Visual meditations on such universal themes as love, loss and longing, the works are subtly strong and strikingly beautiful.
Not to be missed is the Queens-based artist’s first solo exhibition at Van Der Plas Gallery. At once quietly raw and soulfully elegant, each work tells a story – to be freely interpreted by its viewer. And each piece was created freely and spontaneously, as nothing that Lecrue creates is premeditated. The act of painting, itself, is to the artist “an intense form of meditation.”
The beguiling image pictured above, “Move with Me,” was fashioned this year with acrylic on canvas. Several more images I captured while visiting “Primitive Form” last weekend follow:
“Own Storm,” Acrylic on canvas, 2022
“Stand With Me,” Acrylic on canvas, 2022
“Her Breath in Time,” Acrylic on canvas, 2022
“Just Beyond the Window,” Acrylic on canvas, 2022
And on a somewhat different note — “Together,” Mixed media on cold press paper, 2022
“Primitive Form” continues at Van Der Plas Gallery through October 23. Located at 156 Orchard Street, the gallery is open Mon-Tue: 12pm-5pm, Wed-Sat: 11pm-6pm and Sunday: 11am-5pm. A closing reception will take place on Friday, October 21 from 6-8pm.
Note: You can take a 3D tour of “Primitive Form” here.
From September 15 – 18, an all-female team of urban artists — local, national and global — brought their skills and visions to 49 Wyckoff Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
The stunning image featured above was fashioned collaboratively by project curator Herakut (pictured) and Miami-based Didi Contreras. Several select images — all captured by by travel and street photographer Karin du Maire aka Street Art Nomad — follow:
Brooklyn-based Lexi Bella, who assisted the project’s curation (top), and local, mixed-media artist Isabelle Ewing
New York-based interdisciplinary artist and educator Alice Mizrachi
The legendary Ecuadorian-American graffiti artist and muralist Lady Pink
While street art is too often used as an avenue to gentrify neighborhoods, it can also serve – as depicted in Spencer Wilkinson’s award-winning documentary film ALICE STREET– as a tool to empower, energize and unite members of diverse communities in their struggle against gentrification.
In 2013, Chilean studio painter Pancho Peskador joined forced with Chicago-born aerosol artist Desi Mundo to create a four-story mural at 14th Street and Alice Street in downtown Oakland. Painted directly across from Hotel Oakland Village, a facility that provides affordable housing and services to hundreds of Chinese seniors, and the noted Malonga Center, a venue for African drumming, culture and dance performances, the mural — designed with direct input from the folks served by the neighboring sites — represented downtown Oakland’s diverse cultures.
But by then gentrification had aggressively reared its ugly head. Local folks were concerned about being economically and culturally displaced as rents feverishly increased, along with condominiums to house the wealthy. And soon after the hugely impressive mural was completed, the news came that another development would be under way that would block the its view.
ALICE STREET brilliantly documents the people’s fervent and largely successful struggle against unbridled corporate greed, as they fight to preserve their culture and their neighborhood. It is an ode to the power of public art to not only enhance but to transform our lives.
In this fifth post of our new series, PUSHING IT FORWARD — featuring ILLicit creatives claiming space on NYC streets — our focus now is on those bombs and throws that have surfaced in Manhattan. The image above features the markings of Spray RBV and Goog, along with dozens of tags. Several more images recently captured on the streets of Manhattan — from Chinatown to Inwood — follow:
For several weeks beginning in late May, Will Power brought his massive love of hip-hop and splendid skills to the 150-foot tunnel along New York and Ravine Avenues in Jersey Heights. Working in collaboration with noted hip-hop documentarians Ernie Paniccioli, T. Eric Monroe and David Corio, Will painted a momentous mural paying homage to 45 hip-hop icons and to the photographers who so brilliantly documented them.
Captured above at the entry to the Hip-Hop Tunnel is the late legendary Tupac Shakur — based on a photo by T. Eric Monroe. Several close-ups from inside the tunnel follow:
Sponsored by the Jersey City Mural Arts Program, the hugely impressive mural — seen by thousands daily as they travel in and out of Jersey Heights — is a spectacular tribute to hip-hop culture.
For over two decades, Jersey City-based WOOLPUNK® has been fashioning art that is at once visually captivating and socially stirring. Working largely with recycled textiles, found objects, photographs, and text-based imagery, she addresses such issues as environment endangerment, economic inequality and homelessness. Within the past year, her rich and inventive creations have made their way into a diverse range of sites including the World Trade Center,Bergdorf Goodman, and FIT’s Art and Design Gallery.
Currently on view at the Montclair Art Museum is WOOLPUNK®’s hugely impressive Sunflowers & Graffiti’d Sky in the Garden State. Based on a photograph of a community garden in Jersey City, the final production, 30 feet wide x 13 feet long, features recycled textiles on an embroidered photo. All of the materials used — clothing, fabric scraps and assorted textiles — were donated in response to the artist’s open call to the MAM community. And anything that wasn’t used was then donated to the Salvation Army.
Sunflowers & Graffiti’d Sky in the Garden State brilliantly brings attention to landfill waste that is comprised largely of clothing while questioning our penchant for the newest fashion trends. Featured above is the artist in front of her work. Several close-ups from Sunflowers & Graffiti’d Sky follow:
A small segment
The graffiti’d sky — which while beautiful, also “reminds us of the air-polluted sunsets”
More sunflowers
A closer look at the details
Sunflowers & Graffiti’d Sky in the Garden State remains on view through August 6, 2023. Located at 3 S Mountain Ave in Montclair, NJ, the Montclair Art Museum is open Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Photos 1-4, Lois Stavsky; 5, Courtesy of the artist
