Tag: USA

1367. Upfest 2017 (146)

One of the wildest pieces of Upfest 2017 was this great work from the Goopmassta, who himself was one of the most colourful characters. A visitor from the United States who came over to Bristol with a loose posse of other artists.

Goopmasta, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Goopmassta, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

Unfortunately, as with many pieces in Ashton Gate, I didn’t get a clean shot of the finished piece, but even from the featured image you can get a feel for this free and happy piece.

Goopmasta, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017
Goopmassta, Upfest, Bristol, July 2017

The style of the piece is really rather seductive and eyecatching, and I can almost imagine the character being some kind of central figure in a children’s book…with a little bit of edge. Really nice work.

Thursday doors

Door 22

No 300, a door in East Village, New York
No 300, a door in East Village, New York

I cannot for the life of me remember exactly where in East Village this door was. I had been walking for a long while hunting down street art and had little idea of where I was.

No 300, a door in East Village, New York
No 300, a door in East Village, New York

The outstanding feature of this door is the beautiful cast iron panels either side of the entrance. Somehow these panels have survived, but appear to have been forgotten. A reminder of a bygone era. The graffiti is in itself rather unremarkable but adds to the overall appearance of the door. It is interesting that none of the graffiti or tags seem to stray beyond the border of the door, which appears to act as a kind of frame. An interesting doorway.

by Scooj

More doors at: Thursday Doors – Norm 2.0

 

1288. Allen Street, New York (2)

Allen Street is unofficially known as the ‘avenue of the immigrants’ and this remarkable seven story high piece by Stik represents “A timid giant peering out from behind a column, hoping to make his home in the big new city.” The mural is even more poignant for being very close to the Tenement Museum…so completely recommended if you are spending a few days in New York.

Stik, Allen Street, New York, October 2017
Stik, Allen Street, New York, October 2017

I am a big fan of Stik’s…it is very difficult not to be. The simplicity of his characters hides a deep emotional connection it is possible to have with them. Maybe it is their simplicity that makes them easy to read and empathise with.

Stik, Allen Street, New York, October 2017
Stik, Allen Street, New York, October 2017

Stik began his long and successful journey in a squat in Hackney, London and appears to have a strong connection with those less fortunate in society. He has been consistently telling his wonderful story through his art in cities all over the world. Long may it last. An interesting thing about this piece is that if you look on Google images, you will notice that he started with a white wall, then added the outline, then added the red background. I guess this is what gives the character a brilliant white body.

1287. Allen Street, New York (1)

I took an awful lot of pictures of the street art in New York, and probably only scratched the surface, but I think that these breaks in my Bristol posts will probably be a regular occurrence for a long while to come.

Sheryo and The Yok, Allen Street, New York, October 2017
Sheryo and The Yok, Allen Street, New York, October 2017

This is a wonderful collaboration called Rat Boi, by Sheryo and The Yok, which was sprayed in April 2017. It was commissioned by The New Allen, an art foundation created by Baby Brasa and Milan Kelez…I read that bit you know.

Sheryo and The Yok, Allen Street, New York, October 2017
Sheryo and The Yok, Allen Street, New York, October 2017

I don’t know either of these artists, but this is an eye-catching piece that for me has a retro feel to it, albeit in a contemporary context.

1286. East Village, New York (2)

A second pair of magnificent Phoebe New York wheatpastes from my (not so) recent trip to the Big Apple last November. I have always loved her work ever since I first saw some paste ups in Bristol at Upfest 2016. Seeing them in her native New York is just that bit more thrilling.

Phoebe New York, East Village, New York, January 2017
Phoebe New York, East Village, New York, January 2017

The first of these is the largest wheatpaste of Phoebe’s that I have seen to date…pretty much life size and stands in a doorway on a side street. A glamorous look for our Phoebe, with the word ART pasted on in individual letters.

Phoebe New York, East Village, New York, January 2017
Phoebe New York, East Village, New York, January 2017

The second piece is one of Phoebe’s more normal miniature-sized pieces, with a vibrant yellow costume and striking hat; so very fashionable. This piece has the words ‘be confident’ emblazoned across it.

Phoebe New York, East Village, New York, January 2017
Phoebe New York, East Village, New York, January 2017

It would be fun to know whether Phoebe New York comes up with the phrase first and then creates the piece to reflect it, ot adds the phrase once the artwork is completed. Maybe it is a combination of the two. I enjoyed pointing out these wheatpastes when we were in New York to my daughter who shares the artist’s name.

1247. Rivington Street, New York (1)

This large and impressive wall in Rivington Street is by KaNO. Such a magnificent cartoon character in a very distinctive style, it should come as no surprise that KaNO freelances as a character designer for such studios as Warner Bros, Cartoon Network, and Hasbro.

Kano, Rivington Street, New York, October 2017
Kano, Rivington Street, New York, October 2017

KaNO was born and raised on the streets of New York and was influenced by cartoon characters on the TV. He then went on to study art and design and animation. His full biography can be found on his website, along with some fabulous galleries of studio and street art.

Kano, Rivington Street, New York, October 2017
Kano, Rivington Street, New York, October 2017

This really is a wonderful piece from a greatly talented artist.

1246. Broome Street, New York (3)

This is another stunner from Tristan Eaton entitled Big City of Dreams which rises high above a car park, you know, one of those funny little ones in New York that must charge the most extortionate fees, and stack cars in a way we are not accustomed to seeing in the UK.

Tristan Eaton, Broome Street, New York, October 2017
Tristan Eaton, Broome Street, New York, October 2017

Tristan Eaton reminds me of an amalgamation of different styles that has elements of PichiAvo and Louis Masai about it, which is of course a great compliment. I think that his work is exceptional and love the piece I posted before of his Audrey Hepburn in SoHo.

Tristan Eaton, Broome Street, New York, October 2017
Tristan Eaton, Broome Street, New York, October 2017

1245. Broome Street, New York (2)

I still have a great many pictures from my trip to New York in October 2017, but have had some difficulty finding the names of artists, and the locations of some of the pieces. These difficulties act as a bit of a barrier to writing these posts, as I have limited time to do the research required. The emergence of Street Art Cities, a website and app, has been an absolute godsend in that respect. Street Art Cities allows local street art ‘hunters’ (people like me) to upload street and graffiti art onto a map-based platform with descriptions of the work. I am one of two such approved hunters in Bristol, and in New York, a recent upload extravaganza by the four hunters there is making my job of posting my holiday snaps so much easier. Maybe if they ever visit Bristol they will benefit from the work I have done for Street Art Cities.

John Matos, Bower Street, New York, October 2017
John Matos, Bower Street, New York, October 2017

 

Now I can tell you that this stunning piece of Yosemite Sam in Broome Street is by John ‘Crash’ Matos, an artist brought up in the Bronx in the 1960s and 70s. He tends to feature a cartoon character combined with the word CRASH in many of his pieces, a long way from bombing trains in train yards as a teenager. His nickname ‘Crash’ was coined after he accidentally crashed a computer in school…something that was much easier to do back in the old days I can assure you. This is a brilliant piece from a brilliant artist.

Thursday doors

Door 14

Thursday door, Bradley Theodore, New York
Thursday door, Bradley Theodore, New York

I forget exactly where in New York  this door was, but I think it was in the East Village area.

Artist: Bradley Theodore (Theodoor)

 

by Scooj

 

Thursday Doors – Norm 2.0

 

 

1196. Broome Street, New York (1)

Perched on the side of a five storey block and partially obscured by the building below is this fabulous pop art piece by London street artist D*Face. This was another nice surprise for me while out shopping in SoHo with my children, who I have just noticed are in the featured image.

DFace, Broome Street, New York, October 2017
DFace, Broome Street, New York, October 2017

The piece is called ‘double crossed’ and features a couple of his D*Face dogs. There is an interesting short article about the piece in street art news which talks about the little clown in the bottom left hand corner, which D*Face left there when he was asked to paint this wall.

Like so many excellent pieces in the area, this was organised by the LISA project.