Alicè Pasquini is visiting the USA from Rome, and she has thus far put up three new murals in New York state. The first was in Bushwick at Bushwick 5 Points as covered last week by Rhiannon, and the latest two are in Ithaca.
Photos by Jessica Stewart
MAKE of the Russian Partizaning Collective did this fantastic and simply ad disruption in the New York City subway with paper, glue, and scissors. MAKE was inspired to do this disruption after Apple charged him over $200 to fix the cracked screen on his own iPad. More of the story can be found here.
Photos courtesy of Partizaning
The secretive Sweet Toof recently invited Tim Hans over to his studio as part of Tim’s continuing series of photo-portraits of street artists, and Caroline Caldwell has interviewed the artist.
Caroline Caldwell: What influenced you to do street art? Do you remember your first time?
Sweet Toof: No one forgets the first time, its like sex, started in 1986, and still at it. I blame Beat Street and Style Wars.
C: Do you try to do different things with your work or do let it evolve naturally?
ST: It is always good to experiment, working on the street fuels the studio work. One feeds another, what ever it takes a fat roller to a fine brush. The work evolves from mission to mission.
C: Burning Candy represents like a graffiti crew however the work is almost entirely character based. When Burning Candy was coming together, was there discussion over whether you all identified as a “graffiti” or “street art” crew?
ST: I left BC 3 years ago…. Burning Candy is what you see is what you get. We are like minded people working with characters, letterforms, tags, pieces, throw ups. Canvas sculpture print etc.
C: What’s one of the most interesting experiences you’ve had painting alone?
ST: Sinking in Quicksand was a strange experience.
C: And what about when you were painting with someone else?
ST: New York with friends was killer.
C: Have you been working on anything or collaborating with anyone lately?
ST: Working on a new body of work at present, watch this space for the rest.
Photos by Tim Hans
“I felt always like I was part of a larger thing, that would encompass a lot of people. And all of those energies of all of these individuals and all of their unique talents and unique contacts is what came together to make that thing happen.”
-Aaron Rose
When Joe Ficalora (pictured left) brought me to the roof adjacent to Alicé Pasquini’s wall he said, “only family comes up here.” The deep personal connection I felt looking over a year’s worth of accomplishments with Joe and Alicé is the feeling that both individuals are trying to instill upon the community surrounding this intersection. A close Italian family who emigrated to Brooklyn only generations ago, the Ficaloras welcome any person to the neighborhood who shares their passion for beautification, like Joe’s grandmother who is always quick with coffee and snacks on cold days.
Although the nexus of this project was marked with personal tragedy, these losses became the impetus for change. Starting during Bushwick Open Studios last year, the area quickly became the Brooklyn hub for visiting muralists, which gave Yok and Sheryo some of their first walls as well as other notable visiting artists, such as Nychos and most recently Alicé Pasquini.
For her first visit and wall in the United States, the artist worked through the wind, which at one point toppled her ladder, to complete a deeply personal mural for the area. The wall that the Italian artist was given previously belonged to Jim Avignon, the yellows of which were incorporated into the space’s latest iteration. The figures in her piece, titled “As Much As You Can,” bustle around the streets of Alicé’s imagined vision of New York City. Having never previously visited the city, the artist imposed the dreams and ideologies of her imagined characters, who represent the beliefs of the many people who come to this city for a new life. Being aware the Ficalora’s roots in her native Italy, the artist painted this piece as a tribute to not only all immigrants, but specifically for his family.
From the sense of family I felt when standing on that roof to the kindness that the Ficaloras extend to any person who finds their way to the neighborhood from the Jefferson train stop, Alicé has distilled this sense of belonging into her mural. By reflecting the vibrancy and closeness that occurs in the small neighborhoods within New York City, one would think she had lived here her whole life, rather than a first visit.
Photos by Rhiannon Platt
Bit of a shorter link-o-rama this week. I’ve been with my parents in Colorado, trying to get some work done on my upcoming book. The hope is that Viral Art will be released for free online in mid-June. There’s still a fair bit of work left to do though. Anyway, the links…
Photo by Ludo
LNY recently painted this mural, Golden Hour, at 22 East 2nd Street in New York City for Fourth Arts Block. It’s the same spot previously painted by Know Hope, Phlegm, and Faith47. Great work. Reminds of me Erica il Cane.
Here’s what LNY has to say about the piece:
It’s based on a couple of things; a beached whale found dead in NYC after Sandy, the battle between nature and human technology and the economic factors that facilitate this situation. The whole image should read as this struggle for survival between the whale/oil transit ship and the two headed heron snake that represents nature turning to technology by literally changing its body from one end to the other… I also decided on a title “Golden Hour” after the medical term meaning the period of time after traumatic injury during which treatment is most likely to prevent death.
Photos by Luna Park
Loving this piece by OX. One billboard take over is interesting, two of the same and these anti-ads begin to really look like ads (but for nothing except maybe freedom from ads).
While in New York City for the Fountain Art Fair, members of the Montreal-based En Masse Collective were joined by other artists — including seven based in NYC — on a huge wall in Bushwick, Brooklyn. Seeing some of my favorite artists’ images in En Masses’s signature black and white aesthetic is quite a treat!
Photos by Tara Murray
For the last week or so until today, we’ve been in the process changing Vandalog’s web hosts. No need to get into the technical details, but now the site should run more smoothly and with less downtime. Unfortunately it means that we haven’t been able to write anything new on the site since that process began (everything that’s gone online was pre-scheduled). So this is a mega-link-o-rama combining the usual weekend link-o-rama content with stuff that I could have written about last week even if I’d had the time.
Photo by Luna Park
Spaik’s recently worked on a mural in the Cultural House in Colon, Mexico, titled, ‘Somnolencia Infinita’ (‘Infinite Somnolence’)
The title does not offer a strict description of what is displayed in the mural, maybe the intention is to highlight the many potentials a cultural center can offer to its community: the characters are lively, folkoric and enthusiastic.
Spaik is recognized by the use of rich, cool colors and local aesthetics, while still reaching the appeal of a wide audience, as well as his creativity in the manipulation of surfaces and structures.
Photo courtesy of Spaik
