Last week Meres of 5Pointz and Spudbomb from Toronto collaborated on this piece in Little Italy, on one of The L.I.S.A. Project NYC‘s rotating walls. This was one of co-curator Wayne Rada’s ideas and I really wasn’t sure how this wall was gonna go, but I trust Meres and like that Spud took on Toronto’s mayor as a subject in his work, so I was curious. Seeing the finished product, I think the guys did a really great job. It’s a solid piece with each artist bringing their trademark characters to Little Italy and giving them a slight Italian twist. For me, what’s so fun about working on The L.I.S.A. Project is helping bring pieces like these to life. The work fits in with Little Italy, but it’s still not exactly the kind of mural you would expect to see there.
One of the things that I just have to bring up despite it happening in August while we were only posting illegal work is Tristan Eaton‘s portrait of Audrey Hepburn. It was painted last month in New York’s Little Italy as part of The L.I.S.A. Project NYC, a mural program that I help to organize along with Wayne Rada. Tristan painted this piece at Caffe Roma on the corner of Mulberry and Broome.
Ripping away at Hepburn’s flawless Hollywood exterior, Tristan finds a combination of the natural world and hollow advertising. Beneath the makeup and the hairdo, Hepburn is only human, but today we as humans are so surrounded by advertising at every turn that it becomes a part of us. We like Coke better than Pepsi, not because it tastes better but because Coca Cola is a part of our identity. And Hepburn, just like the rest of us, is made up of brands just as much as she is made up of natural elements. For me, the best artists are those who can make something that addresses both the “at a glance” audience who just want to walk by a piece and smile, maybe stop and take a photo if they have a moment, and the audience who search for a deeper meaning and enjoy spending time with an artwork, looking at it as more than just decoration. It’s very difficult to please both of those audiences simultaneously, but Tristan does it with this mural.
Plus, just have a look at the #littleitaly hashtag next time you’re on Instagram. People love photographing this piece.
ND’A painted the latest piece at The L.I.S.A. Project NYC (co-curated by Wayne Rada and I) this week in NYC’s Little Italy. He painted on a door that was last painted by Bishop203 earlier this year. I probably shouldn’t write this, but this is honestly my second favorite piece I’ve helped to organize in Little Italy so far. The first is of course Ron English’s massive Temper Tot, but I think ND’A really outdid himself here. I hope everyone walking down Mulberry Street this summer is as big a fan of ND’A’s work as I am.
Bishop203 recently painted two spots on Mulberry Street in New York’s Little Italy. Little Italy, Wayne Rada, and I invited Bishop203 to paint these two doors as something for Valentine’s Day. Thanks again to Bishop203 for coming out to paint, and for his Low Brow Artique helping out with supplies.
This past Saturday, I was in New York’s Little Italy helping to facilitate some more walls there. Thanks to Little Italy, Sambuca’s Cafe, Umberto’s Clam House, The Low Brow Artique and Montana Cans, we brought Chris and Veng of Robots Will Kill and Nosego to Little Italy for two new pieces of Christmas-themed art. It was a great day, and everyone had a lot of fun painting and chatting with all the people who stopped by to see what was going on.
Even Santa stopped by to help out. Photo by Wayne Rada.
Chris and Veng painted a spot just next to Umberto’s Clam House on Mulberry Street between Grand and Hester. I love the detail on Chris’ character’s sweater of a Robots Will Kill logo made partially from candy canes.
Veng and Chris
Unfortunately, this photo is about all that’s left of Nosego’s piece, painted on Mulberry Street between Hester and Canal. A vigilante Grinch must have not wanted us to be spreading Christmas cheer, because the piece was painted over in a really poor buff job on Monday night. Such a shame, given how many people seemed to be loving the piece on Saturday evening. Nosego, Little Italy, and Vandalog wanted to get people smiling and excited for Christmas, but somebody wasn’t smiling. But hey, art outdoors is always temporary. Sometimes this sort of thing happens. Of course, we didn’t plan for the piece to be up forever anyway. Christmas in July is for retailers, not murals. I just feel bad that I dragged Nosego up from Philly for the day, and that so many people are going to miss out on a seeing a great mural.
Nosego. Why would anyone buff this? Photo by Ruddy Was Here.
