Ladies Run Basel with Women on the Walls

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Maya Hayuk

This year Wywood Walls turned five and to mark the special occasion curator Jeffrey Deitch called on on the finest ladies in the field for Women on the Walls. International artists AikoMiss VanFafiMaya HayukLady PinkFaith47LakwenaKashinkSheryoOlekTooflyClaw MoneyJessie & Katey, Myla, and Shamsia Hassani all created murals or showed in the adjacent exhibition space. The participating artists have come from cities such as Cape Town, Paris, New York, and London. Part gallery part mural exhibition, the project acts as a history guide to the great presence of women muralists.

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Miss Van

Women on the Walls is a dream come true and also a proverbial screw you to people who say that the reason women artists are often overshadowed in the media is due to a dearth in street art. That, to be blunt, is bullshit. Older artists and the younger generation they inspired came together in the Wynwood district of Miami this Art Basel to prove their stronghold in the public art community. The scope of media alone proves their mastery of the craft as spray paint, yarn, text, stencils, and free handed characters all co-mingle to form a variety that has something to please most tastes.

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Sheryo

Not only is the perfect storm of artists curated in this year’s Wynwood Walls enough to be in awe of, additionally Martha Cooper has shared some breathtaking progress photos. As artfully as the walls are decorated, each image thoughtfully reveals the personas behind the iconography. Each picture displays the strength of these women, whether unveiling the sheer amount of effort behind a production to those who stand boldly in front of completed pieces. Cooper shows that these women are heroes, or warriors as Toofly depicts, taking on whatever challenges lay in their wake and simply killing it.

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Lakwena
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Aiko
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Kashink
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Fafi

All photos by Martha Cooper

Toofly and Meres at 5Pointz

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Recently, Toofly and Meres collaborated on this piece at the Queens graffiti mecca 5Pointz. These New York City natives were introduced to graffiti at young ages from growing up around it, and both gained experience transitioning their graffiti work to gallery pieces after attending two of New York’s prestigious art schools (Toofly attended SVA and Meres attended FIT). Both have since gone on to have successful art careers which incorporate their love of graffiti; Meres is the curator of all the murals at 5Pointz and Toofly has been involved in projects such as starting her own fashion collection.

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Toofly X Meres 5Pointz 2013

Photos courtesy of Toofly

5th Annual Festival Nosotras Estamos en la Calle celebrates International Women’s History Month

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In celebration of International Women’s History Month, over 20 women took part in creating a 10-story building mural entitled “PachaMama” in the center of Lima, Peru. Toofly, now based most of the year in her native Ecuador, shared the following pics with me.

A few of the artists including Toofly, bottom right
A few of the artists including Toofly, bottom right
Women at work
Women at work
Toofly at work
Toofly at work
Toofly at work
Toofly at work

Photos by Susana Del Castillo

Tony DePew, Toofly & Quelbeast in “Vis-á-Vis” at Mighty Tanaka

Tony Depew, Rebecca Weinberg, Acrylic on Canvas
Tony Depew, Rebecca Weinberg, Acrylic on Canvas

The vitality and intrigue that Tony DePew, Toofly and Quelbeast have brought to the streets are wonderfully captured in a series of portraits on exhibit in Vis-á-Vis, a handsome show over at Mighty Tanaka in Dumbo, Brooklyn. Here are a few more from over a dozen striking images on exhibit:

Tony DePew, Rebecca Weinberg, Stained Glass Panel
Tony DePew, Rebecca Weinberg, Stained Glass Panel
Toofly, What We Love We Grow To Resemble, Acrylic on Cardboard
Toofly, What We Love We Grow To Resemble, Acrylic on Cardboard
Quelbeast, The Alcoholic (Selfish Portrait Series), Acrylic on Canvas
Quelbeast, The Alcoholic (Selfish Portrait Series), Acrylic on Canvas

Vis-á-Vis remains on exhibit at 111 Front Street in Brooklyn through February 8th.

Photos by Lois Stavsky

Toofly in Quito, Miami and NYC

Toofly in Meeting of Styles in Quito, Ecuador
Toofly in Meeting of Styles in Quito, Ecuador

Based these days for most of the year in her native town of Quito, Ecuador, Maria Castillo aka Toofly recently hit NYC and Miami. Here are some images:

At Art Basel in Miami
At Art Basel in Miami
Close-up
Close-up
On Lower East Side rooftop
On Lower East Side rooftop

Photos courtesy of Toofly

Welling Court Mural Project Readies to Launch Year Three

Katie Yamasaki and Caleb Neelon

Organized by Ad Hoc Art, The Welling Court Mural Project is once again bringing some of the finest artists anywhere to Astoria, Queens to grace the walls of the Welling Court community. The event opened officially today at noon, coinciding with Welling Court’s annual block party, but a number of artists have already had begun making their mark earlier this week. These images were captured yesterday:

Toofly @ work; image begun by Sheryo on the right
Subtexture — with a message
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Christopher Cardinale

Images from opening day to follow.

Photos by Dani Mozeson

Pantheon Projects and Drago at the NY Art Book Fair

Photo courtesy of The NY Art Book Fair

This week, the annual NY Art Book Fair is taking place at PS1. Pantheon Projects, a group being launched out of the Pantheon exhibition that took place earlier this year in NYC, has a booth at the fair, as does the Italian publisher Drago. The fair is open, with free admission, this Wednesday the 30th through this Sunday the 2nd.

Pantheon Projects has a couple interesting projects going on at the fair as part of the zine tent. They will be launching a graff zine called Signal as well as selling Adam VOID & DROID’s graff zine, Learning to Die, Live the Dream II. They’ll also be selling Daniel Feral’s history of graffiti and street art poster and the exhibition catalog for the Pantheon show. On Saturday from 3:00-3:45, there will be a signing of the exhibition catalog featuring Charlie Ahearn, Chris Pape aka Freedom, KET1 RIS and Toofly.

Drago will be showing off their latest titles, including launching a new book by Chris Stain: Long Story Short. Chris will be around presenting and signing the new book on Saturday from 1-4pm. More on Drago’s plans can be found here.

Images courtesy of NY Book Fair, Pantheon Projects and Drago