Parla and JR ‘Wrinkles of Havana’ video by Nowness

Jose Parla and JR are two of my favorite contemporary artists. I like not only their art, but their philanthropic influence. On top of all of that, they are both super nice guys. Last year they collaborated on a project in Cuba. It was documented and later exhibited at the Wolkowitz Gallery in NYC. I ended up covering the opening. You can still peep a large wheatpaste piece on the wall of the Getty Mart parking lot at 24th and 10th, that was originally placed to promote the show. I was pretty excited when I saw that Nowness released this short video documenting the project. Check it out below.

JR & José Parlá: Wrinkles of the City

on Nowness.com

El Mac at Coachella

El Mac participated in the latest iteration of Coachella by painting this mural titled “The Anonymous Farm Worker.” Mac says this about the piece:

It’s not intended to represent any one specific person, but rather many people, especially the “anonymous farm worker”. Farm workers in this country have been marginalized despite producing the very food we all need for survival. The Coachella valley is an important region for farming, and has been the setting for many of the struggles by the UFW to to improve workers’ rights since the 60s..and you can feel this history there. Anytime during the day while I was painting this I could look to the park to my right and see groups of viejitos that looked similar to the man I was painting, all gathered at picnic tables gambling and laughing. One girl came by and asked if I was painting someone famous..when I said no, she replied “good, then I can say it’s my tío..thank you for bringing beauty to our varrio” -This is the best kind of feedback I can hope to receive.

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banksy’s reaper on houston

The funny part about this, is that I walked right past this spot an hour before when I was snapping the new Swoon piece down the block. Anyway, here is a view from across Houston Street, of Banksy’s Reaper installation. Since I had my cam with me, I shot this quick vid. When we first started observing, the reaper in the bumper car was driving to the soundtrack of a live accordion player. Then, smoke machines went on, and so did the track “baby don’t fear the reaper.” That is the segment in the video below.

 

favorite piece from banksy’s ‘better out than in’ campaign, so far

With only a week left in the month of October, and after yesterday’s efforts were apparently thwarted by “police activity,” Banksy put up this gem today. It is definitely my favorite, to date, from the “Better Out Than In” campaign that the artist has been waging on the City of New York. Not only is it a beautiful piece, but the context is everything. It is located on one of the roll up doors at Larry Flint’s Hustler Club.

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two story red head by Bezt, in Vienna

I’m seriously digging this new piece in Austria by Bezt (from Etam Cru). Especially, I love the subtlety of the fish.

In other news, Banksy put up a pretty dramatic piece in the LES today. It is my favorite so far, from his ‘better out than in’ campaign. The funny part is that he took down a Hot Tea piece that used to be on that gate. What is also funny, is that I snapped a photo in that same alley earlier this year.

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hot tea and spring st.

I snapped the above shot on Saturday night on Spring St. The artist is Hot Tea. I’m a huge fan of his yarn spun creations. One of the first Hot Tea pieces that I ever saw was the one below, almost exactly a year ago. It was up for less than a week before someone destroyed it. Hoping that the one above sticks around for a bit longer.

mo’ snaps from the weekend

I spent some time cycling over the weekend. I wanted to peep the new murals that went up in BK in connection with the Wooster Collective 10 Exhibit. They were all good. This Shepard Fairey piece was my favorite, though. And unfortunately, I snapped my favorite shot of it (with Trixie below) with my phone, and not a real camera. If you want to check out the work in person, Wooster posted a guide to the locations of all of the murals, here. Also, check out this.

wooster collective 10 year anniversary group exhibit

One of my favorite street art blogs, Wooster Collective, celebrated its 10th year this week with a group exhibit at Jonathan Levine Gallery. The exhibit is featuring work from some of my favorite contemporary artists, some of which were on hand at the event held this week at Levine’s Pop up gallery on 22nd Street in Chelsea (525 west 22nd St.). It opens to the public tonight, and runs through August 24th. It is definitely worth checking out.

Here are a few more looks.