The Graffiti Hall of Fame stretches between 106th and 107th Streets, alongside the elevated Metro North train on Park Avenue in El Barrio. Known to Street Artists since 1980, and now a tourist destination, it is rarely open (except by private tour) to the public. But once a year, James Top, Executive Director of this iconic Wall, selects a theme and invites artists for a two-day emersion. This year’s theme ~ The Subway Edition, with artists from the 1980s subway era.
We were there from start (Saturday, August 24th at Noon) to end of day on Sunday, August 25th. The 38th Edition of Graffiti Hall of Fame, El Barrio. Check it out.
Audubon Mural Project ~ This wall is Swallow-tailed Kite (and others) by Lunar new Year, located at 575 West 155th Street
A few years ago, the National Audubon Society and Gitler & __ Gallery collaborated to create The Audubon Mural Project. The project was inspired by the legacy of the American bird artist and ornithologist, John James Audubon, and the specific birds threatened by a warming climate. The gates were painted by local artists on the pull-down gates of local businesses from 133rd Street to 165th Street.
We were able to capture some of the images (below), and were inspired to re-post when we came across a Google Map of all of the gates in The Audubon Mural Project.
We’ve been following the Downtown ‘Mural Project‘ in and around the 2WTC and 3WTC construction lots, now surrounded by a number of gorgeous new murals. With the Oculus in the background, the large-scale mural project takes viewers from Vesey and Greenwich Streets, down Church and Dey Streets to Cortlandt Street.
BoogieRez for the Mural Project at Two World Trade, just opposite the Oculus
It all started with a casual conversation between a gallery owner/artist rep and a chief marketing officer of a formidable new building. That was a few years & a lot of paint cans ago. The gallery owner ~ Doug Smith, World Trade Gallery ~ on the other side of the conversation, Dara McQuillan, 4 World Trade Center, Silverstein Properties.
Dozens of acclaimed artists have come together for the charitable exhibit, Ride for Mongolia, in an effort to raise funds for the production of the first skate park in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
We caught up with South African street artist, Sonny, on Eighth Street and Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village this week, finishing a mural as part of a worldwide mural tour, and prelude to his gallery exhibit this month.
Who wouldn’t want to live on ~ Dream Street. Well, in this case, we’re on 124th Street between Second and Third Avenues ~ and the dreamy mural is a depiction of a multi-cultural city painted by local children, most of them homeless.
The mysterious, and much loved street artist, Banksy paid a visit to 101 West 14th Street – announcing his presence on his Instagram account. Preservationists familiar with the building recognized it right away as the original home of the historic Julien Binford murals located at 101 West 14th Street. Banksy’s latest addition ~ a rat painted on the clock atop the entrance to the former bank building. But less than a week later, the building owners removed Banksy’s clock. It will be placed in storage ~ future as yet undetermined.
Banksy on Instagram
……continuing to paint the town, Banksy at ~ The Bowery Wall
The Bowery Wall, on corner of Houston Street, is a 70-foot protest mural displaying the plight of Turkish artist, Zehra Dogan, who was sentenced by a Turkish court to two years and nine months in prison for – painting a picture.
Below, read the history of the murals, and the great ‘save’ thanks to the efforts of Speaker Corey Johnson and Save Chelsea.
Mural located at 101 West 14th Street painted by Julien Binford in 1954
Update (February 28, 2018) Breaking News from Chelsea Now~ Google NYC and Jamestown announced today that they will team up to help preserve the murals. According to Chelsea Now, efforts by Save Chelsea, a preservation group, and Speaker Corey Johnson “bore fruit”:
“The effort bore fruit: Jamestown said it recently bought the mural from the developer, Gemini Rosemont, for $50,000, Michael Phillips, president of Jamestown, told Chelsea Now in a phone interview.”
Now ~ to find a home for the mural, with the hope of keeping it in the neighborhood. Under consideration, the Senior Center at Hudson Guild. Two other locations are also being considered. Stay tuned for updates, and read the history of the Julien Binford mural below.
Julien Binford (1909-1997) was an American Painter, known for his paintings and murals of rural settings in Virginia, where he lived. In May of 1941, LIFEMagazine featured a four-page article on an art show at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts entitled The Eighth Exhibition of the Work of Virginia Artists in which Binford was one of 85 participating artists, whose average age was under 30.
Mural of Nuyorican poet Jesus ‘Tato’ Laviera by @donrimx at Taino Towers #ElBarrio
El Barrio’s Taino Towers celebrates the life of Nuyorican poet, author, playwright, and activist, Jesús “Tato” Laviera, with a mural created by well-known street artist Don Rimx.
On the left, we have Swoon, classically trained (Pratt), well-known street artist specializing in life-size wheatpaste prints and paper cutouts of figures, often politically movitaved. She gained recognition after a solo show at Deitch’s SoHo gallery in 2005, attracting the attention of The Museum of Modern Art in New York. Her solo show “Submerged Motherlands” at the Brooklyn Museum in 2014 was the museum’s first exhibition dedicated to a living street artist.
On the right, we have Jeffrey Deitch of Coney Art Walls, Wynwood Walls and Art in theStreets exhibition at Museum of Contemporary Art in L.A., not to mention the author of several books on the subject, including a monograph on Keith Haring published by Rizzoli, and a partnershipwith the Goldman Group on The Bowery Art Wall. Deitch Projects produced over 250 projects with artists from thirty-three countries ~ an impressive and lengthy list.
The organization Education is Not A Crime has created campaigns through art in New York City over the years in an effort to bring the plight of those banned from teaching or studying in Iranian universities to the World. Once again, #NotACrime and the curator and producer of this project, Street Art Anarchy, have arrived in Harlem.
In the meantime, Brooklyn-born artist, Katie Merz was commissioned to create her signature glyphs across the entire facade at 80 Flatbush. #BrooklynGlyphs
The Quin lobby 15-foot Video Wall, featuring interactive compositions created by Artists-in-Residence + other creative partners
Have you walked through the lobby of The Quin this month? In addition to the hotel’s permanent collection, distributed throughout, the lobby and drawing room are exhibiting Soren Solkaer: Heart Beat City which runs from top to bottom, enveloping the large, comfortable space in color. The Danish photographer, Solkaer, who is known for his distinctive portraits of musicians, currently has two seperate exhibits at The Quin. In addition to Soren Solkaer: Heart Beat City, the exhibit SURFACE, taken from his fine art photography book by the same name, is also on view. Below are a few photos of Quin Arts current exhibits, and several other pieces done by Artists-in-Residence, now part of a permanent collection. I do believe we caught the curator, DK Johnston, on the couch to the right.
July 12, 2017, Spotify exercised an option to lease another 100,000 square feet at 4 World Trade Center, adding to the originally signed lease for the 378,000 square feet in February that includes the Graffiti in the Sky art installation curated by World Trade Gallery. Spotify will occupy the 62nd through 72nd floors.
