Once practically a gallery of his work, DUMBO has lost much of the work by graffit artist REVS in the last few years. The REVS and PEEK mural on Front Street was painted over and many of his sculptures have been cut off their welds, probably bound for private collections or profits. Fortunately for the neighborhood that must tolerate an uninspired Nike ad, REVS is back, painting a fire and ice themed mural with KAVES of Lordz of Brooklyn. The mural is even crowned with one of his coveted sculptures, high up of course, so it’s less attractive to thieves. DJ Rob Low even caught the action:
I looked out my damn window Saturday and saw two guys painting over the old mural at the corner of York and Bridge Street in Brooklyn, near the Manhattan Bridge. By the time Sunday rolled around, the pieces were taking shape, and I could see that it was graffiti legends Revs and Kaves (from Lordz of Brooklyn) doing a new production. I introduced myself and they told me it was the first time they had painted together in 20 years… two Bay Ridge boys from the ’80s.
Read the rest of this entry »
“Kristin Victoria Barron is a Brooklyn-based artist who makes, among other objects, odd-looking dolls out of human hair, leather, and latex. What appear to be the priests sit huddled in legless clumps while human-haired, blue-faced, chicken-footed twin girls lie not far from them.” [ANIMAL]
A new Nike advertisement is up on the corner of Jay and Front Street in DUMBO, the same wall that used to feature a great mural by REVS and PEEK. But for some unknown reason it was buffed in April 2005—which we never understood—and the wall has been gray ever since. Now DUMBO is stuck with Nike’s big boring ad for stretching. Photos I took of the original mural and its subsequent 3 year gray period are included below.
Read the rest of this entry »
Photographer Bryan Derballa shares some photos of Jay, “a former drug-dealer and ex-convict that began hustling at the age of 13.”
“Now 34, Jay has spent almost half his life in prison. Two years ago, he married Gladys, a well-educated school teacher. They live together in the projects where she grew up. Jay claims that her love has saved his life and for the first time in his 15 year-long addiction to heroin, he began seeking methadone treatment. Everyday is a struggle but not without hope.”
In addition to the photos, there is also an audio slideshow.
Tomorrow afternoon, Vice Magazine adds a gallery to its empire, with the east coast opening of their 2008 Annual Photo Show. In addition to the work of contributing photographers, the show also offers prints for sale (some very cheap) and a shop full of Vice schwag, including free copies of the latest photo issue. Take a look tomorrow, from 3 to 7 PM at the gallery below the Vice NY office (99 North 10th St, between Berry and Wythe, Brooklyn). The show will be on view through August 31, after which the gallery becomes office space for more Vice minions. The full list of featured photographers is below.
Read the rest of this entry »
Swoon and Chris Stain recently pasted up some new work on Franklin Ave in Crown Heights, but it wasn’t long before someone marked it up. Was the image of two women in an embrace too much for someone?
Read the rest of this entry »
The art battle between Melissa Brown and Momo outside Espeis gallery (70 Wythe Avenue at N 11th St, Brooklyn) has come to a halt and moved inside while Dain starts waging war on the wall outdoors. The gallery writes, “Dain will be working on his piece for the next couple of weeks for Espeis Outside. Feel free to stop by and also check the current exhibition inside the Espeis Archetype Gallery by Momo and Melissa Brown.”
Read the rest of this entry »
Transportation Alternatives is calling for submissions to a new design competition for the intersection of 4th Avenue and 9th Street in Brooklyn’s Park Slope. The competition, “Designing the 21st Century Street” asks entrants to create a complete street which better accommodates all users, including pedestrians, cyclists, trucks and cars. While there are no plans to implement the designs, creators of the top designs will be awarded up to $6000. The deadline for registration is July 31, 2008 and all submissions are due by September 2, 2008. [Designing the 21st Century Street]
The latest issue of Paper Magazine asks, “Can the hipster ghettos of Brooklyn really replace Manhattan?” It’s really just a more sophisticated way of asking whether Bushwick is the new black. And after an afternoon investigation, Paper Magazine editor and publisher Kim Hastreiter has the answer: no. Though she enjoyed Bushwick’s colorful street art (some even not in a gallery) and tasty lunch at Northeast Kingdom, the “lone, yummy and cool restaurant in the nabe,” it was no match in her mind for the “powder keg of international culture, commerce, wealth, power, ambition, grit and danger” that is Manhattan, at least before it became “too clean, safe, uncreative and slick.”
Besides nostalgia trips and comparisons between apples and oranges, the August issue of Paper includes “Bushwicked,” a fashion shoot by photographer Jeffrey Kilmer featuring some “cute kids” from Bushwick. Two years ago, Paper would have called their vegan food cute and the kids dirty, but that was back when Bushwick was just “whiskey bars with iPod DJs and hastily but lovingly produced rock shows in little shit-hole venues,” not a “super-cool-kid ghetto” like it is now.
Read the rest of this entry »
