Friday ProFile: BR1

Traveling around can break up a slump, but sometimes the best place to work is right under your nose. BR1 (BRuno) roams around, but he admits, "I love the Italian lifestyle and food too much to go live in a foreign city. I love Rome, full of history and monuments, but it's also where you can see the stereotype of Italian people. Turin gives me what I'm looking for from a big city: art and cultural ferments but also underground culture." When he's not studying law, he decorates the city known for FIAT and Nutella.

At first, BR1 began messing around with spray cans, but the medium proved to be too expensive. Since he loved drawing human figures, he gravitated towards stickers and posters. Over time, He developed his trademark Muslim women. He recalls, "First I made printed posters in black and white, then hand-colored posters. At first my pieces were small, but now they get bigger and bigger."
Whether they're shooting photos, talking on a cell phone, or carrying children, these Muslim ladies command respect. "Without women, there isn't life!" BR1 insists. "People start to look at me as a feminist that makes people aware of the Muslim woman's condition, but it's way too misleading. Muslim women are people just as others, with a culture and customs that are often the same, if you account for globalization. I don't want to debate religion and politics through my art; I focus on the woman, the person. I'm an impressionist painter that makes a portrait of a woman with an interesting story."
Police don't always take kindly to the ladies. When the cops show up, he unsticks his posters to avoid conflict. Fortunately, the city of Turin appreciates and respects BR1's work. He remembers, "Some months ago, someone drew on the woman in my poster. Two months later, I saw that someone came and fixed the poster with acrylic paint. They restored my work! This is my ultimate goal."
Rolling out solo makes the creative process easier, but BR1 is all about teamwork, too. "When I have time, I love organizing street art events," he says. "I organized the Turin Poster Festival with more than 100 posters from all over the world. I also put together Vinilificiocreativo with my friend Omino71 from Rome. This show contained vinyl painted by urban artists. The second stage of the show in Rome became the biggest and most popular vinyl show in Italy."
In the future, BR1 hopes to work more color into his pieces. His free magazine on street art is coming along and he hopes to set up a big street art festival in Turin by April 2010. For BR1, it's all about pushing boundaries. "We have the power to change the meaning of public space," he says. "With street art, a wall can become a frame."

Grazi, BR1! For more fabulous photos, visit his Flickr. For folks in the CT area this weekend, stop by ArtSpace in New Haven for the Elm City Pop Fest. (Thanks to the awesome guys over at CT Indie for putting this event together!) Have a great weekend and I'll see you guys on Monday.

October 2009: Damon Ginandes in NYC

Damon Ginandes paints faces that linger in your mind long after the painting is gone. With their sullen eyes and gaunt cheeks, they haunt the streets they decorate. Today, Ginandes gives us a peek into the past and a hint about what lies ahead. He writes:

"I became interested in graffiti as a teenager in the early/mid '90's, and learned how to paint with a spray can doing pieces and characters now and then. But graffiti started to seem more and more stagnant and repetitive to me, so my interest waned. It wasn't until about five years ago, when there seemed to be a burst of new 'street art', that I really started paying attention again. At that time, I was primarily focused on my studio work. In 2007, however, I took on a commission to paint a 60 foot long mural on Degraw Street in Brooklyn – that project really rekindled my interest in large scale street work."
"I've been painting characters similar to the ones in my current work for quite a while, since my early teens. Of course my style has changed and developed since then, but that seemed to be a very formative period for me artistically. I had an art teacher at that time, a Holocaust survivor, who would incessantly paint glaring faces staring outwards and I must have absorbed part of her vernacular. Also, at that age I discovered such artists as Alberto Giacometti and Egon Schiele, and their influence is still apparent in my work. I am attracted to the distorted human figure -- faces and bodies elongated and interwoven with abstraction. Lately, my style has become a bit more angular, almost 'cubist'."
"I generally work by myself, though I'd love to collaborate more often. I don't have a favorite place to paint, but I prefer hard surfaces."
"A few years back, I was painting an abandoned factory alongside railroad tracks in Massachusetts in the dead of winter. There was probably a foot snow covering the ground so it was impossible to know what exactly was underneath your feet. At some point, I stepped back to take a look at my piece, and as my boot pressed down through the snow, I felt a shooting pain in my foot. I pulled it up and found a huge rusty spike sticking out of a piece of wood that had gone through my boot and right into the bottom of my foot. I was able to pull the spike out, but I could feel my boot fill up with blood. Luckily, I was painting with two friends who were able to get me to a hospital quickly. Tetnis shots ensued."
"I generally retreat to my studio when the weather gets colder, so I'll be generating a new body of studio work in the coming months. Check out my website and join my mailing list for updates on upcoming exhibitions and projects!"

Thanks, Damon! Stay warm indoors and we'll look forward to a new outdoor project in the spring.

October 2009: Specter in Toronto

I love artists who keep the viewers guessing. There's nothing quite like a change of style to shake things up. From his clever re-interpretations of street signs and storefronts to his blinged-out buildings and statues, Specter keeps Toronto on its toes. Today, he takes a quick break from his latest project to shoot us some photos and text. He writes:

"I started doing street art about 15 years ago, thought it was called graffiti back then."
"I almost always work alone because it can be hard to coordinate with other artists, but sometimes I make the effort to work with some fantastic artists."
"15 years of sucking has helped develop my style, but my work has been influenced by many different people. From architects to set painters, they've all helped me develop my current style."
"I've seen tons of crazy shit while putting out work and been through a lot of shit, I don't even remember half of it but a few events stick out. The most memorable would probably be when I jumped off a 30 foot wall to get away from the cops. Just so you know, it wasn't worth it!"
Thanks, Specter! He's currently working on a new series titled "Manage Work Flow", so he'll be busy well into the new year. For more photos, check out his website.

October 2009: Onio in Brasília

As if I needed another reason to visit Brazil, Onio's street pieces rock my socks. But while most of my Brazilian posts come from Rio or São Paulo, Onio represents the nation's capital, Brasília. Today, he checks in to share a bit about his past and even more about what's to come. He writes:

"I started working alone, but soon I met other people and formed a crew. The crew lasted about 5 years; after it separated, I went back to working alone. Nowadays, I meet up with other people on the street."
"I think my style is something natural. I draw inspiration from other artists, my urban experiences, and of course, experiencing a lot of the streets and in the studio."
"I like to paint the streets of my city, Brasília. The support is infinite, and I never know what's going to happen next: the street, the conditions of the day, and the walls dictate it."
"I have many crazy stories from my experiences in my city. I love the contact you have with the inhabitants of the city while painting. People question and recognize my work and tell me what they think of design. This for me is very valid and interesting: lots of 'crazy' dialogue with the urban environment and its
inhabitants."
"I am currently doing a series of new paintings in my new studio. I'm also planning to launch a magazine with a friend next year. In July 2009, I attended Rua Festival in the Netherlands with Brazilian artists. I'm always working on the streets."

Obrigado, Onio! For more photos, visit his Flickr.

In The Headlines

Thank goodness for catch-up weekends. After a Halloween away and a disease-addled start to my week, I felt a bit behind. Fortunately, I got my hustle on this time and feel relatively caught up. Part of this catch-up process included nabbing a post-Halloween photo to share. (Yep, I am C3PO). Any other wild costumes out there? Drop me a note in the comments section. While I find something to wear, peep the pic and the headlines.

Out in San Francisco, "Mission Muralismo" hits the de Young.

Some idiots tagged over Banksy's stuff in Bristol, claiming that the artist should make some 'real graffiti.' Too bad their shitty tags are absolute rubbish.

I'm sure you've all seen the Krink Mini, but here it is again for old time's sake.

Taiwanese student Hsieh Tsan-yu's murals in Berlin attracted considerable attention.

Omino 71 wants you to vote for his Teletubbies-themed piece?

Zozen also wants you to vote for his videos "Barrio Mutante" and "Tu Mente Duerme." Awesome stuff!

In Spain, the 2010 Festival of Street Art is slated to happen at the Museo de San Javier. Exhibitors can submit entries through January 27.

Dan Witz's show "Dark Doings" kicked off last week at the Carmichael Gallery in Los Angeles.

Jon Christopher's Redbots project is winning over the residents of Long Beach, California.

In Jamaica, neighborhoods are proud of their murals.

Friday ProFile: Sofia Maldonado

In the documentary Bomb It!, there’s a great interview scene featuring Brazilian street artist Niña. When a man on the street asks her why she paints, she replies, “Look at those two girls. They are like prostitutes. How is my work more aggressive than that? In Brazil, children are not included in anything that is happening. Schools don’t take kids to art galleries to see an exhibition, to the theatre, or to music shows. I decided to do it for them, to take it from them and give it back to them.”

Sofia Maldonado’s Frog Hollow piece exemplifies this community spirit. Last summer, she and a few local interns spent six weeks transforming the side of Park Street ’s Pelican Tattoo parlor into a vibrant mural. “I was invited by Real Art Ways for their Real Public summer project,” she explains. “Director Kristina Newman-Scott and coordinator Erin Roos spoke to me and we discussed giving some workshops. However, the timing of the project was no good. The kids were in summer camp and the logistics got complicated.”
In addition to the timing, zoning regulations got in the way. “The day I arrived in Connecticut , I got the news that the building was an historic site and could not be painted,” she recalls. “I started brainstorming different ideas and came up with the wood panels. This medium gave the mural a circus kind of look.”
The moveable wooden cutouts generated attention in the neighborhood. “The wooden cut-out female characters all have long nails,” she says, “so I took them to the nail salon before the installation. This was a fun part of the project. The ladies decorated my Latina characters with long fancy nails, tattoos, and rhinestones. It was a beautiful community collaboration because I got to incorporate the nail art culture into my mural. I love recognizing the local art of the communities I work in.”
The ladies weren’t the only people who liked the mural. “The whole community was really impressed with it,” she smiles, “and when I put the Puerto Rican flag in the hands of one character, they were even more proud!” Part of Maldonado’s connection with Hartford stems from the parallels between Park Street and home. “ Park Street reminds me of Puerto Rico !” she exclaims. “It’s a hardcore neighborhood with a lot to give. There are strong female conflicts and, in a way, my mural captures that attitude. I’m working forward to returning and becoming more active in the community.”
Frog Hollow residents may be surprised that a Puerto Rican woman artist painted the mural, but Maldonado has been in the game for a long time. “I’ve been painting murals since my high school years,” she insists. In fact, I used to paint with my graffiti brothers back in Puerto Rico almost every weekend. Now in PR, there is much more tagging but not too many big productions. I just feel like the new generation doesn’t understand what it takes to get up. You got to sweat it, not just tag a few times around the city when you’re drunk! I hope my work inspires the younger ladies. If you love it and take it seriously, you will see a personal evolution.”

Thanks, Sofia! For more info, check out her blog. I'm off to the last cross country meet of the year and then it's GREs tomorrow. Blargh. Send me cool pictures to look at? Thanks.

October 2009: Sjors Vervoort in the Netherlands

I'm always on the lookout for street art innovators. While the medium itself is novel, sometimes a piece pops up that grabs my attention. Enter Sjors Vervoort. This Dutch native recently moved his cardboard creatures down under, but I hope he makes it to the U.S. sometime soon. Today, he discusses the process behind his street creatures. He writes:

"I have recently moved to Melbourne, Australia, from the Netherlands, so I don't have any of the characters here. Some of them will be shown in a museum in Holland though, but unfortunatly not in the States, since I
haven't got any budget. I am thinking of joining an artists program in Utah next year, where I might be able to get fundings to create some characters there. And I'm currently designing new characters to place in Melbourne, Australia."
"To be honest, I'm still a rookie when it comes to street art. I'm an animator and character designer, and have recently started to explore the world of street art. My first street art project was cardboard, an experimental animation. I liked the idea of exposing my characters in the streets. After thinking of different materials, I decided to use cardboard. It's flexible, cheap and easy to manipulate. Characters are really important to me, there universal and appealing to all cultures."
"Since I haven't got much expierence yet, I'm still working solo. But I'm always looking arround for other interesting artists to collaborate with. I developed my style by spending years of drawing doodles. My characters are usually created around a certain theme. And when creating my characters, I'm always thinking in movements, in case I'm going to animate them. Lately, I have been spending a lot of time researching bugs. They have the most beautiful and
organic movements which I can use for my characters."
"I paint my cardboard characters safely at home, probably because I'm still a woosh when it comes to writing on the streets. When my characters are ready, I place them in the streets. With cardboard, I spend a lot of time finding the right locations. I recently started doing stickers, so putting them on walls is still exciting for me."

"I never expected cardboard to be this successful, but since I have had so much possitive feedback. I have decided to continue creating new cardboard characters. Melbourne is perfect because it has a great street art scene. Currently, I'm still designing the characters, and looking arround for big pieces of cardboard."

Fabulous, Sjors! Can anyone hook him up with some giant corrugated sheets? The man needs cardboard STAT! For more creatures, check out his website. (I must say, the tee shirts look fantastic.)