GRAFFITI BOMBED 21st PRECINCT

If you're in the NYC vicinity this weekend or next you have no excuse not to go see these 4 floors of brilliance at 21st Precinct. It's running today and next Saturday and Sunday, August 23 and 24th 1-6pm at 327 22nd Street.

This building is in my hood. I've passed it a thousand times. I've always been interested in the goings on inside because it was a half way house for LGBTQ teens. The teens would hang out on the front steps as entertaining eye candy as I would pass by. I thought often there must be amazing stories inside. Now to find out the former history as a violent police precinct dating back to the 1800's I'm even more intrigued, but now it's to be demolished like so many other buildings for more luxury condos.

But let's get back to what you're going to see...some of the names Elle, Hellbent, Pesu, Pixote, RAE, Smells, Ghost, Adam Dare, Sheryo and The Yok, Lexi Bella, Vexta, Damon Johnson, Never, Mr. Toll, bunny M, Faust, Ricardo Cabret, GIZ, Tone Tank, Ket, and Nepo...the list goes on and on... start on the 4th floor and work your way down. My only disappointment is that my kid isn't going to be in town to view this with me. We've posted about our love of graffiti before WE SPY, but hopefully given this success Outlaw Arts will find more buildings to dress-up on their way out of the city's grid.

For those of you that can't get yourselves here...this is what you would have seen. Enjoy!

wax candle corpse with video installation

Esteban Del Valle The Warriors

N. Carlos Jay City Busy Dying

PICASSO VS DALI

Rusto, Magic Smoke and receipts

This bathroom was one of my favorites. Thank you LV ART!

I'm soaking this up...

Jesper Haynes was a printer for Ralph Gibson in the 80's I loved his darkroom installation...

Jesper Haynes' photos

It's been a good while since I have seen a space oozing with creativity and non-pretentiousness. I hope this continues and thank you to Outlaw Arts for giving these artists the space they deserve to express themselves. 

WE SPY: BEAUTIFYING NYC, EACH IN OUR OWN WAY

New York City, she's a canvas and there are times when she must be embellished with new architecture, people, language and with art; which can take many forms. Mostly, the kid and I take note of the stencilers and graffiti artists. We love the rawness of this type street art. Neck Face and Jim Joe being our favorites. It has become a modern family car trip game if you will, I spy Neck Face!

Terry Richardson Stencil

And then there are the more controlled art adornments like The High Line's Landscape in Path, guest curated by Joel Sternfeld and pictured below is the final installment with Darren Almond’s Fullmoon@The North Sea and it's stunning to see in person.

Darren Almond’s Fullmoon@The North Sea (25-by-75 foot billboard next to the High Line at West 18th Street)

On 57th between 1st and 2nd Avenue there's a Whole Foods under construction, opening Summer 2012, a welcome addition to that neighborhood, to be sure. On view along the scaffolding wall is Nowhere in Manhattan an ongoing project by New York City based artist Matthew Jensen.

Perhaps someone trying to take one of Jensen's pieces home?

"The intent of the work is to locate, explore, document, promote and protect the last parcels of nowhere remaining within the borough of Manhattan. The next phase of Nowhere In Manhattan is to turn billboards and construction sites into temporary virtual green and open space. Utilizing donated billboards, empty storefronts and construction sites, the landscapes will appear and disappear throughout the borough in some of the most congested neighborhoods."

I almost don't mind the scaffolding.

Winter 2011 Park Avenue looked beautiful, thanks to Will Ryman’s colorful sculptures. 

We look for adornment in each new city we travel to and make note of commonalities and differences based on their own home-grown artists and cultures. Most recently Austin, TX gave us these pieces... 

and now the Kid and I are working on our own personal stencils and stickers to beautify NYC. The only rules are he can't put any in his school and neither one of us can reveal our identity.