Results tagged “osgemeos”

Yesterday word went around that there was some unwanted tagging going on the Os Gemeos work-in-progress mural on Houston Street. It didn't take long for the brothers to cover it up with a dedication to their old friend Dash Snow (an old photo of the three after the jump). There are actually two dedications to the late artist (who also was known as Sace in his tagging years), and one to Iz the Wiz (you can see his tag on the subway car in the mural). And with that, the mural is finally complete!

It was just last week that the Keith Haring memorial mural was getting buffed on Houston Street. Soon after Os Gemeos showed up to begin work on their mural, which is replacing the old Haring one. So obviously the next step is for an attention-hungry tagger to come in and vandalize the work-in-progress. One blogger reports that, "Like the Haring mural before it, Os Gemos' Houston street piece has been 'souped-up' by the locals. Not sure if the Times will be able to spin this one into a feel good tale as with the Haring 'collaboration.'" While it shouldn't be too difficult to cover up, the tag reads: "Blog about it," which people are, so looks like it'll live on digitally. [via Animal]

So the Keith Haring tribute mural has been buffed, and currently the Brazilian street art duo (and twin brothers) Os Gemeos (real names Gustavo and Otavio Pandolfo) are creating their own mural in its place (Animal has photos of the work in progress).

Street artist Highraff recently came to the United States for the first time to raise awareness about the culture of his hometown São Paulo, Brazil, where he’s been painting in the streets since 1997. The twenty-nine-year-old artist, whose given name is Rafael Calazans Pierri, currently has work on display here in New York as part of Ruas de São Paulo: A Survey of Brazilian Street Art at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery. If you think his psychedelic murals are coming off the walls, it’s because he uses MDF material to turn colorful scenes into three-dimensional sculptures. Gothamist caught up with Highraff and asked him what he thinks about the New York graffiti scene.

There's been a lot of talk on the Splasher overnight. One of the best comments comes from Visual Resistance, one of the hardcore experts of the NYC streetart scene:

Wooster Collective spotted this amazing exterior on 4th Street, between Avenue C and Avenue D. It was painted by Cern and Cekis from Chile. Check out more of their painting at ArtCrimes. Their style is similar to Os Gemeos from Brazil-- you might remember them from when they were in New York last year.

You may remember Os Gemeos from the work they did in NYC last summer-- particularly their signage in Coney Island and colorful pieces all around Williamsburg. Today, WoosterCollective pointed out an amazing commuter train the twins hit in Brazil. It got us thinking-- if the MTA allows companies to wrap an entire bus in advertising, maybe they should allow artists to decorate specific train cars. It doesn't even have to be in paint-- they could use the same plastic wrap the buses use. We're not arguing for a return to the subway graffiti of the 1980s-- but how cool would it be to see a car like the ones above rolling in to your local station like they did in May? The program could be subsidized by wrapping a few trains in advertising-- which would be cool in its own way-- imagine an entire train wrapped in Red Bull ads! Frankly, it seems strange that the MTA hasn't tried a wrapped train already.

There's a super feature on Coney Island's news signs in the NY Times today. Artist Steve Powers offered to paint new signs for various Coney Island businesses for free, and then last year, he and Creative Time formed The Dreamland Artist Club, which connect artists with business owners for Coney Island signage betterment. Times reporter Randy Kennedy finds business owners to be generally happy with the project:

One veteran arcade owner, who spoke only on the condition that his name not be used, said that he was suspicious of the project at first, but had watched as the signs had brought customers back to Jones Walk.

Continue reading "New Signs at Coney Island"