Category: Subway Art

Miami Art Basel 2011 – Breaking and Entering

Graffiti writers 2ESAE and SKI of UR New York showed new work at their own show called “Breaking and Entering” in Wynwood, Miami this weekend.

In one series that was being displayed, the artists appropriated traffic signs and other city signage as their canvases. One of these works, called “Good Ole Days,” utilized a sign from the M train. Another series in the show was a collection of model vehicles painted by the duo. One of these was a yellow service subway car with old school fill-in bubble letter tags.

The subway seems to be a common topic in the work of many artists showing in Miami. Graffiti writers especially have a connection with the subway because the modern graffiti movement was born on the trains. It’s pretty amazing that the system continues to inspire so much art.

Check out UR New York’s site for more!



 

 

 

Miami Art Basel 2011 – Photos from Underbelly Miami

Outside the gallery in Wynwood, Miami

Last night was the Underbelly Project’s book prerelease party at the group’s exhibition in Miami. Several Underbelly artists where on hand to sign early special edition copies of We Own The Night, a compendium of photos and stories involving the original underground gallery in New York City. The special edition comes with a laser etched wooden book case and nine unreleased photographic prints.

Underbelly Miami is a must-see for street art fans who flocked into town for Art Basel. For those of you who could not make it, check back soon for a video walkthrough of the show and a book review!

Logan Hicks
Unmarked

Lady Aiko

Lady Aiko
Skewville

 

 

Fletcher Crossman – “Train Car”

Fletcher Crossman is an England-born painter who now resides in New York City. He has done some wonderful work depicting the transit system such as Train Car above. Check out his site if you like what you see!

 

Underbelly Project Gets a Book

If  you are not yet familiar with the underground subway art “Underbelly Project,” you should check out this New York Times article.

If you are familiar with the project (and you are a big fan like myself) you will be excited to hear that the organizers, Workhorse and PAC, are putting together a book.

Since the existence of the project had been announced publicly in the Times article, the NYPD has arrested people who tried to find the entrance to the abandoned station and those who made it inside have reported that the work had been defaced. Luckily, the art was well-documented before the project was publicized and the organizers have an extensive collection of photos and videos.

Over 100 street artists from around the world were involved; several of them Subway Art Blog veterans, including: Posterchild, Jason Eppink and CASH4.

We Own the Night: The Art of the Underbelly Project is expected to be 240 pages and is set for release on February 7th, 2012.

Pre-orders are available now on Amazon.com.

From the Ashes

 

These photos are getting old now, but so worth mentioning. In February I spotted this unique tag at Delancey Street. ATAK had carved his name into the countless layers of paint on this I-beam. By doing this, he created graffiti out of layers and layers of covered up graffiti. Pretty neat.

Outer Borough: Portraits of New York City

Join us this Friday at the 17 Frost gallery to check out the latest by Cassius Fouler. From quarter-waters to redbirds, the artist’s paintings capture New York City from a perspective few artists have successfully: the Outer Boroughs.

Do not miss this one!

 

Cash 4 Underground

NYC graff writer Cash4 seems to have been making his way underground as of late. Cash is most well known for his large paint roller pieces as seen on the side of a building near you. We are excited that he is exploring new venues for his work!

Keep it Up

These nifty sign alterations were spotted by Reddit user blackrobot at the Nassau Avenue G station this morning. It isn’t clear who is responsible for this heinous act of vandalism, but they remind me quite a bit of this recent project by Beast. Let us know if you have any info!

Update: They are by none other than Trustocorp!

On Graffiti and Advertising

When it comes down to it, graffiti and advertising are not all that different. On the most basic level, the goal is the same: trying to get your name out there. Of course the difference is advertisers have billions of dollars behind them and graffiti writers are mostly individuals working on their own with minimal cost.

When I spotted this at 23rd Street the other day, I had a suspicion that it might be a the work of a graffiti writer, but I couldn’t be sure it wasn’t the handiwork of some viral marketing firm. After all, the poster is made of the same material as other subway ads, with air bubbles and all.

With a little research it became clear that there is a graffitist that goes by TAEK and a NYC based crew that goes by AA MOBB. They were responsible for one of the Showpaper distribution boxes unveiled last week, as seen on The Street Spot.

Props to TAEK for quality and scale; and for blurring the lines even further!

Subway Art Blog—Refreshed!

There’s something different around here! I pushed out a site design update today with a bunch of new graphics and icons.

The first thing you may notice is the new header. From now on we will be using this space to feature the work of subway artists. I asked one of my favorites, Amitai Plasse, to design the first of these new headers. Above is the original drawing straight from his Moleskine notebook.

You can expect to find new artwork featured every few months. Check out Ami’s website for many more awesome subway drawings!

NYC Gets Up

Is that a Long Island in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?

Something has changed indeed.

Emerging street artist Beast made a few not-so-subtle alterations to the map and posted them at subway entrances around the city last week. Props to him for taking the Manhattan as phallus motif a step further and for poking (no pun intended) fun at the MTA’s silly new ad campaign.

 


Another version of the faux-sign evokes recent events.


Tourists continued using the maps, unhindered by the text tilted 100 degrees.


Something’s different here. Ah yes! They changed the color of the water!

Beauty in Decay

Does anyone else stare at the layers of rust and decay on subway walls and think, “Wow. That is art!”? I’m happy to say there is at least one other.

Maureen Cooter‘s subway-inspired paintings have graced the pages of Subway Art Blog before, and in her last few years studying at the Fashion Institute of Technology, her work has only gotten bolder and stronger.

The work above, titled “The Intrigue of Degradation,” is Cooter’s thesis project. You can go check it out for yourself at FIT‘s senior show through May 24th.