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June 29, 2005

"Dr. Sex" at the Slipper Room

Here's a nice up by "Dr. Sex," whose tag is no stranger to the Lower East Side, in New York City. We found this tag on Orchard St. at Stanton on the front shutter of the popular bar and cabaret club the Slipper Room. The club was opened at the height of the dotcom boom by the founders of Razorfish, the biggest web design agency, that is, until the tech bubble burst a few years ago and the company was swallowed up in a merger. Anyway, the Irish rock band U2 filmed a music video on location at the Slipper Room a few weeks ago.

Style Notes:
Currently listening to: Iggy & the Stooges' "Search and Destroy"
Sneakers on my feet: Puma "California" (w/ Velcro strapping)

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 11:43 PM

Katsu

Snapped this bold and tidy up by Katsu in Soho, on a wall along an alleyway amid the lofts.

Style Notes
Kicks we were wearing at time of photo: Puma 5000M
Music to which we're currently listening: Deerhoof "Green Cosmos" CD

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 12:37 AM

June 24, 2005

Nomadic Museum by Shigeru Ban, New York City 10

NYC was recently treated to the work of experimental Japanese architect Shigeru Ban, who is known for his use of low-cost, re-purposed and recycled materials to create stunning cleverly designed structures. These buildings can be built and torn down quickly. Pictured above and below in this Global Graphica series, is Ban's Nomadic Museum on Pier 54 in lower Manhattan. The Nomadic Museum was designed for a massive exhbition of photos and film by the artist Gregory Colbert. The structure is a long cathedral-like building that fills the full length of what was disused pier on the Hudson River. The museum's walls are made of box-car-sized shipping containers, which still bear the colors and logos of the shipping companies that once used them to ferry goods across the world's oceans and seas.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 12:51 AM | Comments (1)

Nomadic Museum by Shigeru Ban, New York City 09

A closer view of the Nomadic Museum by architect Shigeru Ban at Pier 54 on the Hudson River, New York City.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 12:50 AM

Nomadic Museum by Shigeru Ban, New York City 08

Here a close-up of the north wall of the Nomadic Museum by Shigeru Ban. The walls are made of recycled shipping containers.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 12:49 AM

Nomadic Museum by Shigeru Ban, New York City 07

A view of the face and entrance of the Nomadic Museum by experimental Japanese architect Shigeru Ban at Pier 54 in New York City. The Nomadic Museum was designed for a massive exhbition of photos and film by the artist Gregory Colbert.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 12:49 AM

Nomadic Museum by Shigeru Ban, New York City 06

Here's a close-up shot of the underside and roof structure at the east face and entrance of the Nomadic Museum at Pier 54 in New York City.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 12:48 AM

Nomadic Museum by Shigeru Ban, New York City 05

A stack of shipping containers make up the walls and basic structure of Nomadic Museum by architect Shigeru Ban.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 12:47 AM

Nomadic Museum by Shigeru Ban, New York City 04

In this image, the ticket office to the Nomadic Museum, in New York City, is seen tucked in a space between shipping containers on the right flank of the structure.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 12:46 AM

Nomadic Museum by Shigeru Ban, New York City 03

The top of old the ironwork above the exterior gateway on Pier 54 near the entrance of the Nomadic Museum.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 12:46 AM

Nomadic Museum by Shigeru Ban, New York City 02

The exterior gateway on Pier 54 near the entrance of the Nomadic Museum.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 12:44 AM

Nomadic Museum by Shigeru Ban, New York City 01 - Hudson River Park Map Signage

Well-designed Hudson River Park Map sign outside the gateway to Pier 54 in Manhattan, NYC, site of the Nomadic Museum by Shigeru Ban.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 12:01 AM

June 23, 2005

Blank Canvas 05

More of the clever Time Magazine adspace with graffiti by Cope2 (CopeII)in downtown Manhattan, at Houston and Wooster streets in Soho. We're trying to remember what was being pushed on this billboard previously -- it was either Altoids or Addidas sneakers. Or maybe it was ...

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 10:34 PM

Blank Canvas 04

Here's another view of the Time Magazine graf billboard at Houston and Wooster streets in Soho.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 10:33 PM

June 22, 2005

Blank Canvas 03

Detail of the Time Magazine billboard at Houston and Wooster streets in Soho, New York City. Tag by Cope2.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 10:32 PM

Blank Canvas 02

Another shot of the Time Magazine graffiti billboard by Cope2 (CopeII) at Houston and Wooster streets in Soho, New York City. To think this space could be used to sell Puma sneakers or the new Sony PSP.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 10:32 PM

Blank Canvas 01

Time Magazine is engaged in an unusual billboard advertising stunt. On a white fabric screen hanging from the side of a building at Houston and Wooster streets in Soho, a large colorful tag has been aerosoled. The graffiti is first rate and unhurried (unlike a lot of "ups," which are often written with hasty economy). The artist, or "writer," is Cope2 (or "CopeII"), a well-known veteran of the NYC-graf underground. According to sources, the idea is that each week, more aerosol art will go up on the screen. By the end of a month, Time magazine's branding will go up in the space. Now who said advertising wasn't fun anymore? We'll document the series here on Global Graphica in the coming weeks. Stay tuned.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 10:30 PM

June 17, 2005

Castle Garage, West Village

Found this faded massive advertisement on the side of a building in the far West Village, where the hood morphs into the Meatpacking District. This sign is really old. The neighborhood must have been quite different back when this ad pushed parking space and a car dealership. The nabe has changed dramatically since the sign was put up and the car dealership -- despite our best search -- no longer exists. Now the area has the most desirable apartments, brownstones and townhouses in New York City and -- per square footage -- the most expensive residential real estate in all Manhattan. That real estate boom and the local trendiness of the Meatpacking Distirtc has fueled the numerous nearby loft conversions.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 10:28 PM

June 16, 2005

ALife Guerrilla Mixed Media

Okay, this is as originalas this stuff can get. Alife, the style collective whose inspired Lower East Side store stocked all sorts of cool sneakers and tees by the various likes of Paul Smith and Nike, has been on a sticker bender recently, but here we have what could pass as a mixed-media art experiment in and of itself. We found this in the ultra-trendy Meatpacking District, formerly a mostly industrial-commercial area that is now home to multi-million dolar condos and luxury loft, as well as high-end boutiques, restaurants, clubs and hotels. New York never fails to offer contrast -- street art as guerrilla marketing set amid the beef-packaging warehouses and ultra-hot urban real estate.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 10:28 PM

June 13, 2005

OK Bandit SoHo 02

Here's another shot of the "OK Bandit" in the Soho luxury lofts district.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 11:28 PM

OK Bandit SoHo 01

So we were walking down Broome street after work last week in the heart of Soho, where all those amazing luxury lofts and apartments are, and we came across this "OK" sticker art. "Woah, that's cool," we said to each other. The boy's face in this image looks like it was inspired by Japanese manga comic books. But he's rendered in stark black and has the bandanna or kerchief on his face like he's some ol' school bandit. It's weird and it's more so because it's got the power to be cute while ever so slightly hinting at something subversive at its core, beneath the surface.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 11:24 PM

Empire

Wow! Empire of what? We don't know and we don't care. For all we know, this wheat-paste up we found in the lofts-filled Meatpacking District in NYC might be some guerrilla marketing for the next big underground clothing brand, the next A Bathing Ape or the next Built by Wendy or the next United Bamboo, except that it's called Empire and its logo is of a film-noirish punk girl with a Medussa-like mane and a thing for grabbing her crotch a la Marky Mark in that famous '90's Calvin Klein ad. Whatever the case, this has impact.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 10:27 PM

June 12, 2005

Spooky Sunglasses Man Stencil

We don't know who this is. We don't know who the subject of this stencil is nor do we know the artist responsible for this work. But we like it. When we look at the person rendered in this image, we feel like we're look at some late Soviet-era East German spy hanging out in a Prague cafe waiting to meet his "secret" Czech contact. But this is the year 2005, so such a character would have shed the Cold-war look ages ago. Now he'd be clad with brand name logos -- a pair of Nike sneakers on his feet, an Izod Lacoste shirt on his back, and Diesel jeans on his legs. Go consumer culture, go!

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 01:07 AM

June 10, 2005

WK Interact - Massive New Lower East Side, New York Wheat-pastes 08

The last in the series of life-size black-and-white wheat-paste ups by WK Interact at the corner of Chrystie and Rivington streets in the Lower East Side, in New York City.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 01:21 AM

WK Interact - Massive New Lower East Side, New York Wheat-pastes 07

In this detail shot, note the visible Krylon brand can of aerosol paint and the vague but indeterminate branding on the sneaker -- it could pass for the Nike "swoosh" at a glance or maybe the Puma mark.

This is yet another in series of life-size black-and-white wheat-paste ups at the corner of Chrystie and Rivington streets in the Lower East Side. The ups are by well-known New York City artist WK Interact, whose studio and shop are on Stanton Street near Ludlow, in the heart of what is now the ultra-hot real estate market for apartments and condos in the LES.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 01:20 AM | Comments (1)

WK Interact - Massive New Lower East Side, New York Wheat-pastes 06

Note the downward double-arm movement of the graf writerdepicted in this up, another in the recently upped series of life-size black-and-white wheat-paste ups at the corner of Chrystie and Rivington streets in the Lower East Side. The ups are by well-known New York City artist WK Interact, whose studio and shop are on Stanton Street near Ludlow, in the heart of what is now the ultra-hot real estate market for apartments and condos in the LES.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 01:19 AM

WK Interact - Massive New Lower East Side, New York Wheat-pastes 05

Two writers visible in this wide shot in the latest series of life-size black-and-white wheat-paste ups by well-known New York City artist WK Interact.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 01:17 AM

WK Interact - Massive New Lower East Side, New York Wheat-pastes 04

In this detail shot, the graf writer is on the one-knee stance. This is yet another in series of life-size black-and-white wheat-paste ups at the corner of Chrystie and Rivington streets in the Lower East Side. The ups are by well-known New York City artist WK Interact, whose studio and shop are on Stanton Street near Ludlow, in the heart of what is now the ultra-hot real estate market for apartments and condos in the LES.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 01:16 AM

WK Interact - Massive New Lower East Side, New York Wheat-pastes 03

One in a newly-upped series of life-size black-and-white wheat-paste ups New York City artist WK Interact.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 01:16 AM

June 09, 2005

WK Interact - Massive New Lower East Side, New York Wheat-pastes 02

More in a series of life-size black-and-white wheat-paste ups by well-known New York City artist WK Interact, whose studio and shop are on Stanton Street near Ludlow, in the heart of the ultra-hot real estate market for apartments and condos in the LES.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 11:16 PM

WK Interact - Massive New Lower East Side, New York Wheat-pastes 01

This series of life-size black-and-white wheat-paste ups of graf writers doing there thing went up along the side of a sign store at the corner of Chrystie and Rivington streets near the Bowery in the Lower East Side. The ups are by well-known New York City artist WK Interact, whose studio and shop are on Stanton Street near Ludlow, in the heart of what is now the ultra-hot real estate market for apartments and condos in the LES. WK Interact's work can be found throughout lower Manhattan. This work is one of this finest street works yet.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 11:13 PM

ALife Sticker on Lampost in Meatpacking District

Something is going on with the ALife crew on the promotion and street marketing tip recently. We've been noticing a lot more of these plain-vanilla ALife stickers all over lower Manhattan in the past month or so. But this is keeping with the ALife ethos. ALife is many things, but for many it had been best known for its now-shuttered sneaker and casual clothes emporium on Orchard Street in the Lower East Side, as well as its design and art-style-marketing project collabos with other brands, such as Levi's. We found this sticker on the base of a lamppost in the Meatpacking District.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 11:26 AM

June 08, 2005

"Ize" Up in Meatpacking District, NYC

We're not sure if this is graf "proper," or the sloppy handiwork of the proprietor of whatever is behind this shutter door upon which the Krylon moniker is applied. (A shop called "Ize," perhaps?) At any rate, it's good to see some dirty aerosol work even if it's a third-rate effort in the heart of the Meatpacking District, that stinky and sometimes stanky industrial-commercial zone full of cobblestone streets and sandwiched between Chelsea and the far West Village. The area, as its name implies, is the traditional home to New York City's meat markets and refrigerated meat-packaging warehouses. But gentrification, money and massive disused factory spaces brought a developer-led building-conversion and real estate boom in the late 1990's. Now, next door to massive (and smelly) buildings filled with meat coolers, are million-dollar lofts, apartments and condos. The area is also home to dozens of upscale and truly, amazingly-designed clubs and restaurants. There's naturally a boutique hotel in the hood. It's called the Hotel Gansevoort and it is a beautiful place. Across from the hotel is the celeb-filled British social haunt the Soho Club. The Meatpacking District has become so flooded with new boites, high-end designer stores and food-snob hangouts that it's now a overcrowded Friday and Saturday nightmare destination for the tourist and bridge-and-tunnel crowds (which is the tell-tale sign that the nabe is "so over") looking for "hot" Manhattan. The fact that the character "Samantha" in Sex and the City eventually moved into the area in the show's storyline is both a reflection of what's happened to the real nabe in real life and also a part of why it has become a trendy and (as advertising people say) aspirational locale.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 11:16 PM

"Nuke" on Crosby Street, SoHo, NYC

Here's an "up" by "Nuke" on good ol' Crosby Street in Soho. Crosby has quite a bit of graf for Soho, that is -- at street level -- largely a spruced up shopping distict for the masses. The street is the last of the old school Soho lanes that still retains some of the character of the grimier industrial Soho, even though the the roadway is surrounded on all sides by upcales boutiques, media offices, design studios, day spas, a Bloomingdales, a Starbucks and dozens upon dozens of mega-hugmongous luxury lofts and apartments that are home to celebrities, like Lenny Kravitz and Courtenay Love, who appreciate the relative privacy and quiet, back-alley vibe of Crosby Street. Thank you, "Nuke," for the extra Crosby Street flava'.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 10:52 AM

June 06, 2005

Chinatown Dragon Fighters

This logo is the boss. When you see your local fire department with a logo and name like Chinatown Dragon Fighters, well, damn, if our apartment building was on fire we'd want this fire company to come to our rescue first. Could there be any team of firemen in the world with a cooler name that this? Did you hear us? DRAGON FIGHTERS! You know what Dragons are, right? Hell, those f**ckers breathe fire. Think about it. This is like calling your local police force the "The All-time Best Psychotic-Murderer Ass-Kickers in the World." So when the roof is on fire in downtown New York City, who ya' gonna call? Dragon Fighters, damn straight, dude!

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 10:21 PM

Geezer with Puppy Wheat-Paste Posters

Here are some curious wheat-pastes in a three-repeat "up" in Lower Manhattan. The images show a geezer holding a puppy. Okay, we already know what you're asking: what does it all mean? Now, we might try to deconstruct this and Scotch-tape together some theory, but, really, we'd just be grasping at straws. We're as stumped as you are. (Or as you might be--if you have a theory, drop us a line.) Maybe this is a shot from a famous film. Or a found photo that's now become another ephemeral piece of downotwn street art. At any rate, we can imagine seeing this in really hip clothing store like A.P.C. or ALife Rivington Club or Paul Smith. Or maybe in the bathroom of a downtown French bistro.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 10:12 PM

June 05, 2005

More Shephard Fairey: "Obey" Lightpost Stencil

We found this Obey stencil by artist/publisher/seminal guerilla-marketer Shepard Fairey on a light-post base in the Lower East Side of New York City. Fairey is, of course, the person behind all those Giant Has a Posse stickers of Andre the Giant that found their way stuck to surfaces all over the world in the 1990's. We love Fairey's work (including his recent Swindle magazine) and his ever-expanding visual vocabulary of icons and imagery.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 01:11 AM

June 04, 2005

"Repo" Graf in the Lower East Side

Here's a nice "up" by "Repo" near Essex and Broome streets in the currently hot, hot, hot real estate market that is the Lower East Side, in New York City. Notice how the tag is where the wall seems to undulate at the bevel, giving the this piece of Krylon graf a wavy effect.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 10:06 AM

Marilyn Monroe in Chinatown

We love this stencil pattern of Marilyn Monroe on a red door in Chinatown. The Monroe iconography works on a couple of levels here, we think. Not only is Marilyn a pop culture icon due to her tragic celebrity as film actress and sex symbol, but she is also an icon of the pop-art era courtesy of Andy Warhol's famed silkscreen prints of her blown-up image, which the artist arranged in multiples on a canvas.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 01:05 AM

June 02, 2005

Keith Haring Mural at Carmine St. Pool 03

Here's a third shot of the Carmine Street Pool mural by the late artist Keith Haring.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 08:35 PM

Keith Haring Mural at Carmine St. Pool 02

This is the second in a series of three shots of a mural by 1980's art star Keith Haring at the landmark Carmine Street Pool in the West Village, in New York City.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 08:31 PM

Keith Haring Mural at Carmine St. Pool 01

The late Keith Haring was one of several art stars to emerge from the downtown New York City art explosion in the 1980's. Haring made a name for himself early in his career for graffiti and street art. After becoming established he was commisioned to create major public art works, including this massive mural at the landmark Carmine Street Pool in the West Village. The mural has a summery aquatic-swim theme and is a perfect compliment to its venue. Note: The pool was the set of the swim scene in the critcally acclaimed 1990's Larry Clark film "Kids" that starred quintessential donwtown indie actress Chloe Sevigny.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 08:03 PM

June 01, 2005

Build It On Top 02 - Chelsea

Here's a wide shot of the same Chelsea building in New York City where a real estate developer has cleverly built new luxury condos over an existing and intact historic 19th-century building.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 11:02 PM

Build It On Top 01 - Chelsea

Real estate developers looking to maximize use of space, as well as profits, must find creative architectural solutions to create new, larger residential spaces within the constraints of New York City's myriad rules and laws governing zoning, air rights, and historic preservation, not to mention building codes. One work-around and novel way to create new condos is to build on top of an existing tenement building. Sometime the developers will work with an architect that will re-skin a building's exterior with a contemporary shell to match that of the addition. Other times, they just put a contemporary-style rooftop addition while keeping the original (and historic) brick-and-mortar building intact. Here is a shot of a such building on 6th Ave. in New York City in that part of Chelsea that borders the Meatpacking District and West Village. Needless to say, the new residential condos are "luxury" style and not inexpensive.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Posted by icorsa at 10:02 PM