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October 31, 2005
JFK Wheat-Paste, Soho NYC 2
Seeing a lot more wheat-paste activity recently on Postal Service dropboxes in downtown Manhattan. Here's one for (by ?) "Lint NYC" of a line-drawn rendering of President John F. Kennedy smoking. There was once an era when president's smoked and it was ok. Of course, that was also an era when presidents could do a lot of things (have extramartical affairs) that nowadays they couldn't, these these days would be open-season for journalists and considered un-presidential, if not immoral.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 12:26 AM
JFK Wheat-Paste, Soho NYC 1 [Detail]
Here's a close-up of the JFK wheat-paste in Soho.
Seeing a lot more wheat-paste activity recently on Postal Service dropboxes in downtown Manhattan. Here's one for (by ?) "Lint NYC" of a line-drawn rendering of President John F. Kennedy smoking. There was once an era when president's smoked and it was ok. Of course, that was also an era when presidents could do a lot of things (have extramartical affairs) that nowadays they couldn't, these these days would be open-season for journalists and considered un-presidential, if not immoral.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 12:23 AM
October 27, 2005
Brawling Boys Wheat-Paster
Not sure who the artist is behind this faded wheat-paste of two boys "brawling," but we think the creator is the prolific wheat-paster called Faile. Found this in Soho, NYC. The boys appear to be dressed in private school attire and one of them actually looks like he has stabbbed (or plucked the heart out of) the other, from whom a geyser of blood gushes like in those Japanese historical dramas when a samurai slices into an attacker's chest. Funny, subversive stuff. Love it.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 11:16 AM
NYC: "Monsieur A" Face by Andre 3
A close-up shot of some recent NYC work by Andre.
It's great to see some fresh work by Andre on the streets of downtown Manhattan. Andre ("Tout Va Bien") is an influential French graf-writer and street-artist whose iconic character "Monsieur A" can be found throughout Paris and other European cities. Sometimes Monsieur A is painted as thin stick-legged character. Other times, only his face, identifiable by a vaguely round shape with a wide toothy grim or pursed lips and always drawn with an "X" for one of the eyes. This recent example (which has since been painted over by the building's owners) was on Mulberry Street, a block south of Houston Street in Nolita/Soho.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 01:23 AM
NYC: "Monsieur A" Face by Andre 2
Same shot of work by Andre, but from a different angle.
It's great to see some fresh work by Andre on the streets of downtown Manhattan. Andre ("Tout Va Bien") is an influential French graf-writer and street-artist whose iconic character "Monsieur A" can be found throughout Paris and other European cities. Sometimes Monsieur A is painted as thin stick-legged character. Other times, only his face, identifiable by a vaguely round shape with a wide toothy grim or pursed lips and always drawn with an "X" for one of the eyes. This recent example (which has since been painted over by the building's owners) was on Mulberry Street, a block south of Houston Street in Nolita/Soho.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 01:22 AM
NYC: "Monsieur A" Face by Andre 1
It's great to see some fresh work by Andre on the streets of downtown Manhattan. Andre ("Tout Va Bien") is an influential French graf-writer and street-artist whose iconic character "Monsieur A" can be found throughout Paris and other European cities. Sometimes Monsieur A is painted as thin stick-legged character. Other times, only his face, identifiable by a vaguely round shape with a wide toothy grim or pursed lips and always drawn with an "X" for one of the eyes. This recent example (which has since been painted over by the building's owners) was on Mulberry Street, a block south of Houston Street in Nolita/Soho.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 01:18 AM
October 24, 2005
Facade of Apple Store Soho, NYC 2
The New York City Apple Store in Soho resides in a former US Post Office building formerly called "Station A" in Soho. It's located in the heart of downtown Manhattan amid multi-million-dollar real estate in the form of lofts, apartments, retail spaces, creative offices and historic cast-iron architecture. Like those lofts that have been converted from former factory space, the Apple Store is an excellent example of the re-development and re-purposing of existing structure as new, mixed-use space.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 04:17 PM
Facade of Apple Store Soho, NYC 1
Another shot of the Apple Store, Soho.
The New York City Apple Store in Soho resides in a former US Post Office building formerly called "Station A" in Soho. It's located in the heart of downtown Manhattan amid multi-million-dollar real estate in the form of lofts, apartments, retail spaces, creative offices and historic cast-iron architecture. Like those lofts that have been converted from former factory space, the Apple Store is an excellent example of the re-development and re-purposing of existing structure as new, mixed-use space.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 04:16 PM
October 23, 2005
Photo Art at Bloomingdales, Soho, NYC
The Bloomingdales Soho store in New York City has an interior design that reflects its downtown setting. The department store's lower Manhattan outpost is in a quintessential Soho lofts building in the heart of what was once one of the city's artiest neighborhoods. The interior is filled with original art with more of a downtown feel that that of its uptown flagship store. This shot shows an artwork made of portaits.
Typhoon Photo
Posted by Typhoon at 02:14 PM
October 18, 2005
Stop Sign Stickers, Soho, New York 2 - Context
Pictured above is the context shot of some great NYC sticker street art.
Sticker bombing is a common sight in downtown New York City. Here and there public street signs get hit with a mad vengeance. This stop sign in Soho is good example. The stickers are a mix of street art and guerilla publicity.
We heart sticker art!
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 02:00 AM
Stop Sign Stickers, Soho, New York 1 - Detail
Here's a detail shot of this awesome sticker street art.
Sticker bombing is a common sight in downtown New York City. Here and there public street signs get hit with a mad vengeance. This stop sign in Soho is good example. The stickers are a mix of street art and guerilla publicity.
We heart sticker art!
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 01:57 AM
Tokyo: Tokyo Tower View
Love this shot of central Tokyo with the Tokyo Tower smack in the middle. The Japanese capital is one of our favorite places on earth. We love visiting Tokyo -- and travel to and around Japan, in general. There's so much human activity at street level in Tokyo and so many interesting urban spaces. Once one steps out of the hotel, one could walk for hours and hours just exploring. And in recent years, there's a lot to explore in terms of great street art by Japanese and foreign artists -- some obscure, some well-known -- in the backstreets of the Harajuku, Ura-Harujuku, Naka-meguro and Daikanyama neighborhoods. Book that flight now, Speed Racer.
D. Carter Witt Photo
Posted by icorsa at 01:30 AM
October 16, 2005
I Love You, NYC
We've been seeing a lot of "i love you" popping up around lower Manhattan these past six months, especially in the Lower East Side, Nolita, Soho and the East Village. It's unkown to whom, individually, this message is directed besides the public. But its essense is positive, a reminder, perhaps, that "out there," somebody loves somebody, at least so much so that somebody felt compelled to scrawl it on walls across downtown New York City. And that can't be so bad, right?
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 03:50 PM
October 15, 2005
Bronson Versus Deniro - Karbon Kopy Killers by Ars
The actors Robert Deniro and the late Charles Bronson both played vigilante killers in films about outsiders taking the law into their own hands to seek justice. Here the two are united in wheat-paste street art on a Chinatown street in lower Manhattan. The image of Deniro is culled from the film Taxi Driver. Bronson's image is from Death Wish. Dubbed "Karbon Kopy Killer," this street art is by the artist Ars.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 02:37 AM
October 14, 2005
Surface To Air, Paris - Storefront
Surface To Air (or Surface 2 Air) is an underground-ish creator's atelier, art gallery, event space and boutique all wrapped up into one at very central Paris address in a right-bank neighborhood near Les Halles. Here is a shot of the iron-shuttered, graf-scrawled storefront from across the lane. Like Colette a couple of kilometers away, Surface To Air is a small mecca of under-the-radar creative cool.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 01:58 AM
Surface To Air, Paris - Logos
Here's a shot of some graphic design in the form of cool logo/symbols painted on the storefront of Surface To Air in Paris.
Surface To Air (or Surface 2 Air) is an underground-ish creator's atelier, art gallery, event space and boutique all wrapped up into one at very central Paris address in a right-bank neighborhood near Les Halles. Here is a shot of the iron-shuttered, graf-scrawled storefront from across the lane. Like Colette a couple of kilometers away, Surface To Air is a small mecca of under-the-radar creative cool.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 01:57 AM
Surface To Air, Paris - Signage
This is a shot of the Surface To Air signage, a non-descript, sterile sans-serif logotype.
Surface To Air (or Surface 2 Air) is an underground-ish creator's atelier, art gallery, event space and boutique all wrapped up into one at very central Paris address in a right-bank neighborhood near Les Halles. Here is a shot of the iron-shuttered, graf-scrawled storefront from across the lane. Like Colette a couple of kilometers away, Surface To Air is a small mecca of under-the-radar creative cool.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 01:55 AM
October 13, 2005
Walk This Way 3
This image doesn't really need explanation ... well .. okay, maybe it does ... a little. Whenever a building undergoes some sort of renovation work in New York City, scaffolding is placed on all sides of the building adjacent to the sidewalk. The scaffolding covers the sidewalk, and the sides of the structure is often repurposed as billboard space and as a placeholder for signs of those street-level retail businesses whose front signage is blocked by the scaffolding. Pictured here and below is a cheeky use of scaffolding space as signage by Digital Ink, an electronic printing company on Varick Street in Soho.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 02:59 AM
Walk This Way 2
Another shot of the clever use of scaffolding space by Digital Ink to advertise its business in New York.
This image doesn't really need explanation ... well .. okay, maybe it does ... a little. Whenever a building undergoes some sort of renovation work in New York City, scaffolding is placed on all sides of the building adjacent to the sidewalk. The scaffolding covers the sidewalk, and the sides of the structure is often repurposed as billboard space and as a placeholder for signs of those street-level retail businesses whose front signage is blocked by the scaffolding. Pictured here and below is a cheeky use of scaffolding space as signage by Digital Ink, an electronic printing company on Varick Street in Soho.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 02:56 AM
Walk This Way 1
One more shot of the clever use of scaffolding space by Digital Ink to advertise its business in New York.
This image doesn't really need explanation ... well .. okay, maybe it does ... a little. Whenever a building undergoes some sort of renovation work in New York City, scaffolding is placed on all sides of the building adjacent to the sidewalk. The scaffolding covers the sidewalk, and the sides of the structure is often repurposed as billboard space and as a placeholder for signs of those street-level retail businesses whose front signage is blocked by the scaffolding. Pictured here and below is a cheeky use of scaffolding space as signage by Digital Ink, an electronic printing company on Varick Street in Soho.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 02:53 AM
October 12, 2005
Paris: Street Art - "Spliff" Stencil 1
Here's a close-up shot of the "Spliff" stencil we found in the hot Paris nabe of St. Germain des Pres. As street art, this is subversive on a couple of levels. But what's really striking is its illustrative comic-book style and the location on the pavement next to a public telephone (see contextual shot below) in a hood with some of the most desirable and fashionable real-estate in the city.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Tunes on our Apple iPod: "Guero" by Beck
Kicks on our Feet: BAPESTA Lime-pink high-tops
Posted by icorsa at 01:32 AM
Paris: Street Art - "Spliff" Stencil 2
Here's a the contextual shot of the "Spliff" stencil we found in the hot Paris nabe of St. Germain des Pres. As street art, this is subversive on a couple of levels. But what's really striking is its illustrative comic-book style and the location on the pavement next to a public telephone (see close-up shot above) in a hood with some of the most desirable and fashionable real-estate in the city.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Tunes on our Apple iPod: "Guero" by Beck
Kicks on our Feet: BAPESTA Lime-pink high-tops
Posted by icorsa at 01:31 AM
October 09, 2005
Last Days of Pop Shop, NYC 2
A close-up shot of the awning and signage of the recently closed Pop Shop. The Shop, on Lafayette Street in Soho, New York City, was part of the legacy of late downtown artist Keith Haring. The shop was an emporium of all things Haring and an example of how licensing and merchandising of an artists body of work could be lucrative and continue to promote a the artist's work long after his death. In fact, Haring's iconic graffiti-inspired imagery was virtually a brand in and of itself. As is often the case with Manhattan real estate in neighborhoods that have changed dramatically through gentrification, leases property prices and rents skyrocket. The Pop Shop can no longer afford the landlord's new asking price on the lease of the current retail space. So long, Pop Shop.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 04:10 PM
Last Days of Pop Shop, NYC 1
The Pop Shop on Lafayette Street in Soho, New York City, was part of the legacy of late downtown artist Keith Haring. The shop was an emporium of all things Haring and an example of how licensing and merchandising of an artists body of work could be lucrative and continue to promote a the artist's work long after his death. In fact, Haring's iconic graffiti-inspired imagery was virtually a brand in and of itself. As is often the case with Manhattan real estate in neighborhoods that have changed dramatically through gentrification, leases property prices and rents skyrocket. The Pop Shop can no longer afford the landlord's new asking price on the lease of the current retail space. So long, Pop Shop.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 03:57 PM
October 06, 2005
Street Art Attack - Green Post Box, Soho 4
A full-frontal shot of a green mailbox that his been bombed.
Fourth image in a series of four. Original text below.
Snapped this image of one of those nondescript green mailboxes covered with wheat-pastes, stickers and assorted graf. This side of the box has a couple of black-and-white artworks and a promotional sheet for a local band called New York City Smoke. You can find this mailbox on Prince St., between Crosby St. and Broadway in Soho, across the street from Dean & Deluca and surrounded by those downtown mega loft apartments.
Ivan Corsa Photos
Posted by icorsa at 10:22 PM
Street Art Attack - Green Post Box, Soho 3
Another close-up shot of a wheat-paste on a green post box in Soho. This one is an illustration with an Afro theme. Third image in a series of four. Original text below.
Snapped this image of one of those nondescript green mailboxes covered with wheat-pastes, stickers and assorted graf. This side of the box has a couple of black-and-white artworks and a promotional sheet for a local band called New York City Smoke. You can find this mailbox on Prince St., between Crosby St. and Broadway in Soho, across the street from Dean & Deluca and surrounded by those downtown mega loft apartments.
Ivan Corsa Photos
Posted by icorsa at 10:19 PM
Street Art Attack - Green Post Box, Soho 2
A close-up shot of a wheat-paste depicting an "angel." Second image in a series of four. Original text below.
Snapped this image of one of those nondescript green mailboxes covered with wheat-pastes, stickers and assorted graf. This side of the box has a couple of black-and-white artworks and a promotional sheet for a local band called New York City Smoke. You can find this mailbox on Prince St., between Crosby St. and Broadway in Soho, across the street from Dean & Deluca and surrounded by those downtown mega loft apartments.
Ivan Corsa Photos
Posted by icorsa at 10:17 PM
Street Art Attack - Green Post Box, Soho 1
Snapped this image of one of those nondescript green mailboxes covered with wheat-pastes, stickers and assorted graf. This side of the box has a couple of black-and-white artworks and a promotional sheet for a local band called New York City Smoke. You can find this mailbox on Prince St., between Crosby St. and Broadway in Soho, across the street from Dean & Deluca and surrounded by mega loft apartments.
Ivan Corsa Photos
Posted by icorsa at 10:03 PM
Lafayette Street Girl 2
Here's a close up shot of Lafayette Street Girl.
That instance when you experience that mix of surprise and excitement you feel when you see a clever or beautiful piece of street art (or art in general, or anything, for that matter) -- that's what we felt when we saw this wheat-paste of a girl's face on Lafayette Street in Soho, New York City. (We've dubbed her "Lafayette Street Girl.") Since we snapped this shot a few days ago, we've seen this wheat-paste elsewhere downtown, more precisely, we saw her in the chic Nolita nabe, where apartments and lofts are now very valuable New York real estate.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 02:30 AM
Lafayette Street Girl 1
Love this. That instance when you experience that mix of surprise and excitement you feel when you see a clever or beautiful piece of street art (or art in general, or anything, for that matter) -- that's what we felt when we saw this wheat-paste of a girl's face on Lafayette Street in Soho, New York City. (We've dubbed her "Lafayette Street Girl.") Note the the Sharpie marker tag/graf scrawled on her forward. Since we snapped this shot a few days ago, we've seen this wheat-paste elsewhere downtown, more precisely, we saw her in the chic Nolita nabe, where apartments and lofts are now very valuable New York real estate.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 02:28 AM
October 02, 2005
Paris: Shepard Fairey Takes Obey to the Left Bank 2
Need we say more. In the chic Parisian nabe of St. Germain de Pres, the ubiquitous Andre the Giant visage stares out from a wheat-paste poster of the Obey/Giant Has A Posse icon by designer/artist/street-marketer Shepard Fairey.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 12:30 PM
Paris: Shepard Fairey Takes Obey to the Left Bank 1
Need we say more. In the chic Parisian nabe of St. Germain de Pres, the ubiquitous Andre the Giant visage stares out from a wheat-paste poster of the Obey/Giant Has A Posse icon by designer/artist/street-marketer Shepard Fairey. Here the Obey wheat-paste is shown in context with some other street art below and in the upper right.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 12:24 PM
October 01, 2005
A Solid Nolita Tag
Something aesthetically pleasing, slightly aggressive and eyey-catching about this otherwise unassuming and unexceptional piece of graf in Nolita, in NYC. Notice the zigzagy ^^ in the middle of second letter -- it's at odds with the curvaciousness of the tag. The blue hues with white border add contrast and compliment the grey concrete background of the apartment building. This one is a solid in our book.
Notes:
On our iPod at time of photo: Kanye West - "Late Registration"; kicks on our feet: Adidas Y3
Ivan Corsa Photo
Posted by icorsa at 11:38 AM
We Are the Superlative Conspiracy, New York Store Sign 2
Up from the underground with some overground marketing, it's the We Are The Superlative Conspiracy, a hip clothing label and shop new to the retail landscape. We've seen some of their merch and it's rad - love their kicks, original, fresh design. The company is opening its first New York City shop on Lafayette Street in Soho. This shot shows a display-window sign announcing the forthcoming occupancy by WESC and gives you the flavor of the label's aesthetic and sensibility.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Music On Our Apple iPod: Royksopp "Melody AM"
Kicks On Our Feet: Converse Black
Posted by icorsa at 12:31 AM
We Are the Superlative Conspiracy, New York Store Sign 1
Up from the underground with some overground marketing, it's the We Are The Superlative Conspiracy, a hip clothing label and shop new to the retail landscape. We've seen some of their merch and it's rad - love their kicks, original, fresh design. The company is opening its first New York City shop on Lafayette Street in Soho. This shot shows a display-window sign announcing the forthcoming occupancy by WESC and gives you the flavor of the label's aesthetic and sensibility.
Ivan Corsa Photo
Music On Our Apple iPod: Royksopp "Melody AM"
Kicks On Our Feet: Converse Black
Posted by icorsa at 12:21 AM
