Our minimalist workspace as it is now in '08 in downtown Manhattan, New York City, where all the magic still happens. Compare the images in this post and the previous post and it's interesting to see what's changed: artwork on the wall, newer smartphone, earbuds instead of headphones, different books and magazines, coffee cup has a proper saucer, etc.

© Ivan Corsa Photo - Street Art Photos

Our minimalist workspace as it was circa summer 2006 in downtown Manhattan, New York City, where all the magic happens.

© Ivan Corsa Photo - Street Art Photos

This "No Graffiti" warning sign is explicit. It's on a building near the corner of Broome Street and The Bowery in Chinatown / Lower East Side. The sign is apparently effective because there wasn't a lick of graff on the property the last time we checked.

© Ivan Corsa Photo - Street Art Photos

We get a lot of kicks visiting Signs Defiled (www.signsdefiled.com), a website posting tons of images of ads ad signage defaced, often in funny ways. Check it.

Good, long video clip of graffiti artists Difre and TiTo working on a massive throw-up ad mural art in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

© Ivan Corsa Photo - Street Art Photos

Photography gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
Music on our iPod: Jay Z - "99 Problems"
Sneakers of the Day: A Bathing Ape "BAPESTAS"

© Ivan Corsa Photo - Street Art Photos

Photography gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
Music on our iPod: Babyshambles - "Pipedown"
Sneakers of the Day: Adidas "Gazelle"

© Ivan Corsa Photo - Street Art Photos

Photography gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
Music on our iPod: Babyshambles - "Pipedown"
Sneakers of the Day: Adidas "Gazelle"

Photography gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
Music on our iPod: Babyshambles - "Pipedown"
Sneakers of the Day: Adidas "Gazelle"

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Keane - "Nothing in the Way"
Kicks on our feet: Nike High-Tops

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: The Rakes - "22 Grand Job"
Kicks on our feet: Adidas "Marun"

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Air - "Mer du Japon"
Kicks on our feet: Adidas "Marun"

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Air - "Mer du Japon"
Kicks on our feet: Adidas "Marun"

Awesome graf truck -- one of the best we've ever seen in this downtown neighborhood in the past year or so.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Mando Diao - "Before Rock ad Roll"
Kicks on our feet: Vans "Plaid" Slip-ons

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Cornelius - "Point"
Kicks on our feet: Adidas "Marun" Original Sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Cornelius - "Point"
Kicks on our feet: Adidas "Marun" Original Sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Babyshambles - "Pipedown"
Kicks on our feet: Adidas "Beckenbauer" Sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Deerhoof - "+81"
Kicks on our feet: Adidas "Beckenbauer" Sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Deerhoof - "+81"
Kicks on our feet: Adidas "Beckenbauer" Sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Deerhoof - "+81"
Kicks on our feet: Adidas "Beckenbauer" Sneakers

Sticker graf on a Village Voice newspaper box at Houston Street and Broadway in Soho, New York City.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: LCD Soundsystem - "Yeah (Pretentious Mix)"
Kicks on our feet: Puma "Easy Rider" Sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: LCD Soundsystem - "Yeah (Pretentious Mix)"
Kicks on our feet: Puma "Easy Rider" Sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: LCD Soundsystem - "Yeah (Pretentious Mix)"
Kicks on our feet: Puma "Easy Rider" Sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: LCD Soundsystem - "Yeah (Pretentious Mix)"
Kicks on our feet: Puma "Easy Rider" Sneakers

Massive ad-mural of Madonna for H&M is being painted on the side of a cast-iron lofts building in SoHo, New York City.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: LCD Soundsystem - "Yeah (Pretentious Mix)"
Kicks on our feet: Puma "Easy Rider" Sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: LCD Soundsystem - "Daft Punk is Playing in My House"
Kicks on our feet: Puma "Easy Rider" Sneakers

New York City bike messengers mass at a Chinatown park for a game of bicycle polo on the Lower East Side.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: LCD Soundsystem - "Daft Punk is Playing in My House"
Kicks on our feet: Puma "Easy Rider" Sneakers

New York City bike messengers mass at a Chinatown park for a game of bicycle polo on the Lower East Side.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: LCD Soundsystem - "Daft Punk is Playing in My House"
Kicks on our feet: Puma "Easy Rider" Sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Fela Kuti - "Water No Get Enemy"
Kicks on our feet: Puma "Easy Rider" Sneakers

The folks at the ever ingenious and creative Graffiti Research Lab have made a clip of their recent anti-advertising campaign. The guerilla effort exploits video panels that display commercials outside subway entrances around New York City. The point is that the thousands of marketing messages we are exposed to on a daily basis is the true graf problem urban dwellers face.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Beck - "Hell Yes"
Kicks on our feet: Puma "Easy Rider" Sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Beck - "Hell Yes"
Kicks on our feet: Puma "Easy Rider" Sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Deerhoof - "Koneko"
Kicks on our feet: Converse "John Varvatos" Laceless Sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Deerhoof - "Koneko"
Kicks on our feet: Converse "John Varvatos" Laceless Sneakers

And here's a shot of the left side of a massive mural on the support structure under the expressway west of Shinsaibashi in central Osaka.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Boredoms - "Chocolate Synthesizer"
Kicks on our feet: Converse "John Varvatos" Laceless Sneakers

The right side of a massive mural on the support structure under the expressway west of Shinsaibashi in central Osaka.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Boredoms - "Chocolate Synthesizer"
Kicks on our feet: Converse "John Varvatos" Laceless Sneakers

We're back from a week off during the holidays. Hope everybody had a great winter break and a happy New Year! Big up on 2007! The new year sees Global Graphica in Osaka, Japan for a couple of weeks. Here 2007 is celebrated as the Year of the Boar in accordance with the adopted Chinese zodiac calendar. Look for postings of images from Japan in the coming weeks. The picture above is of an annual New Year's fire ritual at Hozenji Temple in Osaka.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Kraftwerk - "Tour de France"
Kicks on our feet: Puma Double-Lace "R-System" RS100 sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Kraftwerk - "Tour de France"
Kicks on our feet: Puma Double-Lace "R-System" RS100 sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Kraftwerk - "Tour de France"
Kicks on our feet: Puma Double-Lace "R-System" RS100 sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Kraftwerk - "Tour de France"
Kicks on our feet: Puma Double-Lace "R-System" RS100 sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Kraftwerk - "Tour de France"
Kicks on our feet: Puma Double-Lace "R-System" RS100 sneakers

Ivan Corsa Photo

Photo gear: Canon PowerShot SD 630 ELPH digital camera
On the iPod: Kraftwerk - "Tour de France"
Kicks on our feet: Puma Double-Lace "R-System" RS100 sneakers

The New York Times has run a story about the final days of street art at the 11 Srping Street building in downtown New York City. During the past four weeks or so the new owners of the building, who will turn the building into a condos, have allowed artists to legally put up art work on the inside of the building, as well as the outside, in an effort to stage one last exhibition this weekend before construction crews start their work. Much of the art on the interior will be concealed behind drywall after this weekend. The building is open to the public Dec. 15 - 17, from 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM. (Tip of the hat to Jess E. for the tip.)

Ivan Corsa Photo

Ivan Corsa Photo

Who or what is "Bunana"? This characiture and typographic illiustration is an intriging bit of paste-up in NoLIta, in the area between the Lower East Side and Soho of downtown Manhattan. The pastel, crayon-like coloring give it a child-like quality. Yet, the subtextual shape is suggestive of something un-childlike

Ivan Corsa Photo

Here's another detail shot of Justink's street art sponsored by the Rheingold Beer Company. The art work can be found on Orchard Steet, between Delancey and Rivington streets, in the hipster haven of the Lower East Side of Manhattan, NYC.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Here's another view of the Nicole duFresne shrine at the southwest corner of Clinton and Rivington streets in downtown Manhattan.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Here's a close up of the shrine marking the site of Nicole duFresne's murder in the Lower East Side of Manhattan last year. A photo of the slain actress has been placed at the center of the shrine.

Ivan Corsa Photo

It's been over a year since the murder of actress and playwright Nicole duFresne. Her tragic, killing happened in the early morning after-hours of January 27, 20005, in the Lower East Side of New York City. The murder was shocking to us in part because it took place just a few blocks away from the former Global Graphica HQ and in part because the area had become mostly a crime-free neighborhood in recent years, especially as the nabe went through rapid gentrification. In the days and weeks that followed, a shrine marking the location of her senseless death began to appear at the southwest corner of Rivington and Clinton streets. This series of images show the makeshift tribute of flowers, candles, messages, mementos and objects left by her friends, family and residents of the L.E.S. Note the pages from New York Post newspaper that have been posted on the wall at the left of the image -- the pages contain follow-up news articles reporting the police capture of Nicole's murderer. (See the New York Times Article about the murder of Nicole duFresne.)

Ivan Corsa Photo

In the Hudson Square area of downtown Manhattan, otherwise known as the far west end of Soho, we found this lightly bombed "No Parking" sign amid the high-end media offices, lofts and luxury condos. What really got our attention is the monster head art in the lower-left corner of the sign. C'est cool, non?

Ivan Corsa Photo

The view looking out toward 18th Street from the alley that runs past Caribou Coffee in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of the American capital.

Background Note
We were out of town visiting Washington, DC last weekend and snapped this series of images in the Adams Morgan district of the Amercian capital. Washington is a famously clean, well-groomed and orderly city (or, at least, it is in most of the city, that is, in those areas where the well-heeled work, live and play). While in Adams Morgan, the only graf we saw was hidden in narrow back alleys. Most of it was aesthetically insginificant, but some, like the throw-ups we found in this alley off 18th Street, across from the Caribou Coffee, was really good, first-rate stuff.

Ivan Corsa Photo

NYC Winter Wonderland 2

Sledders are out in force on Cedar Hill in Central Park, New York City, after a massive blizzard dropped approximately 28 inches of snow.

Background Note
A record one-day snowfall in New York City this past weekend turned Central Park into a winter wonderland, replete with sledders and skiiers. Look in one direction and you could think you were standing in the middle of a remote mountain ski resort. Look in the opposite direction and you see the famous high-rise luxury apartments and condos of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Beautiful.

Ivan Corsa Photo

A record one-day snowfall in New York City this past weekend turned Central Park into a winter wonderland, replete with sledders and skiiers. Look in one direction and you could think you were standing in the middle of a remote mountain ski resort. Look in the opposite direction and you see the famous high-rise luxury apartments and condos of Fifth Avenue in Manhattan. Beautiful.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Richard Gregg is an Englishman living and working near Tokyo, Japan. He took this photo in Havana, Cuba, which is just one of many cities and countries he has visited while on an incredible around-the-world cycling journey that he's undertaken off and on for over a decade. Along the way, Gregg has taken tens of thousands of photos and has exhibited and published his photos along his cycling odyssey. Here is the first in a series of Gregg's photos of street art and urban culture that we will be posting from time to time on Global Graphica. In this image, a huge stencil-like portrait of the late Latin American politcal icon Che Guevara beams above a Lada, an East European car make from the Communist era.

Richard Gregg Photo

In a special double issue that hit stands last week, New York Magazine published a feature under the teaser "123 Reasons to Love New York Right Now." It's, as they say, a keeper. But what we really love about this issue is the magazine cover. There's a photo of a street artist painting a massive line-drawing of a flower.

The flower image is instantly recognizable to New Yorkers, especially downtowners, and anybody who follows street art. The artist is known generally as "Flower Guy." His real name is Michael De Feo, an artist whose work has been exhibited worldwide. De Feo is also the author of "Alphabet City," one of several books on street art recently published in the U.S.

De Feo's flowers have become icons within NYC. Flower Guy's work can be found as massive paintings that appear on sides of tenement buildings and lofts (like the one on the New York cover) and as small wheat-paste posters on post boxes and the bases of lamp posts.

According to British author and graphic designer Tristan Manco in "Street Logos," his ever reliable book on street art around the world, De Feo started creating stencils of moons, flowers and safety pins around downtown New York City in the early 1990's, but locked onto the flower image while experimenting with a paint brush.

In a cheeky touch, the New York mag editors list De Feo as reason "NO. 124." (the cover teaser, as noted above says "123"). Love it.

When the Berlin wall fell in 1989, its pieces -- its concerete bits, chunks and slabs -- ended up as so many souvenirs and art objet for collectors, museums and public urban installations all over the world. The Berlin wall was a long, massive canvas for sreet artists and graffiti writers. Covered in layer upon layer of scrawls, imagery, paint and political messages, the wall was like lonr-running (literally) communal, open-source work of of public art on the West Berlin side. Viewed out of its context far away from Berlin, a slab of the wall functions as a stand-alone piece of art that is a legitimate subject of aesthetic consideration. And it also functions as a historical artifact that reminds viewers of one of the uglier 20 geo-political events of the 20th Century.

New Yorkers have their own slab of the Berlin wall in Midtown Manhattan. This image shows an actual segment of the Cold War barrier on public view behind real-estate developer Jerry Speyer's office building at 520 Madison Avenue. To get to it, you need to access a small, open plaza on the north side of 53rd Street between 5th and Madison avenues. Check it.

Ivan Corsa Photo

Here's another shot of the Berlin wall slab in NewYork that shows a tourist inspecting the wall. This image was taken from an angle and looks out toward E. 53rd Street.

Background

When the Berlin wall fell in 1989, its pieces -- its concerete bits, chunks and slabs -- ended up as so many souvenirs and art objet for collectors, museums and public urban installations all over the world. The Berlin wall was a long, massive canvas for sreet artists and graffiti writers. Covered in layer upon layer of scrawls, imagery, paint and political messages, the wall was like lonr-running (literally) communal, open-source work of of public art on the West Berlin side. Viewed out of its context far away from Berlin, a slab of the wall functions as a stand-alone piece of art that is a legitimate subject of aesthetic consideration. And it also functions as a historical artifact that reminds viewers of one of the uglier 20 geo-political events of the 20th Century.

New Yorkers have their own slab of the Berlin wall in Midtown Manhattan. This image shows an actual segment of the Cold War barrier on public view behind real-estate developer Jerry Speyer's office building at 520 Madison Avenue. To get to it, you need to access a small, open plaza on the north side of E. 53rd Street between 5th and Madison avenues. Check it.

Ivan Corsa Photo

While we're on the subject of spaces and places