Cut It Out. Paste It Up.

Street artist Judith Supine is one of the highlights of any highly graffitied wall in New York. His work is a combination of collages of found images, illustration, painting, enlarging, x-acto work, and some paste. Here, let him (yes, by all visual accounts, Judith is a him) show you how he does it. Now, don't be scared of his face, I think he's wearing little facial feature cutouts to hide his identity. Ok, look:



Mr. Judith often uses found fashion images in his art, but they always come out a little on the disfigured side, which I love. He distorts the pretty to make another kind of animal entirely. Here are some of his other works as shown on Streetsy.com:

In true streetartist fashion, there is quite an aura of mystery around Judith Supine. The only details I could find on the Supine were via a write up in a bit of New Image Art's materials from a group show Supine took part in. It says he couldn't talk until a month after his 17th birthday. Until that time he communicated in grunts, squeaks, and drawings which were fastidiously saved by his mother. Other than that? He live in Brooklyn. That's all we got. You can get a glimpse into his private studio via a piece from Arrested Motion that ran early in the year.

Supine's work in progress via Arrested Motion.

Supine's been bombing the city like crazy lately, doing unprecedented work in the bowels of the sewers and a lake in Central Park.

Supine's pieces in an NYC sewer and a like in Central Park, again via Arrested Motion.

All the extra effort is raising awareness for the artist in anticipation of his upcoming solo show at New Image Art. It's in LA, but I'm sure the internets can provide you with coverage of the amazingness which is sure to come.

Want more Judith Supine? Check out his Flickr photostream.

Lather. Rinse. Repeat. Ah, Brainwash.

One of my favorite parts of urban living is the ever-presence of street art. In New York we are lucky enough to have some of the world's best streetsters bombing the city on a regular basis. So much of the graffiti here is clever and even, dare I say, poetic. There's skill to the max on view on a regular basis, and it's usually conveyed with sly wit and smart humor. Most of the pieces have so much commentary wrapped up in something that's simply cool to look at. Last night I passed a piece that paired classic Marilyn Monroe poses with two faces of the new pop cult.

In giant paste-ups Angelina Jolie and Madonna were layered into Marilyn busts. The pieces were tall and towering over the cobbled street corner home. When I got to my home, I did a little research and found the piece on the awesome street art site, Streetsy. The work belongs to French filmmaker turned graffiti maverick Mr. Brainwash. Here's a sampling of his stuff:

Mr. Brainwash is not without his detractors. He is often criticized for being a copycat. He began his artistic endeavors as a cameraman/filmmaker following street artists in an attempt to make the ultimate graffiti documentary. In the process he got bitten with the bombing bug and started stealthily pasting stencils of his own onto buildings. His work quotes others, like Banksy and Warhol, with a heavy hand. But I think there's room on the block for more than one artist. So, keep your eyes peeled for giant pop figures weilding clever messages and decide for yourself whether you want to be brainwashed or not.

Teach Shirts

It's time to get wild like they did back in the day.

The creators of Emperial Nation clothing are out to prove that you are never too cool to get schooled. In fact, they'll school you and make you cool(er) all at once. Started by a team of business-minded streetart buffs, the company takes inspiration for its graphic tee designs from the annals of history. Their collections are organized like history books. Topics include the Civil War, Harlem Renaissance, and the French Revolution. The rebel spirit is alive and well in their subject matter, so there's no need to worry about boring your friends with your dusty old lessons. There are plenty of gun-toting revolutionaries, rise-up types, and system stompers on the tees to keep things lively.

Tees featuring Five Points founder Paul Kelly (l) and Civil War soldier Andrew Benton (r).

Fraterni-tee: a print of Alpha Phi Alpha.

A healthy respect for the past is an important asset at any time, but our knowledge of history is usually used as a way to keep things from repeating again and again. In these times Emperial Nation's historical tees can be seen as sartorial calls to action. Need some inspiration to fight the good fight? Look down at your chest and see a portrait of Alpha Phi Alpha, the first African American inter-collegiate fraternity who formed to fight racial discrimination at Cornell Univeristy in 1906. Need to do tough battle with someone or something? Check your chest and get a glimpse of Civil War soldier Andrew Benton. Feel like going gangster on someone (figuratively of course)? Wear your mugshot tee featuring a cop-captured portrait of Paul Kelly, who founded the Five Points Gang and ran New York City until the fuzz caught up with him. Maybe a mugshot tee isn't the most positive place to get inspiration for action, but it certainly is badass and when the cookies are crumbling all over, who doesn't want to feel a little badass? As long as you keep the violent tendencies to the front of your shirt, it's all good. Besides, maybe Kelly's mug will deter people from messing with you, then it's definitiely all good. You want your own histor-tee, don't you? Visit the Emperial Nation website and scope their stuff. Priced at $37 to $41 they can be a reasonable, historical investment in your future.

Flashy.

Here's a great street piece I came across by paster/photographer/billboard trixter Fauxreel. It was up in NYC sometime last year and I love it:

Yay for the trashy lingerie cruvy girl combo. Catch more of Fauxreel's excellent work here and here.

Get Schooled: Stencil Your Own Tees

This won't be the easiest thing you ever do, but I'm thinking it may be the coolest. Yes, the coolest thing that you ever do. Let street artist Gigantic help you up your cred by teaching you how to stencil your own tees.

Listen, times are tough. You need to beef up that resume. How impressive will it be to employers that you can stencil them a t-shirt, any t-shirt? Very, very impressive. Now get to work!

All Good in This Hoodie

I love art. I love fashion. When I get to wear art, it makes me happy. Los Angeles-born renegade street artist David Choe has illustrated some hoodies and T-shirts for graffitti-based gear store Upper Playground. This one is my favorite:

It's $60, but getting to be a painted billboard for Choe is priceless. He paints walls, makes toys, sculpts things, takes photographs, and stars in documentaries about his instant gratification geared, hell-bent-on-destruction life.

Here's some of his work:





The Choe documentary Dirty Hands: The Art and Crimes of David Choe is currently touring around the country. Here's the trailer:

I love when he double fists the spray cans, and when he jumps on top of moving vehicles. Amazing.

Keeping with today's VOTE initiative, here's Choe's portrait of Obama:

VOTE!

Make it Big

I had family in town this weekend, and my favorite part of hosting guests in the big city is always the opportunity to see this amazing place with a fresh set of eyes. When I'm with someone who's new to New York the cabs seem faster, the lights look brighter, and the buildings feel taller. One of the tall buildings my Uncle passed prompted a question that I couldn't answer: "Do they really hand paint those huge advertisements on the sides of those big buildings?" I had to admit I wasn't quite sure, and I promised to investigate.

Turns out they do. And by they, I mean the Sky High muralists at old-school outdoor ad company Colossal Media. Yes, they hand paint those multi-story high billboards. Remember when this mammoth Madonna for H&M ad stared down into Soho?

They did that. The process takes about a week of non-stop painting from atop self-constructed scaffolding. The talented painters don safety harnesses and have earned the nickname "wall dogs" for being roped to walls for hours like Lassies on leashes. The company has very successfully revived what was a dying art, and have become the premiere poster painters in America. Many fashion houses have utilized the young, Brooklyn-based company's services to create one of a kind, work of art advertisements. Besides H&M, Diane von Furstenberg and Kenneth Cole have also maximized their exposure with Colossal's help.

Watching these guys work is fascinating, whether it be little by little, witnessing their patience inspiring progress on a daily walk to work, or seeing things sped up in one of the time lapse videos the company posts to their website.

Check out the Sky High team in action:

Impressive, no? Turns out the company also does their part for street art. They were behind the execution of the cheeky New York City Rat murals designed by preeminent street artist Banksy.


Love the tromp l'oeil wall painter in the piece above.

Some hardcore graffiti purists think the co-opting of the art form for commercial purposes is disrespectful to the movement, but I have to say if you're going to shill for the man, why not do it with real talent and incredible craft? The sheer scale of these projects makes them awe-inspiring. The level of detail makes them masterpieces.

Images: ColossalMedia.Net

Graffiti, Full of Grace

My longest lasting love affair has been with the city of New York. I've been a peripheral city girl my whole life. Some of my favorite childhood memories are of the heart-racingly exciting moments of emergence from the tunnels that funnel Jerseyans into the belly of the big apple beast. Besides for people watching, street art hunting was and is my favorite New York activity.

Mui Mui's SS '09 show presented some graffiti graced dresses, pleated and column-shaped with spray painted markings.

The dresses made me think of that uniquely New York combination of urban grime and glittery glamour that feeds my schizo aesthetic sense perfectly. One of my favorite street artists that shares that same poetic grit is Swoon. She's a Brooklyn-based artist that posts life-sized wheatpaste prints all over the city. Her pieces are usually giant lithographs carved from wood or linoleum blocks that are rolled with ink, overlayed with paper, and walked on to produce enormous prints. Once put up in public spaces the pieces are open to interaction, evolving and morphing into collaborative works, added to by any passerby bearing paint.

Take a walk through The Village, Chelsea, Soho, or the subway system and you'll see Swoon's work. She's incredibly prolific.

In these videos from an artist's talk she gave at the MoMA, Swoon presents her pieces, and lets you peek in on her process.



Want to learn more? Check out Streetsy.com and Woostercollective.com for a comprehensive guide to the wonderful world of New York street art.

Images: Mui Mui: Marcio Madeira for Style.com, Swoon shots: Streetsy.com

Shalom Three Ways.

So, shalom (hello) I am back from an amazing visit to Israel. It was one of those trips that leaves you changed. Words can't approach accurate descriptions of all the beautiful natural sites I saw, the holy spots that were so many channels for prayer, or the people I met who were generous and full of faith. At any given moment I was either looking at some breathtaking natural wonder (like the sunrise from Mt. Masada above), witnessing spirituality in action, or eating life changing pita and hummus. Those activities were on a loop. It was glorious.

It was so hard to say shalom (goodbye) to Israel, but I've taken a lot with me including some great photos:

Street art in Tel Aviv





Beach Views and Flowers in Tel Aviv




Sugar Rush Markets




Doorways



While this post isn't necessarily fashion related, I hope it brings you some small taste of the beauty I soaked up. Shalom (peace) and happiness. (:-)