Soho Bob Selling His Photos In Soho 1991

It's been a long while since l posted on this blog and the photo above as well as a few other things have kept me away that l will tell you about here and now. First of all, after my last post, l realized there wasn't much to add about street art/graffiti now that it has become mainstream. l started the original "Graffiti Observer" almost 20 years ago, as a way of promoting respect for the value of street art. And, as l indicated in my last post, my goal has essentially been realized.  Communities throughout the United States are scurrying about looking for the best street artists to use for Community Development projects and certainly, in Miami were l live and began my crusade, STREET ART IS KING.

As for the picture above, yes that is me over 25 years ago selling photo blowups of Soho, NYC photography which l did summers for three years from 1991 thru 1993.  l did a bang up business those summers in Soho and even wound up having two books published of this work, but the following year l opened a gallery in my retirement home area and so my Soho street gallery was no more and l began concentrating on Street Art and working my gallery, a big indoor gallery, in South Beach, Florida. As it turns out, last year l learned my beautiful Soho photography has historical value and a large collection of this work has been accepted into the permanent collection of The New York Historical Society Museum & Library. Also last year, my early South Beach photography was accepted into the permanent collection of the History Miami Museum. .So you see, in addition to having little more to say about street art/graffiti, other things have been occupying my mind and time.  Thank you for your interest in Street Art and bearing with me, and that, starting with the first post of this blog, l contributed to your knowledge of this fascinating art form.

For more, check my companion blog http://bobedelsonstreetphotographer.blogspot.com

Street Art Big Time In Miami

If you live in Miami, or visiting same for a reasonable amount of time, you are very likely to notice that "street art" or "graffiti" has become a major attraction... bringing scores of pedestrians, and the traffic that brought them, into the former neglected, low rent industrial north part of downtown Miami now called Wynwood. And it should be. It is the grandest outdoor show of the talents of many of the greatest "street art" artists in the world, covering buildings for over 50, square blocks. It has become more accepted by the public, and through them by those who control the streets & walls. Very definitely something to see. For a sample of what you would see check out my video of the Wynwood street art during Basil Miami 2011art happening.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOT0Zzw0-kg&feature=youtu.be

What irony.  Fifteen or so years ago, l published a piece in my e zine on my website (sohobooks.net/graffitiobserver/archives/miamiartmassacre} showing very accomplished street art on a great number of buildings in the area now known as Wynwood, and the very same buildings with the street art painted out, before & after...with the after showing slivers of the former artworks at the top & bottom of walls painted out, where the "killers'" paint brushes hadn't quite blotted out the work that once was there. Around the same time, one of the MSG group's members was arrested for his graffiti work. But l must give a lot of credit to the local Miami Fox channel's show "Deco Drive" for doing a segment on my then recently released street art book along with MSG members painting a magnificent Alice In Wonderland mural. they were painting on a 29X100 foot wall on N13th Street, Miami, a derelict area at that time; a passerby was asked about the mural, essentially work that gets graffiti artists arrested for. He said it helped to beautify the area & he appreciated having it in his neighborhood. It took awhile for That man's sensibility to get across, but thankfully, it did.

It also should be mentioned here that the" New Times" website has a great article about the current street art scene in Wynwood 

"Graffiti" In The New York Times

In my former blog post l showed a few examples of street art photography taken from the pages of The NYTimes to pose the question "Banksy in Venezuela...?" Perhaps even more interesting is that The NYTimes has used street art photography in it's paper a great many times. Below are just a few examples, in addition to those shown in my former post.

Banksy in Venezuela...doing Chavez???

It's been awhile since my last post, but finally found an interesting set of observationns that fit here. The following photo was in the New York Times the other day as part of a story about the death of Chavez and the impact on Venezuela. Notice the stencil of Chavez on the wall amidst graffiti writing...then check out the photo below that one, also from the NYTimes, this used in a story a week before about the confirmed Banksy image stolen off a wall in London, England. Similar, eh?

Note the use of stencil to create the image in each wall graphic, a technique used extensively by Banksy. BUT, it must be said that it is not yet known who did the stencil of Chavez.  It is an interesting puzzle that has been posed before... and a year or so before in the NYTimes. (see image/article below.)

2011 Basel Miami Street Art

This past December the cities of Miami & Miami Beach held the worlds'  largest art festival; it included and surrounded Art Basel Miami. In addition to the many large organized art fair and gallery exhibits in both cities, the streets north of downtown Miami (Wynwood Arts District) were turned into outdoor street art venues. Early Sunday morning on the last weekend for the festival, before most people were awake, and in the early morning light, l flitted about theWynwood area and photographed the mostly new work there...and created the slide show presented here, using the effects found on Apple's IPhoto. Check it out (close to 100 great shots.)

More Street Art Than You Can Imagine

If this blog has whet your appetite for more street art graphics, l urge you to go to one of the best archives of this art; it also including articles from the original e-zine "Graffiti Observer". 
                                              See www.sohobooks.net
                               We welcome your comments and critiques.

two of the best "pieces" l've ever seen

varieties of graf

for purposes of this blog & to eliminate confusion about what kind of street art l'm writing here about, l'll call the varieties of graphics produced on exterior walls "graf". in the posts below l've presented three general categories, or really four; "writing and stencils" contains a photo of writing & stencil combined, whereby the writing is little more than just words or scribbles written in unadorned line form; the "tags" are adorned writing, often the names of graf writers' groups, so adorned way, though beautiful, they are often difficult to read, and it is what most think of when they hear the word "graffiti" since it was the type of graf that first  gained attention, on subway cars in NYC in the 1970s & 80s; "stencils", are just that, created in a studio and then spray painted onto a wall so a black image results; this is the main type of graf depicted in the documentary film - "Exit Through The Gift Shop" - and used mostly by the two currently most renowned graf artists in the world - Fairey & Banksy. "pieces" are more depictions of things, e.g., cars, and people, and have a great deal of variety, e.g., the top "piece" shown is an illusory shadow, the second is a realistic face painted on a metal storefront shutter, the third is done to be so realistic that you have the illusion the people are real, and the fourth is a very realistic interpretation of famous people. directly to the right, are three more examples of graf l'm not sure how to classify, but certainly deserving of being in the family of graf

"pieces"

tags