Monthly Archives: October 2005

JFK Wheat-Paste, Soho NYC 2

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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

JFK Wheat-Paste, Soho NYC 1 [Detail]

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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

Brawling Boys Wheat-Paster

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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

NYC: “Monsieur A” Face by Andre 3

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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

NYC: “Monsieur A” Face by Andre 2

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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

NYC: “Monsieur A” Face by Andre 1

andre_nyc_mulberry_1.jpg

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

Facade of Apple Store Soho, NYC 2

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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

Facade of Apple Store Soho, NYC 1

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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

Photo Art at Bloomingdales, Soho, NYC

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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

Stop Sign Stickers, Soho, New York 2 – Context

Stop Sign Stickers, Soho, New York 2 – Context

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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

Stop Sign Stickers, Soho, New York 1 – Detail

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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

Tokyo: Tokyo Tower View

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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

I Love You, NYC

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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

Bronson Versus Deniro – Karbon Kopy Killers by Ars

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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

Surface To Air, Paris – Storefront

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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

Surface To Air, Paris – Logos

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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

Surface To Air, Paris – Signage

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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

Walk This Way – 3

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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

Walk This Way – 2

walkthisway_2.jpg

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

Walk This Way – 1

walkthisway_3.jpg

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