HAND PAINTED SIGNS NYC

Last week, a friend, gave me  a tip on a great old sign she had seen out on Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn. Of course, this fed into my ongoing obsession with hand painted signs and I went out right away. The "right away" part is the result of too many instances of arriving after something has been torn down,painted over, or just disappeared. Unfortunately, this is all too 
familiar with old painted signs as well as the many small businesses affected by the churning gentrification everywhere. 

All of this does make me appreciate even more the idiosyncratic humor and artistry of so much in the urban landscape that has survived.

Here's a small batch from the past year …

all photos ©Ken Brown

"LOOP DE LOOP"

          "Loop de loop"

                                                  animation ©Ken Brown

ARE YOU GOLDSWORTHY?

Recently, we had the good fortune of attending a weekend event in upstate NY called, ARE YOU GOLDSWORTHY?

The exercises involved the creation of artwork that used living and natural materials, (fieldstone, leaves, thorns, flowers,water etc.) much in the spirit of Andy Goldsworthy, the noted British artist who uses much of the same in his wondrous, and often extremely ephemeral productions.

The weekend was a project of Franklin Chthonics, <franklinchtonics.com>, an organization in upstate NY. that creates events and spaces to improve our understanding and appreciation of how the natural and social history of woods, waters, fields and structures can work in a particular location.

all photos ©Ken Brown

              and a bonus animation of a house devoured by hydrangeas by Lisa Crafts at https://vimeo.com/138469320

"RANDOM WEIRDNESS" NYC

     I do love the moments of random weirdness that NYC supplies in abundant measure …

Huh!?

Breezy point

land of the giants

taking a break in Brooklyn

talkin' trash

all photos ©Ken Brown

'HOT TOWN, SUMMER IN THE CITY"

    "Hot town, summer in the city, back of my neck gets dirty and gritty…" The Lovin' Spoonfull

all photos ©Ken Brown

"BIG BALLET" JR IN NYC

This past week, I came across a large wheat paste project in process, just a few blocks from home. As it turns out, a small wedge parking lot had been cleared and the estimable French street artist, JR was working on a piece celebrating his collaboration with the New York City Ballet.

JR and the New York City Ballet star, Lauren Lovette, 

(pictured on wall), get ready to go up for some pasting.

A day and a half later, a wonderful piece of urban ballet enters the landscape.

Located at Church and Franklin St in Tribeca

also, recently completed several blocks north on Lafayette St near Prince

in Soho

all photos ©Ken Brown

"OTHER" STREET ART OF NYC

           In an attempt at some semblance of organization for my many years of street art    documentation, I have used the usual categories of aerosol spray, wheat paste, stencil, etc., but the street gives up many of its best surprises under the category of "other".  This would include, figures woven onto fences, clay characters, crocheted objects, sculptures of cast off junk, or collage wood walls.

                                  Mossy moose, Dumbo

crochet sled, Bushwick

                                 Snow White in tiles, Lower East Side

                                  Urban bird in Williamsburg

clay figures in Williamsburg

                                  crochet woman on a fence by the East River in Greenpoint

                 "Stickman"on the road, Lower East Side.  I have found variations on this figure
                   around downtown NY for over a decade.

                                 Crochet whale rider on a fence in Bushwick

                                       Headless gardener on a fence, West Side, Manhattan

                                Cast off wood wall sculpture in Welling Court, Queens

                                  Crochet figure on a garage mural near the L train in Bushwick

Applied clay piece on a wall in Williamsburg

ALL PHOTOS ©KEN BROWN