Attention New Orleans: Get Ready to Swoon
I’ve been obsessed with street art for as long as I’ve lived in New York. I can remember walking around the East Village in the nineties spotting OBEY GIANT stickers and posters everywhere 
and trying to figure out what it all meant. Years later, Shepherd Fairey is probably second only to Banksy as the world’s most-recognized street artist thanks to the campaign poster that helped galvinize Obama’s base during the 2008 election; but he’s far from the only one transforming wheat paste and paper into transitory, unexpected moments of joy. (And isn’t that the best thing about street art? Stumbling across a thing of beauty–and often provocation–left as a gift in the most unlikely of places, and suffering at the mercy of weather, municipal agencies, and competing provacateurs.)
Among my favorite artists working today is Swoon, a former painting student at Pratt and a Brooklyn resident, she makes life-size wheatpaste prints and paper cutouts inspired equally by the German Expressionists and folk art.
Swoon Poster Art
She’s also known for her more interactive and site specific projects, such as The Miss Rockaway Armada, in which a group of performers and musicians floated down the length of the Mississippi River on rafts made from scavenged and recycled materials. Now she’s turned her eye to New Orleans and along with a group of artists and musicans across the nation is setting out to create a permant sculputural installation out of the remains of a Creole Cottage in the Bywater District. Called The Dithyrambalina, it will look like a house, function like a musical instrument, and be open to all. And while it’s meant as a permanent gift to the city, like the best street art, lord knows how its fortunes will bear out…
Scale Model of the Dithyrambalina
http://www.dithyrambalina.com/blog/
and here:
Thursday Night with friends
Last night we celebrated the publication of the new edition of THE FAITH OF GRAFFITI with legendary photo journalist Jon Naar, the consummate gentleman. Brooklyn’s Powerhouse Arena played the gracious host, and the room was packed with Jon’s fans, New York graffiti lovers, and most importantly, a large contingent of old school graffiti writers. Wicked Gary, Snake 1, Butler and many of their 1970s tagging crew were on hand to reminisce about the heyday of New York graffiti that Jon’s photos captured.
After Jon’s impressive slide show, moderator Chris Pape–the graffiti writer known as Freedom–led the assembled graffiti writers in a spirited discussion of their experiences. It was clear that old turf battles remain–Brooklyn, Bronx, Harlem and Manhattan were all represented–but in the end, the writers seemed to enjoy a chance to revisit the old days. It was especially fun to see the writers scrambling to tag their friends’ copies of FAITH, almost like high school kids on yearbook day.
Thanks to Susan König at Powerhouse for the photos.
Thanks to Bear Flag for the wine!
The Faith of Graffiti
The Legendary Book is Back in Print: 12/22/09
It may seem surprising now, but there was a time when graffiti wasn’t the venerated subject of gallery shows and graduate school dissertations. In 1974, it was a fact of life for the urban commuter, and a quick way to land yourself in lockup for the writer. As Norman Mailer wrote in THE FAITH OF GRAFFITI:
There was a panic in the act, a species of writing with an eye over one’s shoulder for the 
oncoming of the authority. The Transit Authority cops would beat you if they caught you, or drag you to court, or both, and the judge donning robes of Solomon would condemn the early prisoners with the command to clean the cars and subway stations of the name.
The Name is what early graffiti was about. There was no Banksy, with his critically praised, tongue-in-cheek urinating bobby and “balloon boy” prognostications. These were kids–generally marginalized and without a voice–who were taking it upon themselves to express their ego with a can of spray paint. When Mailer pressed an early writer, Cay 161, for the essence of graffiti, he replied:
The name is the faith of graffiti.
Hence an iconic book, featuring Jon Naar’s legendary photos of New York’s most prolific graffiti artists–their work, their neighborhoods, the writers themselves–had a name. It became a classic, then fell out of print. Now it’s back, with dozens of additional photos, and this time it’s born into a world that sees graffiti much differently. The subway cars have been scrubbed clean, like most of New York, thanks to Mr. Giuliani and his urban soldiers’ efforts. But after 35 years, this early graffiti has gained a nostalgia patina, showing up in museum shows, on billboards, and on street gear like these incredible t-shirts from the Stüssy x Jon Naar collection (thanks to our friends at Stüssy for the fantastic video above as well).
Graffiti: Art? Crime? Both? There’s still no definitive answer, and you’ll have to read Mailer’s insightful essay to get his particular take on it. Regardless, it’s come a long way from the streets and subway stations of the Bronx, and THE FAITH OF GRAFFITI is an illuminating and beautiful look at graffiti’s humble origins.
Stay tuned for more FAITH OF GRAFFITI news in the coming weeks.
