dreXeL's Blog - Date Archives
Thoughts, Musings, Ramblings, Etc...
Dumbo Arts Festival…ness
This weekend is the DUMBO arts festival and I’m actually quite excited about it. I just brought three paintings over to the studio where they’ll be on display. And I FINALLY got to meet Anthony and James Cospito, my total heroes since I’ve lived in Brooklyn. Anthony runs the Brooklyn Art Project website and the two of them together run StrutNYC and they are absolute STARS. It’s so awesome to finally meet people you’ve admired virtually.
Anyway, come to DUMBO this weekend. The streets will be full of people and art and music and love and spray cans and mayhem. No no no. It’s just an art festival. Don’t be afraid… 😉
Click the pic for deets, luv.
XO Erica
Edie
Here’s a new piece I finished 2 days ago. 16″ x 20″ spray paint on canvas. It miiiiight be in the DUMBO Arts Festival this weekend, that remains to be seen. At least 1 piece will be, just not sure which one yet. I’ll go over all those deets with the powers that be today sometime. Speaking of which, if you’re around the Brooklyn area this weekend, come to the DUMBO Arts festival. For those of you who maybe don’t know, DUMBO stands for “Down Under the Manhattan Bridge Overpass”. So you know where the festival is. The brooklyn side of the Manhattan bridge. You can’t miss it. It’s on the water, it’s cobblestone and it’s beautiful. There will be a TON of musicians, djs and artists displaying their work and doing their thing. It’s definitely the thing to be doing this weekend. And although I’m just one tiny artist with one tiny painting in a giant festival, I’m very proud to have been asked to be part of it. It’s a big deal to me. Oh, if you ARE coming, take the F train to York Street. Then follow the crowds of people. You can’t miss it.
Erica XO
“Layers of History” strikes again
I know I’m always going on about how awesome layers are and how much I love Brooklyn because of this…layers of paint on walls, graffiti done and redone and redone again, etc. An old poster on top of a new one. But this particular layer I just saw a few minutes ago made me throw up in my mouth a little.
Some of my favorite graffiti in all of New York just happens to be on the outside of the building I live in…it starts at the Roebling Tea Room and goes around Metropolitan to the Roebling side. Many different artists contributed to making that corner completely amazing and famous. It’s now been covered up with beige on one side and mauve on the other. The manager at the restaurant on the corner of Hope and Roebling seems to think that they’ll make more money if they remove the graffiti from their building. But what they don’t seem to realize is that their joint is empty because it has lousy food and worse decor. Now they don’t even have a cool exterior.
This building is FAMOUS for its graffiti. In fact it was a main reason I wanted to live in that building. I just can’t believe it. And I had to vent. So uh…thanks for listening. And here are a couple pics of art that you will never see there again…
First NYC Group Show
My first group show since I moved here last spring was Friday at Gitana Rosa Gallery, 19 Hope Street in Brooklyn. It was a live exhibition featuring street artists creating eco-social/political/urban art. Some of these artists in the show are people whose work I’ve followed since moving here like Cern and Ellis G. It was amazing getting to meet them, work with them, etc.
The artists in the show were *sic*, Cern, Ellis G., Ben Angotti, Leif McIlwaine, Katherine Novick, Narendra Haynes, Tom Billings, Robin Cleveland, Zahra Tangorra and me. Zahra and I have plans to collaborate on some paintings soon, as well.
Here are a couple pics, before, during and after the show.
Me, working on my mural.
The completed BummerArmy.com anti-Hummer mural, 9′ x 12′
opening day.
Ellis G’s contribution to the street out front of the gallery. He had lots more amazing shadow drawings inside too.
the after party…Williamsburg represent…
In Honour of Carlucci
I just wanted to make sure and send proper condolences to the parents, friends and family of Carlucci Bencivenga, aka Elf One MPC. He was a famous and wonderful artist from the Bronx, his work has inspired more people that we’ll probably ever know, but thousands upon thousands that we DO actually know. He passed away on September 3, 2007. R.I.P.
Elf’s work…
Elf in action!!!
Portrait in honor of Carlucci, at Howl festival yesterday…
Carlucci’s parents. I spoke with them yesterday at the Howl festival. <3
We’ll miss you, Elf.
Upcoming Shows
Just so you know, I have my first two group shows since moving to New York coming up. The first is this Friday night. Local artists and graffiti artists together painting walls and work also on display inside in the Gitana Rosa gallery 19 Hope Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211. Second show is 28-30 September at the “Art Under the Bridge” festival in Dumbo (Brooklyn). If you can make it, please do.
Here’s my newest painting. It’s called “The Reunion”
More news coming soon….
XO Erica