Color, Geometry and Pattern on the Streets

Color, Geometry and Pattern on the Streets
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Art from the streets has been heralding a new eye-popping geometric disorder that can now fairly be called a movement.

With roots in recent art history and the rhythms of the street, artists are giving themselves over to pungent color, pattern, grid inspired line, and a sharp edged abstraction. No one can say what has moved the conversation toward this aesthetic -- it all mimics the repetitive patterns that are found in nature as well as the cool symmetries programmed by human industry. These modern alchemists from across the globe are somehow pumping the Street Art scene with an oxygen-rich supply of lifeblood and a variety of possible directions to explore.

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartaugustinekofiechorboogiejaimerojo0712web.jpgAugustine Kofie and Chor Boogie in Miami for Primary Flight. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

An uncanny blending of the cans, both the graffiti tradition and the Street Art practice each find common ground to be a place where tagging and Pop irony all dissolve together into form and shape. On walls around cities where these two practices were once polarized, we're seeing that everybody can drop their guard and just paint, bro.

In these images collected by photographer Jaime Rojo over the last couple of years, you can see elements of mid 20th century modernism, sci-fi fantasy, retro-futurism, imperfect folk patterning, and the distinct echoes of Wild Style. The common thread in this new discovery of graphic geometry is not just what it is, but as it pertains to art on the street, also what it's not.

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartmcityaugustinekofiejaimerojo0712web.jpgAaron De La Cruz, Poesia, Augustine Kofie, Sueme and Ensoe. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartbarrymcgeejaimerojo0712web.jpgBarry McGee in Miami for Primary Flight. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartdavidellisjaimerojo0712web.jpgDavid Ellis in Brooklyn. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartisaiascronjaimerojo0712web.jpgIsaias Cron in Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetart4bcruoscreujaimerojo0712web.jpg4B Cru, OS Cru in Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartzehpalitodasicjaimerojo0712web.jpgZeh Palito and Dasic in Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartpushjaimerojo0712web1.jpgPush in Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartpushjaimerojo0712web5.jpgPush painting on the LA MoCA wall for the Art in the Streets show. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartartistunknownjaimerojo0712web.jpgAn Unknown Street Artist in Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartspencerkeetonjaimerojo0712web.jpgKenton Parker in Miami for Primary Flight. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartanthonysneedjaimerojo0712web.jpgAnthony Sneed in Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartclarerojasjaimerojo0712web.jpgClaire Rojas in Miami for Wynwood Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartsonnijaimerojo0712web.jpgSonni in Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartrrobotsjaimerojo0712web.jpgRRobots in Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartmomojaimerojo0712web.jpgMOMO in Baltimore for Open Walls Baltimore. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartaakashnihalanijaimerojo0712web.jpgAakash Nihalani in Brooklyn for the Crest Art Show. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartartistunknownjaimerojo0712web1.jpgAn Unknown Artist in Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartassumevividastrofocusjaimerojo0712web2.jpgAssume Vivid Astro Focus in Miami for Wynwood Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartcekisjaimerojo0712web.jpgCekis in Queens, NY for Welling Court. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartfailejaimerojo0712web.jpgFaile tiles in Brooklyn. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartjasonwoodsidejaimerojo0712web.jpgJason Woodside in Manhattan for The New Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartmayahayukjaimerojo0712web.jpgMaya Hayuk in Baltimore for Open Walls Baltimore. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetarthellbentjaimerojo0712web.jpgHellbent in Queens, NY for Welling Court. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartjoshvanhornejaimerojo0712web.jpgJosh Van Horne in Baltimore for Open Walls Baltimore. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartoverunderjaimerojo0712web.jpgOverunder in Albany, NY for Albany Open Walls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

2012-07-11-brooklynstreetartjayemoonjaimerojo0712web.jpgJaye Moon in Manhattan. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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This article was also posted on Brooklyn Street Art.

Read all posts by Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo on The Huffington Post HERE.

See new photos and read scintillating interviews every day on BrooklynStreetArt.com

Follow Jaime Rojo & Steven Harrington on Twitter and http://brooklynstreetart.tumblr.com/.

CORRECTION: A previous edition of this article attributed image 2 and image 11 to incorrect artists. We regret this error.

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