Here's our 2013 wrap-up featuring favorite images of the year by Brooklyn Street Art's Jaime Rojo.
When it came to choosing the 112 images for the video that capture the spirit of the street art scene in '13, we were, as usual, sort of overwhelmed to comb through about ten thousand images and to debate just how many "legal" versus "illegal" pieces made it into the mix. Should we include only images that went up under the cover of the night, unsanctioned, uncensored, uncompromised, unsolicited and uncommissioned? Isn't that what street art is?
Right now there are a growing number of legal pieces going up in cities thanks to a growing fascination with street art and artists and it is causing us to reevaluate what the nature of the street art scene is, and what it may augur for the future. You can even say that from a content and speech perspective, a sizeable amount of the new stuff is playing it safe -- which detracts from the badass rebel quality once associated with the practice.
These works are typically called by their more traditional description -- murals. With all the street art/graffiti festivals now happening worldwide and the growing willingness of landlords to actually invite "vandals" to paint their buildings to add cache to a neighborhood and not surprisingly benefit from the concomitant increase in real estate values, many fans and watchers have been feeling conflicted in 2013 about the mainstreaming that appears to be taking place before our eyes. But for the purposes of this roundup we decided to skip the debate and let everybody mix and mingle freely.
This is just a year-end rollicking street art round-up; a document of the moment that we hope you like.
Ultimately for BSA it has always been about what is fresh and what is celebrating the creative spirit -- and what is coming next. "We felt that the pieces in this collection expressed the current vitality of the movement -- at least on the streets of New York City," says photographer and BSA co-founder Rojo.
It's a fusillade of the moment, complete with examples of large murals, small wheat pastes, intricate stencils, simple words made with recycled materials or sprayed on to walls, clay installations, three dimensional sculptures, hand painted canvases, crocheted installations, yarn installations etc... they somehow captured our imaginations, inspired us, made us smile, made us think, gave us impetus to continue doing what we are doing and above all made us love this city even more and the art and the artists who produce it.
Brooklyn Street Art 2013 Images of the Year by Jaime Rojo includes the following artists;
A Dying Breed, Aakash Nihalini, Agostino Iacursi, Amanda Marie, Apolo Torres, Axel Void, Bagman, Bamn, Pixote, Banksy, B.D. White, Betsy, Bishop203, NDA, Blek le Rat, br1, Case Maclaim, Cash For Your Warhol, Cholo, Chris RWK, Chris Stain, Billy Mode, Christian Nagel, Cost, ENX, Invader, Crush, Dal East, Damien Mitchell, Dase, Dasic, Keely, Deeker, Don't Fret, The Droid, ECB, el Seed, El Sol 25, Elbow Toe, Faile, Faith 47, Five Pointz, Free Humanity, Greg LaMarche, Hot Tea, Icy & Sot, Inti, Jilly Ballistic, John Hall, JR, Jose Parla, Judith Supine, Kremen, Kuma, LMNOPI, London Kaye, Love Me, Martha Cooper, Matt Siren, Elle, Mika, Miss Me, Missy, MOMO, Mr. Toll, Nychos, Okuda, Alice Mizrachi, OLEK, Owen Dippie, Paolo Cirio, Paul Insect, Phetus, Phlegm, Revok, Pose, QRST, Rambo, Ramiro Davaro, Reka, Rene Gagnon, ROA, RONES, Rubin, bunny M, Square, Stikki Peaches, Stikman, Swoon, Tristan Eaton, The Lisa Project 2013, UFO 907, Willow, Swill, Zed1, and Zimer.
Read more about Banksy's last day in New York here and our overview of his residency in the essay "Banksy's Final Trick" on The Huffington Post.
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A version of this article is also posted on Brooklyn Street Art.
Read all posts by Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo on The Huffington Post HERE.
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