Art By Jason Naylor, Photo By Gail
While it’s been hot and steamy for a few weeks already, the official first day of Summer, June 21st, has arrived at last. Despite the inherent stickiness of a NYC summer it is, hands down, my favorite season of the year. Summer ushers in a feeling of joy and freedom that cannot concisely be put into words, and I am so ready to launch into three months of crazy fun. Feel free to share the reasons why you love summer, in the comments!
Saturday night was a big night of firsts for me: not only did I come upon this amazing Bugs Bunny mural by Jerkface for the first time (it’s been up since 2020), but I had my first Oh K Dog — a hotdog with cheese deep fried in a crispy rice batter — so delish! Check them both out on Ludlow Street just below Orchard!
Photos By Gail
When David Bowie was alive, he spent his time in NYC living in the SoHo neighborhood; specifically, in a luxury apartment building located at 285 Lafayette Street. Since Bowie’s passing in 2016, various pieces of street art have popped up on the block as a continuing homage to the late icon. The mural above is the latest. At first glance, it looks like just a random collage of images with the featured one being some sort of monster or alien being. But if you stop to take a closer look, you can’t miss the visage of David as Ziggy Stardust over on the right.
Not only that, lyrics from the song “If You Can See Me,” (off The Next Day) are visible just below Ziggy’s chin. Other Bowie motifs include an astronaut (possibly a nod to Major Tom / “A Space Oddity”) as well as the Planet Earth, which is mentioned in the chorus of that same song. Circling back to the blue Alien creature, that could refer to “Loving The Alien.” As far as the preponderance of mushrooms and butterflies, they could be references to drugs or spirituality, but your guess is as good as mine. I wasn’t able to identify the name of the artist anywhere on the piece, and a Google image search turned up zero results. Feel free to leave your thoughts about this enigmatic piece of street art in the comments
All Photos By Gail
A couple of variable factors kept me from getting the best possible shot of this mural depicting two of my favorite cartoon characters — Ren and Stimpy — by graffiti artist Just Another Toy (@justanothertoy1). First, it was a very overcast day, and second, there were several vehicles parked at the curb, which obscured a full-on shot of the complete piece. That is for another day perhaps.
The pink tag placed between Ren and Stimpy is not vandalism covering anything, but rather the artist’s signature, which figures prominently on most (read: all) of his pieces. The two other tags — Gold Poo and Hudson — refer to other street artists.
This piece (circa 2019) is part of the Bushwick Collective and is located on Scott Avenue between Troutman and Jefferson Streets.
Photos By Gail
I don’t own any pets, but I sometimes look after a stout English Bull Dog named Mac, who belongs to a neighbor. Mac is an extremely loving and intelligent dog, and I am so fond of him that I miss dearly him whenever I see another Bull Dog on the Street. Of course, Mac came to mind immediately when I came upon this mural of a Blue Bull Dog lounging in the grass during a recent Graffiti Art Tour in Bushwick, Brooklyn.