Photo By Gail
She had blue skin,
And so did he.
He kept it hid
And so did she.
They searched for blue
Their whole life through.
Then passed right by –
And never knew.
Shel Silverstein (September 25, 1932 – May 10, 1999)
Spotted On a Utility Pole Near Stuyvesant Cove, NYC. Street Artist Unknown.
Photos By Gail
Ah, pandemic-themed street art: I love it. Slum Sex (spray-painted sometimes in Pink, and sometimes not) is a tag by renegade street artist Schizo 27 (@shizo27), who is a member of the 2wo 7even Bandits; a crew that actually rejects the name ‘crew’ and instead refer to themselves as a team of art ‘Bandits.’ This, I also love. All members of the 2wo 7even Bandits add the number 27 to their tags.
The 2wo 7even Bandits occasionally hold free Street Art Shows, where they paint discarded items (also known as trash) and buyers can pick up anything that strikes their fancy. Follow them on Instagram (@2wo_7even_bandits), for more information!
Photographed in Freeman Alley!
All Photos By Gail
It is appropriate that we were on our way to eat after checking out Beyond The Streets, when we passed right by this Warby Parker eyewear store, the exterior of which just happens to be completely covered with the distinctive artwork of Stephen Powers (aka ESPO), whose work we had seen in the exhibit!
The attention-grabbing two-story mural by the graffiti and sign-painting legend (which covers all four sides of the building) makes the store very easy to spot from a distance! We didn’t go in, but I understand that Powers contributed to the store’s interior decor as well.
Check your Instagram feed now for shots of your friends posed in front of this wall.
Warby Parker By ESPO is Located at 124 North 6th Street (Corner of Berry Street) in Williamsburg Brooklyn, NY.
Photos By Gail
Since the 1980s, Deborah Kass has riffed on modern artworks by famous white men to reflect her experience as a Jewish lesbian. Here, Kass remakes Robert Indiana’s LOVE (itself a coded homage to queer male desire) with the twinned words Oy (a Yiddish exclamation of alarm or bother) and Yo.
The artist considers herself to be a “total, absolute, 100 percent provincial New Yorker.” This work uses the city’s culturally specific, yet universal lingo to communicate the collective pride and exasperation of living here. Originally conceived as a monumental sculpture, it was installed for limited time in Brooklyn Bridge Park. OY/YO (2017) became an instant New York icon and photo op for tourists and residents of al backgrounds, for whom the pluralist spirit of the double-sided interjection resonated deeply
Photographed in the Jewish Museum in Manhattan. Note that This Work is Currently On View In Front of The Brooklyn Museum (as of 10/1/18).
All Photos By Gail
Bruce Nauman’s neon sculpture, Human Nature / Life Death (1983) is a circle of words corresponding to the defining contradictions of human existence — life and death, love and hate, pleasure and pain — are trisected by the words “Animal,” “Human” and “Nature.”
In the aggregate, the words form a colorful, illuminated peace symbol. Human Nature / Life Death is anything but serene or amicable, however, and not only because of its content. As the words flash and darken erratically, Nauman’s neon devolves into a jumble of disjointed signs that break the continuity of the composition and jerk the eye across the wall.
Photographed in The Met Breuer in Manhattan.
Photo By Gail
Photographed on the west side of Fifth Avenue somewhere between 17th and 19th Streets.
Photos By Gail
Available in a signed, limited edition of 120 pieces, Made in China (Pink) by Chinese artist Sui Jiango was photographed in the Taglialatella Galleries on Tenth Avenue between 23rd and 24th Streets in the Chelsea Gallery District.
