Photography: Painted Streets

Nice work by my brother Christopher Stribley aka PlasticRobot: He recently debuted his book of street art photography on Blurb.com. See it/buy it here.

Outsiders NY

It turns out the JR mural I've been photographing lately is part of a street art exhibit entitled "Outsiders NY," which just opened in that building and will be there until October 12th. I walked through it late this afternoon and photographed many of the works on display, including the detail from a JR photomontage above.

Outsiders, NY is on display at 282-284 Bowery in New York from September 26th until October 12th. Open 11am - 7pm daily.

Also, I noticed I've accumulated so many images of Obama in street art , so I created a new set called precisely that.

Mind-Blowing Street Art

I walked down to Houston tonight and was confronted with this, the most gargantuan piece of wheat paste art I've ever seen. I hope some photos, too, which I'll post if they came out OK. Took them in the dark with taxis whizzing by. It's simply jaw-dropping. At Houston and Bowery, dwarfing the Shep Fairey art on the same corner.

Update: Added some photos to Flickr I took this morning (Saturday, 20th), including the one above. Of course, it's already been tagged - over night, I think.

Update 2: Apparently the creator of the above wheat paste, a French photographer named JR, recently completed a number of similar efforts in Rio De Janeiro. According to Boston.com's The Big Picture photo blog, "JR has focused attention on women - relatives of victims of violence - by displaying their large portraits in one of Rio de Janeiro's hardest hit neighborhoods." I'm sure his work on Houston must be part of a similar effort. The Wooster Collective has more extraordinary photos.

There's also a Web site dedicated to explaining the project. There JR explains:

The Women project wants to underline their pivotal role and to highlight their dignity by shooting them in their daily lives and posting them on the walls of their country.

On the other hand, by posting the same images of these women in Western countries, the project allows everyone to feel concerned by their condition and connects, through art, the two different worlds.

A remarkable project.

Also, JR's site, which currently feature's the Houston mural on the homepage. And a Flickr photo by lucky_dog of the wheatpaste actually going up.

A Conversation with Jim Power, Mosaic Man

"R.I.P. NYC," says the script on tombstone drawn in chalk on the sidewalk outside the Gap on Broadway. "Died of no funding." In larger lettering beneath that "Mosaic Man's Trail" and then "EMPOWERJIMPOWER.com."

Residents of the East Village probably know Jim Power by that more colorful attribution "Mosaic Man." He's responsible for the trail of some 80 mosaic-covered lamp poles covering New York's Lower East Side, East Village, and Greenwich Village. He started decorating them over 20 years and today he's repairing one, which pays homage to police and firemen who served on 9/11. He says he found a photo in a book about the East Village, which is helping him reconstruct some of the details of this particular mosaic. I mentioned to him that he could probably find many photos of his work on Flickr. Yes, he confirmed, he has many photos online.

Mr. Power hopes to raise funds, which would allow him to continue restoring his work across this large swathe of Manhattan. His work is mentioned in guidebooks, but has never been officially recognized by the city.

Related:

• Web site: empowerjimpower.com
• Complete photoessay on Flickr
• A version of this story also appears on CNN's iReport.com

Propaganda Indeed

The WSJ's Christina S.N. Lewis writes about Shepard Fairey and others' iconic depictions of Obama in "Picturing Obama" and especially how Fairey's have skyrocketed in value since they were initially distributed. Originally hailing from Charleston, NC, Fairey is best known as the creator of the Obey graffiti campaign, as well as his propaganda style.

Time magazine photoessay featuring Fairey's art, as well as other prominent street artists.

Hillary & Obama

I've added several new photos to my Photostream on Flickr, including this one of Hillary and Obama graffiti on the corner of Houston and Bowery. That large one is a Shepard Fairey, and there's a different one by him across the street. It's a colorful part of Manhattan to live, the East Village, and I love it for that.

You may have guessed that I like street art: I also recently added a Graffiti & Street Art set on Flickr.