Read: Street Art New York

With Banksy recently making TIME‘s 2010 Most Influential People, everyone knows that street art is a big deal. But street artists and longtime fans must now face the ever-present and ironic cultural dilemma, where can an underground movement go once it’s no longer underground? Searching through the good, the bad, the originators and the impostors can become overwhelming with increased popularity, especially if you’re new to the scene. Steven P. Harrington and Jamie Rojo, authors of Brooklyn Street Art and founders of BrooklynStreetArt.com, provide newcomers and street art buffs with a vibrant look at the urban art revolution happening on the streets of New York today in their new book  Street Art New York.

New York is a street art Mecca, boasting a vast outdoor gallery which encompasses walls, fences, sidewalks, and just about any other available surface. Featured in this dynamic collection are approximately 200 images of works by exciting newcomers and “old masters,” including New Yorkers Swoon, Judith Supine, Dan Witz, Skewville, and WK Interact, LA’s Shepard Fairey, Brazil’s Os Gemeos, Denmark’s Armsrock, France’s Space Invader, C215, and Mr. Brainwash, Germany’s Herakut, and London’s Nick Walker and the infamous Banksy. Quotes from the artists provide fresh insights into the cultural history and impact of this art form. Their observations show how older artists are providing inspiration to a younger generation and reveal how the establishment is taking notice of street art’s appeal as the advertising world, and visual culture in general, cull ideas from these images. A foreword by Carolina A. Miranda, author of the blog C-Monster.net, rounds out this compelling portrait of the state of urban art in one of its most important and supportive communities.

With Street Art New York, Harrington and Rojo provide a comprehensive guide to street art for both longtime fans and those new to the art form. The pages are filled with large, color images collected off the beaten path since 2001. Which lets you know, these guys aren’t just jumping on the newly popular street art wagon, they’re the real deal.

176 pages with 200 color illustrations
Hardcover
7 ¾ in. x 9 ½ in
Prestel

Swoon

by: Brent Carter and Tricia Rock

Gaia and NohJColey Share “Mutual Discrepancy” Mural in Brooklyn

“Last Friday two young and hungry New York Street Artists combined their artistry, critical intellects, and kinetic energy (and questionable dancing skills) to help define street art for a new generation on the cusp of the 2010’s.

“On a 30 foot by 8 foot luhan-wood billboard in Brooklyn, Gaia and NohJColey brought their A Game to the street and auspiciously stretched the definition of wheat-pasted smart-aleck wall-wrecking.

“Both New Yorkers, they communicated since Thanksgiving via email while Gaia was in school in Baltimore. They traded sketches, ideas, pictures, opinions – and when Gaia’s winter vacation started, they hung out at each other’s studios and kitchen tables planning the collaboration. Both guys had labored over their hand drawn and hand painted pieces for few weeks, so when it was game day, it really felt more like graduation.” (source: brooklyn street art)

See more work by Gaia here
See more work by NohJColey here

posted by: Harold Johns III

Meet Street Artist Dick Chicken

Street artist Dick Chicken, also known as Richard Poultry, has generated some serious buzz for his phallic-faced chicken image that has popped up all over New York in the form of stencils,  posters, tags, stickers and drawings. The artist recently took time off from his street art campaign to talk with Playboy about where the idea of Dick Chicken came from, what he thinks about his meteoric rise to fame in the art world and why he has to work “twice as hard”  as everyone else.

Distasteful, down-right dumb or wickedly witty, whatever your view of Dick Chicken’s work one thing is clear, he has no plans of stopping anytime soon.

posted by: Harold Johns III