My trip to New York was interesting, I was expecting to see some street art, but I was surprised by the amount and the quality of what I saw. Most of the work I spotted was in the Bushwick Collective in Brooklyn, but there was plenty to be seen in Harlem, Midtown and Manhatten.
One of the highlights for me was the discovery of a body of work by Brazilian artist Eduardo Kobra who utilises bright colours in his kaleidoscopic large scale murals to be found dotted around the city.
Kobra Murals
World Trade Centre
All across the construction zone at the site of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan, more than 20,000 square feet of corrugated metal is being transformed by murals by a number of street artists.
Midtown & Manhatten
Dotted around the city I spotted many fine murals, some of which have been a feature for many years.
Brooklyn
Travelling to Brooklyn by metro train took us to Brooklyn and we were given directions by some local cop on how to find The Bushwick Collective, a project which brings together street artists from around the world, legendary NYC graffiti artists, and local Bushwick talent. As we went down Knickerbocker Avenue, we were met with artworks at almost every street corner, Jim was delighted to find a mural of Mario and Luigi, one of his grandson’s favourites.
The Bushwick Collective
Murals by some of my favourite artists, like Adnate, D-Face, Li-Hill, Dublin artist Solus, Brazilian Sipros with his Mad’s Alfred E. Neuman like characters, and Londoner Phlegm could be seen and while there we met up with Michel Velt, a gifted muralist from The Netherlands. It was nice to wander around the streets, stopping for a nice lunch in the Sea Wolf Seafood, Bar, looking over many of the works.
This was a great place to visit, you could see signs that the art is ever evolving, there were a bunch of guys preparing large walls, presumably for “The Bushwick Collective Block party“, an annual art event similar to our own Yardworks, combining graffiti, street art, music, food trucks and local vendors, it was just a shame we were leaving New York before it.
Jim's travels 