UR NEW YORK—Street-Art’s favorite Collective

By: Jona Jaupi

 

Ur's in-house studio. Photo by: Jona Jaupi
Ur’s in-house studio. Photo by: Jona Jaupi

“It was different, it was rebellious, I mean it was everything.” Fernando Romero, 36, said, on the art of graffiti, as he lit his Marlboro Red cigarette. “It was a special breed back then, almost an organic cultivation,” Mike Baca, 30, interjected. Although their teen-age years as vandals were not easy, today, those endeavors have taken Baca (aka 2ESAE) and Romero (aka Ski) to great lengths.

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One-year Anniversary: Death of 5 Pointz

By: Jona Jaupi

5 Pointz mid-demolition. Photo by: Jeremiah Moss.
5 Pointz mid-demolition. Photo by: Jeremiah Moss.

Editor’s note: In light of the nearly one-year anniversary of the guerrilla white-washing of 5 Pointz, I am doing a special article on this.

It was almost one year ago that commotion broke out on 45-46 Davis Street, due to the guerrilla whitewash of the iconic 5Pointz building for the purposes of building a $400 million development project. This outdoor art exhibit lived a life of 12 years as the only legal aerosol outlet in New York City, displaying mural pieces all around the 200,000-square-foot factory building.

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Royce Bannon, an artistic force from Harlem

By: Jona Jaupi

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Royce Bannon, Photographed by Ari bernstein for the “Trapped Project.” 2014

 

He can be found in pop-up shops and galleries all around the city. His infamous faces, containing “emotive eyes and razor sharp teeth,” as described in his website, are more than likely splattered around walls in your neighborhood. So, who is the man who has been painting the monsters around this city?

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