JMZ Walls in Brooklyn

On July 8, 2017 By Susan at FindingNYCIn Free19 Comments

There are many different neighborhoods with rich street art traditions in New York City. You might go to Queens, to Long Island City and Astoria, which I’ve written about before here, here, and here. There’s more in the Bronx – as well as Staten Island – and I’ll explore those more in the future in this blog. In Manhattan, you can find murals in Washington Heights (the Audubon Mural Project, which I wrote about here), Harlem (here‘s just part of what’s offered), East Harlem (more on that here), Chelsea, Little Italy, Chinatown, Alphabet City, and the Lower East Side (including the First Street Green, which I wrote about here). And finally, there’s even more offered in Brooklyn – Dumbo (see here), Williamsburg and Bushwick (more on those coming soon), and others.

For this post, I thought I would focus on one particular street art project in Brooklyn, known as JMZ Walls. JMZ Walls is named after the J, M, and Z train lines which run along Broadway in this part of Brooklyn. In fact, you can find all of these murals within just a block or two of Broadway. I’ve also included a few murals from the Dodsworth Street Mural Project, an earlier mural project whose boundaries seem to overlap with JMZ Walls. In fact, it’s really hard to tell where one ends and the other begins.

Here is a description of JMZ Walls by its founders, taken from its website:

JMZ Walls is a group of Bushwick residents who love the diversity and identity of Bushwick. We are committed to providing a unique collaborative experience for artists and our community. We endeavor to seek out available walls for local and global artists to create pieces that will be viewed by the greater Bushwick community. Our goal is to not only beautify our neighborhood, but to provide imaginative works of art the residents of Bushwick would not otherwise have access to. We believe that the streets have the potential to be a gallery to recount the history and progression of New York and the larger global community.

There are so many murals it is impossible to feature them all in a single blog post, so I will concentrate my attention here on my favorites, as well as others that show the diversity of the art work in the neighborhood. Artists’ names – and Instagram accounts, when available – are located below each photo.

Key Detail (Instagram: @keydetail) and Yu-Baba (Instagram: @juliayubaba)

A Visual Bliss (Instagram: @avisualbliss) and Mr. Prvrt aka Justin Suarez (Instagram: @mrprvrt)

MURRZ (Instagram: @_murrz) and JCORP (Instagram: @jcorptm)

Ramiro Davaro-Comas (Instagram: @ramirostudios)

La Femme Cheri (Instagram: @la_femme_cheri) and Kimmy Grace (Instagram: @magicalblahblah)

Tee Marie/Brooklyn Tee (Instagram: @brooklyntee)

Adam Kiyoshi Fujita (Instagram: @adamfu)

Shower Scene from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho – BK Foxx (Instagram: @bkfoxx)

Want to explore the JMZ Walls and Dodsworth Street Murals for yourself? The easiest way to access them is from the J, M, and Z trains. All of the murals I’ve posted photos of here are located off of Broadway between the Kosciuszko Street station and Marcy Street station. You can also access them from the stations in between, including the Myrtle Avenue, Flushing Avenue, and Lorimer Street stations.

Welling Court Mural Project 2016

On July 4, 2016July 4, 2016 By Susan at FindingNYCIn Free14 Comments

Artists: Mike Makatron (@mike.makatron) and Dirt Worship (@dirt_worship)

Street art, by definition, is temporary. Something left exposed to the elements will deteriorate over time, obscuring once clean lines and dulling once vibrant colors. When you come across murals you love, it can be sad to see them fade as the seasons pass. But that reality is made better by another aspect of street art – what is old will soon be replaced by something new, and your process of artistic discovery begins again.

Artists: Chris Stain (@chrisstain1972) and Billy Mode (@billymode)

Such is the case with the Welling Court Mural Project, in Astoria, Queens. In January, I wrote this post about the murals at Welling Court. Most of the murals featured in that earlier post were painted in June 2015. In the past several weeks, Welling Court has become been renewed once again, as artists from around the world descended on the neighborhood to repaint most of the area’s many murals. (I’ve never counted, but I’ve seen estimates that Welling Court has as many as 150 murals!)

Wanting to catch as many artists in action as possible, I made multiple trips to Welling Court in June. And I was in luck! The Welling Court Mural Project hosted its annual block party on June 12, and many artists were painting in the week prior to and after the block party. I returned to the neighborhood again several days later to capture photos of the finished murals as well.

Artists: Chris Soria (@chrissoria), Joel Artista (@joelartista), and Marc Evan (@marcmaniac)

Part of what makes the Welling Court Mural Project so interesting is that you never know what you will see next. The neighborhood has streets that come together at odd angles, and as you turn the corner and look down the next block there may be another four, six, or even more murals. Don’t forget to look up – sometimes there are smaller pieces high above the streets. Glance into alleys and small parking lots; check the sides of buildings as well. Your diligence will be rewarded with artwork a less discerning eye will not discover.

Artist: unknown (will update if I determine identity)

A wide variety of artistic styles and genres are represented at Welling Court. Some work seems more like fine art, while other pieces draw on the gritty, graffiti-inspired form that traces its roots to New York City’s street scene of the 1970s and 1980s. Most artists create their murals using spray paint and exterior house paint, but there are some fine examples of wheatpaste (artwork painted on heavy paper and adhered to the walls with a flour-based glue), ceramic tiles, and other media as well.

Artists: Christ RWK (@chrirwk and @robotswillkill) and Herb Smith (@herb_smith)

Artist: Chris “Daze” Ellis (@dazeworldnyc)

Artists: Katie Yamasaki (@katieyamasaki) and Caleb Neelon (@calebneelonart)

If you wish to explore the Welling Court Mural Project, you can take the N or Q train to the 30th Avenue Station in Astoria, Queens. From the train station, walk northwest on 30th Avenue (the cross streets will get smaller as you go). When you have walked about 10 minutes, you will start seeing murals. The more you walk around the neighborhood, the more murals you will discover!

(I have so many more photos than what I’ve included in this blog – I will be adding them to my Instagram gallery (@findingnyc1) as I have time, so be sure to check it out if you are interested in street art.

The Doughnut Project’s Everything Doughnut

On June 13, 2016June 13, 2016 By Susan at FindingNYCIn Food and Drink17 Comments

I’ve heard intriguing things about the Doughnut Project, a doughnut shop in New York City’s West Village neighborhood, and decided it was time to check it out. Unfortunately, my first attempt ended in failure. I’d decided to go on National Doughnut Day, and by the time I arrived at the shop they had sold out of doughnuts and closed for the day! I should have known that such a national holiday would result in a rush on doughnuts! Not to be deterred, I ventured out again on Friday, determined to not be turned away a second time without my prize. This time, I experienced success.

The Doughnut Project specialized in yeast doughnuts, with flavors inspired by classic food pairings and cocktails. On the day that I visited, they offered a number of tempting doughnuts, including flavors such as salted chocolate with buttered pretzel, lemon with sea salt, olive oil and black pepper, peach pie, beet and ricotta, corn and blueberry, and the maple bacon bar, accessorized with a full strip of bacon on top. They all looked delicious, and I asked which doughnut I would regret if I didn’t try it. Without hesitation, Doughnut Project co-founder Leslie assured me that I must try the everything doughnut.

Now, New Yorkers love their everything bagels, but I wasn’t convinced that this flavor profile made good sense for a doughnut. But I trusted Leslie’s advice and ordered one despite my reservations. And I was glad I did. It might not taste like a traditional doughnut, but it was delicious! The yeast doughnut was covered in a cream cheese glaze, creating the first reference to a bagel traditionally spread with cream cheese (known by New Yorkers as a “schmear”). The baker then liberally sprinkled the doughnut with poppy seeds, pepitas, black and white sesame seeds, a very small amount of garlic, and sea salt. Thankfully the dehydrated onion, so prevalent in everything bagels, is missing here! The glaze adds a light sweetness, which is balanced by the nutty, slightly salty crunch of the seeds. It’s a delicious bite.

Like most doughnut shops in New York City, the Doughnut Project is small – but the store is airy and inviting, with bar stools lined up along a wooden ledge by large windows. The walls are decorated with spray painted graffiti/street art, like this colorful stenciled and spray painted wall by Buenos Aires-born and Brooklyn-based street artist BNS (Instagram: @bnswhat).

So how do you get to the Doughnut Project? It’s located at 10 Morton Street in the West Village. The West 4th Street subway station, accessible by the A, B, C, D, E, F, and M trains, is only a few short blocks away. Don’t wait too late in the day to visit this shop though. The Doughnut Project opens at 8 am Monday through Friday and 9 am on the weekends, but it’s only open until the doughnuts sell out.

Discovering Street Art in Astoria, Queens

On January 24, 2016July 4, 2016 By Susan at FindingNYCIn Free, Tours17 Comments

am_nyc_Welling Court_Astoria — Mural by Alice Mizrachi (@am_nyc), Welling Court Mural Project

Love art but looking for something different to do in New York City? Of course, there are amazing art museums in the city – the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, the Guggenheim Art Museum, the Whitney Museum of American Art, the Brooklyn Museum, the Bronx Art Museum, and the Queens Museum, just to name a few. But New York City is also known for amazing street art and graffiti, and murals are spread across the city. If you appreciate public art in its many forms, a walking tour of of some the city’s murals is a great way to see part of the city for a couple of hours (or more, depending on your interests).

One place where you can view a huge number of murals within a relatively small area is Astoria, Queens. I recently toured the murals of the Welling Court Mural Project, which is located in Astoria. The Welling Court Murals Project has been going on for six years, and each year it gets bigger and bigger – this last year’s project led to the creation of more than 130 murals! It is really kind of magical. Each time I came to an intersection, I could look around the corner and see more murals! There are murals on the sides of buildings, murals in the alleys, even a small poster/mural on the side of a dumpster! Some murals have political messages; others very much come from the graffiti tradition. And the murals encompass a variety of styles guaranteed to satisfy any art lover.

Here are some of my favorites. This first one is a beautiful, powerful mural that focuses on the plight of Yazidi women, enslaved, tortured, and killed by the Islamic State in the Middle East.

edited-Lexi Bella_Danielle Mastrione_2esae_Welling Court_Astoria_photo2 — Collaboration by Lexi Bella, Danielle Mastrione, and 2esae

This next mural is very different, a colorful one by street artist Andy Golub. His work is distinctive – so it’s easy to recognize his work no matter where it’s found. In fact, if you look closely as you walk through Welling Court, you will see another of his murals (but in a different set of colors). See if you can find it!

There’s this beautiful mural by Dasic Fernández.

And this geometric work by Jonathan Villoch, who goes by the street name Depoe (Instagram account @depoh).

Mural by Jonathan Villoch, street name Depoe

Here’s another colorful, fun piece. It’s a collaboration by Australian street artist Crisp, who is currently based in Bogotá, Colombia, and Praxis, a street artist who works in both New York City and Bogotá.

crispstreetart_praxis_vgz_Welling Court_Astoria_photo2 — Mural collaboration by Crisp and Praxis

Here’s a view with a line of murals, one after another.

Here’s an example of one of the graffiti murals. This one is by street artist Isoking.

edited_isoking_welling court_astoria_photo2 — Mural by street artist Isoking

There’s also this Marilyn Monroe mural, painted by street artist JC.

Street artist Sinned painted this unique mural.

sinned_nyc_welling court_astoria — Mural by street artist Sinned

And this final one, painted on a gate by Bishop203, also known on Instagram as @lowbrow_bk – it’s bright color will capture your attention. (There’s another one as well, located close by. You won’t be able to miss it!)

Mural by Bishop203 (JAT1) (Instagram @lowbrow_bk)

There are so many murals at Welling Court that I could only feature some of them here. If you are interested in seeing more, I’ve posted a lot more photos here on Instagram. You should also remember that street art is usually temporary. Because the murals are outside, they are weathered by the rain and snow. Eventually, most will likely be painted over with new murals – which means that you probably have a limited time to see many of the murals I’ve included here, but there will be more to view in the future. In fact, that’s one of the things that makes street art exciting. You can go back again and again, and yet see something new each time!

If you’re planning to tour the Welling Court Mural Project, make sure that you wear comfortable shoes. The murals are in a concentrated area, but you will be walking quite a bit. The good news is you’ll be so caught up looking at the murals that you won’t even notice how much you’re walking!

If you are traveling by public transportation (my preference, as you know!) you can take the N or Q train to 30th Avenue in Astoria. Although these lines start out underground in Manhattan, they move above ground once they’re in Queens, so it gives you another perspective of the city. From the train station, walk northwest on 30th Avenue (the cross streets will get smaller as you go). When you have walked about 10 minutes, you will start seeing murals in the distance. The more that you walk around the neighborhood, the more murals you will discover!

“Daze” Exhibit at Museum of the City of New York

On December 13, 2015December 13, 2015 By Susan at FindingNYCIn Museums1 Comment

Looking for art that is quintessential New York City? Look no further than the art of Chris “Daze” Ellis, currently on exhibit at the Museum of the City of New York. Daze’s work is a marriage of street and studio art, drawing upon his subway graffiti art experience as a teenager in the 1970s. The City Museum’s exhibition spans Daze’s career in includes a range of his work throughout the years. Called The City is My Muse, the exhibit really demonstrates how an artist can draw inspiration from New York City life in all its manifestations.

There were several paintings inspired by Coney Island, and those paintings spanned different time periods in Daze’s art as well. Here’s one titled “Cyclone Drop,” painted in 2011. This painting shows the spray painting technique more prevalent in street art, as well as the detailed oil and acrylic work more commonly done in the studio. The result: as I looked at the painting, I felt like I was almost on the roller coaster myself.

DSC03171_edited

Some of Daze’s paintings portray aspects of the character of Times Square, with its feelings of frenetic energy and bright colors. “The Duel,” painted in 2012, is one example of those works. The painting features two things I most associate with Times Square – yellow taxis and neon billboards.

DSC03173_edited

Other paintings seem to draw from Daze’s past as a street artist, such as this one with a subway station setting, titled “Whitlock Avenue” (2010). I particularly liked the technique used on the man’s body, where the paint ran down the canvas.

DSC03179_edited

These are just a few of the pieces that you can see if you visit the exhibit. If you have the chance, I definitely recommend that you visit the Museum of the City of New York before The City is My Muse ends on May 1, 2016. (There are also some other great exhibitions at the museum, all with a New York City connection.)

How can you get to the City Museum by public transportation? To travel by subway, take the 6 train to the 103rd Street Station. You can also get there by bus – just take the M1, M3, or M4 to Madison Avenue and 104th Street, and then walk one block west to Fifth Avenue. While you are in the area, check out the nearby El Museo del Barrio as well. You get tickets to both museums with your entrance price, and El Museo de Barrio has some really good exhibits as well.

Finding NYC

Tag: graffiti

JMZ Walls in Brooklyn

Welling Court Mural Project 2016

The Doughnut Project’s Everything Doughnut

Discovering Street Art in Astoria, Queens

“Daze” Exhibit at Museum of the City of New York

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: