Elbow Toe

eleven-spring-book-cover

To celebrate the launch of the new book from Wooster CollectiveELEVEN SPRING: A CELEBRATION OF STREET ART, artist ELBOW-TOE remembers the historic event and its impact on the world of street art.

I was talking to a younger artist the other day about street art that I was involved in as opposed to murals — which she considers street art — and she said, “Oh, you mean vandalism.”

How did we get here?

elbow-toe-11-spring

I recall the moment that I knew I wanted to be a street artist – I was at work, and one afternoon, my friend pointed me to this post on a blog I had never heard of called Wooster Collective. It was an image by an artist who had photoshopped street signs, so that they looked transparent from the correct angle. It was absolutely magical. How did it get there? Who was the artist? I had seen some street art around over the years: WK Interact when I was in school in the early 90’s and around the early 2000’s quite a bit of NECKFACE around the corner from a print shop I was using.

wk-interact-11-spring

As I began to explore the archives of Wooster Collective, I saw that there was in fact a community that had built up around these random acts of art that I had paid little heed beyond the internal “huh, that’s interesting.” What was truly fascinating about the work was that, aside from a moniker, the work was anonymous. In that anonymity there existed a mystery. It elevated even the most banal work, purely by the act of risk that was involved. And for the first time in over a decade in the city, it pulled me out of my tunnel vision and got me looking at the walls as spaces to be activated.

11-spring-street

The Wooster Collective site was such an impeccably curated space that it got people outside of the movement to give it their attention. Having known the Schillers over those early years, I, of course, was head over heels when I was asked not only to be involved in their secret project but to be given a coveted space on the main floor. At the time I don’t think any of us realized that this exhibition would have the impact that it did.

sheard-fairey-at-work-11-spring

11 Spring was truly a transformative exhibition; it reflected the very transition that would occur wholeheartedly in this movement just by walking from the outside of the building to the inside. The exterior of the building still had the raw power of getting your work up. The work was often messy and might last only a few hours before being covered by a new piece. Contrast the organic energy of the ever-changing composition on the shell with an impeccably curated show inside the five floors of a gutted building, where all these artists were able to truly flex their technical and creative muscles without concern of the work being damaged or transformed by others.

barnstormers-11-spring

It was this mercurial quality of traveling from the outside to the inside and then back out again that gave this show such power in my opinion. I am not sure that there is a direct correlation of this show to the mural program that followed, but it certainly opened a larger audience up to the possibilities of their public spaces’ potential.

I will always cherish the experience.

judith-supine-david-zucco

Note: With its outstanding documentation, along with an introduction by Shepard Fairey and an afterword by JR,  ELEVEN SPRING: A CELEBRATION OF STREET ART captures an important moment in the history of the movement. Tomorrow, Tuesday, November 29 — from 6:30 to 8:00 PM — Marc and Sara Schiller, along with FAILE, Lady Pink, Michael DeFeo, and WK Interact, will be at the Strand for a special signing and celebration of the book’s launch. You can buy tickets to the event here

Images 

1.  COVER, ELEVEN SPRING: A CELEBRATION OF STREET ART

2.  ELBOW-TOE  (BRIAN ADAM DOUGLAS), EVERYBODY’S GOT ONE, MADE WITH WOOD BURNER, YARN, AND PAINT. PHOTO ELBOW-TOE

3.  WK INTERACT, THE FIRST ARTIST INVITED INSIDE THE BUILDING. PHOTO JAKE DOBKIN 

4.  11 SPRING STREET, THE DAY OF THE OPENING. PHOTO JAKE DOBKIN 

5.  SHEPARD FAIREY, HARD AT WORK, MAKING IT LOOK EASY. PHOTO WOOSTER COLLECTIVE 

6.  BARNSTORMERS’ COLLABORATION WITH PAINTINGS BY Z¥$, DOZE GREEN AND KENJI HIRATA. PHOTO JAKE DOBKIN

7  JUDITH SUPINE AND DAVIDE ZUCCO (R3KAL), THERE IS HELL IN HELLO. PHOTO DONALD DIETZ 

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This is the sixth in a series of occasional posts featuring images of New York City’s doors that sport everything from tags and stickers to sophisticated images.

Elbow Toe

Elbow-toe-street-art-door-nyc

RAE

rae-bk-street-art-door-nyc

Dain, Dee Dee and more

dain-and-dee-dee-street-art-nyc

Kenny Scharf

Kenny-scharf-door-midtown-nyc

And seen awhile back, Art Is Trash

art-is-trash-williamsburg-door

 Photo credits: 1, 2 & 4 Tara Murray; 3 Dani Reyes Mozeson & 5 Lois Stavsky

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This is the sixth in an occasional series featuring images of males who surface on NYC open spaces:

Icy and Sot at the Bushwick Collective

"Icy and Sot"

Jason Coatney in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

"Jason Coatney"

Never in Bushwick

Never

El Sol 25 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

"El Sol25"

Abstrk in Bushwick, Brooklyn — in this past weekend from Florida on the 004 East Coast tour

abstrk

Elbow-Toe in Red Hook, Brooklyn

"Elbow-Toe"

Sien on Bronx Rooftop

Sien

Bradley Theodore in downtown Manhattan

"Bradley Theodore"

Photos of Icy & Sot and Abstrk by Tara Murray; Jason Coatney, El Sol 25, Elbow-Toe and Bradley Theodore by Dani Reyes Mozeson; Sien by Lois Stavsky

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"Joe Iurato"

Intrigued by the small artworks that surface unexpectedly thoughout New York City, Amy Young has curated a delightful exhibit featuring small works by over a dozen artists.  Here’s a sampling:

Another cut-out by Joe Iurato

"Joe Iurato cut-out"

Elbow-Toe, close-up

"Elbow Toe"

Cake

Cake

Hellbent

Hellbent

Jaye Moon

"Jaye Moon"

Other featured artists include: Jilly Ballistic, C215, Clown Soldier, Enzo and Nio, Gilf!, Jay Shells, Shin Shin and Wing.  A closing party will take place tomorrow, April 4, from 5-9pm. The works will remain on exhibit through Sunday at R. Jampol Projects, 191 Henry Street between Clinton and Jefferson on the Lower East Side.

Photos: 1. courtesy of  the gallery; 2. 3. & 5.  Sara Mozeson; 4 & 6, City-as-School intern Dea Sumrall

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This past weekend — on one of winter’s chilliest days — we hit Bushwick, where we caught some new images and revisited others.

New from Brooklyn-based Elbow Toe with Veng‘s signature birds

Elbow Toe and Veng

Belgian artist Roa

Roa

4BurnersDasic and Rubin with Madrid-based Okuda

Dasic, Rubin and Okuda

Berst tribute to NEKST, RIP

Berst

Brooklyn-based Never

Never

Brooklyn-based Bast

Bast

Bast, close-up

Bast close-up

Photos by Lenny Collado

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While Elbow Toe’s lyrical artwork and poetic statements surface in many NYC neighborhoods, they seem to survive the elements best on the gritty doors and abandoned spaces of Brooklyn’s Red Hook district.  Here are a few recent sightings:

"Elbow Toe street art in Red Hook, Brooklyn"

More after the jump!

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