So, this past weekend, I took the family to New York to celebrate my wife’s 50th birthday (er, I mean, 35th birthday!) with family and friends (we live in South Florida, you see, but grew up in New York). We had a lovely dinner party on Saturday night but I hadn’t really made any plans for the following day. Fortunately, my street art loving little brother suggested we check out the first edition of the Urban Art Fair at Spring Studios in New York.
The fair, which kicked off on June 29 and ran through July 3, had its first and second editions in Paris in 2016 and April 2017 and is dedicated entirely to celebrating urban art and graffiti. With more than 20 international galleries hailing from Paris, Berlin, Hong Kong, Miami, and my old stomping grounds of the Bronx, I figured this was an ideal way to spend a free weekend afternoon in NYC.
So we headed downtown to Spring Studios in the heart of Tribeca with Mrs. Perez, my teenage daughter, but without my Lumix GH4 and my usual assortment of lenses. I wanted to travel light so I trusted the camera on my HTC 10 to get the job done (did you know it can shoot in RAW?). It did.
Here are a few images from the first edition of the Urban Art Fair in New York City – enjoy…
“Preservons La Creation” by French artist Sebastien “Mr. D” Boileau. Made of upcycled spraycans, the image of the white-bearded man only shows up when you photograph it with a cellphone camera. The painting will set you back a cool $120k…
NYC street artist DAIN
“Merde in USA” by French artist Sebastien “Mr. D” Boileau
Italian artist Tomaso Albertini uses angular segments of cardboard to create his work…
Mauritian (an Indian Ocean island nation) artist Gael Froget
“Tomato Soup” by French street artist Pimax
Me and the family admiring the work of the Bronx’s own John “Crash” Matos
Series of photographs by Henry Chalfant, an American photographer most notable for his work on graffiti and hip hop culture…
Urban art lovers enjoying the collection of art and photography…
“Lost Values” by Los Angeles based artist Kaï Aspire
No urban art fair would be complete without the work of England-based artist Banksy
“Moving Forward” by NYC based artist Logan Hicks
Mrs. Perez admiring the work of French-born, Los Angeles-based street artist Thierry Guetta, aka Mr. Brainwash
British artist Prefab77
“Head-in-the-wall (child)” by American artist Mark Jenkins
“Freedom” by Romano of the French street art collective Le Mouvement
Mural by Paris-based street artist Hopare
Assorted works by iconic American artist and social activist Keith Haring {RIP}
“Sobre la resistencia” by Spanish artist Mesa
French artist Nowart
Alicia Keys by French street artist Noé Two
Irish artist Fin DAC
John Lennon by French artist French artist Nowart
A pair of paintings by French street artist Seaty
Urban fashion also on display…
View from above…
Live painting by French street artist Noé Two on the roof of Spring Studios
Views from the rooftop…
For an art lover like myself (and my family), the Urban Art Fair in New York was a lovely way to spend a few hours on what was a lovely summer day and an overall lovely weekend. Watch for it next year…
Love street art as much as I do? Check out my NYC street art documentary films “The Candle” (the inspirational story of how NYC street artist Marthalicia Matarrita and her brothers overcame poverty and harsh living conditions through their passion for art) and “GRAFSTRACT: The Bronx Street Art Renaissance” featuring urban artists SinXero, James “Sexer” Rodriguez and legendary Bronx graffiti artist john “Crash” Matos.
