gaia reinvents nature

One of my favorite Brooklyn-based, but Baltimore-bred, artists was in town recently. Gaia opened his first west coast show at Gallery Heist on May 15th. Like most street art openings, it didn’t take long for some of the work to pop up around the city. Today, I tracked it down.

Sutter & Taylor

Valencia (between 23rd & 24th)

O’Farrell & Jones

I definitely missed one of the locations, but I was pumped that these two were still up and in good condition. The show came down earlier this week, but I’m hopeful that his success in the bay area will open the door to some more NYC talent.

See the rest of my photos here, including more from Blek le Rat, Hush and Hugh Leeman.

Gaia x NohJColey in BK

This is awesome. Thank you Brooklyn Street Art.

Billboard Fight

The Public Ad Campaign is back at it again! This past Sunday Jordan Seiler, and about a dozen other people, hit the streets to eliminate illegal wild postings (most likely organized by the NPA.) Apparently Mr. Seiler’s public art collective has gained some momentum since their April whitewashing attacks that resulted in nearly 120 “beautified” billboards across the city. This time around the group work was re-posted within hours by “men driving pickup trucks with New Jersey license plates.” Sketchy.

Even though there was a bit of a tug-of-war going on, and despite the fact that a couple of people landed in the clink, I think you can score this a win for the PAC. They got some sweet press out of their efforts, especially Gaia, and hopefully they will be able to convince members of the City Departments of Buildings that illegal postings are not, and will not be tolerated by New Yorkers who care enough to preserve the communities in which they live.

This also brings up an interesting debate over public space and what constitutes art. But since I’d just side with the artist anyway I’m just gonna leave that one alone.