Hrag Vartanian

Interview

Graffiti Legend Daze Explains the Importance of Martin Wong's Graffiti Collection

During my recent visit to Write of Passage, I encountered graffiti legend Chris "DAZE" Ellis, who allowed me to interview him about another graffiti legend, Martin Wong.

News

Banksy's New Work Reflects on Banality of Evil, Benefits Charity [UPDATE 2]

There are three Bankys left this month, and today's work is in the window of the Housing Works thrift shop in Manhattan's Gramercy neighborhood.

News

Coney Island's Banksy Robot, Busy Weekend in Brooklyn [UPDATE 2]

What a weekend. After Friday night's unveiling of Banksy's new "Reaper" animatronics art performance on Houston Street, two text-based pieces appeared the following days in Brooklyn, and — surprisingly — they were largely left alone by taggers and haters, while today's stencil piece of a spray-can-w

Opinion

Required Reading

This week, Banksy hates the new Freedom Tower, North Korean visions of China, Turkey's ban on the letter "q" is over, Byzantine in DC, a black art show that marginalizes black artists, and more.

News

Banksy's Friday Night Surprise Looks Creepy [UPDATE 3]

Banksy's latest looks spooky.

Art

Visions of the World in Pieces

Rarely have I spent so much time looking in amazement at the skill of an artist to transform paper as I did with Brian Adam Douglas's excellent How to Disappear Completely at the Andrew Edlin Gallery.

News

Banksy's New Piece Is Waiting at a Strip Club for Love [UPDATED]

Today's Banksy is almost too easy to find. The image already reveals that is placed on the side of the Hustler Club on Manhattan's West Side, which is located on Twelfth Avenue between 51st and 52nd Streets.

Opinion

Banksy's Growing NYPD Problem [UPDATE 2]

Today's announcement on Banksy.co.uk points to a larger obstacle that Banksy will be facing going forward with his New York residency, the New York Police Department's draconian anti-graffiti policies.

Art

Willie Cole's High Heel Fantasias

Finding beauty in the commonplace — some may even say banal — is one of artist Willie Cole’s strengths.

Opinion

Required Reading

This week, artists and gentrification, Sandy's art show backlash, Gitmo's artist/reporter, the war on immigration, brutalism at colleges, genius/tyrant/collector J. Pierpont Morgan, and more.

News

Banksy Collaborates with Os Gemeos in Chelsea [UPDATE 3]

The new Banksy piece is on West 24th Street, no Easter egg hunt involved, and it's a previously known work that he created with the Brazillian twins Os Gemeos.

News

Banksy Goes Japonaiserie in Brooklyn, Tribeca Banksy Vandalized [UPDATE 5]

Banksy's latest stencil reimagines an anonymous arch into a Japanese bridge traversed by ladies and adjacent to a bonsai.