An ad takeover helps a new wave of anti-billboard activists raise awareness about the value of public space.
John Fekner
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A 1980s Art Experiment on an NYC Pier
From 1983 to ’84, David Wojnarowicz and Mike Bidlo took over a decrepit Hudson River pier to create a collaborative and ephemeral alternative art system.
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Street Art Is a Period. Period. Or the Emergence of Intermural Art
Let’s start off with a clear contention. Street Art, as I see it, is a period.
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35 Years After Fashion Moda, a Bronx Gallery Revisits the Landmark Space
1978. Weary of the SoHo art scene, artist Stefan Eins decided to open a new art space in the South Bronx. The space was named Fashion Moda (1978-1993) an abbreviation of the full name painted above its entrance: Fashion 时装 Moda МОДА.
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Artists Remember Pop Art and Soho Pioneer Ivan Karp
A significant figure in the development of Pop Art and the Soho gallery scene, Ivan Karp is dead. He died at his home in Charlotteville, New York, on Thursday, June 27 at the age of 86.
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This Space Has Been Invaded
It was 1982 and it was just an ordinary night in the Bronx, Don with his wife Annie and I were sitting around talking and listening to music at their apartment. When the end of the record was over, Don got up to flip the side over. He suddenly turned toward us and we just stared at each other without saying a word. In this brief moment of silence, the future had just arrived. No, it wasn’t the sound of Springsteen, Michael Jackson, Grandmaster Flash or even the Clash. From the darkened bedroom next to us, came the sounds of smacking lips and bursts of ecstatic exclamations from Don’s kid Anthony and his stepbrother Danny. With bits of dribble and droll and tongues poking out from the corners of their mouths, they were feverously huddled in their pajamas staring at the screen of a Commodore 64 computer. It was 8-bit, hypnotic and all encompassing. The moths were caught in an overbearing and hypnotic light. The invasion had begun.
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Don’t Forget Fashion 时装 Moda МОДА
Almost completely left out of the Jeffrey Deitch-organized Art in The Streets at LA’s Museum of Contemporary Art and minimally referenced in its exhibition catalogue and other recently published surveys of graffiti and street art, the historical importance of Fashion 时装 Moda МОДА has been lost to a generation of artists and graffiti-lovers. It’s time for that to change.
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Happy Earth Day … from the Archives, 1983
Artist John Fekner recently found this previously unpublished photograph of a subway billboard street art piece from 1983. This work transforms a Newsday newspaper poster in the Ely/23rd Street subway station in Long Island City, Queens, into a more ominous scene. Unlike street art interventions today, Fekner’s work disappeared soon after it was created — he estimates that it survived for a week or two at most — and it did not have an afterlife online … until now.
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Support a New York History of Street Art & Graffiti!
There are only four days left to support a very unique street art project that will create a multi-faceted street art exhibition at the former Donnell Library on 53rd Street in midtown Manhattan, which is across the street from MoMA.
In an era where street art and graffiti is becoming increasingly scarce in Manhattan, this project, PANTHEON: A history of art from the streets of New York City, will explore the heritage of street art and graffiti across the street from the high temple of Modern art.
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Earth Day Is As Relevant As Ever
On the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day, Fekner revisited one of his classic videos from 1981 titled “Toxic Waste From A to Z,” and has inserted a new soundtrack. While the original work was inspired by the environmental disaster that was Love Canal, this latest remix is part of an effort to stop a potential disaster in the making, Wastebed 13.
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The Emergence of Real Pop Art: Jeffrey Deitch & Street Art
As the reality of Deitch’s appointment to MOCA sinks in, let’s take a step back and look at his role as a street art advocate. Was he the prophet for the scene or just one of many fans? And where could this all lead?