As a street photographer who follows graffiti artists, some of the things I have on my “To Do” list are to witness an after-midnight/early morning street art installation (by artists like Space Invader and so many others that are active after midnight) and to visit a street artist’s studio to see the “Behind the Scenes” of it all: how do they live, how do they create, what’s their typical daily schedule and routine.
Last week I had the pleasure of joining one of the most creative and busiest graffiti/street art teams, Mike and Fernando, who are known as UR New York.
I heard about this dynamic duo from a friend of a friend who follows street artists. I like everything that has to do with urban stencils–especially of New York’s industrial and streets landscapes. While I was walking with Mike and Fernando in Greenpoint, Brooklyn toward a parking lot, to see them coloring and spraying a client’s truck, we passed through some tags and graphs that Mike pointed them out as his stuff, few years ago.
As creative artists who keep moving forward with reality, they combine different mediums such as photography, silk-screening, graphic design, and graffiti,using elements of their everyday lives to create surreal environments which individuals can relate to in one way or another. Their latest “beat” is painting, brushing and spraying trucks of owners who requested to change the look in order to attract more clients or sometimes just for fun. Mike and Fernando see it as an opportunity to make their art mobile. “It’s great to see a truck in the middle of the day with your art on it,” says Michael, and “knowing you are doing the right thing in spreading your vision.”
UR New York Duo was invited with other artists by the Israeli government to paint and color some bomb shelters in South of Israel and the separation wall in Jerusalem.They have been all over the globe with their art and mission. Their flickr page reveals how active and creative they are.
If you are in New York this month, don’t miss their show at the POP Gallery in Soho, Breaking and Entering, running now till end of April.
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