Stevio...LA LA Lovin' It?

I remember the first time I went to New York in the late 80s and saw the Lee (Quinones) piece down in a parking lot by Lafayette Street. Then I discovered the Hall of Fame over in Queens. Now it seems that Williamsburg has won the hearts of artists looking for larger spaces and peace and quiet to do their thing.

The "Off Manhattan" blog has an amazing article that lovingly documents some emerging and established artists' work in the fair borough of Brooklyn. It even has a Google map feature which I love. Hope you do too!

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Off Manhattan says: "How to get there: Take the L train from Union Square to Lorimer St - Metropolitain Ave Station. Then proceed on foot at your discretion with the self-guided tour of the featured graffiti sites. Print out this article and the map below to help guide you to the locations. Please note that graffiti is usually not permanent, so we cannot guarantee that all our sites are still in tact. On the other hand, new art is constantly being created—let us know in the comments if you discover anything new in the area!"

Throw-ups and Pieces from old-skooler T.Kid, Ghost, Os Gemeos, Armer, Peek/Funk (Pink and Smith), Diva and Aero/Teo

Murals by Ewok, LA-based Obey, T.Kid and R.Robots

Stencils by my mate Nick Walker and C215

Poster-work Faile, Obey, Elbow Toe, Judith Supine and OHM

Labels: Faile, Graffiti, Hip Hop, New York, Nick Walker, Obey, T-Kid

Heart Throb was a group show at Merry Karnowsky Gallery on La Brea which ended today. I was lame and didn't come here until today, even through it's about a mile from home?! Freddi C told me about the show opening, but I was busy so didn't get to go and meet Miss Van, but I *really* wanted to see her works - it has a Fafi appeal to it all, although it's much more sinister than sexy!

Miss Van sold a lot of her work at the show, including some large pieces at $18-28,000. Wow! I stared curiously and then lustfully at some limited-edition giclee prints (serie #1, serie #2) which were very affordable. I also time out to Google what giclee (pronounced zee-klay) prints are and whether they're worth the paper they're printed on ;-)

One of the other two artists at this show was Junko Mizuno whom Miss Van quotes as an influence on her own work.

Aiko Nakagawa was the third artist and is based in New York, and is probably better known as part of the Faile collective. As you can see, Heart Throb featured a strong female-empowerment theme.