Photo credit: www.streetartnews.net

Invader dropped by Ravenna, Italy to create one of his mosaics. The large piece portrays Spock from Star Trek seemingly communicating with Invader’s signature alien.  By leaving the eyes of his alien blank, the artist allows the trees behind the piece be seen. He is fully taking advantage of his setting. He successfully creates a balance which makes the viewers eyes travel from the red of Spock’s mouth to the red alien and from the green trees in the alien’s eyes to the green trees at the bottom of the piece.

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Photos by Emilaino Rubinacci

Federico Massa‘s latest piece was commissioned for a cinema wall. The owners of the cinema asked the Italian street artist, based in New York, to include superheroes in his project. The artist decided to follow orders but, of course, add his own twist. Federico painted traditional heroes such as Spiderman, Superman, Batman, Hulk and many more. “I tried to maintain my own [original] vision by changing the costumes. I tried making the composition as weird as I could.” By switching the characters’ costumes, the artist makes a commentary on super-heroes and their inter-changeable roles, their often bland, product-like reasons for being. Perhaps most notably, Batman and Superman are victim of a direct switch here. Knowing that these two superheroes were the protagonists of two sequels in the past year, it seems more than likely that this piece, painted for a cinema, depicting characters within a theater room, is a harsh commentary on the movie industry. This piece is quite a departure from Massa’s traditional pieces, but if you look closer, you will find one of his original characters making an appearance. “That’s my real signature!” he explains.

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Mr. Brainwash

This week was a goldmine for street art. New murals invaded our streets. Our print of the week was released by Mr. Brainwash, who got the ball rolling with his piece,  “Art is not a crime,” which is available as a print.  This theme is very popular in the domain of street art and it can get repetitive at times, but you have to appreciate Mr. Brainwash for its clarity and its aesthetics.

Vinz

Vinz is currently painting some original “adverts” in the streets London. One of them includes the use of the apple slogan, “Think Different,” portraying a mutant fish with a human body in a straight jacket.

Nychos

Nychos‘ work had gone missing since April when he dropped a mural in Italy. He is now in Denmark where he produced this  billboard piece as a part of the billboard festival at Kunsthal Brænderigården.

Alexis Diaz

Alexis Diaz is currently in France where he spent the last two weeks working on this amazing piece for the Rio Loco Festival. 

Ludo

Ludo dropped this sweet  new piece of a beastly robot entitled “Psorophora Encaustum”. His work seems to portray a fight between species, a possible comment on extinction.

Phlegm

Phlegm has been exploring new shapes. Deviating from his long, tribal, signature character, Phlegm went back to his hometown of Sheffield, where he spent weeks working on this large piece. One aim remains consistent in his work: to paint the relationship between imaginary worlds of entertainment and creativity.

Icy and Sot

Discover the work of Icy and Sot. The Iran-based stencil artist dropped by Williamsburg, New York. The artist works with the politically charged themes of poverity, peace, youth and war in order to “remind [ourselves] that art has always been a mode of resistance, and graffiti has always been a political gesture.” If you stop by Brooklyn, you’ll be able to find this one on South 6 by the bridge.

ROA

ROA painted this piece in Linz, Austria. His gigantic mural features various images of tortured animals. The artist’s work is like a hymn for animals, shocking viewers into caring more for animals who are suffering.

Pixel Pancho

Pixel Pancho is back in the streets of Montreal, Canada

Aryz

Aryz painted this large peacock in Spain

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In the past week, Phlegm and Run have been producing large solo murals in Chichester. In honor of the Chichester Street Art Festival, the British and Italian street artists have been hard at work on a new collaboration. Knowing more about Run will contribute understanding this piece. First, it’s necessary to trace his roots as a street artist (which are very different from Phlegm’s). “My first big wall was in 2003 while squatting in a building in Italy,” (see below). “The meaning of that painting was we are here now and we haven’t got fear of nobody,” says Run. Back then, his work was simple and carried an effortless innocence and youthfulness. With time and acquired confidence, he “developed some shapes (hands and legs). Then [he] added characters, characters wearing those hands like a fancy dress costume.” As a result, his murals became increasingly surrealistic. However, his original love for organic shapes and simplicity explain why his collaboration with Phlegm was successful.

Run, in 2003 Italy

Phlegm is naturally drawn to a diverse range of themes, saying of his tastes that he is “always drawn to simple things that accumulate and become more complex.” His taste for simplicity brings a rich sensitivity to his murals. Both artists incorporated their signature figures in their collaboration harmoniously, even though their ideologies are quite different. Run believes that “tags and wall writing graffiti are almost invisible in a busy visual environment.” The artist wants to create a contrast between the streets and his work. “If the background is grey, let’s use as much color as we can!” However, Phlegm is one to go for extreme discretion. In fact, his ideal location to paint would be a “ghost island in Japan. Or any deserted city.” Phlegm spends a lot of time painting deserted factories. He appreciates “the idea of wondering around an entire empty city. I’d love to be able to live there for a year and just paint everything.” This contrast in personalities ended up with a mural that mirrors an ideal balance between two characters and their fantasy world. To read more about Run click: here and for Phlegm, click: here

Phlegm

Run

To read more about Run click: here and for Phlegm, click: here

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Nychos

Back in Europe, Nychos recently opened his solo show in Torino, Italy. His highly detailed, anatomical characters are sharp. This week he painted the biological insides of a huge snake.

ZED1

Zed 1, Italian street artist also known as Mark Burresi, completed the mural above in Amsterdam. He created a large colorful piece featuring his grotesque characters. This piece was ordered by  Look For Art Gallery, henxs paintshop and StreetArt.nl. The artist  skillfully brought humor to an upsetting situation of conflict.

Hyuro

Hyuro is currently in Italy for the Memorie Urbane Festival. The Spanish artist produced an impressive piece entitled “L’Attesa” (Waiting).

Conor Harrington

Conor Harrington is currently in London where he worked on a collaboration with  Maser. The new duo successfully merged both their style merging bright colors and a talent for portraiture.

 Wes21

Wes Remo Lienhard aka Wes21 produced this amazing new mural in Switzerland. The young artist produced an incredible falcon that fits ideally in this odd setting.

SeaCreative

SeaCreative created a piece in Milan, Italy this week. The Italian painter used blue tones to deliver some of his signature odd faces.

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AweR, an Italian artist, recently composed two large pieces featuring an angry dog and a psychedelic face. The artist has been in Genova and Mass, Italy making a name for himself. AweR is a master of Hypnotic Graffiti. The self-taught artist has been painting since he was 13 years old, working with a lined based imagery. His characters are to be viewed as creatures drawn from acid and hypnotic strokes which represent the various moods of life such as anguish, roaming around and anger.

AweR was last spotted in Polignano a Mare in February (below) where he produced a large mural entitled “Fuck Noise, Loud Ya Voice!” — Alright, his taste for titles might not be his forte — However, his skill for optical illusions is riveting and captivates any passing viewer.

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The Canemorto trio has been spreading their colors across the walls of Italy. Neneboy, Zenop, and Azz The One are three Italian street artists who say they “paint together as a single person.” The group is grotesquely entertaining. Their characters’ abnormal proportions draw in the eye and their expressive faces almost emit an audible grunt. The drawings are so childlike it’s as if they were using crayon instead of paint.

Canemorto with EmaJons and Cripsta in Lodi, Italy. (photo © Canemorto)

Canemorto with EmaJons and Cripsta in Lodi, Italy. (photo © Canemorto)

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