Street-turned-gallery artists SKI and 2ESAE, who together form the art collective URNEWYORK, got their hands on a batch of Jay-Z‘s lyric prints for MCHG and injected some visual street energy back into them. Below, you’ll find two videos: one detailing the creation of the prints, as they evolve from stark, censored easels to wild and vibrant pieces of street-inspired art, the second video taking you on a virtual tour of the finished products. If you were wondering where these momentous prints would wind up, get excited–the answer could be “your hands.” The video’s description details the following about UR‘s decision on what to do with the finished artworks:

UR, as perhaps the sole artists being given a copy, decided to create a sort of (re)work. Appropriating the Jay-Z brand’s idea, and redistributing the gift back into the population. 5 works, one for each of the 5 boros of New York are slated to be given out via city-wide scavenger hunt, with details emerging soon @URNEWYORK.

Go on, art nuts, get looking! But before you do, check out the twin videos and the hi-def shots of the prints that URNEWYORK released to us. Also, check out their website; it’s full of tons of good info on these guys, including the facts that their work has been featured in the MOMA, at Sundance Film Fest, and that SKI and 2ESAE are known to do motivational speaking in high schools in Brooklyn and the Bronx. Salute.

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Looking at Music 3.0, the third in a series of exhibitions exploring the influence of music on contemporary art practices, focuses on New York in the 1980s and 1990s. In this dynamic period, imaginative forms of street art spread across the five boroughs, articulating the counter-culture tenor of the times. As the city transitioned from bankruptcy to solvency, graffiti, media, and performance artists took advantage of low rents and collaborated on ad hoc works shown in alternative spaces and underground clubs. Appropriation, also known as remixing, thrived. Approximately 70 works from a wide range of artists and musicians will be on view, including works by the Beastie Boys, Kathleen Hanna and Le Tigre, Keith Haring, Christian Marclay, Steven Parrino, Run DMC, and Joanie 4 Jackie, a video chain letter founded by Miranda July.

Looking at Music 3.0

Museum of Modern Art

February 16 – June 6, 2011

via MoMA

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From 1962 to 1972, George Lois changed the face of magazine design with his ninety-two covers for Esquire magazine. He stripped the cover down to a graphically concise yet conceptually potent image that ventured beyond the mere illustration of a feature article. Lois exploited the communicative power of the mass-circulated front page to stimulate and provoke the public into debate, pressing Americans to confront controversial issues like racism, feminism, and the Vietnam War. Viewed as a collection, the covers serve as a visual timeline and a window onto the turbulent events of the 1960s. Initially received as jarring and prescient statements of their time, the covers have since become essential to the iconography of American culture.

Tonight, Lois speaks with Wired Creative Director, Scott Dadich at the closing of the exhibition, which has been running since last April.

(vi@ SPD)

After the jump, Lois cusses like a Yahoo CEO while sharing the stories of his seminal covers, like the above of Muhammad Ali, Ali’s nemesis Sonny Liston dressed as Santa Claus, Andy Warhol drowning in can of Campbell’s tomato soup and more.

RELATED: Breakfast with Mr. Lois:  Part 1 | Part 2 |Part 3

The post “The Esquire Covers” | George Lois x SPD@FIT at MoMA appeared first on RESPECT. | The Photo Journal of Hip-Hop Culture.