New Artist: Stray

The Streetside Gallery is happy to introduce Stray, the newest artist to show with the gallery.  Stray's work is unique within the street art community as it simultaneously creates a translucent window of color as well as establishing an impermanent surface for other artists to interact with.  Below are images of two installations of Stray's work in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.


Driggs between 11th and 12th

Detail photograph of Stray's work in the early morning light

Stray's distinctive installations utilize the specific surroundings to create beautifully layered windows, which both reflect and hold the natural light within the material of the plastic wrap.


Wythe between N. 4th and N. 5th

Front View

View from Behind

 Stray's work dramatically shifts from transparent to opaque as the angle and direction of the light changes upon it, allowing each piece to function uniquely in 360 degrees.
 

Detail Photograph of Stray's Installation on Wythe

Pop-Up NYC Exhibitions: Gestures in the City

START returns for his second exhibition series with the Streetside Gallery.  In this series, titled Gestures in the City, the artist focused on two locations for Sidestreet's show: Chelsea and Williamsburg.  By concentrating on the two main artistic hubs within New York City, START aims to send his message directly into the veins of the art community he hopes to reform.  That message... art should not be for a select few, but rather physically and emotionally accessible to anyone and most importantly art should be provocative.  Below are images and descriptions of START's most recent exhibition series with the Sidestreet Gallery.


 Chelsea Locations

Chelsea - W. 20 St. b/w 10th and 11th Ave. (under the High Line)

Chelsea - W. 20 St. b/w 10th and 11th Ave. (under the High Line)

While subverting Chelsea's gallery district with highly public and free art installation, START's grouping of emotionally loaded gestures forms a loose and ambiguous narrative.  START's layering of paintings reflects the layers of torn advertisements and tags visible on the construction wall.  This backdrop leads the viewer into each painting's rough graffiti-filled backgrounds, yet once within this harsh environment, the gestures of the hands and singular face confront the viewer with a powerful and very human emotion.

W. 26 St. b/w 10th and 11th Ave.

Streetside Gallery's next exhibition of paintings focuses on the internal division each of us experiences within the self.  The two halves of START's self-portrait are separated from each other at opposite poles: one side painted lightly with minimal shadows, the other cast in a much more dramatic light.  The pointed hand in the center creates a shifting sense of action from left to right through the installation... the gravity of the hand only heightened by the potentially hostile gesture.




Williamsburg, Brooklyn 

N. 4th between BEDFORD and BERRY

Williamsburg, Brooklyn - Panorama of North 4th b/w Bedford and Berry

"Pray that ART RULES THE STREETS" - START collaboration with TRipe L

START's response to a preexisting pair of stencils by TRipe L, a Brooklyn-based street artist, not only heightens the power of TRipe L's original statement, but of START's painting as well.  The innocence of the child and reverence of the painted hands establish a powerful juxtaposition to the illegal manner in which these images were left behind.  A brilliant example of the type of collaboration Streetside Gallery hopes to inspire!

Streetside Gallery - Gestures in the City (Williamsburg)

Streetside Gallery - Gestures in the City (Williamsburg)

START - Is anyone listening?

START - Two Peace

START - Buried

START - No Bills

Installation Shot - Gestures in the City (Williamsburg)

 CORNER of N. 4th and WYTHE

Streetside Gallery - Gestures in the City

To match the bright blue wall, START worked in a more lighthearted manner leaving behind playful yet demanding self-portraits at this location.



12th St. between DRIGGS and BEDFORD

Streetside Gallery - Gestures in the City

Streetside Gallery - Gestures in the City

Using the scaffolding as a natural frame, START utilized the one way street to make the self-portraits seem to follow the viewer as they walk by the exhibition.  This installation, perhaps better than any of the others, unifies the the graffiti on the construction wall with START's own applied tags.  

Anonymous Artist Contribution

While walking down Classon Ave. to photograph recent developments of START's work for the Streetisde Gallery Project, I was met with a shock that took me completely by surprise.  START had originally framed a recurring character, window and a postage sticker reading From: Brooklyn ... To: Detroit.   Framing the playful cartoon, scrawled names and postage sticker highlighted the wide range of motives and types of people driven to leave their mark behind on New York City's walls.  Additionally, focusing on the juxtaposition between the iconic blue construction wall and window to the visible disrepair hidden behind it, START provoked viewers to question the purpose and formal qualities these barriers represent.

June 2012

Unfortunately, due to the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy the blue construction walls had been entirely demolished and replaced by a new unpainted wooden barrier.  However, the real surprise came when I realized that despite the original wall's absence, the frame remained in the exact same location.  An anonymous street artist had recognized the frame's potential, taken it from the soon to be destroyed wall and had later returned to replace the frame in START's original site.  Additionally, this unknown artist added an impressively vibrant and vigorously spontaneous work that plays both inside and outside the confines of the frame.

December 2012

December 2012

This contribution to the Streetside Gallery Project accomplishes exactly what our mission hopes to accomplish.  The ongoing dialogue and collaboration between START and this anonymous artist demonstrates that anyone willing to contribute to the project has the power to do so.  So keep painting, making art and let the collaborations continue!

Brooklyn-wide Exhibition: Reframing Urban Art

In its inaugural exhibition, the Streetside Gallery teams up with the street artist START.  START's work showcases the existing complexity, dense layering and formal beauty that can be found on city walls.  Focusing his work in Brooklyn's artistic hub of Williamsburg, START changes the context of the otherwise destructive vandalism.   His work places New York's weathered walls within the heightened cultural value of a frame, while simultaneously providing an ongoing performance space for other street artists and writers to contribute to the constantly evolving paintings.

Below are images of START's work in the first Streetside Gallery exhibition Reframing Urban Art.

June 2012

December 2012

The images above illustrate the evolving nature of START's work, as it invites notable street artists and graffiti writers to contribute to the complex layered styles and meanings within the frames.