StreetArt

Image for the People

Picture a city. No doubt, graffiti tags, bulbous and balloon-like, floated into view. It’s hard to picture the city sprawl without the scrawl. No matter how Teflon the city becomes, the marks will stick. They will find a way even when there is nothing to make a mark with, like those tags written in the dirt on subway walls. This clean graffiti is Cagean and ephemeral. And for that reason, they are some of my favorite pieces right now—quiet testaments to impulse, survival, and determination.

Maybe it’s the façade of assembled refrigerator doors at the gallery’s rear, but Brooklynite is cool: a kind of mirage way out in Bed-Stuy that you can’t believe until you see. Much in line with the Fun Gallery and Fashion Moda of a New York-past, Brooklynite gallery is a haven for street artists but in ways those ‘80s galleries never could have dreamed with all the Internet has to offer now. Brooklynite gallery director Rae McGrath’s website is a virtual party with dj-ed music and the ability to accommodate live video feeds from gallery openings. Those watching online are put in the scene and can ask the artists questions.

Recently, Richard J. Goldstein spoke with the Norwegian street artist DOLK in the gallery’s backyard. DOLK had been putting the finishing touches on a back wall stencil piece in preparation for the opening of his and M-CITY’s EUROTRASH exhibition. LANDMARK, DOLK’s assistant, sat in too for a discussion on the street art experience.

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