amjamin

A mural painted by Mexican artist Irving Cano Walls – they create barriers, could be seen as divisive, may draw a line between two extremes. For some, they are a blank canvas waiting to be splashed with vivid imagination and colours. These expressions are oft wild, rebellious, and a work of a free spirit – perhaps an oxymoron to the cold, restrictive space in brick and mortar. These expressions seek to unify the diverse and divided world. From Thailand to Turkey to Norway, closer to home in San Juan, New York, street art is transforming the mundane into the wild. “Street art is nothing else but urban poetry that catches someone’s eye,” says Christian Guémy (C215), French street artist. “Being a street artist is impossible because the city itself is the artist. Street art is a collective thing, participative and interactive, extremely linked to web 2.0 culture.” Irving Cano, growing up in Isthmus of Tehuantepec, Oaxaca, Mexico, gravitated to street art when he was 16. “There was a graff...

What do you get when you combine hollow construction blocks, plywood, car bonnets? A house and a car would be the answer in normal circumstances, but then, the final outcome of these materials is something out of the normal. The term ‘conversation piece’ takes a new dimension, with a splash of colour and the often poignant life stories highlighted in Jamaican street art comes to life at Anything with Nothing. “This exhibition is a dialogue,” said Charles Campbell, chief curator at the National Gallery of Jamaica, where the exhibition is being hosted. “The objective is to highlight and showcase the works of the street artists, looking not only at their work and talents, but the social and economic dynamics of the communities.” Street art in Jamaica is not the usual graffiti; they tell stories, circumstances and the challenges facing the artists. The challenge, in this case, was also bringing alfresco and self-determined expressions into a defined space. Works of 10 street art...

A collage showcasing ArtUpDownTown, a collaboration between CARIMAC and Studio 174.  Think of downtown Kingston, and pictures of a sea of humanity traversing across alleys, vying for space in between handcarts, vendors on the pavements trying to outsell the other flash past. It might seem chaotic to many, but this is symbolic of vibrancy and, most important, life. This enigma, which unfolds like layers of mysteries being solved, has been captured by a group of youngsters, as they highlight ‘ArtUpDownTown’ For those familiar with political terminologies, Kingston can very well be defined as the proverbial north-south divide, the ‘sterile’ and the ‘unkempt’, ‘ArtUpDownTown’ is an attempt to converge those two distinct aspects of Jamaica’s capital city. Capturing downtown Kingston life on mix media, ArtUpDownTown highlights its sights, sounds and the vibrancy “Its aim is to empower more Jamaicans to tell their own stories through audio, video, and photography, whil...