BEYOND the STREETS celebrates street art and graffiti in brooklyn

brooklyn’s BEYOND the STREETS marks the city’s largest exhibition to showcase the most influential creators and living legends of the street art movement. with its roots projected along the subway cars of the 1970’s and 80’s, the movement has seen rule-breakers across the world take the streets for a canvas and continue to develop incredible studio practices. the show — which occupies two levels spanning an entire city block along the williamsburg waterfront — is curated by urban anthropologist roger gastman. while gastman is specialist in the history of graffiti, BEYOND the STREETS aims to primarily highlight each artist’s current and ongoing studio work.

designboom visited BEYOND the STREETS — open through august 2019 — to round up some of the visually and spatially immersive moments among the massive exhibition.

all images courtesy of beyond the streets, unless otherwise stated
detail by C.R. stecyk III

INVADER

invader is a self-identified ‘unidentified free artist.’ the global invasion project was born with the aim to liberate art from potential alienation by museums and institutions, and free the digital ‘space invaders’ from their video game screens. the pieces are scattered across the world, their pixelation formalized with ceramic tiles. here at BEYOND the STREETS the space invader is caught again behind the screen with ‘moon,’ undulating in luminous colors.

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bert krak & alexis ross, barry mcgee

an architectural installation is situated within the williamsburg exhibition space, housing the working ‘magic touch porch and parlour.’ the tiny, bensonhurst-style porch is staffed every friday during the shows run by iconic new york tattoo artist bert krak, and street/tattoo artist alexis ross. around back, visitors peer into a replicated studio, featuring the work of artist barry mcgee, including prints, photos, and informal sketches.

felipe pantone

felipe pantone embraces the technological process it takes to develop his designs, viewing it as part of a larger continuum of image-making innovations. he uses computer-modelling programs to allow him 3D insights into each project, which in this particular mural saw him layer tubular forms over a flat pictorial background. painted in the artist’s signature futuristic style, the large-scale works hybridize black-and-white geometric patterns and grids, illusionistic gradients, and a spectrum of oversized pixels.

image © designboom

bill barminski

bill barminski introduces an entirely immersive, tactile world constructed primarily of white paper. objects within the cluttered space are crafted with meticulous crudity — from furniture, security cameras, and helmets to the smallest details including cassette tapes, pencils, spray paint cans, and paper handguns. visitors are encouraged to sit, touch, and play with the objects, many of which are surprisingly operable. paper hand-held radios play music while a payphone signals a dial tone when held to the ear.

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trashed records

the trashed record store offers another immersive, spatial experience. a curated collection of records, skate decks, posters, and stickers showcase the impact of graffiti toward pop culture. within the occupiable record store, which expressively recalls the late 80’s to early 90’s, viewers browse through display cases of merch and racks of posters, and even play records.

DABSMYLA

the hybridized language of australian duo DABSMYLA dictates subject matter, positioning, color theory and perspective. with this foundation developed over a decade of working together, the team aims to express a larger story that is entirely unique to their own experiences. DABSMYLA prioritizes the concept of the panorama punctuated with micro points-of-view to generate an interconnectedness amongst paintings both big and small.

exhibition info:

exhibition title: BEYOND the STREETS

location:  25 kent street, williamsburg, brooklyn

curator: roger gastman

dates on view: june 21 — august 2019