Another Day, Another Mural

I was walking across St. Mark's Place yesterday afternoon, when I happened upon this mural being painted:

Mural being painted.

There was a man smoking a cigar who was supervising the work. He told me the painters' names were Outer Source and Dirt Cobain.

Cool names!

Outer Source wore a disco mask:

Disco mask.

Their activity drew quite a crowd:

Quite a crowd.

Another day, another mural!

#eastvillage #artists #murals #painters #stmarksplace

Cute Aliens Mural

The outside wall of the beloved Foot Gear Plus on St. Mark's Place and First Avenue changes murals faster than they change inventory!

I saw this mural a mere seventeen days ago:

Cute aliens.

Did I say "a mere seventeen days ago"? In mural-years, that's a lifetime — it's probably already changed!

#eastvillage #firstavenue #footgearplus #murals #stmarksplace

Gelarto Mural Update

Do you remember the messed-up mural on the wall outside the beloved Gelarto, on Avenue A and East 9th Street?

Of course you do.

Efforts were finally taken to fix it!

Behold, ten days ago:

Fixing the mural.

When I passed by again this past Saturday, I saw that it was finished:

Finished.

I guess it's an improvement — it's not worse than it was!

#eastvillage #9thstreet #artists #avenuea #gelarto #murals #painters

Lady Lightbulb

Having become accustomed to East Village businesses discarding their fluorescent lightbulbs in outdoor trashcans, I was not as surprised as I might otherwise have been when I saw this mural, on Avenue A and East 13th Street:

Mural.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me,
I lift my fluorescent lightbulb beside the golden door!

#eastvillage #13thstreet #avenuea #fluorescentlights #murals

Plywood Board

Eleven days ago, this plywood board showed up, propped against the wall of the beloved RCN Cable building mural on Avenue C:

Plywood board.

The funny thing is, it's pretty much the same size as the painted-over riot gate beside it!

#eastvillage #6thstreet #avenuec #murals #plywood #rcncable #riotgates

Two Murals In One

Just the other day, I wrote about the change to the artwork adorning the construction fence on Second Avenue, including the highlight of the piece: glam shoe.

Who knew this was the start of a movement?!

Behold, on Avenue C and East 12th Street:

Glam shoe mural.

Whoa! I just noticed something: There's words behind those shoes on the left!

Backstabbers Incorporated.

They smile in your face
All the time they want to take your place
The backstabbers
(Incorporated)

It's two, two, two murals in one!

#eastvillage #12thstreet #avenuec #constructionfences #murals

More Arty Stuff

This construction fence on Second Avenue just above St. Mark's Place is in a constant state of flux!

This mural started out looking like this, but now it looks like this:

Like this.

The glam shoe is the same, and the building permits, but that's it!

#eastvillage #constructionfences #murals #secondavenue

Would You Like A Pony With That?

I was walking across East 2nd Street this past Tuesday, when I saw this fries and pony mural outside the beloved Fry Guys:

Fries and pony mural.

The funny thing is, I had just passed by this way three days earlier, when the door gate was up:

Door gate up.

Here is a close-up of their entrance:

Close-up.

This is certainly a colorful place for fries!

#eastvillage #2ndstreet #colorful #fryguys #murals #shiny

Visitor Ralph

The East Village is full of murals. Here is one by Shepard Fairey, on First Avenue, above the formerly-beloved Schnitz:

Shepard Fairey mural.

But it wasn't the mural that caught my eye, while walking down the avenue — it was this Visitor sticker below the mural:

Visitor Ralph.

We hope you had a good visit — come again soon, Ralph!

#eastvillage #firstavenue #kerning #murals #schnitz #shepardfairey #stickers #visitorralph

Art Becomes Trash Becomes Art

In the East Village, trash and art become one another so quickly, your head might spin!

I was walking across East 12th Street this past weekend, when I saw this assemblage of both:

Assemblage.

The Chico mural is art, and the trash cans hold trash, but there are two slashed paintings, now trash, and I took a picture of it, so it's art again!

Only in the East Village!

#eastvillage #12thstreet #murals #chico #paintings #trashcans

fresco Update

East Villagers continue to abhor a blank wall, as seen yesterday evening, beside the beloved Dallas BBQ on Second Avenue and St. Mark's Place:

Big ol' glam shoes.

Nothing like some big ol' glam shoes to brighten the neighborhood — even Fido approves!

#eastvillage #artists #constructionsites #dallasbbq #constructionfences #murals #secondavenue #stmarksplace #dogs

fresco

East Villagers abhor a blank wall!

I was riding my Citibike down Second Avenue this past Tuesday when I saw this artist creating a mural on a construction fence beside the beloved fresco:

Creating a mural.

He must have had permission to do this, because it was broad daylight, and he wasn't looking over his shoulder!

Fast forward to yesterday, and the mural was complete:

Completed mural, front view.

Completed mural, corner view.

The construction fence along the abandoned section of St. Mark's Place, on the other hand, is less decorative:

Less decorative construction fence.

Still, it has movie posters — that's something!

#eastvillage #artists #constructionsites #constructionfences #fresco  #frescoes #secondavenue #stmarksplace

New Mural

I was walking up Avenue C recently, when I saw the makings of a new mural on the East 4th Street side of the beloved Alphabet City Deli & Grill:

Makings of new mural.

From left to right, it looks like: a guy playing a conga drum, a guy sitting on a table, a kid playing with a dog, and three guys with their backs to it all.

It's got to by representative of something!

#eastvillage #alphabetcitydeligrill #avenuec #4thstreet #murals

Jodo Bee Mural

Last night after work, I took a trip outside the East Village, to the Lower East Side!* I had been invited through Instagram to see the new mural by the illustrious JodoNYC!

It's not easy finding one's way around outside the East Village, but after putting my sleuthing skills to work I eventually found the beloved Stanton Social. I asked the greeter inside if she knew where the bee was, and she showed me — and now I will show you:

Giant Jodo Bee.

They grow so quickly — I remember when this bee was knee-high to a grasshopper!

______
* This is in an area known as Hello Square — people here are so friendly, they welcome you with a resounding Hello!

#daytrips #greeter #hellosquare #instagram #jodobee #lowereastside #murals #stantonsocial

Don't Blink or It Will Disappear

What can anyone say but "Wow!"?

A mere sixteen days ago, I wrote about a new mural painted on the side of the beloved Foot Gear Plus, at the corner of First Avenue and St. Mark's Place.

At that time, I wrote: "…this new mural will delight East Villagers for months to come."

On Saturday, I passed by the location again, only to find this:

The mural is gone.

The mural is gone!

Well, on the bright side, there's no doubt that a new mural will soon be painted here, one that will delight East Villagers for… any number of… units of time to come!

#eastvillage #firstavenue #footgearplus #murals #stmarksplace

Aim High

East Villagers love a new mural — that's why the owners of the beloved Foot Gear Plus, on the corner of First Avenue and St. Mark's Place, hire artists to paint a new mural every year or so!

Or maybe they don't hire them, I don't know.

One thing I do know: this new mural will delight East Villagers for months to come:

Delightful mural.

It really captures the East Village today: a gray, dismal past hailing a colorful, bright present!

(Do you know what i just noticed? The standing foot of the colorful, bright girl has a reflection under it. This is a technique that is much over-used in Photoshop; you don't usually see it in paintings!)

As it happens, I saw the artist working on this mural last night, as I was walking across St. Mark's Place:

Artist working.

He was working from sketches he had prepared earlier:

Working from sketches.

By the way, the artist's name is Ashton Agbomenou. He has a web site, and is on Instagram!

What more is there to say? Another artsy day in the artsy East Village!

#eastvillage #ashtonagbomenou #firstavenue #footgearplus #highaim #murals #stmarksplace #instagram #artists

Ever-Changing Wall of Coolness

There was a time when I began posts other than by saying…

I was walking across St. Mark's Place, when I passed by the ever-changing wall of coolness:

Ever-changing wall of coolness.

What is there to say about this wall? It's cool, and it's always changing!

Just like the East Village itself… Today!

#eastvillage #graffiti #murals #stmarksplace

Tha 6th Boro

I was walking up Avenue D this past weekend, having just visited the local Walgreens Pharmacy on Houston Street, when I saw this mural:

Tha 6th Boro.

It's so true — the East Village really is the sixth borough!

The residents of Avenue D have it figured out, even if they're not the best spellers!

#eastvillage #avenued #graffiti #houstonstreet #murals #walgreenspharmacy

New Graffiti Mural

I was coming out of Tompkins Square Park onto Avenue B this past Sunday, when I saw this new graffiti mural on the East 7th Street wall of the beloved Jillery:

New graffiti mural.

Until recently, this wall was blank — or white, if you prefer!

This wall was a very popular site for photographers and models. It probably still will be, for different photographers and models!

Edgy backgrounds for edgy East Villagers!

#eastvillage #7thstreet #avenueb #jillery #models #murals #photographers #tompkinssquarepark

VD Pizza

Last week, I posted a picture of dungeon stairs painted onto the cellar doors of some place on St. Mark's Place.

I passed by there again the other night, and discovered (remembered) the place in question, the beloved VD Pizza:

VD Pizza

Now isn't that an appetizing name?!

#eastvillage #cellardoors #murals #stmarksplace #vdpizza