He Was Simply A Guy Who Painted Messages In The Street

Don Leicht, Exhibitions, Projects, Public Art, Stencils, Street Art Comments Off

Welling Court, Astoria, NY 2012

An Ad Hoc Art Project

Photo: © Jeewon Shin 2012

 

The stencil project, He Was Simply A Guy Who Painted Messages In The Street is intended to function on two levels.

Most every artist will do a self-portrait at some point in his or her career. Mine is not a traditional portrait; it is a self-portrait with words. Every individual is unique in the world and has something to contribute no matter how small the thought or message might be. Sometimes, a work on the street is all it might take to help someone else get through a difficult moment: an anxious night, a period of strife or uncertainty in their life. Art on the street is for everyone. It can be funny, soothing, insightful, joyous or reflective. It is an instant of communication meant to cause an immediate reaction on the viewer.

The project also functions a tribute to every unknown individual whoever grafftied, scrawled, scratched, wheat-pasted, stenciled or spray painted without anyone ever knowing the name of the anonymous person. With so much unrest in the world, people tend to stop believing in the most simple and basic truths, ideals and needs. An artist’s knowledge is their trade. Artists are here to visual express and share universal concepts of peace, love, hope, compassion, equality and understanding with the general public.

I STILL HAVE A DREAM

Installation, Public Art, Stencils No Comments

I STILL HAVE A DREAM

John Fekner

2011-2012

Enamel, paint marker on wheat paste kraft paper

Pal’s Lounge, Atlanta Georgia

for the birthday celebration of Martin Luther King Jr.  January 16th, 2012

along  the March route & Rally Auburn Avenue

between Peachtree & Jackson Street

LivingWalls crew:

Monica Campana

Alexandra Parrish

Laura Calle

Emily Fisher

Matt Field

Photos courtesy: Nathan Bolster

http://livingwallsconference.com/

Streetela

http://www.streetela.com/john-fekner-work-in-atlanta-for-mlk-day/

 

 

International Projects

International Exhibitions, Public Art, Stencils, Street Art No Comments

In 1979, Fekner’s stencil work begins to appear outdoors in Sweden and continues in Germany, England and Canada.

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My AD is No AD 1980

Public Art, Stencils, Street Art No Comments

Fekner appropriates the front and back of billboards and highways signs as ‘alternative billboards’ with his subliminal messages.

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Random Dates 1976 to 1977

Gorman Park/Itchycoo Park, Projects, Public Art, Stencils, Street Art No Comments

Gary Hütter/Random Dates in Queens was the first stencil series he does anonymously on the streets and highways of Queens, NY in the winter of 76-77.

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Mother Earth Will Survive (Your Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants)

Collaborations, Don Leicht, Exhibitions, Paintings, Public Art, Stencils, Street Art No Comments

Your Journey Through The Secret Life Of Plants

John Fekner and Don Leicht were invited to participate in the outdoor street exhibition Welling Court Mural Project organized by Ad Hoc Art in Queens, NY. After a preliminary visit to the site, they decided to paint on a wall directly facing the Two Coves Community Garden and the NYCHA Astoria Houses Development.  The location of their collaborative site-specific work was important for two reasons: not only did it connect with the communities’ thriving volunteer-run urban garden; it also provided a platform to address the catastrophic BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Read the rest of this entry »

The Suffolk Street Fallout Street 1981

Collaborations, Guerilla Art, Political Art, Public Art, Stencils, Street Art Comments Off

suffolkfallout1

John Fekner & John Crash Matos

John Crash Matos, a graffiti artist, and I collaborated on a project entitled THE SUFFOLK STREET FALLOUT SHELTER. The mural, painted on an abandoned building on the Lower East Side, depicts a nuclear bomb exploding in the New York City. A stenciled warning in English and Spanish reads: IN CASE OF NUCLEAR WAR STEP INSIDE/EN CASO DE GUERRA NULCEAR ENTREN. Read the rest of this entry »