HIGHRAFF - A Street Artist with a Psychedelic Style

The mix of graffiti, illustration, comic language, psychedelic art and strong color combinations of organic and geometric forms with vectorial patterns is typical for Highraff (1977). This artist, born and raised in São Paulo, takes his inspiration from natural forms like the sun and the moon, stars, plants, animals, cells, atoms and planets, as well as from the spirit world, represented by natural elements like earth, wind, water and fire and sacred ancient art.

For Highraff graffiti is transient, a visual shout in the city; art made to be seen immediately. Painting in public space is a way to bring happiness and reflection to an unknown audience that passes in the streets and unconsciously observes while following its daily routine. His art is as a conversation between visual pollution such as publicity, abandoned or neglected areas and architecture. The absence of nature in big cities such as São Paulo is a sad fact that makes Highraff feel the urge to remind people with his art about the importance of nature in our life.

Highgraff exhibited in several renowned galleries and museums around the world of which in São Paulo, New York and Denver (USA), Milano (Italy) and Austria.

FAILE - Pioneer in Contemporary Street Art

Faile, the Street Art duo comprised of Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller (American, b.1975; b.1976) formed their Brooklyn-based multimedia collaborative in 1999. They have conjured a wide array of works over the years, using original iconography and appropriating images from mass media. Faile began covering building exteriors with pioneering techniques in wheatpasting and stenciling, before expanding their repertoire to paintings, collage, prints, and sculpture.

Their works draw inspiration from comic books, pulp fiction novels and even Yellow Pages adverts. There are however a number of concepts which underlie Faile’s gritty pop culture graphics, most notably of these is dualism. “There has always been an attempt to embrace the idea of duality in our work. Love/Hate, Peace/War, Violence/Beauty. This has a distinct place in the world we live and can always be felt as a constant push and pull”. - Miller

D*FACE - A Street Artist from London

Dean Stockton is better known as D*Face; is a play on the word "deface" which is how many view the art of street artists in general when it shows up on public property. In that sense, Stockton plays directly into the public opinion that street artists 'deface property'. While that may be true street artists such as D*Face also contribute to society even if their actions may be considered legally destructive depending on how they convey their artistic vision on a surface.

STREET ART BY MAKATRON

 Mike Maka is a painter who works in a variety of media including street art, canvas and illustration. He has travelled and created work around the world, painting the Berlin Wall to the River Ganges. He received a scholarship at 20 to study art in New York, which lead to working as a bike messenger for 10 years in 10 cities, and leaving his mark on many walls.  Mike has exhibited extensively through Australia as well as group shows in Brazil, Japan and New York,  and has works in private and public collections locally and abroad, including aquisitions by the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra.

His work is preoccupied with the interface between man, beast and machine. Presenting a visual riot that stimulates the mind, Mike’s art conveys an imperative message to those confined in the concrete jungle to stay connected to the animal within them that lives in the natural world.

He is based in Melbourne Australia.

ROA – The street art activist.

Roa, a hugely talented Belgian street artist from Ghent, is renowned for his giant black and white animal street art. Roa started off in the street art scene painting animals on abandoned buildings and warehouses in the isolated industrial areas of his hometown. Today, Roa’s animals may be found slumbering on the sides of semi derilict buildings and peering out from shop shutters in citiy streets all accross the world from New York to Berlin and Warsaw to Paris.

The artist has visited London a couple of times, each time leaving his mark. His animals can be seen hibernating across the cracks of walls in Shoreditch and Brick Lane.  The works often take many hours to paint due to the huge scale and highly intricate nature of ROA’s street art. Consequently, most of his pieces are done with permission which means that his work usually sticks around on the street for a while (notwithstanding the efforts of local London Councils).

LIGHTPAINTING of 1970's New York City by Eric Staller

  

These incredible light paintings were taken on the streets of New York City back in the 1970′s using nothing but a Nikon 35mm film camera, 4th of July sparklers and Christmas lights.

Light painting is a photographic technique in which exposures are made by moving the camera or a hand-held light source. By moving the light source, the light is used to selectively illuminate parts of the subject and therefore “painting” a picture by shining it directly into the camera lens.

 California-based photographer Eric Staller created these light paintings as a way to celebrate New York City’s architecture. He describes “When the moment was right I set up my Nikon on a tripod and planned a choreography with light.” Eric has written a book called Out of My Mind that provides a more intimate look at his creative process.