A Few of Our Favorite Things: Street Artists

far left image by Katherine McMahon, top far right by Pranav Mehta, others can be found on oleknyc.com

Olek

http://oleknyc.com

Yarn bombing, guerrilla crochet, whatever you prefer to call it, it’s a thing. A big thing to the Brooklyn based textile artist known as Olek. The Polish born artist arrived in New York with nothing but a backpack and $50 to her name. Now she has her work shown all around the world. Her goal is to produce work to share with the public. It is not only decorative, beautiful and colorful, but there to draw attention to important social and political issues being faced around the world. “I think there is no line between life and art. Everything is connected.” ~Olek

photos by Kurt Wenner found on www.kurtwenner.com

Kurt Wenner

http://kurtwenner.com

Known for his incredible detail and intricacy, Kurt Wenner is called by many a ‘master in street chalk art.’ Originally from Ann Arbor, MI, Wenner started as an artist at a young age. He created his first commissioned mural when he was 16. He eventually left it all and traveled to Italy where he studied classic Renaissance art. This is where he began anamorphic street art, which is art that appears 3-dimensional when viewed at a certain angle. Wenners goal? To help rediscover and share deserted and forgotten ideas from past artists in history.

all images can by found at www.slinkachu.com

Slinkachu

http://www.slinkachu.com

Slinkachu’s ‘Little people’ project involves the painting and remodeling of mini model train set characters who are then strategically placed in a ‘mini’ scene created by the artist throughout the city. This work is really two projects in one. There is the street art element where Slinkachu places these mini scenes throughout the city to encourage the public to be more aware of their surroundings as well as creating an element of surprise of simply coming in contact with a scene. Then, by photographing each scene, the element of photography in this project is important as well. It allows for Slinkachu to reach a larger audiencey. Here he wants the touch on the feeling of loneliness that can be experienced living in such a large, loud, busy, and overwhelming city. In both aspects of this project, I believe there is subtle humor that can be found as well. You can really appreciate the attention to detail he has – though both the creation of each character and the found objects he incorporates in each scene are often just trash left behind. How great would it be to stumble upon one of these?