Artist Spotlight – UP MAGAZINE

Felipe Baeza Imagines an Elsewhere with “Unruly Forms”

In Unruly Forms, a multi-city installation with Public Art Fund, Felipe Baeza takes mobile audiences on a visual journey exploring queer identity, transformation, and the metamorphosis of cultural symbols including Mesoamerican artifacts held by US art institutions. Baeza forces viewers to question deeply held beliefs in the intimate ritual of public transit

Lily Brick: Coloring the Streets with a Message of Reflection

Lleida, Spain, saw the birth of Lily Brick, a street artist who has transformed the city’s walls into canvases filled with color and meaning. In this interview, Lily Brick shares her inspiration, creative method, and the challenges she faces as a street artist.

Allison Bamcat in Lala Land

Influenced by painters like Salvador Dali, Kenny Scharf and Vincent Van Gogh, Allison Bamcat developed her own style: Pop-Surrealism.
And not unlike Alice in Wonderland, Allison creates fantastical, colorful beings – despite the darkness she has known in her life.

“It Comes Up, it’s Beautiful, and it Dies” – King Adz

For King Adz, street culture was street food, street art, street fashion and street sounds. They collided together to tell greater stories of subcultures that were as yet untouched by the mainstream. They were of the people, for the people. Through his films and books, King Adz told these stories to the public.

How Brittany Knapp Balances Advocacy and Self-Discovery

Artist and activist Brittany Knapp got her start making woodcut pyrography pieces documenting her own trauma–and now works out of Healing Arts Gallery in Brooklyn to help others with an art therapy practice that focuses on how creativity can help those the mental health and justice system leaves behind.

Spinning the Wheels of Positivity with Bikedesuro

The Spanish philosopher Ortega y Gasset stated: “I am myself and my circumstances.” And in this way, there are artists that reflect the personality of the city in which they emerge. This is the case of BikedeSuro, born from the convergence of several factors in Valencia: the wine culture of the Mediterranean, the tradition of cork obtained from our cork oak forests, the environmentalism that goes hand in hand with a passion for bicycles and recycling, and the open-mindedness of the city towards street art.

Graffiti Writer or Street Artist? Norwegian Artist Martin Whatson Says He’s Both

In the world of public art, there’s this persistent debate that seeks to categorize art into two neat little, mutually exclusive, boxes: graffiti or street art. And artists working in public spaces are often called upon to define themselves: graffiti writer or street artist, choose a side, make a choice, fill out a commitment form, and sign it. Martin Whatson, the Norwegian artist, has an answer: Both.

Vulnerability and Strength with Brittney S. Price

As a child, there was no mention or representation of Black artists in Palm Springs, CA-based muralist Brittney S. Price’s school curriculum. So she became what she did not see. Since then, Price has been grateful for the opportunities to push Black culture forward in a town that only had 12 high school students in an entire high school. Brittney was one of them, and the artist we see today is not the same artist from yesterday. By sharing her love for art and passion for life through her murals, we see a future where Black creativity is a necessity for a thriving community through public art in the form of mural making.

Pay Peanuts, Get Monkeys: The Devaluing of Public Art With Lucas Geor

“It’s funny the hand that artists play in gentrification. Artists will move into an area because the rent’s cheap, maybe the buildings are a bit run down so people don’t mind you painting on the walls. They make the area look cool, and people start to come, and then developers catch on to it. They put up apartment blocks. And then they run out all of the artists who live there. That’s kind of the cycle. As more and more of that happens, I guess people just seem to think that art is for free, you know?” – Lucas Geor

A Q&A with Carlos Eduardo Porras from the Venezuela Art Fair

Meet Carlos Eduardo Porras, Venezuelan fine artist known for his vibrant depictions of nature and positive attitude. UP MAG sat down with him for a Q&A in review of this year’s Venezuela Art Fair, which he participated.