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Ish Muhammad’s The Astros & Me
UP managing editor Emma Riva came to Chicago to interview Gary, Indiana, graffiti writer Ish Muhammad about The Astros, a graffiti-inspired futuristic retelling of an ancient Egyptian romantic drama, and walked away finding herself in a near-mythical drama of her own.
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Persian Poet: A Woman Made of Fire
Learn how New York-based poet and street art The Persian Poet spreads messages of self-improvement, healing, and social change, as told by fellow street poet Stained Napkins.
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Lunar’s Cats in Maribor, Republic of Slovenia
On Friday March 17, 2023, an exhibition for one of the most famous Croatian graffiti and street art artist Slaven Kosanović LUNAR opened at UGM Studio in the center of Maribor. The Recycle or Try exhibition was organized by Creative Studio Trampolin and Maribor Art Gallery.
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Corie Mattie: Hope Dealer
Corie Mattie moved to Los Angeles to use art as a form of self-exploration. Her murals now jump off LA’s walls to share messages of hope and positivity even in the times of the most hopelessness and desperation.
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Wood You March: Plywood as Canvas
Renowned NYC graffiti artist Optimo NYC curated an exhibition of plywood boards painted on retail storefronts in 2020 in support of the Black Lives Matter movement at Sun Art NYC gallery in Brooklyn. In addition to plywood boards from 2020, the show displayed other works of art on wood at the opening reception on 3/8/2023. Check out Kurt Boone’s photo recap of the event!
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Nick Flatt: The “Anti-Ad” Man
UP Berlin contributor Andi Schmitz speaks to Nick Flatt, the provocative “anti-ad” artist whose murals have used advertising lingo and political imagery to piss people off and make people think for years.
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February 2023 Submissions – Heartbreak & Heartache
The selected pieces & honorable mentions from February’s 2023’s ‘Heartbreak & Heartache’ Submissions Contest. Pieces were selected by the UP Magazine Team based on what we felt best represented the theme & how the artists explained their work.
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The Weird and Wonderful World of Gus Fink
Artist and filmmaker Gus Fink’s stylistic mixture of the creepy and the cute doesn’t bring to mind meditation and mindfulness at first. Frequent figures in his paintings are Tim Burton characters, hollow-eyed skeletons, and Alice in Wonderland-esque cartoon interpretations of horror movie icons. But if you look closer, the way that Fink balances the kitsch of childhood with the macabre and the gothic requires an artist with his own sense of inner balance.
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In Loving Memory of the Metrocard
Scanning to order food, swiping to fall in love, and tapping to ride – the Covid-19 pandemic perpetuated a digital epidemic. New York City staples lost to it include numerous delis, paper menus, and the MetroCard, which is set to fade out by 2024. But there is one New York artist who is not ready to let the card go: Thomas McKean.
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Basking in Humanity: Rebecca Marley
Rebecca Marley is an artist who understands that “simple things are sometimes the most powerful” and she brings this principle in full force to her work by focusing on the things every human life needs: connection and understanding.
