Komodo

A white dragon with a black outline filled with colorful spots drawn on an old newspaper and pasted up on a wall.

Made it back into Manhattan this week and — not surprisingly — quickly found a bunch of new street art. The colors on this piece caught my eye. The spray paint is a bit fun as it roves within and outside the lines. But I found the dots to be a bit derivative of Damien Hirst who always leaves a bitter exploitative taste in my mouth these days. Luckily, this artist — Mo Riza — is more than dots and I actually like the rest of his work better than this piece.

Manhattan, New York

The Door

Red door with white spray paint pattern graffiti

Digging through the archives recently and I found this photo of a door from sometime in 2012. I love the minimal pattern, much of it single line, along with the loose flow of the lines. There’s a distinct improvised, on-the-spot feel to the piece.

Manhattan.

We All Need Change

A spray paint cartoon bird wearing a black suit jacket, top hat and striped shirt with large white wings.

The pandemic provided fresh new canvases along with the quiet streets to paint. This piece is a bit sinister as it conjures the grim reaper, the angel of death calling for change. But change is often hard and we do resist. Perhaps that’s why the call comes from the dark. And is that a monocle? Somehow my brain says yes.

Soho, Manhattan.

Four Hearts

A series of four graffiti hearts in different color schemes each with line work inside

I was forced back into the city last week (which was weird), but naturally, I took the opportunity to capture some more art. This shot has two things I love — a good series and nice line work. Exploring different color scheme options live across the boarded up windows of a construction site is bold. And the line work falls somewhere between a science fiction alien language and the shapes of Arabic typography. From @7lineartstudio

Soho, Manhattan.

Odd Ones

Ronald Regan as The Terminator

Presidents do make for great art. Bonus points because the style (black and white halftone photocopy) matches the 1980’s / early 1990’s vibe. No idea about the “odd ones” reference though.

Hell’s Kitchen, New York.