Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Once Colorful City Fades to Gray

I have been working on these photos for a while but the subject feels oddly appropriate right now.


Over the years, I have noticed more and more buildings turning gray. Brownstones are resurfaced without the brown.


Gray painted brick looms over Miss Lily's Sunny Jamaican Diner.


While many Georgian townhouses are gray or black, they are usually next to other, lighter colored townhouses. Most new buildings are, of course, gray.


Sometimes it feels as if whole blocks are losing their color.


Two years ago, I posted this building in Williamsburg that was being gut renovated. There was nothing left but its cheery facade.


The graffiti creatures along the buildings base looked as if they were imprisoned in the construction shed.


A tumor building was constructed around it and it has been adorned with the most hectic graffiti.


Here is a closer look.


I am not sure what the misshapen lump in is, I think I see a footprint in there. I do not like this graffiti at all and not just because it was also temporarily adorning a Douglas Elliman office. There are so many better examples of graffiti murals. Once there were murals all around New York City. They are slowly disappearing as the gray buildings become more common. In Bushwick there ares still lots of beautiful walls.






This one is so nice we have to look at it twice



I love the image of this young woman. She is my inspiration.


Following with Chanel's descent into lipstick revolution is all the more depressing.


Let's clear our palette with a cat eating a bat.





I also love these odd chaotic spots of tags.


Near White St. and Moore, the warehouses are all painted with tags and art. It gets panted over with new work every few months.


La Borinquena



The Williamsburg Bridge is always getting tagged, with the dedication plaque as a favorite spot.


The city tried to clean the plaque, but it did not last. This was the first tag, the plaque is covered once again, but it isn't as nice as the Stay Human art above.