Jorit Agoch brings photorealistic murals of Malcolm X and KRS-One to the East Village

Jorit Agoch, the Italian street artist, has created two of his hyper-realistic murals in the neighborhood. 

Above, Malcolm X in First Street Green Art Park. 

And below, a work in progress of KRS-One on Second Street at First Avenue (via East Village Walls) ...

And a photo of the artist by Stacie Joy...

Per Wide Open Walls: 

Jorit has started to mark his portraits with two red lines or scars on the cheek that refer to ancient African rituals, like scarification. This ritual indicates the passing from childhood to adult age. Jorit is firmly convinced that the differences of race, gender, religion and social class do not mean anything with respect to the characteristics that are similar in all human beings, and give us our shared humanity. 

H/T Steven for the initial KRS-One mural pic

Woman, Life, Freedom

New (completed this past Monday) in First Street Green Art Park... a tribute mural of Mahsa Amini by Lexi Bella

The 22-year-old Amini died last month after she was taken into custody by Iran's morality police for reportedly not wearing her hijab properly. 

You can read more about the mural here. 

Iranian security forces killed at least 23 children in the ensuing protests this past month, Amnesty International reports.

Wednesday's parting shot

New work in First Street Green Art Park... a collaboration between stencil-art legend Blek le Rat (@blekleratoriginal) and Tkid Alegend (@tkid170) ...

Blek has a new show at West Chelsea Contemporary on 10th Avenue through Sept. 25. 

I l❤️ve New York

A recent arrival at First Street Green Art Park ... mural by @m1keraz x @smetskyart...

Thursday's parting shots

Thanks to EVG reader JOY for these photos... Hektad painted this mural in support of Ukraine in First Street Green Art Park this week...

A winter clothing drive this weekend at First Street Green Art Park

First Street Green Art Park is hosting its second annual winter clothing driving ... a two-day event that also features a group of local artists creating new murals for the outdoor space. 

FSG volunteers are collecting winter clothes (jackets, hoodies, sweaters, etc.) today (Saturday!) and tomorrow (Sunday!) from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. ... all donations will go to the Catholic Worker St. Joseph's House across from the Park on First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

You may enter FSG on the northeast corner of Houston at Second Avenue (or on First Street just east of Second Avenue). 

Saturday's parting shots

RebelMatic (check them out here) brought their punk and funk to First Street Green Art Park this afternoon ...

Thanks to Stacie Joy for the photos!

An art collective today at First Street Green Art Park

The organizers behind the Nexus Flea are hosting an art collective today at First Street Green Art Park. 

The free event includes some (unplugged) musicians: 

Momentum 1 p.m. (Jazz) 

Dave Scott 2 p.m. (solo) 

Aliens 3 p.m. (art duo) 

Lün Badi 4 p.m. (solo) 

The show takes place from noon to 6 p.m. at First Park, 33 E. First St. between First Avenue and Second Avenue.

Winter clothing drive at First Street Green Art Park

First Street Green Art Park is starting 2021 with some new murals and a winter clothing drive... they'll be collecting winter clothes (jackets, hoodies, sweaters, etc.) today, Monday and Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. ... all donations will go to the Catholic Worker St. Joseph's House across from the Park on First Street between First Avenue and Second Avenue. 

You may enter the Park on the northeast corner of Houston at Second Avenue.

Friday's parting shot

One of the newer murals at First Street Green Art Park...

Tuesday's parting shot

Lexi Bella's completed RBG mural in First Street Green Art Park ... "Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time."

A tribute to Elijah McClain in First Street Green Art Park

New this past week in First Street Green Art Park ... a tribute to Elijah McClain by the Brooklyn-based artist Vincent Ballentine.

As he wrote on Instagram:

#elijahmcclain was a specifically painful story for me. After teaching art for 5 years, he reminds me of all the young men I’ve worked with. To the artsy, sensitive, introverted and magical minds, you have purpose.

Elijah McClain was walking home from a convenience store in Aurora, Colo., carrying a bottle of iced tea last August when three police officers tackled him after receiving a 911 call about a suspicious man in a ski mask. McClain, a 23-year-old massage who taught himself how to play violin and guitar, was put in a stranglehold by police and injected with ketamine. He died six days later.

Freshman year

Local artist Lexi Bella completed this mural yesterday of Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez at First Street Green Cultural Park.

Per Lexi on Instagram: "I have been so inspired by our new women in Congress I had to paint my favorite..."

Illegal hotel row mural defaced again in First Street Green Art Park

Someone has twice vandalized the illegal hotel row mural since its arrival in First Street Green Art Park back in May.

The folks at the Cooper Square Committee shared this with me on Monday:

On June 27, tenants from East 1st Street rallied alongside affordable housing activists and elected officials to celebrate the completion of a community mural project, which called attention to the high concentration and negative effects of commercially operated, short-term apartment rentals facilitated by platforms like VRBO and Airbnb. These amateur muralists were shocked, but not surprised, to find that their project had been vandalized for the second time since they had begun work on the mural in early May.

On both occasions their mural was the only artwork in the First Street Green Art Park to be hit by the vandal, and the muralists allege that their messaging about the negative impact of short-term rentals on the community, as well as information on what tenants can do if they believe an illegal hotel is being operated in their building, were intentionally obscured.

A report issued in May 2018 by City Comptroller Scott Stringer notes that Chinatown and the Lower East Side are home to a high concentration of short-term rentals. Tenants living in buildings where illegal hotel operations are common allege that illegal hotels reduce affordable housing options and compromise tenant safety and quality of life — the lucrative prices that short-term rentals fetch contribute to displacement pressure on long-term tenants, and tenants' lives are often grossly disrupted by the influx of tourists and strangers who are able to access their building.

Residents in buildings where these operations are common claim they are routinely woken up in the middle of the night by confused guests ringing their buzzers and travelers carrying luggage up and down their stairs at all hours of the night. Others have woken up to find vomit in building common areas.

The tenants who worked on the mural are currently planning their response, and are looking for support from members of the community who are also concerned about illegal hotels' detrimental effects on the community.

Here's a video about the mural project...

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[Photo from late June]

The Neighbors move out early at First Street Green Art Park

The Neighbors exhibit along the southern perimeter of First Street Green Art Park along Houston between First Avenue and Second Avenue was expected to be up through July 7.

However, the 86, four-by-five portraits that lined the fence were removed this past weekend...



The Daily News reported last week that 52 out of 86 of the portraits had been tagged/vandalized since they arrived on April 28...



Neighbors, a traveling exhibit, featured Americans representing all 50 states taken by photographer John Raymond Mireles.

"I expected some vandalism though admittedly not on this scale," Mireles told the Daily News. He admitted that his "heart sinks" from the tagging.

In case you missed it, here's a video of the portraits...

Bad 'Neighbors' at First Street Green Art Park?

The Daily News reports that 52 out of 86 of the four-by-five-feet portraits in the Neighbors exhibit along East Houston Street have been tagged in recent weeks.

Neighbors features Americans representing all 50 states taken by photographer John Raymond Mireles ... the portraits went up on April 28 from First Avenue to Second Avenue at First Street Green Art Park.

"I expected some vandalism though admittedly not on this scale," Mireles told the Daily News. He admitted that his "heart sinks" from the tagging.

"It’s not what I hoped for, but it’s part of this artistic experiment.

"I could have done this show in a gallery,” he added. "Being outside, the exhibit invites and allows engagement. As an artist, my goal is to provoke thought and jump-start conversations that lead to action. That my artwork is altered in service of stimulating dialogue is a small price to pay."

And of the 52 tagged portraits, only one of them features a red penis...

Neighbors at First Street Green Art Park

The Neighbors project is a series of portraits of Americans taken across all 50 states by photographer John Raymond Mireles ... the portraits went up yesterday along East Houston Street from First Avenue to Second Avenue at First Street Green Art Park.

Here are just a few of the images...











The opening reception is May 12.