Check out Nicolina's beautiful bee-heart art at Mona's

Richard Corton and Kirk Marcoe, the owners of Mona's (and Sophie's and Josie's), commissioned local artist Nicolina to create a mural for the bar at 224 Avenue B near East 14th Street.

She offered a sneak preview of it in Tompkins Square Park earlier this summer …



On Friday, the mural went up at Mona's.

The art is hanging between the buildings on the bar's north side … in space protected from the elements … which offers a good vantage point from inside…


[Photo via the Mona's Facebook page]

A celebration of the 13 Portals tonight

[Portal 0 by jdx from December]

Since last December we've been following the 13 Portals, the interactive street art project created by Nicolina, Pérola Bonfanti and the Free Art Society ... On Saturdays this past summer, the artists have unveiled 13 site-specific, hand-painted murals ... along the way, we've been treated to some pretty colorful portal ceremonies...

And it comes to a conclusion tonight with the final (maybe!) 13th Portal. (Each unveiling provided people with the chance to acquire a key to tonight's event where the puzzle will be solved.) Nicolina passed along details about the celebration at ABC Sanctuary, 638 E. 6th St. between Avenue B and Avenue C...

The last and final Portal is this Saturday October 5!
THE PORTAL THIRTEEN.

Everyone is invited!
10:00pm - late
$13 -or- $7 in costume
Open bar from 10-11pm

We begin with the Electric Angel Theremin Convergence of Celestial Supernatural Frequencies...

from there we bring you:

The NY Zimbabwe Imbira Connection
A special performance by Angel Eyedealism
Kiss Slash Crooked Smile
Dynasty Electric
Nick Demopoulos
Monkey and the Elephant
DJ 2Melo
DJ Joro Boro
Original Sounds by PJoe

***PLUS***
Interactive Light Sound Installations by Justin Case
Visuals by Rachel Lubeck
+ Elements of Surprise~

Check out the Facebook event page here for more details. Check out the 13 Portals website here. Read more about Nicolina here.

Portals come and go on Avenue A

On Saturday night, The Free Art Society celebrated the arrival of Portal No. 6 in Tompkins Square Park...



... a ceremony that included various dancing sirens and pirates...





... the group headed over to 100 Avenue A between East Sixth Street and East Seventh Street for the official unveiling...









[Thanks to Jim Flynn for the above photos. Find more of his work here.]

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[Bobby Williams]

Earlier on Saturday, co-creators Nicolina and Pérola Bonfanti passed along word that someone removed/stole Portal No. 5 that they unveiled the previous week along 100 Avenue A ... (Every Saturday this summer, the pair will unveil a new portal. Participants have an opportunity to find one of 64 keys that gives them access to a final event on Oct. 5 that will reveal what the whole puzzle means.)

However, later that afternoon, Nicolina and company replaced Portal No. 5... (Boxcutter Design on Avenue C is helping out by printing replacements.)

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Now, as of yesterday, both Portals are missing from Avenue A ... the latest theft/removal of a portal...



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GammaBlog has more photos and video from Saturday evening.

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Check out the 13 Portals website for more info. Read more about Nicolina here.

Checking in on the 13 Portals, an interactive street art project for the East Village

On Saturday, Nicolina and Pérola Bonfanti unveiled the latest in the interactive street art project known as 13 Portals. Portal No. 5 is at 98 Avenue A. Every Saturday this summer, the pair will unveil a new portal. Participants have an opportunity to find one of 64 keys that gives them access to a final event on Oct. 5 that will reveal what the whole puzzle means.

Meanwhile, the Atlantic Cities features Nicolina and the 13 Portals in an article today:

The paintings tell a story rooted in research of numberology, ancient history, and science, according to Bonfanti, who served as an assistant professor at Rio's esteemed Escola de Artes Visuais do Parque Lage. But they are also just to put some beautify out where it's needed, added Nicolina — among regular people in their everyday lives.

This is the core motivation behind the Free Art Society — to free it from institutions, from economic barriers, and in the end, from people's own minds. Asked about the potential actual effects of these projects, she says, "Hopefully this opens other people up to be more expressive themselves. Creative expression is contagious."

And there's plenty of creative expression which each unveiling ... here's the scene for Portal No. 3 on East 10th Street from July 20....



Check out the 13 Portals website for more info. Read more about Nicolina here.

Tonight: Unveiling ceremony for the 13 Portals

[File photo of Portal 0 on East 3rd Street via jdx]

Tonight is the official unveiling ceremony for the 13 Portals ... which are, via its website:

13 Portals is an interactive street art experience to be discovered in abandoned doorways on the sidewalks of New York City’s East Village this Summer, 2013. New York based artist, Nicolina & Brazilian artist Pérola M. Bonfanti seek to unite street art, technology and alchemy in these hand painted portals.

The project welcomes and invites open participation by all. Its objective is to “pass" through the series of 13 portals beginning by scanning a unique QR code on each piece. Once the code is scanned the participant will be prompted to answer a question, or complete a task, each with escalating difficulty or complexity. Once each task is accomplished, the subsequent portal’s location is revealed, and the participant directed to it. Each portal must be visited and cracked in order, before the participant can pass through the 13th, and final portal. Once all 13 portals have been completed, the shroud of mystery behind the works will be lifted, and the 13 portals’ esoteric secrets unlocked.

Portals 0 and 1 were revealed back in December ... Portal 0 is on East Third Street near Second Avenue while Portal 1 is on East Seventh Street and Avenue C... Every week, a new portal will be unveiled this summer...

Portal 2 will be unveiled tonight at 8:13 at a yet-to-be-announced location... Then at 9, there's an after party with bands and what not at ABC Sanctuary, 638 E. 6th St. between Avenue B and Avenue C...

Check out the Facebook event page with more info. Read more about Nicolina here.

Reader report: Someone vandalized Portal 1 on Avenue C

A local East Villager passes along these photos of Portal 1, one of 13 portals by Nicolina and Brazilian artist Perola Bonfanti... passersby can scan the QR code on each one, then "you will begin the journey to uncover their mystery."

Unfortunately, someone ripped off the QR code on the Portal located on Avenue C and East Seventh Street. According to the reader, the artists are in South America but are working on a long-distance repair.



Here's the website for the portals.

[Updated] Check out 'Portal 0' in the East Village

EVG regular jdx passes along the following... Yesterday, he ran into Nicolina ... the artist was finishing "Portal 0" next to the Bean on Second Avenue and East Third Street ...

[via jdx]

...it's the first of 13 portals by Nicolina and Brazilian artist Perola Bonfanti. The portals are interactive, and by scanning the QR code on each one, "you will begin the journey to uncover their mystery," as Nicolina put it.

Dave on 7th spotted this one going up on Seventh Street and Avenue C on Sunday...

[Bottom two photos via Bobby Williams]

Updated:

Thanks to BT in the comments... here's the website for the portals.