On one hand, URNewYork is an artistic collective made to inspire others, specially the younger generations. This goal is achieved with hard work on a daily basis. On the other hand, the East Village of New York City used to be one of the hottest artistic districts in the world some years ago. People would fly in from the entire world just to enjoy the current status of art in the hand of the creators. Read on to find out everything about this amazing clash.
URNewYork
URNewYork or URNY as they call it is the inspirational get-together of two young artists: Fernando Romero and Mike Baca. They first started doing things with each other because of artistic affinity, but once they seriously sat down to talk about deep stuff and the world status, they realized they had much more in common than just the paint cans. The artistic collective was founded, as many others, with the idea that art can change the world and, moreover, make it a better place for generations to come.
While in this journey, this pair of creative artists has managed to create an esthetic language of their own and their pieces of mixed media ended up being among the boldest creations in the city. They never abandoned their dream of philanthropy and caring for others and continue to draw inspiration from the environment around them.
The East Village
Does the name Jean-Michel Basquiat ring a bell? What about Jenny Holzer? Maybe Madonna, Blondie, Sonic Youth, Patti Smith and The Strokes? What do all of them have in common? They all came out from the East Village of New York City. This part of town was the scene that gave birth to lots of influential artists as well as currents like the No Wave music movement, graffiti art, punk rock and neo-expressionism.
This conglomerate of people, bars, galleries (often self-run by artists themselves), rehearsal rooms and streets themselves had its peak of world-wide attention back in the beginning of the 1980s. It is said that by the year 1986, the popular magnifying glass had gone to other sides of the city. Although that is true, the district remained a cult place and continued to give huge talent to the world.
What´s Your Sign Mural Project
This project was launched to raise funds and awareness about the damage that HIV is doing to the teenagers and young people in the Eastern Village and all over New York. The day set was October 10th 2015 and all the painting equipment was provided by Plutonium. The street got flooded with more than fifteen artists who fired away and never looked back.
After some hours of painting joy, the 12 panels that were up for auction got sold and all the proceedings went to the Love Heals organization. The dream with which URNY was born was being accomplished while the East Village got fired up with colors just like the old times.
