Vittoria Benzine

Vittoria Benzine is a street art journalist and creative nonfiction essayist based in Brooklyn, New York. Since leaving her rural Pennsylvanian town, she has lived in disparate nooks of the city’s architecture, ranging from the Bronx to Bensonhurst. Her myriad career paths mirror this same pattern, and she has worked in entertainment, food service, fashion, and corporate consultancy. Through it all, Vittoria returns to writing with the intention to not only sort through her own experiences, but to share herself with the greater consciousness she feels so connected to.

Street Art

street art united states •

A Stunning Mural By Fintan Magee In Papeete, Tahiti

Australian street artist Fintan Magee recently traveled to Papeete, Tahiti to complete his newest mural “Strength of Memory”. The five-story project, found in French Polynesia’s capital city, was curated by ONO’U Tahiti, an organization that promotes public art on the island. ONO’U hosts a yearly graffiti festival and also hosts street art tours, in addition to their work curating interventions by famed international artists. With this partnership, Magee once again brings his emotionally artisti
street art united states •

A Mini Mural By Axel Void On Family Unity in Havana

Last month, Haitian-American-Spanish street artist Alejandro Hugo Dorda Mevs Aka Axel Void completed a small-scale mural in Havana, Cuba. In a press release for the project, the artist explains, “this image is based on a still from a short film I am working on. The film is based on a family living in the neighborhood of San Isidro, in Habana, Cuba. The area is a poor but a very lively place, where kids play endlessly in the streets and all the house doors are open to let the air and conversation
street art united states •

About This Town: A Mural By Artez In Madrid

March 3rd, 2019 concluded the third edition of Urvanity Art Fair, a relatively new urban art festival in Madrid, Spain. Urvanity’s manifesto emphasizes the importance of new trends in the manner with which art and cities interact, and the festival has dubbed itself “a platform for a New Contemporary Art.” Simultaneously though, Urvanity focuses on innovation through the lens of tradition as it relates to the festival’s setting, noting that “it is important not only to consider the work itself bu
street art united states •

2 Murals By Dulk In Costa Rica

Continuing what has already proved an exciting year, Spanish muralist Antonio Segura Donat, also known as Dulk, marked his first forays into Costa Rica with two recent murals in Jacó. Both murals were curated by Artify Jaco, a local entity which organizes street art initiatives to beautify the city. Situated on Costa RIca’s West coast and hailed for its surfing beaches, Jacó provided an ideal, lush location for the artist’s environmentally-minded works. Dulk first completed “Fragile” which ador
street art united states •

Legacy: A Mural By Dulk In Maui, Hawai’i for Seawalls

As polar temperatures plunged the nation into nearly unlivable tundra conditions, marine life in Hawai’i sprang to action with a frenzy seen only once a year. Humpback whales migrate to the area’s waters in droves for breeding season, which begins in January and crescendoes in February. To celebrate the momentous annual occasion, Spanish street artist Antonio Segura Donat aka Dulk ventured to Maui, and completed his latest mural titled “Legacy”. Dulk has visited the island state before, and his
street art united states •

Blek Le Rat Tours Texas and Tennessee

I am from coal country. Though I live in New York now, I still have a special affinity for middle American culture, for gas station with worn neon signs advertising showers for truckers. I swoon over cheap motels where couples likely rendezvoused in the seventies, and dive bars where smoking indoors is still legal. I have traveled forgotten towns between New York and Pensacola, and the entire length of Texas. My next ambition is to drive the length of highway I-10, thereby exploring Texas’s widt
street art united states •

Catching Up With Engy Al Garf, An Egyptian Artist based in NYC

I covered Engy Al Garf’s innovative heat map mural in Giza back in November, and impossibly drawn in by her thoughtful style, began following her career. When I learned through Instagram that she had recently moved to New York, I endeavored to meet the artist in person. She suggested the Upper East Side, an area I know intimately through my day job. Where would we meet? Sant Ambroeus is a favorite, I had seen Dustin Hoffman there just a few weeks before, but finding a table can be impossible. La
street art united states •

Is Urban History Repeating Itself In Lynn, MA?

As a symbol of artistic authenticity, the popularity of street art has given rise to festivals around the world. Depending on who is putting the festival together, its purpose might range from “social-bonding [or] place-making, [to] place-marketing.” The power of street art extends beyond its provocative messages, as the addition of a large-scale, powerful mural solidifies a location’s identity. These festivals can also change as dominant forces in their environment shift. This transformation is
street art united states •

Our Own Top 10 Murals Of 2018

Street art continued to take over the world in 2018, adorning cities around the globe with massive works of gigantic expression. As cultural revolutions change the way we consider economic, political and social systems, the most notable murals of the previous year found intuitive ways to express both dissent and hope. Beyond the art itself, the street art world stands apart from its cohorts with a focus on clout nearing cults of personalities. Though the themes were generally harmonious, the mos
street art united states •

“Let It Fly” By Artez In Izmir, Turkey

“The wonders of the Grand Canyon cannot be adequately represented in symbols of speech, nor by speech itself,” said John Wesley Powell, an American soldier, geologist, explorer and professor. Still, artists throughout history have continually sought to capture nature’s astounding beauty, perhaps paying tribute to the stunning gift it has provided us without expecting reciprocity. The Grand Canyon and the stunning landscape of Turkey’s Cappadocia look like they may have been cousins in a past lif
street art united states •

Our 2018 Top 20 Images on Facebook

2018 ushered in the continued growth of street art’s monumental importance to the wider cultural sphere. Banksy made international headlines when their work “Girl With Balloon” fetched a record-shattering $1.4 million at auction before self-destructing in a botched shredding prank. The work is now titled “Love Is In the Bin” and I personally posit that its notoriety will remain for ages to come. Street art asserted its rights this year with two key showdowns. In February, New York Times reporte
street art united states •

The 2018 Basel House Mural Festival

Amongst all the posturing and partying that takes place at an infamous institution like Art Basel, events like the sixth annual Basel House stay focused on the genuine passion for art that lies at the heart of it all. This year’s free event featured a 40,000-square foot mural festival that hosted fifty muralists from around the world in Miami’s Wynwood Art’s District, “centered around the iconic RC Cola Plant [and] curated by Pedro Amos of Miami’s Best Graffiti Guide and Stephanie Kassoy of Nekt
street art united states •

Murals By Dimitris Taxis & Sabotage Al Montaje Reflecting On The Sociological Aspect Of Lecce, Italy

In November 2018, urban arts laboratory 167B Street hosted their second edition of 167Art Project in Lecce, South Italy, where the organization is based. The painting event, which was staged “in the heart of the 167B district of Lecce and the football stadium area” reimagines the neighborhood’s various facades as blank canvasses, ripe for artists’ creative projections. This edition featured work by Dimitris Taxis from Athens, Greece and Sabotage Al Montaje of the Canary Islands, whose respective
street art united states •

Artez Tackles Gender Inequality In His Mural in Almaty, Kazakhstan

Some people like airplanes. Others like encyclopedias. But, for Serbian muralist Artez, a bike is the best place to see the world from. The artist’s prolific portfolio has brought him around the globe, and his murals typically depict diverse citizens traversing the world for themselves, whether on a bipedal locomotive device or in the pages of a juicy text. Each work by Artez shows his love for humanity and his passion for curiosity. In the press release for his most recent mural, titled “Ridin
street art united states •

5 Recent Murals steeped in Femininity By Hyuro

A woman can be so many things. She can be thoughtful and serene, like a placid lake. She can roar impetuous and ferocious like an ocean caught in turbulent gale winds. She can heal and provide nourishment in the vein of a babbling spring carrying water from mountain peaks down to the desert. A certain grace serves as the common thread throughout her shifting capacities. Argentinian-born street artist Hyuro carries this lesson throughout her work, which consistently features dreamlike women from
street art united states •

“Poem For Nobody” By Rustam Qbic In Acapulco, Mexico

The mind boasts an infuriating propensity to race in every direction, leading towards nowhere with breakneck speed. In a cruel twist of fate, the only relief from this incessant, anxious push forward is “nothing”. Mindfulness, the practice of quieting thoughts to fully immerse oneself in solely the moment at hand, might be our only hope to maintain sanity in a society our brains were not equipped to live in. With his new mural “Poem for Nobody” Russian artist Rustam Qbic seems to capture this co
street art united states •

“Organics” by Emmanuel Jarus in Mumbai, India

Matter in the universe is neither created nor destroyed. This means that the atoms comprising each of our bodies have existed since the perceivable beginning of time. Pushing further, one might also posit that the fleeting nature of our atoms’ momentary configuration diminishes the importance of the barrier created to house one’s “self”. Art boasts the profound power to remind us of this astounding possibility. It can place the viewer in another’s shoes, reminding the world that we are all one.
street art united states •

“Esther 00: 00,02” by Dourone in Huesca, Spain

Spanish street art duo Dourone have always turned their gaze towards the future. Since Elodieloll joined in 2012 to form their team, the two have explored this tense not only in their subject matter, but also through their commitment to innovation. Their body of work highlights a transformative progression, the latest of which is marked by “Esther 00: 00,02”, a new mural they completed in Huesca, Spain for Festival Asalto. Dourone’s recent work “is the first mural of the ‘Space-time H’ series,”
street art united states •

A Mural Celebrating Mandela by Jorit in Florence, Italy

Certain figures like Nelson Mandela become so iconic that the image of their face alone can evoke entire sets of ideals. The renowned South African leader and philanthropist gained his reputation for bravery and honor through his work as an anti-apartheid revolutionary. The journey of his life led him through prison to international fame, and his biography is taught to schoolchildren around the world. Mandela is best understood in his own words: “I knew that the oppressor was as enslaved as the
street art united states •

NEVERCREW in Novara, Italy

Swiss street art duo NEVERCREW once again succeed in simultaneously evoking the “direct impact and a slow and deep reaction” they cite on their website with their newest work, simply titled “Cluster” in Novara, Italy. With this work, NEVERCREW continues to focus on society’s murky relationship with nature, harnessing the profound power of their trademark, abstract style to portray “the perception that mankind has of the environmental situation, of the actual connection with the overall balance,
Load More Articles