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.

Listen, it's the same story you already know so well. Overbearing ego paired with crippling self doubt. When I tell people I'm a writer, they assume fame and fortune aren't important values of mine, but they're wrong. I'm in it for the glory. That, and the ethereal catharsis provided by uninhibited self expression. 

I've never felt a feeling that didn't knock me off my feet. Last week, I cried on the G train listening to "Bennie and the Jets" because I didn't get to experience the 70s. I sat down on Rivington en route to an art show in the dead of winter, gathering my hair in my hands as I struggled to cope with the chaos of reality. 

When I'm not tearing at the seams, I write about street art. I write personal essays. I like modeling and making art when the mood is right. Check out the pages on my sidebar to find my work. 

My Favorite Pieces

LUMINA •

By Any Means —

Three drags from an Uber driver’s cigarette bolstered my facade of calm. I swallowed the acidic taste in the back of my throat and stepped through the entrance for my first glimpse into Richard’s apartment. It was bigger than anything I’d ever seen in New York, with a spacious terrace featuring panoramic views of Central Park and the frosty Upper East Side. Black and white tiles gave the floor a sense of antiquity. I noticed a thin layer of dust covering everything and thought, Couldn’t he affor
street art united states •

Jad El Khoury: An Artist Grappling With A Society In Denial

At this year’s annual Arte Laguna Prize in Venice (Italy), Nuart’s Martyn Reed convened a Land Art/Urban Art panel intended to explore the growing pervasiveness of street art in creating “museums without walls.” Populated by professionals including Dr. Susan Hansen of Nuart, independent curator Simone Pallotta, and Mattias Givell of Wanas Konst, the discussion “[reflected], from different perspectives, on the new tendencies and directions both in urban art and land art, offering a challenging di
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