Urban Arts Graffiti Wall | New York

Introducing

Urban Arts Legends of Art and Design!

FanfaireNYC presents

Urban Arts with alumni legends & friends

hosted by

Join us on Saturday, April 29th!

Try your hand on our graffiti wall!

Learn how it's done from our alumni legends and friends in this workshop, demo, and panel!

Come and meet our

Urban Arts Alumni Legends & Friends

OLGA CORREA

Olga Correa is a Puerto Rican woman raised in the South Bronx, in New York City and continues to reside in the Bronx.

A graduate of the High School of Art & Design along with many legendary graffiti artists like Bill Blast, Mare139, and Lady Pink, to name a few.

A graduate of the college of Fashion Institute of Technology, along classmate Illustrator Alavo, mentor Illustrator Antonio Lopez and was gifted a grant by her admired fashion designer Oscar De La Renta. In return, she became a designer straight after graduating F.I.T for Import Inc. for a total of 15 years. She designed for clientele including J. Crew, Lord & Taylor, Bugle Boy, and many department stores in New York City.

Her Illustrations were also featured as a set design for one of the main characters in the movie, “Rude Awakening in1989”, after befriending Aaron Russo, while she lived in the Chelsea area in Manhattan.

Olga has been working with the city for 20 plus years now and has been giving back to her community in infinite ways.

She is one of many NYC existing lists of female graffiti artists in a field, which is dominated by men. She works in diverse styles and media; she consciously advocates feminine elements and strength in her creations. Her images and compositions push boundaries along with her many graffiti styled names. She is the primary character in her pieces; her name appears in styles such as her mentor Skeme. Her character has existed for decades as you can find her on Lee denim jacket painted in 1980 and rocked in high school.

She has appeared in her first solo show at AAA3A, as well as Wallworks several times, James Top NYC Graffiti Center, Bronx Art Space, Chicago’s ARI’s Art Space in 2020. In 2021, she showcased at an Allen Street Art Space show named, “S.T.O.C.K.S & Bombs” alongside her mentor Skeme, legendary photographer Martha Cooper, as well at Casita Maria Center for Arts & Education. This March 2023, she is showcased in an all women show called, “Her City” in London at Leake Street Gallery.

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AL DIAZ

Al Díaz’s career spans five decades. Born and raised Puerto Rican in New York City, by age 15 he was an influential first-generation subway graffiti artist known as “BOMB-ONE.” His friendship and artistic collaboration with high school schoolmate Jean-Michel Basquiat on SAMO©, (a late 70s Avant-garde graffiti tag project) has been noted often in contemporary art history. Díaz later contributed percussion to numerous musical recordings and performances, including Basquiat’s historic 1983 record, “Beat Bop,” (considered to be one of the earliest hip-hop albums).

Díaz is sought-after as an expert of New York City counterculture art. He appears often in publications, as a highlighted speaker for a variety of panel discussions at universities and museums (including Smithsonian Institution, the Brooklyn Museum, The New School and Christie’s Education), and has been featured in several films, including Boom for Real: The Late Teenage Years of Jean-Michel Basquiat, BBC’s American Masters — Basquiat: Rage to Riches and Jean-Michel Basquiat: The Radiant Child.

Díaz’ current creative practice in Brooklyn includes gathering the standard “WET PAINT” signage used throughout the NYC MTA, and reconstructing them to create clever, poignant anagrams in various mixed media and public art formats. His work is shown and privately collected internationally. In 2018, Diaz authored SAMO©...SINCE 1978, an in-depth, color illustrated history of the street art legacy that he began with Basquiat in the late 70s. A notebook that Díaz made with Basquiat in his teens is currently held in the collection of the Yale University Beinecke Library.

Visit his website for more on his work: al-diaz.com

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FLINT GENNARI

Flint Gennari is the owner & chief photographer of Fine Art Fotos & Video, which he began in 1999, specializing in portraits, weddings, and headshots for professionals.

Flint has photos and artwork in dozens of modern art books and has had his work displayed in many museums and galleries around the world, including the Cartier museum in Paris, France.

Roberto "FLINT" Gennari started writing graffiti as Flint during its infancy in Brooklyn, NYC and would go on to create his infamy by adding catchphrases next to his tags such as: “For Those Who Dare”, “For Ladies Only” or even ‘Thank Flint for a better world." These antics would be eye-catching to the public as did traditional advertisements. He would attend the High School of Art and Design, class of 1975, where he learned photography and film making predictably turning his lens towards his friends and fellow writers to document the writing culture as it unfolded. His early photos during the 1970s capture graffiti in its infancy and the pioneers who would contribute to art history. In fact, Flint’s larger than life portraits grace the entrance to the new Museum of Graffiti in Miami, Florida.

You can also see some of these early photos at flintdotdot.com

Flint Display at Outsider Institute in London.JPG

LUIS RAMOS

Luis Ramos, legendary street artist turned fine art painter and sculptor, known by his moniker "Inca", emerged in the mid 1970's, during a time when graffiti was transforming from ubiquitous tag bombs to elaborate masterpieces. With fellow street writers and graffiti artists of the day, Ramos constantly pushed the boundaries of this evolving form of expression, using spray painted letters to create complex inscriptions, converting blank walls and train cars into eye-catching designs. With cans in hand and the city as their canvas, night time became an opportunity to create and make a statement.

With the enormous impact graffiti art has made on modern society, from cinema, hip-hop, and rap, to fashion, collectibles, and even museums, the extraordinary evolution of this form of expression is often taken for granted. What started as a way for taggers to make themselves known and garner street cred, morphed into a culture all its own, and now has become re-integrated into the mainstream. Ramos has taken his talent from the street to the studio and now uses his skills to produce intricately detailed depictions of his experiences during his time as one of the early street artists of New York City.

Visit his Instagram page for more on his artwork: @luis_inca_ramos