New York City Artists Mini Collection

Like the colors of oil in pooled street water, New York City artists bring a beauty to a city that city dwellers so many times overlook. There is a magic that lingers just under the city’s smog. Sprinkling itself on the dreamers that believe in New York City anyone can be anything. Those artists who are immersed in the magic of New York can testify that developing an art that rises above the city’s millions can prove a difficult task. But such is the beauty about New York. In such a concentrated area of inhabitants living one on top of another, the known and the unknown artists can one day find a platform for their medium.

Stephen Wiltshire climbed into a helicopter and took a twenty-minute ride over Manhattan’s historic skyline. From those twenty minutes, Wiltshire began producing an 18ft sketch referring only to his memory. Diagnosed with autism at an early age, Wiltshire found that he communicated best with pictures. From his photographic memory, he first uses pencil to scale the drawing then fills in the 18ft canvass with pen. His detail to key New York City landmarks, such as Central Park and The Chrysler building, left many New Yorkers awestruck.  In completing such a detailed skyline portrait from memory, Wiltshire joined the handful of New York City artists.

Defacement, art, vandalism, expression can all be used to describe anything from scribbled tag names to elaborate art pieces found on city surfaces put there without permission or consent from the landowner. Created from markers, spray paints, pens, or even keys, any city surface is susceptible to defacement. Recently, a New York City street artist, being donned as The Moustache Artist, has rounded up attention for his or her sophistication of the common mustache defacement. Cleverly writing the word moustache as a moustache, no subway poster is safe from this emerging New York City artist.

Not all New York City artists choose to expresses themselves on a flat canvass. Agata Oleksiak chose pink and purple yarn to make her statement. As a Christmas gift to Wall Street, Agata outfitted Wall Street’s Charging Bull in a form-fitting crocheted outfit this past December. Beginning at two in the morning, Agata began fitting premade pieces and quickly stitched them all together. Starting at the head of the bull, she completed the large art project in less than five hours. Unfortunately, even after being approached by diverting the attention of curious private security guards, the outfit was taken down two short hours after its completion. Bestowing her gift on Christmas Eve twenty-three years after Arturo Di Modica dropped off the bull without permission was no accident. “This crocheted cover represents my best wishes to all of us. It will be a great, prosperous year with many wonderful surprises!”  [Watch Agata crochet the Wall Street Bull Here ]

New York City is a canvass for those who look to it for inspiration and for those who place their inspiration within it. Wiltshire found his inspiration in a helicopter. The mysterious Moustache Artist is racking the brains of subway riders. Agata gave her art as a present for the millions of New Yorkers. So New York City Artists, where do you fit in?