On Tuesday November 3rd 2020, a piece of art that I created was wheat-pasted onto a public wall in Brooklyn. It also happened to be Election Day in the US. These two events coinciding, felt like cosmic orchestration. (Allow me to exaggerate my excitement real quick.) This Presidential election was the most highly anticipated of any presidential election in US history. The past 4 years have been a living nightmare ( to put it mildly ) for most Americans who are decent human beings.
So, my piece going up on this day gave me a glimmer of hope that perhaps everything was going to be alright. Although, this achievement is literally possible through street art/graffiti, PaperGirl Brooklyn afforded me this seemingly small but ultimately grand opportunity to have my art work displayed in the borough I grew up in for everyone to see.
PaperGirl Brooklyn is a participatory art project, originating in Berlin Germany. Where artists from all over the world are asked to contribute their work, which is then displayed in a gallery show. The project ends with a bicycle ride through the streets re-distributing the original artwork (for free!) to the unsuspecting public.
Sina Basila Hickey & Annie Del Hierro – the organizers behind papergirl re-imagined this awesome art project in Brooklyn, in the midst of a global pandemic while adhering to Covid-19 restrictions. In lieu of the gallery show they wheat pasted the work on walls throughout Brooklyn and recorded a series of discourse between native NY business owners and artists corresponding to the neighborhoods the pieces were placed in, respectively.
On Saturday, November 21st ( at this point a new presidential administration was officially confirmed BT dubs) I took part in the final stage of this project, along with 12 other riders, we biked throughout Brooklyn handing out rolled up artwork to strangers. We wore face coverings, disposable gloves and carried hand sanitizer. It was an unseasonably warm & beautiful day, we had a great time and got to put smiles on a lot of faces. A huge shoutout to Sina, Annie & the artists for all of the work they put into this project. The goal :an attempt to decolonize & de-capitalize art culture by bringing art to everyday people, while also brightening people’s lives during this collectively trying time. It was a truly amazing project that I’m so proud to have been apart of.
Please check out my piece along with 12 other artists, at The Brooklyn Public Library – Marcy Branch in BedStuy. To find out more about the project please visit papergirlbk.com & IG: @papergirlbk.