D*Face-d

D*Face is one of our favorites here at BGB. Seems like anything the guy produces is extremely fresh. It came as no surprise then when we saw photos on his site of a new mural he did for Pisa Town Council out in Italy named "Heavens Above". The piece was a tribute to Keith Haring who also did a piece in the city in the late 80's.

The D*Face piece is truly something that deserves to be up for the next 20 years too.

Banksy @ the Orleans Museum of Art

Famous and highly duplicated British street artist BANKSY has one of his famous pieces at the New Orleans Museum of Art.

The NOLA Girl has been famous since Banksy bombed New Orleans nearly a year ago. The stencil was placed on a wall on St. Claude Ave near the French Quarter.

The Museum reps claim that the stencil is going to be at the Museum for a long term loan by some London collector and has been certified to be a true Banksy piece.

Recently, a few art counterfeiter criminals were arrested in Britain after they were caught duplicating stencils of the famous street artist on canvas and re-selling the fakes as authenticate pieces.

If you are in N.O. anytime soon and want to catch a glimpse of the girl, the NOMA hours are Wed, noon to 8; Thur-Sun, 10 to 5.

Via NOLA

Public Art is the Frisco way

Photo by Louis DeLuca

When a community joins together for the sake of art, we have to give it props. We came across this article in the Dallas News. Frisco, a small city in Texas has been taking charge in opening its doors to public art. Actually, they encourage it.

Too many towns "are becoming homogenized – same stores, same restaurants, same street names even, as other towns," said Katherine Wagner, chief executive officer of North Texas Business for Culture and the Arts and a member of the public art committee for Dallas. "Art can give us something to be proud of that is uniquely ours, and which we can build around."

Frisco has been installing art into their town for a while now. The city even requires every municipal project to set aside money for art to be installed. From installing art at their local Pizza Hut to a terrazzo floor at the Fire Station, Frisco has been able to show that a city can flourish with art rather than succumb to Billboard advertisements and the cookie-cutter streets that you find across America. They are even building a curriculum around the collections.

We give props to the city of Frisco, TX and encourage other towns to follow. Its when a city stands up and recognizes that public advertisement (legal or not) is an eye sore, and that public art (legal or not) can be something to enjoy, teach and talk about, that is when the value of artists and their hard work will truly be understood.

Check out the full article here: In Frisco, There's Art To Be Found

Midnight Marauders

Artist Shai D was painting away test samples lastnight for a new series he is working on. The new series is inspired by Midnight Marauders (legendary ATCQ album). The last series he did named "Animals & Guns" which mixed weapons as heads of animals was very successful and got a lot of love so we are excited to see what he will be releasing next.
Shai plans to have this new series up for sale on Abztract very soon. Judging by this cardboard sample, it is sure to be another classic (much like the Hip Hop album in which it is themed after).

Our Brooklyn Sunday

Abztract rolled deep into Brooklyn this weekend to enjoy some sunshine. We walked across the bridge and made sure to catch some good vibes while spending some good Abztract Family time in the BK. Here are some of our favorite photos taken during our exploration of Crooklyn, New York.