Morgan Avenue: Where Street Art
Energizes an Industrial Brooklyn Nabe
The New York
City alternative art scene took a major hit when a five-story factory built in
1892 and occupied by the Neptune Meter Company, maker of water meters, was completely
demolished in 2014. The building, in Long Island City, across Jackson Avenue
from MOMA PS1, gained its celebrity status, as a centerpiece of graffiti art – an
aerosol spray can art mecca long after water meter production ceased.
In the
1990’s the building owner, a Long Island developer began leasing space to
artists as studio space. By 2002, a graffiti
artist Jonathan Cohen penned the factory with the name 5 Pointz in relation
to New York City’s five boroughs. The description was not in reference for the creative work happening in
the spaces occupied by two hundred artists inside the factory but for the
inspiring and imaginative graffiti art that completely engulfed every inch of the
buildings exteriors.
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| 5 Pointz Long Island City, Queens |
Works by graffiti
artists from all over the United States and the world emblazoned the building
with amazing designs and incredible colors creating a sprawling graffiti-like-mural.
The exterior
work began with a project called Graffiti Terminators founded by Pat Dilillo
who established the Phun Phactory in 1993 at the site. Dillilo intended to
remove the negative impression - crime and vandalism - long associated with
graffiti art. He wanted to legitimize it and push this art form mainstream. Artists
had to submit samples of their work for Dillilo to review and gain his approval
before “tagging” the building.
Two forty-story
apartments towers will replace 5 Pointz. Development is well underway.
The site will
contain over 1,100 apartments, including 220 affordable units and 20 art
studios. Construction is well underway.
With the demise
of 5 Pointz I thought the city lost something special - a gritty, very urban
but an innovative and visual art form. Of course when walking the High Line I see
some good works. They are often affiliated with working art events organized by
the High Line and others are associated with one or two Chelsea galleries
adjacent to the elevated park.
There are also murals
in city playgrounds and schoolyards throughout the city.
I knew pockets
of interesting street art existed in the city but I lacked the time to
search. In late March 2017 I saw
first-hand that alternative graffiti/street art scene, or however you want
to describe it, is alive and well and flourishing in at least one city neighborhood,
and probably others elsewhere.
The oasis I found
and “What a lucky find”
encompasses roughly a twenty-plus-block span on and around Morgan Avenue in
East Williamsburg, a huge industrial area of Brooklyn. I found many fun and
eccentric works on many buildings on the side streets and nearby avenues of
East Williamsburg. It felt as if I was walking in an outdoor museum. I returned
in September and took many photos.
I only found this
area with its wide array of street art because I chose not to return home via the
closest subway station. Instead I opted for one further away. This was my best move of 2017.
Here is a small sample
of what I saw during my three-hour tour. I have listed them by categories.
I
hope you enjoy these works as much as I have.
#MeToo:
Social Activism:
My Home Sweet Home With Fence:
My Artisanal Studio Workshop:
My Community Center:
The Mooch (inscribed far right) and Devil with Vile
Tongue:
Self Portrait...New Brooklyn Hipster:
Urbanscape...Extending Love:
My Big nyc straycat:
All photos, except 5 Pointz photo, taken by Rudi Papiri
Article initially published December 31, 2017.
Area of Detail:
My Street Art Trail started at Olive Street, a few blocks west of Morgan.
I then walked east along Metropolitan Avenue to Morgan Avenue. At ISCP,
an international visual arts residency program and curator events center, housed
in an old factory at the corner of Metropolitan and Morgan, I turned right.
I officially began my trek here and I continued moving south along
Morgan Avenue to Thames Street, near Flushing Avenue.
Check out the side streets along Morgan. For example, Bogart, which sits one
block west of Morgan and runs parallel to it, is also full of art.
5 Pointz story link: http://www.1000thingsnyc.com/5pointz/
