~MURRZ . . .
MURRZ / @MURRZ . . . on the Lower East Side, NYC. NOV 14, 2015
PHOTO: NANCY SMITH
MURRZ . . is one of the co-curators, along with ZROPRO / @ZEROPRODUCTIVITY . . .
of the big BOUNDLESS BROOKLYN & GRUMPY BERT . . ‘TAT IT UP’ show, opening to-nite – JAN 8, 2016 / 7-9 – at GRUMPY BERT – 82 BOND ST, BROOKLYN, NY.
& LOOKS LIKE, it’s going to be . . . HUGE !!
see: ‘TAT IT UP’ – GRUMPY BERT !!
http://www.grumpybert.com/blogs/art-shows-events/80665028-tat-it-up
MURRZ STICKER, 2015
I met her, just wandering around the opening, at the big ‘COLOSSAL’ – NYC local street scene / art group show, last November 2015 . . at VOLA VIDA on Grand St. on the Lower East Side. NYC.
what struck me first were – the small file of hand-drawn decal/slap/stickers she was showing a friend. The stickers were in slightly different sizes, with different colors, and inserted into what looked like her sketchbook. it had a hard cover, so I guess that was the best way to keep them clean, and flat & safe.
and still be able to show them. they all seemed to be unique images, hand-drawn originals, lol slapped down with sharpies – not repros – which intrigued me.
the whole moment – intrigued me !!
but esp – this image !!
so strange, so hardcore. so mad max meets girly. but moves . . on !!
that’s the important part – the work moves, and moves . . . on. if you know what I mean.
it just gets past the initial idea, and takes flight – is the best way I can put it.
the quality of the black line drawing – was so fluid. the over-all concept – so ruff.
and, mysterious. the narrative was mysterious – but in that way, that doesn’t need . . answers !!
and, the background.
the background – just took off, visually.
the scribble scrabble, the free-ness, the yellow ‘mess’ of the void vs. the bold fluid, & strongly directed subject lines – it all bounced.
this sticker, went from street art – to just ART, for me, me almost instantaneously.
very futuristic child / make the best of urban ‘crisis’- and come up: survival.
MURRZ CAT STICKER, 2015
this one prob would have taken me a little longer to get into, if I hadn’t seen the above one – first.
what started to clue me in – was realizing it was a . . two-part-er !!
actually two . . partners-in-crime.
the ‘sister’ images – split apart into separate stickers at the center line – the ‘mouth’, lol.
it worked so well, both ways. great ‘design’ puzzle element.
great bold lines in totality. same rapid fluidity.
great future vision, re: the joined-at-the mouth, maybe ‘mutated’ kitty – and then, that . .. ‘Mad Max’ crossed-out eyeball. lordy !!
and then, that . . the worried look, on the other not so .. matching kitty. the sweet, but maybe wounded, vulnerable expression of that OTHER pair of eyeballs. so much story-telling go-ing on !!
talk about talk about: check out that non-working eye, and then circle round !!
kind of like, one of those classic vintage Americana black nanny dolls, where one side is the white woman doll, and lift up her skirt – and there is the black woman doll – !!
and oh, the stories they can tell.
and, yeah. I of course, I also liked that small bit of pink & yellow & blue . . scribble scrabble.
you know, how I like details, that you know – fall off . . . !!
into the . . . VOID !!
free fall, free form, down the rabbit hole.
mini . . abstract expressionism. the unknown. the wide open. spaces.
narrative & lyric forces – the drive to have answers. move over !!
bio-human at work. and, gestural is where it’s – at.
PHOTOS & SCAN: NANCY SMITH