Mi Gente...
I have been digging in old digital archives...and I found an old graphics folder that had pictures of some artwork from an amazing artist named Josh Goldstein that I featured years ago on the previous incarnation of this website...I also had the opportunity to exhibit his work at Capicu Poetry & Cultural Showcase in the few first months. His work stems from his love for those vintage Bodega signs that I remember from my days in Brooklyn (shout out to Cypress Hills, ENY and Bushwick)
I found out that in switching formats for the site...the link to the original story we did on him was lost (and we lost a lot of articles in the process) but nonetheless...his relevance in Brooklyn has grown significantly as well as his body of work...and it is extremely impressive to see how diverse he has become.
so here he is... Mr. Bodega Art...Josh Goldstein...
Buen Provecho...
As I am,
George Torres
The Urban Jibaro
aka I want some quarter waters...now!
Density...Chaos...Disrepair...Impermanence...Diversity...Simultaneity...Disorder
The soul of New York City is this.
The soul of New York City resonates in the cacophony of wildly divergent wants, needs, and desires, of its citizens, both past and present, all crammed together and forced to coexist in a seemingly uncaring urban landscape.
New York's densely frenetic layering is a major inspiration for my work. I love how old storefront signs peak out behind new ones, and how a building door can be a canvas for artists, taggers, and guerrilla marketers. A lamppost is rarely just a lamppost. It is a community bulletin board, graffiti showcase, exercise bar, and old sneaker receptacle.
To me the city is at its best when its functions overlap, histories intermingle, and cultures collide, creating exciting and ambiguous new relationships. This delirious frenzy, the heart of New York City's ecology, engages a "war between beauty and ugliness which demands both become strange new things."
My chopped-up, blown-apart and reconstructed sculptural photo collages are an homage to the churning engine of New York, which is constantly creating new cities, both beautiful and ugly, right on top of the old one.
-Josh Goldstein
To see and purchase his work, please visit Bodega NYC
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