Art For Sale

Mermaid Parade in Graffiti Alley by Polypasting

100% of the proceeds go to our 501(c)(3) non-profit Rosenfeld Org Inc

$49.00

Shipping included plus $1.47 processing fee

Size: 24 x 18 Inches (60.96 x 45.72 Centimeters)

   Type: 4-Color Print with Silkscreen on French Paper

Artist: Luis Rosenfeld aka Polypasting

About the Art:

The original photograph was taken by the artist in NYC, later it was “polypasted” on a brick wall in Graffiti Alley in Baltimore and then each copy was hand printed in Detroit.  Each print is a unique piece of art and each print is individually signed by the artist. 

The photograph was taken in 2016 by Luis Rosenfeld of a woman in the Mermaid Parade held annually in Coney Island, New York.  Rosenfeld then printed the photograph and “polypasted” it in Graffiti Alley in Baltimore. Polypasting involves printing a black and white photograph on regular paper and then using polyurethane as both an adhesive and a sealant.  The design of this piece was done in collaboration with dozens of graffiti artists and taggers. The original brick wall that is underneath the piece already had years of people leaving their marks on it by doing graffiti or drawing with special markers.  Rosenfeld aka “Polypasting” pasted his piece on top of these layers and soon after that a new wave of street artists tagged over his piece integrating it to the original wall. Polyurethane also makes the white areas of the photograph translucid. It is fun to imagine the amount of people it took to create this artwork and to see some pictures of the phases it went through!

 Rosenfeld then used different solvents to remove parts of their tags from key points of his photo, such as the eyes, nose, and lips.  He also used his own graffiti markers to draw a set of bold red lips on the woman’s mouth and delicate baby blue lines in each of her irides.  Finally, Rosenfeld took a photographs of different stages of his polypasted piece. The first photo is the actual print, the second photo is a detail of the print and the third photo is the artist’s signature on the piece.  All the rest are photos are different times and stages of the piece.

There are many images of Rosenfeld’s work posted by many people on Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc. with the tag “polypasting”.  You can also Google “polypasting” and find articles that have been written about him.

This particular photograph has been silkscreen printed in order to retain the vivid and pure colors.  Screen printing is a manually handled process; therefore, no two prints are alike and each print is a one-of-a-kind piece of art.  To create this silkscreen, four different screens were created each one for one color. If you look at the print with a magnifying glass you can see the dots create by the four different screens. The paper used for the print is cotton french paper produced in Niles, Michigan.  Cotton french paper is a high-quality archival paper, which is both durable and sophisticated. The printing of the final product took place at a community based screen printing shop in Detroit, Michigan.

100% of the proceeds of this print will go to the 501(c)(3) non-profit experimental art organization, Rosenfeld Org.  The mission of Rosenfeld Org is to preserve and protect Graffiti Alley, Graffiti Warehouse, and Temple of Oz and to support street artists.

 About the Artist:

Luis Rosenfeld considers his art “serendipity art”.  His work blends photography, street art, and unwilling collaborations.  Rosenfeld divides his time between Detroit, Baltimore, and Brooklyn making art and developing the non-profit organizations that he founded through Graffiti Warehouse in Baltimore and Temple of Oz in Detroit.  Ultimately, Rosenfeld is helping raise awareness for birth control through the arts.

As a photographer, Rosenfeld’s technique and manner has aptly been called “shock and awe.”  Rosenfeld rarely thinks twice about a photo. If he sees a subject that interests him, he goes with his intuition and he doesn’t look back.  Rosenfeld loves people who are original and who are not afraid to be themselves no matter what society says.  

As a street artist, Luis Rosenfeld “bombed” the walls of Bushwick, Brooklyn with his polypasting technique.  Between 2012 and 2017, he maintained his photos on the street which required paint stripping graffiti, washing off wheatpasted posters, and repairing pieces when necessary.  “Polypasting” involves Rosenfeld using polyurethane to adhere his prints to different surfaces (brick, concrete, wood, canvas, etc.) and then coating his prints with polyurethane to protect them and give them a glossy, semi-transparent look.  

Once other artists have painted on top of his pieces, Rosenfeld uses paint strippers and other solutions to remove the paint from key parts of the photos, such as the eyes, mouth, nose, and fingers of the subjects. This process is repeated many times during the lifetime of the piece.  Each time a new composition is created on top of the old one. Rosenfeld decides what to leave and what to remove so that the piece becomes more dynamic and colorful, but the original energy and soul remains.