Taking It to the Streets: Advertising Yourself as an Artist
by Nathalie Hall, Editor

Strolling down the mundane lengths of 2nd Avenue near 86th Street last year I was both shocked and delighted to see a piece of artistic heaven peek out from under my feet. There on the sidewalks of the Upper East Side were small “teases,” or samples, of the art of James De La Vega. They were, in essence, simple chalk line drawings frequently of fish consisting of just images or images with short adages of wisdom signed lovingly by “De La Vega.” While street art is hardly a new medium for city artists, in recent times artists have been working to break out of the mold by exploring untouched mediums of presentation of course in addition to creating original works of art that subscribe to original artistic philosophies and beliefs.

Street art is a fantastic way of presenting your work to the world. Thousands of pupils take in what you have created all in a mere walk to the subway station or a jog down to the corner grocery store. While the impressions are indeed quite numerous, what is really striking is how this advertising can transform an artist's career. Gaining recognition through gallery endorsement is a long and arduous process, but with street art you create on the outside. Your visibility increases. Your name takes on real meaning. As long as the police do not catch you drawing, painting, spraying, scratching, etc. where you shouldn't be, that is. One of the delights of De La Vega is that he uses chalk, which - both gladly and sadly - washes away in the rain.

Even as your canvas may be a bench or a wall in the city, artists must not be overbearing or exceedingly selfish. As is evident by the nationwide public uproar against highway billboards (they are illegal in some states), the public only has a certain amount of tolerance for you mussing up their surroundings. Perhaps a better idea is to dabble in street art and save the real thing for canvas, t-shirts, boards, or paper.

James De La Vega, who was described the New York Times writer David Gonzales as “a hybrid between a street kid and an Ivy League guerilla performance artist” knows how it is done. De La Vega, who hails from Spanish Harlem and attended Cornell University, has gone from el barrio muralist to East Village gallery owner. His work has just the right mixture of visual appeal and depth of meaning and he used the streets to build up his persona and personal brand cache. Next time you brave St. Marks Place in New York City, stop in and say hello. And don't forget to take notes.

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