Street Art Museum Amsterdam 2017

ExitEnter is an upcoming artist from Florence, Italy. It was an honour to host him to explore how Graffiti and Street Art survive in the cities where every brick is protected as Unesco heritage.

This summer we hosted over 20 schools = ±1,000 students who laughed and fell in love with our glamorous but outcasted neighbourhood. They came from more than 7 countries. We are proud to share our space and art.

ExitEnter created a mural in collaboration with local youths who chose the theme MUSIC. They explained that graffiti would not work on this playground, but lyrical art would. We see the shift!

HIDE/SEEK is a game we created together with ExitEnter as part of his residency. There are 15 characters in the city and if you find all of them - you get a free museum card valid for 1 year! Ready? Go!

HIDE/SEEK clue: BIMHUIS, DE HALLENKWARTIER and SAMA.

7 DAYS IN DETAILS is an extraordinary effort of some 80 hours of ingenuity by ExitEnter using only black ink, a bag of tea and 2 brushes. We are working on VR solution to preserve this wonder journey.

When Sotheby's Business Art school student descended on SAMA for the third year in a row, they declared this artwork is a true art, for it was wild, mad, honest and funny. We agree!

Penises, Flying Virgins, Avocado Breasts, Shit and Flies all come together as an eloquent extravaganza of improvised jazz tune that last at least 7 days. Every day we find a new detail! Adventure!

HOPNN is inspired by Soviet Propaganda Style, and spells his name in Cyrillic as YURI. However, being pure Toscanian, he loves nature, bikes, painting and wheat paste. We did a lot in 3 days!

Last minute addition by HOPNN on a main square of our area Pl. 40-45. Hand painted with brushes and sprays, the family are happily cycling through the greens of Nieuw-West, the undiscovered district.

Kissing Fish is a classic representation of HOPNN art: thin papirus, wheat paste, mix media - spray, brush, stencil - all goes - eco world meets the bikes agains pollution, oil and metal.

What I like about this image is that it combines the Wild West Amsterdam - bikes, paste ups, looney characters with balloons, notorious ILL graffiti - todos totaal!

Let the World be the Judge.

HOPNN's Octopus is swallowing a car in order to give space for bicycle. A recurring theme in this activist's work.

6000 Strokes handpainted by ORTICANOODLES mirrors the 6000 LED lights. Together craft and technology illuminate the new square that connects Visitors and Residents of SPOT Community in Schiphol.

The artwork is painted using acrylic because "we work primarily with the technique of dusting dating back to 1500, we prefer to work with brushes because it's much more relaxing and less toxic sprays"

ORTICANOODLES are pioneers because "My job as a teacher blends perfectly with the role of "social artist", moreover, each of us is the the sum of own experiences!" thus every artwork is an explosion.

Master's of contrast, professors of colour and light, alchemists of the freestyle process - only ORTICANOODLES and their crew could pull of such a difficult corporate project. We did it with a smile!

"Calla lily is a symbol of elegance" which perfectly represents the connection between new HILTON building and exquisite THE BASE.

The other flowers used in composition are
- Magnolia as a symbol of dignity and perseverance
and
- Rose as symbol of love
for SPOT community and all those who made this possible!

MOSTE fell out of the sky owing to APC connection in Mexico. This prolific and undiscovered artist was in between MEXTONIA festival & Rizoma Gallery in Falköping residency around skateboard culture.

We had to do something! So we started with leftover cans and a graffitied playground.

It turned out beautifully! And as our muse KENOR says "Action. Reaction. And total repeat." Our action provoked a reaction and a week later we received a new request from the local pensioners.

MOSTE was asked to turn 4 beton blocks that prevent the cars from driving into playground into Sunflower Beds. Not an easy task in the rain, especially when ex-teachers over 65 have a precise vision!

MOSTE skillfully selected the colours after studying the area for almost 3 nights in different weather conditions. The result is a breathtaking combination of old, new, organic, nuon, imaginary.

Mirage perhaps? Day or night Sunflowers are dancing and became a 'hang out' spot, where people of all ages and cultures feel comfortable to "park" and look at a big water.

An unusual commission, but if it was not for the TIGER or WWF... JDLStreetArt is an upcoming 22 year old artist. She is prolific, smart and fast. She's got skills and ambition. She was perfect!.

JDLStreetArt had to deal with many limitations, so we designed the process together. Special THANK YOU to QRU.amsterdam who donated space, food and beer to prepare the canvas for the live performance.

Performance was a success. More than 10K people watched little Judith to conquer the giant eye of the Tiger. The canvas has been donated to WWF Nederlands and we are looking forward to seeing it soon.

It was not surprise our energy attracted all kinds of tigers from Pride Amsterdam.

Success triggers success. And when we got a call from WWF Family Club Netherlands to put up a happening in Rhenen Animal Park to celebrate arrival of 2 Pandas, we knew that NOL was our man!

NOL art's natural playfulness inspired by the creatures of the forests resonates with the spirit of the child's imagination. NOL's energy has obviously inspired little miss Pinkies :)

And then MOSTE came back from Sweden, and we went on HOLIDAYS. For a graffitero from Mexico in Europe this means = I paint every day every where. Dot. So we went to NDSM before it goes all commercial.

Massive part of street art culture is Paste Up, so MOSTE decided to spend his time painting in SAMA HQ Gallery whilst hanging out with our locals. Result - a bunch of characters set to travel!

Tans-gender Lion stayed in Slotermeer. Our present to #PINKNIEUWWEST

Rat went to Rotterdam.

Whilst running a scorecard with hospitable Annick from Schiphol SPOT community, somewhere half way through, we decided that Oxie Alienski's mural was a perfect place to plug in. Everybody's welcome!

RED PARROT went to Leiden, the oldest university in Northern Europe, the place where Mayflower and New York was conceived. Where Freud comforted Mahler and Rembrandt learned to paint, where Xenia is.

Hippie from Hell helped SAMA find its lipstick this summer :) Therefore we kept him in our private hidden collection that only the die-hards of Amsterdam Street Art know. Dare to track it?

Many pop-artists stepped out of 'craft' towards commercial or pure art. However, at SAMA we believe that graffiti and street art are bringing back CRAFT into Focus. It is all about the skill.

Graffiti is not Graffiti if you don't do it because you can :) So when in the dying ADM, the most fantastic place in Amsterdam that there was, we have to do a Picasso #MOSTE #FREESTYLE #SAMA #TAGGING

and #TAGGING means #EVERYWHERE
and #WHYNOT, to quote the greatest philosopher of our times #GogolBordello ? :)

The big green loan in front of a monumental architectural wonder called #PARKRAND is the local dogs toilet. Pinky is one of the oldest dogs on a block, so we marked her territory as #STINKFISH says.

QRU.amsterdam invited us and #MICKLAROCK to talk about street art as a hood's branding tools. We watched movies, talked, drank beer. I saw the spot and I knew we could PAINT THERE. A LOT. So we did.

Mosquito on Holiday is a tribute to all the Kraak, Punk and Alternative places MOSTE visited during his stay with SAMA. QRU.amsterdam provide amazing facilities including basketball and bikes, & beer.

Kiss of the Dragon signifies good and bad days in our daily existence, our ability to deal with those emotions and anxieties, or will to transform or succumb. You vs Dragon, Go! :) #MOSTE

MOSTE wanted to paint with kids so QRU.amsterdam organized the workshop on a Sunday. Show off - Contour - Let them Go Nuts - Contour - Show off :) Go nuts together! We got the Formular!

Go Nuts!

Magestic LEDANIA has finally made it to Amsterdam. It was a family vacation, and we could not think of a better place to paint than with our friends at QRU.amsterdam. Jazz, slow vibes, love, family.

Keith Haring Foundation NYC and Stedelijk Museum Amsterdam organise a Summer School. This year emphasis were on activism, and as the only street art crew busy with that, we were invited. TEAMBLAZIN.

From Keith Haring quote to dynamic happening of calligraffiti, city mapping, symbolism exploration with #MOSTE #TEAMBLAZIN #EARWORM

"I did that" giggled the 17 year old daughter of Indonesian activists on a train. She wrote us an email asking for a chance to help and before she knew it she was doing a workshop for WWF for a cause.

If I ever have a tattoo this will be it! Ditto.

I know that Keith Haring is proud of this intake organised by his foundation. Because creativity went beyond stereotypes and created energy that charges everyone who looks at this wall. Rock on!

Keith Haring to all of us, at the end of the experience, was not only about painting or activism, but an exotic mutation of both in a most kind, sweet, looney sort of way.

Zoom in and make your own giggles.

Collaboration is part of any process that makes a team. So we played with that too.

MOSTE met Sandrine Boulet on a dusky evening stroll through the green belts, the legacy of Mondrian, Bauhaus and Van Eesteren, and decided to lipstick-fy-her!

To be continued....