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The best NYC street art inspired by our surreal times

Written by
Howard Halle
street art
Courtesy @JillyBallistic
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One of the big questions surrounding the "New Normal" is how will it affect life as we know it in the long term. In what ways will it transform how we work, how we vote and how we entertain ourselves? Will going to the movies, seeing a musical or dining at your favorite boîte ever be the same?

And then there's the issue of art, which has already migrated to the web in the form of virtual tours and online viewings. But more important is how the content of art is going to change. Will the art world go back to business as usual, or will the current situation become a principal subject for artists and the curators and collectors who follow their lead?

In the gallery world, this has yet to happen in any concerted fashion, though there have been some efforts to address the crisis. Street art, on the other hand, seems to be making a more noticeable pivot towards responding to Covid-19 and its fallout. This may be due to the fact that street art is historically rooted in the idea of being a guerrilla activity, nimble in execution and subversive in content.

So it shouldn't be a surprise that here in New York, the city that gave birth to the graffiti movement, several examples of pandemic-related street art have been popping up around town. We picked out some especially eye-grabbing pieces, which you can check out below.

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Fancy stores are removing their stock and boarding up their windows in NYC.

A post shared by Adrian Wilson's art page (@plannedalism) on

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From NYC to the world. Photographed by New Yorkers. (tagged). . . #theactoflove #standtogetherwiththeworld #noracism #spreadlove #newyorkers #nycstreetart #love #nyc

A post shared by THE ACT OF LOVE (@theactoflove_nyc) on

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Wood panels in #prospectleffertsgardens #nycstreetart #coronavirusart #covidstoriesnyc #saraerenthal

A post shared by Sara Erenthal (@saraerenthalart) on

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Fancy stores are removing their stock and boarding up their windows in NYC.

A post shared by Adrian Wilson's art page (@plannedalism) on

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