Urban Art Magazine Promotes Emerging Street & Graffiti Artists [Interview]

For the past five years, UP Magazine has been spotlighting global urban culture. Both via its website and printed issues, the New York-based publication prides itself on highlighting both established and emerging artists in the graffiti and street art community. In addition, UP also regularly organizes art events in New York in an effort to cement its relationship with the community. This makes it a unique offering among the sea of art publications.

In addition to regular articles submitted by a team of global freelancers, UP also produces printed books based around specific themes. Money, Community & Culture, and Politics are just some of the topics UP has tackled, with all the artwork and artists included connecting on a particular subject.

We had the opportunity to sit down with UP Magazine’s founder and editor-in-chief T.K. Mills to find out more about the publication. Not only does he share UP’s origin story, but he also gives interesting insight into how the publication connects with its audience, and shares some of his favorite up-and-coming urban artists. Read on for My Modern Met’s exclusive interview.

Where does your interest in street art and graffiti come from?

I always had a casual curiosity in urban art, but I began to take a serious interest in the subject after a fateful trip to Cuba.

I had come to New York City for grad school, where I was pursuing a Master’s Degree in International Relations; my original intention was to get a job with the State Department. After the 2016 presidential election, I felt disillusioned with the state of American politics and wanted to get out of the country to clear my head. President Obama had recently opened tourist travel to Cuba for Americans, and seeing an opportunity, I booked a month-long trip.

While in Havana, I was doing a bit of soul-searching, trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. I had always been a big reader, inspired by the Lost Generation greats such as Ernest Hemingway and F. Scott Fitzgerald. I visited El Floridita, a Cuban bar famous for Hemingway’s patronage, and while there I decided to pursue life as a writer. Upon making this decision, I left the bar and came across some political graffiti by local artist Fabian, aka SuperMalo. I dedicated the rest of my time in Havana to tracking down and writing about the artist.

It took a few weeks, but eventually I stumbled on the artist’s studio and he agreed to the interview. I pitched the story to a few publications, and it was picked up by Global Street Art. Having my first article outside of an academic context published was incredibly uplifting. Upon returning home to Bushwick, Brooklyn, I realized there was great potential in covering the street art stories in the neighborhood. From then on, I shifted my career toward art journalism.

Where did the idea for UP stem from?

After freelancing for a number of years, I had become frustrated with various obstacles in publishing the stories I cared about. Many of the publications I was writing for at the time were focused on contemporary art and would reject my graffiti pitches. Of the street art-focused publications I was writing for, I was given limited freedom in choosing the pitches I could work on.

In reading more conventional art magazines, such as Juxtapoz and Hyperallergic, I saw that often they only covered street artists who were already well-established, rather than rising artists. While discussing the matter with a mentor of mine, he recommended I start my own magazine. At first I was hesitant, as I had limited experience in the back-end side of publishing, however I came around to the idea when I saw the potential in telling the stories I was more intrigued by.

The idea for UP began in the late summer of 2018, and I recruited the only other street art journalist I knew at the time, Vittoria Benzine, to join the nascent team. She connected me with Christina Elia, and then I found Lonnie Richards, our photographer, through a mutual friend. The four of us were the original team, and we would meet in my apartment on Saint Marks every day after work, to work on the magazine for several months. Together, we brainstormed different ideas that would shape the direction of the magazine. One of the key decisions we agreed upon was making each print issue thematic, with all artists and articles therein connecting in some way to the cover theme.

Eventually, we had enough content for our first issue. It was important for us to do print, to make the magazine feel “legitimate.” We launched on June 20, 2019 with Issue 1: Money. The event was a huge success, selling every copy of the initial print run and having nearly 300 guests. Motivated by this outpouring of support, I shifted my goal to focusing on growing UP into a platform all creatives could relate to.

What distinguishes UP from other sites and magazine that cover street art and graffiti?

A distinctive aspect of UP is that we make it a point to dedicate time and attention to up-and-coming and mid-career artists, rather than only covering artists that are already famous or well-established. While we do cover high-profile artists, it is important to us to showcase early-career artists as well, not just in our editorial outlets, but in our shows as well.

Another important element that sets UP apart from other publications is our involvement in the art community. We host and participate in numerous events, sometimes as many as six per month, with the local scene, going beyond just blue-chip galleries. In our recurring events, such as the NYC Art League at Sour Mouse and the Neighborhood Gallery series at The Buren we showcase dozens of fresh faces and new talent.

Over the past 10 years, street art has exploded into something fairly mainstream. How do you view this evolution?

In my view, the evolution of street art is undoubtably tied to the rise in social media. Image-based platforms such as Instagram have allowed artists to cultivate a following and make direct sales, outside of the gallery world, which I think is a positive outgrowth. The flip-side is that social media has created incentives for artists to focus on content creation, rather than art itself. It also lends itself toward a popularity contest, where some artists find success not on the merits of their work, but on their physical appeal or their networking abilities, though I suppose to an extent that’s always been true.

On the whole, I’m glad street art has gained mainstream attention. It’s opened up new financial opportunities for artists, meaning that more artists can pursue their passion fulltime, rather than as a hobby or side-hustle.

What artists on the scene are you currently excited about?

There are a few artists I’d like to highlight who I think are deserving of recognition.

Enzo is a French artist from the Southwestern city of Tarbes. We first met a few years ago back when we were both in the early stages of our career. Since then, he has gone on to achieve some incredible things, painting at Bushwick Collective, aWall in Miami, and even hosting his own festival Enz’Horgues. His neon-portraits stand out as original and fresh in a world that is known for its color.

Vanessa Kreytak is an incredible multi-faceted painter; a muralist, nail-artist, and canvas creator. We first met in 2018 through the art community, and began dating shortly before the pandemic. Even before we were together, I admired her creative spirit and ingenuity. Her art never ceases to impress me, and among her many talents, she is a gun-slinger when it comes to paint. She works quickly, knocking out murals in a day that would take other artists a week. Her quick-hand also won her the championship title in the NYC Art League last year.

(continued) Paolo Tolentino is a friend and collaborator whose stencil-based street art takes inspiration from legends of the scene such as Shepard Fairey. His work takes influence from Russian propaganda and 50s travel posters, with satirical elements mixed in. Beyond being a talented artist, he’s recently taken to curating, and put on some amazing shows.

Lili Rochelle is an artist I met only recently, and since then we’ve collaborated on several shows. Her work takes heavy inspiration from nature and earthy elements, often depicting female figures. One thing I admire about Lili beyond her art is her professionalism—though there is a stereotype of artist being disorganized, in all the events we put together she was always on top of it.

MenaceResa are an artist couple and perhaps the most creative duo I’ve ever met. Hailing from New York, during the pandemic they refurbished a bus into a mobile home. They’re traveling the country for their 50-States project, with the goal being to paint a mural in every state in America. Mixing graffiti and street art elements, they always bring their A-game and are 100% committed to the culture.

Small publishers are facing a tough environment these days, how do you ensure that UP keeps getting its writing in front of your audience?

It’s always a challenge to build an audience, particularly in today’s landscape where there are infinite options. An essential part of our growth strategy has been community engagement, hosting and curating shows so new artists, art-fans, and readers can discover our work and what we are about. While we do utilize social media, search engines, and other outreach approaches, our core audience was developed organically through word of mouth, a matter I take great pride in.

What can people do to support UP and its work?

In truth, the best way to support us is just to regularly visit our website and read our stories! If you are financially capable, subscribing for our print issues and purchasing our merchandise is always appreciated, and helps keep the lights on for us. I guarantee our books will liven up your home. If you’re in New York City, come by to any of our events—we host something new nearly every week. You can follow us on Instagram at @up__mag where we post and promote both our shows and other local creatives.

Anything else you’d like to share?

Just that it’s been an honor to serve the community and how grateful I am to live the life that I lead. I’m always working on new projects, and eager to get things going and growing. This year we’re looking to expand our video coverage and I’m excited for the potential. Stay tuned!

UP Magazine: Website | Instagram

My Modern Met granted permission to feature photos by UP Magazine.

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