Portfolio Review: Steve Wasterval Depicts the Gritty Streets of NYC

Landscape impressionist painter, grit and graffiti aficionado, and creative director of the badass branding company Worstofall Design, Brooklyn artist Steve Wasterval uses design to blur the lines between fine and commercial art. Since he lives and breathes each perspective on a daily basis, Wasterval brings a unique approach to both worlds, shedding light on their commonalities in an era where many people want to draw a clear distinction between the two. When The Lincoln Motor Company #HelloAgain Tour—a project about capturing a city through a series of creative local experiences—asked to use Wasterval's pieces in their drive-thru art gallery, it seemed like a perfect fit. Those interested in taking the tour, seeing Dumbo, Brooklyn and Steve Wasterval's art at the Navy Yard can register here through August 4, 2013.

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Date: 2012

"I love the Nets for a lot of reasons: Jay-Z, Brooklyn, black and white jerseys, and more affordable tickets. So when the move became official I made a Worstofall handstyle to celebrate my borough. It's called Nothing but Net, and you can get the iPhone case at the Worstofall Design shop."

Date: Currently available for sale

"This ink and brush illustration of Biggie is an example of the kinds of portraits and fashion illustrations I make both for brands and as my own art. Biggie is so iconic as an artist and Brooklyn local that I do his portrait every couple years. These are screen prints by local shop Fleaheart in Greenpoint, of the latest illustrations from 2013 available for purchase at the Worstofall Design shop"

Date: 2010

"Highlighting the beauty of collaborative street art that develops on iconic imagery like this MTA transit sign is a constant theme for me. Creating a fine-art piece of this unintentional, illegal collaboration captures what I love so much about New York and combines all of my favorite interests: graphic design, graffiti, street art, fine art, appropriation, and beautiful decay."

Date: 2011

"The Williamsburg Bridge is a great vantage point for Brooklyn and Manhattan street art, so its an endless source of inspiration. Local Brooklyn legend Vincent Bambini, whose work is featured and appropriated in this piece, said after seeing it: 'Kiss it...kiss it good.' Like all previous major art movements, it's important to understand the roots of graffiti and street art if you want to use it to say something new—be inspired by the past but always look to the future. Bambini's art is the focal point in this piece as a reminder of that."

Date: 2010

"Piet Mondrian, one of my favorite artists, painted Broadway Boogie Woogie in 1940. His lines of primary colors are meant to represent the grid and energy of New York City. I referenced his painting in the title of this piece to make a connection between the similar but different perspectives we have of Manhattan. By connecting with Mondrian's work through the title, my painting becomes wild and unruly in comparison. While Mondrian might have been painting what New York is, I paint how New York feels."

Date: 2011

"Yellow Box is an ‘inside-out’ painting: a fine art depiction of contemporary street art, created in a studio with oil paint and then placed in its natural habitat. Much like an animal being released from captivity, we can't be sure what kind of life this painting will have on the mean streets of New York City. However, as graffiti and street art can still go unnoticed in the wild, this piece might make it and start to become part of the landscape of the city."

Date: 2012

"As street art and graffiti continue their rise in the established art community, their legality and public perception continues to change. Legal Art is an ‘outside-in’ painting: a painting of street art and graffiti that spends the rest of its days indoors as a decoration or investment."

Date: Currently available for sale

"Remember the poison control sticker Mr. Yuk? It was a solution to the skull and crossbones poison sticker that researchers eventually found out was actually attractive to children and toddlers. The vomit green color is scientifically proven to repulse people of all ages. My diamond Yuk-face stands for the beauty of being extreme, even extremely repulsive. It has also become the unofficial mascot for Worstofall Design, being that we are big on contrarianism. Sticker packs are available for purchase at the Worstofall Design shop."

Date: 2013

"This is a four-foot section from a 20-foot sign of a former local pizza joint in Greenpoint who wanted a sign that was decidedly 'of-the-neighborhood.' Locals had fun locating elements from the street and neighborhood in the mural like the corner of Bedford and Driggs and the McCarren Pool barreling in from down Manhattan Ave."

Date: 2012

"Shredded ads, posters, stickers, graffiti, street art, and chaotic scribbles by who knows how many faceless contributors create art for those who see it. Painting it at this particular moment allows me to share this found art with others and to preserve it in the ever-changing landscape of the city."

Date: 2011

"This Z100 radio station ad mural was a fixture for years for anyone entering Manhattan from the Williamsburg Bridge. Overtime it was absorbed by graffiti and street art. After this painting was made, the wall was finally painted over as the LES landscape began to get absorbed by cleaner condo buildings, making this painting a moment in time that could resonate with the millions who crossed that bridge, or at least those that chose to look up."