Critical Review
Liberty (orange) is a signed screen print that is printed in white, orange, and black and features a stick figure with one arm stretched out in front of him).
Liberty’s political undertone and profound relevance to its site speaks to Stik’s notion of his art being in dialogue with the surrounding landscape, not merely imposed upon it. “Street art isn’t just art put out into the street,” he says. “It’s responding to the landscape. If a piece could be anywhere then what’s the point? The more integrated with the cityscape they are, the more they seem to belong there.”
The mural from which the print series takes its name was painted on the edge of Tompkins Square Park, a place steeped in a history of protest. Bold, striking and unapologetic, Liberty cuts a strident figure in contrast to the more withdrawn stickmen of prints such as Standing Figure and The Big Issue.
By bringing his simple, expressive style to the streets of New York, the artist once again attests to the potential for individual human action to make a difference.
