Stephen Powers

Biography

Stephen Powers was a key figure in the transition of graffiti writing into street art. He first attracted attention under the name ESPO for his tags on the streets of Philadelphia. Powers abandoned graffiti in 1999, taking enamel on metal art into the studio and creating a practice that includes sign painting. One of his hallmarks is graphic lettering, which he often incorporates into his murals around the world. These murals are like love letters to the cities in which they reside. In 2007, Powers, as a Fulbright scholar, transformed the iconography of political street murals in Dublin and Belfast into new narratives of his own making. In 2011 Powers undertook his most ambitious project to date, A Love Letter to Brooklyn, consisting of painting a square city block in the middle of Downtown, Brooklyn. In November 2015, Powers was invited to create an exhibition at The Brooklyn Museum. The installation was titled “Stephen Powers: Coney Island Is Still Dreamland (To a Seagull)”. Stephen Powers was interviewed on July 6-7, 2005 in New York City.