Beat of Urban Art The Art of Justin Bua

Justin Bua creates cool art. His wiggly-armed D.J. intently scratches vinyl on a turntable, head and shoulder wedging in place a set of headphones that he is too cool to wear, while surrounded by the tools of his trade. In another painting, two bald, shirtless basketball players on a city playground rise into the air as the backboard and pole snake ever upward towards surrounding tenement buildings. In the background, a third player stands by in awe, mouth agape, Afro Pick at attention in his hair, while their earthbound buddies are a study in attitude. In "1981," a breakdancer spins on his shoulders, Adidas-clad feet in the air-a collection of characters from the uptown 'hood circling him to marvel at his amazing moves. These are just a few of the pieces included in The Beat of Urban Art, which showcases a motley cast of jazz musicians, homeboys, street hustlers, and neighborhood toughs-from the heavy-lidded "Piano Man" in his cubist yellow jacket to the slyly romantic "El Guitarrista," strumming his acoustic guitar and peering lazily out of his bedroom eyes; from the exuberant nighttime craps players of "Green Street" to the joyously sneaky grafitti artist entering the subway yard through a hole in the fence in "The Artist."Bua, Justin is the author of 'Beat of Urban Art The Art of Justin Bua', published 2007 under ISBN 9780061153839 and ISBN 0061153834.