Curator Jeff Beler has had a busy year. Coming off the massive success of the STEAM mural project, which saw Brooklyn’s PS9 transformed into a colorful art mecca, Beler has revamped his long-running Underhill Walls with a musical touch. For this season, each of the Underhill panels was painted in the style of a different album cover, spanning genres and styles.

“I’ve always wanted to do a music themed mural installation.” Beler explained.

The murals display a wide array of styles, both musically and artistically. From Nas to Coltrane, wheatpaste to airbrush. While some long-time collaborators have returned for this season’s set, Beler made it a point to get a few new artists involved.

Underhill Walls, which began in 2015 with a line-up of Zodiac murals, is typically rotated every 3-6 months and has hosted some of New York’s most talented street artists. The famous corner has been featured in a variety of media outlets, from local news stations to music videos to a cameo in Spike Lee’s Netflix joint, ‘She’s Gotta Have It.’ It was Underhill that helped launched Beler’s curatorial career, and remains a dear part of his oeuvre. With the STEAM project requiring nearly 4 months to complete, Beler was happy to return to his landmark walls and have them painted before the end of the year.

For the future, Beler hopes to get the music industry involved, with potential plans to have record labels sponsor different panels. More than that, Jeff is in the early stages of planning an art takeover of other schools, including BASE (the Brooklyn Academy of Science and Environment) and PS 316. While Beler continues to grind on, the musical murals at Underhill will be here to stay for the next few months.

The Underhill Playlist

In honor of this season’s musical theme, I’ve included songs from each of the albums to accompany the photos. Enjoy!

Artist: Paolo Tolentino

Album: Parallel Lines by Blondie

Selected Track: Heart of Glass

Artist: RJ.One

Album: 3 Feet High and Rising by De La Soul

Selected Track: Me, Myself, and I

Artist: Col_Wallnuts

Album: Bird and Diz by Charlie ‘Bird’ Parker and Dizzy Gillespie

Selected Track: Bloomdido

Artist: Bianca Romero

Album: Live (1997) by Erykah Badu

Selected Track: Otherside of the Game

Artist: Ralph Serrano

Album: The Best of La Lupe by La Lupe

Selected Track: Como Acostumbre

Artist: Riiisa Boogie w/ Rez Ones

Album: Homogenic by Bjork

Selected Track: Hunter

Artist: Dos_Wallnuts

Album: Love Train by The O’Jays

Selected Track: Love Train

Artist: Marco Santini

Album: Hot Space by Queen

Selected Track: Las Palabras de Amor

Artist: SacSix

Album: The Best of the Doors by The Doors

Selected Track: People are Strange

Artist: Carlos Pinto

Album: The Fela by Fela Anikulapo Kuti

Selected Track: Water No Get Enemy

Artist: Jappy Agoncillo

Album: Licensed to Ill by The Beastie Boys

Selected Track: Fight for your Right (To Party!)

Artist: Zone90Graphics

Album: Illmatic by Nas

Selected Track: NY State of Mind

Artist: Lexi Bella

Album: Madonna by Madonna

Selected Track: Lucky Star

Artist: NileOnyx (Call Her Al + Dubious Contessa)

Album: Rio by Duran Duran

Selected Track: Rio

Artist: Huetek

Album: 1984 by Van Halen

Selected Track: Hot For Teacher [In my opinion, greatest drum/guitar solo of all time]

Artist: Jeff Henriquez

Album: Blue Train by John Coltrane

Selected Track: I’m Old Fashioned

Artist: Bauvez [Check out the Well Pleased We Dream article on Bauvez here]

Album: Mac Miller Memorial Mural [R.I.P.]

Selected Track: Self Care

Fin

Bonus Pic/Hidden Track:

Written by T.K. Mills

Photos provided by T.K. Mills

For more by the author, check out his website tkmills.com

For more on Jeff Beler, check out this Sold Mag article I wrote last year about his LGBTQ+ Class – Alpha Workshops: An Outlet for Expression

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