Billy The Artist (BTA) is never without his sketchpad, which aided him with his latest project — a book of illustrations with snippets of conversation titled “Things You Don’t Hear Twice: Quotes From the East Village.”
Billy The Artist’ favorite neighborhood haunts – International Bar on First Avenue in New York City – was the location of his book signing session.
In a recent exchange with EV Grieve – an East Village Blog – he shared a little about the book and his thoughts on the East Village.
Billy The Artist: “I’ve lived in the East Village for 30 years and have always loved the vibe and people here … I almost always have my sketchpad on me and would draw in my various East Village bars and, of course, hear the craziest quotes from my friends or strangers. I would write down the quotes in the back of my sketchpad and that’s how this book became a reality.
Living and working in my studio in the East Village I need to get out and be with people — be it in the afternoon or night. As I’ve gotten older, I tend to like the daytime in a bar because it [attracts] more regulars.
This book has been in the making for a long time, and both the quotes and illustrations I hope remind everyone how great the East Village was and still is.”
Billy The Artist
Billy The Artist (BTA) is an internationally renowned artist whose studio is based in the East Village of New York City. His projects and designs have been seen all over the world for such clients and global brands as Swatch, Nescafe, The Rock N Roll Hall of Fame Museum, Lamborghini, Gibson Guitar, Smart Car, Suzuki, Hyundai, Toyota, Mountain Dew, MTV, Puma, Microsoft, Chock Full O Nuts, Vans shoes, New Balance shoes, Cow Parade, race car driver Danica Patrick, Fashion Week Athens, Vienna, Madrid, Design Week Milan as well as his own product line with Goebel worldwide.
Mural projects include Woodstock 99, Art Basel Miami, Casa Décor Miami, Delaguarda, The Rio Casino Las Vegas, numerous buildings in New York and Switzerland and the Broadway, National, and London productions of the musical RENT. His paintings have hung at the prestigious Forbes Gallery, The Armory as well as galleries in New York, Hamburg, Tokyo, South Korea, Mexico City, Chicago, Miami, Orlando, New Orleans, Austin, Cleveland, Carib Fine Art in Curacao, Minsheng Art Museum Shanghai, Surge Art Fair Shanghai, Foxx Galerie Zurich, and The Museum of Comic and Cartoon Art. Billy has been published in Rolling Stone, Vanity Fair, Vogue, Elle, US Weekly, Juxtapoz, Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, and numerous other magazines and newspapers around the globe.
Billy The Artist has appeared on MTV, NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN, FOX, TLC, DISCOVERY, 60 MINUTES and other feature programs all over the world. For the world launch of Billy’s watches for Swatch, he painted a 40×30 foot mural live in front of 30,000 people while 300 foot animated projections of his work adorned the walls of Piazza San Marco in Venice, Italy during the Venice Biennale. BTA was also one of the first American artists to be allowed by the Chinese government to paint live on the famous Bund in Shanghai.
Philanthropic projects include work with The American Red Cross, The Fresh Air Fund, Covenant House, St. Mary’s Foundation for Children, The JCC of Manhattan, The Breathe Foundation Brazil, and various schools both in the U.S and abroad.