Stunning view of the Tiber River by artist Marianne Vitale.

Domingo Zapata probably never had this many people over to his studio in SoHo, but since his lair also served as the gallery space for his new show he had no choice. In the event co-hosted with Whitewall magazine, the artist’s latest paintings were a marriage of classic Spanish heritage and contemporary New York street art. “The show is a little bit of a combination of the important things in my life, I love flamenco and I love my Spanish heritage and the passion,” Zapata told us. “I wanted to also experience New York and a lot of my inspiration since painting here in the studio have been street art, so I wanted to take in what I saw and bring it to my world. I love horses and elephants and all different animals so I wanted to combine all of the things I love in one show.” The paintings displayed a style that was reminiscent of early Jackson Pollock swirls, with the bright tones and deep lines of Basquiat. Depictions of Flamenco dancers, bull fighters, elephants and zebras were placed next to graffiti tags, and paintings of hectic cities with graffiti scribbling, swirls and arrows filled the space. There was something for everyone, and a spirit of culture sharing seemed to radiate around the room. “The streets of New York City is the best museum in the world,” added Zapata. “Everyone can do it, and the world is the collector, we all own that, we all share that.” Terri Ciccone is the founder and editor of Contrapposto blog and an Art Ruby contributor Photo - LEANDRO JUSTEN/Patrick McMullan

The Weird Girls Project is an ongoing art experiment conceived and produced by artist Kitty Von Sometime in Iceland.