NEW YORK – Jeffrey Deitch, back after a less than sunny Los Angeles stint, wasted no time in plunging right back in the City’s art scene. He’s curating 25 walls on a Thor Equities-owned lot on Bowery Street, straddling the boardwalk and Surf Avenue.

The lineup includes a mix of old school and new street artists like Daze, How and Nosm, Lady Pink, Swoon and Shepherd Fairey, among others. On a recent late May visit, How and Nosm, Lady Pink, Daze and Shepherd Fairey all had murals, with the remaining artists going up throughout the summer.

Some artists, Daze and Lady Pink included, use elements of the nearby amusement park as inspiration. Daze’s mural presents a taxi and set of roller coaster cars, both driving away from skyscrapers and toward a colorful horizon filled with a sultry eye, flames and flashing lights. The riders have their hands in the air, heading to the mouth of a purple creature, vaguely reminiscent of a certain purple dinosaur, but strangely alluring anyway.

Lady Pink’s mural features a woman communing with a snake, the Wonder Wheel behind her, and a roller coaster below. I’d like to think she’s a snake charmer on break from a sideshow, stealing a private moment with her reptilian co-star.

Through September, the lot is hosting a Coney Island outpost of the popular Smorgasburg food market. I was worried that the art was merely a come-on for the food, an afterthought to add some street cred to Thor’s redevelopment plans, which have made many Coney diehards nervous. Still, on my visit, the lines were barely a fraction of those at the Brooklyn Bridge Park and Williamsburg originals, and visitors seemed just as, if not more, interested in the art than the food, so perhaps my cynicism is unfounded.

Stop by on your way to the beach in the next few weeks, and you can catch the artists in action. The walls will be up through September.

by Ilana Novick