All posts tagged: Armsrock

Asbjørn Skou “Science Fiction Archaeology” SDU / Centre for Art and Science (Odense, Denmark)

”Science Fiction Archaeology”

7. feb – 2. april 2013.
Opening: Thursday february 7th. 15.00
SDU, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense M.

”Science Fiction Archaeology” er inspireret af en forelæsning v/kemiker Kaare Lund Rasmussen. Forelæsningen omhandler forsøget på at datere et meget kraftigt meteornedslag på øen Saaremaa (tidligere Øsel) i Estland, som i lang tid har været umuligt at tidsbestemme kemisk. Projektet bringer forskeren vidt omkring: Fra kemiske målinger af strata, til lakmustest i historisk materiale, fra krateret på Saaremaa, over Tacitus Germania, Pytheas fra Massalia, Kybele – Gudernes moder, Estlands tidligere præsident Lennart Meri og den mulige oprindelse af myterne om Thule og ragnarok.

”Udstillingen er en undersøgelse af videnskabelige og mytologiske præmisser for tro, identitet og billedliggørelse, siger Asbjørn Skou”. ”Den er en form for kunstnerisk kulstof 14-prøve. Akkurat som de første kulstof 14-prøver på Saaremaa er den lige dele dokumentarisk og associativ. Den samler et sammensurium af informationer i et fluktuerende rum mellem fakta og fiktion, i et grænseland mellem kunst og videnskab.”

Udstillingen består af store collager, objekter og semifiktivt arkivmateriale. Collagerne er opbygget af udvalgt billedmateriale fra en omfattende researchproces og sammensat i overlap, udsnit og brudstykker. De enkelte collager, hvoraf den største måler 2 x 5,5 meter, er opbygget af A4-ark, der er sammensat til store vægtæpper. Objekterne tager deres udgangspunkt i det dagligdags håndgribelige. Det er materialer som flamingo, cement, isolering, træ og plastik. Objekterne er alle blevet skulpturelt modificerede, så de på en gang bekender sig til deres oprindelige materialitet, og samtidigt søger mod en anden form for stoflighed end deres oprindelse.
Arkivmaterialet består af en længere tekst, der er opsat på plancher, og som i sin form på en gang er informerende og uigennemtrængelig. De samme metoder som finder sted i opbygningen af billederne gentager sig i teksten, hvorigennem den prøver at binde det mulige og umulige sammen.”

http://www.armsrock.blogspot.com/

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Fun Friday 03.16.12

Yowsah! It’s a Triple Header for Street Artist shows in Brooklyn tonight, with Haring at the Museum, Stikman at Pandemic, and JMR/See One at Mighty Tanaka. But that’s not all that’s happening this weekend.

1. Keith Haring: 1978-1982
2. Stikman “20” at Pandemic
3. JMR and See One @ Pandemic
4. SANER @ Fifty24SF (San Francisco)
5. Chris Stain “Long Story Short” at Wooster Social Club
6. Sickboy, White Walls Gallery new show “Wonder Club”
7. Asbjorn Skou AKA Armsrock “Stedfortrædere” at  Mosh Gallery in Copenhagen
8. “My Turn” at Carmichael Gallery with Bumblebee, Hyuro, Interesni Kazki, Jaz, Klone, LineLineDot, Moneyless, Penny, Stinkfish, Zeus.
9. KEMP “Behind her Disguise” at Artsee.
10. Kid NES in Dallas. Time Lapse (VIDEO)
11. Mimi The Clown turns Superhero by OAOFB. (VIDEO)
12. Mimi The Clown turns Superhero by OAOFB. (VIDEO 2)
13. Ben Eine getting up in London by Abbie Brandon (VIDEO)

Keith Haring: 1978-1982

“This exhibition shows you how much fun New York City used to be” – Mare 139

Opening to the public today Keith Haring: 1978-1982 at the Brooklyn Museum and while Mare 139 has a point, we contend that Brooklyn is still tons of fun, if Manhattan has lost much of it’s edge. Regarding this exhibit, GO! Exquisitely curated, it welcomes the viewer to Mr. Haring’s early days in NYC when the “downtown” scene was the scene.

Keith Haring. Pia Zadora subway installation. Courtesy of Mugrabi Collection. © Mugrabi Collection. The Brooklyn Museum (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The curators have included pieces rarely or never before viewed including an amazing slide show of images taken by Kwong Chi showing the artist illegally putting work in the subways. Combined with some of Harings journals, his Cipher chart, videos and 155 works mostly on paper, it is informative, accessible and fun to see.

Keith Haring. A photo taken from the Slide show at the exhibition of images taken by Kwong Chi. Courtesy of and © The Keith Haring Foundation. The Brooklyn Museum (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For more information regarding this exhibition click here.

To read our article on the Huffington Post of this exhibition with a complete photo essay and and written overview click here.

Stikman “20” at Pandemic

One of the most prolific and hermetic Street Artists working today on the streets of New York, sometimes literally melted into the street, Stikman has a gentle legend to his name. His solo show “20” opens today at Pandemic Gallery today, offering a rare glimpse into his world of secrecy and continuous invention. The little stick character he’s been leaving for two decades is synonymous with the symbol-based tagging of graff writers and the re-inventive practice of a fine artist continuously exploring new techniques of expression.

Stikman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

JMR and See One @ Pandemic

Fresh off their showing at Fountain last weekend, Mighty Tanaka is not skipping a beat by unveiling a brand new dual show in Dumbo tonight. If you thrill to “Color and Motion” then check out new works by JMR and See One tonight.

JMR (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

SANER @ Fifty24SF (San Francisco)

Mexican Street Artist SANER has been impressing Street Art and graff fans in the last couple of years with his near magic interpretations, incredibly rendered. A down to earth fellow who often teams up with SEGO for collaborations, the artist makes his debut solo show in San Francisco tonight at the Fifty24SF Gallery.

Saner with Sego in Miami (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Chris Stain “Long Story Short” at Wooster Social Club

At the crowded opening for Chris Stain’s new show and book launch Wednesday, the vibe was a testament to his working class roots and real people charm, with Billy Mode on the turntables and Ray Cross from Bushwick Print Lab screen-printing some fresh Occupy Wall Street posters for people to take to the streets. It’s the the kind of kindred community that fostered “Long Story Short”, his new monogram on Drago, and the kind of environment that makes Stains work resonant in these times where the working person feels like they have a boot to his/her neck. Stop by The Wooster Social Club anytime to see Mr. Stain’s new body of work and catch an intimate look into his influences both as an artist and as a person.

Chris Stain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Also happening this weekend:

  • San Francisco’s White Walls Gallery new show “Wonder Club” opens tomorrow. This is Sickboy‘s first US major solo show. Click here for more information about this show.
  • Asbjorn Skou AKA Armsrock new show “Stedfortrædere ” at the Mosh Gallery in Copenhagen, Denmark opens today. Click here for more information about this show.
  • Bumblebee curates the new show “My Turn” at the Carmichael Gallery in Culver City, CA opening this Saturday with artists including: Bumblebee, Hyuro, Interesni Kazki, Jaz, Klone, LineLineDot, Moneyless, Penny, Stinkfish, Zeus. Click here for more information about this show.
  • KEMP solo show “Behind her Disguise” is marks his New York debut at Artsee. This show is now open to the general public. Click here for more information about this show.

 

Kid NES in Dallas. Time Lapse (VIDEO)

Mimi The Clown turns Superhero by OAOFB. (VIDEO)

Mimi The Clown turns Superhero by OAOFB. (VIDEO 2)

Ben Eine getting up in London by Abbie Brandon (VIDEO)

 

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MOSH Gallery Presents: Asbjørn Skou (Armsrock) & Sif Iton a Westerberg “Stedfortrædere” (Copenhagen, Denmark)

“Stedfortrædere”

Stedfortrædere

MOHS Exhibit.

16.03.12 – 21.04.12

Opening march 16th. 16 – 21

Sønder boulevard 98
1720 Copenhagen V

The exhibition investigates how social realities are mediated though things. How objects turn into vessels for ideas and meanings. Through installations, drawings and photographs, we investigate how our collections and use of objects, serve as the foundation of social and historical constructions of power, and how these can be negotiated.

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Fun Friday 02.03.12

1. The Skewvilles are turning 80 tonight (Bushwick, BK)
2. “Unpaid Dues” Cassius Fouler at Orchard Windows Tonight (LES, NYC)
3. “Should The Light Not Take Us” – Armsrock at the Galleri Profilen  (Aarhus, Denmark)
4. “Street Wall” at Fourth Wall Project Gallery Saturday (Boston)
5. Philip Lumbang solo show “New Arrival”
6. LA Mural Ordinance Community Discussion with Shepard Fairey and Saber
7. New Sten & Lex Low Res VIDEO in Rome
8. MAMBO Goes for a Swim (VIDEO)
9. Creepy Tries to Control the Ocean (VIDEO)

We start Fun Friday this week with thanks to Don Cornelius for making the Soul Train an incredibly important part of the ride for lots of us for four decades.

Much respect to his work and to his family.

Here’s his interview with a new group called Run DMC.

 

The Skewvilles are turning 80 tonight (Bushwick, BK)

Join the Skewvilles today at Factory Fresh as they celebrate their 80th Birthday with a Retro-Retrospective. See some of the treasures they’ll be lugging out of the basement here in yesterday’s post.

Skewville (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here

“Unpaid Dues” Cassius Fouler at Orchard Windows Tonight (LES, NYC)

Despite initial apprehension, Orchard Windows Gallery is proud to present Cassius Fouler, who is in about four shows this month. Dang!

For further information regarding this show click here

“Should The Light Not Take Us” – Armsrock at the Galleri Profilen  (Aarhus, Denmark)

Armsrock says his new show is an investigation of parapsychology, ideology and crisis, through drawings, objects and texts. His style is getting tighter too.

Armsrock in Brooklyn NYC 2007  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here

“Street Wall” at Fourth Wall Project Gallery Saturday (Boston)

New York is chocolate and Boston is peanut butter so when you mix these artists from both Street Art scenes together in one show you get something grittily sweet that will  stick to the roof of your mouth.  Want a root beer? Vodka? Featuring LNY, Radical!, Tiptoe, Nanook, The Phantom, Geoff Hargadon, Zatara and Blackmath.

Geoff Hargadon CFYW in Los Angeles. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Check out more about this show here.

Also happening this weekend:

Philip Lumbang solo show “New Arrival” at the Unit 44 Gallery in Newcastle, UK opens today. Click here for more details on this show.

LA Mural Ordinance Community Discussion with Shepard Fairey and Saber at Lab Art Gallery in Los Angeles. Find out how the new mural laws in Los Angeles are affecting the Urban Art and what the answers are to your questions. This event takes place on Saturday. Click here for more details.

New Sten & Lex Low Res VIDEO in Rome

Italian Duo Sten & Lex have a new body of work on the streets of Rome. Here they show us how The Stencil Poster was born.

MAMBO Goes for a Swim (VIDEO)

MAMBO pays tribute to Johnny Weissmuller and the Molitor swimming pool in Paris:

Creepy Tries to Control the Ocean (VIDEO)

Creepy “If We Can’t Control the Boat Let’s Control the Ocean” by K. Hughes-Odgers

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Monster Island in Williamsburg; 2004-2011

By now it has been very well documented that Monster Island in Williamsburg, Brooklyn has closed its doors after seven years of art exploration and experimentation with murals, art shows and music concerts. The building is set for demolition and it is rumored that it will be replaced by a Whole Foods Store.

During these years we’ve watched the exterior of Monster Island with great interest as it was an every-changing heaven for emerging artists to show their stuff to the public. The environment engendered creativity; With non for profit art galleries and performance spaces, an underground music venue, a surf shop, a screen-print studio, a recording studio, several artists studios and a family of lovely street cats, Monster Island was a symbol of what Williamsburg was all about; artists and community struggling to make cool stuff for each other and sometimes a big audience. Since the early 1990s, ad-hoc love-driven venues like this have opened and closed, along with art parties, loft performances, artist collectives, and a loose association of art galleries. The settlement of writers, dancers, bands, performers, and all sorts of artists helped give the area a decided edge, even if you couldn’t convince your Manhattan friends to come visit the neighborhood at night.

Kid Acne (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Now “The Edge” of course is the name of a corporate looking glass tower on the waterfront and the moderate frightened masses began their march to Williamsburg after the developers re-zoned 30+ blocks in North Brooklyn in 2005, transforming it quickly to a New York suburb with quirky, kooky shopping opportunities. It’s an old story, but we have to tell it; Now the rents are too high and the culture is increasingly inhospitable to artists and the Monster Island landlord has a different plan for the lot and the lease wasn’t renewed.  Williamsburg is going upscale just like Manhattan and the rest of the city and for struggling artists and the venues that give them shelter and nurture them this is another reason why we are watching people move to other neighborhoods or out of New York altogether. In a way, this is what NYC is all about; Re-invention and greed.

We have been photographing the ever-changing facade of this building that was offered as a canvas for local and visiting artists all over the world to put their art up. Today we pay homage and say farewell to this iconic institution and to the people that endeavored to make it unique with a photo essay of the numerous murals that went up there since 2004. We have made an effort to identify most of the artists. Please let us know if you know the names of the artists we have tagged as unknown or if we erroneously credited a piece of art.

Armsrock (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Armsrock (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Maya Hayuk (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ripo and Maya Hayuk (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 “This Wall Could Be Your Life” was a 7-year project conceived, curated and solely funded by Maya Hayuk. “For the following seven years artists were invited from all over the world, given paint, space and freedom to create” Maya Hayuk. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This spring the Lilac bush outside the building was majestic. Punto and Blok’s mural on the background. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Wolfy (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Noah Sparkes (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA pulls a rabbit out of a hog. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

MOMO and Zosen  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

MOMO and Zosen working on a makeover. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Waldo with a hook looks on as an artist works on a makeover. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Troy Lovegates AKA OTHER. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Troy Lovegates AKA Other, Deuce 7 and Pork. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

YOTE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hellbent and Hellcat (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cat with Punto’s mural in the background. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

I just finished my installation. Time to take a cat nap. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A Spring 2011 model. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Skewville (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kyle Ranson and Oliver Halsman Rosenberg. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Julia Langhof (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Maya Hayuk. As a final collective event, a paint pour and block party was organized in September. Multiple artists went up to the roof and poured paint down the walls, a colorful blessing on the home that gave so many opportunities to artists and built community.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Maya Hayuk. Paint Pour (photo © Jaime Rojo)

An unknown artist painted this figure while the building awaits demolition. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Uphues gives the building a heart while it awaits demolition. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Happy Valentines From BSA : Street Art Love

Whether it’s a stencil, a wheat-pasted drawing, or even a framed photo glue-gunned to a wall, Street Artists show us that it is all about love, as you know.  Here are a number of different takes on the theme from Street Artists around New York. It’s our Valentine to you, because you are beautiful.

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-you-are-beautiful-jaime-rojo-02-11-web

You Are Beautiful (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-sixten-jaime-rojo-02-11-web

Sixten (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-the-dude-company-valentines-jaime-rojo-02-11-webThe Dude Company (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-aiko-jaime-rojo-02-11-webAiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-alec-jaime-rojo-02-11-web

Alec (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Banksy (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-bishop-203-valentines-02-11-web

From Bishop 203 and Dirty Bandits a Special Valentines Wish to the BSA family. They also made an animated version you can send to friends. Click here to see it.

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-chris-stain-armsrock-jaime-rojo-02-11-web

Chris Stain and Armsrock (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-chris-uphues-jaime-rojo-02-11-web

Chris Uphues (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-doves-jaime-rojo-02-11-web

Photo © Jaime Rojo

brooklyn-street-art-qrst-jaime-rojo-Valentines-02-11-webQRST (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-faile-jaime-rojo-02-11-web-19

Faile (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-imminent-disaster-jaime-rojo-02-11-web

Imminent Disaster (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-kiss-jaime-rojo-02-11-web

photo © Jaime Rojo

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-lovers-jaime-rojo-02-11-web

photo © Jaime Rojo

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-mark-carvalho-jaime-rojo-02-11-web

Mark Carvalho (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-ring-jaime-rojo-02-11-web

The Ring Please (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-stickman-know-hope-jaime-rojo-02-11-web

Stickman and Know Hope (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-swoon-jaime-rojo-02-11-web

Swoon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-tip-toe-jaime-rojo-02-11-web

TipToe (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-waylon-jaime-rojo-02-11-web

Waylon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-valentines-faile-jaime-rojo-02-11-webFaile (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Brooklyn Street Art: 2010 Year In Images (VIDEO)

We’re very grateful for a wildly prolific year of Street Art as it continued to explode all over New York (and a lot of other places too). For one full year we’ve been granted the gift of seeing art on the streets and countless moments of inspiration. Whether you are rich or poor in your pocket, the creative spirit on the street in New York makes you rich in your heart and mind.

To the New York City artists that make this city a lot more alive every day we say thank you.

To the artists from all over world that passed through we say thank you.

To our colleagues and peers for their support and enthusiasm we say thank you.

To the gallery owners and curators for providing the artists a place to show their stuff and for providing all of us a safe place to gather, talk, share art, laugh, enjoy great music and free booze we say thank you.

To our project collaborators for sharing your talents and insights and opinions and for keeping the flame alive we say thank you.

And finally to our friends, readers and fans; Our hearts go out to you for lighting the way and for cheering us on. Thank you.

Each Sunday we featured Images of the Week, and we painfully narrowed that field to about 100 pieces in this quick video. It’s not an encyclopedia, it’s collage of our own. We remember the moment of discovery, the mood, the light and the day when we photographed them. For us it’s inspiration in this whacked out city that is always on the move.

The following artists are featured in the video and  are listed here in alphabetical order:

Aakash Nihalani,Bansky, Barry McGee, Bask ,Bast, Beau, MBW, Bishop ,Boxi, Cake, The Dude Company, Chris RWK, Chris Stain, Dain, Dan Witz ,Dolk ,El Mac, El Sol 25, Elbow Toe, Faile, Feral,  Overunder, Gaia, General Howe, Hellbent, Hush, Imminent Disaster, Jeff Aerosol, Jeff Soto, JMR ,Judith Supine ,K-Guy ,Labrona, Lister, Lucy McLauchlan, Ludo, Armsrock, MCity, Miso, Momo, Nick Walker, Nina Pandolfo, NohjColey, Nosm, Ariz, How, Tats Cru, Os Gemeos, Futura, Pisa 73, Poster Boy, QRST, Remi Rough, Stormie Mills, Retna, Roa, Ron English, Sever, She 155, Shepard Fairey ,Specter, Sten & Lex, Samson, Surge I, Sweet Toof, Swoon, Tes One, Tip Toe, Tristan Eaton, Trusto Corp, Typo, Various and Gould, Veng RWK, ECB, White Cocoa, Wing, WK Interact, Yote.

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WAS Wonderland Art Space Presents: Armsrock Solo Show “Nocturne On A Drainpipe Flute” (Copenhagen V)

Armsrock
brooklyn-street-art-armsrock

“NOCTURNE ON A DRAINPIPE FLUTE”

10th of December – 15th of January.

Opening 10th of December, 17.00-22.00

WAS Wonderland Art Space Absalonsgade 21b 1658 Copenhagen V

info@wonderlandonline.dk

Gambling Succeshistorier skrevet af Wonderlandspace

+45 3322 3343

+ 45 2819 7911

for further information please see attached flyer or go to:

www.armsrock.blogspot.com

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Black Rat Projects Presents: “Small Acts Of Resistance” A Group Show With Works By Peter Kennard, Dotmasters, Matt Small, Know Hope, Armsrock and Swoon (London, UK)

Black Rat Projects

Swoon. Detail. (© Jaime Rojo)

Swoon. Detail. (© Jaime Rojo)

Black Rat Projects is delighted to invite you to our forthcoming show ‘Small Acts of Resistance’.

In ‘Small Acts of Resistance’ Black Rat Projects brings together six international contemporary artists whosework bears the stamp of both the artist’s aesthetic vision and the activist’s world changing ambition. Works by Peter Kennard, Dotmasters, Matt Small, Know Hope, and Armsrock will be on display from Thursday 4th November – Tuesday 30th November 2010. In addition to this, there will be a large-scale site specific installation created by Swoon.

Armsrock indoor installation. Brooklyn 2009. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Armsrock indoor installation. Brooklyn 2009. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Occupying public space – whether it is within the realms of media and advertising or the architectural surface of the cities in which they work and live – has become a core characteristic of the way these five artists work. They have had their work published in books and magazines, shown in galleries, pasted in the streets and have performed in front of audiences. Between them they disrupt the smooth image that corporate capitalism seeks to spread at once highlighting its repressive character. An interventionist spirit informs their artistic practices and they are constantly engaged in a process of understanding how their work might function in the world, in a way that supports, and not conflicts with their ideals. For the first time Black Rat Projects brings this group of likeminded artists together under one roof to explore common threads in their work and world views.

Know Hope. (Photo © Know Hope)

Know Hope. (Photo © Know Hope)

This exhibition references in title a recently published collection of stories collated by advocacy director of Amnesty International Steve Crawshaw and Human Rights activist Jon Jackson. The preface to their book was written by Czech writer and dissident Vaclav Haval who explains the misnomer in the title: ‘Today, millions around the world live in circumstances where it might seem that nothing will ever change. But they must remember that the rebellions that took place all across Eastern Europe in 1989 were the result of a series of individual actions by ordinary people which together made change inevitable. Small Acts of Resistance pays tribute to those who have sought to live in truth, and the impact that can have. In my lifetime, I have repeatedly seen that small acts of resistance have had incomparably greater impact than anybody could have predicted at the time. Small acts of resistance are not just about the present and the past. I believe they are about the future, too.’

For biogs of the artists or a pdf or available works please email in to info@blackratpress.com

A preview evening for the exhibition will be held on Thursday 4th November from 6pm – 9pm. Invites will be sent out via email. We hope to see you there.

Best wishes, BRP.

www.blackratprojects.co.uk

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Chris Stain and Billy Mode: Danger, Poverty, Friendship

Brooklyn-Street-Art-copyright-Chris-Stain-Title-Graphic

Did you see all the kids going to school today?  It was LOUD on my bus as everybody was cramming in, some holding hands of their mom or dad or grandparent. Little backpacks, new shoes, excitedly talking about what classes are going to be like this year and what they did over the summer.

Times like this give us a bit of hope in a period when so much for so many seems uncertain. Two years into an economic kick to the stomach and many of us are still reeling, trying to hang on, and some are falling off. For the first time, many are understanding the dangers of poverty and it’s dehumanizing cyclical nature.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-copyright-Chris-Stain-Stain-and-mode

Naturally, some artists are there to help us see us – canaries in the coalmine, they dare to go there and talk about the dangers ahead and the dangers present.  Armsrock, Swoon, Chris Stain, Specter, even new artists like Indigo and Joe Iurato – all explore sides of the human experience that are difficult for us to talk about sometimes but all the more necessary.

Taking advantage of really temperate and long summer days recently, Chris Stain and Billy Mode have been working in the beauty that is upstate New York on a few murals – some of which contemplate the realities of a system that can push people into the margins and leave them there. Incorporating some of Chris’s recent imagery of the boy along with his signature atmosphere urban signposts, the two created a graff-style sign across the front spelling the word that is associated with poverty.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-copyright-Chris-Stain-danger

Says Stain, “The mural says ‘Danger’ and it’s a tribute to our friend VOKE. One of his early tags was DANGER. He was the most creative person that Bill and I knew, always pushing the boundary of what graffiti was about and what it could become. With this piece we tried to do just that by incorporating graffiti style lettering and stencils. ”

A 20 year old picture of a piece by Voke, courtesy Chris Stain
“Voo Doo”, A 20 year old picture of a piece by Voke, courtesy Chris Stain

To Stain and Mode, Voke was doing stuff with his graffiti in 1990 that later would become more familiar as “Street Art”. Chris explains how the graffiti artist was moving in the new direction even then, “He was introducing elements that were unusual in graffiti lettering at the time. Like the pinwheel in place of the ‘O’ for example. The ‘V’ is made up of two nail like spikes.”
Brooklyn-Street-Art-copyright-Chris-Stain-abolish-poverty
For the two Street Artists, who easily switch back and forth between brushes, cans, stencils, and freehand, working collaboratively is always freestyle. “Bill and I have been painting together for over 20 years. We have developed a certain rhythm and trust that allows us the freedom to create without inhibitions. I think it comes from a mutual respect. We usually develop a loose plan and let each other add our own ingredients,” says Chris.

BSA >>>  ><<<>>><  <<> <  BSA <<>   > < >BSA >>>  ><<<>>><  <<> <  BSA <<>   > < >
images courtesy and copyright of the artist
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Signal Gallery Presents: Armsrock Solo Show “Drawn Towards The Present” (London)

Armsrock

Armsrock Signal Gallery

Armsrock Signal Gallery

Drawn Towards the Present”

The exhibition consists of an installation made out of monumental charcoal drawings on rice paper. The imagery represented in the drawings is based on a collection of press-clippings, which have been reworked and juxtaposed to create a labyrinth of fragments from contemporary history, standing as a tragic prologue to our future hopes and fears.

For additional information please see attached flyer or go to:

www.armsrock.blogspot.com

Drawn Towards the Present”

3rd -19th of June. 2010.

Opening on the 3rd of June, 6-9 pm.

Signal Gallery

96a Curtain Road

London EC2A 3AA

UK


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