All posts tagged: Avone

Dorian Gray Gallery Presents: GroupGraff: 30 Years of Public Dialogue (Manhattan, NY)

Dorian Gray Gallery

30 years of Public Dialogue

Exhibition Dates: April 13 through May 16, 2012
Reception April 28th, 5-8 pm. RSVP

Dorian Grey Gallery presents an exhibition spanning thirty years of pivotal graffiti artists and writers whose work have helped define the medium and style. Featured works include such iconic New York names as Keith Haring, LA 2, Futura, Richard Hambleton, COPE 2, & CRASH. International artists such as Bansky and DOLK are paired with the modern innovators XAM, SeeOne, Penn & AVone.

The Dorian Grey Gallery, 437 East 9th Street between 1st Ave and Ave A., NY, NY
Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Sunday 12a-7p.
Subway stop: #6 Astor Place. Free Admission.
CONTACT: Christopher Pusey, 516-244-4126, info@doriangreygallery.com
Official Dorian Grey Gallery music site: www.crackedlatin.com

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Images of the Week 01.23.11

Tonight it will be 7 degrees farenheit in Brooklyn, and the wind will blow down the East River to the Verrazano, around Coney Island and the Rockaways in a bashing fashion. New York City in January can be an inhospitable and unfriendly city, especially if you are a new arrival. “Where are all the people?” New Yorkers, all clad in blacks and grays pile out from the subway tunnels in droves and scurry fast down the sidewalk, like ants whose mound has been disturbed. The puffy fashions often mute gender, causing a great many otherwise fashionable or sexy dudes and dudettes to look like large tubers. Outside is a place to pass through as you stomp toward your dwelling without looking around or upward. Exhausted by layers of fabrics and zippers and buttons and laces and pulling on, over, and off – dropping bags and backpacks, the peeling off wet socks and salty boots are the final salvo before collapse. Depressed yet?

The flip side of this is that a lot of Street Artists are working in their kitchen/toolshed/studio right now and really putting a lot of effort into it – some are even stockpiling like squirrels for spring.  If it is sunny for a minute in the afternoon, and you can peer over your scarf on the icy snow piled sidewalks of Brooklyn for a second you’ll see there is some new Street Art here and there. There is  one reason to go outside and it’s encouraging to see that some street artists that call New York their home have been getting up despite the elements. It’s not really surprising to find that Street Artists are a scrappy lot; it kind of goes with the territory. Nonetheless it can bring a smile to your frozen face. Happy Winter.

And now our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring AVOne, AWR, BAST, DAIN, General Howe, Jim Darling, Katsu, Nasa, Nohj Coley, Rae, Skewville, Sofia Maldonado, Surge, and the Witness

brooklyn-street-art-rae-jaime-rojo-01-11

Rae (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-nohj-coley-jaime-rojo-01-11-13

Nohj Coley’s first interactive piece on the streets (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-nohj-coley-jaime-rojo-01-11-12“Mucho Gusto!” Nohj Coley First interactive piece on the streets (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-nohj-coley-jaime-rojo-01-11-14Nohj Coley detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-nohj-coley-jaime-rojo-01-11-15Wanna see a movie? Nohj Coley detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-dain-jaime-rojo-01-11-8A big new Dain about town looking quite continental. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-dain-jaime-rojo-01-11-10Double the pleasure with Dain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-dain-jaime-rojo-01-11-11Dain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-avone-jaime-rojo-01-11AVOne (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-katsu-jaime-rojo-01-11Katsu (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-bast-1-jaime-rojo-01-11“Oh, fine thanks, except that I had to kill my boss.” Bast  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-bast-jaime-rojo-01-11Bast (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-skewville-jaime-rojo-01-11Skewville shows you to your entrance (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-general-howe-jaime-rojo-01-11General Howe commentarty on past and present events in our still young Nation (photo © Jaime Rojo)

On to warmer climates…. and here are some more images from the glut of new work in Miami that we’ve been showing you this month.

brooklyn-street-art-sofia-maldonado-primary-flight-miami-2010-jaime-rojo-01-11Sofia Maldonado. Primary Flight Miami 2010  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-jim-darling-primary-flight-2010-jaime-rojo-01-11-3Jim Darling created this expansive sculpture made entirely from found objects. We learned that the owner of the lot was at first pretty disturbed by the accumulation of junk until the piece began to take shape. Now of course they love it and the streets are a little cleaner too. Primary Flight Miami 2010  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-jim-darling-primary-flight-2010-jaime-rojo-01-11-4Jim Darling. Detail Primary Flight Miami 2010  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-The-Witnes-AWR-NASA-primary-flight-2010-jaime-rojo-01-11The Witness AWR NASA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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El Celso Presents: “ART SHRED” at The Winkleman Gallery

El Celso Presents

Bring your art to Shred with Celso and Friends

Bring your art to Shred with Celso and Friends

NEW YORK, NY (February 24, 2010) – El Celso is pleased to present ART SHRED, a group exhibition/shredding of new original works on paper, photographs, letters and other priceless works.

ART SHRED is an on-site shredding service that will help artists and other participants liberate themselves of important works of art, meaningful love letters and one-of-a-kind photographs – and other significant material created, printed, or written on paper. After being sliced and diced, all works will be scattered on the gallery floor. If you have something of consequence that you would like to have shredded, e-mail celso@elcelso.com. Walk-ins welcome.

ART SHRED will showcase the shredded works of:

El Celso, C-Monster, Jennifer Dalton, William Powhida, Paul Kostabi, Jennifer Dziura, Darkcloud, infinity, Martha Cooper, ski, James & Karla Murray, 2esae, Keely, avone, Leonardo Furtado, Man Bartlett, Morgan Thomas, Buildmore Shrines, Abe Lincoln Jr., LA II, Pufferella, Skewville, Royce Bannon, Destroy & Rebuild, James Willis, Rednose, Luna Park, Robots Will Kill, The Endless Love Crew, Veng, Elisha Cook Jr., Felix Morelo, Reid Harris Cooper, Dean Radinovsky, Cake, Depoe, Stikman and many more to be announced!

ART SHRED will be held on March 3rd, 2010 between 2pm-4pm

@ The WINKLEMAN Gallery

621 W. 27th Street

(between 11th & 12th Avenues)

ART SHRED a proud member of and is brought to you by #class

Organized by Jennifer Dalton and William Powhida

February 21- March 20, 2010

For more information please contact celso@elcelso.com or visit:

http://elcelso.com

http://hashtagclass.blogspot.com/

http://www.winkleman.com/

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It’s Getting Hot Down There: ART BURN MIAMI

Eartburner-mpresario and street artist Celso has a sense of humor about most things, and street art in particular.

Without reading too much into it, it’s easy to understand how some of the hype surrounding the humongus Art Basel in Miami this week does tend to turn off the hot-headed anti-capitalist anti-consumerist anti-consumption anti-homogenization-of-everything-in-our culture-types in our midst.

Not that any of these artists are in that category, but it is pretty funny to learn that this one-day only art show ends with all the art being burned, and none of it added to your burgeoning street-art collection.

But Marge, what are they trying to say? While we prefer to create original content and not simply copy-and-paste, sometimes it just makes sense to take it directly from the press release >>

ART BURN: The Most Combustible Art Show in the World
International Contemporary Art Expo & Immolation

**To be held at LAS TIAS, 2834 N. Miami Ave., in Miami’s Wynwood District at sunset on Thursday, December 3rd, 2009***

(Miami, FL) — ART BURN, the most combustible art show in the world, will combine an international selection of original art with fire. Original works on canvas, wood and paper by a selection of more than three dozen international artists will be displayed and then flambeed in Miami on the evening of Thursday, December 3, 2009 at sunset. The exhibition/grilling, curated by NYC artist El Celso, will take place in the Wynwood Arts District, within walking distance of Miami’s lesser contemporary art fairs.

An exclusive selection of more than three dozen exceptional pieces by the hottest renowned artists and sizzling, cutting-edge newcomers will be displayed from 1pm until sundown. After the brief exhibition, all of these original works will be burned for the public’s viewing pleasure. Nothing is for sale.

We will be exhibiting and burning new works by:

Stikman
El Celso
Aurora Robson
infinity
Nick Fortunato
Skewville
Jayne Surrena
Darkcloud
Fabian Pena
Elbow-Toe
Rex Dingler
LA II
Royce Bannon
Leonardo Furtado (Brazil)
Rednose
Gore-B
Buildmore
Abe Lincoln Jr.
Cake
Paul Kostabi
Ellis-G
Jeannete Vidalia
2esae
Avoid Pi
Stefano Pasquini (Italy)
Keely
Destroy & Rebuild
Veng
F. Trainer
Ski
Joanne Mattera
Deeker
Sam Horine
Avone
Die Dose (Germany)
Billi Kid
Evelyn Metzger
Robots Will Kill
Adam Vincentz
Garrison Buxton (Peripheral Media Projects)
Michael DeFeo
James A. Willis
Dalva
Kristina Maria Lopez
Hargo
Ray Bradbury & very special guests TBA

You can even follow the events on Twitter at @elcelso and @cmonstah.

SPONSORS
C-MONSTER.NET
The official media sponsor of the ART BURN VIP Lounge

HYPERALLERGIC
The official blogazine, critic and beer sponsor of ART BURN

BROOKLYN STREET ART
The official street art and corporate snack sponsor of ART BURN

KINGSFORD Charcoal
The unofficial grilling partner of ART BURN

We’ve been assured that all local laws and safety precautions will be observed.  At least Miami is a coastal town so they are near water.

Enjoy this hunk o burnin’ luv….

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Habana Outpost, “All the Pieces on the Wall”

Veng, NohJColey, Milo Carney, Billy Russomano, Alex Mosley, Ca$h4, Awol, Erizk, Avone, Christian Vargas, Brandon Cox, Gabriel Smith, Jay Roberts, Carlito Bragonti, Jenevieve&!#, Nikeisha Nelson, Maximiliano Ferro, Royce Bannon

All The Pieces on the Wall Opening Reception

October 6th, 7-9pm Exhibition

Runs October 6th-27th, 2009

Habana Outpost 757 Fulton Street Brooklyn, NY 11217

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Graff to Graphic: Destroy and Rebuild

Graff to Graphic: Destroy and Rebuild

Artist collective Destroy & Rebuild blasts past obstacles and finds opportunity through persistence on the street.

(photo Steven P. Harrington)

(photo Steven P. Harrington)

True New York City is in the streets and in the hard-won winning grit of these three young urban artists; NYC is in their every utterance, every step.  It’s also all over their bombastic color-infused artwork; the man-made urban symbols and signposts of this great city are the superstructure that forms each sentence and drips down every canvas….

The Building Print 2 by Destroy & Rebuild (courtesy the artists)

The Building Print 2 by Destroy & Rebuild (courtesy the artists)

These are the readily recognizable elements that make up New York: The Brooklyn and The Williamsburg, The Empire State, Twin Towers, factories, brownstones, tenements, chain links topped by razorwire, NYPD cars and taxis, graffiti trucks, the Coney Island Wonder Wheel and parachute jump, choppers in the sky, maples and oaks, the brass-balled bull of Wall Street, the New York Times, the stars and stripes stretched across the stock exchange, water towers, rolling grids of windows, colorful bloated throwies and a big-ass Revs tag.  All of this vaunted big-city imagery is splashed and layered into their work, and in their words.  It’s the language of destruction, and of rebuilding.

The Twin Towers by Destroy & Rebuild (courtesy the artists)

The Twin Towers by Destroy & Rebuild (courtesy the artists)

Destroy & Rebuild is a three-man Brooklyn-based artist collective whose art is structured and splattered, pieced and sprayed, screened and collaged, photographed and markered. More often than ever, it’s balanced.  All three guys got their start doing illegal graffiti on the streets and subways of New York City.  Eventually they decided to form Destroy & Rebuild on the premise that they used to destroy the city with their graffiti and now they are rebuilding it with their art.

(photo Steven P. Harrington)

(photo Steven P. Harrington)

“I feel like we are almost the definition of street art. Because we’re all bombers that come from the street, shelters, f*cked up childhoods, parents dying, drug addiction, and all that. But instead of falling victim to that and letting that take over our lives we just took it and kept on doing this.  Maybe it was going to jail and all that that made us have to do this but we’re doing it now,” explains Mike as he watches people stop by the table to look at their work.  The words don’t fly out in a bitter way, but with the confidence and authority of a personal truth.

Street art by Destroy & Rebuild (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Street art by Destroy & Rebuild (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Positioned on a street spot in Soho for going on three winters, Anthony (aka Avone), Mike (aka 2esae), and Ski all have the same position; artist and salesman.  On most days you’ll find them there with with canvasses stacked, displayed, and leaning on the front and sides of a collapsible table.  Each offering is a collaboration piece that mixes their personal styles and employs every new thing they are learning about their craft. The selection continuously evolves.

Today Ski isn’t here because he’s representing them in a show at a gallery in Austria, so Anthony and Mike tell BSA what their street art gig is about.

Anthony: Everything is by hand – we do everything ourselves – stretch our canvasses, burn our own screens, take our own photos, print our own photos,

Mike: A lot of these elements have meaning to us; from the graffiti trucks that we paint to the buildings that we stand in front of every day.  We even have pictures of our storage building, where we store everything.

 

(photo Steven P. Harrington)

(photo Steven P. Harrington)

While they talk there are frequent interruptions from potential buyers and curious inquisitors, to homies that roll by to give a shout out.

Anthony: I had a studio but I moved out. Right now I’m working out of my home, Mike is working out of his home.  We have designated studio space – like right now we are working in my living room, and I have the extra bedroom, which together I use for a space to paint in.  And Mike has a big apartment with extra space to paint in. So it’s kind of convenient in a way – we are spoiled in that manner.

Mike: We don’t stop. We take some breaks but we’re always working.  It’s always non-stop.

Brooklyn Street Art: It sounds like a thousand canvasses a year.

Mike: Yeah probably. We have a lot of pieces that we sell and that we have in different places. We send it out a lot, to galleries, stores. We have a lot of work out there right now. We have some work right now in Austria, in Italy, some of it just went to Australia with Ski.  We have some in the Greene Space at 112 Greene Street.  We actually lend out our art to some people – they just use it to decorate their office.  A lot of connections we get through here.  We always take down all of our emails from people on the street and go home and email them all back.  We find them, invite them to our shows, like to keep communication with all of them.

 

(photo Steven P. Harrington)

Destroy & Rebuild (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Brooklyn Street Art: It’s like you’ve got a whole business going, like you are businessmen, entrepreneurs.

Anthony: You know, a lot of people see you on the street, and they think you are low class; It’s New York. You have to forget about it.  I try to encourage others to do this, but I guess it’s kind of a blessing that they don’t. You got these kids who wanna say you are “commercial”, or that you are this and that.

A satisfied customer (photo courtesy Destroy & Rebuild)

A satisfied customer (photo courtesy Destroy & Rebuild)

Brooklyn Street Art: Isn’t that a typical criticism across the board that everybody gets no matter what you are doing if you are creative?

Anthony: Yeah, if you are creative – if you are working on a website at a company then you are “commercial”, if you are selling your art you are “commercial”… I’ve heard it all.  We just came out; it’s baby steps. But still we’re not in the door. We’re not anyone special. We don’t have an art rep, we don’t have an agent, we don’t have a gallery – we’re doing it ourselves. And we come from nothin’. You know what I mean? His mom’s not rich. We come from public assistance, housing projects… So for us this is an accomplishment.

The accomplishments are propagating, as is the quality and variety of the work.  Over the past three years the work of Destroy & Rebuild has shown growth and maturity, and the guys emphasize that it came from continued practice, studying the game, and saying “yes” to many projects that stretched their minds and challenged their abilities.  They continue to make custom work for private clients and paint murals in peoples’ homes, as long as they can keep their personal style intact.  Keeping the lines of communication open with opportunity has also meant they get invited to participate in group shows and solo shows abroad, create art for videos for 50-Cent, Grafh, and Busta Rhymes, design art and posters for Playstation,  paint semi-nude women with Ron English for the art-based social networking site Planet Illogica, have a show up this month at Destination Art Space in the Meatpacking District, and paint live at the MBP Urban Arts Fest in Brooklyn on October 3rd.

Stenciling up a mural in a private home (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Stenciling a mural in a private home (photo Steven P. Harrington)

BSA: Because you’ve been working so much you can produce good work fast. Being able to produce very quickly is a skill in itself.

Anthony: Definitely, that’s the power of silkscreening as well.

BSA: And the way you apply it, the way you place it. You’re eye has to be getting better with each successive round.

Mike: Yeah your eye, the color, the composition. Like if you look at our stuff in the beginning we were just taking it and screening anything anywhere.  Now we just keep stepping up and going higher.

Anthony: Yeah like getting our perspectives down.

Mike: Trying different things, you know.

BSA: So this is your education.

Mike: Yeah basically – experience.

Anthony: You know school is good for that, the experience of it. And the networking part, which is good too.  I learn more from you or Mike than I do from sitting down and doing a class or something.  So I would take the networking aspect of school and give that to people.  Being around other people who are trying to upgrade themselves is a good thing.

 

Gallery goers (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Gallery goers at a Destroy & Rebuild show (photo Steven P. Harrington)

BSA: What is Destroy and Rebuild?

Mike: It was just a saying for us for a while. We didn’t even dub ourselves with that name for a while.

Anthony: It was always like a “love and hate”, “yin-yang”, “boy-girl” thing. Can’t have peace without war, those kind of little sayings.  So we are building when we are working together, like right now, building means we’re adding on.  And we are destroying negativity,  we’re destroying stereotypes.

It also went great with our personal history. We had our time. We know vandalism is vandalism. At the end of the day we don’t go home and get arrested and say “Oh we were doing our art in the street”.  So we have that element – so that is destruction to a certain degree. And now we’re rebuilding. We’re rebuilding our lives, ourselves, our city – we make this city look good.

 

gallery favorite (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Silkscreen and the comics meet in this Destroy & Rebuild piece at Destination Art Space  (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Brooklyn Street Art: So many artists give up  – they give up when they hit a couple of obstacles because they don’t have the fire burning in them.

Mike: We keep on moving forward, no matter what.  We’re out here in the winter. We got customers bringing us hot chocolate. We’re the only artists that really come out here in the winter. We’ve been here for two winters.  People respect that.  No one would ever dare set up in this spot.

 

Twin towers on the table by Destroy & Rebuild (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Twin towers on the table by Destroy & Rebuild (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Brooklyn Street Art: It’s a huge accomplishment, and the fact that you have the fortitude to continue is an accomplishment.

Anthony: And it’s hard because you get obstacles. It’s harder for us. Yeah, Obama is president, blah blah blah, but it’s like “This kid has an afro and tattoos all over him and a swagger about him” so regardless of what he does, he’s judged.  He’s got a show going on in Austria right now, he just got back from working with PlayStation – all this stuff. But you still got people who say “He’s just a street kid, or a street artist or graffiti artist.”

Mike: Yeah, my upbringing was f*cked up. But instead of using that as an excuse to not do anything, I used it as a reason to knock out school. Nobody ever did college in my family.  I got my degree in graphic design, my little associates. But that totally opened my mind.  That sh*t opened my mind to this. We don’t have any recognition yet. We’re basically kind of the underdogs, you know. But we’re kind of like the rookies on the team, but we’re really talented rookies.

Anthony: Time itself sometimes destroys stereotypes you know.  You know people are biased for some reason.  You don’t have to address it, you can just go on your own accord and that in itself is good.

Mike: No, you just gotta keep doing what your doing, you know? Hopefully somebody’ll pick it up.

You can go see the rookies Destroy & Rebuild at the MBP Urban Arts Fest, where they’ll be killing a huge wall with other artists like Chris Stain, Royce Bannon, El Celso,  Abe Lincoln Jr., Indigo, Mania, Project Super Friends, infinity, and Ellis G.

"The Queens Perspective" by Destroy & Rebuild (courtesy the artists)

“The Queens Perspective” by Destroy & Rebuild (courtesy the artists)

“Sky is the limit and you know that you keep on, just keep on pressin’ on”  – Biggie Smalls

Destroy & Rebuild Website

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Destroy&Rebuild at “EXTRATERRITORIALITY SATORUTANAKA” at Destination Art Space

EXTRATERRITORIALITY SATORUTANAKA
– in New York Fashion Week featuring Takuya Ishikawa and Destroy&Rebuild

September 10th-17th,2009
Reception: September 11th, 6-8pm
Live Painting: collaboration of Tokyo fashion & NY street art starts at 7pm!

(Destroy & Rebuild’s artwork will be on view from 9/3 through 9/27.)

Destination Art Space, a gallery within an upscale boutique merging fashion and art, is excited to kick off an art/fashion exhibition, “EXTRATERRITORIALITY SATORUTANAKA”- in New York Fashion Week featuring Takuya Ishikawa and Destroy & Rebuild.” This special exhibition will be held during New York Fashion Week.

EXTRATERRITORIALITY SATORUTANAKA is a recently launched new line by SATORUTANAKA, which is one of the most influential emerging designers from Tokyo, starting to present their AW2009 collection in New York City.

Designer Satoru Tanaka draws design inspiration from military fashion, work wear, fifties style and R&B culture. He has mixed and reconstructed these elements to create, EXTRATERRITORIALITY SATORUTANAKA, an experiment linking Past, Present, and Future.

Photographer Takuya Ishikawa, who has worked around the world with many medias such as magazines, advertisements, music jackets, movies, etc., is now collaborating with Tanaka. Under the theme of bones & flowers, Ishikawa has photographed various bones of monkeys, lions, buffalos, pigs, etc, and then put them on SATORUTANAKA’s t-shirts. There will be 50 different variations of T-shirt designs for this project.

Destroy & Rebuild is a three-man artist collective whose art is a fusion of various media such as graffiti, photography, paints, silk-screen, collage, and more. Each member started doing graffiti on the streets and subways in New York City, illegally. After years of creating work in and around the city, they decided to form Destroy & Rebuild on the premise that members used to destroy the city with their graffiti and now are rebuilding it through urban/industrial art.

At the reception party, these three creators, EXTRATERRITORIALITY SATORUTANAKA, Takuya Ishikawa, and Destroy & Rebuild, will unveil their cultural creativities and form them into one peace of art.

For further information, please contact Hide Tachibana or Hisa Yamamoto at 212.727.2031/destination_ny@hpgrp.com

EXTRATERRITORIALITY SATORUTANAKA

Special reception

Host:
D’stroy Rebuild, Hisa Yamamoto
Type:
Network:
Global
Price:
Free!
Date:
Friday, September 11, 2009
Time:
6:00pm – 8:00pm
Location:
Destination Art Space
Street:
32-36 Little West 12th Street
City/Town:
New York, NY
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“Work to Do” is on Schedule for March 26 at The Combine

Collaboration is the Piece
Collaboration makes the total Piece (collage and design Anna Robie, photos Jazzmine Beaulieu)

Royce Bannon and the Endless Love Crew

have been working hard and probably playing a little too, and the group show they have engineered is a quick primer on what street art is looking like at the moment in Brooklyn, and elsewhere. The show inaugurates a hallowed creative space for artists in Soho and christens it with a new name, The Combine, at 112 Greene Street in Soho.

The theme of the show, “Work to Do” pays a tribute to words and works of the new president in this land, and Afrika Bambaataa has written a new song with the same name, which he’ll be performing when he reunites with the Soulsonic Force at the opening.

See more about the show and our interview with Royce here.

“We have to work like our future depends on it, because it does” – Barack Obama

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Royce and ELC Workin’ in a Combine

Royce and ELC Workin’ in a Combine

112 Greene Street Revived by Street Artists

Like Obama says, we’ve got work to do, people.

Royce Bannon and a diverse team of talented street artist/graff writers are taking the challenge seriously: Revive the artists’ space in Soho that boasts a proud history and restore it to the constructive, collaborative, democratic roots of a real artists’ community; one that will have a mission of giving back, as well as re-establishing a laboratory for discovery.

These are times for bold actions of hope, and all hands are on deck for a show opening this month called “Work to Do” at 112 Greene Street in Soho, a place that first flourished in the years before the Reagan Revolution.

A Monstrous Welcome to a New Era for 112 Greene Street (Royce Bannon)

A Monstrous Welcome to a New Era for 112 Greene Street (Royce Bannon)

Long before Soho became a jewel encrusted haven for high-end couture, over-priced “foodie” groceries, hi-jacking delis, and exclusive password private clubs, the wild-eyed artists were the only people interested in the abandoned buildings south of Houston, and north of Canal. In the decade of the 1970’s, during a financial crisis when a Republican president told our bankrupt city to “drop dead”, that he would veto any bailout for a cash-strapped NYC economy, Soho was a largely abandoned carcass of warehouses and lifeless factories. As is so often the case, it was the perfect playground for the innovative talents of artists and art students needing cheap raw space to create and coalesce and eventually re-start the engine of cultural growth. Like the Williamsburg/Greenpoint/Bushwick neighborhoods in Brooklyn today, Soho in Manhattan was a pounding heart in a hurting city that was drained by an energy crisis, sapped by a costly possibly illegal war on foreign soil, and duped by the ponzi-schemes of corporate titan opportunists at home.

112 Greene Street in Soho was the original home of 112 Workshop, a raw space open between 1970 and 1980, offering exhibition space for installation and performance for the new generation of conceptual artists who emerged from the radicalized minds and cultural upheavals of the previous decade.

With artists having complete control to curate their shows, the space put on challenging and inspirational work of hundreds of people. During the life of this laboratory it produced a list of influential performers and artists that helped shape the cultural cityscape over next 30 years, including names like Vito Acconci, Laurie Anderson, Joseph Beuys, Louis Bourgois, Chuck Close, Spalding Gray, Phillip Glass, Fran Lebowitz, Jeffrey Lew (co-founder), Gordon Matta Clarke (co-founder), Richard Mock, Richard Serra, William Wegman.

A spirit of collaboration and lively exploration returns to this space on March 26 when street artists well known in North Brooklyn today clear out the moribund basement space at 112 Greene and electrify the walls with a new era of youthful big ideas – and with thanks to those who came before in this hallowed space.

Royce Bannon, core member of the collective ELC (Endless Love Crew), is curating an audacious and boundless graphic cavalcade of street art styles to christen the historic space that honors the creative spirit. While ELC has a rotating roster that sometimes totals as many as 9 artists with a variety of styles, the currently active members of the ELC for this project will be Abe Lincoln Jr., Anera, El Celso, infinity, and Royce Bannon. With everyone working collaboratively, the “Work to Do” show pays homage to the new president and embraces a new reality that artists and creatives in the city are feeling right now.

The 112 Greene Street space is christened The Combine with this inaugural show. Steve Loeb and John Robie are creating The Combine to provide a new environment for the exhibition of art; an alternative to the traditional gallery opening and exhibition, transforming static work into multi-media, performance oriented events.

Detail from Kosbe at "Work to Do" (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Detail from Kosbe at “Work to Do” (photo Steven P. Harrington)

On a recent sunny Saturday, with Soho sidewalks anxiously trampled with tourists dragging shopping bags out of Prada, Dean & Deluca, and the Apple store, Royce and Chris from Robots Will Kill are laboring below street level on work for the new show. Descending the stairway you hear the blasting remixed hip-hop jams, see the spray-painted names along the walls claiming space for pieces; Ad Deville of Skewville and U.L.M. have staked their real estate, as has Cake and the Smart Crew. Others have already created pieces on their wall allotment; a 7 foot tall Mochni from Veng on the landing, a chaotic collage from Kosbe as you hit the floor, a manic back wall collaboration with Deekers, infinity, and Celso.

A complete history of 112 Workshop

A complete history of 112 Workshop

Royce sits at his makeshift table of plywood and saw-horses, pouring over a large book about 112 Workshop, marking its’ pages with post-its, and eyeballing every available inch of the entire basement space, thinking about how to fill it, and with whom. His phone keeps ringing, but he’s concentrating on the long rectangular room. He’s loving this moment, and proud of the work his friends have put into the space. Chris from RWK climbs a ladder to lay-in the first wash of color that will build the backing of… perhaps a robot?

Did you hear the new one about Octomom? (Royce Bannon, Dain, and Avoid Pi) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Did you hear the new one about Octomom? (Royce Bannon, Dain, and AVOID Pi) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

The mottled concrete floor is marked with blue tape where a stage will be built for Afrika Bambaataa and Soulsonic Force on opening night, and the backdrop wall is already claimed by an undulating AVOID Pi tentacle, some Dain wheatpasted portraits that well up with fluorescent tears, and some smart-aleck monsters from Mr. Bannon himself, and a space remains for Abe Lincoln Jr.. Walk past a stack of plywood into a makeshift rectangular “gallery” room where many 3’ x 8’ foamcore canvasses lean – soon to showcase Deekers, infinity, Celso, and Royce pieces and hung in the windows of a music store further north of here.

Brooklyn Street Art: So who decided to put on this show?
Royce Bannon: Steven Loeb (composer, arranger, producer) and John Robie (composer, musician and record producer). They both have really extensive resumes in the music industry that go back to the 70’s – have worked with so many great musicians and artists that have impacted most of us – Kurtis Blow, Public Enemy, James Brown, LL Cool J… and a lot more. This is their space, and they’ve given me full control to make this show rock.

This is how we do it (Chris from Robots Will Kill) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

This is how we do it (Chris from Robots Will Kill) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Brooklyn Street Art: How did you get involved?
Royce Bannon: They hit me up on MySpace about a year ago, I guess. They knew about ELC and liked our work. About November or December they asked me if we could throw an ELC show and I was like “Sure!” We got together and had lunch and they showed me the space. It was a mess when I saw it. It was full of a bunch of wood, tables, broken furniture, junk… it was basically used for storage, hadn’t been used for anything I guess for years.

Brooklyn Street Art: Are they planning to use the space after the show?
Royce Bannon: Yeah, they are turning it into an event center, mainly for charitable events. They want to make money, but they want to give back as well. This will be the first kind of event that is following that approach.

Brooklyn Street Art: So they first contacted you to do an ELC show, but you actually know a lot more people who can do work in a space like this.
Royce Bannon: Yeah exactly, they were like “we like ELC” and I said, “This is a lot of room to fill for just ELC, so why not invite people who I admire, and some of their friends and we can just crush this whole place up?”

Cake waits for friends from her Crew (Cake) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Waiting for the Smart Crew (Cake) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Brooklyn Street Art: Have you had to tell people “no” since this roster started filling up?
Royce Bannon: Yes, (laughs) I’ve been telling people “no” a lot, and that’s really hard. What I’ve been telling them is to hold on, and once everybody paints, there will be other smaller or tight spots where they can do “fill-ins’, cause some people like those smaller spots too.

Brooklyn Street Art: Looking at this giant space, you are giving people a lot of real estate; these spaces look like 8’ by 8’ chunks of wall. That’s pretty generous.
Royce Bannon: Yeah definitely, why not? The spaces are claimed, and we’ve got lots more space to do, and about a third of it is done already.

Brooklyn Street Art: Are people excited to be in the show?
Royce Bannon: Yeah, very excited, I think it’s gonna be like a madhouse in here. It’s about 4,000 square feet floorspace.

This place is Smokin'! (detail from Kosbe) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

This place is Smokin’ ! (detail from Kosbe) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Brooklyn Street Art: You have been working long hours to accommodate all these artists?
Royce Bannon: Yeah, since mid-January I’ve been here like 12 hour days, sometimes late at night. First we had to clean up the space, figure out what materials we wanted to keep. We’re using everything they had left here and re-purposing it, cause “why not”. Better than throwing it away. Like my monsters are cut out of some bookshelves (laughs). They’ve been supplying us with whatever tools we need, gave us a bunch of paint. So with extras, like ladders and tools, I just go to them and we can get to work. They are really supportive of us, plus they’re collectors.

Brooklyn Street Art: So some of the artwork is going to be on sale?
Royce Bannon: Yes, I think some of the people are going to actually put their artwork on top of their pieces. We’re going to make a little gallery (gesturing to a 10’x 14’ room) – I think some people are going to put their stuff in there. We’re going to cover the floor, I think, in fake grass… brighten the space up a little bit. But we still got a lot of work to do.

***********************

In planning for the new show, Royce and all of the artists have been inspired by the words of the 44th president:

“In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility – a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task. It has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things – some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up.

For more info on ELC and its members:
ELC
Royce Bannon
infinity
El Celso
Abe Lincoln Jr.
AnerA

So far the lineup for the show includes: Endless Love Crew, Moody AA, Cabahzm, Cake, 2Easae, Avone, Chris RWK, Veng RWK, Brando * Nev1 * Sinatra Smart Crew, AVOID pi, infinity, Deeker, Keeley, El Celso, Dain, Pufferella, Skewville, Royce Bannon, AnerA, Abe Lincoln Jr., Ellis Gallagher AKA Ellis G., Matt Siren, Overconsumer, Kosbe, Aiko, Abby Goodman, Alone art, Bast, Ben Jackson, Bobby Hill, Buildmore, C. Damage, Chris Brennan, Christopher Gordon, Dark Clouds, Deeker, Destroy and Rebuild, Erica Faulke, Keely, Pufferella, OHM, Smells, Stikman, U.L.M.

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“Work to Do” show at 112 Greene Street

Royce Bannon and a diverse team of talented street artist/graff writers are taking the challenge seriously: Revive the artists’ space in Soho that boasts a proud history and restore it to the constructive, collaborative, democratic roots of a real artists’ community; one that will have a mission of giving back, as well as re-establishing a laboratory for discovery.

These are times for bold actions of hope, and all hands are on deck for a show opening this month called “Work to Do” at 112 Greene Street in Soho, a place that first flourished in the years before the Reagan Revolution.

Read the Brooklyn Street Art Post for this event here

A Monstrous Welcome to a New Era for 112 Greene Street (Royce Bannon)

A Monstrous Welcome to a New Era for 112 Greene Street (Royce Bannon)

Endless Love Crew

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Two Andrews talk about “From the Streets of Brooklyn”

An unprecedented show of Brooklyn street art starts off 2009 at ThinkSpace gallery.

Bam! The year has barely started and the momentum from the previous giant year for street art blows clear into January with a new show of 50 artists from the streets of Brooklyn.

ThinkSpace Gallery, a warm-hearted community space and home of rockin’ shows in L.A. since 2005, plays host to it’s brothers and sisters across the continent with a salon-style show of street artists, graff writers, a hot photographer, and live on-the-street work by the chalk artist from BK.

In the middle of the installation craziness, the curator of the show, Andrew Michael Ford (gallery director at Ad Hoc), and Andrew Hosner (co-founder of ThinkSpace), talked with Brooklyn Street Art about the show:

BSA: So how did AdHoc and ThinkSpace hook up to do this show?

Andrew Hosner: Andrew and I have been friends for a while, and met while he was still doing some curating before hooking up with the Ad Hoc crew. One day we were just shooting the s**t about some show ideas and I tossed out the idea of bringing Brooklyn to Los Angeles…

Andrew Michael Ford: I’ve followed what ThinkSpace shows for quite some time and I was always very impressed with the work. I also have always felt that the folks who run ThinkSpace and myself have very similar tastes as far as curating art goes. Something like this has been talked about or at least thought about for quite some time and when Thinkspace approached us about doing it I felt like it was the right place and right time.

BSA: Is it a kind of East-West cultural exchange?

Andrew Michael Ford: The show is about bringing a large group of Brooklyn street artists and graf writers to Los Angeles. We haven’t discussed bringing LA artists to Brooklyn but I would be open to talking about something like that for the future.

Thundercut (courtesy ThinkSpace and AdHoc)

Thundercut (courtesy ThinkSpace and AdHoc)

BSA: Brooklyn’s streetscape is pretty dense and is largely accessible by foot. Do you think the L.A. scene is more spread out? How do the two differ, in broad strokes.

Andrew Michael Ford: I have never been to LA but I heard you need a car to get anywhere out there so I assume it’s gotta be pretty spread out.

Andrew Hosner: I think you nailed it on the head, Brooklyn is much more condensed and has more of a community vibe to it I feel, whereas LA is the true meaning of urban sprawl, being one of the most spread out and varied big cities out there. There’s no real community vibe, save for lil’ pockets here and there, but the breadth of the city kind of goes against the notion of all that.

Dan Witz "Scott" from show "From the Streets of Brooklyn" (courtesy ThinkSpace and AdHoc)

Dan Witz "Scott" from show "From the Streets of Brooklyn" (courtesy ThinkSpace and AdHoc)

BSA: Maybe this is impossible to put your finger on, but what would be a couple of characteristics that distinguish Brooklyn street art from other cities in the world?

Andrew Michael Ford: For me it started in NYC. I mean, graf started in Philly but really came into it’s own in NYC. I just don’t see that kind of history anywhere else. I see the lineage of graf into street art and that is why so many graf writers have been invited to this show. It’s not just about who is doing a lot of street art. It’s about who is getting up and staying in the streets of Brooklyn regardless of tools being used. I don’t like it when street artists from other cities look at graf here in NYC as some kind of background for their work. It’s a massive slap in the face to all graf writers. Brooklyn street artists have a lot more respect for graf than street artists I have met from other cities, especially from Europe. Maybe that’s the thing that distinguishes what’s going on in the streets of Brooklyn from other places.

Imminent Disaster (earlier work) (courtesy ThinkSpace and Ad Hoc)

Imminent Disaster (earlier work) (courtesy ThinkSpace and Ad Hoc)

BSA: You are showing a LOT of artists…did you have enough (Think) Space?

Andrew Hosner: Hahaha… it will be a very packed show hung salon style, going off of color palette and style. Should look amazing, but it is going to be a visual overload for sure. Patrons will be overwhelmed by Gaia and Rachel Lowing’s thought provoking install immediately upon entering the gallery, then passing through the entry area will be met by a tidal wave of artwork, coming at them from all directions, floor to ceiling… before turning the corner into our project room in the back where Disaster’s massive undertaking will greet them.

BSA: A bit like herding cats?

Andrew Michael Ford: Not really. Honestly, everyone involved believes in this show so much and have been very supportive and helpful in putting it all together.

Matt Siren (courtesy ThinkSpace and AdHoc)

Matt Siren (courtesy ThinkSpace and AdHoc)

BSA: Will you have time to give Mr. Ford a tour of the sickest sites while he’s there?

Andrew Hosner: It’s hard to say since the focus will be our show, but hopefully on Saturday after the show has passed we will get out to see some of the hotter spots about LA to enjoy works outside. With so many coming to town for the opening, there’s a good chance we’ll be able to watch some of Brooklyn’s finest… cool thing is, all will be able to watch Ellis G. on opening night doing his thing on our block, and I can’t wait for that.

Andrew Michael Ford: I would love to see some stuff by Saber if possible. But really anything good being done would be great to check out.

Ellis G. (courtesy Ad Hoc and ThinkSpace)

Ellis G. (courtesy Ad Hoc and ThinkSpace)

BSA: The Brooklyn scene keeps evolving rapidly; what is one trend that you are seeing that is telling you about the future?

I see more and more people throwing up wheatpastes in the streets that I don’t feel are well executed or well placed. I mean, there is room for everything and I love to see what people feel they need to put up but it does worry me sometimes when I see tons of poorly crafted wheatpastes thrown all over the place with no thought to where it is being placed or the quality of the imagery they are producing. I would just like to see people take a little more time in the creation of their art and in the selection of the spots they decide to hit.

Elbow-Toe (courtesy ThinkSpace and AdHoc)

Elbow-Toe (courtesy ThinkSpace and AdHoc)

BSA: Whose work is exciting to you right now, and what does it say to you?

Andrew Hosner: I love the work of Elbow-Toe, whose work is really a statement on the state of things in our society right now. His every man piece is by far one of the most powerful and extremely well executed works of this past year. You can look at that work 20 years from now and know that it was referencing the economic struggles were going through currently, while also hinting at the 1st great depression. Powerful work.

Also very inspired by the works of Imminent Disaster, due to her strength in so many different creative outlets… Chris Stain also is someone who should be looked up to. Thought provoking work and just a great overall cat.

Stikman (courtesy ThinkSpace and AdHoc)

Stikman (courtesy ThinkSpace and AdHoc)

Andrew Michael Ford: I think that street art needs to interact with the space where it is placed (good placement is key) and it needs to engage the viewer. Working big can sometimes do this but sometimes it can be a big massive nothing. It’s tough to point to a specific artist but if I had to pick one I can say I’m really intrigued by what the artist Stikman does, as he uses a wide variety of mediums and techniques and always catches you off guard with the placement of his work. Very smart work.

Anera (image by Luna Park) (courtesy Luna Park, ThinkSpace and AdHoc)

Anera (image by Luna Park) (courtesy Luna Park, ThinkSpace and AdHoc)

BSA: What impression do you think the gallery-goer in L.A. is going to come away with about the Brooklyn street art scene?

Andrew Michael Ford: That’s a great question but sadly one that I have no answer to. I haven’t got a clue what kind of reception we will get when we arrive. I am hoping this can be a positive experience for everyone involved.

Andrew Hosner: I hope they come away feeling inspired and filled with the desire to visit the streets of Brooklyn in person, so they can experience these works as they were originally meant to be, and also feel compelled to explore the works of each in the show further, hopefully coming away with a new favorite that they will watch in the years that lay ahead.

I think many will also be surprised at the sheer breadth and quality of work on view – it is definitely an eye opener type of exhibit. Hopefully this will help to open their eyes to the beauty that is all around them in Los Angeles and abroad. So many walk through their city with blinders on, and it really is a revelation when you start to take in and appreciate the work of urban artists.

ThinkSpace Gallery

AdHoc Art

From the Streets of Brooklyn

More stuff on ThinkSpace and Andrew Hosner from the art collector blog

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