Superhero and Street Artist/painter/contemporary artist Anthony Lister still crushes walls thank you very much. He never left the street actually – he just opened the door to the studio as well. And he lit things on fire in both.
Anthony Lister “Adventure Painter” Gingko Press. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Formally trained, he is one of the few of those much maligned art school kids painting on the street whom some graff heads allow themselves to admire, mostly because he doesn’t seem to give a good f**k. Don’t be mislead – he is a superhero as well as a villain, aesthete as much as vandal, respectful of convention even while shredding it. Anyone watching him work over the last decade will tell you that he cares very much and he is willing to do the heavy intellectual/emotional/physical labor to bring it to another level.
Anthony Lister “Adventure Painter” Gingko Press. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Not-quite “mid-career” this collection none-the-less sets him up for it and a smart museum would be reading these pages carefully, pouring over the tags, Lister family tour stickers, inflateables, masks, installations, performances, – as well as the more formal canvasses and supercharged murals – and considering where this child/adult paradox fits into the record of art history.
It’s the poetic movement of Degas ballerinas as much as the busty cellulite-free duct taped anti-heroines that captivate and denigrate. His slouching insouciance belies a rabid unglued ferocity that will mock mass consumer culture and then smother you in pink frosting and rainbows, stubbing his cigarette in the mountain of sugar and Crisco like it is the final candied cherry.
Anthony Lister “Adventure Painter” Gingko Press. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Adventure Painter, the mid-sized Lister tome released last year on Gingko, lets you see the rage and the release all at once. He’s furious because he’s paying attention – well thank God somebody is.
With figures that are alive, gestural, stylish and taunting, these beauties will save, lay, or kill you – perhaps all three. The portraits are full of quixotic personality, angst and revulsion. We imagine Listers’ people lustily self-mocking and fantastic while jumping off dangerous cliffs and sleekly folding into a roll out of it without suffering the crash. From their perch below they look up to you standing on the ledge and beckon, “Okay, your turn!”
Anthony Lister “Adventure Painter” Gingko Press. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Anthony Lister “Adventure Painter” Gingko Press. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Anthony Lister “Adventure Painter” Gingko Press. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Anthony Lister “Adventure Painter” Gingko Press. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Anthony Lister “Adventure Painter” Gingko Press. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Anthony Lister “Adventure Painter” is published by Gingko Press and available at book stores worldwide.
<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA
Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!
<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
"Same as it ever was,” David Byrne from the Talking Heads might say. The topic of police brutality keeps coming up every year, every decade, every week sometimes. Señor Schnu, the Street Artist/fin...
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities. Now screening : 1. Tati by Miguel Endara 2. Art as a Weapon: Trailer 3. Art Basel 2013 from Serringe 4. INTI T...
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities. Now screening : 1. Borondo and Narcissus 2. Fukushima: Happened 3 Years Ago 3. A Wynwood Timelapse - Miami, Pue...
There is a discernible difference between mural festivals created as commercial endeavors and those led by artists, like the Murart 22 in Ontiyent in Spain. It captures the city’s light and the align...
In Rochester the weather has been warm but workable, as evidenced by the progress that all the artists have been making. You don't have a long summer in this city of Kodak so we happily have images ...