Our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring CBS Cru, Ryan McGinness, Kopye, Gaia, M-City, Wing, UR New York, Sonni, Tati, Nekst, Sera, Tizie, Wing and Clown Soldier.
Street Artist NohJColey travelled to Texas for a few weeks to visit friends and put up these new portraits in the studios of a de facto music factory. The former meat packing plant is abuzz with activity day and night with up-and-coming entrepreneurs of all stripes pounding out the beats, doing fashion shoots, making videos, mixing music, and a little bit of partying to ease the stress of all that work. NohJ slept on couches for a few weeks and hung out with many unknowns on the hip-hop tip, and a few bigger names too. He also spent long stretches of time killing large walls in these artists studios with his very distinctive illustration style of portraiture. Not surprisingly, the theme of music runs through them.
“The first piece I did was done in the place I was sleeping in. It wasn’t about the owner but it was a reflection of him in a way because he literally ran around with his head cut off and he didn’t know what was going on half the time. He was mostly crying about his girlfriend or surfing the net looking at new videos. Supposedly he was a DJ. He had gigs, but no turntables. He was scratcher and mixer,” explains NohJ about this mural going up a staircase.
If you know anything about NohJ, it’s that he is always thinking and observing people. Each piece has a story that is rooted in his imagination as much as his observation of the human condition. His characters are illustrative of greater truths and of their personal idiosyncracies. You can imagine him becoming a literary or screen writer because he knows his subjects inside and out. Psychology, sociology, and popular culture all come to fore, placed with symbolism and gesture into the portrait and into a moment. If NohJ inhabits each fictional character he creates just for a moment, he stays with them for hours, gently observing their motivations and making judgments about their judgment, blending in some social critique.
No. 1
Brooklyn Street Art:What about this dude?
NohJ: These are piano keys, I don’t know if I ever said that.
Brooklyn Street Art:No, I didn’t see that
NohJ: Yeah, they’re supposed to be exiting his chest
Brooklyn Street Art:So does it seem like musical notes coming out of his chest?
NohJ: No, just keys
Brooklyn Street Art:So they’re musical tools with which to create the sound but they don’t necessarily have a sound?
NohJ: I’d say they represent the sound just because those are the keys, you know?
Brooklyn Street Art:Biomorphic, undulating
NohJ: Definitely, contorted, yeah
Brooklyn Street Art:What about these gray lines that go around?
NohJ: That’s the chords
Brooklyn Street Art:He looks kind of constricted by them, his lower torso
NohJ: He’s can’t go anywhere because the line is wrapped. He wants to DJ but he can’t get the turntable, it keeps rocking back and forth. He can’t really see it. The right eye is covered because, you know how there are constantly music videos going – he’s constantly seeing the music video in something. He sees clothes, a phone, somebody’s chain, sneakers. He sees it in a video and thinks he’s gotta buy it.
Brooklyn Street Art:So he’s imprisoned by his consumerist tendencies?
NohJ: Yeah
Brooklyn Street Art:or just his impulses
NohJ: Probably his tendencies though because he’s like being brainwashed.
Brooklyn Street Art:It becomes a tendency after a while
NohJ: He’s like “Oh, it’s a whole lifestyle”, you know
Brooklyn Street Art:“this stuff represents ‘me’”. He doesn’t look like he’s very old.
NohJ: I don’t know – mid twenties, early thirties
Brooklyn Street Art: So what was the reaction of the person who hangs out in this space?
NohJ: He liked it. He didn’t know what it was about. It was about him though.
No. 2
NohJ: This one is about noise levels.
Brooklyn Street Art:She’s plugging her ears too.
NohJ: Even though the sound is coming out of her nose. That’s why I used the pattern- It’s octagons and triangles. I usually use triangles to represent strife, the points!
Brooklyn Street Art:So if we see shapes that are in your work that are circles or are circular, what are those going to represent?
NohJ: I rarely use circles but it probably would mean that you are going through a transition. It might be rough but it’s going to get better. It all depends though cause it all has to do with the number.
Brooklyn Street Art:What’s her name?
NohJ: She doesn’t have a name but this is in a guys studio and when he has the speakers on, this piece makes so much sense to you. Because it’s like all this noise coming from the right side of the house and you are just looking at this woman and she is looking at you and she’s like, “Yeah it’s noisy right?”
Brooklyn Street Art:This pattern also makes me think of some folk art or maybe Native American art.
NohJ: I kind of figured you’d…. I mean, why?
Brooklyn Street Art:Because of the diamond motif repeated. I mean it’s a quadrilateral but it’s squashed. There’s no Native American influence here.
NohJ: Maybe, but if so it subconsciously got in there.
Brooklyn Street Art:I think her name is Consuelo. That’s what I’ve decided. But you don’t have a name for her.
NohJ: She’s trying to distance herself from the rest of her body because this over here is her back and the speakers are inbetween, you know?
Brooklyn Street Art:Man! She is really trying to get away!
NohJ: She’s pulling herself apart.
While a portrait may be a symbol of a greater truth, he isn’t going to stand on a soapbox. But if you really want to know and you are listening, he’ll tell you. If not, he won’t worry very much. Amalgams of people he’s met and the person he is, the pieces and their stories have their own logic – part reality and science fiction. Mixing fantasy with reality, sometimes it’s not clear where one ends and the other starts;Just when you think you got the scenario and you think it’s all symbolism and representation, you’ll learn that a character actually does have a piece of jewelry protruding from their head, or a cassette tape flowing out of his mouth and it is not a metaphor after all.
No. 3
Brooklyn Street Art: Tell me about this boy
NohJ: He’s just like a teenager that listens to all this new music that we’ve been talking about. – Like poor quality stuff.
Brooklyn Street Art:He doesn’t think it’s poor quality though.
NohJ: Exactly, that’s the problem. That’s why there are all these tapes flying at him and he’s just covering his ears. He doesn’t want to hear the titles of the good stuff you know? – Whether it’s like Led Zepplin or the Beatles or I don’t know.
Brooklyn Street Art:What does he want to listen to?
NohJ: I don’t know, like Justin Bieber, Souljah Boy, stuff like that.
Brooklyn Street Art:Is this other guy lecturing him?
NohJ: Yeah, definitely. He’s like an older musician, dressed in 70s fashion.
Brooklyn Street Art:He looks like he was on the set of “Sanford and Son”
NohJ: Yeah, definitely. The large oversized collar, open.
Brooklyn Street Art:That looks like a VCR tape
NohJ: It’s a cassette tape.
Brooklyn Street Art:So what do you think this guy has on these cassette tapes?
NohJ: Like Hendrix, the O’Jays
Brooklyn Street Art:Oh yeah, like “Love Train”.
NohJ: …Sonny Rollins… I mean he’s really just telling him about quality stuff, and really where most of the new stuff derives from.
Brooklyn Street Art: This kid looks a little bit mad
NohJ: Yeah he’s super angry, he doesn’t like this
Brooklyn Street Art:But he can’t talk back, that’s why his mouth is closed
NohJ: I think he’s really scared though because he’s like “how are cassette tapes coming out of someone’s mouth?”
“A new generation is making street art that is conceptual, abstract, and even sculptural in nature,” says Carolina A. Miranda, in her new essay for Art News on the changing nature of art in the street. We couldn’t agree more, as we’ve witnessed young artists completely circumventing the established art school/gallery/museum route and taking their message directly to the public for the last decade at least. It still has the do-it-yourself, in-your-face attitude of it’s predecessors in graffiti, but what has changed is the number of influences and levels of engagement at play in today’s scene.
“Working with pure abstraction,” as described by Miranda – possibly evidenced in this piece by Street Artist MOMO. Photo courtesy the artist’s website, momoshowpalace.com.
And it Isn’t Just for the BK Either
Obviously, cultural and art movements are no longer simply local for more than about 12 minutes, and it is always interesting to see the permutations of Street Art as it moves through the world. And it’s always fun to see how it’s being observed in academia – like this piece about Northeastern University professor Doreen Lee, who is “examining broad social and political developments in Indonesia through a narrowed focus — street art.“
“She’s found some of the art to be political, some to be exploratory or ‘art for art’s sake,’ said Lee. But she’s also noted ‘recognizable’ international influences, giving graffiti in Jakarta a striking resemblance to graffiti in New York City or elsewhere around the world. The significance of this resemblance is one of acknowledging and assessing global connections and influences, she said.”
Yesterday we showed you an anti-war Street Art piece that partially addressed the war in Afghanistan. Today we tell you about Skateistan, a non-political skateboarding and education program for the youth growing up in this country overrun by war for 9 years. Street Artist Ludo created this fresh piece to raise some cash for Skateistan and all proceeds from the sale of his print benefit their programs. His street work often is a combination of natural beauty and man-made evil – a cautionary tale meant to draw attention to us, the creators of destruction. This piece appears to again pair the beauty of life with the specter of what all war leads to.
Ludo’s piece for Skateistan
Each Ludo piece is unique and hand drawn, a mix of graphite and acrylic on 300 gram water color paper, measuring 32 x 24 cm.
From the Skateistan web site:
“Operating as an independent, neutral, Afghan NGO, the school engages growing numbers of urban and internally-displaced youth in Afghanistan through skateboarding, and provides them with new opportunities in cross-cultural interaction, education, and personal empowerment. Skateistan students come from all of Afghanistan diverse ethnic and socioeconomic backgrounds. They not only develop skills in skateboarding and skateboarding instruction, but also healthy habits, civic responsibility, information technology, the arts, and languages. “
Eine
Opening Reception: Saturday, March 12, 2011 7-11pm
Exhibition on view through April 2, 2011
San Francisco, CA-White Walls gallery is pleased to present, ‘GREATEST’ a solo exhibition by London-based artist, Ben Flynn a.k.a. EINE. The opening reception for ‘GREATEST’ will be held on Saturday, March 12, 2011 from 7-11 PM. The exhibition will be on view from March 12, to April 2, 2011 and is free and open to the public.
‘GREATEST’ is an art exhibition by the artist, Ben EINE, that will utilize both gallery and public space as a two-tiered platform for the artist’s visual expression. EINE’S work is a large-scale study of the shape and structure of the 26 letters found in the modern English alphabet in varied typefaces, color configurations and word arrangements. In the public spaces of San Francisco, EINE will be painting each letter of the alphabet on various walls around the city. A further ten canvases of his work using spray paint, acrylic, and glitter will be on display at White Walls gallery.
In an effort to engage the community through the creation of public artwork, EINE will be painting the entire alphabet throughout the city of San Francisco over the course of several weeks on walls and shutters. This public execution of street art aims to offer viewers a more participatory role in the observation and evaluation of artistic creation. All members of the community from collectors and appreciators to first-time viewers are invited to partake in the dynamic program of events that surround this ambitious undertaking. White Walls gallery will be producing a schedule of live installations, a continually updated map of works as they appear around the city, a public artist talk, and an evening of film screenings related to EINE’S art.
Rooted in the subcultural practice of graffiti, EINE moved into the more socially acceptable expression of street art in the early 2000s as a way to become a full time artist creating public works that were perceived as more legitimate. However, his fundamental art practice has essentially remained the same–he continues to paint words and letters on walls on the street. Letters either appear alone, on shutter fronts, or as words on walls such as ‘scary’, ‘vandalism’, and ‘monsters’ rendered in bright and amiable colors. In this way he turns negative words into positive ones. The contrast of jovial shapes and colors with dark sentiment is also a tongue-and cheek nod to the artist’s furtive and taboo origins as a graffiti writer.
The street art component of ‘GREATEST’ is complimented by a selection of works to be displayed inside the gallery. These works are part of EINE’s continual exploration of letters and words as his quintessential format for aesthetic inquiry. EINE’s studio process involves a layering of stencils onto the primed and painted canvas. Re-envisioning basic Victorian typographical structure, he begins with vintage hand-printed wood block fonts, reworking and refining them until he is inspired to cut the final stencil. This working methodology marks the continual evolution of the font by the artist’s hand.
In the early 2000s, EINE began a symbiotic collaboration with the street artist, Banksy. The artists worked and exhibited together for several years traveling to Australia, Berlin, Vienna and Denmark where Gallery V1 held the Banksy vs. EINE show in 2003. EINE also collaborated with Banksy on the famous Palestinian Wall project.
In 2010 the Prime Minister David Cameron presented President Barack Obama with a piece of EINE’s work as a gift. This diplomatic exchange between the world powers catapulted EINE’s work into the limelight on both sides of the Atlantic. GREATEST will be EINE’s first show in the US since his work was given to President Obama.
EINE is a London-based artist whose career started over 25 years ago when he tagged anything he could get his hands on. Although EINE’s work was initially illegal, he created a distinct typographical style that has made him one of London’s most ingenious and original street artists. His work has been exhibited in Los Angeles, New York, Toyko and throughout Europe. His painting commissions have also taken him worldwide with trips to Israel, Australia, South Africa and India. EINE was invited to take part in Banksy’s Cans show in London. After EINE worked with Banksy he joined ‘Pictures on Walls’ where he worked as their resident silkscreen artist and produced prints for their artists including Mode 2, and Banksy. He recently exhibited at The Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles.
White Walls Gallery is the premiere West Coast destination for urban art. Combined with the Shooting Gallery just next door, this 4,000 sq ft space is one of the largest art galleries on the West Coast. Justin Giarla founded the gallery in 2005 with a commitment to furthering the urban art movement that stems from street art and graffiti art. Named for its plain white walls, we take a backseat to the real focus: the art.
In May 2011, BritWeek, in collaboration with the L.A. ART MACHINE (LAAM), will produce a landmark, large-scale, museum-quality art installation by world-renown artists MEAR ONE (USA) and D*FACE (UK). This exhibition will be the centerpiece of the entire BritWeek Contemporary Art Program and will run approximately two weeks at L.A. MART second floor exhibition hall.
Utilizing approximately 25,000 square-feet, BritWeek & LAAM will encourage the artists to entertain an entire range of expression, employing any media that fits the artists’ concept (i.e. sculpture,digital media, paintings, prints, performance, etc.) The overarchingtheme, which may be interpreted loosely, is the U.S.-British experience and whatever that may mean to the artists.
In addition, D*FACE and MEAER ONE will commandeer chair sculpture in the parking lot of the L.A. MART as a special project piece for the artists to embellish, paint, and post. This outdoor sculpture may remain in perpetuity as a gift from BritWeek to Los Angeles and an internationally-recognized symbol of the L.A. MART.
Time/Date:
Friday, May 6, 2011 at 7:00pm – Saturday, May 14, 2011 at 7:30am
Location:
LA MART (entire 2nd floor)
1933 S. BROADWAY
Los Angeles, CA
This February, Vincent Michael Gallery is pleased to present a dual exhibition featuring new works from artists Shai Dahan in the exhibition, Natural Selections and Joe Iurato in Salvation. Both exhibitions will be on display February 4th to February 25th. In honor of our artists, Vincent Michael Gallery will be hosting an opening reception Friday, February 4th 7PM to 10PM.
In his newest body of works Natural Selections, artist Shai Dahan has continued to explore the issues of survivalism within the animal habitat by addressing the effect of human’s behavior and disruption to the natural order and environmental conditions. In Natural Selections, Dahan has created a series of aesthetic paintings that exemplify this struggle and focus on wildlife’s two key traits of which they must depend on: Movement and Survival.
Dahan portrays the distress to the natural society of wildlife by combining elements of realistic portrayal and abstract motion. He takes his interpretation of this environmental conflict and unseemingly symbiotic relationship a step further by utilizing amusing hints of industrialism and manmade weapons.
Along the same lines, Joe Iurato explores another deep-seeded relationship for man: the struggle between belief amidst trials and hardship.
In his first solo gallery exhibition, artist Joe Iurato’s latest works in Salvation examine the ever-present bond between man’s faith and misfortune in modern times. With his illusive imagery, Iurato portrays the struggle between seeking solace in self, God, or society – everyone turns to something during times of adversity.
Coming off his recent success at Art Basel Miami with ArtWhino Gallery’s “The Takeover” exhibition, the NBA supported “Art of Basketball” exhibition, and Primary Flight, Iurato set focus on developing a new body of work for his gallery exhibition, utilizing new methods and mostly found materials. For Iurato, Salvation is a deeply personal body of work, one that arose from the question: Is our faith, wherever it may come from, a road to greener pastures or is it merely a component of tragedy in disguise?
Exhibition Details
What: Natural Selections & Salvation: Featuring New Works from Shai Dahan and Joe Iurato
Where: Vincent Michael Gallery
1050 N. Hancock St. Suite #63 Philadelphia, PA 19123
When: Exhibit runs February 4th thru February 25th Opening Reception Friday, February 4th 7pm – 10pm
More Information 215.399.1580 x. 704 / International – 1.877.291.1138 or contact@vincentmichael.com
About The Artists
Shai Dahan, founder of Abztract Collective, is a New York artist who currently resides in Sweden. Shai’s work predominantly focuses on animals and their environment conditions, and how the repercussion of human tampering causes them to evolve into survivalism. Animals painted and illustrated with witty and humorous hints of man-made weapons, expresses Shai’s hopes in letting the viewer see the hybrid effect of man’s hands in animal society and its disruption on the natural order.
Shai Dahan: “Foolishly Loaded” 48″ x 48″. Wheatpaste, acrylic, markers, spraypaint, watercolor on plywood.
Joe Iurato is a New Jersey based artist, prolific in street art and mural installations and has shown
extensively in New York City, L.A., Miami and Europe. Joe Iurato specifically signs his work :01. It’s not an alias to conceal his identity, though. It’s a reminder to himself, and one that he chooses to share, that a single second is the most powerful measurement of time. “It only takes a second to decide you’re going to move forward in a positive direction regardless of the obstacles or challenges you’re facing in life,” Joe says. “And from that decisive moment on, you should never look back. Know that life isn’t a race or a competition – you can’t lose unless you give up on yourself. When you get slapped around, get back up, wipe the dirt off and move forward with purpose and conviction. While you’re at it, make it your business to help others along the way.”
Joe Iurato: “Rubble” Spray paint and polyurethane on cardboard affixed to a reclaimed cabinet door
About Vincent Michael Gallery
Wanting to support and contribute to contemporary art, owners and avid collectors Elizabeth Gault, Armon Vincent and Andrew George established Vincent Michael Gallery in Philadelphia, PA. The gallery is a multifaceted space that exhibits diverse forms of art from both emerging and established artists. By incorporating the use of progressive technology, we strive to challenge contemporary art as well as our artists, and seek to create an open forum for on-going dialogue and community engagement.
NEW ART – FORMERLY KNOWN AS: NEW ART
Urban artists paying homage to innovators from the history of art
Opening: January 20, 7 – 9 PM
In this exhibition, artists from all over the world take reference to some ground breaking artists of the past. An homage to the spirit of innovation, non-conformity and alternative thinking of the older days.
Judith Supine / Christian Awe / Jonathan Yeo / Helle Mardahl / XOOOOX / Kevin Earl Taylor / Anton Unai / Jaybo Monk / Adriana Ciudad / Stefan Strumbel / Marco “Pho” Grassi
VS.
Gustav Klimt, Giovanni Battista Tiepolo, Pablo Picasso, Damien Hirst, Andy Warhol, Pierre Soulages, Henri Matisse, Théodore Géricault, James Ensor
Art looks back on a history that is as multi-faceted and fascinating as our own time. Among the illustrators, designers, sculptors, painters, calligraphers, fashion designers and architects of the past centuries, new avant-gardes have constantly emerged, establishing themselves to be replaced soon enough by the next generation craving innovation.
A process of creation that naturally builds upon preceding aesthetics, concepts and techniques that deconstructs them in order to create a contemporary art-remix. Many artists eschew this conscious connection to history. Freely and radically, they create new approaches: the new art.
From Italy we find that stencil street artist John J. Mahyo paid tribute last month on the anniversary of John Lennon’s murder to his anti-war past. Lennon’s song with Yoko Ono “Happy Xmas (War is Over) is re-interpreted here with a stencil called “After Xmas (War Will Be Over)”.
We contacted the stencil artist to get an understanding of the piece and it’s placement on the wall of a military zone. He discussed how the original song was a protest against the war in Vietnam and now 40 years later it looks like history has repeated itself as we are told that the 9 year war in Afghanistan must continue 2,3,4,5 more years. And he worries about other potential conflicts brewing on the world stage. He says he intended this piece as “a call to prevent the imminent threat of a hypothetical nuclear war, if the tests carried out by North Korea (the 9th country in the world to have the atomic bomb and the 3rd most militarized) go wrong, it could potentially have disastrous consequences.”
Today, with a multitude of electronic images flying at people from every screen, a simple hand made stencil seems “retro” and tied to that earlier age – and a reminder that every person reading this was born into an age of war that never seems to end. Says Mahyo, it’s “The same old story… Men who hate other men, who face each other in a game of dominoes with weapons of mass destruction instead of the common cards. The wars of any size only bring destruction, sadness and anger. So to avoid this, I wish you all a happy New Year of peace and love, and hope that others will come.”
John Lennon listens to the streets in this photo attributed to Yoko Ono on beatlesbible.com.
There’s no place like home under the bridge for the holidays, and QRST was feeling all fuzzy and warm and nostalgic for the days of his mis-spent youth over the Christmas/New Years break.
You may have seen QRST’s unusual hand-drawn illustrations of playfully tussling rat fights, wide eyed cats, and frumpy birds along with his series of everyday people (sometimes with wings). One common feature is the way they stare plaintively at you with just the slightest hint of burning outrage and/or accusation. Since it was the holidays and he’s not a splashy type, the Street Artist stuck to a big brown goose this time.
The goose “is often used as a symbol for the home and often more specifically the protection of the home,” he explains, “Brown geese in particular are often associated with humility; throughout Europe they were generally compared to the various orders of brown-robed monks; simple, unflashy and modest. I really like the way he’s falling into the wall. Being cognizant of my origins, having humility, putting it in a place where almost no one will see it, because it was really something that I was doing for myself, ended with this result. It’s quiet and very much fits into the environment, though it’s quite different from the flourescent, high school scrawls that are painted out there.”
Lest you think QRST is all kittens and rainbows, take a look at this recent piece on what appears to be an adjournment slip that’s been censored selectively. He says this particular form has nothing to do with his street art, but since he still rocks some rebellious sentiments in his adult life, he enjoyed the simplicity inherent.
Anthony Michael Sneed is an emerging artist who will be having a pop-up show at ARTJAIL in NY this Thursday January 13th from 7-10. his exhibition entitled “Hell for Hire” is the culmination of work that has spanned over two years time. Embodying numerous mediums from canvas to Legos, and varying themes from JFK to the KKK, Sneed has amassed an impressive collection of work not only in scale but in content.
About the artist:
Anthony Michael Sneed is a multi-platform visual artist who lives and works in Brooklyn. As a small child, Sneed suffered an accident that crushed his right hand, temporarily disabling its use and thereby forcing him to become ambidextrous. The implications of being right handed and switching to left as a result of this trauma and the plausible impact it has on his right versus left brain functions fascinates Sneed and inspires inquiry into how that has translated in his work.
Legos, video games, and even the arts and craft association of the artist’s process are derivative of Sneed’s childhood memories. These tools and their application to the large-scale canvas comprise an ultimately self-referential language dominated by the basic geometric nature of the pixel. Angular shapes and rational lines constitute the visual framework across all the mediums in which he works and gives form to ideas, both abstract and conceptual. Rigid angles sharply contrast with the playful, tongue in cheek nature of his social commentary. Often incorporating early 80s 8-bit video game aesthetics, the resulting imagery can seem anachronistic or frozen in a particular time, juxtaposing the contemporary topical content with a conscious approach.
Anthony Michael Sneed has been selected by Shepard Fairey for an upcoming show at Subliminal Projects in LA and has shown with Leo Kesting in New York.
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
Gaia (photo © Jaime Rojo)
CBS Cru. Primary Flight, Miami 2010 (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Ryan McGinness Miami 2010 (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Wynwood District Miami 2010 (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Kopye. Primary Flight at the Old RC Cola Factory (photo © Jaime Rojo)
M-City Primary Flight Miami 2010 (photo © Jaime Rojo)
M-City Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Wing detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Wing and Shin Shin (photo © Jaime Rojo)
(photo © Jaime Rojo)
Sand One and Shiro Primary Flight Miami 2010 (photo © Jaime Rojo)
URNewYork at Primary Flight Miami 2010 (photo © Jaime Rojo)
