2011

Chris Stain “Back Talk” Conversation

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To introduce readers to some of the Street Artists in the upcoming show “Street Art Saved My Life: 39 New York Stories”, BSA asked a number of the artists to take part in “Back Talk” with one of our most trusted and underground and sweet sources for modern art, Juxtapoz.

Today we hear from Chris Stain.

Something you want the world to know about you: “Baltimore born. Mixed breed. House broken. Got two kids I love. Get along with punks and skins, b-boys and b-girls. Like to cut stencils. Spray paint. Write my name on sh*t. Member of justseeds.org, Out to Live, and In the Dream. Been vegetarian for 22 years goin’ on 23. Wish I could still skateboard like it was ’87.”

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Chris Stain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Read “Back Talk: A conversation with Chris Stain” on Juxtapoz: http://www.juxtapoz.com/Features/back-talk-a-conversation-with-chris-stain

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Steve “ESPO” Powers: “Flight of Genius” (VIDEO)

Steve ESPO Powers is a man of letters and he likes to play with them like other kids play with Legos. Informed with a rich commercial vintage signage vocabulary and a sharp eye, and armed with buckets of paint and brushes Powers has created bold messages in a number of cities that play on and satirize meanings and advertising jargon.

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Under the watchful eye of Jesus, Street Artist Steve Espo and associate paint. (Still from video)

To celebrate adman David Ogilvy’s birthday and his command of the language in service of fooling people to buy things, Ogilvy & Mather New York and Joshua Liner Gallery commissioned a series of murals by ESPO interpreting quotes of their revered agency founder.  ESPO nails it.

The video below by Jun Lee gives a brief introduction to ESPO’s work:

Curated by Joshua Liner and Jun Lee

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The Skylight Gallery Presents: “Crown Hights Gold” (Brooklyn, NY)

brooklyn-street-art-specter-jaime-rojoStreet and Fine Art artist Specter is participating on this show (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Crown Heights Gold: Examining Race Relations and Healing in Crown Heights.

July 28, 2011
6PM – 8PM

The Skylight Gallery is pleased to announce the upcoming exhibition Crown Heights Gold: Examining Race Relations and Healing in Crown Heights, Brooklyn During the 20 Years Since the 1991 Riot, curated by Dexter Wimberly. Using contemporary art as a vehicle to foster dialogue and remembrance, this exhibition commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Crown Heights Riot, and explores the transformation of the community since the harrowing incident. The multi-media exhibition will feature painting, drawing, photography, mixed media, video and sculpture created by roughly twenty New York-based visual artists. To compliment the exhibition, a calendar of public programs is being planned in collaboration with community leaders and organizations. The activities will look at the work done in the neighborhood post-riot, as well as the ongoing state of cooperative efforts to encourage continued inter-group communication and understanding.

Skylight Gallery Hours: Wednesday to Friday from 11AM to 6PM and on Saturday from 1PM to 6PM.

Click on the link below for more information about this show and Skylight Gallery.

http://www.restorationplaza.org/arts-and-culture/skylight-gallery

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Nick Walker “Back Talk” Conversation

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To introduce readers to some of the Street Artists in the upcoming show “Street Art Saved My Life: 39 New York Stories”, BSA asked a number of the artists to take part in “Back Talk” with one of our most trusted and underground and sweet sources for modern art, Juxtapoz.

Today we hear from Nick Walker.

A few words that sum up your philosophy on life: “Treat people how you would like to be treated – what goes around comes around.”

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Nick Walker (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Read “Back Talk: A conversation with Nick Walker on Juxtapoz:

http://www.juxtapoz.com/Current/back-talk-a-conversation-with-nick-walker

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Show and Tell Gallery Presents: James Marshall (Dalek) & Greg Lamarche “Geometric Balance” (Tornonto, Canada)

Geometric Balance

brooklyn-street-art-Show-and-Tell_gallery-DalekJames Marshall (Dalek) “Untitled“, Acrylic on Paper, 20″ x 20”, 2011

brooklyn-street-art-Show-and-Tell_gallery-GregMailerGreg Lamarche “Untitled (O Series)“, Paper Collage, 8.5″ x 11”, 2011

James Marshall & Greg Lamarche
Geometric Balance
July 22 – August 31 2011
www.showandtellgallery.com

Show & Tell Gallery is pleased to present a 2 person exhibition with James Marshall (Dalek) and Greg Lamarche.

Exhibiting these distinct artists together creates a powerful dynamism based on the collision of James Marshall’s graphic geometries with Greg Lamarche’s typographic savvy and cut-paper collages. The cross-pollination of visual and conceptual traits that occurs when viewing both bodies of work at once produces a new, combined aesthetic that is wholly unlike either Marshall or Lamarche’s artistic achievements on their own. That said, it would be an oversight to discount the similar visual and structural methodologies upon which these artists have built their practices.

The works on display, with their robust colours and sinuous lines, are a testament to the leading position Marshall and Lamarche occupy at the frontier of the new abstraction. The current impulse back towards abstracted forms and the spectral buzz of cleverly combined colours is brought to fruition by these artists. What Geometic Balance candidly demonstrates is that Marshall and Lamarche are successfully recalibrating the relationship between figure and abstraction without losing the primacy and critical content of their work.

Opening Reception: Friday June 22, 7 – 11pm.

Address
1161 Dundas St. West
Toronto, ON
M6J 1X3
Canada
Gallery Hours
Wed – Sat: 1pm – 7pm
Sun: 1pm – 6pm
Mon & Tue: By Appointment Only

Phone:
+ 647.347.3316
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Images of the Week 07.17.11

Images of the Week 07.17.11

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Our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Adri, Banksy, Dan Witz, Deform, Demon, Gaia, Jon Burgerman, Ludo, Nick Walker, Olek, Rambo, Slayers, and XAM with dispatches from Paris, Dubai, and Chicago.

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Rambo, Gift, Demon, Slayers. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

brooklyn-street-art-gaia-jaime-rojo-07-11-web-2Gaia. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“This new piece on the streets of NYC is an extension of some of the past work I have done connecting various concepts of catastrophe. I have found the imagery depicting the horrors of the plague especially pertinent to the state of our environment. Humanity has weathered and lived through various crises that have shaken our imagination and dramatically changed the way we organize our lives moving forward” Gaia

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Gaia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Now is this called a sidebust?  Street architect to contemporary birds, XAM, is atop a faux sign by Street Artist Dan Witz (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Ludo. The Future of Fashion in Paris. (photo © Ludo)

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Ludo. The Future of Fashion in Paris. (photo © Ludo)

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Ludo. The Future of Fashion in Paris. (photo © Ludo)

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Ludo. The Future of Fashion in Paris. (photo © Ludo)

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“Banksy” in Da Bronx.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Jesus does a skateboard trick in this highly offensive image from Adri. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Deform in Dubai “My Grant” (photo © Deform)

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Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Artist Olek is a participating artist at The Crest Hardware Art Show currently on view in Williamsburg Brooklyn. Click on the link below to get full details on this show and go check out some imaginative interpretations:

More about the show here http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/?p=22007

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Nick Walker. This is the remainder of an old piece from 2008. In the original the figure is remote controlling a very tall Giraffe to who is writing “Vandal” in red spray paint. The building got a fresh coat of paint recently but they decided to save him. We like that. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Rocking cans in Chicago (!), world famous doodler Jon Burgerman hits up a wall. (photo © courtesy of Pawn Works Gallery)

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Jon Burgerman in Chicago (photo © courtesy of Pawn Works Gallery)

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Untitled (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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V1 Gallery Copenhagen Presents: Shepard Fairey “Your AD Here” (Copenhagen, Denmark)

Your AD Here
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Shepard Fairey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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V1 GALLERY COPENHAGEN PROUDLY PRESENTS

YOUR AD HERE

A SOLO EXHIBITION BY SHEPARD FAIREY

RECEPTION: FRIDAY AUGUST 5. 2011. TIME: 17.00-22.00

EXHIBITION DATES: AUGUST 6. – SEPTEMBER 3. 2011

“Your Ad Here”, recent works by Shepard Fairey, comprises a broad array of mixed media works on canvas and paper, as well as screen prints, retired stencils, and Rubylith cuts. Building upon Fairey’s history of questioning the control of public space and public discourse, much of the art in “Your Ad Here” examines advertising and salesmanship as tools of propaganda and influence. One series in “Your Ad Here” portrays politicians like Reagan and Nixon as insincere salesmen wielding simple slogans that represent their true agendas when stripped of verbose demagoguery. Another series of works are paintings of Fairey’s Obey “Icon Face” in various urban settings usually reserved for advertising as the primary visual. These works showcase the power of images in the public space, and encourage the viewer to think of public space as more than a one-way dialogue with advertising, but as a venue for creative response. “Your Ad Here” means exactly that‚ ¨¶ not just THEIR ad here, but you can put YOUR ad here. Additionally, these cityscape paintings contextualize Fairey’s street art as an element integrated in an intentional composition. Some of the works in “Your Ad Here”, such as a group of retired spray-paint stencils demonstrate the simple and direct methods of art application that Fairey has used both in the street, and in his studio practice. All of the works in “Your Ad Here” whether they relate to advertising, politics, or music culture, celebrate art as a powerful tool of direct engagement and empowerment.

V1 Gallery

Flæsketorvet 69 – 71

1711 Copenhagen V

Denmark

http://v1gallery.com/

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Dan Witz “Dead Serious” : “Back Talk” Conversation

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To introduce readers to some of the Street Artists in the upcoming show “Street Art Saved My Life: 39 New York Stories”, BSA asked a number of the artists to take part in “Back Talk” with one of our most trusted and underground and sweet sources for modern art, Juxtapoz.

Today we hear from Dan Witz.

Something you want the world to know about you: “Originally, back in the late 70’s, when I first started painting on the street, even though I was dead serious about it, I thought of street art as a sort of hobby, as something enjoyable I did for myself on the weekends. This is the real reason why I kept at it for all those years before street art became fashionable: not because I thought of myself as some kind of pioneer or anything, but because I was having so much fun.”

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Dan Witz (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Read “Back Talk: A conversation with Dan Witz” on Juxtapoz: http://www.juxtapoz.com/Features/back-talk-a-conversation-with-dan-witz

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Fun Friday 07.15.11

Fun-Friday

Fun Friday stories this week:

1. Multicolored Disappearing Horizon on Williamsburg Bridge
2. CAKE on Juxtapoz : New “Back Talk” Conversation
3. Street Artist TES One Gets Down with Ice Cube for a Print

Multicolored Disappearing Horizon on Williamsburg Bridge

It’s summer and people are taking to the streets with their art. If you have taken a stroll or skateboard ride across the Williamsburg Bridge recently, you’ve seen a public art installation entitled “Baji Lives!”.

(VIDEO STILLS)

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In this short film by Danielle Barbiari, five friends show how a collaborative project can also come alive with very modest resources and some elbow grease.

“During the wee hours of a warm summer night, several friends conspired to bring color to the Williamsburg Bridge. Inspired by the unique vantage point offered by this public space, Baji Lives! responded with a site-specific composition that accentuates the spatial dynamics of the pedestrian pathway. This piece is an offering to those who use the bridge”

CAKE on Juxtapoz : New “Back Talk” Conversation

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To introduce readers to some of the Street Artists in the upcoming show “Street Art Saved My Life: 39 New York Stories”, BSA asked a number of the artists to take part in “Back Talk” with one of our most trusted and underground and sweet sources for modern art, Juxtapoz.

Today we hear from CAKE.

Artists you admire:
Tomma Abts, Jenny Saville, Olga Romashuk, Kathe Kollwitz, Herakut, Polina Soloveichik, Alice Neel, and Edvard Munch are my tops.”

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CAKE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Read “Back Talk: A conversation with CAKE” on Juxtapoz:http://www.juxtapoz.com/Features/back-talk-a-conversation-with-cake

Street Artist TES One Gets Down with Ice Cube for a Print

Tes One has done a new print with Ice Cube to raise awareness and funds for The Minority AIDS Project.The proceeds from the limited edition artwork will benefit the project.

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Tes One Signing his print of Ice Cube (copyright Tes One and Rareink)

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brooklyn-street-art-ice-cube-rareinkIce Cube (photo © RareInk)

RareInk and ICE CUBE partner to deliver music fans original, authentic autographed works of art from their favorite recording artists created in conjunction with a collective of fine artists from around the world.


Expanding the interaction with fans of my music by offering limited edition, signed artwork that they are able to share and enjoy with their friends and family is something I feel my fans deserve,” said Ice Cube, who in addition to being the RareInk’s first artist will serve as the company’s strategic advisor.

Click on RareInk’s site for more information regarding the sale of the prints and how to purchase the art.

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C215 “Back Talk” Conversation

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To introduce readers to some of the Street Artists in the upcoming show “Street Art Saved My Life: 39 New York Stories”, BSA asked a number of the artists to take part in “Back Talk” with one of our most trusted and underground and sweet sources for modern art, Juxtapoz.

Today we hear from C215.

A few words that sum up your philosophy on life: “Trying to turn ugly sh*t into art when possible.”

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C215 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Read “Back Talk: A conversation with C215” on Juxtapoz: http://www.juxtapoz.com/Features/back-talk-a-conversation-with-c215

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Torrance Art Museum Presents: Baker’s Dozen III (Los Angeles,CA)

Chor Boogie

brooklyn-street-art-chor-boogie-la-art-machine-white-tigerChor Boogie “White Tiger” (image © courtesy L.A. Art Machine)

CHOR BOOGIE, MASTER SPRAY PAINT ARTIST, DEBUTS A TRANSFORMED 12’X12’ CANVAS IN TORRANCE ART MUSEUM’S EXHIBITION BAKERS DOZEN III.

July 12, 2011 (Los Angeles, CA) – Opening Saturday, July 16th, is Torrance Art Museum’s (TAM) Baker’s Dozen III, their annual survey of “artists to watch.” This third iteration of the series continues the tradition of providing a snapshot of contemporary avenues of exploration seen in Los Angeles. Torrance Art Museum Curator, Max Presneill shares insight into his selection of Chor as the only urban artist in this exhibition: “When I saw Chor Boogie’s work at the L.A. Art Show, I felt it bridged the gap between the low brow street aesthetic and the contemporary art world, and created discourse within the two. It is bright, vibrant, physical, and powerful. I feel his work is one of the best things to be seen at this moment in time.” He goes on to describe the show as reflecting the zeitgeist of the times, and trends of artistic presence across the board.

Chor Boogie is recognized internationally for painting vibrant, masterpieces of color using aerosol spray paint on both walls and canvases, and is a pioneer of this medium and art movement. His trademark applications and techniques allow him to paint pieces that resonate on many levels with those who view them, evoking a powerful mix of emotions. His imagery is pulled from life experiences and are visual expressions of the surroundings, people and environments he has painted in around the world.

Two of Chor Boogie’s works have been selected for Baker’s Dozen III. The first is a progressive 12’x12’ canvas he began during the January ’11 L.A. Art Show, as part of L.A. ART MACHINE, prestigious Vox Humana Program. This piece, part of the Purgatory Series, is Chor Boogie’s depiction of balance as he sees it, examples being: right/wrong, heaven/hell, good/bad, and positive/negative.

The imagery challenges the perception of one’s individual mentality, and of how we look at a piece of art. It transcends memory and is mixed with elements of, landscape, realism, abstract expressionism, cubism, color, shape, form; paying reverence to his personal favorite influences including, Kandinsky, Klimt, Picasso, and Dali. “Mentally Challenged” was completed over this past week using a multitude of spray paint colors, and signature CB techniques. It is larger than life, vibrant, and has a very timeless feel to it.

The second selection is part one of a triptych. The piece chosen is entitled Silver Queens of the Romantic White Tiger, and is a testament to his artistic genius, and use of his famous spray paint methods. The silver queens are in simple relation to the strength of the white tiger, a more new age, or, renaissance/baroque style period.

Able to create various forms, even Chor Boogie’s signature inverted can technique is original. Painting dense, rich tones, allows him more room for perspective detail whether it be a wall, or small-scale canvas.

Chor Boogie’s dynamic range of artistic styles can manifest as soulful, deftly shaded portraits of color therapy, with geometric elements revealing half-hidden faces, and a minds eye or two to encourage you to see internally and externally.

He expresses his reverence for life, honesty, and art, in ways that create a lasting impression. Chor Boogie describes his work as: “Abstract expressionism with a little street romantic voodoo along with emotional landscapes of a melodic symphony through color therapy.” He has built a collector base around the world including international commissions by global institutions and cultural commemorations. This recognition allows him to inspire today’s youth with his personal story and transcendent life and style.

In addition to Bakers Dozen III, Chor Boogie’s upcoming schedule also includes Colorfornia: New Forms in West Coast Street Art – The Warehouse Gallery at the International Contemporary Art Center, Syracuse University, New York, September 15th – November 5th, 2011; followed by “Spray Paint the Movie…The Fine Art of Chor Boogie,” directed and produced by Sarah Fisher, whose credits include the documentary, Meditate and Destroy, the journey of Noah Levine, author of Dharma Punx. Chor Boogie is also sponsored and endorsed by Spanish Montana – MTN 94 Spray Paint, and has a limited edition signature spray can slated for launch at Art Basel Miami Beach, Florida.

Baker’s Dozen III opens on Saturday, July 16th and runs through August 27th, and also features works by, Joshua Callaghan, Erin Cosgrove, Martin Durazo, Amir H Fallah, Alexandra Grant, Annie Lapin, Thomas Lawson, Nathan Mabry, John Millei, Robert Olsen, Britton Tolliver, and Peter Wu. For more information, please visit: www.torranceartmuseum.com.

Baker’s Dozen III
Opening reception
Saturday, July 16th
6 – 9pm
Torrance Art Museum
3320 Civic Center Drive
Torrance, CA 90503
www.torranceartmuseum.com

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Miss Bugs in Brooklyn: Girls, Sex and a Car Crash in the Forest

A horrendously stunning car crash, windshield smashed in by a wooden stump, a shard of white light cutting sharply through a smoke cloud which rises to eerily announce the arrival of UK Street Artists Miss Bugs in Brooklyn.  In “Parlour”, their first solo on view right now in Bed Stuy, the backyard diorama is a plastered paper perimeter of gnarled and murky indigo off road forest, a haunting backdrop to the cut-out distorted and riveting forms who break the 4th wall toward you with intent.

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The curvaceous ladies are cousins of the street pieces Miss Bugs places with great care publicly, cut outs that fade into their surrounding and pop out from it, undulating and teasing and riveting, a perfectly charged counterweight of sex to the violent metal and glass carnage before you. Throughout the inside gallery and backyard installation, Miss Bugs plays with a scale slightly larger than life, giving imperious and distantly cool figures a personal, almost intimidating immediateness.

brooklyn-street-art-miss-bugs-jaime-rojo-brooklynite-gallery-07-11-web-1The front room of “Parlour” at Brooklynite Gallery with Miss Bugs (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The distortion of the forms and come hither stand-offishness is softened and sweetened by saturated pop colors and cleverly patterned replications of art you have seen somewhere else. Always willing to take appropriation to new heights, Miss Bugs gladly incorporates signature elements of other artists works into their distorted and sensuous forms, weaving them into the hair, tattooing them across the skin, wrapping their ladies with a body conscious knitted brocade.

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Miss Bugs (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Speaking with the royal “we”, the very anonymous Miss Bugs talked with Brooklyn Street Art about “Parlour”:

Brooklyn Street Art: What was the genesis for “Parlour” in general and this outdoor installation in particular?
Miss Bugs:
We wanted it to be a place that unsettles you… The concept of the ‘Parlour’ exploits the idea that the art establishment plays on people’s desires, whether for money, beauty, sex or ownership. We’ve always looked at these themes within our work, so here we continue to question them. However, this time, we wanted to extend the ideas beyond the work and have the pieces viewed in their own theatrical space making us see the works’ symbolism in a different, darker light. We place our own fictional characters in the middle of the space. ‘The Madam’ is here with her open eyes; to convey ourselves as part of this sometimes strange and seedy world.

The outside installation grew from the concept that the parlour is being protected by a few souls and that this can be a twisted place, full of contradiction… We suppose it’s a nightmare or maybe just a bad dream! Comparisons can be made throughout the show between our ‘Parlour’ and the real world of the art establishment. Just depends how deep you want to scratch!

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Miss Bugs (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: How was it to install your work in Brooklyn this time around?
Miss Bugs
: It’s great to show in New York especially Brooklyn, we love it… Just to spend time walking around soaking it all up is brilliant. Since we were kids we saw and heard Brooklyn in music, film and art, so it feels great when we’re here and it always makes us feel at home!

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: The imagery gives off sex, cars, alcohol… what are some of the messages you are working with?
Miss Bugs: All these elements we try and show in a warped way; For example, placing glamorous but distorted nudes next to a burnt-out car, which hopefully makes us question our desires and see them differently! When we got the car into the gallery and we realised just how horrific a smashed up car is, it had a sadness about it which we hope we were sensitive to with our cut out figures. The installation of the woodland clearing we wanted to be experienced at night to create a haunting and again unsettled atmosphere, but the smoke machine could have done this job by itself …

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Miss Bugs (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: You borrow from different artists and other cultural art forms (including Shakespeare in one instance) and incorporate many of those images into your work. How do you go about selecting the images? Are they your favorite artists or is it purely aesthetic?
Miss Bugs:
The list of artists that we ‘stole’ from and remixed for this show is massive…Hannah Hoch and Kurt Schwitters, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Vera Lehndorff, Gustav Klimt, Picasso, Mc Escher, Man Ray, David Lynch, Mel Ramous, Takashi Murakami, Leonardo De Vinci, Banksy, Warhol, Stanley Kubrick

We’ll stop now but the list goes on!  You have to look harder for some of them and others can be staring you in the face but sometimes still go unnoticed as they’re seen out of context. Playing with ideas of how we view artwork and how much of its reasoning we understand.

We look at links between the artists and their working methods throughout history. Artists that would not normally be considered to sit alongside each other are then remixed together showing just how the working style of (for example) Keith Haring can gel together with Picasso, and how artists from very different periods in time and culture are using very similar approaches, often where you wouldn’t expect to see it.

Here we’ve selected elements of artists whose work goes someway in helping us tell our own story within ‘Parlour’… Suppose we’re like some sort twisted museum curator cramming the world’s greatest artists together into a small room for an orgy, then throwing some classical writers and iconic film directors in for good measure!

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Panoramic view of the outdoor installation (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Miss Bugs. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Miss Bugs “Parlour” is currently on view at Brooklynite Gallery. Click below for more information.

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/?p=21691

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