February 2012

A Mushroom Cloud in Manhattan: If You See Somethin’ …

February 29, 2012 , , , , , ,

Artist Jean Seestadt Plants a Package in a Bus Stop

Since the never-ending “War on Terror” commenced so publicly a decade or so ago, an intermittently insistent campaign exhorting the public to be aware of odd things and behaviors has beat a steady message of fearful dread in New York.  Posters on buses, brochures in city offices, and disembodied, firmly voiced recordings on trains and in airports remind us that evil walks secretly amongst us and we should be ever-vigilant and tell the nearest police officer if you see something suspicious.

Aside from the obvious challenge of staying alert on the morning subway ride when you haven’t gotten a coffee yet and you stayed up until 2 am playing “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3”, the plain fact is that most New Yorkers have no idea what strange looks like. We lost that ability sometime after hippies and freaks turned into punks and goths, pants dropped below butts, zombies had parades, “no pants day”, men started making out with each other on the park benches, and of course Donald Trumps hair. For something to catch our eye these days it would have to have to be levitating or in some way involve chocolate.  Otherwise, we’ll keep walking and texting.

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The billowing cloud rising in Manhattan this time is from artist Jean Seestadt, whose cut paper installation in the bus stop entitled “If you See Somethin” evokes one prevailing vision of the unmarked package spilling forth it’s curvilinear bilious hot plume into a public place with a stylized hand. On a warmish evening last week it went up on this buzzing island metropolis without anyone saying something.

 

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Following a similar installation in the subway a few weeks ago, Seedstadt brought her new installation to a well lit bus shelter on the street. Aided by a stool, a roll of tape, some scissors, and her good friend Nick, Jean rolled up her sleeves and installed her new work while some people stood by looking, pawing through their mobile devices, or leaning forward to preen down the street for a bus. Cacophonic truck and car traffic, including periodic police cruisers, rattled by in the night while the two enterprising Street/Public Artists took turns teetering on the stool to get it to hang just so. If anyone paid attention at all, no one said something to the artist or her assistant. You see??

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: You have done painting and ink work previously. What do you think of cutting paper?
Jean Seestadt: Cutting paper has all the things I like about painting and works on paper, I love the tedious beauty to it, but I was having a really hard time feeling that I could reach a viewer to the fullest when I am forced in a square 2D format.  Also, the process of letting go of the overly crafted piece and knowing it is eventually going to turn to litter is a real release.

Brooklyn Street Art: Would you say these are sculptures?
Jean Seestadt: They are very sculptural… I guess I think of them more as site-specific installations.  They have no meaning when they are in a static setting.

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: What leads you to mount this work in such a public place?
Jean Seestadt: I was interested the fragile, traditional paper cutting medium being forced into a public context. Each piece will be eventually be broken down by either the viewers or by the environment. Because it is not in a precious space the viewer can approach the work however they’d like-if that means touching it, ripping it, taking it, or taking care of it.  The piece doesn’t really work without people feeling free to do whatever they want.

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Have you seen paper cut work by street artists?
Jean Seestadt: I’ve only heard of Swoon… it doesn’t seem like the ideal material for street art because it only last for a day if you are lucky.  But street art is all about the temporal nature of the city’s surroundings so I think it makes a lot of sense as a medium.

Brooklyn Street Art: What makes you explore the theme of “If you see something, say something”?
Jean Seestadt: I was interested in the daily reminder we all digest about terrorism and how it is a fragile ghost of this city.  It just floats about our transit system and I thought it was really sad and strange. People might think I am making light of terrorism but I am really not.

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“If You See Somethin”, Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Secret Project Robot and Brad Truax Present: “Hyper/Hypo” A Group Show (Brooklyn, NY)

February 28, 2012 , , , , ,

Hyper/Hypo

March 10th to 25th     

Brad Truax Presents:  HYPER/HYPO    

Opening Reception Saturday 3/10 8 to 11

WITH A PERFORMANCE BY: BUBBLES  

AND DJ’S ANIMAL COLLECTIVE 

 

In this month long installation and group show curator Brad Truax turns the lens onto the artist and asks them to explore themselves and the way in which they make art.  Are they-

HYPER overactive, active, energetic; busy, fidgety; excited, frantic,  frenetic,frenzied, adrenalized, feverish; or Hypo- low, under, beneath, down, below normal.

The exploration of the state of mind of the artist will give incite into their work offering a glimpse at the creative process and the aesthetic accomplishments and styles which develop out of these different emotional states… It will be interesting to see if the viewer’s expectations correlate to how the artists actually approach their work- which in turn puts the lens onto the viewer, asking them to gauge their assumptions about the way in which they look at art.

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The Superior Bugout Presents: “Leap Year 2012 Party Time” Art, Walls and Music (Brooklyn, NY)

February 28, 2012 , , , ,

Leap Year 2012

The Superior Bugout is very stoked to present a really tight line up of amazing musicians / artists for this night, wednesday 10pm at the el dorado in brooklyn (976 grand st). come out and celebrate the new party holiday LEAP YEAR 2012!!!
with:
JAPANTHER
NINJASONIK
FAKE HOOKER
JOGYO
BEEF
and DJ DIRTYFINGER

with art walls by SMELLS / CASH4 / FADE AA / R2 / GEN 2 / UFO 907

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Klughaus Gallery Presents: OBLVN “100 Paintings” (Manhattan, NY)

February 28, 2012 , , , , ,

OBLVN

AARON OBLVN “100 PAINTINGS”

MARCH 10—APRIL 1, 2012
OPENING: SATURDAY MARCH 10, 2012 FROM 6-10PM KLUGHAUS GALLERY
47 Monroe St. New York, NY 10002

Emerging Pacific Northwest artist OBLVN hand paints 100 exclusive illustrations in honor of New York City debut—New York, NY – Feb 27, 2012 – Klughaus Gallery is proud to announce the debut of “100 Paintings,” a solo exhibition of brand new, one-of-a-kind illustrated works by Portland, Oregon-based artist and cartoonist Aaron OBLVN. In honor of his first ever east coast show, OBLVN has been hard at work for months preparing one hundred illustrations exclusively for Klughaus; highlights of the character and cartoon-heavy exhibit include contemporary, tongue-in-cheek remixes of classic cartoon characters like ‘Felix The Cat’ as an art thief and ‘Dennis the Menace’ as a vandal, as well as many original works, from mischievous spray can characters to runaway inkwells.

Why one hundred works? “I’ve been drawing my whole life, but really focusing on this style for about three years now—but not on this scale,” says OBLVN. “I read once in a sign painting comic strip by [cartoonist] Justin Green that it takes about 100 hours of brushing before you finally get your lettering down,” says OBLVN of one of the motives behind sitting down to tackle the daunting task of creating one hundred pieces of art for a single show. “So I figured if I did 100 characters, I would definitely get some good practice in. I can tell from the first cartoons I started doing a few years ago that I’ve gotten better. It’s always great to see your own progress.”

In addition to breaking the gallery record for the highest number of works in a single show, the breadth and depth of OBLVN’s body of playful, accessible work makes “100 Paintings” a show with literally something for everyone. “I love cartoons,” he says of his trademark subject matter. “I’m picky, but I love a lot of styles. From Vaughn Bode, Basil Wolverton, Skip Williamson, Text Avery, Ralph Bakshi and John K to more contemporary artists like Barry McGee and Todd James.”

In this vein “100 Paintings” is both a one-of-a-kind body of work as well as a collective ode to the artists OBLVN emulates, and he is looking forward to piecing together his collection of puzzle pieces in New York City: “I’m really stoked on the work as a whole,” he says. “So much of my time is spent up close with the pieces, my face only a few inches from my brush and the ink that it’s sort of crazy to step back and see the work as a body. It’s pretty cool to see how much I cranked out. It’s so awesome that [the opening] is in NY, but seriously daunting. I’m excited.”

The opening for “100 Paintings” will take place Saturday, March 10th from 6-10 pm. Please RSVP to rsvp@klughaus.net.

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Nice-One and Lucx in Cincinnati, Savannah

February 28, 2012 , , , ,

Street Artists Nice-One and Lucx did some painting and wheat-pasting recently in Cincinnati and Savannah as part of a special student arts themed tour they took out of their native Chicago. Their complementary illustrative styles are thoughtfully whimsical, colorful, and sometimes satiric. The collaborations here captured by Chicago based photographer and BSA contributor Brock Brake give you a sense of some artists lustful focus on so-called “appropriate placement”, or putting the work where it functions with a bit of harmony in its context.

Nice-One. Cincinnati. (photo © Brock Brake)

How a Street Artist chooses location can make a huge difference on its impact and how long it runs, believe it or not. Regardless of the wall choice (permissioned or not) street justice by peers and critics can take out a piece if it offends anyone’s sensibility, but some say that Nice-One has a rep for riding longer because of his good placement – even in cities officially hostile to any of this kind of work.  Often, the piece can make you laugh. It probably doesn’t hurt that a large amount thoughtful preparation goes into each piece, and work by both artists could easily hang in your house, or school.

Nice-One. Cincinnati. (photo © Brock Brake)

Nice-One. Cincinnati. (photo © Brock Brake)

Nice-One. Savannah. (photo © Brock Brake)

Nice-One. Savannah. (photo © Brock Brake)

Nice-One in Savannah. (ed. note; We’re supposed to be looking at the art, but is that a tray of cupcakes?) (photo © Brock Brake)

“Stakes is High”, Nice-One. Savannah. (photo © Brock Brake)

Nice-One. Savannah. (photo © Brock Brake)

Nice-One. Savannah. (photo © Brock Brake)

Nice-One. Savannah. (photo © Brock Brake)

Nice-One. Savannah. (photo © Brock Brake)

Lucx. Savannah. (photo © Brock Brake)

Lucx. Savannah. (photo © Brock Brake)

Click here to read about Nice-One and Lucx project the “Hot Box Truck”.

Click here to read about Nice-One project with high school students in Savannah.

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London Dispatch with Olek, Roa, Eine, FKDL and Friends

February 27, 2012 , ,

Photographer Geoff Hargadon loves London and on his most recent trip he took to the streets of the gritty London neighborhoods of Brick Lane and Shoreditch to see what’s up, and of course to check out a couple of galleries.  Here are a few things that caught his eye to share with BSA, beginning with Street Artist Olek’s installation of text-based knitting at Tony’s Gallery.

Olek at Tony’s Gallery in Shoreditch. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Olek’s installation at Tony’s Gallery in Shoreditch. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Olek’s installation at Tony’s Gallery in Shoreditch. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Move along now, we can’t have all you photo takers clogging up the sidewalk. ROA. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

ROA, FKDL, and friends. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Ben Eine through glass (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

The Best Car Wash…ever! (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Ink Fetich (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

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Images of the Week: 02.26.12

Images of the Week: 02.26.12

February 26, 2012 , , , , , , , ,

Our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring AVOID, Boxpark, Dan Witz, Gilf!, Jaye Moon, Kosbe, Love Me, bunny M, Power Revolution, Pure Evil, Rae, and some new stuff in London from guest photographer Geoff Hargadon.

bunny M appears with a parable. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

bunny M (photo © Jaime Rojo)

bunny M (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pure Evil making posters last night at Boxpark, a pop up mall made of shipping containers in Shoreditch, London. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Pure Evil installing the posters at Boxpark. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dan Witz brings his “Dark Doings” to the streets of downtown Los Angeles for LA Freewalls Project. (photo © Dan Witz)

Artist Unknown (Or is it an unfinished advertisement?) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RAE (photo © Jaime Rojo)

And that’s the last word from the streets of Brick Lane in London. (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

Power Revolution (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jaye Moon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Marilyn is always game. Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Love Me (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kosbe (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gilf! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gilf! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Avoid. Buy More Stuff! I can’t. It’s sold out! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Dabs & Myla Paint A Tiger Truck With Kem5

February 25, 2012

Box Truck Action! Exclusive Pics of the Mustard Tiger in the Wilds of LA!

For the box truck fans who like to see their graffiti and street art mobilized, here’s a new one from Melbourne’s Dabs & Myla and Boston’s Kem5 that is speeding through LA. With any luck, you’ll be stuck in a traffic jam with this one, and it will lower your blood pressure while you groove to some smoove songs. They call it “The Mustard Tiger Truck”.

On safari in LaLa Land. Dabs & Myla with Kem5 (photo courtesy of Dabs & Myla)

Dabs & Mayla with Kem5 (photo courtesy of Dabs & Myla)

Dabs & Myla with Kem5 (photo courtesy of Dabs & Myla)

Dabs & Myla with Kem5 (photo courtesy of Dabs & Myla)

 

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God, this song from Rocky 57 didn’t age very well. But these shots of the majestic badass tiger family are timeless. Don’t look in his eyes cause he’ll have you for a nice Saturday lunch.

You can also check out the Ice Cube DMX Remix to update it with beats and profanity.

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Fun Friday 02.24.12

February 24, 2012

1. QRST  “Dreaming Without Sleeping” (Bushwick, Brooklyn)
2. Anthony Lister at New Image Art (Los Angeles)
3. Invisible Cities with Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Swoon at Black Rat (London)
4. Royce Bannon Curates “While You Were Sleeping” (Brooklyn)
5. Whisper Gallery Group Show (London)
6. Show Teaser for Anthony Lister at New Image Art (VIDEO)
7. David Shillinglaw “People Get Drunk” (VIDEO)
8. Italian Street Artist TELLAS  in Sardinia. (VIDEO)

QRST  “Dreaming Without Sleeping” (Bushwick, Brooklyn)

Street Artist QRST has his first solo show today at The Active Space. See our interview with him yesterday QRST Studio Visit and Interview .

QRST working on this mural under the watchful gaze of his two grandmothers. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Anthony Lister at New Image Art (Los Angeles)

Anthony Lister new solo show at New Image Art Gallery in Los Angeles opens today to the general public. Lister used live ballerina models for this new paintings.

Anthony Lister prepping for his show. (photo © Carlos Gonzalez)

For further information regarding this show click here

Invisible Cities with Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Swoon at Black Rat (London)

London’s Black Rat Projects Gallery first show of the year, “Invisible Cities” featuring secondary market works by Banksy and Shepard Fairey alongside works by Swoon. This diverse group of artists are eponymous with the current Street Art movement in their retrospective cities.  This show opens today to the general public.

Swoon on the streets of Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Also happening this weekend:

Royce Bannon Curates “While You Were Sleeping” A Group Show. Click here for more information about this show.

Whisper Gallery in London offers a Group Show for February. Click here for more information about this show.

“$prayed in Full” featuring INCH at the OneThirty3 Gallery in Newcastle, UK. Click here for more information about this show.

Show Teaser for Anthony Lister at New Image Art (VIDEO)

Carlos Gonzalez created this video for the show.

David Shillinglaw “People Get Drunk” (VIDEO)

Italian Street Artist TELLAS  in Sardinia. (VIDEO)

Tellas did this in collaboration with Roberto Ciredz.

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Whisper Gallery Presents: February Group Show (London, UK)

February 23, 2012 , , , , ,

Whisper Gallery

David Shillinglaw in Brooklyn in 2011. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Exhibiting works on paper by our current gallery artists, including screenprints from established pioneer of British pop art Peter Blake, who combines vibrant images of Brit pop culture and fine art. Following in his footsteps is William Blanchard, distinctly influenced by the pop art movement whose works are a casually critical commentary about the modern world, seamlessly integrating commercial culture into simple ideas, subjective declarations, personal outlooks and feelings.

In a similar way, Pakpoom Silaphan takes symbols of commercial culture and corporate branding, transforming them into personal visual memoirs of his childhood upbringing. Originally from Thailand, Silaphan creates portraits of influential people using vintage foreign but recognisable advertising signs as his canvas. Taking Warhol’s elevation of everyday brands to high art, and combining it with his adoration of famous and influential historical figures, Silaphan highlights the power of advertising as a global dominator. Similarly, Russell Young’s vibrant portraits of iconic figures draw attention to the power of celebrity and media. Russell’s work is striking; using instantly recognisable images coupled with his own style and techniques, his pieces immediately resonate with his audience.

Also, showing their work for the first time at Whisper, David Shillinglaw and Remi Rough are two artists combining street and fine art in innovative ways. London based artist David Shillinglaw’s work moves between street and studio, small hand‐made books to paintings on canvas, and large scale wall murals. His work is a reflection of the civilised and monstrous side of human nature, and the day‐to‐day conversational poetry we use to demonstrate feelings and physical conditions. Friend and collaborator Remi Rough transcends the traditional and somewhat idealised vision of a graffiti writer, and creates work that simultaneously belongs on the streets and in the home or gallery without seeming out of context. Merging bold colours and modern abstraction with a clean, minimal style his work is a progressive example of urban art.

Far from bold and confrontational subject matter, Bruce French’s anonymous and faceless subjects express mass emotion through the simplest lines in oil, charcoal, pencil and print. Images of figures suspended in movement reflect the human form in its most simple and natural state.

Lyle Owerko is a New York‐based filmmaker and photographer, who has been collecting vintage boomboxes for years, resulting in an arresting and unexpected photoseries featuring these cult objects, giving life and personality to each one individually.

Finally, Whisper’s newest addition is Dutch artist LG White, who exhibits across a broad spectrum of artistic mediums. Her original drawings instantly highlight her remarkable talent as a skilled draughtsman. Beautifully detailed pencil on card depictions of imagined landscapes hang perfectly alongside strong photo etchings that portray the contemporary skull as an intricate and delicate icon.

27/28 Eastcastle Street London W1W 8DH Whisperfineart.com | +44 (0)20 7268 9851

STATIC is the creative output of two individuals who have been working as one since 2006. Their work combines elements of street art and fine art, merging a clean graphic style with stencils, spray paint, screen printing and paint brushes, to create unique pieces which have been exhibited on the streets of London as well as a number of international gallery spaces.

Whisper fine art

27/28 Eastcastle Street
London
W1W 8DH

Tel: 0207 268 9858
Email: ruth@whisperfineart.co.uk
or jake@whisperfineart.co.uk

Gallery Hours
10-6pm Monday – Friday
or by appointment

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