July 2012

Concrete Jungle from Russia to Bushwick

Feliks Mashkov and Vadim Gerasimenko are the Russian collective known as Concrete Jungle. The duo call Vladivostok their home and are visiting NYC with five other artists as part of CEC ArtsLink’s Global Art Lab program. Designed to support an international exchange of ideas and perspectives, the program involves communities and individuals in Central Asia and Russia. Susan Katz, the St. Petersburg based program director, invited BSA to meet with the visiting artists for an informal chat about Street Art in the US and the current New York scene.

Concrete Jungle. The initial sketch for the mural. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Concrete Jungle employs methods and techniques seen in Street Art, public art, and commercial art and the two have collected a number of interior and exterior walls over the last few years with the same can-do D.I.Y. attitude that we see on the street today – with a detailed clean graphic finish. Feliks attended art school for five years and recently received his Bachelor’s Degree in Architecture. A 2007 graduate of the Vladivostok Art School with a specialization in teaching painting, Vadim is currently a student at the Far East Federal University in the Department of Graphic Design.

Feliks and Vadim, with the help of Brooklyn based Street Artist Specter, secured a wall in Bushwick as part of the Bushwick Five Points murals. BSA caught up with the artists as they were still at work on their wall. Here are some process shots of the 77% completed project as the two guys employ an acutely understated palette, crisply illustrated lines and natural curvilinear forms.

Concrete Jungle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Concrete Jungle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Concrete Jungle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Concrete Jungle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Concrete Jungle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Concrete Jungle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Concrete Jungle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Concrete Jungle. That’s all for the day…going to the beach. More to come… (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Visit Concrete Jungle site here: http://www.cjungle.com/main/

To learn more about CEC ArtsLink’s Global Art Lab program click here: http://www.cecartslink.org/

 

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El Sol 25 Returns with Wings

The summer sol is back in the Brooklyn sky and El Sol 25 is back in the streets of Brooklyn after an absence of how long, a year or so?  Can’t remember exactly, but anyway there is a new crop of hand-painted collaged figurative characters up using his unmistakable style of mixing and matching sources, genders, races, cultures, and symbols.  As a group the collection includes more carefully dimensioned rendering of limbs and textures, more relaxed flexibility in the forms, and more wings with which to fly. Here are four new pieces we found around the neighborhood for you to see.

El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 placed this new wheat-pasted piece on an old piece by Veng of RWK that had already been destroyed, apart from the circular frame. Seems kind of perfect, given the compositional balance of the multi-limbed form. Have to mention the 80’s era Michael Jackson jacket and skull and the third anniversary of his passing was last week on June 25th. Also next to this piece is the new collaboration by Veng and Chris of RWK with Gilf! (see yesterday’s Images of the Week.) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

 

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White Walls Gallery Presents: Meggs “Truth in Myth” (San Francisco, CA)

MEGGS

Meggs at work in San Francisco (photo courtesy of the gallery © Colin M. Day)

White Walls Presents: “Truth in Myth,” New Work by Meggs
White Walls is pleased to present “Truth in Myth,” a solo exhibition from Australian artist Meggs. The opening reception will be Saturday, July 14th, from 7-11pm, and the exhibition is free and open to the public for viewing through August 4th, 2012. Mythology tells the stories of gods, heroes, humans and supernatural beings as the personification of natural phenomena and more importantly the human condition. In traditional folklore, a myth tells a story that is designed to explain certain ideals, practices and behaviors within society. Following from his interest in superheroes and
comic book narratives, Meggs delves deeper into the subject of fantasy to explore characters and stories from older mythological tales through the morals, dualities and emotions that these superhuman characters represent. Fusing elements of contemporary superheroes to ancient mythological beings, “Truth in Myth” is a collection of new paintings, collage, sculpture and mixed media artworks that expressively reference classic renaissance composition and contemporary pop culture. The layered and detailed works of “Truth in Myth” serve as a continuation of the artist’s search for balance in the understanding of physical and ideological duality of self. “We live in the stories we tell ourselves. In a secular, scientific rational culture lacking in any convincing spiritual leadership, superhero stories speak loudly and boldly to our greatest fears, deepest longings and highest aspirations… the best superhero stories deal directly with mythic elements of the human condition… they help us confront and resolve even the deepest existential crisis. We should listen to what they have to tell us.” – Grant Morrison, Supergods, 2011
Event Information: “Truth in Myth” by Meggs Opening Reception – July 14th, 2012, 7-11 pm On View Through August 4th, 2012 @ White Walls (www.whitewallssf.com) 835 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA
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Images of the Week 07.01.12

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Chris RWK, David Ellis, Edgar Reyes, El Sol 25, Flying Fortress, Gilf!, Lambros, Miyok, Most…Ress… Never, Sheryo, The Cretin, The Weird, The Yok, UNDO Visual Thinking, Veng RWK, and Zam.

El Sol 25 is back on the streets of Brooklyn after a brief absence. Here is a particularly svelte Benazir Bhutto as a butterfly appearing to hold a pig of some sort. Stay tuned for much more El Sol 25 Monday on BSA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

David Ellis (photo © Jaime Rojo)

David Ellis. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

David Ellis. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

David Ellis. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris RWK, Veng RWK and Gilf! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Miyok is doing a little detox. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Cretin (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Cretin (photo © Jaime Rojo)

No More Lies (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Lambros (photo © Jaime Rojo)

I sez to hah, “Ya know what, Mawleen?”, I sez, “Good fa you! Good fa you!” Zam (photo © Jaime Rojo)

UNDO Visual Thinking in Puebla, Mexico. (photo © Edgar Reyes)

UNDO Visual Thinking in Puebla, Mexico. (photo © Edgar Reyes)

The Yok, Sheryo, Most…Ress…, Never, Flying Fortress, The Weird (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Some kind of signal being given here. Not sure what it means. The Yok, Sheryo, Most…Ress…, Never, Flying Fortress, The Weird. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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