August 2012

GAIA in Chicago with a Cuban Madonna, Michaelangelo, Masks

Street Artist Gaia visited Chicago last week to hit some walls in his grandly fulsome style with imaginative remixing of classics. Here’s a guy who is perfectly badass about handily switching symbols, metaphors, cultures, belief systems, history, art history. The results are perplexing if you think too hard about it, thrilling if you are willing to detach the forms from their original contexts and appreciate the new associations that their juxtapositions can present.

Hosted by the fellas at Pawn Works Gallery and shot by talented photographer Brock Brake, Gaia created his new pieces as part of their ongoing project “Art in Public Places” in the Pilsen neighborhood and in Chicago’s West Town.

Gaia at Nini’s Cuban Deli in Chicago’s West Town. (photo © Brock Brake)

First off is the piece with African masks and a Cuban female figure that references the historical ties of the two regions. “Thanks to the lovely people at Nini’s Cuban Deli,” says Pawn Works Nick Marzullo of this place tucked into Chicago’s West Town.  Gaia says the mural depicts the rich alloy that is Santeria. In it the Catholic twin saints Damian and Cosmas flank the African Ibeji masks.

“These are icons which were imported by the Spanish through Catholicism. African slaves sit underneath a woman performing a ceremony as Oshun, an Oshira of love and the river,” Gaia explains on his Flickr page.

Gaia at Nini’s Cuban Deli in Chicago’s West Town. (photo © Brock Brake)

Gaia at Nini’s Cuban Deli in Chicago’s West Town. (photo © Brock Brake)

Gaia at Nini’s Cuban Deli in Chicago’s West Town. (photo © Brock Brake)

 

Following are images of a considerably longer mural that the Street Artist did while in the Chicago. In a practice that is often his case, this mural is also site-specific. Reflecting the neighborhood of Pilsen, it’s meant as a visual representation of two other cultures merging that have successively defined it. Gaia says that he is exploring the notion of the word “immigrant”.

Gaia in the Pilsen Neighborhood with The Chicago Urban Art Society and Alderman Danny Solis (photo © Brock Brake)

“It is about the confluence of Polish and Mexican culture, says Gaia, “I just used Michaelangelo figures from the Sistine Chapel’s Last Judgement scene primarily because both cultures share Catholicism – and because the bodies are so dynamic.” That explains why some of the figures looks so Michaelangelic  – but with animal heads replacing the original figures human/god-like ones.

Gaia did this one in coordination with Pawn Works, the Chicago Urban Art Society and the office of Alderman Danny Solis.

Gaia in the Pilsen Neighborhood with The Chicago Urban Art Society and Alderman Danny Solis (photo © Brock Brake)

Gaia in the Pilsen Neighborhood with The Chicago Urban Art Society and Alderman Danny Solis (photo © Brock Brake)

Gaia in the Pilsen Neighborhood with The Chicago Urban Art Society and Alderman Danny Solis (photo © Brock Brake)

Gaia in the Pilsen Neighborhood with The Chicago Urban Art Society and Alderman Danny Solis (photo © Brock Brake)

Gaia in the Pilsen Neighborhood with The Chicago Urban Art Society and Alderman Danny Solis (photo © Brock Brake)

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Living Walls Atlanta 2012 Begins, 26 Artists Converge!

 It’s Time for the Women to Represent as LW ATL Breaks New Ground Again

Sarah Emerson at work (photo © Dustin Chambers)

For the last two years at Living Walls Atlanta it’s been like graffiti summer camp; bodies and pillows and aerosol cans intermingled and stacked indiscriminately across the living room floors of friends apartments.  Sketchbooks. Pizza boxes. Condoms. Campfire songs.

The third installment of the conference for Living Walls, The City Speaks, starting today and running through the 19th, will build on the comaraderie established since then and on the lessons learned by those organizers who dared to mount this huge Street Art event on a shoe string budget and a dream. The number one change this year is that there is a bit of funding. Thanks to diligent fundraising and the donations of generous people like BSA readers who clicked a banner and gave, the Street Artists and other participants this year are actually staying in hotel rooms and everyone has a bed.

“All of the out of town artists are here, Hyuro just got in last night,” excitedly reports Living Walls organizer and BSA contributor Alexandra Parrish. So everybody is rested and ready to go.

The second important change this year is that it is all about the women.

In a completely unheard of and shocking move, the organizers/curators have invited only female Street Artists to participate this time, making this the World’s First All Female Paint Fest!  It’s a remarkable achievement in a scene that has been dominated by the male of the species, almost by definition, since the graffiti scene began in US cities about a half century ago. In most people’s opinion, it’s about time too. Speculation abounds about how the atmosphere and the output will be affected. For one thing, there will probably be fewer toilet seats thoughtlessly left up.  Also, better hair care products (no offense Gaia).

Sheryo at work (photo © Dustin Chambers)

“Over the past two years, 50 artists have participated – only two were female, and neither of them had a chance to paint a wall,” remarks Parrish as she illustrates the imbalance.

Of course there are already new pieces up to greet the participants that were done since March leading up to today’s opening that were not done expressly by females. Readers of BSA have seen an array of international artists from all over the world that came to paint big murals every month since including Gaia, Nanook, La Pandilla, Trek Matthews, Interesni Kazki, Evereman and Neuzz.

BSA has brought you full detail coverage of all those walls going up and now we’re gonna shout it from the roof tops as all this female power is loosed on the streets of Atlanta. And what an amazing lineup it is! The list includes: Indigo (Canada), Fefe (Brazil), TIKA (Switzerland), EME (Spain), Hyuro (Argentina), Martina Merlini (Italy), Miso (Australia), Cake (New York), Swoon (New York), Martha Cooper (New York), Sheryo (New York), White Cocoa (New York), Jessie Unterhalter and Katie Truhn (Baltimore), Molly Rose Freeman (Memphis), Teen Witch (San Francisco), olive47 (Atlanta), Paper Twins (Atlanta), Sarah Emerson (Atlanta), Sheila Pree Bright (Atlanta), Marcy Starz (Atlanta), Sten and Lex (Italy), Karen Tauches (Atlanta), Knitterati (Atlanta), Plastic Aztecs (Atlanta), Nikita Gale (Atlanta), Patricia Lacrete (Atlanta), Mon Ellis (Atlanta), and Andrzej Blazej Urbanski (Poland).

Here’s a Teaser for DAY 1

 

For a full list of events, schedules maps and other details click here:

TONIGHT:

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15TH
Vandalog Movie Night
Wren’s Nest in West End
9:00pm-11:00pm
RJ Rushmore from Vandalog will present a series of street art and graffiti short movies.

See the BSA posts this year for all of the installations leading up to this day:

“The Sunrise of Edgewood”, GAIA & Nanook open Living Walls Atlanta 2012

La Pandilla and Trek Matthews in Cabbagetown for Living Walls Atlanta

Interesni Kazki at Living Walls Atlanta

Priceless Culture: Mexican Artist Neuzz in Atlanta For Living Walls 2012

 

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ThinkSpace Gallery Presents: Dabs & Myla “Marvelous Expeditions” (Culver City, CA)

Dabs & Myla

Thinkspace is pleased to present the highly anticipated Marvelous Expeditions by Dabs Myla and Friends. In the spirit of travel and all things wonderfully itinerant, acclaimed duo Dabs Myla will take over the gallery space and will feature new work and an installation alongside curated selections from 32 of their closest and most inspiring artist friends. The gallery will in effect become a locus of meeting and communal exchange, as artists from all over the world are brought together by Dabs Myla to share their experiences of traveling through its landscapes.

Dabs Myla’s meticulously executed work combines narrative illustration, photorealistic drawing, and architectural rendering with a playful bawdiness and irreverence. Cast frequently as themselves in their imagery and host of characters, the artist pair create worlds of contentious and playful encounters against the seductive chaos of the urbanscape. The city features prominently in their work as the stomping ground for their numerous adventures. When looking at their pieces one has the impression of aesthetic confluence and fluidity, of two minds toiling together as one. The viewing experience is the keen pleasure of looking into another world and enjoying a story, and just as it is with the unrelenting freneticism of the city, there is always a new discovery to punctuate every observation right around every corner – and we’d be remiss to exclude mention of the donuts and street meat.

As artists and urban enthusiasts Dabs Myla translate their experience of the world through a distinctly collaborative amalgamation of their styles and rendering strengths. Their work conveys a synchronicity of vision and aesthetic uncommonly allied and collusive. It is constituted by their shared love of travel, food, graffiti, illustration, and urbanity. Just as all productive chaos emerges from unlikely places, the momentum of travel fosters unexpected discoveries and collisions of worlds. Dabs and Myla, originally from Melbourne Australia and now currently based in LA, are no strangers to this productive geographic disruption, and this project seeks to celebrate the unexpected encounters and inspirations catalyzed by travel. They have invited each of their featured friends to produce a piece for the exhibition on a 16” x 20” wood panel, and with these set material parameters each artist will work their magic. The series is loosely meant to invoke exploration and travel, and each participating artist will metabolize their impressions of the theme differently through their respective styles, voices, and memories.

Marvelous Expeditions showcases the duo’s love of friends, collegiality, exchange, and the proliferation of vision and variety that thrives alongside constant movement and displacement. These are the exploratory impulses of travel that lead to constant revisions, reconstitutions, influences, and to the indelible encounters that change everything.

Featuring 16×20” works from: 123 Klan Aaron, De La Cruz, Askew, Augustine Kofie, Axis, Cat Cult, Dscreet, Dvate, EINE, Elliot Francis Stewart, Ephameron, Greg Lamarche, Honkey Kong (aka Adam Hathorn), Johnny ‘KMNDZ’ Rodriguez, KC Ortiz, KEM5, Logan Hicks, Luke Chueh, Mark Mulroney, Meggs, Misery, NEW2, Pose, Remi Rough, Revok, Rime, Stormie Mills, Tatiana Suarez, Tom Gerrard, Tristan Eaton, Witnes and The Yok.

Dabs Myla:

Melbourne natives Dabs and Myla are a dynamic duo who have lived, worked and soaked in the sun of Los Angeles since 2009. Dabs started painting graffiti in 1995, and began teaching Myla the ropes of writing about ten years later, after they met while studying illustration in art school and fell in love. Soon afterward, they decided they liked their collaborative pieces better than their individual work, and from that point on, they worked together exclusively, as Dabs Myla. Inspired by graffiti, food, travel and their wonderful chaotic life together as a couple, their paintings play Dabs’ mischievous and sometimes ribald characters off Myla’s photorealistic cityscapes. Since their move to California, they have never spent more than a few hours apart. They say, “I guess we are pretty lucky… two peas in a pod! Two crazy, workaholic, mad dorks in a pod! After years of living, painting walls and working together, we have only become closer, stronger and even more in sync. Every day we wake up, paint all day, and keep each other entertained with constant chatter and stupid jokes. Who could ask for more out of life?”

Reception with the artists:

Sat., September 1st 5-9PM

Thinkspace

6009 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232

T: 310.558.3375

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The Superior Bugout Presents: Monty and The Boozehound “The Never Gonna Cry Tour” (Detroit, Michigan)

Monty and The Boozehound

When: Friday August 17, 2012, doors open at 7 pm bands at 8 pm.

Where: 1480 Gratiot Ave. Detroit MI (Free Parking the back lot)

How much: $3

On Friday August 17, 2012 at 7 pm The Superior Bugout presents an evening with artwork by a traveling duo working under their hobo moniker aliases “Monty” and “The Boozehound” sharing their photos, sculptures, and diatribes of the road along with very loud live sounds produced by Detroit’s own Sheefy Mcfly, Pupils, Mexican Knives, LT Dan and The Sugarcoats.

Monty and The Boozehound left Baltimore earlier in the Summer, traveling across America’s northeast corridor, southern and midwestern states stealing freight train rides and paint.  Along the way they’ve reworked the visual landscapes of the towns they passed through with colorful signage and roller pieces, now pausing to take part in the current artistic renaissance taking place in “surreal urban ruin of Detroit’s streets” as The Boozehound puts it. “Detroit is a lot like camping.” Monty says in his North Carolina drawl, “it’s intense!”

This event will take place in the newly renovated space at 1480 Gratiot Ave, self titled Fourteen-Eighty Gallery in downtown Detroit’s Eastern Market.

Through the creation of a new venue for alternative and underground expression Fourteen-Eighty Gallery is a vision recently renewed by gun enthusiast and local Detroiter Miles Michaels and will continue to be able to be part of the growing arts community in downtown Detroit.

The Superior Bugout seeks to bring a synergy of sight and sound, combining elements of the streets with contemporary sound visionaries. The party aesthetic comes from Brooklyn based multimedia artist Andrew H. Shirley, who’s been spending the Summer in Detroit bathing in the Detroit River and assisting Mr. Michaels in the growth of the gallery space.

FB even page http://www.facebook.com/events/339725266114082/

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NUART FESTIVAL Presents: Nuart 2012 (Stavanger, Norway)

Nuart 2012

NUART FESTIVAL 2012 . STAVANGER NORWAY
“The best street art festival in the world”  September 29 – November 18

AAKASH NIHALANI (US), DOLK (NO), EINE (UK), RON ENGLISH (US), SABER (US),HOWNOSM (US), MOBSTR (UK) NIELS SHOW MEULMAN (NL), JORDAN SEILER (US), THE WA (FR), SICKBOY (UK)

Now in its 12th ground-breaking year, Nuart 2012 – the annual contemporary street and urban art festival based in Stavanger, Norway –is set to be the biggest yet. An invited international team of street artists will take to the streets of Stavanger from September 20 – with an indoor show running at Tou Scene from 29 September to 19 November. The likes of Ron English and Ben Eine will leave their mark on the city’s walls, both indoor and out, creating one of Europe’s most dynamic and constantly evolving public art events. Known as ‘the Cannes’ festival of street art, Nuart’s works are exposed to over 100 000 people each week – including some of the most talented, insightful and connected individuals in the urban art world. 2012 sees the event set to attract record numbers as the festival begins to go global, with the additional Nuart Plus summit – running from 27-29 September – bringing global professionals and experts in the field together to discuss and explore this un-stoppable movement in contemporary art.

Fromthe billboard hijacking activism of Ron English (US) and Jordan Seiler (US) to The Wa’s (FR) playful urban interventions, from Saber’s (US) uncompromising stance on the positive power of Graffiti to Aakash Nihalani’s (US) more concise and conceptual use of coloured tape, Nuart 2012 has brought together an unlikely group of “festival” artists, whose diverse work and methods offer an authentic reflection on the real practice of Street Art. The UK’s globetrotting, ‘Obama gift-giving’, Eine and LA’s HowNosm are sure to set the standard for large breathtaking murals, whilst Dolk – Norway’s finest exponent of the genre popularised by Banksy – will produce some of his iconic stencil-work. Alongside the character driven graffiti of Sickboy (UK), the calligraphiti of Amsterdam’s Niels Shoe Meulman and the text driven Mobstr (UK), Nuart is set to create an explosion of – ‘mostly legal’ –  works, both inside, and out. Nuart 2012 sees a conscious shift away from the “acceptable” face of Street Art that has become favoured by councils and municipalities around the world. Recognising that there is a danger of this vibrant culture becoming sanitised by a surfeit of oversized legal murals Nuart 2012 will continue to take to the streets in new and more illicit ways. Alongside it’s exhibition at Tou Scene – which will host over half a kilometre of works along its 19th century tunnels – outdoor landmarks and un-missable billboards will be re-envisioned as subversive pieces of striking art. And if this isn’t enough to excite you, sister festival Numusic will be providing the weekend’s entertainment, with the likes of Mad Professor, The Orb, Lindstrøm, and many more performing. Nuart is set to break more than just boundaries in 2012 – will you be there?

The private view of the newly finished works will be held on the opening night:  Saturday September 29.

Nuart Plus: Sept 27-29:
Three days of key note talks and presentations, panel debates with visiting artists and related .
Film premieres. Ron English presents the Documentary ‘Popoganda’.

Sept 29-Nov 18
Nuart Opening (Indoors). Tou Scene
Nuart once again occupies this 19th Century Brewery Complex turned arts centre nestled on the coast of the Norwegian Fjords. These seven abandoned tunnels, offer over half a kilometre of wall space, and although an indoor space, it still retains the rough and ready urban elements we’re used to. Each single tunnel, at 15 x 15 x 5 metres is larger than the cities main commercial gallery space. With a fore-hall for group works and collaborations and an interlocking tunnel measuring over 40 metres long, this vast space is ideal for experiencing the best that Street Art has to offer.

Education
This years exhibition will be open 6 days a week for 6 weeks and with regional council support, will be host to over 3000 of the city’s high school students, Nuart being favoured over the city museum to extend the students horizons. That’s right. It will be compulsory to attend.

Sept 27-
International Guest speakers include
Carlo McCormick (US), Editor of the influential Paper Magazine, author, curator and renowned cultural critic.
Tristan Manco (UK), Author of several highly respected books on Street Art, co-organiser of cans Festival and curator for Pictures on Walls
Elisa Carmichael (US), Recently listed as one of the 30 under 30 art professionals to watch by the influential artinfo, Curator and co-owner of LA’s Carmichael gallery and founder and editor of the Internationally distributed art magazine The Art Street Journal
Rj Rushmore (US). Founder and writer for one of the worlds leading Street Art blogs, Vandalog
Evan Pricco (US), Managing editor of world leading  art magazine Juxtapoz.

Nuart specialises in showcasing work born out of urban creativity; we pride ourselves on giving a voice to artists and movements that are under-represented in mainstream cultural life, though widely acclaimed internationally.

Nuart’s street work begins Sept 20th
Nuart Plus “International Street Art conference” begins 27 September.
Nuart’s main exhibition opens 29 September.
The exhibition will be open 6 days a week and run for a full six weeks until Nov 18th .

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JB Snyder Does His Stained Glass in the Desert

Phoenix muralist JB Snyder is known locally for his color-rich abstract grids on sides or facades, as well as canvasses, often compared to stained glass. So it was a holy moment when he stopped by to see Jetsonorama with a few cans of aerosol to participate in his “Painted Desert” project.

JB Snyder (photo © Emily Caldwell)

“JB was stoked to learn about the project and asked to come up to leave some love on the rez,” says Jetsonorama. He liked it so much he’s planning to do two more. Coming up this fall will be New Yorker Chris Stain stopping by to do some work as the project winds down. In the next week or two, there may be another big name BSA readers are familiar with. Guess who? We’ll be the first to let you know if it happens, damn straight!

Special thanks to photographer Emily Caldwell for these shots of JB Snyder at work.

JB Snyder (photo © Emily Caldwell)

JB Snyder (photo © Emily Caldwell)

JB Snyder (photo © Emily Caldwell)

JB Snyder (photo © Emily Caldwell)

Read and see captivating images from our previous coverage on The Painted Desert Project:

Jetsonorama & Yote Start “The Painted Desert Project” In The Navajo

The Painted Desert, Part II with Gaia, Labrona, OverUnder, Doodles, Jetsonorama

 

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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!

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ROA and a Half-Eaten Carcass in Chicago

Belgian Street Artist and painter ROA continues his USA Summer 2012 tour and his next stop after New York was Chicago last week. Hosted by the folks at Pawn Works Gallery, ROA was invited to participate in their ongoing outdoor project “Art in Public Places” in the Pilsen neighborhood.

ROA (photo courtesy Pawn Works Gallery © Nick Marzullo)

ROA’s  unsentimental fascination with animals goes well beyond the wild realm to give the urban fauna spotlight on public walls. He reprised this bit of visual trickery that we first remember him doing in Miami last year – an engaging image goes very wrong when you turn the corner.  It demonstrates the duality of nature and one we shouldn’t get freaked out by, but a carcass is still kind of gross, right?

The project continues to bring new artists in conjunction with the Mexican Museum of Fine Art and The Chicago Urban Art Society.

ROA (photo courtesy Pawn Works Gallery © Nick Marzullo)

ROA (photo courtesy Pawn Works Gallery © Nick Marzullo)

ROA (photo courtesy Pawn Works Gallery © Nick Marzullo)

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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!

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Living Walls Presents: Living Walls Conference The City Speaks 2012 (Atlanta, USA)

Living Walls Conference Atlanta 2012

In one week, 27 artists will visually activate our urban landscape in the world’s first all-female street art conference. This year’s Living Walls Conference will change the game for street art and Atlanta.

The five-day conference is scheduled to capacity with film screenings, lectures, block parties, gallery exhibits and bike tours. All events are free and open to the public.


ARTISTS
Sten and Lex (Italy) | Indigo (Canada) | Fefe (Brazil) | TIKA  (Switzerland) | EME (Spain) | Hyuro (Argentina) | Martina Merlini (Italy) | Miso (Australia) | Cake (New York) | Swoon (New York) | Martha Cooper (New York) | Sheryo (New York) | White Cocoa (New York) | Jessie Unterhalter and Katie Truhn (Baltimore) | Molly Rose Freeman (Memphis) | Teen Witch (San Francisco) | olive47 (Atlanta) | Paper Twins (Atlanta) | Sarah Emerson (Atlanta) | Sheila Pree Bright (Atlanta) | Marcy Starz (Atlanta) | Karen Tauches (Atlanta) | Knitterati (Atlanta) | Plastic Aztecs (Atlanta) | Nikita Gale (Atlanta) | Patricia Lacrete (Atlanta) | Mon Ellis (Atlanta) | Andrzej Blazej Urbanski

SPEAKERS
Gaia | LNY | RJ Rushmore | Ian Wilson | Erin Yoshi | Naomi Herrson | Amanda Mills | Karen Shacham | Paul Boshears | Courtney Hammond | Lisa Tuttle | Lauri Stallings | Karen Tauches | Mike Lydon | Ellen Dunham Jones | Gyun Hur | Gene Kansas

VIDEO & AUDIO ARTISTS
Pablo Gnecco | Robert Sepanski


LIVING WALLS CONFERENCE 2012
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 15TH
Vandalog Movie Night
Wren’s Nest in West End
9:00pm-11:00pm
RJ Rushmore from Vandalog will present a series of street art and graffiti short videos.
THURSDAY, AUGUST 16TH
Art House Opening
Cabbagetown
5:00pm-8:00pm
Abandoned art house will be open to the public throughout the conference 5-8pm

Map Release and Block Party
Edgewood Ave
8:00pm-2:00am
Complete map of walls will be released.
Restaurants, bars and music venues will come together in support of the conference.
Martha Cooper and Teen Witch will show their work in an abandoned building.
Block party includes an outdoor movie theatre, street benches, a traveling drag show, bands and a dance party.

FRIDAY, AUGUST 17TH
Day 1 of Lectures
MODA
5:00pm-9:00pm
1st half of Lectures with panels discussing gender, identity and artistic community intervention.

Toast the Artist
Opening Party at the W Midtown
9:00pm-2:00am
Interactive projections by Pablo Gnecco and a physical installation by gloATL

SATURDAY, AUGUST 18TH
Day 2 of Lectures
The Plaza Theatre
12:00pm-4:00pm
2nd half of Lectures with panels discussing urbanism and public art in Atlanta.

Main Event and Gallery Exhibit
West End Warehouse, 1254 Murphy Ave
8:00pm-2:00am
Gallery exhibit featuring work of this year’s participating artists, Pecha Kucha style lectures, projections by Pablo Gnecco, DJ’s and bands.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 19TH
Bike Tour of Walls
Locations TBA
3:00pm-5:00pm

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Images of the Week 08.12.12

Hot town, summer in the city
Back of my neck getting burnt and gritty
Been down, isn’t it a pity
Doesn’t seem to be a shadow in the city

All around, people looking half dead
Walking on the sidewalk, hotter than a match head *

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Bad Cat Crew, Cassius Fouler, Entes, Jay Shells, Kremen, ME, Miss Me, Mr. Toll, Nick Walker, Oly, Pesimo, and Smile You Are Beautiful.

Cassius Fouler (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Oly (photo © Jaime Rojo)

With no air conditioner in her apartment, Laticia was force to do her writing in the nude, which actually was okay with her. Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. Toll. I’m telling you, it’s so hot you could fry an egg on the street! Sunny side up please. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Laverne found that her new summer ensemble was surprisingly breezy as she picked up the telephone. Ned looked up guiltily and pretended not to have been staring. Smile You Are Beautiful (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nick Walker (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kremen. Like a Fish Out of Water. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

It was like you could see the entire city inside of him, just beneath his skin. He stared at me dead-eyed and said, “I own these streets.” Kremen. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jay Shells (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Me. You heard it. Rock it!  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown. Kaleidoscopic Collage (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Entes y Pesimo in Germany (photo © Entes y Pesimo)

Entes y Pesimo in Germany (photo © Entes y Pesimo)

Bad Cat Crew (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Miss Me does a tribute to Billie Holiday’s song “Strange Fruit”, reminding us of the racism that is part of the American legacy. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


Lady Liberty as native American. Miss Me (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Native American and superhero. Miss Me (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled (photo © Jaime Rojo)

* Lyrics above from “Summer in the City” by the Lovin’ Spoonful. #1 this week in August 1966

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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!

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Labrona and Other and Hot Summer Freights

“… when we had nothing to worry about except finding more trains to paint.”

Painting trains seems older than horses, but of course that can’t be true. Outside of public transportation trains, which have been largely free of graffiti since the late 80s, the lust for hopping freights still runs deep for some. Like the current romantic fixation that many bars and rock bands and suspender-wearing, handlebar moustache-baring cads have for a hand hewn old-timey world they never lived in, some Street Artists still have a forlorn longing for the simpler freight bombing of yesteryear. Before streaming surveillance, cell-phones, Snooki.

Labrona and Other (photo © Labrona)

Like migrant workers and hobos during the American dustbowl, some artists opt for the screeching low-cost traveling option of hopping freights across the country for a little paintcation – intrepidly forgoing comfort and regular meals and risking occasional close-misses with fate and dodgy dudes with irregular agendas. It’s like a rite of passage, like starring in your own old Western movie. It’s like putting your work up on Flickr, except all the Internet wires are thick heavy steel rails and your page is a rusty rectangular 100 ton boxcar.  Also, images take longer to refresh.

Labrona and Other (photo © Labrona)

For Labrona and Other aka Troy Lovegates the whole weighty freight topic is an exercise in nostalgia; now that everyday life has been getting in the way and they’ve been developing professionally as artists. But there are occasional exceptions, including these recent images that give you a taste of how art on freights has been updated lately.

Labrona says, “Other and I have been painting trains together since the mid 90s. I can’t believe it’s been that long. Frigg, we are getting old. These days we are both busy and located in different cities and don’t get to paint together anymore all that much. Getting to spend a week together painting trains was an amazing blast from the past that brought me back to the days before art shows, traveling, studios, careers, bills and responsibility. – Back to days of painting for the fun of it when we had nothing to worry about except finding more trains to paint.”

Labrona and Other (photo © Labrona)

Labrona and Other (photo © Labrona)

Labrona and Other (photo © Labrona)

Labrona and Other (photo © Labrona)

 

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Fun Friday 08.10.12

Happy hot sticky Friday live from New York! Lots of cool stuff on the street and in the exhibition spaces this weekend – just bring a water bottle. Here are some of our picks for you on BSA.

1. Détournement, Carlo McCormick at Jonathan Levine (NYC)
2. Chris Stain and Joe Iurato at Mighty Tanaka (BKLN)
3. Peeta Solo at ArTicks (Amsterdam)
4. “You & Me” – Low Brow’s Second Group Show (BKLN)
5. Miss Van at Copro Gallery “Wild at Heart” (Santa Monica)
6. Part2Ism “New Horizons & Future Love Songs” at Red Gallery (London)
7. “Who’z Got Game!” ? at Sacred Gallery (NYC)
8. Numskull ,”Dance Like a Video, Sting Like a Gif” at Mishka (BKLN)
9. “Primeveal” group show Carmichael Gallery (LA)
10. Futura Live Painting  (Richmond, VA)
11. KFC Loves The Gays with John Goodman (Video)

 

Détournement, Carlo McCormick at Jonathan Levine (NYC)

Carlo McCormick, Paper Magazine Senior Editor and NYC cultural intuitor, is guest curator at the Jonathan Levine Gallery with a show titled “Détournement: Signs of the Times” Carlo has assembled an interesting list of artists to tell his story with the works of AIKO, Dan Witz, David Wojnarowicz, Dylan Egon, Eine, Ilona Granet, Jack Pierson, John Law (Jack Napier), Leo Fitzpatrick, Mark Flood, Martin Wong, Max Rippon (RIPO), Mike Osterhout, Posterboy, Ron English, Shepard Fairey + Jamie Reid, Steve Powers (ESPO), TrustoCorp, Will Boone and Zevs.

Mining a vein that has been here in front of us all the time, the composition of the selected works reveals a powerful undertone about how we engage and communicate with our artwork, and hi-jack the messaging of others. Says McCormick, “We do not need to follow these signs, we need to make our own so as to find a way out of the mess we are in.”

It’s also one of the few shows that seamlessly blends Street Art and non-street art practices without needing to draw a distinction for its own sake. This show is now open to the public.

Posterboy (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Chris Stain and Joe Iurato at Mighty Tanaka (BKLN)

Tonight at Mighty Tanaka Gallery in DUMBO the inevitable pairing of Street Artists Chris Stain and Joe Iurato finally takes place. With a show titled “Deep in the Cut” these two stencil artists will bring the knives out for the love of art and the perfection of their craft. Style and mannerism distinguish the differences between these two, and Stain has been at it much longer with a lot of work on the street, but metaphor and empathy to the human condition is the overlap in these guys work. Grab the F train to DUMBO and come see what new common ground emerges from this combination.

Chris Stain. An old all time favorite on the streets of Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Joe Iurato for Fountain Art Fair 2012 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Peeta Solo at ArTicks (Amsterdam)

Italian Graffiti and Fine Artist Peeta has been writing his tag on walls, trains and many other surfaces since 1993. Like a few of his generation who have been stretching graff style past it’s outer limits and morphing it with abstraction, his work has slowing gelled into it’s own distinctive style. He focuses his lettering and his tag by feeding it through Chinese and Islamic calligraphy as a departure from the traditional Latin and Greek lettering. A collaborator of New Yorks RWK collective, he resides in Venice and tonight opens his solo show in Amsterdam at the ArTicks Gallery.

Peeta in Brooklyn with fellow RWK Chris. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

“You & Me” – Low Brow’s Second Group Show (BKLN)

The Low Brow Artique Gallery in Brooklyn has decided to enter the matchmaking business and Saturday their second show titled “You & Me” artfully combines the work of two at a time. While many of these artists have worked collaboratively on the street in the past, crossing freely between sanctioned and unsanctioned Street Art and graffiti, the results of merging their styles and techniques always creates new creatures with the combined DNA. Sometimes it’s a mutt, and sometimes it is purebred brilliance. Artistic couplings here include: Cash4 & Smells, Chris & Veng (RWK), EKG & Dark Clouds, Matt Siren & Fenix, OCMC & This Is Awkward, Royce Bannon & Russell King, and Veng & Sofia Maldonado.

Sofia Maldonado and Veng collaboration. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cash4 and Smells collaboration. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Smells and Cash4 on the streets of Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Miss Van at Copro Gallery “Wild at Heart” (Santa Monica)

Miss Van, the French Street Artist and fine artist has a new solo show “Wild at Heart” in Santa Monica, California this Saturday at the Copro Gallery and the ladies are again strutting their stuff across her rich canvasses. Painting since the age of 18 Miss Van has chosen her appearances carefully while being very active within the smaller pool of female Street Artists, maintaining a continous presence with her unique doll-characters, a rich color palette and plenty of erotica.

Miss Van was included in the now famous “Art in the Streets” exhibition on April 2011 at MoCA Los Angeles.. April 2011. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Also happening this weekend:

Part2Ism has a new solo show “New Horizons & Future Love Songs” at the Red Gallery in London, UK and it is now open to the general public. Click here for more details on this show.

Wanna know “Who’z Got Game!” ? Head over to the Sacred Gallery for this group exhibition opening today in Manhattan. Click here for more details on this show.

Numskull will “Dance Like a Video, Sting Like a Gif” at Mishka tonight in Brooklyn. Click here for more details on this show.

“Primeveal” a group exhibition including Emol, Stinkfish and Zio Ziegler opens tomorrow night at the Carmichael Gallery in Culver City, CA. Click here for more details on this show.

Futura will paint live in Richmond, Virginia this Saturday.

Screen Shot from Futura’s Hennessy NYC Video.

Master Graffiti Artist and fine artist Leonard “FUTURA” is touring the country to promote this project with a spirit maker and this Friday he will stop in Richmond, Virgina where he will paint live on a canvas inside the ABC Store located at 101 North Thompson Street. The live painting will commence at 2:00 pm.  It is a rare opportunity to catch Futura in action.

A recent ad featuring Futura for this campaign (not a sponsor)

KFC Loves The Gays with John Goodman

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Cooper Cole Gallery Presents: Maya Hayuk Solo Exhibition (Toronto, Canada)

Maya Hayuk

Maya Hayuk (photo courtesy of the gallery)

Maya Hayuk is a muralist, painter, photographer, printmaker, video artist and musician. From her large-scale installations to small works on paper, her obsession with symmetry and nourishing color play out in what might be views from the Hubble Telescope, airbrushed nail art, Mexican woven blankets, Ukrainian Easter eggs, chandeliers, mandalas, Rorschach tests and/ or holograms. Her work has been exhibited and published extensively internationally in galleries, museums, on the streets and in various printed and electronic media. Hayuk lives and works in Brooklyn, New York.

COOPER COLE
1161 Dundas Street West, Toronto ON, M6J1X3, Canada
info@coopercolegallery.com / 647 347 3316  / www.coopercolegallery.com
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