Dalek (James Marshall) and Buff Monster host their second collaborative exhibition in as many years at GR Gallery in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, sandwiched between the high art of the Bowery Museum and the hungry and homeless people of the Bowery Street. A perfect snapshot of inequality in modern New York, the neighborhood has not lost its reputation in the last 10 years as a place for those desperate city folk with no means – and those city folk who need to collect art for their homes.
Here we find the escapist vocabulary of cartoons in both artist’s collections. Character-driven avatars of the street/mural/canvas painters themselves, the true emotions and predilections of Dalek’s “Space Monkey” and Buff Monster’s “Melty Misfits” are hidden under the sugary gloss of pop and sharply defined graphic styles.
The influences are sometimes overlapping, but each takes their tips from slightly opposing signposts on the commercially cartooned metroscape – scenes of cosmic war and ice cream and cleverly digital labyrinths cavorting in the clouds floating around the many mansions of Murakami and Harajuku.
The 30 pieces, including paintings, works on paper, site-specific installations, are an afternoon’s respite from the roar of traffic and construction and grey particulate matter flying in the air outside, a serene laboratory for experimenting with new creative impulses and fantastic narratives, brightly lit. It is a combined wit, a shared attraction to a “Surface Fetish.”
Dalek and Buff Monster exhibition Surface Fetish is currently on view at GR Gallery until November 17th. Click HERE for details.
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
PROJECT M/19 | LONELINESS AND OTHER FALSE FRIENDS URBAN NATION has launched an exhibition to address mental health concerns and issues in today's society. The exhibit was prompted by feedback from...
Mikel Parera. Zosen. Plaza de las 3 Xemeneies. Barcelona. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena) In a bit of cynical irony on the street, creative director/UX designer Mikel Parera teams up with this clust...
It’s a cathedral of characters, this abandoned furniture factory forty kilometers outside of Barcelona. Cartoons, illustrations, portraits are everywhere; a curious collection of aerosol spray pieces ...
Lleida, Catalunya-based illustrator and muralist Lily Brik goes for the romantic, the emotional, and traditional language and imagery in her commercial work as well as on festival walls. Here in Barce...
Stinging nettle (Urtica dioica) is a staple in herbal medicine and has been since ancient times. Egyptians used stinging nettle to treat arthritis and lower back pain, while Roman troops rubbed it on...