After two very successful New York shows, Brooklyn born artist DAIN, makes his first solo show in europe at the Lebenson Gallery in Paris. His love for old Hollywood glam is evident in all his work. This, along with his roots in graffiti, create a gritty yet classy street art style . ” BORN AGAIN” will bring back to life an era long gone..”
Inside of two minutes, Retna puts the lie to some of the street’s arguments about the legitimacy of these three routes that the creative spirit can follow. Turns out that walls only divide.
Street Artist NohJColey keeps bringing it, even if you don’t know what “it” is.
The quality of line and rendering continues in this 12′ x 8′ large metaphor that incorporates a human figure with other symbols of explosives in some sort of race against time. If the missing fingers are any indication of this guy’s safety record, you may want to run.
An entirely hand painted wheat-paste of this size is fairly rare in a street art vernacular that looks increasingly mass produced, but a small number of the new generation are distinguishing themselves from the pack in this way – QRST, Gaia, Cake, Over Under, and others come to mind. This is not simply a linotype that’s been inked and printed – there is only one of these and yet a strong rainstorm could crumple it. It’s fragility in a hostile street environment makes it even more curious, and makes the viewer feel like they have experienced something individual, impermanent, irreplicable.
Thematically, this Street Artist never makes it easy for you. His pieces can feel like a frustrating riddle, but the level of industry shows that he’s not simply doodling; there is a message or two or five – maybe intended only for the artist. But in the street art world messages are often shrouded and left for you to determine. Even one of Street Art’s older relatives, graffiti, can be so stylized that only the writers’ peers can decode it. Ah, well. When it comes to the work of NohJColey, we’ll keep listening.
Urban Planning is a soaring and shiny term hinting at civic consideration that is sometimes employed in the sales mix by regal real estate developers and audacious architects eager to win approval for new projects in the modern city. Sustainable Development and Urban Renewal, somewhat less glamorous and less sexy for press conferences, actually take into account the needs of all citizenry and are the province of a thankless few policy wonks taking the long view of a liveable city.
In parts of cities that suffer from decay and lack of investment, adapting urban renewal initiatives can incorporate abandoned housing stock and match it with the needs of a population, strengthening and enriching a city at a foundational level. For a number of years Street Artists in the slums of São Paulo have used their art on the street to draw attention to the plight of people they feel are overlooked and ignored when urban plans are being laid.
In this brief video, Street Artist Mundano draws our attention to an abandoned hotel in São Paulo that is home to hundreds of families who, although at risk in decaying conditions, consider it a welcome alternative to being homeless. The video, directed by Rodrigo Piza Levy is a simple statement by artists whose eyes are open, punctuated by beautiful children and all they represent.
Our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Hellbent, Faro, Bast, El Sol 25,Vending Van, Faile, Maiden Hell, Over Under, Shin Shin, QRST, and Royce Bannon
Royce Bannon is online this month at The Source with an interview with LA sunshine muralist Mr. Chor Boogie. The very personable Boogie talks about his work and his historical influences. If you look further into his copious body of work, it reveals a seamless relationship between his technical abilities, his emotional life and his spiritual view of the world.
Gifted in the art of self expression, Chor explains his work like this,
“I describe my style as the Omega Abstract Expressionism of A Street Romantic Voodoo with Emotional Landscapes of A Melodic Symphony through Color Therapy: 50% mind + 50% heart = 100% body + 100% soul = 200% spirit +an infinite universe= A Chor Boogie creation. See, when it comes to style I believe in originality and do not consider my work Graffiti. It’s art; I am a artist; and when it comes to the culture I would just love to see cats creating their own ways, meanings, and philosophies behind their work instead of following the flock… hence the fact of being original.”
DRAW is the largest contemporary drawing exhibition to emerge from New York City. It is a must-see art exhibition featuring original drawings by more than 350 artists influenced by the illustration, graffiti, tattoo, literature, design, animation, skateboard, music, psychedelic art worlds. The show is a tribute to the often-underrated but fundamental building block of visual and graphic art: the drawing.
Artists whose original works are in the show include : Chris Johanson, Terence Koh , Dan Colen , Aurel Schmidt , Benjamin Cho , DAZE , R. Crumb, Alex Grey, HR Giger, Clive Barker, Robert Williams, Mark Ryden, Wes Lang , Eric White , Rich Jacobs, Barry McGee , Rick Griffin, Ron English, Neck Face, Tim Biskup, Ed Templeton, Benjamin Cho, Mark Gonzales, Jack Rudy, Derek Hess, David Byrne, Mark Dean Veca, Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance), Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) , Kevin Long/Spanky, Hank Williams III, WK Interact, Jose Manuel Schmill, Shawn Barber, Doze Green, Kevin Llewellyn, Bast, Tomokazu Matsuyama, Greg Lamarche, Kostas Seremetis, Swoon, Tom Sachs, and hundreds more.
After four years of gallery exhibitions, DRAW will have it’s museum debut at Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico, one of MexicoCity’s finest museums. The opening is on June 19, 2010 and will exhibit through August 15, 2010. To coincide with the exhibition, the museum will be publishing a book for worldwide distribution to contemporary museum bookstores around the world. Carlo McCormick, one of the most respected art writers and curators in the U.S. will be writing an introductory essay for the book.
DRAW is curated by Erik Foss and Curse Mackey with guest curators Tim Barber, Miguel Calderon, Lisa Lebofsky, Jacaebor Kastor, Justin Giarla, Jamie O’Shea, Matt Campbell, Damian Weinkrantz, Les Barany, Sto, D* Face, Jonathan Levine, Tony Cox, and Anonymous Gallery Founder and Director, Joseph Ian Henrikson.
The big sticking points for most people were Number 2, which a lot of people guessed was Os Gemeos, and Number 4 which some thought was Neckface or Royce Bannon.
But don’t feel bad if you didn’t get them all – nobody did. Our winner is Sandrine from Montreal, Quebec, who was the first person to guess 7 out of 8 correctly (she guessed #4 was Neckface). Congratulations to Sandrine and your original and signed piece from Chris of Robots Will Kill will be in the mail Monday!
Thanks everybody who participated. We’ll have another contest soon!
Yo homey, still doing a Snoopy dance on the subway this morning because your favorite Street Art blog was up on HuffingtonPost.com yesterday. Arianna Huffington is one of the few straightforward truthtellers in a storm of darkness year after year, and this is like when it is your turn at Double Dutch and Malcolm McLaren happens to be walking up your block. Okay, big difference is I don’t wear striped red disco shorts and grew up on a farm upstate and never heard of Brownsville or Buffalo Girls till “Duck Rock” came out —but otherwise it’s totally the same yo.
After leaving the sight of the first mural for the Living Walls Conference I found bugs pressed in between the pages of my notebook; these bugs came in addition to bugs in my ears, up and down my legs and arms and threatening to fly in my mouth while visiting the wall. The almost 100 foot long and 35 foot tall wall painted by Doodles backs up to a wooded area on the BeltLine lovingly called “the jungle” by the people who assisted him and came to watch as he crawled on top of a three level scaffolding to paint, sometimes sporting a respirator.
This “jungle” is a wooded area with vines dangling from the treetops and creates a nice seclusion from the cold buildings and shopping center that surrounds the wall, making it nearly forgettable that it is yards away from a barbwire fence and the intersection of Ralph David Abernathy and White Street in the West End.
The contradictory locations that sit on either side of the first wall is fitting for a mural which functions with so many ideas that are both in contrast to each other but also in close proximity. Doodles developed his theme over time, letting the idea grow as he worked. The direction of the wall changed while the artist was on a short break from painting. Flooded with constant news of the BP oil spill he decided that it was an issue he wanted to cover in his piece for Living Walls. Doodles abandoned the idea of painting a man shooting an arrow at the moon and developed the idea of a beautiful man with sinister intentions. The man, nicknamed “Poseidon”, wraps around the large warehouse holding a large trident with a snake weaving through the middle spoke, creating the illusion of a money sign. The black trident penetrates the man’s abdomen, which resembles the ocean; in this way, the trident mimics the oil leak.
Through out the work folk art style designs are infused with signs that represent the Poseidon figure’s power; Doodles said the single eye represents a God-like power. These signs of power coexist with symbols of the oil spill, like a wail’s tail that resembles an oil well.
Despite the heavy subject mater, there is simplicity to the wall. Not to distract from the message of the oil spill, Doodles left it up to the logos and symbols to speak for the art without distraction of a multitude of colors. In this way, it is the logos and the imagery that stands out in the piece, most importantly the BP flower on the Poseidon figure’s face.
Doodles said that he liked the idea of using the universal language of logos and symbols to convey his message.
Doodles is a 22 year old who smiles often, and has a sweet easygoing nature. Originally from an island off the cost of Washington state. He went to art school for a short time before hoping trains and hitchhiking. He has been working on his art for four years now. Doodles’ piece is on the corner of Ralph David Abernathy and White Street adjacent to BeltLine. The BeltLine is a 22-mile path incorporating railway, trails and paths that once functioned in the mid-twentieth century and has since been reworked to feature public and interactive art.
Doodles work is the first Living Walls mural for the BeltLine Project.
Here’s a Video from Atlanta: Another Street Artist Opinion on BP
And Finally, this New Sticker on the Streets in NYC
BSA’s GAIA Interview Lands on HUFFINGTON POST Arts Page
The Huffington Post, whom we adore as a role model of entertaining journalistic excellence, featured our interview with street artist GAIA on their new ARTS section today. Thank you most sincerely! Now we’re off to the street to do some cartwheels and playing in the fire hydrant.
Local Family Business Showcases Artists Of All Stripes
You won’t find a more excited community-minded, artist-loving dude than Joe Franquinha, who is the second generation owner of a hardware store in Williamsburg/Bushwick, Brooklyn. Crest Hardware, founded in 1962 on this same block by Joe’s dad and uncle, is the hardware store for the multitude of artists who have moved into the neighborhood over the past decade or so.
Nine years ago they had the first Crest art show in the store itself using hardware materials to make and inspire the art. The eclectic and frequently humorous show drew attention to the bursting artist community and grew larger each year. In 2008 ago Joe expanded the show to include musicians and DJs from the neighborhood and started calling it “Crest Fest.”
This year the festival has 140 artists, 15 DJ’s and 8 bands. Joe says, “There is an abundance of musical talent in this area as well as art and I wanted to take the opportunity to showcase them too. It’s been getting progressively bigger, and it’s always free to attend. That’s the main thing. We want people to be able to enjoy it, come on in, have fun and take a day off and absorb culture in so many of it’s facets.”
Joe took a few minutes from installing art to talk about the show that left the white box for the tool box:
BSA:I see a lot of hardware of course, but do you also sell art supplies?
Joe Franquinha: Spray paint is definitely an option I’ve been weighing recently. I think probably in the next year or so our spray paint section will probably expand, including companies like Montana, maybe something like IronClad 1. But Montana seems to be what is on most people’s radar. Then it’s a matter of them figuring out which one they want, the Spanish one or the German one.
BSA: Do you have any people who do street art in this show? Joe Franquinha: Yeah there are a couple of people – there is Peat Wolleager from St. Louis, he goes by Stensoul. General Howe has a piece in the show and I’m excited for people to see the piece he made just for Crest Hardware. He’s doing some really cool work so I’m proud to have him on board. We still have a couple of days for people to be doing installing up to Saturday. (editors note: while the complete artist list was not available at press time, there are a number of street artists in the show including Royce Bannon, Celso, among others)
BSA: Why do think it is important to show the work of local artists? Joe Franquinha:One hand really has to wash the other as far as supporting your local artist goes. Artists shop at my store to get their materials and if I have the ability to help promote their art and their passion side by side with mine, I’m gonna do it.
But it is fun and artists are here every day in the store and in the neighborhood. They eat at these restaurants, they shop in these stores, they frequent these bars… so to be able to give them a chance outside a gallery show to showcase their work, not only to their fellow artists but maybe someone who has no idea about their work …. It brings your work to a whole different demographic. If they are a street artist, maybe someone has only seen their work out on the street. To be able to show people that the artist is capable of also putting their fine art work into a show – it can bring it to a whole other level for them and opens up people’s minds to different experiences.
Street artist Duece Seven entered this door in last year’s art show (photo courtesy Crest)
BSA: Do you have any favorite street artists off the top of your head? Joe Franquinha:Off the top of my head, I really love ROA’s work. I think it’s nice clean work – it feels like pictures ripped out of animal anatomy books. Like old books made of pulp paper that feel like they could crumble. But the animals he does are redrawn at this incredibly magnified size so I really dig his work a lot.
C215 is another artist who I really admire. I also really admire his world traveling capabilities and he just gets up everywhere he possibly can. I was in Morocco, a small town called Esoria right on the water and I was in this square and about 50 yards across from me I could see this stencil on the wall. It was kind of blurry from where I was and I was curious to see whose it was and sure enough it was his work. So it is pretty cool to see his work everywhere I go.
A very entertaining stop animation film made for this years art show in the store. Joe would like to thank Anthony Ferrara, James Peach, Gustavo Roman & Buck Merritt for their creativity, energy and support. You’ll also notice some street art by Chris Stain, Skewville…. who else?
BSA:Is there is a piece in the show this year that you are very excited about, either due to it’s complexity, or a new technique that was used?
Joe: Yeah every medium is different, and it’s not that I love one more than I love the other but I also have my personal preferences. In a show like this, it’s not just about hardware because it is in a store that has been here nearly 50 years, a lot of the people who are in the show aren’t just making their work for a hardware store, they’re making it for us, the Crest people. So one piece in particular that I’m excited to showcase is by Chris Collicot – when you look up close at this piece it’s just a bunch of washers and screws and you step back about 20-30 feet, and because it’s a perspective piece, it’s a picture of my father. To know that my dad struck a chord with this artist when he moved here from LA and he came into the shop looking for some help and he found something more than that. He found a place that he can rely on. So that is one of the more special pieces for me.
Street artists Peru Ana Ana Peru also participated in last years show (image courtesy Crest)
SPECIAL SILENT AUCTION at Crest Art Show (In Store)
NOMADE Piece to Benefit Free Arts NYC
Street Artist Nomade has donated this piece to be silent auctioned during the Crest Art Show. 100% of the proceeds go to the programs of Free Arts NYC, which serves NYC kids from disadvantaged backgrounds with arts and mentorship programs. Drop by the store to place a bid before July 31, 2010. Auction is in conjunction with BrooklynStreetArt.com
For general information regarding Crest Hardware Art Show and/or Crest Fest please contact Info@CrestHardwareArtShow.com
Chris Stain (detail) Image Courtesy of Leo Kesting
Leo Kesting Gallery Presents:
Dead Letter Playground:
A Collection of Contemporary Street Art
June 24 – July 18, 2010
Opening Night Reception: Thur, June 24 from 7-10pm
812 Washington St (at Gansevoort) NY, NY 10014
8th Ave A, C, E and L train Stop or 1, 2, 3 to 14th St
Tue – Sat 11am – 7pm, Sun 1 – 6pm
Admission is free to the public
Phone: 917-650-3760 / 917-292-8865
http://www.leokesting.com
Having left the gallery model for free form street installations, a narrative of artwork is grouped and reconstructed in a reverse white wall format late June at the Leo Kesting Gallery. The collection of prints, illustrations, paintings and installations takes its name Dead Letter Playground as a reference to the tactile paper quality of most works and the open letter format that street art has embraced as building dialog with the public.
”This collection adheres to the gallery’s principles of showcasing the most contemporary urban figurative works. These artists alter their surrounding environments, using public install as catalyst for positive reform,” states gallery co-director David Kesting. ”In contrast to dead letters not reaching their readers, these artworks embrace a playground of viewer’s eyes and an earnest public wanting more.”
“Publicly placed works last only as long as the elements or the public allow,” explains John Leo gallery co-director, “Dead Letter Playground is an opportunity to see these works in an urban-gallery environment.”
Dead letter Playground features the work of Carolyn A’Hearn, Chris Stain, Clown Soldier, Dain, DickChicken, Doze Green, Elbowtoe, Elle, Ellis G, Faro, Gaia, Head Hoods, Imminent Disaster, Jen.Lu, Jordan Seiler, Know Hope, Laura Meyers, Lee Trice, Love Me, Matt Siren, Mister Never, Nicola Verlato, Peru Ana Ana Peru, Phil Lumbang, Shark Toof, Anthony Michael Sneed and Sweet Toof.
Leo Kesting invites you to join us as we unveil Dead Letter Playground with an opening night reception for the artists on Thursday, June 24 from 7:00 – 10:00pm. The work will be on display until July 18.
Leo Kesting Gallery launched in 2003 and developed an aggressive campaign to introduce new figurative artists to collectors and art supporters. Leo Kesting offers the art viewing public an opportunity to see forthcoming talents in an intimate setting where undiscovered, cutting-edge artists are presented to the contemporary art scene.
Leo Kesting Gallery is located at 812 Washington Street at the corner of Gansevoort in Manhattan’s Meat Packing District. A, C, E or L train to 14th Street. Summer gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 11am until 7pm and Sunday 1-6pm, the gallery will be closed on Mondays until after the Labor Day weekend
Leo Kesting Gallery gallery is located at 812 Washington St New York NY 10014
phone: 917-650-3760 at the corner of Ganesvoort St
8th Ave 14th st A,C, E and L train Stop
This one caught our eye for the merging of classic graffiti nerve, blunt style execution, sentimental velvety roses, inspirational verses, …Read More »
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