Working sunburned through the unforgiving Georgia heat and rain, the two international artists unified the wall by using the same vibrant colors; Ripo and Remed hand painted alternating letters in the two artists’ styles to spell out “Poem Rider,” an anagram of their two names.
It was amazing to watch them work, how they could eyeball off sections of the wall to make the letters even and create a wall with so much movement and depth by hand; they are both have amazing attention to detail and were able to see things that I was blind to. The artists utilized the entire wall, even manipulating an expired White Brothers Auto Parts sign for their signature. Ripo and Remed then continued to flow their artwork on to the adjacent wall, completely transforming the neglected area.
Unable to access the wall directly, Feral was hidden behind a barbwire fence, surrounded by a cluster of damaged cars in the parking lot of an adjacent body shop.
I heard I wouldn’t be able to get back there unless I wanted to be the lunch of a “junkyard” dog. I felt like I was in a Jim Croce song in this strange setting for Feral Child, whose first impression is so peaceful.
The dog wasn’t the only hurdle that Feral had to jump; the Georgia heat cooks like a convection oven, the blistering heat comes from all sides. After half a day outside baking, Feral’s cans were too hot to touch and risked explosion. He was forced to bring them indoors and chill them in a refrigerator before taking them back to his wall in a cooler.
Jenna and Jayne spent the whole weekend working their phones, chasing after artists, getting soaked in the rain, dancing and taking in the Hotlanta air – which was filled with laughter, art, spray fumes and joy. They couldn’t resist the charms and the energy of New York native street artist Gaia. Here Jayne explains, in her own words how she was inspired by watching Gaia enjoy the festivities and by seeing him busy at work. Jenna captured with her lens the product of all that creativity.
When I first met Gaia he was tearing the dance floor a new one. With all the charisma and energy of the three Beastie Boys wrapped into one, Gaia is a force of nature. He is a captivating story teller and has my vote for “best person to get locked up with”.
Equally as brilliant, but on the other side of the spectrum, is Gaia’s artwork. Where he is a lightning bolt of spontaneity, his artwork is thoughtful and serious. His mural for Living Walls is a beautiful homage to Atlanta and the people who once lived here and to the Indian land this once was. Jayne McGinn
Jenna Duffy and Jayne McGinn have been chasing Street Art in Atlanta and taking in the whole carnival of art that is The Living Walls Conference. Jenna is an experienced fashion photographer and she has been capturing the amazing vibe with her camera while Jayne tell us in her own words what’s the mood for Saturday nights’ Eyedrum Opening. Here is their first dispatch exclusively for BSA:
Currently, Eyedrum, home of the Living Wall’s Gallery Show, and the adjacent loft where the artists are staying, has transformed into what one artist called “a summer camp meets a wedding, meets a reality show”. Street artists from around the world blew up air mattresses and slept slumber party style, painting, working, and hanging out into dawn with a collective of volunteers.
The long white hallway in Eyedrum became the artists’ free-for-all, each given pick and creative freedom to stake claim on any spot not taken. The enormity of Living Walls is evident here; once an eyesore, it is now almost completely covered with pieces large and small. Gaia, Greg Mike, Chris Bakay, Marcos Sueno, Never, Nasdaq, Hugh Leeman and other artists have thrown up murals and wheat pastes. The ultimate goal to cover the hallway is awe-inducing, but when executed the collage of local and international street artists will be an ocular feast.
The long awaited Living Walls event in Atlanta officially begins today, even though 30 street artists have arrived over the last week and begun work in earnest. We’ve been hearing some amazing stories – and of course they’re ALL TRUE. Stay toooooned for special reporting from peeps on the ground and on the walls. Check out the Hellbent below from somebody’s blurry Iphone. HELL YEAH! Not a bad pic actually.
It can be a harrowing and a strange trip that some graff/street artists take, and here’s a new video that gives an intimate inside look at some of Eine’s journey from tagging trains to making what might be described as fine art. Just last month a piece by the British Street Artist was given to President Obama by the Prime Minister on a visit to Washington. “So it’s been a weird day today,” says a July 20th posting on Ben Eine’s website. “David Cameron has given one of my paintings to President Obama.”
A stop motion video comprised of 2,600 photos of 20 year old Morgan Tespsic doing public performance art that otherwise may be called exhibitionism, if the locations weren’t so bucolic and unpopulated.
An exhibition and conference focused on street art and its role in engaging public space.
We are bringing in the works of an international selection of artists who typically make use of the streets to showcase their work. We have also sought artists that re-appropriate the public realm, attempting to take charge of their media space.
Artists will be asked, along with submitting artwork, to present some form of documentation of their other works as well as their process in order to illustrate via pictures, video, sketches, words, etc, the scale and context in which the artist typically works in public space.
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
Street Artists GAIA, KNOW HOPE, SWAMPY, CHRIS STAIN, FERAL CHILD among others to show work, Jordan Seiler to speak.
An exhibition and conference focused on street art and its role in engaging public space.
We are bringing in the works of an international selection of artists who typically make use of the streets to showcase their work. We have also sought artists that re-appropriate the public realm, attempting to take charge of their media space.
An exhibition and conference focused on street art and its role in engaging public space.
They are calling for street artists to submit posters with no constraint on quantity or size.
Public Walls
Art work will be put up on various walls around the city of Atlanta.
All posters will be thoroughly documented with all artists credited.
Events will be scheduled locally around the city of Atlanta in order to give the public notice about the international poster exhibition which has taken place.
Deadline for Submission: 07.13.2010
From Street Artis GAIA on Vandalog: The artwork of 18 influential street artists from around the world will food the streets of Atlanta as part of a coordinated effort to engage the public via street art. Living Walls, The City Speaks, a conference set to take place on the weekend of August 13, 2010 at Atlanta’s Eyedrum Gallery, has put out an international call for artists to submit posters to three locations on three continents. These posters will ultimately be sent to Atlanta to be wheat-pasted on public walls and at Eyedrum. With many more artists expected to take part in this event worldwide, come August, Atlanta’s urban landscape will have a more vibrant, international feel. – READ MORE at VANDALOG.
So far the lineup includes the following artists and speakers:
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
by Jayne McGinn
photo © Jenna Duffy
