California

C.A.V.E. Gallery Presents: Fall Group Exhibition (Venice Beach, CA)

September 19, 2012 , , , , , ,

CAVE Gallery

C.A.V.E. Gallery Presents

FALL GROUP EXHIBITION  

PARTICIPATING ARTISTS
YOUNG CHUN * PAT PERRY * RADICAL! * BRANDON BOYD
MEAR ONE * CRAWW * MAX NEUTRA * J. SHEA
RESTITUTION PRESS * NOM KINNEAR KING * JOHN PARK
CHERRI WOOD * HANS HAVERON * KYLE HUGHES-ODGERS aka CREEPY
BAYO * SHAUNNA PETERSON * CODAK * L CROSKEY
KEN GARDUNO * SOPHIE BASTIEN * JoKa * RAFAEL DELGADO

 

OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday, September 22nd,  6 – 10pm   

 

On view thru October 13

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941 Geary Gallery Presents: ROA “Dominant Species” (San Francisco, CA)

September 11, 2012 , , , , ,

ROA

ROA in Brooklyn Summer 2012 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

941 Geary is pleased to present “Dominant Species,” making San Francisco the latest home to ROA’s talent for the first time since his solo show at White Walls last year. “Dominant Species” will open Saturday, September 15th, from 6-9pm, with the exhibition free and open to the public for viewing through November 3rd, 2012.

Belgian-born artist, ROA, is known for his striking, and expressive depictions of animals, often stretching to multistoried heights. Even when not massive in scale, ROA’s animals are massive in impact, created with vivid details and the keen eye of a naturalist. Through a focus on local species, ROA reintroduces species that have been forced to the outskirts of urban areas back to the land they once inhabited freely. With this selection of creatures natural to the area, ROA is able to create a powerful sense of intimacy between the viewer and the animals represented. ROA’s paintings often show multiple anatomical layers of the same representation. The work is interactive and the depicted animals can be manipulated by the viewer.

ROA cemented his reputation as one of the world’s most prolific and recognizable street artists by painting members of the animal kingdom throughout major cities of the world, including Mexico City, New York City, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Sydney and many more. His work has now become a global affair, reaching between the Andes and the coast of Chile, the Australian Outback, the African Savanna, the Asian tropic, the American prairie and back to the abandoned factories in the backyard of his hometown in Belgium.

ROA’s “Dominant Species” is his latest body of work created directly after his road trip from the East to the West of America. Driving through the states he experienced and observed a diversity of habitats and species, including the American eagle, the historic symbol of imperialism. Even the icon of the American country is endangered by nature’s most combative intruder: humans. “Dominant Species” refers to humanity aside the history of the States, from the Spanish conquest that consequentially, and brutally, changed the native life up to the contemporary human invasion of the landscape. Travelling throughout the tragically magical landscape of Northern Arizona, ROA was fascinated by the illustrative examples of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, seen in the paradox of the harmony of the Navajo with Mother Earth alongside the chaos of commercial feed lots, bear hunting, and landfills.

ROA’s site-specific process gives his art the ability to conform to the dimensions of a space and grow from within it, and 941 Geary will be entirely used by the artist to create his installation. “Dominant Species” will be constructed from found objects and salvaged materials, with the large-scale installation guided by a dystopian narrative and ideas of how civilization can run down the land it grew from. Aging wood, rusting metal and skeletal remains come together to remind us of the interrelated workings of our manmade cities and the natural world, with ROA’s mastery of anatomical form and beautiful renderings making these discarded objects something to value anew.

Event Information:

ROA: “Dominant Species”

Opening Reception September 15th, 2012, 6-9 pm

@ 941 Geary (www.941geary.com)

941 Geary St,

San Francisco, CA

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RERO Spells Trouble in Cali

September 8, 2012 , , , ,

Oh wait, did I say that all men are created equal and are endowed with certain unalienable rights?  Strike that. I meant all rich white straight men who own media, banks, oil, water, food and politicians. Now, can we get on with this?

RERO (photo © Fabien Castanier Gallery)

French Street Artist RERO has a unique “strike out” function to the text he applies to walls, one that draws your attention to their meaning, and simultaneously negates them in crisp mechanical fashion. The power of language is highlighted here more than the aesthetics of the painting, although it is all by hand. With irony, RERO is hearkening back to early Street Art/public art textualists like Barbara Kruger, Jenny Holzer, and later Cost/Revs, who let words stand on their own and on their ear, keeping you on your toes, on alert.

RERO (photo © Fabien Castanier Gallery)

RERO may be employing just enough insider jokes that reference modern life and computer language nomenclature to see if you are paying attention or  perhaps just to draw attention to his art and to the story he wants to tell.

WYSIWG.

SPAM.

LOADING PLEASE WAIT.

Tonight when his solo show opens at the Fabien Castanier Gallery in Studio City, CA a new wordsmith will have his say. Here are photos of his new wall in preparation for his show exclusively for BSA readers.

RERO (photo © Fabien Castanier Gallery)

RERO. Untitled (THE SYSTEM HAS FAILED)
Vintage book, mixed media with resin
20″ x 20″ 2012.  (photo © Heather Oakley/Fabien Castanier Gallery)

RERO “Image Not Available” opens tonight. Click here for further details.

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Shooting Gallery Presents: Ben Frost “See Inside Box For Details” (San Francisco, CA)

September 7, 2012 , , , , , ,

Ben Frost

 

Shooting Gallery is pleased to present Australian artist Ben Frost’s solo show “See Inside Box for Details,” opening Saturday, September 8th, from 7-11 pm. The exhibition will feature approximately

The exhibition is free and will be open to the public for viewing through September 29th, 2012.

12 paintings on canvas as well as paintings on found

packaging, such as pharmaceutical boxes, candy and cereal packaging.

The controversial painter and street artist will be showcasing a unique body of work,

critiquing our media-obsessed society and our loss of innocence through advertising.

Ben’s work subverts logos, icons and characters from popular culture and re-presents

them in startling and often confronting new ways.

“See Inside Box for Details,” aims to re-evaluate our understanding of product

advertising by juxtaposing unlikely and confronting elements into some of our most

loved and well known consumer icons.

Ben Frost confronts the conjoined twins of

capitalism and consumerism with striking compositions that present a chaotic look at a seedy nature underlining pop culture, presenting sex and violence in a glamorous role. Most unnerving of all is that that on first glance the work of Ben Frost may seem innocuous, filled with the bright palette and playful characters of childhood cartoons and sugary cereals.

With a series of paintings placed on found pharmaceutical and food packaging, Frost highlights the disingenuous

optimism of advertising. The innocence of familiar cartoon forms overlain on stark boxes of prescriptions pills like Morphine and Botox opens a discourse on the proliferation of prescriptions in modern culture and the morally-ambiguous stake pharmacology has in society’s welfare.

From the Artist:

Whether it takes the form of medicine to keep sickness at bay or highly-

-processed treats to keep you content in front of the television, our pre-packaged

lifestyles are sold to us in colorful and dynamic boxes.

I’ve been using the logos and design elements of product packaging for many years,

and it seemed a natural evolution to begin painting directly onto the packaging – to

introduce

subversive elements within what already exists as an object.

Double entendre and satirical word play is brought out in new readings of our favorite

and well known products i.e. the breakfast cereal Special K features a drug dazed rabbit

introduced to the packaging, Viagra and Cialis boxes juxtaposed with Mr. Burns, Pop

Tarts featuring Britney Spears and Whitney Houston and a series of confronting

paintings onto McDonalds fries boxes.

Since I began painting onto packages in 2011,

the branding and product titles seem to be more obvious in their possible double

meanings. Twinkies, Hamburger Helper, Vanilla Cupcakes, Dirty Rice, Cheese Nips

and Hot Tamales have all suggested new and twisted re-imaginings.

I source the objects from different sources, either directly off the shelves of

supermarkets, friends who are in the medical industry, trash cans and from people who

actually use the various medicines that are inside the boxes.

 

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White Walls Gallery Presents: RONE “Darkest Before the Dawn” (San Francisco, CA)

September 7, 2012 , , , , , ,

RONE

 

White Walls is pleased to present “Darkest Before the Dawn,” the first SF solo show of Melbourne-based artist Rone to follow his successful San Francisco debut in the “Young and Free” showcase of Australian street artists at 941 Geary in 2011. “Darkest Before the Dawn,” will feature works on canvas, brick, and paper, varying in size from 3’x2’ to large-scale works measuring over 6’x6’. The opening reception will be Saturday, September 8th, from 7-11pm, and the exhibition is free and open to the public for viewing through September 29th, 2012.

With the face of the same wide-eyed and sharp-featured woman starring in each portrait, Rone creates a modern legend. Separately, each piece is an autonomous work, existing through its own beauty, but when viewed together a narrative is opened, leaving us to wonder what led to the birth of this icon. In “Darkest Before the Dawn,” Rone tells us that his feature character stands as a symbol for the possibility of assimilating our worst moments into a new strength.

By incorporating a variety of techniques, Rone deliberately infuses each piece with the textures he readily encounters when working out in the streets. The build-up and deconstruction of multiple layers is a fluid, free flowing way of revealing a composition by letting it come about itself. The medley of patterns and textures embody the continuity of time passing, while the woman in the midst of it all personifies grace overcoming deterioration.

From the Artist:

“We all have moments in our lives that make us who we are. These may be both tragedies and great moments that change the way we see the world. ‘Darkest Before the Dawn’ explores the concept of our darkest moments will eventually become our strengths, told through stylized portraits of a modern heroine.

I am trying to tell this story with the textures I see on the street, hand painted signage, torn bill posters and the deteriorating walls that look like they could tell their own stories. Using a palette of muted colours inspired by the fading colours I saw in Miami & Cuba, I am trying to create a sense of 80’s when style was all that mattered.”

 

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Carmichael Gallery Presents: “Disambiguation” A Group Exhibition (Culver City, CA)

September 6, 2012 , , , , , , ,

Disambiguation

Sixeart (photo courtesy of the gallery)

Carmichael Gallery

Disambiguation

Carlos Mare, Rae Martini, Remi/Rough, Sixeart

Carmichael Gallery

5797 Washington Blvd

Culver City, CA 90232

September 8 – October 6, 2012

Opening reception: Saturday, September 8, 6-9pm.

Carmichael Gallery is pleased to present Disambiguation, a group exhibition featuring new works by Carlos Mare, Rae Martini, Remi/Rough and Sixeart. The exhibition will be on view in the Los Angeles gallery space from September 8 to October 6, 2012, with an opening reception on September 8 from 6-9pm.

The spirit of the street, the communities that are created and gathered therein, and the subsequent movements that are formed and fostered have assisted in setting the foundations for the work of the artists presented in Disambiguation. Years of experience sharing their vision in a public forum combined with daring experimentation in form and material has resulted in four exciting contemporary abstract interpretations of the traditional graffiti form.

New Yorker Carlos Mare captures the moving human form in both two and three-dimensional form. By applying his study of Modernist and Futurist masters Marcel Duchamp, Wilfredo Lam and Kazimir Malevich to his observations of the gestures and attitude of b-boy veterans such as Ken Swift, Mare has honed a practice that translates the patterns, rhythms and beats of dance and modernism into sculpture and drawing.

Italian painter Rae Martini is equally inspired by Futurism and its obsession with the machine. His formative past as a young graffiti artist translates into abstract works that emulate the grit and texture of the streets, often using fire and dirt to create the desired effect. The dual presence of intricately patterned layers and pure minimalism is achieved by a persistent process of adding to and substracting from the initial image, creating a surface reminiscent of a storied urban wall.

Attention to the formal elements of fine art, in particular that of Minimalism, is central to the work of Remi/Rough. His color palette is selected through deceptively simple arrangements of lines and angles that bring a variety of hues into unexpected encounters with each other. By working on canvas and sculpture, he transports the movement and style of train writing into the gallery space.

Sixeart’s mixture of psychedelic abstraction and comic book-inspired figuration has become an essential element of the urban fabric in his hometown of Barcelona. His work has a childlike innocence combined with an almost hallucinogenic sense of second sight. “Sinister tragicomedy with notes of psychopathology and touches of acid” is one definition the artist himself has offered of his unique style. “My own universe of characters comes from a happy childhood and a close contact with mother nature,” he explains. The dreamlike quality of his work shows an affinity with Surrealist artists such as Joan Miró, another native of Barcelona.
About the artists:

Carlos Mare

Carlos Mare was born in New York, NY in 1965. He was a notable member of the golden age of subway graffiti in the 1970s and 1980s, painting under the moniker “Mare”, an abbreviation for “Nightmare”. He wrote alongside many of the style masters of his generation, among them Kel First, Dondi White, Crash, Kase2 and Noc167. This experience, along with his interest in modernizing the graffiti art form, has led him to reinterpret the concepts and aesthetics of style writing. Recent exhibitions include Martha Cooper: Remix, a group exhibition at Carmichael Gallery in 2011, Art Is Study: 36 Years of Process and Practice at Pratt Gallery, New York City and Physical Graffiti: Art of the B-boy Dance at Skalitzers Contemporary Art, Berlin, both in 2012. Mare has also designed several awards, including the B-Boy SPY Award for the Rock Steady Crew, the 2005 and 2007 Red Beat Battle Awards, and the award for the annual BET/Black Entertainment Awards show.

Mare currently lives and works in New York.

Rae Martini

Rae Martini was born in Milan in 1976. His first sketches at the age of 12 led to a career in street and train bombing that began in the late 80s and has lasted a dozen years. The development of both his graffiti and fine art is documented in 24 Carat Dirt, a 208 page hardcover book edited by Damiani and accompanied by a short film. The project was sponsored by clothing and lifestyle brand WeSC. Martini exhibited at the 54 Venice Biennale International Art Show Special Project, Pavilion Italy – Lombardia, Palazzo della Regione, Milan, Italy and participated with the Graffuturism group for In Situ during Art Basel Miami Beach, 2011. Additional  exhibitions have taken place at the Don Gallery, Milan, the Unruly Gallery, Amsterdam (2012), Castel Nuovo – Fondazione Valenzi, Naples (2010), Museum Recoleta, Buenos Aires (2008), Santa Maria della Scala Museum, Siena (2008), MAC – Contemporary Art Museum of San Paolo (2008) and PAC Museum – Contemporary Art Pavilion, Milan (2007).

Martini currently lives and works in Milan.
Remi/Rough

Remi Morgan, alias Remi/Rough, was born in South London in 1971. Since his debut art show in 1989, he has gone on to exhibit in London, Paris, Perth, Tokyo, Santander, Los Angeles, Miami, San Francisco, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Berlin, Ibiza and more. Remi is a founding member of artist collective Agents of Change and took part in their award-winning Ghost Village Project in 2009. His work has appeared in the books Graffiti World, Abstract Graffiti and Untitled III. In 2008, Remi was invited to speak on the history of UK graffiti in front of a sell-out auditorium at the Tate Modern as part of the museum’s street art exhibition. The following year saw the publication of his first monograph, Lost Colours and Alibis, which he followed up with How to use colour & manipulate people in 2012.

Remi/Rough currently lives and works in London.

Sixeart

Sergio Hidalgo, alias Sixeart, was born in Barcelona in 1975. Having painted from an early age, he has developed a highly personal visual language that comprises a host of recurring figures and animals. In addition to making sculpture, screen prints and works on canvas, he has collaborated with fashion designers to create clothing based on his distinctive style. In 2008, Sixeart was commissioned by the Tate Modern in London to paint a mural on the building’s iconic river façade alongside fellow artists Os Gemeos, Faile, Blu, Nunca, and JR. This was the first major public museum display of street art in London. Recent solo exhibitions have taken place at Alice Gallery, Brussels and N2 Galeria, Barcelona.

Sixeart currently lives and works in Barcelona.

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Hugh Leeman, Eddie Colla and D Young V prepare for “Epilogue”

September 4, 2012 , , , ,

Street Artists Push Past Comfort Levels to Create New Show and Video

As the post- “Citizens United” restructuring of civil society gets into full swing and democracy is effectively hollowed out before our eyes, Street Artists Hugh Leeman, Eddie Colla, and D Young V are contemplating an eventual collapse of society and what it might look like – and have created an art show about it.

“Epilogue is an immersive installation based art show,” explains Leeman as he describes the almost cinematic way they are seeing their presentation and the promotional video we are debuting for them today. Not explicitly horrifying, the implications of a lawless violent society that no longer feels “futuristic” makes this trailer uncomfortable and a breath of fresh air.

Still from promotional video for “Epilogue” (© Taylor Morgan)

“What we did with the video was a new feel for us in that we did not show the artwork nor do a traditional narrated artist interview but instead looked at the video as a piece of art itself,” says Leeman as he talks how the three Street Artists really pushed their work for the show to imagine what it would be like to start making art after we’ve burned everything down. Maybe they’re just sticking to the theme or testing their individual resourcefulness but it is interesting to see them skipping the oil paints and canvasses and instead choosing reclaimed billboards, fire stencils, even hand painted assault rifles for the varied display.

Hugh Leeman, Eddie Colla and D young V “Epilogue” (photo © Shaun Roberts)

Are these guys really rattling their Jungian subconsciousness with a death of Western society foretold or have they been spending a lot of time on NetFlix in the apocalypse section? If you hear Hugh describe the preparation they’ve undertaken at Hold Up Art, it all sounds pretty serious. “Its processes and concept have been inspired by America’s gun loving culture, the corporate behemoths considered “too big to fail”, and another pending financial meltdown. It has pushed the three of us as artists away from what we have come to identify as our own individual styles.” We give them credit for going there, and for challenging us in a new way to go with them. The murkier the answers, the more alive the imagination can be when triggered by these symbols and images.

Hugh Leeman, Eddie Colla and D young V “Epilogue” (photo © Shaun Roberts)

A death mask from Hugh Leeman, Eddie Colla and D young V in “Epilogue” (photo © Shaun Roberts)

Hugh Leeman, Eddie Colla and D young V “Epilogue” (photo © Shaun Roberts)

Hugh Leeman, Eddie Colla and D young V “Epilogue” (photo © Shaun Roberts)

“Epilogue” by Taylor Morgan  (VIDEO)

“Epilogue” opens this Saturday Sept 8.  Click here for more information regarding this show.

A print variant for the”Epilogue” show that will be released through Hold Up Art starting Sept. 8th

 

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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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Hold Up Art Gallery Presents: Eddie Colla. Hugh Leeman and V Young D “Epilogue” (Los Angeles, CA)

August 30, 2012 , , , , , ,

Epilogue

The Bay Area’s most prolific vandals, Eddie Colla, D Young V, and Hugh Leeman create a fully immersive installation inspired by America’s gun loving culture, its corporate behemoths, and a financial meltdown. Reclaimed billboards, fire stencils, carbon soot emissions, and hand painted assault rifles take the place of canvas and oil paint at this timely Los Angeles exhibit. Know more, see here epiloguela.com “Epilogue” opens Saturday, September 8th at Hold Up Art Gallery in downtown Los Angeles, 2 blocks south of the Geffen Contemporary MOCA, 358 E. 2nd St.

Show opening Saturday September 8th, 7p.m. PST
Eddie Colla, D Young V, Hugh Leeman

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Barry McGee Mid-Career Retrospective at Berkeley Art Museum

August 28, 2012 , , ,

“Barry McGee” Opens at UC Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive

After witnessing Mr. McGee working on his vast installation of the “Street Market” last year for the LA MoCA “Arts in the Streets” exhibit, we can imagine him working steadily and quietly, half meander and half engineer, on this retrospective of his prolific career so far.

He likes a certain colorful eye-popping clutter, in an ordered way that makes sense and envelops even as it unfolds. Words, signage, objects, color, patterns, characters, odes to freight riding and garbage sifting, finding gold in a dumpster – part of the DIY ethos and graphic designer’s hand that took hold among the many Street Artists who followed his 1990s San Francisco forays from graffiti.

Barry McGee (photo © Gareth Gooch 2012)

“Throughout his career,” writes Alex Baker in the exhibition catalog, “Barry McGee has continued to surprise and contradict expectations.” Time passes, his tags and monikers cycled through, and this is now called “mid-career”, an exhibition of the timeline up until this splattered dot.  Bringing the street and the studio and the exhibitions under one large roof, the generous McGee gives us a huge attic of curiosities, a treasure-filled, salon-style, tag-burnished buffet.

We are happy to know that this exhibition will travel to ICA in Boston next spring. We will be there.

We want thank photographer Gareth Gooch for sending these exclusive images for BSA readers from his time spent with Barry as the artist worked throughout the museum galleries to install the show.

 ‘The huge dripping “SNITCH” tag on the exterior of the brutalist concrete Berkeley Art Museum exterior was my first sign that this was going to be a truly great exhibit. Among all the visual sensory stimulation, at our first introduction I was impressed with Barry’s attention to his guest. In the crunch of finalizing the installation to open in a few hours, Barry was calm and generous with his time allowing me to shoot without restrictions.

The beautiful concrete and glass galleries were filled with paintings, installations and collections of multiple works in such proliferation, I had to wonder if he ever slept! The scale of work from small ephemera collections to his signature large scale installations with life sized “taggers” and upended FONG TV delivery van and store fronts was awesome! His work is so unique and eclectic, I honestly felt I was in the presence of a modern master!” – Gareth Gooch

Barry McGee (photo © Gareth Gooch 2012)

Barry McGee (photo © Gareth Gooch 2012)

Barry McGee (photo © Gareth Gooch 2012)

Barry McGee installation. (photo © Gareth Gooch 2012)

Barry McGee (photo © Gareth Gooch 2012)

Barry McGee (photo © Gareth Gooch 2012)

Barry McGee (photo © Gareth Gooch 2012)

Barry McGee (photo © Gareth Gooch 2012)

Barry McGee (photo © Gareth Gooch 2012)

Barry McGee (photo © Gareth Gooch 2012)

Barry McGee (photo © Gareth Gooch 2012)

Barry McGee (photo © Gareth Gooch 2012)

Barry McGee (photo © Gareth Gooch 2012)

Barry McGee (photo © Gareth Gooch 2012)

Barry McGee (photo © Gareth Gooch 2012)

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Barry McGee at BAM/PFA is organized by Director Lawrence Rinder, with Assistant Curator Dena Beard and will run through December 9, 2012. http://bampfa.berkeley.edu/

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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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Perry Rubenstein Gallery Presents: Shepard Fairey “Americana” (Los Angeles, CA)

August 21, 2012 , , , , , ,

Shepard Fairey

AMERICANA
New Paintings by Shepard Fairey

RECEPTION: Saturday, August 25th
7pm – 10pm

Perry Rubenstein Gallery (LA) presents a special project by Shepard Fairey and Neil Young in celebration of the recent release of Young’s new album with Crazy Horse, “Americana,” which features reinterpreted classic, American, folk songs. Fairey has created eleven new paintings, each one inspired by the songs, such as Oh Susannah, This Land Is Your Land and Clementine. The new Shepard Fairey paintings will be on view to the public at Perry Rubenstein Gallery in Los Angeles starting August 25th. In addition, Shepard will have a limited quantity release of the Americana Print Edition Box Set at the opening on August 25th at Perry Rubenstein Gallery. The Box Set will include a collection of screen print versions of all the new paintings, more info and official release date on the prints to come shortly, so STAY TUNED!

The “Americana” project developed as a result of Shepard Fairey’s relationship with Neil Young and his long-time manager Elliot Roberts. Fairey created a portrait of Young for the artist’s May Day show in 2010, based on his view of the musician as a social commentator philosophically aligned with people like Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Joe Strummer. Young and Roberts then asked Fairey to design the art, CD and DVD packaging for the 25th anniversary of Young’s Bridge School charity. Fairey states, “Neil really liked the art and I was thrilled he asked me to collaborate by making paintings inspired by the songs on his “Americana” album. I’m a huge fan of Neil’s music in general, but when I heard the album I realized how much the subject matter of several songs reflected the aspirations and tragedies of those pursuing the American dream tied into issues relevant to the 99% movement which I have been supporting.”

Fairey says he listened to the music and lyrics to come up with concepts for visual representations of the songs. Then for each song, Fairey presented Young with ideas about a visual image that would best capture the meaning and/or protagonist/s in each song. The artist enjoyed hearing how Neil interpreted aspects of the songs that moved him the most musically and lyrically. Fairey states, “I showed Neil sketches, and then we discussed the ideas and refined them. He was very open to my ideas and encouraged me to go with what inspired me the most. Latitude for interpretation is something that Neil utilizes and seems to value as an important way for the listener/viewer to personalize their interaction with art and music. I also was excited about this project because the concept of re-interpreting pre-existing songs filtered through Neil’s unique sensibility parallels what I have often tried to do as a visual artist by building upon iconic images that are an accessible part of the cultural dialogue.”

Each of the new Fairey paintings resonate powerful messages presented in the songs, some depicting a hopeful outlook on the pursuit of a better tomorrow, while others reflect the hardships that come in trying to achieve that dream. One painting related to Clementine, which captures the words of a mourning lover whose “darling,” the daughter of a California Gold Rush miner, drowned. Here she is represented by the levitating body of a young woman draped in white, with the text “And Gone.” Another painting is related to the 1848 minstrel song Oh Susannah that features a dungaree-wearing banjo player with the text “DON’T YOU CRY FOR ME.” Other works feature a wanted poster (Travel On); an iconic image of Queen Elizabeth embroidering an American flag (God Save the Queen); and, a lonely tree, stripped bare of its leaves, in a desolate landscape (Tom Dula).

For Young and Crazy Horse’s rendition of the famous 1940 Woody Guthrie song known to every school-aged child in America, This Land Is Your Land, written in response to Irving Berlin’s God Bless America, Fairey has depicted the hopeful face of a youth, set against a dramatic Western Landscape. Three rows of sharp, barbed wire cross the boy’s path with the text “NO TRESSPASSING / THIS LAND IS MY LAND.” The text is derived from a variant verse Guthrie added as a social commentary during a 1944 recording session. Fairey’s paintings are mixed media on canvas, including techniques such as stenciling, collage, and screen-printing. All of the paintings measure closely to the 30 x 44 inch dimension, which is one of Fairey’s standard choices of size. “Americana” is Neil Young with Crazy Horse’s first album together in nine years and is being released on June 5 on Reprise Records.

Perry Rubenstein Gallery
1215 N. Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038
T (310) 395-1001 / F (310) 395-1019
http://www.perryrubenstein.com

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Epic Lounge Presents: “Bumblebee Loves You” A Short Film By Handi (Downey, CA)

August 19, 2012 , , , , ,

Bumblebee

BULMBLEBEELOVES YOU

A film by HANDi

With new work by Bumblebee

Sunday, August 19, 6-9pm

Epic Lounge
8239 2nd Street
Downey, CA 90241

Reception: Sunday, August 19, 2012, 6pm (Screening wil commence at 7pm.)

Carmichael Gallery is pleased to announce a special screening of the new documentary short Bumblebeelovesyou, a visual profile of Los Angeles-based artist Bumblebee. Presented by The Downey Arts Coalition, Bumblebeelovesyou was produced by HANDi, a team of Downey-based filmmakers.

There will be a reception and screening at the Epic Lounge in Downey on Sunday, August 19, 2012, followed by a discussion on the documentary and the growing art scene in Downey. A series of new works by Bumblebee will also be on view.

About the artist:

Bumblebee’s work first came to life on the streets and abandoned buildings of Downey, a city located in southeast Los Angeles County. With a focus on themes of innocence, communication and coming of age, his stencil and sculptural works are most often rendered in the simple, but instantly identifiable color palette of yellow and black. Ongoing campaigns range from the remodeling of urban furniture such as abandoned phone kiosks and newspaper boxes to large-scale mural projects that address and work to raise awareness of issues such as youth homelessness.

Bumblebee has exhibited his work in group exhibitions at Carmichael Gallery, Mark Moore Gallery, Thinkspace Gallery (who also included him in their curated exhibitions at Together Gallery and London Miles Gallery), LeBasse Projects and the Portsmouth Museum of Art. Online and print media outlets in which he and his work have been featured include tasj magazine, Ekosystem, TEDxBloomington, The Downey Patriot, Unurth, SlamxHype, Arrested Motion, PSFK, The Dirt Floor, Vandalog, GOOD, Wooster Collective, My Modern Met, Sour Harvest, Daily du Jour and The Daily Portsmouth. He currently lives and works in Los Angeles.

About the filmmakers:

The person next to you has a story. If you could see the world through their eyes for a moment or two, your heart would open up just a little more. With each story we tell, we hope to highlight what makes us human and show that we can all relate to each other in some way. We want to erase the lines that divide us so we can see each other clearly.

HANDi is a team of filmmakers based in Downey, CA.

The name HANDi is synonymous with the prefix “handy” which is associated with a convenient and useful product. “Handy” also pertains to the hands and a handmade quality. Our philosophy is embedded in this single idea. Being handmade, we use whatever we can find on a shoestring budget and craft everything ourselves.

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

August 7, 2012 , , , , ,

Miss Van

Miss Van. Studio Photograph by © Stefan Kocev

 

MISS VAN
“Wild at Heart”

Opening Reception: Saturday, August 11, 2012  8pm-11:30pm
On View: August 11 – September 1, 2012

Copro Gallery – Bergamot Station
2525 Michigan Ave, Unit T5
Santa Monica, CA 90404
Tel: 310.829.2156
www.copronason.com

As part of its commitment to support art initiatives from around the world, Citizens of Humanity is pleased to announce its sponsorship of Miss Van’s Los Angeles exhibition “Wild at Heart” at Copro Gallery on Saturday, August 11, 2012.

Internationally known for her poupées, the French word for dolls, Miss Van’s dreamlike narratives are filled with spontaneity and lightness. Yet they also reveal a darker side that has evolved from her experience as an acclaimed graffiti artist.

Miss Van’s new series of paintings and drawings on paper and wood continues to combine her seductive and delicate muses with animals, adding a bestial element to her work. However, she introduces masks to her imagery, creating a trifecta of complexity, ambiguity and mystery.

Choosing to focus on details while isolating different body parts, such as eyes and mouth, Miss Van adds, “The masks allow me to show more feelings, other sides of a same character, hiding the face, partly or totally and embracing the animal strength, personality and attitude. I am illustrating the chemistry between the feminine delicacy and the bestial instinct, natural and raw and we all have this duality inside.”

To celebrate the opening of “Wild at Heart,” Citizens of Humanity will debut a new t-shirt collaboration with Miss Van, which will be given as a complimentary gift to guests at the reception. She will also be featured in the premiere issue of a new collectible print publication by Citizens of Humanity launching this August. Miss Van notes, “Thanks to Citizens of Humanity for its support, this show will definitely come out more complete and powerful than before.”

The opening reception for “Wild at Heart,” takes place Saturday, August 11 at Copro Gallery from 8pm-11:30pm, and is open to the public. The exhibition will be on view through September 1, 2012.

Miss Van
Miss Van started wall painting in the streets at the age of 18, initiating the feminine movement in street art. Her sultry female characters began to pop up on city center walls in the mid 1990s and they instantly possessed a timeless quality, as if women had always painted such graffiti in the streets. The more she moved into gallery work and could work with the nuances of more fragile media than the streets would allow, her characters grew more sensitive, subtle, and delicately rendered. She is now exhibiting all around the world from New York to Los Angeles, Europe (France, Switzerland, Germany, Spain, Italy, UK, etc.), and Asia. She has shown in art centers and museums such as the city gallery of Schwaz in Austria (curator: Karin Perrnegger), the Baltic Art Center in the UK and the Von der Heydt Museum, Kunsthalle in Wuppertal, Germany. Miss Van was featured in MoCA’s 2011 exhibition “Art in the Streets,” and she has shown with some of the greatest artists such as Os Gemeos, Mike Giant, Banksy, Faile, Shepard Fairey, Barry McGee, Ryan McGinness, Takashi Murakami, Ed Templeton, and many others. For more information about the artist, please visit www.missvan.com.

 

 

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