Faile & Bast – three Brooklyn street art creative forces of natureare mounting an experiential exhibition at Lazarides Greek Street Gallery in London right now.Longtime collaborators, the trio have combined their signature elements to create a distinctive conceptual show that includes an arcade installation, the Virgin Mary, Humpty Hump, and high-heeled boots.
Here are some behind-the-scenes teasers from street art photographer Ian Cox.
“Just a little more flourescent pink and orange, and we can throw the doors open!” Lazarides Greek Street Gallery is be-decked with new wildness from Faile and Bast.
A begging dog, high-heeled stilleto boots, and a soapbox - looks like the S&M Circus is back in town!
"ICES QUEEN" RAE Acrylic & Ink on Reclaimed Laundry Detergent Bottles 48 in x 36 in x 2 in Image Courtesy of the gallery
“UNCONVENTIONAL CONVICTION”
RAE
November 20 – December 18
OPENING RECEPTION: November 20, 6-9PM
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Long before the emergence of Brooklynite Gallery, owner and curator Rae McGrath was constructing artwork of his own in many forms. Schooled in fine arts, raised immersed in the graffiti/breakdance culture of the 80’s and holding down a diverse range of blue collar jobs, has allowed RAE to create an eclectic range of visuals for an exhibition aptly titled “Unconventional Conviction”.
Over the years RAE has spent countless hours on the streets of New York City and other parts of the world, engaging then photographing the everyday person. Usually drawn to the elderly or youth— because of their experiences or lack thereof, RAE often finds similarities to his own life, connecting the dots through his grainy black and white photos which are then hand-painted or silk-screened into pieces that include block text and hand-drawn areas. The second part to RAE’s work involves the gathering and transformation of found objects— namely hundreds of brightly colored plastic laundry detergent bottles. Spending ample time in and around laundromat dumpsters throughout Brooklyn, RAE has amassed quite a collection of these bottles which he then dissects, using cutting techniques once learned while working as a deli worker and butcher. His tales are told on top of mosaic patterns full of vibrant colors and textual information.
For RAE, the vivid and hopeful Pop Art color schemes and graphic detail of the laundry bottles prove to be the perfect juxtaposition to his own urban Brooklyn upbringing and the countless cast of characters of his youthful working class existence. In the end, RAE uses these dynamic combinations to his advantage creating rich and strange alternate realities.
The world’s oldest known “Portrait” is believe to be created over 27,000 year ago. So why after all this time is it still the most often used subject of creation? A portrait often speaks much less about the physical features we are viewing, then it does about what’s behind the gaze in ones eyes or the telling angles of their mouth. This fascination continues to intrigue us through the work of three street artists who use traditional and non-traditional techniques to create their own brand of “PORTRAITS”.
Just because street art tandem, STEN & LEX are widely considered to be the pioneers of “stencil graffiti” in their Italian homeland, doesn’t necessarily mean they are content with resting on the title. Best known for introducing their “halftone stencil” technique, these two self-proclamined “Hole School” artists spend ample time hand-cutting pixel dots and lines to compose their imagery which is best viewed from a distance. Choosing to forgo the common pop culture imagery often associated with street art, STEN & LEX’s subject matter pulls no punches. Saints, Popes and the Italian Christian Church were primarily referenced early on –minus the often added social commentary. However, most recently and for their upcoming exhibition here, the subjects of choice comes from the historic Italian archives they’ve rescued. The 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s portraits from all walks of life are the focus this time around, as they are put through the rigorous transformation of stencil cutting style that is trademark STEN & LEX. The final appearance of these portraits appear to have been fed halfway through a paper shredder then pulled back at the last minute leaving the shreds left to dangle. The images are for the most part of common folk—young and old. People who have lived lives and have stories to tell. Just read their faces.
Seems as if the young, hard charging NYC street artist GAIA has been showcasing his bold imagery to the masses since before he could walk. Well maybe it hasn’t been quite that long but over the past few years he’s managed to garner a lot of attention by using more traditional techniques to create his wildlife animals and distinguishing human portraits. Taking a more intelligent, reflective approach to his work, this “old sole” uses wood block carvings and hand-drawn methods to achieve the fur textures of bears, tigers and rabbits as well as the worn lines in the faces of his latest portrait series entitled, “Legacy.” At it’s core, “Legacy” raises the question of infrastructure design and how we are forced to live with the decisions, good or bad, created by figures such as Robert Moses, James Wilson Rouse & Mies van der Rehoboth, all of whom have shaped parts of the American landscape. GAIA also plans on featuring a series of faded self portraits called “Sunsets”. Sunsets are a portrait of the nature of the street artist as an identity. It’s a pseudonym, to the person behind the work and the conflict between the secret, the collective and the fame of the individual. Some of the work is directly painted onto reclaimed street posters and found materials.
Gallery hours: Thursday – Saturday from 1pm – 7pm or by appointment.
BROOKLYNITE GALLERY proudly presents the work of stencil artists C215 and EELUS with “PARADISE LOST“
“PARADISE LOST”
C215 • EELUS
September 4 – October 2, 2010
Opening Night – September 4th, 7-10pm
Never is there more an exciting time for a gallery and it’s curators than when they are in a position to be able to present work from artists who are on the cusp of breaking out and distancing themselves from the pack. As we at Brooklynite Gallery proudly present, “Paradise Lost” a two-man exhibition by stencil-based artists C215 and Eelus —this is clearly the case. Loosely exploring themes of innocence, wonder and the imagination we experience as kids, both artists approach these themes from unique perspectives in both subject matter and stencil technique —clearly at the top of their games.
No other artist working in the public space today connects with the streets like C215. With striking murals in varying size and scope all over the globe, he not only paints pictures of everyday people and society’s “outcasts” —he connects with them. Portraits of the elderly, middle-aged and children are carefully chosen; often reflecting the past, present and future in the gaze of their expressions. At times his subjects gain your attention with grittiness and distress —and his stencils are cut that way; short, sharp and of the two-color variety. Other times his subjects are radiant and fantastical —and again, his stencils are cut that way; graceful, curved and full movement. Now, as C215 begins to evenly balance the time between doing ‘street work’ and having a gallery presence, we’re beginning to see this well-rounded artist can no longer be put into one single ‘category’. Highly regarded by his peers as one of the top stencil artists working today, more than ever C215′s work exudes confidence. Continually transforming and perfecting his stencil techniques, experimenting with various surfaces and color theories, C215 doesn’t have to speak a word about the range of emotions he channels through his work… We can easily see and feel it for ourselves.
On the heels of his high impact solo exhibition in London last February, UK artist Eelus has officially arrived on the scene with an unusual set of tricks up his sleeve. Toying with the future expectations of adolescence, while juxtaposing sci-fi, sexual tension and poignant text, his imagery is reminiscent of a bizarre dream you wake up from and struggle to find it’s meaning. Eelus’ work often feels like a still frame from a complex film that points us in the right direction, yet still manages to give us only enough information to draw our own conclusions. Depending on which strings he wants to tug, his often three-color palette is used to strike just the right emotion when applied to surfaces ranging from canvas and wood to vintage metal signage. It all seems to be coming together as Eelus‘ work continues to stir conversation amongst his early fans as well new ones, both of whom anticipate his next print release and debate on which image it should contain.
Join us at Brooklynite during the un-official, last weekend of summer for an Opening Night Party and new work from both C215 and Eelus, including outside murals that is sure leave viewers wanting more. For further information or photos, kindly contact Hope McGrath at pr@brooklynitegallery.com.
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i want to stck my duck in this show
Written by JohnDoe on 2010-02-04 12:13:20 (from Fecal Face site)
Such are the passions that arise with the arrival of the new David Choe show on the left coast tonight. The man always puts in 115% and makes no excuses. Gotta admire that.
Thoughtful, penetrating portraits and insights at the new David Choe show. (courtesy Fecal Face)
A VERY Brief video sweep of the gallery as it’s being prepared….
Hours:
Thursday – Saturday 12 – 6pm
Sunday 12 – 4pm
Second Saturday Hours – 12 – 9pm
or by appointment
Limited Run 3 features prints and zines from:
28cents
Alex Lukas
Alex Purdy
Andy Rementer
Anna Crotes
Bill McRight
Bryce Edwards
Buxtonia
Chris Kline
Chris Whetzel
Christine Seymore
Dan Funderburgh
Elbow Toe
Eugene Good
e-IttyBittyPress
e-Leighwells
e-sugarloop
Garret Morin
Greg Pizzoli
Iminent Disaster
Jim Datz
Justin Fines
Landland
Luke Ramsey
Mark Price
Michael De Feo
Mike Perry
Wayne Pate
Rick Price
Roxy Johnson
Sesame Letterpress
Skewville
Wonting
Yellena
Factory Fresh welcomes The London Police, who get themselves into the oddest situations while in pursuit of art. (video still courtesy London Police)
The World Premiere of full-length Galo Video!
Italian street artist Galo enjoys a glass of wine while painting a canvas (video still courtesy the artist)
FRESH Canvasses paying tribute to NYC!
A tribute to their host borough, street artists The London Police combine Brooklyn architecture and a stylized central discombulation of their “character” (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Blowing northward along the coast from Miami’s Art Basel like warm air from a subway grate up my homegirls’ skirt, this trio of street art brothers are some really fresh geezers here to warm you at Factory Fresh.
It’s The London Police and Galo – a motley joyfest of brotherly jest in color and black and white. Their hand work is a contrast of free-form (Galo) and pre-meditated crisp line control (London Police). There are still-wet canvasses and the newly constructed Factory Fresh Screening Room to see two cinematic features. Helpfully, the entertaining videos in this show are not conceptual, so you won’t need a brochure to accompany them.
This quickly mounted show (3 days) is only possible because these guys have a bit of mileage under their belts (12 years and 50 countries, in Chaz’s case), are complete professionals, and they know how to turn out the canvasses while having fun.
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Galo was previously a graphic designer who decided to dedicate his energies to his art, which is colorful, line-based, and concentrates on what he calls his “character” – who really turns out to be more than one guy.
“This is my character. I just draw until I’m satisfied, you know? I think it has a sort of graphic balance. Normally I’m pretty flexible with myself. I like to have the faces squeezed. It doesn’t matter if they have the perfect eye. It’s pretty much informal,” says Galo.
“It is a sort of family because I first started with the one character with the round eye and slowly I started to draw the same kind of lines but with different kinds of eyes and different position of the mouth and so let’s say that they are three brothers. They are always changing”
One of Galo’s favorites from the show. ” Normally I don’t paint big canvasses like this because it is troublesome to ship them. So I shipped the canvasses and I re-framed them here.” (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Upon his recent return to Brooklyn, Galo retrieved some old paintings stored here, which he says he wants to light on fire. “These canvasses basically disappeared for four years. They were in the storage of a friend of a friend who moved to Mexico. So I didn’t see them anymore, they just got ruined. Just to clean my hands I just want to burn them. So I nailed them together. I’m going to burn these and we’ll see what happens,” says the pyromaniacal artist.
Galo stands with a stack of canvasses destined for destruction in the back yard of Factory Fresh, which he painted in about 3 hours with a big fat cap. (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Galo shows some technique with the can. “Miami was great, absolutely amazing. The best I’ve ever seen – so many people out there. I painted a really big wall so I was busy painting every day, but for sure in the evening it was just partying, hanging out with other artists.”
Galo peers out through his work in this still from his new full length video premiering tonight at Factory Fresh.
GALO – a Brief Introduction – the full story tonight!
The London Police are Chaz and Bob – Bob does the crisp linear cityscapes and architectural detailing, and Chaz draws the “LAD” character (who is based loosely on the man himself), now happily morphing and shape-shifting into blobs and motifs that echo the original little happy fella they are known for.
On the topic of the endless interpretations and generally ripping apart of the original theme, Chaz explains that he felt their fans might have gotten a bit bored with just the one character, “Once you’ve done one head and then two heads and then three or four heads…after going out and doing the same thing it got to the point where I wanted to go out and do ten heads, fifteen heads.”
This year they limited themselves to strictly black and white, but do not rule out using color in the future.
The City according to the London Police; “”We’re really proud and pleased with the work we are doing this year. We enjoy it, and I don’t think you can really ask for more than that. We work a lot on these paintings. It takes a long time. Everything you see here is doubled, because we use the ink pens. The first layer leaves it a little bit shallow so it needs to be doubled up,” says Chaz (photo Steven P. Harrington)
A student of architecture, Bob worked for an architectural firm a few years ago, which sharpened his acuity, “I’m crazy about architecture but as a living it’s a little bit stale. But it was really good because it was so in-depth that your drawing gets better. Your understanding of architecture gets better and your world grows. Now I can pretty much close my eyes, remember an image and then draw it from my brain,” he says.
And about incorporating the architecture of his host city into TLP’s work, ” I did quite a lot of actual research, visually, and reading up on Brooklyn. The contrast between Manhattan and Brooklyn, obviously is huge. But I like the rawness of Brooklyn. I always have. I’ve been here a few times and I like that you have the low-level housing, three or four stories high, and then you’ve got this huge factory next to it. It’s really bold. That’s what is iconic about Brooklyn.”
In this still from the “Brothers in Arms” documentary to be screened this evening, Chaz takes a little catnap as his hand-cuffed art-mate labors on their deadline. (image courtesy the artists)
“In this show we are showing a documentary film we made in L.A. which was basically us handcuffed together twenty-four hours a day. We lasted five days. It was pretty intense. We didn’t break. I thought there would be a breaking point where I would just need personal space, especially at the obvious times”
The “Brothers in Arms” flyer is posted in the gallery just outside the cinema. Check your local listings for times.
Produced by Ashton Kutcher and Jason Goldberg, the brief documentary shows the “brothers” in a variety of natural and staged situations that come off as endearing, entertaining, and a bit goofy.
“It produced a funny, nice documentary so when people come to the show tonight there will be a bit of cinema about every 20 minutes and you can watch the film about Galo, and the film about us handcuffed together, which is stupid, corny, and funny,” says Chaz.
Chaz chats while doing some finer line-work in prep for tonight’s show at Factory Fresh (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Two new smaller canvasses feature scenes inspired by New York disaster movies that have proliferated in the last 25 years. Both Chaz and Bobbie site the movie “Ghost Busters” as a formative influence in their artistic careers. (The London Police) (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Chaz works on a canvas patiently while handcuffed to Bobbie, who is getting a tatoo. “It’s really simple, it’s just my girlfriend and my son’s name in script. She was really gobsmacked. She really loved it. I was really fearing showing her, and she was really touched,” says Bob. (still from “Brothers in Arms” courtesy the artists)
About the movie, we discovered that really the idea was Chaz’s and Bobbie just went along. Was there a point when Bobbie regretted the decision?
Says Bobbie, “Yeah, about after five minutes. I was having a terrible time”
“I just couldn’t, – Bear in mind you’re setting up for a very important show – you just couldn’t get anything done. The whole thing – it was okay hanging out with Chaz, you know we had a good laugh. But you couldn’t get anything done. You just can’t physically do anything, it get’s really frustrating.”
But don’t mind this brother, because later in the conversation, he reverses himself and says it would have been great to do it for 2 or 3 weeks. “We wanted to do more than five days but the problem was that show was to open so that was the maximum that we could do but if had had more time that’s when you would have gotten some really good material. It was all novelty, it was all fun. If you went to a party people were really interested – but it would have been great if you could have gone on for two or three weeks.”
Were people waiting for one or both of them to have a meltdown? Says Bob, “Yeah, that’s what they were hoping! But it was five days and because we’re best friends it was never going to happen”.
While you are waiting for Obama to do something Rooseveltian to replace the jobs our economy has been hemorrhaging for years, Rae and Hope McGrath at Brooklynite Gallery suggest you pick up a shoe-shine box and get to work.
I can’t even tell you how many artists I know who are out of work, and consequently how many are working harder than ever on the stuff that makes them happy and gives their life meaning – their art.
Like many New Yorkers watching their options dwindling, The Bushinomic Bank-zaster of ’08-’09-’10 has given many artistic types a lot of time to sharpen their skills, decide what needs to be done to survive, and to work together. One possible result, BSA is predicting, is an even bigger All-City BOOM in street art right around the corner. As jobs continue to evaporate and gallery doors close, the gallery of the street beckons a little louder each day to those who have a creative voice but no where to speak it.
Destroy & Rebuild stock their box with the essentials…
What does it mean for an artist to “survive” in a tough economic climate? – That’s the question Brooklynite Gallery in Bed Stuy posed to 100 artists when putting this show together. Focusing on the box of supplies that a shoe-shiner uses, Rae and Hope asked a very diverse group of street/graff artists to create a box of their own to express their approach to work and survival.
Anu Schwartz takes readings of the mind and heart globally.
The truly eclectic results reveal not just entrepreneurial aspirations, but psychological profiles expressing values and dreams and inner-workings of the artistic process. Symbolism abounds, and because of the limitations imposed, meanings densely packed alongside personal aspiration. To appreciate the intensity, plan your calendar to see the show twice.
Shinebox goes beatbox, literally. “VARIOUS & GOULD (with KUUK)’s box is stunning. Drop a coin in and make some beats. Completely captures the essence of this exhibition,” says Rae McGrath, owner of Brooklynite.
With the global economic downturn and the hardship it has caused, this show is clearly a tribute to, and an attempt to give voice to, the hard-working people who labor to make a living. By asking artists and fans to meditate on these realities, Brooklynite is pushing us to think outside our own drama and consider the meaning of work, and to see the shoeshine box as survival box.
Street artist Cake intimates a psycho-sexual-medical realm.
Brooklynite owner/curator/visionary/artist Rae McGrath took a break from installing the show to talk about his original inspiration for the show, and how it has evolved:
Brooklyn Street Art:Didn’t the shinebox go out with the icebox? What was the impetus for the theme of this show?
Rae McGrath: Last time I heard the term “icebox” I was well into my 11 hour of The Honeymooners Marathon they run on New Years Day. BUT -shinebox’s never go out of style. Everyone enjoys compartmentalizing things don’t they? Mostly for the wrong reasons but they do… However this exhibition goes beyond shine boxes and shinning shoes. It deals with working in the most stripped down, basic sense of the term.
Paper Monster adapted an actual shinebox.
The project stems from my love for shoeshine boxes. Traveling through Ecuador, Brazil, Costa Rica, etc., I was always impressed with how these things were built, mostly by kids. Any materials they could find held together with rusted nails and recycled bottles for dyes and you’re good to go. So out of that, combined with this f&*ked up economy I wanted to take it one step further and ask artists from around the world– “If you had to take to the streets to survive in this economy, what would you do?” I asked that each keep the “survival object” inside a square foot. It could be found, bought, modified, etc. We wanted to try and unify graffiti artists with street and contemporary
FKDL uses a collage of yesteryear imagery.
FKDL created part art supply, part sewing box (contents)
Brooklyn Street Art:How does the current financial crisis in the country play in the psychology of this show?
Rae McGrath: A lot of artists we approached with the concept said it really resonated with them. Some live off their work and lost studios, commissions, etc. It sucks. Art is considered a luxury item to most– but we don’t necessarily see it that way. Art inspires and motivates. Makes people think and study. To us that’s no luxury. It should be the norm.
Iconic stencilling from one of the Paris originators, Jef Aerosol
With an eye toward total transparency, Jef Aerosol tells us what it takes.
Brooklyn Street Art:Logistically, getting a hundred artists to create and deliver their pieces must have been like herding cats…
Rae McGrath: The logistics of this show have been pretty hectic. I also think that most people in my neighborhood believe I am a drug dealer at this point. Everyday another small package showing up. Strange and cool at the same time. But what makes it worthwhile is when you open a package and a true gem comes out.
I think the biggest feat when doing a show of this magnitude is making sure each artist get their work seen– Hence the video we just put out. We are not very fond of your run of the mill group show that focuses on a key word or something. We tried to keep the guidelines here a bit more rigid.
KNOW HOPE adorns the box with a storyline
Brooklyn Street Art: Did every artist take a shine to your idea?
Rae McGrath: Yes. EXCEPT for the ones that were afraid of working in 3 dimension.
A rather suggestive joy-stick tops this “Peep Show” by 3TTman
Brooklyn Street Art: What box is blowing your mind?
Rae McGrath: There are several boxes blowing my mind for different reasons… Some because of the design, others the concept and some for both. VARIOUS & GOULD (with KUUK)’s box is stunning. Drop a coin in and make some beats. Completely captures the essence of this exhibition. They also did the hand-made flyer for the show and limited edition prints. 3TTMAN’s peep show is a thing of beauty. KOSBE, TEN13ONE. I know I’m leaving some killer ones but– wait this isn’t print— Not trying to save trees— BEN FROST has a clever piece, Destroy & Rebuild … Look man just get over here and see them.
Anthony Lister goes 360
Smile and the blockheads smile with you. (Anthony Lister)
Brooklyn Street Art: Are any of them functional, practical, usable?
Rae McGrath: Some are functional in a practical sense others in a spiritual one– That part of the theme was open to interpretation and heavily expanded upon.
A strong stylization of the theme, Skewville keeps it real Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Street Art: The title sounds like an exhortation; “Go Get your Shine Box” are you telling us roll up our sleeves and get to work?
Rae McGrath: Hell yeah. Maybe the name should be “GO GET YOU ASS TO WORK”. Seriously I think we all know where that title came from…. Or should at least.
Brooklyn Street Art: BTW, I usually wear size 10.5 black wingtips. Can I drop them off anytime after Nov. 21? I’ll need them for Thanksgiving.
Rae McGrath: Oh sounds nice. We actually have the same size shoe… Drop them off .
“GO GET YOUR SHINE BOX” silk screen posterby Various and Gould
Street Art Stencil Masters Join Talents in first Collaborative Show in Toronto
Indicative of a new technique Logan has been exploring since the end of summer – a new piece called”Self Portrait 2″ (courtesy Show and Tell Gallery)
Last week two street artists, Brooklyn’s Logan Hicks and C215 from Paris, left New York to head further north to Toronto to install their new show “Parallel Universe” at the Show and Tell Gallery.
Aside from some travel complications and a smashed shipping crate that damaged some of Logan’s work, the show went well and the art patrons of Toronto had the opportunity to see for themselves the stupendous work of two of the most talented stencil street artists working today.
The Parisian stencil master takes a moment to reflect ("Self portrait" by C215) (courtesy Show and Tell Gallery)
The two friends were pretty stoked to have a show together. Their collaborative work was so seamless that a casual observer may not have discerned the difference in styles. While Hicks leans more toward meditations on the geometry and vanishing horizon perspective created by formal architectural convention, C215 easily blends his gentle pathos for the streets and the people who live on them.
“Chinatown”, by Logan Hicks and C215 (courtesy Show and Tell Gallery)
Mr. Hicks also sent some pics of preparations of the show. Thanks Logan!
“Parallel Universe” installation in progress.
C215 work is on the floor and put in order to be hung.
Back allys, street canyons, and fire in the sky: Logan Hicks work ready to be hung.
Toronto fans begin to arrive at “Parallel Universe” show at Show and Tell Gallery.
Coming up November 21 a show of work with one of the most curious themes you have ever heard of is brushing up big at Brooklynite –
“Go Get Your Shinebox”
– where shelves are being sawed while we speak – to display 100 international artists’ interpretation of the shoe shine box familiar to an earlier era; an earlier depression, I like to say.
NOVEMBER 21 Opening at Brooklynite
In the meantime, our favorite street-art photographer Jaime Rojo writes about his own personal experience being a shoe-shine boy one summer in his little town in Mexico.
“Go get your shine box!” My mother commanded it and she meant business. A rite of passage for the five boys in my family: for one week take your shoe-shine box down town to the commercial district of our small town and learn about earning a living.
I imagine that my parents had more than one goal in mind. To inculcate us with the values of honest work and to make us study hard at school so we wouldn’t have to shine shoes for a living. I got that lesson fast.
Sure enough, for my 11th birthday I got a shoe-shine box with my name on it. And that box was not a toy. “You don’t play with this”, my father told me.
I only lasted a week shining shoes of businessmen and the boots of caballeros. And I got myself in big trouble. I broke a cardinal rule; no CANTINAS. They were dirty shameful places no respectful boy should go in.
I thought, “How come the real shoe-shine boys are allowed into the cantinas but not me? That’s where the money is!” I got in trouble with another boy who said I was in his territory and he punched me. The bloody nose from that cantina-whooping made me look tough, but not tough enough to take on my parents. After a lot of yelling and the ROJO INQUISTION my little entrepreneurial adventure on the street was slammed closed like a shine box.
The following summer I sold ice cream in the park, but that’s another story.
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Brooklynite Gallery will bring back those childhood memories on November 21 with an impressive roster of artists creating their own shine boxes.
Here are some sneak peek images from the show for your pleasure with more to come later. Enjoy!
3TTMAN
Ben Frost
Billi Kid
Brooklyn Street Art has a great little posting coming up about this guy Billi Kid, and an experiment he did on the street with it on Central Park South with his shinebox.
Dan touches up some fingers on his new installation at Carmichael Gallery (image courtesy Carmichael)
You’ve walked by his work a hundred times on the street in plain view. No really, you probably have, and didn’t know it. Dan Witz specializes in detailed work that when fully realized, can be be easy to miss.
“Dark Doings” is getting a lot of attention along North LaBrea Avenue.
A Chicago native, Witz has been in New York since he was an art-school punk at Cooper Union during a drug deranged haze that reigned in the economically bombed-out Lower East Side at the dawn of the Reagan Revolution. Graffiti art was expanding and morphing into many styles as this thinking-man explored an anti-graffiti that did anything but seek attention for it’s own sake.
Gallery preparations are underway for the show. (image courtesy Carmichael)
Over the years Dan has specialized in conceptual pranks, street interventions, and Dutch master inspired palm-sized oil paintings. While inspired by graffiti writers as a student, he instead practiced a more studied craft on the street that almost asked to be overlooked. Much of his work has adorned quietly, a subtle strong commentary to those who would observe.
A ghostlike female visage appears behind the cracked wire-inlaid window (Dan Witz) (courtesy the artist)
Tomorrow at Carmichael Gallery the prolific Witz, now from Brooklyn, will be expanding on a series he began a few years ago that was meant to draw attention to the new boom in soul-less building design in “up-and-coming” neighborhoods like Williamsburg. The fake exhaust vents, placed appropriately along the facades of “ugly” buildings, feature fingers and gloved hands pressing between the grates in an act of escape.
Can you keep a secret? (Dan Witz) (image courtesy the artist)
“Dark Doings”, the new show, takes the experiment a step further to the safety windows that beckon from steel doors in industrial areas. Attached in such a realistic manner, you may think that a woman has her face pressed up against the glass from inside. Or you may not notice his work in plain view.
New pieces by Dan Witz waiting to be hung for Thursday’s show (image courtesy Carmichael)
Brooklyn Street Art: Dan, my front doors have those same square wire-veined windows! One night a drunk neighbor couldn’t find his key so he smashed one with a can of coke and there were little pieces of glass all over the floor. Your people definitely look trapped in there. Little portholes of desperation. Or is that just me?
Dan Witz: I like that story. But I’d change it to little portals of desperation.
Dan did a special installation this week in L.A. for Halloween. Um, scary (Dan Witz) (image courtesy Carmichael)
Brooklyn Street Art: Sometimes your pieces on the street are so well camouflaged that people will not know they are there. Would you rather that your work is discovered or looked over?
Dan Witz: I know it’s perverse and probably not in my best self-interest but I love the idea of thousands of people walking by my pieces every day and not seeing them. Eventually though the law of averages (I put up so damned many of them) will catch up with you and you’ll see one. Then I’m hoping you’ll go, ‘Holy shit!” and begin to wonder what else you’ve been missing out there.
Dark doings definitely happening in the gallery (Dan Witz) (image courtesy Carmichael)
Brooklyn Street Art:You like to be outdoors, and many of your pieces in Brooklyn are about people trying to get out through vents of ugly new buildings. Is this work autobiographical in any way?
Dan Witz: The Ugly new Buildings projects is autobiographical inasmuch as I live in the neighborhood that these arrogant architectural abominations have been inflicted upon. The subtext of the piece was never one of escape, but more of frustration and powerlessness. As a street artist I take what’s happening on my own streets very personally.
Another project was to re-create street signs that contain characters or body parts in them, like this one with a scuba diver. (Dan Witz) (photo Jaime Rojo)
Brooklyn Street Art: “Dark Doings” still retains a punk rock flavor. And yet, so much of your work seems luminous and glowing and warm. Does a punk ever lose that rebellious dark side?
Dan Witz: It’s true that much of my youth was spent romanticizing the dark side. I believed that the truth could only be found by a violent rejection of the status quo. I still believe this, especially concerning creativity, but the truth about the so called dark side is that it’s mostly a pose and that the rest is ultimately sad and is the graveyard of a lot of wasted talent.
I’m just glad I made it back to report on it with my faculties (somewhat) intact. At some point after I hit thirty, I noticed that all I wanted to paint was light, and I needed to make it as warm and luminous and spiritually nourishing as I could. Not too ‘hip’ a career concept one would think, but somehow this turned out to be a rebellious act as well–at least for me. I can’t claim the metaphor was intentional but it’s not the first time my work has benefitted from such a suspiciously lucky coincidence.
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The exhibition “Dark Doings” will have an opening reception
Thursday November 5 from 7-10 PM at Carmichael Gallery in West Hollywood, CA.
I was a telemarketer for one day when I was eighteen years old. Actually it was half a day. I never came back from lunch.
I bring this horrible memory freshly to mind because I just learned that Mr. Jago and Will Barras, two artists showing new works at FIFTY24SF Gallery in San Francisco, first met each other when they were both working at telemarketing jobs. They both seem like they are unscarred, but sometimes these things are not obvious on the surface.
Walrus TV Artist Feature: Mr. Jago & Will Barras Interview from “The Run Up”
Mr Jago, a pioneer of the doodle, is a founding member of Scrawl Collective and a veteran in the street art movement. Jagos interests in art and design with influences from classic Marvel comics, graffiti and hip-hop culture have help forge his unique freehand style and distinct colour palette. http://www.mrjago.com/
Will Barras
Living and working London, Will Barras is an artist and illustrator best known for his work with the Scrawl Collective, a collaboration of artist’s centered around Bristol, UK. He has been hailed as one of the artists that best represent the skate and snowboard lifestyle. http://willbarras.com/
All that doodling at your telemarketer job could pay off!
“Darling,We’re Leaving!” features new works on display at FIFTY24SF Gallery from November 5 – November 24, 2009.
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
