Opening

Brand New Piece From Dain: “Born Again” Solo Show in Paris at Lebenson Gallery

JUST RELEASED

An image of a brand new piece by Brooklyn’s Own DAIN for his new solo show tomorrow in Paris.

DAIN’s new show is opening Thursday at Lebenson Gallery


“Dain: I don’t call myself a ‘street artist’ or this or that type of artist, too many people are looking for a title. I respect all art, whatever that may be.”

Click here for the rest of an interview with DAIN published today on Elle’s website

Image courtesy the artist.

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Lebenson Gallery Presents: Dain “Born Again” (Paris)

Dain “Born Again”

Dain (Image Courtesy of the Gallery)

Dain (Image Courtesy of the Gallery)

Opening June 24

6 to 9 pm

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..”

http://www.lebensongallery.com/

director@lebensongallery.com

56 rue Chapon
75003 Paris
Tel :

+33 (0)9 81 88 75 61

Ouverture Du mardi au Samedi de 11h à 19h
Tuesday to Saturday 11 am to 7 pm

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Museo De La Ciudad De Mexico and Anonymous Gallery Presents: “Draw” (Mexico City)

DRAW

Draw

Draw

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.

Anonymous Gallery’s curatorial contributions include artists such as: Bast, Tomokazu Matsuyama, Greg Lamarche, Tom Sachs, Kostas Seremetis, and Swoon For more information, please contact info@anonymousgallery.com or visit www.anonymousgallery.com or visit http://www.fusegallerynyc.com/DrawTour/tour.html

A N O N Y M O U S G A L L E R Y
www.anonymousgallery.com
www.anonymoushop.com
info@anonymousgallery.com
o.  646.238.9069
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From White Box to Tool Box: CrestFest 2010 and Crest Art Festival

From White Box to Tool Box: CrestFest 2010 and Crest Art Festival

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.

A new art piece in the store for the Crest Hardware Art Show (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

A new art piece in the store for the Crest Hardware Art Show by Mike Graves (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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.”

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Crest-Fest_2010-CF-POSTER

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.”

Crest Art Festival

Crest Hardware Art Show, Mike Graves (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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.

Matt Caputo "Everybody's Got Pipes"

Matt Caputo “Everybody’s Got Pipes” (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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)

General Howe

General Howe piece closed (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

General Howe Open

General Howe Opened (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

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.

Crest Hardware Art Show (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

For the trendier upscale home improvements, a Louis Vuiton hammer by Eric Parnes (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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)

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.

Crest Hardware Art Show (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Happy Plunging!  Mike Graves (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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?

Crest Hardware Art Show (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

The bed-head look is so popular that it’s spread to chandeliers. By Mike Marra (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

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.

Chris Collicot (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Collicot (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street artists Peru Ana Ana Peru (image courtesy Crest)

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 arts and mentorship 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.

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

or go to http://cresthardwareartshow.com/wordpress/

Crest Hardware
588 Metropolitan Ave
Brooklyn, New York 11211
(718) 388-9521


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Leo Kesting Gallery Presents: Dead Letter Playground: A Collection of Contemporary Street Art

Leo Kesting Gallery

Chris Stain (detail) Image Courtesy of Leo Kesting

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

View the Catalog

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

http://www.leokesting.com

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Mighty Tanaka Gallery Presents: “Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell” A group show with Robbie Busch, EMA, KOSBE, Josh McCutchen, Skewville and Alexis Trice

Mighty Tanaka

Alexis Trice "Mediocre" Image courtesy of Mighty Tanaka

Alexis Trice "Mediocre" Image courtesy of Mighty Tanaka

Preview:
Thursday, June 17th 6pm – 9pm

Opening:
Friday, June 18th 6pm – 9pm

Mighty Tanaka
68 Jay St, Suite 416
Brooklyn, NY 11201
(F Train to York St)

Press Release:

Mighty Tanaka is pleased to bring you our latest installment entitled Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell, a six-person group show that exposes our individual insecurities and transcends our personal observations. Through representations of introverted wonder and inner chaos, each artist offers a unique balance of emotion and integrity, which provides them with the proper tools to create their personal iconic styles.

Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell encourages the viewer to closely examine the turbulence of humanity and, in turn, challenges the visitors to look more closely at their own personal commotion and understanding of life’s social constructs. The exhibition provides a voyeuristic look at the personal interpretation and experience of the artist’s life and how they choose to relay it to an audience.

Featuring the art of Robbie Busch, EMA, KOSBE, Josh McCutchen, Skewville and Alexis Trice this New Century art show brings together artists of various disciplines and techniques in order to express a common theme that is congruent to us all.


OPENING RECEPTION:

Friday, June 18, 2010 – 6:00PM-9:00PM, and closing July 9, 2010

Mighty Tanaka
68 Jay St., Suite 416 (F Train to York St.)

Brooklyn, NY 11201

Hours: M-F 12:30PM to 7PM, weekends by appointment only

Office: 718.596.8781

Email: alex@mightytanaka.com

Web: http://www.mightytanaka.com

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Brooklynite Opening Photos for Denning & Walker’s “Surface Tension”

The art crowd was jovial and dancing, with the help of DJ Rehka as she brought her Bhangra out of the basement and into the backyard Saturday night night in BedStuy. After taking in the new pieces by Guy Denning and David Walker, guests were encouraged to loosen their limbs by the colorfully dressed dance troupe on the grass. It worked!

COVER-Brooklyn-Street-Art-copyright-Brooklynite-Walker-Denning-DSC_0234

Brooklyn-Street-Art-copyright-Brooklynite-Walker-Denning-DSC_0581

Brooklyn-Street-Art-copyright-Brooklynite-Walker-Denning-DSC_0499b

Brooklyn-Street-Art-copyright-Brooklynite-Walker-Denning-DSC_0634

Brooklyn-Street-Art-copyright-Brooklynite-Walker-Denning-DSC_0588

Brooklyn-Street-Art-copyright-Brooklynite-Walker-Denning-DSC_0539

(images courtesy the gallery)

See Brooklynite’s Website for more information about the show and gallery hours.

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Irvine Contemporary Art Gallery Presents: “Gaia: The Urban Romantic” (Washington, D.C.)

Gaia

Gaia. "St. John"

Gaia. "St. John"

Gaia: Urban Romantic

June 19 – July 24
Opening reception with the artist: Saturday, June 19, 6-8PM

Irvine Contemporary is pleased to present new works and on-site installations by gallery artist Gaia. In Urban Romantic, Gaia will present new compositions that combine decollage, linocut prints, and painting on wood panels and new on-site street mural installations. Opening reception with the artist: Saturday, June 19, 6-8 PM.

Drawing on his new and evolving body of imagery depicting human and animal figures, Gaia’s work reflects on the ancient themes of animal and human sympathies, but now in the context of the city and the human built environment. Working with myth and symbolic animal figures, Gaia’s street murals are like the works of an urban shaman drawing on a positive force from animal protectors.

Gaia employs recognizable animal figures to remind us of lost human connections to nature and the environment. He constructs an image of a reversal of the “natural order” where animals intervene as protectors and avatars for a new awareness of the human condition in the natural world. He is known world-wide for street murals placed in areas to elicit surprise and reflection by passers-by who encounter the symbolism and fragile narratives of his work.

About the Artist

Gaia is currently a student at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland, concentrating on printmaking and sculpture. His studio work and gallery projects have been exhibited in Brooklyn, New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. His work has been documented and featured in several recent books on urban art, including, most recently, Beyond the Street: The 100 Leading Figures in Urban Art, Patrick Nguyen and Stuart Mackenzie, eds. (Berlin: Die Gestalten Verlag, 2010). Gaia lives and works in Baltimore, MD, and Brooklyn, NY.

Artist’s Resume. Image gallery.

Location
Irvine Contemporary is located at 1412 14th St., NW, near P St., in the 14th Street Arts Corridor and Logan Circle area of Washington, DC.

Metro
The gallery is four blocks north of the McPherson Square Metro station, five blocks north-east of the Farragut North Metro, and five bocks east of the Dupont Circle Metro.

For further information and available works, contact Lauren Gentile, Director (202-332-8767, lauren@irvinecontemporary.com)

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RAS Gallery Presents: Rene Almanza Solo Show. Paintings.Drawings.Graphics (Barcelona)

Rene Almanza

Rene Almanza

Rene Almanza

SUBEN  PRESENTS

R e n e  A l m a n z a (México) .  S o l o  S h o w
paintings  .  drawings  .  graphics

Vernissage June 10th from 7.30 till 10 pm
RAS Gallery Barcelona . Carrer Doctor Dou 10

From Monterrey Mexico and for the very first time in Europe, the work
of Rene Almanza arrives to RAS Gallery Barcelona. Convoluted lines
that show but also hide faces, bodies and animals, extracted from the
many worlds that Rene Almanza materializes melting his own urban and
poetic influences, mark the artist solo exhibition.

The paintings, drawings and graphic works presented review a wide
range of prices, inviting all art lovers to take one of Rene Almanza’s
unique works home.

” Every time I see the work of Rene Almanza I feel a mixture of love and hate.
I realize that he is a quiet person in whose drawings lives some a kind of
struggle with the paper that gives life to his strokes, making it sometimes, to
seem to go beyond the square surface limits. ”
Herbert Baglione

– Presents from the artist to the first 150 guests
– Oficial video, pictures, press-kits and more info more information on  www.subenysuben.com/blog



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Elisa and Seth: The Dynamic Duo “Books” You at Carmichael Gallery (CA)

Hands up, the new sheriffs of Culver City saw you lustily ruffling those pages with your flirting fingers!

Opening Saturday night, “Booked” at Carmichael Gallery

An unusual confluence of art and artists and the books that love them, this show satisfies your yearning for adventure and mystery, and more conventional pursuits like oggling and drooling. The art of reading tactile 3-D books has not completely been supplanted by glowing rectangles that are poked and prodded – much like the art of photography and painting, we were all silly to think they ever could have been replaced.

Dave Kinsey (Image Courtesy of Carmichael Gallery)
Dave Kinsey (Image Courtesy of Carmichael Gallery)

There’s nothing like pouring over a big fat book, page after page, staring and stalling, drifting and imagining expansive vistas on an overstuffed couch on a Sunday afternoon, or even Saturday night after many cocktails at a kitchen table, bleary and carnivorous for images.

But I gush.

Martha Cooper (Image Courtesy of Carmichael Gallery)
Martha Cooper (Image Courtesy of Carmichael Gallery)

If Street Art has stars (an idea anathema to many), this event will bring many under one roof:

Aiko, Dan Baldwin, Banksy, Beejoir, Blek le Rat, Boxi, Bumblebee, C215, Henry Chalfant, Martha Cooper, D*Face, Brad Downey, Eine, Ericailcane, Escif, Faile, Shepard Fairey, Stelios Faitakis, Gaia, Hush, Mark Jenkins, Dave Kinsey, Know Hope, Labrona, Anthony Lister, Lucy McLauchlan, Aakash Nihalani, Walter Nomura (a.k.a. Tinho), Other, Steve Powers (a.k.a. ESPO), Lucas Price (a.k.a. Cyclops), Retna, Saber, Sam3, Sixeart, Slinkachu, SpY, Judith Supine, Titi Freak, Nick Walker, Dan Witz and WK Interact

Anthony Lister (Image Courtesy of Carmichael Gallery)
Anthony Lister (Image Courtesy of Carmichael Gallery)

With a large selection of books and magazines from: Drago, Gingko Press, Murphy Design, Prestel, Rojo, SCB Distributors, Studiocromie, Very Nearly Almost, Zupi and more.

If you had plans you can go ahead and change them, call your friends go and enjoy fine art and the hospitality of Elisa and Seth Carmichel. They’ll quickly have you “Booked”

******************************************************

Carmichael Gallery
5795 Washington Blvd
Culver City, CA 90232
June 5 – July 3, 2010

Opening Reception: Saturday, June 5, 2010, 6-8pm

(Exhibition will open for view from 12pm on Saturday to coincide with Culver City Art Walk)

www.carmichaelgallery.com

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Lazarides Gallery Summer Series Presents: “EuroTrash” with Conor Harrington, JR, Vhils and Antony Micallef (Beverly Hills, CA)

Lazarides
Address :
320 North Beverly Drive,
Beverly Hills,
CA 90210
Phone :
Phone: +1 323 202 6339 / +1 323 202 5305
Open :
Monday – Sunday 12 pm – 8 pm.
Admittance :
Free
9th June 2010 – 27th June 2010
Lazarides LA is proud to introduce, EuroTrash: a stellar line up of some of the hottest European artists around.

Hailing from France, JR will bring his unique vision to Beverly Hills. Immersing himself within cultures where struggle and conflict are rife, he presents his monochromatic photographs and installations.

Renovating the urban environment much like JR, is the innovative Portugese artist Alexandre Farto aka Vhils. He manipulates a variety of surfaces to create his extraordinary vision. From the brick facade of buildings to peeling off layered flyposters, he reveals images that explore the sub-cultures and dynamism of a city.

Cork born painter Conor Harrington explores the illusion of power and the emotional side of masculinity in his large-scale paintings. Combing the fast pace of grafitti art with traditional oil painting, resulting in energetic murals of soldiers and conquerors existing within a chaotic abstracted landscape.

Antony Micallef
returns to LA with his distinctive style of painting. Drawing on icons of contemporary society which both celebrate and condemn modern day living. His most recent works are built upon a profound belief in the act of brushstrokes and animals and humans merge in the happy accident of the artist’s extreme stream of consciousness.

Immortalising the individual in monumental proportions is what these exciting artist do best. Using the overlooked, misunderstood and mundane elements of our everyday, each artist captures our attention with their distinctive style and alternative approach.

Lazarides | 320 North Beverly Drive | Beverly Hills | CA | 90210

Monday – Sunday 12 pm – 8pm

Phone: +1 323 202 6339 / +1 323 202 5305

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Think Space Gallery Presents: Ekundayo and Brett Armory New Paintings (Culver City L.A.)

Think Space Gallery

Ekundayo Image Courtesy Think Space Gallery

Ekundayo Image Courtesy Think Space Gallery

Thinkspace presents:

Main Gallery:

‘Joy Today Jeopardy Tomorrow’

New paintings, drawings and an installation from Ekundayo

Project Room:

‘The Waiting Room’

New paintings from Brett Amory

Opening Reception:

Fri, June 11th 7-10PM with both artists in attendance

The Crepe’n Around Truck will be out during the opening reception – be sure to bring your appetite!

Both exhibitions on view: June 11th – July 2nd

(Los Angeles) Thinkspace is excited to welcome back Los Angeles based artist Ekundayo for his second solo show with our gallery. Also taking place at the same time in our project room will be the debut Los Angeles solo show from San Francisco based Brett Amory.

‘Joy Today Jeopardy Tomorrow’ is an exhibition about the beautiful struggle we all face of reaching for our dreams, in hopes of guiding our own destiny. Whether we succeed or fail is not important, as long as it’s on our own terms. Ekundayo’s work illustrates the sacrifices we make in the pursuit of fulfillment, while simultaneously questioning the actions taken to attain this ‘fulfillment’ we all seek. A great deal of inspiration for this new body of work has come from the life of Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr., an African nationalist who during the 1920’s had a vision to bring his people from all over the world to a higher level of  conciseness in regards to where they come from and how they provided for themselves. Although Garvey failed in his ultimate goal of having a fleet of steamships fairing people from all over the world to Africa in-order to connect them to their origins, he left a legacy behind that continues to inspire countless others.

When looking at the work you get a sense of an inner struggle with the central figures being anchored by a large burden, while at the same time appearing weightless, as if suspended in moments of relief. A sort of “misshapen beauty” which speaks to the imperfections and vices found within all of us. Ekundayo’s pieces are handled with a deliberate sensitivity, framed by moments of very loose, almost sporadic applications of paint, which help to give the finished works a sense of inadvertence, that in turn serve as a testament to the artist’s intent.

In our project room we welcome Brett Amory. His painting series entitled “Waiting” depicts the urban individual’s yearning for presence and the seeming impossibility of attaining it. The paintings portray commuters in transit immersed in either a quiet, even hopeful state or, alternately, a state of anguish due to unfulfilled anticipation.

At first, the series, begun in 2001, depicted travelers waiting underground. But as the paintings evolved, the people ceased to be exclusively travelers, and began to emphasize figures selected from anonymous snaphots of city streets taken by the artist during his travels. Although the experience of waiting remains, the perception of it has changed from one of mundane task to one leavened with transcendence.

The series has also charted the evolution of an artist—the reductive elements of the compositions provide an outward echo of the inner states of the figures.  By reducing the elements of the painting as far as possible, a frozen moment is extended.

Lastly, Amory has developed favored motifs in the series, a kind of visual music, such as repetition of a human image, to show not only the passage of time but of the human being through it.

In our main gallery space::

Ekundayo

‘Joy Today Jeopardy Tomorrow’

Ekundayo (Dayo) was born in Honolulu, Hi, in 1983 where he lived with his mother and father until the age of five when his mother and father could no longer get along. Ekundayo’s father snuck him out of the state without his mother’s knowledge, and for seven years Ekundayo and his father moved from place to place living a life on the run. Meanwhile in her desperate need to find her son, Ekundayo’s mother helped start Hawaii’s first clearing house for missing children. The life on the run ended in 1994 when his father moved to California with Ekundayo’s sister because his father was dying from cancer. In early 1995, Ekundayo’s father passed away from lung cancer; Ekundayo was eleven…

Ekundayo lived with his sister, brother in-law, four nieces and his sister’s mother in a small three-bedroom and one-bath house in Pacoima, Ca. It was in this house at the age of 13 that Ekundayo discovered his love for art. After being involved in school fights, stealing and hanging with the wrong people, he was suspended from school. One day while in the garage, he found one of his uncle’s black books. This uncle wrote for a graff crew in L.A. called C.H.B. This book completely changed Ekundayo’s life. He became obsessed with drawing and copied every single page in that little book. Meanwhile, the Dept of Justice had located Ekundayo at his sister’s home and returned him to the custody of his mother. Ekundayo went back to Hawaii to live with his mother. His drive to create didn’t stop, and the encouragement from his family only fueled that ambition. Shortly after graduating high-school, Ekundayo moved back with his sister and brother in-law in much more spacious accommodations. He attended Pierce College in Winetka, Ca, where he practiced his craft and worked on his portfolio until 2003 when he was accepted into Art Center College of Art and Design on a scholarship.

Although the teachers he studied under and the friends he met while going to Art Center were priceless to his development, Ekundayo dropped out after completing his foundation courses in order to create his own path in the fine art world. He combines both subversive graffiti aesthetics in combination with art-historical erudition using acrylic, gouache, watercolor, ink and various carving techniques. Ekundayo’s work expresses the struggle of life and how those struggles and burdens can either inspire us to change in a constructive way or weigh us down by our own inability to change.

Take a ‘Sneak Peek’ at the works for ‘Joy Today Jeopardy Tomorrow’ coming together:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thinkspace/sets/72157623719360265/

Artist website:

www.ekundayo.com

Brett Armory Image Courtesy of Think Space Gallery

Brett Armory Image Courtesy of Think Space Gallery

In our project room:

Brett Amory

‘The Waiting Room’

Brett Amory was born June 25th, 1975 in Portsmouth, Virginia. His father, Harry Amory, was a mechanic at a shipyard and his mother, Sally Roebuck, a nurse. When he was 21 Amory moved to San Francisco to study motion pictures at the Academy of Arts. Soon after enrolling in school, Amory took his first drawing class and was introduced to his passion for the arts. Around the time Amory celebrated his 24th birthday he tried his hand in painting. In 2002 Brett switched his major to fine art and started his current body of work called “Waiting”. This series of paintings explores the anticipation of the next moment.

Amory graduated from the Academy of Arts in 2005 and has shown his work all over the country. In 2006 Amory along with five other artists (Mars-1, David Choong Lee, Damon Soule, Nome Edona, Oliver Vernon) published a book called “Convergence” and had book signings in New York, Los Angeles and at the SFMOMA in San Francisco.

Amory currently works as a graphic designer at an environmental company in San Francisco and continues to show his work in galleries across the country.

Take a ‘Sneak Peek’ at the works for ‘The Waiting Room’ coming together:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thinkspace/sets/72157623844101930/

Check out a great video documenting the process behind the piece ‘Waiting #54’:

http://vimeo.com/11705089

Artist website:

http://www.brettamory.com/

About Thinkspace Gallery:

Established in November of 2005, Thinkspace exists as a catalyst for the ever expanding new contemporary art movement that is exploding forth from the streets and art schools the world over. We are here to help represent this new generation of artists, to provide them that home base and to aid them in building the right awareness and collector base necessary for long-term growth.

Our aim is to help these new talents shine and to provide them a gallery setting in which to prove themselves. It is our hope and dream that through these opportunities these individuals will prosper and continue to grow to amaze us all for years to come. With the love of and for our community, and with the talents of so many incredible artists involved, we believe that this movement will provide the necessary proving ground for the ideas and dreams of today to become the foundations of a new tomorrow.

Thinkspace Gallery is located at 6009 Washington Blvd, in the heart of the Culver City Arts District, Culver City, CA 90232. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday, 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. and by appointment. For more information, please call 310.558.3375, visit www.thinkspacegallery.com, or email contact@thinkspacegallery.com.

Also opening on June 11th in London, England:

‘The Next Generation: A New Chapter in Contemporary Art’ – 45 international artists curated by Thinkspace and presented by London Miles Gallery (www.londonmiles.com)

Coming up in July at Thinkspace:

July 9th – July 30th

‘Negative Never Again’ featuring new paintings and sculptures from Yosuke Ueno

+ ‘Waking in the Dark’ featuring new work from Dan-ah Kim (project room)

*Please note our new address and phone number*

Thinkspace

6009 Washington Blvd.

Culver City, CA 90232

#310.558.3375

www.thinkspacegallery.com

www.sourharvest.com

Hours:

Wednesday thru Saturday

1 p.m. – 6 p.m. (or by appointment)

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