Video

The Art of Teebs : Musician and Street Artist (VIDEO)

Teebs learns a new language and cuts himself loose

California based Fine and Street Art artist and musician Teebs is currently in Chicago working on the last details for his solo show at Pawn Works Gallery. On this video he opens up and talks about being more in touch with his own feelings and having his brain spilled over onto the floor. He is experiencing a creative rebirth and inspiration comes to him from the simple things in life.

Teebs. Still from the video shot by Theo Jemison

Teebs. Still from the video shot by Theo Jemison

Teebs. Still from the video shot by Theo Jemison

 

 

Teebs’ solo show “Lady Luck” at Pawn Works Gallery opens this Friday. Click here for more information.

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Fun Friday 10.15.10

Fun-Friday

Fun Friday

Mighty Tenaka in Dumbo with “Cimmerian Shade”

brooklyn-street-art-cimmerian-mighty-tanaka-gallery1

Featuring the artwork of Katie Decker, FARO, Hellbent, Marlo Marquise, John McGarity, Don Pablo Pedro and Ellen Stagg

More about the show HERE

“Portraits” by Sten + Lex with Gaia at Brooklynite

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Portraits-Sten-Lex-Gaia-Oct-2010

This is a hot shot straight to Number Uno on the charts Ladies and Germs. Italians with their own understated stencil technique and UES wild-eyed jerkin chicken man. Read more on this show here from yesterday on BSA.

Dan Taylor “Notes from the Inside”

brooklyn-street-art-FUNFRIDAY-dan-taylor-pandemic-gallery

Pandemic is reliably snarky, eclectic, and often on the money.  Keep your eye on them because they also think.  A lot.

Plus, Dan Taylor was raised by squirrels.

Muralmorphosis

From The Philadephia Mural Arts Program, an animated mural handed back and forth amongst several artists, in the style of Exquisite Corpse.

Artists: Eve Biddle/Joshua Frankel, Rodney Camarce,Bonnie Brenda Scott, Seth Turner, Mauro Zamora.
Curated by Sean Stoops.

Ben Eine at The Moniker Art Fair

“Hell’s Half Acre”

Kind of like going to Macys!

Launched in October 12th and produced by Lazarides in collaboration with Tunnel 228 and off-site exhibition of Dante’s “Inferno”.

Via Babelgum.

Visitors explore a unique interpretation of the nine circles of hell through the vision of artists including Conor Harrington, Vhils, George Osodi, Antony Micallef, Doug Foster, Todd James, Paul Insect, Mark Jenkins, Boogie, Ian Francis, Polly Morgan, Jonathan Yeo.

David Choe Goes to Hell

Here’s his creation of his piece for Lazaride’s “Hell’s Half Acre”.

Via Babelgum

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“Bring To Light” Brings to Life

“Bring To Light” Brings to Life

Brooklyn Does “Nuit Blanche”

Talking with the Producer and One of the Organizers of New York’s First

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Bring To Light Nuit Blanche NYC 2010. Ryan Uzilievski. “Elemental Harmonics” (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

A lady, perhaps in her late 60’s or early 70’s with small wire-rimmed glasses stood on the pavement grinning in front of our flickering video projection time-lapses of Street Artists putting up work. She only turned from the screen once to make sure that her posse was also watching. When the video ended, with shoulders pinch up toward her grey fluffy hair, she clapped her hands quietly in front of her smiling mouth, and went back to the sidewalk to talk to her friends about it. She asked them if they had seen it. They had. A bit of wonder for us, her excitement.

We like to think that all of the artists involved in the first ever Nuit Blanche festival in New York received a similar experience for all of their efforts. As artists, few things make us happier than when we get to see the faces of the public enjoying the art being presented.

In New York there aren’t many venues where both the artists and the public get to mingle and talk directly with each other in an open and unrestricted environment: No VIP rooms, no PR handlers, no spokespeople, no velvet ropes, admission tickets, no one looking down their nose. The organizers of “Bring to Light” made this possible for one glorious night in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. Perhaps 10,000 art lovers got out of their homes to enjoy one evening of free enlightenment without restriction.

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Bring To Life. Nuit Blanche NYC 2010. Claire Scoville “Dancer. Jordan” (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

With a five-hour convulsing light carnival by 60 artists, many of whom are well known for avant garde innovation, “Bring to Light” brought to life this former maritime hub of North Brooklyn that once blustered with lumber yards and rope factories. Now a rusty hopscotch of weathered industrial architecture, burned out lots, and faded hopes, Greenpoint in recent years has bloomed with the lifeblood of artists overflowing from neighboring Williamsburg. Aided by a crisp autumn night and Greenpoint’s Open Studios weekend, where artists open their doors to the public, “Bring To Light” was suddenly pulsating with the feet of thousands of art fans. All manner of projectors blasted on the walls with myriad images, forms, and shapes, some breathtakingly beautiful. Other artists created sculptures and installations that worked as light vessels and amorphous creatures while collaborative dancers entertained groupings of appreciative observers.

The show’s organizer DoTank:Brooklyn, calls itself a public vessel for interdisciplinary exploration, and Nuit Blanche seemed like the perfect showcase for everything these (mostly) urban planners are about. More interested in taking action than talking about it, their collective sense of focused urgency is like a refreshing gale of cool October air.  Since they actually know how to plan and work with local civic and citizen groups, they were able to pull off New York City’s very first Nuit Blanche event in less than 3 months, and on a shoestring budget.

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Bring To Light. Nuit Blanche NYC 2010. Landscape Invention Society. “Sticks And Bones” (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

While DoTank had the initial idea, the Nuit Blanche ball started rolling when festival producer Ethan Vogt got involved to steer the effort in late July. DoTank had experience organizing participator events in public space and Ethan brought his background in film production and a passion for creating cinematic experience outside of traditional venues.

DoTanker Ken Farmer, originally from Memphis, Tennessee usually is riding his bike around the city or  working as a consultant at Project for Public Spaces, a nonprofit planning, design and educational organization.  He likes to ride his bike around the city and scope out cheap places to eat, or “blue collar hollas”, as he calls them.

A Boston born New Yorker since ’02, Ethan Vogt is a filmmaker who makes documentaries for organizations, music videos with found footage, and has produced three feature films with Andrew Bujalski. Now developing a masters thesis about Media in Performance and Architecture at NYU, Vogt hopes to produce Nuit Blanch for at least the next couple years in New York.

Bring to Light. Nuit Blanche NYC 2010 Corinne Odermant "Linger Let Me Linger" (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bring to Light. Nuit Blanche NYC 2010 Corinne Odermant “Linger Let Me Linger” (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art spoke to both guys about the success of their first Nuit Blanche in New York.

 

Brooklyn Street Art: How do you feel about the event, now that you are a few days on the other side of it?

Ken Farmer: We could not be more excited about how things turned out. Great weather, great crowd, great support from the community and a great response from both people who attended as well as those who have seen post-event coverage.

Ethan Vogt: Yeah, we are all just thrilled with how it came together – I’ve heard nothing but positive things from artists, visitors, and Greenpoint residents. I would say it exceeded our expectations and we were just in awe of what we had “organized” and “produced.”

Bring To LIght. Nuit Blanche NYC 2010. Nathanial Lileb and Sarah Nelson Wright "Oculus" (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bring To Light. Nuit Blanche NYC 2010. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: How long has this event been in the planning?

Ken Farmer: The idea began in July and planning really began in August. We were on pins and needles until the last minute getting the permits approved due to apprehension about an event with no prior history in NYC. Luckily, some key leaders like Councilman Stephen Levin and Borough President Marty Markowitz really believed in the event and helped us get over the hump.

Brooklyn Street Art: Would you call yourselves artists?

Ken Farmer: I’d say…artist and organizer…maybe that’s a curator?…of public spaces.

Ethan Vogt: Sure, I’d say I’m an artist and creative producer. I actually was going to do a projection project for the festival before I got too busy producing. You can see some of my projections and photography online. I feel like my art-making allows me to be a better producer, I often think about what I would want from a producer if I was the artist and then try to be that kind of producer.

brooklyn-street-art-bring-to-life-nuit-blanche-NYC-2010-jaime-rojo-web-6

Bring To Light. Nuit Blanche NYC 2010.  Jacob Abramson (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Who had the idea of launching New York’s first Nuit Blanche, and why did you think it was important to pursue and execute?

Ken Farmer: DoTanker Ted Ulrich organized a similar event in Atlanta and other team members had experienced Nuit Blanche events in other countries. We knew that it provided such a creative transformation of public spaces. Given our interest in short-term interventions to transform the way public space is experienced…we had to try.

Brooklyn Street Art: Can you talk about one of your favorite projections or performances from Saturday night?

Ken Farmer: We had some pretty well known light artists like Chris Jordan and Ryan Uzilevsky, but the thing that amazed me was the way the art, performers and crowd coalesced into a seamless experience. It wasn’t about individuals or feature pieces, it was about the transformed landscape that emerged collectively.  This was our curatorial goal, but the reality far exceeded our expectations.

Ethan Vogt: So many of the pieces were amazing, it is hard to choose.  I loved the percussion performance, “Scaffolding” by Tom Peyton with Terence Caulkins, Eddie Cooper, Lily Faden, Leo Kremer, and Mike Skinner, I also thought that the way that crowds were interacting with “A Small Explosion” by Kant Smith,  “Light & Glass Dance” by Miho Ogai, “Oculus” by Nathaniel Lieb & Sarah Nelson Wright, and “Untitled (Drums, Lights) by Peter Esveld & Philippo Vanucci was remarkable and a very vibrant way of people connecting to artwork that I haven’t seen very many other places in my life.

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Bring To Life. Nuit Blanche NYC 2010. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: What role does public art play in the life of a neighborhood or a city?

Ken Farmer: It should be a manifestation of its surroundings showcasing the local identity. And it should compel us to appreciate our surroundings–aesthetically, whimsically, critically. But it is frustrating how often it falls short.

Ethan Vogt: I’m no expert on this but I think public art should encourage reflection, debate, and connection. New public spaces like the “High Line”  in Chelsea are the kind of thing that I believe embodies this and I would love to someday be involved in producing a project like that.

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Bring To Light. Nuit Blanche NYC 2010.  Jacob Abramson (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: We’re always talking about the intersection between Street Art, Urban Art, Public Art, Performance, Projection Art – do you think that there is a growing interest among city dwellers in reclaiming public space for art?

 

Ethan Vogt: Yes, Yes, Yes! – I think this festival really struck a chord and that people looking for an authentic, non-consumer, artistic, participatory, and community experience.

Ken Farmer: I think there is a growing interest in authentic, and interactive public art. We are in a beautiful era of D.I.Y. culture. The big, corporate commissioned public art pieces in lifeless lower Manhattan plazas are old news. People want something more relatable and more dynamic. We are seeing a proliferation of low-cost, pop-up elements in public spaces. Some may see it as art, others as amenity, either way…its terrific.

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Bring To Life. Nuit Blanche NYC 2010. Claire Scoville “Dancer. Jordan” (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

Brooklyn Street Art: Were you surprised how difficult it could be to pull this off?

Ken Farmer: The difficulty lies in the need to do everything by the books. We intend to make this an annual tradition that gets better every year. So we dotted the “i’s” and crossed the “t’s”, which was costly, fiscally as well as temporally, but essential to building community support.

Ethan Vogt: It was extremely difficult to get all the pieces together to make this work but the reward of the experience was well worth it and things will certainly be easier next year.

 

Brooklyn Street Art: Do you think most people who see the show have any idea the amount of work that goes into it?

Ethan Vogt: I’m not sure if they have a sense of the work but I don’t care, I’m just glad they came out and had a night to remember. Hopefully they might continue to support us next year.

Ken Farmer: Hopefully they don’t know how much work goes in. I think the biggest barometer of the event’s success was how calm it felt. It was amazing to have that big of a crowd, with that many artists and that much excitement, yet have things seem so orderly.

We are extremely appreciative of how the crowd received the event…Thank You New York!

Bring To Light Nuit Blanche NYC 2010 Ryan Uzilievski. "Elemental Harmonics" (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bring To Light Nuit Blanche NYC 2010 Ryan Uzilievski. “Elemental Harmonics” (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA……………..BSA………………. BSA……………..BSA………………. BSA……………..BSA………………. BSA……………..BSA……………….

DoTank:Brooklyn is always looking for new partners. Please contact them at info@dotankbrooklyn.org

“Bring to Light” was organized by: Do Tank: Brooklyn Michael Doherty, Ken Farmer, Aurash Khawarzad, Tom Peyton, and Ted Ullrich

Produced by: Ethan Vogt, Furnace Media

Co-produced by: Pepin Gelardi, Jacquie Jordan, Annie de Mayo, Anna Muessig, Stephen Zacks

Please visit the Bring To Light site and click on their Kick Starter Campaign. They are only a few hundred dollars from reaching their fundraising goal. They need your support!

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FUN FRIDAY 06.04.10: BOS on BSA and “He-Man said Hey” Video

Fun-Friday BOS & He-Man

BOS on BSA and He-Man Video Inspiration for Fun Friday

Bushwick Open Studios Starts Immediately, If not Sooner

To select 5 of the top picks for the Brooklyn-Centered art celebration, we asked Chloë Bass, Co-Lead Organizer of Bushwick Open Studios, to make a few recommendations. She handily reports the following:

This weekend is Bushwick Open Studios — three days of on the street, in-your-face, participatory and community-minded art events located in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The festival is hard to miss: there are more than 300 shows registered this year, and the weekend generally has a party vibe. Everyone’s out, using Arts in Bushwick’s maps to get from place to place and making friends with strangers, not to mention enjoying the snacks and drinks that studio visits can often provide. This is a great chance not only to see some new art, but also to meet the artists, who will be around for your conversation pleasure all weekend. It’s a street-wise adventure.

titleAIBBOS

Here are a few picks for Brooklyn Street Art readers. Head over to our Directory to do a search of our complete listings, or get a map and program from one of our 14 hub locations. We hope you enjoy the weekend!

Skewville at Factory Fresh

Skewville at Factory Fresh

5. Start over at Factory Fresh, Ad Deville and Ali Ha’s pop-art vibe gallery, where Deville’s new works will be up on the wall. Make sure to check out their back outdoor area, which boasts a new mural for every show. 1053 Flushing Avenue

Brooklyn-Street-Art-BOS-AnxieteamJon Burgerman & Jim Avignon perform as “The Anxieteam at Factory Fresh Saturday
At 5:30 on Saturday, there will be live music from Jim Avignon and Jon Burgerman to accent your viewing pleasure. Factory Fresh (www.factoryfresh.net): 1053 Flushing Avenue.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-BOS-SurrealEstate

4. Down the street from Factory Fresh, Surreal Estate, an artist and activist collective, will be showing prints, graphic design, and much, much more, made by artists from all over the world. Friday night also features their Performancy Forum, advertised as experimental and political. Check it out! Surreal Estate (surrealestatenyc.wordpress.com): 15 Thames Street.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-BOS-FoundPublicArt

3. For the intellectually minded, check out a chat on Found Public Art at Lumenhouse, moderated by Arts in Bushwick’s own Laura Braslow. Come discuss street aesthetics, the nature of public art, and what aesthetically builds a neighborhood. Lumenhouse (http://lumenhouse.com): 47 Beaver Street. Saturday, June 5, 6 – 8 PM.Brooklyn-Street-Art-BOS-NathanPickett

2. Nathan Pickett’s studio boasts a fascination with subjects as wide ranging as “underground culture, pop-culture, illustration, technology, bike culture, drugs, monsters, animals, mythology, chaos, abstraction, hoods, dimes, bodegas, Brooklyn, hip-hop, punk rock and everything in between and outside of this or that” — if that weren’t enough, his teaser images look fantastic. Stop by: 117 Grattan Street, #421.

Lia McPherson-Rendering

1. For a migratory performance experience, catch Lia McPherson’s Bushwick Mobile-Synchronized Cycling — a dance piece that takes place on what we’ve been promised are the “cutest little BMX bikes you’ll ever see.” The dancers will be outside of five BOS hub spaces over the course of the weekend. Check their profile for times and locations.

Bushwick Open Studios + Events
Friday – Sunday, June 4 – 6, 2010
300+ shows in more than 140 locations
Produced by Arts in Bushwick (artsinbushwick.org)

sideBOSDates

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The Fun Friday Video This Week Chosen by Bishop203

He-man said Hey

“It’s the best video I have ever seen” – Bishop203

Congratulations, you just ruined my childhood.” – antidead

* Lia McPherson image a BSA artists rendering, with Gabriel Bienczycki photography of dancer.

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Gaia and NohJColey Wreck a Big Wall in Brooklyn

Gaia and NohJColey Wreck a Big Wall in Brooklyn

Culminating weeks of prep, “Mutual Discrepancy” goes up, with both artists feeling good about street art in the new year.

(SEE Nicolas Heller Film of the installation at End of this Posting)

On Friday two young and hungry New York Street Artists combined their artistry, critical intellects, and kinetic energy (and questionable dancing skills) to help define street art for a new generation on the cusp of the 2010’s.

Gaia and NohJColey

Paint, paper, ladders, wheat-paste, razors, brushes, mashups, jazz messengers, rough housing, and bad dancing. OH yeah they rock hard! Gaia and NohJColey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

In an age of shifting definitions in the art world, the Street Art world, and, well, the whole freakin’ modern world, you can take heart to know that the kids still know how to have fun, and some of them are willing to work their butts off in pursuit of a vision.

NohJColey

NohJColey prepping the background before the wheat-pasted pieces (photo © Jaime Rojo)

On a 30 foot by 8 foot luhan-wood billboard in Brooklyn, Gaia and NohJColey brought their A Game to the street and auspiciously stretched the definition of wheat-pasted smart-aleck wall-wrecking.

The wall is curated by Brooklyn Street Art for Espeis Outside Gallery.

Gaia

Gaia picking up the choice first cuts of lamb  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Both New Yorkers, they communicated since Thanksgiving via email while Gaia was in school in Baltimore. They traded sketches, ideas, pictures, opinions – and when Gaia’s winter vacation started, they hung out at each other’s studios and kitchen tables planning the collaboration. Both guys had labored over their hand drawn and hand painted pieces for few weeks, so when it was game day, it really felt more like graduation.

Gaia

What’s this I see? Gaia (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia

Whoops, piece of it ripped. No prob, just lay on the paste (Gaia) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

It was cold on the street yesterday, but no one cared and the mood was celebratory. NohJ even refused to eat because he was too excited to put his work up – eventually he did eat though.

Gaia

Gaia  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia

It’s very popular right now to make fun of skinny jeaned hipsters, because, frankly, we have to make fun of somebody.  In Gaia’s case, he’s just skinny. Gaia  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia

The double headed furry thing of doooooomb.  (Gaia) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Horsing around and doing bike tricks and break/dip/jerk dancing of course was a periodic pursuit by galloping Gaia so the work got interrupted by Major Lazer and Free Gucci once in a while. We think it was the cup of coffee that pushed him over the edge – you might as well give him a dumptruck of cocaine – the kid was jumping around like a long-tailed-cat in a rocking-chair convention.

NohJColey

NohJColey had some last minute cutting to do of his pieces on the floor inside where it was warm. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Meanwhile, on a totally different wavelength, NohJ was chilling to ear-blasting jazz from Art Blakey and the Jazz Messengers – giving him a valium-nuanced, snappy kind of gait.

Gaia NohJColey

Gaia and NohJColey laying in the back ground depth (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: They really look like animals from over here
Gaia: Yeah they don’t look like sh*t when you’re close to them.

Brooklyn Street Art: It looks like you did some mirrored lambs heads.
Gaia: Yeah. I did this mural in Baltimore which was a bear head and then a cow head on another wall, and all the kids at the pre-school thought that the bear was either a seal or a dog.
Brooklyn Street Art:
I thought that big bear you did looked like a woodchuck.
NohJ: I always know what your animals are though.

NohJColey

NohJColey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gimme that sheep! I wanna have it!

Gimme that sheep! I wanna have it! Gaia lends a hand to the giant hand (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: So why did you use this ochre color, usually you use just black and white.
Gaia: NohJ and I had talked about something that would tie everything together and make it a little more continuous. I figured I’d just do the color ochre to tie in with the rest of his pieces, so it would make it a little bit more congruous or fluid between the two of us.

NohJColey

NohJColey working with his piece (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: What’s this additional paint layer you are putting into the background on the wood right now?
NohJ: Basically it’s to add dimension. That’s it.
Gaia: And texture…
NohJ: I mean the wood has texture but..
Gaia: It’s a trope.
Brooklyn Street Art: A trope?
Gaia: What were we calling it before? Distressed! It’s a distressed trope. It’s a trope of distress.
NohJ: I like the border on the far right, it’s getting into the “Sepia Zone”.

Gaia and NohJColey

It’s hard for Wall Street to hold it’s head up. (Gaia and NohJColey) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: How long have you guys been planning this piece together?
Gaia: This? Like for a month or two.
NohJ: Yeah like two.

NohJColey

This screen almost looks like it is reading his vital signs. Looks like his heart may need some regulation (NohJColey) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: NohJ, what’s the New York Stock Exchange logo thing on the little screen?
NohJ: He’s a stock broker. He’s like totally f**king obsessed with trading stocks. He cares nothing about family. He has a new-born son, he cares nothing about it. He just wants to trade stocks. That’s pretty much what it’s about.

NohJColey

Ouch! That’s gotta hurt.  (NohJColey) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

All the added elements, the watches, the hands with the glass of wine and the cell phone, those are what the person is drawn to and pretty much what they care about on a daily basis. Now there is a lamb, a mutated creature in their midst. But they are so caught up with the pristine life that they’re unable to embrace something or someone that is different.

NohJColey

NohJColey (Detail) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Are people going to know what this piece is about?
NohJ: Probably not.
Brooklyn Street Art: Are you going to try to tell them?
NohJ: I think it’s open.
Gaia: Well the internet always serves as a wonderful place of clarity

Is all in the hands

One of Gaia’s favorite symbols, and one of his hands. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Your styles are so different from one another. Do you feel like it was difficult to collaborate on a piece?
Gaia: Uh, no, not at all.
NohJ: Not really.

Gaia

Working the seam (Gaia) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia: I actually like when you have collaborations when you have an initial idea and there isn’t too much communication between the two collaborators because then you don’t too much overthink it and it starts to fall apart. You don’t get constipated, you just do your thing.
NohJ: I felt a bit constipated, in the beginning.
Gaia: I mean it’s always tough to begin something.
NohJ: I only felt that way because I’m working with your lamb and I’m like, “What kind of imagery works well with a lamb?”
Gaia: That’s interesting because I knew exactly what I was going to do – two lambs. And you had to do a response to that. I don’t know if that’s fair.
NohJ: Yeah it’s fair.

Gaia

Gaia in an Empire State of Mind (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Well somebody had to start the process.
Gaia: Yeah, I guess. I’m just always a little sensitive about collaboration because of school.
Brooklyn Street Art: It’s because you’re a sensitive fella.
Gaia: I don’t know, I try to be. It’s my….it’s how I get girls.
NohJ: Oh that’s how you do it.
Gaia: That’s how I do it.
NohJ: Ahhhhhh, maybe I should.
Gaia: No man, you’re always like back in the corner, you’re like the whisperer guy with the girls.
NohJ: But that’s sensitive too.

Gaia and NohJColey

JUBILATION!  Gaia and NohJColey do a few tricks for the street fans (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Where did you learn all your break dancing skills?
Gaia: I can’t break dance, I wish I could break dance.
Brooklyn Street Art: What is that dance you just did in front of your piece?
Gaia: It’s dipping.
Brooklyn Street Art: Dipping!
Gaia: It’s like L.A. sh*t.
Brooklyn Street Art: It’s like “Baltimore” Dipping?
Gaia: Yeah Baltimore Dipping.
Brooklyn Street Art: It’s like a dipping sauce dance!
Gaia: I wish I could f**king break dance. That would be awesome. I’m gonna learn.

 

jhg

THE FINAL PIECE “Mutual Discrepancy” by NohJColey and Gaia

Brooklyn Street Art: Uh-Oh, here comes NohJ with a 40 ounce and two cups.
Gaia: Oh here it comes, double cups!
Brooklyn Street Art: None for me. If I start now I’m in bed by nine.
NohJ: I’ve been busting my ass for this.
Gaia: You have been.

<<<  >  >>>>>>  <<> <<<  >  >>>>>>  <<>


Here is “Mutual Discrepancy” the short film by Nicolas Heller, a NYC/Boston filmmaker who likes to explore personalities on the street.

An aspiring director, Nicolas worked with Gaia on a short over the summer of 2009 and is in the process of doing a documentary on him. You can a short video he did of Gaia and see some of his other film work at NicolasHeller.com.  Many thanks to Nick for his skillz.

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Fun Friday 11.06.09

You send INCREDIBLE pictures and videos to us every day! We love you for it too.

Hooray for Fun Friday!

Fun-Friday

I gotta go right now to the Yankees parade down Broadway (a true 3-D street art installation) and then to find some great street art sites elsewhere in La Gran Manzana so enjoy these…

Light graff in Brooklyn by Sweatshoppe

Aakash Nihilani and Know Hope at the Black River Festival

A cool animation that illustrates and educates about the body as FACTORY

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Bad Trains, Colorful Shags, Elisha Cook, and Master Stain: Saturday’s Brooklyn Street Art

Cold and rainy weather, obscenely bad public train service, great art!

Multi-colored Shag Head by Peru Ana Ana Peru at Brooklynite (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Multi-colored Shag Head by Peru Ana Ana Peru at Brooklynite (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Okay, the train service in Brooklyn was really bad this weekend. Talk to the artists community in the Gowanus Canal section of Brooklyn, who had worked so hard to publicize a large constellation of open studios (AGHAST) this weekend.  As if a shrinking economy isn’t bad enough, the trains/shuttle bus service to an area already poorly served by public transportation was so bad that some artists were forced to stuff themselves with the piles of the crackers and cheese they had set out for guests and drown their sorrows in Makers Mark –  by 3 p.m. Saturday… Not mentioning any names out of respect for their mothers.

Video inside a piece
Video screen of a shaggy headed actor sitting in front of a screen that has a shaggy headed actor on it. This screen was embedded in – yes – a canvass of a shaggy headed guy. The piece used wheat pasted drawings on paper, paint, dripping markers, and video. (detail) Peru Ana Ana Peru (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Similarly, just traveling to Bed Stuy we had to take a train to a shuttle bus to a train and endure 3 hours of precious life under flourescent light just to get around the People’s Republic of Brooklyn on Saturday night.  Grumpiness subsided when entering the warm gallery and shooting to the back yard to score a beer.  In the grey heart of urban cold darkness this show is a bright surprise that warms you up, although my phone pics are bad.

Surgeon General says that pipe smoking is dangerous for toddlers. Just so you know. (Peru Ana Ana Peru) (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Surgeon General says that pipe smoking is dangerous for toddlers. Just so you know. (Peru Ana Ana Peru) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

In the street art-to-gallery transition of the urban art/street art/graffiti art continuum you never know for sure if an artist can make the jump. Peru Ana Ana Peru did the jump in flying colors.

Most followers of the current street art events can readily recount some missteps by some and total train wrecks by others – but we love you and try to be positive. Anyway, bad news travels faster than helicopters after a balloon boy these days, so we wouldn’t need to report it, would we?

The original Balloon Children, in 3-D (Peru Ana Ana Peru) (photo Steven P. Harrington)
The original Balloon Children, in 3-D (Peru Ana Ana Peru) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Blissfully, Peru Ana Ana Peru gave a jolt to the happy crowd on Saturday at Brooklynite – and it was tongue-in-cheek to cheek in the gallery space. From the “Goat Check” with pinatas hanging on a clothes bar, to the video screens embedded in the already multi-media canvasses, to the formal portraits with faces scratched out with a pen-knife, pieces brought sly smiles among even the smart-alecs in attendance.

Simple but horrid scenarios jumped to mind upon seeing this piece by Peru Ana Ana Peru (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Simple but horrid scenarios jumped to mind upon seeing this piece by Peru Ana Ana Peru (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Adding to the excitement was a story circulating that their film entry into an International Film Festival competition had just been awarded first prize that day. Certainly their love for film was evident.

Stills from their films were mounted next to one another on this piece by Peru Ana Ana Peru (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Stills from their films were mounted next to one another on this piece by Peru Ana Ana Peru (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Overall it was a fun, snarky, witty, surreal, sexy, colorful show – aptly combining their various interests and moving them forward.

That night BSA received a nice vinyl piece by Street Artist Billi Kid:

A freshly silkscreened over stencil portrait of much loved street art photographer Elisha Cook Jr.

Elisha Cook Jr. has been on the streets capturing street art for a while, and has a loyal fanbase, including Billi Kid
Elisha Cook Jr. has been on the streets capturing street art (among many other things) for a while, which has earned him a loyal fanbase, including Billi Kid.

At first glance we thought it was a tribute to Chris Stain’s work, and certainly there are similarities between this and Stain’s depictions of the working people.  But stencillists do have individual styles, and closer inspection reveals this to be true.

Chris Stain
Chris Stain on the wall (photo Jaime Rojo)

Says Mr. Kid, “Elisha Cook Jr. (AKA Allan Ludwig) and I have collaborated quite a bit on the streets as well as inside. He is one of my favorite photographers,” says Billi.

In fact you can see Elisha behind the wheel of one of Billi Kids’ favorite pink convertibles below:

Image by Billi Kid
Image by Billi Kid

Here is another collaboration between the two

Speaking of Chris Stain, he was busy putting up a piece Saturday night at “Art In General”

The fundraiser was to benefit the gallery and their artist in residence program. Art in General is nonprofit organization that assists artists with the production and presentation of new work. Also featured were works by Street Artists Cake and Cern.

The piece Chris did is of his son and his two friends from preschool last year.  Says Stain, “I took the photo at the aquarium in Coney Island and adapted it to the urban landscape.”

The new Chris Stain oil pastel and acrylic wash piece stands at 12'H by about 20'W.
The new Chris Stain oil pastel and acrylic wash piece stands at 12’H by about 20’W.

Instead of aerosol (mostly because the fumes would have killed some of the guests who had just plunked down some bucks to support the place ) he used oil pastel and acrylic wash.

“I like this technique because it shows the texture of the wall, although it’s more labor intensive than spray paint,” said Chris.  Luckily, he had some help from Kevin, Heather and Robin, and Art in General fed the crew. “It was good,” he said.

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For more on the Peru Ana Ana Peru show see

PERU ANA ANA PERU COLORFUL ABSURDITIES AT BROOKLYNITE
http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theBlog/?p=5278

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Street Signals 09.26.09

Street Signals -News Off the Wires from Brooklyn Street Art

Beauty and the Beast – Chor Boogie and Cope2

BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is opening in LA tonight at Mid-City Arts Gallery.  And while everyone acknowledges that Chor Boogie is cute, do we have to break it all down to appearance?  Maybe it’s the fact that Disney fair well killed our cognitive association with a relatively harmless children’s tale by saturating Broadway for years with their tripe.

Anyway, it’s a clever packaging of a duo – one old-school Bronx bomber throwie king VS. one expansive spiritualistic color wizard whose forms sprout and undulate across the wall.  Put these two together and LET THE HILARITY ENSUE!  Heck Cope2 has his own special appeal, right ladies?

Cope2! Bro! Get out of Cali before they make you start doing yoga and sh*t.  Look what they did to Chor!

Where is Angela Lansbury?

Where is Angela Lansbury?

Mid City Arts Gallery Website

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Love Letters from Stephen Powers in Philadelphia

Makes you think of "I Love Lucy" doesn't it?

Makes you think of "I Love Lucy" doesn't it?

West Philadelphian and beautiful loser street artist Stephen Powers (AKA Espo) has harnessed the powers of love to mastermind a huge public art event in the city called “Love Letters”. A huge fan and faithful reproducer of that old-time sign painting aesthetic that was once the hottest thing since sliced baloney for outdoor advertising, Mr. Powers is combining efforts with a number of “writers” to be visible to travellers along a grand tour of a Market Street in Philly.

Mo money, mo love letters. (courtesy www.aloveletterforyou.com)

The new works will be visible along the Frankford-
The new “Love Letter” campaign will be visible along the Market-Frankford Elevated Line

Download a PDF of the Map and additional information HERE

www.aloveletterforyou.com

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Nuart Update: DAVID CHOE AT NUART. TAKE 2

Nuart Reprise – from Brooklyn Street Artists at the Norwegian celebration for them this month, Mr. Vid from Walkandy did this timelapse video of David Cho.

Good job out there Vid!

See our other posts on Nuart ’09 below

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theBlog/?p=4193

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theBlog/?p=4237

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theBlog/?p=4255

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theBlog/?p=4318

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theBlog/?p=4405

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theBlog/?p=4369

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theBlog/?p=4570

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