FKDL and His Vintage Glamour Women

New Wall Celebrates Audrey Hepburn for her May 4 birthday in the Brussells district she was born in. Liz Taylor is her special guest.

There are many references to pop culture, movies, fashion, and celebrity that have appeared in Street Art in the last decade or so, thanks to our full immersion in the National Entertainment State. We always say that the street reflects us back to ourselves, and apparently we are fixated on poised prettitude, at least in some cities. From Street Artists like DAIN to Judith Supine to Faile to The Dude Company, Tian, Aiko, TooFly and myriad anonymous stencillists, you are bound to see depictions of glamorous women and in a variety of archetypes popping up on walls and doorways no matter the year.

FKDL “Breakfast at Ixelles”. Brussels, Beligium. (photo © FKDL)

Parisian Street Artist FKDL reliably returns to his wheelhouse of the 1950s and 60s when he looks for images of idealized females.  Even his silhouettes of graceful and lithe dancing figures will remind you of the 2-D animations of opening credits of Hollywood movies from the golden age, the hip early years of television, beatniks in tight turtleneck sweaters reading poems, and swinging chicks on the cover art from long-playing jazz albums.  As a “fill” to his forms, he often pastes in an actual collage of vintage commercial illustrations that he cut from magazines and dress making pattern envelopes.  Clearly his is a romance with an image of female beauty from an earlier time and he reliably visits it again and again in his work on the streets of Europe and New York.

FKDL “Breakfast at Ixelles”. Brussels, Beligium. (photo © FKDL)

So it is no surprise that last week when FKDL was in the Ixelles district in Brussels he found a lone façade wall on an empty lot that faces the street and was compelled to paint a tribute to the cinema icon Audrey Hepburn, born there 84 years ago this Saturday. “Breakfast at Ixelles” refers to the location and her most famous movie, set in New York, Breakfast at Tiffany’s.  While doing the wall he decided to also pay tribute to another screen grand dame Elizabeth Taylor. The 30 foot wall uses his distinctive collage style and the paint colors are associated with the flag of Belgium.

FKDL “Breakfast at Ixelles”. Brussels, Beligium. (photo © FKDL)

FKDL “Breakfast at Ixelles”. Brussels, Beligium. (photo © FKDL)

FKDL in New York (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FKDL (detail) in Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FKDL next to DAIN in Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FKDL in Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

 

<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA

Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA

This posting is also on Huffington Post Arts & Culture.

Read more

Krause Gallery Presents: Sheryo and The Yok “Pipe Dreams” (Manhattan, NYC)

Brooklyn Street Art

Sheryo and The Yok “Pipe Dreams”
Exhibition Dates: May 16th – June 16th 2013
Hours: Wednesday – Sunday: 12:00- 6:00pm – Monday -Tuesday by appointment.
Address: Krause Gallery, 149 Orchard Street, New York, NY 10002
Reception: Thursday, May 16th, 2013, 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Krause Gallery is pleased to present the highly anticipated exhibition of recent works by Brooklyn-based duo Sheryo and the Yok. While previously seen in group exhibitions, Pipe Dreams marks their first solo show in the United States since establishing the city as their primary residence last year.
Working with varying painting techniques, the artists have culled together collaborative pieces that represent their shared life together. From their nomadic travels the past year to in-jokes with their friends in New York, the Yok and Sheryo seamlessly combine their adventures into every detail of their work. For example, their hand painted vases combine eastern & western elements to portray the values of ideology, devotion, relationships, dharma and karma, depicting a narrative from the rich tales of their journey. From their fun filled art renderings with Chinese dragons, pipes, and geishas intermixing with the New York culture, Sheryo and the Yok put their own illustrative styles on imagery as they re-interpret the traditional folklore and fables of old Chinese times while injecting their own personal stories with their iconic styles.
Their most recent body of work for their upcoming show at Krause Gallery is full of adventure and intrigue as they departed the United States for countries like Cambodia, Vietnam and Indonesia. By traveling to their native countries as well as a few places in between, Sheryo and the Yok characterize their formative life experiences with the memories that are being made together. Another example of this can be seen in their newest body of work; after returning from warm Mexico to the rain and snow of New York they used their cartoons to reflect on the sunnier days behind them; beer, Spanish icons and surf boards began to be a part of each piece.
For their solo show at the gallery they will also be creating hand painted ceramic plates, vases, painted pieces on paper and canvases, a surprise installation downstairs along with Limited Edition one color 25” x 19” high quality screen prints. Pipe Dreams is a must see for any street art enthusiast or talent seeker of any kind.
Sheryo x The Yok video.

http://www.krausegallery.com/WP/

Read more

The Superior Bugout Presents: Tod Seelie “Bright Nights: Photographs of Another New York” (Brooklyn, NYC)

Brooklyn Street Art

The Superior Bugout is pleased to present the opening of Tod Seelie’s new collection of work entitled “BRIGHT NIGHTS: PHOTOGRAPHS OF ANOTHER NEW YORK.”
Opening Thursday May 2nd from 7 to 11pm at TENDER TRAP (245 S1st btwn Roebling and Havemeyer) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn NYC.

The images in this exhibition are excerpts from my forthcoming book from Prestel, titled “Bright Nights: Photographs of Another New York.” The book is scheduled to be released in October, and features essays by Swoon, Conrad Carlson, Joe Ahearn, Ian Vanek, Jeff Stark, Evan Pricco and Colin Moynihan among others.
Tod Seelie has photographed in over twenty five countries on five different continents. Originally from Cleveland, he relocated to Brooklyn in 1997. Tod was a founding member of The Miss Rockaway Armada, and continued on to travel with both manifestations of the Swimming Cities.
“his images at times elevate mere weirdness to a more striking realm of visual intrigue. Strange, vivid, baffling and relentlessly unexplained, they leave their viewers transfixed…” New York Times
His work has appeared in publications such as The NY Times, New York Magazine, Rolling Stone, Spin, Juxtapoz, Thrasher, Vice, and Art Forum among others. His images also appear in the feature films Perfect Sense(2011) and Empire Me (2011).

https://www.facebook.com/events/373216076117751/

Read more

Aakash Nihalini and Rion Harmon Present: Zebadiah Keneally “Your Reflection” at 17 Frost Gallery (Brooklyn, NYC)

Brooklyn Street A

rt

 

The first show in the summer series comes from Brooklyn’s own Zebadiah Keneally (http://www.somelines.com). Hailed as a “Keith Haring for the 21st Century,” Keneally brings his existential humor to the walls of 17 Frost with his first solo show entitled, “Your Reflection.” His work uses provocative, archetypal symbolism to shed light on the offbeat problems of contemporary people. 

Through a street art inspired visual style and a combination wordplay and pop culture imagery, Keneally creates a visual language of high farce, guiding viewers to meditate on the mysteries of perception, time, place and lunch.

 Opening reception is this Friday, May 3rd from 7-10pm at 17 Frost Street, Brooklyn, NY 11211.

http://www.somelines.com/

Read more

Apolo Torres From Sao Paulo To Bushwick

It’s all long limbs and long necks, bending forward to face the journey ahead.  Since last talking to the Brazilian Street Artist Apolo Torres we find that he has been studying the figure, color theory, and the love of painting in New York for a few months. “I came here to study and I didn’t paint anything on the streets until now. I was too busy focused on canvases and oil paint,” he says.

Apolo Torres (photo © Jaime Rojo)

While here he managed one wall piece too, a forward leaning dude thigh high in flood waters and checking out his reflection in a spoon.  “I think it would be a shame to spend three months here and not do a single street art public piece,” he explains about the new work, which takes on a more realistic rendering than many of his recent exaggerated people. Included here too are a couple of recent walls in Brazil featuring the languidly bending forms and exaggerated features and attenuated limbs he enjoys painting.

Apolo Torres. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Apolo Torres and one of his dudes in Sao Paulo. (photo © Apolo Torres)

Apolo Torres. Sao Paulo, Brazil. (photo © Apolo Torres)

Apolo Torres. Sao Paulo, Brazil. Parque da Juventude en Antigo presídio do Carandiru (photo © Apolo Torres)

Read more

Saber and Rostarr Compare and Contrast at Opera

Now through May 11 graffiti/fine artists Saber and Rostarr are on view at Opera Gallery in Soho in lower Manhattan in a dual show that contrasts the styles of both while revealing similarities.

Saber (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The west coast graffiti celebrity Saber continues to build heavy layers upon his work, carved and chipped away to reveal what is underneath, a personal archive partially on display. It is a fitting metaphor for the residual buildup of a life and the identities that one assumes, curiously all amalgamated into one slightly grizzled presentation. Here the bombastic history of his throw-ups, burners, and tags are transformed into calligraphic letterforms and entwined with the symbolic patterning of a national flag. The muted industrial palette and battered and worn textures and finishes indicate that this has been a hard journey, but not without flourishes of beauty and flashes of style.

Rostarr’s less showy graphic symbolism may be due to a more conservative formative youth and plays more clearly with the letterform as pattern and rhythm.  The New York artist shows passion in the repetition, restricting the palette to two hues and laying in a calligraphic line and a visual beat that feels solid and confident but still human. Like Saber’s work, it feels very personal, studied, and purposefully imperfect. Without the multiple layers, it is more a contemporary diary, cleanly raw and open for you to read.

 

Saber. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saber (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saber (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saber (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saber. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saber. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saber (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saber (photo © courtesy of the gallery)

Rostarr (photo © courtesy of the gallery)

Rostarr (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rostarr (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rostarr (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rostarr (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rostarr (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA

Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA<<>>><><<>BSA<<>>><<<>><><BSA

 

Read more

BOB Bar Presents: “Girls on Top” A Group Exhibition. (Manhattan, NYC)

bOb Bar presents the Girls On Top (GOT)–UK’s first all-female graffiti crew formed in 2000 by Chock and Ned to unite female graffiti artists. Introducing NYC to 5 members (Chock, Luna, Lyns, Pixie, and Syrup), the show represents each individual’s style. Exploring the limits of graffiti aesthetics through mediums including embroidery, collage, and customized novelty items, they illustrate their experiences within a male-dominated graffiti culture.

 

Read more

Art-El Gallery Presents: EKO “Brother Dolomite” (Bristol, UK)

Art-el Gallery are proud to present revered artist Eko, and to unveil his latest retrospective work, the eagerly anticipated ‘Brother Dolomite’ collection.

Eko’s newest and original range of mixed media artwork features canvas boards and papers as well as a fanzine and exclusive exhibition screen print.

‘The ‘Brother Dolomite’ collection affords viewers an almost long-lost insight into yesteryear’s pastoral psychedelia movement. Whilst reanimating this civil yet corroded and largely undiscovered artistic spate, Eko’s renderings create a micro cosmos of imagery that’s brilliantly bound by the ethereality of a seemingly prodigal yet precious past.

Brother Dolomite
Artel Gallery @ Co-LAB
2-4 Fairfax Street
Bristol
BS1 3DB
Opening Reception Friday 17th May
6-9pm

Brother Dolomite. An Exhibition of New Work by Artist Eko

Read more

Open Space Presents: Thomas Canto “Dedicace” (Paris, France)

Dans le cadre de l’exposition collective Graffuturism-Paris, la Galerie Openspace accueille l’artiste Thomas Canto pour une dédicace exclusive de son livre “Gravité B”. L’occasion de découvrir l’exposition lors d’un nouvel accrochage et les œuvres graffuturistes de Thomas Canto, inspirées de l’installation spectaculaire qu’il a réalisée aux anciens Bains Douches à Paris début 2013.

Rendez-vous à 16h
Galerie Openspace
56, rue Alexandre Dumas, Paris 11e
contact@openspace-paris.fr
09 80 66 63 94

Le livre “Gravité B” publié chez LVE Editions est disponible au prix de 36 euros.

https://www.facebook.com/events/545077302202085/

Read more

Fun Factory Presents: “Take To The Street” A Group Exhibition of Street Art & Graffiti Photogtaphy. (London, UK)

Fun Factory art project space is proud to present Take To The Street, a group show of Street Art & Graffiti Photography. Focusing on the eye of the photographer, it pays special attention to the individual styles of these artists and what makes their photos unique and personal.Featuring the photography of: Unusualimage, Nolionsinengland, Mark Rigney (Hookedblog), Joeppo, Delete, Howaboutno, Myriam JC Preston, Alex Ellison, Doug Sherman, Cheffo31 and Ian Cox.

Take To The Street — Street Art & Graffiti Photography

Read more

Ils reviennent… – ANIS, SNEZ (LF Crew) (Paris, France)

Nous ne savons toujours pas d’où viennent les hommes, qui furent les constructeurs des pyramides, des lignes de Nazca, des dolmens Stonedge ou des monuments antiques sud américains. Aujourd’hui et depuis 100 ans, notre ciel est parcouru par des ovnis…
Et ils reviennent… À La Friche, les anciens astronautes sont de retours !”
Du 2 au 16 mai 2013
jeu. & ven. 17h-19h / week end 14-19h

Ils reviennent… – ANIS, SNEZ (LF Crew)

Read more