Open Walls Gallery Presents: “Dissidents” A Group Exhibition. (Berlin, Germany)

The ongoing economic crisis and the rise of all kinds of populism in Europe demonstrate a dangerous backlash in 21st century history; meanwhile extreme industrialization, mass production & over consumption has led global warming to break all records. Quarrels over diminishing but vital natural resources and shrinking living space may well be the cause of future conflicts. However fucked up the situation our world is facing right now, there is still hope. To keep faith, we need to remember people’s abilities to protest and to resist. Protest is when I say this does not please me. Resistance is when I ensure what does not please me occurs no more. From the Arab Spring to the Occupy movement, the eastern and western worlds have both lately shown the capability to fight against establishment. Protest always starts in the streets, and so often does art. The street is a mixture of languages and a hotchpotch of voices, where the pictograms of road signs and the surreal messages written by street artists live side by side, and where the simple commercial communication runs up against the political. To the careful observer the street makes visible the underlying noise of our society.

Works by:

BR1, JUST, ALIAS, EMESS, VERMIBUS, GIACOMO SPAZIO, NEGATIVE VIBES

http://openwallsgallery.tumblr.com/

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Chris Stain and Billy Mode Set It Off in Albany, NY

Just checked out this long wall by two graffiti/Street Art buddies from Baltimore who have made many a collaborative piece over the years. Seems like Chris Stain and Billy Mode team up 3 to 5 times a year on expansive installations that utilize Chris’s everyday folk before a city skyline and Billy’s reatment of text to tie it all together. In this case Mr. Mode carried the silhouette of the city skyline into the fills for the 3-D letters. “Set If Off” is slang for getting a party started, or maybe to light something big on fire, and the sentiment was actually yelled out the window of a passing car while Jaime shot this one in Albany on Easter day.

Put up over a few days last July in cooperation with Samson Contompasis and the 518 Prints posse, the 90′ by 15′ wall originally had a pack of wolves feasting on a carcass by Broken Crow installed during the New York capitol’s “Living Walls” festival a few years ago.  Now it looks like the grassy lot that the wall faces is undergoing a facelift of some nature because the first foot of topsoil has been scraped away. Anyway it’s good to see the aerosol brothers work in person if you have the opportunity.

Chris Stain and Billy Mode. “Set It Off” in Albany, NY. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain and Billy Mode. “Set It Off” in Albany, NY. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain and Billy Mode. “Set It Off” in Albany, NY. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain and Billy Mode. “Set It Off” in Albany, NY. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain and Billy Mode. “Set It Off” in Albany, NY. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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

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White Walls Gallery Presents: Skewville “Amusement” (San Francisco, CA)

Amusement

April 13 – May 04, 2013

White Walls is pleased to present Amusement, a solo show by Brooklyn-based twin brother duo, Skewville. Join us for the opening reception Saturday, April 13, from 7-11pm. The exhibit will be free and open to the public for viewing through May 4, 2013.

Made up of 30 artworks on a mix of wood canvases and found materials like vintage Coca-Cola signage, an old school bingo board amid large installation pieces, Amusement is the product of Skewville’s distinct ‘urban playground’ style, driven by the colors and textures of citylife, with a carnival twist. Nostalgia threads its way through the show with references to the duos’ childhood growing up in Queens, New York City.

http://www.whitewallssf.com/shows/amusement/

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Alice Pasquini, Dragonflies, and a School Wall in Germany

“Go Ask Alice When She’s Ten Feet Tall” (on a ladder).

If you are wondering what cans to use on the side of a German elementary school, Alice Pasquini can tell you. Readying for a show at local 44309 Gallery in Dortmund last week, the Italian Street Artist took some time to paint a mural for the kids at Jungferntal primary and gave them a lesson in painting large. “The symbol of the school is a dragonfly, which informed my work,” says Alice, who has done a lot of work on street walls in cities. “I had a great time with all the children from the school and they even helped me pick colors for the background.”

Alice Pasquini. Dortmund, Germany. (photo © Olaf Ginzel)

Curious kids checking out the wall action by Alice Pasquini in the school yard in Dortmund, Germany. (photo © Olaf Ginzel)

Alice Pasquini. Dortmund, Germany. (photo © Olaf Ginzel)

Alice Pasquini. Dortmund, Germany. (photo © Olaf Ginzel)

Alice Pasquini. Dortmund, Germany. (photo © Olaf Ginzel)

Click here for further details on Alice Pasquni’s exhibition ‘Déjà vu – Destiny’ now open for the general public at the 44309 Art Gallery in Dortmund.

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Grace Slick and Jefferson Airplane at Woodstock performing White Rabbit, a song referencing the children’s book Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

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Images of the Week: 03.31.13

In this weeks news, COST is on the cover of the Village Voice  and Jay Shells is making street signs with geographically pin-pointed rap lyrics (see video below).

Meanwhile here’s our weekly interview of the street, this week featuring Arturo Vega, Bast, Be Super, Billy Mode, Bologna, El Celso, El Sol 25, Faust, Gilf!, Mint & Serf, Pesk ACK, PRTL, and UNO.

Top image > An old Billy Mode piece that keeps looking better with time. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Be Super (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gilf! This Papa Bear ran away from the circus. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown. We couldn’t read the tag on this old piece. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

UNO on the streets of Bologna, Italy. (photo © UNO)

Last X Witness (photo © Jaime Rojo)

PRTL (photo © Jaime Rojo)

PRTL (photo © Jaime Rojo)

PESK ACK. Why indeed. Uh-oh, he’s got it bad. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

First, wipe that blood off your face. Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mint & Serf (photo © Jaime Rojo)

El Sol 25 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faust (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bast and El Celso keep each other company. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bast can’t wait for beach time. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Happy Easter. Jesus has gotten up on a wall courtesy Arturo Vega (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Manhattan, March 2013. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

 

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

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Greg Craola Simkins Video by Medvin Sobio “Stop Haunting Me”

Los Angeles based Street and Fine Artist Greg Craola Simkins is prepping for a solo show entitled “Stop Haunting Me”. He was “raised on cartoons, well written stories, animal planet, graffiti, tattoos and mind numbing trips to grandma’s house,” says he on his Facebook page, and you can verify his penchant for escapism in his astonishingly well-rendered work over the last decade.

To help get the word out his buddy Medvin Sobio has created an underwater slo-mo haunting promo. Truth is, the luscious and operatic mediation is so far from the field that it’s in the ocean. ” It’s not your typical “street art” video I know, but I always feel that change is good,” says Medvin. Here are some screenshot gems from the piece, followed by the video.

Greg Craola “Stop Haungting Me” (Still from the video © Medvin Sobio)

Greg Craola “Stop Haungting Me” (Still from the video © Medvin Sobio)

Greg Craola “Stop Haungting Me” (Still from the video © Medvin Sobio)

Greg Craola “Stop Haungting Me” (Still from the video © Medvin Sobio)

Film by Medvin Sobio

Click here for further information about “Stop Haunting Me”.  A solo exhibition by Greg Craola Simkins at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery. Los Angeles, CA.

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BSA Film Friday: 03.29.13

Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.

Now screening: Vexta in Kochi, India, “Crimes of Minds” video for the new book, and Yok, Sheryo and Fecks in Mexico

BSA Special Feature:
Vexta in Kochi, India.

Australian born Brooklyn-based Street Artist Vexta was in Kochi for the first Biennale on 12/12/12 and in this new video she is learning about translating her work across cultures, opening a dialogue about gender roles, and adjusting to the reality of painting with an inquisitive audience always watching.

The short film by Rah Akaishi and Aaron Glasson with a soundtrack from Isnod sets itself apart by presenting a montage of images of life in Kochi for context, narrative insights from Vexta, and a light  popping of music and camera cuts that keep it all engaging.

“Crimes of Minds” Music Video

Here is something unusual – a music video made to support a book of Street Artists. “Crimes of Minds” comes out in April and features the work of BEST EVER, BEN SLOW, GUY DENNING, MORTEN ANDERSEN, FINBARR DAC, SLY2, C215, ALICE PASQUINI, LILIWENN, JEF AÉROSOL, WEN2, ANTOINE STEVENS, DA MENTAL VAPORZ (BLO, BOM.K, BRUSK, DRAN, GRIS, JAW, KAN, SOWAT), PAKONE, KOOL KOOR, TSF CREW, CELESTE JAVA.

Spearheaded by artist Liliwenn, the two year project was produced by the Sugar Rush non-profit and turned the French port town of Brest into a street gallery and a jumping off point for artistic expression with 26 international artists, 11 photographers, 6 video artists, 10 musicians and a number of partners, including the town council.

The musical artist is Mattic based in France and the wall art is by UK duo Best Ever.

 

 

The Yok, Sheryo and Fecks Travel to Mexico

Our featured artists last week, Yok and Sheryo are joined by Fecks here in their recent trip to Mexico.

Banner image screenshot of Vexta from video Vexta in Kochi India (image © Vexta)

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Jazz On Manhattan Streets With Sir Shadow

With much respect to the Jazz Age and the musical heritage of New York that still boasts a huge number of jazz musicians, events and venues, artist Sir Shadow plays alongside the aerosol tags with his one-liners in the East Village. Using a technique known to many a graffiti writer, the artist makes the piece without lifting his marker off the wall until he has finished it.

Sir Shadow (photo © Jaime Rojo)

It is a welcome and melodious play of the line when you happen upon something new, something unexpected like this on the street, and unusual to find a small series of pieces all at once. The musicians who Sir Shadow depicts are jamming out or performing solo, providing the score and the mood, taking the stage or setting it, working in a sort of collaborative balance with the graffiti writer, the tagger; both styles proudly their own, a street combo without beef and in harmony.

Sir Shadow (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sir Shadow (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sir Shadow (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sir Shadow (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sir Shadow (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sir Shadow (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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

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Fabien Castanier Gallery Presents: “Between the Lines” New work by Alex Kizu (aka Defer), Mist and Smash137. (Studio City, CA)

BETWEEN THE LINES

Exhibition by Alex Kizu, Mist & Smash137

March 30 – April 28, 2013
Opening Reception | Saturday, March 30th 7-10pm
Fabien Castanier Gallery is proud to present Between the Lines, exhibition by Alex Kizu (aka Defer), Mist and Smash137.
This exhibition will feature new work by Alex Kizu (aka Defer), Mist and Smash137.
Three artists, originating from three different countries, will exhibit work that reflects the continuing evolution of graffiti artists around the world. Each finds inspiration in the letter, transforming their individual typographical mastery into complex work that bridges their graffiti roots with contemporary abstraction.

http://castaniergallery.com/exhibitions/upcoming-exhibitions

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