A one woman urban renewal project, Street Artist Gilf! has been prettifying the decay in a few cities over the last year or so with hand made fluorescent blooms. Not purely decorative, she thinks of them as sculptural, a public works project, and a sort of rorschach test that reveals as much about the audience as the artist. As with any artworks put out on the street, the public will render a verdict. In New York, they ride for about a minute before someone rips them off the wall – to take home in many cases. Also, New Yorkers don’t like “pretty” as much as they like tough stuff – skulls, violence, brooding, etc. With recent blooms popping up inside abandoned buildings, it will be interesting to see how long the garden grows.
We’ve collected a number of these for you to look at together, a sort of urban bouquet for Tuesday. While not wholely representative of Gilf!s various ventures on the street, these installations have a certain signature that’s revealed through these shots from Brooklyn, Baltimore, and Detroit.
The Fame Festival doesn’t take itself too seriously, but you should. Now in its fifth year, the festival is run by one fella and his friends, offering interesting walls and an opportunity to work with local artisans in the “aesthetically depressed” areas of this beautiful town named Grottaglie. A dozen or so international artists descended here again this year as summer turned to fall to eat amazing food, paint huge walls, and to create pottery works and limited edition prints with their host, Angelo Milano, in his print shop called Studiocromie.
Free from corporate sponsors or too many meddlesome civic interests, which can muddy the creative waters and contort presentation, FAME has reliably produced singularly striking work on the Streets: the kind of free-form ingenuity that could only result from a being in a positive environment. Artists who return from the experience report that Studiocromie and their peeps know how to make you feel right at home, complete with the dysfunctional human frailties we’re all prone to. Again this year some of the pieces that have come out of FAME have been remarkable for one reason or another – it also helps when the talent pool is so strong.
Photographer and BSA contributor Henrik Haven was on hand the to cover FAME and he shares these exclusive images with BSA readers of works in progress by Erica Il Cane and completed walls by Vhils, Interesni Kazki and Conor Harrington. The videos are produced by FAME and they give an additional cinematic appreciation and humor to the entire experience.
Angelo remarks on the FAME website what his take on the festival has been as he sets up the video below, “It’s been an intense couple of weeks here at FAME, three artists at the same time and it was a hell of a mess. This is what happened with KING Erica il Cane. Here’s my advice to all artists around, both new and old, watch him doing what he does, and how he does it. You won’t get as good as he is, you won’t end up painting such a huge wall in just two days, but at least you can take notes: have fun and don’t think about the whole art world bullshit.”
The harrowing and hilarious video helps explain why Interesni Kazki needed 12 days to complete the piece. Angelo describes it as “an extreme amount of bad luck”.
This week seemed busy on the streets of New York after LA graff writer Saber started us off on Sunday with a sky-writing campaign that was politically charged arts advocacy and a social media-soaked smackdown of the right wing in the US. From culture-jamming to political commentary to social advocacy, it looks like some Street Artists are getting back their voice in many pieces that are espousing a message. Not all of them of course.
So here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Bast, Billi Kid, Creepy, Classic, Espo, Home Sick, JB Rock, Jeice 2, Meer Sau, ND’A, Olek, OverUnder, PM AM, Reader, and Ugo Rondinone. Locations include New York, Istanbul, London, Portugal, Sicily, and the Pilbara desert in the Northwest of Australia.
As he paints the giant 8-shaped snake biting it’s tail, the Italian Street Artist JB Rock explains his new piece this way, “This is a portrait of our modern society and especially of my beautiful but very counterproductive country. For this work I’ve been inspired by the UROBORUS concept, remixed with the Infinity symbol”.
“I traveled up to Port Hedland which is an industry Port in the North West of Australia and painted some walls and found objects in the desert as part of a residency with FORM gallery,” says the Perth-based Creepy.
Gola Hundun, Kenor and H101 otherwise known as the Art Collective Los Brujos, recently participated in the Sub Urb Art 2 in Torino, Italy with a patchwork hand-painted re-creation of the mystic Eye inside a large open warehouse space.
Call it The Eye of Glory, The All Seeing Eye, The Eye of The World, The Eye of Providence or the Eye of Horus, the human eye has been imbued with supernatural powers, omnipresence, and intuitive abilities for centuries by various cultures and belief systems worldwide. Three members of Los Brujos pose carefully here with the new piece by way of drawing our focus back to it’s various meanings.
As they draw your attention to the third eye looming behind them, Los Brujos appear in various costume while positioning themselves symbolically in front of the work, adding a decidedly pagan connotation to the work. The juxtaposition reminds you that dimension, abstraction, and geometry have roots in folk art, religion and mysticism – far predating the modern age fascination with geometry and minimalism. While these guys and many in the alt-art party circuit are sometimes thought of as avant-garde, you can also see them as revivalists of our clan-based past.
BROOKLYN! Jay-Z opens the new stadium in Brooklyn tonight with a lot of fanfare – and if you don’t have tickets just have a blast in the hundreds of studio spaces and gallery shows and “in the street” installations and performances starting tonight at the Dumbo Arts Festival that brings thousands coursing through the neighborhood over the next three days.
Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and Quincy Jones. (VIDEO)
Here’s a clean way to see writing on Brooklyn walls and to practice your lyrical skillz.
1. Jay-Z, Lil Wayne, and Quincy Jones. (VIDEO)
2. Nuart 2012 Begins in Norway
3. NY ART BOOK FAIR at PS1 (LIC, Queens)
4. DUMBO ARTS FESTIVAL 2012 (Brooklyn)
5. Futurism 2.0 at Blackall Studios (London)
6. JAZ “Metodologias del Discurso” (Argentina)
7. Narcelio Grud “Paraphernalia” (VIDEO)
8. Daytime Bombing with HNR (VIDEO)
Nuart 2012 Begins in Norway
Named the Cultural Capital of Europe a few years back, Stavanger has remarkably open minds and has embraced a select slice of the Street Art scene that is displayed this time of year via large mural installations, indoor shows, and speakers. NUART was born here and it set the standards for many Street Art Festivals that have followed since NUiART first opened its walls to visiting international Street Artists in the early 2000s. NUART 2012 opened Thursday with a full day of activities related to NUART PLUS and it will continue thorughout the weekend with the opening of Tout Scene on Saturday. The list of participating artists this year include: AAKASH NIHALANI (US), DOLK (NO), EINE (UK), RON ENGLISH (US), SABER (US), HOWNOSM (US), MOBSTR (UK) NIELS SHOW MEULMAN (NL), JORDAN SEILER (US), THE WA (FR), SICKBOY (UK).
For more information on all activities and schedules regarding NUART PLUS click here.
For more information regarding Saturday’s Opening of Tout Scene click here.
NY ART BOOK FAIR at PS1 (LIC, Queens)
People who are designing and creating independent zines and books are a really important part of the Street Art and graffiti D.I.Y. culture and PS1 in Long Island City is a vast feast of cool printed matter this weekend. Starting today and running through Sunday, the Fair is presented by the esteemed establishment Printed Matter and if you don’t find stuff that engages you and blows your mind, it will be a surprise. One of the groups we highly recommend that you go and visit is the Pantheon Projects table (#12) where you’d find delicious hand crafted zines by Avoid, Droid, R2 and Carnage.
These little art books capture stuff on the street in a way that helps you organize and appreciate it – with wit and a street poet approach. They also can give advice occasionally, like the recipe we found for juicing cucumbers/pineapple and something else to produce “donut water”. Feast your eyes on the dope images and take in the authors’ notes and observations as they rack up serious road miles for the love of art and discovery. Here is a selection of images from spreads of these zines to give you an idea of what we’re talking about.
For further information, schedules and transportation regarding this Art Fair click here.
DUMBO ARTS FESTIVAL 2012 (Brooklyn)
This weekend Brooklyn is the the cultural STAR of New York City once again. The DUMBO Arts Festival opens today with more than 500 artists participating from all over the world. There will be open studios for you to visit, outdoor installations for you to explorer and huge video projections for you to be in awe of. Hop on the F train and get off at Jay Street and take in the breathtaking and majestic views of the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges with the city’s skyline as a background.
The Future is in London tonight with FUTURISM 2.0 a group exhibition at the Blackall Studios presented by Gamma Proforma is now opens today to the general public with a reception starting at 6:00 pm.
For further information regarding this show click here.
JAZ “Metodologias del Discurso” (Argentina)
JAZ’s new solo show is now open at the Kosovo Gallery in Cordoba, Argentina. Known for his representational exploration of beasts and men this artists likess to work big with over scaled representations of his subjects. Internationally known, you’ll see his stuff at Street Art Festivals around the world, and in some back alleys and empty lots too.
This spring we were invited to attend and speak at this years Nuart festival and although we can’t be there personally we’ve still have some great talents on the Stavanger front who will be providing you with stunning and scintillating BSA exclusive action over the next few weeks. So two days before the official opening, here are a few shots of Street Artists in preparation for this non-commercial festival/symposium/party/debauched art camp that has taken place in Norway for the last decade or so.
All the artists arrived a week ago and they have been getting busy on their designated outdoors walls and indoors tunnels. Martyn Reed invites participants inside this complex of buildings that once housed a brewery with interconnecting tunnels – a fitting atmosphere for the hooligans who are accustomed to exploring the urban environment. The official date for the public to see the completed walls is this Saturday with the opening night of Tout Scene.
This year’s talent lineup again represents a wide swath of mostly European and American Street Artists including Aakash Nihalani (US), Dolk (NO), Eine (UK), Ron English (US), Saber (US), How Nosm (US), Mobstr (UK), Niels Show Meulman (NL), Jordan Seiler (US), The Wa (FR), Sickboy (UK).
With our sincere thanks to the talented photographer and occasional BSA contributor Ian Cox who is also in NUART snapping away as the artists work on their installations. Our thanks also to partners Martyn, Marte and Victoria for helping us bring Nuart to BSA.
Codex Dynamic. Curated by Leo Kuelbs and John Ensor Parker. Video artworks by Gary Hill, Yi Zhou, and Marina Zurkow. (photo courtesy of The Festival)
16th ANNUAL DUMBO ARTS FESTIVAL TRANSFORMS LAND, WATER, AND SKY INTO
MASSIVE ARTS PLAYGROUND WITH WORKS BY MORE THAN 500 ARTISTS
Over 225,000 people expected for three-day free arts extravaganza in DUMBO
From huge projections across historic buildings and the Manhattan Bridge to interactive performances in Brooklyn Bridge Park to whimsical art floating on the East River, the 16th Annual Dumbo Arts Festival will offer a free feast for the senses from September 28-30, 2012, organizers announced today.
This year’s schedule, which was unveiled by organizers today, cements the Dumbo Arts Festival as one of the city’s largest and most ambitious arts events. Over three days, an expected 225,000 art-lovers will experience extraordinary art by more than 500 artists from around the world.
Set amid the backdrop of the Brooklyn Bridge and the Manhattan skyline in one of the city’s most tech-friendly and culturally rich hubs, the Festival will showcase installations in stores, lobbies, scaffolding, and alleyways, performances and exhibits on more than 50 stages, and tours of 100 open artist studios.
“The 16th Annual Dumbo Arts Festival will bring the entire neighborhood to life, transforming its streets, parks, bridges, buildings, waterfront, and even sky into canvasses, stages, exhibition spaces,” said Lisa Kim, Festival Director. “Best of all, it is completely free, enabling everyone to experience extraordinary local, national, and international art at a price that can’t be beat.”
What: The 16th Annual Dumbo Arts Festival
When: Friday, September 28th to Sunday, September 30th
Time: Friday, September 28th – 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.
Saturday, September 29th – 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
Sunday, September 30th – 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.
All outdoor projections are open from 6 p.m. to midnight all three nights.
Cost: Free
Where: Spans the neighborhood of DUMBO, Brooklyn, between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, including the waterfront.
Street/Gallery artist “Mad One” will present and team up with Cartel Coffee Lab to host the fifth annual one of a kind “Sticker Phiends”, a showcase of local and international sticker artists, graphic designers, graffiti artists and many others for a fifth year in a row. The show will feature stickers and other forms of urban/gallery art. Plenty of sticker giveaways,handouts throughout the night donated by our sponsors like clothes, magazines, dvds and limited edition screen prints/stickers produced by showcasing artists and much more….Also did we mention 100% of the art is for Sale! There are even a few secrets we do not want to mention; you will just have to show up to see for yourself… There have been several Graffiti/Urban art themed shows throughout the valley the last few years. This is one of a kind for sure; its name explains itself “Sticker Phiends” an array of street/gallery artists and designers throughout the world coming together to show case under one roof. “Mad One”, a former Arizona based, now residing in Portland,Oregon street/gallery artist, had the opportunity to lock down many local and international artists for the show making it five years in a row, and this years expectations are growing still by the day. We have artists ranging from New York to California, theU.K. and beyond”. “Sticker Phiends” is about the sticker/urban art movement and bringing awareness of stickers and adhesives and how they have gone from the streets to modern forms of art being displayed in today’s galleries and museums. “Mad One”, a street art advocate, has taken on the duty of curating this one of a kind show and many others throughout the counrty.
Stickers and sticker art isn’t just for skateboarders and bands/DJ’s anymore, it has become a new way of expressing yourself and getting your name and or images out to the public eyes. Letting the general public analyze your images and getting up where ever you can, you can find stickers on the back of street signs, electric boxes, and magazine kiosks. Most importantly putting them up where no one has before. Some people just collect stickers, some simply just represent themselves. But either way you look at it stickers have been accepted and will be displayed as a new wave art form. Some of the artists on the bill will be coming into Phoenix for the show. I could mention a few names, but you will have to attend or stay tuned to find out who’s who and from where.
We are delighted to announce that we are showing the work of the much loved and respected Bristol artist, Guy Denning in his first London solo show for two years. It’s the final part of his trilogy of exhibitions interpreting Dante’s The Divine Comedy; PARADISO. Inferno and Purgatorio, which were shown in Bologna and New York, were a tremendous success and we think that the final part of the cycle will be equally so.
In PARADISO Denning has created a series of works that use highly individual visual imagery to depict the ecstatic route to a place of resolution and rest (for Dante the route to heaven). He is intrigued by how the moral ambiguities of the world we live in; with it’s emphasis on glorifying the here and now, finds resonances with the unshakeable medieval belief in the existence of life after death. Like Dante, Denning draws on contemporary political concerns to illustrate his vision.
Part of the exhibition is inspired by Beatrice, Dante’s long dead love, who is the central figure in the poem and who symbolises feminine purity and vulnerability. To represent this aspect of PARADISO Denning has painted a series of delicate portraits of famous women from the recent past, who died young and who have found immortality in their enduring youth.
Denning has been an artist all his adult life and in 2007, he moved from Bristol to rural Brittany to concentrate fulltime on his painting. The artistic freedom this move has given him has contributed greatly to the intense and consistently beautiful work that he has produced in this period; quite simply it has raised his art to a whole new level.
His belief in the importance of drawing skills is the foundation of all his work. He uses traditional painting methods of building up work from underlying sketches, mostly from life and often using his friends as models. Guy’s painting, mainly oil on canvas, is approached with an intellectual rigour, which is always directed towards a truthful interpretation of the world as he sees it. He is a unique artist in his technique, manner and choice of subject matter and this is at its best in his modern representation of Dante’s 14th century world.
The private view is on the 4th October and the show runs until the 27th October. Please let us know if you need any further information or images. Here is a link to a preview video that we think captures the very essence of PARADISO
Signal Gallery · 32 Paul Street · London, Eng EC2A 4LB
“Urban Exploring” is often thought of as some kind of elite super ninja activity; tinged with adventure, a sense of danger, and definitely some flying nunchucks. For city folk with a sense of wanderlust and a need for exercise, the act of checking out an abandoned old building can be just as satisfying and dangerous as going for a bracing hike or rock climbing in the mountains, but it’s much closer to a deli.
Like most large cities in the US, New York has always had its share of run-down decrepit buildings that virtually welcome your exploration. It’s a surprise to find that even with improved city parks on the rise in NYC, when you duck through a hole in the fence to explore an old house or factory you may find other people doing the same thing. In fact sometimes you’ll find people living in them, riding skateboards in them, having sex in them, doing drugs in them, and of course spraying aerosol in them.
You can’t see all this action from the street but sometimes there are awesome interiors in cavernous spaces that continually evolve and metamorphose – an urban art gallery that has a regularly updated exhibition. The perspective will depends on your personal tastes of course.
This particular spot made us think of high-end magazines with shots of socialites posing and air-kissing and banging their hats into each other at charity fundraisers. Something about its grandness feels like a ballroom, even though it looks like it was a power station for the MTA in the early 1900s and the neighborhood itself is probably a SuperFund site, thanks to decades of industrial dumping.
After this rotting and colorful corpse is cleaned up in a few decades, it will probably be razed for some deeeeeeluxe cookie-cutter condos selling for a million each. But for now, you can just squat and take pictures of the golden light streaming through the dirty cracked windows and gaping crevices. Here is your non-ticketed opportunity to enjoy the gorgeous mosaic of graffiti art that waits: rich with color, pattern and coded messages. It can be a brain tease to try to guess what this stuff says. Also, you can practice with your nunchucks.
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
