Mexico City : A New Surrealist Face for Street Art

March 22, 2012 , , , ,

Comic, surrealist, role-playing psychological explorations, with a tip of the hat to Breton, Carrington, and Lucha Libre, among others.

Pixel Pancho (photo © XAM)

Mexico City culture can be as varied and diverse as it is homogeneous, with a respect for tradition and, when it comes to artistic expression, a catalyst for exploration. André Breton is reported to have described Mexico as “the most surrealist country in the world,” where painters like Leonora Carrington and Frida Kahlo unhinged their imaginations from the limitations of the material world. As these new images on the streets of Mexico City taken by Brooklyn architectural street artist XAM show, the love for a psychic automatism continues into the public sphere.

Of course the Mexicans are not strangers to art on the streets; “great Latin American muralists” is a phrase almost synonymous with Mexico and names like Rivera, Orozco and Siqueiros coming to mind. Political advocacy and populist criticism of social policy on the walls here is similarly a tradition respected by the culture. Now a century after the revolution and birth of the modern Mexico, the experience of Los Capitalinos, as the residents of Mexico City are called, is affected daily by surrealism, pop culture and global capitalism swimming alongside folk and historical symbology, and a bit of anarchy. It’s all part of one fabric, a rich and varied textile that we export to you here.

Ben Eine (photo © XAM)

Says XAM of his experience, “Barcelona, NYC, Amsterdam, and Paris are all similar in a way when it comes to street art – you can walk around and come across work on the streets fairly easily, but traversing the barrios of Mexico city is much different. I guess in some way you can compare it to San Francisco, Chicago or Los Angeles – there is quality work to be found. The city differs from all mentioned in that it appears to be young when it comes to street art by having a small group of participants.”

“I was hosted by both MUMUTT Arte and Museo del Juguete Antiguo Mexico, who are both responsible for providing concrete canvases in Mexico City for artist such as ROA, M-City, Pixel Pancho, and fresh stuff from the locals like Saner, Sego and the MOZ crew. Mexico City DF has the most museums in the world and MUMUTT and Museo del Juguete are largely responsible for adding street art to the vast archive of amazing work. They escorted me around to locations they provided for the above artists – It is evident that everyone brought their A-game. The weathered concrete walls made wonderful surfaces for imagery such as Dronz & Koko’s character, offering hallucinatory candy at the toy museum to Ben Eine’s work that speaks about class issues on a worksite for a future mall.”

Ben Eine (photo © XAM)

Pixel Pancho (photo © XAM)

Pixel Pancho (photo © XAM)

Liqen (photo © XAM)

Jaz (photo © XAM)

Saner (photo © XAM)

Saner (photo © XAM)

Saner in collaboration with Bastardilla (photo © XAM)

Samurai . Ceci (photo © XAM)

Roman (photo © XAM)

Roman . Acute (photo © XAM)

ROA (photo © XAM)

Meah (photo © XAM)

Broken Crow (photo © XAM)

MCity (photo © XAM)

MCity (photo © XAM)

Moz Crew (photo © XAM)

Moz Crew (photo © XAM)

Moz Crew (photo © XAM)

Kokor . Dronz (photo © XAM)

Bimek . Done (photo © XAM)

Bue (photo © XAM)

Ever (photo © XAM)

SBTG. The artist worked on this piece on commission to promote an event sponsored by a shoe company. We like the placement. (photo © XAM)

Click on the links below to read our previous stories of MAMUTT Arte and MUJAM and to learn more about their work in Mexico City:

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/2011/09/20/m-city-in-m-city-polish-stencillist-in-mexico/

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/2011/05/07/video-premiere-broken-crow-in-mexico/

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/2011/03/04/broken-crow-a-mexican-travelog/

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/2011/03/09/broken-crow-a-mexican-travelog-part-ii/

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/2011/02/05/roas-magic-naturalism-street-arts-wild-kingdom-in-mexico/

 

 

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Swoon In Kenya: The Equality Effect and “160 Girls”

March 21, 2012

Fighting a War on Girls

Abuse of a child is against the law worldwide. Unless international laws are enforced, it makes no difference.

Brooklyn based Street Artist Swoon is lending her name and her talent to a legal organization which seeks justice for women and girls who have been raped and otherwise abused.

The fine artist whose work has appeared in the street, galleries, and museums over the last decade recently visited eastern Kenya with Mike Snelle, Director of London’s Black Rat Projects, to participate in planning discussions for a project they will be doing this year in partnership with Equality Effect. The international organization of lawyers works to protect children and women around the world in conjunction with rescue centers, as well as to ensure that their rights are respected.

While in Kenya, Swoon lead a series of art workshops at a rescue center for girls between ages 4 and 16 years. These girls are part of project called “160 Girls” and its purpose is to take the Kenyan government to court and cause it to enforce existing international laws to hold perpetrators of violence accountable for their actions. Seeking justice and empowerment for girls and women, the campaign and association rely on contributions to assure that these girls see their day in court. Swoon intends to lend her name and efforts to raise funds and awareness throughout this year with plans for an auction and a special piece she is creating about the girls.

Swoon in Kenya (photo © Patrick Njeru Njagi)

Aside from laying plans for the program Swoon participated and taught a workshop on making colorful masks and head dresses with some of the girls in the center. The power of creativity in healing cannot be doubted, and participants reported how much fun it was to create their art project. Hopefully this workshop and others like it will continue to help the girls feel empowered and to gain self-confidence through having an outlet of creative expression.

Swoon with Fiona Sampson, The Executive Director of Equality Effect and a girl with a new mask she created. (photo © Patrick Njeru Njagi)

Below are some photos of the workshops and the outstanding results of the students creativity.  Please note: BSA has blurred some of the girls’ faces to protect their identities.

We talked with Mike Snelle to learn more about the organization and his involvement with Swoon.

Brooklyn Street Art: How did you first learn of Equality Effect and why is their work important?
Mike Snelle: Fiona Sampson, who runs Equality Effect came into the gallery one day and she sent me an email afterwards. Her email address is @theequalityeffect, which seemed to be an interesting address so I looked up what they did. Reading their website I knew what they were doing was really important so I reached out to see if there was any way we could help.

Swoon in Kenya (photo © Patrick Njeru Njagi)

I also thought that Swoon might be interested too.  The Equality Effect are basically a human rights charity who are looking to use the law to protect and enforce people’s human rights. International human rights laws already exist to protect the vulnerable but are often not enforced. What the Equality Effect do is take on governments on the behalf of the people whose human rights are being violated. I think this is part of what is necessary to affect deep lasting change.

Swoon in Kenya (photo © Patrick Njeru Njagi)

Brooklyn Street Art: What role do you find galleries and artists can play in helping an organization like this to reach its goals?

Mike Snelle: I feel like this is a conversation I have been having with artists like Swoon and Matt Small for several years; How to be an artist, or for that matter a gallery, and to contribute to the wider world and not stay within the limited confines of the art world. The art world is a funny isolated place and it feels important to reach outside of its boundaries to connect with people who are affecting change in the real world. For me it’s about how to represent artists, do shows and sell works but not wake up with that empty sensation that you could be doing more with your life. It’s about using the skills and contacts you have from the art world and then diverting those resources in a different direction.

It’s particularly rewarding to work with artists because they can offer an on-the-ground experience, as well as help in raising awareness. This is an uplifting, creative, joyful experience for the kids. Following this there is a fundraising element. In this case an auction with the first work being a portrait of one of the girls made by Swoon.

Swoon in Kenya (photo © Swoon)

Swoon working on her piece at the workshop in Kenya. (photo © Patrick Njeru Njagi)

Brooklyn Street Art: What was your experience like during your time with the workshops at the rescue centre?

Mike Snelle: I am still processing it a bit. It was simultaneously hard and joyful. You are working with twenty-five children between five and sixteen, all of whom are engaging, fun, creative human beings doing something fun and joyful. At the same time each of them has a difficult and traumatic story. It’s an intense experience.

There were some really amazing people there and I guess that most of all I feel like I  learned about a kind of compassion that some people have which is enduring and powerful and that somehow doesn’t exhaust the person who has it. And something about how the most effective change is possible by listening to people on the ground who understand the community they are from in a way that’s impossible to do from the outside where you can only impose a preconceived idea of what is needed in a way that is inevitably inaccurate. I think this is what the Equality effect do really well – partner with people on the ground and listen to what they need.

Swoon’s completed piece. (photo © Patrick Njeru Njagi)

It was also important for me watching Swoon and Dana and Paulie-Anne and seeing that the more “present” you can be and more open you are, the easier you can create genuine human connections.  And you know, kids have an amazing resilience, and the joy they get from making things is the same joy that I recognise from my own children. It was a lot, this trip. I think I’m still learning from it. We saw a hospital there that had been built but didn’t have any equipment in yet. They had raised the money for the building but not for anything else. Asking about it we were told that if you believe in something, and just start it, then other people believe too and it will come to be. This seems like a thing. I’m rambling. It was a little overwhelming.

Swoon in Kenya (photo © Patrick Njeru Njagi)

 

Students lining up to show off their brand new creations. (photo © Patrick Njeru Njagi)


Swoon in Kenya (photo © Patrick Njeru Njagi)

Swoon in Kenya (photo © Patrick Njeru Njagi)

An elaborate head dress completed. (photo © Patrick Njeru Njagi)

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The Equality Effect is a non-profit organization that uses international human rights law to improve the lives of women and girls.

 

 

 

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Living Walls Concepts Presents: New works featuring La Pandilla and Trek Matthews. (Atlanta, GA)

March 20, 2012 , , , , ,

La Pandilla and Trek

 

This Saturday, Living Walls Concepts’ artists La Pandilla (Puerto Rico) and Trek Matthews (Atlanta) will premiere their gallery show at the Jane. This one night gallery opening will present 12 original works, a limited edition of artist prints and shirts by Kemeza, and the screening of the mural process video by Albert Lebron.

La Pandilla are internationally recognized street artists from Puerto Rico whose stunning detail remain intact from large-scale murals to works on paper. This art duo, comprised of Alexis Diaz and Juan Fernandez, invent surreal depictions of animals with human elements throughout their work.

Trek Matthews is an emerging, self-taught, Atlanta based artist. A unique mixture of sacred geometry, Native American designs, Aztec patterns, and Egyptian myth & culture inspires his pen and ink drawings.

Drinks and DJ will be provided along with an after-party featuring a performance by Mirror Mode. After the opening, the show at the Jane will hold special gallery hours Sunday 3/25 from 1:00-5:00pm. All profits from art sales will go to the artists. As always, this event is free and open to the public.

The Jane (behind Octane in Grant Park)
437 Memorial Dr
Atlanta, GA 30312

Gallery Opening, Saturday, March 24th 7:00-11:00pm
Extended Gallery Hours, Saturday, March 25th 1:00-5:00pm

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New Documentary on LUDO in the Streets of Paris

March 20, 2012

The daily barrage of images and messages you see and hear merge together into a sort of white noise, a sort of mottled grey blue red yellow green purple black white noise. You will be lobbied today in the public sphere.

We have become inured to it, yet it persists. No matter how much you think that you have placed the ads into a peripheral role, they will still enter your consciousness there, in your periphery.

When Street Artist Ludo replaces bus shelter and billboard ads with his art, it is an attempted end run, a short circuiting of the commercialization of public space. In a subtle way that doesn’t jar you out of the subconscious messaging milieu, LUDO’s crisp tech-bio splicing of natural and man-made merely redirects your attention to a parallel track that leads back to you.

In this brand new video LUDO allows you into his studio to see how he makes his work and to tag along as he replaces a few selected commercial messages in the ubiquitous ad stream with his own ads that re-engineer common perception. It is interesting to see how simple it is to re-brand our environment, and LUDO is glad that director Laurie Grossett has recorded the process with Defense Dafficher. “It’s the first time I worked with a production company, a real director,” he says about the new mini-documentary, “It was a long process but I think they did a nice job.”

LUDO’s commentary has also been translated to English by Daily Motion so click “subtitles” to turn it on and understand the artist. Even without the words, the visuals communicate effectively. That’s the point.

LUDO in Paris, by Defense Dafficher, directed by Laurie Grosset


LUDO / PARIS by DEFENSE_DAFFICHER

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MICA Decker Gallery Presents: Adam Void “An American Dream” (Baltimore, MD)

March 19, 2012 , , , ,

Adam Void

 

This immersive installation will feature new paintings, sculptures and writing. An American Dream forces the viewer to interact with often overlooked subcultural groups in a sophisticated and complex manner. Topics addressed include homelessness, evangelical religion, freight hopping, protest culture, surveillance and urbanization.

Opens Friday March 23 (5-7pm) – April 1
MICA Decker Gallery
1301 West Mount Royal Ave.
Baltimore, MD

Adam Void “Private Property” (image courtesy © of the artist)

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Pawn Works Gallery Presents: “While Supplies Last” (Chicago, ILL)

March 19, 2012 , , , ,

Pawn Works Gallery

Pawn Works Presents: While Supplies Last

While Supplies Last is a concept store providing an alternative retail environment for the discerning customer to browse and purchase exclusive products and unique gifts. With the visual aesthetics of NYC artist 5003 and Agent Gallery, we will be transforming the space into a fully functioning retail shop featuring an array of titles from German based publishing company Gestalten books, apparel from Scumbags & Superstars and The Joneses, and other small edition products created by the participating artists specifically for this project.

Throughout the store’s limited run we will be releasing exclusive items including prints, zines, sticker packs and other multiples from a variety of artists like SHAWNIMALS, SKEWVILLE, KOSBE, 5003, ADER, AMUSE 126, SNACKI, JC RIVERA, MONTGOMERY PERRY SMITH, LEFT HANDED WAVE, MAX KAUFFMAN, NICE-ONE, SWIV and more while featuring a heavy involvement from famed U.K. illustrator JON BURGERMAN.
“Submerged in  a period of kitsch, we persevere, taking part in some of the fun along the way”
Grand Opening
Saturday March 31
12-7pm
While Supplies Last!!
Store Hours:
Tuesday-Saturday 12-7pm
Sunday 12-6pm
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The Outsiders Gallery Presents: Brett Amory “Waiting 101” (Newcastle, UK)

March 19, 2012 , , , , ,

Waiting 101

 

NEWCASTLE

77 Quayside | Newcastle upon Tyne | NE1 3DE | Tel +44 (0)191 221 2560 | www.theoutsiders.net | www.lazinc.com

The Outsiders, the emerging art gallery from curator-director Steve Lazarides, presents ʻWaiting 101ʼ a solo exhibition featuring the newest works from Brett Amoryʼs internationally acclaimed ʻWaitingʼ series.

American contemporary painter Brett Amory is widely considered one of the breakthrough artistic talents of the past year. He is best known for his Waiting paintings, a body of work that has spanned the last decade documenting figures and landscapes in the Bay Area. The new collection ʻWaiting 101ʼ debuts at Outsiders Gallery in Newcastle, UK on April 19th 2012.

The compositions in the exhibition focus on Amoryʼs newfound relationship with technology, and the implicit freedom it allows in his work. Delving into documentation methods which new modes of ambulatory technology offer, Amory experienced a metamorphosis in his painting preparation and application. With intimate, firsthand knowledge of the many ways that technology can affect the lives of those it touches, Amory explores the avenues itʼs opened up for him as an artist in ʻWaiting 101ʼ.

Photography applications with sophisticated software (such as Instagram) have allowed Amory to expand the scope of his series. Heʼs now able to capture critical moments that strike him as they unfold. “With my iPhone, I always have a camera on hand. Iʼm able to capture what I experience day in day out,” he says. “Every morning I wake up and walk to the café for a cup of coffee. On the way I see the same people following their own routines. New technology allows me to document these people as they go about their lives. Capturing the people I see in my neighbourhood on film and later on canvas, is really a documentation of what I do and see on a daily basis. This body of work aims to give the viewer a look into my own experience. Hopefully it opens up a deeper personal exchange between myself and the viewer.”

Inspiration has never been so easy to manipulate and document. Amory expertly wields the tools available to him, with the intent of maintaining and evolving the series that has garnered him international acclaim. Prior to Amoryʼs use of the camera phone, his process involved painstaking research and meticulous stake-outs at chosen locations. This was always with the hope of capturing a moment and individual suitable to his artistic vision. With the modern software now in his employ, Amory has the world at his fingertips _ as evidenced in ʻWaiting 101ʼ. His compositions show a radical departure from his historical works in their obvious spontaneity, yet remain true to his unequivocally distinct technique.

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Rue de Beauce Presents: Florence Blanchard AKA EMA: “Ephemera” (Paris, France)

March 19, 2012 , , , , ,

EMA

A travers des compositions complexes incorporant des éléments inspirés de l’univers du graffiti, du tatouage et de la BD, Florence Blanchard explore les thèmes du symbolisme et de la science fiction. Par son oeuvre, elle immortalise des pensées furtives aspirant s’interroger sur la beauté du transitoire et sur le temps qui passe.

Pour sa prochaine exposition E P H E M E R A, elle donne forme et couleur à un univers précaire et fantastique. Visions oniriques teintées de sensualité et de mystère invitent à se recueillir au sein d’une interface transitoire, entre rêve et réalité. Des personnages imaginaires inspirés d’époques diverses et évoluant dans un décor abstrait nous content une ode narrative, anachronique et surréaliste.

Basée pendant 10 ans à New York, Florence Blanchard est une Pionnière dans l’univers du graffiti français au féminin. Elle adopte le nom Ema au début des années 90 et participe aux événements clés du hiphop américain. Ema expose dans les grandes capitales à New York, Paris, Berlin, Los Angeles. Elle prend part au projet Underbelly à New York, à la TED Women conference à Washington 2010 ainsi qu’à Art Basel Miami Beach.

Rue de Beauce – galerie d’art au format informel – invite régulièrement des artistes à se produire dans le salon d’un appartement parisien au cœur du Marais. Initiée par Michèle Bouhana et Angela di Paolo, la galerie s’est engagée dans la promotion de nouvelles tendances artistiques circulant entre Pop Surréalisme, Urban Art et Dessin contemporain.

RUE DE BEAUCE
présente
E  P  H  E  M  E  R  A

FLORENCE  BLANCHARD  

  

Vernissage : Dimanche 1er Avril 16h – 21h

Du 2 Avril au 10 Mai 2012 sur RDV

3 Rue de Beauce, 75 003 Paris

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Hush in Australia: A New Figure on the Street

March 19, 2012 , ,

Street Artist Hush is in Melbourne, Australia this week getting some work up on the street and preparing for a new show at Metro Gallery. A mixologist who borrows widely from graff, fine, and folk art traditions, the guy has many interests and continues to explore techniques of art making, sharing what he has learned as he goes.

The new collection of work will be wide and deep, including large paintings, one-off screen prints on paper, wood cuts (linotypes), 3-D plastic drawings, and sketches that give viewers a better understanding of his working practice and technique.

Here are a few stylish shots on the street of his newest work by Cleo le Vel. The overall shape may remind you of Russian Matryoshka dolls, but the countenance on this figure is smokey as she is surrounded by decorative motifs and graffiti tags.

Hush (photo © Cleo le Vel)

Hush (photo © Cleo le Vel)

Hush (photo © Cleo le Vel)

Hush (photo © Cleo le Vel)

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Images of the Week: 03.18.12

March 18, 2012 , , , ,

Our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring Buttless, Curly, Don’t Fret, Droid, ENO, Enzo & Nio, ENO, Eras, Keith Haring, Memo, ND’A, Nev1, Never, Pakpoom Silaphan, Radical!, Read, Sheepman, and Skewville.

Skewville IS NOT ON SALE but you could make him an offer he can’t refuse. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Curly wants to know how much longer he has to toil…any answers? (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Radical and ND’A making a connection.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Punk wheat paste. Who is the artist? (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Never . Eras (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sheepman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sheepman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nev 1 with girl in her panties. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Enzo & Nio (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Droid . Read (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Buttless helped out Supreme with their ubiquitous yearly banal postering campaign, in much the same way that Faile assisted in 2009 with tiger heads over Lou Reeds’ face. Their big Kate Moss repetition irked a number of Street Artists again this time by mindlessly papering over the individual with the mass message. By the way, is smoking cigarettes the new heroin chic? (photo © Jaime Rojo)

MEMO (photo © Jaime Rojo)

MEMO (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Don’t Fret in Chicago (photo © Don’t Fret)

Pakpoom Silaphan did this portrait of Keith Haring on a vintage Pepsi sign spotted at one of the art fairs last weekend. Might this have been a calculated effort to ride on the success of the Keith Haring retrospective currently on view at the Brooklyn Museum? Maybe it is simply another expression of the well worn practice of re-appropriating pop culture, with Haring clearly now in icon territory. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

We listened for some ambient synthesizer music when this was discovered. ENO (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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“The Sunrise of Edgewood”, GAIA & Nanook open Living Walls Atlanta 2012

“The Sunrise of Edgewood”, GAIA & Nanook open Living Walls Atlanta 2012

March 17, 2012 , , , ,

The 3rd Edition of Living Walls begins this spring and BSA is pleased to again partner with Monica Compana and her team to bring you the action in Atlanta for 2012. Supporting the ATL efforts since they popped in ’10, we’ll again bring you updates from the field as the artists converge in Atlanta to bring color, vibrancy and a dialogue with Street Art in the city.

Officially the 2012 conference begins in August but we’ll be bringing you a series of installations leading up to it. This years quality lineup will be a bit more international and focused with skillz on display from Gaia, Nanook, La Pandilla, Trek Matthews, Interesni Kazki, Everman, Neuzz, Pablo Gnecco, and Liqen.

So right now we want to give a huge shout out to our partners in non-crime, writer Alexandra Parrish, who is also Director of Communications for Living Walls, Charles Flemming, Living Walls Media team photographer and Albert Lebron, videographer who will all be BSA contributors to bring to you dispatches from the field. Thank you and welcome.

Gaia and Nanook

Text by Alexandra Parrish
Photos by Charles Flemming
Video by Albert Lebron

Gaia and Nanook (photo © Charles Flemming)

In terms of mural making, Gaia and Nanook believe public art has the ability to designate place. They are hardly strangers to the rich history layered in the gridded streets of Atlanta. Last weekend, Gaia and Nanook returned to the heart of the south to participate in Living Walls Concepts, a year-round conduit to the conference, which aims to create a more intimate relationship between the artist and the community.

The sketch came naturally – the wall, located on Edgewood Avenue in the heart of Old Fourth Ward sits firmly in the neighborhood Martin Luther King Jr. called home. Gaia and Nanook opted for an equivocal face to represent the street itself – and the passerby’s whom they interacted with regularly; Which is something I’m sure they revel, as Gaia took the time to explain what he was doing to anyone who cared to ask.

After three days and a stunted thunderstorm, Gaia and Nanook named their finished wall “The Sunrise of Edgewood.”

Gaia and Nanook (photo © Charles Flemming)

Gaia also sent us a description of the project:

“The collaboration that Nanook and I produced on Edgewood avenue is an observation on the neighborhood’s changing complexion. Historically, the Fourth Ward is considered in many regards as the epicenter of the Civil Rights movement so naturally creating Martin Luther King Jr’s face just down the block from the King Home seemed logical.

But rather we created a portrait that was more ambiguous, an everyman face that faded into a rising sun. This vibrant visage is surrounded by a turmoil of rope and vine forms that nanook created which is derived from one of his early street pieces. Now the mural is surrounded by a contentious area whose gentrification is imminent like the endless cycle of the sun.”

Gaia and Nanook (photo © Charles Flemming)

Gaia and Nanook (photo © Charles Flemming)

Gaia and Nanook (photo © Charles Flemming)

Gaia and Nanook (photo © Charles Flemming)

Gaia and Nanook (photo © Charles Flemming)

“The Sunrise of Edgewood” by Albert Lebron (VIDEO)

 

 

To learn more about Living Walls Altanta: The City Speaks and to make a donation to help this year’s conference click here. BSA thanks you for supporting this good work.

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