Where: aMBUSH Gallery, 4a James Street, Waterloo (Sydney)
When: Friday 17 May
Time: 6pm-9pm
Cost: Free Public Event
In Greek mythology, the god Aether represented the highest plane of heaven and the purest, lightest form of air that only Zeus could breathe. Throughout the development of early philosophical and scientific discourse, the concept of Aether was used metaphorically as an alternative and preferable explanation for the apparent ‘nothingness’ that filled vacant spaces. Aether represented a fifth element alongside those four that were tangible – Fire, Water, Earth and Air – and served as the foundation for scientific exploration of the propagation of electromagnetic radiation through space.
Comprising the work of Aaron Noakes, Dakota Gordon, David Crystalface, Jack Hammond, Mez, Nick Matthews, Oliver, Ox, Sebastian Grant, Slug and Tom Groves
Entwined in the apparent randomness of nature are strict laws governed by mathematical order. Control, geometry, symmetry. Entwined in the flourish and flair of Phibs and Beastman’s signature artworks are the same elements. Control in their masterful application of aerosol paint, geometry that pulls together the flourish and flair of their complimentary and well-honed aesthetics, and symmetry in their personal and professional lives. As friends, studio mates and collaborators, Phibs and Beastman reflect the organic inspiration of their artworks.
In Our Nature, then, is an apt and intriguing concept for the pair’s latest collaborative exhibition. Launching Friday 22 March, 6 pm at aMBUSH Gallery, the show comprises new paintings on mounted wood that further explore nature’s boundless influence and capacity to inspire. Twisting together both real and imagined colours, patterns and life forms encapsulated by their organic references, Phibs and Beastman’s vibrant portrayals of nature’s enigma will capture your attention, and the painstaking intricacy of their works will keep it, long after the exhibition has been packed away.
Happy Friday! Wipe that stain off your shirt from last nights office holiday party and brush your teeth and get to work so you can be a zombie all day. For our part – it’s time for a little Street Art roundup of some things that you might like.
1. Miami in The House All Weekend
2. “Deck the Walls” at Stolen Space (London)
3. “Rinse & Repeat” Group Show at Ambush (Sydney, Australia)
4. Skewville in France, Quel Surprise! (Lille, France)
5. Jaye Moon at Paik Hae Young (Seoul)
6. “Sowing The Seeds of Love” – Just Seeds Group Show Friday (Manhattan)
7. Icy & Sot at Nu Hotel (Brooklyn)
8. Zombie Nation – Ezra Eismont
9. Herakut The Giant Story Book Project (VIDEO)
10. SWOON’s Konbit Shelter – Art in the Streets – MOCAtv (VIDEO)
Miami in The House All Weekend
This weekend the fun is for Street Art in Miami and check out some of our recommendations (Best Miami Street Art: BSA Picks Awesomest for Basel ’12) for hoofing it around that we posted Wednesday. Tonight of course there are a number of grand opening parties/after parties (including Fountain), but really just being on the street is equally fun if not funner! Thanks for that adverb from 7 year old Darnell Wilsen of Brooklyn.
For a full listing of Art Fairs, Events and Street Murals click here and here.
But not all the fun is in Miami here are a few picks of what’s happening elsewhere in the world:
“Deck the Walls” at Stolen Space (London)
Greeting cards are a nice way to say Merry Christmas to Grandma, and for suburban white middle class families to distribute photos proving that their kids are not on drugs. This is Stolen Space Christmas Show celebrates greetings cards and holiday cheer with D*Face, Word to Mother, Will Barras and David Bray among others putting their own imprimatur on Christmas. Come on, Uncle Bert and Aunt Dolittle will be there, so comb your hair, put some shoes on and get out of the house!
For further information regarding this show click here.
“Rinse & Repeat” Group Show at Ambush (Sydney, Australia)
With a collection of Australian Graffiti and Street Art Artists, “Rinse & Repeat” finds its inspiration by taking a look at the Old Masters and re-interpreting them with their own styles and techniques. An interesting proposition albeit fraught with risks – there are a few good ones here though that will delight your academic/street sensibilities. Included in the line up are: Adnate (AWOL Crew),Bridge Stehli, Cam Wall, Carl Steffan, Deams (AWOL Crew), Fintan Magee, Guido van Helten, Phibs, Shannon Crees, Slicer (AWOL Crew) , Team and Teazer.
For further information regarding this exhibition click here.
Skewville in France, Quel Surprise! (Lille, France)
Hope they realize what they have gotten themselves into, but Vertikal Gallery is hosting Brooklyn Street Art collective Skewville for a solo show entitled “Be Inside”. Considering we have had one or two Lillians in Brooklyn putting work up on the streets over the last few years, this sounds like a cultural exchange program of some kind, right?
For further information regarding this exhibition click here.
Jaye Moon at Paik Hae Young (Seoul)
New York Street Artist Jaye Moon is in Seoul, Korea on an Art Residency Invitation and tonight his her solo exhibition with her “Lego Tree House” opening tonight at the Paik Hae Young Gallery.
For further information regarding this exhibition click here.
“Sowing The Seeds of Love” – Just Seeds Group Show Friday (Manhattan)
The Art Collective Just Seeds new group exhibition titled “Sowing The Seeds of Love” opens tonight at the Munch Gallery in Manhattan. The artists in Just Seeds aim to put forth their world views on a variety of issues – looking to inform and bolster you through the power of art. Participating in this show are: Jesus Barraza, Kevin Caplicki, Melanie Cervantes, Santiago Doesntsitstill, Alec Dunn, Molly J Fair, Thea Gahr, Nicolas Lampert, Josh MacPhee, Fernando Marti, Colin Matthes, Dylan Miner, Roger Peet, Jesse Purcell, Pete Railand, Favianna Rodriguez, Shaun Slifer, Chris Stain, Meredith Stern, Mary Tremonte and Bec Young.
For further information regarding this exhibition click here.
Icy & Sot at Nu Hotel (Brooklyn)
Iranian expats and brothers Icy & Sot invite you to celebrate with them their first foray in the hospitality business. The brothers designed a room at the Nu Hotel in Brooklyn and you are invited to come over tonight for some refreshments.
Artist Ezra Eismont has a Kickstarter fundraiser to help publish his Zombie Nation book, which features his zombified portraits of icons and celebrities. Seems like a heartwarming holiday thing to do, doesn’t it? Please support your local artists and small family businesses.
Herakut The Giant Story Book Project (VIDEO)
SWOON’s Konbit Shelter – Art in the Streets – MOCAtv (VIDEO)
For centuries, art has marched alongside history, and history alongside art. Each movement, from the painstakingly detailed oils of the Renaissance to the tongue-in-cheek boldness of 1960s Pop Art, has marked and been marked by the great heights and most regrettable lows of its cultural and temporal context.
Having bubbled below the surface, in tunnels, on train lines and under the ominous cloak of midnight hours, the persistent and controversial street art and graffiti subculture has burst into the foreground of popular attention and established itself, however unexpectedly, as the defining art movement of our time.
Characterised by conflict, enigma and the burgeoning curiosity of growing audiences, it is undeniable that this movement belongs in the same echelon as other controversial, yet ultimately significant and culturally reflective art movements of centuries past.
Rinse and Repeat seeks to articulate this sentiment by showcasing the work of twelve Australian established and emerging street and graffiti artists as they find inspiration in history’s master works and reinterpret them from the perspective of today’s most prevalent and exciting art form.
Comprising the work of Adnate (AWOL Crew),Bridge Stehli, Cam Wall, Carl Steffan, Deams (AWOL Crew), Fintan Magee, Guido van Helten, Phibs, Shannon Crees, Slicer (AWOL Crew) , Team and Teazer, Rinse and Repeat articulates the evolution of a movement that, in its irrepressibility, has rendered it the defining art form of contemporary culture.
Proudly supported by aMBUSH, ABSOLUT, The Apple Thief, Doss Blockos and premium paint brand Molotow, Rinse and Repeat launches at aMBUSH Gallery on Thursday 6 December from 6-10pm. The exhibition continues until Sunday 9 December 12-14pm.
What: Rinse & Repeat
Where: aMBUSH Gallery, 4a James Street, Waterloo (Sydney)
1. Mitt Hunts Big Bird for Thanksgiving Dinner #defendthearts
2. Stormie Mills in Melbourne
3. Ambush Group Show (Sydney)
4. TrustoCorp at Outsiders (Newcastle, UK)
5. Guy Denning Solo at Signal (London)
6. Goons Go Inside (Chicago)
7. Graffitimundo Needs Your Help to Finish Documentary (VIDEO)
Stormie Mills has a solo show “Peoples and Places 2012” at the Metro Gallery in Melbourne, Australia that’s open to everybody and Mr. Mills will delight you with his funny, industrious little characters done mostly in monochrome palette. Also, it was snowing at the opening Wednesday. Kind of stormy.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Ambush Group Show (Sydney)
The Australians are putting in a good game it seems as the Ambush Gallery in Sydney has an interesting line up of dozens of Aussies for their group show “Living In A Glass House”. This exhibition is now open to the general public. Also interesting because all the profits go directly to the artists.
For further information regarding this show click here.
TrustoCorp at Outsiders (Newcastle, UK)
The Outsiders Gallery has invited American Street and Fine Artist TrustoCorp to come and mint wads of money, honey. Currency is power and with this show titled “The International Bank of TrustoCorp” you’ll find plenty of both. Opening today.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Guy Denning Solo at Signal (London)
Guy Denning’s solo show “Paradiso” at the Signal Gallery in London, UK is now open to the. This show is the last of a trilogy inspired by Dante’s The Divine Comedy. Go and be tempted.
Guy Denning. (image courtesy of the gallery)
For further information regarding this show click here.
Goons Go Inside (Chicago)
Goons, the Chicago based Street Artists are exhibiting at the Maxwell Colette Gallery in Chicago with a solo exhibition titled “Welcome to Goonswood”. This show opens today.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Graffitimundo Needs Your Help to Finish Documentary (VIDEO)
Graffitimundo in Argentina is working on documentary “White Walls Say Nothing” to capture the art and activism on the streets of Buenos Aires. Take a look at the trailer for the film and please help them to raise the funds needed to complete their film by clicking on the link to their Kickstarter campaign.
They say that those who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, but what about those on the outside looking in? Living in a Glass House, the latest free public art initiative of aMBUSH Gallery, shows that a better policy is that no one should throw stones, regardless of their accommodation, and simply look under them instead. You never know what you might find.
Presented by Sydney’s GLASSHOUSE and aMBUSH Gallery, Living in a Glass House comprises the work of fifty contemporary street, graffiti and urban artists from almost all the major cities in Australia. Located across the three levels of the GLASSHOUSE, the pop-up exhibition brings the most prominent figures in Australian art together in an ambitious and dynamic display of home-grown talent.
Produced and curated by aMBUSH Gallery, Living in a Glass House will exhibit new and original works by Brisbane artists Benjamin Reeve and Gimiks Born; Adnate, Itch, Lucy Lucy and Slicer, four of Melbourne’s indomitable AWOL crew; Gary Seaman from Adelaide; and Sydney’s own Brett Chan, Jodee Knowles, Deb, Bei Bad Girl, Bridge Stehli, Jumbo, Ben Brown and Ears, plus 36 more artists, hailing from across the nation.
On Wednesday October 3, to mark the launch of this exciting new project, Deb and Bei Bad Girl will bring their bombshell attitudes and signature femininity to GLASSHOUSE with a live painting display from 11am to 2pm.
All works from Living in a Glass House will be for sale, and aMBUSH Gallery will release an online catalogue on October 3 that audiences can browse and from which purchases can be made. The catalogue will be available at www.livinginaglasshouse.com and 100% of sales go to the artists themselves.
Dedicated to the uncovering and dazzling display of new and exciting artists and their works, aMBUSH Gallery and GLASSHOUSE are proud to present Living in a Glass House, a vibrant addition to Sydney’s burgeoning public art space and a testament to the talent beholden by Australia’s shores.
Yo Yo what’s up all the Brooklyn peepuls and the New Yorkers and the LA’ers and the Chicago’ers and the Stavanger Norway buddies and shout out to Martha as she hangs in Johannesburg today and to everybody who’s brave enough to tap into the creative spirit. Today in Brooklyn it’s sunny and bright and there’s a bird singing on the chain link fence outside my house. As usual the place to be is where you’re at. Also, we’d be really happy to meet you tomorrow at our show in Red Hook if you can fly by.
1. Kit Kat Flex Dancer in Brooklyn (VIDEO)
2. GEOMETRICKS Opens Saturday (BKLYN)
3. Shai Dahan “Broken Window” (Sweden)
4. Fall Group Exhibition at C.A.V.E (LA)
5. Sydney curates a show on the Street (Australia)
6. “Luchadores” by El Hase is now open to the public at One Art Space in Manhattan.7. Ricky Powell is “Back in BK” and you can catch him tonight at Mishka in Brooklyn
7. PUBLIC WORKS PART I By Jason Wawro (VIDEO)
8. PUBLIC WORKS PART II By Jason Wawro (VIDEO)
9. Narcelio Grud: “Spiral” Invention and Graffiti (VIDEO)
10. TEJN Has a lock on Street Art (VIDEO)
11. Don John in Copenhagen by Alexander Lee (VIDEO)
Let’s start Friday by getting inspired by KitKat – a Brooklyn flex dancer who knows her stuff. (VIDEO)
GEOMETRICKS Opens Saturday (BKLYN)
Of course we had to put this one first because we have 11 cool artists showing work that collectively illustrates one of the major new directions that Street Art and Graffiti are going in right now.
The Red Hook neighborhood is where the fun will be this Saturday as the opening of “GEOMETRICKS”, curated by Hellbent, takes place at Gallery Brooklyn. With a FREE shuttle from the G/F Trains on Carroll St to the Gallery courtesy of local Brooklyn Crab restaurant, a Young Collectors Wall with dope pieces by the artists in the show all priced at $200 each (you must have valid student ID for these pieces), and music provided by Sleptember, you are going to see a slice of community we’ve all grown to love.
Support the inaugural show of “Vandal or Visionaries” Series by BSA and enjoy the beautiful art works by: Augustine Kofie, Chor Boogie, Drew Tyndell, Feral Child, Hellbent, Jaye Moon, Maya Hayuk, MOMO, OLEK, OverUnder, See One. Then join us at Brooklyn Crab to hang after the show – and the restaurant will be offering a FREE shuttle back to the G/F Trains. So what’s there not to like? And we thank our local Red Hook based sponsor, SixPoint Brewery.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Sydney curates a show on the Street (Australia)
It looks like the Australians’ love affair for Street Art continues strong. Ambush Gallery has teamed up with Darling Quartet, Sydney’s new precinct and public arts space to mount an outdoor exhibition opening to the public today. The works of art on view are by a handful of well known and respected Street Artists working today including: Anthony Lister (Bris/NY), Beastman (Syd), Shannon Crees (Syd) and Hiroyasu Tsuri/TWOONE (Melb). The exhibition is FREE, open 24/7 and it will be illuminated at night.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Also happening this weekend:
“Luchadores” by El Hase is now open to the public at One Art Space in Manhattan. Click here for more details on this show.
Ricky Powell is “Back in BK” and you can catch him tonight at Mishka in Brooklyn. Click here for more details on this show.
PUBLIC WORKS PART I By Jason Wawro (VIDEO)
PUBLIC WORKS PART II By Jason Wawro (VIDEO)
To learn more about LALA Arts Public Works Project with the participation of Ron English and Shepard Fairey, as well as How & Nosm, Insa, Push, Revok, Risk, Seen, Trustocorp, WCA Crew, Uglar and Zes click here.
Narcelio Grud: “Spiral” Invention and Graffiti (VIDEO)
TEJN Has a lock on Street Art (VIDEO)
Sculptor TEJN from Copenhagen broadens our conception of what street art and public art and sculpture are with his installations that he chains and locks and leaves. Basically, he’s just giving you his art, and if you really want it probably you will need a blow torch.
In an initiative that transcends the white walls of the conventional gallery space and redefines Sydney’s relationship with art, OPEN is Darling Quarter’s newest public art space, set to launch in association with Art & About 2012 on Friday 21st September.
Presented by Darling Quarter and curated and produced by aMBUSH Gallery, OPEN will surprise and enchant the passersby of Darling Quarter’s Civic Connector with large-scale and vibrant public art exhibitions.
The precinct’s debut exhibition, launching on Friday 21st September and continuing until the 26th October, is OPEN STREET ART, which features internationally renowned Australian artists Anthony Lister (Bris/NY), Beastman (Syd), Shannon Crees (Syd) and Hiroyasu Tsuri/
TWOONE (Melb). Illuminated at night, OPEN STREET ART will be visible 24 hours a day.
Singular in style and leaders in their field, the artists have created a site-specific and culturally reflective body of four works each, sixteen in total, which will hang throughout the exhibition’s duration on purpose built cubes down the length of the Civic Connector.
OPEN STREET ART explores the changing relationship between street artists, their work and their audiences, as the art form continues to grow as the most significant art movement of the last ten years.
Darling Quarter’s Abigail Campion says, “OPEN STREET ART gives visitors a chance to explore the fastest growing and most dynamic art movement in the world and the Australian artists who are leading it. We have some of the most brilliant artists here in Australia and
initiatives like OPEN are a chance to celebrate and support this. Through initiatives like Luminous, Lend Lease Darling Quarter Theatre,
the Night Owls Film Festival and now OPEN, Darling Quarter is gearing up to become a premier cultural hub in the city, supporting the arts,
partnering with cultural organisations such as aMBUSH Gallery and engaging with the community.”
Bill Dimas and John Wiltshire of aMBUSH Gallery attest to the broader significance of OPEN, saying, “OPEN demonstrates how successful
partnerships between business and the arts can benefit the whole community and the city’s cultural landscape, by providing an open,
direct and inclusive arts communication.”
While each of the artists’ work is a reaction to the space, their approaches are as diverse as their styles. One of the world’s Top
50 Most Collectable Artists, Anthony Lister says of his method, “I approached this painting like I was being attacked by an angry bull.
It’s best to deal with an angry bull head-on and with conviction. It’s worst to run and be hit and have to deal with the horns then.”
Beastman, 2010 Sydney Music, Arts & Culture (SMACS) best artist winner, whose iconic creatures grace walls around the globe, explains
that his OPEN STREET ART work “is a representation of the four material elements of nature: wind, water, fire and earth.”
The only Australian artist to show in Banksy’s Cans Festival 2 2008, Shannon Crees’ work is both bold and feminine, and she seeks to
engage her OPEN STREET ART audience by designing her work “as a seamless, unending plane… every surface an extension of the last and
a precursor to the next.”
Hailing from Japan and based now in Melbourne, Hiroyasu Tsuri, who also works under the name TWOONE, has created a series that is
“an exploration of the concept of a psychological portrait.” His work depicts people not as they look, but as they feel and act, by employing
animals as metaphors for the human condition.
In conjunction with the launch of OPEN STREET ART, Darling Quarter’s biggest tenant, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, is
hosting a fundraising barbecue in support of prostate cancer research on Friday 21st September. The barbecue is open to the public, and
will be a great opportunity for Sydney to collectively welcome and celebrate OPEN as Darling Quarter’s newest cultural initiative.
The future of OPEN holds an exciting and diverse program of exhibitions. The pop-up shows will explore a dynamic range of
disciplines, from drawing and painting to photography, embellishing Sydney with beauty and reminding the city of the talent Australia
boasts from its own shores.
The OPEN STREET ART exhibition is presented by the recently developed 5 Green Star rated Darling Quarter precinct, and is produced and curated by award winning Sydney gallery aMBUSH. It is an Associated Event of Art & About Sydney 2012, produced by City
of Sydney.
Hells yes, it’s the invasion of the art fairs in New York – and all the associated events around them, including Bushwicks Beat Night and Williamsburg’s Arts Not Fair in the People’s Republic of Brooklyn and many galleries have special programming planned for the weekend around the city. The big fish is the Armory, which is apparently taming itself down a bit if last nights opening was any indication, and their door is a hefty $30 – boutique indeed. But the hardy street art fan never pays anyway, from what we’ve seen.
Also this weekend are Fountain,PooL Art, Scope New York, Volta , Art Now, and Theorize which are more affordable or free and can be a lot more interesting frankly. Or, just hang out on the street with your bagged container and check out the street art on selected streets and abandoned lots in neighborhoods like the L.E.S, Bowery, Chelsea, Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Bushwick, Red Hook, Long Island City, Dumbo. It’s cheap and you might get invited inside for a party if you bring a couple cans of beer. As you know, it doesn’t cost money to access the creative spirit.
1. Armory Arts Week
2. Fountain
3. Volta
4. Scope
5. Lisa Enxing at Le Salon d’ Art
6. Ambush Gallery, “Project 5, Volume 4”
7. “Beat Nite”
8. “Hyper/Hypo” at Secret Project Robot
9. OBLVN “100 Paintings at Klughaus Gallery
10. Jef Aerosol “Hot Spots” @ Galerie Austral
11. Street Artist Ives.One (Video)
For further information regarding Armory Arts Week click here
This year Fountain has provided a 200 foot long wall for a slew of Street Artists, including Chris Stain, Know Hope, GILF, Imminent Disaster, Joe Iurato, LMNOP, Elle, ShinShin, LNY, Cake, En Masse, Sophia Maldonado, Hellbent, Radical! and Wing. See some behind the scenes photos posted yesterday here.
Fountain include a great line up of galleries that promote, support and represent Street Artists including: Kestin/Ray Gallery, Mighty Tanaka Gallery, The Market Place Gallery and Marianne Nems Gallery.
The Brooklyn gallery Mighty Tanaka will be having a greatest hits collection of work by almost everyone in their stable of untamed horses. One of the best walls is the dual red white and blue side by side 3-D sculptural wall installations by Skewville and Miguel Ovalle – including swords on the bottom of the Ovalle piece for the kids.
Featured at Might Tanaka are Abe Lincoln Jr. Adam Leech, Adam Void, Alexandra Pacula, Alice Mizrachi, Andrew H. Shirley, Burn 353, Cake, CAM, Celso, ChrisRWK, Conrad Carlson, Criminy Johnson, Curtis Readel, Don Pablo Pedro, Drew Tyndell, ELLE, Ellen Stagg, EVOKER, Flying Fortress, Gigi Bio, Gigi Chen, Greg Henderson, Hellbent, Hiroshi Kumagai, infinity, JMR, Joe Iurato, John Breiner, Katie Deker, Lamour Supreme, Masahiro Ito, Matt Siren, Max Greis, Mike Schreiber, Nathan Pickett, Nathan Vincent, NEVER, Peat Wollaeger, Robbie Bush, See One, Sofia Maldonado, TooFly, UFO, Vahge, VengRWK, VIK with exclusive murals by Miguel Ovalle & Skewville.
For further information regarding Fountain Art Fair click here
Volta
Carmichael Gallery from Culver City, CA will be exhibiting new works by Aakash Nihalani.
Award winning urban arts initviative, Project Five, gets a fresh look for its forth volume as organisers, aMBUSH Gallery an- nounce new presenting partners, Sydney Harbour Foreshore Au- thority (SHFA). Leading Street Artists Vexta, HAHA, E.L.K.. and Reka bring their art to life in the cobblestone streets of The Rocks Square, The Rocks across three days in March (opening night March 9 – 6-9pm, then continues 10 and 11 March – 12- 3pm) in collaboration with aMBUSH Gallery – who will auction the groundbreaking works on Thursday 22 March (6-9pm). All proceeds go to charitable arts and media organization Informa- tion and Cultural Exchange (ICE).
This time around, Project Five (March 1-25) is set to be bigger than ever with the launch of a new full month format that in- cludes a Retrospective Art Exhibition and Artists Talks. All events will be hosted within Sydney’s beautiful historic hub, The Rocks.
The wonderfully diverse collection of artists lured to Sydney
by Project Five offer a seriously formidable, watchable and col- lectable live group show. Project Five Volume Four welcomes the queen of street art Vexta; finalist in the 2011 Metro Gallery Art Award, E.L.K.. (Luke Cornish); in high demand, abstract sur- realist painter, REKA (James Reka); and HAHA (Regan Tamanui)
whose 10 year history of exhibiting adds punch to the line up.
Watch the artists as they draw, spray, paint and create to the sounds of the Future Classic Deejay’s who’ll be pumping beats live on the turntables for the Live Art Event.
aMBUSH Gallery’s Bill Dimas says, “Project Five is a great weekend to come and check out what street art is all about, and if you already know, then a chance to catch some of the Aussie artists leading the charge. Across three huge days we’re going to have some of Australia’s finest street artists bringing the vibrant colours and life of art to the beautiful, scenic and historically rich space The Rocks have to offer. With cranking tunes it will definitely be a weekend not to miss.”
Michael Cohen, SHFA’s Creative Producer says “The Foreshore Authority is delighted to be jumping on board with Project Five for its fourth outing and to bring it to The Rocks.
“There is a real momentum gathering around street art glob- ally and it’s getting a hold in Sydney. There is also a cultural surge happening in The Rocks at the moment, with a lot of SHFA creative initiatives, such as The Rocks Pop-Up. So it’s a natural marriage and we’re excited to support ICE and team up with the other partners.”
Project Five kicks off with the Retrospective Art Exhibition (1-25 March) giving new audiences the chance to take a look at past Project Five artists and their works, all on display at a pop up gallery at 47 George Street, The Rocks.
Audiences will get the chance to get up close and personal with the artists and their brand new works at the Artists Talks, a new addition to Project Five’s program. Jess Scully, Creative Director of Creative Sydney, part of the Vivid Sydney Festival, will lead the way as the four street artists talk through their new works and their style on Monday 12 March at 11:00 am at 47 George Street.
Project Five finishes off with the Auction Event on Thursday 22 March (6-9 pm at the foyer of Cleland Bond) led by Anne Phil- lips, head of art at Bay East Auctions.
You’ll have to wait and see what Vexta, E.L.K., James Reka and HAHA bring to the table. 100% of the proceeds will go to ICE, a charity helping disadvantaged kids in western Sydney access creative media and arts programs.
Project Five has raised over $40,000 for ICE over the previous three volumes and last year was the National Winner at the AbaF Awards winning the Australia Council Young and Emerg- ing Artists Award.
Lisa Torrance, Executive Director of ICE says “ICE’s involve- ment in Project Five has enabled us to engender some fresh creative aspirations within the communities we work with
by exposing emerging artists to new ways of expressing them- selves through street art.
“Couple this with the fact that Project Five injects vital funds into our projects and the recognition we received through an AbaF Award last year simply fuels our passion to keep building on the possibilities this wonderful initiative presents.”
Significant growth in Australia’s own street art movement both at home and abroad are further evidence of the rise of urban art. This year, Vexta, E.L.K., James Reka and HAHA are at the fore- front of the movement, and present an appealing investment opportunity for those with an eye for talent.
The Project is made possible by aMBUSH Gallery who have been exhibiting cutting edge street art for many years, and have significantly contributed to supporting new and emerg- ing local artists across Australia, and now The Rocks, who are using their resources to support Project Five as part of their investment in community and charity, and to engage visitors with something unexpected and fresh.
Where:
Retrospective Art Exhibition,
47 George Street (March 1-25, 2012)
Live Art Events The Rocks Square
(opening night Friday March 9 6-9PM – Saturday March 10 & Sunday March 11 12-3PM)
Artist Talks 47 George Street
(Monday March 12 11AM- 12pm)
Auction – invitation only
(Thursday March 22– 6-9 PM)
Free public event www.project5.com.au
aMBUSH Gallery – www.ambushgallery.com
Based in Waterloo Sydney, aMBUSH seeks to educate and en- gage new audiences with creative exhibitions and art projects. Presenting original works created by Australia’s established and emerging street and contemporary artists, aMBUSH live up to their name by surprising or ‘ambushing’ their audiences with innovative, experimental and non-traditional shows and art proj- ects, both in and out of the gallery. These carefully developed collaborations provide artists with a powerful commercial plat- form to reach a broad audience that includes buyers, investors, creative associations, corporations, media and the wider com- munity.
In October 2011, aMBUSH Gallery were awarded the nation- al Australia Council Young and Emerging Artists Award at the 2011 Australia Business Arts Foundation Awards in Perth for excellence in developing partnerships between corporations, artists and the wider community. In January 2012, the FBi Ra- dio SMACS awards named Outpost Project as Best Art Event for 2011, awarding the joint partnership of the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust and aMBUSH Gallery.
Project Five – www.project5.com.au
Project Five is a community arts initiative aimed at supporting the arts through pop-up live art, music and auction events. Proj- ect Five commissions four Australian contemporary street artists to produce four large-scale artworks at a three day live art event, which artworks are then auctioned to raise money for charity.
To date, Project Five has raised over $40,000.00 for its nomi- nated charity Information and Cultural Exchange (I.C.E.) and has featured some of Australia’s best creative talent such as An- thony Lister, Kid Zoom and Ben Frost. In 2011, Project Five was the National Winner at the AbaF Awards winning the Australia Council Young and Emerging Artists Award. Now in its Fourth Volume and with a new format to include an Art Exhibition and Artist Talks, Project Five is presented by aMBUSH Gallery and Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority at Sydney’s iconic and his- toric venue The Rocks. Also produced and curated by aMBUSH, Project Five is supported by Bay East Auctions and Information and Cultural Exchange.
Information and Cultural Exchange (ICE) – www.ice.org.au/about/intro
ICE is a charitable community, arts and technology organisa- tion working at the frontier of digital arts to foster community creativity and empowerment in Australia’s most culturally diverse region- Western Sydney. We amplify artists’ and com- munity voices to build resilience, autonomy and infrastructure, and to enhance quality of life. ICE’s main activity is to develop programs that engage communities and cultural leaders us- ing creative practices and digital media.These programs are targeted to communities with specific needs, and focus on creative solutions to the challenges and issues they face. We are particularly known for our work in engaging, drawing out and supporting platforms that support the cultural expression and stories of culturally diverse and disadvantaged communi- ties. ICE’s programs build capacity and connections, provide
learning and participation pathways, and enable communities and artists to create and share their expressions, stories and experiences in platforms that provide them with a conduit to the world.
Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority (SHFA) – http://www.shfa.nsw.gov.au/
The Rocks is fast becoming one of Sydney’s most creative hubs. As part of Art Month NSW, Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority is proud to co-present the award-winning arts initia- tive, Project 5.Held over 25 days in March, Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority and Ambush gallery invite the public, and the broader arts industry, to The Rocks to experience the Project Five retrospective Art Exhibition, artist talks, a live
art event and artwork charity auction. All funds raised will go to the Information & Cultural Exchange (ICE), a supporter of emerging creative artists in greater Western Sydney.
The Rocks has long been home to artists and designers. Today the heritage surrounds of indoor and outdoor spaces continues to provide an innovative backdrop to profile and celebrate Aus- tralia’s most recognisable and contemporary street artists; as well as to educate new audiences through stories of Australian artists and their positive contribution to our community.
Sydney Harbour Foreshore Authority owns and manages some of the State’s most significant assets, including Sydney’s heritage and cultural precincts at The Rocks and Darling Har- bour. With more than $1.2 billion in assets, and around 215 employees, the Foreshore Authority manages significant com- mercial and retail leases, provides security, cleaning, building maintenance and other facility management services, cares for the public domain and around 140 heritage items.
The Authority also operates tourism and marketing services and holds significant events in The Rocks and Darling Harbour each year. Between them, the precincts attract around 39 mil- lion visitors annually.
Today is traditionally a day of shopping here in New York but we don’t have much coin to spare, so what’s next on the agenda? It is sunny and fresh outside right now so we’re thinking of going to take a walking tour of the neighborhood – if only to process yesterdays Thanksgiving feast and the 2 pieces of pumpkin pie and whipped cream that were piled on in a Jack Daniels-induced stupor deep in the night. You could go to MoMA to see the DeKooning retrospective and at the same time the murals Diego Rivera made for the museum in the early ’30s, but that will cost you an entrance fee unless today is one of their Free Friday nights. Sometimes it is just as fun to hit the gallery of the streets, to stretch you legs and employ a bemused attitude as busy shoppers are buzzing in and out of stores keeping the economy going.
Here’s some cool stuff you may also be interested in:
1. LUDO in a Solo Show at The Garage “Super Discount” (Amsterdam)
2. “East West Connection”, curated by Arrested Motion (Hong Kong)
3. Jorge Rodriguez-Gerarda Solo Show Now Open (Barcelona)
4. Cryptic Solo on Saturday Night at Hold Up (LA)
5. David Walker “Brides on Fire”
6. “Contemporary Istanbul” An Urban and Contemporary Art Fair
7. “Surface Tension” at Ambush Gallery in Sydney
8. “Peeled, Pasted and Posted” at Gift to Gab Gallery
9. The Bishop, Augustine Kofie and Remi/Rough by Agents of Change (VIDEO)
10. “Outside In” Movie Trailer: The Story Of Arts In The Streets (VIDEO)
11. Blek le Rat 30 Years Later By Spencer Keeton Cunningham (VIDEO)
LUDO in a Solo Show at The Garage “Super Discount” (Amsterdam)
French Street Artist LUDO is having a solo show in this cool private space in Amsterdam, opening today.
For further information regarding this show click here
“East West Connection”, curated by Arrested Motion (Hong Kong)
Tanley Wong tells us about this curatorial project for an art show that he and Arrested Motion are throwing in Hong Kong. Featured in the show at Above Second Gallery is a lineup of fresh artwork from artists such as Shepard Fairey, Faile, Tomokazu “Matsu” Matsuyama, Akino Kondoh, Nick Walker and more.
Participating Artists: Luke Chueh, Faile, Shepard Fairey, Evah Fan, Stella Im Hultberg, Tat Ito, Akino Kondoh, Travis Louie, Tomokazu Matsuyama, Brendon Monroe, Edwin Ushiro, Nick Walker, and Yoskay Yamamoto.
For further information regarding this show click here
Jorge Rodriguez-Gerarda Solo Show Now Open (Barcelona)
Jorge Rodriguez-Gerarda Solo Show at the Galeria Ignacio De-Lassaletta in Barcelona, Spain opens today to the public after the official opening last night. “Jorge Rodríguez-Gerada is a founder of the New York Culture Jamming movement and an innovator in the international urban art scene. Since the late 90´s he has been replacing the faces of cultural icons chosen by advertisers with the faces of anonymous people to question the controls imposed on public space.”
Australia’s new wave of street art is already here. Following on from their curatorial hit Outpost Project at Cockatoo Island, aMBUSH proudly presents Surface Tension, featuring artists E.L.K. (Luke Cornish, VIC), Heesco (VIC), Shida (QLD), Slurpree Slug (NSW), Sofles (VIC) and Sprinkles (NSW). The artists will paint and transform the gallery walls, integrating the space itself into their body of works. Hailing from Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne, the stellar emergent line-up represents the next epoch, the next movement. Come and see where it all starts.
The opening will take place on Friday 25 November from 6-9pm at aMBUSH Gallery, 4A James Street Waterloo. Join us for complimentary drinks provided by Absolut and future leaning beats and Hip-hop between provided by Zwelli.
On the billing will be Brisbane born, cut-back king, Sofles, recently returned from the San Francisco all-Australian show ‘Young and Free’ – himself one of the country’s finest graffiti exports. Also from Brisbane, Shida’s vicious extra dimensional figures will grin across the concrete backdrop. Moving further down south, representing Sydney will be Sprinkles, co-founder of Half-Star clothing, with his hyper-cartoon skulls stalking the back of your thoughts. Marking his exclusive gallery appearance is the mysterious street thrasher, Slurpee Slug, with his raw psychedelia a cross between whizz fizz characters and acid. From the Melbourne camp, and representing Blender studios we have Heesco and E.L.K. Heesco, the current Sydney Secret Wars champion, has a talent in creating anguished faces and loose figures caught in motion. E.L.K. (Luke Cornish) is widely regarded as a National stencil treasure, able to bring photorealistic portrayals in muted tones through painstaking execution of layering, deconstructing and reconstructing his works with his own flair. E.L.K. was the winner of the 2010 Australian Stencil Art Prize, and made the cover of Monthly Art Magazine, April 2011.
The exhibition will also run alongside an online catalogue with works for sale from Saturday 26 November and runs until 4 December, allowing interstate buyers to remotely buy works. Information regarding this will be available on the aMBUSH website from the opening night.
WHAT: SURFACE TENSION
WHERE: 4A James Street, Waterloo SYDNEY
WHEN: Opening event Friday 25 November, 2011, 6-9pm
Exhibition continues daily until Tuesday 29 November, 12-4pm
SUPPORTED BY: Absolut, Information & Cultural Exchange, Ironlak and Wiltshire & Dimas Management
FREE PUBLIC EVENT
Media enquiries: Please contact John Wiltshire, aMBUSH Gallery on mobile on
0433 015 780 or the gallery on 02 8399 0707 or email john@ambushgallery.com
For more information please visit www.ambushgallery.com
aMBUSH Gallery
4A James Street, Waterloo
Sydney NSW 2017 AUSTRALIA
P +61 2 8399 0707 | F +61 2 8399 0787 www.ambushgallery.com
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
