All posts tagged: Brooklyn NYC

Mighty Tanaka Presents: Flying Fortress “The One Man Army” (Brooklyn, NYC)

Flying Fortress

FF

 

Please join us for the Opening Reception of 
The One Man Army 
A solo show by Flying Fortress

Friday, June 15th
6pm – 9pm
 
111 Front St, Suite 224
Brooklyn, NY 11201

 

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Mighty Tanaka presents:

The One Man Army

A solo show by Flying Fortress

 

 

Sound the alarms!  Teddy Troopers are invading our shores!  They are storming the beaches and parachuting down from the sky, driven by their insatiable appetite for world domination.  Wearing oversized helmets for protection, these restless little bears are descending upon the streets of NYC and will stop at nothing until their goal is accomplished.  Is there anyone who can save us from this occupying force?  Luckily, mankind has a champion who can turn the tide and bring us salvation through his astute knowledge of the Teddy Trooper.  Mighty Tanaka is pleased to bring you The One Man Army, featuring the explosive artwork of Flying Fortress.  Armed only with a paintbrush and spray can, he is this nations best line of defense.

 

The One Man Army heralds the arrival of Flying Fortress, in his first solo show in New York City.  He has been consistently progressing his art form in both galleries and city streets throughout the world, building a strong international following in the process.  Based in Hamburg, Germany, this Street Art legend has been active for well over a decade and his unique “Teddy Trooper” iconography can be seen on nearly every continent.

 

Through a variety of interpretations, Flying Fortress provides fun and exciting artwork that anyone can enjoy.  He will be showing both original artwork as well as limited run prints.  The One Man Army has something for everybody.

 

 

 

OPENING RECEPTION:

Friday, June 15th, 2012

6:00PM – 9:00PM

 

(Show closes July 6th, 2012)

  

111 Front St, Suite 224
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Contact@mightytanaka.com
718.596.8781
Gallery Hours:
Wednesday – Sunday
12:00PM – 6:30PM
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Pop Surrealism? Aisle 2. French Realism? – Check the Shovels

As the lines continue to blur between HI/LOW Art, Outsider Art, Public Art, Fine Art, and Street Art, a stunning show hides in the garden hoses.

space

Brooklyn-Street-Art-WEB-Millet-Banksy-Dave-Tree-Crest-Harware

space

As we wandered the aisles at the new show at a Brooklyn hardware store (and garden center) that is thick in the migration of hipness between post-cool Williamsburg and wild untamed Bushwick, a lightbulb went on. BA-ZING! This show is not mere novelty! This is where we are in 2010. The walls are being torn down before our eyes.

Dave Tree "Peasants on Shovels" (Photo © Jaime Rojo)
Dave Tree “Peasants on Shovels” (Photo Jaime Rojo)

The massive democratization of arts and culture, with tools ever cheaper and more accessible to any artist with the inclination, is handily jack-hammering the pillars of hallowed art institutions and clipping the locks on the traditional art clubby gates and their keepers.  Call it American anti-intellectualism but when you feel no sense of irony or discomfort stalled out and contemplating a tire rubber ram sculpture while next to you a couple is looking at a lawn chair and a greasy handed guy is talking to a salesman about re-wiring a lamp, we’re pierced a veil.  While meandering past two young women I overheard them discussing rather deeply their feelings about an illustrated book they had discovered on the shelf and what kind of memories it evoked.

Ji Young Ho "For.Elk 1" (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

“For.Elk 1”

Ji Young Ho  (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Deatail (Photo © Jaime Rojo)
Ji Young Ho (detail) (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

The 198 pieces by more than 140 artists are each hardware themed or inspired. Some are “crafty”, true, and others are merely clever. But a number of pieces utilize their space so well, submerging themselves in their surroundings so completely, or bending your expectations so far, that you’ll have to admit that there may be a genius in the geraniums.

Darkcloud
Darkcloud (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

It was the same color of lightbulb that illuminated the day in the early 2000’s when I had attended a conceptual/sculptural/animation show at the now defunct Roebling Hall in Williamsburg and, in a dizzy haze I hit the street and looked at the sky. Overhead the jet stream to JFK and the planes rhythmically appearing in line every 2 minutes across the sky so closely mimicked the installation I had just seen indoors that the transition from art to artful reality was completely seamless. And no mushrooms were involved. Suddenly Street Art, this new explosion we had been documenting and exploring, seemed of the same cloth as any other art that was entrapped behind closed doors.

Chris Collicot "Manny" (Photo © Jaime Rojo)
Chris Collicot “Manny” (trying looking at this with your cellphone camera) (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

If you are not too suspicious or jaded, this may be one of the best shows of the season – one that feels equal parts installation and performance, one that challenges common conceptions without an accompanying 4 page exegesis on the inner workings of the mind of the curator.  Joe Franquinha is a bright gentleman of course, and it is because of his vision and wanderlust that these artists gladly participate in this show. But as you walk the aisles with your artwork guide in hand you’ll find yourself slipping seamlessly back and forth through worlds you once considered distinct, at times questioning which one you are in at the moment.  For my money, it’s a priceless view.

General Howe

Installation by General Howe (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Joel Adas (Photo © Jaime Rojo)
Joel Adas (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mark Houston "Every Job;s a Nightmare" (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Every Job’s a Nightmare”

Mark Houston  (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Julian Zee "Marulin Marley Will Kill Pop Art" (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Marylin Marley Will Kill Pop Art”

Julian Zee  (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nomade "Bust with Burgundy" (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nomade “Bust with Burgundy” (Photo © Jaime Rojo) (Silent auction piece benefiting the programs at Free Arts NYC)

Skewville
Skewville (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Subtexture "Loggin Saw Sunset" (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Loggin Saw Sunset”

Subtexture  (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

CREST HARDWARE ART SHOW

(Through July 30)

558 Metropolitan Ave
(between Union Ave & Lorimer St)
Brooklyn, NY 11211
(718) 388-9521

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