This singular tower freshly painted by Fabio Pentani is impressive regardless of its location, but placed here in San Vito Lo Capo in Sicily, context means everything.
Painting for and participating in the SUA Project, the muralist and ecologist often combines natural plant life and compounds or derivatives of plants in his work. Here he has named Mannitol, a compound widely used in medicine, food, and industrial applications, along with Fraxinus excelsior (European Ash), which you will find applications for in timber, traditional medicine, and ecological preservation.
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.
Now screening: 1. “1 Kilo – 3 Euros” by Ani Mrelashvili
2. Shahzia Sikander: Melting Boundaries
3. Heather Benjamin – “Mother All I Did Was Want To Kill But Just Look At What I Broke”
BSA Special Feature: “1 Kilo – 3 Euros” by Ani Mrelashvili
Today’s edition of BSA Film Friday trains the spotlight on three women. Two of them are artists talking about their work and one of them is an entrepreneur. The entrepreneur is a woman who wears many hats at once and keeps an immigrant community bonded. Immigration, immigrants, and migration are always on the news. Here in the USA, the big topic is the southern border with Mexico and the influx of immigrants, mostly from Central America, but also from Colombia and Venezuela as well as the regular number of Mexican Nationals who strive for a better future in a foreign land. In the film, Maka runs a parcel shop in Berlin that caters to a tight community of immigrants from Georgia, the country in the Caucasus region in Europe that was invaded and annexed by the Soviet Union in 1922 but re-gained independence in 1991 riding in the success of the 1980’s Independence Movement. This film is a reminder of the humanity of immigrants and their love for those they left behind. Maka’s big heart and affable disposition facilitate the bond that all these people have in common.
1 Kilo – 3 Euros by Ani Mrelashvili
Shahzia Sikander: Melting Boundaries / Art21 “Extended Play” by Andrea Chung.
For her exhibition at Bim Bam Gallery in Paris. The exhibition closes tomorrow, Saturday, May 20. Hurry!
Bim Bam Gallery 23 rue Béranger 75003 Paris
Heather Benjamin – “Mother All I Did Was Want To Kill But Just Look At What I Broke”
Continuity. That is a characteristic inherent in string art, usually because one associates the act of long rolls of string repeatedly wrapped around nail heads to create a piece. In the area of street art, there have been a few notable examples of artists using string to make new artworks in public space; the American HOTTEA, who is known for his large-scale installations of colorful strings as well as more human-sized typographic slogans on chain-link fences, Spidertag from Spain who began with yarns and nails and graduated to neon and fluorescent installations of geometric, often abstract designs on surfaces. Mademoiselle Maurice is known for string and origami elements in her installations, and Jane Echelman has displayed massive aerial sculptures of woven rope and fibers in public spaces. Although you may easily make that connection, we won’t go into yarn-bombing.
Today we’re talking about the unbroken threads of artist Perspicere and his new exhibition called ‘BARE THREAD’. He has a talent for conjuring ghost-like portraits on canvasses and on the street using a technique not known or mastered by many. Wound in complex and individual patterns, the people emerge upward and outward toward you, even though they are necessarily anchored.
Perspicere. Bare Thread. BSMT Space. London, UK. (image courtesy of the gallery)
Once relegated to the realms of DIY, or crafting, string art has also gained recognition and acceptance as a legitimate art form in contemporary art circles while artists have pushed the boundaries of the medium, experimenting with various materials, techniques, and concepts. Much like its brother graffiti, whether string art is considered “high art” or not largely depends on the individual and the context in which it is presented. Here at BSMT Space gallery in London, there is no question.
BARE THREAD is Perspicere’s second solo show at BSMT Space in London, who say the works are “Truly breath-taking and thought-provoking, ‘Bare Thread’ is an exhibition that deftly weaves together themes of vulnerability, courage, and the human condition.” In a recent posting on Instagram, the gallery says “These pieces need to be seen in person, the complexity of the interwoven thread is astounding!”
Perspicere. Bare Thread. BSMT Space. London, UK. (image courtesy of the gallery)From August 6, 2022, the artist writes with this video on Instagram “Action video of a recent piece down Leake Street. Brief action appearance of @allseeing.ra …. since this video my piece has been tagged, ripped AND set on fire!! Damn… these toys hate the string!!!..”A Photoshopped image of Perspicere’s work in the streets. (image courtesy of the gallery)
‘Bare Thread’ opens at London’s BSMT gallery with a private view on May 25th, with drinks generously provided by our good friends at Magic Spells Brewery. The show runs from May 26th to June 11th, 2022. For catalogue enquiries or to attend the opening night RSVP via hello@bsmt.co.uk.
The ever-clever minimalist ELFO strikes again on some crumbling building in Italy. He calls it “A new one from nowhere,” and possibly he is in agony. Or he is hoping to cause agony. Or is offering a commentary on the current state of the art on the streets?
“BEYOND THE STREETS & CONTROL Gallery are launching ‘Mister CARTOON’s ‘Just My Imagination,’ an exhibition showcasing many of the creative directions of the acclaimed artist and Los Angeles native. After a career that spans decades, Mister CARTOON has established himself as an artist with an admired and unique vision, bringing to mind his signature style of airbrushing, intricate drawings on diverse surfaces, and candy enamel automotive paint. The work is meticulous, ornate, full of swagger, and sweet nostalgia for the city he loves.
Mister Cartoon. Images courtesy of Beyond The Streets and Control Gallery. Click HERE for more information.
Born and raised, as they say, he began as a graffiti artist before venturing into murals, album covers, extraordinary tattoo work, and myriad logos. His artwork draws inspiration from the vibrant culture of Los Angeles, reflecting the emotions and experiences of growing up in this city during the ’80s, ’90s, and 2000s. A solo show like this in Los Angeles is a milestone, following acclaimed shows across the globe in Tokyo, Paris, and London. Visitors encounter a body of work that collectively takes them into his mesmerizing fantasy world, the high gloss nostalgia, the fusion of car culture, graffiti, and tattoo – a haze of musical history accompanying his ride.
Mister CARTOON • Just My Imagination
Opening Reception: Saturday, June 10, 2023, 3pm-8pm BEYOND THE STREETS – CONTROL Gallery
434 N La Brea Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90036 Hollywood On View: June 10 – July 15, 2023 • Wed-Sat 11am-6pm
French-Swiss artist Saype is continuing on his ambitious worldwide project, “Beyond Walls,” bringing it to Japan with an awe-inspiring display across multiple cities. From April 22nd to May 14th, 2023, four monumental landart paintings were painted by the artist in Okinawa, Nagasaki, Fuji, and Tokyo, forming the 17th step of this visionary endeavor.
Saype’s artworks, crafted with natural pigments derived from charcoal and chalk, are part of what he intends to be the largest human chain ever created. As the final witnesses of the 20th-century tragedies fade away, Saype endeavors here to become a spokesperson through the invitation of the United Voices movement, which aims to transmit a profound message of peace and solidarity to future generations. By symbolically painting intertwined hands traversing various locations, Saype would like to challenge the divisions of our world, urging us to embrace kindness, togetherness, and collective efforts beyond walls.
BEYOND WALLS NAGASAKI Ending the war, but at what cost? Nagasaki is both the epicenter of human madness and the incredible hope of the survivors of inhumanity. This mural, a transmission symbol, reminds us that memory is the best ally of peace.
BEYOND WALLS OKINAWA It is at the Okinawa Peace Memorial that Saype created his first Beyond Walls mural in Japan. A fragile and ephemeral work, just a few steps away from the graves of soldiers of all nationalities who fought on the only battlefield on Japanese territory. Although decades have passed since this battle, the archipelago remains of crucial strategic importance.
BEYOND WALLS FUJI It is undoubtedly the most iconic place in Japan. By marking this symbol of eternity with his ephemeral work, which sees humanity passing by its foot, Saype puts our place on Earth and our priorities into perspective.
BEYOND WALLS TOKYO It was unthinkable for Saype’s human chain not to pass through Tokyo. Here, tradition meets modernity in a cultural and human effervescence like no other. A megalopolis as serene as it is immense, Tokyo is writing history before our eyes, in the shadow of its past.
Welcome friends! Shout out to Joey, owner of the Village Works bookstore, whose new location opens this weekend on St Marks Place in Manhattan. Friday night the river of people flooded the banks in this pantheon to New York culture, history, and stylish bravado – and special guests Homesick were in the house to welcome the hundreds of excited streetwise Gen Z’ers to flip through and ponder these curious paper things that you cannot scroll through or zoom in with your fingers, but which are strangely satisfying and enriching non-the-less. If anyone wonders if Covid decimated New York, you have to witness the throngs of people walking, running, riding through a beery haze on the weekend at St. Marks, to know that this city is in full effect, bro.
We say ‘bro’ in the hood way, not the privileged apathetic way – although both are intermingling in the LES right about now with Brooks Brothers boys in camel suits huffing up the sidewalk while a muscled spandexed guy with a six-foot set of wings on his back weaves through the street. It’s not that NY is so liberal, it’s that we really don’t care what your look like or who you’re doing it with – let’s have fun and hang out.
The pumping music from the bars in this neighborhood reflects this moment, of course, with two Mexican pop hits blasting out to the streets in many locations – Grupo Frontera x Bad Bunny’s hit “Un x100to” and Peso Pluma’s “Ella Baila Solo.” A fusion of corridos, banda, urban music, trap, and reggaeton? Porque no? The popularity reflects the influence Latino culture has had on the youth this spring while old white men are busy militarizing the southern border and treating regular people like criminals for seeking a better life.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring: Dan Witz, Adam Fujita, Adam Fu, Winston Tseng, SacSix, Little Ricky, Roachi, Alicho Art, Chupa, Huetek, A Visual Bliss, Riisa Boogie, Ideal, Rezones, WEKUP, KIRSE, SMOR, Italo Causa, Georgia Violet, Jenna Leigh, and Never Satisfied.
Welcome to the first American celebration of graffiti studies.
The Tag Conference Brooklyn is set to be an impressive event, bringing together some of the most influential and pioneering voices in the field of graffiti studies. This groundbreaking event will take place on May 14th, 2023, in the heart of New York City. The conference focuses on the art of name-writing in public spaces and how it has evolved over time, with a particular emphasis on the history of American tagging.
The list of participants is impressive, including renowned scholars and storied professionals like Richard Goldstein, Joe Austin, Susan Phillips, and Carlo McCormick, as well as prominent graffiti artists with deep roots such as Steve ‘ESPO’ Powers, Alan Ket and Mr. Kaves. Events like this raise the consciousness and further establish the role of the mark-makers in shaping activism and influencing art – with positive and negative effects both fairly examined and interrogated. The conference also showcases the work of independent researchers and rogue archivists, providing a platform for their invaluable contributions to the field of graffiti studies.
The Tag Conference Brooklyn is an INVITATION-ONLY installment of the Tag Conference with a focus on contemporary tagging. Click HERE to read about the full program.
As graffiti continues to gain importance in both scholarship and institutional academia, the Tag Conference Brooklyn is a rather enthralling opportunity to explore this unsung art form and its impact on contemporary culture. With its focus on the history and evolution of tagging in New York City, this conference promises to be a landmark event, bringing together key voices from around the world for the first time in the United States.
The Tag Conference Brooklyn is an invitation-only installment of the Tag Conference with a focus on contemporary tagging.
THE TAG CONFERENCE BROOKLYN
NAME WRITING IN PUBLIC SPACE
14 MAY 2023 NEW YORK CITY
RICHARD GOLDSTEIN, JOE AUSTIN, BILL DANIEL, CARLO MCCORMICK, SUSAN PHILLIPS, STEVE ‘ESPO’ POWERS, GREGORY SNYDER, FRANÇOIS CHASTANET, CHRISTIAN ACKER, ALAN KET, LACHLAN MACDOWALL, MR. KAVES, TOMMY REBEL, JAVIER ABARCA, EDWARD BIRZIN
“Where does American tagging come from, and how has it evolved? What special chapters in its history took place in New York City? How does tagging play with space, and how do artists play with tags?
The Tag Conference Brooklyn gathers an unprecedented lineup of speakers, including some of the key voices in American graffiti studies both underground and institutional, plus some special guests from Europe and Australia to discuss the unsung artform of tagging in the city that made it what it is today.”
‘THE TAG CONFERENCE BROOKLYN’
While the working field of graffiti studies is taking shape in Europe, its most veteran and fundamental voices hail from the U.S.A.
Industry City 33 35th St, Building 5 Brooklyn, New York No entry fee
Directors: Edward Birzin (US), Javier Abarca (ES). Chair: Susan Hansen (AU).
The Tag Conference is produced by the Unlock Book Fair team. The Tag Conference Brooklyn is an INVITATION-ONLY installment of the Tag Conference.
A full-format Tag Conference with an open call for papers is scheduled for June 29th to July 1st 2023 at the Museum for Hamburg History in Hamburg, Germany.
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.
Now screening: 1. Rose B. Simpson in “Everday Icons”
2. Jan Kaláb – Via Designboom
3. ENESS – Modern Guru and the Path to Artificial Happiness
BSA Special Feature: Rose B. Simpson in “Everday Icons”
Meet Rose B. Simpson, a fearless badass artist from Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico. She delves into the intricate history of her homeland and the United States, examining how to empower and stay resilient while honoring past traditions. Rose pioneers innovative approaches using various artistic mediums to bridge the gap between past and present, express her personal experiences and identity, and contemplate the concepts of freedom and strength.
“On a rare snowy day in Santa Clara Pueblo, New Mexico, artist Rose B. Simpson assembles a maquette for a new public sculpture. The three small figures are models for the 12 concrete sculptures that stand nearly 11 feet tall at the Field Farm meadow in Williamstown, Massachusetts. Gazing forward with soft expressions and eyes that are hollowed through the back of their heads, the sculptures embody ancestors watching over the landscape. Simpson’s work stems from these moments of observation and connections to the past, emphasizing the processes of making and becoming in which we discover new ways of being and of healing.”
“I’m trying to reveal our deep truth,” says Simpson, “and that deep truth is process.”
Rose B. Simpson in “Everday Icons” – Art in the Twenty-First Century. Via ART21
Jan Kaláb – Via Designboom
ENESS – Modern Guru and the Path to Artificial Happiness. Via ENESS
Amidst the aesthetic avalanche that is Spring Art Week in New York, you will also find many artists have shows in galleries in Manhattan that are timed to catch the wayward art buyer or tastemaker who is in NYC just for another minute. It is an excellent way to expose the artist to a potentially new audience, to re-invite collectors who already have their work but who are in town this week anyway, to give a fully expressed exhibition of their work that may be more closely aligned with their work than a 12’ x 12’ art fair booth.
Ron English. Alien LSD 1, 2023. NOW YOU SEE IT. Allouche Gallery NYC. (photo courtesy of the gallery)
The world-renowned pop culture hybrid artist temps those who stray from the path with “Now You See It” at Allouche Gallery NYC with a new solo exhibition featuring a twisted and tasty series of oil paintings that invite visitors into English’s immersive world that blends pop culture references, art history, politics, and a bit of biting social commentary.
Ron English. Action Classicism in Delusionville, 2023, 2023. NOW YOU SEE IT. Allouche Gallery NYC. (photo courtesy of the gallery)
English has been widely recognized as a street artist, toy designer, and pop culture provocateur, but his oeuvre extends beyond the labels; His work spans a variety of mediums, including painting, sculpture, illustration, and installation. His set building is on full display at Allouche with intricate 3D-printed and hand-sculpted elements that conjure an imaginative universe, populated as they are with a range of unique characters, including three-eyed rabbits, grinning skulls, and anthropomorphic mascots from American corporate culture.
As is his talent, you’ll find that English reappropriates classic masterpieces with his cast of characters or icons of late-century pop culture, extracting new meanings from beloved art while displacing and weaving in his own slick and sticky brand of cultural critique.
Ron English. Expressionism, 2023. NOW YOU SEE IT. Allouche Gallery NYC. (photo courtesy of the gallery)
Unofficial TOP 10 (of about 30) Art Fairs on offer this week and weekend:
Allouche Gallery is pleased to announce an upcoming solo show entitled “Now You See It” by world-renowned artist Ron English at Allouche Gallery NYC (77 Mercer Street New York New York 10012).
Opening reception of “Now You See It” by Ron English on Saturday May 20th from 6-9 pm at Allouche Gallery NYC
Back in April, we wrote about Saman & Sasan Oskouei’s new hardcover, self-published book Object / Subject here on BSA. Today we are happy to announce the dates of the book launch this weekend.
OBJECT / SUBJECT Saman and Sasan Oskouei’s latest book featuring almost a decade of their work with an essay by Carlo McCormick
Object / Subject Saman & Sasan Oskouei Book Launch IRL Gallery 15 Monroe St New York, NY 10002 Opening Reception: Friday May 12 6-8pm Saturday May 13 2-6pm
OBJECT / SUBJECT
191 color pages, Hard cover 30 x 23 cm Edition of 1000 Printed on 12 different dead stock papers Designed by Daniel Kyn ISBN 978-87995820-9-9 Text in English May 2023
As the spring weather warms here in Vienna, Austria, the artist Penner (Bartek Pener Swiatecki) has been working again outside on new projects. One has led him to the stylish Weissgerberviertel neighborhood along the Danube Canal, where there are two buildings designed by Austrian artist Friedensreich Hundertwasser: the Hundertwasserhaus, a quirky apartment building with colorful, rounded facades, and Kunst Haus Wien art museum.
Bartek Pener Swiatecki. Fire and Ice / 2023 / Austria / Vienna. (photo courtesy of the artist)
Here we have the backside wall of a hip summer city beach where people sit in folding chairs in the sand and sip cold beers and look out at the river. The Strandbar Herrmann is a little hip right now and legions will be here all summer. Better still, visiters will have a fresh mural called Fire and Ice by Pener to enjoy.
A fine artist and muralist from Poland, Pener is known for his bold and colorful style, which often incorporates geometric shapes and abstract forms. He has also completed murals and exhibitions in several locations around the world. He has been featured in many top publications, including Widewalls, Juxtapoz Magazine, Hi-Fructose Magazine, and here on BSA.
Bartek Pener Swiatecki. Fire and Ice / 2023 / Austria / Vienna. (photo courtesy of the artist)Bartek Pener Swiatecki. Fire and Ice / 2023 / Austria / Vienna. (photo courtesy of the artist)Bartek Pener Swiatecki. Fire and Ice / 2023 / Austria / Vienna. (photo courtesy of the artist)Bartek Pener Swiatecki. Fire and Ice / 2023 / Austria / Vienna. (photo courtesy of the artist)Bartek Pener Swiatecki. Fire and Ice / 2023 / Austria / Vienna. (photo courtesy of the artist)Bartek Pener Swiatecki. Fire and Ice / 2023 / Austria / Vienna. (photo courtesy of the artist)
Fire And Ice / Strandbar Herrmann / Wienna / curated by IOnArt. Vienna / Austria
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
