All posts tagged: GR Gallery

DALEK & Buff Monster Have a “Surface Fetish”

DALEK & Buff Monster Have a “Surface Fetish”

Dalek (James Marshall) and Buff Monster host their second collaborative exhibition in as many years at GR Gallery in Manhattan’s Lower East Side, sandwiched between the high art of the Bowery Museum and the hungry and homeless people of the Bowery Street. A perfect snapshot of inequality in modern New York, the neighborhood has not lost its reputation in the last 10 years as a place for those desperate city folk with no means – and those city folk who need to collect art for their homes.

Buff Monster. Surface Fetish. GR Gallery. Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Here we find the escapist vocabulary of cartoons in both artist’s collections. Character-driven avatars of the street/mural/canvas painters themselves, the true emotions and predilections of Dalek’s “Space Monkey” and Buff Monster’s “Melty Misfits” are hidden under the sugary gloss of pop and sharply defined graphic styles.

Buff Monster. Happy, Double Happy and Green Darkness and Surface Fetish. GR Gallery. Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The influences are sometimes overlapping, but each takes their tips from slightly opposing signposts on the commercially cartooned metroscape – scenes of cosmic war and ice cream and cleverly digital labyrinths cavorting in the clouds floating around the many mansions of Murakami and Harajuku.

Dalek. Ephemeralization. Surface Fetish. GR Gallery. Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The 30 pieces, including paintings, works on paper, site-specific installations, are an afternoon’s respite from the roar of traffic and construction and grey particulate matter flying in the air outside, a serene laboratory for experimenting with new creative impulses and fantastic narratives, brightly lit. It is a combined wit, a shared attraction to a “Surface Fetish.”

Dalek. Return to the Dark Ages. Swelling in the Hole. Self Examination With Friends. Surface Fetish. GR Gallery. Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Dalek. Swelling in the Hole. Surface Fetish. GR Gallery. Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Buff Monster. Serenity. Unity. Treaty. Surface Fetish. GR Gallery. Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Buff Monster. Beheadin’ Edwin. Surface Fetish. GR Gallery. Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Buff Monster. Melty Harmony #3 Surface Fetish. GR Gallery. Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Buff Monster, Fragments of the Meltiverse #3. Dalek, A Week From Saturday. Surface Fetish. GR Gallery. Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
Dalek & Buff Monster Surface Fetish. GR Gallery. Manhattan, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dalek and Buff Monster exhibition Surface Fetish is currently on view at GR Gallery until November 17th. Click HERE for details.

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Dalek – Buff Monster: “Spaced Out” in Manhattan

Dalek – Buff Monster: “Spaced Out” in Manhattan

Optically entertaining Street Artists Dalek and Buff Monster don’t typically work together and are known for uniquely different approaches although their new “Spaced Out” double-solo show at GR Gallery in NYC gives a new example of how artists can work together and compliment one another, if not integrate entirely.

In this show of original artworks, wall paintings, editions, and installations, the two find a common language of color while bringing their individual take on character to the party. With Dalek’s Space Monkey making a few appearances and Buff’s melty family popping up throughout this blended linear splatter of optic cosmos, the two personalities come together for the session in a welcoming and satisfying way.

Buff Monster. Mister Melty, 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

We asked both artists about the show and how they worked together to find a common route in outer space.

BSA: Can you tell us a little about the process of creating work for this dual show with Buff Monster. Was there an effort to find a common aesthetic or approach?

Dalek: I’ve known Buff for years but we’ve really never crossed paths in shows or projects. So when GR started talking to me about this show they mentioned doing it with Buff and my first reaction was “that could be super fun”. I think there is a natural commonality to our work on a certain level so i knew it’d flow well regardless. We didn’t plan much; I’m a horrible planner with shows so i went into it just figuring I’d make it colorful and fun and get done what I could. Once I got in the space with him we definitely got rolling and although there wasn’t any particular attempt to gel everything we were definitely feeding off each others’ energy when getting in the work zone and the show felt really cohesive to me at the end.

Dalek. Space Monkey, 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA: Your alter ego the Space Monkey often is swimming through pattern and color and contemplating the rate and velocity of technological change. Is he changed or affected by this dual effort in these new compositions? What’s he thinking about?

Dalek: Space Monkey is definitely contemplating a lot – although not fully aware of what contemplation is. I’d say its more effected by my own growth and change through the years than this specific situation. But he certainly felt right at home amongst the goings on and happenings. Mostly Space Monkey is considering how to escape the confines of its 2 dimensional world. The walls are closing in and the struggle intensifies to break free of the ever shrinking constrictive planes.

Dalek. Untitled, 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA: When you are creating and experiencing the geometric orchestrations that you manifest, do the optics sometimes vibrate or move before your eyes? Do you ever hear or feel a rhythm when gazing upon them?

Dalek: There is definitely a Kandinsky-like approach in it for sure. Compositions are never planned out – they just go where they naturally feel the need to move. So I listen and engage and react accordingly. There is a rhythm and a flow that moves from beginning to end, sometimes switching tempo or intensity. The colors will vibrate for sure – gets my eyes all crazy and that is probably why I gotta wear glasses these days.

Dalek. H.A.P.P.Y, 2010. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA: Buff Monster, you are working with a new color palette than your fans have seen very much in the past. What inspired you to venture into this selection of colors.

Buff Monster: I think the unique (limited) traditional Buff Monster color palette is great, but I really wanted these new paintings to have a different feel. Half the pieces in the show are very experimental for me and one of the limitations I gave myself was no black (and similarly, no gray either). When I launched the Stay Melty brand last year, I settled on a new color palette: teal, yellow and of course pink. I guess even though I live in NYC, I’ve really been into exploring a much more tropical and optimistic color palette. I even used the flattest varnish I could find (as opposed to the very glossy varnish I normally use) so that the pieces feel extra soft.

Buff Monster. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA: We also notice that there is a digitized aspect to some of your reappearing images – does this aesthetic draw on early computer graphics, video games, or something similar?

Buff Monster: Last year I published the Melty Manifesto, and that discusses the value and integrity of the hand made. It also discusses some of the downfalls of this modern age. I’ve always loved the old ways of doing things (in art creation and reproduction specifically) but how do I deal with this increasing digital world? All my hand-drawn lines get digitized and spread around the world, so why not just digitize them myself? I quite like painting pixels because they’re always off but that’s really appealing to me.

Buff Monster. Trying To Find My Way Out, 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA: Was it a challenge to create a single exhibition with an artist like Dalek, whose own work could be described as more optic and kinectic in discipline?

Buff Monster: I’ve been a fan of his for a long time, which should come as no surprise. Even though he’s been at it longer than I have, I think we’ve both arrived in a similar place with our work. Namely, we created these characters that people know us for, but we’re keen to explore other things. I still make lots of character-based work, but the new work in the show doesn’t have any characters. I quite like how it all came together. The geometric nature of most of his pieces alongside the organic nature of my pieces plays really well; our similar color palette ties it all together. I’m very happy with the show!

Buff Monster. Motley Melties #3, 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dalek. Untitled, 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Buff Monster. Two Face, 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Buff Monster. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Buff Monster. Mister Melty Painted directly on the wall of the gallery. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dalek. Untitled, 2018. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dalek. Untitled, 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dalek. Painted directly on the wall of the gallery. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dalek – Buff Monster “Space Out” exhibition is currently on view at GR Gallery in Manhattan, NYC. Click HERE for more information.

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J. Demsky and Brad Howe Unite “Off The Wall”

J. Demsky and Brad Howe Unite “Off The Wall”

Sophisticated and poppy palette-play coupled with a mid century affection for abstract geometry? Meet the night-glo arcade color selections and graphically charged motion of a 90s inspired digital graffiti artist.

Brad Howe and Demsky, both internationally known on the street and inside gallery walls, are separated by two decades but united by a desire to define the aesthetics and experience of public space.

J. Demsky – Brad Howe off the Wall. GR Gallery, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Their intersections and contrasts are on display in a double-solo show at New York’s GR Gallery with examples of two and three dimensional optical play, similar to the diversionary activities that they both employ on the streets.

J. Demsky – Brad Howe off the Wall. GR Gallery, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A collection of 20 works including paintings, sculptures and installations, “Off the Wall” keeps the focus on interaction with the wall, even though the Californian Howe may be better known for his abstract sculptures, his public art commissions and his Calder-inspired installations.

Demsky’s time-travel to an early virtual place that is optically elegant and illusionary taps a nostalgia for the period when he became a graffiti writer in Spain.

The interplay of these strong singular voices is charged in this common space and is often full of motion.

J. Demsky off the Wall. GR Gallery, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

J. Demsky off the Wall. GR Gallery, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

J. Demsky off the Wall. Detail. GR Gallery, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

J. Demsky off the Wall. Detail. GR  Gallery, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

Brad Howe off the Wall. Detail. GR Gallery, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brad Howe off the Wall. GR Gallery, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brad Howe off the Wall. GR Gallery, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brad Howe off the Wall. GR Gallery, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

Brad Howe off the Wall. GR Gallery, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brad Howe off the Wall. Detail. GR Gallery, NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

J. Demsky – Brad Howe off the Wall is currently on view at the GR Gallery in Manhattan, NYC. Click HERE for further information.

 

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Felipe Pantone Hits NYC Streets and GR Gallery with Solo “Planned Iridescence”

Felipe Pantone Hits NYC Streets and GR Gallery with Solo “Planned Iridescence”

Street Artist Felipe Pantone opens a new show tonight and gifts two new outside walls to NYC. BSA talks to him and GR gallery director Alberto Pasini about the exhibition.


An established studio in the north-eastern Italian town of Sacile since the late 1970s, the Studio d’Arte GR has specialized in Kinetic, Op, and Programmed art for decades. Curating what they estimate to be over 300 shows worldwide over that time, their GR Gallery is relatively new to New York, opening in 2016 with a 40 piece group show spanning the most unusual and dynamic techniques of the genres.

As it turns out, they are here just in time to offer a show to Argentinian/Spanish Street Artist Felipe Pantone, who has been expanding upon a geometric graffuturism vocabulary that the last decade has set free on the streets in cities around the world.

Felipe Pantone for St. ART Now in the Lower East Side. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Already a recognized and rising name due to his ocular experimentations with graffiti, video, sculpture, computer graphics, digital and other visual glitchery, Pantone is defining while discovering – tonight with “Planned Iridescence,” his debut solo New York exhibition.

The 1600 square foot gallery in the Bowery gives plenty of room for movement to the 14 pieces that include wall collages and sculpture, each using some of the experimental patterns and visually vibrating elements you’ve come to expect, yet are still surprised by.

The iridescence referred to is in the form of panels of controlled synthetic oil spills, cut into shimmering quadrilaterals, deliberately placed within a a neat cluster of visual tremor. In addition to the indoor exhibition, Pantone has created two new murals in the neighborhood, welcome gifts to a city that never tires of being blown away by new talent.

Felipe Pantone for St. ART Now in the Lower East Side. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

We spoke with Pantone about his work inside and outside, his optic/kinetic influences and his evolutionary approach to learning.

Brooklyn Street Art: So much of your work is capturing the optical/informational/technological chaos we are countenancing daily. Do you think you are mastering the chaos, or reflecting it?
Felipe Pantone: I am trying to reflect it. I’m not trying to send a message but to propose questions. Some people look at my work and they find it overwhelming, loud, strident. Some other people relate to its dynamism, the speed, and find that it might even evoke the way they interact with the world and our modern cities.

Felipe Pantone for St. ART Now in the Lower East Side. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA: Part of the graffiti writer life is about disrupting a space, taking it, claiming it. Your Street Art also can be described as disruptive, competing for attention. Is this true?

Felipe Pantone: Graffiti was my first way to show my work immediately, for free, and worldwide, before the Internet was available for everybody. Graffiti is to art what H&M is to fashion, or what Ikea is to furniture: disposable, ephemeral, but a true product of our times. Thanks to my quest to claiming my space on the street I found the style that today has become my work, and now everything makes sense to me because I feel like a true product of my times myself, and as an artist one should always be oneself.

BSA: You’ve talked about your work as belonging to the present. With its references to 1960s/70s optic art, a low-fi video recalling 80s art installations, and graphics reminiscent of 80s/90s early consumer computer paint programs, could you also say you are recognizing the past?
Felipe Pantone: The fact that Op-Art explored movement in the 60s is something that has always attracted me irrationally but it’s also something that today I include in my work intentionally to convey dynamism. I usually have elements that might remind you of 80s computers graphics to bring some sort of technological idea, but it’s not in my interest to talk about the 80s or 90s in particular.

Of course I recognize the past, I’ve always been really curious about what happened in history, but it’s not my intention to talk about history in my work.

Felipe Pantone. Detail. Planned Iridescence. GR Gallery. NYC. October, 2017. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA: Is art a means of transmission, and if so, what is your art transmitting?
Felipe Pantone: I intend to talk about what I understand about the world as a person that travels constantly and lives intensely.

BSA: The current speed of technology and the volume of images that we are consuming must be met with new skills for processing them or at least editing them. What skills are you learning?
Felipe Pantone: I try my best to keep myself up to date with all the new techniques that I think are interesting for my work. I studied fine arts, mostly model painting and sculpture. So everything else I learned online: design programs, 3D, video editing, photography, film. I’m working with CNC and laser cutters, UV printers, vinyl cutters… but there’s so much still to be learned!

We live in exciting times.

**************************

Felipe Pantone. Planned Iridescence. GR Gallery. NYC. October, 2017. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

We spoke with GR Gallery Director Alberto Pasini, who sees the work of Pantone as an evolution of other optic/kinetic artists, some of them founders and masters, whom they have represented in the past such as Bruno Munari, Gianni Colombo, Giovanni Anceschi, Davide Boriani, Getulio Alviani, and Dadamaino.

Luckily, these movements of Street and Optical art have coalesced just at the right moment and there are already a few eye-popping players, enabling a new generation to push the boundaries on the street and here in the gallery setting; all fusing together striking elements of graphic design, lettering, and an endless sophisticated manipulation of geometric shapes.

BSA: Why did you decide to give Felipe his first solo exhibition in NYC?
Alberto Pasini: We made contact with Felipe in the last two years because he represents the new generation of this movement. He is the one who is bringing this art movement established in the 60’s back to life. So that’s why we picked him, why he picked us and why we have started this collaboration.

Felipe Pantone. Planned Iridescence. GR Gallery. NYC. October, 2017. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA: We are constantly bombarded with images. How in your opinion does Felipe integrate into his work the chaos that we see on our daily lives and what we experience on TV, billboards and the news?
Alberto Pasini: Felipe obviously pays attention to light and movement but he also brings the Optical and Kinetic Art to the next level and brings it up to date because he takes a lot of inspiration from the street, from the billboards, from TV.

Nowadays our lives are heavily influenced by Social Media, computer design and technology – so this is what he brings in his art and how he keeps up to date and how he re-invents Optical and Kinetic Art.

 

Felipe Pantone. Detail. Planned Iridescence. GR Gallery. NYC. October, 2017. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA: How many artworks will comprise this exhibition and can you talk about the medium?
Alberto Pasini: There will be 14 pieces. With this exhibition Felipe is introducing for the very first time a brand new series on this new body of work. This is the first time he is working with this new kind of material.

Basically he adds to his normal material, which is enamel, plastic, and aluminum – different elements, which are made of several overlapping layers of plastic that are printed and carved. All these overlapping elements give the viewer the illusion of an optical interference. They give the sensation of movement even when they are not actually moving.

BSA: So the art moves when we move?
Alberto Pasini: Absolutely. The art changes according to our eyes. It changes according to the environment. It changes according to the illumination. It changes according to our reference point. The art then becomes very interactive, especially with the sculptures. When the viewer goes around them they change color and the interaction is even stronger.

Felipe Pantone. Detail. Planned Iridescence. GR Gallery. NYC. October, 2017. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Felipe Pantone. Planned Iridescence. GR Gallery. NYC. October, 2017. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA: What’s the difference between this new series and what he has shown in his previous group shows in this gallery?
Alberto Pasini: Basically the difference is in the materials. Before he was just painting on aluminum or on board. Now there’s this new element which gives the viewer the actual sensation of movement. The people attending the exhibition will be able to experience the making of this series in a video which will be shown at night in the window of the gallery so people walking on the street will be able to see his process.

We are very proud of this exhibition and also for the fact that this is the first time Felipe is presenting this new series. This is his best work to-date. I also like the fact that this exhibition is not constrained just inside the gallery but it is also outside on the street. He’s painted two walls in the neighborhood close to the gallery.

Felipe Pantone. Planned Iridescence. GR Gallery. NYC. October, 2017. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

Felipe Pantone “Planned Iridescence” opens today at the GR Gallery in Manhattan. For further details click HERE

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