All posts tagged: Guido van Helten

12 Finalist Artists Announced for Contorno Urbano Mural in Barcelona

12 Finalist Artists Announced for Contorno Urbano Mural in Barcelona

Almost 300 artists and collectives from around the world (42 countries) have entered the 2018 Contorno Urbano competition for this wall/residency/7000€ prize in Barcelona! It is astounding how many high caliber artists are at work today in cities everywhere, bringing innovative new techniques and unique perspectives to public space like never before.

After reviewing all applications and submitted materials during a process begun this summer, today we are excited to announce that this list has been narrowed to just 12 finalists. Next month their names will go to the final stage of selection in Barcelona with esteemed co-jurors from organizers and creators in the areas of art academia, mural art, public art, and Street Art to narrow the list to one.

The 12 premiere finalists for the Mural de la Salut in Sant Feliu de Llobregat (Barcelona, Spain) are:

Axel Void
Borondo
Colectivo Licuado
David de la Mano
Escif
Guido Van Helten
Hyuro
Innerfields
Millo
Otecki
Sabotaje al Montaje
San

Congratulations to each artist! It wasn’t an easy task for the pre-selection committee to decide the best from 300, but your work rose to the top 4% of the applications according to the selection criteria.

#MuralSalut: Finalistas – Finalists from Contorno Urbano on Vimeo.

Among the considerations for selection were academic studies, experience and history creating murals in public space, previous internships or residencies, and suitability of artwork style to the central purpose of this 400 square meter mural.

Each of the 12 finalists will be asked to submit a sketch and a written proposal.

The final stage of the selection will be on November 15th and 16th, with the following professionals travelling to Sant Feliu de Llobregat:

Monica Campana (Cofounder of Living Walls and project manager for the urban art exhibition Open Source),
Fernando Figueroa (PHD in History of Art and independent researcher specialized in graffiti and urban art),
Esteban Marin (President of Contorno Urbano and mural artist),
Jaime Rojo (co-founder of Brooklyn Street Art and curator), and
Veronica Werckmeister (painter and muralist, curator).

The mural will commemorate the neighborhood’s fight 30 years ago to have this public square created for the neighbors instead of building a gas station. After meeting with the Association La Salut and the neighbors who live in the area, members of the jury will review previous artworks and experience of the 12 finalists to help them to select the artist who is best suited for painting the mural.

The winner will receive an artistic residence beginning in Spring 2018 and will receive a 7000€ prize. The wall will be painted after an artistic residency in order for the artist to become acquainted with the historic context of the project and the city itself.

The project is a collaboration between the municipality (Ajuntament) of Sant Feliu de Llobregat, Fundacion Contorno Urbano and Kaligrafics.

Kaligrafics: Founded in 1999, it’s the oldest non-profit organization dedicated to graffiti and street art in Cataluña, and a significant record of experience in Spain.

Contorno Urbano: The first Foundation in Spain to be fully dedicated to street art and graffiti. The team has over 10 years’ experience organizing murals and urban art dissemination locally and internationally.


Following in no particular order are the 12 finalists:

Guido Van Helten / United Kingdom

Guido Van Helten for Nashville Walls Project. Nashville, TN. June 2017. (photo © Eric E Johnson)

Borondo / Spain

Borondo for Urban Nation this spring (UN) in the Tegel section of Berlin. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Escif / Spain

Escif. Living Walls Atlanta. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Daniel “SAN” Muñoz / Spain

Daniel Muñoz. The curtain ( 983 followers). The Highlands, Scotland. (photo © courtesy of the artist)

Axel Void / USA

Axel Void. Los Muros Hablan. El Barrio/Spanish Harlem. NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hyuro / Spain

Hyuro. What In The World PM/12. Urban Nation Museum For Urban Contemporary Art. Berlin, May 19, 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Colectivo Licuado / Uruguay

Colectivo Licuado. Lisbon, Portugal. (photo © courtesy of Colectivo Licuado)

Millo / Italy

Millo in Kiev for Mural Social Club Festival/NGO Sky Art Foundation. (photo © Maksim Belousov)

Innerfields / Germany

Innerfields for ArtUnitedUs in Kiev, Ukraine. (photo © @dronarium)

David De La Mano / Spain

David De La Mano. Urban Nation Musuem For Urban Contemporary Art. Berlin. September 2017. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sabotaje Al Montaje / Spain

Sabotaje Al Montaje. Los Alcazares. Murcia, Spain. (photo © Lluis Olive Bulbena)

Otecki / Poland

Otecki. Urban Forms. Lodz, Poland. (photo © Courtesy Urban Forms)

 

 

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Guido Van Helten, Mr. Estes, and Changing “The Nations” in Nashville

Guido Van Helten, Mr. Estes, and Changing “The Nations” in Nashville

The great irony of painting a mural about the evils of gentrification is that you may indirectly aid gentrification in the process.

Guido Van Helten for Nashville Walls Project. Nashville, TN. June 2017. (photo © Eric E Johnson)

The up and coming, soon-to-be-hip Nashville neighborhood christened “The Nations” will undoubtedly presently have an ironically old-timey barbershop with Millenially bearded men wearing pocket watches and tattoos as trendy arts neighborhoods often do at the moment.

“You know I grew up on Pennsylvania Ave,” says local Vickie Gilliam Keeton on a Facebook post that addresses the new massive mural by Australian Street Artist Guido Van Helten. “But I’d never heard this area called ‘the nations’ till just in the past 10 years. It was always just West Nashville.” It may be a case of re-branding a former industrial zone for future development.

Guido Van Helten for Nashville Walls Project. Nashville, TN. June 2017. (photo © Eric E Johnson)

“It used to be Gilette grainery,” says the man who is the subject in the new soaring portrait, 91 year old Lee Estes, who has lived in the neighborhood since the 1920s – a time when houses like his didn’t have indoor plumbing. In an interview with Amy Eskind of Nashville Public Radio he continued “And we had another, Purina grainery, that was demolished years ago, but they left this one as a historical part of the Nations.”

It is a stand out for sure, this old silo, raising into the sky above all the others nearby. With the dignified Mr. Estes representing the past history of the area in almost sepia tones, it is a reassuring reminder of the areas character and working class industrial roots. Three Corners Coffee on Centennial Boulevard may already indicate the changing character of the area that the new mural joins. Describing itself as “a homey coffee shop specializing in great brews, friendly baristas, and vintage charm,” it also sells vintage furnishings, baby onesies, and dish towels and provides a retro 1970s domestic warmth for visitors. Nevertheless it appeared to let down one customer writing on Yelp recently who could not give it five stars. “Deducted one star because they were out of brioche breakfast sandwiches at 9am on a Friday morning.”  From no indoor plumbing to no $5.95 brioche breakfast sandwiches is a bit of a jump.

Guido Van Helten for Nashville Walls Project. Nashville, TN. June 2017. (photo © Eric E Johnson)

This is all part of a mural project called Nashville Walls Project that has brought a number of Street Artists to the city to paint in the last couple of years, including Herakut, Louis Masai, Curiot, Niels “Shoe” Meulman, Rone, and Tavar “Above” Zawacki. Co-founded by Street Art gallerist and art collector Brian Greif, who produced the movie “Saving Banksy” in which he personally recovers an original Banksy from a wall in San Francisco, the Nashville Walls Project is adding a new excitement and character to the area that is approximately bounded by Charlotte Avenue, the Cumberland River, Richland Creek and the CSX railroad tracks.

We’ve contemplated it in our writings, debated it on panels around the world, listened to impassioned conversations about it in bars, this gentrifying cycle and the accusations lobbed at artists; this cycle of gentrification that the creative community unwittingly aids sometimes through its own industry. There appears to be a direct relationship between the positive aspects of reviving a moribund sector of a town or city with murals and the eventual rise in rents and costs of services that invariably push out the poor and working class.

Guido Van Helten for Nashville Walls Project. Nashville, TN. June 2017. (photo © Eric E Johnson)

Not surprisingly, the artist who created this beacon of warmth and humanity has the same observations that he has gained from his travels.

“I find the relationship between murals and gentrification conflicting, and in this work there is this conflicting yet harmonious composite of the two sides of social change,” says Van Helton in an interview with the other co-founder of Nashville Walls Project, Éva Boros, published on NashvilleArts.com “There is juxtaposition between a mural that discusses and commemorates the blue-collar demographic while at the same time being a powerful part of the change in the area. This is a dialogue and talking point that I hope this mural can create.”

Guido Van Helten for Nashville Walls Project. Nashville, TN. June 2017. (photo © Eric E Johnson)

For the moment, this new looming portrait is a fine example of elevating a local citizen in his community and a focal point for neighborhood pride, and Mr. Estes has enjoyed a great amount of congratulations in person from folks who have known him for years. Mr. Van Helten has also received much praise and thanks from people in the area in postings on social media. The young kids painted on the mural around the corner are also local from the community center nearby, representing the future of the neighborhood that many are hopeful for.

Kelly Evans wrote in a Facebook posting to the artist a sentiment that combines the sentiments of many. “From the bottom of my native Nashvillian heart thank you so much for understanding. Before I even read the commentaries and articles, when I stood outside your unfinished work, I understood some of what you are trying to say. This so strongly moved me. Tears of love for our fathers that built this “big little city” poured. My prayer is that we are not priced out of our homes we so lovingly built and raised our families in.”

Guido Van Helten for Nashville Walls Project. Nashville, TN. June 2017. (photo © Eric E Johnson)

Guido Van Helten for Nashville Walls Project. Nashville, TN. June 2017. (photo © Eric E Johnson)

Guido Van Helten for Nashville Walls Project. Nashville, TN. June 2017. (photo © Eric E Johnson)

Brian Siskind documented on Guido Van Helton painting for 17 days to complete the enormous figures. This is his record the final day. Mr. Siskind says he will be combining all the videos into one complete overview of the project shortly.

 


This article is also published on The Huffington Post

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BSA Film Friday: 06.17.16

BSA Film Friday: 06.17.16

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Film-Friday-Guido-Van-Helton- Selina-miles- isceland-740-Screen Shot 2016-06-16 at 11.56.53 AM copy

bsa-film-friday-JAN-2015

 

Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.

Now screening :

1. Portrait of an Artist Guido Van Helten
2. Who’s Your Daddy?
3. Shida Bombing – Hong Kong . Seoul . Tokyo
4. Moses & Taps™ EUROPA™ From The Grifters

bsa-film-friday-special-feature

BSA Special Feature: Portrait of an Artist Guido Van Helten

“First when you say ‘Can I do a Street Art piece?’, the answer is no,” says Guido van Helten, known, among other things, as an Australian Street Artist.

“I see it as some sort of a finale for me,” he says as he describes the years of experience as a preparation to paint this ship in only two days – a restriction placed on him by nature of the ship being an active courier during the week and he is only granted access to it during the weekend.

“I’m trying to create a sense of identity that relates to all of the people who live in a place,” he says while the camera shows him painting on a dock in near darkness. People always gravitate to capturing well known people but I’m not trying to capture that. It’s got to be a painting where people are relating in their own way. They make their own story up.”

Director Selina Miles does the capturing here in a town named Akureyri on the north coast of Iceland, and as usual she captures something more than what the eye sees.

 

Kolly Gallery / Who’s Your Daddy?

“In September 2015 the Kolly Gallery initiated a series of exhibitions, held in temporary locations, that are intended to bring attention to urban art movement. Temptingly entitled “Who’s Your Daddy?” each of these shows presents new works from a selection of cutting-edge international artists coming from a graffiti background. For its first edition in New York City, the gallery is pleased to exhibit the new paintings and sculptures of Crash, SupaKitch, Grotesk and Flying Förtress.”

 

Shida Bombing – Hong Kong . Seoul . Tokyo

Berlin-based Mik Shida is not your typical bomber, especially when using a very wide brush in a calligraphic manner to create figurative and patterned abstract works. Here you travel with him to dingy spots in a guerilla fashion with a sharply skipping glitch soundtrack and murky lighting, which rather adds to the atmospheric primitivism effect of his work as he skips through Hong Kong, Seoul, and Tokyo.

 

 

Moses & Taps™ EUROPA™ From The Grifters

Opening tonight Kolly Gallery in Zurich, graffiti writers turning conceptual artists MOSES & TAPS™ re-work the typical nomenclature of illegal/legal while asserting their right to command the elements. If successful, they will have caused you to ask “who owns public space” and to question how many inroads into your consciousness you have allowed advertising, media and branding to go. Also, art.

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BSA Film Friday: 05.20.16

BSA Film Friday: 05.20.16

Brooklyn-Street-Art-BLU-Copyright-Good-Guy-Boris--Omodeo-Screen-Shot-2016-05-20-at-11.52.26-AM

bsa-film-friday-JAN-2015

 

Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.

Now screening :

1. Christian Omodeo Talks About “Street Art – Banksy & Co.”
2. Guido Van Helten on Abandoned Silos in Australia
3. CTVà Street Fest 2016 Recap
4. How & Nosm’s Monumental Mural in Detroit by Dennis Porto
5. Shepard Fairey being Quick on his Feet

bsa-film-friday-special-feature

BSA Special Feature: Christian Omodeo Talks About “Street Art – Banksy & Co.”

It’s impossible to enter a chatroom or a bar frequented by graffiti/Street Art types today without some mention of this exhibition in Italy. The topic centers around an unresolved, largely heretofore undiscussed question of any removal of illegally placed art from property for any purposes except to destroy it. Here one of the curators of the exhibit, Christian Omodeo takes you on a tour of the complete exhibit discussing tags, photography, collectors habits, the relevance of an object as a conveyor of culture. Finally the interviewer, Good Guy Boris, broaches the subject of works taken from the urban wild. The topic is tackled head-on with Omodeo very clearly laying out a case for …

Guido Van Helten on Abandoned Silos in Australia

A beautifully shot feel-good story of a small town farming community decimated by corporate industrial farming in Brim in the Wimmera region of Victoria, Australia. It is a familiar story about the disappearing family farm and our control of the food supply that has happened across much of the so-called First World but most people still haven’t connected the dots. Here artist Guido Van Helten focuses on the local story, the left-behind individuals affected directly by economic downturn and loss of community – and paints them heroically across an architectural archetype that rises triumphantly above the land, a row of grain silos. Juddy Roller produces, Round 3 Creative directs.

CTVà Street Fest 2016 Recap

Highlights of the CVTA Festival – Street Fest in Civitacampomarano in Campobasso (Italy). A small town of 400 celebrated for 4 days in April with Biancoshock (Italy) , David de la Mano (Uruguay) , Pablo S. Herrero (Spain) , Icks (Italy) , Hitnes (Italy), and ONE (Italy).

 

How & Nosm’s Monumental Mural in Detroit by Dennis Porto

A huge new piece by How & Nosm captured here helps you appreciated the talents and the scope. More on this project soon here.

 

Shepard Fairey being Quick on his Feet

Quick! A word choice game that keeps you apprised of your local Street Artist’s preferences. Video by Konbini

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Fun Friday 12.07.12

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.

Dcypher, CBS and Supher wall. Wynwood Arts Disctrict 2011. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Entes, Pesimo and Jade wall. Detail. Wynwood Arts District 2011. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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!

D*Face on the Streets of Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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?

Skewville being territorial in Bushwick. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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.

Jaye Moon. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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.

Chris Stain and Billy Mode in Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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.

Icy & Sot in Manhattan. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this event click here.

Zombie Nation – Ezra Eismont

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)

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Ambush Gallery Present; “Rinse & Repeat” A Group Exhibition. (Sydney, Australia)

Rinse & Repeat

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)
When: Thursday 6 December
Time: 6pm-10pm
Cost: Free Public Event
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