All posts tagged: Johannesburg

r1 Replicates/Repeats Street Sign Chevron in Johannesburg Installation

r1 Replicates/Repeats Street Sign Chevron in Johannesburg Installation

The chevron is a common symbol on the streets of Johannesburg and South African Street Artist r1 recently completed a new public art piece made entirely of them. Using 180 chevron plates from street-signs he drilled 400 holes into the 11 x 16 meter wall here, evoking the patterning of traditional African craftwork design and the modern digital aesthetic of repetitive replication concurrently.

By incorporating the visual language of the street with actual signage and reflective vinyl r1 enjoys the full effect when nighttime traffic lights hit the piece and the pattern nearly vibrates, electrifying the immediate streetscape.

 

r1. Johannesburg, South Africa. (photo © r1)

r1. Johannesburg, South Africa. (photo © r1)

r1. Johannesburg, South Africa. (photo © r1)

r1. Johannesburg, South Africa. (photo © r1)

r1. Johannesburg, South Africa. (photo © r1)

 

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BSA Film Friday: 07.14.17

BSA Film Friday: 07.14.17

bsa-film-friday-JAN-2015

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

Now screening :
1. Various & Gould: City Skins – Marx und Engels.
2. The Brutalism Appreciation Society/Gesellschaft zur Wertschätzung des Brutalismus
3. ESPO at Bien Urbain 2017
4. Faith47 in Johannesburg
5. Creative collaborators AXE in Barcelona for 12 + 1

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BSA Special Feature: Various & Gould: City Skins – Marx und Engels.

Conceptual Street Artists often perform interventions without explanation, satisfied with their own observations of the outcome. For Berlians Various & Gould the process has more often included the participation of the public – a way for more to take ownership and inspire dialogue. Sometimes many dialogues.

You may have seen our piece on their most recent public project called “City Skins”: Marx and Engels Statues Re-Skinned & Re-Located : Various & Gould.  Here is a mini-documentary that shows you the artists, the process, and the thinking behind the process.

The Brutalism Appreciation Society/Gesellschaft zur Wertschätzung des Brutalismus

“21 artists whose works all deal with the post-war architectural style of Brutalism,” says Dr. Inke Arns, curator and director for “The Brutalism Appreciation Society” in the HMKV (Hartware MedienKunstVerein) in Dortmund U. Metal, stone, brick, exposed concrete – all a heavy shell against the rigorous torment of the world. Now steel and glass is slowly pushing out the blunt force of this mountainous movement, so it is a relief to see that architecture historians and, hopefully, city planners, are rallying to preserve these monuments.

2 Notes: Graffiti has had a meaningful dialogue with this evolution. Also, make sure you hang out till the end of this video for full effect.

 

Bien Urbain 2017 – ESPO

Stephen Powers aka ESPO participated in the 7th Bien Urbain festival in Besançon this spring and brought his wordplay and affinity for the language of advertising signage to a wall there.

Faith47 in Johannesburg

The inimitable Faith47 powerhouse has been creating some massive murals of late and while they capture the natural world epically,  these pieces also manage to feel personal, intimate.

Creative collaborators AXE in Barcelona for 12 + 1

Friends since childhood and painting graffiti and murals together since 1999 in Barcelona, Adrià (Smaug) and Oriol (Gúma) together call themselves AXE Colours. Read more from our earlier posting ; AXE Colours – Two Graffiti Friends, Now Creative Partners

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ABOVE Goes Below for His Largest Mural Ever

ABOVE Goes Below for His Largest Mural Ever

To see ABOVE you will have to go way down below. Like near the bottom tip of Africa. South. Africa.

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Above for the City Of Gold Urban Arts Festival.  Johannesburg, South Africa. October 2015. (photo © Cale Waddacor)

That’s where street artist ABOVE just completed this new upward pointing mural for the City of Gold Festival in Jeppestown. It is entitled “Incognito” much like the California man himself, featuring a layered geometry of the symbol he has called his own since on the streets around the world for this century.

ABOVE tells us it is his largest mural to date, at 33 meters by 17 meters. “I think I used over twenty different colors and it took me six full days to paint it.” You may see some guy hanging around the mural in dark sunglasses trying to looking cool – but don’t bother to look for Mr. Incognito himself. He’s already on to his next adventure somewhere in Israel.

brooklyn-street-art-above-Cale-Waddacor-joburg-southafrica-10-15-web-6

Above for the City Of Gold Urban Arts Festival.  Johannesburg, South Africa. October 2015. (photo © Cale Waddacor)

brooklyn-street-art-above-Cale-Waddacor-joburg-southafrica-10-15-web-4

Above for the City Of Gold Urban Arts Festival.  Johannesburg, South Africa. October 2015. (photo © Cale Waddacor)

brooklyn-street-art-above-Cale-Waddacor-joburg-southafrica-10-15-web-2

Above for the City Of Gold Urban Arts Festival.  Johannesburg, South Africa. October 2015. (photo © Cale Waddacor)

brooklyn-street-art-above-Cale-Waddacor-joburg-southafrica-10-15-web-8

Above for the City Of Gold Urban Arts Festival.  Johannesburg, South Africa. October 2015. (photo © Cale Waddacor)

brooklyn-street-art-above-Cale-Waddacor-joburg-southafrica-10-15-web-1

Above for the City Of Gold Urban Arts Festival.  Johannesburg, South Africa. October 2015. (photo © Cale Waddacor)

brooklyn-street-art-above-Cale-Waddacor-joburg-southafrica-10-15-web-3

Above for the City Of Gold Urban Arts Festival.  Johannesburg, South Africa. October 2015. (photo © Cale Waddacor)

Click the link below for more on City Of Gold:

http://www.cityofgoldfestival.co.za/

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Acrylic Walls: Gaia, JAZ, Know Hope, Freddy Sam in S. Africa

A Month-Long Painting Project in Johannesburg and Cape Town

Four Street Artists have been painting for about a month in Johannesburg and Cape Town as part of a project by Ricky Lee Gordon. “Acrylic Walls” highlights the maturing voices of a handful on today’s Street Art scene even as they continue to explore and experiment with realism, surrealism, text and poetry – in a context unknown to at least three of them. Call it an art vacation.

Featured here are exclusive images of the new finished pieces and works in progress by Gaia from New York, Know Hope from Tel Aviv, Franco JAZ Fasoli from Buenos Aires, and their Cape Town host Freddy Sam.

Special thanks to Ricky for sharing these images with BSA readers.

Freddy Sam and Gaia Collaboration in progress. (Image © and courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

Freddy Sam and Gaia Collaboration. (Image © and courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

Freddy Sam (Image © and courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

Freddy Sam (BSA photo exclusive © courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

Freddy Sam (Image © and courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

Gaia (Image © and courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

Gaia (Image © and courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

Freddy Sam on the left with a work in progress by JAZ on the right. (Image © and courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

JAZ installation in progress. (Image © and courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

JAZ. Detail. (Image © and courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

Know Hope installation in progress. (Image © and courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

Know Hope (Image © and courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

Know Hope (Image © and courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

Know Hope’s text appears in an unassuming way. (Image © and courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

Know Hope installation in progress. (Image © and courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

Know Hope places his figure in thigh-high water (Image © and courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

A detail of a large wall collaboration: Freddy Sam, Gaia, Jaz and Know Hope. (Image © and courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

Local Flavor (Image © and courtesy Ricky Lee Gordon)

Click here for details of “Ways of Seeing” A group exhibition featuring all four artists above opening this Jan 24 in Cape Town.

Click here to learn more about Acrylic Walls.

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

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ALL the JOBURG Videos

Yesterday on Fun Friday we featured ROA in the first video from the I Art Joburg Festival. The festival took place this fall in Johannesburg, South Africa and featured people like Falko, Cameron Platter, ESPO, and Remed. Today we’re pleased to offer you the full compliment of all the videos that were directed, shot and edited during the festival. Much thanks to Ricky Lee Gordon, the organizer of the festival, who advanced all of these videos to us for BSA readers to enjoy.

See Monica Campana’s account of her visit to I Art Joburg here on BSA.

MARTHA COOPER

CAMERON PLATTER

ESPO

FALKO

REMED

 

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

BSA does not necessarily endorse any of the brands that appear in third party content and is not under any contractual obligation to do so.

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Fun Friday 11.30.12

 

It’s Friday yo! Tomorrow starts December but the tree is already up at Rockefeller Center and the city is flushed with wide-eyed tourists bumping into each other and we are busy touring graffiti covered abandoned buildings smashed with paint balls. It’s all good.  Here’s some ideas for dope stuff to check out this weekend.

1. “Out of Chaos” Paul Insect (NYC)
2. “Organized Chaos” CYRCLE (LA)
3. The RAMMELLZEE Galaxseum (NYC)
4. VINZ “Batalla” (Chelsea)
5. DALeast “Powder of Light”
6. ROA by Makhulu (VIDEO)
7. “Dominant Species” by ROA (VIDEO)
8. IBUg Festival of Urban Art and Culture (VIDEO)
9. “Eyez Open” with Peat Wollaeger (VIDEO)

Paul Insect “Out of Chaos” (NYC)

London based Paul Insect has his “Out of Chaos” solo show at Opera Gallery in Manhattan.

Paul Insect. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

While Paul Insect is advancing the idea of  a world out of chaos …

CYRCLE is all about “Organized Chaos” (LA)

Street art collective CYRCLE opens their solo show tonight in Los Angeles, CA.

“Order and Chaos is a huge cornerstone concept we work with, and it’s one of our favorite examples of duality in life. It’s also a huge part of the way we work together.”

CYRCLE (photo © theonepointeight)

For further information regarding this show click here.

To read our piece on a CYRCLE studio visit click here.

The RAMMELLZEE Galaxseum (NYC)

The Childrens Museum of the Arts is a good place to go to see the innerworkings of the visionary graffiti writer who turned his imagination into a galaxy. This kind of art-making gives inspiration to adults and  kids because he fashioned toys and warships and costumes from everyday objects that were not expensive, and his output of mythic Gothic Futurism gods, heros, villains and storylines over three decades lays bare your excuse for not being creative.

It’s about the same price as a movie but the comprehensive collection of the artists work and the self-esteem mission of the museum is priceless. The Rammellzee Galaxseum is a great place to visit for an afternoon with the kids in your tribe and explore free expression – inside where it’s warm and your imagination can fly.

VINZ “Batalla” (Chelsea)

The VINZ solo show “Batalla” opens Saturday night at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery in Manhattan. This Spanish Street Artist plays with the realities of humans, using his own photographs of nude models and animals to construct hybrids by playfully merging their bodies with striking results.

VINZ (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

DALeast “Powder of Light”

Chinese Street Artist DALeast is also at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery tomorrow with his own solo show titled “Powder of Light”.

DALeast (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

ROA by Makhulu (VIDEO)

“Dominant Species” by ROA (VIDEO)

From Art in The Streets – MOCAtv

IBUg Festival of Urban Art and Culture (VIDEO)

From 2012 in Glauchau, Germany.

“Eyez Open” with Peat Wollaeger (VIDEO)

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“I Art Joburg” with Monica Campana in South Africa

Today we welcome Monica Compana to BSA to share with you her experiences during a recent Street Art/community program in Johannesburg, South Africa that took place in September. As one of the principal originators of Atlanta’s Living Walls festival, Campana brings a wizened eye to the events as they unfolded, and presents here what she observed and experienced. Special thanks to Martha Cooper, who shares with BSA images that display her personal vision of Joburg and some layouts from her new zine “Soweto/Sowebo”.

Considered one of the wealthiest cities in Africa, Johannesburg is not only rich in gold and diamonds, but also rich in arts and culture. In the month of September, Johannesburg hosted the largest mural project in the city and possibly even the continent.

I Art Joburg brought the artists Espo, ROA, Cameron Platter, Falko, Remed and graffiti photographer legend Martha Cooper to South Africa to create art in the streets, start a dialogue about street art in the city and to document a month where artists worked together alongside a commercial production team and community members to bring color to Joburg and Soweto.

ROA (photo © Martha Cooper)

“Color creates energy, energy creates inspiration and inspiration creates change. It is our responsibility to inspire ourselves to inspire others to inspire the change. Art is the remedy for this,” says Ricky Lee Gordon, organizer and curator of I Art Joburg.

Gordon’s carefully selected list of renowned street artists not only managed to put the festival amongst one of the best ones of the year, but also it created a chemistry between artists and community. With 6 murals installed around the Maboneng Precinct it hosted a night of lectures and the screening of Espo’s “Love Letters to You” documentary. The precinct is also referred to as “a place of light”, as it is a hub for young creatives and artists, and it also hosted a gallery exhibit by the participating artists.

ROA (photo © Monica Campana

To inspire kids from a local school, organizers created a workshop and a mural with kids in Soweto, a name synonymous in the northern hemisphere with the historic anti-apartheid black resistance movement that inspired so many artists in the 70s-80s around the world. The name Soweto has an auditory similarity to the neighborhood of Sowebo in Baltimore, which photographer Martha Cooper has been documenting as a personal passion for nearly a decade.

Already in Joburg to document all of the murals and exhibit her own work, she took the experience and project to a whole new level with the development of her zine titled: “Soweto/Sowebo.” Martha owns a house in South West Baltimore, also known as Sowebo, an area so affected by urban decay that it is often compared to Soweto in South Africa. Needless to say, when she  arrived in Soweto she immediately saw the similarities and she decided to create a zine honoring the richness of both cultures.  It was fascinating to see through her work how these two places, so far away from each other geographically in two completely different continents, could pass as one and the same.

ROA (photo © Martha Cooper)

Soweto/ Sowebo was not the only example of this wonderful dialogue. Each artist tried to leave something to the city of Joburg that would not only last for a long time visually, but something that could continue to spark some kind of dialogue. During my stay in Joburg I was able to spend quite a bit of time with ROA and Martha Cooper.  It was amazing to see how their easily  they interacted with the people on the streets of the city and even though they had been there for only about a week by the time that I arrived, Martha and ROA had already made dear friends in the neighborhood.

ROA and Falko (photo © Martha Cooper)

On the subject of friends we made: Bongani Mathebula, my Joburg tour guide, is the one that stole my heart. Seeing the city through the eyes of a local 25 year old artist was very inspirational. He told me that projects like I Art Joburg are what the city of Johannesburg needs – an outsider’s view and conversation starter to inspire the local community.

“Artists are like heroes. Art is crazy, people need to let that happen. More art, more crazy communication and growth,” says Bongani.

I hope to see more mural festivals happen in Joburg and Soweto. I know the artists who were part of the project were left wanting more. So, who knows? Maybe this really is just the start to a much bigger conversation in Joburg! Fingers crossed!

Remed (photo © Monica Campana)

Falko (photo © Monica Campana)

Espo (photo © Martha Cooper)

Espo (photo © Martha Cooper)

Espo (photo © Martha Cooper)

Espo (photo © Martha Cooper)

Martha Cooper’s “Soweto/Sowebo Zine” (photo © Martha Cooper)

Martha Cooper’s “Soweto/Sowebo Zine” (photo © Martha Cooper)

Martha Cooper’s “Soweto/Sowebo Zine” (photo © Martha Cooper)

 

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

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