All posts tagged: JonOne

Fun Friday 11.02.11

VOLUNTEER TODAY AND THIS WEEKEND – RESOURCES AVAILABLE

Happy Friday Everyone!

This is not a typical Friday and not very fun in New York and for much of the east coast as we continue to grapple with the results of the storm called Sandy. New Yorkers always help each other get back on our feet and this time it is again heartening to see so many people volunteering and doing what they can to bring this city back. Our art listings this week take a 2nd place to our listings for places you can go to get help, and things you can do to volunteer.

LOOK FOR THE FULL LIST OF ART EVENTS AFTER THESE VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES.

Food and Water Distribution Locations http://www.nyc.gov/html/misc/html/2012/foodandwater.html

Donate Storm Supplies: Donate extra food, water, and batteries to local shelters and food banks. Search here to find a food bank near you.

Volunteer in Local Shelters: Contact shelters directly for volunteer needs. Find your local emergency shelter location here: http://gis.nyc.gov/oem/he/index.html.

Volunteering The Mayor’s Office has stated that the best way to find out how to volunteer is to register with NYCService.org and you will get notified of opportunities. You can also follow them on Twitter and Facebook

Brooklyn Volunteer Opportunities Sign-up http://pubadvocate.nyc.gov/irene/volunteer

Red Hook Initiative is seeking donations at 767 Hicks Street (at West 9th)  “Please bring donations of food, flashlights, candles, water pumps, generators. Many buildings in the neighborhood will likely not have power for the next 4-5 days.” For more information call, (347) 770-1528 or email redhookrecovers@gmail.com

Clean up at BWAC / Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition in Red Hook on November 3rd & 4th: “This Saturday and Sunday we hope to clean out all the trash and debris. This includes much of the sheet rock as well as anything destroyed. If anyone has a portable generator, long extension cords, or work lights, we would like to borrow them. Anyone and everyone is needed for this effort. We will be starting at 10AM on Saturday. RSVP/questions: bwacinfo@aol.com

The MoMA and PS1 curator Klaus Biesenbach is helping to organize relief efforts in the Rockaways Saturday: http://bit.ly/WcFgWD Biesenbach plans to meet volunteers outside the Lewis B. and Dorothy Cullman Education and Research building at 4 West 54th Street at 10am on Saturday, and then will drive people and supplies out to the Rockaways.

Donate to families in the Rockaways now-Sat. Nov.3rd 9:30-11am. El Puente is collecting donations of clothing/supplies/nonperishable food for affected families in the Rockaways, now through Saturday. Drop-off location: El Puente Headquarters, 211 South 4th St. (@Roebling) in Williamsburg BK 11211

Donate clothing and food items in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn today Nov. 2.  The Arab American Association of NY is collecting clothing and food items for donation. “All clothing donations should be washed & all food items must be sealed. We will deliver items to three Brooklyn shelters – Brooklyn Armory, FDR High School, and the Caton School” Please drop off items to 7111 5th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11209 between 10am-6pm today until 2pm Friday, November 2ed. Contact: faiza.aaany@gmail.com

Help cleanup New York City Parks http://on.nyc.gov/Pp0v3n  to volunteer in our parks this weekend. Help clean up Prospect Park Nov. 2ed, 3ed, 4th: Volunteer with the NYC Department of Parks & Recreation to aid in the cleanup and recovery of Prospect Park this Friday, Saturday and Sunday (11/2 – 11/4), clickthis link to sign up.

 

The American Red Cross

Red Cross: The Red Cross is seeking volunteers over 16 and who are able to lift 50 pounds and comfortable working in stressful situations. Email them at staffing@nyredcross.org

Give Blood – Hurricane Sandy has caused the cancellation of 100 blood drives in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic, a shortfall of 3,200 blood and platelet donations that would otherwise be available for those needing transfusions.

Volunteer at a Hurricane Sandy Shelter – The American Red Cross is specifically seeking individuals over 16 years of age that can carry 50 lbs to volunteer at local New York Red Cross Shelters.

Donate Money – You can choose to donate money to the Red Cross Disaster Relief by visiting their website or texting REDCROSS to 90999.

AmeriCares

Donate Money – AmeriCares delivers medicines and medical supplies to disaster areas, and as of yesterday was deploying a mobile medical unit to affected areas in Connecticut.

The Salvation Army

Donate Money – The Salvation Army is currently on the ground in New Jersey helping with relief efforts, according to New Jersey Governor Chris Christie. 

Food Bank for New York

Donate Money – The Food Bank for New York provides food and emergency meals to New Yorkers, and as of last night was planning to continue distribution on Tuesday.  You can donate money by simply texting FBNYC to 50555.  If you wish to volunteer, check with and contact your neighborhood pantry or kitchen via the Food Bank for New York’s website.

The ASPCA

Donate Money – The ASPCA will assist and rescue the thousands of animals affected by Hurricane Sandy. 

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA) takes donations to rescue and shelter animals affected by the storm. According to spokesperson Emily Schneider, the group’s efforts are currently focused in the New York City area, where nearly 240 animals are staying with their owners in pet-friendly Red Cross shelters. The ASPCA is also setting up a distribution center in Syracuse, New York with 4,000 sheltering units, which contain pet food, crates, food bowls, toys, and anything else an animal may need. They’re also standing with water rescue units should they be called.

The Humane Society of the United States

Report – The HSUS has a 24-hour hotline for New York evacuees to report pets that were left behind. The number is 347-573-1561.

The Bowery Mission Has Current Needs

  • Financial donations — They are serving three times as many as normal, and will need to restock food and resources once we have power.
  • Help provide food for 200 people at a time (make and/or get and drop off at the Mission – 227 Bowery)
    • Make peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and drop them off
    • Trays of cooked food, ready to be served
    • Large amounts of Gatorade and Iced Tea – Currently only serving water
  • Gasoline for generators that are providing emergency power — Please deliver to 227 Bowery (at Prince Street), 45-51 Avenue D (between 4th and 5th Streets), or our Administrative Headquarters at 132 Madison Ave. (Madison & 31 St).
  • Blankets at The Bowery Mission Transitional Center — Please deliver to 45-51 Avenue D (between 4th and 5th Streets) or our Administrative Headquarters at 132 Madison Ave. (Madison & 31 St).
  • Sweatshirts, Large and XL coats and hoodies, men’s jeans and boots, at The Bowery Mission — Please deliver to 227 Bowery (at Prince Street) or our Administrative Headquarters at 132 Madison Ave. (Madison & 31 St).
  • Pantry items such as sugar, oatmeal, coffee, rice, potatoes — Please deliver to 227 Bowery (at Prince Street) or our Administrative Headquarters at 132 Madison Ave. (Madison & 31 St).

Additional Links and Resources

Red Hook Recovers

Lower Easy Side Recovers

Astoria Recovers

Brooklyn Based: How to Help

Brokelyn: How to Help

Rockaway Relief

Food Not Bombs: Sandy Relief

The Week: How to Help

Art in American: Chelsea Galleries Hit Hard by Storm Sandy

Free Showers and Exercise at New York Sports Clubs 

For those who want to send other kinds of help, the American Red Cross collects funds and coordinates blood donations. The organization sheltered more than 3,000 people across nine states during the worst of the storm.  You can donate $10 by phone by texting the word REDCROSS to 90999.

The United Way has created a regional fund for communities hit by Sandy. They’re asking for donations at uwsandyrecovery.org.  Donors can also give $10 by texting RECOVERY to 52000.

New York:

New York Cares

Long Island Volunteer Center

New Jersey: Jersey Cares 1-800-JERSEY7

Volunteers in New Jersey are being coordinated through an emergency response hotline, 1-800-JERSEY-7 (1-800-537-7397). Alternate numbers, for when the hotline isn’t staffed, include 609-775-5236 and 908-303-0471 or emails can be sent to Rowena.Madden@sos.state.nj.us.

Rhode Island: Serve Rhode Island

Massachusetts: Boston Cares

And Now Our Street Art Listings for Fun Friday

1. New York Kings at Pure Evil (London)
2.”Stikman 20.1″ Opens in Philadelphia Tonight
3. EVOK “Ordinary Things” in Detroit
4. “Four” Group Show at Loft F (Boston)
5. Dale Grimshaw’s”Moreish”  Signal Gallery in London
6. ARD*POP-UP 2012 Festival in Oslo, Norway
7. Unruly Gallery in Amsterdam showing Finland’s Graffiti Artist EGS
8. JonOne solo show “Beautiful Madness” at Fabien Castanier in Studio City, CA
9. All City Canvas: The Short Film (VIDEO)
10. Chris Dyer in Montreal (VIDEO)

New York Kings at Pure Evil (London)

“New York Kings” is the title of the new group exhibition at the Pure Evil Gallery in London featuring COPE2, INDIE 184, BLADE, STAY HIGH 149, SEN2, FUZZ ONE, POEM, BOM5, RD 357, DECK, and EASY & JOZ . In London for the first time in over a decade, a unique exhibition of the godfathers of graffiti art using new york subway maps as their canvas to tell their 30 year story while remaining true to their roots. this is a rare opportunity to see examples of a genre that is often temporary by its very nature.

COPE on the streets of Miami. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

“Stikman 20.1” Opens in Philadelphia Tonight

Enigmatic Street Artist STIKMAN has a solo show titled “Stikman 20.1” opening today at the Stupid Easy Gallery in Philadelphia, PA. You might not see him if you to the opening but you sure will see his vast artistic output on display. For 20 years Stikman has been putting his art on the streets based on this one character presented in so many different ways and situations, with humor, wit and poignancy – more recently they have appeared with a lot of Mondrian influences.  Most people never tire of discovering these rigid little fellers as they turn a corner, look up a sign post, cross a street, admire an architectural detail on a building.

Stikman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

REVOK “Ordinary Things” in Detroit

REVOK is a son of Detroit and the Library Street Collective Gallery is welcoming him with a solo show titled “Ordinary Things” opening tonight. The things may be ordinary, but what he makes with them are not. Assembling and fashioning found objects and materials he shows a fastidious attention to detail and an acute sense of balance, harmony and color.

Revok on the streets of Mimai (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

“Four” Group Show at Loft F (Boston)

Unveiling his new portrait of a certain candidate in Tuesday’s race, Dave Tree is showing in a group show titled “Four” at the Loft F Gallery in Boston, MA. This show opens today.

Dave Tree (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Also Happening this weekend:

Dale Grimshaw‘s show “Moreish” is now open to the general public at the Signal Gallery in London, UK. Click here for more details on this show.

ARD*POP-UP 2012 Festival in Oslo, Norway is now underway until Sunday Nov. 04 with the participation of renowned Street Artists including: CODEROCK (NOR), M-CITY (POL), PHLEGM (UK), PEZ (SPA), KENOR (SPA), ZOSEN(SPA), CHANOIR (FRA), GALO (BRA),
SUB LUNA (ISL), ACHOE (NOR), MARTIN WHATSON (NOR) and DOT DOT DOT (NOR). Click here for more details on this festival.

Unruly Gallery in Amsterdam, The Netherlands is showing Finland’s Graffiti Artist EGS in a solo show with works on paper and sculptures. This show is now open to the general public. Click here for more details on this show.

JonOne solo show “Beautiful Madness” at the Fabien Castanier Gallery in Studio City, CA opens tomorrow. Click here for more details on this show.

All City Canvas: The Short Film (VIDEO)

Chris Dyer in Montreal (VIDEO)

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Fabien Castanier Gallery Presents: JonOne “A Beautiful Madness” (Studio City, CA)

JonOne

Photo © Guillaume Zuili

Fabien Castanier Gallery is proud to present A Beautiful Madness, the first solo exhibition in the USA by JonOne. Though raised in New York, JonOne has lived in Paris since the mid 1980’s where he has established himself as an artist, building a career that has spanned over 20 years.

From his early days as a youth, tagging the streets of Harlem, JonOne has always emphasized a painterly approach, bringing brushes instead of spray cans to tag subway trains. Drawing from the energy and freedom of painting in an urban landscape, he translates his roots as a graffiti artist into paintings that are a completely unique form of abstract expressionism. Akin to Jackson Pollock and Willem de Kooning, JonOne’s pieces exhibit an enormous sense of movement and color. His compositions combine freestyle, precise strokes, repetition and texture for a uniquely balanced yet dynamic visual experience.

“…my life is very fast-moving and intense, and I hope I convey that energy through my work. [My paintings] represent me but in a different dynamic from when they were linked to a street context.  The way I present my work has changed but I can’t deny my roots or my schooling. Even so, I don’t see myself as a street artist because I don’t feel that need to go out and do stuff. I’m not committed to a cause. I’m someone who’s converted the negative to positive and today my work is done in the studio.”    – JonOne, Transformations
(Interview with Marie Maertens, March 16, 2012)

JonOne’s paintings represent a new era of contemporary artists who have moved beyond their roots as graffiti writers to establish themselves as painters. Recognized internationally for his urban contemporary paintings, JonOne has stayed true to his artistic vision. From Paris to Shanghai, Casablanca to Hong-Kong, he has exhibited in galleries and art fairs around the world, resulting in a tremendous response from both the public and collectors as well as at auction.

Opening Reception will be Saturday, November 3rd, 7-10pm.
A Special Preview will take place on November 1st, 7-9pm.

Both are open to the public.

Fabien Castanier Gallery

12196 Ventura Blvd

Studio City, CA 91604

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Fun Friday 05.11.12

1. “Streets of the World” Now Open in Soho
2. “A Night With The London Police” (Newcastle)
3.  Word To Mother (San Francisco)
4. “Lo-Cal” at C.A.V.E.
5. “French Invasion” in Ventura City
6. “The Exchange Project: Series I” in LA
7.  Lister in a video by Carlos Gonzalez
8.  REVOK: The Seventh Letter x The Hundreds

“Streets of the World” Now Open in Soho

“Streets of the World”, the massive new show at Opera Gallery is open to the public today after a boffo opening last night. It’s not all brand new stuff, but we’ve never seen it before – this is a very fun Street Art to go see. Also, for Aunt Bea, there’s even a real live Banksy! Make sure to go down stairs as well as the show continues in the basement.

Os Gemeos serenading you out the window (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Also…“The Streets of the World” Converge at Opera Gallery

“A Night With The London Police” (Newcastle)

If you are up to spending the night with the naughty boys of The London Police then head over to Newcastle yonder in the UK where at Unit 44 Gallery where they’ll charm you with their natural wit and talent tonight at the opening of their show “A Night With The London Police”.

And now Chaz will attempt to hypnotize you. The London Police (photo © Unit44)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Word To Mother (San Francisco)

In San Francisco at the White Walls Gallery will be the British Street Artist named Word To Mother on Saturday. He’s been busy tagging and will be glad to tell you why he “Can’t Afford To Be Broke”.

Word To Mother (photo © Jennifer Goff)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Also happening this weekend:

At C.A.V.E. Gallery in Venice Beach, CA “Lo-Cal” A group show including BECCA in the back room. Click here for more details on this show.

At the Fabien Castanier Gallery in Ventura City, CA a “French Invasion” takes place with JonOne, Nasty, Rero, Speedy Graphito and Tilt in a group show. Click here for more details on this show.

At The Navarro Residence “The Exchange Project: Series I” in LA opens on Saturday with Radical!, Patrick Porter and Scott Michael Ackerman. Click here for more details on this show.

 

Lister in a video by Carlos Gonzalez

On this video Carlos Gonzalez interviews and documents Anthony Lister during his multiple trips to Los Angeles.

REVOK: The Seventh Letter x The Hundreds

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Fabien Castanier Gallery Presents: “French Invasion” Group Show (Ventura City, CA)

Fabien Castaner Gallery

OPENING RECEPTION MAY 12, 7-10 PM
LA CANVAS PRE-EXHIBITION PARTY WITH LIVE PAINT PERFORMANCE MAY 12, 4-7 PM
*featuring limited edition FRENCH INVASION print sale to benefit Inner-City Arts


Fabien Castanier Gallery is proud to present the first exhibition in Los Angeles dedicated to the work of France’s leading street artists today. FRENCH INVASION features brand new work by: JonOne, Nasty, Rero, Speedy Graphito and Tilt. The exhibition will present an extensive range of work by these artists including paintings, installations, silkscreens and sculpture. Speedy Graphito, JonOne and Tilt will be present at the Opening Reception on May 12th, spraying a collaborative mural live from 4-7pm.

Paris has always been an important source of creative inspiration for artists across the globe, giving rise to some of the most important art movements in history. Though born in NYC, graffiti made its way across the pond, becoming firmly rooted in the neighborhoods of France. Whereas art produced on the streets was previously relegated to neighborhood walls and the metro, today it can be seen in galleries and museums. Street art in France has become one of the most considerable art movements of this century.

FRENCH INVASION highlights the differences in media, context, audiences and issues that these artists maintain both on the street and in the art market. Common to all these artists is their investment in the streets of Paris during the past decade but also their evolution in galleries in France and abroad. Contemporary urban art is now the movement of today and tomorrow.

FABIEN CASTANIER GALLERY:
12196 VENTURA BLVD. STUDIO CITY, CA 91604
P. 818.748.6014  | CONTACT@CASTANIERGALLERY.COM| WWW.CASTANIERGALLERY.COM
GALLERY HOURS TUESDAY–SATURDAY 11–7PM, SUNDAY-MONDAY 11–5PM.

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“Whole in the Wall” Opens with Fanfare

NYC Graff as Historical Touchstone
International Street Art Stars
Train Writers turned Fine Artists
High Culture/Street Culture Mashups
Corporate Logos and Celebrity Collectors

If that is not enough variety for you, then you have just been spoiled by too many years living in the center of a cultural and media capital.

You’ll be glad the former photo studios, two blocks north of Manhattan’s West Side Rail Yards, are generously spacious because you’ll need headroom to contemplate the variety of messages that Chantal and Brigitte Helenbeck, Parisian gallerists, are bringing to Hell’s Kitchen for a month.

For Chantal, “The street art style and story is distinctly American. It became a global phenomenon”. Her sister Brigitte agrees and asks her to translate to the visitor, “Yes, it is about movement, and color, it is very free and for this we say it is very American.”

Trains, geometric shapes, and natural beauty on Coney Island (Daze) (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Trains, geometric form, fills, and natural beauty on Coney Island (Daze) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Amidst the flurry of 11th hour installations all over this temporary gallery, the sisters say that they see graffiti and “street art” on a continuum with other schools in contemporary art and art history in general. Chantal observes as she looks around the cavernous 12,000sf upper floor at the “Whole in the Wall” exhibition that the kids that used to be “Bad Boys” (and girls) of graffiti back in the 70’s are now warm and friendly adults who are great to work with. Better yet, many continued to develop their skills and have truly become “great studio artists”. “It is important that their talent and recognition is seen and documented with the art world,” she says.

Lee Quiñones at work (photo Jaime Rojo)
Lee Quiñones at work (photo Jaime Rojo)

A prime example of that observation could be Lee Quiñones, who is busily running up and down an aluminum ladder preparing a 12′ x 14′ canvas that couldn’t be more of a departure from his style back in the days of Sly Stone and Richard Nixon. A subway train writer as a teen in the 1970’s, his later exhibitions and studio work placed him in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum. The piece he’s working on for this show speaks to a sinister, more complex time using animal symbolism so often seen in the 00’s.

Up close to this canvas, it is an imposing thick dark forest of trees where the sprouting leaves and fallen, swirling fragments are actual dollar bills. Popping forward at you from the center comes the menacing protagonist; a realistic wolf in businessman’s clothing lurking from behind a tree in horn-rimmed glasses, looking at you with a dead-eye stare.

Wolf detail of work by Lee Quiñones (photo Jaime Rojo)
Wolf detail of brand new work by Lee Quiñones (photo Jaime Rojo)

As you talk to Mr. Quiñones, it’s easy to see that he cares deeply about his work, and he spends a great deal of time thinking about it, re-working it in his mind, and relating with it on an emotional level. The metaphor Lee had in mind this time is the children’s story “Little Red Riding Hood” and, as he points to parts of the canvas, you can see the story as it applies to any number of scams and backroom deals that clutter the business pages and Senate hearings these days. You might think of the same connection between financial crisis and the meager options for a teen in New York’s 1970’s while he describes the power brokers that created the current environment. Conspiratorially, he reveals that when the lights are out, the wolf’s eyes actually glow in the dark. He also says this piece is not finished but he’ll know when it is.

“Art is tricky, you know, you gotta look at it a lot,” the Puerto Rico-born painter says, “Then it tells you ‘Stop! Leave me alone! I’m done.’… I talk to my art, I spend time with it.”

"I was thinking of putting Madoff over here" (photo Jaime Rojo)
“I was thinking of putting Madoff over here”

He contrasts the life and the approach to creative work back in the “wild style” days and now; “My studio is not this big but it’s pretty big so I can step back and take a look at it. When I was painting trains 35 years ago I only had like this much space (holding his hands a yard a part) and I had this big 40 foot (long) train in front of me. …. I had no luxury of looking at it from a distance, or time. But that’s also where I get my nocturnal practice. I can actually stay up four nights without sleep, no problem. And I’ve been up three days now.” A broad smile breaks across his face as he announces this feat of endurance and commitment.

Be careful handling the ivy (photo Steven P. Harrington)
It really DOES grow on trees. (photo Steven P. Harrington)

There is so much exuberance and so much to see at this show that A.D.D. seems like an excellent processing mechanism – Ramellzee’s sculpture on a highly ornate fifteenth century credenza, a French dude in a suit holding forth about the geneology of a chair, Plateus moving briskly across the floor gazing upward at the multiple canvasses and downward upon his high-gloss contorted letter sculptures, Henry Chalfants’ screen prints of miniature trains spread out on some bubble wrap, NYC’s Sharp amiably chatting with Brazillian Nunca (recently at the Tate), stencil godfather Blek le Rat sneaking outside for a cigarette where Blade is showing off the 1972 creme colored roadster he’s restoring, and, quietly, the Banksy rat glances over his shoulder.

The selections of artists for this show are not meant to be comprehensive, as is evidenced by the lack of any number of current European street artists, and almost complete lack of artists from today’s New York. What impact “Whole in the Wall” will have on current “street art” and graff movements is hard to say, but it is an often inventive way of drawing the connections and revealing the threads in a storyline that continues to be told.

Rammellzee and King Louis (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Meet you on the Kings Highway! Rammellzee and King Louis mashup (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Martha Cooper prints waiting to be hung (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Martha Cooper prints waiting to be hung (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Who let the dog in the mansion? (Blek le Rat) (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Okay, who let Sir Duke in the mansion? Don’t let him lick the gold leaf again! (Blek le Rat) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Armed nationalism on Sesame Street (Icon) (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Armed nationalism on Sesame Street (Ikon) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Chalfant
Henry Chalfant silkscreens Blade (in the show) and many others on these metallic plates that clearly evoke the subway trains of the 1970’s and 80’s. (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Helenbeck Gallery

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Whole in The Wall: 1970 – Now

May 29 to June 27, 2009:

“Whole In The Wall: 1970 – Now”

Blek Le Rat

_________________________________________

Masters from the 1970s NYC graf movement (Blade, Crash, Daze, Jonone, Quik, Lee Quinones, Rammellzee, Sharp) and European art stars (Victor Ash, Banksy, Blek le Rat, Ikon, Sozyone, Plateus) are among 19 painters, sculptors and photographers showing contemporary works in “Whole In The Wall: 1970 – Now”. It’s an unprecedented, museum-quality, 150-piece exploration of street art’s ongoing transition to, yes, fine art. The pieces are all original and rare; many are new.

piece by Sharp courtesy Helenbeck Gallery
The show is an ambitious, two-story, 25,000-sf installation on Manhattan’s industrial West Side, juxtaposing street artworks with authentic 17th Century antiques. It will be an unprecedented presentation.

The official website for “Whole In The Wall”: www.helenbeckgallery.com

Facebook group “Whole in the Wall” by Helenbeck Gallery – Paris

Brooklyn Street Art Interview with the Co-Curators of this show

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Whole In The Wall: 1970 – Now”
Friday, May 29 through Saturday, June 27
11:00 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Tuesdays through Saturdays; or by appointment
529-535 W. 35th St. @ 11th Ave. (former Splashlight Studio)

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“Whole in the Wall” interview with the Co-Curators

“Whole in the Wall” interview with the Co-Curators

“WHOLE IN THE WALL: THE LARGEST AMERICAN & EUROPEAN STREET ART EXHIBITION IN NEW YORK – ARTISTS FROM THE 70’S TO NOW”

That’s a grand claim, and the Helenbeck sisters are going to try to back it up in June. The curators of this show are planning to pair New York writers from the 70’s and 80’s with European street art stars of the 00’s and present them in Louis XIV drawing rooms furnished with genuine articles from the period.

The show’s  numbers are grand too; 150+ pieces, 25,000 square feet of exhibition space, 40 years of art.  Promising to shake collectors and historians awake to the relevance of graff and street art in the continuum of fine art, it remains largely unknown what impact this show can have on the street. At the very least, it’s a bold courageous approach to further the ongoing conversation about Street Art’s relevance to the art world.

In the midst of installation, the co-curators of the show, Brigitte & Chantal Helenbeck, give us some insight about their approach and what they hope people will get from the “Whole in the Wall”;

Brooklyn Street Art: Why does this show juxtapose theses genuine antiquities, originally created for the upper classes, with an art form more frequently associated with the working class?

Brigette & Chantal: We think that Street Art has become a real part of the contemporary art scene.  By juxtaposing these Street Art pieces with antiquities we would like to underline the entrance of contemporary street art in the history of art.

Brooklyn Street Art: Can you pick one particular pairing of an artwork and an interiors setting in this show that made you laugh with glee?

Brigette & Chantal: We never really laughed, but were often amazed and surprised to notice how two genuine and high quality works of art create a balance and a force between them, no matter which time they belong to.  The audience always finds the pairing interesting.

Brooklyn Street Art: As you know, New York (particularly Brooklyn) is currently experiencing an explosion of new street art.  Are there any particular street artists of the new crop whose work excites you?

Brigette & Chantal: We are in New York also to discover this new crop, which one day we can maybe bring to Europe so that people can discover their works in future exhibitions.  We cannot put out a name, but the spirit of our gallery, which has been an experimental territory for young or acclaimed artists, has definitely been thrilled by the extreme creativity of young artists here in New York.

Brooklyn Street Art: As co-curators and twins, have you had the same vision for this show, or do your tastes differ a great deal?

Brigette & Chantal: We are alike and very different at the same time, but we function as a team and all our final decisions are a mix of our sensitivities and tastes. We find a way to agree at the end, and what people see is a jigsaw version of the two of us.

Brooklyn Street Art: A show of this vast scope must take a huge amount of planning, logistics, and effort.  What has been the most surprising part of the process for you?

Brigette & Chantal: To discover New York in a different way, definitely. We learn from people here every day and this turns out to be an extremely interesting experience. This is the logical direction of our professional path, and also part of a journey that we’ll continue in the future.

Brooklyn Street Art: Popular perception of graff and street art continues to evolve.  When people walk away from the show, what you like them to be thinking?

Brigette & Chantal: We would like them to see that these artists and their works have their place in the contemporary art field and they are part of the future history of art.  We are satisfied when people enjoy our exhibitions and discover new forms of art and new talents. This exhibition in particular is very alive, full of movement, colorful, like the Americans are, and like this city remains despite this difficult economic crisis worldwide.

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Whole in the Wall: 1970 to Now

Friday, May 29 to Saturday, June 27
Open 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Tuesdays through Saturdays
529-535 W. 35th St. @ 11th Ave. (former Splashlight Studio)

Helenbeck Gallery

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