All posts tagged: LAII

“The City As Canvas” Opens with the Collection of Martin Wong

“The City As Canvas” Opens with the Collection of Martin Wong

Last night the graffiti and early Street Art history from New York’s 1970s and 80s was celebrated by the City of New York – at least in its museum. Criminals and outlaws then, art stars and legends today, many of the aerosol actors and their documentarians were on display and discussed over white wine under warm, forgiving, indirect lighting.

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DAZE in the background sliced by a wall of cans at the opening of “The City As Canvas” (photo via iPhone © Jaime Rojo)

“City as Canvas: New York City Graffiti From the Martin Wong Collection” is an exhibition as well as a book released last fall written by Carlo McCormick and Sean Corcoran, with contributions by Lee Quinones, Sacha Jenkins and Christopher Daze Ellis, and all the aforementioned were in attendance. Also spotted were artists, photographers, curators, writers (both kinds), art dealers, historians, family, friends, peers and loyal fans – naturally most fell into a few of these categories at the same time.

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“The City As Canvas” exhibition at Museum of the City of New York welcome text with pieces by Futura 2000 and Zephyr to the right. (photo via iPhone © Steven P. Harrington)

“City as Canvas” is possible thanks to the foresight, eye, and wallet of collector Martin Wong, an openly gay Chinese-American artist transplanted to New York from San Francisco, which is remarkable not only because of the rampant homophobia and near hysterical AIDS phobia at the time he was collecting but because the graffiti / Street Art scene even today throws the term “fag” around pretty easily. A trained ceramacist and painter whose professional work has gained in recognition since his death of AIDS related complications in 1999, Wong is said to have met and befriended a great number of New York graffiti artists like Lady Pink, LEE, DAZE and Futura 2000, who were picking up art supplies where he worked at the Pearl Paint store – a four story holy place on Canal Street that thrived at that time.

 Brooklyn-Street-Art-Sharp-Paints-a-Picture-copyright-Martin_WongThe show contains black books full of tags and drawings as well as canvasses and mixed media Wong purchased, commissioned, and painted, including a portrait of graffiti artist Sharp wearing a respirator and standing before a canvas he’s working on entitled Sharp Paints a Picture (1997-98).

The mood at the museum was celebratory as guests looked at the 140+ works from Wong’s collection; a cross between an art opening and a graffiti trade show, with enthusiastic peers and fans waiting patiently to speak with, pose for pictures with, and gain autographs or tags in their black books from artists in attendance. The only officers that could be seen were holding back the line of guests to make sure there was no overcrowding of the exhibit.

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The famous Martha Cooper photograph of Dondi in action in the train yards. “The City As Canvas” exhibition at Museum of the City of New York. (photo via iPhone © Jaime Rojo)

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A Keith Haring and LA2 collaboration at “The City As Canvas” exhibition at Museum of the City of New York. (photo via iPhone © Steven P. Harrington)

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Artist LA2 with Ramona “The City As Canvas” (photo via iPhone © Jaime Rojo)

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Keith Haring (Smiling Face) from 1982 at “The City As Canvas” exhibition at Museum of the City of New York. (photo via iPhone © Steven P. Harrington)

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Lee Quiñones speaking with a never ending stream of fans before his canvas Howard the Duck, 1988, at “The City As Canvas” (photo via iPhone © Jaime Rojo)

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Digital prints of images shot by photographer Henry Chalfant brought the trains alive. On top is an image of a train with Sharp/Delta 2 from 1981 and below is “Stop the Bomb” by LEE (Quiñones), 1979 at “The City As Canvas” exhibition at Museum of the City of New York. (photo via iPhone © Steven P. Harrington)

 

 

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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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Fun Friday 07.13.12

 

HERE’s  OUR TOP 13 LIST for Friday the 13th!

1. Dscreet is on “The Other Side Show” (London)
2. Neck Face is “Simply The Worst” Tonight in LA
3. Stormie Mills “Dark Lights” Friday (Perth, AU)
4. “Welcome to the Neighborhood” Low Brow Artique Grand Opening Saturday (Bushwick, BK)
5. MEGGS at White Walls (San Francisco)
6. VINZ Solo in 3 Places Saturday (Netherlands)
7. Cassius Fouler Now Open in Brooklyn
8. “Summer Selections” Group Show at Woodward (LES)
9. Morley “I Don’t Make Sense Without You”at Outsiders Gallery in Newcastle, UK
10. David Ellis and Kris Kuksi “Go West” to LA
11. Jeremy Fish at Fifty24SF Gallery in San Francisco
12. BASK One Stand in Detroit (VIDEO)
13. Snyder in Los Angeles (VIDEO)

Dscreet is on “The Other Side Show” (London)

“It will be my first solo show in four years and centers around the theme of duality – light and dark and black and white,” says Dscreet, the London based Street Artist of Burning Candy fame and infamy as he returns to the gallery with a solo show titled “The Other Side Show” at the Roktic Gallery in London. This show is now open.

For further information regarding this show click here.

Neck Face is “Simply The Worst” Tonight in LA

Neck Face returns to New Image Art Gallery in West Hollywood, CA to state why he is “Simply The Worst”. This show opens today and you are encouraged to wear something that it is not you.

Neck Face in Brooklyn, NY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Stormie Mills “Dark Lights” Friday (Perth, AU)

The Greenhill Galleries in Perth, Australia invite you to attend today’s opening of Stormie Mills’ solo show “Dark Lights”.

Stormie Mills in Queens, NY for Welling Court (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stormie Mills (image © courtesy of the gallery)

For further information regarding this show click here.

“Welcome to the Neighborhood” Low Brow Artique Grand Opening Saturday (Bushwick, BK)

Uh-Oh, there goes the neighborhood. Tomorrow Street Artist Bishop 203 invites you to the grand opening of his gallery and art shop Low Brow Artique in Bushwick.

The opening will be celebrated with a group exhibition of Brooklyn based Street Artists including Cern, Clown Soldier, Elle, ENX, See One, Sheryo, Willow and Yok.  Come wish this impresario good luck. An art supply spot in the front and a gallery in the back, “Low Brow” hopes to raise some eyebrows tomorrow night.

Willow in Bushwick (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

 

MEGGS at White Walls (San Francisco)

“Mythology tells the stories of gods, heroes, humans and supernatural beings as the personification of natural phenomena and more importantly the human condition… ” Saturday Meggs delves deeper into the subject of fantasy in San Francisco for his new solo show “Truth in Myth” opening tomorrow at the White Walls Gallery.

Meggs Red Skull. Detail. (image courtesy of the gallery)

For further information regarding this show click here.

VINZ Solo in 3 Places Saturday (Netherlands)

Spanish Street Artist VINZ has invaded Amsterdam with “Rules of Etiquette” his first solo show in The Netherlands opening tomorrow on three different locations: The Garage, Andenken Gallery and Battalion.

Vinz in Brooklyn, NY. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Cassius Fouler Now Open in Brooklyn

Opened last night at Weldon Arts Gallery, “Four Borough” is a cool collection from Cassius as he continues to merge symbols and irony and inside jokes with a deceptively simple and friendly hand delivery.

Cassius Fouler from his show “Four Borough”.

Click here for more details on this show.

“Summer Selections” Group Show at Woodward (LES)

Woodward Gallery has put together “Summer Selections” an eclectic show of dead and alive artists, with some modern and contemporary masters mixed in with a select group of Street Artists that might or might not be the masters of tomorrow. Come in, cool off and judge for yourself.

Kosbe. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artists included are : Jean Michel Basquiat • Rick Begneaud • Susan Breen • Thomas Buildmore • Alexander Calder • Celso • Deborah Claxton • Darkcloud • Paul Gauguin • Sybil Gibson • Richard Hambleton • Curt Hoppe • Infinity • Jasper Johns • Russell King • Kosbe • LAII • Moody • Margaret Morrison • Mel Ramos • Robert Rauschenberg • Matt Siren • stikman • Jeremy Szopinski • Francesco Tumbiolo • Jo Ellen Van Ouwerkerk • Andy Warhol.

This show is now open to the general public. Click here for more details on this show.

Also happening this weekend:

The Outsiders Gallery in Newcastle, UK new show featuring Morley and entitled “I Don’t Make Sense Without You” is now open to the general public. Click here for more details on this show.

The Joshua Liner Gallery new show in Los Angeles at the Mark Moore Gallery pairs David Ellis and Kris Kuksi for “Go West”. This show is opens tomorrow in Culver City, CA. Click here for more details on this show.

Jeremy Fish is at the Fifty24SF Gallery in San Francisco with the opening tomorrow of his new show “Where Hearts Get Left”. Click here for more details about this show.

BASK One Stand in Detroit (VIDEO)

A quick look at how BASK did his recent piece in Detroit.

 

Snyder in Los Angeles (VIDEO)

For Street Art that verges on handmade crafting and display work, here’s a homey installation from Snyder.

 

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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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Woodward Gallery Presents: “Summer Selections” A Group Exhibition (Manhattan, NY)

Summer Selections

Summer Selections
July 12 – August 4, 2012

Featuring an array of legendary artists grouped with new masters

Artists Include:

Jean Michel Basquiat • Rick Begneaud • Susan Breen • Thomas Buildmore • Alexander Calder
Celso • Deborah Claxton • Darkcloud • Paul Gauguin • Sybil Gibson • Richard Hambleton
Curt Hoppe • Infinity • Jasper Johns • Russell King • Kosbe • LAII • Moody
Margaret Morrison • Mel Ramos • Robert Rauschenberg • Matt Siren • stikman
Jeremy Szopinski • Francesco Tumbiolo • Jo Ellen Van Ouwerkerk • Andy Warhol

133 Eldridge St. New York, NY 10003

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UR New York hits Woodward Project; New Video Debut at BSA

UR New York hits Woodward Project; New Video Debut at BSA

“Eye of the Beholder”, 2esae and Ski Challenge Themselves to a New Freestyle

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UR New York’s 2esae in their studio is projecting and painting by hand, a new process that made both he and Ski a little nervous, to tell the truth. (Photo courtesy of the artists © UR New York)

This week UR New York is rocking the four-panel spot across the street from Woodward Gallery in the Lower East Side of Manhattan.  The born-and-raised New York duo, who have both done graffiti in the past, have been working hard year-round on the streets of Soho selling their art for about 3 years . With their folding tables displaying original screened and sprayed urban image collage, they’ve built a serious fan base. With themselves as their own best reps, they’ve also landed their work in shows and private collections and even corporate lobbies. Always hustling and always challenging themselves to take it to the next level, they’re pretty stoked to fill this spot that has hosted a number of New York’s hometown favorite Street Artists over the last few years.

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The new four panel piece by UR New York (photo © Jaime Rojo)

To mark the new installation, 2easae and Ski wanted to do something new and creative so they painted everything by hand instead of using screens and stencils. The results are somehow more personal and inviting. Stretching beyond their comfort level, they also took on something more abstract. When an artist does something courageous like going outside what is safe for them, you gotta applaud. According to the guys, the end result was a feeling that they were more connected to this piece than others they’ve worked on. They also scored a greater appreciation for artists who work by hand.

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Two panels chillin on the street by UR New York (Photo courtesy of the artists © URNewYork)

Brooklyn Street Art: Can you talk a little about the actual shapes and symbols you used and what pushed you toward them?
UR New York:
We decided to use different symbols, and arrows in particular, to represent the different directions we may take in life. When you look at our work traditionally it’s detailed and defined with elements of graffiti. We started this project taking a completely different route. We figured we’d use simple imagery to convey an abstract feeling.

Brooklyn Street Art: Can each panel stand as a piece by itself or is it meant to be as a single piece only?
UR New York:
The initial thought was for the four panels to create a narrative. Artistically each panel was structured to stand alone but when they come together you grasp the full vision of the piece.

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UR New York, detail of “Eye of the Beholder” (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Talk a little bit about how you feel about changing it up stylistically.
UR New York: Changing our style of work is refreshing. As much as we love urban landscapes and graffiti, we decided to try something different and slightly out of our element. We get a thrill out of trying new techniques and styles. Our audience and supporters are always expecting something fresh and new. It’s exciting to deliver and get positive and creative feedback.

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UR New York, detail of “Eye of the Beholder”(Photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Do you always bring graffiti to the game?
UR New York: Our style is as unique as a fingerprint but an element of graffiti will always play a role in our artwork. It’s part of our background and we pay homage to the roots and culture of where this all started for us.

Video Debut of “Eye of the Beholder”, starring UR New York in studio.

Visit URNewYork online here:

Now on view at Woodward Gallery Project Space:
UR New York, “Eye of the Beholder”

Previous Installations by:

Cycle, Forest Spirit
Kenji Nakayama, Brooklyn
FARO, Mood Swingz
El Celso, Sardana
Stikman, Double Vision
Michael De Feo, New Territories
Royce Bannon, Conversation with Monsters
Lady Pink, Pink Brick Woman Reclining
Sonne Hernandez, The Revolution Will Be Televised
LAII, Stop the War
Terence Netter
JM Rizzi, Chinese New Year
Matt Siren & Darkcloud

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(Photo courtesy of the artists © URNewYork)

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Weekend Roundup: Winds, Swoon, Woodward, Brooklynite, & TrustoCorp Hipster-Feeding

It’s the month of May and this weekend you couldn’t bear to be on the streets of NYC –

Even though we managed to see new stuff INDOORS by Swoon, Matt Siren, Royce Bannon, Michael DeFeo, Stikman, Celso, DarkCloud, LAII, Deekers, M-City, and Dolk – The cold, high winds made street walking quite uninviting and threatened to blow the top off of Swoons’ Konbit shelter installation along the East River while she signed copies of her new book inside Urban Arts Projects.

Along Williamsburgs’ fabled Bedford Ave. yesterday you would have expected hipsters and the college kids who emulate them to be slavishly completing their brunches and slumpingly parading to a stylized dodgeball game at McCarren Park. There they would be chugging from giant styrofoam cups of beer purchased from The Turkey’s Nest and texting friends about their TOTES crazy life.

Instead all that could be found were hearty Polish ladies with corsages pinned on their heavy woolen coats from the Mother’s Day Services at church, a few of the regular lumpy neighborhood drunks slouched and drooping off the park benches, and some miserable young families forced out of their apartments by sheer child-driven insanity.

That’s why this newly discovered sign by TrustoCorp almost seemed like a cheery promise of warm weather, asymmetric haircuts, neckbeards, and hand-rolled cigarettes just around the corner.

This place is a zoo.  Trustocorp anticipates an ironic kickball game to come... (crappy phone photo © Steven P. Harrington)
They Don’t Eat Much Anyway —This place will soon be a zoo, and Trustocorp anticipates a number of ironic kickball games yet  to come… (crappy phone photo © Steven P. Harrington)
Dark Clouds at Woodward (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Dark Clouds at Woodward (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Matt Siren at Woodward  (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Matt Siren at Woodward (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Stikman at Woodward  (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Stikman at Woodward (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

At Brooklynite the crowd was pumpin' to the sounds of DJ Evil EE in the backyard and looking at new work from M-City and Dolk,while this fellow and his boyz were banging out a street rhythm on the sidewalk in front of the gallery.  (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

In BedStuy, Brooklynite the crowd was pumpin' to the sounds of DJ Evil EE in the backyard and looking at new work from M-City and Dolk,while this fellow and his boyz were banging out a street rhythm on the sidewalk in front of the gallery. (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Dolk and M-City at Brooklynite  (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

Dolk and M-City at Brooklynite (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

In the backyard gallery at Brooklynite this Dolk was lit from below quite effectively  (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

In the backyard gallery at Brooklynite this Dolk was lit from below quite effectively (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

M-City and Dolk at Brooklynite  (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

M-City and Dolk at Brooklynite (photo © Steven P. Harrington)

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The Week in Images 11.16.08

The Week in Images 11.16.08

Paul Kostabi and LAII laboring on a mural   (photo Paul Kostabi)

Paul Kostabi and LAII laboring on a mural (photo Paul Kostabi)

Celso, Robots Will Kill, Royce Bannon, Skewville, Kos and More! (photo Jaime Rojo)

Cake Reveals the Inside Story        (photo Jaime Rojo)

Cake Reveals the Inside Story (photo Jaime Rojo)

Where's the Pool?    Mike Marcus      (photo Jaime Rojo)

Lead Us to Your Lifeguard             Mike Marcus (photo Jaime Rojo)

Googly Eye Cru      (photo Jaime Rojo)

Googly Eye Cru (photo Jaime Rojo)

Is This About Greek Voodoo?     Hellbent    (photo Jaime Rojo)

Is This About Greek Voodoo? Hellbent (photo Jaime Rojo)

Now Starring at Factory Fresh, Mr. Stickman      (photo Jaime Rojo)

Now Starring at Factory Fresh, Mr. Stickman (photo Jaime Rojo)

Robots Will Kill and Paint        (photo Jaime Rojo)

Robots Will Kill and Paint (photo Jaime Rojo)

Mutiny on the Ledge!    General Howe       (photo Jaime Rojo)

Mutiny on the Ledge! General Howe (photo Jaime Rojo)

Hellbent for Dumpsters         (photo Jaime Rojo)

Hellbent for Dumpsters (photo Jaime Rojo)

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AMAZING discoveries are Infinite in Bushwick

AMAZING discoveries are Infinite in Bushwick

Who's that girl staring out from the maze? (photo Celso)

Staring through the window of Factory Fresh (photo Celso)

Brooklyn street artist Infinity talks about his new show with Celso and friends, symbolism, and how we are all “big bang breath”

Part of the appeal of street art is the act of discovery. Even though urban planners may love to tell you that the chaotic grid of broken streets in New York’s largest borough have logic, I’m always getting lost. It’s a giant maze of wonderment and frustration.

And don’t tell me that GPS is going to solve that problem…. BTW, Don’t you love your newly techno-nuttified corner taxi service guy now that he’s got one of those $79 electronic global positioning map rectangles perched atop his dashboard? – you climb in the back seat and suddenly he’s going 115 miles an hour down side streets with his eyes sucked into that little screen like it’s real live PSP crack, blithely running over dogs and small children in real time!

Right, so this artists’ life — it’s about discovery, a veritable MAZE of possibilities around every corner in Brooklyn neighborhoods; Art, advertisements, billboards, street signs – everybody is always communicating. Maybe you are going to find a new Swoon smacked up under the highway, or maybe you’ll find a cat smashed on the pavement. Or maybe you’ll see that new HELLBENT angel with arrows sticking in her torso. And it’s right next to a Judith Supine way up on the side of a factory. How do they get up there anyway?

Keep your eyes peeled, the messages on the street seem infinite. Just ask Infinity! He is co-curating a maze of his own with Celso, opening this weekend at Factory Fresh. Infinity says the maze reflects his own interpretation of the streets, “For me the maze is like our urban cityscape, a semiotic landscape of signs and symbols, messages to buy, expressions of human spirit, traffic regulations, political persuasions, etcetera”.

Celso calls their new installation, “a multidimensional environment designed to overwhelm the senses”. Together these two ELC alumni have completely been pushing themselves and each other to make a great show of it – and they’ve brought along 3 friends to add to the mix; the newly morphing Stikman, the New York multi-storied old-schooler LAII, and relative newcomer Cbeauty.

Collaboration is the key for Infinity, Celso, and the Stikman (photo Celso)

Collaboration is the key for Infinity, Celso, and the Stikman (photo Celso)

Infinity took a moment to talk with us about his approach to the creative spirit and the upcoming show;
Brooklyn Street Art: How did you come up with the idea of A MAZE?

Infinity
: I don’t know exactly where Celso got his initial inspiration, but I was immediately into it when we started throwing ideas around in the spray room in our studios. We’ve totally crushed the walls in there so we are surrounded by two-stories of art by our friends and us. Basically we work in a maze of art. Osmosis in the petri dish.

Celso and I painted the majority of the walls, which are 6×10 feet, but Stikman, LA2, and Cbeauty worked on a few too. We are showing all kinds of smaller pieces, art objects and books too. Stikman has a customized-condom dispenser, and I’ll be showing my passion poster series. The backyard will have some sculptural stuff and also a new mural. LA2 will be hooking up a DJ and possibly break dancers.

Brooklyn Street Art: How does the MAZE reflect the urban cityscape and your experience on the street?
Infinity: I find it interesting that the painted maze ends up being like a diorama of a city, creating a simile, like an urban semiotic landscape. The city is a maze of signs and symbols, messages, coercion, personal expressions, traffic regulations, political persuasions, buy-sell-buy-sell, etc. Everything is crafted to tell us something by someone, and it’s all mediated, and the medium is the mess! It’s all mediated by the exchange of money and private property, whether it’s an advertiser, your clothes, your privacy, the government, or the ruling class making everything monolithic and orderly so they/we can feel safe, in control and keep us/them in line. I have no friends living in Manhattan any longer. Broken window theory? Human spirit before real estate! It’s the paradox of safety versus control.

But, for me, I think our painted maze-scape is a celebration, a burst of the human spirit, an amazing month of collaboration, improvisation, and experimentation. Although Manhattan might eventually be one sterile monolithic symbol of power, of real estate over people, so every time someone makes art, has a show, or puts something out, I enjoy it as some kind of communication, a rallying yelp, an aesthetic action, a statement in favor of the individual, the mutating aspiring tumescent resonant human spirit. We are big bang breath and we are mutating our culture, and eventually our biology, our cells, our dna. Rewrite the human genome!!!

Layers of figures and DNA strands (photo Celso)

Layers of figures and DNA strands (photo Celso)

Brooklyn Street Art: Is it true you guys did some dumpster-diving to create this show?
Infinity:We were going to build the walls but luckily fate intervened. El Mighty Celso just happened to notice eight union-built, theatre set walls in the garbage in Manhattan. He immediately rented a truck and brought them to the studio. My hero. Such great quality and totally free. A cool connection to and energy from the City. Then we spent a month just painting ‘em back and forth, over and over. It was one of the most fun months ever in my life.

Brooklyn Street Art: Infinity, your work is full of symbols, like scientific notations, maybe they are little DNA strands… And in collaborative pieces you like to mix your DNA symbols freely. Are you trying to fool around with the gene pool?
Infinity:A resonant symbol can change everything from the mind to the heart to the cells. I am working on a Grand Semiotic Unification Theory to tie together all the different sign systems from different disciplines, such as chemistry, algebra, the alphabet, and create grammatically mutating equations of unity, aspiration, and infiltration. This should allow for a cohesion and amplification of resonance of the resulting talismans, the recombinant charms, so that this resulting lexicon would be the equivalent of a witch’s spell book, and we could simply twitch our noses, and advance humanity.

Putting stuff on the street imbues it with a statement based in personal risk, masked-avenger mystery and anti-status-quo symbolism. It can be a direct personal connection, an unmediated communication from artist to viewer, amplifying the resonance, and multiplying transmissions.

So the ugly duckling, the errant lunatic, the artistic psychotic, the political activist, the disenfranchised, the visionary evangelist, etc. can take matters into there own hands, hit the streets, and spread the word, the seeds, their respelled genome. This allows for that one lone mutant prestidigitator to cut through the system and mutate our cultural DNA, giving it a chance to change the world. 88+)

Brooklyn Street Art: Can you talk a little bit about the other artists in the show? Is Stikman kind of skinny and robotic?
Infinity: I dont know… He uses a cloaking device most of the time …

Brooklyn Street Art: Where did LA2 come from?
Infinity: He is an old-school graffiti artist from the Lower East Side in Manhattan. He grew up there in the Seventies where he met Keith Haring and became a constant collaborator. His work still resonates with that energy and practically shakes itself off the wall with its visual vibrations.

Brooklyn Street Art: Is this the first show for Cbeauty?
Infinity: Yes. She does beautiful stencils, drawings and wheat pastes. Like Stikman, she is a phantom, only revealing herself through her aesthetic apparitions.

Brooklyn Street Art: You suffered some serious back problems this year, which really limited your ability to move around much. How did that affect your creative life?
Infinity: I was laid up with a pinched nerve for three months, confined pretty much to a matt on the floor, crawling to physical therapy three times a week. I became totally stir crazy and depressed, but at least a few interesting paintings, and a new compositional strategy, came out of it. One time, when I was panicking about getting supplies for the work for this show, I just took the panels off of the cabinets in the kitchen and bathroom and did some very intense ink-and-scratch paintings on them. They have some weird energy now, covered with a kind of agoraphobic, toxic spew, like fumes from all the chemicals and poisonous products mixing and mutating underneath your sink, your skin, your cells.

Brooklyn Street Art: Is Celso kind of Bossy?
Infinity: Huh? No. But very interesting and revealing question. I’m betting that there is someone else out there who could answer it cattier than I.

Show Me the Munny! (photo Celso)

Show Me the Munny! (photo Celso)

Brooklyn Street Art: You have a little book in the show called APPENDIX: ANTHEM. Is it self-published?
Infinity: Yes. I like to make personal little books, especially mini-comics and chapbooks, which are xeroxed, but also have a personal touch involved. Falls somewhere between book arts and artist’s books.

Brooklyn Street Art: Can you talk about what’s inside the book?
Infinity: First, I used orange spray paint in specified spots on graph paper. Then I xeroxed a handwritten pencil manuscript onto the pages. Lastly, it was saddle-stapled with a black cover. Its called APPENDIX: ANTHEM because its sort of a poetic lexicon that attempts to define some of the words and symbols that I use as motifs in my work. It’s also about the aspirational nature of the human spirit as expressed through street art, the community it creates, and its affect on mainstream culture. But mainly it’s a celebration of all the great people that I have in my life now since first sending a street signal. Thank you!!!

One of Celso's senoritas (photo Celso)

One of Celso’s Senioritas (photo Celso)

Brooklyn Street Art: Are you working on ideas for your next show?
Infinity: There are a couple cool ELC + friends shows in the works for next year which I am really excited about. Abe Lincoln Jr,! Royce Bannon! Anera! Kickin’ ass! Then in January there is the AdHoc/ThinkSpace group show in Los Angeles which we are all in too. I also am working on a game composition or the visual arts called TRIDENT. It’s a creation strategy for a quartet of painters based on cue cards, dice and a timer. The cards are a comprehensive system categorizing all aspects of the creative process. This system creates an authority-and-ego-free environment of inspiration and collaboration. I hope to finish the piece soon and start rehearsals, but who knows because I’ve been sayin that for two years now! I also have a solo game piece that I hope to perform which I haven’t done since 2006.

The exhibition opens Friday November 14 at Factory Fresh Gallery and in addition to tackling the whole space, check out the special performances in the back yard.

FOR MORE INFORMATION SEE THE EVENTS CALENDAR AND CLICK ON NOVEMBER 14

Infinity Link

Endless Love Crew

Factory Fresh Gallery

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