All posts tagged: Leo Kesting

Leo Kesting Gallery Presents: Dead Letter Playground: A Collection of Contemporary Street Art

Leo Kesting Gallery

Chris Stain (detail) Image Courtesy of Leo Kesting

Chris Stain (detail) Image Courtesy of Leo Kesting

Leo Kesting Gallery Presents:
Dead Letter Playground:
A Collection of Contemporary Street Art
June 24 – July 18, 2010
Opening Night Reception: Thur, June 24 from 7-10pm
812 Washington St (at Gansevoort) NY, NY 10014
8th Ave A, C, E and L train Stop or 1, 2, 3 to 14th St
Tue – Sat 11am – 7pm, Sun 1 – 6pm
Admission is free to the public
Phone: 917-650-3760 / 917-292-8865
http://www.leokesting.com

View the Catalog

Having left the gallery model for free form street installations, a narrative of artwork is grouped and reconstructed in a reverse white wall format late June at the Leo Kesting Gallery. The collection of prints, illustrations, paintings and installations takes its name Dead Letter Playground as a reference to the tactile paper quality of most works and the open letter format that street art has embraced as building dialog with the public.

”This collection adheres to the gallery’s principles of showcasing the most contemporary urban figurative works. These artists alter their surrounding environments, using public install as catalyst for positive reform,” states gallery co-director David Kesting. ”In contrast to dead letters not reaching their readers, these artworks embrace a playground of viewer’s eyes and an earnest public wanting more.”

“Publicly placed works last only as long as the elements or the public allow,” explains John Leo gallery co-director, “Dead Letter Playground is an opportunity to see these works in an urban-gallery environment.”

Dead letter Playground features the work of Carolyn A’Hearn, Chris Stain, Clown Soldier, Dain, DickChicken, Doze Green, Elbowtoe, Elle, Ellis G, Faro, Gaia, Head Hoods, Imminent Disaster, Jen.Lu, Jordan Seiler, Know Hope, Laura Meyers, Lee Trice, Love Me, Matt Siren, Mister Never, Nicola Verlato, Peru Ana Ana Peru, Phil Lumbang, Shark Toof, Anthony Michael Sneed and Sweet Toof.

Leo Kesting invites you to join us as we unveil Dead Letter Playground with an opening night reception for the artists on Thursday, June 24 from 7:00 – 10:00pm. The work will be on display until July 18.

Leo Kesting Gallery launched in 2003 and developed an aggressive campaign to introduce new figurative artists to collectors and art supporters. Leo Kesting offers the art viewing public an opportunity to see forthcoming talents in an intimate setting where undiscovered, cutting-edge artists are presented to the contemporary art scene.

Leo Kesting Gallery is located at 812 Washington Street at the corner of Gansevoort in Manhattan’s Meat Packing District. A, C, E or L train to 14th Street. Summer gallery hours are Tuesday to Saturday from 11am until 7pm and Sunday 1-6pm, the gallery will be closed on Mondays until after the Labor Day weekend

Leo Kesting Gallery
gallery is located at 812 Washington St New York NY 10014
phone: 917-650-3760
at the corner of Ganesvoort St
8th Ave 14th st A,C, E and L train Stop

http://www.leokesting.com

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Be a Deer, Won’t You?

For most of the 00’s the creatures of the natural world began appearing in our forward-looking art and music, like prophets,

and while it’s true that the streets are saying things, have the animals been saying things to us too?  And if so, what are we hearing? Broken Crow always has animals in his work on the street, Dennis McNett too.  Are they giving voice to the other inhabitants of the planet, inhabitants far removed from the urban jungle?

Anyway, what brought this to mind again was these two friends we met this weekend.

At the Leo Kesting booth at Fountain Art Fair (photo Steven P. Harrington)
At the Leo Kesting booth at Fountain Art Fair (photo Steven P. Harrington)

A piece by China Morbosa at her show at Alphabeta (photo Steven P. Harrington)
A piece by China Morbosa at her show at Alphabeta (photo Steven P. Harrington)

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Fountain Art Fair Rocks the Boat

Brooklyn Galleries are in the House(boat) on the Hudson

From the moment you jog across the roaring West Side Highway and dodge the racing rollerblader lane

to step onto the lurching dock, the Fountain Art Fair let’s you know that it’s not going to be a typical ride. In it’s third year, the unofficial Anti-Armory floating fair on Pier 66 features independent and non-traditional and street artists and their works.

Ahoy, Matey!

9 galleries are participating this year, including a Glowlab fund-raising mini-gallery that’s helping street artist Swoon mount a new floating spectacular exhibit in the sea, this time it will navigate the Adriatic Sea from the Karst region of Slovenia to Venice, Italy in May of 2009.  Artist Greg Haberny takes over the entire McCaig Welles booth with a cacophonic explosion of patriotic symbolism and corporate indictments in a decidedly not tongue-in-cheek installation called “The Donkey Party Game”. And AdHoc uses their wallspaces to spread the love of color, pattern, symbols and the police state with floor to ceiling installations done by Peripheral Media Projects (PMP).

Sure to entertain, the fair, mounted on a floating barge with an insecure-looking infrastructure, is by turns perplexing and powerful, frank and beguiling… just what you might expect from places that favor the art renegades.

Artists like Maya Hayuk, Royce Bannon, and infinity are part of the

Artists like Maya Hayuk, Royce Bannon, and infinity are part of the Swoon flotilla benefit. Raffle tickets are being sold to win a custom Swoon piece. (photo Steven P. Harrington)

The Donkey Party Game installation really rocks the houseboat.  Artist Greg Haberny

The Donkey Party Game installation really rocks the houseboat. Artist Greg Haberny (photo Steven P. Harrington

Police, Crowns, Purple Heads... the unusual fair (Peripheral Media Projects) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

Riot police, Crowns, Purple Heads... the unusual fair (Peripheral Media Projects) (photo Steven P. Harrington)

For more on Fountain take a look at NY1’s local news story

Fountain Art Fair

Participating Galleries

Ad Hoc Art – Brooklyn
Definition Gallery – Baltimore
Front Room – Brooklyn
Glowlab – New York
Leo Kesting – New York
McCaig-Welles – Brooklyn
Soundwalk – New York
Stuart Shepherd – New Zealand
Vagabond Gallery – New York

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