1. Wooly Bully! (VIDEO)
2. “International Woman” at The Warrington Museum (UK)
3. “While Supplies Last” at Pawn Works (Chicago)
4. Crossing Borders at MSA Gallery (Paris)
5. Isaac Cordal “Waiting for Climate Change” at Beaufort 04 (Flemish Coast, Belgium)
6. HOW & NOSM show you HOW they made “Reflections” (VIDEO)
7. Kid Zoom Crashes Cars (VIDEO)
WOOLY BULLY! Straight from the Desert Island – Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs!
Let’s see if you can shake it as fast as the back-up dancer lady in this video!
“International Woman” at The Warrington Museum (UK)
“International Woman” the new group show at The Warrington Museum and Gallery in Warrington, UK is open to the general public with a lineup of brilliantly talented women artists from around the world including many Street Artists: Catalina Estrada, Cheryl Dunn, Elizabeth Mcgrath, Faith 47, Hera, Kukula, Mel Kadel, Miss Van, Pam Glew, Sarah Joncas, Stella Im Hultberg, Swoon, Tara Mcpherson and Xue Wang. With so much female talent under one roof this promises to be one hot and interesting show not to miss, Miss!
For further information regarding this show click here.
“While Supplies Last” at Pawn Works (Chicago)
The Pawn Works Gallery in Chicago new show “While Supplies Last” opens this Saturday. For this show the space would be transformed into a site specific retail environment where you’d be able to purchase items from books to art from a list of artists that include: Shawnimals, Skewville, Kosbe, 5003, Ader, Amuse 126, Snacki, JC Rivera, Montgomery Perry Smith, Left Handed Wave, Max Kauffman, Nice-One, Swiv, and Jon Burgerman.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Crossing Borders at MSA Gallery (Paris)
MSA Gallery new group show “Crossing Borders” opens this Saturday in Paris, France and arttists including are: DAL, David Walker, Stinkfish, Faith47, David Shillinglaw, Martin Whatson, Klone, Snik, Otto Schade, Ben Slow, Joseph Loughborough, Inkie and Banksy:
Sculptor and conceptual artist Isaac Cordal is doing a series of outdoor installations From March 31st to September 30th, 2012 in 30 Locations spread across 9 coastal municipalities throughout the Flemish coast as part of Beaufort 04.
Mr. Cordal’s army of little cement characters are sure to stop you on your heels if you see them that is. His commentary on social issues runs deep and wide always with a humorous touch and an impeccable sense of placement:
For further information regarding this event click here.
HOW & NOSM show you HOW they made “Reflections” (VIDEO)
A custom installation by How & Nosm just finished at the new show opening next week in the Bronx called “This Side of Paradise”. See BSA coverage of the show and more photos of How & Nosm’s installation along with Crash and Daze HERE.>>“Poorhouse for the Rich” Revitalized By The Arts
Kid Zoom Crashes Cars (VIDEO)
The other Australian bad boy Kid Zoom made a video of himself building a house and crashing some cars. We have video to prove it:
1. Giants Fans in Manhattan Streets (VIDEO)
2. “F*ck Art” at Museum of Sex
3. CASA DE EMPENO at Anonymous (Mexico City)
4. “Love & Hate” Group Show at Stolen Space (London)
5. CREEPY at Okazi Gallery (Berlin)
6. Chris Stain and H. Veng Smith at C.A.V.E. Gallery (Los Angeles)
7. Winter Group Show at White Walls Gallery (San Francisco)
8. Zes and Retna new show “Excavated Revelations”
9. German duo Herakut paint a mural at Big Art Labs (VIDEO)
Giants Fans in Manhattan Streets (VIDEO) Weeeeeeeee are the CHAMPEEEEENSSSS
Streets in Manhattan were bloated with about a million crazy football fans this week as the Superbowl-winning New York Giants had a parade and almost everybody skipped school and work to go see their heroes. Office workers literally dumped garbage cans of shredded paper out the window en masse while fans poured into the city from every direction, including nearby states, to roar as the players rode by. Some people were well behaved, but they were hard to see or hear because of all the hooligans raising holy hell. Here’s a video taste of it – some seriously funny sh*t. Watch out for unbridled testosterone fueled aggression, swear words and Giants inspired freestylin. NSFW, but okay for the street.
Click here to read our article and interviews with the curators and some of the artists.
CASA DE EMPENO at Anonymous (Mexico City)
In Mexico City Anonymous Gallery new group show “Casa de Empeño” opens today to the general public. Centered around the themes of a Pawn Shop the show includes internationally recognized Street Artists Judith supine. Maya Hayuk and Davil Ellis among others.
For further information regarding this show click here
“Love & Hate” Group Show at Stolen Space (London)
“Love & Hate” the new group show at Stolen Space Gallery in London opens today to the general public. With the participation of several Street Artists from different cities including: D*Face, Dan Witz, Miss Van, Ronzo, Toshi, Will Barras, Word To Mother, Jeff Soto and EINE among others.
“F*ck Art”, an undulating and adventurous group show by New York Street Artists opens its arms and legs to you at the Museum of Sex (MoSex) tomorrow and whether it’s the human powered penetrating bicycle or the glass bead encrusted dildo, it endeavors to satisfy.
Co-curated by Emilie Baltz (Creative Director) and Mark Snyder (Director of Exhibitions), the show selects 20 current Street Artists who have pushed notions of propriety into provocation on the street and it invites them to let it loose behind closed doors. Not that Miss Van needs anyone’s permission; her sensual role-playing painted ladies have been playfully preening on graff-piled walls and blue-boarded construction sites for much of the 2000s. Similarly the powerfully stenciled sirens by Street Artist AIKO have been bending over in high heels on walls all over the world with just a hint of the geishas from her native Japan for over a decade.
The “Fuck Bike #001”, a pedal operated plunging machine by William Thomas Porter and Andrew H. Shirley, has at its conceptual base an ode to the lengths a guy will go to reach his natural objective. The two artist met at a Black Label Bike Club event called “Ridin’ Dirty” in 2010 and later schemed together to make an entry for a bike-themed group show in Bushwick, Brooklyn that featured many Street Artists like DarkClouds, Ellis G., UFO, Noah Sparkes and Mikey 907. “I approached Tom with the idea of creating a kinetic bike sculpture which you could f*ck someone with,” remembers Mr. Shirley, “Tom is a very gifted artist and bike engineer, it took a few days for him to build our design.”
Visitors to the show are invited to mount the bike and take it for a spin. “This bike is more sculpture oriented, but still functions sexually. It’s also totally interactive,” explains Mr. Shirley, who has displayed the bike in cities in Europe and America, most recently at Art Basel in Miami in December. So the bike has gotten around and Shirley happily recounts stories of intimate encounters it has had with both genders. (See the very Not-Safe-For-Work film of the bike in action below.)
The street has certainly seen an increase of fairly graphic sex related Street Art in the last decade or so as people have become more comfortable with such themes and much of this show can often be seen throughout the city without the price of admission. Gay couple Bryan Raughton and Nathan Vincent have been putting large and small scaled paste-ups of sexually themed imagery as a Street Art duo called RTTP for about two years on Manhattan’s Lower East Side and in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Short for “Reply To This Post”, the line-drawn torsos and spread eagles are all part of their collaborative Street Art project that explores the desires of men seeking men on Craigslist.
Describing the work, Vincent says it’s a process of lifting the mystery off of a just-below-the-radar Internet dating game – and pasting it on a lightpole. “Users post an ad with an image, title, and a short description of what they are looking for tonight. The photograph they post of themselves is drawn and titled with the ad’s title.” By putting these erotically based desires on the streets, Vincent thinks “they magnify those desires that often seem to live at the edges.” Says Raughton of the project, “We see it as an interesting way to take people private desires to the public street.”
In discussing the origins and underpinnings of a show like this, the co-curators reveal a more academic and sociological grounding than the prurient and salacious sauciness one might infer by a display of so much “F*ck Art”. We asked Baltz to give us a sense of the context for a Street Art driven sex show.
Brooklyn Street Art:What is your favorite part of curating a show like this? Emilie Baltz: Seeing the different interpretations and energy that each artist brings to their work is always the most interesting part of curating – with this topic, especially, it’s the fact that they are all pushing the limits of their medium by creating such provocative statements.
Brooklyn Street Art:While these pieces are behind closed doors available to a certain audience, Street Artists typically put their work out in the public. Do you think the work should change depending on the audience? Emilie Baltz: We don’t think it’s about changing the work, it’s about how the work changes the environment it lives in. Street art has a long history of revealing different perspectives on its surrounding environment and by placing this work in a museum it creates a certain energy and visual provocation that changes the relationship we traditionally have to the museum-going experience.
Brooklyn Street Art:Do you think there has been an increase in sex-related street art in recent years, and if so, why? Emilie Baltz: There definitely is an increase in sex-related conversations in recent years. It’s not that there is more content suddenly, it’s just that culture is actually ready to start talking about it now, rather than ignore it.
Brooklyn Street Art:We have noticed that themes of sex and sexuality are often quickly destroyed on the street, while other pieces remain for months. Is this a form of selective censorship by the public? Emilie Baltz: Street art is a dialogue. Its creation is about expression and commentary, and therefore can become a barometer of cultural consciousness (or unconsciousness). The intimate and emotional nature of sexual content can obviously elicit strong feelings in viewers, and, given that street art is an environmental medium, either you have to live with it or get rid of it. Sex walks a fine line between acceptance and rejection. Public response to this kind of art is potentially a mirror into how our society relates to the topic.
Brooklyn Street Art:What surprised you the most about putting this show together? Emilie Baltz: The enthusiasm from the public. People are genuinely excited to talk about sex in public space and it’s an incredible honor to be able to help facilitate that discussion.
F*CK ART
A Street Art Occupation at the Museum of Sex in New York City, opens February 8 and will run through June 10, 2012.
Emilie Baltz, Co-Curator, Creative Director, F*CK ART
Mark Snyder, Co-Curator F*CK ART, Director of Exhibitions, Museum of Sex
Meghan Coleman and Alex Emmart of Might Tanaka Gallery in Brooklyn served as Chief Advisors.
Arth daniels
Chloe early
D*Face
Dan Witz
David Bray
Kai & Sunny
Miss Van
Ronzo
Sylvia Ji
Toshi
Will Barras
Word To Mother
Von
Jeff Soto
Pete Fowler
EINE
Josie Morway
Kelly Allen
Charles Krafft
Ramon Maiden
Ryan Callanan
Curtis Kulig
William Stevenson
Following the success of ‘Gossip Well Told’ group exhibition that launched the first Warrington Contemporary Arts Festival, Frankie Shea & Tina Ziegler return to Warrington Museum in March with an exhibition called ‘International Woman’. In conjunction with Moniker Projects, ‘International Woman’ brings together a stellar roster of more than 15 artists from 10 countries, being the first exhibition in the UK that highlights the cross-over of the Pop Surrealism and Urban fine art movements under one roof. Working in underground art movements these women have forged names for themselves by pushing the boundaries of contemporary art, experimenting with new mediums, ideas and visual concepts. Individually they have enhanced the overall direction of these underground movements, and as a collective they have changed the way women are viewed in urban culture today.Exhibiting artists: Catalina Estrada, Cheryl Dunn, Elizabeth Mcgrath, Faith 47, Hera, Kukula, Mel Kadel, Miss Van, Pam Glew, Sarah Joncas, Stella Im Hultberg, Swoon, Tara Mcpherson and Xue Wang.Curated by Frankie Shea and Tina Ziegler
Opening reception: March 29 th 2012. 6pm
On display until 7 July 2012
Museum Street, Warrington, WA1 1JB. United Kingdom
www.warrington.gov.uk/museum
There is an uneasy reluctance among some artists in the graffiti and the Street Art community to let themselves be seen hanging with art collectors or even entering galleries sometimes because they might lose credibility among peers for not being ‘street’ enough. Seeing well manicured men in pinstripes and shrieking birdberry women with tinted/straightened/plumped everything looking at your shit hanging on a wall and asking vaguely patronizing questions about it like you are an exquisite curiosity could make you go out and slice their tires after downing a few white wines. Not surprisingly, “keeping it real” sometimes translates to keeping it out of private collections.
Even as there is an every-growing recognition of art and artists who work sometimes illegally in the street, it’s a sort of high-wire act for anyone associating with art born in margins, mainly because it forces one to face the fact that we marginalize.
Sociological considerations aside, over the last decade there is a less traditional definition of Street Artist entering the fray. The graffiti scene originally boasted a sort of grassroots uprising by the voiceless and economically disempowered, with a couple of art school kids and the occasional high-minded conceptualist to mix things up. It’s all changed of course – for myriad reasons – and art in the streets takes every form, medium, and background. Now we see fully formed artists with dazzling gallery careers bombing right next to first time Krinks writers, graffiti writers changing gears and doing carefully rendered figurative work, corporations trying their hand at culture jamming (which isn’t a stretch), and all manner of Street Art referred to as an “installation”.
A new book by Maximiliano Ruiz called “Walls & Frames”, just released last month by Gestalten, presents a large collection of artists who have traversed the now permeable definitions of “street”, gallery, collector and museum. Admittedly, this may be a brief period of popularity for Street Art, if the 1980s romance with graffiti is any indication, but there is evidence that it will endure in some form. This time one defining difference is that many artists have already developed skill, technique, and a fan base. Clearly the street has become a venue, a laboratory for testing and working out new ideas and techniques by fine artists, and even a valued platform for marketing oneself to a wider audience.
A spread of work by Conor Harrington in “Walls and Frames”.
The resulting work, whether hanging on a nail inside or painted on a street wall, challenges our previously defined boundaries. The current crop of street art stars and debutantes, many of the strongest whom are collected here by Ruiz, continue to stay connected with the energy of the street regardless of their trajectory elsewhere. Some are relatively new, while others have been evolving their practice since the 70s, with all the players sliding in and off the street over time. The rich and varied international collection is remarkable and leaves you wanting to see more work by many of the artists. All considered, “Wall and Frames” is a gorgeously produced book giving ample evidence that many of today’s artists in the streets are tomorrow’s masters, wherever they practice.
Artists included are Aaron Noble, AJ Fosik, Alexandre Farto aka Vhils, Alexandros Vasmoulakis, Alëxone Dizac, Amose, Andrew McAttee, Anthony Lister, Antony Micallef, Axel Void, Basco-Vazko, Base 23, Ben Frost, Blek le Rat, Bom-K, Boris Hoppek, Boxi, C215, Cekis, Conor Harrington, D*Face, Dan Witz, Daniel Muñoz aka San, Dave Kinsey, Der, Dixon, Docteur Gecko, Doze Green, Dran, Duncan Jago aka Mr. Jago, Eine, Ekundayo, El Mac, Evan Roth, Evol, Faile, Faith 47, Fefe Talavera, Gaia, George Morton-Clark, Herakut, Herbert Baglione, Interesni Kazki, Jaybo, Jeff Soto, Jeremy Fish, Jesse Hazelip, Johnny “KMNDZ” Rodriguez, Joram Roukes, Jorge Rodriguez Gerada, Josh Keyes, JR, Judith Supine, Katrin Fridriks, Kevin Cyr, Kofie, L’Atlas, Lightgraff, Logan Hicks, Ludo, M-City, Mark Jenkins, Mark Whalen aka Kill Pixie, Maya Hayuk, Medo & Demência, Meggs, Miss Bugs, Miss Van, Morten Andersen aka M2theA, Mr. Kern, Mudwig, Nicholas Di Genova, Okuda, Patrick Evoke, Paul Insect, Pedro Matos, Peter Owen, Pose, Pure Evil, Remed, Remi/Roughe, René Almanza, Retna, Ripo, Ródez, Sam3, Sat One, Shepard Fairey, Sixe, Smash 137, Sowat, Sten & Lex, Stephan Doitschinoff, Tec, Tilt, Troy Lovegates aka Other, Turf One, Vitché;, Wendell McShine, Will Barras, and Zosen.
The launch; “Walls & Frames” will be presented at Gestalten Space Berlin on December 15th.
Martyn Reed the affable bad boy from Norway curates this new show of urban and street artists who are equally at home tackling antiquated etching techniques, watercolors, drawing and oil painting as they are with a spraycan and marker. Says the impresario “On July 1st we’ll be opening one of Scandinavia’s, and certainly Norway’s, largest exhibitions dedicated to street and urban art.”
If you decide to stay in the city this holiday weekend you can incite your imagination and feed your intellectual curiosity by walking the streets for the great out door gallery, or go inside to see great new stuff.
1. Happy 70th Birthday Bob Dylan (a couple of days ago)
2. “Paint It Now” Tonight in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
3. Miss Van and Gaia Double Bill at Jonathan Levine
4. Shai Dahan Solo Show in Gothenburg, Sweden
5. Melrose & Fairfax Saturday “What Graffiti is to New York, Street Art is to Los Angeles”
6. FAILE SAYZ: PLAY WITH YOUR ART! Release Puzzle Boxes
7. DJ Mayonaise Hands Insightful Review of ELIK at Brooklynite
8. Narcelio Grud
9. FEIK in Brazil by Sampa Graffiti
Happy 70th Birthday Bob Dylan (a couple of days ago)
“Paint It Now” Tonight in Greenpoint, Brooklyn
Paint It Now makes its NYC debut in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood (just north of Williamsburg). The show’s curators, Thomas Buildmore and Scott Chasse partner with Fowler Arts Collective for this Brooklyn-centric show, although Philadelphia and Boston represent.
Miss Van “Bailarinas” and Gaia “Succession” opened last night at the Jonathan Levine Gallery in Chelsea in Manhattan. Miss Van has been painting since her teenage years in France and in Europe and Gaia is celebrating his recent graduation from MICA in Baltimore. Congratulations GAIA!
(images courtesy of the Gallery)
For more details on this show, times and address click on the link below”
Shai Dahan moved to Sweden last year and, wasting no time, he set up to work on his new art projects as soon as the plane touched ground. Today he invites all people that happen to be in Gothenburg , Sweden to come to the opening of his solo show “Things Come Undone” at the Artspace + Us Gallery.
Melrose & Fairfax Saturday “What Graffiti is to New York, Street Art is to Los Angeles”
On Saturday the West Coast Street Art site Melrose&Fairfax invites you to attend the opening reception of their curatorial debut “What Graffiti is to New York, Street Art is to Los Angeles” at the Maximillian Gallery in West Hollywood, CA.
Street Art Collective Faile have released a set of six different Puzzleboxes to the public. When we visited their studio last year they were in the process of creating these fun, interactive fine art pieces and now they are available, with an app on Itunes to boot.
For information about the Puzzleboxes and to purchase go to:
DJ Mayonaise Hands Insightful Review of ELIK at Brooklynite
Narcelio Grud
Brazilian artist Narcelio Grud was filmed getting up all day in Manhester, UK where the only thing that really got in his way was a flock of adorable baby geese crossing his path.
Miss Van “Bailarinas 5” (image courtesy of the Gallery)
Gaia “Incredulity of Redevelopment” (image courtesy of the Gallery
Miss Van
Bailarinas
Gallery I
Solo Exhibition
May 26, 2011through June 25, 2011
NEW YORK, NY (May 3, 2011) — Jonathan LeVine Gallery is pleased to announce Bailarinas, new works by French-born, Barcelona-based artist Miss Van, in what will be her second solo exhibition at the gallery and first solo show in New York in six years.
Miss Van’s signature aesthetic revolves around sultry female subjects, which she refers to as poupées (or dolls, in French), alluding to elements of fantasy and narrative in her work. Their direct gaze, pouty lips, voluptuous curves and erotic gestures have a provocative appeal—some playful, others dark—emotionally charged and empowered by uninhibited sexuality. ?Miss Van began painting these alluring figures in the streets of Toulouse, France, as a teenager nearly twenty years ago. The characters have since matured along with the artist who now works mainly in the studio, allowing time to refine her imagery through delicate pencil renderings on paper and loose brush strokes on canvas and wood. Recently, Miss Van was invited to participate in Art in the Streets, a major group exhibition currently on view at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) in Los Angeles, California.
Along with her ultra-feminine figures, Miss Van has been known to incorporate animal familiars such as deer, rabbits and foxes. These creatures have a pet-like relationship with the mysterious temptresses who wear doll-like princess dresses or ballerina-tulle skirts with hints of lingerie textures such as corsets, ruffles, lace and fishnet. The women frequently appear topless and often wear masquerade-style masks, as well. Recently, the masks have become less decorative and increasingly more animal-like, adding significance to the dialogue created by the character’s human-animal relationships by amplifying themes of identity, role-play, fetish, and freedom to express the wild (animalistic) side of natural human instinct.
The joie de vivre pleasure principle, innate in French culture, informs much of Miss Van’s body of work. In Bailarinas, a series of pastel works on paper portray isolated figures in nostalgic poses inspired by vintage erotic portraiture. Additional acrylic and mixed media works on canvas and wood panel feature subjects inspired by dancers, driven by the sensually liberating experience of self-expression through physical control and movement of the body. The performance aspect of dance and the act of putting on a seductive show for a viewer or audience reinforces themes of fantasy and desire while also offering an interesting parallel to the artist’s craft, as both are forms of visual storytelling.
Miss Van was born in 1973 in Toulouse, France and is currently based in Barcelona, Spain. In 1991, at the age of 18, the artist started painting the streets of Toulouse as one of the first female artists in the European street art scene. In 1993, Miss Van began to include poupée (doll) figures in her work, her own stylized interpretation of pin-up posed Manga-inspired characters, which would become her signature imagery. In 2003, she left France, re-locating to her current home in Barcelona, Spain. In the years since, her work has been widely published and exhibited in galleries and museums, worldwide.
Gaia
Succession
Project Room
Solo Exhibition
May 26, 2011through June 25, 2011
NEW YORK, NY (May 9, 2011) — Jonathan LeVine Gallery is pleased to present Succession, new works by Gaia, in what will be the artist’s first solo exhibition at the gallery. ?Works in Succession—comprised of drawing, painting and various relief-cut printmaking techniques—will be incorporated into a site-specific installation in the gallery’s project room. Re-creating street scenes as a background setting for his work, Gaia will transform the space, bringing the texture and energy of his urban interventions into the white box environment.
The artist’s chosen pseudonym, Gaia, is a name taken from the primordial Greek goddess personifying the Earth, more universally referred to as Mother Earth or Mother Nature. While he has been known to create portraits of human faces, Gaia’s ambiguous imagery most often depicts totemic creatures with animal heads and human bodies as well as expressive hand gestures. He occasionally fuses the features of different animals together, forming imagined, amalgamated hybrids. These chimeric subjects are filled with Art History references, inspired by various sources including biblical figures, ancient mythology and mystical folklore.
Additional layers of symbolism and interpretation emerge as Gaia’s works are encountered within the context of the urban landscape. Like apparitions, they confront the viewer as oracles with a powerful capacity to address contemporary social and environmental issues concerning consumer culture, consumption and sustainability. The juxtaposition of wild animal imagery pasted onto man-made architecture was a significant choice for the artist because, in his own words: “Having lived most of my life in New York City, I personally felt like I never had a connection to nature; it was so distant and idealistic.”
ABOUT THE ARTIST
Born in 1988 in New York City, Gaia currently divides his time between Brooklyn, New York and Baltimore, Maryland. In 2007, as a senior in High School, Gaia became interested in the growing global street art movement. Drawing influence from contemporary artists such as Swoon and Elbow-toe, he began to paste his artwork on the streets of his native New York. After experimenting locally, it was only a few years before he would expand his imagery to urban spaces in other U.S. cities as well as International locations. In May 2011, Gaia received a BFA from Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland, with a concentration in printmaking and sculpture. With sophistication beyond his years, the promising young artist’s studio work has been exhibited in galleries in New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington, DC. His street art has been documented, followed widely online and published in a number of recent publications including Beyond the Street: The 100 Leading Figures in Urban Art.
Yes, Banksy is here. The giant “Art in the Streets” show opening this weekend at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles gives a patch of real estate to the international man of mystery who has contributed greatly to the worldwide profile of this soon to be, maybe already, mainstream phenomenon known as street art. A smattering of his pranksterism is an absolute must for any show staking claim to the mantle of comprehensive survey and an excellent way to garner attention. But “Streets” gets it’s momentum by presenting a multi-torch colorful and explosive people’s history that began way before Banksy was born and likely will continue for a while after.
The neighborhood of Park Slope in Brooklyn is better known for beautiful Brownstones, impossible parking, towering maples, social liberals and baby strollers than graffiti or street art.There is one commercial strip down the upper middle of this town-y enclave,with delis and bagel shops and The New York Times on Sunday –and aside from the occasional mural or stickered paper-box, not a whole lot of Street Art action.
On a recent sunny Saturday on 5th ave and Union Street, you may have seen a window display that made you think of street art. In fact, you can see it from the street, and local artist Ryan Seslow is a huge fan of the New York Street Art scene.
Park Slope window installation by artist Ryan Seslow as a satelite to “Programmed”
Brooklyn Street Art: Tell us about yourself.
Ryan Seslow: My name is Ryan Seslow. I’m a multidisciplinary artist living and working in New York. I am also a professor of fine arts teaching studio courses between 4 colleges here in NY and I’m always involved in several different projects at once, it seems, either as an artist, curator, or both.
I feel like I’m 3 or 4 different kinds of artists all trapped into one body. I have more energy than I usually know what to do with, so I love to exercise that on artistic potential and experimentation. Making art from a very young age, my real love for art came from the inspiration I found in 1980’s graffiti, public art, and cartoons. Martha Cooper’s “Subway Art” was, and still is, one of my all-time favorite books.
I was a teenager when the b-boy movement got a hold of me. My entire family is from various parts of Brooklyn, so weekends and summers were spent combing the streets looking for inspiration, while trying to mimic the works I saw.
The original “Subway Art” book by Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant
Brooklyn Street Art: Can you talk about “Programmed” and what it’s about?
Ryan Seslow: I was recruited to do a satellite installation for “Programmed“, a show about rethinking the relationship with these electronic objects in our lives that we no longer use. The concept of the show was to synthesize the use of obsolete electronics into your work. It touches areas of recycling and the ephemeral existence of many things in today’s world.
I had already been doing this in another commercial window space for a few years, so the fit was nice and exciting. The owner also had this great public window space that he wanted to use to showcase my installation-based works, rather than just filling the space with redundant advertising so we collaborated ideas on the use of the space.
In both projects I wanted to inspire and reach the general public of Park Slope with colorful installations that would show a variety of traditional art techniques as well as more non-traditional works. The context of the commercial window space was perfect to contradict what is essentially public work.
Artist Ryan McIntosh’s piece from the “Programmed” exhibit, made from hard drives, is called “Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall” (image courtesy www.cultofmac.com)
Brooklyn Street Art: Can you talk about some of the materials you used and their significance.
Ryan Seslow: The materials are intuitive manifestations and representations of what can be used to make ART. I’m all about the allowance of communication and self-expression. The curators did ask me to emphasize the use of obsolete electronics. The Mac Support Store (the installation site) is also a hub for the recycling of used computer parts.
The store had this enormous mountain of stuff to choose from and I was drawn to the keyboards right away because keyboards are objects of serious potential; amazing tools and an intermediary means of infinite communication. Each keyboard has the potential of writing the next great literary novel or the next great resolution to help the world. The keyboards connect both the familiar and unfamiliar imagery in the installation, maybe helping the viewers create narratives between the pop icons and the technology.
“I love making art. I’m pretty much obsessed with the process of generating things. I love learning new skills, not so much to isolate the skill itself, but more to integrate it into what I am already doing. I like to test the potentials of things,” Ryan Seslow.
Brooklyn Street Art: How long did it take you to prepare for this, and do the installation?
Ryan Seslow: This installation was built in less than two hours – It is an art practice in itself.
My installations are all intuitive and immediate. I have been working pretty large for about 10 years now so the energy that goes with setting up an installation is always thrilling and I like the challenge of working with the space. Each piece is created individually, so they must hold up that way first, but the installations are 100% modular. Every piece must ultimately fit and work together as a whole by means of form, color and content.
Brooklyn Street Art: Do you think of this as street art?
Ryan Seslow: I do think of this installation as street art. I have been a lover and a participant in the medium of street art for a long time. I may be a lot more careful about when and where I put my work up than I was 10 years ago; that knowledge comes from past experiences. Art forms should be embraced as ongoing expanding things, by seeing the potential of why and how they can fit the foundation of where they began. This exercise itself forms ideas and allows for expansion.
The work is right on the street, the viewers are those walking by on the side walk, or driving by in their cars. It has been framed in glass and protected to a degree. I find this interesting as well. I anticipate more museums and galleries doing this in the future as the context of public art develops and artists continue to push its limits.
Brooklyn Street Art: Do you have any favorite Street Artists whose work you follow?
Ryan Seslow: I love and follow several street artists on a daily basis. I’m a big fan of the BSA site as well as the Wooster Collective. Some of my favorite artists are John Fekner, Michael DeFeo, Gaia , Jeff Soto, Abe Lincoln Jr., Miss Van, Faile, Bast, Robert Williams, Lady Pink , Fafi, Gary Baseman, Tim Biscup, Barry McGee, Swoon, and so many more, too many to name!
Ryan used computer pieces, paper, film, and this image of Jackie Kennedy on the screen of a monitor for the installation.
Brooklyn Street Art: How does Jackie Kennedy figure into the piece?
Ryan Seslow: Funny, Jackie O and JFK have always left this long-lasting impression on me. When the John F. Kennedy assassination was brought up to me in the 5th or 6th grade, in a history class, it never left me. I recall being really freaked out by the way I was interpreting the whole event. As time went on, by the time we got into high school, we were shown the actual assassination film itself (you know the one). At least once a year, I seek to find old and grainy images of the couple. I think they represent some form of the ephemeral with in me. They remind me that our stay here on this planet is not forever, it activates this crazy gratitude to and for all things.
60 second silent collage of the Kennedys.
Brooklyn Street Art: Do you ever hang out and spy on people who have stopped to look at your installation?
Ryan Seslow: Nah, not too much spying, but I do get people who approach me and ask some interesting questions from time to time. Kids seem to be big fans on a regular basis! I have gotten several independent commissions this way, just by creating live art that invites the public to participate by simply talking to me. I am always left with a memory of the experience.
Brooklyn Street Art: You’ve done drawing, painting, stenciling, collage, even sculpture – is there something you haven’t tried but would like to?
Ryan Seslow: That is a great question. I love making art. I’m pretty much obsessed with the process of generating things. I love learning new skills, not so much to isolate the skill itself, but more to integrate it into what I am already doing. I like to test the potentials of things. I would love to do more with the synthesis of street art, public sculpture, experimental film and collaborations.
Actually, this is what I mean; I want to collaborate more with other artists. There is so much to learn when you work with other people, which is one of the main reasons I became an art professor.
Detail from the installation by Ryan Seslow
Brooklyn Street Art: What’s the next project you’ll be working on?
Ryan Seslow: Got several things going on right now. I’m teaching 8 courses this semester, so teaching is a bit more demanding than usual. I’m also curating a special video art/experimental documentary program for The Streaming Festival in the Netherlands , working on an installation series for public art in Jericho Plaza in Long Island, a group video art stills project in Denmark, participating in MagMart in Naples, and I’m part of a top secret underground stencil project.
All images of Ryan Seslow’s work courtesy the artist.
“Programmed”: a group installation art exhibition, is curated by Michele Jaslow & Spring Hofeldt. Park Slope, Brooklyn. The show is open until March 13, 2010.
The Mac Support Store is located at 168 7th Street in Brooklyn. The store is open Monday thru Friday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. The store is closed on Sundays.
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