To introduce readers to some of the Street Artists in the upcoming show “Street Art Saved My Life: 39 New York Stories”, BSA asked a number of the artists to take part in “Back Talk” with one of our most trusted and underground and sweet sources for modern art, Juxtapoz.
Today we hear from Anthony Lister.
Artists you admire: “The ones that do it for love and discovery.”
Brooklyn Street Art Presents Street Art Saved My Life : 39 New York Stories in collaboration with ThinkSpace Gallery, an art show to exhibit at C.A.V.E. Gallery in Venice (LA), California on Friday, August 12, 2011.
Street Art Saved My Life : 39 New York Stories heralds the new highly individual character of stories being told on the streets of New York by brand new and established Street Artists from all over the world. Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo, founders of BrooklynStreetArt.com focus on this flashpoint in modern Street Art evolution by curating a strongly eclectic story-driven gallery show with 39 of the best storytellers hitting the streets of New York.
Street Art Saved My Life : 39 New York Stories, the gallery show, accompanied by an LA street wall series by selected artists and a public panel lecture and discussion, intends to stake out the New Guard in street art while recognizing some powerful near-legendary forerunners.
The mainly New York lineup exhibits talent from other parts of the US and internationally (Australia, France, UK, Canada, Israel, Germany) and it is as steely, idiosyncratic and storied as the New York scene itself, including Anthony Lister, Adam Void, Broken Crow, C215, Cake, Chris Stain, Clown Soldier, Creepy, Dan Witz, El Sol 25, Ema, Faile, Futura, Gaia, Gilf!, Hargo, Hellbent, How & Nosm, Imminent Disaster, Indigo, Judith Supine, Kid Acne, Know Hope, Ludo, Mark Carvalho, Miss Bugs, Nick Walker, NohJColey, Over Under, Radical!, Rene Gagnon, Skewville, Specter, Sweet Toof, Swoon, Tip Toe, Troy Lovegates AKA Other, Various & Gould, and White Cocoa.
The staunch individualists in Street Art Saved My Life : 39 New York Stories give voice to the evolution of the Graffiti, Mash-Up, and D.I.Y. movements that birthed them; creating an eccentric, highly individual, and raucous visual experience on the street. With widely varied backgrounds, techniques, and materials at play, “The Story” is the story. With truths as diverse and difficult as the city itself, each one of these artists is a part of a fierce, raw, new storytelling tradition that is evolving daily before our eyes.
Show Name: Street Art Saved My Life : 39 New York Stories
Location: C.A.V.E. Gallery, 1108 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, California 90291
Date: Opening reception Friday August 12, 2011
Duration: August 12 – September 4, 2011.
Online Press Release: http://mim.io/692a11
Contact: Info@BrooklynStreetArt.com
Presented by Brooklyn Street Art in collaboration with ThinkSpace and C.A.V.E
Curated by Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo of BrooklynStreetArt.com
Brooklyn Street Art is proud to collaborate with ThinkSpace Gallery and C.A.V.E. Gallery.Please note that the show will be at C.A.V.E. Gallery. Thank you.
Thinkspace Art Gallerywww.thinkspacegallery.com
6009 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90232 (310) 558-3375
Wed – Fri 1PM-6PM Sat 1PM-8PM contact@thinkspacegallery.com
C.A.V.E. Gallery (location of the show) www.cavegallery.net
1108 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Venice CA 90291, (310) 450-6560
Wed – Sun 12PM-6PM or by appointment info@cavegallery.net
Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo are founders of BrooklynStreetArt.com and co-authors of Brooklyn Street Art and Street Art New York, both by Prestel Publishing (Random House). Harrington and Rojo are also contributing writers on street art for The Huffington Post.
London Police and David Choe at Eatern District Tomorrow
VIDEO Show at Eastern District in Bushwick Saturday
And if you are in New York this Saturday head over to Eastern District for an Art and Video installation featuring original works by David Choe, The London Police, Franki Chan, Cherly Dunn, Gluekit, Matt Goldman, Cody Hudson & Jared Eberhardt, Mackie Osborne, Souther Salazar, and SSUR
Pop Plus Punk Sunday with Exit Art show at Littlefield in GOWANUS
This Sunday head over to Brooklyn’s Gowanus section for Exit Art’s Pop Art Explosion. A fun group show and punk music featuring works by Street Artists Tip Toe and Pork among others.
As we start a new year, we say thank you for the last one.
And Thank You to the artists who shared their 11 Wishes for 2011 with Brooklyn Street Art; Conor Harrington, Eli Cook, Indigo, Gilf, Todd Mazer, Vasco Mucci, Kimberly Brooks, Rusty Rehl, Tip Toe, Samson, and Ludo. You each contributed a very cool gift to the BSA family, and we’re grateful.
We looked over the last year to take in all the great projects we were in and fascinating people we had the pleasure to work with. It was a helluva year, and please take a look at the highlights to get an idea what a rich cultural explosion we are all a part of at this moment.
The new year already has some amazing new opportunities to celebrate Street Art and artists. We are looking forward to meeting you and playing with you and working with you in 2011.
For 11 days we’re presenting 11 artists and BSA readers and their wishes for the new year, 2011, in no particular order. Together, they are a tiny snapshot of the people who are creators and fans of street art. Individually, each has added their expression of the creative spirit to the year now ending.
Today’s wish comes from Brooklyn based Street Artist Tip Toe, who is originally from Chicago, and who regularly does battle on the street with beasts of mythology and metaphor;
I wish those wounds will finally heal and that there are brighter futures ahead for all of us.
We’re very grateful for a wildly prolific year of Street Art as it continued to explode all over New York (and a lot of other places too). For one full year we’ve been granted the gift of seeing art on the streets and countless moments of inspiration. Whether you are rich or poor in your pocket, the creative spirit on the street in New York makes you rich in your heart and mind.
To the New York City artists that make this city a lot more alive every day we say thank you.
To the artists from all over world that passed through we say thank you.
To our colleagues and peers for their support and enthusiasm we say thank you.
To the gallery owners and curators for providing the artists a place to show their stuff and for providing all of us a safe place to gather, talk, share art, laugh, enjoy great music and free booze we say thank you.
To our project collaborators for sharing your talents and insights and opinions and for keeping the flame alive we say thank you.
And finally to our friends, readers and fans; Our hearts go out to you for lighting the way and for cheering us on. Thank you.
Each Sunday we featured Images of the Week, and we painfully narrowed that field to about 100 pieces in this quick video. It’s not an encyclopedia, it’s collage of our own. We remember the moment of discovery, the mood, the light and the day when we photographed them. For us it’s inspiration in this whacked out city that is always on the move.
The following artists are featured in the video and are listed here in alphabetical order:
Aakash Nihalani,Bansky, Barry McGee, Bask ,Bast, Beau, MBW, Bishop ,Boxi, Cake, The Dude Company, Chris RWK, Chris Stain, Dain, Dan Witz ,Dolk ,El Mac, El Sol 25, Elbow Toe, Faile, Feral, Overunder, Gaia, General Howe, Hellbent, Hush, Imminent Disaster, Jeff Aerosol, Jeff Soto, JMR ,Judith Supine ,K-Guy ,Labrona, Lister, Lucy McLauchlan, Ludo, Armsrock, MCity, Miso, Momo, Nick Walker, Nina Pandolfo, NohjColey, Nosm, Ariz, How, Tats Cru, Os Gemeos, Futura, Pisa 73, Poster Boy, QRST, Remi Rough, Stormie Mills, Retna, Roa, Ron English, Sever, She 155, Shepard Fairey ,Specter, Sten & Lex, Samson, Surge I, Sweet Toof, Swoon, Tes One, Tip Toe, Tristan Eaton, Trusto Corp, Typo, Various and Gould, Veng RWK, ECB, White Cocoa, Wing, WK Interact, Yote.
Our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring; Clown Soldier, K-Guy, Kenny Scharf, Shin Shin, Skewville, TipToe, and Wing
First NYC celebrated downtown artist, Street Artist, and Brooklyn resident Kenny Scharf. We have his first installed roll-down pieces in Chelsea that are part of his city wide project “The Street Gallery” with Anonymous Gallery and we have him in progress doing his large-scale mural on the Houston Street wall.
British Street Artist K-Guy was recently in NYC for a show at the new Chelsea spot Indica Gallery, which is named after the original Indica Gallery in Mason’s Yard, London. His new piece for Amnesty International is called “Blood on your Hands”, pointedly incriminating the masters of industry who profit from child labor and other inhumanity.
Next it’s a brand new collaboration between Shin Shin and Wing. Both artists create a fantastic version of the natural world, insinuating themselves into Street Art milieus with still life compositions of flowers and animals.
Rebellious Outcast: Demystifying The Greek Mythological Monster
In an effort to understand themselves, humans have invented gods and monsters for millenia.
Ovid described the Minotaur as a “part man and part bull”. The Greeks thought of it as a monster best kept in a labyrinth, a wild untamed man-beast who took only his own advice. At best, the Greeks achieved with the Minotaur a warped parabolic mirror of themselves but at worst (and in most cases), they shift the responsibility of their own actions unto creatures; divine, pop and otherwise well out of reach of their own realm.
Chicago based street artist TipToe has been inspired by the Minotaur for some of his recent creations; two versions of the mythological beast have recently pounded the pavement of Brooklyn. He explains to BSA the psychological and societal dynamics that come into play for him when creating the pieces:
“Lets start with the original myth. The Minotaur is the bull-headed offspring of the Queen of Crete, conceived in an adulterous affair with the Cretan Bull who was gifted to Minos, the King of Crete, from the god Poseidon. In an effort to hide the shame brought to his kingdom, Minos commissioned the construction of the Labyrinth and condemned the Minotaur to it.
In doing so, the Minotaur was freed from the social conditioning of Parental Guidance or Societal law; making the Minotaur Pure, in that he had nothing but his own intuition for guidance. Though I don’t necessarily think that the Minotaur is violent or evil; these traits, I think, were imposed upon the Minotaur by those condemned to the darkness of the Labyrinth there after. These shallow people, lost in the dark, would surly stumble upon the beast and be stricken with terror and violent inclination, but these traits were reflections of themselves. They imposed their own ugliness upon the Minotaur, so the Minotaur became a mirror of their own predisposition.
The Labyrinth through out the years has come to represent: social imposition; boredom; the institution; the dark recesses of the mind where one hides their repressed impulses; all of which, in a way, are definitions of hell. For me the Labyrinth is the city itself and the Minotaur, like the street artist, is its champion, to be embraced (not destroyed).
I believe it was Nietzsche who said, ‘Be careful when you cast out your demons that you don’t throw away the best part of yourself.‘ ”
Our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Daily Void, El Sol 25, Hebru, Homer, JMR, K-Guy, Loaf, OverUnder, Quel Beast, Radical, Tip Toe, Veng RWK, and Wizzard Sleeve
K-Guy Readies a Sign for the Pope
K-GUY has a commentary on the hypocritical practices of the Catholic Church with this piece enitled “See-No-Hear-No-Speak-No”, timed to coincide with The Pope’s visit to London.
To see more work of the above featured artists click on the artist’s links on the menu on the top, scroll down the list of artists to find the artist’s site you wish to visit.
Our weekly interview with the Streets: This week featuring Os Gemeos, Futura, Feral, MOMO, Overunder, Peat Wollaeger, URNewYork, $howta, White Cocoa, QRST, Michael Williams, Yote, and Tip Toe
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
To introduce readers to some of the Street Artists in the upcoming show “Street Art Saved My Life: 39 New York Stories”, BSA asked a number of the artists to take part in “Back Talk” with one of our most trusted and underground and sweet sources for modern art, Juxtapoz.
Crotched objects began appearing on the street this year. © Jaime Rojo
