December 2009

“Poster Boy” in Miami: “HOPE” and “CHANGE” Questioned

December 5, 2009 Artists

Banner attributed to New York’s “Poster Boy” Hi-Jacks Izod, Celebrates Brooklyn, and Lambastes Obama as Grim Reaper in a Jeep: Stunt Stunted in 20 Minutes.

Last December at this time world renowned street artist Shepard Fairey was finishing up his design for the cover of Time Magazine’s “Person of the Year”. The celebrated graphic design style of Fairey was in high demand after his designs for posters depicting Candidate and eventual President Obama were partially credited for giving populist voice to a campaign of “Change” and “Hope”.

IF YOU LOSE THE STREET ARTISTS… The recycled ad from IZOD now re-purposed for political speech; “So Fresh, $o Brooklyn, Change, My Ass. Obama to Murder More Afgans!!” (photo ©Ali Buxton)

As the presidency nears 11 months, another street artist, Poster Boy, better known for dissembling and culture-jamming with corporate posters and subway ads in New York City, is taking the first left-wing whack at the “Change” word in street art.

We haven’t seen an outward criticism this strong in the tea-leaves of street art thus far; astro-turf-smelling hate posters notwithstanding. In addition the criticism appears to also extend to the money-making cache of packaging the word “Brooklyn” with a street art scene in a commercial sense, as the timing is during a 2000-artist deluge in the city of Miami Beach this week called Art Basel: Miami Beach.

Ali Buxton, co-owner of Brooklyn’s Ad Hoc Art, a gallery synonymous with ground-breaking shows in the genre of “Street Art” over the past three years, rushed outside their showcase at Art Basel to see the banner hanging from an overpass. She instantly knew who must have done the piece and texted friends to come and see it when it dropped at Northeast 2nd Street and 40th across from Ad Hoc’s space at 4 pm.

But anyone who wanted to see it needed to move fast because “It was taken down by security in 20 minutes,” says Buxton.

A view of the overpass from the street shortly after a piece attributed to Poster Boy was removed by maintenance. (photo ©Ali Buxton)

What a Gaia! Siamese Poultry Giving You the Eye in Miami

December 5, 2009 Artists, Events, Miami

Looks like Street Art is not beyond the scope of Scope.

Such clever headlines like that you are not getting anywhere else.

Street Artist Gaia just finished up one of his new biowonder agri-tech nightmare pieces in beautiful (minus the monsoon) Miami for the Scope Fair.

Rorshach Rooster by Gaia

It’s really fun that we saw some of the preliminary sketchy ideas on his laptop a couple of months ago and now there is this giant siamese FrankenChicken on a wall someplace.

The full 10′ x 40′ expanse by Gaia

Probably one of the pharma-agri-chemical companies will sue the wheatpaste right offa that piece for inflammatory inferences about genetically modified food.

Gaia (photo courtesy the artist)

This portrait probably looks better placed than most of Gaia’s usual street art wonders because it has a back drop of vibrant aqua and some kind of patterning.

A watchful gaze, or a blank stare? How many chickens have you known personally? (Gaia) (photo courtesy the artist)

Alas, since it is on the street it is also obfuscated by things like cars parked right in front of it when you are trying to take a durn pic of it.

Thanks Gaia for keeping us abreast of the animonster evolution!

Primary Flight Update: Fairey, English, Ewok and more

December 5, 2009 Artists, Miami, Primary Flight

This many pieces going up together in Miami would normally be a delightful opportunity for the paddywagon to just drive around and hoist the paint splattered artists off to the hoo-hah with great efficiency…. like me plowing through the Poughkeepsie Thanksgiving spread three times last week. Burp.

But this is officially the largest site-specific streetside installation of street art at one time, and Miami is welcoming it with open arms. Here’s Day 3

[nggallery id=6]

All images © Jeremiah Garcia

Primary Flight Update: BASK, Adam 5100, Ron English, Tes One, Lee Quinones, More

December 4, 2009 Artists, Events, Miami, On the Street, Primary Flight

The Primary Flight Opening Party Wednesday night blast featuring Dr. Dre and Peanut Butter Wolf lasted late into the morning hours and Logan Hicks was on his hotel ledge contemplating a couple of manatees late Thursday afternoon with his head in his hands, quietly, while street artist Bask was working with some birdies of his own on a wall.

Take a look at some of the progress!

Thanks to Jeremiah Garcia for capturing some of the action!

Bask rendered a splashy orinthine trio with flair.

Tes One sends a mixed message in stark tone.

Lee Quinones considers hopping the fence just for old times sake.

Adam 5100 at work on an elongated form in the foreground of a foreboding scene. This can come to no good.

Ron English is knocking outlines for his giant animated wall.

No slouch in the magnificence - Ron English has bitten a big piece offa that street art cake.

Alex Emmert- Miami Schmiami! – Brooklyn is the Schnit! Go to Mighty Tanaka!

December 3, 2009 Artists, Interview

You may have thought that the giant sucking noise you heard was all the street art being pulled down to Miami this week (or Miss California’s video tape turned up to 12).

Have NO Fear – Mighty Tanaka is Here!

Partners Alex Emmart and Caleb James are proud to introduce MIGHTY TANAKA, the gallery

Brooklyn’s Street Art Scene is so gargantuan that we can afford to let Half the Borough go to Art Basel this week and we still have enough amazingly clever artists to OPEN A BRAND NEW GALLERY TONIGHT – which will be packed thank you very much.

Mighty Tanaka Gallery, a labor of love turned a reality with the vision of Alex Emmart, who has been toiling behind the scenes for a couple of years to build a rather strong and fairly eclectic collection of art and artists – many of them fresh out the gate.

Alex also confesses to creating this new gallery in the neighborhood of Dumbo partially to force himself to get off his couch and go to work instead of running his nascent biz out of his apartment. He’s been painting a newly built gallery space in the Brooklyn neighborhood by the water between the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges and nearly all his clothes are covered with white paint and his brain has fried, but tonight’s the opening and he is ready.

Avoid (from the Inflation Project) (courtesy Mighty Tanaka)

The inaugural show “Hybridism” gives a nod to oft-expressed opinion these days that the walls between street art and fine art are continually dissolving – as fine art hits the streets and street art hits the living room over your couch.

Emmart brings to the game an education in museum studies, the experience of curating a handful of shows that explore the street-graff-fine art continuum, and a solid dedication to building relationships based on respect.

This too, may be a glimpse of the future of the art world where gallerists treat people fairly and are respected because of it. Just ask any of the nextgen Millenial artists he is working with.

At this auspicious opening, a statement of hope amidst an economy gone ape-crazy, Emmart takes the moment to share the credit on his Facebook page; “Mighty Tanaka studio is one of the finest and most exciting spaces I know of due to the hard work of committed individuals. A VERY BIG thanks to Garrett Wohnrade, Caleb James, Adri Cowan, Mari Keeler, Heidi Alasuvanto, Insuh Yoon, John Michaels, the Mighty Tanaka featured artists and everyone else who has supported Tanaka during this transition. You all inspire me.”

Reginald Pean “Gentlemen of Leisure” (courtesy Mighty Tanaka)

Mighty Tanaka Gallery/Headquarters:

68 Jay St.
Suite 416
Brooklyn, NY. 11206

Phone #: 718.596.8781

contact@mightytanaka.com

Subway: F train to York St.

AD HOC hurtles BKMIA to Miami right on Time!

December 3, 2009 Artists

When your van breaks down and dies en route to Florida from New York, you might get a little cranky and freaked out because you have 40 people’s art in the back and are somewhat behind schedule.

You haven’t met the Buxtons.

Ad Hoc and Eastern District are in Miami as BKMIA Thursday Through Sunday

Brooklyn gallerists Garrison and Alison from AdHoc found themselves at a U-Haul truck rental agency when it was obvious that fixing their jalopy wasn’t going to happen anytime soon.

“Yeah we’re definitely making some tangy lemonade out of the lemons we’ve been collecting,” says he.

With a show to mount and open in 2 days (Today) in Miami, they asked for a 14 foot or 18 foot truck but U-Haul was out of that size. So they upgraded to the 26 foot, which made the whole process of moving art a lot easier, and together they steered the MIGHTY BKMIA SHIP southward.

“We just got another beautiful space today”, says Garrison, now that they’ve arrived with a truck of Brooklyn Street Art in the land of orange groves and mobs of art-hungry models in stilettos. They are spreading out into their new giant space on 4141 Northeast 2nd Avenue, which is right across the street from their original space. They had a lot of people’s work with them, “Yeah there was no way it all was going to fit in the original space we had”

And the art itself? One of the first things to be unpacked was this badass sculpture.

UFO and Ryan Doyle at BKMIA (photo courtesy Ad Hoc)

This is an interactive kinetic piece by Ryan Doyle and UFO of 907 crew.

What’r YOU lookin’ at? (courtesy Ad Hoc)

According to the artists, it’s made of found objects and crafted using caveman spaceship technology. Amazingly similar to the squidlike image in the photo below, this sculpture is mechanized with two worm head, gear drive electric wheelchair motors, and is fully operational with a joystick. And yes, Martha, he does look like a writer (check out the fat marker in his tentacle).

Perhaps a sketch? (photo ©Jaime Rojo)

Ad Hoc is partnering with Brooklyn neighbor Eastern District in a conceptual gallery called AE District to show off some of Brooklyn’s finest street artists, graff writers, and related contemporary artists in a 40+ name show. Names you might know like London Police and Gaia and Morning Breath will be joining talented newbies like NohJColey and Mario Brothers.

It’s Getting Hot Down There: ART BURN MIAMI

December 3, 2009 Artists

Empresario and street artist Celso has a sense of humor about most things, and street art in particular.

Without reading too much into it, it’s easy to understand how some of the hype surrounding the humongus Art Basel in Miami this week does tend to turn off the hot-headed anti-capitalist anti-consumerist anti-consumption anti-homogenization-of-everything-in-our culture-types in our midst.

Not that any of these artists are in that category, but it is pretty funny to learn that this one-day only art show ends with all the art being burned, and none of it added to your burgeoning street-art collection.

But Marge, what are they trying to say? While we prefer to create original content and not simply copy-and-paste, sometimes it just makes sense to take it directly from the press release >>

ART BURN: The Most Combustible Art Show in the World
International Contemporary Art Expo & Immolation

**To be held at LAS TIAS, 2834 N. Miami Ave., in Miami’s Wynwood District at sunset on Thursday, December 3rd, 2009***

(Miami, FL) — ART BURN, the most combustible art show in the world, will combine an international selection of original art with fire. Original works on canvas, wood and paper by a selection of more than three dozen international artists will be displayed and then flambeed in Miami on the evening of Thursday, December 3, 2009 at sunset. The exhibition/grilling, curated by NYC artist El Celso, will take place in the Wynwood Arts District, within walking distance of Miami’s lesser contemporary art fairs.

An exclusive selection of more than three dozen exceptional pieces by the hottest renowned artists and sizzling, cutting-edge newcomers will be displayed from 1pm until sundown. After the brief exhibition, all of these original works will be burned for the public’s viewing pleasure. Nothing is for sale.

We will be exhibiting and burning new works by:

Stikman
El Celso
Aurora Robson
infinity
Nick Fortunato
Skewville
Jayne Surrena
Darkcloud
Fabian Pena
Elbow-Toe
Rex Dingler
LA II
Royce Bannon
Leonardo Furtado (Brazil)
Rednose
Gore-B
Buildmore
Abe Lincoln Jr.
Cake
Paul Kostabi
Ellis-G
Jeannete Vidalia
2esae
Avoid Pi
Stefano Pasquini (Italy)
Keely
Destroy & Rebuild
Veng
F. Trainer
Ski
Joanne Mattera
Deeker
Sam Horine
Avone
Die Dose (Germany)
Billi Kid
Evelyn Metzger
Robots Will Kill
Adam Vincentz
Garrison Buxton (Peripheral Media Projects)
Michael DeFeo
James A. Willis
Dalva
Kristina Maria Lopez
Hargo
Ray Bradbury & very special guests TBA

You can even follow the events on Twitter at @elcelso and @cmonstah.

SPONSORS
C-MONSTER.NET
The official media sponsor of the ART BURN VIP Lounge

HYPERALLERGIC
The official blogazine, critic and beer sponsor of ART BURN

BROOKLYN STREET ART
The official street art and corporate snack sponsor of ART BURN

KINGSFORD Charcoal
The unofficial grilling partner of ART BURN

We’ve been assured that all local laws and safety precautions will be observed. At least Miami is a coastal town so they are near water.

Enjoy this hunk o burnin’ luv….

Primary Flight Update: We Have Lift-Off

December 2, 2009 Artists, Events, Miami, Primary Flight

A roster of 80 artists are participating in this years Primary Flight exhibition in Miami – which officially starts tonight. Last night preparations and discussions about the walls and the logistics began before the fans and otherwise curious folks show up.

In attendance in the empty lots and barren walls were Shepard Fairey, Kaws, and Ron English, each scoping out the size of their assignments.

A big pile of clamp lights in the empty lot augur some action for the cameras to come from Ron English

Shep will be smacking up a 200′ by 20′ tall wall, which seems pretty large. But what will he put there, that’s what I wanna know. Maybe it will be related to the pro-gay marriage “Love Unites” posters he did for a fundraiser last month.

Shepard Fairey makes a point with Kaws and an identified person.

Thanks to Logan Hicks for the pics!

And if you are there they have a totally fun and off the hooker opening with a couple people you may have heard of. Thanks but I just washed my hair…

C215: Piercing Gazes, Storied Lines, and Stunning Stencil Work

December 2, 2009 Artists, Brooklyn, NYC, On the Street

Stencil artist C215 creates portraits of humanity; family, friends, and people who live on the street.

His clarity of detail and multi-lined visages can even give the impression that something more is employed than simple stencilling, but that’s why the word “master” enters the conversation sometimes when people discuss his work.

This street artist has shown in Brooklyn galleries as well as most of the world (most recently in Toronto), and he receives regular invitations to participate in exhibitions.

He’s also partial to running art workshops for local kids and counts Brazil, Morocco, even Senegal among the places he’s had the pleasure of playing art teacher. This love for kids is easy to see in the many depictions of nearly glowing children.

We don’t know when he is coming to New York, but we always know when he has been here.Suddenly these new faces are peering from the sides of dumpsters, doorways, and de-commisioned fire boxes.

His images are often portraits of fellow humans of all ages and genders. He captures his models’ character with compassion – You can almost feel the emotions of his models just by looking at their portraits: pain, sorrow, happiness, peace, longing and loneliness seep through the rivers of creases and wrinkles on their faces.

The intensity of gaze and the way in which he draws their eyes is a captivating invitation to go inside their souls and glimpse their lives. It can be difficult to draw yourself away from their piercing and sometimes furious gaze.

His portraits of children in particular are always inspiring and reassuring. With those images he manages to convey a sense of hope and innocence that we hope is no lost yet. By his own account, he makes a new stencil every week of his daughter to remind her that she is on his mind. In that way, every new stencil is really a snapshot.

The sihouetted form among telephone wires is such a powerful evocation that the viewer wants to know the story. C215 (© Jaime Rojo)

The technique of using multiple pieces in one stencil means that he can achieve effects that few stencil artists do, and the details – facial hair, folds in fabric, wrinkles… all transcend the pedestrian act of cutting and spraying.

C215 is reported to makes stencils of people in the particular city he is visiting at that time. It is quite possible that some of these stencils are only found here in Brooklyn.

These images are just a few of C215’s work in Brooklyn as well as a couple of old pieces that have not yet been published here before. Hope you like looking at them.

Vinny Cornelli shoots Crosby Street in NYC

December 1, 2009 Artists, NYC, On the Street

Bold street splashes and Hacullean mayhem from Manhattan.

This week photographer Vinny Cornelli shows us a few images from one spot in Gotham that gets hit with some regularity, and then destroyed and re-hit – and always visited by street art followers.

It’s entertaining how abandoned places on the street turn into a “venue” over time. Then, like Elton John taking residency at Ceasars Palace, one or two street artists seem to gravitate to the same spot again and again, nonplussed by the destruction of their last piece.

This spot on Crosby street has been a regular showcase for Haculla, a tripped out pop culture commentator and comedian who weaves criticism with private stories in bold splashes of fluorescence, black and white photos of celebs re-doctored, and thick marker freehand characters.

Of course it all gets piled on by others as part of the “conversation of the street”, and in these layers you can see Matt Siren, Cake, Feral, among others.

Cornelli pumps up the saturation to give the chaos a campy quality and lets the decrepitude dazzle.

Photo by Vinny Cornelli

Click here for more street layers by Vinny Cornelli

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