Urban Planning is a soaring and shiny term hinting at civic consideration that is sometimes employed in the sales mix by regal real estate developers and audacious architects eager to win approval for new projects in the modern city. Sustainable Development and Urban Renewal, somewhat less glamorous and less sexy for press conferences, actually take into account the needs of all citizenry and are the province of a thankless few policy wonks taking the long view of a liveable city.
In parts of cities that suffer from decay and lack of investment, adapting urban renewal initiatives can incorporate abandoned housing stock and match it with the needs of a population, strengthening and enriching a city at a foundational level. For a number of years Street Artists in the slums of São Paulo have used their art on the street to draw attention to the plight of people they feel are overlooked and ignored when urban plans are being laid.
In this brief video, Street Artist Mundano draws our attention to an abandoned hotel in São Paulo that is home to hundreds of families who, although at risk in decaying conditions, consider it a welcome alternative to being homeless. The video, directed by Rodrigo Piza Levy is a simple statement by artists whose eyes are open, punctuated by beautiful children and all they represent.
Our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Hellbent, Faro, Bast, El Sol 25,Vending Van, Faile, Maiden Hell, Over Under, Shin Shin, QRST, and Royce Bannon
Royce Bannon is online this month at The Source with an interview with LA sunshine muralist Mr. Chor Boogie. The very personable Boogie talks about his work and his historical influences. If you look further into his copious body of work, it reveals a seamless relationship between his technical abilities, his emotional life and his spiritual view of the world.
Gifted in the art of self expression, Chor explains his work like this,
“I describe my style as the Omega Abstract Expressionism of A Street Romantic Voodoo with Emotional Landscapes of A Melodic Symphony through Color Therapy: 50% mind + 50% heart = 100% body + 100% soul = 200% spirit +an infinite universe= A Chor Boogie creation. See, when it comes to style I believe in originality and do not consider my work Graffiti. It’s art; I am a artist; and when it comes to the culture I would just love to see cats creating their own ways, meanings, and philosophies behind their work instead of following the flock… hence the fact of being original.”
DRAW is the largest contemporary drawing exhibition to emerge from New York City. It is a must-see art exhibition featuring original drawings by more than 350 artists influenced by the illustration, graffiti, tattoo, literature, design, animation, skateboard, music, psychedelic art worlds. The show is a tribute to the often-underrated but fundamental building block of visual and graphic art: the drawing.
Artists whose original works are in the show include : Chris Johanson, Terence Koh , Dan Colen , Aurel Schmidt , Benjamin Cho , DAZE , R. Crumb, Alex Grey, HR Giger, Clive Barker, Robert Williams, Mark Ryden, Wes Lang , Eric White , Rich Jacobs, Barry McGee , Rick Griffin, Ron English, Neck Face, Tim Biskup, Ed Templeton, Benjamin Cho, Mark Gonzales, Jack Rudy, Derek Hess, David Byrne, Mark Dean Veca, Gerard Way (My Chemical Romance), Karen O (Yeah Yeah Yeahs) , Kevin Long/Spanky, Hank Williams III, WK Interact, Jose Manuel Schmill, Shawn Barber, Doze Green, Kevin Llewellyn, Bast, Tomokazu Matsuyama, Greg Lamarche, Kostas Seremetis, Swoon, Tom Sachs, and hundreds more.
After four years of gallery exhibitions, DRAW will have it’s museum debut at Museo de la Ciudad de Mexico, one of MexicoCity’s finest museums. The opening is on June 19, 2010 and will exhibit through August 15, 2010. To coincide with the exhibition, the museum will be publishing a book for worldwide distribution to contemporary museum bookstores around the world. Carlo McCormick, one of the most respected art writers and curators in the U.S. will be writing an introductory essay for the book.
DRAW is curated by Erik Foss and Curse Mackey with guest curators Tim Barber, Miguel Calderon, Lisa Lebofsky, Jacaebor Kastor, Justin Giarla, Jamie O’Shea, Matt Campbell, Damian Weinkrantz, Les Barany, Sto, D* Face, Jonathan Levine, Tony Cox, and Anonymous Gallery Founder and Director, Joseph Ian Henrikson.
The big sticking points for most people were Number 2, which a lot of people guessed was Os Gemeos, and Number 4 which some thought was Neckface or Royce Bannon.
But don’t feel bad if you didn’t get them all – nobody did. Our winner is Sandrine from Montreal, Quebec, who was the first person to guess 7 out of 8 correctly (she guessed #4 was Neckface). Congratulations to Sandrine and your original and signed piece from Chris of Robots Will Kill will be in the mail Monday!
Thanks everybody who participated. We’ll have another contest soon!
Yo homey, still doing a Snoopy dance on the subway this morning because your favorite Street Art blog was up on HuffingtonPost.com yesterday. Arianna Huffington is one of the few straightforward truthtellers in a storm of darkness year after year, and this is like when it is your turn at Double Dutch and Malcolm McLaren happens to be walking up your block. Okay, big difference is I don’t wear striped red disco shorts and grew up on a farm upstate and never heard of Brownsville or Buffalo Girls till “Duck Rock” came out —but otherwise it’s totally the same yo.
After leaving the sight of the first mural for the Living Walls Conference I found bugs pressed in between the pages of my notebook; these bugs came in addition to bugs in my ears, up and down my legs and arms and threatening to fly in my mouth while visiting the wall. The almost 100 foot long and 35 foot tall wall painted by Doodles backs up to a wooded area on the BeltLine lovingly called “the jungle” by the people who assisted him and came to watch as he crawled on top of a three level scaffolding to paint, sometimes sporting a respirator.
This “jungle” is a wooded area with vines dangling from the treetops and creates a nice seclusion from the cold buildings and shopping center that surrounds the wall, making it nearly forgettable that it is yards away from a barbwire fence and the intersection of Ralph David Abernathy and White Street in the West End.
The contradictory locations that sit on either side of the first wall is fitting for a mural which functions with so many ideas that are both in contrast to each other but also in close proximity. Doodles developed his theme over time, letting the idea grow as he worked. The direction of the wall changed while the artist was on a short break from painting. Flooded with constant news of the BP oil spill he decided that it was an issue he wanted to cover in his piece for Living Walls. Doodles abandoned the idea of painting a man shooting an arrow at the moon and developed the idea of a beautiful man with sinister intentions. The man, nicknamed “Poseidon”, wraps around the large warehouse holding a large trident with a snake weaving through the middle spoke, creating the illusion of a money sign. The black trident penetrates the man’s abdomen, which resembles the ocean; in this way, the trident mimics the oil leak.
Through out the work folk art style designs are infused with signs that represent the Poseidon figure’s power; Doodles said the single eye represents a God-like power. These signs of power coexist with symbols of the oil spill, like a wail’s tail that resembles an oil well.
Despite the heavy subject mater, there is simplicity to the wall. Not to distract from the message of the oil spill, Doodles left it up to the logos and symbols to speak for the art without distraction of a multitude of colors. In this way, it is the logos and the imagery that stands out in the piece, most importantly the BP flower on the Poseidon figure’s face.
Doodles said that he liked the idea of using the universal language of logos and symbols to convey his message.
Doodles is a 22 year old who smiles often, and has a sweet easygoing nature. Originally from an island off the cost of Washington state. He went to art school for a short time before hoping trains and hitchhiking. He has been working on his art for four years now. Doodles’ piece is on the corner of Ralph David Abernathy and White Street adjacent to BeltLine. The BeltLine is a 22-mile path incorporating railway, trails and paths that once functioned in the mid-twentieth century and has since been reworked to feature public and interactive art.
Doodles work is the first Living Walls mural for the BeltLine Project.
Here’s a Video from Atlanta: Another Street Artist Opinion on BP
And Finally, this New Sticker on the Streets in NYC
BSA’s GAIA Interview Lands on HUFFINGTON POST Arts Page
The Huffington Post, whom we adore as a role model of entertaining journalistic excellence, featured our interview with street artist GAIA on their new ARTS section today. Thank you most sincerely! Now we’re off to the street to do some cartwheels and playing in the fire hydrant.
Local Family Business Showcases Artists Of All Stripes
You won’t find a more excited community-minded, artist-loving dude than Joe Franquinha, who is the second generation owner of a hardware store in Williamsburg/Bushwick, Brooklyn. Crest Hardware, founded in 1962 on this same block by Joe’s dad and uncle, is the hardware store for the multitude of artists who have moved into the neighborhood over the past decade or so.
Nine years ago they had the first Crest art show in the store itself using hardware materials to make and inspire the art. The eclectic and frequently humorous show drew attention to the bursting artist community and grew larger each year. In 2008 ago Joe expanded the show to include musicians and DJs from the neighborhood and started calling it “Crest Fest.”
This year the festival has 140 artists, 15 DJ’s and 8 bands. Joe says, “There is an abundance of musical talent in this area as well as art and I wanted to take the opportunity to showcase them too. It’s been getting progressively bigger, and it’s always free to attend. That’s the main thing. We want people to be able to enjoy it, come on in, have fun and take a day off and absorb culture in so many of it’s facets.”
Joe took a few minutes from installing art to talk about the show that left the white box for the tool box:
BSA:I see a lot of hardware of course, but do you also sell art supplies?
Joe Franquinha: Spray paint is definitely an option I’ve been weighing recently. I think probably in the next year or so our spray paint section will probably expand, including companies like Montana, maybe something like IronClad 1. But Montana seems to be what is on most people’s radar. Then it’s a matter of them figuring out which one they want, the Spanish one or the German one.
BSA: Do you have any people who do street art in this show? Joe Franquinha: Yeah there are a couple of people – there is Peat Wolleager from St. Louis, he goes by Stensoul. General Howe has a piece in the show and I’m excited for people to see the piece he made just for Crest Hardware. He’s doing some really cool work so I’m proud to have him on board. We still have a couple of days for people to be doing installing up to Saturday. (editors note: while the complete artist list was not available at press time, there are a number of street artists in the show including Royce Bannon, Celso, among others)
BSA: Why do think it is important to show the work of local artists? Joe Franquinha:One hand really has to wash the other as far as supporting your local artist goes. Artists shop at my store to get their materials and if I have the ability to help promote their art and their passion side by side with mine, I’m gonna do it.
But it is fun and artists are here every day in the store and in the neighborhood. They eat at these restaurants, they shop in these stores, they frequent these bars… so to be able to give them a chance outside a gallery show to showcase their work, not only to their fellow artists but maybe someone who has no idea about their work …. It brings your work to a whole different demographic. If they are a street artist, maybe someone has only seen their work out on the street. To be able to show people that the artist is capable of also putting their fine art work into a show – it can bring it to a whole other level for them and opens up people’s minds to different experiences.
Street artist Duece Seven entered this door in last year’s art show (photo courtesy Crest)
BSA: Do you have any favorite street artists off the top of your head? Joe Franquinha:Off the top of my head, I really love ROA’s work. I think it’s nice clean work – it feels like pictures ripped out of animal anatomy books. Like old books made of pulp paper that feel like they could crumble. But the animals he does are redrawn at this incredibly magnified size so I really dig his work a lot.
C215 is another artist who I really admire. I also really admire his world traveling capabilities and he just gets up everywhere he possibly can. I was in Morocco, a small town called Esoria right on the water and I was in this square and about 50 yards across from me I could see this stencil on the wall. It was kind of blurry from where I was and I was curious to see whose it was and sure enough it was his work. So it is pretty cool to see his work everywhere I go.
A very entertaining stop animation film made for this years art show in the store. Joe would like to thank Anthony Ferrara, James Peach, Gustavo Roman & Buck Merritt for their creativity, energy and support. You’ll also notice some street art by Chris Stain, Skewville…. who else?
BSA:Is there is a piece in the show this year that you are very excited about, either due to it’s complexity, or a new technique that was used?
Joe: Yeah every medium is different, and it’s not that I love one more than I love the other but I also have my personal preferences. In a show like this, it’s not just about hardware because it is in a store that has been here nearly 50 years, a lot of the people who are in the show aren’t just making their work for a hardware store, they’re making it for us, the Crest people. So one piece in particular that I’m excited to showcase is by Chris Collicot – when you look up close at this piece it’s just a bunch of washers and screws and you step back about 20-30 feet, and because it’s a perspective piece, it’s a picture of my father. To know that my dad struck a chord with this artist when he moved here from LA and he came into the shop looking for some help and he found something more than that. He found a place that he can rely on. So that is one of the more special pieces for me.
Street artists Peru Ana Ana Peru also participated in last years show (image courtesy Crest)
SPECIAL SILENT AUCTION at Crest Art Show (In Store)
NOMADE Piece to Benefit Free Arts NYC
Street Artist Nomade has donated this piece to be silent auctioned during the Crest Art Show. 100% of the proceeds go to the programs of Free Arts NYC, which serves NYC kids from disadvantaged backgrounds with arts and mentorship programs. Drop by the store to place a bid before July 31, 2010. Auction is in conjunction with BrooklynStreetArt.com
For general information regarding Crest Hardware Art Show and/or Crest Fest please contact Info@CrestHardwareArtShow.com
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
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
Gaia surfs for Italianate beheadings: Carvaggio and Guido Reni
Creating a new symbolic vocabulary based on fables, myths, and Biblical stories as well as his own imagination, Gaia plays with tropes and tangents in pursuit of enlightened understanding. A cultural omnivore of sorts, his own understanding is informed as much by Questlove as Caravaggio, Plato and Panda Bear, metaphor and M Arch, aerosol and oil paint. And linoleum. And wheat pastes. And colored pencils. Well past the digital dawn of all-things mashup, Gaia continues to mess with meanings and modalities in search of a new way to communicate messages that are as old as written history. For now his meme is the human cycle of creation and destruction, with an underlying preoccupation with the latter.
A recent visit to his studio space in Brooklyn finds Boy Wander with his laptop on a makeshift table and linoleum scattered across the floor. His new pieces for his show Saturday at Irvine Contemporary Gallery in Washington, DC nearly complete, Gaia talks about the vocabulary of his symbols and their evolving meanings.
On the significance of animal heads and their interchangeability, “I wanted to work with these decapitated heads and mix with them with the animal and human heads – hybrids – so the animals are never out of the picture – so again it’s this message of the saviour being killed. Like the thing that was going to save us is massacred by us. So it’s like this cycle of saving, destruction, saving, destruction, not listening, listening. – these different prophecies”.
Even as war seems perennial, anyone with eyes can tell you that we are living in a darkened time of pushing the earth’s environment to a precipice, and with good reason the younger generations are taking it quite hard. A legacy of poisoned air, water and diminished resources is more frequently on their mind because that is the legacy that’s been left to them. We talked with Gaia about his take on the state of the environment and how it influences him personally, thus creatively.
BSA: So what’s up with this preoccupation with death and destruction in your work?
GAIA:Well, yeah, death and destruction is just like my generations notion that the world is coming to an end and we have to fix something. We’ve inherited all of these problems. “Global Warming” sort of came into being as a real conscious collective awareness as I was growing up. I remember it coming into being and it just taking over mine and my peers lives. I remember (the movie) “Inconvenient Truth” was like the turning point and noone could stop thinking about it. It’s really just about this collective environmental consciousness that it’s inextricably bound to globalization and us not knowing how to necessarily leave that system, how to exit that circle.
BSA:It does seem like your generation is more aware and more concerned with the topic of environmentalism, environmental degradation, apocalyptic visions than any previous generations.
Gaia: Yeah but not necessarily doing anything about it.
BSA:No? There is not an activist sense?
Gaia: Yeah there is an activism but also there’s also a feeling of hopelessness as well. Just the fact that we don’t know how to deal with it.
BSA:How to turn the tide?
Gaia: Yeah how to turn the tide and also how to live alternatively so we’re not affecting the world negatively.
For Gaia, visions of cataclysm and brutality depicted in the paintings of Hieronymous Bosch and Bruegel the Elder provide hours of entertainment in their detail and somewhat matter of fact presentation of suffering . One favorite (below) is “The Triumph of Death”, by Flemish painter Pieter Bruegel the Elder.
Gaia talks about his most important oil painting, “The Rooster is the main messenger. The animal is speaking to us and caring for us and guiding us. The Rooster is more like the presentation of what we have done. He’s more of the guy who comes down and presents the crimes. I feel like this is the most important piece of the show because it’s like the idyllic perfect image of destruction, how we envision the end of the world, and then the interior is the Utopian: the beautiful lurid color of sky. It could be Revelation but it’s also the romance of escapism.”
Two years after his first exhibit, Brazilian Street Artist Apolo Torres returns to Verbo gallery in Sao Paulo for a show Thursday called TEMPESTADE (or Storm), with a collection of paintings from his most recent studio work, as well as drawings and prints on paper.
Apolo Torres “Coexistencia” (detail)
At a good moment in his career, Apolo participated in important group exhibitions and partnerships over the last couple of years, leading him recently to a gig making the art for songwriter Rodrigo Ramos’ debut record.
The contemporary works for this show show sensitive approach to the life in big cities; in a questioning, poetic way that focus on environmental and political problems such as the recent floods in Sao Paulo and Rio de Janeiro.
Behind the aesthetics is a criticism of poor urban planning and overpopulation along with a tribute to the people who get on with their lives and their routine in spite of these problems.
Alexis Trice "Mediocre" Image courtesy of Mighty Tanaka
Preview:
Thursday, June 17th 6pm – 9pm
Opening:
Friday, June 18th 6pm – 9pm
Mighty Tanaka
68 Jay St, Suite 416
Brooklyn, NY 11201 (F Train to York St)
Press Release:
Mighty Tanaka is pleased to bring you our latest installment entitled Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell, a six-person group show that exposes our individual insecurities and transcends our personal observations. Through representations of introverted wonder and inner chaos, each artist offers a unique balance of emotion and integrity, which provides them with the proper tools to create their personal iconic styles.
Somewhere Between Heaven and Hell encourages the viewer to closely examine the turbulence of humanity and, in turn, challenges the visitors to look more closely at their own personal commotion and understanding of life’s social constructs. The exhibition provides a voyeuristic look at the personal interpretation and experience of the artist’s life and how they choose to relay it to an audience.
Featuring the art of Robbie Busch, EMA,KOSBE, Josh McCutchen, Skewville and Alexis Trice this New Century art show brings together artists of various disciplines and techniques in order to express a common theme that is congruent to us all.
OPENING RECEPTION:
Friday, June 18, 2010 – 6:00PM-9:00PM, and closing July 9, 2010
Mighty Tanaka 68 Jay St., Suite 416 (F Train to York St.)
Brooklyn, NY 11201
Hours: M-F 12:30PM to 7PM, weekends by appointment only
Elfo is a graffiti writer and social commentator whose work intentionally sidesteps traditional notions of style or technical lettering. This …Read More »
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
