2010

Brooklynite Gallery Presents: C215 & Eelus “Paradise Lost”

Image Courtesy of the Gallery
Image Courtesy of the Gallery

BROOKLYNITE GALLERY proudly presents the work of stencil artists C215 and EELUS with “PARADISE LOST

“PARADISE LOST”

C215 • EELUS

September 4 – October 2, 2010

Opening Night – September 4th, 7-10pm


Never is there more an exciting time for a gallery and it’s curators than when they are in a position to be able to present work from artists who are on the cusp of breaking out and distancing themselves from the pack.  As we at Brooklynite Gallery proudly present, “Paradise Lost” a two-man exhibition by stencil-based artists C215 and Eelus —this is clearly the case. Loosely exploring themes of innocence, wonder and the imagination we experience as kids, both artists approach these themes from unique perspectives in both subject matter and stencil technique —clearly at the top of their games.

No other artist working in the public space today connects with the streets like C215. With striking murals in varying size and scope all over the globe, he not only paints pictures of everyday people and society’s “outcasts” —he connects with them.  Portraits of the elderly, middle-aged and children are carefully chosen; often reflecting the past, present and future in the gaze of their expressions.  At times his subjects gain your attention with grittiness and distress —and his stencils are cut that way; short, sharp and of the two-color variety.  Other times his subjects are radiant and fantastical —and again, his stencils are cut that way; graceful, curved and full movement.  Now, as C215 begins to evenly balance the time between doing ‘street work’ and having a gallery presence, we’re beginning to see this well-rounded artist can no longer be put into one single ‘category’.  Highly regarded by his peers as one of the top stencil artists working today, more than ever C215′s work exudes confidence.  Continually transforming and perfecting his stencil techniques, experimenting with various surfaces and color theories, C215 doesn’t have to speak a word about the range of emotions he channels through his work…   We can easily see and feel it for ourselves.

On the heels of his high impact solo exhibition in London last February, UK artist Eelus has officially arrived on the scene with an unusual set of tricks up his sleeve.  Toying with the future expectations of adolescence, while juxtaposing sci-fi, sexual tension and poignant text, his imagery is reminiscent of a bizarre dream you wake up from and struggle to find it’s meaning.  Eelus’ work often feels like a still frame from a complex film that points us in the right direction, yet still manages to give us only enough information to draw our own conclusions.   Depending on which strings he wants to tug, his often three-color palette is used to strike just the right emotion when applied to surfaces ranging from canvas and wood to vintage metal signage.  It all seems to be coming together as Eelus‘ work continues to stir conversation amongst his early fans as well new ones, both of whom anticipate his next print release and debate on which image it should contain.

Join us at Brooklynite during the un-official, last weekend of summer for an Opening Night Party and new work from both C215 and Eelus, including outside murals that is sure leave viewers wanting more.  For further information or photos, kindly contact Hope McGrath at pr@brooklynitegallery.com.

Hope McGrath
Brooklynite Gallery
334 Malcolm X Blvd.
Brooklyn, NY 11233
ph. 347-405-5976
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Brooklynite Gallery Presents: Guy Denning and David Walker “Surface Tension”

Brooklynite Gallery

Guy Denning and David Walker

Guy Denning and David Walker

“SURFACE TENSION”

GUY DENNING • DAVID WALKER

June 12 – July 10

Opening: June 12, 7-10pm

Musical Guest: DJ REKHA

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Who knew some artists’ equated painting a picture on a surface with a bare-fisted street brawl? A tension-filled, back and forth struggle between their medium and tools all while producing visual ideas with an often far different meaning from what your eyes are actually seeing.

One could argue that, “Surface Tension”, the new exhibition from Guy Denning and David Walker, two artists, who through the human form, explore two different concepts, using two entirely different techniques, should be aptly billed as “Guy Denning vs. David Walker”. “Surface Tension” aims to explore the stress that festers behind the processes of creation and the battles won and lost between an artist and his medium.  The show also revisits that old cliché about how painting is all about the external expression of the inner processes of art and the artist.

Wielding brushes and knives, Guy Denning battles a myriad of ideas that stir around in ones head in the hope that the visual translation might become the remedy. These disparate thoughts that don’t connect to anyone or anything in particular, yet continue to reoccur, are expressed through precarious self-portraits and female figures who at times are featured in crude, semi-abandoned locations. Behind layers of oil paint and turpentine, it would appear upon near completion, Denning’s work was then forcefully blasted in one direction with a fire-hose. His work has all the makings of a piece by a classically trained painter, yet the added angst of a back street fist-fight. According to a past journal entry, Denning states, “Any narrative is at best buried beneath the layers of fragmented visual metaphor and allegory”.  One can then only assume that Denning’s subjects, such as soldiers pointing Browning heavy machine-guns in a sub-basement, women struggling with sexuality and self-portraits that appear to be anything but, are in part speaking possibly about… “unattainable goals”? In the end, as Denning puts it… “It all seems to go round in circles”.

For David Walker, much of this “Surface Tension” is self-inflicted. The gestural approach Walker uses when creating his alluring female portraits can only be achieved using a self-imposed rule of “no brushes, only spray-paint” techniques.  Up until this exhibition, Walker also abstained from using a color palette other than black, white and pink.  For now he’s trashed that rule and instead explores a diverse and at times clashing range of hues and metallics, giving a nod to the days of ‘acquiring’ spray paint from wherever you could and using what you had on hand, which results in refreshing and off-key color combinations. There is also further exploration into abstract tagging and photo-realism, all executed in layer upon layer of spray paint.  For Walker, the subject of his work inherently lies in the facial expression– just the right one that is.  Using found imagery pillaged from peoples photo albums, snapshots and old magazines, Walker is in constant search of a precise emotion or tilt of the head that evokes a visceral response and can expand the distance between his work and that of an intelligible portrait artist.

Both artists will continue to travel on different paths leading up to their joint exhibition here, where they will finally come together to not only display work on canvases, but also in mural form on the walls of our outdoor space and elsewhere.

If you would like more photos of the art or have any other questions about this show kindly contact me.  Thank you.

Hope McGrath

Brooklynite Gallery

334 Malcolm X Blvd.

Brooklyn, NY 11233

ph. 347-405-5976

hope@brooklynitegallery.com

www.brooklynitegallery.com

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BROOKLYNITE GALLERY PRESENTS: DOLK • M-CITY “EUROTRASH”

BROOKLYNITE GALLERY PRESENTS
brooklyn-street-art-dolk-mcity-brooklynite-gallery

Two titans of the street art world collide when DOLK and M-CITY invade
Brooklynite Gallery for what is sure to be a show for the ages.

Reclusive, Norwegian stencil artist DOLK, emerges from the shadows to
showcase a new collection of cutting imagery. Often monochromatic with
one precisely placed color, DOLK crafts strangely beautiful story-lines
into his work, infusing a wry sense of humor into such wide ranging
topics as celebrity, religion and societal pressures. As a whole, DOLK’s
new body of work conveys a bit more cynicism than the past, with
most figures displaying enigmatic expressions as well as the inclusion
of one key prop that at times will leave you scratching your head.
However, what does remain consistent within the history of DOLK’s work
is the intrigue he manages to garner with simple, clean black lines and
spot-on subjects.

Look closely at a satellite picture of the earth and you just might see
an M-CITY mural. Listen to the echoing sounds of metal forging, pistons
firing, and air compression as M-CITY, Poland’s most prolific artist
working in the public space, erects yet another large scale mural on any
number of continents. Using his graphic brand of stencil artillery that
includes images of smoke-stack factories, cogs and gears, steam ships,
and repetitive city blocks, M-CITY redefines the Industrial Revolution.
That same crushing imagery is transferred seamlessly to his deliberate,
grey-scale canvases which could easily be passed off as Cold War
propaganda.

Thank heavens half the space at Brooklynite Gallery is outdoors —quite
conducive for these two addicts of outdoor activity who also plan on leaving
many gifts to the people of NYC.

DJ SCRATCH PODCAST

Brooklynite Gallery
334 Malcolm X Blvd.
Brooklyn, NY 11233
ph. 347-405-5976

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THE BLDG GALLERY PRESENTS: “THE LONDON POLICE RIDE AGAIN”

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Image Courtesy The BLDG Gallery

Image Courtesy The BLDG Gallery

The BLDG Gallery: 30 West Pike Covington, Kentucky

The London Police
“The London Police Ride Again”
Opening Reception: Friday March 19, 2010 8-11 PM
Exhibition Dates: March 19, 2010 – April 30, 2010

The BLDG Gallery is pleased to announce the opening exhibition of British art collective The London Police (TLP), March 19, 7 pm to 10 pm at 30 West Pike Street Covington, Kentucky. This show is the first of four international exhibitions planned by TLP for 2010 and will present new original works of Cincinnati and Kentucky themed paintings and videography.

Born in Chelmsford, Essex, The London Police founders, Chaz and Bob, moved to Amsterdam in 1998. Recognized for their iconic LADS characters and precision marking, TLP is universally renowned as “pivotal voices in the history of street art.” Their acclaimed works include: murals of titanic proportion, (The largest can be found in Kreuzberg, Berlin a mere 6 story outdoor installation.) coveted original canvases, short films and even shorter music quips of high regard.

TLP generates an ever growing network of loyal fans spanning Europe, Asia, North America and South America. TLP works have graced the walls of the Stolenspace Gallery, London, GO Gallery in Amsterdam, Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art in LA, Fresh Factory in NYC gaining resounding praise and selling out most of their original works. The artists were recently spotted in Miami, South Beach, executing an install in conjunction with the Primary Flight Collaborative.

So what caused TLP, international institutions of the art world to put down on Kentucky soil? Perhaps it was the not so by chance encounter with proprietors of the BLDG, who with deliberate and shameless intent ignited the insatiable wanderlust of the boys of Britain. According to Mike Amann, BLDG co-founder, “the self proclaimed “geezers” can court and spark in the best of venues, we aggressively pursued them for our 2010 schedule.”

Those who have not yet experienced The London Police once engaged will be mesmerized by the deliberate and distinct style developed by the artists over the past 10 years. The “LADS” continue to come to life in the form of perfect circular characters drawn by Chaz, meticulously positioned in a complex world of architectural illustration created by Bob.

As a collective, TLP balances the talents and creative technique of the two artists. With unbridled humor and a familiarity generally reserved for best friends Chaz and Bob spread the love, gifting their host cities with abundant good will, leaving behind a vibe guaranteed to energize and entertain constituents even as they struggle daily with economic uncertainty and global security.

“It is a privilege to bring TLP to the Tristate and to share the experience with our neighbors north, south, east and west.” notes Roman Titus BLDG co-founder. The BLDG has sent ahead images and the flavor of our region to TLP, anxiously anticipating the exhibition and the arrival of the “LADS”. Patrons can expect to encounter black and white canvases and screen prints in this classic TLP style featuring local influences and architecture. BLDG Gallery visitors will additionally be treated to the TLP Cinema, an intimate movie-going experience highlighting short films by this pair of British gents.

brooklyn-street-art-the-BLDG-Gallery-logo

30 W. Pike St. Covington, KY 41011 // 859.491.4228 // www.BLDGrefuge.com

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New Specter at MOCADA

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Out With the Old, In With the New - new Specter piece at the "Pink Elephant" show at MOCADA (photo ©Guero)

The “Pink Elephant” show at the Museum of Contemporary African Diaspora Arts (MOCADA) in Brooklyn opened Thursday night and continued through the weekend with events and discussions about gentrification and it’s effects on culture, neighborhoods, and people.

This exhibition, guest curated by Dexter Wimberly, looks at urban planning, eminent domain, and real estate development and how they are affecting Brooklyn’s communities as well as how residents throughout the borough are responding.

We spoke with photographer and artist Guero about the show, and he thinks overall it is a pretty good and meaningful one, enough so that he also went to the artists’ discussion on Saturday.

Since it is reported that more than 65 Luxury buildings that are currently under development in Brooklyn are stalled or only partially occupied because of the economic crisis, wouldn’t it be great if some of those homes could benefit those people who have lost theirs?

In any event, we agree with Guero when he says, “I like the fact that the museum is using the exhibit to create dialogue on an important topic”.

See our previous post on Specter’s street art pieces for this show from January 21st.

http://www.mocada.org/

See more of Guero’s pics HERE.

Artists in the exhibition include (alphabetically):
Josh Bricker(Installation), Valerie Caesar (Photography), Oasa DuVerney (Drawing), Zachary Fabri (Video), Rosamond S. King (Installation), Irondale Ensemble(Theater Performance), Nathan Kensinger (Photography), Jess Levey(Photography / Video Installation), Christina Massey (Painting), Musa (Sculpture), Tim Okamura (Painting), Kip Omolade (Painting), John Perry(Painting), Adele Pham (Video), Michael Premo / Rachel Falcone (Photography / Multimedia), Gabriel Reese (Painting), Marie Roberts (Painting), Ali Santana (Music Video), Monique Schubert (Mixed-media), Alexandria Smith (Painting), Sarah Nelson Wright (Installation).

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Images of the Week 02.07.10

Our Weekly Interview With the Streets

Primo

One of the boys in blue (Primo) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Avoid P

OverUnder (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Eatin' money keeps her good looks. Tazz Celso
“A Fly Girl like me needs security”(Rednose Tazmat and Celso) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gwen Guthrie 1986 – Ain’t Nothin’ Goin’ On But the Rent

Chief Rad
Still wondering about the name of this artist – maybe Chief Rad? (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Detail
Tron-Cosmonaut Embrace  – Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Detail

Flapper Mime (Detail) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Take notice Alexis
Since 1933  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ema

Good Jiminy! Would you take a look at her Chassis! (Ema) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Primo and Co.
Jesus! We just got over Christmas and their cramming Easter down our throats.  Wait, no I’m wrong. This is street art.  Is that bunny siting on the porcelain throne? (Primo, Ema, Kid Acne, Andy, Jean-Michel…) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Discuss
Discuss. (Swan) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tazz' tough love
Tazz’ tough love (Rednose, Tazmat) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Geometry
Woven street geometry (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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David Choe “Character Assassination” Opening Tonight at Fifty24SF

Comments
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i want to stck my duck in this show
Written by JohnDoe on 2010-02-04 12:13:20 (from Fecal Face site)

Such are the passions that arise with the arrival of the new David Choe show on the left coast tonight. The man always puts in 115% and makes no excuses.  Gotta admire that.

Thoughtful, penetrating portraits and insights at the new David Choe show. (courtesy Fecal Face)

Thoughtful, penetrating portraits and insights at the new David Choe show. (courtesy Fecal Face)

A VERY Brief video sweep of the gallery as it’s being prepared….

SEE MORE at Fecal Face

“Character Assassination”
Works by David Choe
@Fifty24SF
248 Fillmore St. @Haight
February 5 – March 24, 2010
opening Fri Feb 5th (7-9:30pm)

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Fun Friday 02.05.10 : Sydney Clamation, Brooklynite Staff Video Grind, Syncopated Dancing Alpacas

Fun-Friday

Claymation Graffiti from Sydney

Sydney is especially into traditional 80s graffiti. “The popularity of this type of spray-can graffiti can be traced back to a very specific time, place and person. His name is Taki183 and, in the very early 1970s, he was a foot courier in New York City.

This is a well-done animation (claymation) of three young urban hip-hop artists showcasing their art in the well known Sydney legal graffiti thoroughfare May Lane in St Peters, Sydney, Australia.

Because the city of Sydney, Australia actually sets aside a part of the city just for graffiti, artists there don’t have to look over their shoulder to get up. This is a brand new documentary called “From Vandalism to Art” about the current Street Art & Graffiti scene in this neighborhood of Sydney.

<<<<>>  >>.  ,, ,,><><<>>>> , >. .

Brooklynite’s Dancey Prep for Installation

DANCE ME A DANCE!

Meanwhile, back in Brooklyn – Musical Artist Riva Starr has just released a single and apparently this video is being used to inspire the staff of Brooklynite Gallery to bump and grind as they prepare their new installation.  I dare you not to laugh. Or Dance.

When you look at this video and stop snorting, you can look at a couple images from the show they are preparing for, “Stealth, Above the Radar”

It features super cool work like this one from Derek Shumate called “Alien”. The dude is from Houston, Texas.  Down there they pronounce that “hews-ton”.

Bold colors, upon layers and layers of torn bits of information, which often resemble a topographical map, are collected from various sources, including but not limited to, personal tragedies, today’s headlines and the artists’ imagination.

Derek Shumate -"Bold colors, upon layers and layers of torn bits of information, which often resemble a topographical map, are collected from various sources, including but not limited to, personal tragedies, today’s headlines and the artists’ imagination." - say Rae and Hope of Brooklynite

The other artist in the Brooklynite Show on February 13 is Collin Van Der Sluijs. Don’t ask me how to pronounce that. I’m still working on “Doppelganger”, which at first I thought had something to do with testicles, but it turns out it has nothing to do with the Tea-bag Party at all. But I digress.

Dutch "Pop-Fantasy Life" painter Collin Van Der Sluijs intermingles disproportionately sized animal/human hybrids, planet-like shapes, smoke-stacks and fresh socio-political views all from his subconscious ---directly onto the a painting surface.

"Dutch "Pop-Fantasy Life" painter Collin Van Der Sluijs intermingles disproportionately sized animal/human hybrids, planet-like shapes, smoke-stacks and fresh socio-political views all from his subconscious ---directly onto the painting surface."

Brooklynite Gallery is HERE

Collin’s site is http://www.collinvandersluijs.com

And Derek’s is http://www.derekshumate.com

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AND FOR THE “FUN FRIDAY” FINALE

Frantically Talented Dancing Alpacas

From your friends アルパカ×smooooch in Japan, a high-energy, low-fi, head-trippy dance attack that works better if you have put some medicinal mushrooms in your tea this morning. WARNING: Sped up Euro-Disco-Club-Anthem Ahead.

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“Art Cars” – Jeff Koons, Keith Haring, Lee Quinones

What would a Jeff Koons BMX Look Like?  We asked our engineers in the BSA lab to take a few laps in this.

What would a Jeff Koons BMW Look Like? We asked our engineers in the BSA lab to take a few laps in this puppy.

The news yesterday that Jeff Koons is going to paint a BMW reminded me of a couple of other urban artists who painted on cars in the past.

BMW Picks Jeff Koons for Next Art Car

February 3, 2010, 3:02 pm – New York Times Wheels Blog
By PHIL PATTON

At a sparkly art world party in Manhattan last night, BMW announced that artist Jeff Koons would create the next car in the company’s Art Car series.

Mr. Koons will be the 17th artist in the program, which began in 1975 and has employed leading artists, including Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, Frank Stella and Jenny Holzer. Most of the artists have painted on BMW cars (both road cars and racecars). The last Art Car, Olafur Eliasson’s “Your Mobile Expectations: BMW H2R Project,” from 2007, was covered in ice (read more Here)

One of Koons out-of-door-almost-street-art pieces.

Puppy

CC License photo credit: Lorkan

See more Lorkan here

Keith Haring 1982 Video Painting a Car

Yo! Graffiti Peeps: Don’t Forget Lee Quinones’ Car Last Year

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Barnstormers Coming to Joshua Liner in March

BarnStormers! Yee Hawwwww!

Famed Barnstormers!

Famed Barnstormers!

I first saw an iteration of this collective at their 2001 installation at SmackMellon in Dumbo, Brooklyn in an old spice factory – think David Ellis was doing a residency there...  Anyway, the roster and locations and breadth of projects that the Barnstormers were involved in has evolved over the last decade, but the wild-eyed no-holds-barred inventive quality stays solid. This is a show I’m not missing.

The new group exhibition at Joshua Liner Gallery will feature works in a variety of mediums: painting, photography, video, mixed media works and installation.  Here’s a half hour presentation, or rather, performance piece from 2005.   An actual barn is involved.

Artists exhibiting at Joshua Liner will include:
Alex Lebedev, Alice Mazorra, Bluster One, Che Jen, Chris Mendoza, Chuck Webster, David Ellis, Dennis McNett, Doze Green, GION, Guillermo Carrion, James Lynch, Joey Garfield, Jose Parla, Kenji Hirata, Kiku Yamaguchi, KR, MADSAKI, Manny Pangilinan (WELLO), Martin Mazorra, Maya Hayuk, Mikal Hameed, Mike Houston, Mike Ming, Miyuki Pai Hirai, Naomi Kazama, Pema Brush, Romon Kimin Yang (Rostarr), Shie Moreno, SWOON, West One, Yuri Shimojo and more.
Joshua Liner Gallery
548 W 28th St. 3rd Floor
New York, New York 10001
212-244-7415
joshualinergallery.com


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