March 2011

Black Rat Projects Presents: Brian Adam Douglas AKA Elbow-Toe “Due Date” (London, UK)

March 5, 2011 Artists, Events, Gallery, London, Opening, U.K.

Elbow Toe

Never seen in public before, Brian Adams Douglas’ new massive (5 x 7) and three months in the making painting “Memory of You” will be the central focus of his new solo show.

Elbow-Toe

Brian Adam Douglas – Due Date
March 10 – April 8, 2011

Black Rat Projects
Through Cargo Garden
Arch 461, 83 Rivington Street
London EC2A 3AY
http://www.blackratprojects.com/

Black Rat Projects is pleased to present our next project with Brian Adam Douglas. Due Date, his first solo show in the UK, will be on view from March 10 – April 8, 2011. The opening will coincide with the launch of a book about his work, Paper Cuts, published by DRAGO.

Under the name Elbow Toe, Brooklyn based artist Brian Adam Douglas has been pasting his distinctive woodcuts, stencil work, large-scale charcoal drawings and collages onto the walls of cities all around the world throughout the past decade. His diverse practice is anchored by an interest in the human gesture as a powerful form of communication, one charged with unspoken narratives and he continually transforms public space into a stage for these private moments. The scenes in his most recent body of work focus on the bewildering act of parenthood. Just as he builds a finished image through the meticulous layering of tiny individual bits of coloured paper, so the meaning of the image is woven through layers of references to historically and culturally established narratives. This kind of intertextuality has become the foundation for the development of his distinctive style. The result is a sophisticated visual language where personal metaphors begin to communicate universal truths.

In Douglas’ work family life is a staged performance, animals are manifestations of human emotion, intense pattern breaks the jagged surface and functions like an ancient Epic storm: as his characters fight to find their balance the viewer holds their breath.

Artist’s Statement:

“For my first solo show in the UK, Due Date, I am exploring my preconceived notions of parenthood and the opportunities for growth that come through that process. I am presenting a series of narratives that flirt the line between fact and fiction; they are moments of autobiography that have been extrapolated to become allegories. As an artist in the process of trying to become a parent and living in one of the most parent-centric sections of NYC, I am keenly aware of the mania that strikes at the heart of parents young and old. In these paintings I am addressing fears (loss of individuation as well as of the proverbial unknown), the strengthening of bonds in times of crisis, the issues of trying to become a parent later in life and the wisdom gained through the process of parenting.

The work is divided into two groups: a set of images on panels, and a set of images on paper. In the more fully realized works on panel, all the actions are taking place in staged environments. The elements surrounding the figures are merely cardboard props, strictly for the purpose of giving the action of the figures a point of reference. The action of the figures is the reality of the image, everything else is just window dressing. The paint drips and splashes act as abstract gestures clearing things away yet never managing to obscure the events occurring on the stage. In the works on paper, the events being described are contained in a sea of white. By the very nature of the presentation the gestures and relationships are isolated and distilled.

The current body of work builds upon a process of art making that I have been refining for several years. I refer to the work as paper paintings rather than as collage. I see each piece of paper as a brushstroke rather than as a juxtaposed idea. Each brushstroke is selected for it’s color, value and texture, rather than it’s imagery”. Brian Adams Douglas

To read BSA interview and studio visit with Elbow-Toe click on the link below:

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/?p=16421

Stick Out Your Tongue : Street Art So Close You Can Lick it at Fountain

March 5, 2011 Art Fair, Artists, Manhattan, NYC

Our preferred punk rock lopsided Anti-Fair, Fountain, is in full effect right now and this year is showing Street Artists like none of the stuffy one’s could bear; Just one step removed from the street. Some of New York’s current players hit up a 100 foot long wall with whatever they wanted. The eclectic result is a bit more “finished” than raw, but it’s a cross-section of chaotic influences that feels authentic. Here are a few shots of the art from the wall, followed by pieces inside the main exhibition. Fountain is running right now and has a musical show planned tonight with Ninjasonik and NSR and a Lomography Picture Party featuring thousands of blinding flashbulbs.

Shark Toof. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Joe Iurato (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Clown Soldier (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Elle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faro. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hellbent (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ellis G. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Danni Rash “CruciFiction” performance piece as part of the Grace Exhibition space. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Inside the tent several galleries are offering the works of other Street Artists from around the country.

Gilf takes on polarizing Sarah Palin with this on-target crosshair pattern that doubles as a religious icon halo. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gilf grabs a logo and puts it in pumps (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Artist JMR at Mighty Tanaka’s booth (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Artist Radical! shows at Marketplace Gallery’s space (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Artist Samson as part of Marketplace’s selections (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The sky landscape above Pier 66 on The Hudson River. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

PLAYING TONIGHT AT FOUNTAIN – Ninjasonik

Broken Crow : A Mexican Travelog

March 4, 2011 Mexico, Minneapolis

Minneapolis Street Art duo Broken Crow are in Mexico City for the first time to install a number of new pieces with Street Artists SupaKitch and Koralie. Guests of El Museo del Juguete Antiguo México (The Antique Toy Museum) in collaboration with MAMUTT Arte, John and Mike invite the BSA family to tag along with these impromptu snaps as they discover inspiration on the streets of D.F. So far they are pretty blown away by the stuff they’ve seen in the museum and in the streets. It will be exciting to see how it affects their output on walls.

With special thanks to Roberto Shimizu of MUJAM and Gonzalo Alvarez of Mamutt Arte

John calls this “Your Morning Inspiration”

A look inside a closet at the Antique Toy Museum

“El Enmascarado de Plata” (The Silver Masked Luchador)

Roberto and Mike mugging for the camera. What’s the Spanish translation for “mind on the money and money on the mind”?

A little blurry but it’s a cool detail from a larger piece Mike found in the museum.

Here’s the view down from the scaffolding as Broken Crow was scoping out the new gigante piece they started today. We’ll show you the progress on the next Mexican Travelog!

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All images copyright of and courtesy of Broken Crow

www.toymuseummexico.com

www.koralie.net
http://www.supakitch.com/
http://www.brokencrow.com/

Fun Friday 03.04.11

March 4, 2011 Art Fair, Artists, Brooklyn, Events, Manhattan, NYC

Armory Madness This Weekend

Light graffiti artist Vicki DaSilva blesses the art proceedings with Tiger Blood, an homage to someone famous allegedly. (photo courtesy the artist)

Check out BSA’s Armory Picks http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/?p=18835

Jose Parla at The Standard Unveils New Book

You are invited to The Top of The Standard (442 West 13^th Street), this Saturday, March 5th, where José Parlá will be signing his new monograph from 6 PM to 9 PM. This event is open to the public.

Red Bull Accused by Posters of Hi-jacking

Image © Junkerade

Junkerade, a London collective on Flickr, has posted images of a new campaign accusing Red Bulls’ new site that uses Google’s “Street View” technology of hijacking street art culture. With some simple handwritten posters they have begun a visual street backlash to encourage other discontents to mess with the messaging, including the posted piece above.

According to Junkerade, “Red Bull want to use it to flog their products without asking … to make them seem down and edgy. Let ’em know what you think, let them know they have no right to take our culture and try and sell it back to us in the form of a sugary drink”. It’s hard to predict how this will go down, but other Iphone and Android apps introduced over the last couple of years have struggled to populate their databases with relevant, accurate, good quality images and contributors. In a sweeping commercial gesture like this toward what many see as a grassroots movement, it is easy to question the company’s motives. Social media has a way of determining the rendering a decision, and so does the street.

And Now Some Levity with Devo and a Singing Unicorn!

And an ad for gum at the end that has nothing to do with us.

Luna Park Talks Monday

Portrait of Luna Park by Sam Horine (photo © Sam Horine)

Comrade Luna Park charges through the streets camera in hand with panther-like determination and captures the wild (and wildstyle) on the urban safari. Monday you can get a chance to see her images and listen to her talk about her adventures in photography – or as she tells us,

“I’ll be telling the unlikely story of how a thirtysomething librarian fell into street art and became hopelessly addicted to graffiti along the way.”

The New York Public Library Presents:
“Eye on the Wall: Observations on Street Art,”
with Luna Park.
Monday, March 07 @ 6:30 pm

Mid-Manhattan Library
455 Fifth Avenue (at 40th Street)
New York, NY 10016-0122
(212) 340-0863

Pantheon Show: The Stanley Cup is Still Missing!

An ongoing multi-chapter collaborative art project by John Fekner and Don Leicht, The Stanley Cup

BSA has just learned that possibly the contents of John Fekner & Don Leicht’s Stanley Cup will be revealed at Pantheon.

John Fekner and Don Leicht “Stanley Cup” (Image © courtesy of the artists)

“Street art is the fastest visual conductor out there. It compels people to think and question, react and connect, not just to the artist’s work but with the real issues that we battle each and every day. I believe for art to succeed it’s all about the experience and not about the possession. Art in the streets is an immediate communicator. It beats out advertising, text-based social media and even video. In this type of window presentation we are reducing the value of an art object to that of a shared visual experience for the general public and passerby without an admission fee.

The Donnell library was always known as the art library in the city. For the artists to respond to ‘a sense of place’ is like a location shot in a movie; you attempt to transcend that specific space to become something bigger than it originally was.

Street projects such as the upcoming Pantheon installation allow artists to modify, update and change their work to reflect what is happening in the real world. Try putting up a different painting in a gallery or museum exhibition. It’s not going to happen”.

~ John Fekner

PLEASE DONATE to the Pantheon Kick Starter campaign:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1959564116/pantheon-a-history-of-art-from-the-streets-of-nyc

To read more about Pantheon go to their web site and click on the link below:

http://www.pantheonnyc.com/

http://www.johnfekner.com/

Grafiteiro Enivo from Brazil by Parede Viva

Faith 47 – From South Africa

“It’s really a new art movement that a lot of people can’t quite get their head around,” says Faith47.

Charlie Sheen Dubstep

Or, “it’s humorous and benign when white men do drugs”.

The New York Public Library Presents: “Eye on the Wall: Observations on Street Art,” with Luna Park (Manhattan, NY)

March 3, 2011 Artists, Events, Manhattan, NYC

Luna Park

An unruly stepchild of the graffiti era, street art is a global art movement well into its third decade and still going strong. While graffiti is traditionally limited to the aerosol arts, street art knows no such boundaries. Street artists make full use of traditional as well as digital media and are equally as likely to be self-taught as classically trained artists.

Regardless of its origins, all street art is united in the fight against time, the elements, property owners and the general public, all forces which conspire to varying degrees towards eradicating it. Street art, therefore, is an ephemeral art form, largely unseen outside the circle of practitioners and followers. Is it any wonder that it goes unnoticed, being but one component in an increasingly oversaturated, urban landscape?

Join street art photographer Luna Park for a slideshow and discussion of works by some of the most talented artists working the streets.

Mid-Manhattan Library

455 Fifth Avenue (at 40th Street)
New York, NY 10016-0122
(212) 340-0863

A New Clown Comes to Town : Clown Soldier in Studio

March 3, 2011 Art Fair, Artists, Features, Street Talker Interview, Studio Visit

All the World is a Circus! Says I.

Clown Soldier Silk Screen (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jugglers, acrobats, trapeze artists, bareback riders, high wire walkers and of course the stern Ringmaster to smartly sharply keep them all on task. Enter the clown, bobbing along on the stage periphery, gamely plumbing audience notions of propriety for absurdity.

Winter sun floods the old factory stable, crowded with tall boards, small canvasses, art and history books stacked on handmade shelves, multiple screens leaning 5 deep against a light table. An oblong work table with flat files underneath holds myriad constellations of actual clip art arranged and stuck together in endless combinations on rolled paper. For the first public interview with the Clown Soldier you’ll have to gingerly squeeze yourself into the unkempt low-fi cyborg factory, lest you knock something off a nail. Once you are in, the merrymaking is evident, and so is the well studied industry behind the images.

Clown Soldier Silk Screen (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Since Clown Soldier first appeared, people have wondered what the hell it is, and what it means. The incongruity of a military jester in cool poppy color standing 8 feet tall amidst a field of detritus on walls across the city has mystified a number of Street Art watchers. Behind each image is 15 years of fine art, academic study, fascination with chance and experimentation. The collage process is not haphazard, but it is part divination. In the end, the work of Clown Soldier it is about the absurdity of the world and engaging the spirit of play and discovery.

(Ed Note: For people in town to see the art fairs – the most recent piece by Clown Soldier can be viewed right now at the Fountain Art Fair on West 26th Street floating on the Hudson River.)

Brooklyn Street Art: Do you think that people realize what goes into making your work for the street?
Clown Soldier: No I think that when they see it they think that it’s a computer printout. They probably think that I scanned in the image, blew it up to 8 feet and printed it out in two seconds at Kinkos. And they might say, “Where is the art in that? Where is the skill?”

Clown Soldier The screened image. Work in progress (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Clown Soldier in the wild. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: So what do you do, how do you make these, what is the process?
Clown Soldier: I start with collage. I cut up thousands and thousands of pieces of imagery until something works. What’s great about collage is you come with things that you wouldn’t come up with if you were drawing. So you cut up all these fragments, you know – it’s inspired by (William) Burroughs and it goes back to Picasso right? Anyway that process, you cut up these things and you put them together and not in a million years I would put these things together or come up with… so when I find this gem, this absurd thing.

There was a photographer who’s name I can’t remember right now who said that they felt like they were Richard Dreyfus in “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” – He’s got “Devils Mountain” in his mind. And he’s making Devil’s Mountain with his mashed potatoes his family thinks he’s crazy. And he’s ripping apart his house and he takes everything including the garbage and makes this Devil’ Mountain in his living room. It’s like he knows something – he’s like “this is something” – he’s channeling something…… And that’s what I feel like when I’m cutting up the stuff. I’m channeling something. Something is there and I’m going after it. And I’m not exactly sure what it is.

Clown Soldier Detail of a finished canvas (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: How would you characterize that something? Is it the creative spirit? Electicity.
Clown Soldier: I don’t know. It’s beyond anything I can comprehend. I mean I’m cutting up things and something happens and you can’t believe you created this thing and it didn’t exist a minute ago. These two objects that you put together and it didn’t seem like it worked yet and you are making a realization. I was originally inspired by (Max) Ernst and the idea of automatism. So you get at the subconscious. So I’m getting at my ideas and it doesn’t look contrived. I really don’t like work that is contrived and as a painter I worked that way and I worked through color and form and I like when it just evolves naturally.

Clown Soldier. Silk Screened images in progress for Fountain Art Fair (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Clown Soldier collage in the wild (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: You mentioned Burroughs and I think of him and I wonder, did he just accept the outcome of the process or did he select his favorite outcome?
Clown Soldier: That’s a good question, I mean he and Brion Gysin were working a lot with chance. I mean I think in a way they were very similar to the Da-Da-ists in the 1910s but I think that they were trying to push it much farther. I don’t think they were selecting their preferred outcome, and I think that would be a difference between me and Burroughs process because I am only taking the cream of the crop from what I make and then it becomes really powerful to me.

But also there is a consistent absurdity to me of all the work. There’s a sense of humor. I feel like there is a whimsical quality and my sense of humor comes across. But it’s the same strangeness, same absurdity. Writing is not my strength, and I can’t nail down exactly what it is saying. It’s beyond that, beyond words for me. Maybe if I actually found out what this about maybe it would not be interesting for me or for other people.

Clown Soldier. Collage (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Can you describe, for someone who hasn’t done it before, how do you make a screenprint.
Clown Soldier: That’s cool, that’s a good question. Basically you start with making a film, a positive transparency, a photocopy on a transparency for example. The way the screen printing process works is you have different meshes of screens, and it can go from 80 mesh to 300 mesh for example. So 80 mesh is not that tight a weave, and the higher you go, the tighter you go and the smaller the squares formed by the weave. It’s like thread counts, or in Photoshop you have different resolutions, or dpi. Same thing with screen printing.

Then you take silk that is stretched on your frame and you coat it with a photo-sensitive emulsion and put it on a light table with the film you made. Wherever the light goes through and hits the emulsion, it hardens. The light doesn’t go through where the black is, so the emulsion stays soft and it washes out with a water hose. So that’s it.

Brooklyn Street Art: So each Clown Soldier is made of three screens?
Clown Soldier: It’s like 7 screens for each one! I mean, the thing is, it takes me a whole day to make a clown soldier. People don’t realize that. I have to print the head and then dry it with a hair dryer and then print the next section because they’re tiled together and then I paint it – the skull cap, the lips, the blue of the suit, and the yellow belt. Then I cut it out. So, yeah, the whole process takes a day. And people look at it for 2 seconds. I think they can tell it’s hand rendered. There’s a lot of time and effort put into it.

Clown Soldier. Collage in progress. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: You know what people would want to know the most – What is the significance of the Clown Soldier? The name? The image that goes with it?
Clown Soldier: I’ve been thinking a lot about that. Originally I liked it because I was watching this movie “Bomb It” and there were a bunch of Street Artists who were talking about being soldiers of the street. Not that I compare myself to people who jump into trains or over fences and risk their lives in that way. But I feel like every time you go out on the street you put yourself at risk so you are sort of soldier. In no way do I want to compare myself to a real soldier and I highly respect real soldiers. I really thought of it like; The incongruity of it was interesting to me – just having the two names combined – clown and soldier – is an oxymoron. But about the clown portion; I want to know when did clowns get a bad rap? It’s like everybody thinks clowns are scary. I tell people my tag and they say, “Clowns are scary”. I mean, in no way do I think that that clown is scary. I mean when Picasso did it everybody loved it.

Brooklyn Street Art: But his clowns were more like a harlequin, though.
Clown Soldier: That’s the thing though he sort of looks like a harlequin. What’s the difference between a harlequin and a clown?

Brooklyn Street Art: I think a harlequin is this sort of foppish character from a royal court, maybe from the Renaissance.
Clown Soldier: Oh, maybe he’s more like a harlequin. I was thinking about myself more like a clown. I definitely connect with this image of a clown soldier. For me it had no political connotation – I certainly respect soldiers and I don’t want to give the wrong idea about that.

Brooklyn Street Art: It’s about the absurdity of the pairing.
Clown Soldier: Yeah, the absurdity! It’s obviously such an innocent image, I think. It’s also interesting that he has a Dutch ruffle, a French Revolution uniform, and a clown head. It’s three different cultures and time periods.

Clown Soldier. Work on paper in progress (photo © Clown Soldier)

Brooklyn Street Art: It’s like someone got lost in a costume shop, trying on different things.
Clown Soldier: Right, that’s what it is like for me. I’m trying different things, combinations, having fun. I think life is a circus. Like this Fountain Fair is a circus.

Brooklyn Street Art: So what has your experience been like at the fair so far? What are you going to do while you are there?
Clown Soldier: Well, I’ve been looking at a lot of circus imagery and I think that is a direction I’m going to be going in. I’m going to try to create a piece that looks kind of like those banners you see going into a circus. Like those banners that advertise ‘freaks’ – a culmination of things you’d see on the way into the circus. I want to make it look very circus like.

Brooklyn Street Art: I always think of what Fountain does as a kind of punk circus.
Clown Soldier: It is. It’s avant-garde. I love what John and David do. I think that they are incredible guys because they put so much into it and it’s amazing what they are able to achieve in such a short amount of time. They take this boat, canvas it with a tent, which is a huge feat, put walls all around it and get all these different galleries, set it up, and then throw this incredible party. You know? I mean they get a lot of help from their friends but basically they do it themselves and I’m like, “How do they do this?” and it winds up being a success.

Clown Soldier. “beef, bef,” An early work (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Clown Soldier’s work will be on display at Fountain Art Fair in New York City. To read more about Fountain click on the link below:

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/?p=18835

Armory Week NYC 2011: BSA Picks

March 2, 2011 Art Fair, Artists, Brooklyn, Events, Fundraising, Gallery, Manhattan, NYC, On the Street, Opening

Armory Week, the annual art deluge in New York is about art Fairs, Art Fans, and Fiddy Dollars, Daddy. While a fair bit of the traffic at the various fairs is about the benjamins, it’s also just about having a good time and getting out to see what your favorite street artist is up to in this milieu. In short – a whole lotta street artists are getting busy this year in the booths, on the walls, and in the streets to show you their stuff.

This year the NYC madness officially opens Thursday March 3rd. Here are some of the things we are looking forward to – you might like them too.

FOUNTAIN

A BSA favorite, Fountain is held in an old maritime vessel docked on the Hudson River on the West Side of Manhattan. Each year, and this is the sixth, the fair promises to rock at least a few boats.

Fountain is an excitedly directed directionless cacophony of hits and odd couple of misses every year. The hits usually are upside your head. We are looking forward to the 100+ feet wall of fresh Street Art as you enter and the Murder Lounge down below. As you wend your way past the bar and the flash bulbs at the Saturday night musical melee with Ninjasonik you will swear you are floating. Because you are.

An interior shot of the The Frying Pan, where Fountain splashes on the Hudson River at 26th Street. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

If you are lost, look for the mast. Fountain is the only water vessel based fair at Armory, baby (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Elle does final prep to her wall piece for Fountain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hellbent installing his Fountain piece (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Joe Iurato installing his piece (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ellis G. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Highlights:

FOUNTAIN NEW YORK ANNOUNCES
MASSIVE STREET ART INSTALLATION FOR 2011 FAIR

Adding to Fountain’s signature overwhelming visual and sensory experience, visitors entering Fountain Art Fair will encounter a 100-foot long street art installation stretching along the entrance and exit—a massive collaborative installation by a number of street artists. It features Chris Stain, Dickchicken!, Faro, Gaia, Shark Toof, Clown Soldier, Love Me, Ellis G, Allesandro Echevarria, Lee Trice, Imminent Disaster, Elle, Hellbent, Joe Iurato, and Anthony Sneed. “The medium and movement referred to as Street Art has played an integral role in Fountain Art Fair’s development,” said David Kesting, Fountain Art Fair Co-Founder.

Location:

Pier 66 Maritime @ 26th Street & 12th Avenue in the Hudson RIver Park

March 3 – 6, 2011
General Public Hours:
March 4–March 6, 12pm–7pm

Special Events:
Thursday March 3, 12am – 5pm – VIP & Press Preview
Friday, March 4, 7pm – 12am – Opening Night Reception – Performance: Gordon Voidwell and Tecla
Saturday, March 5, 7pm – 12am – Performance: Ninjasonik

Go to Fountain official site to see the full list of exhibitors and to learn more details about the special events and full program:

http://fountainexhibit.com/

SCOPE

A mouthwash and an art fair, we’re checking out Scope mainly to see the new collaboration called Contra Projects, put together by brothers Tristan and Matthew Eaton – comprised of some rockin’ Street Artists who will be taking their show on the road around the globe this year. We’ve had a blast watching them put up new work on Brooklyn streets this week, and can’t wait to see the installations at Scope.

TYPOE

Also you will want to check out the sculpture work by Miami graff artist Typoe, whose friend have been saving their caps from spray cans for a minute. He laughs when he talks about graffers mailing them to him too and as a co-founder of Primary Flight, Miami’s original open air museum and street level mural installation, he’s got plenty to work with.

TYPOE | Fountain, 2011| Confetti Death Series
Represented by SPINELLO GALLERY

To see the full list of exhibitors, details of the programs and fees to enter go to the Scope Art Fair site:

http://www.scope-art.com/Index.php/

Location
320 West St (West Side Highway)
Across from Pier 40
New York NY 10014

Opening Schedule
FirstView
(For VIPs and Press
or $100 donation at the door)
Wednesday | March 2 | 3pm-9pm

VOLTA

California’s Carmichael Gallery is showing new work by Street Art brain jammer Mark Jenkins, whose well-placed human installations in public places cause people to stop and ponder. Apparently, his work has a similar effect on cats.

Mark Jenkins, Family Room

From the press release;

“Mark Jenkins’ installation at VOLTA NY will transform Booth A1 into an unconventionally furnished family room. “I’ve been doing a lot of experimentation with resin and fiberglass,” says the artist of this new series, which includes five and a half life-size sculptures and a range of smaller pieces, “finding more original ways to make hand casts and improving structural solidity through new bracing techniques.” For the first time, Jenkins will present his works within a site-specific environment purposefully created to provide greater contextual authority and definition to his aesthetic and thematic considerations. “An empty space can feel sterile,” he observes, “as if a giant eraser has removed all context. The works become more like pinned butterflies. I have taken a different approach with (the presentation of) Family Room. This time it’s about creating a place for the sculptures to live in, so, in addition to clothes, I’ve been thrift store shopping for plants, drapes, rugs and chairs.” Both individual works and the installation as a whole will propose non-traditional commentaries on the institutions of family and home.”

Booth A1
7 West 34th Street
between 5th and 6th Avenue / 11th floor
New York, NY 10001
USA

To see the full Volta exhibitors list and details of all events please click on Volta’ site:

http://ny.voltashow.com/

To learn more about Carmichael Gallery please click on the gallery’s site:

http://www.carmichaelgallery.com/

PULSE

Brooklyn’s David Ellis at Joshua Liner is one painter/sculptor/film maker always worth checking out. As a founding Barnstormer, Ellis continues to stretch and swerve with painterly illustrations and installation.

VISIT
PULSE Contemporary Art Fair at http://www.pulse-art.com/ or contact by phone at +1 (212) 255-2327.

FAIR HOURS
Thursday March 3	10am-1pm
	Press and VIP Private Preview
Thursday March 3	1pm- 8pm
Friday March 4	12pm – 8pm
Saturday March 5	12pm – 8pm
Sunday March 6	12pm – 5pm

::ADMISSION TO ALL VERGE ART BROOKLYN
EXHIBITION LOCATIONS IS FREE::

PUBLIC HOURS
Thursday, Friday & Saturday, 3 – 5 March, Noon to 10 pm
Sunday, 6 March, Noon to 6 pm
OPENING NIGHT PARTY
Thursday, 3 March, 2011, 10:00 pm to 4 am

TOMORROW’S ART TODAY: THE INAUGURAL ART BROOKLYN
Coming Thursday, March 3, Verge Art Brooklyn invites you to experience a paradigm shift in art fairs as we know them, a show that recovers the standard of an art fair as a platform for presenting the best work by living artists. Art Brooklyn throws open the doors for attendees to a whole new universe of artists, music, art, and community. Verge Art Brooklyn is proud to announce a list of exhibitors that includes gallery exhibitors, resident DUMBO galleries and Brooklyn Art Now participants for a combined total of over seventy gallery exhibitors at nine locations, nearly forty participants for “Material Issue: Artist’s Projects Spaces” and fifty artists for “Tomorrow Stars: The Art Brooklyn Open Call Exhibition.” Chosen by a distinguished panel of jurors, “Tomorrow Stars” represents the brightest and best Brooklyn has to offer, as selected by Courtney Wendroff of the Brooklyn Arts Council, artist and former president of the NYC chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers Stephen Mallon, blogger and art critic Steve Kaplan, and Danny Simmons, chairman of the NYC chapter of the National Conference of Artists. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to own the work of tomorrow’s stars today!

GALLERY EXHIBITORS
81 Front Street, Ground Floor / One Main Street, Ground Floor ANTIDOTE, Brooklyn, NY, Albrecht Art Enterprise, New York, NY, Art Project International G77 Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, Phoenix Gallery, New York, NY, G2 Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, MoCADA Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Cue Art Foundation, New York, NY, Firecat Projects, Chicago, IL, Stilllife Gallery, New York, NY, Fine Art Consultancy, London, UK, Arch 402, London, UK, A.R.T. Module R, Brooklyn, NY, Mayjune Gallery, Seoul, South Korea, Brooklyn Art Project, Brooklyn, NY, and others TBA.

BROOKLYN ART NOW: 2011 SURVEY EXHIBITION CURATED BY LOREN MUNK/JAMES KALM
111 Front Street, Second Floor, Suites 200, 204 & 222 Tabla Rasa Gallery: selected artist(s) and work, Audrey Anastasi, “Spoken Birch.” BAC Gallery selected artist(s) work, RahulAlexander, “Golden Chamber”, Greg Lindquist, “ntitled.” Like The Spice Gallery selected artist(s) and work, Jenny Morgan and David Mramor, “View Quan Yinha.” Micro Museum: Selected artist(s) and work, Kathleen and William Laziza “THE KISSING INSTALLATION 2.0.” Open Source Gallery: selected artist(s) and work, Peter Feigenbaum, ”02″, Katerina Marcelja “02.” Camel Art Space: selected artist(s) and work, Rob de Oude, “Hither fro Yonder”, Carl Gunhouse, “Development Nashville, TN.” MoCADA: selected artist(s) and work, Jeff Sims, “Straddle 72.” WORK Gallery: selected artist(s) and work, Eric Ayotte, “Protest Painting”, Karin Stothart, “Ileostomy Drainage.” Central Booking: selected artist(s) and work. Despo Magoni, “The Thousand and One Nights series”, Lothar Osterburg, “Zion Homestead.” BRIC Rotunda Gallery: selected artist(s) and work, Jeesoo Lee, “Darkening Blue”, Pinar Yolaçan, “Untitled (from Mother Goddess series), Lael Marshall, “Compact Florescent.” Famous Accountants: selected artist(s) and work, Meg Hitchcock, “Nausea, The Sunyatasaptati (Seventy Verses on Emptiness) by Nagarjuna, from Neasea by Jean-Paul Sartre”, Ben Godward, “Shhh! I live here.” Spring Gallery: selected artist(s) and work Charles Lahti, “First Eyes on Jura.” Front Room Gallery: selected artist(s) and work, Tom Broadbent, “Floating Camouflaged Pants” Manhattan Bridge Tunnel proposal, Stephen Mallon, “Virginia Placement”, Patricia Smith, “Mapped Location of Pronounced Situation Density.” Janet Kurnatowski: selected artits(s) and work, Craig Olson, “Murcury in the Philosopher’s Egg (Oh! Hospitable Jupiter! And the Trust)”, Ben La Rocco, “Minerva’s Pallette.” English Kills Gallery: selected artist(s) and work, Don Pablo Pedro, “jpg #1”, Andrew Hurst, “EOS Digital Rebel ETi.” 440 Gallery: selected artist(s) and work, Tom Bovo, “BOVO_TOM_02”, Richard Eagan “EAGAN_RICHARD_01.” LUMENHOUSE: selected artist(s) and work, Jeremiah Teipen, ” Untitled, digital video with screen and player.” Side Show Gallery: selected artist(s) and work, Shari Mendelson, “Bumpy Blue-Green Vessel”, James O. Clark, “Orestes 2006.” Parker’s Box: selected artist(s) and work, Steven Brower, “Child Astronaut Test Suit 1999-2000”, Joshua Stern, “Untitled V” Patrick Martinez “Jesus video.” In addition, a list of Special Projects for Brooklyn Art Now is forthcoming.

PUBLIC HOURS
Thursday, Friday & Saturday, 3 – 5 March, Noon to 10 pm
Sunday, 6 March, Noon to 6 pm

OPENING NIGHT RECEPTION
Thursday, 3 March, 2011, 10:00 pm to 2 am

To read more details about Verge Art Brooklyn click on the link below:

http://www.brooklynartfair.com/

Non-Art Fair Recommendations

Brice Wolkowitz Gallery Presents: José Parlá “Walls Diaries and Paintings” (Manhattan, NYC)

José Parlá “Order, Pattern, Organization, Form and Relationship”. Image Courtesy of the gallery.

Mint&Serf Present: Well Hung: The Chelsea Chapter at +ART. A Fundraiser for Free Arts NYC

Augustine Kofie in Studio

March 1, 2011 Artists, California, Canada, Features, Gallery, Interview, Los Angeles, Opening, Studio Visit, Valentines

Graffiti writer and fine artist. Old Skool Bomber. Wildstyle. Mid-Century Abstractionism. American Modernism. Choose One and Stick with it, right?

You find the evolution of artists of the streets can go in many different directions with time. As the current generation of wild teens and art school grads claim a hip-hop birthright to get up on public walls across cities everywhere, we are reminded of 1970s New York train-writing graff artists like Lee Quinones and Futura who eventually evolved their skills into galleries, private collections, museums. And they are only two. It has happened enough times now for it to be identified as a natural progression for some artists ‘of the street’, and in many cases, to incredible effect. It is a worthwhile point to consider if not labor over; the street has proven a valuable training ground for an increasing number of our great artists; With or without, and sometimes in spite of, our participation.

Augustine Kofie began as a writer in Los Angeles in the 1990s and has always had a deep love for illustration and linework. Today he has a studio doing markedly different work from what he developed on the streets – and it is a direct result of his evolution as an artist and as a person.

Todd Mazer recently visited the studio of Kofie and talks here about what he saw:

“Tucked away in the sleeping hills of Filipino town in Los Angeles, just a stones throw away from an Emergency Room entrance where Bob Dylan’s immortal words “He not busy being born is busy dying” are literal, you’ll find Augustine Kofie. This meeting of degradation and downfall with birth and uprising seem to be principle themes that play out in this ongoing story. It’s a story that eloquently eludes those who question the direction, proximity and order of the beginning to the end.

Kofie will be the first one to tell you that we are a product of our environment. Upon entering his work/living space it becomes nearly impossible to find the separation point between his environment and his work. A quick scan across the dimly lit room offers the realization that these aged manuals, endless sketchbooks and found artifacts are like records to a beat-maker and that Kofie is creating his own version of soul music on canvas”

~Todd Mazer

Kofie talked with Brooklyn Street Art about his work and his inspirations;

Brooklyn Street Art: The clean architectural lines and shapes in your work fit together as if they were a floor plan. Have you had experience designing buildings?
Augustine Kofie: None at all. I’m inspired by preliminary design, drafting, architectural renderings and pre production concepts revolving around visual futurist design. I wouldn’t be opposed to an actual build out based on my work at some point but it’s not where my heads at right now… sticking to what I know.

Brooklyn Street Art: Why is it important to incorporate found items into your work, when you obviously could create them yourself.
Augustine Kofie: I’m taken by their texture, color and age, plus I enjoy the archeologist/ ‘digging in the crates’ aspect of collecting. Sampling is the best way to put it.. It is like finding a strange soundscape from a record or film, then twisting, manipulating and layering it with other found bits to create a new component, both audio and visual. They possess lost histories and past stories all their own so it feels appropriate and truthful to use such ephemera instead of recently produced papers. The up cycling and reinterpretations are endless.

Brooklyn Street Art: What kind of object catches your eye and forces you to bring it back to the studio?
Augustine Kofie: Usually outdated garage and office items from estate sales make me geek out. Anything that ‘contains’. Old wooden boxes, metal file boxes and hand made cabinets from an old mans garage workshop. Drafting based items. Paper wise, the more fatigued and yellowed the better but not to the point of crumbling. Engineering and accounting paperwork is nice as well. Yardsticks definitely get scooped.

Brooklyn Street Art Your work is vintage and futuristic – vintage in that jazz modernist warm way, and futuristic in its 1960s complex precision. Do you feel some nostalgia for that period and what does it represent for you?
Augustine Kofie: When I was a kid my parents played old jazz and soul records. This became the soundtrack to my life and I created my own perspective of a time-period that I only experienced as a child. That combined with the Futurist viewpoint of Syd Mead as well as the Futurist Movement set the foundation for what I do today and who I will become in the future.

Brooklyn Street Art Your studio working environment really parallels the clean lines and warm tones of your work. Could you create this same work in a different place (like a chaotic and messy one for example), or is it not important at all?
Augustine Kofie: To me my studio is a place of comfort, meditation and inspiration. I prefer a ‘workshop’ environment over a living room setting. I have been working on my aesthetic for long enough that as long as I’m given paint and a surface then I could create a style that is mine, anywhere. The energy and execution of the art is always influenced by my surroundings, though.

Brooklyn Street Art: Your earlier graffiti contained foreshadowing of the abstract approach you are using now. At what point do your pieces stop being called graffiti and start being Street Art? Or does it matter at all to use terms like this?
Augustine Kofie: This is a strange place for me, this sort of limbo between titles. I just want to contribute my work as a man and as a whole, regardless of its contemporary title or standing. Confusing or not it is what it is.

My work and I are in constant progression. Evolution is mandatory. There is no seam that defines a beginning or ending to who I am and what I wish to produce. I do both the Graffiti and ‘art on the street’ depending on the moment and situation and especially moods. I’m a moody cat and I tend to gravitate to what I want to do to ease my restlessness. A different attention and energy is given to each form of expression here. Sometimes I want to blast on a crew production with classic characters/ letters & background scenarios. Other times I want to take a 20 year old can of outdated American spray-paint to a refused and abandoned surface and paint triangles, circles and lines without lettering, just getting loose on the foundations of line-work. I feel like Graff gave me a voice and I’ve contributed to this art form, now I have to contribute further and test my styles as well as change my own mindset and preconceived ideas of what this art form is as much as where its going.

On Saturday March 5th Augustine Kofie will be part of a group show curated by Indigo at the Becker Galleries in Vancouver, Canada. To learn more details about this show click on the link below:

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/?p=18278

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Never seen in public before, Brian Adams Douglas’ new massive (5 x 7) and three months in the making painting “Memory of You” will be the central focus of his new solo show.

Shark Toof. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shark Toof. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Joe Iurato (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Clown Soldier (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Elle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faro. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hellbent (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ellis G. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gilf takes on polarizing Sarah Palin with this on-target crosshair pattern that doubles as a religious icon halo. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gilf grabs a logo and puts it in pumps (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Artist JMR at Mighty Tanaka’s booth (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Artist Radical! shows at Marketplace Gallery’s space (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Artist Samson as part of Marketplace’s selections (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The sky landscape above Pier 66 on The Hudson River. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

John calls this “Your Morning Inspiration”

A look inside a closet at the Antique Toy Museum

“El Enmascarado de Plata” (The Silver Masked Luchador)

Roberto and Mike mugging for the camera. What’s the Spanish translation for “mind on the money and money on the mind”?

A little blurry but it’s a cool detail from a larger piece Mike found in the museum.

Here’s the view down from the scaffolding as Broken Crow was scoping out the new gigante piece they started today. We’ll show you the progress on the next Mexican Travelog!

Armory Madness This Weekend

Check out BSA’s Armory Picks http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/?p=18835

Jose Parla at The Standard Unveils New Book

Red Bull Accused by Posters of Hi-jacking

And Now Some Levity with Devo and a Singing Unicorn!

Luna Park Talks Monday

Portrait of Luna Park by Sam Horine (photo © Sam Horine)

Pantheon Show: The Stanley Cup is Still Missing!

John Fekner and Don Leicht “Stanley Cup” (Image © courtesy of the artists)

Grafiteiro Enivo from Brazil by Parede Viva

Faith 47 – From South Africa

Charlie Sheen Dubstep

Mid-Manhattan Library

All the World is a Circus! Says I.

Clown Soldier Silk Screen (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Clown Soldier Silk Screen (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Clown Soldier The screened image. Work in progress (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Clown Soldier in the wild. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Clown Soldier Detail of a finished canvas (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Clown Soldier. Silk Screened images in progress for Fountain Art Fair (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Clown Soldier collage in the wild (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Clown Soldier. Collage (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Clown Soldier. Collage in progress. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Clown Soldier. Work on paper in progress (photo © Clown Soldier)

Clown Soldier. “beef, bef,” An early work (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FOUNTAIN

An interior shot of the The Frying Pan, where Fountain splashes on the Hudson River at 26th Street. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

If you are lost, look for the mast. Fountain is the only water vessel based fair at Armory, baby (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Elle does final prep to her wall piece for Fountain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hellbent installing his Fountain piece (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Joe Iurato installing his piece (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ellis G. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Location:

SCOPE

TYPOE

VOLTA

PULSE

Non-Art Fair Recommendations

José Parlá “Order, Pattern, Organization, Form and Relationship”. Image Courtesy of the gallery.

Mint&Serf Present: Well Hung: The Chelsea Chapter at +ART. A Fundraiser for Free Arts NYC

Graffiti writer and fine artist. Old Skool Bomber. Wildstyle. Mid-Century Abstractionism. American Modernism. Choose One and Stick with it, right?

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

Featured Video | Martin Wong’s “Houston Street”

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