Here’s our weekly interview with the streets, this week featuring: Elbow Toe, David Byrne, Hellbent, Jaye Moon, Colum Cunningham, Dain, David L, Left Handed Wave, Swoon, Samuel Mark, Know Hope, and Hanksy.
As the official media partner with “Living Walls : Albany” founder Samson Contompasis for this inaugural city-wide Street Art event held in New York State’s capital in September 2011, Brooklyn Street Art invited artists to participate, gave the keynote lecture at the New York State Museum, and provided the following coverage of artists and installations, including an overview on The Huffington Post.
Street Art events which pair local and international talent with bare walls continue to multiply in unexpected locations around the world as young Street Artists and their fans push forward this D.I.Y. scene that had early roots in graffiti. From festivals and week-long events in Toronto to Melbourne to London to Paris to Stavanger (Norway) and Grottaglie (Italy), the first worldwide people’s art movement continues to enliven previously moribund areas of cities and engage local conversations about culture and public space.
There were so many moving parts in this large and easy going cultural festival this weekend, and we were really happy to meet so many people in the street, at the Marketplace encampment, in St. Joseph’s Church, at the tile factory, and during our keynote lecture at the New York State Museum Saturday. Thanks to Samson Contompasis for asking BSA to partner with him for LWAlbany and a quick shout out to other local partners James Shultis at Grand Street Community Arts, Sivan Shimoni, the staff at NYS Museum, and local blogger KC Orcutt at KeepAlbanyBoring.com
Street Artist Overunder just completed his astounding tiled installation this weekend in Albany on the wall of L’esperance Tile Works, a local tile maker with a special 1920s “dust press” that the artist also worked into the piece. For an artist with such a fluid and freewheeling figurative style with a spray can, it is surprising to see it interpreted with such permanence and cogitative consideration.
As Street Artists have been installing their new works on walls around Albany these past 10 days or so, the common story one witnesses is the level of engagement of adults and kids stopping on the sidewalk, in their cars, watching the process, photographing and discussing the art, and exploring the creative process.
Here are a couple in-progress scenes with German twins How & Nosm on a lift beginning their new mural Friday afternoon after arriving from Miami, where they completed new work for Wynwood Walls. Also we were excited to have spent some time seeing OverUnder working with a local tile maker and two new assistants from the neighborhood mixing up mortar
Street Artist Joe Iurato went to church yesterday at St. Joseph’s in Albany, where a number of street artists have been putting together some great work this week. These pieces are floated in front of the walls, rather than painted directly on them out of respect for the original building, an the effect immediately makes the hallowed spaces of organized religion feel more relevant than seeing the Pope on a skateboard.
Overunder is a firecracker. From my initial participation in witnessing the Living Walls unfold in Albany, he has been nothing but a friendly and tireless ball of creative energy (in the best way possible) showing me parts of the city I grew up in that I didn’t even know existed on Google maps of places he’s been exploring.
Within moments of ROA’s arrival on site to his designated building for “Living Walls : Albany,” he spotted a recently departed squirrel, took it as a sign and it became quite clear what he was going to do next.
The squirrel population in Albany is (somewhat) jokingly of a “different” breed
With Marketplace Gallery transformed into what is best classified as a sleep away art camp — complete with scattered sleeping arrangements, wheat pastes hung up on the gallery walls ready to greet the outside world, in progress portraits of some of the participating artists by White Cocoa and a healthy buzz of street art-fueled…
In Street Arts’ latest chapter, the storytellers are hitting up walls with all manner of influences and methods. More than ever before, formally trained and self taught fine artists are skipping the gallery route and taking their work directly to the public, creating cultural mash-ups and highly personal stories of their own, altering the character of this scene once again.
Is this a metaphor for the rich feasting on the US economy? Or just the Macy’s One Day Sale? Here’s a quick cell phone snap of the new piece by Broken Crow at Living Walls : Albany, complete with blood slopping across the field of yellow flowers. More to come soon.
Street Artist Cake brought her hand painted people to Albany yesterday, with these portraits of a “wondrous traveler”named Saige. A fine artist who makes one of a kind wheate-pasted one off pieces as a means of therapy and tribute,
Mr. Iurato spent a couple of days in beautiful late summer sun drenched bliss and managed to knock out two pieces – one on Central ave in Albany, the other on a highway buttress across the river in neighboring Rensellaer. Hewing to some of his favorite themes, you will see references to faith, redemption and the spiritual journey here in some exclusive pics just for BSA readers.
OVERUNDER Makes More Brain Candy for Living Walls : Albany
Overunder is a fast-moving free-associating surrealist whose Street Art pieces catch your eye as you skip past a run down neglected piece of property. Always balancing on the edge of your reality and his boundless imagination, the painted plumcake pieces will strum the brainwaves and may make you all skittish like a cat at a rocking chair convention.
with photos from Andrew Franciosa, Frank Whitney, and Ken Jacobie
Working in the monumental landmark of St. Joseph’s church, the focal point marking Albany’s Ten Broeck Historical District, everything echoed. The shake of the spray paint can, Chris Stain’s soft but direct voice, friends casually eating out of take-out containers and the sliding of a huge ladder against the wooden floor echoed …
“Living Walls: Albany” Begins! Gaia, Nanook and a Rockefeller
Words by KC Orcutt, Images by Andrew Franciosa
A new livelihood is radiating around the colossal work of Gaia and Nanook, which debuted the Living Walls: Albany last week. Their vibrant piece adorns the side of a vacant, unroofed building currently aging on N. Pearl and Livingston.
Tonight opens the 2nd Annual New York “Nuit Blanche” in Brooklyn’s Greenpoint neighborhood. As we did during it’s inauguration last year (when we were also participants) BSA proudly supports this public show of light by some of today’s more talented conceptual and technical artists in the street. With more than 60 separate installations and performances all over the place, it is an event open to the public and it claims public space as our space for creativity, interactivity, and community. Despite threats of spotty rain, we expect the crowd to pour in and have a blast tonight.
“We want things to be visually arresting, some things that people stay and linger at, while other people look for a moment and move on,” declares Ethan Vogt, as he lead a bunch of us around some of the sites last night to preview.
“We wanted to save his life….The helicopter lands and the flight medic jumps out, and we’re like ‘throw this guy on the bird’ ” – “Veterans Flame Greenpoint” by Krzysztof Wodiczko.
Roland and Andrea, of “The Company” will be running their indoor space installation of lights that will react to frequencies emmitted by live performance and recorded industry. Says Andrea, “We developed a custom software that triggers the lights as they are being affected by the sound. We are going to have a lot of performers as well as found industrial sounds – each light lantern is connected to one specific frequency.
BSA will bring you images of the event but if you are in the neighborhood, take your own and send them to us! It’s always great to see what you are up to.
New York’s Fountain is spraying westward this weekend in LA and photographer Birdman gives us an inside look at some of the preparations of the Street Art contingent for this show. Somehow Fountain manages to keep a loosely organized chaos on point wherever it goes, a perfect bit of ground between the cracks of the concrete where things of beauty are likely to pop up.
Hello October ! It’s the first official day and Nuart 2011 is in progress. The streets of Stavanger have been sunny, with people out checking out the action by Street Artists from Europe and the US on walls all over the city in summer-like conditions. There is an indoor contingent happening too, as well as the debut of “Vigilante Vigilante” (trailer at end) and a panel discussion with downtown New York’s own Carlo McCormick and Street Artists Herbert Baglioni and Escif.
Here are a few exclusive pics from Mooki to give you a peek at the scene.
Check out the trailer for “Vigilante Vigilante”, which had it’s European premiere at Nuart last night and which is showing tonight and tomorrow at 16oo hrs. It’s a supercharged wending path and story profiling personalities, behaviors, and agendas of intersecting players on the street. In the process it exposes grey areas and overlapping interests, all of which can be simultaneously uncomfortable and riveting.
1. Fountain LA This Weekend
2. NUART 2011 – Stavanger, Norway
3. “Bring to Light” in Greenpoint Brooklyn for the 2nd Year – Saturday Night!
3. “Rituals” on 14th Street, Art in Odd Places
4. Pantheon Projects at THE NEW YORK ART BOOK FAIR AT MoMA PS1
5. Art Platform Los Angeles
6. RETNA at Art Platform (LA)
7. Brian Adam Douglas at Art Platform (LA)
Fountain LA This Weekend
New York’s own specially warped outsiders are in LA this weekend, and BSA is happy to sport support for whatever madness they can stir up, including the Murder Lounge, which Dave Ill says will be in full effect. (Murder- .slang. To defeat decisively). When you are milling around the big LA shows this weekend make sure you stop by Fountain and say hello to Señor Kesting and check out the Street Art contingent doing their thing on the Left Coast ya’ll.
NUART 2011 has arrived and the streets and buildings of Stavanger are a heating up with all the artists getting up and doing what they know what to do best: Paint. Brooklyn’s own Dan Witz already hit the streets with his “King Baby” street installations on faux city street signage. Tonight (Friday) their is a panel debate with artists, Carlo McCormick and Juxtapoz Magazine that we wouldn’t miss.
Artists include DAN WITZ (US), DAVID CHOE & DVS1 (US), VHILS (PO), HERBERT BAGLIONE (BR), DOLK (NO), LUCY McCLAUCHLAN (UK), HERAKUT (DE), TELLAS (IT), ESCIF (ES), HYURO (ES), PHLEGM (UK)
For a complete listing of events and schedules please visit the NUART site:
“Bring to Light” in Greenpoint Brooklyn for the 2nd Year – Saturday Night!
“All manner of projectors blasted on the walls with myriad images, forms, and shapes, some breathtakingly beautiful. Other artists created sculptures and installations that worked as light vessels and amorphous creatures while collaborative dancers entertained groupings of appreciative observers.” from BSA’s review on Huffington Post
OCTOBER 1ST, 2011, Greenpoint, Brooklyn New York. 6:00 pm to Midnight.
Bring to Light is a free nighttime public festival of art in New York City that takes place simultaneously with “nuit blanche” events in cities around the world. Inviting emerging and established artists to make site-specific installations of light, sound, performance and projection art, the event creates an immersive spectacle for thousands of visitors to re-imagine public space and civic life. Bring to Light will transform streets, parks and the industrial waterfront of Greenpoint, Brooklyn set against dramatic views of the Manhattan skyline.
Nuit Blanche (French for “white night” or “all-nighter”) is a global network of locally-organized nighttime contemporary art events. Originating in Paris in 2001, the nuit blanche concept now involves millions of people in cities around the world.
One performance we will NOT miss will be Chris Jordan and Josh Goldberg, who have serious chops in public projection work, presenting CHRONO GIANTS.
Art in Odd Places 2011: RITUAL features a wide variety of actions, participatory performances, theatrical presentations, public installations, and small and large-scale interventions all of which revolve around the concept of ritual.
Art in Odd Places (AiOP) presents visual and performance art in public spaces with an annual festival each October along 14th Street in Manhattan, NYC from Avenue C to the Hudson River.
Opening Reception for Art In Odd Places Festival 2011
Friday, September 30, 6-9pm
Theaterlab
137 West 14th Street between Sixth and Seventh Avenues
New York, NY
For a complete listing of artists and a full schedule of events and locations visit Art In Odd Places site:
This art book fair always rewards you – just walking around the floorplan of MoMA PS1 is a trip and the books are tripped out. This year we are in a new one – The Pantheon Catalog from Joyce Manalo and Daniel Feral;
“The street has always been the thumping beat that pumps the pulsing lifeblood through creative New York. Yes, there is a lot of action behind the walls in the offices and galleries and studios and stages and clubs and boardrooms, but everyone knows it is the kinetic electricity of life on the street that inspires New Yorkers to dig deeper and dream bigger and play hard.”
~ from the essay Street Art New York, The 2000s, Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo of Brooklyn Street Art.
If that is not enough to make you absolutely plow down crowds to get there, consider the real talents who are going to be there to SIGN YOUR COPY:
***Catalog Signing on Sunday, October 2nd, 3-3:45 PM featuring***
Join Pantheon Projects at The NY Art Book Fair
September 30-October 2, 2011, 11AM-7PM, at PS1/MoMA, Free Admission
Hours: Friday–Sunday, 11AM-7PM
THE NY ART BOOK FAIR
September 30–October 2, 2011
MoMA PS1
MoMA PS1
22-25 Jackson Avenue at 46th Avenue
Long Island City, NY (map)
Art Platform Los Angeles
From their press release; Art Platform – Los Angeles will demonstrate the rich and vibrant cultural landscape of Southern California and underscore Los Angeles’ influential position within the contemporary art world. MMPI is one of the largest show producers in the world, including a growing portfolio of premium art shows. We have assured the continued development and enhancement of the Art Show division by bringing together some of the top minds in art fairs under one partnership”
For more information, location and a complete list of exhibitors please visit Art Platform at:
If you can’t wait to see the Retna spread as shot by David LaChapelle in October’s Vanity Fair you can check out these new pieces at Art Platform and see BSA’s photos from his New York show this spring.
New Image Art Gallery will be exhibiting at Art Platfrom Los Angeles Featuring new large-scale paintings on canvas and paper by RETNA Visit them at booth #108
Brian Adam Douglas at Art Platform (LA)
Andrew Edlin Gallery will exhibit Brooklyn Fine and Street Artist Brian Adam Douglas along with Henry Darger, Thornton Dial and Jeremy Everett. Visit them at booth 814.
Painter Anthony Lister is also a Street Artist. His surreal pop and celebrity culture-infused abstractions are candy encrusted apples which may have something sharp inside. Many are figurative studies and wire frames bending wildly into characters who cavort and mock with blunt swipes of color, overlaid by costumed sexual role play… or is that a personal projection? Did I mention elegance, defiance, wit? Wait, there is so much here! Truth is, his work can be a cock-eyed psychological tempest, jarring to the head, strangely sweet.
A decade of discovery under his superhero belt, Mr. Lister continues to analyze and build his creative practice and it always includes work inside the gallery and outside on the street. He’s currently preparing for his solo show in Sydney called “Bogan Paradise” at Gallery A.S. At the same time he’s part of a group show with a gaggle of his Aussie expats on view at 941 Geary in San Francisco for “Young and Free”, including Kid Zoom, Dabs & Myla, Dmote, New2, Ben Frost, Meggs, Ha-Ha, Reka, Rone, Sofles and Vexta. Not to mention his participation in our show last month in Los Angeles at C.A.V.E. with Thinkspace, “Street Art Saved My Life : 39 New York Stories“.
The artist took some time recently to talk to Brooklyn Street Art about his practice;
Brooklyn Street Art:How much of one of your painted portraits is autobiographical? In other words, what portion of Mr. Lister is super hero, super model, furtive schoolboy, or Homer Simpson? Anthony Lister: I don’t really think about myself when I paint. My figurative works are more like reflections of characteristics I absorb from real life day to day.
Brooklyn Street Art:If you were to wear colored glasses, which color do you think you would most likely screen the world through? Anthony Lister: Pink, like John Lennon.
Brooklyn Street Art:Francis Bacon said, “The creative process is a cocktail of instinct, skill, culture and a highly creative feverishness.” Would you drink that cocktail? Anthony Lister: Nice words. I agree.
Brooklyn Street Art:What role does analysis play in your creative process when bringing a painting to fruition? Anthony Lister: Analysis is the outcome of considered processing. Constant consideration is crucial.
Brooklyn Street Art:A big piece you did on Metropolitan in Brooklyn – you reworked that face a couple of times over a period of months, producing what appeared as a slowly morphing image. Were you covering up tags, or were you unhappy with the original, or maybe combating the effects of age with a little nip and tuck? Anthony Lister: When I re-work street paintings I think of it like I am a hairdresser. When something is in the public it has a different existence to something living privately in a residence. I’m like a hairdresser I guess.
Brooklyn Street Art:You have spoken about your work as reality, or a reaction to realities. What realities are you depicting these days? Anthony Lister: I just finished a body of work for a solo show in Sydney. This next body of work is about contemporary Australian culture. The exhibition is titled “Bogan Paradise.”
Brooklyn Street Art: When you consider the Street Art scene that evolved around Melbourne, how would you characterize its nature in a way that differentiates it from the work in other cities around the world? Anthony Lister: No different. This whole street art thing has sprung up post the turn of the digital revolution so it is on the Internet quick and the artists who inspire others and the ones who are easily inspired are constantly swimming in the same aesthetic pools of consciousness. Not to mention that most of the prominent artists travel lots so it is easy to see work of the same artist in multiple cities around the world at the same time.
Brooklyn Street Art:The titles you give your gallery pieces are entertaining, instructive, illustrative. Do you ever want to place a placard near a piece you’ve done on the street – just to make sure the message gets across? Anthony Lister: No. My street practice is less thoughtful and therefore needs less commentary.
Brooklyn Street Art:When is a painting complete? Anthony Lister: When it tells me so.
WEST ONE “Freedom Suite” At Environment 8126 Beverly Boulevard Los Angeles, CA 90048 September 30, 2011 – December 30, 2011 Opening Reception September 30, 2011 7-10pm
WEST, the renowned graffiti artist-turned-abstract painter, has joined forces with furniture company Environment for a public mural and solo show titled “Freedom Suite” that will be unveiled at a kick-off event September 30, 2011. WEST will exhibit new paintings inside the showroom and will paint a large-scale mural on the exterior of Environment’s Beverly Boulevard, Los Angeles location creating community through shared ideas, knowledge, culture and art. Some proceeds will be donated to the charity Jamaican Kids <http://www.jamaicankids.org/Jamaican_Kids/Our_mission.html> . “We live in a vast city where everything’s at right angles,” WEST said. “My work is movement and energy. It’s organic. The viewer will see different things – maybe themselves, maybe the city. Maybe the broader environment. I hope to make us look at our space, our environment, a little differently.”
Open to the public starting September 30, 2011, the WEST exhibition will be on display at the Environment Furniture Showroom, 8126 Beverly Boulevard in Los Angeles through December 31, 2011.
Recognized as one of the most prolific artists in the New York Graffiti scene throughout the 1980’s and 90’s, West has been painting publicly since 1984. Born and raised in New York City, the great grandson of Russian-Jewish immigrants, West began painting on the number 1 Broadway local subway. Throughout the mid to late 80’s West became known for his clean letters, and as one of the last of a handful of artists who was actively painting just before the demise of subway Graffiti in New York. Throughout the 1990’s, West, along with his crew Fame City, was a major influence in the New York City graffiti movement by spearheading concept-driven, thematic productions which are now standard in large scale graffiti mural painting. Since 2001 West has taken a radical departure from the uniform structure of traditional graffiti letters and technique. In his current work he has pushed into the realms of abstraction and stripped the art form of all of its traditional trappings of color, medium, and process. As a result a new and unique language has emerged in his work. West first exhibited in 1985 with Librizzi Gallery’s ‘Graffiti & East Village Artists’ show, and has since exhibited in numerous solo and group shows in New York, and internationally.
Brooklyn based Street Artist and Fine Artist Specter was in Dushanbe, Tajikistan for two weeks where he gave a few lectures and conducted workshops about street art and public art and his experiences as a Street Artist in the last few years.
“While I was there I also had a chance to put up what I would call the first piece of street art in Tajikistan,” says Specter, and we have no reason to doubt it. The hand painted wheat-pasted pieces Specter has been doing featuring sober, no-nonsense portraits swathed in woven fabric that wraps or floats loosely around the head or torso. As is his practice, the neighborhood, history, and people play into his selections of model and materials.
Los Angeles get ready –Fountain Art Fair has officially landed on the west coast, prepared to bring you a weekend packed full of art, music and more. Fountain kicks off with Flavorpill Friday, sponsored of course by Flavorpill, the coolest culture gurus around. Along with our exceptional platform featuring the edgy galleries, independent artist projects curated by Ever Gold Gallery, and collectives, as well as local DJs to get you grooving, Fountain’s Flavorpill Giveaway is sure to be a highlight of your weekend. Be sure to visit Flavorpill’s media booth for the chance to win unique prizes including original works by Fountain returnees Brian Leo and Danni Rash from Christina Ray Gallery, a special edition Fountain surf board created by Lindsay Carron and Courtney Branch of Board Well, your very own retro Lomography camera and more.
Fountain’s presenting sponsor LA Weekly is taking charge of Saturday night, along with culture industry insider and online magazine Newestra. Get your photo snapped at Newestra’s funky photo booth while listening to the easy beats of Los Angeles DJs La Muerte, Antidote, P-Dot, Dances with Wolves, and the perfectly sweet and viscious Bullet & SnowFox. Stop by Yelp’s table to pick up some swag and head to the courtyard to check out our massive installation of the wickedest street art around. Co-curated by Fountain veteran Carly Ivan Garcia, this slew of artists is ready to bust out the aerosol in Fountain tradition of bringing the street to you. Artists include: GILF!, Eddie Colla, Tiki Jay One, Shark Toof, Chor Boogie, Hugh Leeman, Billi Kid & CIG, Ian Ross, and Cryptik.
Fountain is an exhibition of avant garde artwork in New York during Armory week, Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach and Los Angeles during Pacific Standard Time weekend.
Location:
Lot 613
(613 Imperial Street LA, CA 90021)
September 30 – October 2, 2011
General Public Hours:
12pm – 7pm, every day
Special Events:
Friday, September 30, 7pm – 12am – Opening Night Reception
Musical Performances: TBA (21 & over)
Saturday, October 1, 7pm – 12am – LA Weekly Presents Musical Performances: TBA (21 & over)
For complete details and schedule of events please visit Fountain’s site:
Even in the pristine and civil streets of Stavanger, Norway you may come across the creepy surprise of the “King Baby”, the new powder white bald man character popping out of traffic signs by Street Artist Dan Witz. The peerless Nuart 2011 is underway now with 12 artists from 9 countries arriving in the last week to see what kind of trouble they can get into at this curated out of doors festival. For now, this is what Mr. Witz has come up with, but he’s just touched down so the King of WTF is merely getting started.
Dan will be leading the first childrens program ever for Nuart on Saturday, but hopefully he won’t be showing the tykes any of these cranky King Babies – a perfect mix of red eyed immaturity and egocentricity ready to jump out and pinch their noses. Actually this guy could calm some of these aggressive drivers in Brooklyn who we’re always dodging, now that we think of it.
Street Artist Gaia just had an unexpected encounter with grief and memory after putting up one of his carrier pigeons on a fire damaged house. He was in Miami to paint a collaborative mural with 131 Projects honoring outsider artist Purvis Young at the Bakehouse studio complex.
While painting his mural he broke away to adorn the entrance of the house with a wheat-paste of his bird-in-hand, a linotype print that has appeared in neglected areas a number of times. The image, out of place and temporary, can suddenly bring a neglected place alive. Maybe it’s the juxtaposition of the elements, the symbolism of this hand made bird traditionally trained to carry and deliver messages.
The following day while he continued working on his mural, he looked across the street to see someone on the property gazing at the bird quietly, then raising her arms to take a photo. His curiosity was peaked. Later, the story took a little turn.
“While painting in the evening I was approached by two women looking for who was responsible for the new piece on the house. After admitting culpability, they divulged to me that their brother had burned to death on the premises, and that they thought the carrier pigeon in the hand was a sign of his passing,” Gaia says as he talks with some wonder about this sudden interaction with people whose lives are so connected to the building.
On the one hand, it is amazing that someone is so affected by the appearance of something we recognize as a simple piece of street art. But when you think about our sense of place, the history and memories associated with it can be powerful. Sometimes when you are in so much grief and you are crying out for solace, you look for something, anything to comfort yourself. To see this image on such a scale, on the front of a burned house where your loved one died must have seemed like a sign from God. And truthfully, who is to say that it was not a sign from God, with artist as messenger?
“Their gratitude was something unexpected,” Gaia says as relates the story with a little shock, and possibly re-consideration of the impact his work can have. Upon reflection, the Street Artist says he is satisfied with the experience meeting the two new friends and his practice of placing his temporary works in places like this, concluding that the story is “a small, but powerful case for street art.”
Elfo is a graffiti writer and social commentator whose work intentionally sidesteps traditional notions of style or technical lettering. This …Read More »
In her latest mural, Faring Purth delivers a powerful reflection on connection, continuity, and the complexity of evolving relationships—a true …Read More »
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
In time for the harvest, Elbow Toe appears in Soho. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)
