Events

Chris Jordan : A Bold Light Artist Hits Iconic Icelandic Church

April 4, 2012 , , , , , ,

Rafmögnuð Náttúra: The Hallgrimskirkja Church in Reykjavik, Iceland

It’s not that light artist Chris Jordan didn’t find the sweeping supersonic jet-shaped façade of the church inspiring. He just wanted to make it visible again to the people in town.

Hallgrímskirkja, the Lutheran church in the center of Reykjavík, with it’s soaring steeple and outstretched wings it has been an architectural icon since it’s completion in 1986 and anyone first laying eyes on the largest Icelandic church is usually impressed by it’s command and design.  And yet, somehow even pivotal architecture can disappear before our eyes due to familiarity and it may take a visionary talent like Jordan to bring it back to our attention with animation, mapping, color, and pattern.

Marcos Zotes and Chris Jordan “Rafmögnuð Náttúra” (photo © Enki)

From his home in New Yorks’ Chinatown, Jordan, who teaches interactive design at Baruch College and New York University, talks about his work in the same way that Street Art is often credited in the urban environment: art as activation.  “Activating is about changing people’s perceptions of overlooked or invisible spaces. A building can become an archetype, invisible, like for a New Yorker, for example, the Statue of Liberty. You look at it, and it disappears into the thousands of times you’ve already seen it. So for me, this light project was so exciting because here’s this massive landmark church that this whole town can’t see anymore.. made completely fresh and new. To see that reflected back at me through the faces of viewers was exhilarating.”

Marcos Zotes and Chris Jordan “Rafmögnuð Náttúra” (photo © Enki)

That observation perhaps was the pinnacle of his Icelandic experience in February when he camped out in front of the church over four days in the back of a box truck with his collaborator Marcos Zotes, a handful of computers, three projectors, and a low budget. Together they created a series of site-specific video performances that brought to life Zotes’ idea for a project called Rafmögnuð Náttúra.

The two had met while Jordan was performing his 24 hour timelapse of Hurricane Irene inside an engineered cloud at New York’s Bring to Light Festival last October. Zotes asked if Jordan would like to collaborate on a project to illuminate the 150 foot wide façade of a church in for the Winter Lights Festival in Iceland.  Since Jordan has over the last decade created installations appearing at MoMA, The New Museum, The Whitney, The Museum of Natural History, The Chelsea Museum, in Times Square, and many unusual places in between, he had a good idea what cool stuff he would like to do. With the free help of other artists, software designers, and even NASA, Jordan brought a mind-blowing façade to the church that Zotes had only imagined.

Marcos Zotes and Chris Jordan “Rafmögnuð Náttúra” (photo © Enki)

“We collaborated on how we could, with a very limited budget, create something spectacular for the festival,” explains Jordan.  “We knew that the majority of the budget would be going for projectors so we called our friends up to help us with creating animation sequences that could be mapped to the facade, in triple-HD resolution.”

“We developed a workflow and a template for each animator to follow; then compiled the animations together into a final 15-minute composition. In addition, I contacted friends at NASA for solar imaging data, and created animations using graphic and solar elements. The dream was to have northern lights over the building with the accompanying solar data displayed. Although the solar and earth weather didn’t collaborate, the animations of the sun in a dark cold city on this Norse façade were very appropriate and powerful.”

Marcos Zotes and Chris Jordan “Rafmögnuð Náttúra” (photo © Enki)

Jordan’s work over the years has included explorations into memory, and elements of photography, film, interactivity, and projections. We talked with Jordan about traveling to Iceland, transparent ideas, the importance of community, and what a light artist has to go through to reactivate an icon.

Brooklyn Street Art: Can you talk about the trip to Iceland?
Chris Jordan: We went to Iceland with just one day before the opening. The Icelandic people were incredibly accommodating, and set up three massive projectors inside a box truck, with a massive piece of glass mounted on it. The box truck became our projector-heated cabin in the center of Reykjavik for four days. Location is everything! It was a great setup. The projectors were aligned and from there I mapped the content using the software MadMapper by Garage Cube. Garage Cube are also friends of mine and they  helped me troubleshoot the tech issues the day before. The opening event had the band For a Minor Reflection accompany us, right after the mayor of Reykjavik introduced the festival to the audience.

But the day before this we went through myriad technical issues. Many times I thought this was going to either look horrible, or crash altogether. There was no budget for a backup computer, or to test the entire setup beforehand. Luckily, Iceland has an early sunset, so we gleaned a couple crucial extra hours to configure everything. The mapping was completed literally seconds before the mayor spoke. It all went off smoothly and the people that braved the intense horizontal-downpour cheered.

Marcos Zotes and Chris Jordan “Rafmögnuð Náttúra” (photo © Enki)

Brooklyn Street Art: You managed to transform a landmark into a completely different light using your creativity.  Doesn’t that feel pretty powerful?
Chris Jordan: Yes. It was pretty fantastic we were able to do this on such a small budget. It absolutely required a community to make happen. When our main computer failed, the Icelandic underground came to the rescue. One person there offered graphics cards he’d had in a drawer. Another brought us snacks from a nearby cafe. That community effort is really what made this project powerful for me.

Marcos Zotes and Chris Jordan “Rafmögnuð Náttúra” (photo © Enki)

Brooklyn Street Art: You were given no budget whatsoever, aside from a plane ticket and 3 projectors. How do you plan for a live performance with the inevitable technical issues?
Chris Jordan: Years and years of failure. I read an Edison quote the other day, “If you want to succeed, double your failure rate”.  I’m also a huge proponent of transparency, modularity, and scale. These tenets allow me to see unique solutions to problems, and find compelling solutions. Light art is still maturing as a public medium, as last November’s Occupy Wall Street “Bat-signal” projections attest. It’s a wide-open field for creative expression.

Marcos Zotes and Chris Jordan “Rafmögnuð Náttúra” (photo © Enki)

Brooklyn Street Art: Without revealing your trade secrets, is it true you plan to introduce more community interaction into your future work?
Chris Jordan: Always. There’s an axiom I live by: “There is no art without politics”. You either choose to engage it, or you choose political apathy. This ties in with ideas around real-time performance and feedback. I hate the word “rendering”, as it equates to “pouring concrete” on ideas that demand continuing dialog. “Trade secrets” imply hoarding of knowledge. I only want to work with transparent ideas and accessible technologies that ‘spotlight’ the individual’s role in society through creativity. I try to live an open-source life.

Brooklyn Street Art: What role does community play in this project and in your philosophy?
Chris Jordan: I love interacting with communities and to give them the control to create dialogue. This fascinates me, and informs my work constantly. My next long-term outdoor installation is on Governor’s Island, where I’ll be engaging the broadest spectrum of people on the planet (New York) in playing and building, using buckets and stop motion photography. For me it’s all about the community. Without it, we are making monoliths to our egos.

Marcos Zotes and Chris Jordan “Rafmögnuð Náttúra” (photo © Enki)

Marcos Zotes and Chris Jordan “Rafmögnuð Náttúra” (photo © Enki)

Marcos Zotes and Chris Jordan “Rafmögnuð Náttúra” (photo © Enki)

Marcos Zotes and Chris Jordan on the back of their box truck. (photo © Enki)

Marcos Zotes and Chris Jordan “Rafmögnuð Náttúra” – Chris at work on his live creations. (photo © Enki)

Marcos Zotes and Chris Jordan “Rafmögnuð Náttúra”. Mission control trailer. (photo © Enki)

Marcos Zotes and Chris Jordan “Rafmögnuð Náttúra” (photo © Enki)

Marcos Zotes and Chris Jordan “Rafmögnuð Náttúra” (photo © Enki)

Marcos Zotes and Chris Jordan “Rafmögnuð Náttúra” (photo © Enki)

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With very special thanks to Enki for sharing this incredible photographic story.

Rafmögnuð Náttúra, a concept by Marcos Zotes created by Marcos Zotes and Chris Jordan

We would also like to recognize the other creators and contributors to the project:
Animators Thessia Machado, Noa Younse, Andrea Dart and Steven Tsai
Performer Coco Karol
Videographers Azmi Mert Erdem and Raghul Sridharan
Photographer Enki
and the music group For a Minor Reflection

 

 

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Mighty Tanaka Gallery Presents: H. VENG Smith and Gigi Chen “The Birds & The Bees” (Brooklyn, NY)

April 3, 2012 , , , , ,

The Birds and the Bees

The Birds and The Bees

Featuring the artwork of Gigi Chen & H. Veng Smith

Spring is upon us early this year and with it brings longer days full of sun and warmth.  The nice weather ushers in our next show, The Birds and The Bees, featuring the aesthetically pleasing artwork of Gigi Chen and H. Veng Smith. Together, these two artists exemplify an exciting direction of oil painting, unlocking elements of love and pain through their individual techniques.

The Birds and The Bees

Featuring the artwork of Gigi Chen & H. Veng Smith

Spring is the season for growth and renewal and with it, people come together in joyous celebration.  Drunk off the familiar sensation of green grasses and blossoming flora, the world is alive and full of inspiration.  A romantic essence fills the air with an intoxicating blend of rejuvenating aromas that tempts the body and plays with the mind.  It is easy to lose oneself in the cacophony of reawakening, as senses are overloaded and forged into the memory.  Through the enchanted feelings resides a notion of self-discovery that enables reckless abandonment, which leads to a multitude of outcomes.  Mighty Tanaka is pleased to bring you our springtime show, The Birds and The Bees, featuring the fantastical artwork of Gigi Chen & H. Veng Smith.

The Birds and The Bees is a traditional metaphor for love, yet it also encompasses the sharp stinging pain of loss.  It is a constant reminder of balance and desire as well as the shock of reality.  As the warmth grows, so does the undergrowth and the tangle of vines and thorns, creating an ever-challenging terrain of hope and expectations to navigate.

Both Gigi Chen and H. Veng Smith utilize a host of inspiring techniques to create their individual work.  Both artists create their work from oil paint, yet their achieved outcome differs greatly.  As the days grow longer and the sun shines a little brighter, it’s the perfect setting for The Birds and The Bees to come out to play.

Mighty Tanaka

111 Front St., Suite 224

Brooklyn, NY 11201

Email: contact@mightytanaka.com

Phone: 718.596.8781

(F Train to York Street, A/C to High Street)

Hours:

Wednesday – Sunday, 12pm – 6:30pm

 

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La Pandilla and Trek Matthews in Cabbagetown for Living Walls Atlanta

April 2, 2012 , , , ,

Let’s start off the week with our 2nd installment of Living Walls in Atlanta for 2012, a splendid overview of Cabbagetown and the installation by three of this years participants creating new murals over a nearly two week stretch, just finished and fresh for you.

La Pandilla and Trek Matthews

Text by Alexandra Parrish
Photos by Dustin Chambers
Video by Albert Lebron

Before I engage you with an individual take of La Pandilla and Trek Matthew’s twelve-day long mural production, I must foray into a brief history lesson; Cabbagetown is a tight-knit neighborhood in Atlanta that is rich with folklore and idiosyncrasies. Adjacent to the Fulton Bag and Cotton Mills, the neighborhood began as a mill town complete with shotgun-style houses built by Jacob Elsas, the factory owner. After recruiting poor whites from the Georgia Appalachian region to work in his factory, Elsas offered free housing to compromise for insignificant wages and working conditions. Legend has it that the neighborhood assumed the moniker “Cabbagetown” after a truck-load of cabbages spilled across the neighborhood; many recount a brutal smell of cabbages that could be assumed to have followed the accident or maybe it just permeated from their kitchens.

La Pandilla (photo © Dustin Chambers)

After an extensive effort towards revitalization (some would say gentrification), Cabbagetown reigns as a treasured locality in Atlanta. Although Krog Tunnel features an ever-changing display of graffiti and street art, the CSX walls that enclose the neighborhood have remained four shades of grey. Surprisingly, when Living Walls contacted the Cabbagetown Neighborhood Association to allow La Pandilla, from Puerto Rico and Trek Matthews from Atlanta to paint two murals, they more than accommodated.

La Pandilla (photo © Dustin Chambers)

As soon as La Pandilla and Trek Matthews began on their wall, joggers, walkers and rubberneckers routinely stopped to chat and observe. Throughout production, community support yielded endless tokens of gratitude – fresh baked bread, beer runs, grilled cheese sandwiches, salvaged fresh-till packaged meals, oral histories and loud music. Even the infamous rogue buffer that verbally threatened La Pandilla (yes, Cabbagetown is home to it’s very own vigilante, occasionally violent buffer) grew to appreciate the finely detailed work that replaced decades of juvenile tags.

The truth is, Alexis Diaz and Juan Fernandez of La Pandilla are insane. Their method of using Chinese ink to translate immensely detailed drawings into full-scale murals costs a lot of time. Although they’d camp out at their wall from sunrise to sunset each day, they failed to finish on time. Hardly defeated, La Pandilla opted to stay an extra day and completed their 25-foot mural in their last hours.

La Pandilla (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Three blocks down, Trek Matthews, an emerging artist from Atlanta, began on his first public wall. His work incorporates a mash of Aztec patterns and Native American designs, which turns out nicely on the grey concrete. Despite the daunting height of his wall, Trek toughed it out on a scrappy extension ladder.

In a perfect world Living Walls would serve as proverbial residents of Cabbagetown forever. I could tell Juan felt the same way as he waved saying “bye y’all.

La Pandilla (photo © Dustin Chambers)

La Pandilla (photo © Dustin Chambers)

La Pandilla (photo © Dustin Chambers)

La Pandilla (photo © Dustin Chambers)

La Pandilla (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Trek Matthews (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Trek Matthews (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Trek Matthews (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Trek Matthews (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Trek Matthews (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Trek Matthews (photo © Dustin Chambers)

La Pandilla and Trek Matthews by Albert Lebron (VIDEO)

 

 

To learn more about Living Walls Altanta: The City Speaks and to make a donation to help this year’s conference click here. BSA thanks you for supporting this good work.

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“Poorhouse for the Rich” Revitalized By The Arts

March 28, 2012 , , , , ,

A block-long limestone mansion originally built as a welfare hotel for the retiring rich invites streetwise Graff artists and others to gild it’s decayed rooms, raising it from pigeon-infested squalor. Call it “This Side of Paradise”

Enter a discussion about the impact of the modern Street Art movement and someone will inveigh with swollen gravitas that Street Art has the power to “activate” or “re-vitalize” a previously moribund space, to bring it to life. Aside from sounding like part of the gentrification process, the “activate” argument is meant to tip on its head the impulse of  simple-minded dullards who opine that Street Art and it’s cousin graffiti are pure social disease and degrading to the foundations of city life.

How and Nosm “Reflections” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Opening in April in the Bronx a similarly anti-intuitive project invites artists of the street to create new life in a decaying mansion and the looking-glass contradictions are as rich as those of the benefactor for whom the aged home is named. The Andrew Freedman Home, with it’s Italian Renaissance details and stepped back grandeur along the Grand Concourse and a mile south of Yankee Stadium, acquired its landmark status in 1984 – the same year it breathed it’s final breath as a retirement home for the rich who had fallen on hard times.

When the building’s namesake, a New York millionaire businessman and colleague of the corrupt Tammany Hall, died as a confirmed bachelor in 1915, he wanted to make sure the money he left would keep the wealthy feeling wealthy after falling in the poorhouse. He simply didn’t want his peers to suffer no matter their financial plight so his wealth commissioned this mammoth home with roughly twice the space of the White House to give these deserved folk a good life in their later years, with servants. Beginning in the Roaring Twenties and over the next six decades, with hallways as long as 22 Town Cars, the ground-bound ship liner swam with former Cunard attendants serving the mostly white seniors as they dined in red and black Chinoiserie style, thumbed books in the library, played sport in the billiard room, and bobbed in the grand ballroom.

 

How and Nosm “Reflections” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

How and Nosm “Reflections” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“I think that you cannot help but be struck by the bizarre nature of the enterprise because it was class solidarity. He was less concerned with the indigent poor than protecting his own class who had fallen on hard times,” exclaims Manon Slome as she frames the ridiculous circumstances that kept “members” well heeled into their twilight.

Slome is President and Chief Curator of No Longer Empty, a contemporary public art organization that takes empty buildings that are often in disrepair and revitalizes them with site-responsive contemporary art exhibitions. Together with the Mid Bronx Senior Citizens Council, the non-profit that has owned the 117,000 square foot complex since 1984, No Longer Empty is curating a 32 artist show that for two months will offer curious visitors the first peek at the decrepitude that is slowly being enlivened.  Since bidding farewell to their last upper crust in the early 1980s, the crusty decay of walls and ceilings has been curling and peeling and dropping to the floor. With artists interpreting the history and memories of the place along with their own take on the economics involved, the results are definitely site specific.

How and Nosm “Reflections” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

How and Nosm “Reflections” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

As she talks about the new show “This Side of Paradise,” Jeanette Puryear, Executive Director of Mid Bronx Senior Citizens Council, reflects on how she used to watch the games and social activities in the grassy gardens of the home from the other side.  “We began across the street when the council started in 1973. I came aboard as a staff person in ’77 and I used to look down on the parties that they had on the lawn here. I just thought it was a wonderful building.”

Discussing the selection of No Longer Empty (NLE) as partner to the arts community and curator of the new show, Puryear feels like it is a natural accord. “The idea, our collaboration, really came about when I met Manon and she talked about NLE’s interest in revitalizing communities and it really fit very much with our mission of comprehensive community revitalization.”

Justen Ladda. “Like Money, Like Water”. Eventually this installation in progress would be black lit. The blue tape affixed to the walls is to economize and will not be a part of the installation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Daze (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This may come as news to some that graffiti kings like Crash and Daze were called upon to do community revitalization in the same borough where leaders once reviled their painting style.  With a few heavyweight street art and graffiti names bringing these rooms to life, it’s interesting to see their role as one of contributing in a positive way here where the emergence of a global “Wildstyle” graffiti first blossomed while entire neighborhoods burned.

“At the same time in the late 70s and early 80s when this home’s original purpose was failing you had the rise of Bronx graffiti,” says curator Keith Schweitzer, who introduced Crash, Daze and Tats Cru alumni How & Nosm to Slome, each taking one of the rooms and bringing it to life. Schweitzer sees many parallels in this Bronx tale as he reflects on the role of the artist rising from the ashes of the burned-out neighborhoods then and an art show in the decay of this home now. “At that time you had things like Fashion Moda in the Bronx, which sort of incorporated graffiti into a contemporary art exhibition and these conceptual spaces that Street Artists and Graffiti artists participated in. And it all happened at the same time.”

 

Daze (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Daze (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Slone brings the stories full circle as she excitedly relates the multiple arts and education projects currently afoot in the home, including many with a social mission of building community and connections within it. “When we started selecting and inviting the artists, we steeped them in the history of the home. The goal was really to create a fusion of the history of the home and the nature of the history of the Grand Concourse and the present day realities of the Bronx. And that fusion was really the creative springboard, if you like, for most of installations in the exhibition.”

Whatever role you assign the artist in this clubby home of decay, the experience of discovering these complete room installations is at times reflective, sometimes illuminative, and often revitalizing to the spirit. It will depend on the definition of paradise.

Crash “Connections” 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Crash “Connections” 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Crash “Connections” 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Scherezaede Garcia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Scherezaede Garcia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cheryl Pope “Then and There” Installation in progress. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cheryl Pope “Then and There” Installation in progress. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cheryl Pope “Then and There” Installation in progress. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cheryl Pope “Then and There” Installation in progress. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Adam Parker Smith. “I Lost All My Money In The Great Depression And All I Got Was This Room”,  2012. Installation in progress in collaboration with Wave Hill. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Adam Parker Smith. “I Lost All My Money In The Great Depression And All I Got Was This Room”,  2012. Installation in progress in collaboration with Wave Hill. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Adam Parker Smith. “I Lost All My Money In The Great Depression And All I Got Was This Room”,  2012. Installation in progress in collaboration with Wave Hill. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Pigeons took over while most of the house remained close and unused. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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This Side of Paradise will open on April 04 at 6:00 pm.  For further details about this exhibition click here.

With special thanks to President and Chief Curator Manon Slome and Curator Keith Schweitzer of No Longer Empty for their generous access to the installations in progress. To learn more about No Longer Empty click here.

BSA would also like to extend our gratitude to Jeanette Puryear, Executive Director of Mid-Bronx Council for taking time to answer our questions. To learn more about Mid-Bronx Council click here.

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Addict Galerie Presents: John CRASH Matos “Study in Watercolors” (Paris, France)

March 27, 2012 , , , , ,

Crash

Laetitia Hecht & ADDICT Galerie présentent :
John CRASH Matos – “Study in Watercolors”

14.04.2012 – 02.06.2012

Vernissage le Samedi 14 Avril 2012, 18:00 – 21:00

Opening on Saturday, 14th of April 2012, 6 – 9 pm

Doit-on encore présenter John CRASH Matos, ce pionnier du Street Art, né dans le Bronx en 1961, qui entreprend, à l’âge de 13 ans, de populariser son blaze de graffeur sur les trains de New York ?

ADDICT Galerie le propose pour la quatrième fois, tant passionne le travail de cet artiste qui, pour ne pas se laisser enfermer dans le graffiti, s’exprimera sur la toile dès 1978. Cette audace lui a permis de rendre ses lettres de noblesse artistiques au Street Art dès sa première grande exposition, “Graffiti Art Success”. Pour la première fois, l’Art urbain y était pris au sérieux aussi bien par le public que par la critique.

En passant des trains aux cimaises, CRASH a pu alors commencer à côtoyer les plus grands (Jean-Michel Basquiat et Keith Haring à la galerie Real Art Ways) et donner naissance au post-graffiti.

Depuis, du Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris au MoMA de New York ou au Groningen Museum aux Pays-Bas, CRASH ne cesse d’afficher avec brio ses innovations. Il a appris à se renouveler tout en restant fidèle à ses options par une recherche incessante de la concision et de la synthèse. Son style ne cesse d’évoluer vers la simplification essentielle, le dépouillement éclatant. Pour lui, se renouveler, c’est approfondir en évacuant de ses toiles le superflu, les fioritures qui obscurcissent le sens, telle la démarche faussement simplificatrice d’un Matisse.

Preuve de leur singularité et de leur puissance, les œuvres de CRASH sont ainsi identifiables au premier coup d’œil.

Avec “Study in Watercolors”, ADDICT Galerie propose une sélection d’études préparatoires fraîchement réalisées par John CRASH Matos. Jusqu’ici peu montrées en France, ces aquarelles éclairent les dernières avancées du travail de l’artiste.

Bien au-delà de l’esquisse préparatoire, de l’essai inaccompli, ces œuvres révèlent l’aisance avec laquelle CRASH synthétise avec une rare acuité la culture urbaine et la culture pop. Comics, mangas, hip-hop, science-fiction, produits télévisés, graphisme, ce déferlement désordonné d’images charriées par notre société, CRASH le condense en une expression picturale organisée selon le principe du sampling.

Les potentialités plastiques propres à l’aquarelle permettent à CRASH de composer de subtiles nuances chromatiques éblouissantes de lumière. De manière audacieuse, l’artiste inscrit dans des cadrages resserrés bribes de lettres et fragments de visages sans que l’œil, chaque fois, n’abandonne sa présence obsédante, signe complice à Roy Lichtenstein. Mais, dans son cas, le petit format n’est pas enfermement, il invite au contraire à saisir la dynamique des lignes entravées qui se projettent avec force hors du cadre.

Le nombre d’œuvres exposées montrent, s’il en était besoin, que CRASH n’a en rien perdu de sa fureur de peindre depuis près de 40 ans. La technique de l’aquarelle lui permet d’exprimer, dans une sorte d’urgence, toute son énergie créatrice.

Avec cette exposition consacrée à CRASH du 14 avril au 2 juin 2012, ADDICT Galerie, met en lumière l’ébauche, le travail préparatoire du graffiti, aspect trop souvent relégué au second plan d’un mode d’expression parfois assimilé à un jaillissement spontané de l’imagination de l’artiste. La reconnaissance du Street Art passe aussi par ce retour aux sources.

Visuels et informations disponibles sur demande
Images and informations available upon request
Contact : +33 (0)1 48 87 05 04 / info@addictgalerie.com

ADDICT Galerie – Laetitia Hecht
14/16 rue de Thorigny 75003 Paris
T:+33(0)1 48 87 05 04
Horaires d’ouverture / Opening hours
Mardi – Samedi 11:00 – 19:00 et sur rendez-vous
Tuesday – Saturday 11am – 7pm and by appointment
info@addictgalerie.com
www.addictgalerie.com

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MSA Gallery Presents: “Crossing Borders” A Group Show (Paris, France)

March 27, 2012 , , , , ,

Crossing Borders

featuring work by

DAL, David Walker, Stinkfish, Faith47, David Shillinglaw, Martin Whatson, Klone, Snik, Otto Schade, Ben Slow, Joseph Loughborough, Inkie and Banksy

Opening Reception: Saturday, March 31, 5-9pm

MSAGallery @ L\INCONNU
17 rue Mazagran
75010 Paris, France

Please RSVP to rsvp@mystreetartgallery.com
Preview List can be requested to theshop@mystreetartgallery.com

Exhibition open to the public March 31st – April 5, 2012
MSAGallery is pleased to present Crossing Borders, a group show which brings for the first time in the heart of Paris, fifteen artists whose work activates creative conversations far from the French borders with geographically disparate cities of Bogotá, Cape Town, Beijing, Kiev, London, Oslo, Bristol, Concepcion and Tel Aviv

Artists will be present in Paris painting in the city for MSA’s open air gallery project ParisFreeWalls.

About MSAGallery:

Founded in 2011, MSAGallery focuses on a select group of artists breaking ground in painting, mixed media and sculpture. The annual program consists of a series of pop-up solo and group exhibitions that document the progress of these artists.

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No Longer Empty in Collaboration With Mid-Bronx Council Present: “This Side of Paradise” (Bronx, NYC)

March 24, 2012 , , , , ,

This Side Of Paradise

On April 4, 2012, the gates of the Andrew Freedman Home will open to the public. The Home was once built to be a haven, a paradise, for the rich elderly who had lost their fortunes. Bequeathed by millionaire Andrew Freedman, the Home provided not only food and shelter but all the accoutrements of a rich and civilized life style – white glove dinner service, a grand ball room, a wood-paneled library, billiard room and a social committee who organized concerts, opera performances and the like.

Referencing this quixotic history, This Side of Paradise will reference the past and reconnect the vision of Andrew Freedman to today’s Bronx and its realities. The exhibition and its extensive public programming onsite and offsite will draw together the economic and social history of the Home with the present day realities of the Bronx and its residents.

The selected artists’ will work in a site-specific manner and will respond to such issues as memory, immigration, storytelling, aging and the creation of fantasy that the original concept of the Home “being poor in style” suggests. This Side of Paradise will celebrate human ingenuity, the strength of the human spirit and the resilience needed to fashion beauty, hope and rejoicing.

Opening Reception will be Wednesday, April 4 from 6 to 8pm followed by the Speakeasy After Party Fundraiser sponsored by St. Germain starting at 8:30pm. Support NLE and future exhibitions by purchasing tickets here.

Exhibition Hours: Thursday to Sunday, 1pm to 7pm (extended hours when events are hosted).

Bronx Arts Alliance is a partner for This Side of Paradise either installations, events or general cross-promotion of Bronx Arts. Partnering organizations are: Bronx Documentary Center |  Casita Maria  |  Hebrew Home at Riverdale  |  Lehman College Art Gallery  |  Longwood Art Gallery at Hostos College  |  The Bronx Children’s Museum  |  The Bronx Council of the Arts  |  The Bronx Museum of the Arts  |  The Bronx River Art Center  |  The POINT  |  Wave Hill

Organizations Presenting Installations are Wave Hill – Installation by Adam Parker Smith; The POINT – Designed by Carey Clark, Alejandra Delfin, Danny Peralta, Lady K Fever, Sharon de La Cruz, Tats Cru, David Yearwood among others;  The Bronx Museum of the Arts – Works by artists in the AIM Program; Bronx Documentary Center -Film by Tim Hetherington; Lehman College Art Gallery – Works by Scherezade García

Video and Production Support: BronxNet– a not for profit  that provides local television by the people of the Bronx, for the people of the Bronx.

Media Partner: WNYC Radio

The Cafe in the Home is generously supported by La Colombe Torrefaction coffee.

This Side of Paradise is a collaboration with the Mid Bronx Senior Citizens Council, one of the largest nonprofits who has been providing community services in the South Bronx. Contact wpuryear@midbronx.org about the Andrew Freedman Home and mjenkins@midbronx.org about MBSCC.

Curatorial team is Manon Slome, Keith Schweitzer, Charlotte Caldwell and Lucy Lydon. A tremendous thank you to all our volunteers and interns involved in the project. Thank you!

ARTISTS:

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Suben Presents: Isaac Cordal Solo Show (Barcelona, Spain)

March 24, 2012 , , , , ,

Isaac Cordal

SUBEN PRESENTS

ISAAC CORDAL . Solo Show

RAS Gallery Barcelona . Carrer Doctor Dou 10
Opening Friday April 13th from 7.30 till 10 pm
Exhibition runs from April 13th till May 12th
Curated by Maximiliano Ruiz

“In 2007 the Spanish building industry used 54.2 million tones of cement. This factoid did not escape the thoughtful attentions of one very interesting Galician digital nomad, namely Isaac Cordal. Cordal saw this frenzied ‘cementisation’ of the world around him as evidence of our deep alienation from an ongoing conflict with the natural environment. So, being an artist very much obsessed with the problem of the human body Cordal appropriated cement as the tool for his own intervention in the built environment. What this means in laymen’s terms is that he used cement to make his art and in this case his art was sculptures of little people.”
Gary Shove

“Blink and you’ll miss it. Turning the urban landscape in on itself with installations that are almost to subtle to be noticed while passing by in an individualistic frenzy, Isaac Cordal uses the grey functionality of cement to question the lack of colour and vibrancy in so much of our lives through his tiny figures.”
Street Art Utopia

“Creator of a tiny community of cement sculptures hidden and isolated around the city, Isaac Cordal invites us to reflect on the sad state of the world through his art. It holds a mirror up to society by recreating scenes of our everyday modern life reminding us of the numb passage of time, the overwhelming influence of consumerism and elimination of nature. Keep your eyes open!”
Street Art London

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MAMA Presents: “Highbrow, Lowbrow, Nobrow – MOUSEE! A group show. (Rotterdam, The Netherlands)

March 24, 2012 , , , , ,

Mousse!

Zoe Strauss, Sage Jumping, 2009

Highbrow, Lowbrow, Nobrow – MOUSSE! Datum: 7 april – 23 juni 2012
Opening: vrijdag 6 april 2012, 19:00 – 23:00 Kunstenaars: Admir Jahic (CH, 1975), East Eric (FR, 1974), Isaac Cordal (ES, 1974), Mark Jen- kins (USA, 1974), Nomad (DE, 1971), Stefan Gross (DE, 1965), Tobias Allanson (SE, 1974), Zoe Strauss (USA, 1970)

Gastcurator: Harlan Levey (USA, 1974)
Locatie: Showroom MAMA, Witte de Withstraat 29-31, 3012 BL, Rotterdam

Highbrow, Lowbrow, Nobrow – MOUSSE! is een tentoonstelling over hedendaagse Mousse Art, samengesteld door MAMA in samenwerking met Harlan Levey, hoofdredacteur van Modart Europe.

Moussism verhoudt zich in gelijke mate tot proces en beweging. Het verkent creativiteit en sociaal welzijn door onderwerpen als smaak, erfgoed en de relatie tussen kunst en activisme aan de kaak te stellen.

Highbrow, Lowbrow, Nobrow – MOUSSE! Date: 7 April – 23 June 2012
Opening: Friday 6 April 2012, 19:00 – 23:00 Artists: Admir Jahic (CH, 1975), East Eric (FR, 1974), Isaac Cordal (ES, 1974), Mark Jenkins (USA, 1974), Nomad (DE, 1971), Stefan Gross (DE, 1965), Tobias Allanson (SE, 1974), Zoe Strauss (USA, 1970)

Guest curator: Harlan Levey (USA, 1974) Location: Showroom MAMA, Witte de With- straat 29-31, 3012 BL, Rotterdam

Highbrow, Lowbrow, Nobrow – MOUSSE! is an exhibition of contemporary Mousse Art pro- duced by MAMA in collaboration with Harlan Levey, Editor in Chief of Modart Europe.

Moussism refers to process as much as move- ment. It discusses taste, legacy and the line between art and activism to explore creativity and social wellbeing.

 

Het tijdschrift Modart werd in 1999 gelanceerd om de houding en acties van opkomende kunstenaars en hun verhouding tot de taal van rebellie te docu- menteren en presenteren. Rond de eeuwwisseling was burgerlijke ongehoorzaamheid in alle uithoeken van de culturele sector sterk in opkomst. Er was vaak sprake van vandalistische toepassingen van creativiteit en innovativiteit in technologie (hi en lo fi). Dit was ook zichtbaar in bijvoorbeeld de groei van open source platforms, p2p websites zoals Napster, de totstandkoming van protestgroepering- en in de zogenaamde ‘battle for Seattle’ of de ‘grassroots’ manier waarop een jonge generatie street artists de esthetiek van de publieke ruimte uitdaagde en de sociale architectuur opnieuw toeëi- gende.

Modart was niet geïnteresseerd in ‘professionele’ kunst maar eerder in kunst die werd ‘geleefd’. Mod- art maakte zich als tijdschrift consequent sterk voor de toename van artistiek amateurisme en participa- tie. MAMA en Modart zijn bijna vanzelfsprekende partners. Niet alleen zijn ze gelijktijdig uitgegroeid tot volwassen organisaties, er was ook een continue overlap van deelnemende kunstenaars, die later

de pijlers van een internationale ‘street art scene’ zouden vormen. Het zal niemand verbazen dat de eerste berichten over Mousse Art in reactie waren op de MAMA tentoonstelling The Adventures of the Great Abnerio. Time Out Amsterdam citeerde Abner Preis destijds met de vermelding dat Mousse Art

er misschien shit uitziet, maar dat het wel heerlijk smaakt. Zoals elke shit is ook Mousse een bewe- ging die zich uitspreekt over het gehele proces, inclusief gezondheid.

Als onderdeel van de tentoonstelling Highbrow, Lowbrow, Nobrow – MOUSSE!, presenteert MAMA twee gesprekken met Zoe Strauss en gastcurator Harlan Levey op 7 en 9 april. Op 7 april bij MU in Eindhoven en op 9 april in Concordia 21rozendaal in Enschede. Bezoek de MAMA website voor de details.

Modart was launched in 1999 to document the attitudes and showcase the actions, of emerg- ing artists and their relationship to a language of rebellion. As the last century came to a close, in every cultural sector, civil disobedience was on the rise. Often vandalistic applications of creativity and innovation were evident in the use of technology (hi and lo fi) that saw simultane- ous rises in open source platforms, file sharing programs like napster, mobilization of protest groups in the battle for Seattle or the grassroots way in which a new generation of street artists challenged the aesthetics of public space and re-appropriating social architecture.

Modart was not interested in ‘art’ in any profes- sional sense, but rather in art as something that was lived. As a magazine Modart consistently communicated a plea for increased artistic amateurism and participation. Maturing during the same years and with a consistent overlap of artists who would become staples in an interna- tional ‘street art scene’, Modart and Showroom MAMA are very natural partners. It was not sur- prising, that the first critical mention of Mousse Art came in response to the Showroom Mama exhibition, The Adventures of the Great Abnerio, when Time Out Amsterdam quoted Abner Preis to declare that Mousse Art might look like shit, but tastes sweet. Like any sort of shit, Moussism is a movement that speaks of an entire process and eventually of health.

As part of MAMA’s exhibition Highbrow, Low- brow, Nobrow – MOUSSE!, MAMA presents two talks with Zoe Strauss and guest curator Harlan Levey on 7 and 9 April. On 7 April we will be at MU in Eindhoven and on 9 April you can find us at Concordia 21rozendaal, Enschede. Be sure to check the MAMA website for details.

office:
Kromme Elleboog 35 3012VM Rotterdam – NL

post:
PO Box 23070
3001KB Rotterdam – NL

T +31 10 2332022 info@showroommama.nl www.showroommama.nl

MAMA is supported by: City of Rotterdam, Ministery of OC&W

 

 

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Fun Friday 03.23.12

March 23, 2012 , , ,

Welcome to Friday! You made it!  It’s sunny and warm in New York this morning – time to hit the streets and parks and bookstores, before they’re all gone.

1. BOOKLYN in the House (VIDEO)
2. Adam Void “American Dream”
3. La Pandilla and Trek Matthews @ Living Walls Concepts
4. NSM “Justified Scriptures” (San Francisco)
5. Street Artist on the Street – Hugh Leeman (VIDEO)
6. Allan Dalla and Kero – Street Artists in Romania (VIDEO)
7. Slim Shady Mitt Romney (VIDEO)

BOOKLYN IN THE HOUSE

La Shea Delaney and Annabelle Quezada Go Hard on Books

Big Ups to these two serious readers. Read Books Ya’ll.

“(I) read so hard, libraries tryin’ to find me.”

“Animal Farm, Jane Eyre,
Barnes & Noble, FourSquare”

Adam Void Shares His American Dream (Baltimore)

Adam Void has a show called “An American Dream” at the MICA Decker Gallery in Baltimore, opening today. This is the artist’s MFA Thesis show. Congratulations Adam!

At work on an Adam Void piece on a wall in Venice, CA in 2011. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

La Pandilla and Trek Matthews at Living Walls Concepts (Atlanta)

Saturday Living Walls Concepts in Atlanta will be at The Jane with a show featuring new works from Street Artists La Pandilla from Puerto Rico and Trek Matthews from Atlanta in conjunction with their participation in this year’s edition of Living Walls, The City Speaks.

La Pandilla in Miami for Art Basel 2011. (Photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

NSM “Justified Scriptures” (San Francisco)

941 Geary Gallery in San Francisco invites you to the opening reception of an NSM solo show entitled “Justified Scriptures” this Saturday.

(photo courtesy of the gallery)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Street Artist on the Street – Hugh Leeman (VIDEO)

French videographer Clemence Demerliac filmed the San Francisco based Street Artist Hugh Leeman to understand his original thinking and in inventive approach to helping other with his work.

Allan Dalla and Kero – Street Artists in Romania (VIDEO)

Allan Dalla and Kero teamed up with Ion Bardaleanu for their most recent project.

Slim Shady Mitt Romney (VIDEO)

An INGENIOUS compilation of clips to create this parody of Eminem’s “Slim Shady”

 

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