Gallery

Black Book Gallery Presents: Fairey / Hecox / Houser A Group Exhibition (Denver, CO)

July 30, 2012 , , , , ,

Black Book Gallery

 

Anchoring this year’s exhibition schedule, Black Book Gallery in Denver will be welcoming powerhouses, Shepard Fairey, Even Hecox and Jim Houser together in a group show during the month of August. Denver is a common place to meet for the three artists, who all have held significant exhibitions in 2012. Houser’s artwork appeared at LeBasse Projects in Culver City back in April, Hecox was at Joshua Liner Gallery in June and was also featured in Juxtapoz last month and Fairey showed work at Pace Prints in the spring.

One of Shepard’s most noteworthy visits to Denver was for Manifest Hope during the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Fairey, of course, is known for his repetitious images. Two of his most prominent images include, “Andre The Giant Has A Posse” and Obama “Hope” he created during the 2008 election, which became a national icon of an era. The Manifest Hope art show marked a turning point in Denver art appreciation, which continues to expand today.

Siting Marshall McLuhan, a well-known media and communications theorist, Fairey uses the slogan, “the medium is the message,” which can be found throughout his work. Fascinated by philosophy in general, Fairey also draws influence from the notion of consciously structuring the subjective experience, known as phenomenology. In this way, Fairey’s work can be seen as a study of using media and artwork to create personal realities.

Hecox, who is based in Denver, records the detail of his surroundings in snapshots and moments in time. These frozen frames depict layers of the urban environments that Hecox is so curious to know. Cities radiate their own unique energy, when even a walk down the street can present a feast for the senses. By precisely and diligently placing the details of day-to-day urban life, Hecox recreates the beauty of simply existing in this space. Working from his own photographs of cities around the world, Hecox maps these scenes in a multimedia fashion. Gouache and acrylics, pencil drawings and ink washes are consistent medium choices for the artist. Having shown internationally, Hecox’s work resonates across a wide audience base, perhaps because of their diversity in nature.

This will be Houser’s second show at Black Book Gallery. Houser brings his familiar lines, colors and mix of props. Emphasizing the arrangement of his mixed media work, including installation, to create a unique exhibit each time, Houser tells stories and stacks hidden meaning throughout. Each individual piece Houser creates is carefully made and can stand alone, but it is the sum of these parts that make up Houser’s larger statement.

The opening for the Black Book Gallery exhibit, titled, “Fairey | Hecox | Houser,” is August 3rd. This will be a great way to begin the descent into the fall gallery season. If you’re in the area, be sure to swing through for a glimpse at the combined efforts of these three prime artists who have not only grown up along with, but also have significantly contributed to the contemporary canon of street-influenced art today.

OPENING RECEPTION:
Friday, August 3rd 6pm-11pm
Artists will be in attendance
Open and free to the public

555 Santa Fe Drive Denver, CO 80204

MURAL INSTALLATION:
Shepard Fairey and Evan Hecox will be installing murals on the Metropolitan State College of Denver CVA (Center for Visual Arts) We will have more information soon.

PANEL DISCUSSION AND BOOK SIGNING:
On Friday, August 3rd there will be an invite only panel discussion with all 3 artists at the Metropolitan State College of Denver CVA (Center for Visual Arts) – More information coming soon.

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BSA Presents: “Geometricks” and Vandal or Visionary Series Curated by Hellbent at Gallery Brooklyn (Brooklyn, NY)

July 29, 2012 , , , , , ,

Geometricks

BSA Presents GEOMETRICKS

Curated by Street Artist Hellbent

As part of their Vandal or Visionary Series, where BSA selects one Street Artist to curate a show that follows their specific vision of the scene, BSA is proud to introduce Hellbent as curator of the inaugural show of the series titled “GEOMETRICKS” at new Gallery Brooklyn in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, New York City, opening September 22, 2012.

Participating artists (alphabetically): Augustine Kofie, Chor Boogie, Drew Tyndell, Feral Child, Hellbent, Jaye Moon, Maya Hayuk, MOMO, OLEK, OverUnder, See One
***

GEOMETRICKS turns the spotlight on the movement on the streets that boasts bold color, wild patterning, sophisticated lineplay, and a modern approach to abstraction.

As the stylistic circle widens on the street, GEOMETRICKS grabs a razor-sharp cross section of the growing number of graffiti artists who depart from traditional forms of lettering, Street Artists who are not interested in Pop-inspired icons or irony, and fine artists who never considered the “rules” of the street to begin with.

GEOMETRICKS references modernists, tribalists, and the rhythmic symmetry of the natural world, with it’s hexagons and spirals and comforting repetitions. Old labels about graffiti and Street Art mean little; this group takes the formalist clarity that references geometry, folk art, and science, and often smashes it with an abstract hammer.

Parallel, perpendicular, rigid, curvilinear; lines and shapes intersect and play off color-rich pattern – challenging the shape, form and expectations of many in the Street Art scene. GEOMETRICKS show how graff and Street Art right now are exploding in a new direction together without first asking for permission, again advancing the conversation of art on the streets.

 

“I’m stoked to be able put together this GEOMETRICKS show with some artists who I’ve really admired for a long time as well as some of the new players on the scene. This show is a great opportunity for me to create a vision and really put a dream team of artists into one room and show people what I am diggin’ right now.” – Hellbent

The Vandal or Visionary Series presented by BSA
GEOMETRICKS
Curated by Hellbent

September 22 – October 28, 2012

Opening Reception
Saturday, September 22, 2012
6 pm – 9 pm

With sound provider SLEPTEMBER
Sponsored by Sixpoint Brewery
Gallery Brooklyn
351 Van Brunt St
Red Hook
Brooklyn, NY 11231

347.463.4063
info@gallerybrooklyn.com
gallerybrooklyn.com

Gallery Hours
Thursday-Saturdays: 12-6pm
Sundays: 12-5pm

Vandal or Visionary Series presented by BSA

The Vandal or Visionary Series calls into question the simplistic characterization of artists who work on the street as one dimensional vandals and it wonders aloud what a gallery show would look like if viewed through their eyes. Many artists have always had a better understanding of the scene than academics or experts who talk about it and this series allow us to see a show curated by someone with a direct view and a very unique perspective.

BrooklynStreetArt.com is a daily source for Street Art reporting, interviews, and photography in New York and around the world.

We’ve been thinking a lot about this show and recently published examples on the street that are indicative of one new direction;

“Art from the streets has been heralding a new eye-popping geometric disorder that can now fairly be called a movement.”
~ From our recent piece on The Huffington Post : “Color, Geometry and Pattern on the Streets”

 

Read all BSA posts on The Huffington Post HERE.

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For more details on GEOMETRICKS please contact us at GEOMETRICKS@BrooklynStreetArt.com

Thank you for your support.

See the GEOMETRICKS Square Invite

 

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ArTicks Gallery Presents: “Peeta – A Solo Show” (Amsterdam, The Netherlands)

July 25, 2012 , , , , ,

Peeta

 

ArTicks Gallery is pleased to announce PEETA – A SOLO SHOW, a solo exhibition consisting of new paintings and sculptures by the Italian artist Peeta.

Peeta endeavours to realize the sculptural quality of individual letters, namely the ones that spell out his own name. Being aware of the Greco-Latin origins of today’s modern alphabet which give it a certain abstract, rather than figural, quality, his task departs from this graphical history to follow the formal methods of Chinese and Islamic calligraphy. With his works, the artist always selects the specific letters “P-E-E-T-A” and breaks them from their generic typographical form, stylizing them with shape and volume beyond their mere semantic function. Thus his lettering is brought into the fluidity of the urban, where words are continuously ruptured from their own histories, readapted into idiom and gestures learned from the street.

And it is this urban terrain that Peeta is always drawn to: street walls, trains, abandoned factories. In a way, his work is record of evolving inscription—not in its traditional sense, but in terms of a fluency acquired through the urban vernacular. Peeta calls this a “geometry of writing”, where the rules are changeable and words are modified, deconstructed and regenerated as they intersect with convention and the new.

Peeta, also known as Manuel Di Rita, has been active as a graffiti artist since 1993 and is currently living in Venice. He is a member of the EAD crew (Padova, Italy), FX and RWK crews (New York City) and has participated in graffiti jams and Meeting of Styles events in Europe and the Americas. His work explores the potential of sculptural lettering, both in painting and in three dimensions. Peeta has exhibited at the Santorini Biennale (2012); Megastore Gallery – The Hague (2007); Magazzini del Sale – Venice (2007-2008); Edgeart Gallery – Manchester (2008); PrettyPortal Gallery – Düsseldorf (2009); Baron Gallery and Ayden Gallery – Vancouver (2010-2011); Da Baker Gallery – New York (2010); and H+ Gallery – Lyon (2011), among many others.

“PEETA – A SOLO SHOW” runs from 10th August – 30th August, 2012
Vernissage: Friday 10th August from 18:00 – 21:30

ArTicks Gallery Singel 88 Amsterdam, Nh 1015AD

 

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ThinkSpace Gallery Presents: Brett Amory & Adam Caldwell “Dirty Laundry” (Culver City, CA)

July 25, 2012 , , , , ,

Thinkspace Gallery

Brett Amory in the Studio (photo © courtesy of the gallery)

Thinkspace is pleased to present Dirty Laundry, an exhibition of new work by painters Brett Amory and Adam Caldwell. Amory and Caldwell each mobilize their unique representational strategies to invoke the modern day disconnect between time and space, self and other, and present and past. Amory’s atmospheric preoccupation with memory, the moment, and nostalgia, is dynamically in contrast to Caldwell’s abrupt composites and recombinations of imagery, from sources spanning mass media to antiquity. Both artists approach their medium as a means of problematizing temporal identity, and the social experience, by exposing the nitty gritty polarities and paradigm shifts of an increasingly fractured reality of the self.

Reception with the artists:

Sat., August 4th 5-9PM

Thinkspace

6009 Washington Blvd., Culver City, CA 90232

T: 310.558.3375

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Anno Domini Gallery Presents: Faring Purth “This Snow Rising” (San Jose, CA)

July 25, 2012 , , , , ,

Faring Purth

Faring Purth in Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“This Snow Rising”
opens on August 3rd, at Anno Domini Gallery in San Jose, CA. I feel so
fortunate to be working with these incredible people. They are
rarities to say the least and a perfect match for the starry eyes &
working hands you’ve continued to support. I will be sharing a body of
work I’ve been preparing since my return from that insane journey last
year & will be taking over their entire space with pieces scaling from
10x12ft to 3x5in. As many of you know, I have plans to hit the road
again shortly after & it will most likely be some time before I find
my wandering feet in a gallery setting again. I would so love to see
as many of your beautiful faces as I possibly can! Please come …
Give me a hug, share adventure stories, & see the work your inspiring
lives have helped create. All my love.

This Snow Rising
Opens August 3rd, 7-11pm.
Anno Domini Gallery
366 S 1st Street
San Jose, California 95113

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Stolen Space Gallery Presents: ATG Collective “Eye In The Sky” An Art Exhibition and Book Launch (London, UK)

July 25, 2012 , , , , ,

ATG Collective

 

‘Eye In The Sky’

Show & Book Launch

By ATG Collective 03.08.12 – 02.09.12
Private View Thursday 2nd August, 6 – 9 pm

In December 2010 a group of artists got together to embark on a project painting London’s skyline, with the aim of inspiring people and reminding them of their voice. At a time where communities across the country feel increasingly neglected and let down by the system they decided to use the roofs of the many council blocks scattered across the city as a platform to communicate with people in the form of painted eyes and up-lifting slogans that beamed down on to the streets below. Their work was to serve as a reminder to the public that they still have control over their surroundings and although we live in the most surveyed city on the planet, where peoples liberties are often compromised for financial gain and control, there is still room to take risks, think outside the box and change the world around you.

This exhibition will see the launch of a limited edition hand bound artist book from ATG. Each book will be signed and numbered with a hand screen printed cover.

The exhibition will also feature limited edition screen prints, originals and photographic work. .

The Old Truman Brewery 91 Brick Lane London. E1 6QL
T:020 7247 2684 E:info@stolenspace.com Open Tuesday to Sunday 11.00am – 7.00pm

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Fabien Castanier Gallery Presentes: RERO “IMAGE NOT AVAILABLE” (Studio City, CA)

July 25, 2012 , , , , ,

RERO

 

Fabien Castanier Gallery is proud to present IMAGE NOT AVAILABLE , the first solo exhibition in the USA by French artist RERO.For the past 3 years, RERO has established his work through his innovative approach to street art. First introduced to the street as a teenage graffiti writer,  he eventually felt limited by a spray can and began exploring imagery through the use of typography. His work retains those values of graffiti- which remains at the very core- the confrontation, the aesthetics of destruction and the idea of appropriation. The forms of his letters, always in Verdana font, become the image. With his distinct visual style, RERO often inhabits disused and dilapidated spaces to explore the concept of “negation of the image”, presenting minimalist statements that combat our modern overdose on images and messages.

RERO challenges our understanding of intellectual property, images and computer terminology, through the use of words and phrases with a stark black line crossing them out. Using expressions such as “Trade My Mark”,  “Error 404” and “This Image is Free Copyright”, the artist seeks to provoke questions from the viewer to establish their own positions as to their meaning. The use of the strike-through furthers his exploration of negation, as it suggests a notion of denial or censorship.

RERO’s site-specific works enter the gallery space through a variety of media. His works on canvas emulate the abandoned walls where he often intervenes, where there is no distinctive brushstroke or human trace, instead marked by time and by texture. Similarly, he encases vintage leather bound books in resin, his way of making them “fossils” of the 21st century. For IMAGE NOT AVAILABLE , RERO will be exhibiting works on canvas, sculptures, works on paper and resin books alongside several installations.

RERO was born in 1983 and studied graphic design at London College of Communication. He has shown his work in numerous exhibitions and art fairs across Europe. He lives and works in Paris.

FABIEN CASTANIER GALLERY:
12196 VENTURA BLVD. STUDIO CITY, CA 91604
P. 818.748.6014  | CONTACT@CASTANIERGALLERY.COM| WWW.CASTANIERGALLERY.COM
GALLERY HOURS TUESDAY–SATURDAY 11–7PM, SUNDAY-MONDAY 11–5PM.


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LALA Gallery Presents: “Public Works” A Group Exhibition (Los Angeles, CA)

July 25, 2012 , , , , ,

LALA Gallery

Dear Friends:

We are thrilled to announce the opening of our second show, PUBLIC WORKS, at LALA Gallery on Friday, August 3, at 7:00 pm.

This groundbreaking two-part exhibit, a collaboration with LA Freewalls and MacDonald Media to benefit Art Share LA, features murals by renowned contemporary artists in one of public media’s most controversial spaces – the billboard. Contributing artists include How & Nosm, Insa, Push, Revok, Risk, Ron English, Seen, Shepard Fairey, Trustocorp, WCA Crew, Uglar, and Zes.

The first part of the exhibit will feature the murals up-close-and-personal at LALA Gallery from August 3 to 17. The murals will then be on display on billboards throughout Los Angeles on a rotating basis during the next year.

Come take a look. We’ll see you there.

  • Daniel Lahoda
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Faces Ink Presents: Quel Beast Solo Reception at Gallery Bar (Manhattan, NY)

July 24, 2012 , , , , ,

Quel Beast

New York street artist Quel Beast will have a reception this Friday the 27th from 7-10pm at Gallery Bar for his large, vibrantly colored portraits.

The influence of New York’s rich street art and graffiti legacy shows up in the bright colors and bold lines Quel Beast uses to bring his faces to life.  A central theme of these portraits has been the emotional turmoil of struggling New Yorkers, but recently Quel Beast has been exploring ways to render the faces we wear when we’re struggling with more than the daily grind.  Almost a year ago Quel Beast began confronting his internal demon of addiction.  The insanity of self-deification and self-destruction, inherent in a life run by self-will, is most evident in his recent “Selfish Portraits”.
Quel Beast learned how to paint by pasting both his failures and successes in the streets of Manhattan and Brooklyn.  He often serves as his own subject, using twisted and wrinkled faces to render portraits that are shifting proportions of joy, frustration, self-obsession and demoralization.  The feelings conveyed through Quel Beast’s vibrant colors and bold expressions would make Chuck Close blush.  This isn’t your mother’s idea of portraiture.
No stranger to struggling in the city, Quel Beast has been sleeping on a friend’s couch while looking for a job.  “I’d much rather make the work I want, than bow to what sells,” he said, “I have friends who show in Chelsea that are just as poor as me; money just isn’t a priority to real artists.”  For these reasons, Quel Beast has priced all of his work in this exhibition well under $1,000.  “Only  collectors and gallerists worry about an artist’s monetary worth,” Quel Beast quipped, “I only worry about being able to afford my next round of supplies.”
The work will be on view this weekend and during the reception.
Gallery Bar is located at 120 Orchard St. on the Lower East Side of Manhattan.
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Known Gallery Presents: Saber “Beautification” (Los Angeles, CA)

July 23, 2012 , , , , ,

Saber

 

SABER / BEAUTIFICATION
Opens: July 28, 2012 | 8-11pm
Runs: July 28 – August 11, 2012

Known Gallery
441 North Fairfax Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
info@knowngallery.com

Among the thousands of people who make up the graffiti community around the world, there are few names that carry the same legendary quality as SABER. Born in the Los Angeles suburb of Glendale, SABER was raised by creative parents and discovered his passion for art at an early age. At 13, his cousins introduced him to graffiti when they took him to see the spray paint-covered Belmont Tunnel. From that moment on, he was hooked. After honing his skills on local walls, SABER joined MSK, and was later inducted into legendary piecing crew AWR.

SABER was already a fixture in the Los Angeles graffiti scene by 1997 when he completed the largest graffiti piece ever created. His piece on the sloping cement bank of the Los Angeles River was nearly the size of a professional football field, and took 97 gallons of paint and 35 nights to complete. In a famous photograph—taken by his father just after it was finished—SABER stands on the piece and appears as a tiny speck amid a giant blaze of color. It catapulted SABER to legend status in the graffiti world.

SABER began exhibiting in his fine art in 2002. His monograph, SABER: MAD SOCIETY, complete with stories of his graffiti misadventures, was released by Gingko Press in 2007 and is now in its second printing. In October 2010, SABER released a video in which the year’s heated debate about health care was spray painted over the American flag. While some saw it as desecration, SABER advocated for health care reform in the video, revealing that he had epilepsy and was un-insurable. This work led SABER to create a large group of American flag paintings called the Tarnished series.

 

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Known Gallery Presents: REVOK “Gilgamesh” A New Body of Work. (Los Angeles, CA)

July 23, 2012 , , , , ,

REVOK

Known Gallery presents
REVOK
Gilgamesh
July 28-August 11, 2012

Known Gallery is pleased to present Gilgamesh, a new body of work by REVOK opening on Saturday July 28 and on view through August 11.  This exhibition will mark REVOK’s second show with the gallery.

With Gilgamesh, the artist has refined his technique of cutting up and reassembling found objects that once had a life of their own. All materials are scavenged from abandoned homes, churches, businesses and buildings in Detroit, Michigan, the city where REVOK has taken refuge.  The artist extracts the beauty in urban decay, from dilapidated buildings and rubble of the past.  An integral part of the process of acquiring his materials is exploring the neighborhoods, going into abandoned buildings, investigating forgotten places and sometimes in the course, encountering the people who once lived there.  The artworks are then named after the street addresses from which he excavates his materials, leaving the stories embedded in the assemblage.

A modern approach to Americana, REVOK creates geometric collages from these recovered relics, forming patterns, shapes and textures that are a direct result of years of wear and tear.  REVOK finds inspiration in what others might deem as useless.   As a fearless graffiti artist who has largely mapped and plotted the world, he turned his focus to the ruins of the Motor City, a vacant playground of beautiful architecture. REVOK’s experiences as a graffiti artist have fostered an appreciation for the things that surround us everyday, but for most, would go unnoticed.

“I’ve always struggled with permanence.  Out of twenty-two years as a graffiti writer, from my entire body of work, less than 1% exists, and the permanence of graffiti, particularly in Los Angeles, is more temporary than most places in the world.  It has always been one of the main motivations of graffiti writers to create work that’s going to last.  We want to create work that’s going to live for a long time.”

REVOK recently shared his artistic ambitions on a larger scale by creating the Detroit Beautification Project, inviting 25 artists from around the world to revive the forsaken city and provide encouragement for the community.

Garnering inspiration from the four thousand year old poem, the Epic of Gilgamesh, which recounts the Sumerian king’s quest for eternal life, REVOK has resurrected a city’s past using its disregarded remains. The flotsam and jetsam have now become memorialized artifacts through REVOK’s meticulously crafted handwork, giving new meaning and immortality to what were once ordinary objects.

REVOK constantly struggles to overcome the connotations associated with the type of artist he is, which in the past, has been met with overwhelming opposition and with the intent to eradicate his life’s work. REVOK’s work reflects not only his story as an artist, but also the story of a civilization and its people.

Known Gallery
441 North Fairfax Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036

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Joshua Liner Gallery Presents: Stephen Powers: “A Word is Worth A Thousand Pictures” (Manhattan, NYC)

July 23, 2012 , , , , ,

ESPO

Stephen Powers (photo © courtesy of the gallery)

Joshua Liner Gallery is pleased to announce our September exhibition with Stephen Powers. A Word is Worth a Thousand Pictures will be Powers’ first solo exhibition in New York in over seven years. The prolific artist will present a panoramic assemblage of paintings that will occupy the entire breadth of the gallery. A Word is Worth a Thousand Pictures will consist of a multitude of enamel on aluminum paintings, ranging from 10 x 8 inches to 10 x 10 feet.

Joshua Liner Gallery
548 W 28th St. 3rd Floor
New York, New York 10001
212-244-7415
joshualinergallery.com

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