Gallery

Pawn Works Unveils Sticker Collection: Nick and Seth Tell the Story

Do you geek out on stickers?  Come on, you know you do. To you, the world is a place where slapping and hitting are good things to do on your daily travels, especially if the surface is dust free.  We are regularly smacked in the email with exhortations to come out to huge sticker fests and New York has probably a few hundred doorways that are so slapped up and multi-layered with gluey handmade postal labels and mass produced vinyl tags that if a bomb blasted inside the whole door would blow off in one piece. Most sticker fiends point back to the late 70s, early 80s as the time of genesis for this phenomenal addiction and passion, possibly encouraged by Miss Marsette, your second grade teacher who had a pretty figure and pleasing perfume and who used to put a Papa Smurf or unicorn sticker on your History report to award your good work.

For many Street Artists and graffers and collectors and fans of stickers, it is a life-long love: Just ask Dave and Holly Combs, who have run Peel Magazine in print and online since 2003 , or MAD One, who has been running Sticker Phiends in Phoenix since ’08, and King Rid and Jice of Brass Knuckle Crew, who hosted a proper show this summer in New York with contributors from around the world.  Add to that list Seth Mooney and Nick Marzullo, founders of Pawn Works in Chicago, who this week formally proclaimed a long love affair with the humble sticker by mounting a personal tribute with a lot of history totally taking over the gallery windows – a moving and triumphant event in their sticker geekery. They’ve been minting their own line of home-made stickers for a little over a year, but this installation takes in a couple of decades.

Pawn Works Gallery: Sticker Collage (photo © Brock Brake)

Brooklyn Street Art is lucky that photographer Brock Brake was on the scene to capture the momentous proceedings and even more fortunate to get this very personal insight into some of their history and personal favorites from the guys:

“As sticker heads and collectors ourselves producing and distributing stickers for artists from all over the world via the Pawn Works Sticker Club we have obsessed since day one. All the way back to the days of repping Cruella DeVille and The 101 Dalmation’s, He-Man, Scrooge McDuck, G.I. Joe and other childhood favorites on our sippy cup’s. Both Seth and I can remember holding certain stickers over 18 years ago back to before we were teens. Some of those stickers and many more hoarded over the years as well as new jewels created through the club over the last year, reached their final destination.

 

Pawn Works Gallery: Sticker Collage (photo © Brock Brake)

We committed our ‘priceless’ stickers to an intense vinyl sticker collage representing the essence of what Pawn Works is about, the love and support of those responsible for the culture in which we are ensconced in. We often reminisce of our time as harmless teen deviants taking Stussy Clothing labels off of shirts from the mall back when the price tags/labels doubled as unique, hard to get, vinyl stickers. Anyways, we spent most of February last year making this collage to have on permanent display at Pawn Works. This year we are going to display it publicly along with the help of our friend Lucas Blair from Hedrich Blessing Photographers and Vinyl Wrap Technician from Roll Out Industries in Brooklyn, Michael Yrigoyen.

Pawn Works Gallery: Sticker Collage (photo © Brock Brake)

A few of our personal stand-outs include the instant classic logo of street wear boutique Bodego spelling out their name using the logos of Major League Baseball teams, which was quite common in the 90’s into the early 2000’s. The use of the Montreal Expo’s logo as the ‘e’ plays on so many levels for us, we love this sticker so much that we don’t feel bad it was taken off a hostess pad at a pub so many years ago. We can’t forget an all time favorite in the 513 OG Circle Sticker. Representing Cincinnati and the grime of their streets, this sticker was everywhere long before we were anywhere. This particular sticker thrived on a privately-owned Tetris Arcade game for so many years and thankfully was salvaged along with the Tetris machine from a damaging personal relationship. Got away with the sticker! Collectively, we love this sticker.

Pawn Works Gallery: Sticker Collage (photo © Brock Brake)

The Beastie Boys Ill Communication window sticker 4 pack and J-Dilla’s The Shining album cover sticker top our music charts. With a strong representation of stickers from the music, street and skate cultures, representing brands, boutiques, and important figures in the scene and our lives from Harold Hunter, Keith Haring, Mark Gonzales, Harmony Korine, Jeff Staple, The Dude and more we pay homage to the artists, designers and players on all levels. More notable stand outs include the original Cost and Revs stickers from the Early 90’s, Skewville’s Keep On Grass 1st edition on clear vinyl (small), many hand drawn labels from Evoker,Amuse,Poor One,Full Quip, KWT Crew, ATAK, DMS crew, Full Bleed and more, the scratch ‘n’ sniff pot leaf stickers are always a favorite for us as well. As are the original Ox-Fam Banksy stickers,the endless amount of hand-cut vinyl’s from SKAM Sticker Artist out of Portland, the over-sized classic ‘not for the handicap’ sticker from Gabriel Specter and anything by The Grocer.”

~ Nick Marzullo and Seth Mooney, from Pawn Works

Pawn Works Gallery: Sticker Collage (photo © Brock Brake)

Pawn Works Gallery: Sticker Collage (photo © Brock Brake)

Pawn Works Gallery: Sticker Collage (photo © Brock Brake)

Pawn Works Gallery: Sticker Collage (photo © Brock Brake)

Pawn Works Gallery: Sticker Collage (photo © Brock Brake)

Pawn Works Gallery: Sticker Collage (photo © Brock Brake)

Pawn Works Gallery: Sticker Collage (photo © Brock Brake)

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Click on these links for more stickerness on Brooklyn Street Art:

Slap Happy: The Humble Sticker Gets The Job Done

Stuck in Love With New York’s Stickers

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Fun Friday 12.16.11

 

1. Play a New Holiday Video Game from Chris Uphues – “Holiday Jingle Rocket”
2. “Rezolution”, a group show at Hive Gallery Tonight (Phoenix, AZ)
3. “Paranormal Hallucinations” at Pandemic (Brooklyn, Yo!) (Saturday)
4. David Choe and DVS1 for Nuart 11 (VIDEO)
5. “Images of the Year 2011” From Brooklyn Street Art (Video)
6. VINZ FEEL FREE. Don’t be afraid. Feel Free (VIDEO)

Play a New Holiday Video Game from Chris Uphues – “Holiday Jingle Rocket”

Street Artist Chris Uphues uses his signature characters to create this very entertaining game for you to play with while chugging eggnog and rum today as you drink and drive at your keyboard. Try to keep your sled flying over the houses without being hit by giant blobs of snow! It’s a winter blast!

Make sure to click on the link below to play the game:

http://www.megadoug.com/xmasgame/

“Rezolution”, a group show at Hive Gallery Tonight (Phoenix, AZ)

Chip Thomas AKA Jetsonorama and a number of other artists open today in a group show that is getting a lot of pre-buzz here and on Twitter and FB. It should be a great scene tonight at The Hive.

Chip Thomas and Breeze. (photo © Chip Thomas)

For further information regarding this show click here

“Paranormal Hallucinations” at Pandemic (Brooklyn, Yo!) (Saturday)

Pandemic Gallery has a new show “Paranormal Hallucinations” opening Saturday. including, among others, Deuce 7, Swampy and Egyptian Jason.

Swampy. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A very fun group show to end out the season before everybody goes into the holiday haze, featuring some unsung gems in the Street Art and graffiti scene, as well as others, including CHARLIE MARKS  R.I.P, LLEW  payote, Deuce Seven, Egyptian jason, Matt CRABE, Josh and Amy Shandick, Mikey Big Breakfast, Conrad Carlson, G II, Ryan C. Doyle, Mikey I.T., Tamara Santibanez, Othello Gervacio, Mike. P, and Swampy (above).

For further information regarding this show click here

David Choe and DVS1 for Nuart 11 (VIDEO)

David Choe and DVS1 (Photo Courtesy of Nuart11 © Mookie Mooks)

 

“Images of the Year 2011” From Brooklyn Street Art (Video)

It’s been an excellent year for Street Art all over the world and we’ve had the pleasure of seeing a lot of great stuff from big names to the anonymous. Eye popping, brain-teasing, challenging, entertaining, aspirational and inspirational – it’s all happening at once.  We’ve been walking the streets, meeting the artists, going to shows, curating shows, speaking to audiences, providing walls, and asking questions. It ebbs and flows but never stays the same. With the rise of the Occupy movement this autumn, we’re already seeing an uptick in the number of people taking their messages to the street with a renewed intensity.

VINZ FEEL FREE. Don’t be afraid. Feel Free (VIDEO)

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The Hive Gallery Presents: “Rezolution” A group Show (Phoenix, AZ)

Rezolution
Chip Thomas and Thomas “Breeze” Marcus (photo © Chip Thomas)

R E Z O L U T I O N
7 Artists will converge upon The Hive art space in Phoenix, Arizona on December 16th 2011 for the group show titled Rezolution (Resolution).
Rezolution (spelled with a Z instead of an S), is a focus on 7 artists who have experienced Native American Reservation life first hand and know the historical as well as the daily modern struggles, triumphs, smiles and cries better than anyone else in the so called American Dream Land. A popular term amongst Native people refers to these communities and land areas simply as “The Rez”.
Douglas Miles is an Apache artist from the San Carlos Apache Nation although he has already been recognized internationally and nationally for the last decade and more, Miles has recently gained the attention of the southern California gallery and street style art scenes. Miles brings stark depictions of strength with his stencils and illustrations of contemporary Apache women and warriors, while incorporating elaborate hand written typography that is heavily influenced by inner city “Cholo” writing which has its origins in Los Angeles.
Chip Thomas, a doctor on the Dine(Navajo) Reservation for the last 24 yrs, has recently taken inspiration from international street artists like Blu, JR, Os Gemeos, Gaia, and others by starting his own series of giant wheat paste murals from images that he has photographed and documented since first moving to Shonto, Az in 1987. Although not Navajo himself, Chip has seen a lot of love and support from his community of Shonto Arizona, as well as heavy outside criticism.
In addition to Doug and Chip: Anthony “Thosh” Collins (Photographer), Razelle Benally (Film Maker), Dwayne Manuel (Painter), Tom Greyeyes (Painter) and local Phx muralist Breeze will be participating. All 7 artists know what it means to live on a “Rez”, and have taken their experiences of everyday life, cultural identities and harnessed them into positive creativity through contemporary Photography, Film, Brush Painting, Charcoal, Graffiti Art, Propaganda, Stencils, Wheat Paste, Spray Paint, and more.
In many ways, the tool known as Art is now a modern warrior’s weapon and resource in being a voice for the at times seemingly forgotten original inhabitants. Rezolution is a platform to exhibit various styles and educate the unaware and unknowing populations about contemporary Native life, art work and the missions to break stereotypes and presumptions of what mainstream society portrays and exploits the American Indian as.
The imagery in this show will be truthful, abstract, blunt, surrealistic and ironically foreign to many eyes looking in from the outside.

-Thomas Breeze Marcus

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Fun Friday 12.09.11

1. Last Day to Enter “BSA Holiday Giveaway”
2. “Tokyo Tattoo 1970” Martha Cooper and Aiko in Brooklyn
3.  Robots Will Kill & Friends Tonight in Brooklyn
4.  Photographer Birdman Show tonight in Los Angeles
5.  C215 at Shooting Gallery (SF)
6.  Geoff Hargadon “Dealers Protected” (Boston)
7. GAIA Saturday @ Irvine Contemporary (DC)
8. “Home For The Holidays”  group show at Klughaus Gallery
9. DD$ show “Everything Popular is Wrong” at Lab Art
10. Nick Walker’s Large Mural, “See No Evil”, in Bristol (VIDEO)
11. The Installation of David Byrne’s Giant Globe under the High Line in NYC (VIDEO)

Last Day to Enter “BSA Holiday Giveaway”

Folks today is the last day we are accepting submissions for our Holiday Giveaway Contest “12 Wishes for 2012”. Hurry! The prizes are great plus you can be featured on BSA along some great artists working today on the streets.

“Tokyo Tattoo 1970” Martha Cooper and Aiko in Brooklyn

Tonight at Urban Folk Art Gallery/Brooklyn Tattoo, a dual show of photographer and artist and friends.

Urban Folk Art© Gallery is pleased to present the the art installation and book release celebration for Martha Cooper’s latest book ‘Tokyo Tattoo 1970’ by Dokument Press.

Martha Cooper will be exhibiting photos from her book, and Aiko, internationally renowned stencil artist will be displaying work inspired by Martha’s work directly related to the book.

For Further information regarding this show click here

Robots Will Kill & Friends Tonight in Brooklyn

Mighty Tanaka ‘s new show “ROBOTS WILL KILL & FRIENDS” brings together an eclectic group of artist from different disciplines. The gallery is also celebrating 2 years.

Veng, Chris of RWK shown here with Overunder, (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here

Photographer Birdman Show tonight in Los Angeles

In Los Angeles, esteemed photographer and BSA collaborator Bryan Mier AKA Birdman’s show “Wish You Were Here” opens today at Novel Cafe. Wish we were there!

Dabs and Myla in LA (photo © Birdman)

Birdman’s exhibition, “Wish You Were Here,” will feature his adventures in the art world. Including shots on roof tops, night sessions and rare images of artists up close working on murals.

For further information regarding this show click here

C215 at Shooting Gallery (SF)

French Artist C215 new solo show “Smoke Gets In Your Eyes” opens on Saturday at the Shooting Gallery in San Francisco.

C215 at his studio (photo © C215)

Christian Guémy, also known as C215, is a Parisian street artist known for his intensely emotive stencil portraits. C215 began painting six years ago, and has since brought his work all over the world, from New Dehli to Istanbul.

For further information regarding this show click here

Geoff Hargadon “Dealers Protected” (Boston)

Geoff Hargadon invites you to the reception of his solo show “Dealers Protected” on Saturday at the Gallery Kayafas in Boston.

 

Geoff Hargadon. CFYW Miami 2010 (photo © Geoff Hargadon)

For further information regarding this show click here

GAIA Saturday @ Irvine Contemporary (DC)

Gaia’s “Urban Interventions” solo show with the Irvine Contemporary Gallery in Washington, DC opens on December 10.

Gaia (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here

Also Happening this weekend:

“Home For The Holidays” A group show that includes works by Faust, Moody and Katsu among other artists at the Klughaus Gallery in Manhattan. Click here for more details.

DD$ show “Everything Popular is Wrong” at Lab Art in Los Angeles. Click here for more details.

Nick Walker’s Large Mural, “See No Evil”, in Bristol (VIDEO)

 

The Installation of David Byrne’s Giant Globe under the High Line in NYC (VIDEO)

 

Mc Fitti – Strap on Traumschiff (VIDEO)

Have no idea what he is rapping about but there are some sick tricks here.

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Klughaus Gallery Presents: “Home for the Holidays” A Group Show. (Manhattan, NY)

Home for the Holidays

Downtown contemporary art gallery Klughaus Gallery is proud to announce its grand opening and inaugural exhibition titled, “Home for the Holidays,” on December 9, 2011. This group show will feature a diverse mix of mediums including paintings, photographs, sculptures and mixed media pieces. The exhibition will include a talented roster of emerging and established artists including Faust, Fuzz One, Greg Lamarche, Kimou ‘Grotesk’ Meyer, Jasper Patch, Katsu, Mr. Kiji, Michael Alan, Moody, Seb Gorey, Tom Gould, Topske, Veefer, and Vor138.

The opening reception on Friday, December 9, 2011 will be from 6:00pm-10:00pm. All are welcomed to attend the reception and may RSVP by emailing rsvp@klughaus.net.

The exhibition will be on display from:
December 9, 2011 – December 31, 2011

For more information, please contact:
646-801-6024
info@klughaus.net

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A Ladies Love Project Presents: Holiday Pop Up Shop (Manhattan, NY)

Holiday Pop Up Shop

On Saturday, December 17, 2011, the LADIES LOVE PROJECT presents its third POP-UP SHOP at the West Village Brecht Forum, 451 West Street from 12pm – 8pm. The PROJECT, a brainchild of renowned street artist TOOFLY and sound sensation PattyDukes of the Circa95 duo, highlights some of NYC’s most creative underground artists and designers.  The one-day-only holiday event boasts an intimate, yet extraordinarily colorful market experience designed to familiarize consumers, media and tastemakers with established artists.
The large group of talented designers will be exhibiting one of a kind, limited edition, handcrafted goods just in time for the holidays! Featured market designers and artists Toofly, Good Wood NYC, Junkprints, Vanilla Medallions, Marka27, Antonio Kel 5MH, while several other brands will be in attendance. Music across all genres will be provided by iPod DJ’s Rephstar (of Circa95), Ben Ferrari, Jacina Love, and Slik Nik The Ruler. A live broadcasting of the event will be streamed at www.Circa95.com, while complimentary holiday treats by Jenny Kinns Cupcakes and Mi Isla Coquito by Millie will help promote the holiday cheer! Exclusive event photography will be taken by Samantha Morales with video by Barrio Media.

The Brecht Forum

451 West Street (between Bank & Bethune Streets)

New York, NY 10014

www.brechtforum.org

Date: Saturday, December 17, 2011

Time: 12PM-8PM

 

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Urban Folk Art Gallery and Brooklyn Tattoo Present: Tokyo Tattoo 1970: Martha Cooper and Aiko (Brooklyn,NY)

Tokyo Tattoo 1970

 

Tokyo Tattoo 1970: Martha Cooper and Aiko
Presented by Urban Folk Art©/Brooklyn Tattoo®
 
Date of Exhibit – Dec 9-30th  2011
Opening Friday, December 9th 7-10pm
 
Urban Folk Art© Gallery is pleased to present the the art installation and book release celebration for Martha Cooper’s latest book ‘Tokyo Tattoo 1970’ by Dokument Press.
 
Martha Cooper will be exhibiting photos from her book, and Aiko, internationally renowned stencil artist will be displaying work inspired by Martha’s work directly related to the book. Martha Cooper is an American photographer best known for documenting the New York graffiti scene in the 70’s and 80’s. She started getting noticed for her personal work while working at the NY Post in the 70’s. The landmark book Subway Art published in 1984 which Cooper co-authored with Henry Chalfant is frequently credited as the catalyst and foundation for aerosol art movements worldwide. In the 70’s She was living in Tokyo with her anthropologist husband and became interested in Japanese tattooing after seeing a tattoo on display at a festival. She documented the tattoo Master Horibun I at work on clients as well as others involved in the tattooing scene there. She tried to publish these photos in the early 70’s but found that tattoong back then had an unsavory reputation, and no one was interested.
 
An original member of the art collective Faile, Aiko has been making art that has been shown and recognized internationally for many years. Aiko and Martha met in 2006,  and since then have traveled to Japan, Amsterdam and Berlin together on various projects, Aiko helped install Martha’s photos at the MOCA ‘Art in the Streets’ exhibit, as well as participated in the Carmichael gallery’s show “Remix” where artists made work inspired by Martha’s photos. Aiko’s piece was inspired by one of the photos in ‘Tokyo Tattoo 1970’. www.ladyaiko.com
 
In 2004 Martha met the guys at Dokument Press. Their magazine ‘Underground Productions’ was one of the first graffiti magazines in Europe. In 2008 Dokument press published Cooper’s ‘Tag Town’. Martha says: “Dokument has always been interested in publishing work about underground cultures, so the tattoo photos were a good fit for them.”

On choosing Urban Folk Art© Gallery for her book release, Martha says, “Aiko and I attended the Atlantic Avenue Art Walk last year and I was surprised to see a tattoo studio (Brooklyn Tattoo) and gallery with the name ‘Urban Folk Art©’ on the event map. So first of all, the name attracted me and I wanted to see what the place was. When I found out that there was a graffiti connection, I thought it would be the perfect place to launch my tattoo book”.

Co-Curated by Martha Cooper, AIKO, Adam Suerte, Robert Bonhomme.

 

718 643 1610

urbanfolkart.com

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Gallery Kayafas Presents: Geoff Hargadon “Dealers Protected” (Boston, MA))

CFYW

 

Gallery Kayafas has just opened the CA$H FOR YOUR WARHOL exhibit called “Dealers Protected!” It looks great, if I may say so. (I didn’t install it, which is probably why.) It features a wall of new signs that were just shown Moniker Art Fair in London and at Pulse Art Fair in Miami, two new plaques, a fresh-squeezed edition of signs made just for this show, and about 40 photographs from installations during the past 2 1/2 years. One of the featured photographs is the first installation we did, which was at the Rose Museum, Brandeis University (upper left image on the attachment). We will also have some photographs from installations that were done in Miami just this past week.
450 Harrison Avenue, Boston

Saturday, December 10, 3-5pm

we will have all sorts of CFYW stickers – and EVERYBODY likes stickers, right?!

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Cryptik “Sacred Syllables” at Hold Up Art

BSA contributor Carlos Gonzalez recently checked out the golden hued installations by Street Artist Cryptik at Hold Up Art in LA. Here he shares with us his observations and photos.

Street Artist Cryptik just opened with a new solo show, “Sacred Syllables” at Hold Up Art Gallery, located in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Little Tokyo. The enigmatic, L.A.-based artist has been hitting the streets of for some time with his signature style which includes references to Eastern, Buddhist and Hindu religions. Unlike other street artists, Cryptik’s art holds a spiritual tone that is rarely seen in a city like Los Angeles. Without being overtly religious, the work speaks to those who are looking for more than the flashy, bright palette you might normally associate with Street Art.

Cryptik (photo © Carlos Gonzalez)

This exhibit is an perfect example of this mindset. As soon as you enter the gallery space, you feel like you are entering an alley somewhere in India or a market in a distant part of Asia. Still, Cryptik’s artwork is the main attraction. Utilizing a variety of materials ranging from candles to wood, the collection of work gracefully walks a thin line between street art and spiritual text. The style incorporates a precise use of Sanskrit lettering which he has perfected through out the years, and his lines seem flawless as letters create circular patterns inside the confines of a wooden frame. Without jumping at you, screaming for attention, Cryptik’s work rewards a careful observer.

Cryptik (photo © Carlos Gonzalez)

Cryptik (photo © Carlos Gonzalez)

Cryptik (photo © Carlos Gonzalez)

Cryptik (photo © Carlos Gonzalez)

Cryptik (photo © Carlos Gonzalez)

Cryptik (photo © Carlos Gonzalez)

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See more images by Carlos Gonzalez on his Flickr.

 

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Swoon’s “Murmuration” Opens Tonight. A Look Inside.

Swoon’s “Murmuration” Opens Tonight. A Look Inside.

The scale! The hand coloring! The reclaimed cabinetry! Brooklyn Native Swoon has been, for weeks, laboring in London in preparation for her solo show “Murmuration”, which opens today at Black Rat Projects Gallery. Telling the stories of people and characters she has often introduced to the streets of New York, Swoon has brought Thalassa  (“sea”), a primordial Greek sea goddess to command the tunnel, and to adorn a small passage in London as a wheatpaste.

Check out the video of Swoon on the street with Time Out London at the end of this post. (video stills copyright Time Out London)

Thanks to Mike Snelle for sending to us a handful of process shots of the installation. He promises to clean up some of this walking area before the doors open tonight!

“I’m not crazy ’bout the art, Clarence, but I could really use this chest of drawers in the pantry. Ask the chap how much he’s getting for it”. Swoon “Murmuration” (photo © Mike Snelle)

Swoon “Murmuration” (photo © Mike Snelle)

Swoon “Murmuration” (photo © Mike Snelle)

Swoon, Thalassa reigns in “Murmuration” (photo © Mike Snelle)

Swoon’s tubes of paint lined up across a drop cloth in preparation for “Murmuration” (photo © Mike Snelle)

Thalassa inspects the ceiling fixture while Swoon runs to the store to get extra light bulbs to complete the illumination of “Murmuration”. (photo © Mike Snelle)

For further information about this show click here

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