Manhattan

AVOID PI: Street Art, Graff, Fine Art, and Pantheon

March 10, 2011 Artists, Events, Fundraising, Interview, Manhattan, NYC, On the Street, Street Talker Interview

In a few weeks the former Donnell Library on 53rd Street across from MoMA will be host to a grassroots funded and curated historical view of New York’s art from the streets. That phrase is specifically chosen by the show’s curators, Joyce Manalo and Daniel Feral, as an inclusive term for all manner of public art on the streets here since the 70s including graffiti and Street Art. A show visible through the giant windows from the street, Pantheon will feature live performance as well as installation, printed materials for you to read about history, guerilla librarians, and incognito street docents – a sparkling job description that sounds like a naughty librarian fantasy involving Julie Andrews.

Avoid “Nowhere Action” (photo © Chelsea Ragan)

We recently spoke with one of the exhibiting artists of Pantheon who goes by the name Adam Void (or AVOID pi) and who plumbs the murky depths between fine art, graffiti, and Street Art with no apparent desire to align himself with any one of them. An experimenter and explorer, a lot of his early stuff looks clearly like a small survey of graffiti’s modern vocabulary. Sometimes raw gestural markings with perhaps cryptic meaning, his love for symbolism, data, abstraction, wordplay, and a recently begun formal art education all are a swirl inside his head. Where it all settles will be a surprise to everyone, including him. This search also seems emblematic of the moment.

Avoid “Everything Small” (photo © Mike Sachse)

A wisenheimer of the highest order, he describes himself this way; “AVOID likes to take long walks on the beach, riding freight trains, and destroying the dominant paradigm.” We’ll just say that he’s a rebel inquisitively looking for a cause, making art along the way.

Avoid “Do I Have a Voice” (photo © Mike Sachse)

Mr. Void spoke with Brooklyn Street Art about labeling art movements and the current state of a very fluid story of art on the streets and in the galleries.

Brooklyn Street Art: As you look at the evolution of graffiti and street art some people have observed that there appears to be an erosion of once distinct practices. Where do you see these two going at the moment?
AVOID: The distinctions between the two genres are disappearing. Graffiti Artists are becoming multi-media with the inclusion of zines, posters, stickers, rollers and blasters into the already full table of tags, throws and pieces. Street Artists are experimenting with the use and importance of signatures as well as expanding into sculpture and video. Both groups have a dialogue on the streets and in their personal lives. Recently Graffiti and Street Artists have shown their fine art together with many big name art world’ers at big name galleries. This is an exciting time for the intermixing of worlds.

Avoid ADH (photo © Chelsea Ragan)

Brooklyn Street Art: Is it crucial to the understanding or appreciation of someone’s work to describe it as Graffiti or Street Art or Fine Art?
AVOID: Often times the artist’s intentions are misunderstood. I personally enjoy the ability to make a painting either in the street or in a gallery and not have to explain the meaning, to have it remain an enigma. A word or phrase can be interpreted a million different ways by a million different viewers. Am I a Graffiti Writer, a Street Artist, a Fine Artist, a Musician, a Writer, a Filmmaker, or am I just an artist? This is decided by the context the work is seen and the viewer’s interpretation.

Adam Void, “Luckystrike”, a work in progress. Detail (photo © Avoid)

Brooklyn Street Art:What role does Street Art play in New York today?
AVOID: Well, if anything, Street Art has allowed for the illumination of the giants of my personal history. Through shows like PANTHEON as well as 112 Greene St. and many others, the once unsung heroes of graffiti’s past are coming to light, thankfully while many of the writers are still alive to see it happen.

A rather painterly painting by Mr. Adam Void, “Seaside”; a brand new collaboration with Ryan Neely. Detail (photo © Avoid)

Brooklyn Street Art: How has your artwork changed in the last year?
AVOID: The literal “street” art of Brooklyn and NYC has been replaced by spotwork on Baltimore’s abandoned spaces, freight trains and track sides. I get more time to experiment as well as a chance to hang out and soak up some mental space. I am continuing to not categorize my work. I’m just making what I want, when I want, where I want.

BSA >><><>>><> BSA >>><><><<<<>><> BSA ><<><<>><>>>

3 days left to Support Pantheon – if they don’t hit 5K, they lose it all.

http://kck.st/gw3L7J @pantheonnyc #streetart

Please help Daniel and Joyce, the curators of “Pantheon” by donating to the Kickstarter Campaign. They are very close to reach their goal and you can make this happen. With only less than three days left on the Kickstarter timer your involvement is crucial. Click on the link below and please give:

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

PANTHEON extends its gratitude to its Media Partner Brooklyn Street Art, it’s Media Sponsors , Hyperallergic, The Street Spot, Gothamist, Streetsy; the Exhibition Sponsors WM Dorvillier & Company, Inc.; Crescent Artists; Conveyor Arts. Special thanks to the Woodward Gallery, NYC for the loan of Richard Hambleton’s, Fountain of Youth, 1982.

José Parlá Writes His Diary on the Wall

March 7, 2011 Artists, Events, Gallery, Manhattan, NYC, Opening

For his current show at Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery in Chelsea, José Parlá’s new paintings make you feel as if you were standing on a cold windy elevated Brooklyn subway platform waiting for a hulking rusted behemoth to scrape and scream around the curvature of the tracks toward you.

José Parlá (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Concentrate solely on the canvases in front of you and you might even hear the heroes of the railyards approaching. Like Ginsberg with no rhyme but a lot of reason Mr. Parlá’s poetic abstractions gently draw the viewer in for a close inspection.

“The whole blear world of smoke and twisted steel around my head in a railroad car, and my mind wandering past the rust into futurity: I saw the sun go down in a carnal and primeval world, leaving darkness to cover my railroad train because the other side of the world was waiting for dawn.”
— Allen Ginsberg

José Parlá (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Using a color palette of red, ochre, black and gray he mashes the colors with bold textures and exquisite, sinuous lines. Eroded, tattered surfaces and found objects are canvas to markers, aerosol, even charcoal. The gestural markings and strokes recall a hip-hop romance now abstract and calligraphic: some layers evoking a dark Mexican Baroque wooden altar, carved and gold leafed.

José Parlá. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. Parlá trained in the 1980s on the streets as a graffiti artist – and all of these elements exist elsewhere in the urban jungle, but Parlá has developed his own language to tell his story with these tools. Born in rebellion, the energy of his movement across the canvas is just as badass as any tunnel writer but with a timbre and depth that age and self-study can render.

José Parlá (photo © Jaime Rojo)

José Parlá. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

José Parlá (photo © Jaime Rojo)

José Parlá. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

José Parlá. Close up of the painted hall wall. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

José Parlá (photo © Jaime Rojo)

At the show opening last Thursday an ad hoc duo of drummers set up shop outside the gallery and an air of raucous carnival and merriment permeated the night. A demanding New Yorker stopped to inquire just how long they would continue. The musicians gently answered her questions and banged away. Walking away from the spot their beats disappeared into the cold night.

Photo © Jaime Rojo

“Wall Diaries and Paintings”, José Parlá

Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery from March 3rd to April 16th

Daniel Feral and Joyce Manalo Curate: “Pantheon: A History of Art From The Streets of New York City” (Manhattan, NY)

March 6, 2011 Artists, Events, Manhattan, NYC, Opening

Pantheon

PANTHEON:
A history of art from the streets of New York City

OPENING RECEPTION
Saturday, April 2, 5-7PM
Press preview with curators: 4-5PM
Exhibition runs April 2-17, 2011

LOCATION
chashama/Donnell Library Building
20 West 53rd Street, b/w 5th & 6th Avenue
New York, NY 10019 (across from MoMA)

ARTISTS

Abe Lincoln, Jr., John Ahearn with Rigorberto Torres, Adam VOID, Cahil Muraghu, Cake, Darkclouds, Droid, El Celso, Ellis Gallagher, Faro, John Fekner, Freedom, Gen2, Abby Goodman, Goya, Groser, Richard Hambleton, infinity, Ket, Don Leicht, LSD-Om, Matt Siren, NohJColey, OverUnder, Oze 108, Quel Beast, Royce Bannon, Sadue, Jordan Seiler, Skewville, Stikman, Toofly, UFO, and Vudu.

CLICK HERE FOR PRINT VERSION OF PRESS RELEASE (2 of 4)

NEW YORK – On Saturday, April 2, 2011, 35 graffiti writers and street artists will unite to reclaim the former Donnell Library as a repository of visual information on the growing world-wide phenomenon of street art. This exhibition will present an art historical timeline that is a part of New York City’s unique legacy. The artistic contribution of these cultural catalysts and preservationists from the 70’s to the new millennium will address the ever-changing urban landscape and alternative modes of producing art in the streets.

Graffiti and street art are at the crossroads of historicism.

In the last five years, museums have organized exhibitions that present graffiti and street art in a broader scope; Brooklyn Museum’s, Graffiti in 2006; the Museum of Modern Art’s laser-tagging demonstration by Graffiti Research Lab in 2008; the Bronx Museum’s, Street Life Street Art in 2008; and the Tate Modern’s, Street Art in 2008, to name a few. Although these exhibitions have legitimized graffiti and street art as an art form, this genre has not been fully resolved by the art world. At present, this contemporary art zeitgeist signals a symptomatic dystopia created between the institutionalization of this art form and its anti-institutional tenets.

PANTHEON aims to maintain the aesthetic diversity of the genre.

The forthcoming exhibition at MoCA Geffen Contemporary, Art in the Streets, will be a worldwide survey of graffiti and street art and Los Angeles’ role in the movement’s evolution. Despite its focus on Los Angeles, New York City’s graffiti and street art cognoscenti partake in their exuberance. Outside the institutional framework of museums, PANTHEON is situated within the DIY fundamentals of alternative art spaces. It is important to call attention to this space as the convergence of public and private spaces, because it informs an innovation of contemporary graffiti and street art in terms of medium, content and style.

Artists such as John Ahearn with Rigoberto Torres, John Fekner, Freedom, and Richard Hambleton independently paved the way for Skewville, Stikman, Ellis Gallagher and the various crews, ADHD, ELC, and the Grunts, to name a few

The axiom of this movement is its ubiquity in the streets of New York City. During its nascency, John Ahearn and Rigoberto Torres’ casts of everyday people adorned buildings, John Fekner’s simple large-scale text stencils politically charged brick walls, Freedom’s representational art graced tunnel cathedrals, Richard Hambleton’s silhouette paintings emotionally moved sidewalks and alleys, and Ket’s prolific tags saturated NYC’s subway cars. These artists established the tone for style, medium and content in this genre. The radical style, guerilla approach and ephemeral aesthetic of this subculture have been challenged since the 80’s and today’s artists are exploring
new ways to respond.

10 DAYS LEFT FOR PANTHEON KICKSTARTER CAMPAIGN!!!
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chashama is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded by Anita Durst in 1995. The organization’s mission is to support creativity in New York City by repurposing vacant properties enabling artists a space to create. PANTHEON: A history of art from the streets of New York City was awarded the former Donnell Library as an exhibition space, which is part of chashama’s Windows Program. PANTHEON is Co-Curated by Daniel Feral and Joyce Manalo along with Debra Anderson and Royce Bannon of the Advisory Committee and the collaboration of dedicated and talented individuals, most notably, Abe Lincoln, Jr., Francesco Alessandra, Maura Barry, Jennifer Diamond, Valentin Farkasch, Karla Henrick, Ebi Kagbala, Luna Park, Ashlene Nand, Dan Nguyen and Mariette Papic. Thank you to Brooklyn Street Art (media partner); Gothamist, Hyperallergic, The Street Spot, Streetsy (media sponsors); Cresent Artists (exhibition sponsor); and WM Dorvillier & Company, Inc. (structural design consultation). Image credits courtesy of the artists. Special thanks to the Woodward Gallery, NYC for the loan of Richard Hambleton’s Fountain of Youth, 1982.
For more information, please visit pantheonnyc.com or chashama.org.

For further exhibition details, media relations, Kickstarter campaign, sponsorships, and partnerships please email info@pantheonnyc.com or visit www.pantheonnyc.com. For more information about the Windows Program, please visit www.chashama.org.

Images of the Week 03.06.11

March 6, 2011 Artists, Brooklyn, BSA Images Of The Week, Gallery, Manhattan, NYC, On the Street, Week in Images

Our weekly interview with the streets also wanders into a few Art Fairs this week as many Street Artists were in town showing studio work and getting up on walls. It was great to meet so many people who are on fire about this grassroots, interactive, DIY, in-your-eyeballs world of street art and to talk about where it is going. While there were a slew of Street Artists banging a luan wall at Fountain, we also got to see some peeps at Scope and Volta.

So here we go with shots of Andy Piedilato, Dalek, DFace, How Nosm, Mark Jenkins, Ron English, Tes One, Tristan Eaton, TrustoCorp, and Typoe.

How & Nosm finish wall in Brooklyn for Contra Projects (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bask at work on his wall in Brooklyn for Contra Projects (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bask at work on his wall in Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bask in Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

TES ONE at work on his wall in Brooklyn for Contra Projects (photo © Jaime Rojo). Meanwhile Sharktoof did a brand new piece in Bushwick, which we’ll show you next week.

TES ONE in Brooklyn (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face. Contra Projects. Scope Art Fair (photo © Jaime Rojo)

James Marshall (Dalek). Contra Projects. Scope Art Fair (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ron English. Contra Projects. Scope Art Fair (photo © Jaime Rojo)

TES ONE. Detail. Contra Projects. Scope Art Fair (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tristan Eaton has not shown such a fully realized piece on the streets and he unveiled this one after working for close to a year on it. He also told BSA that his brother Matthew has some serious art chops. Bring it on, Matt! Contra Projects at Scope Art Fair (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bask. Contra Projects. Scope Art Fair (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Now with 8 essential vitamins and religions! TrustoCorp. Contra Projects. Scope Art Fair (photo © Jaime Rojo)

How & Nosm. Contra Projects. Scope Art Fair (photo © Jaime Rojo)

How & Nosm. Detail. Contra Projects. Scope Art Fair (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jennifer Catron and Paul Outlaw. Detail. Artists Wanted at Scope Art Fair (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Andy Piedilato. Detail. Scope Art Fair. English Kills Gallery (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Typoe. Detail. Scope Art Fair. Spinello Gallery (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mark Jenkins at Volta Art Fair. Carmichael Gallery (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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

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

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

Shark Toof. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Joe Iurato (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Clown Soldier (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Elle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Faro. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gaia (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hellbent (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ellis G. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

PLAYING TONIGHT AT FOUNTAIN – Ninjasonik

Fun Friday 03.04.11

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

Armory Madness This Weekend

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

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

Jose Parla at The Standard Unveils New Book

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

Red Bull Accused by Posters of Hi-jacking

Image © Junkerade

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

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

And Now Some Levity with Devo and a Singing Unicorn!

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

Luna Park Talks Monday

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

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

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

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

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

Pantheon Show: The Stanley Cup is Still Missing!

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

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

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

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

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

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

~ John Fekner

PLEASE DONATE to the Pantheon Kick Starter campaign:

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

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

http://www.pantheonnyc.com/

http://www.johnfekner.com/

Grafiteiro Enivo from Brazil by Parede Viva

Faith 47 – From South Africa

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

Charlie Sheen Dubstep

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

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

March 3, 2011 Artists, Events, Manhattan, NYC

Luna Park

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

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

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

Mid-Manhattan Library

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

Armory Week NYC 2011: BSA Picks

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

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

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

FOUNTAIN

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

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

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

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

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

Hellbent installing his Fountain piece (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Joe Iurato installing his piece (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ellis G. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Highlights:

FOUNTAIN NEW YORK ANNOUNCES
MASSIVE STREET ART INSTALLATION FOR 2011 FAIR

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

Location:

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

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

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

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

http://fountainexhibit.com/

SCOPE

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

TYPOE

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

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

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

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

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

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

VOLTA

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

Mark Jenkins, Family Room

From the press release;

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

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

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

http://ny.voltashow.com/

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

http://www.carmichaelgallery.com/

PULSE

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

http://www.brooklynartfair.com/

Non-Art Fair Recommendations

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

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

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

Mint & Serf Curate “Well Hung, The Chelsea Chapter” At +ART (Manhattan, NY)

February 22, 2011 Art Fair, Artists, Events, Fundraising, Gallery, Manhattan, NYC, Opening

Well Hung

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Well Hung, The Chelsea Chapter at +aRt
A Fundraiser Benefit for Free Arts NYC
Curated by Mint&Serf
March 5th – April 3rd, 2011

Opening Reception March 5th, 6pm – 10pm

NEW YORK, NY, FEBRUARY 18 – As the cold days of February come to a close, artists, gallery owners, collectors and creative people from across the globe begin their annual migration to New York City for the highly anticipated Armory Show. Here at +aRt (540 West 28th Street), at a brand new gallery in Chelsea, we will offer a fresh alternative to the congestion and attitudes by showcasing the diversity between artistic communities.

“In an effort to create an exhibition platform for our friends during Armory week, we decided to revisit our past by opening up The Chelsea Chapter at +aRt. The Chelsea Chapter comes on the heels of The Stanton Chapter, an alternative art space we opened in 2008 in Lower East Side. ” – mint

Well Hung is a group exhibition featuring photography, sculpture, paintings and drawings by an eclectic mix of old and new friends. Participating artists include: Adam Krueger, Alfredo Martinez, Andrew Poneros, Clayton Patterson, Curtis Kulig, David Forer, David Hochbaum, Erik Foss, Futura, Jeff and Will Robbins, Jordan Seiler, Julie Floersch, Kevin Bourgeois, Leo Fitzpatrick, Lucien Samaha, Maripol, Matisse Patterson, Michael Anderson, Mint&Serf, Misha Most, Norman Reedus, Oswaldo Chance Jimenez, Peter Pan Posse, Peter Passuntino, Pablo Power, Samantha West, Skullphone, Shadi Perez, Tristan Eaton and Victor Payares.

Free Arts NYC, is a charitable organization that recognizes that art exists in unconventional ways, and is proud to be the official charity partner and supporter of The Chelsea Chapter at +aRt. A portion of proceeds will be donated to their mission to provide under-served children and families with educational arts and mentoring programs. The Chelsea Chapter will host the opening reception on Saturday, March 5th from 6 pm to 10 pm. A schedule of events including artist workshops and sponsor-hosted programs will be available soon. For further information on the exhibit, sales and events please contact Kelly Hulbert at kelly@stateofgraceny.com.

About Mint&Serf
Born in Moscow and Brooklyn respectively, Mint&Serf are Mikhail Sokovikov and Jason Aaron Wall. They took to the streets of NYC, which acted as a canvas for their creative vision, producing a vast range of artwork including large-scale murals, paintings, photographs, sculpture and graffiti. After launching The Canal Chapter in 2005 followed by The Stanton Chapter in 2008, Mint&Serf (otherwise known as The Mirf) have extraordinarily crossed relationships between street art and civic spaces. Most recently Mint&Serf finished a large commission at District 36, a new dance club in Manhattan. For more information, please visit: http://www.themirf.com.

About Free Arts NYC
Free Arts NYC is a local nonprofit that brings educational arts and mentoring programs to underserved children and families by partnering with group homes, shelters, schools and community centers to give children the opportunity to express themselves in a supportive environment in order to develop communication and trust. Their programs and the relationships they foster help children and families experience new levels of hope and creativity.

About +aRt:
Set in the heart of West Chelsea, +aRt is located at 540 West 28th Street. The 13-story new construction building features 91 artfully designed condominium residences. +aRt is being developed by Ekstein Development, L+M Development Partners and RD Management and is exclusively marketed and sold by Halstead Property Development Marketing. For more information, please visit: http://www.540W28.com or contact Allison at allison@mediashoppr.com or 212-867-8778 x223.

Hail to the Street : Presidents Day Street Art

February 21, 2011 Artists, Brooklyn, Manhattan, NYC, On the Street

Happy Presidents Day! In the US this is a holiday, officially to celebrate the birthdays of Washington and Lincoln, whose birthdays were commemorated separately until about a decade ago when they were merged. A lot of New Yorkers think today about skiing, since it’s really the last 3 day weekend of the winter – and it’s snowing this morning so a lot of kids will be shoved outside by their parents to go play in it. Or they may take them to the Met , Guggenheim, or MOMA, which are all open today.

But back to the gallery of the street, which is always open, we can get a little history lesson too. Everybody knows that Shepard Fairey nailed it with his Obama posters a couple of years ago, but did you realize that Street Artists have been putting up many presidential portraits over the last decade? One artist, Senator, sometimes confused people with wheat-pasted pieces in the late 2000s because his name signed to the image lead you to think it was about the subject, like the George Washington image above. His black and white coloring-book style depicted many presidents – Lincoln, Adams, Jefferson, Kennedy, Nixon, Reagan. As you can see below, Senator is not the only Street Artists to find US presidents a worthy topic.

Ronnie talk to Keith; The Gipper shaking the hand of a Photoshopped Keith Hernandez from a street art viral campaign a couple of years ago. Photo © Jaime Rojo

The simple placement of a dollar sign was all this Street Artist needed to complete their portrait of George W. Bush. Photo © Jaime Rojo

President Obama’s image next to Iraq war veteran Tammy Duckworth is appropriated by Street Artist General Howe (photo © Jaime Rojo)

One of the many Obama street art pieces from 2008, this one is similar to the ubiquitous Shepard Fairey images around at that time. © Jaime Rojo

Images of the Week 02.20.11

February 20, 2011 Artists, Berlin, Brooklyn, Denmark, Germany, Manhattan, NYC, On the Street

Our weekly interview with the street; this week featuring Aarhus, Clown Soldier, Don John, El Sol 25, Gaia, Michael DeFeo, CB23, Tats Cru, and Voina.

The Secret Language of Retna. Graffiti Going Abstract.

February 16, 2011 Artists, Events, Features, Gallery, Manhattan, NYC

Looking at the cavalcade of new Retna paintings for his “Hallelujah World Tour” New York debut, currently on display at a pop up shop in West Soho, you’ll see elements of anthropology, historical academia, and the current street penchant for the remix, or mashup.

Retna is one of a handful of today’s Street Artists with a background in graffiti taking the art form into the abstract, making it feel genuinely fresh and forward-looking. No doubt the literal meaning on the canvas might add an extra dimension to the piece but that’s probably not what the artist had in mind when he began exploring and developing his style as a graffiti writer in Los Angeles. It’s about the jolting energy of the street. Best viewed from the distance – his kinetic letters and symbols cannot remain still. The bold handstyle is spare, elegantly unpretentious and perfectly anarchistic.

The effect of this stunningly lit and somehow crowded traveling show (despite a 10,000 square foot exhibition space) is mystery, monastery, in motion. It is also very exciting to witness in person; A periodic splash of red in the monochromatic scheme of white, black, and silver.

Using the concept of the graffiti tag as a starting point to craft a secret language of symbols, the canvasses are messages known to him and his inner circle alone. His approach and style has been compared to hieroglyphics, the Egyptians, Incas and Eastern calligraphy but is probably more analogous to the coded graffiti of Brazilian pixação that his southern contemporaries are spraying in black throughout favela streets right now.

RETNA “The Hallelujah World Tour”

560 Washington Street, NYC

Thursday, February 10,2011 – Monday, February 21,2011

Daily Hours: 10 AM – 6 PM

General Inquiries: 212 242 2905

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