Opening

Hold Up Art Gallery Presents: Eddie Colla. Hugh Leeman and V Young D “Epilogue” (Los Angeles, CA)

August 30, 2012 , , , , , ,

Epilogue

The Bay Area’s most prolific vandals, Eddie Colla, D Young V, and Hugh Leeman create a fully immersive installation inspired by America’s gun loving culture, its corporate behemoths, and a financial meltdown. Reclaimed billboards, fire stencils, carbon soot emissions, and hand painted assault rifles take the place of canvas and oil paint at this timely Los Angeles exhibit. Know more, see here epiloguela.com “Epilogue” opens Saturday, September 8th at Hold Up Art Gallery in downtown Los Angeles, 2 blocks south of the Geffen Contemporary MOCA, 358 E. 2nd St.

Show opening Saturday September 8th, 7p.m. PST
Eddie Colla, D Young V, Hugh Leeman

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Creative Alliance Presents: “Zim Zum” A Collaboration Exhibit with MOMO, Michael Owen and GAIA. (Baltimore, Maryland)

August 30, 2012 , , , ,

ZimZum

ZimZum Show Explodes Street Art World with Genre-­‐Defying Piece Created by Street Artists MOMO, Michael Owen, & Gaia Opens Sept 15, 2012, 7-­‐9pm

ZimZum turns street art on its head with a first-­‐time collaboration between renowned artists Michael Owen, Gaia, and MOMO, by merging the work of multiple street artists into one unified piece that subsumes the individual styles of the artists into a new, singular voice. Such an intertwined, profound collaboration is rarely done in the street art world, where maintaining one’s unique imprint is at the essence of the genre.

The colossal work will fill the Main Gallery and spill onto the street, thereby pushing street art and the artists in a second way. The work must resonate with two radically different audiences simultaneously: the gallery world and the pedestrian consumer of street art, the casual passer-­‐by. ZimZum is the kabbalistic idea that the creation of the universe was caused by God breathing in then out.

With large wheat paste line drawings of animals and historic figures referencing urban development, Gaia has burst into public view since 2009, exhibiting internationally from New York to Seoul, and Los Angeles to Amsterdam. Michael Owen is known as the artist behind the Baltimore Love Project, a planned series of 20 murals across Baltimore with silhouetted hands spelling the word “Love.” He’s also a Resident Artist at the Creative Alliance and has completed numerous public and private commissions, including one of the world’s longest murals in the underpass near the Baltimore neighborhood of Highlandtown. MOMO garnered early notice for “the world’s largest tag,” an innocuous, wobbly, 8-­‐mile line of orange paint, spelling his name across the streets of Manhattan. He has since emerged as a leading presence internationally, with beautiful, site-­‐sensitive, geometric-­‐abstract murals pushing both abstraction and street art in new directions.

Following the opening, stay for the Sweatboxx Dance Party, from the producers of the successful FUSION series, paying tribute to the Baltimore club scene. We dare you to dance ALL NIGHT LONG! Two DJs, Booman (B-­‐More) and Jav (Chocolate City), bring you the best of Baltimore Club and classic Hip Hop in one night. DJ Booman Is well known for his Doo Dew Kidz classics like “Watch Out For The Big Girl.” He’s engineered remixes for Usher, Katy Perry and Michael Jackson. DJ Jav (Javier Velasco) is a regular on WPFW’s “Decipher” Hip Hop Show.

Creative Alliance at The Patterson
3134 Eastern Avenue
Baltimore, MD 21224

http://www.creativealliance.org/

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Jonathan Levine Gallery Presents: Jeff Soto “Decay and Overgrowth” (Manhattan, NYC)

August 30, 2012 , , , , ,

Jeff Soto

Jeff Soto
Decay and Overgrowth
Solo Exhibition

September 8—October 6, 2012
Opening Reception:
Saturday, September 8, 7—9pm
Jonathan LeVine Gallery is pleased to announce Decay and Overgrowth, a series of new works by Southern California-based artist Jeff Soto, in what will be his fourth solo exhibition at the gallery.

Expanding upon the themes explored previously in Lifecycle, Soto’s solo 2010 exhibition, works in Decay and Overgrowth deal with the passage of time, early man and life after death, as well as primitive myths and legends attempting to explain the unknown.

Two of Soto’s grandparents passed away within the last year, prompting the artist to research how different cultures explain life and death. Attempting to celebrate their lives rather than mourn their deaths, he has been working these ideas into his paintings. A connective thread of mortality runs throughout the work, conveying themes such as the transient nature of life, brevity of the average lifetime and inevitability of death.

Soto selected symbols of hope and growth to symbolize the cycle of life, death and rebirth. Organic shapes and elements such as mountains, plants, flowers, rocks and crystals are juxtaposed with manmade objects such as cell phone towers, weapons, polished gems and modern architecture. The resulting imagery combines a bit of magic, unanswered questions and a glimpse into the unknown.

In the words of the artist: “I’ve been thinking more than ever about how our lives are short, fleeting and unexpected. I’ve been researching man’s migration across the planet, our domestication of plants and animals and the slow evolution of different cultures. I find it interesting that each generation adds their own small part to our collective human experience. I’m continually fascinated by mankind’s relationship to nature and how humans have been bending the environment in good and bad ways for tens of thousands of years.”

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Jeff Soto was born and raised in Southern California, where he currently resides with his wife and daughters. In 2002, he graduated with Distinction from Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California. Soto’s distinct color palette, subject matter and technique resonate with a growing audience: inspired by childhood toys, skateboarding, graffiti, hip-hop and popular culture. His bold, representational work is simultaneously accessible and stimulating. Soto has been featured in numerous publications and published two monographs: Potato Stamp Dreams in 2005 and Storm Clouds in 2008. In 2008, his work was the subject of an exhibition at Riverside Art Museum in Riverside, California. He has painted multiple large-scale public murals in addition to exhibiting his artwork in galleries and museums around the world.

Jonathan Levine Gallery is located at 529 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11am to 6pm. For further information, please visit: www.jonathanlevinegallery.com, call: 212.243.3822, or email: info@jonathanlevinegallery.com.

 

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Jonathan Levine Gallery Presents: Judith Supine “Too Much for one Man” (Manhattan, NY)

August 30, 2012 , , , , ,

Judith Supine

Judith Supine
Too Much For One Man
Solo Exhibition

September 8—October 6, 2012
Opening Reception:
Saturday, September 8, 7—9pm
Jonathan LeVine Gallery is pleased to present Too Much For One Man, a series of new oil paintings on panel by acclaimed Brooklyn-based artist Judith Supine, in what will be his first solo exhibition at the gallery.

Using his mother’s maiden name as an alias to keep his identity anonymous, Judith Supine has become renowned in the street art scene for his distinct style, unique wheatpastes on building façades and impressive placement of public interventions in daring locations throughout New York City. In 2007, he hung a 50-foot figure off the side of the Manhattan Bridge, in 2008 he left a piece floating in the East River and then in 2009 he left one in a Central Park pond, one in a Queens sewer and another on the highest point of the Williamsburg Bridge.

In recent years, Supine has focused more on studio work and elaborate gallery installations. His process involves a pastiche of printed ephemera. Supine describes the collage technique as “combining seemingly disparate images to reveal something that wasn’t previously apparent.” Procuring visuals from found materials such as salvaged books and magazines to form his inventive assemblage, the artist uses a photocopier to create figures with odd proportions and dramatic scale in high-contrast black and white. He then applies vibrant washes of his signature color palette in psychedelic fluorescents (mainly neon greens, pinks and purples) before finishing with a seal of high-gloss resin.

There is a poignant quality to Supine’s surreal subject matter, likely the result of his effective skill in manipulating and combining image fragments—altering them so far beyond their original intention that they transform completely. These visual contrasts highlight class issues, twisted ideals and culture clashes. Supine turns airbrushed fashion and cosmetic beauties into monstrous creatures. Subverting sexy into scary, innocent into depraved and privileged into pornographic, children’s faces are superimposed onto adult nude bodies as luxury brand supermodels merge with the world’s impoverished. Supine’s work exposes the grotesque vulgarity of its advertising sources yet also manages to touch upon core truths of humanity, posing profound questions that resonate.

ABOUT THE ARTIST
Judith Supine was born in Portsmouth, Virginia, in 1978. He did not speak until he was seventeen years of age, during which time he used drawing and collage as a form of communication. The artist spent years traveling throughout European cities including London and Amsterdam. In 2005, he moved to Brooklyn, New York, where he is currently based. Supine’s work has been featured in numerous publications, including books such as: DELUSIONAL: The Story of the Jonathan LeVine Gallery, published by Gingko Press in 2012, TRESSPASS: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art, published by Taschen in 2010,  Beyond The Street: The 100 Leading Figures in Urban Art, published by Gestalten in 2010 and Street Art New York published by Prestel in 2010.

Jonathan Levine Gallery is located at 529 West 20th Street, New York, NY 10011. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 11am to 6pm. For further information, please visit: www.jonathanlevinegallery.com, call: 212.243.3822, or email: info@jonathanlevinegallery.com.

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Trailerpark Festival 2012 (Copenhagen, Denmark)

August 25, 2012 , , , , , ,

Trailerpark Festival

Soten (image courtesy of Trailerpark Festival)

Trailerpark Festival is  next week once again ready to take Copenhagen by storm. Trailerpark Festival focus on music and art from many subcultures. ArtRebels and Montana (mtn-world.com) are proud to announce this year’s street artists and graffiti crews, who will be playing a big part in the design and decoration of this year’s festival area. We have invited local as well as international world-class artists, who will be creating their works live within the festival area on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. We are repeating last year’s success by putting up a 50 meter graffiti wall that will be available for our chosen artists during all three festival days. We want to give the audience a unique insight into how the very best graffiti artists work. The audience have a chance to follow the creation of a piece of work from start to finish, from sketch to the last outline.

This year, it is with great honour that we are able to present Letterbenders, Furious Styles, Big City Brains, Soten, Chifumi and Ogre.

August 31 – September 2, 2012  @ CPH SKATEPARK, Enghavevej 80-82, 2450 Copenhagen SV, Denmark

http://trailerparkfestival.com/

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Gamma Proforma Presents: Futurism 2.0. Group Exhibition and Book Launch. (London, UK)

August 25, 2012 , , , , ,

Futurism 2.0

Futurism 2.0 is an exhibition, film and book examining parallels between 20th Century Futurism and 21st Century abstract urban art.  In the film and book we talk to historians, critics, cultural figures and the artists at work. Discussing creative revolutions, our world and today’s 24/7 creative society. Uncovering this truly international movement, which connects via silicon and copper across the globe, where each development is transmitted digitally and consumed organically.

The exhibition takes place in London from 27th September – 3rd October. The launch party/private viewing is on the 27th September 6pm – Late – RSVP events@gammaproforma.com

Artists include: Augustine Kofie, Phil Ashcroft, Boris Tellegen (Delta), James Choules (sheOne), Matt W. Moore, Mark Lyken, Sat One, Christopher Derek Bruno, Moneyless, Mr Jago, Nawer, O. Two, Morten Andersen, Keith Hopewell(Part2ism), Jaybo Monk, Poesia, Derm, Jerry Inscoe (Joker), Remi/Rough, Clemens Behr and more…

Find out more about the project and the artists at www.futurism2-0.com, you can pre-order the book here.

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Lazarides Gallery Presents: “Klimt Illustrated” (London, UK)

August 23, 2012 , , , , ,

Klimt Illustrated

Nine internationally-renowned street artists will produce Klimt-inspired masterpieces in front of a live audience in London’s Grosvenor Gardens, on Tuesday 21st August.

Situated upon plinths, the artists will create new works resonant with the influence of Klimt in the square format,as part of the Vienna Tourist Board’s campaign to celebrate the 150th birthday of the famous Viennese artist. Inspired by Vienna’s rich cultural diversity, the unique celebration aims to showcase the city’s modern art scene and imperial heritage.

The completed works work will be displayed in the famous Lazarides Gallery in Soho as a public exhibition, ‘Klimt Illustrated’.

The exhibition at the Lazarides Gallery will be free and open to the general public from 24th August to 1st September, Tuesday to Saturday 11am – 7pm.

The Vienna Tourist Board has worked with the Lazarides Gallery and curator, Sydney Ogidan of BLK River, to secure the nine artists, who are: Mode 2 www.mode2.org; Lucy McLauchlan www.beat13.co.uk; Vhils www.alexandrefarto.com; Ron English www.popaganda.com; Christian Eisenberger www.van.at/see/eisen; Bastardilla www.bastardilla.org; Know Hope www.thisislimbo.com; Marlene Hausegger www.mmhhh.com; Work will also be on display from Shepard Fairey www.obeygiant.com, the famous American contemporary street artist and illustrator.

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Perry Rubenstein Gallery Presents: Shepard Fairey “Americana” (Los Angeles, CA)

August 21, 2012 , , , , , ,

Shepard Fairey

AMERICANA
New Paintings by Shepard Fairey

RECEPTION: Saturday, August 25th
7pm – 10pm

Perry Rubenstein Gallery (LA) presents a special project by Shepard Fairey and Neil Young in celebration of the recent release of Young’s new album with Crazy Horse, “Americana,” which features reinterpreted classic, American, folk songs. Fairey has created eleven new paintings, each one inspired by the songs, such as Oh Susannah, This Land Is Your Land and Clementine. The new Shepard Fairey paintings will be on view to the public at Perry Rubenstein Gallery in Los Angeles starting August 25th. In addition, Shepard will have a limited quantity release of the Americana Print Edition Box Set at the opening on August 25th at Perry Rubenstein Gallery. The Box Set will include a collection of screen print versions of all the new paintings, more info and official release date on the prints to come shortly, so STAY TUNED!

The “Americana” project developed as a result of Shepard Fairey’s relationship with Neil Young and his long-time manager Elliot Roberts. Fairey created a portrait of Young for the artist’s May Day show in 2010, based on his view of the musician as a social commentator philosophically aligned with people like Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan, Johnny Cash, and Joe Strummer. Young and Roberts then asked Fairey to design the art, CD and DVD packaging for the 25th anniversary of Young’s Bridge School charity. Fairey states, “Neil really liked the art and I was thrilled he asked me to collaborate by making paintings inspired by the songs on his “Americana” album. I’m a huge fan of Neil’s music in general, but when I heard the album I realized how much the subject matter of several songs reflected the aspirations and tragedies of those pursuing the American dream tied into issues relevant to the 99% movement which I have been supporting.”

Fairey says he listened to the music and lyrics to come up with concepts for visual representations of the songs. Then for each song, Fairey presented Young with ideas about a visual image that would best capture the meaning and/or protagonist/s in each song. The artist enjoyed hearing how Neil interpreted aspects of the songs that moved him the most musically and lyrically. Fairey states, “I showed Neil sketches, and then we discussed the ideas and refined them. He was very open to my ideas and encouraged me to go with what inspired me the most. Latitude for interpretation is something that Neil utilizes and seems to value as an important way for the listener/viewer to personalize their interaction with art and music. I also was excited about this project because the concept of re-interpreting pre-existing songs filtered through Neil’s unique sensibility parallels what I have often tried to do as a visual artist by building upon iconic images that are an accessible part of the cultural dialogue.”

Each of the new Fairey paintings resonate powerful messages presented in the songs, some depicting a hopeful outlook on the pursuit of a better tomorrow, while others reflect the hardships that come in trying to achieve that dream. One painting related to Clementine, which captures the words of a mourning lover whose “darling,” the daughter of a California Gold Rush miner, drowned. Here she is represented by the levitating body of a young woman draped in white, with the text “And Gone.” Another painting is related to the 1848 minstrel song Oh Susannah that features a dungaree-wearing banjo player with the text “DON’T YOU CRY FOR ME.” Other works feature a wanted poster (Travel On); an iconic image of Queen Elizabeth embroidering an American flag (God Save the Queen); and, a lonely tree, stripped bare of its leaves, in a desolate landscape (Tom Dula).

For Young and Crazy Horse’s rendition of the famous 1940 Woody Guthrie song known to every school-aged child in America, This Land Is Your Land, written in response to Irving Berlin’s God Bless America, Fairey has depicted the hopeful face of a youth, set against a dramatic Western Landscape. Three rows of sharp, barbed wire cross the boy’s path with the text “NO TRESSPASSING / THIS LAND IS MY LAND.” The text is derived from a variant verse Guthrie added as a social commentary during a 1944 recording session. Fairey’s paintings are mixed media on canvas, including techniques such as stenciling, collage, and screen-printing. All of the paintings measure closely to the 30 x 44 inch dimension, which is one of Fairey’s standard choices of size. “Americana” is Neil Young with Crazy Horse’s first album together in nine years and is being released on June 5 on Reprise Records.

Perry Rubenstein Gallery
1215 N. Highland Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90038
T (310) 395-1001 / F (310) 395-1019
http://www.perryrubenstein.com

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Klughaus Gallery Presents: LUSH “Shitty Drawings in New York City” (Manhattan, NYC)

August 21, 2012 , , , , ,

LUSH

 

 

LUSH
Shitty Drawings in New York City
Curated by Michael Hunt

Opening Reception: Saturday, August 25 from 6-10pm
Location: 47 Monroe Street New York, NY 10002
RSVP: rsvp@klughaus.net
The Australian so-called “graffiti artist” LUSH is having his debut New York solo exhibition at Klughaus Gallery on Saturday, August 25, 2012. Following successful shows in Australia and London, LUSH is going to be bringing his “Shitty Art” to the Big Apple! Love him or hate him, be sure to swing by to show your support (or disapproval.) For his upcoming show, LUSH will be showcasing a bunch of witty illustrations that mainly “take the piss out” of his graffiti roots. There will be limited copies of a new zine by LUSH released at the opening. As always, I’m sure the show will be full of surprises!

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Graffitimundo Presents: “The Talking Walls of Buenos Aires” (London, UK)

August 19, 2012 , , , , ,

Graffitimundo

 

Graffitimundo is proud to present “The Talking Walls of Buenos Aires”. Opening September 6th at Londonewcastle Project Space, the exhibition explores Argentina’s unique culture of urban art.

Urban art in Buenos Aires reflects the city’s turbulent history and rich cultural heritage. Throughout the last century the city walls have been extensively painted, by artists, activists, political groups and the public, making the city walls of Buenos Aires an established and dynamic channel for expression.

During the last two decades several different artistic styles have developed. The devastating Argentine economic crisis of 2001 created a generation of young artists determined to take to the streets and reclaim their city. As they collaborated in a spirit of solidarity a new and distinctive visual language began to emerge.

“The Talking Walls of Buenos Aires” features mural art and original artworks from leading Argentine artists and art collectives, as well as video works and historical and contemporary photography portraying the urban landscape of Buenos Aires and seminal moments in the country’s history.

The exhibition celebrates a form of expression rooted in activism and a desire to transform public space, and in the process challenges conventional views on what graffiti is, what street art represents, who creates it, and why.

Artists:

Cabaio Stencil / Chu / Corona / Defi / Ever / Fede Minuchin / Gonzalo Dobleg / Gualicho / Jaz Malatesta / Nasa / Pastel / Pedro Perelman / Poeta / Prensa La Libertad / Pum Pum / Roma Stencil Land / Tec / Tester / Zumi

Event information

“The Talking Walls of Buenos Aires” will be held at Londonewcastle Project Space, 28 Redchurch Street, London, E2 7DP
The exhibition opens to the public from 6pm-10pm on September 6th, 2012.
The gallery is free and open to the public daily from 12pm – 7pm, until September 13th, 2012.

(from the left: street painting by rundontwalk / silhouettes of the disappeared (ph. Mónica Hasenberg) / Artwork by Pedro Perelman)

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The Outsiders Presents: Borf “Walls Are Two Sided” (Newcastle, UK)

August 19, 2012 , , , , ,

Borf

The Outsiders Newcastle invite you to join us on the evening of Thursday 23rd August at the opening party for ‘Walls Are Two-Sided‘, the new solo exhibition by young American artist BORF. The event takes place from 6 ’til 9pm in the gallery at 77 Quayside, Newcastle upon Tyne.

The most critically lauded young talent in urban art, BORF (AKA John Tsombikos) returns to The Outsiders Newcastle gallery. An exhibition exploring conflict, serenity and contradiction, Walls are Two-Sided features ten large canvases. All feature the artist’s charm, sensitivity and humour underlaid with yearning idealism and quiet but passionate anger. Five of the paintings are detailed close-ups of derelict houses in the artist’s resident town of Detroit, and a further five feature “old school” graffiti overlaid with colour fields in the style of late abstract expressionist painter Mark Rothko.

“Rothko talked about wrestling with opposing and competing elements to eventually discover an equilibrium, what he called a pocket of silence” says BORF. “For this show I was fighting through layers of ambivalence and opposites: graffiti as youth expression and Rothko as adult expression; the art market and property rights; education and improvisation, youth and adulthood.”

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