Complex Magazine‘s Nick Schonberger got a sneak preview of Australian street artist New2‘s collage pieces that will compose his upcoming show at White Walls, “In One Hand a Ghost, the Other an Atom.” Each of New2′s collages is made of multiple layers of hand cut paper, the result being a super vivid and highly intricate take on the traditional style.
“[The collages] prove tremendous personal growth on the artist’s part since 941 Geary’s pioneering show. New2 is obsessed with traditional lettering, though in his technique allows himself freedom to explore more progressive forms.”
Come check out New2′s rad new work when the show opens December 15th from 7-11 pm, and don’t forget to RSVP on Facebook! If you’re not able to make it to the opening reception, the show will be on display until January 5th, 2013.
In One Hand a Ghost, the Other an Atom
A Solo Show by New2
Opening Reception – Saturday, December 15th, 7-11pm
On View Through January 5th, 2013
@ White Walls (www.whitewallssf.com)
835 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA
OPENING RECEPTION: December 7th, 2012, 6:30 – 9:30pm
ON VIEW THROUGH: January 5th, 2012
1AM is pleased to present, “Over The Edge”, a solo exhibition featuring new works from German artist, MadC aka Claudia Walde. Arguably the top aerosol artist in the world, she is renowned for her talent, tenacity, and ambition. Opening December 7th, 6:30-9:30pm, “Over The Edge” will showcase a collection of mixed media paintings on canvas and paper that will highlight her 1AM gallery space inspired installation.
MadC’s work is inspired by graffiti and the perfect connection of letters, foreground, and background. With the constant evolution and argument of graffiti as an art form, the show aims to keep the energy of this art form alive on canvas without taking it directly from the street. While using spray paint, acrylic paint, watercolors and ink, she hopes to push the boundaries of what graffiti is conceived as and inspire future generations to take new approaches to the art form.
Claudia Walde aka ”MadC”, was born in 1980 in Germany and studied at the University of Art and Design Burg Giebichenstein in Halle, Germany, as well as the world-renowned Central Saint Martins College in London. In 1998, Claudia started spray-painting the walls of her hometown and in a few short years, her murals have spanned Lebanon, Mexico, Colombia, Russia, USA, Hawaii, South Africa and most of Europe. In 2007, Claudia Walde also authored a successful book, “Street Fonts – Graffiti Alphabets from Around the World“ which was published in 6 different languages.
FIRST AMENDMENT GALLERY
1000 HOWARD STREET
SAN FRANCISCO, CA 94103
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Join us December 7th, 6:30-9:30pm for the opening of MadC’s first solo show in the US!
941 Geary is pleased to present “Dominant Species,” making San Francisco the latest home to ROA’s talent for the first time since his solo show at White Walls last year. “Dominant Species” will open Saturday, September 15th, from 6-9pm, with the exhibition free and open to the public for viewing through November 3rd, 2012.
Belgian-born artist, ROA, is known for his striking, and expressive depictions of animals, often stretching to multistoried heights. Even when not massive in scale, ROA’s animals are massive in impact, created with vivid details and the keen eye of a naturalist. Through a focus on local species, ROA reintroduces species that have been forced to the outskirts of urban areas back to the land they once inhabited freely. With this selection of creatures natural to the area, ROA is able to create a powerful sense of intimacy between the viewer and the animals represented. ROA’s paintings often show multiple anatomical layers of the same representation. The work is interactive and the depicted animals can be manipulated by the viewer.
ROA cemented his reputation as one of the world’s most prolific and recognizable street artists by painting members of the animal kingdom throughout major cities of the world, including Mexico City, New York City, Los Angeles, London, Paris, Sydney and many more. His work has now become a global affair, reaching between the Andes and the coast of Chile, the Australian Outback, the African Savanna, the Asian tropic, the American prairie and back to the abandoned factories in the backyard of his hometown in Belgium.
ROA’s “Dominant Species” is his latest body of work created directly after his road trip from the East to the West of America. Driving through the states he experienced and observed a diversity of habitats and species, including the American eagle, the historic symbol of imperialism. Even the icon of the American country is endangered by nature’s most combative intruder: humans. “Dominant Species” refers to humanity aside the history of the States, from the Spanish conquest that consequentially, and brutally, changed the native life up to the contemporary human invasion of the landscape. Travelling throughout the tragically magical landscape of Northern Arizona, ROA was fascinated by the illustrative examples of the Good, the Bad and the Ugly, seen in the paradox of the harmony of the Navajo with Mother Earth alongside the chaos of commercial feed lots, bear hunting, and landfills.
ROA’s site-specific process gives his art the ability to conform to the dimensions of a space and grow from within it, and 941 Geary will be entirely used by the artist to create his installation. “Dominant Species” will be constructed from found objects and salvaged materials, with the large-scale installation guided by a dystopian narrative and ideas of how civilization can run down the land it grew from. Aging wood, rusting metal and skeletal remains come together to remind us of the interrelated workings of our manmade cities and the natural world, with ROA’s mastery of anatomical form and beautiful renderings making these discarded objects something to value anew.
Shooting Gallery is pleased to present Australian artist Ben Frost’s solo show “See Inside Box for Details,” opening Saturday, September 8th, from 7-11 pm. The exhibition will feature approximately
The exhibition is free and will be open to the public for viewing through September 29th, 2012.
12 paintings on canvas as well as paintings on found
packaging, such as pharmaceutical boxes, candy and cereal packaging.
The controversial painter and street artist will be showcasing a unique body of work,
critiquing our media-obsessed society and our loss of innocence through advertising.
Ben’s work subverts logos, icons and characters from popular culture and re-presents
them in startling and often confronting new ways.
“See Inside Box for Details,” aims to re-evaluate our understanding of product
advertising by juxtaposing unlikely and confronting elements into some of our most
loved and well known consumer icons.
Ben Frost confronts the conjoined twins of
capitalism and consumerism with striking compositions that present a chaotic look at a seedy nature underlining pop culture, presenting sex and violence in a glamorous role. Most unnerving of all is that that on first glance the work of Ben Frost may seem innocuous, filled with the bright palette and playful characters of childhood cartoons and sugary cereals.
With a series of paintings placed on found pharmaceutical and food packaging, Frost highlights the disingenuous
optimism of advertising. The innocence of familiar cartoon forms overlain on stark boxes of prescriptions pills like Morphine and Botox opens a discourse on the proliferation of prescriptions in modern culture and the morally-ambiguous stake pharmacology has in society’s welfare.
From the Artist:
Whether it takes the form of medicine to keep sickness at bay or highly-
-processed treats to keep you content in front of the television, our pre-packaged
lifestyles are sold to us in colorful and dynamic boxes.
I’ve been using the logos and design elements of product packaging for many years,
and it seemed a natural evolution to begin painting directly onto the packaging – to
introduce
subversive elements within what already exists as an object.
Double entendre and satirical word play is brought out in new readings of our favorite
and well known products i.e. the breakfast cereal Special K features a drug dazed rabbit
introduced to the packaging, Viagra and Cialis boxes juxtaposed with Mr. Burns, Pop
Tarts featuring Britney Spears and Whitney Houston and a series of confronting
paintings onto McDonalds fries boxes.
Since I began painting onto packages in 2011,
the branding and product titles seem to be more obvious in their possible double
White Walls is pleased to present “Darkest Before the Dawn,” the first SF solo show of Melbourne-based artist Rone to follow his successful San Francisco debut in the “Young and Free” showcase of Australian street artists at 941 Geary in 2011. “Darkest Before the Dawn,” will feature works on canvas, brick, and paper, varying in size from 3’x2’ to large-scale works measuring over 6’x6’. The opening reception will be Saturday, September 8th, from 7-11pm, and the exhibition is free and open to the public for viewing through September 29th, 2012.
With the face of the same wide-eyed and sharp-featured woman starring in each portrait, Rone creates a modern legend. Separately, each piece is an autonomous work, existing through its own beauty, but when viewed together a narrative is opened, leaving us to wonder what led to the birth of this icon. In “Darkest Before the Dawn,” Rone tells us that his feature character stands as a symbol for the possibility of assimilating our worst moments into a new strength.
By incorporating a variety of techniques, Rone deliberately infuses each piece with the textures he readily encounters when working out in the streets. The build-up and deconstruction of multiple layers is a fluid, free flowing way of revealing a composition by letting it come about itself. The medley of patterns and textures embody the continuity of time passing, while the woman in the midst of it all personifies grace overcoming deterioration.
From the Artist:
“We all have moments in our lives that make us who we are. These may be both tragedies and great moments that change the way we see the world. ‘Darkest Before the Dawn’ explores the concept of our darkest moments will eventually become our strengths, told through stylized portraits of a modern heroine.
I am trying to tell this story with the textures I see on the street, hand painted signage, torn bill posters and the deteriorating walls that look like they could tell their own stories. Using a palette of muted colours inspired by the fading colours I saw in Miami & Cuba, I am trying to create a sense of 80’s when style was all that mattered.”
FIFTY24SF Gallery, in association with Upper Playground, is pleased to announce a new exhibition by San Francisco-based fine artist,Jeremy Fish. Where Hearts Get Leftis Fishs first gallery show with Upper Playground in 5 years, featuring 60 new works inspired by and created as a visual love letter to the city of San Francisco. The exhibition will open on July 14, 2012 with a special afterparty at Milk Bar in Haight Ashbury, featuring a set by hip-hop artist, Edison. The exhibition runs through September 14, 2012.
For Where Hearts Get Left, Fish has prepared six paintings, four statues, fifty drawings, six screen prints, and an installation specifically created for FIFTY24SF Gallery. As well as the original artwork presented in Where Hearts Get Left, Fish has created 6 screen prints for the show, each in edition of 100 only available through FIFTY24SF Gallery. There will also be a limited edition, hand bound book featuring 50 black and white drawings, printed in an edition of 100 in a wood and leather cover, printed by Edition One Books in Berkeley, California. FIFTY24SF Gallery 218 Fillmore Street San Francisco, California 94117
White Walls Presents: “Truth in Myth,” New Work by Meggs
White Walls is pleased to present “Truth in Myth,” a solo exhibition from Australian artist Meggs. The opening reception will be Saturday, July 14th, from 7-11pm, and the exhibition is free and open to the public for viewing through August 4th, 2012. Mythology tells the stories of gods, heroes, humans and supernatural beings as the personification of natural phenomena and more importantly the human condition. In traditional folklore, a myth tells a story that is designed to explain certain ideals, practices and behaviors within society. Following from his interest in superheroes and
comic book narratives, Meggs delves deeper into the subject of fantasy to explore characters and stories from older mythological tales through the morals, dualities and emotions that these superhuman characters represent. Fusing elements of contemporary superheroes to ancient mythological beings, “Truth in Myth” is a collection of new paintings, collage, sculpture and mixed media artworks that expressively reference classic renaissance composition and contemporary pop culture. The layered and detailed works of “Truth in Myth” serve as a continuation of the artist’s search for balance in the understanding of physical and ideological duality of self. “We live in the stories we tell ourselves. In a secular, scientific rational culture lacking in any convincing spiritual leadership, superhero stories speak loudly and boldly to our greatest fears, deepest longings and highest aspirations… the best superhero stories deal directly with mythic elements of the human condition… they help us confront and resolve even the deepest existential crisis. We should listen to what they have to tell us.” – Grant Morrison, Supergods, 2011
Event Information: “Truth in Myth” by Meggs Opening Reception – July 14th, 2012, 7-11 pm On View Through August 4th, 2012 @ White Walls (www.whitewallssf.com) 835 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA
White Walls is pleased to present Can’t Afford to be Broke, a solo exhibition from Word To Mother, featuring new works on wood along with a small run of exclusive ‘zines with hand-pulled screen printed cover. The opening reception will be Saturday, May 12th, from 7-11 pm, and the exhibition is free and open to the public for viewing through June 2nd, 2012.
London-based artist Word To Mother’s newest collection of works features his distinctive visual assemblages of figures, patterns and typography painted in mixed media on wooden panels. Drawing from his own experiences in recent years, the state of the economy, and riots on his doorstep Can’t Afford To Be Broke sees Word To Mother showing a sense of desperate yet hopeful pieces, using familiar references of both current and vintage popular culture icons, which evoke a sense of humor amongst more melancholic figures. Delving deeper into his exploration of color, Word to Mother expands into more primary tones alongside his usual favored natural palette. Gestural marks are layered and ‘buffed’ to create textured expanses of muted tones with injections of fluorescent reds and oranges appearing like small explosions of optimism amongst an overcast sky.
With wooden assemblages featuring smaller studies, text pieces and collections of salvaged items next to large scale paintings, there is a balance of subtlety contrasted with Word To Mother’s sense of humor and directness that can be summed-
up perfectly in the “Fuck You Pay Me” Baseball bat pieces.
Can’t Afford to be Broke sees a maturity in painting and a hand-crafted feel that is ever- present in Word To Mother’s pieces, resulting in what we believe is his strongest collection of works to date.
From the Artist:
“Everyone’s perception of ‘Broke’ is different. It’s all relative to our situation. In situations where celebrity riches and materialistic lifestyles are portrayed by the media, we have been conditioned to feel more valued as an individual based upon what we own, rather than our actions.
People are emotionally broke, financially broke, and physically broke, from the structure of the society we live in. Unless we educate ourselves, work hard, and take the right risks, we won’t get anywhere. We won’t get out. We will continue to be broke.
I can’t afford to be broke.”
Event Information:
Can’t Afford to be Broke by Word To Mother
Opening Reception – May 12th, 2012, 7-11 pm On View Through June 2nd, 2012
@ White Walls (www.whitewallssf.com)
835 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA
German Street Artists and collaborators Hera and Akut have been in San Francisco recently for their solo show “Loving the Exiled” and while there they also had time to get up in the street. With roots in crews in the graffiti scene when they were both in their mid-teens, the two are twice that now and have a strong practice of fine and street art that takes them around the world. With distinctly different styles, the tension and contrast compliment one another in their mainly figurative work, and each considers the other a perfect counterbalance in an ongoing conversation.
While preparing for their show at the 941 Geary Gallery, photographer Jennifer Goff captured some of the newest street work for BSA readers. We had the opportunity to interview Herakut and learn about their process, their preferred materials, their prose, and the importance of finding your own voice as an artist.
Our thanks to Herakut for stealing away some time to speak with us and to Jennifer for her photography.
Brooklyn Street Art:Your work is truly collaborative and integrated. In what way does it seem like a conversation between two people?
HERAKUT: In every way. And there are more voices than just our two. We open up the dialogue when we come across a great thought, quote it and work with it, like we did in SF with the poem “LASH” by the exiled Iranian writer Mehrangiz Rassapour – a woman who has seen a lot of pain. She added some strong thoughts to our conversation and raised questions for us to come clear with.
Brooklyn Street Art:There are a number of loners – single graff/Street Artists on the street today, as well as those who like to run with a partner or a crew. Which approach helps an artist to develop their own voice?
HERAKUT: Only when you have found your own voice you have something to contribute to a conversation, right? So, fit is probably best to find your own artistic identity first because then you know what it is that you are lacking. Akut and Hera are like Ying and Yang. That is what makes the work in our duo so effective. We don´t step on each other´s feet, because we have separate territories.
Brooklyn Street Art:If you had very similar styles, do you think it would bore you? Do you think the tension between the more fine art approach of Akut and the raw expression of Hera is what we see in a finished piece? HERAKUT: Yes, the contrast between our styles highlights each one. And the is another bonus to being so different from each other – there is no competition between the two of us. We don´t try to exceed the other, we try to add on to the other one´s work.
Brooklyn Street Art:It seems like your work has some of the same cadences and lyricism found in the written word. Have you illustrated a classic piece of literature or poetry? Do you want to?
HERAKUT: It´s like we are sitting in this boat in a stream and we grab and work with whatever happens to be floating close to us. We don´t stretch out too far, it has to find its way to us naturally. Therefore, we don´t even check for it´s qualities in terms of having a classic value. If it sounds good, we´ll work with it, like with this line “COWARDS DIE MANY TIMES BEFORE THEIR DEATHS”. Loved it, and then later found out it was something Shakespeare had written. Supposedly.
Brooklyn Street Art:Sometimes your pieces contain text – are those pieces of poems? A bit of inspiration?
HERAKUT: When we really quote, we always try to reference to the writer. Other then that we use our own words. They are the titles of each piece, but more so – it´s the words that add the twist to the painting. It is another layer of communication and we don´t want to miss out on that one, since communication is the whole reason for us to create art.
Brooklyn Street Art:Most favorite surface : wood, concrete, canvas, bricks, rusty metal.
HERAKUT: Brick is not a good one, because it causes too much disturbance on the realism bits. It´s too busy to begin with. Like wood. And wood is often so beautiful that it doesn´t need anything to it. Just like rust. Rust is actually a performance art created by water and air. Pretty good combo. For us concrete is probably the best one. There is something very frustrating about it. So many horrible walls and boundaries have been built of concrete. It´s not a friendly medium. It needs to be attacked, we think.
“Loving the Exiled” is currently on view at the 941 Geary Gallery in San Francisco. Click here for more details regarding this exhibition. With our sincere thank yous to Jennifer for sharing her photos with us.
1. ROA at StolenSpace “Hypnagogia” (London)
2. Katowice Street Art Festival 4/20-29 (Poland)
3. LALA Gallery Inauguration Saturday (Los Angeles)
4. Herakut “Loving the Exiled” at 941 Geary (San Francisco)
5. Marsea Gives You the “High Five!” at New Image Art Saturday (LA)
6. Erica Il Cane “Una Vita Violenta” at Fifty24MX Gallery (Mexico City)
7. Brett Amory “Waiting 101” at Outsiders Gallery (Newcastle, UK)
8. OLEK in Barcelona with Botero (VIDEO)
9. C215 “About Copyrights” (VIDEO)
10. The Bushwick Trailer (VIDEO)
ROA at StolenSpace “Hypnagogia” (London)
With his current show, now on view at the StolenSpace Gallery in London, ROA will demonstrate how you can be asleep and awake at the same time. His solo show “Hypnagogia” opens today to the general public and offers a dissected view of ROA’s fantastic world of animals and beasts. ROA’s hand crafted book “An Introduction To Animal Representation” by Mammal Press is on sale at The Old Truman Brewery on 91 Brick Lane. Hurry there are only only 125 tomes being offered.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Katowice Street Art Festival 4/20-29 (Poland)
Katowice, a Silesian city in Southern Poland celebrates Street Art with their own Street Art Festival, now on its second year, from April 20 through April 29. The gray, concrete architecture that dominates this town will be imbued with color, shapes and fantasy with the help of this city most prominent daughter, OLEK aided by an illustrious list of first rate of fine and Street Artists including Mark Kenkins, Escif, Boogie, Moneyless, Ganzeer, Ludo, Mona Tusz, Swanski, 0700 Team, Tellas, Dan Witz, Hyuro, M City, ROA, Goro, Kilo, Nespoon, Aryz, 108, Wers, Ciah-Ciah, Etam Crew, Otecki, Razpajzan, Sepe, Chazme, CFNTX Crew, Onte, Jezmirski, Terry Grand, Dast, Impact, Malik, Turbos and Mentalgassi.
For further information regarding this festival click here.
LALA Gallery Inauguration Saturday (Los Angeles)
The West Coast continues to assert itself as a power house in the art world and as a Street Art mecca with the inaugural show of LALA Gallery. A brand new gallery conceived by Daniel Lahoda, the mind and soul and legs of LA Freewalls Project.
LALA’s line up of artists for this first show augurs an auspicious beginning and a successful life which we hope last for a long, long time. “LA Freewalls Inside” is the title of this show and artists included are: Anthony Lister, Askew One, Becca, Cern, Chris Brand, Cryptik, Cyrcle, Dale VN Marshall, Dan Witz, Daze, Dee Dee Cheriel, Evan Skrederstu, How & Nosm, Insa, Jaybo, Kim West, Kofie, Lady Aiko, Ludo, Mear, The Perv Brothers, Poesia, Push, Pyro, Ripo, Risk, Ron English, Saber, Shepard Fairey, Swoon and Zes.
For further details regarding this show click here.
Herakut “Loving the Exiled” at 941 Geary (San Francisco)
Herakut, the indefatigable German collective are a busy duo with an impressive craft and a mastery of the can and paint brushes. Never compromising their artistic output regardless of their environment or medium they set their collaborative standards high with an output rich in earthy colors. Their palette of ores, reds, grays, oranges, blues, browns and yellows give birth to a universe of characters that are fantastic and mysterious and in pursuit of you, the spectator. In San Francisco at 941 Geary Gallery Saturday the reception will be open for the artists and you at “Loving the Exiled”.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Group Show “High Five!” at New Image Art Saturday (LA)
HIGH FIVE! the new group show at New Image Art Gallery in Los Angeles opens tomorrow and the artists include Alia Penner, Ashely Macomber, Curtis Kulig, Deanna Templeton, Maya Hayuk and Vanessa Prager.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Also happening this weekend:
Tomorrow, Saturday April 22 will be the last day to see Erica Il Cane show “Una Vita Violenta” at the Fifty24MX Gallery in Mexico City. The gallery will also participate with Erica Il Cane at the Zona Maco Mexico Arte Contemporaneo Art Fair in Mexico City. April 18 – April 22. For further details about “Una Vita Violenta” click here. For more details about Zona Maco, Mexico Arte Contemporaneo Art Fair click here.
Brett Amory solo show “Waiting 101” At the Outsiders Gallery in Newcastle, UK opens today to the general public. Click here for more details about this show.
OLEK in Barcelona with Botero (VIDEO)
Still working on that scarf you’ve been knitting for OLEK’s birthday? You missed it.
gaze out at us with eyes both sad and resigned, asking nothing of us but a basic empathy.
From the Artists:
We like to see each Herakut piece as the sum of a dialogue between Hera and Akut, a synthesis, a conclusion. And often this final thought is the first line of a new discussion, a new dialogue that will lead up to a new piece of art. That is how we have worked ever since we teamed up in 2004. Over the past years of collaborating, our palette has changed, of course, and we have learned to blend our different techniques, my sketchy lines and Akut ́s realism, ever smoother. It’s actually pretty funny that we do not even talk about the actual painting process. We only talk about the content. Our discussions take place in the world of reason and philosophy. What our hands actually do with our spray-paint is left up to them really. We just focus on telling a story. If the piece turns out pretty or not, is just a side-effect. The thoughts they carry are what we worry about. The messages are what we spend our days on.
To the San Francisco show we will be bringing characters that have fallen from grace. We took a look to the banned and exiled, the abandoned child that first cries of fear and then of rage, flocks of scapegoats, a choir of arch enemies, the outlawed, the out- numbered, the ones that know they are very last of their kind, the extinguished. When will we end up in their place?
Herakut is an artist duo made of Jasmin Siddiqui, born 1981 in Frankfurt, West Germany, and Falk Lehmann, born 1977 in Schmalkalden, East Germany. Their artistic style is as symbiotic as their name, which in itself is the symbiosis of the two individual graffiti synonyms Hera and Akut. A love for traveling and painting for the public eye are just a few of the things of the things Akut and Hera have in common. Their work, however, is based on bringing together contrasting elements: masculine vs. feminine, Eastern vs. Western, the roughness of Street Arts vs. the detail of Fine Arts.
Since 2004, Herakut has painted and exhibited in prestigious big cities like London, Berlin, New York and Paris, but have also spent a lot of valuable time painting the dirty sides of less glamorous cities such as Ekaterinburg, Russia or Campeche, Mexico. Both of Herakut ́s publications, The Perfect Merge published in 2009 and 2011’s After the Laughter have received great success, with the two books selling over 10,000 copies worldwide.
941 Geary is pleased to present the solo exhibition of Amsterdam-based artist, Niels Shoe Meulman (NSM), opening March 24, 2012 at 941 Geary. The new works of the show have been shaped by the wide variety of artistic paths NSM has traveled. The opening will be free and open to the public, and the show will run until April 21, 2012.
Before running his own design company, and later an advertising agency, NSM apprenticed with Anthon Beeke, a Dutch graphic designer considered at the top of his field. Through a classic master/pupil education NSM developed the required skillset needed to be a designer and typographer. This mastery of the mechanical aspects of design can be seen throughout the body of works comprising ‘Justified Scriptures.’ Each work, form the small to the large, demonstrates NSM’s superb sense of space and precision. NSM has said that that he draws inspired from television programs about nature and science, explaining in an interview, “Most laws of graphic design and graffiti are universal laws. Balance, continuity, those kinds of things. In a way nature is our only reference.” NSM’s new work brings a harmonious organization to chaos, with bold free-form strokes repeating themselves over and over until a pattern is formed.
The trained eye can decipher words written in NSM’s signature fusion of calligraffiti amidst the patterns in a few of the works, including in the huge (dimensions) linen canvas titled Unknown, though most of NSM’s latest work is a painting style which is self-described as “Abstract Expressionism with a calligraphic origin.” The intricate curves of NSM’s linework are derived from a long interest in the beauty of the written word, referencing an impressive range of forms, from Arabic calligraphy of sacred texts to the vertical writing of East Asian scripts to the richly illuminated manuscripts of medieval times. These influences are then dismantled into abstracted compositions, where the main focus seems to be the integration of natural forms and structured design.
‘Justified Scriptures’ can be seen as following in the footsteps left by the multitude of incredible Modernist painters, whereas famed art historian Clement Greenberg once noted, “The excitement of their art seems to lie most of all in its pure preoccupation with the invention and arrangement of spaces, surfaces, shapes, colors, etc., to the exclusion of whatever is not necessarily implicated in these factors.”
From the Artist:
“If these works remind you of mass graves, bookshelves, military parades, meditative exercises, blocks of text or people in general (all different but the same), then I’m happy.
I’m starting to abandon the idea of telling stories but acknowledge the beauty of communication. I don’t believe anything anymore and what’s left is language itself. That’s what this work is about.”
Event Information:
Justified Scriptures, New Paintings by Niels Shoe Meulman
Opening Reception – March 24, 2012, 6-9 pm @ 941 Geary (www.941geary.com)
941 Geary St,
San Francisco, CA
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BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
