San Francisco

GAIA “The Reinvention of Nature” at Gallery Heist (SF)

May 8, 2010 ,

gaia_poster_horizontal_2-01_web-1Gallery Heist is pleased to present The Reinvention of Nature, the San Francisco debut exhibition for Brooklyn/Baltimore based street artist GAIA. The Reinvention of Nature – Opening reception: Saturday, May 15, 2010, 7-11pm MAY 15 – MAY 31, 2010 Gaia is a Brooklyn and Baltimore based street artist with a background in Printmaking and Sculpture. He is currently enrolled in his final year at MICA (Maryland Institute of Art) with a major in interdisciplinary sculpture. At the age of 21 Gaia has built an impressive resume having exhibited in art fairs and galleries through out Brooklyn, London, D.C, Miami and Los Angeles. His work has appeared along side street art contemporary geniuses such as Blek Le Rat, Shepard Farey, Swoon, Matt Small, D*face, Sweettoof, Brian Adam Douglas, Lucas Price, Nick Walker, Slinkachu, Imminent Disaster, EVOL, Pisa 73, Oliver Vernon, and Dalek just to name a few.

Marrying the animal and the human form, Gaia conjures mysterious figures that carry a heavy sense of mythology and recall a past when man and nature were once united. These romantic creatures stand in relief to the urban environment as they lurk and beckon in the city’s forgotten and neglected spaces. The conveyance of their story relies on the chance coincidence with a passerby, and even in that intimate moment, their narrative is precarious and delicate. Gaia works with linocut prints and painted images applied to paper and then mounted as paste ups on the street or on panels for finished works.

ABOUT THE GALLERY Art is an extension of our culture and our communities and in many ways art defines our times. Art is not a luxury it is a necessity. My mission is to foster innovative artistic expression and provide sanctuary for the creative process while stressing the importance of it. The walls of Heist will house work that is representational to this generation offering a contemporary program of artists who challenge and analyze our social and cultural responsibility, traditions, and behaviors; artists who are on the forefront of a conscious art movement. To encourage and support this conscious art movement, I have opened Heist and hope that you will choose to be a part of it. Gallery Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 12:00-8:00pm Mondays by appointment. Gallery Heist is located at 679 Geary Street near the corner of Leavenworth, southeast of the intersection.

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Blek Le Rat, “ABOVE” and “HUSH” at White Walls/Shooting Gallery in SF tonight

May 1, 2010 , ,

Props to Blek Le Rat, who started doing street art in Paris 3 decades ago -and is pointed to as an inspiration by everyone from Banksy and Fairey to a posse of new stencil artists.

Blek spraying one of Le Rat's on the facade of White Walls Gallery (photo ©Mike Cuffe)
Blek spraying one of Le Rat’s on the facade of White Walls Gallery (photo ©Mike Cuffe)

I remember him telling me how hard it was for him to get anyone’s attention when he first came to New York in 1987 with his portfolio. He even sprayed a stencil on the sidewalk in front of Gagosian Gallery – to no discernible result. Gallerists absent-mindedly thumbed through his portfolio pieces and told him there wasn’t much interest in his work. So, hang in there kids, there is room for everybody, if you are persistent.

Blek is opening tonight with HUSH and ABOVE, two more high quality artists with roots in the street art scene, with the addition of starting in graffiti.

Thanks to Mike Cuffe at Warholian for sharing some of his pictures with us.

Hush uses graff and fine art elements - it's all fair game - along with Japanese graphic novels.
Hush uses graff and fine art elements – it’s all fair game – along with Japanese graphic novels.

The artist "Above" is self-referential here, taking his heaven pointing arrows that one typically sees hanging over your head and creating very
The artist “Above” is self-referential here, taking his heaven pointing arrows that one typically sees hanging over your head and creating very highly polished reworkings of national flags.

Everybody bring your camera! (Blek Le Rat) (photo © Mike Cuffe)
Everybody bring your camera! (Blek Le Rat) (photo © Mike Cuffe)

Visit White Walls Gallery for more information:
Blek le Rat’s website:
ABOVE:

HUSH FLICKR:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/warholian/sets/72157623965436282/
“Passing Through” runs from May 1st – June 5, 2010 at the Shooting Gallery in San Francisco.

Blek le Rat FLICKR:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/warholian/sets/72157623966423988/
“Faces in the Mirror” runs from May 1st – June 5, 2010 at White Walls Gallery in San Francisco

ABOVE FLICKR:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/warholian/sets/72157623841942229/
“Transitions” runs from May 1st – June 5, 2010 at White Walls Gallery in San Francisco

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Video: SF Street Art Fans Talk about Their TWO New Banksy Pieces

April 23, 2010

Can you imagine that sometimes street art is actually cause for celebration? Yeah, me too. Since the two new pieces by street artist Banksy showed up in San Francisco yesterday, people are flocking to the neighborhoods they appeared in – snapping pictures, posing with them, licking them. The resulting observations are very entertaining in themselves, and even people vaguely aware of the artist’s work weigh in with authority.

The video blogger, artist, and street art fan Michael Cuffe, (founder of Warholian.com) jumped out of his sneakers when his sister Kat called him to say that she thought she just saw a Banksy in her neighborhood of Chinatown and she snapped a picture.

Kat Cuffe poses with Banksy
Kat Cuffe poses with Banksy (photo © Mike Cuffe)

Says Cuffe, “My sister would only be calling in case of an emergency, but I was tired and was going to let it go to voicemail. She didn’t leave me one. Suddenly a text appears that says…’You’re not going to believe this, but I think I just found a Banksy.’ Not to critique my sister too much, but I figured she wouldn’t know a Banksy from a Shepard Fairey so I asked her to take a photo. She did, sent it to me, and I literally jumped out of bed throwing on whatever clothes I could find. I called her back, got the location, and said ‘HOLY SH*T, you found a F***ing Banksy!’ “

That picture was the first posted on the web, as far as we can tell, so Kat gets a prize of some sort.  Since then Michael and his team have been “burning the midnight oil” to get up a small video documentary of the new Banksy pieces that appeared in their beloved San Francisco yesterday.

Sleep deprived Cuffe, who spent 24 hours awake to capture this event and make the video, rhapsodizes about that moment he arrived to the site, “As I walked up to it in the late morning light of San Francisco’s Chinatown, it stood there alone… and it was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen.”

See more pictures on his FLICKR page:

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BARRY McGee Video – Setting up at SFMOMA

April 14, 2010 ,

One of the most influential artists to come out of the graffiti and street art scenes, Barry McGee, was recently asked to reinstall a work of his at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art for their 75th Anniversary retrospective.
 Guess they really like this pimple-shaped protrusion of framed sketches, drawings, tags, photos, and geometric patterns

– it’s the 4th installation of the piece at SFMOMA since 1996.

In the video, McGee talks about his first creative impulses and practices, “I drew a lot as a kid, but I didn’t know I was going to be an artist.”

Thanks to G. Lewis Heslet, of The Creative Lives, for alerting us to this video.  For more about the project go to http://thecreativelives.com/

Barry McGee Feature from TheCreativeLives

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“Hush” Prints Now Ready: “Looking West”

April 9, 2010 ,

This ‘Looking West’ Print to mark the “Hush” show at Shooting Gallery in SF is LOOKING INCREDIBLE.

As usual, you’ll see that Hush has again produced “a sensory assault of shape, color, and character.” I copied that off his blog.

Hush’s has been combining the aerosol/lettering of graff writing with fine art and Asian comic book aesthetics for a few years now.  Seeing this, you know how he has really matured.  This image is arresting.

brooklyn-street-art-hush-looking_west_large

From our interview with Hush last year before his show at Carmichael;

“new chaotic cleverness that will include Acrylic Paint, Screen Print, Spray Paint, Ink, and Tea on Canvas and Wood as well as a site specific installation. That’s just the way he rolls.” (see the full interview here)

Hush at Shooting Gallery – San Francisco, 1st May 2010
Contact: leigh@shootinggallerysf.com about the limited edition print of 50

Hush’s Blog is HERE

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Jeremy Fish: Unbelieverble Artist

March 16, 2010

One of SF’s finest artists and designers, Jeremy Fish, talks about the impact and influence of skateboarding, designing for The Unbelievers, and how SPB grew out of the hands of a few restless kids to an unexpected global popularity. Jeremy Fish’s artwork has been shown in galleries and museums worldwide and has appeared on skate decks, posters, and clothing, including countless Upper Playground collaborations.

unbelievers2-2006_web
Creative Commons License photo credit: bbaunach

Jeremy Fish Website

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David Choe “Character Assassination” Opening Tonight at Fifty24SF

February 5, 2010 , , ,

Comments
/////////
i want to stck my duck in this show
Written by JohnDoe on 2010-02-04 12:13:20 (from Fecal Face site)

Such are the passions that arise with the arrival of the new David Choe show on the left coast tonight. The man always puts in 115% and makes no excuses.  Gotta admire that.

Thoughtful, penetrating portraits and insights at the new David Choe show. (courtesy Fecal Face)

Thoughtful, penetrating portraits and insights at the new David Choe show. (courtesy Fecal Face)

A VERY Brief video sweep of the gallery as it’s being prepared….

SEE MORE at Fecal Face

“Character Assassination”
Works by David Choe
@Fifty24SF
248 Fillmore St. @Haight
February 5 – March 24, 2010
opening Fri Feb 5th (7-9:30pm)

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New Video with David Choong Lee

December 14, 2009 ,

Walrus TV interviews artist David Choong Lee,

who finds a lot of inspiration from people he has met on the street. He also is clearly influenced by the street art movement. “Ever since I started combining mixed media and street art…makes me more free when I’m working. No more stress, ” says Lee.

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Will Barras and Mr. Jago in “Darling, We’re Leaving” at FIFTY24SF Gallery (SF)

November 2, 2009 , , , ,

I was a telemarketer for one day when I was eighteen years old. Actually it was half a day. I never came back from lunch.

I bring this horrible memory freshly to mind because I just learned that Mr. Jago and Will Barras, two artists showing new works at FIFTY24SF Gallery in San Francisco, first met each other when they were both working at telemarketing jobs. They both seem like they are unscarred, but sometimes these things are not obvious on the surface.

Walrus TV Artist Feature: Mr. Jago & Will Barras Interview from “The Run Up”

Mr Jago, a pioneer of the doodle, is a founding member of Scrawl Collective and a veteran in the street art movement. Jagos interests in art and design with influences from classic Marvel comics, graffiti and hip-hop culture have help forge his unique freehand style and distinct colour palette.
http://www.mrjago.com/

Will Barras
Living and working London, Will Barras is an artist and illustrator best known for his work with the Scrawl Collective, a collaboration of artist’s centered around Bristol, UK. He has been hailed as one of the artists that best represent the skate and snowboard lifestyle.
http://willbarras.com/

All that doodling at your telemarketer job could pay off!

All that doodling at your telemarketer job could pay off!

“Darling,We’re Leaving!” features new works on display at FIFTY24SF Gallery from November 5 – November 24, 2009.

Learn more about these guys and the show at Upper Playground

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Telemarketers Mr. Jago and Will Barras

November 2, 2009 , ,

I was a telemarketer for one day when I was eighteen years old. Actually it was half a day. I never came back from lunch.

We were living through a different recession and I had no practical skills and almost zero job experience and no college education.  That’s why I even considered the job – desperation for bar money and phat threads.  All I remember was sitting on a folding metal chair inside an O-configuration of folding banquet tables in a room looking down to the street with my black telephone, my phone number list, my order form, and my script.

We were selling tickets for the Shriner Circus and we were supposed to stress what a great philanthropic organization they were and how the kids were just thrilled. I didn’t know what a Shriner was, and I didn’t care either.  I tentatively dialed people on my list and had a big lump in my throat and my hands were shaking and I would take the slightest hint of rejection personally, like an anvil had come smashing through the ceiling directly onto my head.  So, around the third time someone said “NO”, I was emotionally destroyed and my nerves were numb and scarred for life.  Wimp.  I know.  Things haven’t gotten a whole lot better in the self-confidence area, if you want to know the truth.

Mr. Jago and Will Barrass discuss their original gig. (image courtesy Upper Playground)
Mr. Jago and Will Barrass discuss their original gig. (image courtesy Upper Playground)

I bring this horrible memory freshly to mind because I just learned that Mr. Jago and Will Barras, two artists showing new works at FIFTY24SF Gallery in San Francisco, first met each other when they were both working at telemarketing jobs.  They both seem like they are unscarred, but sometimes these things are not obvious on the surface.

Walrus TV Artist Feature: Mr. Jago & Will Barras Interview from “The Run Up”

Mr Jago, a pioneer of the doodle, is a founding member of Scrawl Collective and a veteran in the street art movement.  Jagos interests in art and design with influences from classic Marvel comics, graffiti and hip-hop culture have help forge his unique freehand style and distinct colour palette.
http://www.mrjago.com/

Will Barras
Living and working London, Will Barras is an artist and illustrator best known for his work with the Scrawl Collective, a collaboration of artist’s centered around Bristol, UK. He has been hailed as one of the artists that best represent the skate and snowboard lifestyle.
http://willbarras.com/

“Darling,We’re Leaving!” features new works on display at FIFTY24SF Gallery from November 5 – November 24, 2009.

Learn more about these guys and the show at Upper Playground

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