Street Art Festival

JB Rock Creates a Quiet Storm in Arcidosso, Italy.

July 28, 2012 , , ,

Italian Street Artist JB Rock created a giant wave last week on a 32 feet high by 65 feet tall wall in the small and quiet Tuscan town of Arcidosso, Italy. Participating in Alterazioni 2012, the town’s Art and Music festival, the artist used 15 different stencils of clenched fists and other hand gestures, repeating them more than 200 times to create his “Quiet Storm”. He says that part of his inspiration comes from the Japanese printmaking aesthetic, and this one in particular is in the style of the 19th Ccentury Master-Printer Hokusai.

JB Rock (photo © Alessandro Baldoni)

JB Rock (photo © Alice Ghinolfi)

 

“The Great Wave off Kanagawa“, Katsushika Hokusai (1760-1849)

 

Learn more about JB Rock HERE.

 

 

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Wall Therapy: A Public Community-Level Intervention with Mural Art in Rochester, NY.

July 23, 2012 , , , , ,

Wall Therapy
WALL THERAPY July 20-28, 2012 in Rochester, NY.

Faith 47 mural from 2012. (photo © City Newspaper/Lauren Petracca)

WALL\THERAPY is a public community-level intervention using mural art as a vehicle to address our collective need for inspiration. // July 20-28, 2012 in Rochester, NY.

A weeklong event featuring the following art therapists:
Faith47 // DALeast // Ben Eine // Liqen // Case // ROA // Cern // St. Monci // Mr. Prvrt // Thievin’ Stephen // HowNosm // Siloette

There will be a few specific events during the week:

THERAPY SESSION – July 14
(Prior to the event featuring local artists)
Roc Brewing Co.
56 S. Union St.
https://www.facebook.com/events/337039246376572/

WALL\THERAPY KICKOFF – July 20
1975 Gallery
89 Charlotte St.
https://www.facebook.com/events/420028008040741/

STREET ART BLOCK PARTY – July 22
Rochester Public Market
280 N. Union St.
https://www.facebook.com/events/325404580878744/

COMMUNITY DIALOGUE WITH THE ARTISTS – July 25
School of the Arts
45 Prince St.
https://www.facebook.com/events/495500730475376/

Mural Location Map.
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See No Evil 2012 Cultural Olymipiad (Bristol, UK)

June 26, 2012 , , , , ,

See No Evil

Bristol invites you to See No Evil

 

This summer, Bristol will play host to the most diverse art project to take place in the UK, with live projections, art installations and some of the biggest names in street art descending on the city from 13th– 19th August.

The week-long event is part of the London 2012 Festival, a summer-long arts festival throughout the country to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Curated artists will paint Nelson Street, to reinvent a selection of urban spaces, with some jaw-dropping images expected to be added to the Bristol street.

The event will be accompanied by Hear No Evil, organised by Team Love and featuring a series of music events throughout the week and a FREE New York style Block Party on Saturday 18th and Sunday 19th August on Nelson Street.

A visual spectacular will open the weekend’s music on Friday 17th August when 3D Projection experts AntiVJ creating a unique installation in the Passenger Shed in Temple Meads. This FREE ticketed performance will be arranged with music by musicians Adrian Utley from Portishead and Will Gregory from Goldfrapp .

The best of Bristol’s music culture will set the backdrop to live street painting and outdoor stages on Saturday, while buskers will be chosen to take up a number of pitches throughout the festival site and lead the street party on Sunday 19th August, while artists put the final touches to their creations.

Nick Walker

30 of the world’s most prolific street artists will paint the streets, including abstract expressionist Remi Rough, Liken, Nick Walker, alphabet painter Eine and Portuguese artist Vhils. The artists are being curated by Bristol bred graffiti legend Inkie, who inspired the event’s first outing last year.

Mike Bennett, organizer of See No Evil explains:

“See No Evil is a unique event, designed to showcase the emerging and established talent in the world of urban art and music, to develop the innovative footprint in Bristol’s creative quarter. The pieces created over the week will create a legacy from the project and a destination for urban art fans from all over the world. There are going to be some massive names from the world of graffiti involved this year, we’re really excited to welcome them.”

Phil Gibby, Arts Council England’s Director for the South West said;

“See No Evil will give people in Bristol a chance to experience the Cultural Olympiad by seeing streets brought to life with the best of urban art. The Anti VJ installation will transform the Passenger Shed at Temple Meads with projected images and sound. I look forward to being part of this fantastic celebration of culture in Bristol.”

 

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What’s New in Bushwick: A Quick Street Art Survey

June 6, 2012 , , , ,

As you may have heard, New York’s young artist community has been in a rather fast migration away from Manhattan for this entire century.

And so has most of its Street Art.

As the neighborhood of Bushwick assumes the role of new art nerve center (and hard charging, chatty hormone-infused bohemia), the Street Art that began in Williamsburg at the turn of the millenium is without question a natural companion for the trip. This weekend Bushwick celebrated its 6th official Open Studios program (BOS) and gave Street Art it’s genealogical due as major influencer to the whole scene by inviting a number of the newer names to exhibit indoors for the opening party. Naturally, if not ironically, the streets walls had work by many of same.

Always in flux, the current Street Art scene reflects the players as much as the chaotic and diversified D.I.Y. times we’re in. As the more designed multiples of Fairey and the repetition of Cost have given much ground to the highly labor intensive one-offs with a story today, you can see that this narrative style may have been set into motion by people like Swoon and Elbow-Toe in the intervening wave.

To give you a sense of the complex visual ecosystem that influences the fine art/ Street Art continuum in 2012, here’s some eye candy from inside, outside, sanctioned and freewheeling that were on display during BOS this year.

We start with this new piece by Swoon inspired after her recent visit to Kenya. She incorporated drawings into the portraits of the two girls from an organization called 160 girls. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon’s reprisal of a piece we’ve seen in Boston, LA, and New Orleans – newly colored for Bushwick (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Relative newcomer Gilf! In the Garden of Good and Bushwick. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gilf! does a stripped back road sign satire as part of the installation that she curated for BOS 2012 official opening party. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Yok as part of the installation curated by Gilf! for BOS 2012 official opening party. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Willow as part of the installation curated by Gilf! for BOS 2012 official opening party. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sheryo as part of the installation curated by Gilf! for BOS 2012 official opening party. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hellbent as part of the installation curated by Gilf! for BOS 2012 official opening party. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ND’A as part of the installation curated by Gilf! for BOS 2012 official opening party. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bishop203 as part of the installation curated by Gilf! for BOS 2012 official opening party. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

QRST as part of the installation curated by Gilf! for BOS 2012 official opening party. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

QRST in the wild. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Holy BOS! Housed in a former Lutheran church Bobby Redd Project Space invited artists to do site-specific installations in the actively decaying house of worship. Artists included Abel Macias, Andrew Ohanesian, Ben Wolf, Billy Hahn, Brian Willmont, Don Pablo Pedro, James Keul, Peter Bardazzi. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Holy BOS! @ Bobby Redd Project Space: Don Pablo Pedro (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Holy BOS! Holy peeling paint! @ Bobby Redd Project Space (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The backyard space @ Bobby Redd Project Space had this flowing installation by Phoenix entitled “Bushwick Forest” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Holy BOS! @ Bobby Redd Project Space: Phoenix. “Bushwick Forest” Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

An entrance @ Bobby Redd Project Space featured Street Artist Deeker with a backround by David Pappaceno. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bobby Redd Project Space: Deeker with background by David Pappaceno. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cassius Fouler @ Bobby Redd Project Space (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DarkClouds @ Bobby Redd Project Space (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A street installation by an Unknown artist. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jim Avignon at Bushwick 5 Point Festival (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Artist Specter is also a conceptual artist and sculptor. He painstakingly hand-painted this Bodega facade as an homage to the New York street scenes that are disappearing. Bushwick 5 Points Festival. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A collaborative mural by Sheryo, The Yok and Never at Bushwick 5 Points Festival. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sheryo stands on a sketch. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Set KRT and Cost at Bushwick 5 Points Festival. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Priscila de Carvalho, Maria Berrio and Miariam Castillo at Bushwick 5 Points Festival. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Klub7 at Bushwick 5 Points Festival. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Daek1 at Bushwick 5 Points Festival. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

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AD Hoc Art Presents: Welling Court 2012. (Queens, NYC)

June 5, 2012 , , , , , ,

Welling Court

Roa, Overunder and Veng RWK at last year’s Welling Court. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

3* Saturday, June 16th, 12-9PM: 3rd Annual Welling Court Mural Project; Queens, NY

AD HOC ART CONTINUES MAJOR PUBLIC MURAL PROJECT COMPRISING 60+ INTERNATIONAL ARTISTS REPRESENTING OVER 50 YEARS OF STREET ART

— An Art Event Celebrating the Streets, Solidarity, Community, and Culture —

FACEBOOK PAGE: http://www.facebook.com/events/407797092587142/

WHEN: Opening Saturday, June 16th, 2012 from noon until 9pm.
Afterwards: viewable 24/7/365, so enjoy!

WHAT: The community of Welling Court in Queens, New York first asked Ad Hoc Art to help them spruce up their neighborhood in 2009. Ad Hoc Art rose to the occasion in May 2010 organizing a project fitting for the diverse, enthusiastic, and energetic inhabitants. One year later, Ad Hoc assembled another spectacular crew of legendary and groundbreaking artists spanning more than 50 years of activity for the 2nd Annual Welling Court Mural Project. Now in its 3rd year, the project has received remarkable global acclaim and continues to garner support and momentum as more walls, artists, and enthusiasts compound those previous successes.

This third round is not to be missed as ever-more art and eyes visit this Queens gem. To celebrate, the community’s annual block party again coincides with the project’s opening, featuring cuisine and music from the ethnically diverse and multi-talented hosts. Whereas this tiny neighborhood is providing some major hospitality, it cannot provide for the attendees en mass, so please think of this as a big social-picnic-potluck-art-fun-action and bring some of your favorite tasty foods, beverages, or other contribution to share with your fellow revelers. Kind of like camping, but in the city. Pack it in, pack it out.

If you would like to offer help or assistance to the artists, items always useful are: beverages, exterior bucket paint, paint rollers/brushes, spray paint, acrylic paint, exterior primer, etc. If none of those suite your fancy and you would like to contribute some funds, we will be taking donations at the event.

Volunteers Needed: If you would like to help out in another fashion, there are many ways to get involved. As The Welling Court Mural Project is an all-volunteer event, from the project organizers to the people who help spread the word and take care of the artists & attendees, to the artists creating the work, we need your help to make it as amazing as possible. For volunteer questions and interest, please contact us at info@adhocart.org

The project transforms several city blocks into a 24/7 street-level gallery, bringing art from around the world directly to the heart of this community and NYC. Renowned artists with deep roots in the street movement have created site-specific works for this project and many will showcase various creative sundries for your perusal. This new array of visual experiences provides fresh contexts for how people working, visiting, and living in this diverse cultural gem of Queens think about and interact with their environment.

Artists Include: Abe Lincoln, Jr., Alice Mizrachi, Alison Buxton, Beau Stanton, Billy Mode, Caleb Neelon, Celso, Cern, Christopher Cardinale, Chris Mendoza, Chris Stain, CR, CRASH, Cycle, Dan Witz, Darkclouds, Deb Yoon, Don Leicht, El Kamino, Ellis Gallagher, Free5, Fumero, Gaia, Garrison Buxton, Greg Lamarche, JAZ, Joe Iurato, John Breiner, John Fekner, Katie Yamasaki, Kimyon Huggins, Lady Pink, Leon Reid IV, Lopi, Mensen, Michael Alan, Never, OverUnder, Pablo Power, Peat Wollaeger, R. Nicholas Kuszyk, Rene Gagnon, Richard Nugent, ROA, Royce Bannon, Sinned, Skewville, Sofia Maldonado, Stormie Mills, Subtexture, Thundercut, TooFly, Veng RWK, The Wretched Rapture Crew, Zam, Zéh Palito, & more.

* In addition to the murals and festivities, there are special events and projects happening throughout the day with…

** Music to boot{y}!!!
Some of Ad Hoc’s favorite DJ’s blend sublime block party beats to tickle your eardrums and keep you moving all day long. Bring food, water, dancing shoes and prepare for seeing some great art & shaking some body parts.

WHO: Artists + The Community of Welling Court + You + Ad Hoc Art

WHERE: 11-98 Welling Court {@ 30th Ave & 12th Street}, Astoria, Queens 11102

TO GET THERE:

* By Public Transit: Take the N or W train to 30th Ave. Then: 1) walk 10-15 minutes or; 2) take the Q18 west down 30th Ave to 12th St. You are there!

* By Car: Here is a link to the street map: http://tinyurl.com/2e7whgo

YOUR ATTENDANCE AND COVERAGE IS ENCOURAGED & INVITED.

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Street Art Happening NOW @ Bushwick Open Studios 2012

June 2, 2012 , , , , , ,

As the cultural center continues to shift further away from Manhattan, Bushwick and Street Art continue to have a love affair that grows every year. We just caught up with a handful of artists putting up work to celebrate Bushwick Open Studios (BOS) 2012 as it turns 6 this year. The artists were invited to paint by GCM Steel Products and Agency X Events to mark their Bushwick 5 Points Festival, which they hope will be the first of many in support of BOS.

BSA readers are probably at BOS right now, but for the 14 of you who couldn’t make it to BK today, here’s some process shots of Street Art going up before your eyeballs.  Art seeking pilgrims will see it all as they race between the hundreds of studios that are open today. Artists of all sizes, shapes, styles, and disciplines continue to bring the neighborhoods of Brooklyn alive!

Specter at work faithfully creating a facade. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter at work. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jim Avignon wall in progress.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Yok, Sheryo, Never and Specter to the right walls in progress. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sheryo at work. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The Yok at work. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Priscila de Carvalho, Maria Berrio, and Miriam Castillo at work (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Priscila de Carvalho, Maria Berrio, and Miriam Castillo at work (photo © Jaime Rojo)

There is even a wall by Graffiti legend COST.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Come out support the artists and play today and tomorrow as BOS will be going on through out the weekend. With special thanks to the good folks at GCM Steel Products, Bushwick 5 Points Festival will be happening all day today with art, food and music until 8:00 pm at Troutman and St. Nicholas.

For full details on BOS 2012 click here.

 

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Baltimore Opens Its Walls To Street Art

May 30, 2012 , , ,

Abstract geometrist and Street Artist MOMO is still sweeping across a massive brick wall in his cherry picker as he leads Open Walls Baltimore across the finish line with more than twenty artists and murals spread across these blocks straight off “The Wire” TV series.

 

 

MOMO. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. Stay tuned for process shots of MOMO’s wall on BSA tomorrow. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Oh, man, he’s really getting it down over there,” says local pigeon trainer Tony Divers, who is looking out his back door past the bird’s coop at the new 5-story MOMO piece coming alive in the empty lot next door. Mr. Tony, whose pigeons have also had a starring role in the series, himself became the subject of a massive building-sized portrait by Jetsonorama two blocks up the street.

 

VHILS. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Welcome to Open Walls Baltimore.

New York Street Artist Gaia had been racing his fixie around this town since he started studying at Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA) a few years ago. In between trips back home he began hitting walls with his large scale paste-ups on sides of some of the abandoned buildings that comprise entire blocks in this city. Somewhere along the way he gradually fell in love with the neighborhood and it’s lively conversations on the stoop, secret speakeasies on the weekend, and eclectic shows with Dan Deacon and the Wham City Arts Collective.

Freshly graduated, the talkative 23 year old artist with a natural knack for organizing decided to stay in B’more and plot a Street Art revitalization of sorts. With Ben Stone and Rebecca Chan of Station North Arts & Entertainment as partners, the trio secured monetary backing and city support for 20 artists to come and paint murals this spring.  When asked if the grand outlay of almost a hundred thousand dollars is a civic/private program, Gaia is quick to answer, “Totally private. I guess you could call it civic because they’re non-profit.”

Gaia. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Armed with a budget and Gaia’s knowledge of Street Artists on the scene, the team was able to garner a wide collection of artists to create murals. When Baltimore native and famous graffiti/hip-hop photographer Martha Cooper agreed to shoot it all, Gaia knew OWB was going to be a hit. Large walls were pretty easily secured with help from the City of Baltimore and sponsors helped with paint and services. From March to May the neighborhoods of Station North and Greenmount West have played host to internationally known Street Art names of the moment like Vhils, Sten and Lex, Swoon, Jaz, MOMO, and Interesni Kazki getting up on walls alongside a list of local and regional talents.

 

Chris Stain and Billy Mode. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The reviews and interactions between the organizers, artists and local residents have generally been positive in this part of town where the drug trade has filled the vacuum since all the factories died and communities were destroyed. With “art as a gentrifying force” being a huge discussion, these hippy kids have formed community in bombed out factory buildings here over the last decade and a burgeoning artists community has somehow sustained itself tenuously through the rigors of a ruthless recession. Programmatically OWB is not entirely new as a cultural stimulus but this sort of “jump-start” approach to engendering a creative renaissance by public/private development may be watched carefully by other cities as a possible formula to imitate.

Sten & Lex. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For the upbeat organizer/curator of the project, it’s been extremely gratifying and an eye opener to be accountable to such a range of interests, “I learned that murals can be a little threatening to people and bring out their latent fears and that the parties you think who are going to be most afraid generally might not be,” Gaia explains, “and the ones you think might be the most into it – provide the most criticism.”

“For example the artists community turned out to be the one that was most afraid of being a gentrifying force and was most critical of the project. And all the legacy residents were generally not bringing that up, even if I asked them,” he says.

 

Sculptor John Ahearn performs a live casting of a couple. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Two young art fans watch in wonderment as Mr. Ahearn applies the liquid rubber to cast the mold. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mr. Ahearn’s street installation of previous casts. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Artist Nanook, also a student at nearby MICA and a logistical lynchpin for OWB, created his own mural that strikes at the historic manufacturing base that once provided a livelihood for the people who lived in many of these abandoned buildings. For him, the artist’s role is to connect the lines between past and present, “And so it’s just about bringing back these signifiers to the neighborhood. Especially for this housing area that was built to house the people who were working at these factories. It has been interesting to meet the people who are old enough to have worked at these factories – they actually worked at the coat factory and the rudder factory and the bottling factory down the street.”

As he smokes and points to the gears and the large hand on his mural, Nanook also talks about the former coat factory two blocks away that is now being renovated to be a magnet art school, and the possibility that work by creatives can create help neighborhoods re-imagine a future, “I think most artists are intermediaries for the communities they reside in.”

 

Swoon. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

As we tour around the streets with Ms. Cooper, we make sure to hit the hot graffiti spot in town, an alley she’s known for more than 50 years and one that has provided uninterrupted opportunity for exploration with an aerosol can for many artists who start out here. “Usually there are people painting back here and there’s often somebody doing a fashion shoot back here,” she remarks while snapping images of tags and colorful pieces. “There was a “Wild Style” reunion here a few years ago with Charlie (Ahearn), and they painted all kinds of stuff. It’s fun and they all come to this – because there really aren’t too many locations to do this”

While we watch a handful of 20-year-olds pulling cans from backpacks and arranging them on the cracked concrete in front of a wall, we talk to Jeremy, a local Baltimore artist who also makes puppetry and masks. He says he likes the effect that OWB has been having on the neighborhood. “It’s an interesting project. It’s nice to see a kind of subtle but effective change. Baltimore is kind of rough. But because (OWB) is there it invokes something different and the space actually is transformed.”

On a Friday evening at a block party celebrating the completion of the final wall, Gaia is happy with how it has turned out, and pleased with the multiple conversations he’s been able to have with people in the community about murals, walls, pigeons, paint, and wheat-paste. “My only curatorial process was matching the artists with walls and sites that I thought would be pertinent and I thought would really work with the artists’ process – that was my biggest goal and it succeeded.”

Interesni Kazki. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ever. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JAZ. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

JAZ. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Freddy Sam. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Specter. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Maya Hayuk. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Josh Van Horn. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Overunder created a new facade within the facade of this building and a tribute to a local resident, Dennis Livingston. Says Gaia, “OverUnder is remarkably improvisational and really works well with children and people and is super engaging.” Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Overunder.Dennis Livinston. Detail. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mata Ruda. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Doodles. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jetsonorama’s portrait of Mr. Tony as he watches his pigeons in the sky. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A Jetsonorama and Nanook collaboration from a Martha Cooper photograph. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A Jetsonorama and Nanook collaboration from a Martha Cooper photograph. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A Jetsonorama and Nanook collaboration from a Martha Cooper photograph. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nanook’s wall in progress. Open Walls Baltimore 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Open Walls Baltimore includes the following artists: Gaia (Baltimore), Momo (New Orleans), Doodles (Port Townsend, WA), Maya Hayuk (New York City), Ever (Buenos Aires, Argentina,  Overunder (Reno, NV), John Ahearn (New York City)
Specter (Montreal), Mata Ruda (Baltimore), Josh Van Horn (Baltimore) , Caitlin Cunningham (Baltimore) , Jessie Unterhalter & Katey Truhn (Baltimore), Freddy Sam (Capetown, South Africa), Intersni Kazki (Kiev, Ukraine),
Gary Kachadourian (Baltimore), Chris Stain (New York City, Baltimore), Billy Mode (Baltimore),  Jetsonorama (Arizona), Swoon (New York City), Sten and Lex (Italy), Nanook (Baltimore), Jaz (Buenos Aires, Argentina), and Vhils (Portugal)

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

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Seeing Spain Through the Eyes of Street Artist “Ever”

May 29, 2012 , , , ,

“It’s a really cute little town with no stoplights and with a lot of old people!” says Street Artist EVER, who has been painting in Amposta, the site of the FAHR Festival.

About 2 hours from Barcelona, he’s hanging with Sam3 and Kenor and getting up with interesting pieces.  He says that thematically he is addressing the social revolution that is right now happening in Spain, and trying to capture the feelings of insecurity that young people have for the future there.  In a country with an 25% unemployment rate and with the very shaky prognosis for the Euro, you can understand why.

Ever “Buy Your Revolution” Detail. FAHR Festival.  Amposta, Spain. (photo © Ever)

Ever “Buy Your Revolution” Detail. FAHR Festival.  Amposta, Spain. (photo © Ever)

Ever “Buy Your Revolution” FAHR Festival.  Amposta, Spain. (photo © Ever)

Ever “Occupy” Detail. FAHR Festival.  Amposta, Spain. (photo © Ever)

Ever “Occupy” Detail. FAHR Festival.  Amposta, Spain. (photo © Ever)

Ever “Occupy” Detail. FAHR Festival.  Amposta, Spain. (photo © Ever)

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

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Mexico City: High Art in Thin Air

May 16, 2012 , , , , , ,

Capital Soars with Huge New International Street Art Murals

An Amazing Week in DF with Interesni Kazki, El Mac, Saner, Sego, Roa, Herakut, Vhils, and Escif

Gazing out at the sweep of metropolis that is modern Mexico City, you’ll have to catch your breath once in a while. A culture known for it’s historic public murals of the 20th Century, it looks like a resurgence is at hand, but this time the muralist are international Street Artists, and the scale is soaring.

Escif (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

The project “All City Canvas” invited nine artists from around the world and locally to use some of Distrito Federal’s prime real estate as just that – a canvas. With cranes and rollers instead of ladders and cans, these are some of the largest works we’ve seen by some of these artists. Here’s Portugals’ Vhils on the Dolores Building near La Alameda, there’s Germany’s Herakut on the side of the oldest newspaper in Mexico El Universal, and look way up to see LA’s El Mac signature portrait on the side of the Hotel Reforma Avenue. After eleven months of work getting permission from building owners, convincing city leaders, and securing major corporate sponsors, the capital of Mexico now has a few more major public art pieces that will blow you away and the resulting collection further secures this city of 21 million as one of the growing hubs of the Street Art scene.

ROA (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

We spoke with the three guys who organized the festival to get an understanding of the logistics and their aspirations for the project. As organizers and innovators with ties to their own arts organizations in Mexico City, each one of these guys hustled to make it happen; Victor Hugo Celaya of ARTO, Roberto Shimizu of MUJAM,  and Gonzalo Alvarez of MAMUTT. Participating artists were Interesni Kazki (Ukraine), El Mac (USA), Saner (Mexico), Sego (Mexico), Roa (Belgium), Herakut (Germany), Vhils (Portugal) and Ecif (Spain).

Brooklyn Street Art: Often Street Artists are relegated to the buildings that are abandoned and in a state of decay. In this case, your program featured work on the sides of some of the most important buildings in Mexico City. How did you get permission to do this?
Victor Hugo Celaya: Since the beginning, we wanted to offer an unique experience to the city so we took urban art to everybody – youth, businessmen, doctors, moms… In order to make a huge impact, we worked to obtain the best spots in Mexico City. Each of these buildings is seen by thousands of people each day and are all located in the city center of Mexico City. It was a difficult job, but in the end we got everything set up. The impact would not have been the same if we had painted other walls.

ROA (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Brooklyn Street Art: Mexican culture has a proud tradition of public murals. How does the style of Street Art in 2012 differ from that tradition?
Roberto Shimizu: Obviously the Mexican history with mural painters and our cultural background, with artists like David Alfaro Siqueiros and Diego Rivera – played a big part while we were conceptualizing the project. Mexico City has the perfect moral background to invite the best urban artists in the world to intervene its walls to create huge murals. We wanted to  innovate and create a new link with the past with some of the renowned urban artists of our time.

Brooklyn Street Art: Did you have difficulty persuading building owners to allow this work on their property?
Gonzalo Alvarez: It was difficult to get to the owners, since these people are important business people that don’t have “a lot of time”. Nevertheless, after a lot of work and perseverance we got to show them the project.  Once we got to them, we realized they are great people who were interested in getting involved in new innovative projects for the city. At the end, all of them were very happy with the outcome of the festival.

ROA. Detail. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Brooklyn Street Art: Is there a graffiti/Street Art “scene” in certain areas of D.F.?
Victor Hugo Celaya: DF is one of the biggest cities in the world – the 2nd biggest, so it is a natural hub for the urban art scene. The movement is very alive at the moment and it is giving Mexican artists an opportunity to show themselves to the world. With this project we wanted to make a statement to the world, that urban art is not only for young people that live in and around big cities – it’s for everybody – doctors, politicians, business people, Moms, merchants… For example, the intervention of the W Hotel, which is located in one of the most “posh” neighborhoods in the country, was very disruptive because nobody could have imagined an urban artists painting a huge mural on the same terrace where they usually eat their lunch or have their business meetings.

SEGO (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Brooklyn Street Art: In the last few years we have been seeing many international Street Artists traveling to large cities around the world doing commissioned work for local festival organizers. How do these traveling artists affect the art scene in the local Mexican context?
Gonzalo Alvarez: This was also very important to us when we were conceiving “All City Canvas”. First we wanted to show young artists that if you do a good job doing what you like, you can actually earn money and travel around the world. You can take your art to other cultures and if you are good enough, you could influence someone else.

Secondly, many artists in Mexico have no money to travel to other countries, and many of their influences  come from the pictures they see on the Internet. To have this world-known urban artist in Mexico City was an unique opportunity for these young artists to watch, compare and learn their techniques.

SEGO. Detail. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Brooklyn Street Art: Can you talk about the vibrant youth culture in Mexico City and how it responds to this kind of work?
Roberto Shimizu: Yes, Mexico is a young country, and more than half of the population is under 30 years of age. We noticed how important cultural events like this are for the young people. Each day thousands of young Mexicans congregated outside of the buildings the artists were painting – they wanted to watch the work and to understand the artistic process of the artwork. Also we offered a series of conferences called WORDS and a gallery exposition called WORKS to offer different points of view of the urban art scene. What we found is that young people in Mexico are very keen to learn and participate in these kinds of projects.

Also on the other hand, the feedback from the Mexican youth is very honest and direct. If you are doing something wrong they will let you know –  also they’ll let you know if you are doing something right.

Vhils. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Vhils. Detail. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Sego and Vhils process shots. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Herakut (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Herakut (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

SANER (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

SANER. Detail. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Interesni Kazki (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

Interesni Kazki (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

El Mac (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

El Mac. Detail. (photo © courtesy of All City Canvas)

For more information about the “All City Canvas” project, please click here.

MAMUTT (www.mamutt.mx)

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Interesni Kazki at Living Walls Atlanta

May 3, 2012 , , , ,

For our third installment in our series for Living Walls Atlanta: The City Speaks 2012 we are proud to present the Ukranian team of AEC and WAONE most commonly known as Interesni Kazki. The guys as usual are praised for their excellent craftsmanship and work ethic and, may we add, discipline. It must be hard to stay out of the bars when your spot is in the night-time entertainment district but then again maybe Interesni Kazki are of the abstemious sort. Whatever the case, their work and talent is garnering more attention daily in the Street Art world and beyond.

Interesni Kazki

Text by Alexandra Parrish
Photos by Dustin Chambers
Video by Dustin Chambers

Our process with artists is, in essence, quite simple – we house and feed the artists, purchase their paint and materials, and ensure mural completion by offering assistants and steady schedules. In reality, this simple process is foiled by secondary factors, namely weather and compelling distractions. However, when Interesni Kazki arrived in Atlanta, everything fell perfectly into place. They came here to paint with an impeccable work ethic.

Interesni Kazki (photo © Dustin Chambers)

AEC and WAONE of Interesni Kazki finished their large mural situated in the bar-heavy neighborhood of East Atlanta Village in only five days. They woke up early, ate a modest meal and set off to their wall. From dawn to dusk they meticulously incorporated every finishing touch to their work.

The completed mural epitomizes their signature style, integrating science fiction and religion with obvious Escher influences. The meaning, however, is left for interpretation. AEC noted early on that their work personifies a multitude of meanings. Four days into the process, Monica and I came up with an intoxicated interpretation after a bar crawl – the Shepard (who remarkably looks like Atlanta’s own Evereman) opens Pandora’s box which harvests the “Big Bang,” creating the solar system and human kind. Interesni Kazki’s work truly incites a heap of explanations.

The Ukranian duo plans to return to Atlanta later in the year to complete a much larger mural in the heart of downtown, hopefully to cook the Living Walls team more borscht.

Neuzz, fellow Wynwood Walls artist, and Evereman are next to follow.

Interesni Kazki (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Interesni Kazki (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Interesni Kazki (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Interesni Kazki (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Interesni Kazki (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Interesni Kazki (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Interesni Kazki (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Interesni Kazki (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Interesni Kazki (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Interesni Kazki (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Interesni Kazki (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Interesni Kazki (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Interesni Kazki (photo © Dustin Chambers)

Interesni Kazki (photo © Dustin Chambers)

To learn more about Living Walls Altanta: The City Speaks and to make a donation to help this year’s conference click here. BSA thanks you for supporting this good work.

 

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

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All City Canvas: Festival de Arte Urbano in Mexico City (Mexico City)

April 23, 2012 , , , , ,

All City Canvas

 

ALL CITY CANVAS es un festival de arte urbano, a nivel internacional, que busca unir esfuerzos del movimiento alrededor del mundo, en un solo lugar durante una semana.

La ciudad sede, en este caso, la Ciudad de México, ofrecerá sus mejores espacios para que nueve de los artistas más reconocidos del movimiento de arte urbano intervengan espacios únicos e históricos de la ciudad.

Además, durante la semana del festival, se llevará a cabo una serie de conferencias impartidas por expertos en el tema, que ayudarán a contextualizar el trabajo que se realiza en las calles.

Finalmente, una reconocida galería de la ciudad expondrá obras de los artistas invitados y algunos otros talentos locales.

ARTISTS:

En esta primera edición de ALL CITY CANVAS, México fue seleccionado como sede del festival por ser, históricamente, un referente artístico y cultural. Este contexto histórico convierte a México en un importante punto de interés para la nueva generación de artistas que llevan años tomando las calles y los muros de las principales capitales del mundo para plasmar sus obras.

A finales de abril, los ojos del mundo estarán puestos en el corazón de la ciudad más grande del mundo y México se convertirá en uno de los focos principales de la escena del arte urbano.

El festival ALLC ITY CANVAS presentará del 30 de abril al 5 de mayo a 9 de los mejores artistas internacionales y nacionales, con amplias muestras de arte urbano, usando como lienzos algunos edificios icónicos de la Ciudad de México, creando una sinergia entre nuestras tradiciones y una nueva visión global. Es un festival inclusivo, que busca llevar el arte a superficies emblemáticas para crear murales de gran escala dentro del espacio urbano único que ofrece una de las ciudades más grandes del mundo. Así, la ciudad participará activamente, dejando un gran antecedente en la calle de lo que es el Arte Urbano en la actualidad.

Este proyecto ha sido la visión y trabajo de jóvenes mexicanos que asumieron la misión de voltear los ojos del mundo hacia México, insertándose en la historia, en un momento en el que es esencial mostrar de manera creativa y comunitaria la vitalidad, energía, magia, mezcla de razas y amor por la identidad mexicana en el espacio público. La Ciudad de México ofrece el escenario perfecto de una urbe con raíces históricas, arquitectura de gran visibilidad, ciudadanos abiertos a experiencias estéticas y una tradición artística de gran influencia.

ALL CITY CANVAS es un festival que desde su concepción ha sido inclusivo, trabajando con la autoridad, la iniciativa privada, la comunidad, con los estudiantes y los medios. Ha buscado impulsarse mostrando una cara positiva, apostando en el talento y energía del país. Es una apuesta por el arte en el espacio público, lo cual es y ha sido un concepto muy presente en la historiografía del arte en este país; en principio con tono revolucionario pero desde diferentes movimientos y con variantes en la manera de abordarlo, ha sido siempre una constante. Desde los muralistas, se tenía clara esta postura frente al arte; José Clemente Orozco se refirió así del muralismo: “La forma más desinteresada, ya que no puede ser escondida para beneficio de unos cuantos privilegiados. Es para la gente. Es para todos”.

Después del muralismo, el movimiento estudiantil de los años 60’s, en el que se manifestaba el descontento político, recurriendo a imágenes que se plasmaban en carteles, grafiti y fotografía llena de simbolismo. Movimientos artísticos conocidos como el Grupo, que a principios de los 70’s diseñaban pancartas y murales con variaciones de iconografía militante clásica para transmitir mensajes de disidencia o el No Grupo, que con imágenes populares y juegos de lenguaje criticaban el elitismo de las instituciones de arte, entre otras cosas. En el mundo, durante estos años, se gestionaba el manifesto de los Situacionistas, que se basaba en crear acontecimientos con significado que revirtiera el pre establecido por el sistema capitalista y de gobierno. En México surgió la neográfica y diversas técnicas de reproducción y transferencia de imágenes. Se organizaban happenings y trabajos muralísticos en comunidades campesinas e indígenas por el Taller de Investigación Plástica; se hacían exposiciones callejeras por parte de fotógrafos independientes como las del grupo Peyote y el de Narrativa Visual, del cual se desprendería el grupo Março con Alejandro Olmedo, Mauricio Guerrero y Sebastián, originadores de un manifesto Marxista inspirado en el Dadaísta. Todos coincidían en una postura clara ante el espacio público, ubicándolo como símbolo de democracia que planteaba cambiar el entorno diario a través del arte para poder dar un mensaje.

En los años 80’s crece el grafiti junto con algunas acciones de intervención que funcionaban como testimonios de eventualidades e inconformidades, como por ejemplo la toma del Balmori en la colonia Roma, en dónde, ante una campaña de demolición posterior al terremoto del 85, el edificio fue “tomado” al ser pintados los cristales y así evitando que fuera demolido. Esta acción marcó un momento muy importante en la regeneración urbana.

La postura del reclamo y la apropiación del espacio público con un mensaje, es algo que ha estado muy presente en la historia de la ciudad y sigue siendo actual. El festival apuesta y celebra el actuar en espacios estratégicos para establecer un diálogo entre la arquitectura, la imagen, el espacio y el observador, para así transmitir un mensaje que lleve a algún tipo de reflexión.

Con disciplina de trabajo, experimentación de técnicas y herramientas innovadoras, los artistas y sus murales nos harán dialogar y revalorar el espacio, nos mostrarán cómo un edificio se activa y transforma. Nos presentarán ideas de temas actuales a partir de lo que la ciudad les provoque e inspire, a través de su talentoso lenguaje plástico para experimentar con la estética que llevan años trabajando y  perfeccionando.

Esta experiencia la podremos tener in situ, al pie de los edificios intervenidos o a través del otro espacio público que ofrece Internet, ya que se podrá interactuar durante los días del festival a través de diversas redes sociales, con el contenido que se generará durante esa semana.

ALL CITY CANVAS creará una comunidad sólida en un espacio público: físico cerca de las PAREDES intervenidas por los artistas y virtual en el mundo online. Se presentará en espacio de galería PIEZAS, de la obra a pequeña escala que estos artistas producen, disponible para venta. Y se hablará al respecto en PALABRAS, desde el punto de vista de expertos que han dedicado su vida a registrar, teorizar, publicar y/o experimentar este arte espectacular.

Se presentará a la Ciudad de México como un museo al aire libre, con arte monumental y público, que de manera visual e interactiva, será un Festival para todos.

Click HERE to learn more about ALL City Canvas

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Fun Friday 04.20.12

April 20, 2012 , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

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.

Roa (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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.

Olek (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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.

Dan Witz. Detail of his installation “The Prisoners” on the walls of LALA. (photo © Dan Witz)

Askew One for LA Freewalls Project. (photo © Todd Mazer)

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”.

Hera at work in preparation for the show. (photo courtesy © Jennifer Goff)

Akut at work in preparation for the show. (photo courtesy © Jennifer Goff)

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.

Curtis Kulig AKA Love Me (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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.

C215 “About Copyrights” (VIDEO)

The Bushwick Trailer (VIDEO)

Starring: Bishop 203, Veng and Never

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Featured Video | Martin Wong’s “Houston Street”

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