All posts tagged: Andy Valmorbida

Futura And The Origins of The Universe

September 17, 2012

In the beginning, there was Futura.

That’s kind of how this expansive space feels with no people in it.  It is a universe created by a post-graffiti graffiti godfather who has freed his own imagination to search for new planets of influence, new centers of intelligence.  Many of the New York graffiti artists who made names on trains in the 1970s and early 80s found a track to transition to the future, whether through evolving their style or reprising it again and again. When you look at the influence of 20th century fine art abstraction as it has matured on the Street Art scene of the last decade, this cat may have begun in this retro-future, and we’re now just catching up to him.

Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Thirty years after he took his work into the gallery from the trainyards, Futura reminds us of the greater possibilities of aerosol as a tool for expression, exploration. The power of the works as presented is cosmic; explosive, exploratory, often serene. Fire and lava formations, oceans, suns, patterned reflections and free nebulous images as captured by powerful telescopes as they float above us. While his hand is freestyle and almost impulsive, Futura can be as selectively deliberate as he is uncontrolled. Viewed in this wide open and darkened gallery galaxy, the space-age illumination gives the works a feeling of astronomy, with each canvas a floating body in the cosmos, clearly viewed from your own porthole.  But it’s clear who the north star is.

Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Futura. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Futura. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Futura. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Futura. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Futura. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Futura (photo © Jaime Rojo)

FUTURA – “Future-Shock”, is at the Andy Valmorbida Pop-Up in Tribeca.

 

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Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld and Andy Valmorbida Present: RETNA: The Hallelujah World Tour at the Old Dairy (London, UK)

May 25, 2011 , , , , ,

RETNA

brooklyn-street-art-retna-jaime-rojo-02-11-web-6RETNA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RETNA: The Hallelujah World Tour

The Old Dairy, 7 Wakefield St, London, WC1N 1PB

9 June – 27 June 2011

Preview: Wednesday 8 June 2011, 6-9pm

An exhibition of new works by Los Angeles based artist RETNA will be presented by Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld and Andy Valmorbida at the Old Dairy, London, from 9 June until 27 June 2011. The Hallelujah World Tour represents RETNA’s first solo UK exhibition.

RETNA’s work draws on an array of influences including Asian calligraphy, Incan and Egyptian hieroglyphics, Hebrew and Arabic script, traditional UK gang style graffiti writings and the tagging and graffiti seen in Los Angeles since the 1970’s . Within these traditions he has created a distinct and innovative style. RETNA presents 30 new works fusing a variety of different mediums including drawing, painting and poetry.

Yielding an unmistakable aesthetic, he has emerged as one of the most prolific graffiti artists in the contemporary art world.  Since the mid-1990s RETNA has participated in over 30 international exhibitions, and his work was recently selected to feature in ‘Art in the Streets’, a major retrospective of street art at the Museum of Contemporary Art in LA. Gallery Director Jeffrey Deitch commented, ‘The approach to his work is so internalized that Retna doesn’t have to agonize, and think, what do I do next? He just starts in the upper left corner and moves across a surface. The only other artist that I know who was able to do that was Keith Haring.’

Retna was introduced to L.A.’s mural culture from an early age, and whilst still at school led one of the largest and most innovative graffiti art collectives in the city. He is best known for appropriating fashion advertisements and amplifying them with his unique layering, intricate line work, text-based style and incandescent color palette reflecting an eclectic artistic tradition.

Recent projects have included a solo exhibition, ‘Silver Lining’, during Art Basel Miami Beach at Primary Projects (2010); the world’s largest street level mural Installation, ‘Primary Flight’ (2010); a solo exhibition, ‘Desaturated’, at New Image Art Gallery, Los Angeles (2010); a mural for the Margulies Collection at the Warehouse in Miami, Florida (2009); and ‘Vagos y Reinas’ at Robert Berman Gallery (2009).

This exhibition represents the second part of a three stop world tour of RETNA’s work, in collaboration with Bombardier Business Aircraft and VistaJet. As part of the project, RETNA will create a unique work on the tail of one of VistaJet’s Global Express XRS aircraft. The tour began in New York in February 2011 and will conclude with an exhibition in Hong Kong later this year.

Andy Valmorbida comments, ‘At the age of 31, Retna is able to identify himself as a rising star within the international contemporary art world, and is one of the very few artists I have seen who is able to stand next to such artists as Keith Haring and Jean Michel-Basquiat in terms of identity, stroke and gesture and will hold a key place as one of the major forces in the new movement of fine Street Artists.’

The Old Dairy is open Tuesday to Saturday, 11am to 6pm. Admission is free.

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Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld and Andy Valmorbida in collaboration with Giorgio Armani present: “Richard Hambleton New York – The Godfather of street art” (London, UK)

November 1, 2010 , , , , ,

Richard Hambleton

brooklyn-street-art-Richard-Hambleton-The-Dairy-Gallery

Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld and Andy Valmorbida in collaboration with Giorgio Armani present “Richard Hambleton New York –  The Godfather of street art”, an exhibition of works by Richard Hambleton

London, November 2010 – Elusive New York artist Richard Hambleton will be the subject of an exhibition at The Dairy in London, following  highly successful exhibitions in New York, Milan, and Cannes. The exhibition, opening on 18th November, will be curated by Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld and Andy Valmorbida in collaboration with Giorgio Armani.

Richard Hambleton rose to fame in the early 1980’s when like his contemporaries, Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring, he used the streets of New York, San Francisco, Berlin, Paris, London and Japan as his canvas for visually arresting public art, most notably his “Shadowman” and “Crime Scene” series. Hambleton has now been labelled ‘The Godfather of Street Art’, influencing artists such as Paris based street artist Blek le Rat and English street artist Banksy.

The last influential surviving member of the East Village Art Movement, Hambleton saw what fame and drug use did to his close friends, and for the last 20 years has led a relatively reclusive life on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Despite a low public profile, Hambleton has continued to create and his works can be found in the permanent collections of The MoMA, the Brooklyn Museum, The Houston Museum of Fine Art, The Check Point Charlie Museum and The Zellermeyer in Berlin; the Andy Warhol Museum, the Austin Museum of Art, the Milwaukee Art Museum, the New Museum of Contemporary Art, the Queens Museum, and Harvard University. He was chosen for the Venice Biennale in 1984.

Giorgio Armani says: “I have long been a fan of Richard Hambleton. Richard’s work is of the streets, and for me stands as a reminder that art in all its forms is first and foremost driven by individual passion and creativity”

Vladimir Restoin Roitfeld and Andy Valmorbida say: “Richard Hambleton’s brush stroke as an artist is genius and is in a league of its own. Most significantly, he is the most important and influential living street artist in the world today, with a story and career that is unparalleled. It is also a privilege for us to collaborate again with Giorgio Armani and we’re pleased to present it in such a prestigious space.”

The Richard Hambleton Exhibition will be open to the public from November 19th to December 3rd. During that time the pop-up gallery at the Dairy, at 7 Wakefield St in London will be open Monday to Friday from 10am to 7pm. Of the 45 pieces, 30 works (including 25 never before seen works) will be for sale.

Moreover, eight custom made light-boxes with photography of Richard Hambleton’s original street art from the early 80’s will be presented.

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