All posts tagged: Atlanta

Natural Devolution in the “Swampy” Southland

September 7, 2010 Artists, Atlanta

Brooklyn Street Artist Swampy Pounds a Path in Atlanta Wilderness

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Living-Walls-Update2 by Jayne McGinn
images by Jenna Duffy

Swampy’s signature characters form a narrative, a new dimension slowly being built inside our own. The skull and tusks are representative of a feral human; a person who, after being released into the wild, changes like an emancipated domestic pig transforms back into a boar by growing tusks and long hair.

Swampy (© Jenna Duffy)

The trademark crystals in Swampy’s paintings function on different levels. Not only are the crystals aesthetically pleasing, but also representative of the untainted minerals that make up animals forming into a shapes so beautiful, it’s astonishing that they could occur naturally in this world.

Swampy (© Jenna Duffy)

In person, Swampy seems less like someone who paints characters representing purity and extraordinary beauty and more like one of these characters, someone whose exceptional integrity is so remarkable that a natural existence is almost unfathomable.

Almost.

Swampy (© Jenna Duffy)

Kofke: “Everything Will Be Okay”. That’s a Relief!

September 2, 2010 Artists, Atlanta, Events, On the Street

“I don’t know how I ended up a street artist,” says Kofke. “I really don’t.”

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Living-Walls-Update2 by Jayne McGinn
images by Jenna Duffy

Kokfe (© Jenna Duffy)

Jason Kofke started bringing his weird brand of optimism to the streets by writing “Everything Will Be Ok” on condom machines and toilets before it adorned depictions of tragedies such as plane crashes. The phrase is polarizing, igniting anger or catharsis in most of its viewers, both of which Kofke sees as a misinterpretation.

“I see it more of a question. Will everything be ok?”

Kokfe (© Jenna Duffy)

Ripo and Remed: “Poem Rider” Living Walls Update 08.19.10

August 19, 2010 Artists, Atlanta, Events, On the Street

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Living-Walls-Update2 by Jayne McGinn
images by Jenna Duffy

Ripo and Remed finished their mural for Living Walls on Dekalb Ave Tuesday night.

brooklyn-street-art-web-ripo-remed-jenna-duffy-living-walls--web-898

Working sunburned through the unforgiving Georgia heat and rain, the two international artists unified the wall by using the same vibrant colors; Ripo and Remed hand painted alternating letters in the two artists’ styles to spell out “Poem Rider,” an anagram of their two names.

brooklyn-street-art-web-ripo-remed-jenna-duffy-living-walls--web-892

It was amazing to watch them work, how they could eyeball off sections of the wall to make the letters even and create a wall with so much movement and depth by hand; they are both have amazing attention to detail and were able to see things that I was blind to. The artists utilized the entire wall, even manipulating an expired White Brothers Auto Parts sign for their signature. Ripo and Remed then continued to flow their artwork on to the adjacent wall, completely transforming the neglected area.

FERAL CHILD: Living Walls Update 08.19.10

August 19, 2010 Artists, Atlanta, On the Street

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Living-Walls-Update2

by Jayne McGinn
images by Jenna Duffy

When I arrived at Feral Child’s mural for The Living Walls Conference on the side of Homegrown, a local Atlanta restaurant, the last rays of the Georgia sun were pounding down on him. Brooklyn-Street-Art-WEB-Feral-Child-copyright-Jenna-Duffy_MG_1201-1

photo © Jenna Duffy

Unable to access the wall directly, Feral was hidden behind a barbwire fence, surrounded by a cluster of damaged cars in the parking lot of an adjacent body shop.

photo © Jenna Duffy

I heard I wouldn’t be able to get back there unless I wanted to be the lunch of a “junkyard” dog. I felt like I was in a Jim Croce song in this strange setting for Feral Child, whose first impression is so peaceful.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-WEB-Feral-Child-copyright-Jenna-Duffy____MG_0680

The dog wasn’t the only hurdle that Feral had to jump; the Georgia heat cooks like a convection oven, the blistering heat comes from all sides. After half a day outside baking, Feral’s cans were too hot to touch and risked explosion. He was forced to bring them indoors and chill them in a refrigerator before taking them back to his wall in a cooler. Brooklyn-Street-Art-WEB-Feral-Child-copyright-Jenna-Duffy___MG_0581

photo © Jenna Duffy

Gaia in Atlanta For Living Walls As Captured By Jenna And Jayne

August 17, 2010 Artists, Atlanta, Events

Jenna and Jayne spent the whole weekend working their phones, chasing after artists, getting soaked in the rain, dancing and taking in the Hotlanta air – which was filled with laughter, art, spray fumes and joy. They couldn’t resist the charms and the energy of New York native street artist Gaia. Here Jayne explains, in her own words how she was inspired by watching Gaia enjoy the festivities and by seeing him busy at work. Jenna captured with her lens the product of all that creativity.

Gaia (© Jenna Duffy)

When I first met Gaia he was tearing the dance floor a new one. With all the charisma and energy of the three Beastie Boys wrapped into one, Gaia is a force of nature. He is a captivating story teller and has my vote for “best person to get locked up with”.

Equally as brilliant, but on the other side of the spectrum, is Gaia’s artwork. Where he is a lightning bolt of spontaneity, his artwork is thoughtful and serious. His mural for Living Walls is a beautiful homage to Atlanta and the people who once lived here and to the Indian land this once was. Jayne McGinn

Gaia (© Jenna Duffy)

The Crowd at Living Walls (© Jenna Duffy)

Gaia (© Jenna Duffy)

To see more of Jenna Duffy’s work go HERE:

The Living Walls Blog

To learn more about Living Walls go HERE:

Living Walls are Alive! : BSA Update from Atlanta

August 14, 2010 Artists, Atlanta, Events

Living Walls

Jenna Duffy and Jayne McGinn have been chasing Street Art in Atlanta and taking in the whole carnival of art that is The Living Walls Conference. Jenna is an experienced fashion photographer and she has been capturing the amazing vibe with her camera while Jayne tell us in her own words what’s the mood for Saturday nights’ Eyedrum Opening. Here is their first dispatch exclusively for BSA:

Currently, Eyedrum, home of the Living Wall’s Gallery Show, and the adjacent loft where the artists are staying, has transformed into what one artist called “a summer camp meets a wedding, meets a reality show”. Street artists from around the world blew up air mattresses and slept slumber party style, painting, working, and hanging out into dawn with a collective of volunteers.

Eyedrum Hallway (© Jenna Duffy)

The long white hallway in Eyedrum became the artists’ free-for-all, each given pick and creative freedom to stake claim on any spot not taken. The enormity of Living Walls is evident here; once an eyesore, it is now almost completely covered with pieces large and small. Gaia, Greg Mike, Chris Bakay, Marcos Sueno, Never, Nasdaq, Hugh Leeman and other artists have thrown up murals and wheat pastes. The ultimate goal to cover the hallway is awe-inducing, but when executed the collage of local and international street artists will be an ocular feast.

Gaia in Action (© Jenna Duffy)

Eyedrum Hallway (© Jenna Duffy)

Fresh+I+Am takes a smack at environmental polluters at the head of the hallway (© Jenna Duffy)

Gaia (© Jenna Duffy)

To see more of Jenna Duffy’s work go HERE:

The Living Walls Blog

To learn more about Living Walls go HERE:

Fun Friday the 13th! 08.13.10

August 13, 2010 Artists, Atlanta, U.K., Washington DC

Fun-Friday

Fun Friday 08.13.10

Atlanta Goes to HellBent

The long awaited Living Walls event in Atlanta officially begins today, even though 30 street artists have arrived over the last week and begun work in earnest. We’ve been hearing some amazing stories – and of course they’re ALL TRUE. Stay toooooned for special reporting from peeps on the ground and on the walls. Check out the Hellbent below from somebody’s blurry Iphone. HELL YEAH! Not a bad pic actually.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Hellbent-Atlanta-Aug10

Excellent article on Monica and Blacky – the two person charming MACHINE behind this event – in one of their local papers.

Artists included in Living Walls:


Swampy
Miso
Chris Stain
The $tatus Faction
Know Hope
Gaia
Faber
Feral Child
The DotMasters
OX
Xomatok
Indigo
Drone
Ever
Nadie
Sakristan
Olivia
Dr. Case
Jerm IX
The Paper Twins
Doodles
Tereza De Quinta
Urka
Loaf
yoyoBruno
Shaun Thurston
Jason Kofke
Flix
Weak Hand
Michi Meko
Clown Soldier
Mad One
Yema
cin4ski
FKDL

EINE: Hoodlum to Heralded

It can be a harrowing and a strange trip that some graff/street artists take, and here’s a new video that gives an intimate inside look at some of Eine’s journey from tagging trains to making what might be described as fine art. Just last month a piece by the British Street Artist was given to President Obama by the Prime Minister on a visit to Washington. “So it’s been a weird day today,” says a July 20th posting on Ben Eine’s website. “David Cameron has given one of my paintings to President Obama.”

In The Guardian article by Jon Henley, Eine was quoted last month reflecting on the two heads of state, “Cameron seems quite a positive kind of guy and Obama’s a dude”. Wonder if it’s in the Oval Office?

Not Safe For Work! Naked White Man Can Jump!

A stop motion video comprised of 2,600 photos of 20 year old Morgan Tespsic doing public performance art that otherwise may be called exhibitionism, if the locations weren’t so bucolic and unpopulated.

Living Walls The City Speaks Atlanta

August 6, 2010 Artists, Atlanta, Events

Living Walls Atlanta

A GRASS ROOTS COLLOQUIUM

An exhibition and conference focused on street art and its role in engaging public space.

We are bringing in the works of an international selection of artists who typically make use of the streets to showcase their work. We have also sought artists that re-appropriate the public realm, attempting to take charge of their media space.

Artists will be asked, along with submitting artwork, to present some form of documentation of their other works as well as their process in order to illustrate via pictures, video, sketches, words, etc, the scale and context in which the artist typically works in public space.

LW4x6_Front

http://livingwallsconference.com

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