You know, it’s not all about Miami, people. During this Art Basel-Wynwood week, sometimes it’s like all the other Florida cities are having Jan Brady middle-child syndrome (Miami, Miami, Miami!). Oh sure, Tampa has Disney, but what about beer cocktails being served in an aerosol spray can by a model in a white fur bikini?
Long before the current graffiti industrial complex, there were public art murals. These commissioned works have been a time-honored way to give a community and artists an opportunity to collaborate for a common purpose – or set of common purposes. With many Street Artists carrying a certain caché in this moment, cities and towns and “Business Improvement Districts” are seeking the same artists who they once put in hand cuffs to beautify the environs, minus any possibly transgressive messages. The embrace is conditional of course but an intelligent and thoughtful approach to engaging with and valuing the talents of artists – a little more Jersey City and a little less Detroit, as it were.
Street Artists/fine artists/mural artists Tes One & Bask recently completed a rather vast series of murals for the Arts Program Division of the City of Tampa with a team of 8 assistants and 175 gallons of paint — transforming a number of facades with a campaign they called “Stay Curious”. Here’s a look at some exclusive pics sent to BSA by the artists this week.
Photographer Martha Cooper just returned to New York from Hawaiian paradise and the 5th Pow! Wow! Festival, which this year featured an unprecedented number of artist that some estimate at 100.
Naturally with a herd that big, you’d have to be a regular cattle hand with a camera to capture all of the action, but the fast moving Cooper collected a number of images that we can share here with BSA readers over the next couple of days, along with her notes on the experience.
Kaka’ako is the name of the neighborhood where most of the murals are located and Ms. Cooper compares it to the Miami site that also has hosted a large number of legal walls for the last few years. “It’s a Wynwood-type neighborhood but with a longer, more esteemed history,” she says, and “Like Wynwood it’s slated for development.” For example a library that many of the local Hawaiian artists painted will soon be torn down to make space for condos. Good thing Street Artist Gaia and Vhils were there to bring some of the local historical and mythological elements, including portraits of Hawaiian royalty.
An interesting aspect of this event, and there were many, was the pairing of many artists on walls to combine and merge their styles to create new works. “There were a surprising number of unusual collaborations at Pow! Wow!,” says Martha. “Some were odd mashups like Tatiana Suarez and Woes, and Buff Monster and Nychos seemed like a good match. I think it must have been challenging for the artists. Cope & Indie also asked Buff Monster and 123Klan to collaborate on their wall.”
Another trend this year: Elvis. “Elvis is big in Hawaii,” Martha remarks, and she says it is because of his celluloid records in addition to his vinyl ones. “He made three movies in Hawaii,” and she mentions the Elvis mask that Wayne White made as a good example of Presley magic on the tropical island of Honolulu. “I especially liked the way Madsteez incorporated existing graffiti into his wall because he made good use of the corrugated iron surface which was difficult to paint on but it had a nice patina when finished.” Interestingly, Madsteez gave his blue Elvis an eye patch that mimics the artist’s own worldview.
Insa is one of the first GIFFITTI artists – and his wall with ROID for Pow! Wow” recalls the typography and graphic style of commercial 1980s TV shows like Miami Vice and the New Wave as interpreted by MTV. The resulting GIF is a funny simple animation that somehow brings the nostalgia alive. Looks like paradise from here!
BSA Images of the Week this week starts with a series of non Street Art photos because they are inside a hallowed hall of NYC high culture, namely the Phillip Johnson designed modernist building that houses the New York City Ballet at Lincoln Center. International Street Artist, photographer and populist JR made a splash this week here with his project that puts ballet at the center of our eye.
For the second year the ballet has featured a Street Artist to lead their new artist series (last year was the duo Faile) and we’re nominating some names for next year already. This week however, JR’s large scale photographs of the ballet company ruled on opening night as a wide variety of guests walked on them all and marvelled up close and personally with the dancers images that lay artfully throughout the room.
Some guests climbed stairs to look down upon the giant ocular piece from balconies above, and in a true spirit of interactivity some fans went the full-immersion route by laying upon the image itself, striking a pose while friends took shots and tweeted and Instagrammed them. By the time the performers hit the stage we were all primed for the sprightly Gen Y talent to dance, and if this program by @balletnyc is successful, a new generation will also be filling the seats to see them this spring.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Ainac, Bask, El Sol 25, Elbow-Toe, JR, Pyramid Oracle, and Swoon.
Here is our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring 500m, Ainac, Bask, Bishop203, CB23, Edapt, Fin DAC, Hot Tea, Jilly Ballistic, Labrona, Leghead, Medico, Nester, Nico, Paul Insect, Poop Culture, Starfightera, and Tony DePew.
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring bACK eAST, Bask, Dabs & Myla, HDL (Hygenic Dress League), Judith Supine, Mr. Toll, Pose, Revs, RVMP, Sean Mahan, Tom Fruin, and Windsor.
“For this design we developed a sense of patriotic visual language with the stripes and Fleur de Le – a symbol often associated with our corporation as is the pigeon. The gas mask is allegory and represents the protection or immunity from our own (hygienic dress league) corporate actions” HDL
Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Adam Young, Adelaide, Am3ba, Bask, Buff Monster, David Flores, Hero, Nils Westegard, Olek, Pop Mortem, Rep 1, Skount, Street Hart and Wakuda.
A new tribute to musician and activist MCA of the Beastie Boys by David Flores starts begins a series of historical sites that Delta Bravo Urban Exploration will be doing. The mural is located by what was once home to the Beastie Boys G-Son Studios in Atwater Village, California.
David would like to send special thanks to Farmer Piper, Olivia Noelle Bevilacqua, and the whole DBUET crew. MCA RIP
1AM is excited to unveil a new collection by Ales BASK Hostomsky this Friday, July 5th, 6:30-9:30pm. “Übermensch” will showcase works depicting children painted as superheroes on found and weathered surfaces that exhibit an energetic urban art aesthetic. You won’t want to miss the installation and art opening on Friday!
Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.
Now screening: DEBUT of BASK in Detroit: “D-bris”, “Fragmentos” by Vhils, Sheryo and The Yok: Pipe Dreams, and Sheryo and The Yok Make Ceramic Vases in Vietnam.
BSA Special Feature: Video DEBUT
BASK in Detroit: “D-bris” by Salvador Rodriguez
Detroit is crumbling, ya heard? Bask and his assistant Nikolas Kekllas decided to make something rather ornate among all the wreckage. Here he builds a big D entirely constructed out of debris salvaged from Detroit factories and general abandonment.
Also, you’ll get to see a giant slab of wall falling, which means that this stuff can be pretty dangerous.
From his trip to Brazil last month, this video is a very good way to learn about the nature of work that Alexandre Farto AKA the Street Artist Vhils does when removing fragments of the wall and revealing a portrait.
The film is by João Retorta
Sheryo and The Yok: Pipe Dreams
Re-upping their spot at 5Pointz in Queens, Sheryo and The Yok bang out some new stuff.
Sheryo and The Yok Make Ceramic Vases
In September 2012 Sheryo and The Yok travelled to Vietnam to make a series of porcelain vases. They hand painted each vase in the ancient factories that have been making these vases for centuries with their tattoo influenced, cartoon styles. Currently the vases are on display at Krause Gallery.
Black Book Gallery is using art as a platform to support Love Hope Strength Foundation’s (LHSF) mission of saving the lives of people with cancer. Cancer took the life of Co-owner Thomas Horne’s twin brother, Tim, as well as millions of others world-wide each year. The show titled, “Knock it Out” is Tom’s tribute to all the families,patients, and victims of this devastating disease. (www.knockitout.org). Everyone, in every corner of the world, knows someone affected by cancer, and on the evening of Friday, April 5th, 2013, Black Book Gallery invites us all to come together to celebrate the lives of our loved ones.
Horne and his partner, Will Suitts, at Black Book Gallery, have been working tirelessly to put together an amazing group of both national and international artists; many of whom are creating original works specifically for this show. These artists are leading the way in supporting LHSF’s “Get On the List” campaign, as well as LHSF’s Children’s Cancer Center in Tanzania. The night will be filled with art, music, fun, and a bone marrow drive which will allow you to register with the Get On the List Campaign. Black Book Gallery hopes to make a donation of $10K from original artwork sales that will help fund a Doctor at the Love Hope Strength Children’s Cancer Center in Tanzania.
Featuring
Bask, Miss Bugs, Shepard Fairey, Doze Green, Retna, Lucy Mclauchlan, Faile, Rich Jacobs, Niagara, Mr. Brainwash, Mel Kadel, Travis Millard, Alex Pardee, Rowdy, Cope2, Dean Zeus Colman, James Reka, ROA, Swoon, Judith Supine, Handiedan, Greg Lamarche, Mike Stilkey, Eelus, Dave Kinsey, Pure Evil, Jason Thielke, CEPT, Alex Lukas, Souther Salazar, The London Police, Titi Freak, Lisa Solberg, Blek Le Rat, Dabs & Myla, Indie 184, Pose, Luke Chueh, ESPO, Adam Wallacavage, Sam Flores, Hush and more!!!!!!
DETAILS
OPENING RECEPTION:
April 5th, 2013
6-11PM
Free & Open to the public
Shots from the weekend here by photographer, artist and frequent BSA contributor Geoff Hargadon. He caught a lot of new pieces as they were being installed, as well as some newly fresh ones.
While there was some mindlessly pompous chatter surrounding the heralded display of actual walls by Banksy at the Context fair, the sometimes vandal’s work was surprisingly unremarkable to most attendees, who glanced at it and kept walking. If anything, the security guards helped garner a little interest. It is illuminating to find that outside of the hyper-excited Street Art fandom bubble that we are often in, an actual Banksy work doesn’t have as much magnetism that you might expect.
The walls (or pieces of walls) that were on display are said to have been stolen and the artist is said to be angered about it, but no arrests have been made and no property seized. Since the majority of graffiti or Street Artists are not wont to ask for permission to do their thing, most understand that no “rules” are typically invoked to protect their work on the street, or off it. Now that Banksy’s work is so high profile and sells at auctions and is in museums, it’s like putting a luxury watch or crystal vase on a wall out in the public – its market value is just too tempting for certain individuals. While this is an unsavory outcome to some, it’s not likely to change much.
“I am not a fan of what Bankrobber did, but, presuming it’s not some elaborate collaboration, I’m amused by the fact that Banksy doesn’t control it, and how his work is being displayed: among people who apparently don’t care about it nor did they come to see it… where Banksy is not necessarily the center of attention,” says Hargadon, remarking that one piece is shown behind a velvet rope.
1. Dscreet is on “The Other Side Show” (London)
2. Neck Face is “Simply The Worst” Tonight in LA
3. Stormie Mills “Dark Lights” Friday (Perth, AU)
4. “Welcome to the Neighborhood” Low Brow Artique Grand Opening Saturday (Bushwick, BK)
5. MEGGS at White Walls (San Francisco)
6. VINZ Solo in 3 Places Saturday (Netherlands)
7. Cassius Fouler Now Open in Brooklyn
8. “Summer Selections” Group Show at Woodward (LES)
9. Morley “I Don’t Make Sense Without You”at Outsiders Gallery in Newcastle, UK
10. David Ellis and Kris Kuksi “Go West” to LA
11. Jeremy Fish at Fifty24SF Gallery in San Francisco
12. BASK One Stand in Detroit (VIDEO)
13. Snyder in Los Angeles (VIDEO)
Dscreet is on “The Other Side Show” (London)
“It will be my first solo show in four years and centers around the theme of duality – light and dark and black and white,” says Dscreet, the London based Street Artist of Burning Candy fame and infamy as he returns to the gallery with a solo show titled “The Other Side Show” at the Roktic Gallery in London. This show is now open.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Neck Face is “Simply The Worst” Tonight in LA
Neck Face returns to New Image Art Gallery in West Hollywood, CA to state why he is “Simply The Worst”. This show opens today and you are encouraged to wear something that it is not you.
For further information regarding this show click here.
“Welcome to the Neighborhood” Low Brow Artique Grand Opening Saturday (Bushwick, BK)
Uh-Oh, there goes the neighborhood. Tomorrow Street Artist Bishop 203 invites you to the grand opening of his gallery and art shop Low Brow Artique in Bushwick.
The opening will be celebrated with a group exhibition of Brooklyn based Street Artists including Cern, Clown Soldier, Elle, ENX, See One, Sheryo, Willow and Yok. Come wish this impresario good luck. An art supply spot in the front and a gallery in the back, “Low Brow” hopes to raise some eyebrows tomorrow night.
For further information regarding this show click here.
MEGGS at White Walls (San Francisco)
“Mythology tells the stories of gods, heroes, humans and supernatural beings as the personification of natural phenomena and more importantly the human condition… ” Saturday Meggs delves deeper into the subject of fantasy in San Francisco for his new solo show “Truth in Myth” opening tomorrow at the White Walls Gallery.
Meggs Red Skull. Detail. (image courtesy of the gallery)
For further information regarding this show click here.
VINZ Solo in 3 Places Saturday (Netherlands)
Spanish Street Artist VINZ has invaded Amsterdam with “Rules of Etiquette” his first solo show in The Netherlands opening tomorrow on three different locations: The Garage, Andenken Gallery and Battalion.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Cassius Fouler Now Open in Brooklyn
Opened last night at Weldon Arts Gallery, “Four Borough” is a cool collection from Cassius as he continues to merge symbols and irony and inside jokes with a deceptively simple and friendly hand delivery.
Woodward Gallery has put together “Summer Selections” an eclectic show of dead and alive artists, with some modern and contemporary masters mixed in with a select group of Street Artists that might or might not be the masters of tomorrow. Come in, cool off and judge for yourself.
Artists included are : Jean Michel Basquiat • Rick Begneaud • Susan Breen • Thomas Buildmore • Alexander Calder • Celso • Deborah Claxton • Darkcloud • Paul Gauguin • Sybil Gibson • Richard Hambleton • Curt Hoppe • Infinity • Jasper Johns • Russell King • Kosbe • LAII • Moody • Margaret Morrison • Mel Ramos • Robert Rauschenberg • Matt Siren • stikman • Jeremy Szopinski • Francesco Tumbiolo • Jo Ellen Van Ouwerkerk • Andy Warhol.
This show is now open to the general public. Click here for more details on this show.
Also happening this weekend:
The Outsiders Gallery in Newcastle, UK new show featuring Morley and entitled “I Don’t Make Sense Without You” is now open to the general public. Click here for more details on this show.
The Joshua Liner Gallery new show in Los Angeles at the Mark Moore Gallery pairs David Ellis and Kris Kuksi for “Go West”. This show is opens tomorrow in Culver City, CA. Click here for more details on this show.
Jeremy Fish is at the Fifty24SF Gallery in San Francisco with the opening tomorrow of his new show “Where Hearts Get Left”. Click here for more details about this show.
BASK One Stand in Detroit (VIDEO)
A quick look at how BASK did his recent piece in Detroit.
Snyder in Los Angeles (VIDEO)
For Street Art that verges on handmade crafting and display work, here’s a homey installation from Snyder.
How often do you walk by one of those community murals and feel like you are being “schooled” by obvious representational symbols purveyed by a well meaning but slightly overbearing school marm or your local Marxist? Oh, I get it; these big toothy gears that are catching the shirt of this man and pulling him in between the wheels and grinding him into mincemeat represent the capitalist system and the working man, right?
Other times you look at an artists wall and say to yourself, “Um, what?”
It’s all good, of course, and community standards usually determine what is acceptable, offensive, beneficial, benign. The intention of the artist to articulate a message and their ability to effectively communicate is purely individual. So, consider for a moment the new piece by Florida-based Street Artists Tes One and Bask in St. Petersburg. Two markedly different artistic styles converge and some sort of cleaning machines are scrubbing away a firey palette of prehistoric animals.
The artists are calling it “Drastic Park”, are happy with the results and interested with your take on what it might mean. Tes One says that many people inquired about it’s meaning while the guys were putting it up and since they finished it. “We want the work to speak for itself,” he says, “Some of the local reactions already have provided interesting perspectives thematically ranging from corporate greed to oppression and gentrification. It’s been great to hear what others see in it.”
The guys say that St Petersburg has begun an initiative to have more public art in the city. Whatever the interpretation of the individual pieces, it’s good to see that the public has an opportunity to see new stuff, and naturally, to offer opinions.
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
