Sure, Jef Aerosol had his show 2 Fridays ago, and he’s now back home in France. But it seems worth revisiting the amount of amazing moments I captured in Bushwick that day as a result of his energy and inspiration while he was in New York; One cannot help but feed off of it.
I want to give you some behind-the-scenes photos of the art and street scene that surrounded the artist at work.I hope you enjoy them as much as I did photographing and capturing them.
Down in the dank dingy dirty tunnels my sense of direction is effectively erased by the screeching noise of the trains hurtling over century-old tracks, the disembodied robot women scatting on the P.A. system, and those colorful ads for the Dr. Zitzmore dermatology disaster recovery clinic.
This happens to tourists and 1st semester college kids almost every time they come upstairs to the street from the subway. They don’t know east from west, north from south, Harlem from the Village, Carnarsie from Sunnyside, Bedford from St. Marks Place – you have to look around to see signs and re-set the internal compass.
Isn’t this the Williamsburg Industrial Neighborhood?
This Skewville looking sign recently appeared in the run-down garbage-strewn lot next to this subway entrance, which may be the only welcoming sign on the block.
Of course there still could be someone lurking in the bushes waiting to mug you – the property has been ignored so long that weeds are now trees. But at least when you glance up you will know what neighborhood you were robbed in.
After being in development for 13 years, Droo says the new Skewville site is ready to roll!
Actually, that’s not how long it took to build the site – just it’s content. This roll-through left-right scroller is a quick primer for the uninitiated on the history and accomplishments of Skewville and the multiple projects they have embarked on over the last decade plus.
Or, as Ad and Droo say, “If you don’t know – now you know.”
All the round the whirl with Skewville irony
From launching galleries to launching thousands of pairs of their wooden dogs over wires around the globe, to offering shows to their peers and participating in shows internationally, and always adding their smart-aleck commentary about the street art “scene” to the discussion, these brothers have piled a sizeable stack of HYPE.
Complexity and mastery comes with practice. Blah Blah Blah
This must be the place. Skewville actually was a physical location and a lifestyle for the middle class and unfamous.
No strangers to sarcasm, the brothers have conceived and built a number of contraptions to get their message out.
Currently the Skewville Corporation is participating inNuart, a festival in Stavanger, Norway that celebrates the contributions of Brooklyn Street Artists.
Check the Tubeness below to see a piece that MTV Brasil did – After the first minute in Portuguese, Ad DeVille pretty much takes the show!
Vandalog’s RJ Hard at Work on “The Thousands”
His first “Pop-Up” is taking shape this November in London
An open and sincere voice in the street art blog world, RJ Rushmore is a stone cold street art lover. Albeit still in his teens, this guy posesses a maturity and modesty that many of his peers may not develop for another 10 years. More significant; his industry is matching the size of his dreams.
This time the dream is a “Pop-Up” show featuring the big names in street art today, exposing a larger audience to the genre that has captured the imagination of the youth culture.
RJ has been planning the show for many months methodically and feels secure about it’s ultimate success but he is very aware that he is taking a big leap to undertake this labor of love, where most of the work won’t even be for sale.
So far the 40 pieces in the show are from most of the big names in street art – Adam Neate, Banksy, Barry McGee, Jenny Holzer, Bast, Swoon, Kaws, Os Gemeos, Shepard Fairey, Herakut, Blek le Rat and others.
People are jumping into “The Thousands” every day as word spreads, and RJ’s been sorting out the details that come along with this kind of show – Artists, Collectors, Permissions, Love. In addition he’s working on a companion coffee table book to be published by Drago in November with photos and bios and a few guest contributors like Gaia and Panik.
His first exhibition includes some of the better known names and he’s looking forward to doing a future show with more emerging artists, but he’s smart to limit the scope the first time out. “The purpose of my efforts is to bring street art to the attention of a wider art community, and the best way to do that is to take the very best street artists’ artwork instead of all the emerging artists that I might love and think are promising”, says Mr. Rushmore.
The Thousands will be open from November 18th through the 22nd of November at Village Underground in London. Keep up on the details at the blog for “The Thousands” HERE
Eastern District, a 400sf gallery opened for about a year in Bushwick is looking to extend it’s reach by asking street art veteran gallerists Allison and Garrison Buxton to curate a new show in the ED space next door. Most people know that Ad Hoc Art recently announced it’s downsizing it’s square footage due in their 49 Bogart space and stories of ED’s impending closure have been swirling around also.
Well, this is how neighbors do it in Brooklyn: by reaching out and working together. If either one of these parties had been the snooty white-box types, it never would have worked. But this is an arts community that knows that the resulting strength is greater with two. When asked by ED to partner on shows, Ad Hoc Art happily and quickly accepted the invitation to curate and bring their peeps too. Now they are looking at ways to bring more great shows to ED. That’s very good news for the nascent Bushwick gallery scene, not to mention the artists who get to show there.
And that brings us to today. Garrison says, “AHA & ED have a Bushwick-focused show opening specifically highlighting very local talent from the hood where it all started.” Included are AHA/Bushwick favorites like like Destroy and Rebuild, LogikOne, Michael Allen, Molly Crabapple, Pagan, and Robert Steel”
Ad Hoc Art’s is now planning a fall exhibition featuring the work of Joe Vaux and Gilbert Oh to open in November at Eastern District and more shows planned into the winter, such as veteren British/French street artist Jef Aerosol in January. For now, it sounds like the Ad Hoc extravganza and shenanigans will continue!
Prepare for exciting art extravaganzas and shenanigans in the present and continuing into the near future, for Bushwick and beyond.
SuperDraw Keeps Developing – Now it’s an Iphone App
Remember BSA’s Projekt Projektor last year at the Dumbo Festival, full of new projectionists stretching the definition of Street Art? Remember the projectionists at the end of our Street Crush Show in February?
Then you’ll remember Josh Ott, or SuperDraw. Dude developed an interactive interface for people to project their own art through a project with their iPhones, and at our shows he eagerly transferred it to your phone for free so you could slap your work all over the Manhattan Bridge.
True, GRL keeps setting some of the standards, but we firmly believe that the future of street art may be vibrating in your front pocket right now. There is a whole crop of projectionists and video and multimedia artists that are sharpening their skillz for that Brave New Street Art World as we chase the wheat-pasters.
Don Pablo Pedro and his blue friend (photo Jaime Rojo)
Having recently lost a testicle, Don Pablo Pedro sure has balls.
He might tell you that himself, or you could just go to his first solo show at English Kills Gallery in Bushwick that closes tomorrow. They’ll be having a “Closing Barbecue” and gallery owner Chris Harding advises you to bring your own meat. Whether to eat it before of after viewing the “One-Ball Show” is a very good question.
Dream or nightmare? (Don Pablo Pedro) (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Speaking of barbecues, it’s a good thing the mighty Church of England or the Vatican don’t chase down artists for heresy or blasphemy anymore, because our poor young Pablo would be roasting over an open pit right about now. Witness the scroll canvasses with gaping vaginas in the middle of bellies and foreheads, a four-armed chanteuse sucking her own turgid finger, a man giving birth to a screaming baby out of his rectum, and gender bending not seen since the bathroom at Don Hill’s. Simultaneously riveting and repulsing, after seeing this bevy of multi-colored psycho-sexual torment, I felt guilty and sickened and a little bit turned on.
Do they cover this in Lamaze Class? (Don Pablo Pedro) (photo Steven P. Harrington)
His name is Don Pablo. And he is a warm person who speaks freely, if mischievously, and if there is torment, you wouldn’t know it. With long hair, bushy beard, nail polish, and a knockout fashion designer girlfriend, Don Pablo looks part Jesus of Nazareth, part Devendra Banhart.
She was quite a dish (Don Pablo Pedro) (photo Steven P. Harrington)
And now he’s done a big blue multi-breasted piece on a wall – so that is pretty much all it takes to get on this blog. As a painter, the dude’s no slouch either – taking it slowly and methodically with careful rendering and attention to detail. On a sunny afternoon last week we finally saw the gallery show (Opened Aug. 1), and saw DPP in action.
Sometimes it’s hard to get a head in this city (photo Steven P. Harrington)
And you complain about YOUR family (photo Steven P. Harrington)
Brooklyn Street Art:So, for how long have you been painting?
Don Pablo Pedro: My father handed me a brush as soon as I came out of my mothers vagina.
Don Pablo Pedro at work (photo Jaime Rojo)
Brooklyn Street Art: Your gallery show features creatures that are very human, yet have multiple variations of genitalia, as well as clever locations for them.
Don Pablo Pedro: Yes they do.
Don Pablo Pedro (photo Jaime Rojo)
Brooklyn Street Art:You recently had a very serious medical crisis. How did that affect you personally and how has it affected your work?
Don Pablo Pedro: I’m lighter now only having one testicle and faster and more efficient.
A bit of a challenge to work with the building’s topography (Don Pablo Pedro) (photo Jaime Rojo)
Brooklyn Street Art: Are scrolls easy to store?
Don Pablo Pedro: Very easy that’s why I love them.
Toe Detail (Don Pablo Pedro) (photo Jaime Rojo)
Brooklyn Street Art:Have you ventured out of the studio to do much street art?
Don Pablo Pedro: Not much lately but maybe more soon.
Don Pablo Pedro (photo Jaime Rojo)
Brooklyn Street Art:Whose this blue friend on the wall?
Don Pablo Pedro: My dream girl .
Chris Stain, Don Pablo Pedro, FKDL (photo Jaime Rojo)
Sorry, couldn’t resist… set design by Justin Mikal Davis by the way.
BrooklynStreetArt.com Blog is proud to be the Official Blog of the first MBP Urban Arts Fest!
The 2 PART, 1 DAY Urban Arts Festival goes from 1PM-2AM. Come celebrate and participate in the thriving urban art community MBP has advocated since it’s inception. With LIVE PAINTING, skateboard demos and contests, music and DJs, photography and art installations and plenty of art and books for sale, there will be something for everyone!
We will be taking over and transforming the entire lower-half of Castle Braid (114 Troutman Street, Myrtle Ave/Bwy JMZ Train) in Bushwick, Brooklyn.
PART 1
The day’s first part runs from 1PM-9PM and is open to all ages.
PART 2
9PM-2AM is 21 and over, featuring free beer and a dance party.
Art for Progress is the Non-Profit you gotta know;
an organization dedicated to supporting rising multi-discipline arts in New York City.
What to expect:
• Gallery-style art installations
• Live graffiti exhibitions & public graffiti wall sponsored by Montana Colors
• Live entertainment, DJs, dance & musical performances
• Skate park & sponsored game of S.K.A.T.E hosted by Substance Skateboards
• First 500 guests receive a FREE in-person signed copy of Talk Balk: The Bubble Project by Ji Lee
• Special Guest Signings
• All Ages Arts & Crafts: postal sticker tagging how-to; design your own “Umberto” character from Dutch artisit/illustrator Tijn Snoodijk; make-your-own recycled material tote bags with Bags for the People, design your own canvas laptop case from AIAIAI and more!
• Local & International Artist Showcases & Tables
• Unveiling of exclusive OBEY x PEEL poster by Shephard Fairey for Peel Magazine (authors of MBP’s PEEL: The Art of the Sticker)
• Shopping (MBP bookstore & Local Artists’ offerings)
• Food & Drinks (Brooklyn Brewery, Hoegaarden, Food Trucks)
• Gift Bags & Prizes – with bags from Bags for the People, goodies from Mimobots, Cafe Bustelo, Zoo York, AIAIAI and more!
ARTISTS/SPECIAL GUESTS
• Martha Cooper, Going Postal
• Remo Camerota, Graffiti Japan
• Ji Lee, Talk Back: The Bubble Project
• Luz A. Martín, Textura: Valencia Street Art
• Artists from ORBIT Gallery (featured in upcoming EdgyCute book: Joe Scarano, Angie Mason, Michael Caines, Chris Uminga, Motomich Nakamura, BECCA, Emma Overman, Robbie Busch; and Frank Sheehan)
• Special Guest Curator Mighty Tanaka (with art from: avone, JMR, Hellbent, Alexandra Pacula, Peter Halasz, Mike Schreiber, AVOID PI, FARO, Royce Bannon, BLOKE, Mari Keeler, John Breiner, Skewville)
• Tijn Snoodijk of Shop Around – Netherlands
• RobotsWillKill (featured in Going Postal & PEEL: The Art of the Sticker)
• Project Super Friends
• Royce Bannon (featured in Going Postal)
• Chris Stain (featured in Going Postal)
• Destroy & Rebuild
• Cosbe (featured in Going Postal)
• CR
• Abe Lincoln Jr.
• Indigo & Mania
• El Celso
• Chalk drawings by Ellis Gallagher
1053 Flushing Avenue
June 6 – June 7, 2008
Opening: Friday, June 6, 6 – 9PM
Transforming this former BKLN bodega into a brand new gallery in Bushwick will be Skewville; the inimitable dogs will be throwing a party instead of wooden sneakers this weekend as part of the 2nd Bushwick Open Studios. Finally in Brooklyn where they belong, Skewville christens the spanking new gallery Factory Fresh – and Ali says the gallery calendar is already brimming with new shows coming soon.
Come Friday to welcome Factory Fresh and Mind the Power Lines!
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
