All posts tagged: CA

White Walls Gallery Present: Word To Mother “Can’t Afford to be Broke” (San Francisco, CA)

May 10, 2012 , , , , ,

Word To Mother

White Walls is pleased to present Can’t Afford to be Broke, a solo exhibition from Word To Mother, featuring new works on wood along with a small run of exclusive ‘zines with hand-pulled screen printed cover. The opening reception will be Saturday, May 12th, from 7-11 pm, and the exhibition is free and open to the public for viewing through June 2nd, 2012.

London-based artist Word To Mother’s newest collection of works features his distinctive visual assemblages of figures, patterns and typography painted in mixed media on wooden panels. Drawing from his own experiences in recent years, the state of the economy, and riots on his doorstep Can’t Afford To Be Broke sees Word To Mother showing a sense of desperate yet hopeful pieces, using familiar references of both current and vintage popular culture icons, which evoke a sense of humor amongst more melancholic figures. Delving deeper into his exploration of color, Word to Mother expands into more primary tones alongside his usual favored natural palette. Gestural marks are layered and ‘buffed’ to create textured expanses of muted tones with injections of fluorescent reds and oranges appearing like small explosions of optimism amongst an overcast sky.

With wooden assemblages featuring smaller studies, text pieces and collections of salvaged items next to large scale paintings, there is a balance of subtlety contrasted with Word To Mother’s sense of humor and directness that can be summed-
up perfectly in the “Fuck You Pay Me” Baseball bat pieces.

Can’t Afford to be Broke sees a maturity in painting and a hand-crafted feel that is ever- present in Word To Mother’s pieces, resulting in what we believe is his strongest collection of works to date.

From the Artist:

“Everyone’s perception of ‘Broke’ is different. It’s all relative to our situation. In situations where celebrity riches and materialistic lifestyles are portrayed by the media, we have been conditioned to feel more valued as an individual based upon what we own, rather than our actions.

People are emotionally broke, financially broke, and physically broke, from the structure of the society we live in. Unless we educate ourselves, work hard, and take the right risks, we won’t get anywhere. We won’t get out. We will continue to be broke.

I can’t afford to be broke.”

Event Information:

Can’t Afford to be Broke by Word To Mother

Opening Reception – May 12th, 2012, 7-11 pm On View Through June 2nd, 2012
@ White Walls (www.whitewallssf.com)
835 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA

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Fabien Castanier Gallery Presents: “French Invasion” Group Show (Ventura City, CA)

May 10, 2012 , , , ,

Fabien Castaner Gallery

OPENING RECEPTION MAY 12, 7-10 PM
LA CANVAS PRE-EXHIBITION PARTY WITH LIVE PAINT PERFORMANCE MAY 12, 4-7 PM
*featuring limited edition FRENCH INVASION print sale to benefit Inner-City Arts

Fabien Castanier Gallery is proud to present the first exhibition in Los Angeles dedicated to the work of France’s leading street artists today. FRENCH INVASION features brand new work by: JonOne, Nasty, Rero, Speedy Graphito and Tilt. The exhibition will present an extensive range of work by these artists including paintings, installations, silkscreens and sculpture. Speedy Graphito, JonOne and Tilt will be present at the Opening Reception on May 12th, spraying a collaborative mural live from 4-7pm.

Paris has always been an important source of creative inspiration for artists across the globe, giving rise to some of the most important art movements in history. Though born in NYC, graffiti made its way across the pond, becoming firmly rooted in the neighborhoods of France. Whereas art produced on the streets was previously relegated to neighborhood walls and the metro, today it can be seen in galleries and museums. Street art in France has become one of the most considerable art movements of this century.

FRENCH INVASION highlights the differences in media, context, audiences and issues that these artists maintain both on the street and in the art market. Common to all these artists is their investment in the streets of Paris during the past decade but also their evolution in galleries in France and abroad. Contemporary urban art is now the movement of today and tomorrow.

FABIEN CASTANIER GALLERY:
12196 VENTURA BLVD. STUDIO CITY, CA 91604
P. 818.748.6014  | CONTACT@CASTANIERGALLERY.COM| WWW.CASTANIERGALLERY.COM
GALLERY HOURS TUESDAY–SATURDAY 11–7PM, SUNDAY-MONDAY 11–5PM.

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C.A.V.E. Gallery Presents: LO-CAL A Group Show and BECCA on The Project Wall. (Venice Beach, CA)

May 2, 2012 , , , , ,

CAVE GALLERY
MAY 12 – “LO-CAL” group show
C.A.V.E. GALLERY PRESENTS

LO-CAL

Celebrating the New Contemporary Art Movement
of Southern California     

Participating Artists
Anthony Ausgang, Buff Monster, Casey Weldon
Chet Zar, Codak, Gosha Levochkin, Gustavo Rimada
Hans Haveron, Haunted Euth, Jasmine Worth
Jason Hernandez, Jay Doronio, Jessica Ward
Jim Darling, Jim Mahfood, John Park
Joshua Charles Hart, Kelly Berg, L Croskey, Ken Garduno
Macsorro, Max Neutra, Mear One, Nate Seubert
NS David, Paul Chatem, Randy Noborikawa, Rob Sato
Sarah Neyhart, Steve Olson, Tina Darling
Tom Haubrick, Van Saro, Ver Mar, Young Chun

OPENING RECEPTION: SATURDAY, MAY 12TH,  6 – 10PM

PLUS – LIVE PAINTING BY: MEAR ONE 

AND GUEST DJ: CHUCK DUKOWSKI

ORIGINAL BASSIST FOR BLACK FLAG
 AND THE CHUCK DUKOWSKI SEXTET

On view thru May 26

 

www.cavegallery.net

1108 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Venice CA 90291 * Tel 310 450 6960  *  Wed thru Sun: 12 – 6pm

info@cavegallery.net
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Herakut says “Find Your Own Voice”

April 30, 2012 , , , , , , ,

German Street Artists and collaborators Hera and Akut have been in San Francisco recently for their solo show “Loving the Exiled” and while there they also had time to get up in the street. With roots in crews in the graffiti scene when they were both in their mid-teens, the two are twice that now and have a strong practice of fine and street art that takes them around the world. With distinctly different styles, the tension and contrast compliment one another in their mainly figurative work, and each considers the other a perfect counterbalance in an ongoing conversation.

Herakut (Photo © Jennifer Goff)

While preparing for their show at the 941 Geary Gallery, photographer Jennifer Goff captured some of the newest street work  for BSA readers. We had the opportunity to interview Herakut and learn about their process, their preferred materials, their prose, and the importance of finding your own voice as an artist.

Our thanks to Herakut for stealing away some time to speak with us and to Jennifer for her photography.

Brooklyn Street Art: Your work is truly collaborative and integrated. In what way does it seem like a conversation between two people?
HERAKUT: In every way. And there are more voices than just our two. We open up the dialogue when we come across a great thought, quote it and work with it, like we did in SF with the poem “LASH” by the exiled Iranian writer Mehrangiz Rassapour – a woman who has seen a lot of pain. She added some strong thoughts to our conversation and raised questions for us to come clear with.

Herakut (Photo © Jennifer Goff)

Brooklyn Street Art: There are a number of loners – single graff/Street Artists on the street today, as well as those who like to run with a partner or a crew. Which approach helps an artist to develop their own voice?
HERAKUT: Only when you have found your own voice you have something to contribute to a conversation, right? So, fit is probably best to find your own artistic identity first because then you know what it is that you are lacking. Akut and Hera are like Ying and Yang. That is what makes the work in our duo so effective. We don´t step on each other´s feet, because we have separate territories.

 

Herakut (photo © Jennifer Goff)

Herakut (Photo © Jennifer Goff)

Brooklyn Street Art: If you had very similar styles, do you think it would bore you? Do you think the tension between the more fine art approach of Akut and the raw expression of Hera is what we see in a finished piece?
HERAKUT: Yes, the contrast between our styles highlights each one. And the is another bonus to being so different from each other – there is no competition between the two of us. We don´t try to exceed the other, we try to add on to the other one´s work.

Brooklyn Street Art: It seems like your work has some of the same cadences and lyricism found in the written word. Have you illustrated a classic piece of literature or poetry? Do you want to?
HERAKUT: It´s like we are sitting in this boat in a stream and we grab and work with whatever happens to be floating close to us. We don´t stretch out too far, it has to find its way to us naturally. Therefore, we don´t even check for it´s qualities in terms of having a classic value. If it sounds good, we´ll work with it, like with this line “COWARDS DIE MANY TIMES BEFORE THEIR DEATHS”. Loved it, and then later found out it was something Shakespeare had written. Supposedly.

 

Herakut with Rusk (Photo © Jennifer Goff)

Herakut with Rusk (Photo © Jennifer Goff)

Brooklyn Street Art: Sometimes your pieces contain text – are those pieces of poems? A bit of inspiration?
HERAKUT: When we really quote, we always try to reference to the writer. Other then that we use our own words. They are the titles of each piece, but more so – it´s the words that add the twist to the painting. It is another layer of communication and we don´t want to miss out on that one, since communication is the whole reason for us to create art.

Brooklyn Street Art: Most favorite surface : wood, concrete, canvas, bricks, rusty metal.
HERAKUT: Brick is not a good one, because it causes too much disturbance on the realism bits. It´s too busy to begin with. Like wood. And wood is often so beautiful that it doesn´t need anything to it. Just like rust. Rust is actually a performance art created by water and air. Pretty good combo. For us concrete is probably the best one. There is something very frustrating about it. So many horrible walls and boundaries have been built of concrete. It´s not a friendly medium. It needs to be attacked, we think.

Herakut with Rusk (Photo © Jennifer Goff)

Herakut with Rusk (Photo © Jennifer Goff)

Herakut with Rusk (Photo © Jennifer Goff)

“Loving the Exiled” is currently on view at the 941 Geary Gallery in San Francisco. Click here for more details regarding this exhibition. With our sincere thank yous to Jennifer for sharing her photos with us.

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Shots from LALA Opening – LA Freewalls Moves Inside

April 28, 2012 , , ,

LALA Gallery in downtown Los Angeles had a well attended inaugural show last week to realize physically something that had up to this point been a dream for Street Art fan and champion Daniel LaHoda. With names like How & Nosm, Cryptik, Cern, Shepard Fairey, and Dan Witz among others on display (and in the flesh) the gallery welcomed many of the LA Freewalls crowd inside and off the street where they were less likely to wander into traffic – A good move considering the refreshments that many of the clamoring crowd appeared to enjoy as they milled around the gargantuan outdoor rooftop gazing upon the glowing orbs of Cern One punctuating the LA night.

Talented photographer and BSA collaborator Todd Mazer was on hand during the opening and sends some original inside photos for BSA readers to get a sense of the raw industrial space and environment.

Cern One Balloons (Photo Todd Mazer)

Cern One (Photo Todd Mazer)

Cern One (Photo Todd Mazer)

Dale VN Marshall (Photo Todd Mazer)

How & Nosm (Photo Todd Mazer)

Cryptik (Photo Todd Mazer)

Cryptik (Photo Todd Mazer)

Askew ONE (Photo Todd Mazer)

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LA + Auckland Honor Askew One, Graffiti and Street Artist

April 23, 2012 , , , , , , ,

It’s not often that a major city gives a spotlight to a graffiti / Street Artist and issues a formal proclamation about it, but that is exactly what happened Saturday in Los Angeles. AskewOne, a native of one of LA’s sister cities, Auckland, New Zealand , was honored by the City as his new mural “Under the Influence” was unveiled as part of the LA Freewalls Project.

“It’s much more likely in this city that a graffiti artist will be arrested than be recognized for positive contributions to the community”, as LA Taco reports, but really when you consider the major inroads that the LA Freewalls Project has made into the dialogue around the value of Street Art in LA’s local politics, it can’t be entirely surprising. It probably helps that the image itself incorporates the American flag into the composition– sort of disarms that whole negative rant that some politicos use when lumping Street Artists together with other social scourges like drug addiction, domestic terrorism, and the Ice Capades, doesn’t it?

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

“AskewOne is one of the world’s preeminent public artists, and one of the most accomplished contemporary graffiti writers,” says Daniel LaHoda, who spearheads LA Freewalls and who also hosted the inauguration of the new LALA gallery Saturday night with many of today’s best known Street Artist’s work on the walls. According to an official press release, the now famous LA mural moratorium will soon be lifted and “Kamilla Blanche, Senior Deputy for Arts and Culture, and the Director for Sister Cities, is excited about the possibilities to expand Los Angeles’ place as the national epicenter of public art.”

BSA is very pleased to be able to share with you these images of the new piece as shot by photographer Todd Mazer.

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

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

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

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

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

To learn more about Los Angeles Sister Cities Program click here.

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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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Fun Friday 04.13.12

April 13, 2012

 

Uh-Oh, should I be wearing a necklace of garlic today? It might not be too cool to wear it indoors. Oh snap it’s only a movie. Happy Friday the 13th everybody!

1. “Vice & Virtue” Shai Dahan (Stockholm)
2. “It Felt Like a Kiss”, Alexandros Vasmoulakis at Gallery Nosco (London)
3. “The Birds & The Bees” with H. Veng Smith and Gigi Chen (BKLN)
4. Isaac Cordal Solo tonight in Barcelona
5. Hellbent at C.A.V.E. Saturday (LA)
6. Buff Monster at Corey Helford Saturday (LA)
7. Sowat and Lek present: “Mausolee”
8. Arabic Graffiti and Egyptian Street Art in Frankfurt
9. John Crash Matos’ “Study In Watercolors” at the Addict Galerie in Paris
10. ARMO and his world of color, shapes and textures. (VIDEO)
11. Ana Peru Peru Ana “meanwhile, in new york city (VII)” (VIDEO)

“Vice & Virtue” Shai Dahan (Stockholm)

Shai Dahan’s solo show  “Vice & Virtue” opened last night at the Scarlett Gallery in Stockholm, Sweden and is open today to the public.  Are your virtues bigger than your vices?

For further information regarding this show click here.

“It Felt Like a Kiss”, Alexandros Vasmoulakis at Gallery Nosco (London)

An exploration of the seductive kiss and the female power of attraction – sounds like a valiant pursuit, doesn’t it? Alexandros Vasmoulakis’s solo show is open to the general public at Gallery Nosco in London today.

For further information regarding this show click here.

“The Birds & The Bees” with H. Veng Smith and Gigi Chen (BKLN)

A perfect theme for a show right now as the temperatures rise and skirts rise and shirts come off on the grassy knolls in Prospect Park.  “The Birds & The Bees” H. Veng Smith show with Gigi Chen at the Mighty Tanaka Gallery opens today in Brooklyn as Spring time’s gallant breeze calls you hither to Dumbo.

Veng (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Isaac Cordal Solo tonight in Barcelona

Curated by Street Art author Maximiliano Ruiz, this solo show gives platform to Isaac Cordal, a small-scale sculptor who has thus far used the street as the only necessary stage. Mr. Cordal’s little cement characters at RAS Gallery will stop you in your tracks and reconsider your giant self.

Isaac Cordal (photo © Isaac Cordal)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Hellbent at C.A.V.E. Saturday (LA)

New York Street Artist and fine artist Hellbent shares the space at C.A.V.E Gallery in Venice Beach, California this weekend with his offering “A Quilted Life”.

Hellbent (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Buff Monster at Corey Helford Saturday (LA)

Buff Monster is back at his most mischievous at the Corey Helford Gallery this time all covered in delicious pink. His solo show “Legend of the Pink” opens tomorrow in Culver City as the monster celebrates 10 years of work on the street.

Buff Monster (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Also happening this weekend:

Maya Hayuk solo show “2012 Apocabliss” in Mexico City at Anonymous Gallery. Click here for more details on this show.

Sowat and Lek present: “Mausolee”. An art show and book release in Paris, France. Click here for more details on this show.

From Here to Fame Publishing Presents: Arabic Graffiti and Egyptian Street Art in Frankfurt, Germany. Click here for more details on this show.

John Crash Matos’ “Study In Watercolors” at the Addict Galerie in Paris, France. Click here for more details on this show.

ARMO and his world of color, shapes and textures. (VIDEO)

Armo (photo © Armo)

“meanwhile, in new york city (VII)” (VIDEO)

Peru Ana Ana Peru are Street Artists, jokesters, and film makers in New York. Here is their new mini-movie of unscripted New York scenes, sounds and soliloquies collected together for your amusement and befuddlement.

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Is This Illegal? Desire Obtain Cherish in LA

April 12, 2012 , , ,

When your budget is so large that a violation fee is merely an operating expense, “illegal” is a quaint term.

The power of advertising in the public sphere on our propensity to purchase raspberry-scented shampoo is so effective that hand-bill postering and billboards pop up all over our built environment (and natural environment) like mushrooms overnight. As cities everywhere debate or ignore the appropriate growth of advertising messages, entrepreneurial billboard builders often take the initiative to spread the paid messages in legal grey or red zone because the opportunities for making green are aplenty. Talk about bombing.

 

Desire Obtain Cherish “Is This Illegal?” (photo © Birdman)

The Los Angeles Street Art collective Desire Obtain Cherish favor the billboard for a bit of culture jamming periodically and they have just raised the irony a notch. In these new photos from photographer Birdman, we see what appears to be Desire Obtain Cherish using illegal billboards for installations – raising awareness of just how many un-permitted, unsanctioned, unapproved, and illegal billboards are in our midst.  You can’t even rightly call this new installation campaign hi-jacking because it’s medium is already illegal. Compounding the fact is that this can also all all be done in broad daylight with foot traffic and cars whizzing by.

Desire Obtain Cherish “Is This Illegal?” (photo © Birdman)

Is this art? Conceptual art? Street Art? Art Activism? Community Service?

If your illegal message is on an illegal billboard in an illegal location, have you committed an illegal act? Do all those compounded “illegals” cancel one another, or create a cognitive dissonance-induced inertia?

Dang those kids for making us think about commerce, art, policy, and public space. In one of the videos below the end text clearly takes some positions but there are many to be taken. This will only mean trouble for the simple-minded who are in search of black and white answers at any cost.

Desire Obtain Cherish “Is This Illegal?” (photo © Birdman)

Desire Obtain Cherish “Is This Illegal?” (photo © Birdman)

Desire Obtain Cherish “Is This Illegal?” (photo © Birdman)

Desire Obtain Cherish “Is This Illegal?” (photo © Birdman)

“Is This Illegal?” – A video by Desire Obtain Cherish

Benjamin Alejandro “Is This Illegal?” Billboard Hijack, La Brea Ave, Los Angeles.

If you repost, please credit the photographer and link to this URL. Thank you.

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Corey Helford Gallery Presents: Buff Monster “Legend of the Pink Cherry” (Culver City, CA)

April 11, 2012 , , , , ,

Buff Monster


Opening Reception Saturday, April 14, 2012 from 7‑10pm
On View April 14 – May 5, 2012
On Saturday, April 14, Los Angeles street artist Buff Monster returns to Corey Helford Gallery to unveil the “Legend of the Pink Cherry,” his fifth solo exhibition at the gallery and his most ambitious to date.

Internationally known for his super bright, happy, and bold imagery, the paintings in the main gallery will celebrate the last eleven years of Buff Monster’s career, culminating in a timeless epic tale of good vs. evil. For the “Legend of the Pink Cherry,” the artist draws inspiration from Renaissance paintings. Buff Monster will introduce his latest creamy creation, a soft serve ice cream cone with human-like arms and legs. Each acrylic-on-wood panel piece in the show is delicately rendered with airbrush, a first for the artist.

Buff Monster’s narratives are more character and figure-based than before, and the series of paintings created for the exhibition will also reveal a new direction in Buff Monster’s career. “I’ve always thought of my work as inspired by and representative of Los Angeles—Hollywood more specifically. Los Angeles is the birthplace of Buff Monster. Part of why I feel compelled to tie everything together is that I feel that this chapter of my life and my work is coming to an end, and I’m looking to the future. It’s time to go East.”

The upstairs gallery will feature the second half of the exhibition, the debut of a project Buff Monster has been working towards his entire career: “The Melty Misfits,” a set of 60 collectible trading cards honoring the the Garbage Pail Kids. “I know more about Garbage Pail Kids than anyone you will ever meet,” Buff Monster adds, and in keeping true to the original form, each painting is 5”x7” on watercolor paper with acrylic and airbrush. The cards will be released on opening night, and the original paintings will be on display. Buff Monster notes, “I am going through a ton of work to make these as close to the vintage cards that we grew up with as possible. They’ll be printed offset using a custom paper stock and custom-mixed inks, and will come in wax packages just like cards from the 80s.”

The opening reception for the “Legend of the Pink Cherry” takes place Saturday, April 14 —Buff Monster’s birthday —at Corey Helford Gallery. The reception is open to the public, and the exhibition will be on view through May 5, 2012.

Buff Monster
Buff Monster lives in Hollywood and cites heavy metal music, ice cream and Japanese culture as major influences. The color pink, a symbol of confidence, individuality and happiness, is present in everything he creates. Buff Monster’s creative endeavors began by putting up thousands of hand-silkscreened posters across Los Angeles and in far-away places. His frequent poster missions developed into a productive street art career, and he now works on fine art paintings, collectible toys and select design projects. He paints on wood, taking great care to create his images as flat as possible. His work has been shown in galleries worldwide, often accompanied by large installations. Buff Monster has released numerous signature vinyl toys through leading vinyl toy companies, and has many other projects in the works. His art has been published in a variety of magazines, websites, newspapers and books, including Juxtapoz, Paper, Nylon, Cool Hunting, Angeleno, The Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, The New York Times, and many more. He was recently featured in Banksy’s movie Exit Through the Gift Shop. And in January of this year he painted a mural on the exterior of The Standard Hotel in Downtown Los Angeles. Buff Monster works tirelessly day and night to spread happiness, joy and a love of pink. For more information about the artist, please visit buffmonster.com.

Corey Helford Gallery
Located in the Culver City Art District, Corey Helford Gallery was established in 2006 by Jan Corey Helford and her husband, television producer and creator, Bruce Helford (Anger Management, The Drew Carey Show, George Lopez, The Oblongs). Corey Helford Gallery represents a diverse collection of Contemporary artists influenced by today’s pop culture, encompassing the genres of New Figurative, Pop Surreal, Graffiti and Street Art. Artists include Josh Agle (Shag), Ray Caesar, D*Face, Chloe Early, EINE, Ron English, Natalia Fabia, HUSH, Kukula, Lola, The London Police, Sylvia Ji, Eric Joyner, Michael Mararian, Brandi Milne, Buff Monster, Risk, Amy Sol, TrustoCorp, Martin Wittfooth, and Nick Walker. Renowned for its notable exhibitions, the gallery has presented “Charity By Numbers,” which was co-curated by Gary Baseman and featured an unprecedented lineup of artists including Mark Ryden, Marion Peck, Shepard Fairey, Todd and Kathy Schorr, Camille Rose Garcia, and Michael Hussar, as well as “La Noche de la Fusion,” an epic Carnivalesque festival and solo exhibition for Pervasive artist Gary Baseman. In 2010, Corey Helford Gallery partnered with Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery for the transatlantic collaboration “Art From The New World,” a world-class United Kingdom museum exhibition showcasing work by a formidable group of 49 of the finest emerging and noted American artists. Corey Helford Gallery presents new exhibitions approximately every four weeks. For more information and an upcoming exhibition schedule, please visit coreyhelfordgallery.com.

Corey Helford Gallery
8522 Washington Boulevard
Culver City, CA  90232
T: 310-287-2340
www.coreyhelfordgallery.com
Open Tuesday – Saturday, Noon to 6:00pm

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Lala Gallery Presents: “LA Freewalls Inside” (Los Angeles, CA)

April 9, 2012 , , , , , ,

LA Freewalls Inside

Dear Friends, 

We are incredibly proud to announce the opening of LALA Gallery on Saturday, April 21, 2012 where we will be presenting LA Freewalls Inside.
LA Freewalls Inside is a group show featuring over 40 artists who have helped make Downtown Los Angeles one of the biggest and most recognizable public art spaces in the world, including Shepard Fairey, SWOON, HOW and NOSM. Keep a lookout as we unveil the final line-up over the next two weeks.
So spread the word, bring a friend and help us break-in the space for the first of what will be many, many, more events.
– Daniel Lahoda, LALA Gallery
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941 Geary Gallery Presents: Herakut: “Loving the Exiled” (San Francisco, CA)

April 9, 2012 , , , , ,

Herakut

gaze out at us with eyes both sad and resigned, asking nothing of us but a basic empathy.

From the Artists:

We like to see each Herakut piece as the sum of a dialogue between Hera and Akut, a synthesis, a conclusion. And often this final thought is the first line of a new discussion, a new dialogue that will lead up to a new piece of art. That is how we have worked ever since we teamed up in 2004. Over the past years of collaborating, our palette has changed, of course, and we have learned to blend our different techniques, my sketchy lines and Akut ́s realism, ever smoother. It’s actually pretty funny that we do not even talk about the actual painting process. We only talk about the content. Our discussions take place in the world of reason and philosophy. What our hands actually do with our spray-paint is left up to them really. We just focus on telling a story. If the piece turns out pretty or not, is just a side-effect. The thoughts they carry are what we worry about. The messages are what we spend our days on.

To the San Francisco show we will be bringing characters that have fallen from grace. We took a look to the banned and exiled, the abandoned child that first cries of fear and then of rage, flocks of scapegoats, a choir of arch enemies, the outlawed, the out- numbered, the ones that know they are very last of their kind, the extinguished. When will we end up in their place?

Herakut is an artist duo made of Jasmin Siddiqui, born 1981 in Frankfurt, West Germany, and Falk Lehmann, born 1977 in Schmalkalden, East Germany. Their artistic style is as symbiotic as their name, which in itself is the symbiosis of the two individual graffiti synonyms Hera and Akut. A love for traveling and painting for the public eye are just a few of the things of the things Akut and Hera have in common. Their work, however, is based on bringing together contrasting elements: masculine vs. feminine, Eastern vs. Western, the roughness of Street Arts vs. the detail of Fine Arts.

Since 2004, Herakut has painted and exhibited in prestigious big cities like London, Berlin, New York and Paris, but have also spent a lot of valuable time painting the dirty sides of less glamorous cities such as Ekaterinburg, Russia or Campeche, Mexico. Both of Herakut ́s publications, The Perfect Merge published in 2009 and 2011’s After the Laughter have received great success, with the two books selling over 10,000 copies worldwide.

Contact 941Geary

LOCATION

941 Geary Street

San Francisco, CA 94109

Alternate entrance through the alleyway:

60 Myrtle Street

San Francisco, CA 94109

Phone: (415) 931-2500

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