Big week for street festivals on BSA where we blew up our server on the LODZ murals in Poland, the MURAL Festival in Montreal, and now the most community based of them all – the Ad Hoc Wellington Court block party Street Art jamboree thing in Queens, which we have some new images of today. Not to mention we got up on some roofs and Klub7 got down on the ground. So much fun, sun, and good times to be had with art and the creative spirit cut loose in the streets.
Here’s our weekly interview of the street, this week featuring Alice Mizrachi, Amuse, Andy Pants, Billy Mode, Chris Stain, Dan Witz, Dennis McNett, Droid 907, Icy & Sot, JCHM-IX, Lucx, Nice-One, Okuda, Olek, PRTL, Stefan Ways, This is Awkward, and UNO.
Shout out to Garrison and Alison Buxton for the big throw-down at Welling Court, which they do so well and with such love. We’ll have more images coming up.
Stoop sales, hula hoops, fire hydrants, ladders and paint. Get me one of those ices from that guy with the cart on the corner, will ya?
Here’s our weekly interview of the street, this week featuring A1one, Chris Stain, Creepy, Elbow Toe, Essen, Foxx Face, Icy & Sot, LMNOP, Maya Hayuk, Mr. Toll, Rubin, Sexer, Werds, You Are Beautiful, and Zimad.
A writer who has used Arabic lettering since 2003, A1one just completed this new piece and translates it for us. “The word is Love (Ishq). In all the Middle East they can understand the meaning of this word… It refers to the divine or clean kind of love,” says A1one.
The Colab Gallery presents the fifth edition of PUBLIC PROVOCATIONS. It combines various styles, disciplines and techniques of Urban Art. Nine artists from all over the world will be providing insight into their creative work. Every single artist is unique, and the exhibition will be as extraordinary as each exceptional piece of work is. PUBLIC PROVOCATIONS – a cross section of current works of the urban art scene.
PUBLIC PROVOCATIONS is opening on Saturday, June 8th at 8 pm and we are looking forward to seeing you there!
Alice Paquini, Robert Proch, Amose, Michael Grudziecki, Wolfgang Krell, Chris Stain, Case, Gris1, Orticanoodles.
Here’s our weekly interview of the street, this week featuring Ai WeiWei, B.D. White, Billy Mode, Bishop 203, BR1, Chris Stain, Duke A. Barnstable, Free Humanity, Ice & Sot, Indigo, JM, Mataruda, Meres, Billy Mode, NARD, ND’A, Os Gemeos, Palladino, PTV, Ryan McGinley, Shai Dahan, Shin Shin, and Specter.
Just checked out this long wall by two graffiti/Street Art buddies from Baltimore who have made many a collaborative piece over the years. Seems like Chris Stain and Billy Mode team up 3 to 5 times a year on expansive installations that utilize Chris’s everyday folk before a city skyline and Billy’s reatment of text to tie it all together. In this case Mr. Mode carried the silhouette of the city skyline into the fills for the 3-D letters. “Set If Off” is slang for getting a party started, or maybe to light something big on fire, and the sentiment was actually yelled out the window of a passing car while Jaime shot this one in Albany on Easter day.
Put up over a few days last July in cooperation with Samson Contompasis and the 518 Prints posse, the 90′ by 15′ wall originally had a pack of wolves feasting on a carcass by Broken Crow installed during the New York capitol’s “Living Walls” festival a few years ago. Now it looks like the grassy lot that the wall faces is undergoing a facelift of some nature because the first foot of topsoil has been scraped away. Anyway it’s good to see the aerosol brothers work in person if you have the opportunity.
The Fountain fair raised the Street Art to the rafters this year with an installation curated by Mighty Tanaka Gallery and Robots Will Kill. The canvasses wave above the exhibit floor in this historic Armory space while below thousands of people milled through the booths of a varied collection of this years offerings. Here are new shots of the work we found Friday in the first full day of this weekend full of art fairs.
Happy Friday! Wipe that stain off your shirt from last nights office holiday party and brush your teeth and get to work so you can be a zombie all day. For our part – it’s time for a little Street Art roundup of some things that you might like.
1. Miami in The House All Weekend
2. “Deck the Walls” at Stolen Space (London)
3. “Rinse & Repeat” Group Show at Ambush (Sydney, Australia)
4. Skewville in France, Quel Surprise! (Lille, France)
5. Jaye Moon at Paik Hae Young (Seoul)
6. “Sowing The Seeds of Love” – Just Seeds Group Show Friday (Manhattan)
7. Icy & Sot at Nu Hotel (Brooklyn)
8. Zombie Nation – Ezra Eismont
9. Herakut The Giant Story Book Project (VIDEO)
10. SWOON’s Konbit Shelter – Art in the Streets – MOCAtv (VIDEO)
Miami in The House All Weekend
This weekend the fun is for Street Art in Miami and check out some of our recommendations (Best Miami Street Art: BSA Picks Awesomest for Basel ’12) for hoofing it around that we posted Wednesday. Tonight of course there are a number of grand opening parties/after parties (including Fountain), but really just being on the street is equally fun if not funner! Thanks for that adverb from 7 year old Darnell Wilsen of Brooklyn.
For a full listing of Art Fairs, Events and Street Murals click here and here.
But not all the fun is in Miami here are a few picks of what’s happening elsewhere in the world:
“Deck the Walls” at Stolen Space (London)
Greeting cards are a nice way to say Merry Christmas to Grandma, and for suburban white middle class families to distribute photos proving that their kids are not on drugs. This is Stolen Space Christmas Show celebrates greetings cards and holiday cheer with D*Face, Word to Mother, Will Barras and David Bray among others putting their own imprimatur on Christmas. Come on, Uncle Bert and Aunt Dolittle will be there, so comb your hair, put some shoes on and get out of the house!
For further information regarding this show click here.
“Rinse & Repeat” Group Show at Ambush (Sydney, Australia)
With a collection of Australian Graffiti and Street Art Artists, “Rinse & Repeat” finds its inspiration by taking a look at the Old Masters and re-interpreting them with their own styles and techniques. An interesting proposition albeit fraught with risks – there are a few good ones here though that will delight your academic/street sensibilities. Included in the line up are: Adnate (AWOL Crew),Bridge Stehli, Cam Wall, Carl Steffan, Deams (AWOL Crew), Fintan Magee, Guido van Helten, Phibs, Shannon Crees, Slicer (AWOL Crew) , Team and Teazer.
For further information regarding this exhibition click here.
Skewville in France, Quel Surprise! (Lille, France)
Hope they realize what they have gotten themselves into, but Vertikal Gallery is hosting Brooklyn Street Art collective Skewville for a solo show entitled “Be Inside”. Considering we have had one or two Lillians in Brooklyn putting work up on the streets over the last few years, this sounds like a cultural exchange program of some kind, right?
For further information regarding this exhibition click here.
Jaye Moon at Paik Hae Young (Seoul)
New York Street Artist Jaye Moon is in Seoul, Korea on an Art Residency Invitation and tonight his her solo exhibition with her “Lego Tree House” opening tonight at the Paik Hae Young Gallery.
For further information regarding this exhibition click here.
“Sowing The Seeds of Love” – Just Seeds Group Show Friday (Manhattan)
The Art Collective Just Seeds new group exhibition titled “Sowing The Seeds of Love” opens tonight at the Munch Gallery in Manhattan. The artists in Just Seeds aim to put forth their world views on a variety of issues – looking to inform and bolster you through the power of art. Participating in this show are: Jesus Barraza, Kevin Caplicki, Melanie Cervantes, Santiago Doesntsitstill, Alec Dunn, Molly J Fair, Thea Gahr, Nicolas Lampert, Josh MacPhee, Fernando Marti, Colin Matthes, Dylan Miner, Roger Peet, Jesse Purcell, Pete Railand, Favianna Rodriguez, Shaun Slifer, Chris Stain, Meredith Stern, Mary Tremonte and Bec Young.
For further information regarding this exhibition click here.
Icy & Sot at Nu Hotel (Brooklyn)
Iranian expats and brothers Icy & Sot invite you to celebrate with them their first foray in the hospitality business. The brothers designed a room at the Nu Hotel in Brooklyn and you are invited to come over tonight for some refreshments.
Artist Ezra Eismont has a Kickstarter fundraiser to help publish his Zombie Nation book, which features his zombified portraits of icons and celebrities. Seems like a heartwarming holiday thing to do, doesn’t it? Please support your local artists and small family businesses.
Herakut The Giant Story Book Project (VIDEO)
SWOON’s Konbit Shelter – Art in the Streets – MOCAtv (VIDEO)
‘Sowing the Seeds of Love’ by collective group, Justseeds, is the newest exhibition in conjunction with Munch Gallery. Each artist has created a unique piece specifically for the gallery, and all original work will be accompanied by limited edition work. The exhibition will also include a site-specific collaborative mural. We are excited to present the first Justseeds group exhibition in New York City.
Artists include:
Jesus Barraza, Kevin Caplicki, Melanie Cervantes, Santiago Doesntsitstill, Alec Dunn, Molly J Fair, Thea Gahr, Nicolas Lampert, Josh MacPhee, Fernando Marti, Colin Matthes, Dylan Miner, Roger Peet, Jesse Purcell, Pete Railand, Favianna Rodriguez, Shaun Slifer, Chris Stain, Meredith Stern, Mary Tremonte, Bec Young.
Justseeds is a union of 24 artists, who bring together their individualistic opinions to collectively establish a certain perspective on their worldly views. Justseeds continues to collaborate with artists and other collectives from around the world, and the artwork is a forward attempt in discovering the issues and compliances of the human spirit in this world.
Founded in 1998, and originally the graphics distribution project of Josh MacPhee, Justseeds made the transformation into a worker-owned cooperative in 2007 – the original network being largely in place through past collaborations and friendships. In May 2010, Justseeds moved their distribution center from Portland to a new and larger base in Pittsburgh. Justseeds is a conglomerate of creative minds, whose artwork offers viewpoints on different social, environmental and political stances.
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Munch Gallery
245 Broome Street (between Orchard and Ludlow Streets)
The City of Baltimore just got hit with its second large scale mural project in one calendar year as Articulate: Baltimore joined Open Walls Baltimore during a five week period this autumn.
A mixture of local artists and some Street Artists who are known internationally, the project is sponsored by a collection of public, private, and tourism development concerns as a way of activating a small selection of the city’s huge inventory of vacant spaces to “increase the visibility (of) the new westside district and encourage more visitors to frequent its venues”. With this sort of laser-sharp urban renewal employed in a very confined area, we may be witnessing the splintering of so-called Street Art festivals into more focused venues, employed in a more selective way to achieve specific ends.
The list of artists in Articulate: Baltimore includes artists Ways & J. Digital, Jessie Unterhalter & Katey Truhn, Indigo, HKS 181, Chris Stain & Billy Mode, Pixel Pancho, and 2501. Co-curated by Maryland-based artists Stefan Hauswald and Jesse James, the full collection covers roughly a two-block area that is very near the center of downtown. The whole initiative appears to be one conceived with rejuvenation in mind, as public art often does for previously moribund areas. According to the website for Articulate, all of the artists realize that their work isn’t meant as a permanent installation and may be replaced at any time. “The artists expect their impact to be powerful but limited in duration— they expect that their work will be replaced over time, perhaps a matter of months or years.”
Many thanks to photographer Martha Cooper, who was there to capture official images of the installations, and she shares them here, including some that are exclusive to BSA.
Happy Friday Peepuls. Now before we all set our sights on Friday art parties and dancing and getting crazy and writing on people’s foreheads with markers, it’s time for us to get Debatified so we are all ready to vote. Obama is ahead in New York by like a hundred and five percent but apparently there are some states in the imperfect union where it is still a toss-up and people are just not sure who’s better. Moderator Candy Crowley scoured all of New York’s Long Island Tuesday and came up with only 82 people who still don’t know who they’re voting for – 12 of them polled just before airtime were also not sure who is on the one dollar bill, so there’s a clue for ya right there. Here’s a capsulized version of what went down.
1. Becca and Philip Lumbang (LA)
2. “Purple”, a Female Group Show in Williamsburg (BKLN)
3. Fairey’s “Sound and Vision” (London)
4. Gregory Siff is “A Matter of Time” in LA
5. Shark Toof Takes a Bite out of LA
6. Meanwhile, Back in Haunted Brooklyn…Get Out Your Knife
7. “The Art of Basketball” at the Pop International Galleries (NYC)
8. Gallery For The People at Stonebook Court Estate (Los Altos)
9. “It’s Alive 2” at Urban Folk Art Gallery (BKLN)
10. “Art on the Seam” Documentary teaser (VIDEO)
11. Vermibus – The Sting (VIDEO)
12. ROA in the Boneyard (VIDEO)
Becca and Philip Lumbang (LA)
Becca and Philip Lumbang, two of LA’s Street Art scene, are teaming at Lab Art Gallery in Los Angeles, CA with their show titled “Babes & Bears” now open.
For further information regarding this show click here.
“Purple”, a Female Group Show in Williamsburg (BKLN)
“Purple” is the new color for this season as envisioned by a strong group of female Street Artists in a group exhibition in Brooklyn, NY at Causey Contemporary. This show opens tonight.
PURPLE includes Alice Mizrachi, Diana McClure, Gilf, Lady Pink, Lichiban, Miss Van, Olek, Priscila De Carvalho, Queen Andrea, Ritzy Periwinkle, and Sofia Maldonado
For further information regarding this show click here.
Fairey’s “Sound and Vision” (London)
Shepard Fairey’s solo exhibition “Sound & Vision” opens tonight in London at the Stolen Space Gallery. His first London exhibition in 5 years, Fairey brings along friend and collaborator Z-Trip to supply the soundtrack to the artwork.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Gregory Siff is “A Matter of Time” in LA
A “Matter of Time” is the title of Street Artist Gregory Siff’s new show at Gallery Brown in Los Angeles, CA opening tomorrow night.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Shark Toof Takes a Bite out of LA
If you have never seen a shark playing ping pong you’ll have your chance at C.A.V.E. Gallery in Venice Beach, CA where Shark Toof’s new show “Ping Pong Show” opens tomorrow.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Meanwhile, Back in Haunted Brooklyn…Get Out Your Knife
Fall is here, leaves are turning, the sweet smell of burning fires permeates many residential neighborhoods of the city, ACs are off and windows are open and you can hear the sounds of the streets are night. And now you get to stab a pumpkin and carve a face out of it at Crest Hardware. MWAH HAH HAH HAWWWW. Joe invites you and the whole family to come out and enjoy the 3rd Annual Pumpkin Carving Contest, Saturday.
For entry rules, times and more details on this event click here.
Also happening this week:
“The Art of Basketball” is a group exhibition curated by Billi Kid at the Pop International Galleries in Manhattan featuring Mr. Brainwash, URNY, The Dude Company, Skewville, Shiro, Rene Gagnon, Joe Iurato, Ewok, One 5MH, Jack Aguire, David Cooper, Cope2, Chris Stain, Cern and Billi Kid. This show is now open to the general public and you can click here for more details.
Gallery For The People Fall Pop-Up show with Sage Vaughn, Deedee Cheriel, and Curtis Kulig is now open for the general public at The Stonebook Court Estate in Los Altos Hill, CA. Click here for more details on this show.
“It’s Alive 2” showcasing the art of Mark Bode, Dr.Revolt, and Stan 153 opens tonight at the Urban Folk Art Gallery in Brooklyn. Click here for more details on this show.
“Art on the Seam” Documentary teaser (VIDEO)
An upcoming documentary by David Freid about the art work on the wall in the West Bank.
Vermibus – The Sting (VIDEO)
ROA in the Boneyard (VIDEO)
A new video from Jason Wawro for the Boneyard Project features ROA.
The Art of Basketball is a collection of original artworks
under license from the NBA. The collection currently
features unique works on official NBA backboards and
sections of the 2011 NBA All-Star Game floor boards.
This collection taps a select group of leading graffiti
and street artists to re-imagine the most iconic symbols
of this beloved game.
October 16 – October 28, 2012
Opening reception: October 16, 7-9pm
RSVP Required: popart@popinternational.com
Featuring Mr. Brainwash, URNY, The Dude Company, Skewville, Shiro, Rene Gagnon, Joe Iurato, Ewok One 5MH, Jack Aguire, David Cooper, Cope2, Chris Stain, Cern and Billi Kid
POP International Galleries
473 West Broadway
New York, NY 10012
Street Artist Chris Stain is in Charlotte, North Carolina as the city prepares for the Democratic National Convention coming here on September 3rd. Art on the streets historically has employed political themes and motivations, explicitly or implicitly, and this new installation by Stain again draws attention to the plight of the everyday person barely afloat on a teetering raft in an economic storm.
When you look at the work on the street, you find that Street Artists continue to address issues that affect the poor and Chris Stain has always kept these people front and center in his work. The street is actually one of the few places today where you will find these people represented so prominently because mysteriously, during a time of incredible need and insecurity, poor people are almost invisible on the glossy high-production “political” TV shows and websites and they are absent from most policy talk today – on the right or left.
In town with other artists who have worked in the street, Imminent Disaster, Greg Haberny, and Ben Wolf, Stain is taking part in “America Now”, a show and residency hosted by the McColl Center for Visual Art. With fellow artist Josh Macphee alongside him, Chris was able to knock this piece out in a few nights. He says he can see that Charlotte has been improving its downtown area quite a bit and he just hopes they don’t forget about the rest of the city’s residents who aren’t quite as well-to-do.
Brooklyn Street Art:Why did you pick this location? Chris Stain: The wall location was offered to me by the McColl Center for Visual Art. The building is affiliated with their facility. There has been a lot new construction and renovation in Uptown Charlotte over the past 10 years. However there are outlying neighborhoods still in need of assistance.
Brooklyn Street Art:Does Charlotte have a lot going for it right now? Chris Stain: Charlotte is preparing for the Democratic National Convention this September. According to the Miami Herald the federal government gave the police force $50 million dollars to update their technology and arsenal for crowd control. Charlotte is a financial hub of the south and has much to protect in the way of banking and business. Surprisingly their seems to be strong support though for Arts and Humanities throughout downtown for the privileged with major museums and performance spaces.
Brooklyn Street Art:Your subjects are often regular people who are working and just getting by. Did you see many people like that in the streets of Charlotte?
Chris Stain: From what I experienced and picked up on after the work week some shops close up due to lack of commerce. That’s when one store owner told me “The Homeless come out.” Most of my interactions were with people who didn’t live directly downtown. People would stop and comment, “Nice Job! That’s reality!”. I was there for a week before I started the mural but it didn’t take long to recognize the familiar vibe of separation and uneasiness of the new downtown that had dropped in on the old neighborhood. As an outsider I can’t give an exact account of all the politics but going off my first impression and gut instinct I chose the images I did to create the mural. Their is more to NC than just the Panthers (football team) and I that’s who I was rooting for.
Brooklyn Street Art:Birds fly high in so many of your works. Is that an aesthetic decision entirely – a way to use the space? Or do you think they somehow are symbolic of something more?
Chris Stain: Yes the birds are symbolic and also they are an aesthetic choice. The birds are a great way to activate the negative space in the composition. On a personal level they represent hope; the concept of ideas taking flight. Once those ideas take flight they have the potential to be life changing. Creativity is a protest against complacency.
Brooklyn Street Art:What are people on the street saying about the pending arrival of the Democratic National Convention?
Chris Stain: Saturday we had an open studio visit at the McColl Center for Visual Art. Myself and 3 other NYC artists were asked to make work in conjunction with the upcoming DNC. My work dealt with the protest angle. The people that I talked with that day, for the most part, seemed nervous about the influx of others and the potential mayhem it will bring to this easy-going small city.
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BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
