Oh, so you’re a comedian now hah? A real funny boy hah?
Art on the streets is not always neatly folded into archetypes. Street Artists and graffiti writers are not all anti-social miscreants intent on running afoul of the law, although that is a satisfying and simple characterization some critics default to.
In truth, these days there are a variety of voices in the conversation on the street. Some are social commentators, others are anarchists, showmen, activists, nihilists, narcissists, dreamers, storytellers, poets.
Then there are the comedians. We’ve noticed that a surprising number of them come from Chicago. Possibly the harsh winters in that windy city turns people silly on the street. Among the funniest Chi-town hoodlums we’ve seen are Left-Handed Wave, Nice One, and of course the incorrigible Goons.
Add to this list the humorist human Don’t Fret, who knows how to depict us in all our eclectic and imperfect wonder without passing judgment but causing a cryptic cackle of recognition when you run into him. It’s a sophisticated comedian who knows how to pull off common scenes with an insider wink. It’s not that you know his people personally – wait, that is exactly what it is like. Even when he is just using text to describe a person, you know the people he’s referring to because they live in your neighborhood, cook your Halal street meats, coach little league, cook your books, are at your family barbecue.
A quick taste of their new walls, stylishly cut with some product integrations.
Stinkfish in Bogata, Columbia
Presented by Offprojekt, flourescent volts of energy jump of this portrait by Stinkfish while a curly haired cherub named Beta smacks up the hand prints next to him and street dogs meander on the sidewalk looking for scraps. Carlos Perez Ocampo wields the camera.
Goons World in Chicago
Neo primativist Street Artists Goons are introducing lucky guests to their world tonight in their hometown of Chicago. Check it son.
“Anything Is Possible. When the restrictions of this physical world are chipped away, all that remains is ‘Goons World’. A world which the imagination rules, and laws of man bend and crumble.” -Goons
AND THE SAME NIGHT AT THE SAME PLACE:
View the world premier of GOONS WORLD…an animated film only at Galerie F
Making Deals Zine and Trumbull Studio presents:RELIEF: Silent Art Auction & Raffle Benefit to support New York Residents Affected by Tropical Storm SandyFriday, November 9th, 2012
Silent Auction & Raffle begins at 6 pm – Final Drawing at 9:30 pm
@ Trumbull Studio, 143 Roebling St, 3rd Floor, Brooklyn, NYA huge group of established and emerging urban artists will have work for sale, and all proceeds will support LOCAL charities. Our goal is to help our fellow New Yorkers who have been hardest hit from areas like Far Rockaway, Staten Island, Breezy Point, and Red Hook. This is going to be a great event and all proceeds from the sale of your donation will go to our designated charities for the victims of Hurricane Sandy: New York Cares (nycares.org), Red Hook Initiative (rhicenter.org) and the Red Cross (redcross.org).Artists who have generously donating work for sale include (list is not yet final):
Abe Lincoln Jr.
Adam Lawrence
Adam VOID
Aimee Lusty
Alexander Heir
Alexander Richter
Anthony Sneed
Beater
Baser
Borf
ButtsUp
Brandon Haynes
Carnage
Cash For Your Warhol (The Collection of Brooklyn Street Art)
CRASTY
Daniel Feral
DB for Stuck-Up
EKG
Emma D.
Gloomer KTS
Goons
Herm
Howard Shindler
Ian (Pop Mortem) McGillivray
Isabel LaSala
JAMES
James Ivan Bailey
Jason Mamarella
Jon Bocksel
Jon Handel
Jowy Romano (Subway Art Blog)
Julian Gilbert
Kevin Foxworth
KOSBE
Lily Staley
Matt Dobbs
Matthew Hoffman
Martha Cooper
Mike Ion
Miss Night Catcher
MRS
Overunder
Pawn Works
RAE
Ribo 22KIDS
Roycer
RUSK
Scott Meyers
This is Awkward / Russell Lee
Tuse
Vickipages
Wisher914
Zato One
and more…
KosbeThere are several ways to donate at the event:
– An art raffle will be held where patrons have a chance to win artwork of their choice for as little as a $5 donation! The drawing is scheduled to be held at 9:30 pm and winners can take home their new artwork the same night.
– Select artwork will be up for silent auction. Bidding is scheduled to end at 9:30 pm.
-Blind monetary donations and credit cards will also be accepted.
1. Mitt Hunts Big Bird for Thanksgiving Dinner #defendthearts
2. Stormie Mills in Melbourne
3. Ambush Group Show (Sydney)
4. TrustoCorp at Outsiders (Newcastle, UK)
5. Guy Denning Solo at Signal (London)
6. Goons Go Inside (Chicago)
7. Graffitimundo Needs Your Help to Finish Documentary (VIDEO)
Stormie Mills has a solo show “Peoples and Places 2012” at the Metro Gallery in Melbourne, Australia that’s open to everybody and Mr. Mills will delight you with his funny, industrious little characters done mostly in monochrome palette. Also, it was snowing at the opening Wednesday. Kind of stormy.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Ambush Group Show (Sydney)
The Australians are putting in a good game it seems as the Ambush Gallery in Sydney has an interesting line up of dozens of Aussies for their group show “Living In A Glass House”. This exhibition is now open to the general public. Also interesting because all the profits go directly to the artists.
For further information regarding this show click here.
TrustoCorp at Outsiders (Newcastle, UK)
The Outsiders Gallery has invited American Street and Fine Artist TrustoCorp to come and mint wads of money, honey. Currency is power and with this show titled “The International Bank of TrustoCorp” you’ll find plenty of both. Opening today.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Guy Denning Solo at Signal (London)
Guy Denning’s solo show “Paradiso” at the Signal Gallery in London, UK is now open to the. This show is the last of a trilogy inspired by Dante’s The Divine Comedy. Go and be tempted.
Guy Denning. (image courtesy of the gallery)
For further information regarding this show click here.
Goons Go Inside (Chicago)
Goons, the Chicago based Street Artists are exhibiting at the Maxwell Colette Gallery in Chicago with a solo exhibition titled “Welcome to Goonswood”. This show opens today.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Graffitimundo Needs Your Help to Finish Documentary (VIDEO)
Graffitimundo in Argentina is working on documentary “White Walls Say Nothing” to capture the art and activism on the streets of Buenos Aires. Take a look at the trailer for the film and please help them to raise the funds needed to complete their film by clicking on the link to their Kickstarter campaign.
Our weekly interview with the Streets, this week including images from New York, Detroit, and Amsterdam, and work by C215, Dan Sabau, El Sol 25, Gilf!, Goons, Karma, Nice-One, and Specter.
Street Artist Gilf! has been trying something new by adding to her stencils a bit of toule, which is a departure from earlier work and a hard word to try and pronounce.
This weekend is a perfect storm of shows that are opening on the East, West and points in between.
Up Close And Personal: RJ Curates Street Artists Into an Upper West Side Apartment (NYC)
In the intimacy of a private residence in the Manhattan suburbs of UWS, RJ Rushmore of Vandalog fame along with Keith Schweitzer and Mike Glatzer of newly minted M.A.N.Y. have mounted a fresh new open house show just off Broadway. An exquisitely curated show with marquee names and a few newbies the selection is solid in quality and unusual in it’s scale.
Troy Lovegates aka Other (image courtesy of the curators)
Participating artists include:
Aiko, Chris Stain, Clown Soldier, Don Leicht, Edible Genius, Elbowtoe, Gaia, How & Nosm, Jessica Angel, John Fekner, Know Hope, Logan Hicks, Mike Ballard, OverUnder, R. Robot, Radical, Retna, Skewville, Tristan Eaton, Troy Lovegates aka Other and White Cocoa.
Aiko’s cans are on proudly on display at the bachelor pad, and that’s not all (image courtesy of the curators)
Dates: May 12th– 15th, 2011
Times:
May 12th, 7 – 9pm
May 13th, 7 – 9pm
May 14th, noon – 9pm
May 15th, noon – 7pm
Note: Due to the limited exhibition space, people may be admitted in block times every half-hour.
Location: Apartment on the Upper West Side (217 West 106th Street, Apartment 1A, New York, NY 10025) – Between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues.
Cost for entrance: Free
Go to Hellbent and John Breiner Tonight in Brooklyn (NYC)
Mighty Tanka is presenting a show with two Brooklyn based artists: Hellbent and John Breiner.
Mr. Hellbent says of the show: “The best part of making a show like this is to finally see it up on the wall and the way that everything interacts. I have been thinking of these pieces as parts of a quilt, different fabrics being stitched together. The different colors, floral stencils, animals, and jaw bones melding together and playing off one another, even down to the different depths and sizes of panels, but until it was hung they were just pieces, not yet a whole. Its given me an opportunity to show the different elements that i am working with and how they have grown out of one another and to display all the different carvings and stencils patterns together, where on the street they are separated in different locations.”
To learn more about “Smiled Distress” at Mighty Tanaka tonight please click on the link below:
Matt Siren and My Plastic Heart present “Ghost in the Machine” (NYC)
25 spirits in the material world have made tributes to Street Artist Matt Siren’s Ghost Girl character for this show on the Lower East Side tonight. The custom toy show transforms the character that appears in doorways around New York, each putting its own unique spin on his character.
The show includes work from 64Colors, Royce Bannon, Steve Chanks, Chauskoskis, DarkCloud, Deeker, Gril One, J*RYU, Jester, Keely, Abe Lincoln Jr., Map-Map, Marka27, Brent Nolasco, Lou Pimentel, Reactorss, Marc Reusser, Todd Robertson, Robots Will Kill, Chris Ryniak, Matt Siren, Scott Tolleson, Julie West, Wheelbarrow, Wrona
Click on the link below to learn more about this show:
Ghost in the Machine May 13th 2011 – June 12th 2011
Chicago Street Art Show Tonight (CHI)
Tonight the book “Chicago Street Art” is being released at the the Chicago Urban Art Society in conjunction with a show titled “The Chicago Street Art Show”
Brooklyn’s AD HOC has a New Puppy in Los Angeles (LA)
On the West Coast the dynamic duo and husband and wife Garrison and Allison Buxton have curated a group show “I have a dream, I have a nightmare: Friday the 13th” at The New Puppy Gallery opening this Friaday from 7:00 to 11:00 pm
Artists include: Alison Buxton, Beau Stanton, Bill Fick, Broken Crow, Bunnie Reiss, Chor Boogie, Chris Stain, CRASH, Dabs & Myla, Daryll Peirce, David Loewenstein, Don Leicht, Ezra Li Eismont, Garrison Buxton, Hellbent, Joe Iurato, John Breiner, John Carr, John Fekner, Jordan Seiler, Know Hope, Lady Pink, Michael De Feo, Mikal Hameed, Paul Booth, Peat Wollaeger, Ray Cross, Rex Dingler, ROA, Robert Steel, Sean Starwars, TheDirtyFabulous, & Thundercut.
WHERE:2808 Elm Street, Los Angeles, California 90065
English Kills Group Show Saturday, “The Mother Ship” (NYC)
Chris Harding, owner and ringmaster of the Bushwick Brooklyn-based space station English Kills brings out his strong stable of artists for this group show aptly titled “The Mother Ship” opening this Saturday at 7:00 pm. It’s not necessarily Street Art – but this is a hotbed of new ideas so it is always worth your trip.
Participating artists include:
Brent Owens, Andy Piedilato, Vilaykorn Sayaphet, Jim Herbert, David Pacheco, Hiroshi Shafer, Gyles Thompson, Sarah H. Paulson, Holly Faurot, Tescia Seufferlein, Peter Dobill, Steve Harding, Judith Supine, Lenny Reibstein, Andrew Ohanesian, Jason Peters, Don Pablo Pedro, Steven Thompson, Andrew Hurst and Rob Andrews.
English Kills is located at:
114 Forrest St. Ground Floor
Brooklyn, NY 11206
(718) 366-7323
Specter is a “Repeat Offender” 5/14 at Pawn Works in Chicago (CHI)
Brooklyn based artist Gabriel Specter’s solo show “Repeat Offender” opens this Saturday at the Pawn Works Gallery.
Opening Reception Saturday, May 14, 2011/ 6-10pm
PawnWorks
1050 N. Damen Ave.
Chicago, Illinois 60622
Ph: 312.841.3986
London Police in Denver, “Amsterydynasty”
In Denver Colorado Black Book Gallery brings back the glamour of the 80’s with The London Police and Handiedan in a show titled “Amsterydynasty”
Author Joseph J. Depre has been traveling around the world to photograph and write about Street Art for the last few years and and when he returned to his hometown of Chicago he rediscovered his love and appreciation for the art in the streets of his city. The images in his first book just released give a very good documentation of the current scene while his essays are personal, poetic and passionate.
Opening tomorrow at the Chicago Urban Art Society is a retrospective of work by many of the artists on that scene today. With brand new works curated in this not-for-profit gallery environment developed by Lauren Pacheco and Peter Kepha, visitors will have the chance to see the Street Art talent that is growing in their community, including pieces by Artillary, Bonus Saves, Brooks Golden, Chris Silva, CLS, Senor Codo, Cody Hudson, CRO, Cyro, Chris Diers, Don’t Fret, Emen, 80 Legs, Tom Fennell IV, “It’s Yours, Take It”, Goons, The Grocer, Juan Angel Chavez, Kepto Salem, Melt, Nick Adam, Oscar Arriola, Poor Kid, Safety First, Saro, Sighn, Solve, Tiptoe, The Viking, You are Beautiful, among others. More information about the show at the end of the post.
Debuting his book “Chicago Street Art” for the first time at the opening, Mr. Dupre is very excited to see the show come to fruition after nearly a year of planning. Brooklyn Street Art asked him about the Chicago scene today and his new book and he gives us some insights here. We also had an opportunity to shoot some art on the streets of Chicago last month – see photos by Jaime Rojo after the interview.
Brooklyn Street Art: How long have you been preparing this book “Chicago Street Art”?
Joseph Depre: I originally had the idea for a book on Chicago Street Art when I started to integrate into the Chicago Street Art community in 2004. I think that is about the time I started writing. I was fascinated by these unique artists and was lucky enough to be able to talk openly with a good number of them, bounce ideas off the artists and they helped me refine my thoughts. As I traveled I was able to get together with Street Artists in cities like New York, Berlin, Barcelona, and Sao Paulo. After experiencing the Street Art in these cities and got back to the States my thoughts reflected back to Chicago and the incredible history of Street Art we have here and I thought it was important to give Chicago the recognition it deserves. So I’ve sent the last 9 months talking to all of the Artists and putting this all together.
Brooklyn Street Art: Can you introduce us to the Chicago Street Art scene at this moment from an artist and creative perspective? Joseph Depre: I won’t be so forward to say I can tell you anything from an artist perspective, but as a conscious observer I can say there are a lot of good things happening in Chicago at the moment. Nice-One seems have refined his characters with an air-brush technique that looks really nice. Don’t Fret has really been putting in his time and effort. His characters are always fun and expressive. He’s turning into to a great storyteller. Mental 312 has been hitting the streets hard and doing some really beautiful work. He’s one of my favorite artists right now.
TipToe (photo courtesy of the author) from “Chicago Street Art”
Brooklyn Street Art: Chicago has a very active anti-graffiti program, which cleans or “buffs” pieces, good and not so good, quickly with brown paint. Can you talk about how Street Artists have responded to the efficient and rapacious pace of buffing?
Joseph Depre: Most of the Street Artist I know really hate the buff and attribute the fact that Chicago has so little international Street Art respect to “the buff.” But all of these Artists just work harder in spite of the Buff. In New York one piece can stay up for years, in the Chicago the Street Artist has to do 20 pieces just to stay up through the season.
Brooklyn Street Art: Street Artists like Chris Silva and Cody Hudson have gone beyond two-dimensional painted works to create sometimes expansive sculptural set installations. Do you see more stuff like this around Chicago these days?
Joseph Depre: Oh Yeah. The first artist that comes to mind is CLS. It is really amazing what he has been able with scraps of wood and branches he finds on the street.
Brooklyn Street Art: Borrowing a tenet from the flash mob street manifestations of the last decade, Street Artists like BonusSaves devised something called “It’s Yours, Take It”. Can you talk about this practice of giving art to the public and how it has become an international programmatic approach to engaging communities? Joseph Depre: The Internet has really helped out with this. Through sites like Flickr, BonusSaves is able to organize and direct hundreds of people from all over the place. All with the same state of mind and love of giving art to people and bringing communities together through gifting creativity. But it is not solely his doing… All the artists really believe in the idea and have been running installations in cities all over the world all by themselves. It really is a testament to the power of people to come together and do something really good just for the sake of doing something good.
Brooklyn Street Art:You dedicate a few pages of your book to the occurrence of a piece attributed to London Street Artist Banksy on a wall in Chicago, and the response of the city and other street artists to it. Is there such a thing as a “Banksy Revolution”? Joseph Depre: I cannot say what Banksy’s actual intent is – only he knows what that is. For my part, I hope he’s attempting a revolution. If not then we are all the butt of a pretty sick joke. I also hope that he doesn’t get discouraged, I think people are just starting to listen. Maybe not the people who were introduced to Street Art through “Exit, Through the Gift Shop” but others.
Brooklyn Street Art: What do you think distinguishes the Chicago scene and why do you feel an affinity for it?
Joseph Depre: Other than Chicago being my home and my introduction to Street Art, I think there are quite a few things that distinguish it from the rest of the world. The sculptural history exemplified by the likes of Juan “Angel” Chavez, Cody Hudson, and Chris Silva would be a good place to start. The other thing is that all of the artists are personally close here. Everyone knows everyone. They don’t just meet up at shows and events but talk on a regular basis and are invested in each others’ lives and success.
Brooklyn Street Art had the fortune to be in Chicago for a day recently where photographer Jaime Rojo got an afternoon to run around shooting as much as he could find. Brooklyn artist Gaia had recently been in the city and he left some nice gifts for the Chicago art lovers to enjoy. The images below are from that visit to Chicago and are not a part of the book “Chicago Street Art”
Yes, she looks a little underdressed for this kind of weather. Lost Boy (the artist) puts out small original pencil or pen drawings with fantasy/mythological imagery (photo @ Jaime Rojo)
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
