All posts tagged: How

Shots from LALA Opening – LA Freewalls Moves Inside

April 28, 2012 Artists, California, Gallery, Los Angeles

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)

Dale VN Marshall (Photo Todd Mazer)

How & Nosm (Photo Todd Mazer)

Cryptik (Photo Todd Mazer)

Askew ONE (Photo Todd Mazer)

“Poorhouse for the Rich” Revitalized By The Arts

March 28, 2012 Artists, Bronx, Events, Features, NYC, Opening

A block-long limestone mansion originally built as a welfare hotel for the retiring rich invites streetwise Graff artists and others to gild it’s decayed rooms, raising it from pigeon-infested squalor. Call it “This Side of Paradise”

Enter a discussion about the impact of the modern Street Art movement and someone will inveigh with swollen gravitas that Street Art has the power to “activate” or “re-vitalize” a previously moribund space, to bring it to life. Aside from sounding like part of the gentrification process, the “activate” argument is meant to tip on its head the impulse of simple-minded dullards who opine that Street Art and it’s cousin graffiti are pure social disease and degrading to the foundations of city life.

How and Nosm “Reflections” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Opening in April in the Bronx a similarly anti-intuitive project invites artists of the street to create new life in a decaying mansion and the looking-glass contradictions are as rich as those of the benefactor for whom the aged home is named. The Andrew Freedman Home, with it’s Italian Renaissance details and stepped back grandeur along the Grand Concourse and a mile south of Yankee Stadium, acquired its landmark status in 1984 – the same year it breathed it’s final breath as a retirement home for the rich who had fallen on hard times.

When the building’s namesake, a New York millionaire businessman and colleague of the corrupt Tammany Hall, died as a confirmed bachelor in 1915, he wanted to make sure the money he left would keep the wealthy feeling wealthy after falling in the poorhouse. He simply didn’t want his peers to suffer no matter their financial plight so his wealth commissioned this mammoth home with roughly twice the space of the White House to give these deserved folk a good life in their later years, with servants. Beginning in the Roaring Twenties and over the next six decades, with hallways as long as 22 Town Cars, the ground-bound ship liner swam with former Cunard attendants serving the mostly white seniors as they dined in red and black Chinoiserie style, thumbed books in the library, played sport in the billiard room, and bobbed in the grand ballroom.

How and Nosm “Reflections” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“I think that you cannot help but be struck by the bizarre nature of the enterprise because it was class solidarity. He was less concerned with the indigent poor than protecting his own class who had fallen on hard times,” exclaims Manon Slome as she frames the ridiculous circumstances that kept “members” well heeled into their twilight.

Slome is President and Chief Curator of No Longer Empty, a contemporary public art organization that takes empty buildings that are often in disrepair and revitalizes them with site-responsive contemporary art exhibitions. Together with the Mid Bronx Senior Citizens Council, the non-profit that has owned the 117,000 square foot complex since 1984, No Longer Empty is curating a 32 artist show that for two months will offer curious visitors the first peek at the decrepitude that is slowly being enlivened. Since bidding farewell to their last upper crust in the early 1980s, the crusty decay of walls and ceilings has been curling and peeling and dropping to the floor. With artists interpreting the history and memories of the place along with their own take on the economics involved, the results are definitely site specific.

How and Nosm “Reflections” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

As she talks about the new show “This Side of Paradise,” Jeanette Puryear, Executive Director of Mid Bronx Senior Citizens Council, reflects on how she used to watch the games and social activities in the grassy gardens of the home from the other side. “We began across the street when the council started in 1973. I came aboard as a staff person in ’77 and I used to look down on the parties that they had on the lawn here. I just thought it was a wonderful building.”

Discussing the selection of No Longer Empty (NLE) as partner to the arts community and curator of the new show, Puryear feels like it is a natural accord. “The idea, our collaboration, really came about when I met Manon and she talked about NLE’s interest in revitalizing communities and it really fit very much with our mission of comprehensive community revitalization.”

Justen Ladda. “Like Money, Like Water”. Eventually this installation in progress would be black lit. The blue tape affixed to the walls is to economize and will not be a part of the installation. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Daze (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This may come as news to some that graffiti kings like Crash and Daze were called upon to do community revitalization in the same borough where leaders once reviled their painting style. With a few heavyweight street art and graffiti names bringing these rooms to life, it’s interesting to see their role as one of contributing in a positive way here where the emergence of a global “Wildstyle” graffiti first blossomed while entire neighborhoods burned.

“At the same time in the late 70s and early 80s when this home’s original purpose was failing you had the rise of Bronx graffiti,” says curator Keith Schweitzer, who introduced Crash, Daze and Tats Cru alumni How & Nosm to Slome, each taking one of the rooms and bringing it to life. Schweitzer sees many parallels in this Bronx tale as he reflects on the role of the artist rising from the ashes of the burned-out neighborhoods then and an art show in the decay of this home now. “At that time you had things like Fashion Moda in the Bronx, which sort of incorporated graffiti into a contemporary art exhibition and these conceptual spaces that Street Artists and Graffiti artists participated in. And it all happened at the same time.”

Daze (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Slone brings the stories full circle as she excitedly relates the multiple arts and education projects currently afoot in the home, including many with a social mission of building community and connections within it. “When we started selecting and inviting the artists, we steeped them in the history of the home. The goal was really to create a fusion of the history of the home and the nature of the history of the Grand Concourse and the present day realities of the Bronx. And that fusion was really the creative springboard, if you like, for most of installations in the exhibition.”

Whatever role you assign the artist in this clubby home of decay, the experience of discovering these complete room installations is at times reflective, sometimes illuminative, and often revitalizing to the spirit. It will depend on the definition of paradise.

Crash “Connections” 2012. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Scherezaede Garcia. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cheryl Pope “Then and There” Installation in progress. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Adam Parker Smith. “I Lost All My Money In The Great Depression And All I Got Was This Room”, 2012. Installation in progress in collaboration with Wave Hill. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Pigeons took over while most of the house remained close and unused. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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This Side of Paradise will open on April 04 at 6:00 pm. For further details about this exhibition click here.

With special thanks to President and Chief Curator Manon Slome and Curator Keith Schweitzer of No Longer Empty for their generous access to the installations in progress. To learn more about No Longer Empty click here.

BSA would also like to extend our gratitude to Jeanette Puryear, Executive Director of Mid-Bronx Council for taking time to answer our questions. To learn more about Mid-Bronx Council click here.

Images of the Week 03.25.12

March 25, 2012 Artists, On the Street

Saw my first barefoot hippie walking down 7th Avenue on Friday and it was like spotting a Robin on the lawn in Union Square Park. SPRING! Spring time hit New York like a truckload of thick sweet kisses and homeboys started checking every cute move of all the shorties, who mysteriously also fluffed up all their magnolia pink feathers and almost imperceptibly put a bit more sa into their shay. Don’t ask us what any of that means, except that when the days get all comfy and warm like these, it’s all about the birds and the beeeeeeees, B.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, with some special shots by Jaime Rojo from a secret place in the Bronx as well as some contributions from Lima, Peru by Adolfo Bejar, and in Essen, Germany from Skount. Names this week include DCT, Elliot Tupac, Essam, How & Nosm, EKG, Keith Haring, Mariposa Mentirosa, Radical!, Seth, Skount, V, and Zam. First we start out with some spring flowers by an unknown artist.

Artist Unknown. Street installation to welcome the Spring 2012 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mariposa Mentirosa. Street installation to welcome the Spring 2012 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

How & Nosm (photo © Jaime Rojo)

EKG…is feeling a bit cocky. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Artist Unknown (photo © Jaime Rojo)

V (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Zam (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Radical! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

#Heros Street Art…Keith Haring. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Essam (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DEKRD (photo © Jaime Rojo)

SKOUNT “The Automata Repairer” Essen, Germany. (photo © Skount)

DCT, SETH and ELLIOT TUPAC. Lima, Peru. (photo © Adolfo Bejar)

Untitled. (photo © Jaime Rojo )

How and Nosm Brand New Video – How They Started

January 6, 2012 Artists

Artists, muralists, and graffiti artists How and Nosm – “That’s what we do, that’s who we are.” In this new video they talk about their beginnings in the world of graffiti, before becoming world renowned fine artist and epic muralists.

Produced and directed by The Little Squares.

The Paris Underbelly Surfaces : A New Gallery Beneath the City

November 28, 2011 Artists, France, On the Street, Paris

Opening under cover of night somewhere in Paris, four stories beneath la rue, a secret subterranean gallery in a sealed tunnel appears suddenly. While activity on the street overhead is hectic and dense with cars, trucks and pedestrians, the dry dust is ankle-high here in this darkened silent morgue, its cool dank air now permeated with fresh aerosol. The Underbelly has been here, and if you discover this curated collection of Street Art and graffiti in the chilled dim light, you are officially lost. And lucky.

From left to right: Alice, C215, Saber and Futura. (photo © Ian Cox)

“You start climbing down and it seems like it never ends,” says Workhorse, the project leader who, along with a partner named PAC, has lead wandering artists down a similar path with pounds of spray paint in their backpacks once before, “You feel like your descending into this black pit.” The last time Underbelly appeared, it was in Brooklyn with 100 artists mounting an unsanctioned show in abandoned tunnels during a one-year period. Now these organizers stood in an underground location deep beneath Paris with a tense troupe sworn to secrecy; ten artists, three organizers, two photographers and one writer, converging here from five countries for one goal; to paint walls unencumbered, if quietly, for half a day.

From left to right: Sheone, Tristan Eaton and Conor Harrington. (photo © Ian Cox)

“The mood was a little tense until we were all safely in the tunnel,’ says Martha Cooper, the graffiti and Street Art photographer who has been doggedly pursuing these kind of painting parties in challenging locations for about 40 years. After decades of urban exploration, the world renowned photog with a journalists tenacity recounts stories like this with a glint in her eye and a sort of seasoned glee. “The process of climbing down steep ladders in narrow spaces in the middle of the night felt like a grand adventure.”

For Workhorse, the fear factor felt much more tangible, “If you get seen and stopped, there really is no good way to explain why you’re entering an illegal location with a dozen cameras and spray paint. I think we were all aware of the fact that it wasn’t a time to joke around or fuck up.”

Harnessing the team to help Conor Harrington with his piece. (photo © Martha Cooper)

If you’ve ever tried to organize artists, you know it’s almost impossible, and it always takes longer than you expect, especially when flights are delayed, luggage gets lost, and traffic is thick. “It took us 36 hours to finalize the supply list, get everyone in at the same time and same place and go over the itinerary of how things would work. We met up before sunrise, and made our way into the tunnel,” says Workhorse when describing the corralling of the crew.

C215 on a ladder with the stencil rolling to the left. (photo © Ian Cox)

The crew for Underbelly this time was a mixture of heavyweights and relative newcomers on the graffiti/Street Art continuum, each with a solid presence in an ever morphing scene; C215, Tristan Eaton, Futura, Conor Harrington, How and Nosm, Alice Pasquini, Saber, SheOne, and Will Barras. If there was street beef, nobody was showing it. In fact some of the biggest fans of these artists are their peers and many of them were just happy to be in each other’s company for the first time. “I felt very privileged to be a part of such an amazing secretive project in one of my favorite cities. It was an honor to paint with these artists and be photographed by Martha Cooper,” says Los Angeles graffiti artist Saber, whose recent health issues caused the team to craft a contingency plan for one of the intermittent paroxysms he’s had in the last year.

“As real dangers go, these guys had worked out the logistics of how to get me out of the deep hole if I happened to have a seizure. Lifting my unconscious big rear-end up many feet is no easy task. I felt safe with these guys knowing they had looked at all sides of the logistics,” he says, now happily at home.

Saber. (photo © Ian Cox)

But what about his piece on the wall? How did his painting go? “I was next to Futura, so no pressure there! How and Nosm’s piece along with SheOne`s wall was amazing. My piece wasn’t so fancy,” he explains while relating how delayed flights and jetlag contributed to a painting performance he feels was less than his best, “I got crushed by the friendly competition.”

How and Nosm alongside SheOne. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Similarly, the New York Street Artist Tristan Eaton says the poor lighting leaves him wondering what his final piece even looks like today. “My area was only lit on one side, so half of my piece was in darkness while I painted. I planned a figurative piece with mostly dark reds, so how it came out is still a mystery to me. I haven’t seen any pictures, so I’m crossing my fingers that it’s not a total disgrace,” he says only half joking. The guy usually exhibits a technical mastery of the can, so it’s not unusual to hear him talk about taking on a new challenge with gusto. “I was trying to paint the Ferry man from Michelangelo’s Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel for God’s sake. I’ve been trying to do more figurative spray paint work lately, so I thought I’d push myself. Bad idea. I can normally trust myself to make anything work but given the challenges of the situation, I should have done a classic piece in a comfortable style and called it a day.”

Futura self tethered to his ladder reaching for the stars while painting underground. (photo © Ian Cox)

For the ever sanguine quipster Futura, a graffiti legend whose savoir faire was primed by experience from the moment he arrived underground, his active imagination seemed enlivened by possibility and fantasy. With an elegant red cape and a can in hand, the graffiti and abstract artist clearly let his mind wander while the groups’ other amazing photographer, Ian Cox, looked for opportunities to capture the action and the attitude of the moment.

Futura. A stunning portrait of the artist. (photo © Ian Cox)

Four years in the US military will make a man look at this art project as a mission, and Futura was thinking of video games, regarding Underbelly as a real life multi-player call of graffiti duty. “You know it’s one thing to play Modern Warfare 3 Spec Ops: Parisian Metro,” he intoned semi-seriously while talking about the planning that brought him to this sweet spot to paint, “but the precision and logistical coordination was, without question, a highlight in danger and daring.”

Will Barrass. (photo © Ian Cox)

Setting aside heroic associations with the mission, the paintings themselves are imbued with a mysterious quality that is aided by their clandestine location and the conditions in which they were created; There is Connor Harrington’s epic and faceless horseman astride a stately galloping steed, Alice Pasquini’s Pipi Longstocking girl shrouding her frightened face in the corner, and How and Nosm’s sharp swooping symbols, lines and patterns waiting to be decoded.

Conor Harrington. (photo © Ian Cox)

Imagine walking with a flashlight through this tunnel of darkness and discovering the 12 foot high stencil portrait by hometown Street Art star C215 as it hovers slightly above you. The large grizzled face looms as a memory, perhaps a miner or a railroad worker, with one eye closed, or missing. Maybe he is wincing at you because of the thick dust in this airless tunnel.

From left to right: Alice, C215. (photo © Ian Cox)

He could be also reacting to the aerosol spewing from many cans spraying all at once. Advance planning aside, one detail escaped the group; ventilation. While none of the participants we spoke with regrets for a minute the opportunity to bury paintings far below the surface of a historical city that celebrates it’s artistic culture, everyone mentions the fumes.

“The tunnel was pretty much sealed with no ventilation,” Cooper remembers, “Had I not been loaned a respirator, I would not have been able to breathe. The paint fumes accumulated so that there was a visible haze in the space.”

Will Barras and Alice Pasquini. (photo © Martha Cooper)

“Inside the tunnel, it became 60% visibility with the spray paint fog with an instant headache wall when you walked in,” says Eaton, “We all felt bad for Saber who showed up last and had to bear the worst of it all.”

Saber agrees, “If you stayed too long you could possibly get inhalation poisoning. Seriously, in my 21 years of painting I have never experienced a wall of fumes like that.”

Curiously, no one bolted from the space and six hours stretched to nine, nine to twelve. After fourteen hours, everyone in the party was exhausted by the stress, the fumes, and the new paintings they had labored over. With completed pieces installed and documented, the crew re-packed their bags and collapsed their equipment to begin their ascent back up the steel ladders to emerge into the streets one small group at a time.

How and Nosm at work. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Brooklyn Street Art: Did you see many rats?
Martha Cooper: I don’t remember seeing any rats.
Workhorse: Nope, usually rodents are in active areas because they are looking for food. We were in a section that hadn’t been used in decades so there was no sign of life there.
Saber: No, but I was searching for as many Space Invaders and Horfe pieces I could find.

“After being in the drafty tunnel we were all a bit dried out and hungry,” says Workhorse when describing the scattering of the team once they hit the street. Above ground they were much more relaxed, and sleepy. But not everyone hit the couch.

Conor Harrington compares his work to his sketch. (photo © Martha Cooper)

Says Eaton, “We were all doing what we love doing more than anything in the world. We got three blocks from the tunnel and ended up sitting down for five cold beers, covered in black dirt from head to toe. The buzz from the experience was strong. Most artists covet the moment when the work is done and you sit back to reflect on what you did with the weight off your shoulders. This was that moment times infinity.”

As for Futura, he’s just a romantic, “Merci beaucoup Paris . . . Je T’aime.”

From left to right: How and Nosm and SheOne. (photo © Ian Cox)

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This article is also published on The Huffington Post

See our interview with FUTURA here on Brooklyn Street Art.

Read our conversation with HOW and NOSM on Juxtapoz here.

And our conversation with C215 on Juxtapoz.

Martha Cooper, Photographer of Art on the Streets for Six Decades

Read all BSA pieces on The Huffington Post HERE.

Fun Friday 10.14.11

October 14, 2011 Amsterdam, Art Fair, Artists, Brooklyn, California, Gallery, L.A., Los Angeles, Manhattan, NYC, Opening, The Netherlands, U.K.

1. MONIKER in London
2. CASH FOR YOUR WARHOL with Garage
3. Dabs & Myla with Shea&Ziegler from London
4. D*Face with Stolen Space
5. Able and Baker Gallery from Cologne: Ben Aine. ROA. Pure Evil. Herakut. Rero.
6. AIKO with Andenken Gallery from Amsterdam
7. AIKO Solo Show at PURE EVIL (London)
8. Word to Mother solo show “Essence of Adolescence” Friday Stolen Space Gallery
9. “Ok, Enough, Goodbye”, film at MOMA
10. How and Nosm solo show “Achtung!” Saturday at Known Gallery (LA)
11. WRONA at Pandemic Saturday (Brooklyn)

MONIKER in London

Let’s all head to Shoreditch in East London this weekend for the Moniker International Art Fair, where there will be new stuff from a bunch of Street Artists . In addition, some of the galleries at the fair are having openings back home. Here are some of the exhibitors to help you find your way:

CASH FOR YOUR WARHOL with Garage

Cash For Your Warhol. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dabs & Myla with Shea&Ziegler from London

Image from Dabs and Myla in Los Angeles at ThinkSpace Gallery 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face with Stolen Space

Stolen Space Gallery will be having a print release of ‘Going Nowhere Fast’ By D*Face on Saturday 15th at 11 am at Moniker Art Fair.

Image of D*Face in Los Angeles 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Able and Baker Gallery from Cologne: Ben Aine. ROA. Pure Evil. Herakut. Rero.

Image of Herakut in Los Angeles, CA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

AIKO with Andenken Gallery from Amsterdam

Image of Aiko in downtown Los Angeles, 2011 with LA Freewalls Project. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For full details, schedule of events and venues for Moniker International Art Fair click on the link below:

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/?p=25420

AIKO Solo Show at PURE EVIL (London)

AIKO’S solo show “Unstoppable Ways” at Pure Evil Gallery opens today from 6 to 9 pm

Aiko at work on a wall in Los Angeles Arts District for LA Freewalls Project (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For more details regarding this show click on the link below:

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/?p=25406

Word to Mother solo show “Essence of Adolescence” Friday Stolen Space Gallery

‘Essence of Adolescence’ is an enlightening glimpse into the artist’s visually obsessed mind. Word To Mother invites the viewer to take a glimpse of his inner mindscape. An outward manifestation that combines references drawn from his childhood and the visual stimulation that he absorbed; cartoons juxtaposed with more serious emotive thoughts and fears that face him as an adult living and painting in East London.

Word to Mother. Los Angeles 2011. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For more information regarding this show click on the link below:

http://www.stolenspace.com/section.php?xSec=3

“Ok, Enough, Goodbye”, film at MOMA

Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia will be on hand to answer questions when they screen their new film “Ok, Enough, Goodbye” at The Museum of Modern Art in New York City this weekend.

Rania Attieh and Daniel Garcia. “Ok, Enough, Goodbye” Still from the movie.

The screenings with the Auteurs in attendance will be held this weekend on Friday and Saturday.

For more information about times and tickets please click on the link below:

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/?p=25441

How and Nosm solo show “Achtung!” Saturday at Known Gallery (LA)

How and Nosm in NYC 2011 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For more information regarding this show click on the link below:

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/?p=25158

WRONA at Pandemic Saturday (Brooklyn)

Wrona solo show “Pretty Horrible” opens on Saturday at Pandemic Gallery in Williamsburg, Brooklyn where there is always assured a good time.

For more information regarding this show click on the link below:

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/?p=25446

“Heartship” Takes Flight: How and Nosm Complete Mural in LA

October 10, 2011 Artists, California, Los Angeles, On the Street

Street Artists How and Nosm have just completed a 6 day installation of a brand new piece with the LA Freewalls project here in the Arts District of downtown Los Angeles. With occasional interruptions for rain and food and sleep, the twins methodically knocked out a complex and detailed mural 106 feet wide and 60 feet tall (32m x 18m) that effectively nails their reputation as two of the most talented artists on the Street Art scene today, not that it was in doubt. With two decades of work under their belts, it is a rare combination of focus, relentless creative exploration, and artistic integrity that has shifted the work of these guys into an international limelight over the past couple of years.

How and Nosm. (photo courtesy LA Freewalls Project © Birdman)

How and Nosm. In this image you can appreciate the scale and proportion of this mural on the far right. (Photo courtesy LA Freewalls Project © Birdman)

Named “Heartship” the gargantuan mural is on a mission to entertain, elate, and educate about what self-taught artists with heart can produce and add to the man-made environment. In a direct way the whole project strikes at the center of the current “mural moratorium” in LA, which many local artists view as narrow, marginalizing, and inept.

“The fact that this mural exists contrary to any official public art policy in Los Angeles is a miracle, and a testament to the courage, will, and determination of everyone involved in the project,” says Daniel Lahoda, who’s LA Freewalls Project has routinely advocated for a review and revising of the City’s official policy toward public art and Street Art.

How and Nosm. (photo courtesy LA Freewalls Project © Birdman)

This Saturday (10/15) the brothers will also be celebrating “ACHTUNG!”, their first solo show, with 50 new original works at Known Gallery in LA. Expect to be suitably blown away, and to see a huge crowd.

See BSA’s interview with How and Nosm this summer in Juxtapoz here.

How and Nosm. (photo courtesy LA Freewalls Project © Birdman)

“Heartship”, by How and Nosm. (photo courtesy LA Freewalls Project © Birdman)

With special thanks Daniel Lahoda and to Dante at Madison Realty Group. All photographs © “Birdman Photos” (@birdmanphotos on Twitter).

Known Gallery Presents: How & Nosm “ACHTUNG!” (Los Angeles, CA)

October 4, 2011 Artists, California, Events, Gallery, Los Angeles, Opening

How and Nosm

HowNosm – ACHTUNG!

October 15 – November 5, 2011

The staid cleanliness of a single-colored surface is a disturbing testament to society’s uniformity and the pressure society places on one to conform.

Such a surface, standing alone and dull, cries out for attention.
Answering its call ‹ and recognizing its potential ‹ HOWNOSM bless the surface with confidence, courage, action, vitality and just a touch of the world’s inevitable darkness and death, transforming it into a truer reflection of both the world around it and their own varied lives.

ACHTUNG! is a collection of pieces that resemble broken mirrors, each filled with messages that are, by turns, sharp-edged, blurred and fast-changing. They serve as a reminder of the need to, and the dangers of failing to, walk alertly through this life.

Known Gallery

441 North Fairfax Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90036
Hours during shows:
Wednesday thru Saturday: 12 – 7pm
Sunday: 12 – 6pm
+1.310.860.6263
info@knowngallery.com

LA Special: Images of the Week 04.17.11

April 17, 2011 Artists, California, L.A., Los Angeles, On the Street

It’s been a hot week in Los Angeles for the Brooklyn set, this much warmth and sun consecutively is unsettling for cold northerners accustomed to six months of winter and unbearable cold. The hundreds of museum goers who are lined up to enter the MOCA “Art in the Streets” show this morning mark the end of official events over the last week as well as the private openings, events, and walls that popped up everywhere.

Dabs & Myla with How & Nosm. One of the strongest installations in or out of the museum this week. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

This weeks interview with the streets is largely an interview with Daniel Lahoda, an Angelino who has procured walls for visiting and local street artists in a few neighborhoods of the city since 2009. With no membership fee or admission, everyone is able to see the work of a whole lot of street artists where it was originated thanks to his organizational and diplomatic skills and his vision. We were very fortunate to receive a personal tour of the walls from Daniel over the course of a couple of days, including the gargantuan piece finished this week by Dabs & Myla with How & Nosm and the still fresh 42nd LA Free Wall as it was being completed by Street Artist Aiko. Since so many artists were in town for the general craziness, expect to see some new walls going up shortly that will thrill and delight.

So here’s this weeks interview with the street featuring Aiko, Augustine Kofie, CA, Carl Rauschenbach, Crayola, Dabs & Myla, David Flores, DFace, X, Herakut, How & Nosm, JR, Kid Zoom, M-City, Nomade, Philip Lumbang, Ripo, Roa, Saber, and Shepard Fairey.

Street Artist Aiko repels the punishing sun with a big hat while working on this stencil she created in honor of the people of Japan during the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami as well as to her friend Martha Cooper who shot the original image it is based on. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The completed piece by Aiko (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The original image by Martha Cooper that Aiko based her stencil piece from (photo © Martha Cooper)

Local quartet Nomade have a few pretty strong mixed media pieces around town. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Nomade (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Two LA favorites Saber on the left and Augustine Kofie on the right (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Saber. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Carl Rauschenbach on left, X on right and Philip Lumbang in center (photo © Jaime Rojo)

London’s D*Face (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dabs & Myla with Craola (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dabs & Myla with Craola. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

David Flores “customized” this large portrait by JR (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Herakut from Frankfurt and Erfurt, Germany.(photo © Jaime Rojo)

INSA adorned the side of this fine family establishment with hot fleshy pinks and red undulating color. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

INSA. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

INSA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Part of Shepard Fairey’s brand new series, this image of Ronald Reagan is pre-defaced with an “intervention” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey simplifies the approach, making it that much more powerful (photo © Jaime Rojo)

As if in a “free speech zone” behind the barbed wire, the man who started this all, Ronald Reagan, salutes “Mourning in Amerca”, by Shepard Fairey (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Shepard Fairey’s piece, the first done with Daniel Lahoda for the LA Freewalls project (photo © Jaime Rojo)

French artist JR, part of a 16 piece installation across LA this spring called “Wrinkles in the City” (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Kid Zoom and Insa reversed the red and blue part of this piece, shot both with a camera, and created a stunning piece of GIF art that makes Kid Zoom’s skull float above it. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gif Image courtesy LA Freewalls project.

Kid Zoom (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stencil artist M-City’s train in this parking lot is so long that it’s hard to get the full view (photo © Jaime Rojo)

MCity. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ripo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA’s sweet smelling piece adorns the side of this perfume store. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Images of the Week 03.06.11

March 6, 2011 Artists, Brooklyn, BSA Images Of The Week, Gallery, Manhattan, NYC, On the Street, Week in Images

Our weekly interview with the streets also wanders into a few Art Fairs this week as many Street Artists were in town showing studio work and getting up on walls. It was great to meet so many people who are on fire about this grassroots, interactive, DIY, in-your-eyeballs world of street art and to talk about where it is going. While there were a slew of Street Artists banging a luan wall at Fountain, we also got to see some peeps at Scope and Volta.

So here we go with shots of Andy Piedilato, Dalek, DFace, How Nosm, Mark Jenkins, Ron English, Tes One, Tristan Eaton, TrustoCorp, and Typoe.

How & Nosm finish wall in Brooklyn for Contra Projects (photo © Jaime Rojo)

TES ONE at work on his wall in Brooklyn for Contra Projects (photo © Jaime Rojo). Meanwhile Sharktoof did a brand new piece in Bushwick, which we’ll show you next week.

Tristan Eaton has not shown such a fully realized piece on the streets and he unveiled this one after working for close to a year on it. He also told BSA that his brother Matthew has some serious art chops. Bring it on, Matt! Contra Projects at Scope Art Fair (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Armory Week NYC 2011: BSA Picks

March 2, 2011 Art Fair, Artists, Brooklyn, Events, Fundraising, Gallery, Manhattan, NYC, On the Street, Opening

Armory Week, the annual art deluge in New York is about art Fairs, Art Fans, and Fiddy Dollars, Daddy. While a fair bit of the traffic at the various fairs is about the benjamins, it’s also just about having a good time and getting out to see what your favorite street artist is up to in this milieu. In short – a whole lotta street artists are getting busy this year in the booths, on the walls, and in the streets to show you their stuff.

This year the NYC madness officially opens Thursday March 3rd. Here are some of the things we are looking forward to – you might like them too.

FOUNTAIN

A BSA favorite, Fountain is held in an old maritime vessel docked on the Hudson River on the West Side of Manhattan. Each year, and this is the sixth, the fair promises to rock at least a few boats.

Fountain is an excitedly directed directionless cacophony of hits and odd couple of misses every year. The hits usually are upside your head. We are looking forward to the 100+ feet wall of fresh Street Art as you enter and the Murder Lounge down below. As you wend your way past the bar and the flash bulbs at the Saturday night musical melee with Ninjasonik you will swear you are floating. Because you are.

Highlights:

FOUNTAIN NEW YORK ANNOUNCES
MASSIVE STREET ART INSTALLATION FOR 2011 FAIR

Adding to Fountain’s signature overwhelming visual and sensory experience, visitors entering Fountain Art Fair will encounter a 100-foot long street art installation stretching along the entrance and exit—a massive collaborative installation by a number of street artists. It features Chris Stain, Dickchicken!, Faro, Gaia, Shark Toof, Clown Soldier, Love Me, Ellis G, Allesandro Echevarria, Lee Trice, Imminent Disaster, Elle, Hellbent, Joe Iurato, and Anthony Sneed. “The medium and movement referred to as Street Art has played an integral role in Fountain Art Fair’s development,” said David Kesting, Fountain Art Fair Co-Founder.

Location:

Pier 66 Maritime @ 26th Street & 12th Avenue in the Hudson RIver Park

March 3 – 6, 2011
General Public Hours:
March 4–March 6, 12pm–7pm

Special Events:
Thursday March 3, 12am – 5pm – VIP & Press Preview
Friday, March 4, 7pm – 12am – Opening Night Reception – Performance: Gordon Voidwell and Tecla
Saturday, March 5, 7pm – 12am – Performance: Ninjasonik

Go to Fountain official site to see the full list of exhibitors and to learn more details about the special events and full program:

http://fountainexhibit.com/

SCOPE

A mouthwash and an art fair, we’re checking out Scope mainly to see the new collaboration called Contra Projects, put together by brothers Tristan and Matthew Eaton – comprised of some rockin’ Street Artists who will be taking their show on the road around the globe this year. We’ve had a blast watching them put up new work on Brooklyn streets this week, and can’t wait to see the installations at Scope.

TYPOE

Also you will want to check out the sculpture work by Miami graff artist Typoe, whose friend have been saving their caps from spray cans for a minute. He laughs when he talks about graffers mailing them to him too and as a co-founder of Primary Flight, Miami’s original open air museum and street level mural installation, he’s got plenty to work with.

TYPOE | Fountain, 2011| Confetti Death Series
Represented by SPINELLO GALLERY

To see the full list of exhibitors, details of the programs and fees to enter go to the Scope Art Fair site:

http://www.scope-art.com/Index.php/

Location
320 West St (West Side Highway)
Across from Pier 40
New York NY 10014

Opening Schedule
FirstView
(For VIPs and Press
or $100 donation at the door)
Wednesday | March 2 | 3pm-9pm

VOLTA

California’s Carmichael Gallery is showing new work by Street Art brain jammer Mark Jenkins, whose well-placed human installations in public places cause people to stop and ponder. Apparently, his work has a similar effect on cats.

Mark Jenkins, Family Room

From the press release;

“Mark Jenkins’ installation at VOLTA NY will transform Booth A1 into an unconventionally furnished family room. “I’ve been doing a lot of experimentation with resin and fiberglass,” says the artist of this new series, which includes five and a half life-size sculptures and a range of smaller pieces, “finding more original ways to make hand casts and improving structural solidity through new bracing techniques.” For the first time, Jenkins will present his works within a site-specific environment purposefully created to provide greater contextual authority and definition to his aesthetic and thematic considerations. “An empty space can feel sterile,” he observes, “as if a giant eraser has removed all context. The works become more like pinned butterflies. I have taken a different approach with (the presentation of) Family Room. This time it’s about creating a place for the sculptures to live in, so, in addition to clothes, I’ve been thrift store shopping for plants, drapes, rugs and chairs.” Both individual works and the installation as a whole will propose non-traditional commentaries on the institutions of family and home.”

Booth A1
7 West 34th Street
between 5th and 6th Avenue / 11th floor
New York, NY 10001
USA

To see the full Volta exhibitors list and details of all events please click on Volta’ site:

http://ny.voltashow.com/

To learn more about Carmichael Gallery please click on the gallery’s site:

http://www.carmichaelgallery.com/

PULSE

Brooklyn’s David Ellis at Joshua Liner is one painter/sculptor/film maker always worth checking out. As a founding Barnstormer, Ellis continues to stretch and swerve with painterly illustrations and installation.

VISIT
PULSE Contemporary Art Fair at http://www.pulse-art.com/ or contact by phone at +1 (212) 255-2327.

FAIR HOURS
Thursday March 3	10am-1pm
	Press and VIP Private Preview
Thursday March 3	1pm- 8pm
Friday March 4	12pm – 8pm
Saturday March 5	12pm – 8pm
Sunday March 6	12pm – 5pm

::ADMISSION TO ALL VERGE ART BROOKLYN
EXHIBITION LOCATIONS IS FREE::

PUBLIC HOURS
Thursday, Friday & Saturday, 3 – 5 March, Noon to 10 pm
Sunday, 6 March, Noon to 6 pm
OPENING NIGHT PARTY
Thursday, 3 March, 2011, 10:00 pm to 4 am

TOMORROW’S ART TODAY: THE INAUGURAL ART BROOKLYN
Coming Thursday, March 3, Verge Art Brooklyn invites you to experience a paradigm shift in art fairs as we know them, a show that recovers the standard of an art fair as a platform for presenting the best work by living artists. Art Brooklyn throws open the doors for attendees to a whole new universe of artists, music, art, and community. Verge Art Brooklyn is proud to announce a list of exhibitors that includes gallery exhibitors, resident DUMBO galleries and Brooklyn Art Now participants for a combined total of over seventy gallery exhibitors at nine locations, nearly forty participants for “Material Issue: Artist’s Projects Spaces” and fifty artists for “Tomorrow Stars: The Art Brooklyn Open Call Exhibition.” Chosen by a distinguished panel of jurors, “Tomorrow Stars” represents the brightest and best Brooklyn has to offer, as selected by Courtney Wendroff of the Brooklyn Arts Council, artist and former president of the NYC chapter of the American Society of Media Photographers Stephen Mallon, blogger and art critic Steve Kaplan, and Danny Simmons, chairman of the NYC chapter of the National Conference of Artists. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to own the work of tomorrow’s stars today!

GALLERY EXHIBITORS
81 Front Street, Ground Floor / One Main Street, Ground Floor ANTIDOTE, Brooklyn, NY, Albrecht Art Enterprise, New York, NY, Art Project International G77 Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, Phoenix Gallery, New York, NY, G2 Gallery, Tokyo, Japan, MoCADA Gallery, Brooklyn, NY, Cue Art Foundation, New York, NY, Firecat Projects, Chicago, IL, Stilllife Gallery, New York, NY, Fine Art Consultancy, London, UK, Arch 402, London, UK, A.R.T. Module R, Brooklyn, NY, Mayjune Gallery, Seoul, South Korea, Brooklyn Art Project, Brooklyn, NY, and others TBA.

BROOKLYN ART NOW: 2011 SURVEY EXHIBITION CURATED BY LOREN MUNK/JAMES KALM
111 Front Street, Second Floor, Suites 200, 204 & 222 Tabla Rasa Gallery: selected artist(s) and work, Audrey Anastasi, “Spoken Birch.” BAC Gallery selected artist(s) work, RahulAlexander, “Golden Chamber”, Greg Lindquist, “ntitled.” Like The Spice Gallery selected artist(s) and work, Jenny Morgan and David Mramor, “View Quan Yinha.” Micro Museum: Selected artist(s) and work, Kathleen and William Laziza “THE KISSING INSTALLATION 2.0.” Open Source Gallery: selected artist(s) and work, Peter Feigenbaum, ”02″, Katerina Marcelja “02.” Camel Art Space: selected artist(s) and work, Rob de Oude, “Hither fro Yonder”, Carl Gunhouse, “Development Nashville, TN.” MoCADA: selected artist(s) and work, Jeff Sims, “Straddle 72.” WORK Gallery: selected artist(s) and work, Eric Ayotte, “Protest Painting”, Karin Stothart, “Ileostomy Drainage.” Central Booking: selected artist(s) and work. Despo Magoni, “The Thousand and One Nights series”, Lothar Osterburg, “Zion Homestead.” BRIC Rotunda Gallery: selected artist(s) and work, Jeesoo Lee, “Darkening Blue”, Pinar Yolaçan, “Untitled (from Mother Goddess series), Lael Marshall, “Compact Florescent.” Famous Accountants: selected artist(s) and work, Meg Hitchcock, “Nausea, The Sunyatasaptati (Seventy Verses on Emptiness) by Nagarjuna, from Neasea by Jean-Paul Sartre”, Ben Godward, “Shhh! I live here.” Spring Gallery: selected artist(s) and work Charles Lahti, “First Eyes on Jura.” Front Room Gallery: selected artist(s) and work, Tom Broadbent, “Floating Camouflaged Pants” Manhattan Bridge Tunnel proposal, Stephen Mallon, “Virginia Placement”, Patricia Smith, “Mapped Location of Pronounced Situation Density.” Janet Kurnatowski: selected artits(s) and work, Craig Olson, “Murcury in the Philosopher’s Egg (Oh! Hospitable Jupiter! And the Trust)”, Ben La Rocco, “Minerva’s Pallette.” English Kills Gallery: selected artist(s) and work, Don Pablo Pedro, “jpg #1”, Andrew Hurst, “EOS Digital Rebel ETi.” 440 Gallery: selected artist(s) and work, Tom Bovo, “BOVO_TOM_02”, Richard Eagan “EAGAN_RICHARD_01.” LUMENHOUSE: selected artist(s) and work, Jeremiah Teipen, ” Untitled, digital video with screen and player.” Side Show Gallery: selected artist(s) and work, Shari Mendelson, “Bumpy Blue-Green Vessel”, James O. Clark, “Orestes 2006.” Parker’s Box: selected artist(s) and work, Steven Brower, “Child Astronaut Test Suit 1999-2000”, Joshua Stern, “Untitled V” Patrick Martinez “Jesus video.” In addition, a list of Special Projects for Brooklyn Art Now is forthcoming.

PUBLIC HOURS
Thursday, Friday & Saturday, 3 – 5 March, Noon to 10 pm
Sunday, 6 March, Noon to 6 pm

OPENING NIGHT RECEPTION
Thursday, 3 March, 2011, 10:00 pm to 2 am

To read more details about Verge Art Brooklyn click on the link below:

http://www.brooklynartfair.com/

Non-Art Fair Recommendations

Brice Wolkowitz Gallery Presents: José Parlá “Walls Diaries and Paintings” (Manhattan, NYC)

José Parlá “Order, Pattern, Organization, Form and Relationship”. Image Courtesy of the gallery.

Mint&Serf Present: Well Hung: The Chelsea Chapter at +ART. A Fundraiser for Free Arts NYC

Images Of The Week 02.27.11 – Art Fairs Bring New Street Art to Walls

February 27, 2011 Artists

Brooklyn and NYC are Getting Hit! – New stuff is being installed on walls this week from Nick Walker, How & Nosm, TesOne, Bask, Tristan Eaton, Gaia, Clown Soldier, Hellbent, Chris Stain, and more. It’s a hot week in late winter.

We interrupt our regular weekly program of new shots of the street with IN PROGRESS new shots on the street by Nick Walker and How and Nosm and Bask.

This week art fairs will draw huge crowds of collectors and fans, bringing a number of Street Artists with spray paint and brush and wheatpaste in hand to hit up walls with their new pieces. From Fountain to Scope to Volta to Verge to Independent , the city is poppin with new pieces and new installations by scheduled Street Artists, and most likely a fair amount that isn’t scheduled on the streets too.

As reported here Friday BSA was with Nick Walker this week as he installed “Anonymity” a brand new stencil in a couple bricked up windows in Brooklyn. While in New York he’s also hit up walls inside and outside the Cooper Square Hotel in Manhattan (see below).

As he worked he talked about the significance of this new piece:

Nick Walker: This piece is all about anonymity. When you are a graffiti artist some people play the anonymity card. But then there are those who play the anonymity card one minute and the next minute you see them on the Internet not playing the anonymity game. This piece reflects what I see around me and I see other artists doing. I think that if you are going to play the anonymity game you have to play it from the start and never slip up. For a lot of the artists that I see now is “on-off” thing.

Southern Street Art talents Bask and TesOne are braving the cold temps in Brooklyn right now to hit walls with How and Nosm and Tristan Eaton as part of Contra Projects, a newly formed alliance of Street Artists who will be traveling around the globe in 2011 lead by visionary Eaton and his equally dynamic brother Matthew.

Opening at Scope this week the roster includes the above with Mr. Jago, DFace, Thomas Thewes, Ron English, James Marshall and TrustoCorp. Before the big Scope opening some of these cats will be hitting walls in BK and here are here are the first progress shots of the wall by How and Nosm from yesterday. They don’t have a name for it yet – suggestions are welcome! Finally a shot of Bask as he traces out the new piece.

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