All posts tagged: London

Graffiti and the Everyday Utopias of the Street from Schacter & Co

March 12, 2016 Artists

Utopia, as you know, is unattainable.

Neither should one think that we are devolving into a Dystopian nightmare. Not just yet.

A new show at London’s Somerset House is examining the acts and results of so-called urban artists and their relationship to discussions about this imagined polarity.

We ask ourselves if graffiti and it’s variant unsanctioned public art cousins simply are a medium of messaging that runs outside of accepted pathways of delivery? Yes, and so much more.

Lucas Dillon. Approved By Pablo. Somerset House. London. March 2016. (photo © courtesy of AbyP)

One one hand some public servants, civic minders, and private real estate owners have their “hair on fire” moments when these actions/interventions/disruptions of the cityscape are portrayed as signs of the utter ruin of civilization. Concurrently, libertarians, anarchists and sundry romantics may present them as a form of self expression, even self empowerment; an act of claiming a voice in the public dialogue heretofore closed to certain members of society.

In the descriptive text for Somerset’s current series providing a full year of space for Utopian thinking, we learn that co-producers Somerset House, King’s College London and the Courtauld Institute of Art are marking the 500^th anniversary of Utopia’s formal birth as a concept in writings by Thomas More. The reasoning presented says that because of his texts we are all equipped to imagine that a better world is possible and, thus knowing, “we are empowered to create it.”

Lucas Dillon. Approved By Pablo. Somerset House. London. March 2016. (photo © courtesy of AbyP)

Raphael Schacter and the arts organization A(by)P are presenting a portion of this discussion with their exhibit Venturing Beyond: Graffiti and the Everyday Utopias of the Street, just opened. Commissioning seventeen street artists for one’s show is in itself so rare and splendid as to be only in the realm of one’s imagination today. But here they are; new pieces and performances from a healthy spectrum of practitioners on the graffiti/Street Art scene like Shepard Fairey, Swoon, REVOK, Brad Downey, Horfée, and Eltono.

Schacter and company are “arguing against the traditionally-held belief of graffiti as a dystopian movement or ‘glorified vandalism’.” With installation works, in-house residencies, and a wide-ranging program of events that include workshops, talks, films, music and performances, no stone will be un-thrown in this wo/man-made island of inquiry and imagination.

Petro. Approved By Pablo. Somerset House. London. March 2016. (photo © courtesy of AbyP)

Say A(by)P, “Above all, graffiti and street art act as an alternative voice, whether it is loud and brazen or more subtle and difficult to decipher, which strive to challenge the well-worn systems of society – something which Thomas More’s seminal text also set out. All of the artists will uniquely interpret their ideas on these utopian foundations of graffiti.”

Here are a small series of images from the organizers from Venturing Beyond: Graffiti and the Everyday Utopias of the Street.

Petro. Detail. Approved By Pablo. Somerset House. London. March 2016. (photo © courtesy of AbyP)

Russell Maurice. Approved By Pablo. Somerset House. London. March 2016. (photo © courtesy of AbyP)

Filippo Minnelli. Approved By Pablo. Somerset House. London. March 2016. (photo © courtesy of AbyP)

Les Freres Ripoulain. Detail. Approved By Pablo. Somerset House. London. March 2016. (photo © courtesy of AbyP)

El Tono. Approved By Pablo. Somerset House. London. March 2016. (photo © courtesy of AbyP)

Antwan Horféé. Approved By Pablo. Somerset House. London. March 2016. (photo © courtesy of AbyP)

Misha Hollenbach. Approved By Pablo. Somerset House. London. March 2016. (photo © courtesy of AbyP)

Sixe Paredes. Approved By Pablo. Somerset House. London. March 2016. (photo © courtesy of AbyP)

Saleo & Rizote. Approved By Pablo. Somerset House. London. March 2016. (photo © courtesy of AbyP)

Shepard Fairey. Approved By Pablo. Somerset House. London. March 2016. (photo © courtesy of AbyP)

Nano. Approved By Pablo. Somerset House. London. March 2016. (photo © courtesy of AbyP)

Revok, Russell Maurice, Nano and Filippo Minelli. Approved By Pablo. Somerset House. London. March 2016. (photo © courtesy of AbyP)

Venturing Beyond: Graffiti and the Everyday Utopias of the Street

3 March – 2 May 2016
Daily 10.00-18.00 (last entry 17.15)
Terrace Rooms, South Wing
Free admission

London Walls in Conjunction with Saatchi “XX: A Moment in Time”

February 16, 2016 Artists

New murals today in London in conjunction with the Olly Walker curated “XX: A Moment in Time” show at Saatchi Gallery, which is now running until March 6. The all-female show highlights the depth of field that has emerged during these last few years with formally trained artists of many disciplines explanding the definitions of contemporary art and Street Art.

Elle (photo © Allison Crawbuck)

A mix of emerging and established, the show brings in an international selection of artists, including: Aiko (Japan/USA), Alice Pasquini (Italy), Caratoes (Belgium/Hong Kong), Crajes (Spain), Elle (USA), Faith47 (South Africa), Handiedan (Netherlands), Hera (Germany), Hueman (USA), Lora Zombie (Russia), Madamoiselle Maurice (France), Marina Zumi (Argentina), Martha Cooper (USA), Mimi S (Germany), Miss Van (France), Olek (Poland), Sandra Chevrier (Canada), Vexta (Australia) and Zabou (France).

Elle (photo © Allison Crawbuck)

Here we see new walls by Elle, Zabou, Marina Zumi, Himbad, and Alice Pasquini.

“XX: A Moment in Time” is curated by Olly Walker of Ollystudio and is supported by Yasha Young. The exhibition is on view in the Prints & Originals Gallery at the Saatchi Gallery from until March 6. Please check the Saatchi Gallery homepage for some closure days in February and see the additional pieces available online.

Elle (photo © Allison Crawbuck)

Zabou (photo courtesy of Zabou)

Zabou (photo © Allison Crawbuck)

Zabou (photo © Zabou)

Marina Zumi (photo courtesy of Marina Zumi)

Himbad and Marina Zumi (photo courtesy of Marina Zumi)

Alice Pasquini (photo © Jessica Stewart)

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Alan KET Brings You “Urban Art Legends”

January 19, 2016 Artists

A new hard cover book by Alan Ket aka KET One will be released next month that spotlights a select group of artists from both the graffiti and Street Art scenes, people whom KET calls “Urban Art Legends”.

KET: “Urban Art Legends” Lom Art. London 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“This book is about the artists who have pioneered, promoted and transformed this ‘other’ art world,” says the author, himself a graffiti writer, artist, curator, activist, advisor and entrepreneur. What is fresh about his approach is the egalitarian respect that is given to artists regardless of their genre or associated scene, something we have always tried to balance as well amid a sometimes turbulent volley of antagonism that can sometimes distinguish graffiti/street art discourse.

KET: “Urban Art Legends” Lom Art. London 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Here “Urban Art Legends” focuses on a short list of widely agreed upon influencers of art in the streets throughout the last half century – since the early gang and tagging days of the late 60s in NY/Philly/LA through its various evolutions of the figurative, cartoon-inspired, Wild Style, symbolist, and abstract iterations to its intersections with fine art and DIY movements and pop, politics, illustration, duplication, and multiples. He’s right, this is the ‘other’ art world – and we daily see signs that it is seriously altering the more conventional contemporary art world, sometimes remaking it in its image.

KET: “Urban Art Legends” Lom Art. London 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

With names as varied as Crash, Cost, Blade, ROA, Lee, Banksy, Sane Smith, Faith47, Daze, Nick Walker, and Kase2 – “Urban Art Legends” reaches its arms wide to encompass style masters and stencil masters, each with a brief bio, overview and rationale for their “Legendary Status”. Consider it a primer that adds further rich detail to the canon. KET freely concedes “This is not the definitive book on urban street art. The world of street art is so dynamic and fast-paced that the story is still being lived out,” and elsewhere he says, “there are many more who deserve recognition.”

With that in mind, KET has beautifully captured many important artists and their stories in “Urban Art Legends”

KET: “Urban Art Legends” Lom Art. London 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

New Yorkers will have an opportunity to meet the author and two of those legends on February 9th at the Museum of the City of New York. DAZE and Nick Walker will join KET to discuss KET’s new book and visitors can also see the new show Chris “Daze” Ellis: The City is My Muse.

March 2nd it will be BSA and Daze in conversation at the museum so you can put that in your calendar as well.

KET: “Urban Art Legends” Lom Art. London 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Urban Art Legends” by KET published by Lom Art. London 2015
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Rafael Schacter and Filippo Minelli : 15 for 2015

December 30, 2015 Artists

What are you celebrating this season? We’re celebrating BSA readers and fans with a holiday assorted chocolate box of 15 of the smartest and tastiest people we know. Each day until the new year we ask a guest to take a moment to reflect on 2015 and to tell us about one photograph that best captures the year for him or her. It’s our way of sharing the sweetness of the season and saying ‘thank you’ for inspiring us throughout the year.

Rafael Schacter is an anthropologist, curator, and the author of The World Atlas of Street Art and Graffiti and Order and Ornament: Graffiti, Street Art and the Parergon. He is also a researcher of graffiti and Street Art in the Department of Anthropology, University College London and is a British Academy Postdoctoral Fellow 2014-2017 also at University College London. Among other topics discussed at lectures and conferences around the world Dr. Schacter argues that graffiti and Street Art produce “insurgent images” that should be seen to reface, rather than deface, the city.

London, UK
January 23, 2015
Artist: Filippo Minelli
Photograph by Rafa Suñen

This image, by the photographer Rafa Suñen, is taken from an action by the artist Filippo Minelli entitled ‘Bold Statements’. It was performed on the Somerset House River Terrace on January 23, 2015, as part of the Mapping the City exhibition which I curated for Approved by Pablo.

I picked this image because it was an amazing start to the year for me, at once the most stressful and the most exciting project I have ever been a part of. Whilst I was immensely proud of the exhibition and what we as a team accomplished, the cultural programme and ephemeral actions we organised alongside the exhibit itself were the things I personally enjoyed the most.

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Filippo’s performance was a beautiful moment that I will always remember. A perfect London winter’s day, a magical, ephemeral moment in which a group of people – a group from different backgrounds, different ages, different places – all came together to take part in something equally personal as political. Something equally absurd as affective. Something capturing everything I love about public art in one condensed instant.

~ Rafael Schacter

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Mapping the City was covered by BSA along with an interview with Raphael in The Huffington Post HERE.

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Mark Rigney and Ad Busting : 15 for 2015

December 24, 2015 Artists

Mark Rigney is a photographer, curator, designer, blogger and art zine maker originally from Ireland and now running UKs Hookedblog for its 10^th year in East London. His photos have appeared in numerous books including Untitled III: This is Street Art and The Art of Rebellion and quite a few times in VNA (Very Nearly Almost) as well as multiple illustrious Street Art sites like BSA.

London, UK
November 1, 2015
Artist: Jordan Seiler
Photograph by Mark Rigney

This has been a year filled with art, travel, good company and food for me, catching up with old friends across the globe and meeting new ones. It has also been a year filled with ad takeovers.

Through our friend Vermibus we first met New York artist Jordan Seiler in Berlin on a trip that coincided with the opening of Open Walls Berlin, a new gallery space where the two artists had a joint exhibition together. I was invited to accompany them both to capture them hitting up the bus shelters in the neighbourhood, removing the advertising and replacing the posters with their art.

A month later I joined Vermibus again to document his month long ‘Unveiling Beauty’ project which saw him travelling to New York, London, Milan and Paris, installing works in each city. My documenting of ad busters continued last month with Jordan Seiler visiting London and installing a number of works across the city including this piece in East London.

~ Mark Rigney

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Alison Young and Vermibus : 15 For 2015

December 17, 2015 Artists

Alison Young is a Professor at the University of Melbourne, an expert in Cultural Criminology, winner of many academic awards, and author of a number of Street Art related books, including her most recent Street Art, Public City: Law, Crime and the Urban Imagination. In it she considers the ways in which street art has become an integral part of the identity of cities such as London, New York, Berlin, and Melbourne, at the same time as street art has become increasingly criminalized. Alison is also a simply indispensible source for many who are studying the intersections of art, culture, law, and urban space.

London, United Kingdom
20 September 2015.
Photograph by Mark Rigney

2015 was a year in which arguments about whether street art can still be considered in any way radical became ever more intense. At times, it seemed like the answer was obvious: when the sides of New York subway cars were used to advertise a ‘street art reality tv show’, many assumed that street art had lost any radical edge it might have had. Other examples were less clear cut. Some argued that muralism is making our streetscapes bland, as local neighbourhood character gets replaced by a uniform aesthetic in cities around the world; for others, the presence of a striking and skillful mural is a vast improvement and a source of community pride.

For me, one of the most exciting examples of street art’s radical potential is found in the work of ‘subvertisers’ like Jordan Seiler, or the various artists working with Brandalism, who used techniques of street art and subvertising to take over 600 advertising panels in Paris before the UN COP21 Climate Conference at the end of November.

Another such artist is the Berlin-based Vermibus, who travelled to various cities hosting a Fashion Week in September and October 2015. He replaced advertisements with his own hand-painted images of women designed to make people think critically about the fashion and cosmetics ads conventionally displayed in public space.

I was fortunate enough to meet Vermibus in London, and watched him install these two pieces in the bus shelter outside Harrods department store – in broad daylight, with hundreds of people walking back and forth along the street, in a clear demonstration of the ways in which ‘street art’ can still be deeply politicized.

~Alison Young

BSA Images Of The Week: 12.06.15

December 6, 2015 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

A wild week in world geopolitics, terror, social crisis – interpret them as you may through the prism of art collecting and fandom – as Miami Art Basel and the Wynwood District were bursting with high prices, high emotions, high celebrity-counts, and people who appeared to be high almost all the time. There were also heavy rains, big name music performances, custom designed cocktails, luxury brands, brand fusions, and sponsored walls and events everywhere. Also a stabbing.

Once we can sort through the best photos we’ll definitely share some of the great work with you this week.

Meanwhile, Street Artists continue to create in cities elsewhere and while Miami is celebrating brands, logos and luxury, on the other side of the ocean Brandalism completed a 600 kiosk takeover in Paris this week skewering all of the above and the undue influence corporations are having in writing environmental/trade laws. On the aesthetic tip we’ve recently made a mental note that photo-realism is now reaching a critical mass. So there you are.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring A Pill NYC, Bifido, Buff Monster, Cash4, Dan Witz, Fuzeillear, Invader, Jordan Seiler, Knarf, LikMi, Luca Ladda, Østrem, Otto Schade, Persue, Pøbel, Rahmi Rajah, Sean9Lugo, Sipros, and Skount.

Top Image: Sipros for The Bushwick Collective. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sipros for The Bushwick Collective (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A portrait of Biggie Smalls. This was probably ripped from the ad campaign and affixed to this phone box. We call this re-porpoising and we consider it to be Street Art. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pøbel . Østrem for NUART in Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

These two pieces are part of the NUART collection of murals painted for previous editions of the festival. They are not freshly painted but we wanted to publish them as they are calling our attention to a topic that is current and urgent and addressed by world leaders in Paris for the COP21 Climate Summit 2015 as well as dozens of Street Artists with the #brandalism campaign.

Pøbel . Østrem for NUART in Stavanger, Norway. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A Pill NYC (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jordan Seiler ad take over in the NYC Subway. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Luca Ledda for Festival Concreto in Fortaleza, Brazil. (photo © Luca Ledda)

Dan Witz. Natural History series. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cash4 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Bifido in Napoli, Italy. (photo © Bifido)

Sean9Lugo (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Buff Monster (photo © Jaime Rojo)

One cool thing about this piece: The plaid pattern was done by hand with gaffers’ tape – it isn’t freehand painted or stenciled or printed. It’s a 3D piece, including the silvery collar portion. There was a tag and a code at the collar but it was too faded for us to read. From what we could read the tag is #IywIkr (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Space Invader. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Otto Schade AKA OSCH in London. (photo © Rahmi Rajah)

Persue (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Knarf in Miami. (photo © Knarf)

Skount surprised us with this abstract piece in Gold Coast, Australia – not the style he typically does. (photo © Skount)

Skount and Fuzeillear at Maroochydore, Sunshine Coast, Australia. (photo © Skount)

LikMi (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Staten Island – NYC Harbor. November 2015. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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BSA Images Of The Week: 11.29.15

November 29, 2015 Artists, BSA Images Of The Week

Rounding out the Thanksgiving week here as people think back on what they have to be thankful for in New York and across the US. Despite the class war on the poor, near-weekly proof of systematic racism and extremism, gun violence that feels out of control, and 3 songs on the top ten by Justin Beiber, we have to admit that all is not lost – and we still have a pretty strong union of cool people who actually love our neighbors and multi-cultures and are willing to show it every day.

The art we see in the streets continues to evolve; People like Gilf! are combining experimentation and activism in the public sphere while others are looking for ways to address a variety of social/political ills, – meanwhile many artists now seek and secure legal spots to put up their work, use hash tags and Instagram as marketing directly to collectors, advertisers are mimicking street art to promote brands, and Wynwood in Miami is preparing to showcase some of the flashiest displays of sponsored murals and participants yet during Basel next week.

There is a rising chorus of horrified detractors who say an organic grassroots art form is being commodified. It’s not political enough! It’s narcissistic! It’s all privileged white kids who don’t appreciate the true roots of graff culture! Calm down everybody, we can handle this. There is room for all ya’ll, like they say down south.

Here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Ai Wei Wei, Dee Dee, Ernest Zacharevic, Gilf!, Gum Shoe, Himbad, Invader, Isaac Cordal, Jilly Ballistic, Le Diamantaire, Osch aka Otto Schade, Ouizi, Sipros, and Swoon.

Ernest Zacharevic interprets Martha Cooper’s photograph of Lil’ Crazy Legs. This is their final piece in this collaborative series. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ernest Zacharevic interprets Martha Cooper’s photograph from 1978 of this boy playing with a makeshift gun from the leg of a baby’s crib. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ernest Zacharevic interprets Martha Cooper’s photograph from 1978 of this boy playing with a makeshift gun from the leg of a baby’s crib. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ernest Zacharevic interprets Martha Cooper’s photograph from 1978 of this boy trapping flies in glass bottles. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ernest Zacharevic. Adam De Coster (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tongue in cheek, Ernest Zacharevic’s ironic blend of brandalism and vandalism. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Isaac Cordal staged a scene of drowning businessmen in this Manhattan puddle. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jilly Ballistic (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gilf! continues to influence the conversations around rampant inequality and with her “gentrification in progress” tape project, now outside the museum, someday in the museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ai Wei Wei (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon . Ouizi (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Swoon . Ouizi. Detail (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sipros for The Bushwick Collective and Mana Urban Projects. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Gum Shoe (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dee Dee (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Non-controversial lampooning cast as tough political stance, The Peralta Project is a commercial lifestyle brand that is using the street to advertise their product line, cashing in on a very popular dislike for this reality TV star. Like a mezcal company did this summer these posters are popping up to emasculate – and possible help move product. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Himbad for The Bushwick Collective and Mana Urban Projects. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Osch aka Otto Schade in London’s Brick Lane (photo © Urban Art International)

Invader’s tribute to Andy Warhol with The L.I.S.A Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Invader’s tribute to Woody Allen with The L.I.S.A Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Invader’s tribute to Bugs Bunny with The L.I.S.A Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Invader’s with The L.I.S.A Project NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Le Diamantaire (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Blue is the warmest color. Manhattan, NYC. November 2015 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Dont Fret Takes Europe, and We All Feel Better

November 10, 2015 Artists

When you hear the name of Street Artist Don’t Fret you can be assured that he means exactly the opposite. Exposing random and selected people’s faults, foibles, and fraternizing habits is just a way to quickly capture the free-wheeling imaginings and inner conversations that Don’t Fret has running through his head almost continuously. On his big 2015 European Tour through Berlin, London, Warsaw, and Viavai, the Chicago-based Street Artist brings his customary wit and observation skills and attacks it all with gusto.

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Dont Fret. Italy 2015. (photo © Dont Fret)

“In Warsaw I was invited by V9 Gallery to come work as artist in residence,” he says of the gradual climb into the gallery world that he is taking. The weather was cold and wet and not great for wheat-pasting so he painted a lot of stuff to stockpile for later. “I created a body of work of busts of influential Polish American artists and writers, including Chicago’s own Ed Paschke,” he says.

Dont Fret. Italy 2015. (photo © Dont Fret)

In Italy Don’t Fret participated in the Viavai Projeect and did a piece on one of the last textile companies that has not been purchased by a Chinese company.

“I painted a mural of the employees and created two screen prints, one dealing with the issue of Italy’s future as they sell more and more of their infrastructure to China.” The fragments of a classical sculpture are scattered across a wall for the mural, perhaps reflecting the feelings of a once unified, proud and powerful textile industry.

Could be rolls of textiles, could be large tubes of encased meat. Dont Fret. Italy 2015. (photo © Dont Fret)

The remainder of his European tour was spent painting a mural in London, followed by hitting the streets there and a brief stop in Berlin. The variety of images attests to the artists habit of observing and reacting to his environment. Depicting everyday people and signposts of history and modern life, you may see yourself and your silliness in them; but you don’t mind the gentle mockery because there is a certain respect or pathos present as well.

Dont Fret. Italy 2015. (photo © Dont Fret)

If you were worried that you are not cool, Don’t Fret assures you that really, no one is. Yes, the most closely held rules of your societal relevance are subjected to his theories of relativity and sharp pointed social dissections, and don’t be surprised if his plaintive text and protruding faces call out some heavy truth – but they’ll leave you smiling as well. Like most good comedians, he keeps the sharpest barbs for himself and only infers utter hypocrisy in the lives and behaviors of others while giving them a tribute for hanging in there; humoring the passersby, as it were.

Dont Fret. Italy 2015. (photo © Dont Fret)

Dont Fret. London 2015. (photo © Dont Fret)

Fabulous luxury condos on the way?? Dont Fret. London 2015. (photo © Dont Fret)

Dont Fret. London 2015. (photo © Dont Fret)

Billboard takeover. Dont Fret. Warsaw 2015. (photo © Dont Fret)

Dont Fret does a tribute to Władysław T. Benda the Polish born illustratrator, graphic designer, mask maker, costume designer and muralist who moved to New York and became a US citizen, created very well known magazine covers and illustrations in the first half of the 20th Century. Warsaw 2015. (photo © Dont Fret)

Dont Fret. Warsaw 2015. (photo © Dont Fret)

Dont Fret. Berlin 2015. (photo © Dont Fret)

BSA Film Friday: 10.09.15

October 9, 2015 Artists

Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.

Now screening :

1. Dale Grimshaw Heroically Celtic in Camden, London.
2. Zalez Surfs and Stencils a Goodbye to Summer in France.
3. Hama Woods and “Children of the Forest”
4. Zlatan as Jumping Jack back in His hometown Malmö

BSA Special Feature: Dale Grimshaw Heroically Celtic in Camden, London.

“It’s always what I end up doing. It’s always kind of concerned around the human form and flesh and the face in a portrait. It is very theatric in a way but it’s the very dramatic lighting. It’s a reference to European figurative painting that I’ve always liked anyway.”

Zalez Surfs and Stencils a Goodbye to Summer in France.

The French west coast is strikingly similar to the US west coast in this ode to our fading friend summer. Interesting how the chillax Ibiza soundtrack of wistful longing smoothly integrate ocean view longshots, skateboarding, surfing, and the occasional spraying of stencils on concrete into the same milieu.

Hama Woods and “Children of the Forest”

Straight from the Smaabyen Festival 2015 in Flekkefjord Norway here is a skewed view of distribution of resources, err, strawberries. The mural by Hama Woods features a giant rabbit being fed by small frogs, inspired by a popular youngster’s tale called “Children of the Forest” by Elsa Beskow.

Zlatan as Jumping Jack back in His hometown Malmö

This jumping jack appeared outside of Malmö Stadium at a recent Wednesday night game. Look a little closer and you may recognize Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s face – it’s his hometown afterall. The marionette-like footballer actually works too. So far the artist remains anonymous.

The Wonderfully Dismal Kingdom of Banksy

August 26, 2015 Artists

Banksy has ventured into the entertaining resort business. One that would possibly be your last resort.

A scathing social and political critique of any number of targets that routinely come under the purview of this artist/curator/commentator/showman, this big tent brings everyone inside for a beating. Rampant capitalism, civic hypocrisy, the war industry, advertising deceit, an encroaching police state, environmental destruction, the widening gap in social equality, xenophobia with its inherent racism, and our insatiable penchant for sunny denial are a partial list of woes addressed. If you don’t feel sickened or guilty after visiting Dismaland perhaps you could affect a certain smugness that says, “Finally, someone is talking about all of these important issues that I’ve been going on about.”

Cheerfully cynical and sarcastic, this magic kingdom is most successful when you are challenged to reconsider a behavior or position – and with 50 or so invited co-exhibitionists, some whose bodies of work are substantial on their own, Banksy clearly intends to challenge you and indict you with a relentless barrage of over-the-top funhouse symbolism and metaphor. If, for example, you are enthralled by those American right-wing Christian Halloween “Hell House” installations that feature pregnant teen girls in stirrups and sallow-faced gay HIV-positive patients in hospital beds you’ll cherish the harrowing Banksy path to salvation. Alas, there may be no salvation, sorry.

Here you can see bright yellow bathtub ducks swimming in an oil spill, there you can play paparazzi with the other flashing bulbs recording Cinderalla’s overturned carriage crash. Next, get a load of the toy boats dangerously overloaded with refugees and the knife-wielding butcher eye-balling the horses he’s riding with on the merry-go-round. If Disneyland clobbers you with candy-covered bromides and implausibly rosy fantasy, Dismaland brings you to the edge of the abyss of man’s folly and gently nudges you to fall into it. Or jump.

Particularly effective to the experience are the grim and listless personnel who mind the grounds and offer no clear or meaningful help. Not quite menacing, they could just be impersonating sullen teens. Perhaps they are buckling under the weight of low wages and dim opportunities on the horizon or are simply humiliated by the balloons some are made to carry that say, “I’m an Imbecil”.

On a particularly gray and dreary day periodically warmed with the sun, the photographer named Butterfly made her pilgrimage to this nightmare fairy tale by the seaside for the big opening and below she shares with BSA readers her images and observations on the pop-up exhibition to help us all feel a bit of the dreadful experience first-hand.

~ By Butterfly

Weston-Super-Mare is a British seaside town, 30 minutes from Bristol, where families spend the day out donkey riding, visiting the Seaquarium or trying arcades at the Pier while kids build sandcastles on a muddy beach in miserable weather.

Rumors had been circulating for weeks about big installations being built in the former Tropicana, a derelict lido closed since 2000 which once hosted the biggest outdoor swimming pool in Europe. The rumblings and the build up to the announcement to the show was phenomenal, along with the conjecture: Is it a film set? Is it a show? Is it a fair? Is it art?

Finally we know: This is Banksy’s biggest show to date: Dismaland. It is, according to promotional materials “is a festival of art, amusements and entry-level anarchism.”

Moving towards Contemporary Art, the show is billed as a ‘Bemusement Park’. The global scale, diversity of installations, artworks and participating artists is unprecedented with 50 contemporary artists from 17 countries aiming to exhibit contemporary art and raise discussion about consumerism, political and environmental issues and to spur people to take action.

1000 lucky local people were invited to experience Dismaland before its’ opening to the general public. Concurrently the online ticket sales failed miserably, with the website crashing all day and earning it the award of ‘the most disappointing new website’.

We first enter the premises through a cardboard security control room built by Bill Barminksi where the security staff asks the most random questions. After the clearing security, doors open to a sinister derelict place with trash, paper on the floor and mud. It almost looks like a dump. The surrounding staff members are dressed in pink hi-vis (vests) and are looking bored, miserable and haggard. Some are holding David Shrigley’s ‘I’m an Imbecile’ balloons. When asking questions, they respond by whispering messages that are beyond understanding. Customer service is below standard and not responsive at best.

Surrounded by murky water with a dumped riot van that has been transformed into an impromptu water fountain, a decrepit fairy-tale castle ‘shows how it feels to be a real princess’. A sinister scene of a Cinderella pumpkin crash sculpture is lit up by the swarm of paparazzi, with flashing cameras taking photo after photo of the tragic crash scene, echoing Princess Diana’s death. You may also pose with it and have your souvenir photo of the experience.

The amusements are purposely confusing – as they don’t let you win. An ESPO sign reads

‘WINNING IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED’. Arcade fans attempt miserably to score some of the bling necklaces by shooting spray cans, only to realize that they are screwed to the wall.

Some local families were confused with Banksy’s Mediterranean Boat Ride, where the public can drive robotic boats of migrants amongst floating bodies. Kids tried to play on Paul Insect‘s overcrowded sandpit while others were desperately looking for disappearing golf balls on the impossible Mini Gulf course. Families enjoyed rides on the merry-go-round without noticing a butcher sitting next to a hanging horse draining blood with cardboard boxes marked Lasagnes (a nod to a horse food scandal in 2013).

Alongside the rides, contemporary artworks are displayed throughout the site. There is also a large indoor space hosting 3 galleries with a selection of some of the best contemporary art. A circus tent features a freak show of strange animals from Polly Morgan and Dorcas Casey to a unicorn by Damien Hirst and a Banksy animatronic rabbit that makes the magician disappear.

The seaside and funfair themes have been given a certain twist as well: A statue of a woman being attacked by seagulls (Banksy), a giant ice cream cone (Ben Long), a wooden carved horse sculpture (Maskull Lasserre), a beach ball floating above razor sharp knives (Damien Hirst), a seaside painting showing a mother and child playing on the sand unaware of the tsunami of detritus coming toward them (Banksy).

Environmental issues and relationships between human and nature are also highlighted with artworks from Paco Pomet and Josh Keyes. A Banksy killer whale sculpture is jumping out of a toilet peace. Other topics addressed are on war, geopolitics, and the Arab Spring. Artists from Palestine and Israel are displayed side by side. Within the Guerilla Island, the dome presents of series of activist banners from all over the world, including drawings from Iranian cartoonist Mana Neyestani.

A bus turned into a touring Museum of Cruel Objects curated by Dr. Gavin Grindon educates the public on surveying the role of design for social control, including CCTV. And you can sign up to one of the union stalls for action. Finally there is the mind-blowing model village installation by James Cauty called The Aftermath Dislocation Principle.

The evening turned into a big party with live music while a massive show of fireworks sealed the official opening. I found the experience to be overwhelming with so much artwork to discover and actions to be taken.

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BSA Film Friday: 06.26.15

June 26, 2015 Artists

Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.

Now screening :

1. THIS IS NOW – Endangered Species
2. David Walker in Nancy, France
3. Phnom Penh Murals with Cambodian Urban Art Institute
4. A Primer – The FAILE BÄST Deluxx Fluxx Arcade
5. Drunken Collaboration with Sr. X and Zabou

BSA Special Feature: THIS IS NOW – Endangered Species

Endangered species have been called attention to by Street Artists in recent years, most notably ROA and his large murals around the world, but even Brooklyn local QRST has pasted his paintings of endangered frogs on streets as commentary of our negative effects on entire species, continuously messing with ecosystems and now possibly threatening our own existence.

This short film focuses on a campaign by artist Louis Masai Michel working on the streets of London as part of a funded campaign with Synchronicity Earth, who “support on-the-ground conservation action and creates spaces for cognitive dissidence, working alongside artists, young people, conservationists, activists, film-makers, scientists and enlightened business-leaders to co-create a world in which all life is valued, regardless of economic ‘worth.’”

David Walker in Nancy, France

David Walker just created this mural in Nancy, France to support his current show with Galerie Mathgoth. Not a strict adherent to the École de Nancy , Walker has a craft of his own with aerosol cans that actually bring features and expressions to a life-like quality, all the while eschewing traditional tools of the painting trade. Shout out to Karl’s beard.

Phnom Penh Murals with Cambodian Urban Art Institute

French artists Théo Vallier and Chifumi were invited to gather Cambodian and International graffiti artists to create murals on Phnom Penh’s walls this April and this video gives a good summary of the events. On the streets were new works and collaborations by Chifumi et Théo Vallier, Peap Tarr & Lisa Mam, Tones, David Myers, Koy, Venk, Eltono, and Alias 2.0.

More information of this event sponsored in part by the Institute Francais HERE

The FAILE BÄST Deluxx Fluxx Arcade – A Primer from Miami Beach 2013

If you are wondering what you will see opening July 10^th at the The FAILE BÄST Deluxx Fluxx Arcade and throughout the summer at The Brooklyn Museum, here is a good primer from an installation of it they did in Miami Beach in 2013. We’ve seen the new installation that Faile and BÄST are currently preparing for you, and we can tell you that it is like this, but MUCH MORE.

Video Directed By: Priest Fontaine
Shot By: Noah Carlson & Priest Fontaine
Edited By: Priest Fontaine
Music By: Seth Jabour

Drunken Collaboration with Sr. X and Zabou

They say that this is based on a true story, and one you may have heard of before. We’re not sure if they are advocating alcohol abuse or against it , but it’s always a cheery surprise to hear The Dead Kennedys, isn’t it?

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