All posts tagged: Los Angeles

New Nomadé for MMXI in Los Angeles

March 29, 2011 Artists, California, L.A., Los Angeles, On the Street

Los Angeles wasn’t built in a day, and either were these pieces by the LA Street Art collective known as Nomadé, who finished work this weekend with “Tertia”, a large scale Roman Warrior looking over his shoulder on a pristine white wall in downtown Los Angeles.

“Tertia” (photo © Nomadé)

Only a couple of years ago Nomadé forged this common character who marches through the detritus of a sometimes crumbling modern Rome, XI torrid years into el siglo XXI. Now in preparation for their upcoming “Sniffin Glue” show at New Puppy they completed wall number IV for the LA Freewalls project on the corner of 7th and Mateo downtown.

Nomadé for LA Freewalls Project (photo © Nomadé)

Pepper stops to pose triumphantly with “Tertia”, by Nomadé (photo © Nomadé)

New Puppy Gallery Presents: “Sniffin’ Glue” A Group Show (Los Angeles, CA)

March 17, 2011 Artists, California, Events, Gallery, L.A., Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, Opening

Sniffin’ Glue

Who better than Nomadé, Eddie Colla, ABCNT, and Cryptik to poke the MOCA institutional bear smack in the nose on April 16^th with their new explosive show “Sniffin’ Glue.”

Armed with intense imagery and a collective history of street credibility, this fierce

foursome dare to not only provoke but stand in front of MOCA’s

institutional tank, refusing to allow Jeffery Deitch be the only street

art voice heard on this night.

“Sniffin’ Glue” is a collective display of power from four of the most

provocative west coast street artists – ABCNT, Nomadé, Cryptik and Eddie Colla.

It is a manifestation of a street art revolution that cannot be ignored.

The themes of their work span from power, peace, individualism to protest.

Fueled by revolution, ABCNT’s work pierces into the heart of our deepest political establishments. Cryptik’s art comes from a place of spirituality and his zen visual mastery.

Nomadé are the warriors of creation, not powered by weapons but by intensity and a powerful visceral style. The world of Eddie Colla captures the consciousness of the individual and the relationship to the ever-growing environmental challenges to conformity.

“Sniffin’ Glue”

New Puppy Gallery

2808 Elm Street Unit #1

Los Angeles, CA 90065

323.439.3355

Your Billboard Has Been Adjusted: Desire Obtain Cherish

March 16, 2011 Artists, California, Los Angeles, On the Street

Billboard Hijack in Hollywood

With projections and QR codes capturing the fancy of the out of door advertising world, it’s kind of retro to see subtle repurposing of messaging via good old wheatpaste and paint. In the tradition of Billboard Liberation Front, (a collective old enough to be their parents probably), LA Street Art collective Desire Obtain Cherish did a bit of message adjusting recently that actually ran for weeks in Los Angeles. Rather than culture jamming or anti-corporate messaging in an activist vein however, the billboard features their name – in effect making one ad into another.

Relative Street Art startups, the DOC have been outdoor wallpapering with blocked bold lettered black and white wheat pastes a la Revs/COST, a Marilyn wigged gas-masked militia officer, and staged public “installations” roped off on the street with branded police tape. This custom color-matched billboard takeover is just the kind of work that makes advertisers nervous because of it’s subtlety. As street art and advertising techniques continue to go mainstream and become arrows in the quivers of a generation of artists, it’s going to be even more confounding to know what the message really is, and who it’s from.

Desire Obtain Cherish

All images copyright Desire Obtain Cherish

MOCA Presents: “Art In The Streets” (Los Angeles, CA)

March 8, 2011 Artists, California, Events, L.A., Little Tokyo, Los Angeles, Museum, On the Street, Opening

JR “The Wrinkles in the City 2011” Photo Courtesy © MOCA

Street artist JR has installed a new piece on the Alameda street side of our Geffen Contemporary building in Little Tokyo. The work is part of a 20 artwork project called The Wrinkles of The City that is currently being unveiled at locations around Los Angeles. It’s also part of MOCA’s upcoming exhibition Art in the Streets, the first major U.S. museum survey of graffiti and street art.

MOCA Press Release:

APRIL 17–AUGUST 8, 2011 / THE GEFFEN CONTEMPORARY AT MOCA

The Museum of Contemporary Art presents Art in the Streets, the first major U.S. museum exhibition of the history of graffiti and street art. The exhibition will trace the development of graffiti and street art from the 1970s to the global movement it has become today, concentrating on key cities where a unique visual language or attitude has evolved. Following MOCA’s presentation, the exhibition will travel to the Brooklyn Museum, where it will be on view March 30–July 8, 2012.

Art in the Streets will showcase installations by 50 of the most dynamic artists from the graffiti and street art community, including Fab 5 Freddy (New York), Lee Quiñones (New York), Futura (New York), Margaret Kilgallen (San Francisco), Swoon (New York), Shepard Fairey (Los Angeles), Os Gemeos (São Paulo), and JR (Paris). MOCA’s exhibition will emphasize Los Angeles’s role in the evolution of graffiti and street art, with special sections dedicated to cholo graffiti and Dogtown skateboard culture. The exhibition will feature projects by influential local artists such as Craig R. Stecyk III, Chaz Bojórquez, Mister Cartoon, RETNA, SABER, REVOK, and RISK.

A special emphasis will be placed on photographers and filmmakers who documented graffiti and street art culture including Martha Cooper, Henry Chalfant, James Prigoff, Steve Grody, Gusmano Cesaretti, Estevan Oriol, Ed Templeton, Larry Clark, Terry Richardson, and Spike Jonze. A comprehensive timeline illustrated with artwork, photography, video, and ephemera will provide further historical context for the exhibition.

Art in the Streets will feature several shows within the show. There will be a special section dedicated to the Fun Gallery, which connected New York graffiti artists with the downtown art community in the early 1980s. Co-curated by gallery founder Patti Astor, the Fun Gallery installation will feature the work of Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, and the graffiti artists who shaped the gallery’s history. A section dedicated to the seminal film Wild Style (1983), co-curated by the film’s director Charlie Ahearn, will document its influence on the global dissemination of graffiti and hip-hop culture. The exhibition will also feature a memorial presentation of Battle Station, a rarely seen work by legendary artist and theorist RAMMELLZEE, and a display of graffiti black books and other historic works from the Martin Wong Collection presented in collaboration with the Museum of the City of New York. A highlight of the exhibition will be a Los Angeles version of Street Market, a re-creation of an urban street complete with overturned trucks by Todd James, Barry McGee, and Steve Powers.

The exhibition will open with a skate ramp designed by pro-skater Lance Mountain and artist Geoff McFetridge. Skate demonstrations by the Nike SB skate team will be held onsite for the duration of the exhibition.

“Art in the Streets will be the first exhibition to position the work of the most influential artists to emerge from street culture in the context of contemporary art history,” said MOCA Director Jeffrey Deitch.

“This quintessentially urban and dynamic partnership between the Brooklyn Museum and MOCA began with the 2005 Brooklyn-organized exhibition of the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, the consummate American street artist of his generation; continued with the MOCA-organized ©MURAKAMI in 2007, defining critical elements of worldwide street art; and now culminates with a groundbreaking exhibition devoted entirely to street art and graffiti,” said Brooklyn Museum Director Arnold L. Lehman. “The partnership has, in itself, provided a major record of public art over the past half century.”

Art in the Streets is organized by Jeffrey Deitch and associate curators Roger Gastman and Aaron Rose. Gastman is the author of The History of American Graffiti, which will be released in April 2011, and was a consulting producer on the film Exit Through The Gift Shop. Rose curated the exhibition Beautiful Losers and directed the related documentary film. Ethel Seno, editor of Trespass: A History of Uncommissioned Urban Art, is the curatorial coordinator of the exhibition. The Brooklyn Museum’s presentation will be organized by Managing Curator of Exhibitions Sharon Matt Atkins.

ART IN THE STREETS CATALOGUE
A comprehensive catalogue on the history of graffiti and street art published by Skira Rizzoli and edited by Nikki Columbus, former associate editor of Artforum, will accompany the exhibition. The book traces the birth and dissemination of styles through the stories of graffiti writers and street artists all over the world. It features a foreword by Deitch and essays by Carlo McCormick, Greg Tate, and Diedrich Diederichsen. It also features interviews and discussions with influential street artists about wild style, cholo graffiti, and the art that emerged from skate and punk subcultures. Additional contributors include Fab 5 Freddy, KET, Caleb Neelon, Lydia Yee, Kathy Grayson, Cheech Marin, Bill Daniel, and Hiroshi Fujiwara. The book was designed by Conny Purtill, whose previous projects include Barry McGee: The Buddy System and Beautiful Losers.

RELATED EDUCATION AND COMMUNITY OUTREACH
An extensive program of educational and community workshops will complement the exhibition. As part of its exhibition sponsorship and ongoing community collaboration initiative, Levi’s® will host the Levi’s® Film Workshop at MOCA, offering a diverse schedule of programming that celebrates the craft of filmmaking and explores the exhibition’s subject matter. Access to the Levi’s® Film Workshop’s resources is open to all and free of charge.

Special versions of Associate Curator Aaron Rose’s Make Something!! educational project will also be presented at Culver City High School and at The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA in conjunction with Nike SB. Art in the Streets will include a graffiti and street art film festival presented in collaboration with the Cinefamily, and music and dance programs featuring some of the originators of hip-hop and break dancing.

Art in the Streets is made possible by The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation.

This exhibition is generously supported by the Sydney Irmas Exhibition Endowment.

Major support is provided by Levi’s®. Additional support is provided by Mandy and Cliff Einstein, Nike SB, MOCA Contemporaries, MOCA Partners, and Montana Colors.

In-kind media support is provided by Ovation, Los Angeles magazine, and KCRW 89.9 FM.

Saturday in the Streets is presented by Ovation.

MEMBERS’ OPENING
Saturday, April 16, 7–10pm
The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA

Join us for another legendary opening party at MOCA as we premier Art in the Streets, featuring performances by the stars of the classic hip-hop film, Wild Style—Busy Bee, Cold Crush Brothers with Grandmaster Caz—and the award-winning B-Boy crew from Los Angeles, Killafornia. Cash bar.
INFO 213/621-1794 or membership1@moca.org
FREE for MOCA members, $25 for additional guests

Augustine Kofie in Studio

March 1, 2011 Artists, California, Canada, Features, Gallery, Interview, Los Angeles, Opening, Studio Visit, Valentines

Graffiti writer and fine artist. Old Skool Bomber. Wildstyle. Mid-Century Abstractionism. American Modernism. Choose One and Stick with it, right?

You find the evolution of artists of the streets can go in many different directions with time. As the current generation of wild teens and art school grads claim a hip-hop birthright to get up on public walls across cities everywhere, we are reminded of 1970s New York train-writing graff artists like Lee Quinones and Futura who eventually evolved their skills into galleries, private collections, museums. And they are only two. It has happened enough times now for it to be identified as a natural progression for some artists ‘of the street’, and in many cases, to incredible effect. It is a worthwhile point to consider if not labor over; the street has proven a valuable training ground for an increasing number of our great artists; With or without, and sometimes in spite of, our participation.

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

Augustine Kofie began as a writer in Los Angeles in the 1990s and has always had a deep love for illustration and linework. Today he has a studio doing markedly different work from what he developed on the streets – and it is a direct result of his evolution as an artist and as a person.

Todd Mazer recently visited the studio of Kofie and talks here about what he saw:

“Tucked away in the sleeping hills of Filipino town in Los Angeles, just a stones throw away from an Emergency Room entrance where Bob Dylan’s immortal words “He not busy being born is busy dying” are literal, you’ll find Augustine Kofie. This meeting of degradation and downfall with birth and uprising seem to be principle themes that play out in this ongoing story. It’s a story that eloquently eludes those who question the direction, proximity and order of the beginning to the end.

Kofie will be the first one to tell you that we are a product of our environment. Upon entering his work/living space it becomes nearly impossible to find the separation point between his environment and his work. A quick scan across the dimly lit room offers the realization that these aged manuals, endless sketchbooks and found artifacts are like records to a beat-maker and that Kofie is creating his own version of soul music on canvas”

~Todd Mazer

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

Kofie talked with Brooklyn Street Art about his work and his inspirations;

Brooklyn Street Art: The clean architectural lines and shapes in your work fit together as if they were a floor plan. Have you had experience designing buildings?
Augustine Kofie: None at all. I’m inspired by preliminary design, drafting, architectural renderings and pre production concepts revolving around visual futurist design. I wouldn’t be opposed to an actual build out based on my work at some point but it’s not where my heads at right now… sticking to what I know.

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

Brooklyn Street Art: Why is it important to incorporate found items into your work, when you obviously could create them yourself.
Augustine Kofie: I’m taken by their texture, color and age, plus I enjoy the archeologist/ ‘digging in the crates’ aspect of collecting. Sampling is the best way to put it.. It is like finding a strange soundscape from a record or film, then twisting, manipulating and layering it with other found bits to create a new component, both audio and visual. They possess lost histories and past stories all their own so it feels appropriate and truthful to use such ephemera instead of recently produced papers. The up cycling and reinterpretations are endless.

Brooklyn Street Art: What kind of object catches your eye and forces you to bring it back to the studio?
Augustine Kofie: Usually outdated garage and office items from estate sales make me geek out. Anything that ‘contains’. Old wooden boxes, metal file boxes and hand made cabinets from an old mans garage workshop. Drafting based items. Paper wise, the more fatigued and yellowed the better but not to the point of crumbling. Engineering and accounting paperwork is nice as well. Yardsticks definitely get scooped.

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

Brooklyn Street Art Your work is vintage and futuristic – vintage in that jazz modernist warm way, and futuristic in its 1960s complex precision. Do you feel some nostalgia for that period and what does it represent for you?
Augustine Kofie: When I was a kid my parents played old jazz and soul records. This became the soundtrack to my life and I created my own perspective of a time-period that I only experienced as a child. That combined with the Futurist viewpoint of Syd Mead as well as the Futurist Movement set the foundation for what I do today and who I will become in the future.

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

Brooklyn Street Art Your studio working environment really parallels the clean lines and warm tones of your work. Could you create this same work in a different place (like a chaotic and messy one for example), or is it not important at all?
Augustine Kofie: To me my studio is a place of comfort, meditation and inspiration. I prefer a ‘workshop’ environment over a living room setting. I have been working on my aesthetic for long enough that as long as I’m given paint and a surface then I could create a style that is mine, anywhere. The energy and execution of the art is always influenced by my surroundings, though.

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

Brooklyn Street Art: Your earlier graffiti contained foreshadowing of the abstract approach you are using now. At what point do your pieces stop being called graffiti and start being Street Art? Or does it matter at all to use terms like this?
Augustine Kofie: This is a strange place for me, this sort of limbo between titles. I just want to contribute my work as a man and as a whole, regardless of its contemporary title or standing. Confusing or not it is what it is.

My work and I are in constant progression. Evolution is mandatory. There is no seam that defines a beginning or ending to who I am and what I wish to produce. I do both the Graffiti and ‘art on the street’ depending on the moment and situation and especially moods. I’m a moody cat and I tend to gravitate to what I want to do to ease my restlessness. A different attention and energy is given to each form of expression here. Sometimes I want to blast on a crew production with classic characters/ letters & background scenarios. Other times I want to take a 20 year old can of outdated American spray-paint to a refused and abandoned surface and paint triangles, circles and lines without lettering, just getting loose on the foundations of line-work. I feel like Graff gave me a voice and I’ve contributed to this art form, now I have to contribute further and test my styles as well as change my own mindset and preconceived ideas of what this art form is as much as where its going.

Augustine Kofie (photo © Todd Mazer)

On Saturday March 5th Augustine Kofie will be part of a group show curated by Indigo at the Becker Galleries in Vancouver, Canada. To learn more details about this show click on the link below:

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/?p=18278

Banksy Disappears from L.A.! Oh Oscar! Oh Oprah

February 27, 2011 Artists, California, Los Angeles, On the Street

One of Banksy’s Latest Flights of Fancy: Exclusive After And Before Pics

Up to the minute photograph of the wall in Boyle Heights, the east side neighborhood of Los Angeles where Banksy once was. (photo © John Carr)

Winner of the Golden Chainsaw award for balls, the citizens of Los Angeles have been using circular saws (something that everyone clearly has lying around the house) to help themselves to a slab of Street Art attributed to that international man of mystery, Banksy. The Street Artist, who’s documentary “Exit Through the Gift Shop” is nominated for an Academy Award this evening, has been attributed with the appearance of a number of pieces in the area in recent weeks.

Banksy in happier days (photo © John Carr)

Banksy Removal Instructions, Good Grief! Watch Yer Fingaz

In this video a man appears to be cutting along an invisible dotted line around Banksy Brown. No one can say for sure who put it up but why take chances, right? A piece quite similar to it appears on the Fine Art Buyer website.

Banksy…. Oprah. Oprah…. Banksy.

The rumor has been confirmed, the Best Documentary award will be given tonight by Oprah Winfrey, the talk-show host turned Queen of All Media. As the most famous anonymous hooded Street Artist in the universe contemplates the red carpet, we’re thinking about The Last Airbender, which dominated the 31st annual Razzie Awards last night as Worst Picture, Worst Director, Worst Screenplay, Worst Supporting Actor and Worst Eye-Gouging Mis-Use of 3-D.

Hadn’t heard of air-bending until this year. Sounds like a home competition among 14 year olds that involves farting. Anyway, here’s to all the awards show hot air you can endure and best of luck to all the nominees!

Image above a still from The Last Airbender from Nicolodean Movies.

With very special thanks to photographer John Carr for his on the spot Banksy photos. All copyrights John Carr.

MBW takes a Big Bite: “Exit Through the GiftShop” Opens in US 4/16

Wrinkles in L.A.? Street Artist JR Brings His.

February 26, 2011 Artists, L.A.

French Street Artist JR is in Los Angeles for a few weeks to wheat-paste twenty or more murals from “Wrinkles in the City”, a black and white portrait series featuring colossal visages of the mature angels in this city.

JR (Photo © Todd Mazer)

In a metropolis that famously avoids wrinkles, whether celluloid hero or not, plastering enormous creased and cratered kissers across architectural facades and rooftops is tantamount to vandalism. All of this seems perfect for the 28 year old former graffeur from Paris, who won the 2011 TED prize and who has previously installed portions of this project in Shanghai and Cartegena.

JR (Photo © Todd Mazer)

Intended to be visible from streets and freeways, the series continues the Street Artists’ previous work; photographs that pay gentle tribute to the daily lives of citizens, elevating the “everyday” to an outsized scale normally reserved for celebrity and sales.

LA-based BSA collaborator and enormously talented photographer Todd Mazer has captured some of JR’s recent installations here exclusively for you.

JR (Photo © Todd Mazer)

New Image Art Presents: David Ellis “Mola Salsa” (Los Angeles, CA)

February 2, 2011 Artists, California, Events, Gallery, Los Angeles, Opening

David Ellis

OPENING RECEPTION SATURDAY FEBRUARY 5, 2010

7 TO 10PM

Mola Salsa
David Ellis’s newest exhibition, Mola Salsa explores process with 15 new works on paper and a new motion painting. Reflecting on images from his childhood in rural North Carolina, David draws animals, trees, clouds and images dear to him. For this exhibition Ellis engages the idea of the animal spirit to depict his ideas of transformation. Ellis also makes imagery derived from plumes of smoke and steam originally inspired by witnessing an active volcano. These linear works he calls “flow” also describes rivers, both above and below the surface. This language embodies his belief that no condition is permanent.

In the project room Ellis will show his most recent motion painting “Animal.””Animal” is a 10-minute, high-definition, edition of 6, commissioned by Landmarks in Austin, Texas in 2010. Motion painting is a time based media technique that renders the process of painting into a cinematic experience.

In ancient Roman religion, mola salsa (“salted flour”) was a mixture prepared by the Vestal Virgins and used in every official sacrifice. It was sprinkled on the forehead and between the horns of animal victims before they were sacrificed, as well as on the altar and in the sacred fire. It was a common offering to the household hearth.[1]

In his explorations of movement, change, and rhythm David Ellis effectively combines his talent for visual representation. By utilizing various elements of music making-collaboration, improvisation, timing, and repetition- Ellis enlivens his creative process and thus his viewer’s experience through intricate experimental videos and complicated kinetic sound sculptures. David Ellis has exhibited at the Museum of Contemporary Art, San Diego, PS1, and the MOMA, New York to name a few. He looks forward to a forthcoming solo show this June in New York City, a solo booth project at Pulse, NY in March 2011, and an exhibition with Agnes B. before the end of 2011.

Tues – Sat / 1-6pm

New Image Art

7908 Santa Monica Blvd.

Los Angeles, CA 90046

323.654.2192

BANKSY NOMINATED: Another Breathless Banksy Update 01.25.11

January 25, 2011 Artists

JUST ANNOUNCED

Congratulations to Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz for the Oscar Nomination! The Five Nominated Films for Best Documentary Feature Are:

“Exit through the Gift Shop” Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz (Paranoid Pictures)
“Gasland” Josh Fox, director (Gasland Productions, LLC)
“Inside Job” Charles Ferguson, director (Representational Pictures)
“Restrepo” Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger, directors (Outpost Films)
“Waste Land” Lucy Walker, director (Almega Projects)

Banksy goes to Hollywood or will he? Now that the world famous British Street Artist has been nominated for best documentary for his film “Exit Through The Gift Shop” the rumour mill will continue churning fast and furious about whether or not he will attend the Academy Awards ceremony to be held on Sunday February 27 at the Kodak Theater in Los Angeles, CA.

This, no doubt, presents Mr. Banksy with an existential conundrum: His anonymity, as it is, is clearly half of his identity; His fans and critics fill in the blanks with their own projections about a mythical creature; his personality occupying an anti-establishment court jester sort of space in the public mind. If half of his passionately guarded identity is replaced with a closer to real one, will his public stock go up? His wit certainly would be a benefit when giving a speech in front of an auditorium packed with golden heroes of the silver screen; The conundrum is not unlike that of a superhero, or super anti-hero in this case. One might consult with Superman, Batman and Spider man as they too have been presented with a similar fork on the road in their travels

Of course he could always ask Mr. Brainwash to be his stand in, walk the red carpet for him and (gasp!) accept the award on his behalf should he be the night’s recipient of such prestigious recognition. No longer his understudy, and having “mastered” the art of Banksy’s style and pretty much everything else, Mr. Brainwash would no doubt most graciously oblige.

Betting has begun in earnest about his chances to win the golden statuette.

To learn more about the Academy Awards visit their official site at:
http://oscar.go.com/

Subliminal Projects and The Art Of Elysium’s Elysium Project Present: “The Big Picture” A Show Featuring Shepard Fairey and DEVO’s Mark Mothersbaugh

January 20, 2011 Artists, California, Events, Gallery, Los Angeles, Opening

Subliminal Projects Gallery

Exhibition Dates:
January 22 – February 19, 2011

Subliminal Projects and The Art of Elysium’s Elysium Project are pleased to present a two-person show featuring work by artist, pop culture icon, and DEVO frontman Mark Mothersbaugh and artist Shepard Fairey. This exhibition focuses on their work as artists and philanthropists.

As artists, Mark and Shepard create work that demand the viewer’s attention, drawing them into a world where scale is pushed to the forefront. From several feet back, Shepard’s work tells one story while, up close, the intricate patterning tells another. The symbols in a Shepard print provide a contextual framework and the elaborate detailing reflects a careful attention to craft. Mark’s creative process begins on a small scale. His postcard-size illustrations and paintings often serve as the initial step in his creative process, from which he then pulls imagery for his larger work. These highly personal postcards are created on an intimate scale and, once enlarged into large-format works, the viewer is invited to step into Mark’s whimsical world. In both cases, it is the carefully thought out details that make The Big Picture.

These two artists are keenly aware of The Big Picture when committing to a charitable cause. Their influential roles as tastemakers and cultural icons serve as a bright spotlight on the charity they choose to support. Thanks to their dedication to The Art of Elysium, both artists help bring attention to the charity’s mission, thus enriching the lives of gravely ill children in the Los Angeles serviced by the charity. Shepard Fairey, the 2010 Art of Elysium Visionary, and Mark Mothersbaugh, the 2011 Art of Elysium Visionary, are celebrated in this exhibition for their art and their charitable spirits.

“I am so thrilled that Shepard has opened his gallery for this extremely special collaboration. This is the first collaboration between two of our VISIONARIES. It is our hope that the people that have been asked to join our VISIONARY CIRCLE share in creative collaborations not only to benefit The Art of Elysium and all of its various programs but that their joint endeavors inspire change in the world at large. That is the BIG PICTURE that we are hoping for.”

— Jennifer Howell, founder of The Art of Elysium

SUBLIMINAL PROJECTS GALLERY
1331 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90026
E: info@subliminalprojects.com
P. 213.213.0078
F. 213.213.0077

Another Breathless Banksy Update 01.19.11

January 19, 2011 Artists

Awards Season, Ebay Auctions, And Other Tales

The nominees for the 2011 ©Oscar Ceremony to be held in Los Angeles in February 27 will be announced the 25th of January and we expect the feeding frenzy of no-news will continue its build up with legions of smart publicists and studio’s marketing heads selectively leaking or straight-up spoon feeding stories to us. We’ve heard that Bansky’s crockumentary “Exit Through the Gift Shop” has made the short list of 15 films to be considered for best documentary and because you have a Twitter account, so have you. If he is nominated we can’t wait to see a bimbo with a microphone asking him on the red carpet, “And who are you wearing?”

Sadly, Swiss film maker Joachim Levy says he was left off the credits in the movie and should have been included, according to a New York Times piece by Melena Ryzik, “A few minutes of “Life Remote Control” and some footage from Mr. Guetta and Mr. Levy appear in “Exit Through the Gift Shop,” which subsequently became the story of how Mr. Guetta was transformed, with Banksy’s prodding, from a chronicler of street art into an artist himself”. He’s protesting bitterly about his exclusion from the credits, and the cash cow the movie is turning into, we might add.

For all we know this is just one of the many marketing plots that Banksy or Banksy’s camp have concocted to create extra buzz for the film in the hopes that it would get nominated by the Academy. What with the many interviews (via email) that the normally invisible Banksy has granted? So far the strategy appears to be working as the film did get a nomination this week from the BAFTA people (the British version of the Oscars) for outstanding debut by a British writer, director or producer.

And finally, we won’t get to find out his true identity now that Ebay has taken down the auction that had 38 bidders up to almost a million bucks. The prize? A scrap of paper with his alleged real name. Sorry kids, no Banksy or Santa Clause information will be revealed. Luckily you can still bid on a chunk of concrete with a rat stencil sprayed on it.

Tomorrow on Ebay, to more robust bidding I expect, I will be auctioning my electric bill from December. As a bonus you’ll see the price of a weekly Metrocard and a cellphone shot of my granny’s teeth in a glass.

What are we to think? Is Banksy behind this “auction”? For sure he knows his own identity, or does he? And why would this be on Ebay? – Shouldn’t it be on Sotheby’s or Christie’s?

In the next “‘Breathless Banksy Update” we’ll talk about who we think should design his full length burka-style hoodie to attend the Academy Awards ceremony should he be so lucky as to snag a nomination. If he is reading this, as we know he most certainly is, we urgently implore him to start looking for a designer PRONTO.

In the midst of all the speculation about Banksy’s identity, perhaps the elephant is on the screen in your living room.

L.A. Art Machine Presents: “Vox Humana” A Large Scale Live-Art Installation (Los Angeles, CA)

January 17, 2011 Artists, California, Events, Gallery, L.A., Los Angeles, Opening

LA ART Machine

The L.A. ART MACHINE is proud to present VOX HUMANA, a large-scale, live art installation by celebrated international artists Edward Walton Wilcox, Andrew Hem, Shark Toof,and Chor Boogie at the 2011 L.A. Art Show, January 19-23, 2011. Taking place over five days and covering more than 500 square feet of canvas, this unique art happening invites visitors into the esoteric world of the artistic creative process. You are cordially invited to join us for this special art happening.

Schedule:
January 19: 6:00 PM – 10:00 PM (VIP Opening)
January 20-22: 12:00 PM – 5:00 PM
January 23: 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM

Completion ceremony January 23, 2:00 PM Location:
Los Angeles Convention Center, West Hall
1201 S Figueroa St
Los Angeles, California 90015
map it

Presented in partnership with:

LeBasse Projects, FIND Art Magazine, Merry Karnowsky Gallery, Sister Cities Los Angeles, and Castelli Framing

for more information contact: voxhumana@laartmachine.com or 323.702.3594

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In her latest mural, Faring Purth delivers a powerful reflection on connection, continuity, and the complexity of evolving relationships—a true …Read More »
BSA Images Of The Week: 11.10.24
November 10, 2024
Well, the world ended this week—again. Yet here we are, still standing, and so are you. It turns out Donald …Read More »
Réunion Island’s Evolution: Eko and the Graffiti/Street Art Festival That’s Making Waves
November 7, 2024
A place you may not have heard of, Réunion Island has quickly become a remarkable hotspot for urban art, largely …Read More »
Transforming Tafí Viejo: Argentina’s First International Street Art Festival in Tucumán
November 5, 2024
The Circuito Mural: Encuentro Internacional de Arte Urbano just wrapped up its first run from October 1 to 5, 2024, …Read More »
BSA Images Of The Week 11.06.24
November 3, 2024
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! Set your clocks back one hour today. A chilly but warm NYC welcome …Read More »