All posts tagged: Manhattan

Keith Haring 1978-1982 : Early Keith at The Brooklyn Museum

March 14, 2012 , , , ,

1978 and 2012 seem closer to one another than ever right now when we look at the blossomed Street Art scene in cities around the world. More than 30 years after Keith Haring moved to New York as an art school kid at the School of Visual Arts, a new generation of art school kids consider it almost a birthright to take their work directly to the street. Right now feels like an excellent time for Brooklyn to spotlight this study of his first four years in the city that blew his mind and inspired him to alter the whole system of how an artist reaches the public.

Keith Haring. Untitled, 1982. Courtesy of  and © Keith Haring Foundation. The Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo

Keith Haring: 1978-1982, a traveling exhibition first shown in Kunsthalle Wien in Vienna and The Contemporary Arts Center in Cincinnati, introduces a period of his work not often examined, taking you up to the edge of the seemingly sudden international fame he experienced as artist, activist and public figure through the rest of the 1980s.

“Raphaela Platow, who was the original curator of this show, went into the archives and pulled out things that had basically just been sitting there, ” explained Tricia Laughlin Bloom, the project curator for the current show as she gave a tour this week before its opening at the Brooklyn Museum Friday.

At a time when the small-town boy was developing his visual vocabulary as an artist, Haring was also discovering himself as a man in the world and in a city that he found endlessly fascinating and worthy of exploration. Capturing his spirit of hands-on experimentation, the show is almost entirely comprised of works on paper with one collaborative piece on plywood with his contemporary Jean Michel Basquiat, paper collage, video, and documentary photos.

Keith Haring. Untitled, 1982. Courtesy of and © Keith Haring Foundation, The Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

In these years Disco was on a full force collision course with Punk, New Wave, and Rap, and Haring was embracing the nightlife of a college student sampling the downtown scene, exploring his sexuality, and commandeering entire rooms at SVA to mount shows on paper. Some of those “body involvement” painting sessions are documented well here in video; a sort of full immersion painting baptism. While jamming out to music he covers every white surface with thick black symbols and gestural marking, sometimes painting with both hands in a rhythmic automatic study of both the physicality of the process and his own interaction with space and materials.

Not to be missed in person is the 30 piece collection in the final room of actual subway black papers that Haring adorned with his white line drawings, energetically created symbols and characters throughout stations in New York’s train system. The frames and glass protect them for us to appreciate them today in their disarming simplicity, their collection ironically alleged by some to be why the artist discontinued the subway practice. Equally compelling is the projected large slide show of Haring in photos by Tseng Kwong Chi, whom the artist called to shoot almost every time he did an illegal piece in the subway.

Keith Haring. Matrix, 1983. Courtesy of and © Keith Haring Foundation, The Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Keith Haring. Manhattan Penis Drawings for Ken Hicks, 1978. Courtesy of and © Keith Haring Foundation, The Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

With almost half of the pieces here never displayed publicly like this before, the show is a welcome revelation for fans hoping to peel back a little of the hype-like gloss that time and opportunism may have shined his legacy with. Whether it’s his hand-collaged flyers for the indie group shows he curated, his home movies of Klaus Nomi and Joey Arias performing in the living room, or the complete re-installation of a wall from his 1980 show at PS 122, you get the idea that this was an audacious observant art student gulping at the faucet of life in a pulsating dirty city that welcomed him.

“He’s such a thoughtful and complicated figure – at the same time with that really pure impulse of not wanting to alienate people but to bring them in,” says Laughlin Bloom as she describes the young artist she discovered en route. “He’s this combination of fun-loving, and life-loving, and intellectual, accessible – a total populist but not in an insincere way.”

Keith Haring. Twenty Polaroid self-portraits with glasses painted by Kenny Scharf and Peter Schuyff, 1979-82. Courtesy of and © Keith Haring Foundation, The Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Keith Haring. Still from Lick Fat Boys. April, 1979. Vide0 3 min. Courtesy of and © Keith Haring Foundation, The Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Keith Haring. Still from Lick Fat Boys. April, 1979. Vide0 3 min. Courtesy of and © Keith Haring Foundation, The Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Keith Haring. Still from Lick Fat Boys. April, 1979. Vide0 3 min. Courtesy of and © Keith Haring Foundation, The Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Keith Haring. Still from Lick Fat Boys. April, 1979. Vide0 3 min. Courtesy of and © Keith Haring Foundation, The Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo

After 1982, Haring’s entire visual language of characters and symbols would become iconic, international; his work in dialogue with modern art history and everyday people eventually outlasted him to inspire a diverse generation of artists working on the street from Shepard Fairey and Swoon to Stikman and Specter, among many others.

“Haring saw the subway as the ideal platform for showing work – one of the few places to catch New Yorkers off-guard,” says Poster Boy, a Street Artist/collective who is credited/blamed for re-engineering and culture jamming subway posters with a razor in very recent years. Speaking of Haring’s chiding of corporate commercialism in the culture, Poster Boy observes, “For advertisers it’s the perfect opportunity for a commercial break. Haring saw it as a break from commercials.”

Respected for his early interest in busting down barriers in social activism, street art, and illegal art, it’s likely that many on the Street Art scene today will be checking out the pre-buzz Haring on display at this show. At the moment, it feels like one of New York’s adopted hometown heroes is back in Brooklyn.

Keith Haring. Untitled, 1982. Courtesy of and © Keith Haring Foundation, The Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“Art is for everybody. To think that they-the public- do not appreciate art because they don’t understand it, and to continue to make art that they don’t understand and therefore become alienated from, may mean that the artist is the one who doesn’t understand or appreciate art and is thriving in this “self-proclaimed knowledge of art” that is actually bullshit.”  1978

 – Keith Haring Journals

Keith Haring. Cipher chart, 1971-73. Courtesy of and © Keith Haring Foundation, The Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Keith Haring. Wall papered with reproductions of hand collaged flyers to advertise shows that Keith Haring curated, 1981. Courtesy of and © Keith Haring Foundation, The Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Keith Haring. Detail. Courtesy of and © Keith Haring Foundation, The Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“These are flyers from 1981 – an aspect of his production that maybe people aren’t aware of. He did a lot of organizing shows in alternative spaces and curating 24 hour exhibitions, xerox exhibitions, neon exhibitions, open-calls for artists where they show your work for 24 hours and then it’s taken away. He designed these – the framed works are the originals of the collages and posters that he did for these shows,” Tricia Laughlin Bloom, the project curator for the show.  Keith Haring. Detail. Courtesy of and © Keith Haring Foundation, The Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Keith Haring. Thirty untitled subway drawings, 1980-85. Private Collection. The Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Keith Haring. Thirty untitled subway drawings, 1980-85. Private Collection. The Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Keith Haring. Thirty untitled subway drawings, 1980-85. Private Collection. The Brooklyn Museum. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

With special thanks to Tricia Laughlin Bloom, Sharon Matt Atkins, Sally Williams, Marcus Romero, Matthew Branch, The Brooklyn Museum, and the Keith Haring Foundation.

 

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Images of the Week: D*Face Drama in NYC With 3 Murals in 1 Week

March 11, 2012 , , , , , , ,

It’s true that the art fairs descended on New York this week. Equally true is that the multiple fairs don’t just bring rivers of collectors and dealers and Looky-Loos, these teeming steaming orgiastic fuster-clucks with names like Poke, Stroke and Fountain also can bring in a wave of the Street Artists! Look at the seven days alone with BSA posts on LA’s Retna, Tel Aviv’s Know Hope and todays’ very special edition King of Images of the Week, D*Face!

D*Face “Love Lost”. The first and largest mural to go up. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face, one of Street Art’s original British invaders, hit up New York with three new murals this week (two in Williamsburg, one in SOHO) employing sharply graphic pop lines and a humorously tart tongue to create works of high drama. With themes of lust, treachery and broken promises, the D*Face miniseries was streamed live on the street with no cover charge or icy art matron scanning through her iPad list for your name.

D*Face “Love Lost”. The first and largest mural to go up. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face “Love Her, Hate Him”. The second mural in SOHO. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face “Love Her, Hate Him”. The second mural in SOHO. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face “Love Her, Hate Him”. The second mural in SOHO. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The final mural D*Face did was on Friday in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. While nicely sunny, the wind whipped through often enough to keep his fingers cold and his collar up. But on days like this New York can feel like a small town and the icy weather didn’t prevent a small group from hanging out, helping the artist and entertaining one another. Producer Stephen Thompson, photographer Jason Lewis and videographer Cliff Cristofarah took turns making observations, cracking jokes, fiddling with the music, and checking out the local parade as it scurried by.

For an additional feeling of street art community, Futura sauntered by to say hello and to offer entertaining stories and even go on a run for refreshments; water, coffees, and Mexican Coca Cola (with real sugar!).  With Rob and Cliff taking turns at their MP3 players and the speakers blasting a bit of a 70s arena rock tribute (The Who, Led Zepplin, Black Sabbath), a couple of bike dudes came by to practice their tricks with a dog in the backpack.

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: How would you describe these new pieces in New York?
D*Face: All the pieces surround the notion of ‘Love’, ‘Loss’ and ‘Longing’, all drawn from recent personal experiences, everything I create is pulled from experience personal to me, hopefully people will also connect to them too.  I have three new pieces so I wanted to get three good spots with as much visibility as possible, the larger the better.

Brooklyn Street Art: Will you get a chance to skateboard while you’re here?
D*Face: Unfortunately not. I love this city for skateboarding, but I wont get to do much other than paint walls and hopefully cut loose and party a bit.

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Can you talk about where your work is going thematically now?
D*Face: Thematically my work always draws upon personal experiences, whether thats the saturation of media in our lives, our fascination with celebrity and stardom or more singular experiences such as the loss of loved ones, searching your heart for love or holding people close when you should be letting them go.

I mostly rework old imagery that I’ve discovered, chopping bits of one or several images with another to create a new image that I feel is more relevant to today’s society and certainly the message I want to get across. So thematically its a continuation, it just has several veins that it runs off into.

Brooklyn Street Art: It feels like the Occupy Wall Street movement may have taken up some of the same punk aesthetics and energy that you were first drawn to.  Is your work changed or affected at all by OWS?
D*Face: Haha! No not at all, but there’s always someone more punk than you, punk!

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Reworking the vocabulary of advertising and the practice of culture jamming can be very effective as education. Do you think of your work as message-driven?
D*Face: Yes, first and foremost my work has to have a concept, an idea, a message, it’s that which drives my work. Conceptually I’m always trying to push my ideas, push myself, keep myself excited and interested. I don’t want to stand still and see the growth of my work as a flik book, by that I mean small evolutions over time, what I want are solid chapters, which carry a thread of thought linking them all together.

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: What role does humor play in your stuff?
D*Face: Oh its massively important, life is pretty heavy at the best of times, so even serious messages or thoughts don’t have to be heavy in execution, even the dark thoughts or concepts in my work I hope are executed in a poppy way, I want to draw people in first, get them to appreciate the aesthetic, then hopefully they start to question the image, its content, its meaning. If they don’t and appreciate it only on its surface value then thats fine. I don’t want to ram messages, political, religious, consumerist or otherwise down peoples throats in a way that burdens life’s load.

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg reflected on the side window of a vintage Ford Falcon. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg. Stephen Thompson his producer and assistant showing some back handed technique and snaazy foot wear.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: You’ve had some serious success in galleries. Why is it still important to you to hit the street today?
D*Face: I’m privileged to have the gallery success I do. I thank everyone that has supported me and my work over the years, to live as an artist, support my family, employ artists to help me, is an amazing opportunity and something I wake up thankful of everyday.

Whilst I love gallery shows and the opportunity to work in a gallery, it brings with it the ability to create different works, execute concepts and play with space in a different way, but you have to want to see ‘art’ or know about the artist or the gallery to see that work, galleries can be intimidating places, I don’t want that, I want my work to be inclusive, not exclusive, so putting work in the streets is the most effective way of doing this.

You can’t beat the feeling of painting in the street, interacting with people, hearing their views, thoughts and ideas on what it is your painting… you know you get to bring the unsuspecting public in, people that may have no interest in art, never walked in a gallery, suddenly when faced with a painting in the street have a different take, a different perspective… it’s really, really interesting, that interaction, even if they don’t like it, you’ve still changed their day, opened their eyes, hopefully you might get them to LOOK at their surroundings and not just see.

D*Face. Doing a bit of mixiology.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face. Stephen takes D*Face and Futura’s portrait.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Futura tagging a dollar bill for D*Face. (He did one for Word To Mother as well).  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Two local kids and a puppy.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cliff gets the law of the land.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face. Painting the three dimensional part of the mural in the studio.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face. Third mural in Williamsburg.  (photo © Jaime Rojo)

D*Face (photo © Jaime Rojo)

With special thanks to the Corey Helford Gallery for helping coordinate these murals  and to Rob at Thunderdog Studios for hosting us on the Williamsburg sidewalk.

 

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Fountain 2012 Lands in a Grand Old Location

March 8, 2012 , , , , ,

Armory Week is back in town and Fountain Art Fair is nailing it. At the moment – literally. Walls are going up as you are reading this. 200 feet of walls are dedicated to Street Artists – Enough said. Fountain has moved inland this year from the floating, sometimes harrowing, gallery and submarine Murder Lounge on the Hudson waterfront, and in many ways the new Fountain also feels more grounded. Don’t worry, not too much.

Joe Iurato (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Apart from being in an actual Armory building, a 106 year old institution that lends a certain New York Beau-Arts grandness to it all, Fountain is still anybody’s guess in terms of content and execution; which in our minds is precisely the point of going. The chaotic nature of the creative spirit as wielded by many of these youngish artists means that they are better thought of as corralled, rather than curated, into this grand sweeping space that has plenty of headroom.  Part punk D.I.Y. art party and part Occupy Art Fair, the promise of Fountain lies in the work and your own sense of exploration, rather than the prepackaged pomp of slick-talking retailers.

Naturally there are a slew of Street Artists in Fountain this year, including Chris Stain, Know Hope, GILF, Imminent Disaster, Joe Iurato, LMNOP, Elle, ShinShin, LNY, Cake, En Masse, Sophia Maldonado, Hellbent, Radical! and Wing.  BSA caught some of them working in the last couple of weeks as they completed pieces and we give you some sneak peeks here.

Joe Iurato (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Joe Iurato (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Chris Stain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LNY working on his piece. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LNY, one of the newer Street Artists of New York at the moment, talked to us as he prepared his Fountain piece deep in Bushwick. His careful illustrative style has an unassuming quality, a sort of hand rendered fantasy he is channeling, and discovering, mixing and remixing symbols and imagination.

Brooklyn Street Art: How did you arrive at your current hybrid style of human/animals? Your depictions keep the humans remaining wholly human and the animals remaining wholly animals. They just seem to be attached to each other?
LNY: Animals are very interesting on their own but at the same time they have been used symbolically so much everywhere. For instance I noticed that many countries use the eagle as a national symbol: Egypt, USA and Mexico all have eagles in their national symbols. When I have an inclination to draw I often find myself drawing animals.

Brooklyn Street Art: On this piece you are working on for Fountain you have NYPD Mounted Police with wings on them?
LNY: Usually my ideas just sort of pile up and then they get to something else. For instance the wings are going to be fire actually. I will add a couple more riders and they could be an apocalyptic kind of scene. The fun thing about symbols is that you can read whatever you want into them. I like the ambiguity of symbols a lot.

Brooklyn Street Art: How do you find the process of painting?
LNY: I really don’t paint anymore. I used to paint. What I used to do with painting doesn’t work anymore because I lost faith in the idea of painting – so I have to find something else.

LNY working on his piece. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LNY working on his piece. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Know Hope (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Know Hope. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hellbent working on his piece. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hellbent working on his piece. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mockup for Hellbent’s piece. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Finished! A semi-blurry cellphone pic of it from last night. (photo © Hellbent)

I lo-lo-lala-lo-love you. Radical! (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Click here to learn more about Fountain Art Fair 2012

 

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RETNA At The Houston Wall in NYC

March 6, 2012 , , ,

The weather is turning friendly, and RETNA is encouraging the conversation

We have been having a very mild winter in New York, even scarily warm. The daffodils are almost in bloom and you can already see the faint shades of pink on the buds of the cherry and apple trees. “Wait!”, we want to yell at them, “Wait! – there might be a frost yet.”  But when it is sunny and warm out, everybody wants to come out and play.

RETNA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For example Los Angeles based Street Artist and fine artist RETNA, who took Saturday through Monday to complete the Houston Wall with his brightly secretive musings, messages, and tributes painted in his now famous alphabet.  Maybe it was the holy day, or the holy hangover, but watching this piece appearing on Sunday was like seeing the wall turn into a soaring stained glass cathedral of gestural markings in crimson and blue, a private prayer out in the open.

Watching an artist at work is always a pleasure and it is a gift to see the unfolding magic of a community coming alive on the street, bonded by the humanizing experience of art in progress.  RETNA can be playful, serious, contemplative, relieved, pleased, and you will see it all.

RETNA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Houston Street is not one of those quiet hidden romantic streets where an artist can just zone out, no matter the hermetic fit of headphones; this rumbling thoroughfare splits Manhattan loudly and boisterously, dividing Soho from Noho, both ever more expensive and increasingly mall-like these days. Whatever the composition of foot traffic, the sense of community comes alive in this sacred presence of the creative spirit; Passersby, complete strangers, well-wishers and friends stop to say hello, to ask a question, dare a request, or just silently and introspectively observe the process.

RETNA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

A very young painting fan gets an expert lesson on photography from his daddy. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

And he was a very good student of the new RETNA wall. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RETNA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RETNA obliged a fan with a request of a personalized tag. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RETNA…on the back of what he claimed was a one of a kind Georgio Armani jacket. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RETNA. Cigarette break. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RETNA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RETNA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RETNA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

RETNA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Images of the Week: 03.04.12

March 4, 2012 , , , , , , , , ,

Our weekly interview with the street, this week including Bronco, Cindy Sherman, Dan Witz, LNY, Miyok, PK, Read, Royce Bannon, Stikman, Swoon, Trojan Horse, Various & Gould, and Who is Charlie?

LNY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Who is Charlie? (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stikman says go put your records on (photo © Jaime Rojo)


Dan Witz was recently in Los Angeles and Daniel LaHoda from LA Freewalls Project took him around to visit some walls. This and the following images are of his series WTF in The Arts District, The Warehouse District and the Manufacturing District. (photo © Dan Witz)

Dan Witz (photo © Dan Witz)

Dan Witz (photo © Dan Witz)

Dan Witz (photo © Dan Witz)

Swoon, Royce Bannon and a Polaroid shot of an amorous couple complete this snap shot of the dialogue on the streets of NYC. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Read (photo © Jaime Rojo)

PK (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Miyok (photo © Jaime Rojo)

German duo Various & Gould spotted this box/crate free standing on the streets of Berlin. The crate was built to protect a very old iron gate from the harsh German winter weather. Then they got thinking… (photo courtesy of © Various & Gould)

Various & Gould. Back at their place they build a horse head with a wooden frame and covered it with cardboard.  (photo courtesy of © Various & Gould)

Various & Gould. And with the help of BRONCO and Studio Nura they transformed the box into an Art Deco Trojan Horse! (photo courtesy of © Various & Gould)

Various & Gould. “Trojan”, Berlin 2012 (photo courtesy of © Various & Gould)

We are very excited about the great, talented and hugely influential artist Cindy Sherman current exhibition at MoMA. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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A Mushroom Cloud in Manhattan: If You See Somethin’ …

February 29, 2012 , , , , , ,

Artist Jean Seestadt Plants a Package in a Bus Stop

Since the never-ending “War on Terror” commenced so publicly a decade or so ago, an intermittently insistent campaign exhorting the public to be aware of odd things and behaviors has beat a steady message of fearful dread in New York.  Posters on buses, brochures in city offices, and disembodied, firmly voiced recordings on trains and in airports remind us that evil walks secretly amongst us and we should be ever-vigilant and tell the nearest police officer if you see something suspicious.

Aside from the obvious challenge of staying alert on the morning subway ride when you haven’t gotten a coffee yet and you stayed up until 2 am playing “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3”, the plain fact is that most New Yorkers have no idea what strange looks like. We lost that ability sometime after hippies and freaks turned into punks and goths, pants dropped below butts, zombies had parades, “no pants day”, men started making out with each other on the park benches, and of course Donald Trumps hair. For something to catch our eye these days it would have to have to be levitating or in some way involve chocolate.  Otherwise, we’ll keep walking and texting.

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The billowing cloud rising in Manhattan this time is from artist Jean Seestadt, whose cut paper installation in the bus stop entitled “If you See Somethin” evokes one prevailing vision of the unmarked package spilling forth it’s curvilinear bilious hot plume into a public place with a stylized hand. On a warmish evening last week it went up on this buzzing island metropolis without anyone saying something.

 

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Following a similar installation in the subway a few weeks ago, Seedstadt brought her new installation to a well lit bus shelter on the street. Aided by a stool, a roll of tape, some scissors, and her good friend Nick, Jean rolled up her sleeves and installed her new work while some people stood by looking, pawing through their mobile devices, or leaning forward to preen down the street for a bus. Cacophonic truck and car traffic, including periodic police cruisers, rattled by in the night while the two enterprising Street/Public Artists took turns teetering on the stool to get it to hang just so. If anyone paid attention at all, no one said something to the artist or her assistant. You see??

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: You have done painting and ink work previously. What do you think of cutting paper?
Jean Seestadt: Cutting paper has all the things I like about painting and works on paper, I love the tedious beauty to it, but I was having a really hard time feeling that I could reach a viewer to the fullest when I am forced in a square 2D format.  Also, the process of letting go of the overly crafted piece and knowing it is eventually going to turn to litter is a real release.

Brooklyn Street Art: Would you say these are sculptures?
Jean Seestadt: They are very sculptural… I guess I think of them more as site-specific installations.  They have no meaning when they are in a static setting.

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: What leads you to mount this work in such a public place?
Jean Seestadt: I was interested the fragile, traditional paper cutting medium being forced into a public context. Each piece will be eventually be broken down by either the viewers or by the environment. Because it is not in a precious space the viewer can approach the work however they’d like-if that means touching it, ripping it, taking it, or taking care of it.  The piece doesn’t really work without people feeling free to do whatever they want.

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Brooklyn Street Art: Have you seen paper cut work by street artists?
Jean Seestadt: I’ve only heard of Swoon… it doesn’t seem like the ideal material for street art because it only last for a day if you are lucky.  But street art is all about the temporal nature of the city’s surroundings so I think it makes a lot of sense as a medium.

Brooklyn Street Art: What makes you explore the theme of “If you see something, say something”?
Jean Seestadt: I was interested in the daily reminder we all digest about terrorism and how it is a fragile ghost of this city.  It just floats about our transit system and I thought it was really sad and strange. People might think I am making light of terrorism but I am really not.

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

“If You See Somethin”, Jean Seestadt (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Klughaus Gallery Presents: OBLVN “100 Paintings” (Manhattan, NY)

February 28, 2012 , , , , ,

OBLVN

AARON OBLVN “100 PAINTINGS”

MARCH 10—APRIL 1, 2012
OPENING: SATURDAY MARCH 10, 2012 FROM 6-10PM KLUGHAUS GALLERY
47 Monroe St. New York, NY 10002

Emerging Pacific Northwest artist OBLVN hand paints 100 exclusive illustrations in honor of New York City debut—New York, NY – Feb 27, 2012 – Klughaus Gallery is proud to announce the debut of “100 Paintings,” a solo exhibition of brand new, one-of-a-kind illustrated works by Portland, Oregon-based artist and cartoonist Aaron OBLVN. In honor of his first ever east coast show, OBLVN has been hard at work for months preparing one hundred illustrations exclusively for Klughaus; highlights of the character and cartoon-heavy exhibit include contemporary, tongue-in-cheek remixes of classic cartoon characters like ‘Felix The Cat’ as an art thief and ‘Dennis the Menace’ as a vandal, as well as many original works, from mischievous spray can characters to runaway inkwells.

Why one hundred works? “I’ve been drawing my whole life, but really focusing on this style for about three years now—but not on this scale,” says OBLVN. “I read once in a sign painting comic strip by [cartoonist] Justin Green that it takes about 100 hours of brushing before you finally get your lettering down,” says OBLVN of one of the motives behind sitting down to tackle the daunting task of creating one hundred pieces of art for a single show. “So I figured if I did 100 characters, I would definitely get some good practice in. I can tell from the first cartoons I started doing a few years ago that I’ve gotten better. It’s always great to see your own progress.”

In addition to breaking the gallery record for the highest number of works in a single show, the breadth and depth of OBLVN’s body of playful, accessible work makes “100 Paintings” a show with literally something for everyone. “I love cartoons,” he says of his trademark subject matter. “I’m picky, but I love a lot of styles. From Vaughn Bode, Basil Wolverton, Skip Williamson, Text Avery, Ralph Bakshi and John K to more contemporary artists like Barry McGee and Todd James.”

In this vein “100 Paintings” is both a one-of-a-kind body of work as well as a collective ode to the artists OBLVN emulates, and he is looking forward to piecing together his collection of puzzle pieces in New York City: “I’m really stoked on the work as a whole,” he says. “So much of my time is spent up close with the pieces, my face only a few inches from my brush and the ink that it’s sort of crazy to step back and see the work as a body. It’s pretty cool to see how much I cranked out. It’s so awesome that [the opening] is in NY, but seriously daunting. I’m excited.”

The opening for “100 Paintings” will take place Saturday, March 10th from 6-10 pm. Please RSVP to rsvp@klughaus.net.

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Fun Friday 02.17.12

February 17, 2012

Woo Hooooooooo! Street Art and graffiti shows are hopping tonight ya’ll! With shows in Chinatown, Dumbo, and Williamsburg, you’re going to have to take the train and the bus if you want to catch it all.

1. Cake and Don Pablo Pedro at Mighty Tanaka (DUMBO)
2. “All Talk” Group Show at Pandemic (Williamsburg, BK)
3. “Snowblind” at Klughause (Chinatown)
4. “Ocean Size” at Kunsthalle Galapagos Gallery SATURDAY 2/18 (DUMBO)
5. “What I Know,” curated by Jason Andrew
6. ” The Permanent Collection Volume II: My Own Private Serpico,” English Kills Gallery
7. Kraftwerk Retrospective at MOMA in April
8. William Thomas Porter – Splendid Cycles (VIDEO)
9. Connor Harrington “Black Herds of the Rain” (VIDEO)
10. JAZ in Mexico City with MAMUTT (VIDEO)
11. Nuria Mora in South Africa (VIDEO)

Cake and Don Pablo Pedro at Mighty Tanaka (DUMBO)

We’ve interviewed Cake this week, and Don Pablo Pedro when he wasn’t in shows, and we can assure you that “Inside Out” is about all the disgusting little bits you keep inside. Tonight they’re out at Mighty Tanaka.

Cake. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here

“All Talk” Group Show at Pandemic (Williamsburg, BK)

“Some of New York City’s boldest anti-heros, cynics and preachers” – Say no more! Tell me where to sign. “All Talk” is the new group show at Pandemic Gallery opens today with the participation of: Aakash Nihalani, Andrew H. Shirley, Cassius Fouler, Destroy & Rebuild, Gabriel Specter, Isabel Lasala, J. Ralph Phillips, Jenna Hicock, Jesse Edwards, Map, Merk, and NohJColey.

Aakash Nihalani (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

“Snowblind” at Klughause (Chinatown)

We’re gonna start calling it SLUGHOUSE because their first 3 shows have been heavy hitters for such a small scrappy gallery at the foot of the Manhattan Bridge, near a Police Precinct, and yet in damn near darkness. The concept for tonights show is cool, but what’s cooler is CARNAGE, the magazine by Ray Mock, one of the best graffiti photogs on the street today. Oh, also, Martha Cooper is in the show. See ya there!. “Snowblind” opens today with the participation of Martha Cooper, Ray Mock, Alexander Richter, Mike P, Bob Barry,  Oscar Arriola, Graham Shimberg, Michael Fales, and Jesse Edwards.

For further information regarding this show click here.

“Ocean Size” at Kunsthalle Galapagos Gallery SATURDAY 2/18 (DUMBO)

Yo, we checked this one out as it was going up yesterday – It’s worth it and Toronto based Street Artist and fine artist Troy Lovegates just killed it with this brand new piece which we’re showing you a detail of below.

Troy Lovegates. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

Also happening this weekend

“What I Know,” curated by Jason Andrew – The Bushwick arts leader who makes art happen, Mr. Andrew curates a 40 person show at NYCAMS (New York Center for Art and Media Studies), opening tonight. Download the PDF here

English Kills Gallery Permanent Collection opening Friday night : ” The Permanent Collection Volume II: My Own Private Serpico,” the second installment of works from the English Kills Permanent Collection featuring David Pappaceno, Don Pablo Pedro, Cleon Peterson, Steven Thompson, Brent Owens, Vilaykorn Sayaphet, Hiroshi Shafer, Joe Borelli, Frank Stella, Peter Dobill, Andy Piedilato, Jim Herbert, Tyrome Tripoli, Kevin Brady, Jenn Brehm, Kevin Regan, Giles Thompson, Jeff Clark, Mike Olin, Shane Heinemeier, Dan Taylor, Lenny Reibstein, Tescia Seufferlein, Andrew Ohanesian, Andrew Hurst, Austin Thomas, Evan Ryer, Gary Cullen

 

Kraftwerk Retrospective at MOMA in April – Tickets on Sale Wed 2/22

The live presentation “Kraftwerk-Retrospective 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8″ will explore their pioneering electronic music and each of their eight, groundbreaking studio albums with a unique set of projected images (some in 3-D ):

The music called electronic was basically created by Kraftwerk, who began four decades ago and whose influence and flat out appropriated music appears in work by these artists, to name a few: Jay-Z, Coldplay, Afrika Bambaata, Chemical Brothers, Pink Floyd, Fatboy Slim, New Order, Fergie, Ladytron, Missy Elliott, Franz Ferdinand, Thompson Twins, and yes, McDonna.

William Thomas Porter – Splendid Cycles (VIDEO)

Creater and builder of the famous “F*ck Bike 001” now on view at the Museum of Sex show “F*ck Art”, here is a video following William Thomas Porter around on his preferred form of transportation.  “I wouldn’t call them mutants,” he says of his bike caricatures, “because that would make them sound ugly. It’s more like creating this… splendid form.”

Connor Harrington “Black Herds of the Rain” (VIDEO)

JAZ in Mexico City with MAMUTT (VIDEO)

Nuria Mora in South Africa (VIDEO)

 

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Klughause Gallery Presents: “Snowblind” A Group Show (Manhattan, NY)

February 13, 2012 , , , , ,

Snowblind

Carnage & Making Deals Zine Present:
SNOWBLIND + Carnage Zine Release featuring New Yorkʼs ATM Crew at Klughaus Gallery, NYC

Opening Reception: Friday, February 17th, 2012 from 6-10pm Show Runs Through Sunday, March 3rd, 2012

With SNOWBLIND, Klughaus Gallery, in conjunction with Carnage and Making Deals Zine, is proud to present a group of artists who have captured the gritty pleasures of the winter season.

Photographs from renowned urban documentarian Martha Cooper and Carnage zine creator Ray Mock show slush, sludge, and frozen faces contrasted with empty, peaceful city streets and the blinding white of last nightʼs snowfall. The show also features clever, snow-inspired artwork and photography from Jesse Edwards, Mike P, Alexander Richter, Michael Fales, Oscar Arriola, Graham Shimberg and Bob Barry.

The showʼs opening reception will mark the launch of issue #2 of Carnage, a limited edition zine featuring the prolific and highly distinctive work of New York Cityʼs ATM Crew.

Klughaus Gallery exhibits a variety of contemporary art. The gallery works primarily with artists that have roots in graffiti and street culture and seeks to develop itself as a leader in fostering urban art appreciation within the local (Chinatown/LES) community.

Klughaus Gallery is located at 47 Monroe Street, New York, NY 10002. Gallery hours are Thursdays and Fridays from 1-7pm, Saturdays and Sundays from 12-6pm. For more information, please email info@klughaus.net or call (646) 801-6024.

www.klughaus.net www.carnagenyc.tumblr.com www.makingdealszine.tumblr.com

Sponsored by www.snowbeverages.com
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SNOWBLIND Artist Information

Martha Cooper is a documentary photographer who has specialized in shooting urban vernacular art and architecture for over thirty years. Her work has been exhibited in museums and galleries worldwide and published extensively in magazines from National Geographic to Vibe. Some of her publications include Subway Art, New York State of Mind, Going Postal, and most recently, Tokyo Tattoo 1970.

Ray Mockʼs mission as a photographer is to capture the uncooptable core of city culture and make ugly look pretty. His work has been featured in books, in magazines and on countless websites. He publishes Carnage and likes to hang around trains.

Jesse Edwards is a Seattle based artist who focuses on oil paintings ranging from classic landscapes to more unconventional still-lifes. In addition to his paintings of guns, marijuana plants and graffiti tools, he is known for his pixilated nudes as well as his quality work with ceramics. He has studied at the Cornish School of the Arts and Gage Academy and has exhibited his work throughout the United States in many prominent galleries and museums including Seattleʼs Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA), Woodside/Braseth Gallery, BLVD Gallery, Deitch Projects, The Hole NYC, and The Museum of Sex. Edwards has also been featured in many prestigious publications including the New York Times, Seattle Times, Vice Magazine, Seattle PI, and City Arts Magazine.

Mike P is a New York City based artist who works in a wide range of mediums focusing on painting and illustration. His art can be found in one form or another in many of the places that he has traveled around the world.

Alexander Richter is an NYC based commercial photographer specializing in portraits for editorial, advertising and the music industries. When he is not making pictures, he can be found with his wife in Maine drinking fresh squeezed lemonade and eating lobster rolls.

Michael Fales can be found photographing the streets as the city comes alive in the morning, or exploring itʼs tucked-away nooks. His photos have appeared on numerous websites, books, and exhibitions. He currently resides in Brooklyn with his wife and two cats.

Graham Shimberg is a photographer, track-walker, freight-nerd, and bindle-stiff.
Bob Barry documents graffiti amidst the paranoia and the Disney-fication of a post-9/11 New York.

Oscar Arriola is a Chicago-based photographer who has enjoyed documenting graffiti, city life, tuxedo cats, rogue cops, and artists since the mid-80’s. His photography has been featured in the recent Chicago Street Art book.

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Fun Friday 02.10.12

February 10, 2012

1. Giants Fans in Manhattan Streets (VIDEO)
2. “F*ck Art” at Museum of Sex
3. CASA DE EMPENO at Anonymous (Mexico City)
4. “Love & Hate” Group Show at Stolen Space (London)
5. CREEPY at Okazi Gallery (Berlin)
6. Chris Stain and H. Veng Smith at C.A.V.E. Gallery (Los Angeles)
7. Winter Group Show at White Walls Gallery (San Francisco)
8. Zes and Retna new show “Excavated Revelations”
9. German duo Herakut paint a mural at Big Art Labs (VIDEO)

Giants Fans in Manhattan Streets (VIDEO) Weeeeeeeee are the CHAMPEEEEENSSSS

Streets in Manhattan were bloated with about a million crazy football fans this week as the Superbowl-winning New York Giants had a parade and almost everybody skipped school and work to go see their heroes. Office workers literally dumped garbage cans of shredded paper out the window en masse while fans poured into the city from every direction, including nearby states, to roar as the players rode by. Some people were well behaved, but they were hard to see or hear because of all the hooligans raising holy hell. Here’s a video taste of it –  some seriously funny sh*t. Watch out for unbridled testosterone fueled aggression, swear words and Giants inspired freestylin. NSFW, but okay for the street.

F*ck Art at Museum of Sex

The Museum of Sex new show “F*ck Art” is open to the general public. With a group of 20 Street Artists participating from different cities and countries the show includes: AIKO. Andrew H. Shirley, B-rad Izzy, Cassius Fouler. DICKCHICKEN. DROID, GEN 2, OZE 108 of 907, El Celso, Jeremy Novy, JMR, LUSH, Miss Van, MODE 2, Patch Whisky, ROSTARR, RTTP: Nathan Vincent & Bryan Raughton, Tony Bones, William Thomas Porter, WOLFTITS, and Wonderpuss Octopus.

Lush (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further details on this show click here

Click here to read our article and interviews with the curators and some of the artists.

CASA DE EMPENO at Anonymous (Mexico City)

In Mexico City Anonymous Gallery new group show “Casa de Empeño” opens today to the general public. Centered around the themes of a Pawn Shop the show includes internationally recognized Street Artists Judith supine. Maya Hayuk and Davil Ellis among others.

Judith Supine (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here

“Love & Hate” Group Show at Stolen Space (London)

“Love & Hate” the new group show at Stolen Space Gallery in London opens today to the general public. With the participation of several Street Artists from different cities including: D*Face, Dan Witz, Miss Van, Ronzo, Toshi, Will Barras, Word To Mother, Jeff Soto and EINE among others.

Ben Eine (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here

CREEPY at Okazi Gallery (Berlin)

Kyle Hughes-Odgers AKA Creepy new solo show “If We Can’t Control the Boat, Let’s Control the Ocean” opens today at the Okazi Gallery in Berlin.

Creepy (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here

Chris Stain and H. Veng Smith at C.A.V.E. Gallery (Los Angeles)

Chris Stain and Veng go to Little Venice, CA for the opening of their new show this Saturday at C.A.V.E. Gallery.

Veng and Chris Stain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Click here to read our article on Chris’ new works for this show.

And a preview of Veng’s work on The Street Spot.

For further information regarding this show click here

Winter Group Show at White Walls Gallery (San Francisco)

The White Walls Gallery new show “Winter Group Show” opens this Saturday in San Francisco with the participation of well known Street Artists including: Eine, Blek le Rat, Apex, Know Hope, Above, D*Face, Augustine Kofie, D Young V and Ernesto Yerena among others.

Blek le Rat (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here

Also happening this weekend:

Zes and Retna new show “Excavated Revelations” opens this Saturday at Known Gallery in Los Angeles. Click here for more details on this show.

German duo Herakut paint a mural at Big Art Labs (VIDEO)

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