You thought it would never end, but here it is, last day of August, and you have gorged yourself on as many popsicles and watermelon slices and street festival delicacies as possible and blasted your eardrums at free concerts, splashed and sunburned in the city pool, barfed off the edge of a roof BBQ party, and danced naked on the beach in Fort Tilden while your buddy Drew hit up the wall and Jenelle drew an arrow on her inner thigh with a sharpie. All the summer shares in the manicured Hamptons are having their last blow outs and next weekend there are a bunch of new art shows opening for fall so everybody will be coming back. For now let’s just have a fish fry and play some more. Also, pass that marker.
1. NYC Night Dancing (Video)
2. Trailerpark Festival (Copenhagen)
3. Dabs & Myla @ ThinkSpace (LA)
4. Fuzi UV TPK Free Tattoos at The Hole (NYC)
5. IBUg 2012
6. Live is Porno 4D (Video)
7. Nychos and Flying Fortress in Vienna (Video)
8. Basquiat, Fab 5, & Futura Hidden Wall (Video)
First, fancy night dancing in NYC streets.
Then, some random passersby who love the camera. (VIDEO)
Trailerpark Festival (Copenhagen)
America is full of trailer parks. Just waiting for a hurricane.
Want to find out how the weather is in Copenhagen, Denmark and have some Trailer Park fun? Starting today the Copenhagen Trailerpark Festival promises great visuals and music with Letterbenders, Furious Styles, Big City Brains, Soten, Chifumi and Ogre.
For further information regarding this festival click here.
Dabs & Myla and Friends at ThinkSpace (LA)
Australian expats and Street Artists Dabs & Myla have again gathered friends with ThinkSpace Gallery to host an art party of sorts called “Marvelous Expeditions”. Themes are about taking trips, hanging out with your people, and the making art together.
Featured are 16″×20” works from 123 Klan Aaron, De La Cruz, Askew, Augustine Kofie, Axis, Cat Cult, Dscreet, Dvate, EINE, Elliot Francis Stewart, Ephameron, Greg Lamarche, Honkey Kong (aka Adam Hathorn), Johnny ‘KMNDZ’ Rodriguez, KC Ortiz, KEM5, Logan Hicks, Luke Chueh, Mark Mulroney, Meggs, Misery, NEW2, Pose, Remi Rough, Revok, Rime, Stormie Mills, Tatiana Suarez, Tom Gerrard, Tristan Eaton, Witnes and The Yok.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Fuzi UV TPK at the Hole (NYC)
Tattoo and Graffiti Artist Fuzi UV TPK will give you a free tattoo at the Hole Shop in Manhattan. I know, that sounds funny the way I said it sis. It’s like, “Dr. Snapdragon will give you a free appendectomy if you stop into the emergency room tonight”. But, seriously, this well known tattoo artist is on a mad dash visit to NYC and he’s looking forward to seeing you, needle poised.
For further information regarding this event click here.
Also happening this weekend:
The IBUg 2012 – Festival of urban art and culture in Glauchau, Germany opens today for those intatiable lovers of Graff and Hip Hop. Click here for more details on this festival.
Life is Porno 4D (VIDEO)
Nychos and Flying Fortress in Vienna Part I (VIDEO)
Hidden Wall discovered with Basquiat, Fab 5, & Futura Behind It (VIDEO)
Thinkspace is pleased to present the highly anticipated Marvelous Expeditions by Dabs Myla and Friends. In the spirit of travel and all things wonderfully itinerant, acclaimed duo Dabs Myla will take over the gallery space and will feature new work and an installation alongside curated selections from 32 of their closest and most inspiring artist friends. The gallery will in effect become a locus of meeting and communal exchange, as artists from all over the world are brought together by Dabs Myla to share their experiences of traveling through its landscapes.
Dabs Myla’s meticulously executed work combines narrative illustration, photorealistic drawing, and architectural rendering with a playful bawdiness and irreverence. Cast frequently as themselves in their imagery and host of characters, the artist pair create worlds of contentious and playful encounters against the seductive chaos of the urbanscape. The city features prominently in their work as the stomping ground for their numerous adventures. When looking at their pieces one has the impression of aesthetic confluence and fluidity, of two minds toiling together as one. The viewing experience is the keen pleasure of looking into another world and enjoying a story, and just as it is with the unrelenting freneticism of the city, there is always a new discovery to punctuate every observation right around every corner – and we’d be remiss to exclude mention of the donuts and street meat.
As artists and urban enthusiasts Dabs Myla translate their experience of the world through a distinctly collaborative amalgamation of their styles and rendering strengths. Their work conveys a synchronicity of vision and aesthetic uncommonly allied and collusive. It is constituted by their shared love of travel, food, graffiti, illustration, and urbanity. Just as all productive chaos emerges from unlikely places, the momentum of travel fosters unexpected discoveries and collisions of worlds. Dabs and Myla, originally from Melbourne Australia and now currently based in LA, are no strangers to this productive geographic disruption, and this project seeks to celebrate the unexpected encounters and inspirations catalyzed by travel. They have invited each of their featured friends to produce a piece for the exhibition on a 16” x 20” wood panel, and with these set material parameters each artist will work their magic. The series is loosely meant to invoke exploration and travel, and each participating artist will metabolize their impressions of the theme differently through their respective styles, voices, and memories.
Marvelous Expeditions showcases the duo’s love of friends, collegiality, exchange, and the proliferation of vision and variety that thrives alongside constant movement and displacement. These are the exploratory impulses of travel that lead to constant revisions, reconstitutions, influences, and to the indelible encounters that change everything.
Featuring 16×20” works from: 123 Klan Aaron, De La Cruz, Askew, Augustine Kofie, Axis, Cat Cult, Dscreet, Dvate, EINE, Elliot Francis Stewart, Ephameron, Greg Lamarche, Honkey Kong (aka Adam Hathorn), Johnny ‘KMNDZ’ Rodriguez, KC Ortiz, KEM5, Logan Hicks, Luke Chueh, Mark Mulroney, Meggs, Misery, NEW2, Pose, Remi Rough, Revok, Rime, Stormie Mills, Tatiana Suarez, Tom Gerrard, Tristan Eaton, Witnes and The Yok.
Dabs Myla:
Melbourne natives Dabs and Myla are a dynamic duo who have lived, worked and soaked in the sun of Los Angeles since 2009. Dabs started painting graffiti in 1995, and began teaching Myla the ropes of writing about ten years later, after they met while studying illustration in art school and fell in love. Soon afterward, they decided they liked their collaborative pieces better than their individual work, and from that point on, they worked together exclusively, as Dabs Myla. Inspired by graffiti, food, travel and their wonderful chaotic life together as a couple, their paintings play Dabs’ mischievous and sometimes ribald characters off Myla’s photorealistic cityscapes. Since their move to California, they have never spent more than a few hours apart. They say, “I guess we are pretty lucky… two peas in a pod! Two crazy, workaholic, mad dorks in a pod! After years of living, painting walls and working together, we have only become closer, stronger and even more in sync. Every day we wake up, paint all day, and keep each other entertained with constant chatter and stupid jokes. Who could ask for more out of life?”
New York has seen its share of giants. For most people, Mike is just another one.
But for fans of cholo-style graffiti and tattoo inspired art, he is a giant among men. That’s why it was cause for a celebration to see this skate boarding, fixie tricking, graffiti painting, grandpa hipster in suspenders hitting up a fresh white wall with some juicy markers last week under the Manhattan Bridge.
Thermometer-wise, it was one of our worst July days. For a fleeting moment the bespectacled grey buzzcut artist looked like he wasn’t going to take the New York heat while working outside in crushing hot humidity that felt like the inside of a rice cooker here in Chinatown. But the visitor from San Francisco’s Tenderloin rallied, calmed himself, found his personal zen, and focused on his wall with a positive mindset. While a cluster of hosts and fans stood by Giant methodically laid out the kind of precise, sharp lined calligraphic illustration that has distinguished his work and indelibly marked his reputation among the skater-punk-tattooed-graffiti-lowbro West Coast heroes of the last two-plus decades.
Very covered in full color ink himself, except for black and grey sleeves, the sometimes tattooist routinely updates his personal skin art collection with work by the likes of Greg Rojas and Chris Conn, like the recent additions of the Apple logo and the bars from Black Flag among the skulls and snakes and sassy vixens. Also routinely, his exacting and precise drawings sell out at shops and packed gallery shows across the world as his work is compared to that of such Mexican/cholo art pioneers like Mr. Cartoon, Chaz Bojorquez, and Jack Rudy. The symbols and metaphors popping boldly, they frame each other even as their meanings and origins conflict; reptiles, tigers, garden roses and The Grim Reaper sit comfortably alongside ornately carved crosses, the Virgin of Guadalupe and hot tattooed girls in fishnets giving you the finger.
For this street installation, Giant’s act of inking the wall affected the assembled fans and observers like the chanting of Spanish monks in those remote and silent monasteries: a slowly creeping utter peace. He approached the task with serenity, at a pace that seemed to conserve time rather than spend it. In complete control of his craft, he can aptly break away when approached for a chat or to sign a deck or black book.
This gig at Klughaus Gallery was to help promote a group show and launch the 8th issue of Kingbrown magazine and Giant said he was happy to visit the town he once lived in for a year before seeking the quieter pace of San Francisco. Right across from the spot is one of the city’s busiest skateparks and for most of the afternoon his work was accompanied by the unmistakeable sound of some exhibition boards hitting the concrete for friendly competitive trickery. He probably felt at home like this since he’s known to hang at the occasional skatepark or empty swimming pool back on the west coast. And for one day in this unbearable NYC heat, a number of fans were happy to see him knocking out this black and white wall, meditating on the good things that a fine line brings.
For details to visit the gallery to see Mike Giant’s completed panels in person and to see the rest of the exhibition now open to the general public click here.
Klughaus and Kingbrown produced this event in partnership with Fountain Art fair.
Artists included in the show are Morning Breath, Andy Jenkins, Chris Cycle, Dave Kinsey, “Grotesk” aka Kimou Meyer, Stefan Marx, Kevin Lyons, Mike Giant, Raza Uno aka MAx Vogel, Greg Lamarche, Zach Malfa-Kowalski, Steve Gourlay, Jay Howell, and Ben Horton, Beastman, Phibs, Hiro, Reka, Kyle “Creepy” Hughes-Odgers, Meggs, Sean Morris, Yok, Sheryo, Ross Clugston, Daek, Lister, Numskull, Ian Mutch, Rone/ aka Tyrone Wright.
Let the Games Begin! (oh no, does that violate an Olympic copyright?) Here’s our Olympian sized Olympic Fun Friday Olympiatastic list, sponsored by nobody.
1. BOB ROSS REMIX (VIDEO)
2. KingBrown Group Show at Klughaus (NYC)
3. Quel Beast Solo Reception at Gallery Bar (NYC)
4. Believe the Hype at Pandemic Saturday (BKLN)
5. REVOK and SABER at Known Gallery (LA)
6. Matthew Silver Goes for the Gold in his Speedo at Union Square (VIDEO)
7. Pura Vida Presents: Entes Y Pesimo A Short Film (English) (VIDEO)
BOB ROSS REMIX (Video)
Bob Ross is back! Updated and autotuned, this visual medley ties together the overriding themes that his long-running show imparted to many people who may have been timid about reopening that creative spirit that we’re all born with. Some kids think they’re too cool and too street for this sh*t but really they like Bob’s message too, because he’s right. Get out your paintbrush and cans!
KingBrown Group Show at Klughaus (NYC)
Mike Giant is in New York and he brought some juicy markers with him. The New Show at Klughaus Gallery in Manhattan’s Chinatown hosted him yesterday with folks from Kingbrown Magazine to mark the release of their issue #8. The group show of small pieces in the gallery is smartly, densely packed with names you’ll like and is now open to the public after last nights hot and sticky grand opening that ended with Mother nature blowing exhibition skateboarders sideways with sudden summer storm high winds and pounding rain. The show was presented along with the dudes from Fountain Arts Fair.
Artists include Morning Breath, Andy Jenkins, Chris Cycle, Dave Kinsey, “Grotesk” aka Kimou Meyer, Stefan Marx, Kevin Lyons, Mike Giant, Raza Uno aka MAx Vogel, Greg Lamarche, Zach Malfa-Kowalski, Steve Gourlay, Jay Howell, Ben Horton, Beastman, Phibs, Hiro, Reka, Kyle “Creepy” Hughes-Odgers, Meggs, Sean Morris, Yok, Sheryo, Ross Clugston, Daek, Lister, Numskull, Ian Mutch, Rone/ aka Tyrone Wright.
Further information regarding this show click here.
Quel Beast Solo Reception at Gallery Bar (NYC)
The Gallery Bar on the Lower East Side of Manhattan hosts the opening reception today of Quel Beast’s solo show of portraits full of emotion as he continues in the journey of self-study. In a short career on the street that has depicted everything from anguish to rage to frustration, it is good to report that there is now an occasional smile.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Believe the Hype at Pandemic Saturday (BKLN)
PARTY! PARTY! PARTY! @ Pandemic Gallery tomorrow. “Believe The Hype” Is Pandemic’s title for this summer party including: The Yok, Sheryo, UFO 907, Swampy, Royce Bannon, Matt Siren, David Pappaceno, Darkclouds, Keely, Don Pablo Pedro, Cost KRT and Deeker. All the artists will paint the interior of the gallery in one collaborative mural. Go get wet and play. There will be limited prints, T shirts, zines and drawings for sale.
For further information regarding this show click here.
REVOK and SABER at Known Gallery (LA)
Double billing Revok and Saber in one night? You know the crowd will be big and enthusiastic to see these two concurrent solo shows and as Known Gallery hosts REVOK’s “Gilgamesh” and SABER’s “Beautification” simultaneously Saturday.
For further information regarding SABER show click here.
Matthew Silver Goes for the Gold in his Speedo at Union Square (VIDEO)
Miao Jiaxin captures some of the magic moments of this public performer who may be borderline bananas and who knows how to engage people, to help and flip their “I’m Free” switch to the “On” position.
Pura Vida Presents: Entes Y Pesimo A Short Film (English) (VIDEO)
Fitting within Fountain’s penchant for all things street and guerrilla, we are thrilled to partner with Kingbrown to launch their 8th issue, co-curated and designed by Morning Breath, at New York’s Klughaus gallery. Opening to the public July 26th, 2012 from 7-10pm, Klughaus Gallery: 47 Monroe Street NYC, NY. Featuring live painting, Skateboard demos and more.
Australia’s “Kingbrown Magazine has collaborated with curators, John Leo (Fountain Co-Founder) and Melissa McCaig-Welles (McCaig-Welles Gallery) to bring you a dynamic collection of skateboard inspired artwork. The exhibition will showcase some of the world’s most influential artists from members of the infamous Girl/Chocolate Art Dump, pioneers in NYC graffiti, talented illustrators, animators, art stars from Australia, sculptors, and that guy living in the NY green diamond.
Kingbrown is a distinctively designed magazine, sitting somewhere between a book, a magazine and an art zine. As a super limited edition periodical, delivered inside a hand silkscreened brown bag, sewn closed with artist stickers and posters included, Kingbrown remains different from any other publication.
Conceived in 2006 by co-creators Yok and Ian Mutch in Perth, Australia, Kingbrown’s mission was to produce a limited edition work of art, which would reach a wider audience, allowing accessibility to the public and its entirety. Each “magazine” is handcrafted and designed by some of the world’s leading innovators of photography, illustration and urban and skateboard art and design. Produced on museum quality paper, each page is a collectible item, individually sealed and packaged. Now in its 8th edition, Kingbrown has achieved worldwide success and is now launching for the first time in the US.
The term “Kingbrown” is Australian slang for a 40oz, and the magazine’s slogan “wrapped in a brown bag, just like a good 40 should”, is just as original as the artists it represents. This latest 8th edition, co-curated by the renowned collaborative, “Morning Breath”, focuses it’s topic on the visually rich artists who have influenced the world of skateboarding.
The impressive line-up includes Morning Breath, Andy Jenkins, Chris Cycle, Dave Kinsey, “Grotesk” aka Kimou Meyer, Stefan Marx, Kevin Lyons, Mike Giant, Raza Uno aka MAx Vogel, Greg Lamarche, Zach Malfa-Kowalski, Steve Gourlay, Jay Howell, and Ben Horton, all of whom have contributed to this limited 8th edition of Kingbrown Magazine.
Additional works to be included in the exhibition by Australian artists: Beastman, Phibs, Hiro, Reka, Kyle “Creepy” Hughes-Odgers, Meggs, Sean Morris, Yok, Sheryo, Ross Clugston, Daek, Lister, Numskull, Ian Mutch, Rone/ aka Tyrone Wright.
Klughaus Gallery
47 Monroe St.
New York, NY 10002
F to East Broadway / M15 Bus to Catherine St. x Madison St.
1. Dscreet is on “The Other Side Show” (London)
2. Neck Face is “Simply The Worst” Tonight in LA
3. Stormie Mills “Dark Lights” Friday (Perth, AU)
4. “Welcome to the Neighborhood” Low Brow Artique Grand Opening Saturday (Bushwick, BK)
5. MEGGS at White Walls (San Francisco)
6. VINZ Solo in 3 Places Saturday (Netherlands)
7. Cassius Fouler Now Open in Brooklyn
8. “Summer Selections” Group Show at Woodward (LES)
9. Morley “I Don’t Make Sense Without You”at Outsiders Gallery in Newcastle, UK
10. David Ellis and Kris Kuksi “Go West” to LA
11. Jeremy Fish at Fifty24SF Gallery in San Francisco
12. BASK One Stand in Detroit (VIDEO)
13. Snyder in Los Angeles (VIDEO)
Dscreet is on “The Other Side Show” (London)
“It will be my first solo show in four years and centers around the theme of duality – light and dark and black and white,” says Dscreet, the London based Street Artist of Burning Candy fame and infamy as he returns to the gallery with a solo show titled “The Other Side Show” at the Roktic Gallery in London. This show is now open.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Neck Face is “Simply The Worst” Tonight in LA
Neck Face returns to New Image Art Gallery in West Hollywood, CA to state why he is “Simply The Worst”. This show opens today and you are encouraged to wear something that it is not you.
For further information regarding this show click here.
“Welcome to the Neighborhood” Low Brow Artique Grand Opening Saturday (Bushwick, BK)
Uh-Oh, there goes the neighborhood. Tomorrow Street Artist Bishop 203 invites you to the grand opening of his gallery and art shop Low Brow Artique in Bushwick.
The opening will be celebrated with a group exhibition of Brooklyn based Street Artists including Cern, Clown Soldier, Elle, ENX, See One, Sheryo, Willow and Yok. Come wish this impresario good luck. An art supply spot in the front and a gallery in the back, “Low Brow” hopes to raise some eyebrows tomorrow night.
For further information regarding this show click here.
MEGGS at White Walls (San Francisco)
“Mythology tells the stories of gods, heroes, humans and supernatural beings as the personification of natural phenomena and more importantly the human condition… ” Saturday Meggs delves deeper into the subject of fantasy in San Francisco for his new solo show “Truth in Myth” opening tomorrow at the White Walls Gallery.
Meggs Red Skull. Detail. (image courtesy of the gallery)
For further information regarding this show click here.
VINZ Solo in 3 Places Saturday (Netherlands)
Spanish Street Artist VINZ has invaded Amsterdam with “Rules of Etiquette” his first solo show in The Netherlands opening tomorrow on three different locations: The Garage, Andenken Gallery and Battalion.
For further information regarding this show click here.
Cassius Fouler Now Open in Brooklyn
Opened last night at Weldon Arts Gallery, “Four Borough” is a cool collection from Cassius as he continues to merge symbols and irony and inside jokes with a deceptively simple and friendly hand delivery.
Woodward Gallery has put together “Summer Selections” an eclectic show of dead and alive artists, with some modern and contemporary masters mixed in with a select group of Street Artists that might or might not be the masters of tomorrow. Come in, cool off and judge for yourself.
Artists included are : Jean Michel Basquiat • Rick Begneaud • Susan Breen • Thomas Buildmore • Alexander Calder • Celso • Deborah Claxton • Darkcloud • Paul Gauguin • Sybil Gibson • Richard Hambleton • Curt Hoppe • Infinity • Jasper Johns • Russell King • Kosbe • LAII • Moody • Margaret Morrison • Mel Ramos • Robert Rauschenberg • Matt Siren • stikman • Jeremy Szopinski • Francesco Tumbiolo • Jo Ellen Van Ouwerkerk • Andy Warhol.
This show is now open to the general public. Click here for more details on this show.
Also happening this weekend:
The Outsiders Gallery in Newcastle, UK new show featuring Morley and entitled “I Don’t Make Sense Without You” is now open to the general public. Click here for more details on this show.
The Joshua Liner Gallery new show in Los Angeles at the Mark Moore Gallery pairs David Ellis and Kris Kuksi for “Go West”. This show is opens tomorrow in Culver City, CA. Click here for more details on this show.
Jeremy Fish is at the Fifty24SF Gallery in San Francisco with the opening tomorrow of his new show “Where Hearts Get Left”. Click here for more details about this show.
BASK One Stand in Detroit (VIDEO)
A quick look at how BASK did his recent piece in Detroit.
Snyder in Los Angeles (VIDEO)
For Street Art that verges on handmade crafting and display work, here’s a homey installation from Snyder.
White Walls Presents: “Truth in Myth,” New Work by Meggs
White Walls is pleased to present “Truth in Myth,” a solo exhibition from Australian artist Meggs. The opening reception will be Saturday, July 14th, from 7-11pm, and the exhibition is free and open to the public for viewing through August 4th, 2012. Mythology tells the stories of gods, heroes, humans and supernatural beings as the personification of natural phenomena and more importantly the human condition. In traditional folklore, a myth tells a story that is designed to explain certain ideals, practices and behaviors within society. Following from his interest in superheroes and
comic book narratives, Meggs delves deeper into the subject of fantasy to explore characters and stories from older mythological tales through the morals, dualities and emotions that these superhuman characters represent. Fusing elements of contemporary superheroes to ancient mythological beings, “Truth in Myth” is a collection of new paintings, collage, sculpture and mixed media artworks that expressively reference classic renaissance composition and contemporary pop culture. The layered and detailed works of “Truth in Myth” serve as a continuation of the artist’s search for balance in the understanding of physical and ideological duality of self. “We live in the stories we tell ourselves. In a secular, scientific rational culture lacking in any convincing spiritual leadership, superhero stories speak loudly and boldly to our greatest fears, deepest longings and highest aspirations… the best superhero stories deal directly with mythic elements of the human condition… they help us confront and resolve even the deepest existential crisis. We should listen to what they have to tell us.” – Grant Morrison, Supergods, 2011
Event Information: “Truth in Myth” by Meggs Opening Reception – July 14th, 2012, 7-11 pm On View Through August 4th, 2012 @ White Walls (www.whitewallssf.com) 835 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA
There is an uneasy reluctance among some artists in the graffiti and the Street Art community to let themselves be seen hanging with art collectors or even entering galleries sometimes because they might lose credibility among peers for not being ‘street’ enough. Seeing well manicured men in pinstripes and shrieking birdberry women with tinted/straightened/plumped everything looking at your shit hanging on a wall and asking vaguely patronizing questions about it like you are an exquisite curiosity could make you go out and slice their tires after downing a few white wines. Not surprisingly, “keeping it real” sometimes translates to keeping it out of private collections.
Even as there is an every-growing recognition of art and artists who work sometimes illegally in the street, it’s a sort of high-wire act for anyone associating with art born in margins, mainly because it forces one to face the fact that we marginalize.
Sociological considerations aside, over the last decade there is a less traditional definition of Street Artist entering the fray. The graffiti scene originally boasted a sort of grassroots uprising by the voiceless and economically disempowered, with a couple of art school kids and the occasional high-minded conceptualist to mix things up. It’s all changed of course – for myriad reasons – and art in the streets takes every form, medium, and background. Now we see fully formed artists with dazzling gallery careers bombing right next to first time Krinks writers, graffiti writers changing gears and doing carefully rendered figurative work, corporations trying their hand at culture jamming (which isn’t a stretch), and all manner of Street Art referred to as an “installation”.
A new book by Maximiliano Ruiz called “Walls & Frames”, just released last month by Gestalten, presents a large collection of artists who have traversed the now permeable definitions of “street”, gallery, collector and museum. Admittedly, this may be a brief period of popularity for Street Art, if the 1980s romance with graffiti is any indication, but there is evidence that it will endure in some form. This time one defining difference is that many artists have already developed skill, technique, and a fan base. Clearly the street has become a venue, a laboratory for testing and working out new ideas and techniques by fine artists, and even a valued platform for marketing oneself to a wider audience.
A spread of work by Conor Harrington in “Walls and Frames”.
The resulting work, whether hanging on a nail inside or painted on a street wall, challenges our previously defined boundaries. The current crop of street art stars and debutantes, many of the strongest whom are collected here by Ruiz, continue to stay connected with the energy of the street regardless of their trajectory elsewhere. Some are relatively new, while others have been evolving their practice since the 70s, with all the players sliding in and off the street over time. The rich and varied international collection is remarkable and leaves you wanting to see more work by many of the artists. All considered, “Wall and Frames” is a gorgeously produced book giving ample evidence that many of today’s artists in the streets are tomorrow’s masters, wherever they practice.
Artists included are Aaron Noble, AJ Fosik, Alexandre Farto aka Vhils, Alexandros Vasmoulakis, Alëxone Dizac, Amose, Andrew McAttee, Anthony Lister, Antony Micallef, Axel Void, Basco-Vazko, Base 23, Ben Frost, Blek le Rat, Bom-K, Boris Hoppek, Boxi, C215, Cekis, Conor Harrington, D*Face, Dan Witz, Daniel Muñoz aka San, Dave Kinsey, Der, Dixon, Docteur Gecko, Doze Green, Dran, Duncan Jago aka Mr. Jago, Eine, Ekundayo, El Mac, Evan Roth, Evol, Faile, Faith 47, Fefe Talavera, Gaia, George Morton-Clark, Herakut, Herbert Baglione, Interesni Kazki, Jaybo, Jeff Soto, Jeremy Fish, Jesse Hazelip, Johnny “KMNDZ” Rodriguez, Joram Roukes, Jorge Rodriguez Gerada, Josh Keyes, JR, Judith Supine, Katrin Fridriks, Kevin Cyr, Kofie, L’Atlas, Lightgraff, Logan Hicks, Ludo, M-City, Mark Jenkins, Mark Whalen aka Kill Pixie, Maya Hayuk, Medo & Demência, Meggs, Miss Bugs, Miss Van, Morten Andersen aka M2theA, Mr. Kern, Mudwig, Nicholas Di Genova, Okuda, Patrick Evoke, Paul Insect, Pedro Matos, Peter Owen, Pose, Pure Evil, Remed, Remi/Roughe, René Almanza, Retna, Ripo, Ródez, Sam3, Sat One, Shepard Fairey, Sixe, Smash 137, Sowat, Sten & Lex, Stephan Doitschinoff, Tec, Tilt, Troy Lovegates aka Other, Turf One, Vitché;, Wendell McShine, Will Barras, and Zosen.
The launch; “Walls & Frames” will be presented at Gestalten Space Berlin on December 15th.
Miami is basically “South Brooklyn” starting right about now, minus the bagels, the B62 bus, and the compulsive habit of cutting you off mid-sentence. Artists, galleries, fans, party girls and boys, djs, – they all head south the first few days of December for the big fair and all the little ones.
It already seems a little quieter here because Fountain took the weirdos, Wynwood Walls took the Soho softshoes, and The Underbelly collected the hardcore characters just long enough to sign a book and scarf some pizza before looking for a tunnel somewhere. Art Basel is a feast and the draw of Street Art and graffiti continues apace this year, with entrants from all the strata looking for a wall, and maybe a party, and a honey to go skinny dip with.
We picked a few Street Art related gems here that you might want to hit, but even if you show up in Miami this week with no plans, you’ll easily find some trouble to get into, we trust. Do your best.
After a full year underground, The Underbelly Project is coming to Miami during Art Basel. A pop up gallery, the show will feature original artwork from many of the 103 international artists who participated in the hidden subway project in New York. The exhibition will feature a video piece of multiple installations happening simultaneously, as well as new pieces by many of the artists. Additionally a book signing of the first volume to come out about the project, published by Rizzoli, will take place on December 2nd. Artists participating in the signing include: Dabs & Myla, Rone, Gaia, Lister, Eric Haze, Joe Iurato, Adam Feibleman, Know Hope, Jeff Stark, Jason Eppink, Jim and Tina Darling, The London Police, Dan Witz, Specter, Surge and other surprise artists.
Included in the show are street, graffiti and fine artists alike. The full line-up includes: Faile, Dabs & Myla, TrustoCorp, Aiko, Rone, Revok, Ron English, Jeff Soto, Mark Jenkins, Anthony Lister, Logan Hicks, Lucy McLauchlan, M-City, Kid Zoom, Eric Haze, Saber, Meggs, Jim & Tina Darling, The London Police, Sheone, Skewville, Jeff Stark, Jordan Seiler, Jason Eppink and I AM, Dan Witz, Specter, Ripo, MoMo, Remi/Rough, Stormie Mills, Swoon, Know Hope, Skullphone, L’Atlas, Roa, Surge, Gaia, Michael De Feo, Joe Iurato, Love Me, Adam 5100, and Chris Stain.
THE UNDERBELLY SHOW 29 November – Press Preview 5pm/ Private View 7pm 30 November – Collector’s Preview 7pm 1 December – Secret Wars US vs. UK 6pm 2 December – General Opening 5pm and Artist Book Signing 6pm
The show will take place in the heart of Wynwood at 78NW 25th Street
SCOPE
Jonathan Levine Gallery At Scope with WK Interact, Aakash Nihilani, Olek, and Jason DeCaires Taylor
“Placing a focus on public art for this program, the gallery will present a series of works that highlight a diverse range of distinct styles, cultural perspectives and unconventional mediums. Each of the four artists selected represent fresh directions in creating work in public space through their innovative vision and inventive use of materials. Photography documenting their interventional imagery, sculpture, and performances convey the transformative effect their work has on its surrounding
White Walls will be hosting four booths at SCOPE, situated in the center of Miami’s Wynwood Gallery Arts District, featuring a MTN Colors Group show with APEX, Neon, Estria, Vogue, Blek le Rat, HUSH, Kofie and Chor Boogie, a White Walls Group show with Casey Gray, Ben Eine and Greg Gossel, and solo shows for both ABOVE and ROA. APEX, Eine, Kofie, ABOVE, ROA and Chor Boogie will also be painting at the Kohn compound on 24th street.
For a full listing of exhibitors and events click here SCOPE
Wynwood Walls
Wynwood Walls is premiering 7 new Street Art murals and 16 new pieces at Wynwood Doors and walls outside.
Debuting in tandem with the new murals and installations during Art Basel this year on Tuesday, November 29, 2011, the “Shop at the Walls” the first Wynwood Walls Pop Up gallery space that will offer artworks and the new Wynwood Walls book.The book has interview with Street Artists and photography by Martha Cooper.
Artists include Retna, The Date Farmers, How and Nosm, Gaia (USA), Saner and Sego (Mexico), Liqen (Spain), Neuzz (Mexico), Nunca (Brazil), Vhils (Portugal), Interesni Kazki (Ukraine), Faile (USA) and b. (Greece). Kenny Scharf is expected to augment his existing wall, and remaining work from the last two years from Nunca, Shepard Fairey, Aiko, Ryan McGinness, Stelios Faitakis and avaf will be on display.
Walls Outside the Wynwood Walls, encompassing key locations outside of the actual art park itself and in the surrounding neighborhood, will be created by Friends With You (USA), avaf (Brazil and France), Nunca, and Interesni Kazki (Ukraine); joining works previously completed by Swoon and Barry McGee.
Location:
Wynwood Walls and the Pop Up Shop are located at NW Second Avenue – between Joey’s Italian Café on 25th Street and the art-filled Wynwood Kitchen & Bar on 26th Street – and are open to the public free of charge.
HERE COMES THE NEIGHBORHOOD: WYNWOOD (Video)
Fountain Art Fair
“Our preferred punk rock lopsided Anti-Fair.” —Brooklyn Street Art
This year Fountain Miami’s signature on-site street art installation is curated by Samson Contompasis, director of Albany’s The Marketplace, and will feature over 150 feet of work Street Artists including Sharktoof, Chris Stain, Olek, Hugh Leeman, Chor Boogie, OverUnder, White Cocoa, Army of One, Clown Soldier, Joe Iurato, CAKE, Tip-Toe, Elle, Ian Ross, Know Hope, Depoe, and Zero Cents.
Brooklyn’s own Mighty Tanaka Gallery is showing at Fountain Participating artists include: Adam Void, Alexandra Pacula, Alice Mizrachi, ChrisRWK, Ellen Stagg, Gigi Chen, Hellbent, Hiroshi Kumagai, JMR, John Breiner, Max Greis, Mike Schreiber, Robbie Busch, Skewville, TooFly, URnewyork, VengRWK & Miguel Ovalle
December 1–4, 2011 2505 North Miami Avenue (at the corner of 25th St) | Miami, FL 33137 General Hours: 12pm–7pm daily Tickets: $10 daily / $15 weekend pass. All tickets sold at door.
Primary Projects
A new exhibit debuting during Art Basel Miami Beach 2011
Thursday, December 1
Opening Reception
7:00 to 10:00 p.m.
RETNA, Jessy NITE, Stormie MILLS, Evan ROBARTS, Lena SCHMIDT, Luis PINTO, Andrew SCHOULTZ, Karen STAROSTA-GILINSKI, Kenton PARKER, TM SISTERS, Samantha SALZINGER, Emmette MOORE, Anthony LISTER, Charles KRAFFT, Tatiana SUAREZ, Edouard NARDON, Andrew NIGON, Johnny ROBLES and Lawrence GIPE.
Primary Projects
4141 NE Second Avenue
Suite 104
Miami, FL 33137
Living Walls is working with with Primary Flight, one of the original graffiti and Street Art mural projects, to create 3 new murals in the Wynwood District.
The Outpost Project begins in two days on a former military outpost, Cockatoo Island, the largest island in Sydney Harbour in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. This city really knows the value of the Street Art scene and celebrates the contributions of artists to the cultural wealth of the people who live there.
The entire island is basically porn for Street Artists, and right now about 150 are readying work their magic ways on the industrial spaces. Artists like ROA, Ethos, KidZoom, Anthony Lister, Everfresh Collective, Os Gemeos, Swoon, Faile, and Banksy are on the bill and a number of other projects will be taking place simultaneously, including a Pro/Am skateboarding exhibition, a region art gallery, DJs, artist battles, and pop-up bars. The island becomes a canvas, and there is no admission. Um, are you coming?
Also included will be the Oi You! Collection featuring the largest private collection of Banksy’s, amongst works by David Choe and Herakut. As well, live painting by Sao Paulo artist Ethos and Belgian monotone muralist Roa.
“The crown jewel of Sydney harbour, Cockatoo Island, a former military outcrop and penal colony will be transformed this November. In conjunction with the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust, witness the island wide invasion as aMBUSH Gallery launches a curatorial take-over – transforming the industrial monument into a battlefield of street-art. The Outpost Project will be the Southern-hemisphere’s largest Street Art Festival to date, with a projected 90, 000 visitors over the course of 5 weeks. Amongst a myriad of forums, educational programs, aMBUSH will bring to the table the nexus of content featured on the island.”
For further information and a complete list of participating artists, events and schedule please visit the sites below:
Painter Anthony Lister is also a Street Artist. His surreal pop and celebrity culture-infused abstractions are candy encrusted apples which may have something sharp inside. Many are figurative studies and wire frames bending wildly into characters who cavort and mock with blunt swipes of color, overlaid by costumed sexual role play… or is that a personal projection? Did I mention elegance, defiance, wit? Wait, there is so much here! Truth is, his work can be a cock-eyed psychological tempest, jarring to the head, strangely sweet.
A decade of discovery under his superhero belt, Mr. Lister continues to analyze and build his creative practice and it always includes work inside the gallery and outside on the street. He’s currently preparing for his solo show in Sydney called “Bogan Paradise” at Gallery A.S. At the same time he’s part of a group show with a gaggle of his Aussie expats on view at 941 Geary in San Francisco for “Young and Free”, including Kid Zoom, Dabs & Myla, Dmote, New2, Ben Frost, Meggs, Ha-Ha, Reka, Rone, Sofles and Vexta. Not to mention his participation in our show last month in Los Angeles at C.A.V.E. with Thinkspace, “Street Art Saved My Life : 39 New York Stories“.
The artist took some time recently to talk to Brooklyn Street Art about his practice;
Brooklyn Street Art:How much of one of your painted portraits is autobiographical? In other words, what portion of Mr. Lister is super hero, super model, furtive schoolboy, or Homer Simpson? Anthony Lister: I don’t really think about myself when I paint. My figurative works are more like reflections of characteristics I absorb from real life day to day.
Brooklyn Street Art:If you were to wear colored glasses, which color do you think you would most likely screen the world through? Anthony Lister: Pink, like John Lennon.
Brooklyn Street Art:Francis Bacon said, “The creative process is a cocktail of instinct, skill, culture and a highly creative feverishness.” Would you drink that cocktail? Anthony Lister: Nice words. I agree.
Brooklyn Street Art:What role does analysis play in your creative process when bringing a painting to fruition? Anthony Lister: Analysis is the outcome of considered processing. Constant consideration is crucial.
Brooklyn Street Art:A big piece you did on Metropolitan in Brooklyn – you reworked that face a couple of times over a period of months, producing what appeared as a slowly morphing image. Were you covering up tags, or were you unhappy with the original, or maybe combating the effects of age with a little nip and tuck? Anthony Lister: When I re-work street paintings I think of it like I am a hairdresser. When something is in the public it has a different existence to something living privately in a residence. I’m like a hairdresser I guess.
Brooklyn Street Art:You have spoken about your work as reality, or a reaction to realities. What realities are you depicting these days? Anthony Lister: I just finished a body of work for a solo show in Sydney. This next body of work is about contemporary Australian culture. The exhibition is titled “Bogan Paradise.”
Brooklyn Street Art: When you consider the Street Art scene that evolved around Melbourne, how would you characterize its nature in a way that differentiates it from the work in other cities around the world? Anthony Lister: No different. This whole street art thing has sprung up post the turn of the digital revolution so it is on the Internet quick and the artists who inspire others and the ones who are easily inspired are constantly swimming in the same aesthetic pools of consciousness. Not to mention that most of the prominent artists travel lots so it is easy to see work of the same artist in multiple cities around the world at the same time.
Brooklyn Street Art:The titles you give your gallery pieces are entertaining, instructive, illustrative. Do you ever want to place a placard near a piece you’ve done on the street – just to make sure the message gets across? Anthony Lister: No. My street practice is less thoughtful and therefore needs less commentary.
Brooklyn Street Art:When is a painting complete? Anthony Lister: When it tells me so.
They are a friendly group, these Street Artists from Australia, all gathered and spread out on walls organized with 941 Geary Gallery and White Walls in San Francisco, a sort of summer camp for escaped ex-pats. Aside from a bit of jet lag here and there, the energy is high and the artists have been banging out brand new work for the show, with the walls on the street whenever possible.
Among the group are names from the scenes in Melbourne and elsewhere – selected for their contribution to the Street Art story over the last few years, including Anthony Lister, Kid Zoom, Dabs & Myla, Dmote, New2, Ben Frost, Meggs, Ha-Ha, Reka, Rone, Sofles And Vexta. Of course, many of these same cats represent straight out of BK too, but it’s nice to see the countrymen/women get together for an Aussie wall blastacular.
“Young and Free: Contemporary Australian Street Artists” is currently on view at the 941 Geary Gallery in San Francisco. For more information on this show click on the link below:
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
