As we have previously reported here Street Artist Specter was in Paris recently for his solo show “Things Change” at the Since-Upian Gallery. His magnum opus on the street while there was the faithful recreation of a Brooklyn bodega façade that juts out into the street with a surprisingly genuine quality. For added authenticity, the rolldown gate is reproduced with the graffiti tag of Miss 17, ubiquitous throughout many neighborhoods of New York.
Ever challenging to conventional notions of what the Street Art scene is, Specter likes to turn your brain upside down with his actions like his spot-jocking of other Street Artist last year. Plumbing the gray areas again, he reproduces graffiti and Street Art within his own work, at once a documentation, tip of the hat, and visual paradox causing one to re-consider self evident truths about art and vandalism.
While in Paris, Street Artist FKDL played host to Specter and his friend and facilitated a small tour of some well known spots for Street Art, here documented by Lauren Besser in these photographs exclusively for BSA readers:
The More “Things Change”, the More They Stay the Same
Opening last night at Since-Upian Gallery in Paris, “Things Change”, Specter’s solo show is a collection of hand drawn, painted, carved, stenciled and collaged materials showing how the Street Artist continues to broaden technically while focusing socially.
In these images special to BSA readers, these individual paeans to the unflinching rugged personality of Brooklyn streets capture a moment and a bit of humanity as a rapidly downshifting economy gusts and blows through the streets, catching more people off guard as Towncars with tinted windows glide by. It’s hard to feel romantic about a fraying social net through which more people are falling, which is where the care of Specter’s hand rendered scenes, unpatronizing, clear eyed, and possibly sarcastic, take us again.
Similarly and with great determination, this Street Artist uses painting to capture and somehow give honor to the stickers and graffiti tags and stencils and commercial advertisements that appear on New York’s streets in some neighborhoods. Holding a mirror up, clearly with these paintings Specter appears to be glorifying graffiti and street art – a scathing charge leveled at certain museum exhibitions of late.
As in his work over the past few years this show Specter continues to draw attention to the gentrification that speeds unabated throughout many neighborhoods of New York today, as local character is buffed and expunged for vertical glass big-screen sanitized living. The commentary is not so much the lost vibrance and character of a city that doesn’t return, but a focus on the people who are pushed further and further, but to where?
AD HOC ART – Welling Court Community Street Art Celebration Saturday (Queens)
AdHoc Arts returns to Queens this year to Welling Court where Street Artists and the locals mix it up with music, local and homemade food and artists painting live. Bring your camera and bring a plate of cookies too. Sharing is caring.
The project transforms several city blocks into a 24/7 street-level gallery, bringing art from around the world directly to the heart of this community. Renowned artists with deep roots in the street movement have created site-specific works for this project and many will showcase various creative sundries for your perusal. This new array of visual experiences provides fresh contexts for how people working, visiting, and living in this diverse cultural gem of Queens think about and interact with their environment.
Artists include: Alice Mizrachi, Alison Buxton, Beau Stanton, Bunnie Reiss, Caleb Neelon, Chris Mendoza, Chris Stain, Celso, Cern, Cey Adams, Chor Boogie, CR, Cycle, Dan Witz, Darkclouds, Don Leicht, Ellis Gallagher, Ezra Li Eismont, Free5, Garrison Buxton, Greg Lamarche, Jesse Jones, JMR, Joe Iurato, John Ahearn, John Fekner, Jordan Seiler, Katie Yamasaki, Lady Pink, Leon Reid, Matt Siren, Michael De Feo, Michael Fumero, MIMEO, Mr. Kiji, Neko, Nuria, OverUnder, Pablo Power, R. Nicholas Kuszyk, ROA, Ron English, Royce Bannon, Sinned, Sofia Maldonado, TooFly, Tristan Eaton, Veng RWK, Zam.
WHERE: 11-98 Welling Court {@ 30th Ave & 12th Street}, Astoria, Queens 11102
WHEN: Saturday, June 25th, 2011 from noon until 9pm.
Click on the link below for more information regarding this event:
Right across the street where they’ll be debuting a new piece with BSA in August for “Street Art Saved My Life: 39 New York Stories”, the Brooklyn Street Art Collective Faile is presenting this pop up print show this weekend in Venice, Los Angeles. Tonight at the opening they’ll release a new print too.
“The show will feature a variety of works on paper over the last 12 years. A broad range of new and old prints and original works on paper. There are a variety of new pieces and a few surprises made for the show, including a new collection of works entitled Vintage Book Covers highlighting classic pieces from over the years” – Faile
Worth Something Gold
Edition of 50
Acrylic and Hand Pressed Gold Foil on Coventry Rag 335 gsm
35.75in. x 29in. (90 x 73cm)
Signed, Stamped & Numbered
Faile 2011
Opening Reception: June 24, 2011 (7 – 10pm)
Exhibition Runs: June 24 – July 24, 2011
POST NO BILLS
1103 Abbot Kinney Blvd.
Venice Beach, CA 90291
310.399.2928
Click below for more information regarding this show:
One of the new clowns out there today is having a solo show of his fine art and some new interpretations of his Street Art funboys as well. With wit and a method to his absurdity, these new works give insight to the solid study he’s actually been doing for years.
Chicago at Pawn Works Gallery, Clown Soldier is “The Human Cannonball”
His new show in Paris at the Since-Upian Gallery is accompanied by some new work on the street – much of it inspired by Brooklyn streets. See brand new photos tomorrow on BSA.
Brooklynite Gallery welcomes the start of the summer with “Parlour” a sexy show Saturday Night. Also DJ Mayonaise Hands will be there with a camera and mike for insightful interviews and scintillating observations. Dress your rockinist cause you know the Bedstuy peeps are always in top form at this gem.
Miss Bugs. Detail of the new print “Eyes Glanced” (photo courtesy of the gallery)
“PARLOUR”
MISS BUGS
June 25 – JULY 16
Opening Night: Saturday, June 25, 7-10pm
MUSICAL GUEST: Hank Shocklee [Bomb Squad]
BROOKLYNTE 334 Malcom X BLVD
Brooklyn, NY 11233
Click on the link below for more information about this show:
Jon Burgerman Doodles on a Car in Brooklyn (VIDEO)
Last weekend for the CresFest and NorthSide Open Studios artist Jon Burgerman was invited by Brooklyn Street Art to paint on a car. We forgot to tell him to get dressed first. Little details like that escape him.
Video by µ-Ziq Theme by µ-Ziq.
K-Guy Print Release “Primate Pontificate”
London based artist K-Guy will be releasing a print on July 1st of his “Primate Pontificate” commentary on the state of affairs of the Catholic Church and their perceived hypocrisy on some relevant topics. He introduced this piece on the occasion of Pope Benedict XVI most recent visit to England last year and we found some of these same primates on the streets of NYC in the fall. Funny to see them get released as prints.
The exhibition Shadows & Reflections emphasizes the variety of stencil’s artistic forms. First, by the variety of supports ranging from walls to installations including canvas and then by the diversity of techniques used by the artists.
Shadows and reflections, presents works on canvas, totally new installations, video, etc. The exhibition confronts the variety of expression of the stencil and proves the richness of this major movement of Street-Art which offers the artists infinite possibilities of creation…
L’exposition Shadows & Reflections montre la diversité des formes artistiques que prend le pochoir. D’abord, par la variété des supports, du mur à l’installation en passant par la toile. Surtout par les différentes techniques utilisées par les artistes.
Shadows and reflections, présente des œuvres sur toile, des installations inédites, de la vidéo, etc. L’exposition confronte les différents modes d’expression du pochoir et prouve la richesse de ce mouvement majeur du Street-Art qui offre d’infinies possibilités de création aux artistes.
Jef Aérosol, Blek le Rat, C215, Miss Tic, Kris Trappeniers, Vhils,
The show Shadows & Reflections goes on from june 25 to July 30, 2011
L’exposition Shadows & Reflections a lieu du 25 juin au 30 juillet 2011
Gabriel Specter est un artiste américain, installé à Brooklyn. Internationalement reconnu pour ses installations d’art urbain, Specter expose pour la première fois à Paris chez Since.Upian avec « Things Change », un travail justement inspiré de la vie quotidienne des rues new-yorkaises. Dans ses tableaux ce sont les gens, les rues et les devantures de magasin qui sont mis en lumière, la mutation des quartiers, la difficulté de la vie dans la rue aussi. A la galerie Since, ce seront une dizaine de ses derniers tableaux qui seront exposés. Specter interviendra également sur le mur en face de la galerie pour poser son regard sur le quartier. Un événement que vous pourrez suivre en direct du 20 au 24 juin 2011.
Sa technique est complexe. Il utilise aussi bien la peinture, le collage, la photocopie ou des matériaux de récupération. Son esthétique est empreinte d’un travail d’anthropologie méticuleux. Ses peintures et ses sculptures représentent le changement, célèbrent les marginalisés et agissent comme une contribution à l’environnement urbain. L’oeuvre de Specter tient toujours compte de l’endroit où elle est placée. Le voisinage, les gens, les histoires et des caractéristiques comme l’architecture, les publicités et les commerces locaux sont autant de sources d’inspiration.
De nombreux endroits et cultures sont juxtaposés sur ses toiles pour représenter des espaces urbains new-yorkais en perpétuelle mutation : une mise en scène de ce qui est laissé de côté alors que le changement est en train de bouleverser nos quartiers.
VERNISSAGE LE 24 JUIN À 19H00
24.06.2011 – 23.07.2011
211 rue Saint-Maur 75010 Paris
T: 00 33 (0) 1 53 19 70 03 / T: 00 33 (0) 1 53 19 75 29
Opening Hours: Tuesday to Saturday from 14h to 19h
A city steeped in it’s own history and a deep respect for the cultural arts, Paris has also had a romance with New York – style graffiti since the early 1980s and has a thriving Street Art scene of it’s own making today. In yet another example of institutional recognition of the contribution of graffiti and Street Art, the city hosted an exemplary tribute to graffiti history two years ago with “Graffiti, Born in the Streets,” an exhibition that took over the gallery space of the Fondazione Cartier. The popular show included the building’s façade and the surrounding garden as well as large scale photos of tags and pieces displayed in the Paris Metro on buses, and of course, trains.
Recently photographer Er1cBl41r did a small survey of the Street Art scene in Paris and shares some images here. In this collection we can see that the techniques of stencils (many one-color), wheatpastes, direct painting, illustration, and of course the glued tiles of local street artist Invader are in many locations around the city.
1a. John Burgerman crosses Wburg Bridge with Bananas on head
1. BOS 2011 – Bushwick Open Studios This Weekend
2. 3rdEye(Sol)ation
3. “Surrealism” and “Bushwick Art Park”
4. “Stay Gold” at Curbs & Stoops Active Space
5. “Fine-Ass Art” at Kings County Bar
6. GILF! Pop Up
7. New Ludo “Green Beery” (VIDEO)
We really are so damn lucky to be here in NYC. The cultural offerings are always varied, plentiful, inspiring and in many cases FREE. Of course the rent is too high and your bedroom can accomodate a bed or a dresser but not both, but when you hit the streets the cultural stimulation never stops.
For example, newly arrived Noo Yawker Jon Burgerman practiced his good posture and accentuated his down jacket this spring by traipsing through the streets and across the Williamsburg Bridge balancing bananas on his head.
From Jon’s most recent and exhausting email, “Sometimes the things you see (on the street) are rather lovely, like the blossom on the trees and people outside drinking coffee and graffiti so fresh the paint is still wet.”
BOS 2011 – Bushwick Open Studios This Weekend
Hats off to the BOS crew who have laid the foundations for the new artists and curators to grow upon.
BOS ’11 – Bushwick Open Studios is in it’s fifth year and many newly minted blogs and curators are discovering this once desolate industrial pit. It’s still a pit, but at least it’s not so desolate — it also helps that high rents elsewhere have created this steady river of people flowing out of the L train Morgan stop.
Speaking of which;
IMPORTANT TRAVEL ADVISORY: The L train will NOT be running between Manhattan and Brooklyn for the entire weekend. Take the JMZ trains instead and you’ll still get dropped right in the middle of it.
Below are our picks, and while our focus is primarily on Street Art artists and events, please hit the BOS site to take a look at the complete list of events and shows:
Jason Mamarella’s curated a group show featuring Billi Kid, Peru Ana Ana Peru, ASVP, Mike Die, Jos-L, dint wooer krsna, Quel Beast, Septerhed, Choice Royce, Kosbe, QRST, Trixtr Rabbit, Bankrupt Slut, CCB, Wisher 914, ZamArt opens this Friday at 3rd Eye(sol)ation 7-10 pm.
For more information, location and hours about this show click on the link below:
SURREALISM:
twenty artists from the neighborhood wrestle their unconscious.
An exhibition at Factory Fresh for Bushwick Open Studios curated by Jason Andrew and Ali Ha.
Jim Avignon, Kevin Curran, Ryan Michael Ford, Paul D’Agostino, Ben Godward, Tamara Gonzales, Andrew Hurst, Rebecca Litt, Francesco Longnecker, Norman Jabaut, J.P. Marin, Brooke Moyse, Garry Nichols, Patricia Satterlee, Pufferella, Skewville, John Sunderland, Sweet Toof, Marjorie Van Cura & Veng
BUSHWICK ART PARK
A one day community event June 4th, 1-7pm
Located at the proposed Bushwick Art Park on Vandervoort Place
Factory Fresh is sponsoring a street event with art and murals to showcase their entry on this year’s Festival of Ideas that the New Museum produced and staged at the Bowery early in May.
Kings County has hosted a number of street artists for shows at this dark haunt for about four years and tonight a few more get their shine on. You may also coax a a go-go girl or boy onto the bar to add to the visual candy on the walls. Man, that’s some fine-ass art.
Gilf! Pop Up Gallery
107 Forrest Ave btw Flushing Ave and Central Ave (across from
English Kills Gallery)
Friday 7-9
Sat 12-9, opening reception from 7-9
Sun 12-7
New Ludo “Green Beery” (VIDEO)
The latest video from Parisian Street Artist Ludo:
Itinerrance Gallery
Jana & Js
Solo show “Jeux de constructions”
February, 25 – March, 26
Opening on Friday, February, 25 from 6 pm
Deserted factories, parking lots being demolished, low rise apartment blocks : these elements – among many others – surround and inspire Jana & Js. Their work is nourished by the city they live in, together with its inhabitants and its ever changing architectural landscape. The paintings created by this couple of artists make use of extremely detailed and scrupulously prepared stencils..
Jana & Js raise the question of the individual in large groups of buildings and more widely in the cities, combining portraits and architectural views.
Their street paintings (in France, Austria, Russia, Slovakia, Romania and Spain) also led them to develop an interaction with the environment in which they operate and the public – passerby or spectator – using sets of mirrors as a game in order to create infinities of ways of seeing the city.
Jana & Js are young artists whose work began to take shape only in the mid-2000, and who are today among the most talented of their generation. After having lived and worked together in Paris, they are today between Austria and France.
Jeux de Constructions is the second exhibition in Itinerrance Gallery devoted to them. Combining their love for woodworking, rebuilding their own materials and images composition from their cuts, this exhibition will present for the first time a wide range of their work volume initiated a few months ago.
Galerie Itinerrance.
Art Director
00 33 6 58 05 56 01
samantha@itinerrance.fr
> The New Heart City Gallery is honored to host from February 18th to
> March 31st 2011 the urban artist who established himself these
> recent years in the Paris Street Art scene and now internationally
> recognized: Franck Duval (FKDL).
>
> The artist with the emblematic urban landmark has opted for his new
> solo show to use essentially the transparent scotch-tape collage
> technique.
>
> From pictures of 1950’s life scenes, he reinvents history. He
> removes the smooth side of idioms, boring scenes of perfection and
> innocence to lead the images in his time and modernity. Under his
> scotch-tape, the material is revealed, only the color goes through
> the ages, the mark of a new era.
>
> The female silhouettes, provocative inadvented, assert this sudden
> reality marked by rhythm and movement. Only characters’ ornaments
> are survivors of the Old Time and bear faces and attitudes of actors
> and actresses of the 50’s movies.
>
> The normalized and fixed scenes of life and the glossy paper stars
> have crossed through time to give way to a real live show.
> New heArt citY Gallery
> 11 rue de Picardie 75003 Paris
> +33 (0)1 43 55 03 95
> du mardi au samedi de 11h à 19h
> newheartcity@gmail.com
> http://newheartcitygallery.blogspot.com
>
As we start a new year, we say thank you for the last one.
And Thank You to the artists who shared their 11 Wishes for 2011 with Brooklyn Street Art; Conor Harrington, Eli Cook, Indigo, Gilf, Todd Mazer, Vasco Mucci, Kimberly Brooks, Rusty Rehl, Tip Toe, Samson, and Ludo. You each contributed a very cool gift to the BSA family, and we’re grateful.
We looked over the last year to take in all the great projects we were in and fascinating people we had the pleasure to work with. It was a helluva year, and please take a look at the highlights to get an idea what a rich cultural explosion we are all a part of at this moment.
The new year already has some amazing new opportunities to celebrate Street Art and artists. We are looking forward to meeting you and playing with you and working with you in 2011.
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
You know it’s not Brooklyn if there is a uniformed guy sweeping the street with a green broom. Specter’s “Brooklyn Bodega,” a typical store front imported to Paris. (photo © Lauren Besser)
Crotched objects began appearing on the street this year. © Jaime Rojo
