Fresh from his sold out show with Primary Flight at this year’s Miami Art Basel, LA-based Street Artist Retna brings his fine art “Hallelujah Tour” to New York City for a solo show in SOHO this week.
Retna has built a strong reputation for being not only an exceedingly talented artist but well regarded personally. His uniquely invented style of calligraphic letters, often done on massive walls, tell stories about the people that he encounters. Each one has made an impression on him and his life experiences.
Retna’s letter style, created and refined over the years is the product of his life as a graffiti artist as well as his interest in English calligraphy and Egyptian hieroglyphics. Retna often collaborates with El Mac, who paints the portraits while Retna tells their stories. According to accounts from the street, certain friends can read the messages as easily as those on a milk carton.
Tonight it will be 7 degrees farenheit in Brooklyn, and the wind will blow down the East River to the Verrazano, around Coney Island and the Rockaways in a bashing fashion. New York City in January can be an inhospitable and unfriendly city, especially if you are a new arrival. “Where are all the people?” New Yorkers, all clad in blacks and grays pile out from the subway tunnels in droves and scurry fast down the sidewalk, like ants whose mound has been disturbed. The puffy fashions often mute gender, causing a great many otherwise fashionable or sexy dudes and dudettes to look like large tubers. Outside is a place to pass through as you stomp toward your dwelling without looking around or upward. Exhausted by layers of fabrics and zippers and buttons and laces and pulling on, over, and off – dropping bags and backpacks, the peeling off wet socks and salty boots are the final salvo before collapse. Depressed yet?
The flip side of this is that a lot of Street Artists are working in their kitchen/toolshed/studio right now and really putting a lot of effort into it – some are even stockpiling like squirrels for spring. If it is sunny for a minute in the afternoon, and you can peer over your scarf on the icy snow piled sidewalks of Brooklyn for a second you’ll see there is some new Street Art here and there. There is one reason to go outside and it’s encouraging to see that some street artists that call New York their home have been getting up despite the elements. It’s not really surprising to find that Street Artists are a scrappy lot; it kind of goes with the territory. Nonetheless it can bring a smile to your frozen face. Happy Winter.
And now our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring AVOne, AWR, BAST, DAIN, General Howe, Jim Darling, Katsu, Nasa, Nohj Coley, Rae, Skewville, Sofia Maldonado, Surge, and the Witness
Our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring CBS Cru, Ryan McGinness, Kopye, Gaia, M-City, Wing, UR New York, Sonni, Tati, Nekst, Sera, Tizie, Wing and Clown Soldier.
Now that the thumping headache from too many orange sodas on New Year’s Eve is gone, it’s time to regale little Baby 2011 with some eyeball pleasing baubles from sunny Miami. In early December many Street Artists converged upon this city to add to the sparkling traffic of Art Basel and to crush some major wallage.
Of course, not everybody finished their piece in time because there were parties to attend, booties to shake, and pretty things to watch workin’ it on the street. Dust settled and work completed, last week we climbed walls, squeezed through fences, and raced up railroad tracks to catch all the finished pieces for you. In the process we met some barking bulldogs and charming new friends, because Miami is mad friendly yo, and we even got some inside tips on hidden treasure.
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.
We’re very grateful for a wildly prolific year of Street Art as it continued to explode all over New York (and a lot of other places too). For one full year we’ve been granted the gift of seeing art on the streets and countless moments of inspiration. Whether you are rich or poor in your pocket, the creative spirit on the street in New York makes you rich in your heart and mind.
To the New York City artists that make this city a lot more alive every day we say thank you.
To the artists from all over world that passed through we say thank you.
To our colleagues and peers for their support and enthusiasm we say thank you.
To the gallery owners and curators for providing the artists a place to show their stuff and for providing all of us a safe place to gather, talk, share art, laugh, enjoy great music and free booze we say thank you.
To our project collaborators for sharing your talents and insights and opinions and for keeping the flame alive we say thank you.
And finally to our friends, readers and fans; Our hearts go out to you for lighting the way and for cheering us on. Thank you.
Each Sunday we featured Images of the Week, and we painfully narrowed that field to about 100 pieces in this quick video. It’s not an encyclopedia, it’s collage of our own. We remember the moment of discovery, the mood, the light and the day when we photographed them. For us it’s inspiration in this whacked out city that is always on the move.
The following artists are featured in the video and are listed here in alphabetical order:
Aakash Nihalani,Bansky, Barry McGee, Bask ,Bast, Beau, MBW, Bishop ,Boxi, Cake, The Dude Company, Chris RWK, Chris Stain, Dain, Dan Witz ,Dolk ,El Mac, El Sol 25, Elbow Toe, Faile, Feral, Overunder, Gaia, General Howe, Hellbent, Hush, Imminent Disaster, Jeff Aerosol, Jeff Soto, JMR ,Judith Supine ,K-Guy ,Labrona, Lister, Lucy McLauchlan, Ludo, Armsrock, MCity, Miso, Momo, Nick Walker, Nina Pandolfo, NohjColey, Nosm, Ariz, How, Tats Cru, Os Gemeos, Futura, Pisa 73, Poster Boy, QRST, Remi Rough, Stormie Mills, Retna, Roa, Ron English, Sever, She 155, Shepard Fairey ,Specter, Sten & Lex, Samson, Surge I, Sweet Toof, Swoon, Tes One, Tip Toe, Tristan Eaton, Trusto Corp, Typo, Various and Gould, Veng RWK, ECB, White Cocoa, Wing, WK Interact, Yote.
Edging closer to advertising slickness, this method of subtle perception jamming that certain street artists have been employing takes another step in this campaign by Amnesty International to draw attention to the American death row inmate Troy Davis. In this collaboration with the Berlin-based, three-person photographic street art collective Mentalgassi , the man’s visage is clear for just a half step as you pass. An apt description of this project, “Making the Invisible Visible”, the installation is an adaptation of Street Art that merits praise.
Yes, Gaia is in Miami (above) along with a buttload of other untanned northerners, and actually Brooklyn has announced that it has closed for the weekend. Just kidding but, if you are looking for walls, you won’t have much competition in the BK this weekend, now that you think about it. There is a lot happening in Miami this weekend and even if you don’t go to any receptions or openings or velvet rope parties you can still have a blast seeing lots of art on the street. Here are some things that might get you hot and sweaty if the temperature hasn’t done that for you yet:
GGG’s Fresh Produce will feature a rocking roster of international artists, including: The London Police, REVOK, Erik Otto, Skewville, Pepa Prieto, Augustine Kofie, Alëxone, Kenton Parker, Tes One, BASK, Dolla, Jim Darling, Dabs & Myla, Stormie Mills, Michael De Feo, Andrew Holder, Jack Hudson, Tristan Eaton, Tatiana Suarez, Surge, Jersey Joe, REMeD, Parskid, Logan Hicks, Escif, Depoe, Remi/Rough, Ryan Bubnis, Mike Perry, Reyes and from the Family Baglione: Flip, Sesper, Thais Beltrame and Herbert Baglione.
Artists’ Reception : 12 | 3 | 10 : 7 – 10pm
70 NW 25th Street, Miami, FL 33127
Between NW 2nd Ave. & N. Miami Ave
in the Wynwood Arts District
Tonight is the opening for this photography show accompanied by new works. Hotness prevails. As we said earlier in the week, just look at the names on this list and you know what you’re getting. Or, maybe you don’t.
297 NW 23rd ST
MIAMI, FL 33127
OPENING RECEPTION FRIDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2010
7 – 10PM
“Now I Remember” photo installation featuring:
NECK FACE / JERRY HSU / TODD JORDAN/ CURTIS BUCHANAN / JEN REYNOLDS/ TINO RAZO / KEVIN “SPANKY” LONG
and new works by:
OSGEMEOS / JUDITH SUPINE / CLEON PETERSON/ BAST / SKULLPHONE / ALBERT REYES
Hours: Weds. Dec.1 – Sat. Dec.4 : 11am – 8pm
Sun. Dec. 5: 12pm – 4pm
Free and Open to the Public with Free Shuttle Service
New York street artist Dan Witz at the MIA | MI CIELO 2010 Fine Art Exposition. Dan will feature a retrospective selection of street art works, sign copies of his limited edition book “In Plain View: 30 Years of Artworks Illegal and Otherwise”. Signed copies of Witz’s 2011 “Hummingbirds” accordion calendar will be given out to the first 100 guests at the book signing event.
MIA | MI CIELO and NADA Art Fair
Cielo on the Bay
7935 East Drive
Harbor Island
North Bay Village, FL 33141
Primary Flight “Please Stand By”
Primary Flight Closing Party “PLEASE STAND BY” from their own words: “RSVP to guestlist@primaryflight.com or regret it for the rest of your stupid life” Saturday December 4th from 11:00 pm until really, really late – like 29 o’clock in the morning.
Contraprojects
ANNOUNCING THE LAUNCH OF CONTRA PROJECTS
We are very proud to be involved in this new project from Tristan’s long time pal Thomas Thewes (amazing artist and owner of Detroit’s Cpop Gallery). To help Tom launch Contra Projects, Tristan and the Thunderdog team curated an exclusive group of artists and designed the Contra brand. There are many exciting projects lined up for 2011 with Contra – but first, they are making their debut at Primary Flight during Art Basel Miami 2010! Check out the info below…
Announcing the launch of CONTRA PROJECTS.
This year during Art Basel Miami 2010, Detroit artist Thomas Thewes Jr. of CPOP Gallery fame is launching a new art project featuring some of Street Art’s heavy weights from around the globe. The initiative titled ‘Contra Projects’ will launch at the 5 day Primary Flight mural project in the Wynwood District of Miami and features Ron English, Bask, James Marshall (Dalek), Tristan Eaton, Tes One, D*Face, Mr Jago, TrustoCorp and Thomas Thewes himself.
Contra Projects’ Primary Flight initiative will feature a variety of projects around Wynwood as listed below. Activities will take place from Thursday Dec. 2nd through Sunday Dec. 5th, from 12pm – 7pm
1. The Contra Tent – In the Courtyard of 297 NW 23rd. St. (Between NW 2nd Ave. & NW 5th Ave.) Wynwood.
The Contra Tent will be a lounge style tent with free refreshments (including limited edition Brisk Iced Tea cans designed by Tristan Eaton) as well as information on Contra Projects and their artists. The center piece of the tent will be a custom, fully functional, lowrider shopping cart by street art collective TrustoCorp.
2. Contra Mural – Wynwood in the center of Primary Flight
The Contra Projects mural will feature Ron English, Mr Jago, Thomas Thewes, Bask, Tes One and Tristan Eaton. Most Contra artists also have solo walls throughout Primary Flight, please check in at the Contra Projects tent for more information.
3. TrustoLand – In the Courtyard of 297 NW 23rd. St. (Between NW 2nd Ave. & NW 5th Ave.) Wynwood.
Trouble making street art group TrustoCorp takes it’s humorous slant on American Culture to new levels at Primary Flight Miami this year with the debut of ‘TRUSTOLAND’, a Coney Island style, outdoor installation of interactive, hand made and painted carnival games. Each game takes on American culture for better or worse with typical TrustoCorp sarcasm and satire. How participants play the games determine what prizes they win – yet just like Wall Street, even the losers win big. Highlights include ‘The TrustoCorp Immigration Office’ where contestants play for citizenship, the high-striker style ‘The Peace Keeper’ and ‘Drive-Thru Safari’ where players use an AK-47 BB Gun to shoot innocent burgers and hot dogs on the run. Prizes include limited edition, signed posters, badges and plush cheeseburgers!
The annual peregrination from all corners of the art world has begun to balmy Miami. Artists and the collectors who love them have converged in this friendly city to promote, sell, admire and make art during The Art Basel Art Fair.
Art Basel (Nov 30-Dec 5) is one of the most important art shows in the USA with about 250 art galleries showing more than 2000 artists from all over the world. Very impressive! Equally impressive are the satellite art fairs and events that orbit around. We’d like to point your attention to the art fairs and events that will include Urban and Street Art in their shows and to the organizations whose main focus is to celebrate and promote the work of Street Artists.
Check BSA out over the next few days for updates on who’s getting up in Miami.
PRIMARY FLIGHT
A favorite of BSA because of it’s accessibility to everyone, for the past three years Primary Flight has produced murals by hundreds of renowned artists and relative unknowns, easily gliding between Street Art and Graffiti culture and covering a ton of walls for the public to see. You may try to see it all in one day of zig-zagging the streets, but pack some energy bars.
Culminating in the largest curated street mural project in the world, the collective is now expanding beyond their Wynwood origins to launch their first-ever headquarters in the Design District.
“This year is about growth: Miami is set in motion, and Primary Flight paved the way,” says Books IIII Bischof, principal of Primary Flight. “Since our involvement, Wynwood has become a street art Mecca with legs of its own.”
From their web site and press release:
“Primary Flight is Miami’s original open air museum and street level mural installation that takes place annually throughout the Wynwood Arts District and the Miami Design District. Primary Flight is arguably the world’s largest event of its kind, having featured over 250 world class artists from around the globe since its inception, the majority of whom travel to Miami during Art Basel. Artists from all walks of contemporary art headline our annual event, collaborating on high profile walls throughout Miami’s urban landscape. Maps outlining the installation are circulated, providing patrons with an opportunity to view the works in progress.”
Make sure to check out the RETNA SOLO EXHIBIT
Outdoor murals and installations this year by Tristan Eaton, Charles Craft, Shepard Fairey, Typoe, Michael Vasquez and Tatiana Suarez.
A creation of Billi Kid, NYC street artist, curator, life-long doodler, art enthusiast and design junkie, this show takes basketball backboards and repurposes them as art via skillz of a number of Street Artists whose work is regularly on BSA. The show is curated by Jim and Karla Murray.
Text below from their press release:
LEADING STREET AND GRAFFITI ARTISTS
Public Works Department, announces its collaboration with the NBA to produce and curate 36 original street and graffiti artworks entitled the “Art of Basketball”. This extraordinary exhibition and event will open to the public on December 2nd and continue thru December 5th 2010, concurrent with Art Basel Miami, the leading art and cultural happening in North America. The exhibition and special events will take place in a dedicated venue located at 2048 NW Miami Court, in the Wynwood Arts District of Miami. A portion of the net proceeds from the sale of the artworks will benefit NBA Cares.
Cutting edge contemporary is the moniker, and it is possible that the 10th year of SCOPE Art Show will turn out some exceptional surprises.
Cementing its future with an 80,000 square foot pavilion across the street from Art Miami, SCOPE Miami’s high-profile venue is centrally located in the heart of the Wynwood Gallery Arts District. Running concurrently with Art Basel Miami, SCOPE’s Midtown Miami home is just steps from The Rubell family collection, Margulies Collection at the Warehouse and Goldman Collection. The fair opens to Press and VIPs on Tuesday, November 30 with the FirstView benefit.
Location Wynwood Gallery Arts District | 3055 North Miami Avenue | Miami, Florida 33127
A New York favorite, Fountain is the one we always check out for punk, funk, and unvarnished bolts of creativity. With a number of Brooklyn galleries, artists, and undercover rebels getting into this mix, you never know what you are getting, but there will be something mind blowing.
Fountain Miami 2010 exhibitors include Christina Ray, Front Room, Steven Gagnon, Leo Kesting , McCaig-Welles, Bego Art Project, Causey Contemporary, Jeanine Taylor Art Gallery, Cherie Dacko, Evo Love, Allison Berkoy, Greg Haberny, Phillip Simmons, We-Are-Familia, The Murder Lounge, Thaddeus Kwiat Projects, Wet Heat Project, Alice Chilton Gallery, Tinca Art, Francesca Arcilesi Fine Art, Susan Radau, Lindsey Brooke Wilner, and highly anticipated immersive video art projects presented by DCKT Contemporary. As logistical partners to the art fair, international art handlers Hedley’s Inc. will assist galleries in producing their large-scale installations.
Grace Exhibition Space, in conjunction with the Alice Chilton Gallery, will have 10 artists from around the world performing during the weekend’s evening events. Caveman robots and the full scale destruction of a car will be primary artist performances. Artists will include Adina and Ariel Bier, Erik Hokanson, Jason Bell and the Estonian Art Group Non Grata, Sarah Trouche, Quinn Dukes Marni Kotak, Kikuko Tanaka and Hiroshi Shafer.
Visitors entering the front lawn of the Fountain Art Fair space will be blown away with a 125 foot long street art installation by Chris Stain, Dick Chicken, Gaia and Know Hope.
About Fountain Art Fair
Fountain is an exhibition of avant garde artwork in New York during Armory week and Miami during Art Basel Miami Beach.
In this photography show accompanied by new works, this West Hollywood gallery will be boasting some of the non-reverential rough-riding boldface talents that give a slicing edge to the current Street Art scene. Just look at the names and you know what you’re getting. Or, maybe you don’t.
297 NW 23rd ST
MIAMI, FL 33127
OPENING RECEPTION FRIDAY, 3 DECEMBER 2010
7 – 10PM
“Now I Remember” photo installation featuring:
NECK FACE / JERRY HSU / TODD JORDAN/ CURTIS BUCHANAN / JEN REYNOLDS/ TINO RAZO / KEVIN “SPANKY” LONG
and new works by:
OSGEMEOS / JUDITH SUPINE / CLEON PETERSON/ BAST / SKULLPHONE / ALBERT REYES
Hours: Weds. Dec.1 – Sat. Dec.4 : 11am – 8pm
Sun. Dec. 5: 12pm – 4pm New Image Gallery
Our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Chris Stain, Imminent Disaster, Labrona, Lister, Oculo, Shepard Fairey, Shin Shin, Trice, White Cocoa, and a big piece of freshly baked CAKE.
The guys of Primary Flight, Books and Typoe are hosting street artist Cake while in Miami at The Fountainhead Residency in conjunction with Primary Flight.
Stencil master and Street Artist Logan Hicks began this direction at the NuArt Festival in Norway this past September.
The Multi-Layered Work: Precise, cool, revealing.
“It’s part of a new direction that I have begun. I suspect that much of my new work will be following this same direction,” he says.
The new works which (once at least) have also included the artist himself, look like a still from a CGI effect – but the direction the movie is going is unclear. Is the line drawing, rendered with CAD-like precision, being brought to full bodied life?
“The panels were actually a re-spray of a piece I did down at The Art Center in Miami during Basel. It was part of the show called Blueprint for Space,” says Logan
Or is this a peeling back of the skin of architecture and streetscape textures to reveal the superstructures and engineering underneath, the bones? To further enhance the stripped-down feeling is a devotion to a monochrome palette, minus the ox blood and acrid red punches he has favored in the recent past.
Logan Hicks standing in front of his new four paneled stencil piece to be hung in somebody’s home.
Thanks Logan for showing your new stuff to BSA readers.
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
Crotched objects began appearing on the street this year. © Jaime Rojo
