“All I want is the truth. Just give me some truth” – John Lennon
John Lennon, a guy who lived in the eye of a hurricane of hype for a major portion of his adult life once screamed at the top of his lungs for something called truth. At a time when we are condescendingly shouted at to give up our previous conceptions of personal privacy for security and cookies, naked air travelers and torture victims and spillcams and spreadsheets and state secrets are now streaming live via the world wide buffet and everybody is seeing more truth than they were ready for.
Amidst the data storm, something about the simple, uncluttered straight-forward real deal is straight-up appealing. Maybe that is why the one layer stencil, however ornate it can be sometimes, is an enduring favorite of street art fans and artists. Effective visual communication doesn’t have to be fussy, filigreed, or high-falutin’, and some would argue that it takes real courage to let one stencil do the simple truth-telling.
Here is an image of how Specter did his sidebust spot-jock unwanted collaboration with Faile, who told us Thursday night they thought it was funny and well done. See more about Specter’s latest project here on Huffington Post. (image courtesy Stencil History X)
Samantha’s been on holiday and returns this week with a stunning find by stencil artist C215. The fine Frenchman has been exploring color over the past year or so and the results are quite effective, as in this portrait outside the Signal Gallery in London.
The Bearded Brooklyn Brotherman Readies His Solo Show at Galerie Itinerrance
Sunday afternoon stencil artist Logan Hicks had to “take it outside” – so often the case with artists who use cans to create.
The artist who celebrates the vanishing point perspective is framed here by the streetscape of Paris.
His intricately cut stencils were there for any passerby to see as Logan set up shop on the street, carefully placing layer after layer, strategically sticking a bit of blue gaffers tape here and there to keep them in place, and wielding well-rendered plumes of colored aerosol above the templates to fill the empty shapes.
Logan Hicks
A classic stencil painting by Logan Hicks celebrates the symmetry and rhythm of shape and pattern in this image of subway platforms.
Logan showing one of his newest pieces, “Life Line”
Logan Hicks
Logan Hicks
“The Long Road” by Logan Hicks
By nightfall he finished preparing his latest pieces, including his near classic “The Long Road” and a new addition “Life Line”. Today he’s taking it inside to paint a mural inside the gallery.
Stencil artist C215 creates portraits of humanity; family, friends, and people who live on the street.
His clarity of detail and multi-lined visages can even give the impression that something more is employed than simple stencilling, but that’s why the word “master” enters the conversation sometimes when people discuss his work.
This street artist has shown in Brooklyn galleries as well as most of the world (most recently in Toronto), and he receives regular invitations to participate in exhibitions.
He’s also partial to running art workshops for local kids and counts Brazil, Morocco, even Senegal among the places he’s had the pleasure of playing art teacher. This love for kids is easy to see in the many depictions of nearly glowing children.
We don’t know when he is coming to New York, but we always know when he has been here.Suddenly these new faces are peering from the sides of dumpsters, doorways, and de-commisioned fire boxes.
His images are often portraits of fellow humans of all ages and genders. He captures his models’ character with compassion – You can almost feel the emotions of his models just by looking at their portraits: pain, sorrow, happiness, peace, longing and loneliness seep through the rivers of creases and wrinkles on their faces.
The intensity of gaze and the way in which he draws their eyes is a captivating invitation to go inside their souls and glimpse their lives. It can be difficult to draw yourself away from their piercing and sometimes furious gaze.
His portraits of children in particular are always inspiring and reassuring. With those images he manages to convey a sense of hope and innocence that we hope is no lost yet. By his own account, he makes a new stencil every week of his daughter to remind her that she is on his mind. In that way, every new stencil is really a snapshot.
The technique of using multiple pieces in one stencil means that he can achieve effects that few stencil artists do, and the details – facial hair, folds in fabric, wrinkles… all transcend the pedestrian act of cutting and spraying.
C215 is reported to makes stencils of people in the particular city he is visiting at that time. It is quite possible that some of these stencils are only found here in Brooklyn.
These images are just a few of C215’s work in Brooklyn as well as a couple of old pieces that have not yet been published here before. Hope you like looking at them.
BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
