All posts tagged: Subliminal Projects

Layer Cake’s Versus: IV – A Revolutionary Collision of Art and Tradition at Subliminal in LA

Layer Cake’s Versus: IV – A Revolutionary Collision of Art and Tradition at Subliminal in LA

September 14, 2023

The vibrant margins of cities around the globe have long echoed with the silent yet visually boisterous language of graffiti. For artists and graffiti writers, these urban practices and canvases are sacred, bound by several unspoken codes that regulate the street, and may vary somewhat from country to country, city to city. One that is universal: you do not “go over” or paint atop another’s work unless you intend a deliberate provocation.

Layer Cake vs. Shepard Fairey & Chaz Bojórquez. Layer Cake: The Versus Project IV. Subliminal Projects, Los Angeles. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Yet, Munich-based graffiti veterans Patrick Hartl and Christian “C100” Hundertmark, known collectively as Layer Cake, dare to challenge this rule in a groundbreaking collaborative project titled “Versus”. Presenting the fourth iteration of this show at the Subliminal Projects Gallery in Los Angeles, the “Versus IV” exhibition features a brand new roster of collaborations. It is a testament to the boundless possibilities when artists embrace challenge, change, and true collaboration.

Layer Cake vs. Various & Gould. Layer Cake: The Versus Project IV. Subliminal Projects, Los Angeles. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Layer Cake’s audacious process commenced in their Munich studio during the last decade or so. They initiated canvases, leaving them deliberately unfinished before shipping them to various artists worldwide. These artists, in an act of trust and faith and an urge to collaborate, completed the paintings without prior discussion of details with Layer Cake. In some instances, this exchange occurred multiple times, spanning up to two years. The artworks emerged as stunning mosaics or hand style and eclectic modernism, a synthesis of diverse visual languages, methodologies, and ideas – a reflection of the artists’ non-verbal dialogues with one another as well as their introspections on personal boundaries.

The Versus project gathers a mosaic of artists, from Hera to MadC to Rocco and His Brothers to “Chaz” Bojórquez and Shepard Fairey, united by a fervent passion for style writing, street art, and graffiti. Each artist brings their distinct style to the canvas and in doing so, contributes to a diverse spectrum that blurs the lines between individual contribution and collective creation. These works aren’t just paintings; they’re conversations, layered dialogues that traverse geographical and artistic divides, embodying a unique intersection of graffiti and contemporary art.

Layer Cake vs. Carolina Falkholt. Layer Cake: The Versus Project IV. Subliminal Projects, Los Angeles. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hartl and Hundertmark, despite being rooted in the world of graffiti, have constantly evolved their artistic expressions. Their collaborative moniker, “Layer Cake,” perfectly encapsulates their artistic ethos. Like a lush multi-tiered confection, theirs is a collection of artworks that is infused with depth – from Patrick’s writing elements juxtaposed against Christian’s hard-edged abstract forms. This joint effort, as they remark, challenges artists to confront an existing work rather than the pristine white of a blank canvas, pushing them out of their comfort zones and into new horizons.

Layer Cake vs. Nawer, Flying Förtress, MadC . Layer Cake: The Versus Project IV. Subliminal Projects, Los Angeles. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For the uninitiated and the aficionados alike, “Versus: IV” at Subliminal Projects is more than an exhibition; It’s an invitation into a realm where graffiti’s age-old traditions meet the revolutionary ethos of contemporary art. It re-defines visual and psychological spaces where boundaries, both inner and outer, are tested and where creativity resists limits. Layer Cake’s initiative doesn’t just question the norms of the graffiti world; it celebrates the transformative power of collaboration in art.

Layer Cake vs. Cryptik. Layer Cake: The Versus Project IV. Subliminal Projects, Los Angeles. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA/Urban Nation’s Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo saw the new works going up at Subliminal Projects yesterday, with Layer Cake leading the way. Please join us all Saturday night with artist and host Shepard Fairey and graffiti godfather “Chaz” Bojórquez for a panel discussion and a grand opening for Layer Cake: Versus IV.

Patrick Hartl and Christian Hundertmark (C100) and Patrick Hartl AKA Layer Cake discuss their process and the subtleties of being “visible” and being “present” on the canvases as they collaborate with other artists for their Versus Project. Layer Cake: The Versus Project IV. Subliminal Projects, Los Angeles. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Join us Saturday, September 16th, 6-7 PM for the Opening Reception. To kick off the reception, the gallery will host a special Artist Talk at 6:15 PM with Layer Cake, featuring contributing artists Shepard Fairey (@obeygiant) and Chaz Bojórquez (@chaz_bojorquez), moderated by Steven P. Harrington co-founder of Brooklyn Street Art (@bkstreetart). RSVP to rsvp@subliminalprojects.com to attend. This exhibition is made possible with support from OBEY GIANT ART & URBAN NATION MUSEUM 

CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS

AKTE ONE, Bond Truluv, Carolina Falkholt, Chaz Bojórquez, Cren, CRYPTIK, Dave The Chimp, Flying Förtress, Formula76, HERA, HNRX, Layer Cake, MadC, MAMBO (Flavien Demarigny), Matthias Edlinger, Łukasz Habiera Nawer, Peter “Paid” Levine, Rocco & His Brothers, Shepard Fairey, Various and Gould, and Zepha (Vincent Abadie Hafez).

Click HERE for more information about this exhibition and Art Talk.

Subliminal Projects:

1331 W Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles CA 90026

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Add Fuel: “Youth Eternal” at Subliminal In Los Angeles

Add Fuel: “Youth Eternal” at Subliminal In Los Angeles

November 14, 2022

Ripped tiles. Wait, you can’t do that. Not traditional Portuguese Azulejo ceramic tiles…

Add Fuel. “Youth Eternal” at Subliminal Projects. Echo Park, Los Angeles. (photo courtesy of Subliminal Projects)

Summoning the subversive intentions of rebellious youth, the Portuguese muralist Diogo Machado, aka ADD FUEL, does precisely that.

The ripping is not literal, of course, but the recurring idea of tearing back layers of tradition to reveal something less expected underneath has been his theme on streets for years. Whether it is a blend of pop and sarcasm or simply an escape into the adventures of childhood, ADD Fuel has mastered the art of hiding truths in plain sight with precision and allegory.

Add Fuel. “Youth Eternal” at Subliminal Projects. Echo Park, Los Angeles. (photo courtesy of Subliminal Projects)

Also, he does make tiles; we’ve inspected the kiln personally just outside his native Lisbon. The colors, patterns, and homey motifs are easy to glaze over in such a city, which is perhaps why he beckons you to come and see the real story. You may imagine the specific dysfunction in this household, but Diogo’ll tell you the truth about what has been happening if you look a little closer. Nothing is what it appears to be.

Add Fuel. “Youth Eternal” at Subliminal Projects. Echo Park, Los Angeles. (photo courtesy of Subliminal Projects)

“In my work, I always suggest an adventure, a journey through focused attention in the composition,” he says of his new show YOUTH ETERNAL, which opened Saturday night at Shepard Fairey’s Subliminal Gallery in Echo Park, CA. He intones that you’ll need to take a moment to experience “the discovery of nuance through layers, patterns, allegories, and the unstoppable constructive dynamism of the story I present in each piece.”

Add Fuel. “Youth Eternal” at Subliminal Projects. Echo Park, Los Angeles. (photo courtesy of Subliminal Projects)

He doesn’t limit the works to studio pieces exclusively: his large-scale wall works across many cities have the effect of transforming, disarming: creating homey energy, sometimes in the oddest of places. His newest mural here in Los Angeles is just outside a place described as “Subliminal Projects’ favorite local watering-hole,” with the name Little Joy Cocktails. The new work has also spawned a new collaborative screen-print with Add Fuel and Fairey in a limited edition.

As with all expressions and output by the artist, the wall invites you. “It guides the viewer to discover intricate details, and a story over time,” he says.

Add Fuel. “Youth Eternal” at Subliminal Projects. Echo Park, Los Angeles. (photo courtesy of Subliminal Projects)
Add Fuel. “Youth Eternal” at Subliminal Projects. Echo Park, Los Angeles. (photo courtesy of Subliminal Projects)
Add Fuel. “Youth Eternal” at Subliminal Projects. Echo Park, Los Angeles. (photo courtesy of Subliminal Projects)

Add Fuel. “Youth Eternal” is now on view at Subliminal Projects. Click HERE for more information about this exhibition.

“YOUTH ETERNAL”

EXHIBITION DATES
NOV 12 – DEC 10

1331 W. Sunset Blvd • Los Angeles, CA 90026

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Fun Friday 01.21.11

January 21, 2011

Fun-Friday

1. Ellis G Solo Show Tonight in Dumbo
2. Futura Rocks the New Futura Tag on a Window and His New 12 oz. Prophet Video
3. Graffiti Photographer John Naar Expounds on Video – Re-Release of “Faith of Graffiti”
4. Area Grandmother Reveals That She is Banksy
5. Shepard and DEVO: The Big Picture Tomorrow

Ellis G @ Mighty Tanaka Tonight in Brooklyn

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Ellis-G-Permanently-Temporary-Mighty-Tenaka

There is only one Ellis G and he’s been banging out these hand-traced silhouettes across the city for a good run, now.  With a deft hand the Brooklyn Street Artist literally draws your attention to shadow and light, using the cityscape and chalk. Over time his photos of his work have taking on a poignancy because they capture this truly temporary, almost ethereal shadowing of elongated, foreshortened, and otherwise curiously distorted urban structures – freezing them for a second before they fade into the gritty ethers.  Tonight he’ll be performing live at his opening at Mighty Tanaka.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-2-Ellis-G-Permanently-Temporary-Mighty-TenakaAll photos Ellis G  (courtesy of the gallery)

OPENING RECEPTION: Friday, January 21st, 2011, 6:00PM – 9:00PM – MORE HERE

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“This is a Message from Futura!” The 12oz Prophet VIDEO

We are really excited to see Brooklyn’s own Futura in da bloghouse! Props to the 12 oz crew for this warm and natural portrayal.

Check out this exclusive window tag by Futura that he sent for you, the BSA family…

brooklyn-street-art-futura-dosmil-01-11-web“Condensation tagging could be the next biggest thing,” he says (photo © FUTURADOSMIL)

Check his Flickr for more goodies and read the BSA interview with FUTURADOSMIL on The Huffington Post:

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Gorgeous Insights from Photographer John Naar (VIDEO)

On the occasion Wooster Collective’s re-release of Jon Naar’s and Norman Mailer’s seminal 1970s book “Faith of Grafitti” as part of their “Special Edition” series, here’s a video of Jon Naar courtesy of Stussy.

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Area Grandmother Comes Forward As ‘Banksy’

Reportage courtesy of Picture 2

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“LONDON—At a press conference Tuesday, 89-year-old Rose Biggin, a grandmother from the Camden Town neighborhood of North London, announced that she was in fact the internationally renowned graffiti artist known only as Banksy. “Those drawings? Oh, yes, those are mine,” said the diminutive octogenarian, who admitted to scaling buildings and climbing fences in order to put up life-sized stenciled images that satirize modern society’s mores and its inherent political power structures. “It sure does help to pass the time.” Biggin then returned home, where along with some of her “dearest friends,” she sipped tea, sampled some nice ginger cake, and planned the necessary destruction of dominant capitalist paradigms.” Courtesy of The Onion

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Geniuses: Shepard Fairey and Mark Mothersbaugh

brooklyn-street-art-shepard-fairey-Mark Mothersbaugh-subliminal-projectsReadying for his show tomorrow for “The Big Picture” at Subliminal Projects with the ordained minister in the Church of the Subgenius, Mark Mothersbaugh, Mr. Fairey appears so relaxed and personable in this video shot for a completely different show.

Damn, these people are so busy! I’m crawling around under the bed looking for a lost sock and Shepard’s over there on the left coast making art to address “the dialogue about power and control in society” and having an art show with the King of DEVO.

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Welcome to the show! You’re Under Arrest

November 20, 2009

First, the important news,

Oprah is retiring.

In 18 months! OMG.

So if you need to confess to an eating disorder or that you were molested by the mailman or if you have a book on self-empowerment for toads, you better call your P.R. agent and get yourself booked because in 2012 the world as we know it simply ends.

I saw the entire story from multiple perspectives on CNN today in the dentists’ waiting room as I counted the minutes till my wisdom tooth was scheduled to be yanked (OOOWWWWW).

Incidentally CNN had a little story about the US Senate debating the passage of the largest federal program in United States history.  That 90 second story was sandwiched in between Oprah graphics and and heated conjecture about what the future without Oprah would look like.

And now it’s time for FUN FRIDAY!

Fun-Friday

WK Turns His Opening Into a Perp Walk

At his recent opening at Subliminal Projects in Los Angeles, 200 people were arrested.

He's such a blast, isn't he?
He’s such a blast, isn’t he?

Usually at an art opening the artist is (A.) lingering around the gallery uncomfortably answering questions about the work, posing for a picture in front of it, collecting phone numbers of groupies.  Unless you are the shy type, in which case (B.) you are huddling in the back office taking nips out of a flask, doodling on the desk calendar, and waiting till the gallery starts turning out lights.

Recently apprehended guest flattens himself against the wall and is photographed by the authority.
Recently apprehended art fan flattened against the wall and photographed by WK.

OPTION (C.), if  you are WK Interact, is you think of almost everything as performance art, and every person as part of an installation.  Then at YOUR opening you criminalize any willing participant and arrest them and put them through some playful militaristic institutional dehumanizing.

Filling out forms
After finger printing there are some forms to fill out.

“I was really impressed by the turn-out and the audience enthusiasm to partake and let me ‘book’ them. Almost 200 people [about half the audience] waited in line to be fingerprinted and have their mug shot taken, incorporating another sense into the interactive experience: touch. It’s not often I get to be that intimate with the viewers, who actually became a part of the show through their participation and who are now part of the  installation that hangs in the gallery for the duration of the show,” said WK.

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Who knew jail could be so much fun? “I  simply did a mug shot that night and I let the crowd be part of my show.”

The artist posed in costume and ran the guests through the penal mill with dry wit and gentle but firm authority. According to attendees, at first the experience was disconcerting, then funny, then funnier (that could have been the wine).  WK himself at first tried to keep a mean-looking demeanor but clearly was having too much fun.  This is why I always meet him in a public cafe, preferably with a bodyguard around the corner.

After booking, the criminal records were posted publicly.
After booking, the criminal records were posted as a public safety measure.

Brooklyn Street Art asked WK what was the procedure for processing the criminals in attendance:

“I  simply did a mug shot that night and I let the crowd be part of my show. Then I put their arrest record on the wall …..  each one was finger printed and I Polaroid-ed them. I ask them their age and height in a typical arresting scenario. I recreated a desk at the entrance,” he recounted with satisfaction. And what was the reaction of the gallery guests? “The crowd was very enthusiastic!,” he reports. And for the officer on duty?  “It was busy night of 4 hours’ work.”

His firearm was how big?
His firearm was how big?

I’m not sure if there will be more audience interaction and role playing at WK’s next opening, but for this group, it was certainly captivating.

The arresting officer with guests.
The arresting officer with guests.

Thank you to WK Interactive for these photos.

HERE is a good video to further describe the criminal records theory.

WK INTERACT at SUBLIMINAL PROJECTS from Joshua Gibson on Vimeo.



How To Blow Yourself Up NOW ON VIEW

SUBLIMINAL PROJECTS

New Works by WK Interact through December 5, 2009

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How to Blow Yourself Up? WK Interact Has Ideas

How to Blow Yourself Up? WK Interact Has Ideas

October 28, 2009 , , , ,

brooklyn-street-art-wk-interact-quote-1009

Street artists are often in tune with the subterraneal rhythms of the city, its people, the movements: the psyche.  Their affinity for the wild unscripted truths that pop up asymmetrically as a normal course of everyday working in the streets makes them better positioned to divine the messages.

Can I help you with something? (image WK Interact)

Can I help you with something? (image WK Interact)

WK Interact’s new show “How To Blow Yourself Up” addresses the unspoken fear always lurking in our unspoken New York day; dark wire fears strummed by Orange Alerts a few years ago, the smell of acrid smoke in the subway, the installation of thousands of cameras all over Manhattan, and “entertainment” like “2012”, a disaster film based on end-time prophecies of ancient religions where the world suffers cataclysmically.

If only WK was trying to calm your fear.

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Hey dudes, is this what you mean by Half-Pipe? (image WK Interact)

Maybe, instead, he is merely calling the bluff of the fatalists by wrapping it around a copper coil of twisted irony.  Maybe he is giving you the means of your own self-destruction so you will feel self-empowered! It’s so hard to tell.

The show opening November 7th at Subliminal Projects gallery in L.A. turns friendly accessible objects you might associate with fun into blunt devices of nihilistic doom.  It used to be fun when you saw this stuff on “Mission Impossible”, but when you personally see a skateboard equipped with what appears to be a pipe bomb, your blood can turn cold.

He knows that.

He’s added a dash of color to his typical black and white, but it’s not for whimsy. Think of police tape, hazmat suits, 9-Mile Point blinking red alarm lights. Cheery.

WK helped BSA understand more about his new show:

WK takes a moment to reflect on destruction. (image Adam Wallacavage)

WK takes a moment to reflect on destruction. (image Adam Wallacavage)

Brooklyn Street Art: First, about the name of the show…How alarming!  Are you encouraging people to self-detonate?
WK Interactive: We are all wired with our very own internal detonators. The artificial devices, which I provide, are to encourage individuals who find themselves applicable to the scenarios to reflect on their state of affairs, which may bring them to the point of pressing the buttons.

Brooklyn Street Art: As a New Yorker, it is very thoughtful of you to create explosive devices for people who are the move!
WK Interactive: They are also figurative symbols of age, authority or subjection and social position.

 

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Objects on the way to LA for an explosive show (image WK Interact)

Brooklyn Street Art: Lets see now, you have skateboards, bicycles; do you have a nice exploding car? Those are always popular.
WK Interactive: The goal was to keep it economically viable.

Brooklyn Street Art: Some of these pieces look tempting to touch, but I’m afraid my hand might blow off.
WK Interactive: By all means – touch………

 

k

Pop a wheelie!  (image WK Interact)

Brooklyn Street Art: On the streets of New York, you use almost exclusively black and white. Do you feel more colorful behind closed doors?
WK Interactive: The colors used are all primary and ironically relevant in conveying the importance of the objects in the pieces, for example Police Blue and Dynamite Red.

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Oh, the guy’s a real cut-up! The more you try to nail him down, the better he is at evading you. So maybe we should just embrace the chaos, and realize WK is only reflecting back to us what we already knew.

SUBLIMINAL PROJECTS Presents
How To Blow Yourself Up
New Works by WK Interact
November 7 – December 5, 2009
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 7, 8 p.m. – 11 p.m.

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WK Interact Set to Explode in L.A.

October 21, 2009 , ,

"Blow Yourself Up" by WK Interactive
“If you believe the world will end in 2012 and you can’t do anything about it, maybe it’s better to blow yourself up when you feel like it,” says WK.  (photo WK Interact)

The clock has been set and is ticking until November 7 when stark street art fantacist WK Interactive detonates his latest cluster of objets at SUBLIMINAL PROJECTS in L.A.

Let's see what the little Missus packed in my lunch today... (WK Interact)
Let’s see what the little Missus packed in my lunch today… (WK Interact)  (photo WK Interact)

Always more than pleased to tap into your fears, the original Interactive street artist hand-stretches your comfort level with How to Blow Yourself Up, a corrosive blast of physical possibility and psychic uncertainty.

WK Interact
Where’s my key? Where’s my key? WK Interact (photo WK Interact)

Tune in next week for our Q&A with WK >>>>>>>>

“Brooklyn Street Art: Some of these pieces look tempting to touch, but I’m afraid my hand might blow off.

Brooklyn-Street-Art-WK-Interactive-Blow-Yourself-Up-Nov-09-studio2111_CROP

WK Interact: By all means – touch………”

(final photo Adam Wallacavage)

SUBLIMINAL PROJECTS Presents
How To Blow Yourself Up
New Works by WK Interact
November 7 – December 5, 2009
Opening Reception: Saturday, November 7, 8 p.m. – 11 p.m.

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