To introduce readers to some of the Street Artists in the upcoming show “Street Art Saved My Life: 39 New York Stories”, BSA asked a number of the artists to take part in “Back Talk” with one of our most trusted and underground and sweet sources for modern art, Juxtapoz.
Today we hear from Anthony Lister.
Artists you admire: “The ones that do it for love and discovery.”
Brooklyn Street Art Presents Street Art Saved My Life : 39 New York Stories in collaboration with ThinkSpace Gallery, an art show to exhibit at C.A.V.E. Gallery in Venice (LA), California on Friday, August 12, 2011.
Street Art Saved My Life : 39 New York Stories heralds the new highly individual character of stories being told on the streets of New York by brand new and established Street Artists from all over the world. Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo, founders of BrooklynStreetArt.com focus on this flashpoint in modern Street Art evolution by curating a strongly eclectic story-driven gallery show with 39 of the best storytellers hitting the streets of New York.
Street Art Saved My Life : 39 New York Stories, the gallery show, accompanied by an LA street wall series by selected artists and a public panel lecture and discussion, intends to stake out the New Guard in street art while recognizing some powerful near-legendary forerunners.
The mainly New York lineup exhibits talent from other parts of the US and internationally (Australia, France, UK, Canada, Israel, Germany) and it is as steely, idiosyncratic and storied as the New York scene itself, including Anthony Lister, Adam Void, Broken Crow, C215, Cake, Chris Stain, Clown Soldier, Creepy, Dan Witz, El Sol 25, Ema, Faile, Futura, Gaia, Gilf!, Hargo, Hellbent, How & Nosm, Imminent Disaster, Indigo, Judith Supine, Kid Acne, Know Hope, Ludo, Mark Carvalho, Miss Bugs, Nick Walker, NohJColey, Over Under, Radical!, Rene Gagnon, Skewville, Specter, Sweet Toof, Swoon, Tip Toe, Troy Lovegates AKA Other, Various & Gould, and White Cocoa.
The staunch individualists in Street Art Saved My Life : 39 New York Stories give voice to the evolution of the Graffiti, Mash-Up, and D.I.Y. movements that birthed them; creating an eccentric, highly individual, and raucous visual experience on the street. With widely varied backgrounds, techniques, and materials at play, “The Story” is the story. With truths as diverse and difficult as the city itself, each one of these artists is a part of a fierce, raw, new storytelling tradition that is evolving daily before our eyes.
Show Name: Street Art Saved My Life : 39 New York Stories
Location: C.A.V.E. Gallery, 1108 Abbot Kinney Blvd, Venice, California 90291
Date: Opening reception Friday August 12, 2011
Duration: August 12 – September 4, 2011.
Online Press Release: http://mim.io/692a11
Contact: Info@BrooklynStreetArt.com
Presented by Brooklyn Street Art in collaboration with ThinkSpace and C.A.V.E
Curated by Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo of BrooklynStreetArt.com
Brooklyn Street Art is proud to collaborate with ThinkSpace Gallery and C.A.V.E. Gallery.Please note that the show will be at C.A.V.E. Gallery. Thank you.
Thinkspace Art Gallerywww.thinkspacegallery.com
6009 Washington Boulevard, Culver City, CA 90232 (310) 558-3375
Wed – Fri 1PM-6PM Sat 1PM-8PM contact@thinkspacegallery.com
C.A.V.E. Gallery (location of the show) www.cavegallery.net
1108 Abbot Kinney Boulevard, Venice CA 90291, (310) 450-6560
Wed – Sun 12PM-6PM or by appointment info@cavegallery.net
Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo are founders of BrooklynStreetArt.com and co-authors of Brooklyn Street Art and Street Art New York, both by Prestel Publishing (Random House). Harrington and Rojo are also contributing writers on street art for The Huffington Post.
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.
Artists participating are Aakash Nihalani, Billi Kid, Blanco, Cake, Celso, Cern, Damon Ginandes, Darkcloud, David Cooper, Elbow-Toe, James and Karla Murray, Joe Iurato, Matt Siren, NohJColey, Peru Ana Ana Peru, Skewville, Sofia Maldonado, Stikman, UR®New York and Veng.
Our weekly interview with the street, this week featuring Aakash Nihalani, Billi Kid, Blanco, Cake, Celso, Cern, Damon Ginandes, Darkcloud, David Cooper, Elbow-Toe, James and Karla Murray, Joe Iurato, Matt Siren, NohJColey, Peru Ana Ana Peru, Skewville, Sofia Maldonado, Stikman, UR®New York, Veng, Faile, Shepard Fairey, Various & Gould, Ron English,Mr. Kern, DAIN, and Primo.
Time to Play:Can you spot the differences? Williamsburg gets a Nip-N-Tuck.
Mr. Lister had a few minutes to do a little plastic surgery on one of his ladies while in Williamsburg. Below are two images shot at different times. Before and After.
Text and photos from BSA contributor, Vincent Cornelli.
It was a pretty impressive scene at the Specter, Various & Gould opening at the Brooklynite Gallery on Saturday night. And yea, Saturday night. Why does everyone throw these parties on a Thursday evening, when you can do it on the weekend and make it a real night?
I must admit, being forced to ride an over-crowded local A train from Harlem to Utica Station doesn’t really put you in the best of moods. But, while approaching the gallery, I couldn’t help but get a little re-charged as the music got louder and more distinct. It was a cool scene to walk into a nearly empty storefront, surrounded in quality artwork, knowing that even more people were packed in and celebrating in back somewhere.
In this case it was a backyard decorated by the artists, with DJ’s spinning, Red Stripes flowing, and a performance from a musician like Jeff Kessel, a one man looping machine.
And it’s always cool running into the likes of Luna Park, Celso, Veng (RWK), Carlito Brigante, and the rest.
No doubt everyone enjoyed the art, the artists, the tunes and the event.
Don’t try to jam these square pegs into a round hole.You’ll never make them fit.
Germany’s VARIOUS & GOULD join Brooklyn’s SPECTER at Brooklynite Gallery in the workshop; an assembly-line of drilling, cutting, painting, pounding and pasting to create a show about work and workers.
SPECTER goes for the sculptural and literal to depict his workers – re-fashioning found objects like bikes and shopping carts into frank open portraits of delivery guys and bottle re-cyclers, among others. VARIOUS & GOULD metaphorically consider the changing job descriptions in an increasingly digital age with memories of an industrial one, throws in a splash of DaDa with a poppy panoply of fluorescent washes, and hilarity ensues!
“Brooklyn Gothic”, a portrait of Various & Gould by Jaime Rojo.
Various explains their working styles, “I think he is more thoughtful. He thinks ahead about what he wants to do. I am more like “do it first” and then see if I like it or not. That is maybe the main difference and so we have to talk about it more to make it work – to make it fit.”
Gould re: Various, “She is more atypical with everything that she does, or chooses, or brings together. You might think at first, ‘Oh, I wouldn’t do that’, and then later you say ‘Yeah, but that was good because I wouldn’t have thought of it’… She has her very own approach.”
V&G feel a kinship with Specter, despite their differences in aesthetic style. On working with Specter, Gould says, “So meeting Specter was natural because his work is about the homeless and unemployed people and the daily struggle to survive – so it is not strange to us. In future work we plan to come back to more relevant issues like this. We have different ways of seeing. Of course our pieces are colorful and collage and his are realistic and life-size – so our styles are different but I think what keeps us going is quite similar.”
“MAKE IT FIT”
SPECTER • VARIOUS & GOULD
OPENING Saturday MARCH 20, 7-10pm
Brooklynite Gallery is located at 334 Malcolm X Blvd., Brooklyn, New York 11233. Open Thursday thru Saturday from 1pm – 7pm or by appointment. Located 2 blocks from the A or C subway to Utica Ave. stop.
While you are waiting for Obama to do something Rooseveltian to replace the jobs our economy has been hemorrhaging for years, Rae and Hope McGrath at Brooklynite Gallery suggest you pick up a shoe-shine box and get to work.
I can’t even tell you how many artists I know who are out of work, and consequently how many are working harder than ever on the stuff that makes them happy and gives their life meaning – their art.
Like many New Yorkers watching their options dwindling, The Bushinomic Bank-zaster of ’08-’09-’10 has given many artistic types a lot of time to sharpen their skills, decide what needs to be done to survive, and to work together. One possible result, BSA is predicting, is an even bigger All-City BOOM in street art right around the corner. As jobs continue to evaporate and gallery doors close, the gallery of the street beckons a little louder each day to those who have a creative voice but no where to speak it.
Destroy & Rebuild stock their box with the essentials…
What does it mean for an artist to “survive” in a tough economic climate? – That’s the question Brooklynite Gallery in Bed Stuy posed to 100 artists when putting this show together. Focusing on the box of supplies that a shoe-shiner uses, Rae and Hope asked a very diverse group of street/graff artists to create a box of their own to express their approach to work and survival.
Anu Schwartz takes readings of the mind and heart globally.
The truly eclectic results reveal not just entrepreneurial aspirations, but psychological profiles expressing values and dreams and inner-workings of the artistic process. Symbolism abounds, and because of the limitations imposed, meanings densely packed alongside personal aspiration. To appreciate the intensity, plan your calendar to see the show twice.
Shinebox goes beatbox, literally. “VARIOUS & GOULD (with KUUK)’s box is stunning. Drop a coin in and make some beats. Completely captures the essence of this exhibition,” says Rae McGrath, owner of Brooklynite.
With the global economic downturn and the hardship it has caused, this show is clearly a tribute to, and an attempt to give voice to, the hard-working people who labor to make a living. By asking artists and fans to meditate on these realities, Brooklynite is pushing us to think outside our own drama and consider the meaning of work, and to see the shoeshine box as survival box.
Street artist Cake intimates a psycho-sexual-medical realm.
Brooklynite owner/curator/visionary/artist Rae McGrath took a break from installing the show to talk about his original inspiration for the show, and how it has evolved:
Brooklyn Street Art:Didn’t the shinebox go out with the icebox? What was the impetus for the theme of this show?
Rae McGrath: Last time I heard the term “icebox” I was well into my 11 hour of The Honeymooners Marathon they run on New Years Day. BUT -shinebox’s never go out of style. Everyone enjoys compartmentalizing things don’t they? Mostly for the wrong reasons but they do… However this exhibition goes beyond shine boxes and shinning shoes. It deals with working in the most stripped down, basic sense of the term.
Paper Monster adapted an actual shinebox.
The project stems from my love for shoeshine boxes. Traveling through Ecuador, Brazil, Costa Rica, etc., I was always impressed with how these things were built, mostly by kids. Any materials they could find held together with rusted nails and recycled bottles for dyes and you’re good to go. So out of that, combined with this f&*ked up economy I wanted to take it one step further and ask artists from around the world– “If you had to take to the streets to survive in this economy, what would you do?” I asked that each keep the “survival object” inside a square foot. It could be found, bought, modified, etc. We wanted to try and unify graffiti artists with street and contemporary
FKDL uses a collage of yesteryear imagery.
FKDL created part art supply, part sewing box (contents)
Brooklyn Street Art:How does the current financial crisis in the country play in the psychology of this show?
Rae McGrath: A lot of artists we approached with the concept said it really resonated with them. Some live off their work and lost studios, commissions, etc. It sucks. Art is considered a luxury item to most– but we don’t necessarily see it that way. Art inspires and motivates. Makes people think and study. To us that’s no luxury. It should be the norm.
Iconic stencilling from one of the Paris originators, Jef Aerosol
With an eye toward total transparency, Jef Aerosol tells us what it takes.
Brooklyn Street Art:Logistically, getting a hundred artists to create and deliver their pieces must have been like herding cats…
Rae McGrath: The logistics of this show have been pretty hectic. I also think that most people in my neighborhood believe I am a drug dealer at this point. Everyday another small package showing up. Strange and cool at the same time. But what makes it worthwhile is when you open a package and a true gem comes out.
I think the biggest feat when doing a show of this magnitude is making sure each artist get their work seen– Hence the video we just put out. We are not very fond of your run of the mill group show that focuses on a key word or something. We tried to keep the guidelines here a bit more rigid.
KNOW HOPE adorns the box with a storyline
Brooklyn Street Art: Did every artist take a shine to your idea?
Rae McGrath: Yes. EXCEPT for the ones that were afraid of working in 3 dimension.
A rather suggestive joy-stick tops this “Peep Show” by 3TTman
Brooklyn Street Art: What box is blowing your mind?
Rae McGrath: There are several boxes blowing my mind for different reasons… Some because of the design, others the concept and some for both. VARIOUS & GOULD (with KUUK)’s box is stunning. Drop a coin in and make some beats. Completely captures the essence of this exhibition. They also did the hand-made flyer for the show and limited edition prints. 3TTMAN’s peep show is a thing of beauty. KOSBE, TEN13ONE. I know I’m leaving some killer ones but– wait this isn’t print— Not trying to save trees— BEN FROST has a clever piece, Destroy & Rebuild … Look man just get over here and see them.
Anthony Lister goes 360
Smile and the blockheads smile with you. (Anthony Lister)
Brooklyn Street Art: Are any of them functional, practical, usable?
Rae McGrath: Some are functional in a practical sense others in a spiritual one– That part of the theme was open to interpretation and heavily expanded upon.
A strong stylization of the theme, Skewville keeps it real Brooklyn.
Brooklyn Street Art: The title sounds like an exhortation; “Go Get your Shine Box” are you telling us roll up our sleeves and get to work?
Rae McGrath: Hell yeah. Maybe the name should be “GO GET YOU ASS TO WORK”. Seriously I think we all know where that title came from…. Or should at least.
Brooklyn Street Art: BTW, I usually wear size 10.5 black wingtips. Can I drop them off anytime after Nov. 21? I’ll need them for Thanksgiving.
Rae McGrath: Oh sounds nice. We actually have the same size shoe… Drop them off .
“GO GET YOUR SHINE BOX” silk screen posterby Various and Gould
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BROOKLYN STREET ART LOVES YOU MORE EVERY DAY
To introduce readers to some of the Street Artists in the upcoming show “Street Art Saved My Life: 39 New York Stories”, BSA asked a number of the artists to take part in “Back Talk” with one of our most trusted and underground and sweet sources for modern art, Juxtapoz.
Crotched objects began appearing on the street this year. © Jaime Rojo
