All posts tagged: Xenz

At the Vanguard: Bristol Opens Exhibition On Evolution of Global Movement of Street Art

At the Vanguard: Bristol Opens Exhibition On Evolution of Global Movement of Street Art

This Saturday marks the opening of an outstanding exhibition in Bristol, England documenting the pivotal role the city has played in the formation of street art from the 1980s to today. Entitled Vanguard Bristol Street Art: The Evolution and mounted at the Global Movement Bristol Museum’s M Shed, the show presents the view of this worldwide movement as seen through the birth and growth of Bristol’s scene from the perspective of artists singular voices rising together in a crescendo that shook the arena of public self-expression with maverick ideas and activist ideals.

Bristol B-Boys head spinning in front of 3D’s and Z Boys’ Wild Bunch Rocit, 1983, photographic print on paper, Broadmead, Bristol, 21 x 29.7cm (8.2 x 11.7in) (photo ©Beezers Photos)

Vanguard positions itself as an examination of artists creative response to Bristol’s “pioneering underground scene throughout the UK’s turbulent social and political history” with a focus on driving social change – one that influenced subsequent street artists everywhere.

Among the Bristolian and UK artists featured will be new works by Adam Neate, Andy Council, Antony Micallef, Bill Posters, China Mike, Conor Harrington, Dale VMN Collins (Dale Marshall), Dicy, Eko, Feek, Filthy Luker, Inkie, Lucas Price, Lucy McLauchlan, Matt Small, Mau Mau, Mr Jago, Paris, Rowdy, Sickboy, Swoon, Will Barras, and Xenz.

Conor Harrington (Irish, b.1980) The Blind Exit, 2020, oil and spray paint on linen, SIGNED, 250cm x 200cm (98.5in x 78.5in) (Image credit: Conor Harrington)

A trove of documentation presents times that provide context and insight into the wild, wooley, and ingenious artist works that shaped what was to come – including a five minute edit of the seminal film Wild Style by filmmaker Charlie Ahearn, and a new seven-minute film by Scottish filmmaker Doug Gillen. Additionally presented are unseen and classic images specific to the Bristol graffiti and street art scene by Henry Chalfant, Matthew Smith, Carrie Hitchcock, Yan Saunders, and Beezer, along with projections by Kineta Hill and Karen Dew.

Carrie Hitchcock-Barton-Hill-Youth-Club-1990. (photo © Carrie Hitchcock)

Running through October 31st this year, the original works and memorabilia are key to understanding the events and socio/political arnarchistic framework that sparked and fueled what became known as the Bristol scene, replete with an accompanying book featuring worldwide academics, film directors, writers, artists, creatives and specialists and an exclusive album of tracks forming the roots of the Bristol Sound.

We’re pleased to offer a sneak peek of the show here today and we encourage you to make the trip to see what will undoubtedly be sited as an important exhibition – as we all continue our education about the pathways of the global evolution of street art.

Will Barras (British, b.1973), Blue Surfer, 2021, signed in bottom right corner, acrylic on canvas, 800mm x 800mm (31.5 x 31.5in) (Image Credit – Johnny Green)
Through the fence, Barton Hill Youth Club, 1990 (photo ©Carrie Hitchcock)

Vanguard | Bristol Street Art: The Evolution of a Global Movement is kindly supported by Vans. Vanguard | Bristol Street Art: The Evolution of a Global Movement M Shed, Bristol, BS1 4RN
Saturday 26 June 2021 – Sunday 31 October 2021
Admission £8 adult* / £7 concession* (*Tickets include £1 voluntary donation to Bristol Museums Development Trust)

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BSA Film Friday: 10.09.20

BSA Film Friday: 10.09.20

Our weekly focus on the moving image and art in the streets. And other oddities.

Now screening :
1. XENZ – Concrete Jungle
2. Harsa Pati: Parees Fest 2020. Video by Titi Muñoz
3. Manu García ‘El Nolas’: Parees Fest 2020. Video by Titi Muñoz
4. COVITA

BSA Special Feature: XENZ and Hummingbirds in the Concrete Jungle in Oslo

“That’s the ethos of graffiti, I think,” says the British artist Xenz as he talks about his new project in Oslo, “You’ve got to have your own identity and push your own style, really.”

The new video from James Finucane and Street Art Oslo lets the artist speak about his process and his philosophy. He got into graffiti not out of murderous feelings of rebellion, necessarily, but rather an appreciation of possibility, and maybe even an attitude of celebration.

“It was about decorating these derelict warehouses – making them beautiful.”

“I’m trying to do something that is ironically pretty. Not quite twee,” he says as he answers the unasked questions that hardened graffiti writers may have when a fellow writer diverges from the typical activities that may define the modern archetype of a rebellious vandal who could care less about society.

“A hummingbird flying? – they’re like the most amazing things if you’ve ever seen one. It’s like ‘Let’s do that, instead of writing my name everywhere’,” he says.

So the sentiment is in alignment with how he describes a new public project with concrete columns in a margin of activity that most don’t consider a destination, only a through-point. Xenz says he chose a theme of nature reasserting itself to overtake the industry of humans. We all know that in the end, its nature will win, long after we destroy ourselves.

And did he like the experience of bringing his inside work outside? “It was a pleasure really – to have the opportunity to do what you do, there.”

XENZ – Concrete Jungle

Harsa Pati: Parees Fest 2020. Video by Titi Muñoz

Manu García ‘El Nolas’: Parees Fest 2020. Video by Titi Muñoz

COVITA

With apologies to Evita; HUMOR OR IN THIS CASE SATIRE OFTEN IS THE BEST ANTIDOTE…

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DETROIT: Murals In The Market. Dispatch 5. Details to Blow Your Mind

DETROIT: Murals In The Market. Dispatch 5. Details to Blow Your Mind

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This week BSA is in Detroit with our hosts 1XRun for the Murals in the Market festival they are hosting with 50+ artists from various countries and disciplines and creative trajectories. In a city trying to rise from the economic and post-industrial ashes it is often the dynamic grassroots energy and vision of artists that sets the tone for how the community evolves.

Detroit rocked in many ways this week, not least because Roula David and Jesse Corey know how to manage a big moveable feast of walls and artists and food and lodging and parties and openings and donuts and a print business and gallery and still manage to have quality time with Oscar, their four year old chocolate pug-mix master who pretty much goes wherever he wants and investigates the scene.

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Chris Saunders at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Together David and Corey and the team spread their wings wide to make sure everybody gets taken care of, and we salute their talent and passion. The 1XRun crew, and there are like 20 of them, don’t mess around when getting equipment and cold water bottles and cans of paint and ladders to the artists, along with a hundred other small and large favors and forms of assistance that make this thing run smoothly. And kindly.

The details can really make the difference, in life and in art of course. Today we’ll show you some of the details of a few pieces that resonate from this years collection of vibrating visuals on the street in this part of east Detroit. And you can see that some murals are close to being finished as well. A selection of the completed walls will follow soon from this successful second year of Murals in the Market.

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Hueman at work on her mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Apexer at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Apexer. Process shot. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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1010 at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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1010. Process shot. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Slick. Detail. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Pat Perry. Process shot. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Pat Perry.  Process shot. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Mr. Jago . Xenz. Process shot. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Lauren YS . Ouizi. Detail. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Felipe Pantone. Detail. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Dalek . Taylor White. Detail. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

 

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DETROIT: Murals In The Market. Dispatch 4: The Beat of the Street and “Mighty Love”

DETROIT: Murals In The Market. Dispatch 4: The Beat of the Street and “Mighty Love”

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This week BSA is in Detroit with our hosts 1XRun for the Murals in the Market festival they are hosting with 50+ artists from various countries and disciplines and creative trajectories. In a city trying to rise from the economic and post-industrial ashes it is often the dynamic grassroots energy and vision of artists that sets the tone for how the community evolves.

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Pat Perry at work on his mural. Also, his truck. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Every city, every neighborhood it seems, has its own beat on the street. It is a rhythm of movement and sound and light comprised of different elements that meter the activity, determine its pacing, its lilt, its cadence.

Cars figure heavily into the beat of this wide-spread city of Detroit of course, an inherited trait central to the story of this factory town that gives certain deference to cars and trucks careening around corners and flying up battered blocks. Riding bicycles, as we do to quickly cover ground and see murals and artists, is a curiosity and not always respected by drivers.

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Greg Mike at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

But the rhythm of the human-powered bike is not entirely foreign here either, as the city boasts some of the most tricked out custom rides you are likely to see and posses of show-biking clubs like Detroit’s East Side Riders, who can shut down a few blocks at a time with flashy illuminated music thumping parades of stylish riders parading through.

The Slow Roll, which is a now a seasonal weekly biking event run by the non-profit Detroit Bike City, Inc. brings as many as 3- 4,000 bicyclists at a time to the city streets, a communal event that reintroduces people to each other and to their city.

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Selina Miles at work with her camera. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

There is cacophony in the market, with deliver trucks, sixteen wheelers, and construction and forklifts and all the hallmarks of light industry. Right now there are colorful and oddly dressed artists weaving like mangy cats through the sidewalks and streets with cans in their backpacks and visions in their heads.

Add to the mix the golf-cart driving 1XRun folks who are bringing bottled water, ladders, electrical generators flying around corners and rumbling up and down The Dequindre Cut, a below-grade pathway that used to carry the Grand Trunk Western Railroad line here on the east side – suitably covered with graffiti along its sidewalls.

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Kevin Lyons at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Toss in a few art gallerists, dreadlocked organic farmers, meat cutters and conduit benders in their respective aprons, graphic design shops, lifestyle brands, waitresses, drug dealers posing as fans, intrepid looky-loos with white-sneakers and cameras and maps of murals, watermelons, gladiolas, bags of string beans, the occasional pop-up DJ tent, camera grip, skateboarder, wide-eyed sophist, tattooed Romeo, army-booted art-school woman, and a random chicken who is pecking among the grass between street bricks by a dumpster and you’ll get an idea of this particular menagerie of sights and sounds.

It’s a beat on the street that is full of rumbling, beeping, clicking, thumping – sometimes placid, sometimes crashing. All full of life and possibility, and one that is only contained in this very moment.

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1010. Process shot. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Xenz at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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OG Slick is gradually revealing his animated burner on a quiet side street. Process shot. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Cey Adams at work on his mural, inspired by a classic mid-70s hit “Mighty Love” by the Spinners, sometimes called the Detroit Spinners. Cey took a minute for us to find the song on his iphone and pump up the sound. Then he wished he had brought some speakers, but it still sounded beautiful. A great moment of harmony on the street. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)


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Shades at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Sheefy at work on his mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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English documentary photographer and fan of Street Art and featured artist of Murals in the Market this year, Janette Beckman in front of Chris Saunders mural. Murals In The Market – 1XRUN-Detroit-September 2016. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Please note: All content including images and text are © BrooklynStreetArt.com, unless otherwise noted. We like sharing BSA content for non-commercial purposes as long as you credit the photographer(s) and BSA, include a link to the original article URL and do not remove the photographer’s name from the .jpg file. Otherwise, please refrain from re-posting. Thanks!

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Threatened Species Painted on London Walls for “Endangered 13”

Threatened Species Painted on London Walls for “Endangered 13”

23,250.

That’s how many wild species are listed as threatened worldwide by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).

A newly curated mural project in London aims to begin raising awareness of our behaviors devastating impact on the animal world and to reverse the trend of killing off these species.

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Jonsey. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

Curlew, Orangutan, Rhino, Blue Whale, Bateleur, Polar Bear, and Grey-Breasted Parakeet are only a handful of animals who are critically endangered or vulnerable according to ecological conservators around the globe and 13 of the UK’s talented artists are creating a campaign about them called “Endangered 13”

“The idea of the project is to raise awareness of species in desperate decline, with many on the brink of extinction,” explains artist Louis Masai, who produced the program along with the environmental art platform Human Nature.

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Jonsey. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

“We believe that the choices made in our market driven, consumer orientated, fossil fuelled society are steering us to ever increasing environmental degradation, biodiversity loss and species extinction,” says the groups’ manifesto, and the new paintings are ironically painted in London’s Tower Hamlets Cemetery as if to strengthen the dire results.

The artists gathered on the freshly grassy bank along the railway arches last weekend to create their missives of tribute and warning, each featuring one species that is currently endangered.

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Jonsey. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

According to Mr. Masai and organizers their goal is to “see these species rise in number and their natural habitats saved in the next ten years.”

Our special thanks to photographer Ian Cox for sharing these brand new exclusive photos of the fresh murals and some of the artists at work for BSA readers.

Participating artists: Andy Council, ATM, Carrie Reichardt, Dr Zadok, Faunagraphic, Fiya One, Jonesy, Jim Vision, Louis Masai, Rocket 01, Vibes, Von Leadfoot and Xenz.

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ATM. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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ATM. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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ATM. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Vibes. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Vibes. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Louis Masai. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Louis Masai. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Louis Masai. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Louis Masai. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Louis Masai. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Fauna Graphic. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Fauna Graphic. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Fauna Graphic. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Jim Vision AKA Probs. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Jim Vision AKA Probs. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Probs. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Xenz. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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FiyaOne. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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FiyaOne. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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FiyaOne. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Panther Boy. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Andy Council. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Andy Council. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Carrie Reichardt. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Carrie Reichardt. Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Endangered 13. The signage above the art is by Von Leadfoot pictured here with words by Tanya Dee. Endangered13.  London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

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Endangered 13. London. April 2016. (photo © Ian Cox)

For more information please see www.humannatureshow.com/endangered13.

 

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This article is also published on The Huffington Post

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Fun Friday 12.02.11

 

Welcome to Friday!

1. New Video from The Paris Underbelly Project
2. The Underbelly Project Art Show
3. “UR NewYork” solo show “Breaking and Entering”
4. Swoon’s “Murmuration” (London)
5. “Wild Life” a group show that includes Dan Witz and D*Face at Stolen Space Gallery
6. Xenz presents his solo show “Cloud Cuckoo Land” at Blackall Studios in London
7. Skount solo show at the Aalborg Hotel in Amsterdam
8.”Wallflowers” a group show that includes LUDO at Carhartt Gallery in Weil Am Rehein Friedlingen, Germany
9. Romanian Artists Allan Dalla and Cosmonotrip (VIDEO)

New Video from The Paris Underbelly Project


See our story of the Paris Underbelly on Brooklyn Street Art  and Huffington Post from this past Monday.

The Underbelly Project Art Show

Opens today to the general public at Art Basel at 78NW 25th Street at 5:00 pm. There will be a book signing at 6:00 pm with many artists in attendance.

UR NewYork solo show “Breaking and Entering”

In Miami today, a solo show by two New Yorkers who keep it real.

See some BSA Picks for Art Basel 2011 click here:

http://www.brooklynstreetart.com/theblog/2011/11/29/art-basel-miami-2011-bsa-picks/

 

Swoon’s “Murmuration” (London)

In London Swoon’s new solo show “Murmuration” opens to the public today at Black Rat Projects:

 

Swoon (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For further information regarding this show click here.

See BSA’s posting on Swoon yesterday for behind the scenes photos.

Also happening this Weekend:

“Wild Life” a group show that includes Dan Witz and D*Face at Stolen Space Gallery in London. To read more about this show click here

Graffiti and Fine Artist Xenz presents his solo show “Cloud Cuckoo Land” at Blackall Studios in London. To read more about this show click here

Skount solo show presented by Amsterdam Street Art at the Aalborg Hotel in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. To read more about this show click here

“Wallflowers” a group show that includes LUDO at Carhartt Gallery in Weil Am Rehein Friedlingen, Germany. To read more about this show click here

Romanian Artists Allan Dalla and Cosmonotrip (VIDEO)

Come on! Lay down in the paint with me.  Give it up for Romania and breaking in a puddle of color. Please try this at home!

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Xenz Presents: “Cloud Cuckoo Land” @ Blackall Studios (London,UK)

Xenz

Xenz presents: Cloud Cuckoo Land @ Blackall Studios, December 1-4, 2011

PRIVATE VIEW: Thursday December 1, 18:00-22:00
PUBLIC VIEW: Friday, December 2 to Sunday, December 4, 12:00-18:00
British artist, Xenz presents a new major solo show, Cloud Cuckoo Land in London this December.
Famed for his graffiti murals, the artist exhibits a beautiful collection of new landscape paintings which immerse the viewer in an undiscovered world filled with exotic species drawn from the vivid depths of his imagination.
Xenz offers a panoramic view of his fantasy world, presenting a strange utopia where peculiar plants, insects and birds are sighted among the tropical lagoons of moonlit forests. But with the satirical slant of an artist who paints from a dark, gritty warehouse in Hackney Wick, viewers can expect interesting twists such as a bird of paradise sporting Burberry feathers.
Cloud Cuckoo Land shows a body of work created over the last two years. In addition to a new collection of paintings and prints, Xenz’s newest work has seen him experiment with scale by painting on large-scale murals that divide into smaller, compact and highly-desirable pieces.
Xenz successfully marries fine art with urban art forms, using the spray can to capture fragments of memory and subject matter often drawn from the natural world. A love of ornithology and a search for ever-exotic wildlife has led to this greater evolution of the artist’s work.
Xenz explains: “Cloud Cuckoo Land is a kind of childhood fantasy of setting sail to discover a lost world, but ending up in an opium den in Singapore. It’s a celebration of creativity; something happy and joyful, but with a slight twist. I suppose living as an artist is seen as living in cloud cuckoo land by many people and I want to celebrate this by showing people what my dreams look like. Scientists estimate that there are more than 7 million undiscovered species on the planet — that’s inspiration right there!”
An extraordinary cohesion between mind, memory and spray can, allows this influential artist to walk up to a wall or canvas and paint epic landscapes and fantasy dreamscapes from his imagination. Offering a sense of escapism, a Xenz painting has universal appeal, and in the last two years alone, his work has been commissioned for a show by the British Council in India, exhibited globally from Australia to Ibiza, and his work hangs in mud huts in Gambia to celebrity homes in Chelsea.
Xenz paints landscapes imbued with escapism and symbolism and his background in graffiti is still evident. Look closely at a Xenz composition and you might find the letters of his tag worked into the twisted vines or the rocks in a waterfall. “It’s like a game, trying to decipher the code,” he says. “All my work is about escapism: the exotic and that vein. It’s about freedom and I suppose I’m trying to preserve a sense of value in art. I like to create work that takes you somewhere; a picture that takes a few moments more to soak up than an instant slogan or striking image.”
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Wide Open Walls: Logan Hicks Post Game Gambia

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Logan is now back in chilly Brooklyn and looking over some of his images of beautiful weather, beautiful people, and painting in The Gambia. Now that the seven artists have returned back, the stories have returned with them. One thing for sure is that they all treasured the kids, and that the locals appreciated the art.  In addition to being a stencil artist, Logan is also a talented photographer and he shares some images here with you.

Local Kids. (Photo © Logan Hicks)

Local kids had different reactions to the appearance of the camera, and were very interested in the visiting artists. (Photo © Logan Hicks)

Eelus (Photo © Logan Hicks)

Eelus updated his hit “Raven Haired” with this version just for the WOW project. (Photo © Logan Hicks)

Mysterious Al reckons his work (Photo © Logan Hicks)

Mysterious Al reckons his work. Think he should add a little purple? (Photo © Logan Hicks)

Broken Crow at work with fans (Photo © Logan Hicks)

Broken Crow continues under close supervision. (Photo © Logan Hicks)

Lucy McLauchlan Birds (Photo © Logan Hicks)

Lucy McLauchlan painted a couple of birds on this fence. (Photo © Logan Hicks)

Broken Crow piece on a hut (Photo © Logan Hicks)
Broken Crow left one of their lions on a home (Photo © Logan Hicks)

Lucy McLauchlan collaboration with local kids. The kids did the faces. (Photo © Logan Hicks)
Lucy McLauchlan created this collaboration with local kids at their school. She did the sunshine and they did the faces. (Photo © Logan Hicks)

Xens takes a brake to chat with the locals. (Photo © Logan Hicks)
Xenz takes a break from the birds on the wire to chat with new pals. (Photo © Logan Hicks)

Xenz Trompe L'oeil (Photo © Logan Hicks)
Xenz got site-specific with this Trompe L’oeil (Photo © Logan Hicks)

Xenz and Logan Hicks collaboration (Photo © Logan Hicks)
Xenz doing his bit on a collaboration with and Logan Hicks  (Photo © Logan Hicks)

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(all images © Logan Hicks)

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Wide Open Walls Ends: The Stories Begin

Brooklyn-Street-Art-Gambia-Diaries-Wow-Oct22010Wide Open Walls officially ends today, and the artists are on their way home. “All the UK artists fly back tomorrow, we all expect a heroes welcome, keys to the country and an open top bus parade,” Says Eelus on his Twitter account.

It has been a trip they won’t forget, and we are hearing bits and pieces about the experience as they return. – Large Insects, lots of DEET, optimistic kids, incredibly lush beauty, crushing heat, and enthusiastic fans watching you while you paint; all of these things reoccur in the retelling of the stories. Eelus hurt his heel just at the end of the journey and is looking forward to resting up and sorting through pictures. Logan Hicks is back in Brooklyn and will be showing us some of his pics, along with a video he’s working on.

Here are some shots from Ian Cox and some observations of the experience.

Broken Crow at work (Photo © Ian Cox)
Broken Crow at work (Photo © Ian Cox)

“The aim of the game is to paint as much as you can before 1pm, trying to do anything after that is a sweaty struggle in this ridiculous heat and humidity.” ~ Eelus

Mysterious Al Tag. (Photo ©  Ian Cox)
Mysterious Al Tag. (Photo © Ian Cox)

Mysterious Al caught a few tags and a few mosquito bites too, and contends that DEET soaked mosquito spray repellent actually removes tattoos.

“Rashes, welts, bites and hives. My body is 90% covered in them. Why would I get bitten on the elbow? I don’t know, but it’s happened. I’ve also crushed a snail the size of a tennis-ball, seen spiders the size of dinner plates (almost) and encountered all manner of vile insects that are straight out of the ravine scene in that King Kong remake.” ~ Mysterious Al from the WOW blog.

Logan Hicks Stencils (Photo © Ian Cox)
Logan Hicks Stencils (Photo © Ian Cox)

“If the apocalypse comes, I don’t think the fat f*ckers that are sitting around in their lazy-boy recliners with a beer in one hand and the remote in the other are going to be the ones that survive. It’s going to be the Gambians” ~ the eloquent Logan Hicks

Xenz at work (Photo © Ian Cox)
Xenz at work (Photo © Ian Cox)

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Wide Open Walls: The Gambia Diaries

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The Street Artists have arrived in The Gambia

Near the giant river of Senegal the seven visiting Street Artists are unpacked and acclimated for two weeks (October 12-26) of painting. With a welcome from Lawrence Williams, artist and co-founder of WOW (Wide Open Walls) and of a huge ecological and cultural project in the area of Makasutu, they’re blown away with the natural beauty and enthusiastic hospitality.

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With UK Street Artist Eelus as the curator and local artist collective Bushdwellers as hosts, the team is ready; Lucy McLauchlan, Logan Hicks, Mysterious Al, Broken Crow (John Grider and Mike Fitzsimmons), and Xenz. Also on board is photographer Ian Cox who will capture as much of the action as possible in such a spread-out project covering many towns.

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The visiting Street Artists first met with village chiefs of local towns to discuss the project, it’s scope, and the various spots that artists will be getting up on. In stark contrast to the rough and tumble reception a Street Artist may encounter in gritty metropolitan areas in other parts of the world, a true spirit of welcoming has greeted the artists from the leaders of the 14 towns. With the intention of encouraging greater tourism and improving the local economy, the initial transformation plan was primarily for the village of Kubuneh but now includes others in the Ballabu area.

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“The optimism that exists here is hard to explain,” says Brooklyn Street Artist Logan Hicks, who has been pretty blown away by the experience so far and also by the open welcoming kids, many of whom he captured with his camera. “It’s odd going to a country where the kids are happy to just see you – I am so use to the New York way of life.”

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He’s also quick to note the very little they have in material wealth, and is glad that his Street Art work will help draw attention and hopefully money to the local towns. Says Logan, “The other day we had this big meeting with the village chiefs from the surrounding villages. All 14 chiefs were in attendance in their traditional gear, so it was a pretty big deal. But what floored me was that these villages were actually fighting over which village we should paint first!”brooklyn-street-art-The-Gambia-Diaries-logan-hicks-10-10-1-web

With “The Gambia Diaries”, BSA will be bringing you regular updates and exclusive images (like these from Mr. Hicks ) over the course of WOW.

You can participate! If you have questions you’d like to ask the artists, please email us at Gambia@BrooklynStreetArt.com.

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For now, take a look at some of these great images of folks from the area and pray for Logan to have the courage to sleep in his jungle lodge!  He’s seems like such a big brutish headbanger, but he contends that there are lizards and spiders the size of his hand back at the lodge. We don’t have those back in Brooklyn, although sometimes the rats in the subway tracks are as big as cats. Good luck Logan!

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http://wideopenwalls.wordpress.com/

http://www.makasutu.com/

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