All posts tagged: YOK

BSA Film Friday 07.27.18

July 27, 2018 Artists

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

Now screening :
1. Yok & Sheryo: Mumbai “Varuna Vessel”
2. Mr. June Paints in June
3. Concreto #4 , Fortaleza, Brazil
4. Doug Gillen takes on Email Art Scams

BSA Special Feature: Yok & Sheryo: Mumbai “Varuna Vessel”

The Street Art duo of Sheryo and Yok plumb the depths of the urban environment in their travels, getting to know a culture and the people there – a full immersion practice that helps them conceptualize and fashion street murals, gallery shows and exhibitions that utilize the traditions, lore, language, and even the skills of local tradespeople.

This week we have a travelogue to the Sassoon docks in Mumbai where they collaborate with fisherman and women friends, fabricators and textile designers in the street, on a boat, and ultimately in an exhibition called “Varuna Vessel”. Extra points awarded here for the soundtrack, dropped on you in typical S&Y style like a needle on a record, no fade, all funk.

Mr. June Paints in June

Last month Mr. June was in Greensboro, North Carolina to paint a 45 meter diameter water tank roof. In the southern heat for 13 days painting? Give it up for Mr. June, who calls this job for a water resources facility his ode to the beauty of water.

Concreto #4 , Fortaleza, Brazil

Before the 5th Concreto Festival kicks into motion this November it’s good to look at the final video they made from the last one.

The brainchild of artist and organizer Narcélio Grud, the festival is in partnership with an urban art school that provides students with a theoretical background and support for intellectual experimentation with this kind of art in the streets that melts barriers.

Doug Gillen takes on Email Art Scams

As if it isn’t already challenging enough to be an artist – for the 99% without who are decidedly stressed for time, money, and a publicist. No matter, there are still lowlifes who will try to scam you bro/sis. Occasionally right through your inbox!

Public Security Officer Gillen introduces this underworld of squirrelly types who will try to persuade you into giving over your money to them for massaging your ego. We know that may sound appealing to some of you but in this case the only stripper involved is you, sexy.

BSA Film Friday: 04.11.14

April 11, 2014 Artists

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

Now screening :

1. URBAN ART 2014 on Auction
2. Building Detroit – Revok, Nekst, Pose
3. Sheryo and Yok in Indonesia
4. Coachella Walls: Date Farmers by Medvin Sobio
5. Spaik and Libre. Mexico City 2014

BSA Special Feature: URBAN ART 2014 on Auction with Artcuriel

A film by Jérémy Jaoui

This is what it looks like now; a powerful visual documentation and summary of one plainly commercial aspect of this moment in the evolution of graffiti art/ Street Art/ urban art – and its collectability with a growing global artworld fan base. The video follows Artcuriel and it’s personable auctioneer Arnaud Oliveux as the crowd gathers and clinks glasses, listens to speeches, views live art-making and inspects a collection of fine art created by graffiti and Street Artists which will soon be auctioned.

As one observer notes while thumbing through the show catalog “Urban Art is becoming something real!” Now the vulgar rap lyrics that describe sexual acts to a beat which accompanied the visuals of the artists in the gallery are replaced with rarefied classical strings and no percussion when we enter the auction room where commerce takes place.

Excitement in the packed house is palpable and the auctioneer is the entertaining and electrified ringmaster, with poised assistants tensely perched on the telephone with international bidders.

“With an artist like LUDO, Arnauld is being very avant-garde,” says a knowledgeable admirer while we see the piece reach a record price to applause and pieces are placed on the mantel by men in white gloves. “Urban Art is now happening as we wanted it to,” says Monsieur Oliveux to us from his desk.

Well edited and skillfully presented, the film by Jaoui Jérémy gives you a rare glimpse into a world far removed from the street yet inextricably tied to it – where one time vandals become art stars, collectible artists, performers and celebrity endorsers. It’s your call whether it is a celebration or an indictment, and perspectives will vary according to where you sit, but here the elements are all on parade before your eyes and presented in a passionate way.

Building Detroit – Revok, Nekst, Pose

The graffiti and Street Art scene in abandoned Detroit is “thriving like I don’t think we’ve seen in the US for quite some time,” observes artist Pose, one of the few writers/artists who is straddling the street and commercial gallery world. “When you leave something and don’t care about it, we come here.” It’s a rallying cry for painters, a cautionary statement for authorities that encapsulates one of the primary dynamics of the graffiti/street art/public art scene.

But then Pose offers an additional sentiment that gets missed in these often simplified arguments. “We care about it, we’ll paint it all day.”

From MOCA in LA to MOCAD here, where both Revok and Pose have created large scale works, the institutional recognition of the contribution of the art form is remarkable. Simultaneously the freewill act of it a few blocks away from the museum has greater implications from a legal aspect.

Oh no! Complexity to contemplate.

Sheryo and Yok in Indonesia

“Sheryo and The Yok go to Indonesia to learn batik and sculpture” says their description but we think they may already know a thing or two about both. Here they are line illustrating with hot wax, adding a third dimension in clay to characters with phallus noses, and hitting up random walls throughout the city and on the beach with aerosol. Like any good guests, they make sure to credit their hosts here, which is real nice. Oh yes, and there’s a gallery show at Turner Gallery in Purth March 21 – mentioned at the very end.

Coachella Walls: Date Farmers by Medvin Sobio

Hey man, ¿Qué haces? For this Coachella street-art-related event the dude Medvin Sobio is setting the scene again with unscripted social outtakes and interactions are positioned as the main story – and he is framing it with this jukebox music. Yes, this is where The Eagles are national treasures, Marvin Gaye is a nice reminder of a time when singing about the environment could still get airplay, and MJ is always a party starter. Errrbuddy get up!

Spaik and Libre. Mexico City 2014

Part of a commercial gig for a traveling corporate electronic dance music festival, Spaik and Libre knock out a colorful wall while participants pile onto the big lot in DF for the multi-screen festivities.

BSA Film Friday: 11.08.13

November 8, 2013 Artists

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

Now screening:
1. José Parlá: Nature Of Language
2. Eno and Shida in New Zealand
3. The Hours present “Neon Golden” in Hong Kong
4. Element Tree / Art Primo: For The City By The City

BSA Special Feature:
José Parlá: Nature Of Language

A great new video of José Parlá as he creates a site-specific mural for a modern library in North Carolina. You can get a real sense of the gestural mark making process as well as his thoughts and intentions while building this wall full of character.

Here is a brief description directly from the artist “Although illegible at first sight, the juxtaposed characters, gestures, hieroglyphs, and words become readable through feeling, as it is my hope that the work evokes the language of your own inner voice – of your own history. In an era when technology is taking over as the driving force of communication, art reminds us of our roots and our need for face-to-face communication. This Nature is our mirror, as art allows this bridge to be possible through the language of calligraphy, I pay homage to this Nature and the history of languages, which are the mirrors of our present condition.”

Eno and Shida in New Zealand

Using only rollers and brushes these two fellas from the north island of New Zealand show off a quick collection of their recent murals together behind a soundtrack by Whanganui local music celeb Jack Michell-Anyon. Choice, bro!

The Hours present “Neon Golden” in Hong Kong

An unusual visitors diary of a group trip to Hong Kong, via the streets and the tunnels and the gallery. In September the Australian based creative group The Hours had a show at Above Second Gallery in Hong Kong’s Central and Western District entitled ‘Neon Golden’. With peeps from graffiti, street art, and the contemporary art world, the video shows a coalescing of interests and skills and a few thrill-seeking scenes like being suspended from the roof and relying on a harness to paint. Aside from the painting scenes the video provides an open window into modern day Hong Kong – full of cranes and high rises and traffic and character.

From the Vimeo page, the artists included are Fintan Magee, Shida, Rone, Kyle Hughes-Odgers, Beastman, Yok, Sheryo, Numskull, Vans The Omega, Roach, Phibs, Twoone, Jumbo and Thomas Jackson.

Element Tree / Art Primo: For The City By The City

Featured artists DISTORT, MR MUSTART and THEN ONE

Images of The Week: 08.25.13

August 25, 2013 Artists

Summer has been pretty stellar for those passersby on Brooklyn streets and here we have a great selection of installations including a couple from Dennis McNett, who posed a nine foot guy perched over traffic on Flushing Ave. Also notable is a new installation on the Williamsburg Bridge by Hot Tea using hundreds, maybe thousands of colored yarn strands washing over the pedestrian walkway in waves of color – not to mention the axonometric tags on fences that require you to stare and turn your head to finally see them. Finally you might want to check out the first really large scale piece that took N’DA days to complete in Bushwick, all by hand and on to top of a ladder. Cool lion, although those cherries really just look like big balls, right?

So here’s our weekly interview with the street, this week including Blanco, Buff Monster, Dain, Dennis McNett, Hot Tea, Judith Supine, Lamour Supreme, Misery, ND’A, Nychos, Pyramid Oracle, ROA, Rusty Rehl, Sheryo, Stikman, Tristan Eaton, and YOK.

Top image is by Dennis McNett (photo © Jaime Rojo).

Dennis McNett (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stikman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hot Tea. West view. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hot Tea. East view. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hot Tea (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pyramid Oracle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sheryo . Misery (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Judith Supine (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Judith Supine. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tristan Eaton (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rusty Rehl in Boise, ID (photo © Rusty Rehl)

Pyramid Oracle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Buff Monster. Tristan Eaton. Nychos. YOK. Sheryo. L’amour Supreme (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Buff Monster (photo © Jaime Rojo)

An unknown artist in Berlin from New York artist Blanco. (photo © Blanco)

ND’A (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Williamsburg, Brooklyn. (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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ROA Diary : New Work from Australia, Argentina, Brazil, and Panama

July 29, 2013 Artists

“I felt an intimacy with them…bordering on frenzy [that] must accompany my steps through life,” said the celebrated John James Audubon, the French-American naturalist and painter more than 200 years ago of his deep love for birds that began as a teenager and lead to his illustrations of the still revered book The Birds of America. By now we may consider the Belgian artist named ROA to be an Audubon of the Streets, so committed he is to documenting by hand and sharing with the public his studies of the animal world on walls, especially those that are often overlooked or dismissed as pests.

As we have tracked the aerosol orinthologist and urban naturalist for you during his travels of the last few years, his dedication to showcasing the oft-marginalized creatures of towns, cities, and regions around the world has not waned. Like Audubon, his depictions have become progressively more accurate in detail and now give a greater sense of mass, texture, and the presence of the subject.

ROA. Melbourne. November, 2012. (photo © ROA)

Today we bring you new unpublished photos from some of his recent travels to Australia, Argentina, Brazil, Panama, along with some insights from ROA about some of the animals he has come in contact with. Not only do we not recognize a number of them, we also probably haven’t seen their skeletons or musculature, which the artist sometimes peels the skin off of for us to inspect.

As a body of work ROA’s mounting collection of birds and rodents must be nearing a hundred or so around the world, yet he continues to unveil more. As ROA told BSA a few years ago, “I like rodents. Birds and rodents. Without having made a choice, I feel really good painting birds and rodents.” We are very happy to bring you these newest birds and rodents for you to enjoy.

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA:

“This past November I was invited to Melbourne for my solo show ‘Carrion’ in the Backwoods Gallery. The installation I built for the show was inspired by the numerous amount of roadkill that there is on the Australian continent. During my stay I painted a few days in the Healesville Sanctuary which specializes in rescuing and recovering native Australian animals and conducts breeding programs for almost-extinguished species. The sanctuary adopted a litter of orphaned marsupial babies found in the pouch of a mother who had been hit by a car.”

A wombat from ROA in Melbourne. November, 2012. (photo © ROA)

One morning after a storm as I walked to the gallery through a park I found a dead bat. When I looked under its wings I also discovered a living baby, which I helped to rescue and it is doing fine.

Here you can see that I painted an echidna (first image), an egg-laying mammal that I had spotted a few days earlier while in a car driving in Tasmania.

The skeleton images are of a wombat, a marsupial that often is hit by cars in Victoria and should always be observed after finding it to assure that there is not a living baby left in the pouch who needs to be rescued”

~ROA

ROA. Melbourne. November, 2012. (photo © ROA)

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

After his visit to Melbourne, ROA traveled to Argentina where he was hosted and entertained by EVER and who showed him a great time for the New Year’s holiday in Buenos Aires. They also each did a new piece side by side while he was there.

ROA with EVER in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2012. (photo © EVER)

“I painted a Serenia (sea cow) paradoxically also a ‘cow’. It’s a native (Patagonia) sea mammal and an herbavour,”says ROA. According to online sources Brazil outlawed hunting of sea cows (or manatees) in 1973.

It looks like the children are pretty strong in Buenos Aires. ROA in Argentina, 2012. (photo © EVER)

ROA with EVER in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2012. (photo © EVER)

ROA talks about this animal, “A three-toed sloth is a native slow-moving mammal who is hanging out in Buenos Aires nowadays.” ROA. Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2012. (photo © ROA)

ROA. Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2012. (photo © ROA)

Reminding you of the animal-as-food connection, ROA completed this partially skinned bull on the terrace of his friends place at the Post Bar and ‘Hollywood in Cambodia Gallery‘. “Maybe is is a sort of ‘Memento Mori’ in this beef and BBQ country,” he jests in a half-serious wisecrack

São Paulo, BRAZIL

ROA brought four new friends along to his first visit to São Paulo, a city that he has wanted to visit for a long time. “In March I stayed there a month and it was like a dream that finally came true. I loved it,” he says of the visit that was hosted by the people from Mathilda Cultural, who showed him around the city. Included in the walls were a bird, an anteater, an anteater, and the largest rodent in the world a capybara.

ROA. Bird on Rua Jose Correira Picano. São Paulo, Brazil. March, 2013. (photo © ROA)

ROA. Armadillo. São Paulo, Brazil. March, 2013. (photo © ROA)

ROA. Capibara. ROA told us that this is largest rodent in the world and we confirmed it. That means that it gets bigger than the beaver and the porcupine, in case you were wondering. In fact, he is larger than this girl and the infant she is holding! São Paulo Paulo, Brazil. March, 2013. (photo © ROA)

An anteater is hanging out on the corner here in a neighborhood of São Paulo Paulo, Brazil. ROA. March, 2013. (photo © ROA)

PANAMA CITY, Panama

After Brazil, ROA visited Panama City at the invitation of the first Bienal Del Sur Panama 2013, a huge cultural festival that celebrated the 500th year of the discovery of the South Sea.

ROA. Panama City. April, 2013. In Curundu (neighborhood) :Toucan- Green Iguana -Silky Anteater (photo © ROA)

ROA. Toucan. Detail. Panama City. April, 2013. (photo © ROA)

ROA. Green Iguana. Detail. Panama City. April, 2013. (photo © ROA)

ROA. Silky Anteater. Detail. Panama City. April, 2013. (photo © ROA)

ROA. Casco Viejo a Coati (Panamanian gatosolos). Panama City. April, 2013. (photo © ROA)

ROA. On Silo by abandoned radio station an Anteater. Panama City, April 2013. (photo © ROA)

ROA would like to thank Sumo, INSANO and his other friends of Panama City for hosting him while there.

Finally, a new book cover by ROA

In March, 2013 ROA was one of ten Street Artists commissioned by Pinguin Books UK to create a cover for their series pairing Street Artists with contemporary authors whose modern classics novels are being re-issued.

A photo of ROA’s piece below graces the cover for the re-issue of singer, musician and author Nick Cage’s novel “And The Ass Saw The Angel”.

ROA. Gent, Belgium. March, 2013. (photo © ROA)

ROA. His pice in Gent as appears on the cover of the book by Nick Cave. (photo © ROA)

Other artists and authors included in these series are:

“Americana” by Don DeLillo. Art by Dr Henry Jekyll,
“Armadillo” by William Boyd. Art by YOK,
“Hawksmoor” by Peter Ackroyd. Art by BARN,
“How to Be Good” by Nick Hornby. Art by Agostino,
“Lights Out for the Territory” by Iain Sinclair. Art by ESPO,
“The Believers” by Zoe Heller. Art by Sickboy,
“The We Came to the End” by Joshua Ferris. Art by 45RPM,
“The Reluctant Fundamentalist” by Mohsin Hamid. Art by Mittenimwald and
“What a Carve Up!” by Jonathan Coe. Art by DAIN.

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Roofing It in Brooklyn : A Summer Tradition on Top of the City

June 12, 2013 Artists

Your cousin Harvey is a “Roofing Technologist”, which he told you with spicy sausage and beer breath at the family BBQ on Memorial Day. He says it means that he has attained proficiency in roofing technology, including roof system types, roof system design and basic installation. Also, he periodically patches holes with black boiling tar.

As the sun begins to smite the bejesus out of your average Street Artist who is looking for spots in dirty old Brooklyn, you will also find that a number of the barbeque-ists of this species can become what we like to call “roof cosmetologists”. This means that they apply learned and impromptu methods of paintology to the plain or ugly sections of industrial grade roofs, veritably transforming their appearance aestheticallistically. Armed with lawn chairs, cans, and a 40 oz. (and possibly a grill if somebody wants to carry it), these Street Artists clammer up skinny metal ladders to play some tunes, get some sun, and have their version of a picnic in the park.

Yeah, you wish there was a tree up here. Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

We’ve waxed about summertime roofs before when we published A Roof With a View : Looking at Art Up Above, so this is sort of your Roof Update: Summer 2013. It’s true, lately rooftop parties in Brooklyn have become as ubiquitous as Olive Gardens and Applebees in strip malls and the stimulating conversations there are probably just as likely. But you won’t need a cute outfit at this cookout. Wait, well, why not, as long as your coming, and grab some Slim Jims.

But for summer funnification nothing beats the swarthy sweaty delirium of being baked alive on a chrome coated roof with no shade in the brutal sun and humidity and wielding a pile of cans of eye popping colors across the bricks – with clouds of aerosol wafting by in a fine mist and sticking to your sunglasses. That’s the ticket, bro/sis.

Recently we found this smorgasbord of new stuff on some rooftops and aesthetically, stylistically, these new pieces are strutting a pared-down new simplified look. Instead of the sweeping extravagant pieces of traditional graffiti, with many handstyles and spray tricks competing for star position, many of these are one-off soliloquies or two person collabos with a story behind them. Not that we know what the stories are – guess it’s part of the “inside baseball” side of this scene to leave you guessing. But we’ll probably all agree that some of these bricks and beams and exhaust vents have never looked so slammified, even if no one but your cousin Harvey gets to see them.

Solus (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vexta (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Trek Matthews (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ian Ross (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ian Ross. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Never (top) ZZ (bottom) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Creepy (photo © Jaime Rojo)

MCity (photo © Jaime Rojo)

MCity. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Yok . ND’A (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mata Ruda . ND’A (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Royce Bannon . SeeOne (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LNY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Feral . GATS (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Museums Go Outside to Play With the Kids

May 7, 2013 Artists

Shots from “Ideas City”

As museums continue to look for ways to bring in the kids, they are finding that one way to do it is to go outside and play with them.

Last year The Brooklyn Museum had a really successful GO at engaging people with community-curated programming that put people in touch with the young artist scene that has transformed the BK in the last decade or so. Similarly the New Museum Ideas City is making extensive outreach to connect the disconnected phone-poking Millenials and X’ers to the brilliant and quirky creative community that makes Manhattan the live breathing beautiful beast that it is. This is the kind of meaningful museum programming that can make the city feel inclusive, asking you to participate with your own snapping synapses and probing inquiries about the nature of things.

Inside and Outside. Raumlabor, Spacebuster. New Museum. Ideas City 2013 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

When it comes to encouraging personal participation in the public sphere, nothing is more democratizing for an event than to bring it directly into the street. This is an exhibition that is not roped off, doesn’t charge an admission fee, has no dress code, has no gate keepers. It actually invites you to engage, to converse, to consider, question, and decide merit on your own. – Not to mention the transformative affect it all has on public space and our perception of our place in it.

Raumlabor, Spacebuster. New Museum. Ideas City 2013 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

For us the second installment of the Ideas City really hit its peak this weekend as the culmination of more than a hundred independent projects and public events spilled into the street and onto walls. For the sunny Saturday Streetfest set along the sidewalks and in nearby park space in the refreshingly dirty, loud, and un-tony Bowery section of Manhattans Lower East Side, people celebrated the public aspect of citizenry and interacted with projects and tested the ideas of artists, architects, poets, technologists, historians, community activists entrepreneurs, and ecologists. And there were some street artists around too.

Here are some of the scenes that caught the eye of our favorite BSA photographer, Jaime Rojo, who was feeling pretty inspired by the events.

Children playing bball with the Spacebuster in the background. Ideas City 2013 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Artist Hellbent took a spin on the box truck idea with his new “Mix Tape” Series. New Museum. Ideas City 2013. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Artist XAM installed on the street a number of his custom architected homes for the urban bird. The Urban Habitat Project. New Museum. Ideas City 2013 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Todd Lester. Trust Art Installation. New Museum. Ideascity 2013. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Draw Something. Yes, it’s an ad for an app, but at least people are encouraged to participate by drawing, so that’s good. On the side walk for Ideas City 2013. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

eL Seed and Jaye did their calligraffiti/graffiti installation as part of World Nomads Tunisia. New Museum. Ideas City 2013 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Street Artist ND’A installed a new piece on the Influx In Flux/Centre-fuge project. New Museum. Ideas City 2013 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Yuri Velez painting live for Influx In Flux/Centre-fuge. New Museum. Ideas City 2013 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

CRUZ. Influx In Flux/Centre-fuge. New Museum. Ideas City 2013 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Detail of an installation sprayed by stencillist MOR. Influx In Flux/Centre-fuge. New Museum. Ideas City 2013 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cram Concepts in motion. Influx In Flux/Centre-fuge. New Museum. Ideas City 2013 (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DEMER. Influx In Flux/Centre-fuge. New Museum. Ideascity 2013. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sofia Maldonado & Ray Smith. Detail. Influx In Flux First Street Green Park. New Museum. Ideas City 2013. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sheryo and Yok. Detail. Influx In Flux First Street Green Park. New Museum. Ideas City 2013. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

The student group Cre8tive YouTH*ink. Centre-fuge. First Street Green Park. New Museum. Ideas City 2013. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Cre8tive YouTH*ink. Centre-fuge. First Street Green Park. New Museum. Ideas City 2013. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

DARK. A random stencil along the Street Fest route. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

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Mike Giant Inks a Wall in Chinatown

August 1, 2012 Artists, Manhattan, NYC, On the Street

New York has seen its share of giants. For most people, Mike is just another one.

But for fans of cholo-style graffiti and tattoo inspired art, he is a giant among men. That’s why it was cause for a celebration to see this skate boarding, fixie tricking, graffiti painting, grandpa hipster in suspenders hitting up a fresh white wall with some juicy markers last week under the Manhattan Bridge.

Thermometer-wise, it was one of our worst July days. For a fleeting moment the bespectacled grey buzzcut artist looked like he wasn’t going to take the New York heat while working outside in crushing hot humidity that felt like the inside of a rice cooker here in Chinatown. But the visitor from San Francisco’s Tenderloin rallied, calmed himself, found his personal zen, and focused on his wall with a positive mindset. While a cluster of hosts and fans stood by Giant methodically laid out the kind of precise, sharp lined calligraphic illustration that has distinguished his work and indelibly marked his reputation among the skater-punk-tattooed-graffiti-lowbro West Coast heroes of the last two-plus decades.

Very covered in full color ink himself, except for black and grey sleeves, the sometimes tattooist routinely updates his personal skin art collection with work by the likes of Greg Rojas and Chris Conn, like the recent additions of the Apple logo and the bars from Black Flag among the skulls and snakes and sassy vixens. Also routinely, his exacting and precise drawings sell out at shops and packed gallery shows across the world as his work is compared to that of such Mexican/cholo art pioneers like Mr. Cartoon, Chaz Bojorquez, and Jack Rudy. The symbols and metaphors popping boldly, they frame each other even as their meanings and origins conflict; reptiles, tigers, garden roses and The Grim Reaper sit comfortably alongside ornately carved crosses, the Virgin of Guadalupe and hot tattooed girls in fishnets giving you the finger.

For this street installation, Giant’s act of inking the wall affected the assembled fans and observers like the chanting of Spanish monks in those remote and silent monasteries: a slowly creeping utter peace. He approached the task with serenity, at a pace that seemed to conserve time rather than spend it. In complete control of his craft, he can aptly break away when approached for a chat or to sign a deck or black book.

This gig at Klughaus Gallery was to help promote a group show and launch the 8^th issue of Kingbrown magazine and Giant said he was happy to visit the town he once lived in for a year before seeking the quieter pace of San Francisco. Right across from the spot is one of the city’s busiest skateparks and for most of the afternoon his work was accompanied by the unmistakeable sound of some exhibition boards hitting the concrete for friendly competitive trickery. He probably felt at home like this since he’s known to hang at the occasional skatepark or empty swimming pool back on the west coast. And for one day in this unbearable NYC heat, a number of fans were happy to see him knocking out this black and white wall, meditating on the good things that a fine line brings.

For details to visit the gallery to see Mike Giant’s completed panels in person and to see the rest of the exhibition now open to the general public click here.

Klughaus and Kingbrown produced this event in partnership with Fountain Art fair.

Artists included in the show are Morning Breath, Andy Jenkins, Chris Cycle, Dave Kinsey, “Grotesk” aka Kimou Meyer, Stefan Marx, Kevin Lyons, Mike Giant, Raza Uno aka MAx Vogel, Greg Lamarche, Zach Malfa-Kowalski, Steve Gourlay, Jay Howell, and Ben Horton, Beastman, Phibs, Hiro, Reka, Kyle “Creepy” Hughes-Odgers, Meggs, Sean Morris, Yok, Sheryo, Ross Clugston, Daek, Lister, Numskull, Ian Mutch, Rone/ aka Tyrone Wright.

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Fun Friday 07.27.12

July 27, 2012 Artists

Let the Games Begin! (oh no, does that violate an Olympic copyright?) Here’s our Olympian sized Olympic Fun Friday Olympiatastic list, sponsored by nobody.

1. BOB ROSS REMIX (VIDEO)
2. KingBrown Group Show at Klughaus (NYC)
3. Quel Beast Solo Reception at Gallery Bar (NYC)
4. Believe the Hype at Pandemic Saturday (BKLN)
5. REVOK and SABER at Known Gallery (LA)
6. Matthew Silver Goes for the Gold in his Speedo at Union Square (VIDEO)
7. Pura Vida Presents: Entes Y Pesimo A Short Film (English) (VIDEO)

BOB ROSS REMIX (Video)

Bob Ross is back! Updated and autotuned, this visual medley ties together the overriding themes that his long-running show imparted to many people who may have been timid about reopening that creative spirit that we’re all born with. Some kids think they’re too cool and too street for this sh*t but really they like Bob’s message too, because he’s right. Get out your paintbrush and cans!

KingBrown Group Show at Klughaus (NYC)

Mike Giant is in New York and he brought some juicy markers with him. The New Show at Klughaus Gallery in Manhattan’s Chinatown hosted him yesterday with folks from Kingbrown Magazine to mark the release of their issue #8. The group show of small pieces in the gallery is smartly, densely packed with names you’ll like and is now open to the public after last nights hot and sticky grand opening that ended with Mother nature blowing exhibition skateboarders sideways with sudden summer storm high winds and pounding rain. The show was presented along with the dudes from Fountain Arts Fair.

Artists include Morning Breath, Andy Jenkins, Chris Cycle, Dave Kinsey, “Grotesk” aka Kimou Meyer, Stefan Marx, Kevin Lyons, Mike Giant, Raza Uno aka MAx Vogel, Greg Lamarche, Zach Malfa-Kowalski, Steve Gourlay, Jay Howell, Ben Horton, Beastman, Phibs, Hiro, Reka, Kyle “Creepy” Hughes-Odgers, Meggs, Sean Morris, Yok, Sheryo, Ross Clugston, Daek, Lister, Numskull, Ian Mutch, Rone/ aka Tyrone Wright.

Further information regarding this show click here.

Quel Beast Solo Reception at Gallery Bar (NYC)

The Gallery Bar on the Lower East Side of Manhattan hosts the opening reception today of Quel Beast’s solo show of portraits full of emotion as he continues in the journey of self-study. In a short career on the street that has depicted everything from anguish to rage to frustration, it is good to report that there is now an occasional smile.

For further information regarding this show click here.

Believe the Hype at Pandemic Saturday (BKLN)

PARTY! PARTY! PARTY! @ Pandemic Gallery tomorrow. “Believe The Hype” Is Pandemic’s title for this summer party including: The Yok, Sheryo, UFO 907, Swampy, Royce Bannon, Matt Siren, David Pappaceno, Darkclouds, Keely, Don Pablo Pedro, Cost KRT and Deeker. All the artists will paint the interior of the gallery in one collaborative mural. Go get wet and play. There will be limited prints, T shirts, zines and drawings for sale.

For further information regarding this show click here.

REVOK and SABER at Known Gallery (LA)

Double billing Revok and Saber in one night? You know the crowd will be big and enthusiastic to see these two concurrent solo shows and as Known Gallery hosts REVOK’s “Gilgamesh” and SABER’s “Beautification” simultaneously Saturday.

For further information regarding REVOK show click here.

For further information regarding SABER show click here.

Matthew Silver Goes for the Gold in his Speedo at Union Square (VIDEO)

Miao Jiaxin captures some of the magic moments of this public performer who may be borderline bananas and who knows how to engage people, to help and flip their “I’m Free” switch to the “On” position.

Pura Vida Presents: Entes Y Pesimo A Short Film (English) (VIDEO)

Kingbrown Magazine and Fountain present the launch of Kingbrown 8th Issue at Klughaus Gallery. (Manhattan, NY)

July 23, 2012 Artists, Events, Gallery, Manhattan, NYC, Opening

Kingbrown

Mike Giant (photo courtesy of Fountain)

Fitting within Fountain’s penchant for all things street and guerrilla, we are thrilled to partner with Kingbrown to launch their 8th issue, co-curated and designed by Morning Breath, at New York’s Klughaus gallery. Opening to the public July 26th, 2012 from 7-10pm, Klughaus Gallery: 47 Monroe Street NYC, NY. Featuring live painting, Skateboard demos and more.

Australia’s “Kingbrown Magazine has collaborated with curators, John Leo (Fountain Co-Founder) and Melissa McCaig-Welles (McCaig-Welles Gallery) to bring you a dynamic collection of skateboard inspired artwork. The exhibition will showcase some of the world’s most influential artists from members of the infamous Girl/Chocolate Art Dump, pioneers in NYC graffiti, talented illustrators, animators, art stars from Australia, sculptors, and that guy living in the NY green diamond.

Kingbrown is a distinctively designed magazine, sitting somewhere between a book, a magazine and an art zine. As a super limited edition periodical, delivered inside a hand silkscreened brown bag, sewn closed with artist stickers and posters included, Kingbrown remains different from any other publication.

Conceived in 2006 by co-creators Yok and Ian Mutch in Perth, Australia, Kingbrown’s mission was to produce a limited edition work of art, which would reach a wider audience, allowing accessibility to the public and its entirety. Each “magazine” is handcrafted and designed by some of the world’s leading innovators of photography, illustration and urban and skateboard art and design. Produced on museum quality paper, each page is a collectible item, individually sealed and packaged. Now in its 8th edition, Kingbrown has achieved worldwide success and is now launching for the first time in the US.

The term “Kingbrown” is Australian slang for a 40oz, and the magazine’s slogan “wrapped in a brown bag, just like a good 40 should”, is just as original as the artists it represents. This latest 8th edition, co-curated by the renowned collaborative, “Morning Breath”, focuses it’s topic on the visually rich artists who have influenced the world of skateboarding.

The impressive line-up includes Morning Breath, Andy Jenkins, Chris Cycle, Dave Kinsey, “Grotesk” aka Kimou Meyer, Stefan Marx, Kevin Lyons, Mike Giant, Raza Uno aka MAx Vogel, Greg Lamarche, Zach Malfa-Kowalski, Steve Gourlay, Jay Howell, and Ben Horton, all of whom have contributed to this limited 8th edition of Kingbrown Magazine.

Additional works to be included in the exhibition by Australian artists: Beastman, Phibs, Hiro, Reka, Kyle “Creepy” Hughes-Odgers, Meggs, Sean Morris, Yok, Sheryo, Ross Clugston, Daek, Lister, Numskull, Ian Mutch, Rone/ aka Tyrone Wright.

Klughaus Gallery

47 Monroe St.

New York, NY 10002

F to East Broadway / M15 Bus to Catherine St. x Madison St.

Low Brow Artique Presents: “Welcome to the Neighborhood” A Group Exhibition (Brooklyn, NY)

July 6, 2012 Artists, Brooklyn, Events, Gallery, NYC, Opening

Low Brow Artique

For the inaugural exhibition, Low Brow Artique presents Welcome to the Neighborhood, which emphasizes the diversity in Brooklyn-based artists. The exhibition will be open to the public July 14th to August 5, with an opening reception on July 14 to 7 to 10pm. Featuring a wide range of thematic elements, the gallery presents the work of Cern, Clown Soldier, Elle, ENX, See One, Sheryo, Willow and Yok. While some of these artists have overlapping thematic elements, each representation distinguishes the artwork produced in this borough.

The work of artists Willow and Cern can be seen as an eloquent contrast in the representation of natural imagery in this urban environment. Both artists use striking color palettes in their depictions of different species; the end result of this work, however, is strikingly different. Mixing Latin American surrealism with characters based in his graffiti background, Cern brings creatures to flight that exist outside of a specific time and space and, instead, in a reality of your dreams. In contrast, Willow painstakingly builds up an array of colors in his brushstrokes to recreate a Genus of his choosing. Whether or not these species were present in his rural upbringing does not matter; he still paints each one with the care as if he has known them forever.

In contrast to the emerging themes in the area, such as wildlife, artists such as See One are working in a style independent of any other. In a recent break with his character- based graffiti background, the artist has started creating abstract pieces, which he calls “shards.” These jagged shapes, which are often accompanied by equally-as-pointed titles, encompass a style that is unique to the artist.

By bringing together this array of public artists, Welcome to the Neighborhood represents the visual diversity currently alive within Brooklyn. Ranging from collage to illustration, from the abstract to the tangible, those who find themselves currently creating work in Brooklyn form a contrast in artistic expressions. It is, however, this diversity that makes so many of us, including Low Brow Artique, proud to call the area “home.”

Street Art Happening NOW @ Bushwick Open Studios 2012

June 2, 2012 Artists, Brooklyn, Events, NYC, On the Street, Opening, Street Art Festival

As the cultural center continues to shift further away from Manhattan, Bushwick and Street Art continue to have a love affair that grows every year. We just caught up with a handful of artists putting up work to celebrate Bushwick Open Studios (BOS) 2012 as it turns 6 this year. The artists were invited to paint by GCM Steel Products and Agency X Events to mark their Bushwick 5 Points Festival, which they hope will be the first of many in support of BOS.

BSA readers are probably at BOS right now, but for the 14 of you who couldn’t make it to BK today, here’s some process shots of Street Art going up before your eyeballs. Art seeking pilgrims will see it all as they race between the hundreds of studios that are open today. Artists of all sizes, shapes, styles, and disciplines continue to bring the neighborhoods of Brooklyn alive!

Come out support the artists and play today and tomorrow as BOS will be going on through out the weekend. With special thanks to the good folks at GCM Steel Products, Bushwick 5 Points Festival will be happening all day today with art, food and music until 8:00 pm at Troutman and St. Nicholas.

For full details on BOS 2012 click here.

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BSA Special Feature: Yok & Sheryo: Mumbai “Varuna Vessel”

Mr. June Paints in June

Concreto #4 , Fortaleza, Brazil

Doug Gillen takes on Email Art Scams

BSA Special Feature: URBAN ART 2014 on Auction with Artcuriel

Building Detroit – Revok, Nekst, Pose

Sheryo and Yok in Indonesia

Coachella Walls: Date Farmers by Medvin Sobio

Spaik and Libre. Mexico City 2014

BSA Special Feature: José Parlá: Nature Of Language

Eno and Shida in New Zealand

The Hours present “Neon Golden” in Hong Kong

Element Tree / Art Primo: For The City By The City

Top image is by Dennis McNett (photo © Jaime Rojo).

Dennis McNett (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Stikman (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hot Tea. West view. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hot Tea. East view. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hot Tea (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Hot Tea (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Pyramid Oracle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Sheryo . Misery (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Judith Supine (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Judith Supine. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Tristan Eaton (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Dain (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Rusty Rehl in Boise, ID (photo © Rusty Rehl)

Pyramid Oracle (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Buff Monster. Tristan Eaton. Nychos. YOK. Sheryo. L’amour Supreme (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Buff Monster (photo © Jaime Rojo)

An unknown artist in Berlin from New York artist Blanco. (photo © Blanco)

ND’A (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Untitled. Williamsburg, Brooklyn. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

ROA. Melbourne. November, 2012. (photo © ROA)

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA:

A wombat from ROA in Melbourne. November, 2012. (photo © ROA)

One morning after a storm as I walked to the gallery through a park I found a dead bat. When I looked under its wings I also discovered a living baby, which I helped to rescue and it is doing fine.

Here you can see that I painted an echidna (first image), an egg-laying mammal that I had spotted a few days earlier while in a car driving in Tasmania.

The skeleton images are of a wombat, a marsupial that often is hit by cars in Victoria and should always be observed after finding it to assure that there is not a living baby left in the pouch who needs to be rescued” ~ROA

ROA. Melbourne. November, 2012. (photo © ROA)

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA

After his visit to Melbourne, ROA traveled to Argentina where he was hosted and entertained by EVER and who showed him a great time for the New Year’s holiday in Buenos Aires. They also each did a new piece side by side while he was there.

ROA with EVER in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2012. (photo © EVER)

“I painted a Serenia (sea cow) paradoxically also a ‘cow’. It’s a native (Patagonia) sea mammal and an herbavour,”says ROA. According to online sources Brazil outlawed hunting of sea cows (or manatees) in 1973.

It looks like the children are pretty strong in Buenos Aires. ROA in Argentina, 2012. (photo © EVER)

ROA with EVER in Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2012. (photo © EVER)

ROA talks about this animal, “A three-toed sloth is a native slow-moving mammal who is hanging out in Buenos Aires nowadays.” ROA. Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2012. (photo © ROA)

ROA. Buenos Aires, Argentina, 2012. (photo © ROA)

São Paulo, BRAZIL

ROA. Bird on Rua Jose Correira Picano. São Paulo, Brazil. March, 2013. (photo © ROA)

ROA. Armadillo. São Paulo, Brazil. March, 2013. (photo © ROA)

An anteater is hanging out on the corner here in a neighborhood of São Paulo Paulo, Brazil. ROA. March, 2013. (photo © ROA)

PANAMA CITY, Panama

ROA. Panama City. April, 2013. In Curundu (neighborhood) :Toucan- Green Iguana -Silky Anteater (photo © ROA)

ROA. Toucan. Detail. Panama City. April, 2013. (photo © ROA)

ROA. Green Iguana. Detail. Panama City. April, 2013. (photo © ROA)

ROA. Silky Anteater. Detail. Panama City. April, 2013. (photo © ROA)

ROA. Casco Viejo a Coati (Panamanian gatosolos). Panama City. April, 2013. (photo © ROA)

ROA. On Silo by abandoned radio station an Anteater. Panama City, April 2013. (photo © ROA)

Finally, a new book cover by ROA

ROA. Gent, Belgium. March, 2013. (photo © ROA)

ROA. His pice in Gent as appears on the cover of the book by Nick Cave. (photo © ROA)

Solus (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Solus (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Vexta (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Trek Matthews (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ian Ross (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Ian Ross. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Never (top) ZZ (bottom) (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Creepy (photo © Jaime Rojo)

MCity (photo © Jaime Rojo)

MCity. Detail. (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Icy & Sot (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Yok . ND’A (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Mata Ruda . ND’A (photo © Jaime Rojo)

Royce Bannon . SeeOne (photo © Jaime Rojo)

LNY (photo © Jaime Rojo)

BSA Special Feature:
José Parlá: Nature Of Language

The skeleton images are of a wombat, a marsupial that often is hit by cars in Victoria and should always be observed after finding it to assure that there is not a living baby left in the pouch who needs to be rescued”

~ROA