Smells, Cash4, Don Pablo Pedro and Keely

Last class of the school year yesterday. Now for finals. Can’t wait… Here are some distractions in case you’re in a similar boat:

• NoseGo has some new prints available today with Unit44. These are not giclee prints, but rather archival pigment prints, a significant step up in quality as I understand it.
• The fantastic ceramic street artist Carrie Reichardt is organizing this show in London.
• Great sculptural installation and indoor mural by Pixel Pancho in Mexico City.
• Loving this collaboration between Kofie and El Mac.
• S.butterfly has photos of the Bom.K show in Paris. Wish I could see this one in person.
• And Kaws has a solo show in Tokyo at the moment. It’s Kaws, so feel free to check out the photos, but you pretty much knows what’s coming.
• JR and José Parlá collaborated on a mural on the outside of Bryce Wolkowitz Gallery, where they have a two-man show opening next week. Glad to see Parlá working outdoors, but it always strikes me as a bit odd since he tries to distance his work from graffiti. I guess when there’s a show to promote… Although to be fair, the show is about a series of collaborative murals that JR and Parlá made together in Cuba.
• JR’s Inside Out project booth in Times Square is a huge hit. He’s been covering the street with photos of people who stop by his little photobooth, and it looks awesome. The billboards in Times Square were even (briefly) given over to JR for the project. The whole thing is a fight against outdoor ads and for public spaces for the public, but JR manages to make his point without beating people over the head with politics. Instead, JR just shows people a better world and makes them smile. I’m not a JR fanatic, but I absolutely love this project.

Photo by Hrag Vartanian

“Abstract Ace” in Paris by Ludo

It’s a bit late, but it’s link-o-rama time…

• CRASH painted the wall at Bowery and Houston. He is the first train painter to paint the wall since it became a curated spot a few years ago excluding the collaborative Martha Cooper 70th birthday edition of the wall (although DAZE did paint it back in the 1980′s).
• A Love Letter For You, the dramatic film made around Steve Power’s mural project of the same name, is screening in Chicago this month.
• Vagrant Space, AVOID pi’s new space/residency/project based in North Carolina, has a show at Tender Trap in Brooklyn next month.
• S.Butterfly has photo of Horfee’s London show.
• Do you hate assholes? Do you love people who act like human beings? So does Morley.
• The Centre-fuge Public Art Project is trying to raise some money to expand their work.
• Mumbo Sauce, a group show co-curated by Roger Gastman, opens next month at The Contemporary Wing in DC. The show includes work by BORF, Mark Jenkins and others.
• Shepard Fairey has designed the official mission patch for a space mission. Yes, it’s kind of an odd collaboration and other 100 artists probably could have designed something good for this patch, but I really like Fairey’s design. Great art? I dunno. Solid design? Definitely. Hyperallergic has more examples of patches for space missions.

Photos by Ludo

“Butterfly Face Hoodie”

As a great follow-up to their Ron English show, the next show at Opera Gallery’s New York location is a solo show with Paul Insect. Out of Chaos is Paul’s first solo show in New York City, despite seriously great and equally successful solo shows in London and LA in the past. The show opens November 29th from 6-9pm. I’m going to miss it, but I have a good excuse: I don’t live in the state. If you do live in New York, you’d best be there.

I’m a fan of a lot of Paul’s work on the street and in the gallery (as are people like Damien Hirst and Patrick Miller and Patrick McNeil Faile), so I’m excited that New York will finally be properly introduced to him (although he has had work in group shows at Opera Gallery in the past). Arrested Motion has photos from a studio visit with Paul Insect with more previews of what to expect at Out of Chaos. There are definitely a few pieces in the post on AM that could be mistaken for Banksy pieces or look heavily influenced by Banksy, but it’s worth noting that Paul Insect has some close ties to the Banksy camp and Opera says that Paul has been involved in “graphically developing [Banksy's] work.” So, can you really blame a guy for making work that resembles the work of another person whose work he has helped to develop? While the Banksy-esque stuff isn’t usually my favorite of what he does, I’m also not going to call Paul Insect just another Banksy rip off artist either, because that’s not what Paul at all.

Photo courtesy of Opera Gallery

Rothko from beyond the grave by Freddy Sam

Not much to say this week except of course that I’m pumped for The Art of Comedy. Not too much news either, but some important stories…

• Bonhams is holding an Urban Art auction in LA (Christ, 5 years after I first heard it and I still hate that term). This has been going on in England for years and of course Doyles New York just did something similar in NYC, but this is the first time Bonhams is doing an Urban Art auction in the USA. Notable lots include this absolutely classic Banksy, some very expensive kindling, an alright Shepard Fairey (a bit special since his originals don’t go to auction often), a Calvin Klein ad by KAWS, a nice Barry McGee panel from 1996, another nice Banksy, one of Chaz Bojórquez’ Señor Suerte stencils on canvas, and a large COST and REVS collaboration from the early 1990′s (yes, its legit, and yes, I would like to hang it in my dorm room if anyone feels like gifting me $20,000).
• Caleb Neelon recently painted some work in Turkey.
• Butterfly and Opera Gallery London have teamed up for a show of 33 artists including Sweet Toof, El Mac, Roa, Shepard Fairey, Ron English and many more. It opens next month.

Photo by Faith47 and via Wooster Collective

Veni

Here’s some stuff I missed this week while sitting under a giant stack of books and papers to read, mostly stuff I was supposed to read for school but avoided because I was at Nuart last weekend.

• The British Zeus recently had a solo show in London. Sandra Butterfly got the photos.
• These throw-ups by CES mixing letters and characters are fantastic.
• White Walls Say Nothing is hopefully about to be a film about street art in Buenos Aires, but they are doing a Kickstarter project to raise the last $32,000 needed to finish it.
• A great quick video interview with Ron English. Must see for his fans.
• Sowat, Lek and John Giorno painted two walls at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris.
• This mural festival in Puerto Rico includes Jaz, Ever, Roa, Aryz, Celso, La Pandilla and others.

Photo by Colin Chazaud

E.B. Itso. Click to view large.

Note from RJ: We at Vandalog are excited to publish Tristan Manco‘s first post on the site, hopefully the first of many. Tristan is one of contemporary street art’s greatest champions and most-distinguished writers. Tristan curated by iterations of Cans Festival, worked at Pictures on Walls for half a decade, has written or in some way contributed to 8 art books since 2002 as well as numerous magazine articles in publications such as Juxtapoz. I’ve known Tristan for a couple of years, and he is one of the people whom I really trust when it comes to art.

Taking place in the 24-hour daylight of a Northern Norway summer on a small island town called Vardø north of the Arctic Circle – Komafest was always going to be a unique event…

Vardø is the oldest settlement in Northern Norway and in recent years has become depopulated with many buildings left empty, partly as a result of the collapsing fishing industry. The curator and organizer of the festival, the Norwegian artist Pøbel saw the potential of a street art festival to make a visual transformation of the town and to show the local people it was possible to make changes. While developing the idea Pøbel spent time getting to know the locals and with his unassuming nature and enthusiasm he began to gain their trust. Soon the public began to get behind the idea and offer up buildings for artists to paint on and volunteering to help in the organization. It became a truly grassroots movement rather than something imposed on the community.

Click to view large

The island, shaped like a butterfly, has an otherworldly atmosphere and is only accessible overland by a winding 3km undersea tunnel, which appears out of the ground like something out of a science fiction movie, but the real stars of the show are its traditional wooden buildings. Many of the wooden jetties, warehouses and buildings are abandoned, weather-beaten and in a state of beautiful decay. Although standing empty these heritage buildings all have owners who are often unable to afford their proper restoration. The idea of project is that the art that is created on them can awaken these buildings out from a coma, giving the festival it’s name – Komafest.

Steve Powers. Click to view large.

What I found inspiring about this project was the way the invited artists responded to the place. Each artist had some idea of what they might experience but in most cases their preconceptions soon changed once they began to speak to the locals and learn more about their environment. According to local fisherman Aksel Robertsen, Philadelphian artist Steve Powers had many ideas planned but scrapped them as soon as he began to meet the people and experienced the place for himself – all those encounters shaped his final murals; such as “Cod is Great” and “Eternal Light – Eternal Night”. The French artist Remed painted a mural on an old seafront warehouse, which took some of its imagery from the seascape but included the text Hellige Heks Fortuna, (Hellige Heks means Holy Witch in Norwegian). This references to witches dates back to the Vardø witch trials that were held there in 17th century resulting in many of the accused being burned alive at the stake.

Remed. Click to view large.

More after the jump… Read the rest of this article »

Ron in London. Photo by S. Butterfly.

Ron English is a father, a husband, a full time artist, a part time vandal and 24/7 American. When he says that he’s been busy in London, he means it. In addition to his work at the London Pleasure Gardens, Ron is in town for a show. Letters From America opens in London today, July 4th (America’s Independence Day), at Corey Helford Gallery in conjunction with Black Rat Projects, and features Ron’s work with the work of other American artists: TrustoCorp, Risk and Saber. With a numerous ongoing projects in London, a family to take care of, and a street reputation to maintain, Ron has no time to waste and of course, neither do you. So here is Ron getting straight to the point of questions that I thought about for a long time.

Caroline: Letters From America includes four talented American artists, two with backgrounds in street art and two with backgrounds in graffiti. Do you feel that the distinction between street art and graffiti is an important one once the art is put in a gallery setting?

Ron: Once it’s in the gallery it is no longer street art or graffiti, it’s just plain old art.

Caroline: You seem to have made an effort to include your children in numerous aspects of your art career; from being the subjects of some of your paintings, to being given stickers to put up around Detroit, to your son Mars having a painting included in the South Park-themed art show you curated. How do you believe they feel about your work and growing up in the fine art/street art world?

Ron: They are mostly bored by it and a little puzzled by people who have tattoos of them on their bodies.

Caroline: Besides the fact of the London Pleasure Gardens being just a short distance from the 2012 Olympic events, do you have any plans for more work relating to the Olympics this year?

Ron: No.

Caroline: When you were a kid, did you find Frosty Flakes and McDonald’s delicious?

Ron: Yes, I also like the toys.

Caroline: Did you enjoy Disney cartoons?

Ron: Still do.

Caroline: To what extent were the subjects you use in your art now apart of your childhood and when did you become aware of those icons on a critical level?

Ron: When I was six I made a painting of Charlie Brown and another kid said I was in big trouble for stealing a copyrighted character.

Ron’s piece for London Pleasure Gardens. Photo by S. Butterfly.

Caroline: What was it like painting the nose cone of a jumbo jet for the London Pleasure Gardens? Did that present any challenges?

Ron: It was pretty easy. The only challenge was the alleged Bansky on the other side, I was asked to paint it over but I was uncomfortable doing that. The problem was solved by some midnight whitewasher.

Caroline: Why continue to illegally put up work and risk arrest when you don’t need to, from a career standpoint and particularly since you have a family?

Ron: Getting permission is such a hassle.

Caroline: Do you find a difference in how your work is received in England compared with the U.S.?

Ron: They actually have street art tours here.

Caroline: Have you run into any legal issues with copyright infringement?

Ron: No, my work is parody, not infringement.

Wall in Queens, NY. Courtesy of Ron English.

Caroline: Have you ever been on the other end of an infringement situation, where people were stealing or appropriating your work?

Ron: Probably.

Caroline: Living in Beacon, New York seems an unexpected choice for a street artist. Why do you choose to live there rather than a city?

Ron: My kids like it there, plus fewer billboards means less temptation.

Caroline: Any plans in the works for future projects that you can talk about?

Ron: I just released a new record with The Electric Illuminati called Songs in English. It’s on iTunes.

Photos by S. Butterfly and courtesy of Ron English.

Ron English

Ron English, Shepard Fairey, TrustoCorp and Risk painted last week at the London Pleasure Gardens, a brand new cultural center of sorts from the folks behind MuTate Britain. Fairey has had some involvement with MuTate Britain organization before, but I’m not sure about the other artists. Whatever the case, there’s some nice work that went up at the gardens, including Fairey’s tallest mural to date and some great work on airplane nosecones by Risk and English (shown above).

Swap Fairey for Saber and you have the line-up at Letters from America, the show Corey Helford Gallery is putting on at Black Rat Projects starting July 4th, so if you like this work, definitely check out that show too.

Here’s some of the work at the London Pleasure Gardens, and we’ll probably do a part-2 of with more work in a few days:

Risk

Shepard Fairey

Risk

Photos by S.Butterfly

Rai Cruz

It’s time to read about the news I missed this week, if you missed it too.

• Jorge Rodriguez Gerada’s latest show looks absolutely fabulous.
• Faith47 gets it right again.
• My friends at Station16 released prints last month with LNY and Enzo & Nio.
• Graffuturism provides an introduction to Zoer CSX.
• A Kid Acne solo show just opened in LA.
• Sad news but expected for the world graffiti community: 5Pointz, a graffiti Mecca in New York City, is going to be demolished around September 2013.
• Wondering what Revok has been up to since moving to Detroit? Here’s your answer: Some good stuff.
• New mural from the DMV guys.
• Lewy BTM hit the side of the Brooklyn Bridge, something that happened in 1988 with Sane and Smith and then again in 2000 with Year and Sace, but certainly isn’t an everyday occurrence. Lewy’s work has already been buffed.

Photo by Rai Cruz

Lush. Photo by Lush

It’s that time of the week again… Here’s what I’ve been reading across the rest of the web:

• Caber’s drips are fantastic.
• Yes, there’s a new Banksy. Moving on…
• I’d like to point out two fake Banksy social media accounts that I’ve been enjoying late. The first is the @BanksyIdeas Twitter account. It’s full of ideas for future Banksy pieces that will hopefully never be made. The other is The Real Banksy, a tumblr account made by Cardinal Burns. They are a comedy duo with a new show on E4 in the UK, and the guys behind this video. Their suburban Banksy character will feature in every episode of the Cardinal Burns show on E4. Here’s one of their new Banksy sketches.
• Shepard Fairey has worked with Neil Young to make paintings inspired by Young’s latest album. The work will premiere at Perry Rubenstein Gallery’s brand new LA space in June during a one-day private event. Of the one piece previewed so far, the work looks distinctly Shepard Fairey, but also distinctly un-OBEY. I like it.
• Saber is upset and taking to Twitter because this fantastic mural was buffed. While Saber seems to think that the wall was buffed for something related to the show Sons of Anarchy, The LA Weekly has the least biased overview of what’s gone down. Whatever reason though, it’s a real shame that that mural was destroyed. I must note that I find it interesting how, in the past, Saber has been all about the rights of property owners to do whatever they want with their walls, but now he has suddenly changed his tone and begun speaking out against public advertisements now that work by his friends has been destroyed. Glad to see the change of heart, but I’m disappointed that it took such an unfortunate incident for Saber to see some of the downsides to public advertisements.
• Galerie F, possibly Chicago’s next art gallery focusing on street art, has taken to Kickstarter to help fund the repairs to their space that will make it usable a gallery.
• Jordan Seiler’s latest endeavor is something quite different from PublicAdCampaign… It’s an augmented reality app for Android phones that will insert 3d murals onto potentially any building. Right now, it’s in the beta stages, but this could be huge. Sort of like what FriendWithYou did with Becks, but with even more potential.
• Word To Mother’s show at White Walls looks great. That said, Word To Mother still seems to be finding his voice. He, as usual, experiments with some styles that are little-more than his own riffs on ideas by Barry McGee, Phil Frost and possibly Saber. In the past, he’s fiddled with things very reminiscent of Swoon and Monica Canilao. But the funny thing is that Word To Mother already has a style that is distinctly his own and almost all of his best work is in that style. While yes, the baseball bats inspired by Phil Frost are cool, it’s the original works on wood featuring characters and bits of text that are the stand-outs and the pieces that are most unique to Word To Mother. I understand not wanting to be boxed in and the urge to experiment, but this piece which clearly developed by spending a lot of time looking at Barry McGee/Phil Frost/maybe Saber is not the way to experiment. Still, overall looks like another cracker of a show from Word To Mother.
• Two bits of Kaws news this week: He has a show in Hong Kong that his fans are going ga-ga for. I love the red Chum painting, but otherwise I’m not really bothered, although I think Kaws is, surprisingly, someone whose work is best appreciated in person so maybe I’m just plain wrong for being unimpressed by the jpegs. The big news for Kaws though is that there will be a balloon of one of his Companions in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade this November.

Photo by Lush