July is a technically competent artist, creating stencils using 2 to 4 colors that generally include some sort of social or political commentary. For the same reason people are amused by Dolk, Icy & Sot, Blek le Rat and so on and so forth, people might have similar reactions to July as they do with those other artists. For more works by Banksy July check out their facebook page. For some more direct similarities to other artists, see here and here.

Wouldn’t it be great if artists moved beyond being technically competent and actually came up with interesting ideas too?

Photos by July

It’s not my intention to shame artists who collaborate with labels and “big brands” to support themselves, however I feel that there is a distinct line between using a brand’s notoriety to proliferate one’s own art and “selling out”. D*Face is an example of good corpo-collaboration as he seemed to have a lot of freedom when he worked with Smirnoff on a project which allowed him to do things he would have never been able to do on his own. By definition, selling out is what happens when an artist is willing to compromise their personal goals (i.e. propagating a message, promoting a distinct style, nurturing certain ideas/reactions, etc.) because of cash cash cash cash cash.

Louis Vuitton has invited Aiko, Os Gemeos and Retna to help design a series of scarves. Aiko refers to her work as having a graffiti influence and says ,”We break the law with wildstyle”, which seemed a bit ironic given that she is the only artist involved who does not come from a graffiti background and yet was the only artist to mention such things. As one commenter says, “Just waiting for Kidult to hear about this…” 12ozProphet has an interesting little read on some more examples of graffiti in couture, including a previous line from Louis Vuitton. Similarly, Krink and Coach will be releasing a collaborative line of bags this spring. That might just be coincidental timing or it maybe it was some Devil Wears Prada-esque trend carefully planned by the cigar smoking board members of some fashion-world back room.

Who do you think will buy these products?

Do you think they will know the significance or want to learn more about the artists?

Opening this Friday, Australian paint-roller connoisseurs “Rawhide” (aka Ankles and Smile) have decided to display their craftsmanship through collage in their show • C R E W / C U T S •. The video echos a few themes of the show, which Ankles describes best: “the visual equivalent of sample-heavy scratch DJs such as Cut Chemist, Kid Koala and The Avalanches. It is a time-consuming process digging through crates of pre-1970s magazines and books, removing type and image from their original context and rearranging it to form some self-referential narrative.”

If you’re in the Adelaide, South Australia area on Friday, March 19th, stop by Magazine Gallery to check out the work!

Photo by Ankles

A three-person team in Italy, working under the alias “Canemorto“, recently painted this 230 foot (70 meter) mural in North Italy. This is the first work I’ve seen by the trio but I’m excited to see more and after checking out their website they definitely seem promising. We’ll have to keep our eyes out for Canemorto.

Click to view large

Photos provided by Canemorto

The secretive Sweet Toof recently invited Tim Hans over to his studio as part of Tim’s continuing series of photo-portraits of street artists, and Caroline Caldwell has interviewed the artist.

Caroline Caldwell: What influenced you to do street art? Do you remember your first time?

Sweet Toof: No one forgets the first time, its like sex, started in 1986, and still at it. I blame Beat Street and Style Wars.

C: Do you try to do different things with your work or do let it evolve naturally?

ST: It is always good to experiment, working on the street fuels the studio work. One feeds another, what ever it takes a fat roller to a fine brush. The work evolves from mission to mission.

C: Burning Candy represents like a graffiti crew however the work is almost entirely character based. When Burning Candy was coming together, was there discussion over whether you all identified as a “graffiti” or “street art” crew?

ST: I left BC 3 years ago…. Burning Candy is what you see is what you get. We are like minded people working with characters, letterforms, tags, pieces, throw ups. Canvas sculpture print etc.

C: What’s one of the most interesting experiences you’ve had painting alone?

ST: Sinking in Quicksand was a strange experience.

C: And what about when you were painting with someone else?

ST: New York with friends was killer.

C: Have you been working on anything or collaborating with anyone lately?

ST: Working on a new body of work at present, watch this space for the rest.

Photos by Tim Hans

“Bike and Sidewalk” 2012. Berlin.

Brad Downey has a website.

“This is How We Roll” in collaboration with AKAY, 2011. Copenhagen.

“Wehrmann with Magnets” 2011. Vienna.

“Portrait of My Father” 2012. Atlanta (Part 1)

“Portrait of My Father” 2012. Atlanta (Part 2).

“Portrait of My Father” 2012. Atlanta (Part 3).

“Domesticated Waterfall” in collaboration with AKAY, 2012. Grottaglie, Italy (Part 1).

“Domesticated Waterfall” in collaboration with AKAY, 2012. Grottaglie, Italy (Part 2).

Photos by Brad Downey

Well, I think the content of this new piece by Mr. Thoms rather self explanatory. I was almost disappointed by the location outside Florence, since it looks as though this wasn’t done in a highly visible spot, but on second thought, the people who will most likely encounter this are the probably the people who should: explorers, graffiti/street artists, homeless, basically those who rely very little on the stock market for happiness.

Photo courtesy of Mr. Thoms

Via Arrested Motion

“All You Can Eat” Halle, Germany, 2012

Polish duo ETAM Cru consists of Bezt and Sainer who paint with an imaginative, quirky and illustrative style. The talent these two use to create these surrealistic murals is phenomenal, and even a bit reminiscent of Aryz or Ericilcane. Here are a few of my favorite pieces from the last 2 years.

“Traphouse” at Urban Forms Gallery, Lodz, Poland 2012

“Mind Trip” in Vienna, Austria, 2012

“Praying sinner” at Katowice street art festival, Poland, 2010.

ETAM with Pener Tone in Gorzów Wielkopolski, Poland, 2010.

Photos by ETAM Cru

Here’s  new piece by KRSN in France. I suppose that “Marx Do!” is a reference to McDonald’s, judging by the quote bubble with the McDonald’s slogan. The only other clue I have is that the photographer of the piece mentioned the French socialist politician Marx Dormoy. Does anyone have a guess?

Photos by Chrixcel

Blu

We get emailed the latest-and-greatest of many different street artists, but it is unusual to get sent photographs of old and worn down pieces unless they are historically significant. Miss Kaliansky may not have a website, but what she does have is an eye for beauty. She sent us these photos taken in Barcelona in January 2013, saying “Nothing new, but beautiful…”

Aryz

Miss Van

El Pez

Ripo

Suso33

TVboy

Xupet Negre

Photos by Miss Kaliansky