For Bast‘s latest print release with The Outsiders at Lazarides the artist has chosen to target the butt of recent jokes in London- Dalston. Home to the many hipster knobheads that run around claiming benefits and puking on doorsteps, the print entitled Dalston Unitooth looks at a fictitious world where the hipsters of Europe and the USA come together. One of the same breed, the print is amusing if you get it, but aesthetically is an explosion of color gone awry and a paint by numbers theme that is touched upon and lost immediately. Eh, at least it is a bit different. Can’t knock something for being a bit different. I’ll take a change of pace rather the same old stuff nowadays.

The print is available from today at The Outsiders or online and is a print in 21 colors as an edition of 10 for £500.

Image courtesy of The Outsiders

Remember when I posted a little while ago about the StealBanksy pr sunt in Melbourne? Well someone actually managed to steal it and not in a very creative way either. Posing from as a staff member from the Art Series Hotel (the hotel owners behind the gag) agency, Maura Tuohy stole No Ball Games out of The Blackman Hotel.

Apparently, the agency got so much press for this they are doing it all over again (for a final time supposedly) with Banksy’s  Pulp Fiction until January 15th. Rememebr if you want to try your hand at stealing this piece you have to a guest at the hotel. Of course that’s the catch. There is always a catch.

Photo courtesy of Art Series Hotel

So now that i am back from Miami and not working 14 hour days, I am back to posting on here. This pr stunt from Art Series Hotels in Australia came in to my inbox and I found it amusing enough to post, despite its blatant ploy to entice guests to the hotel. From 15 December to 15 January hotel guests at The Cullen, The Olsen and The Blackman down under will have the opportunity to steal a Banksy print, No Ball Games. If you manage to successfully steal it while on show at one of the three hotels during the month then it is yours to own. Anyone have any good ideas for this? I’m thinking someone should pull the fire alarm or flash a security guard.

Check out www.stealbanksy.com.au for more information.

Photo courtesy of Art Series Hotels

On November 7, Kid Acne‘s latest show opens at JAGGEDART in Marylbone. This particular show is a bit of a departure for the artist as he collaborates with photographer Patrick Guedj of Kenzo Parfums. I surprisingly like the work, mainly because it feels like a peep into Kid Acne’s sketchbook, or what he would do if he was given a set of photographic stills and create doodles. All the same, I really enjoy seeing any artist stepping out of the box and taking a risk with their work in a different medium and capacity.

Image courtesy of JAGGEDART

Charming Baker "Panda Boy remix" (2007) (£6,000 - £8,000)

This week sees the opening of Autumn’s most high profile street art “exhibit” at The Cumberland Hotel in Marble Arch. I say exhibit loosely since Urban Contemporary is a ten day show culminating in the 150 works being auctioned off by Dreweatt’s on October 10. As usual, there is a mix of crap and some rare works that haven’t been seen in a while. The two that stood out for me is JR’s Adama, Montfermeil, Portrait d’une generation (2006) and the Charming Baker Panda Boy Remix (2007). Not only is the piece an early Baker, but this is also the first time (I cannot find evidence to say otherwise) one of his works has cropped up in the secondary market. Other artists in the show include D*Face, Barry McGee, Shepard Fairey, Banksy, Blek le Rat and Eine.

The show opens September 30th at The Cumberland Hotel in Marble Arch.

D*Face "Pop Tart" (2007) (£4,000 - £6,000)

Shepard Fairey "Johnny Ramone" (2008) (£6,000-£8,000)

All Images courtesy of Dreweatt’s Bloomsbury

Photo by Hooked

One of my favorite British street artists now, Phlegm, has been around London recently putting up some great pieces. His latest is on the Zetfield House in Shoreditch courtesy of Signal Gallery. More pictures can be seen by Mark over at Hooked who was there to watch the artist paint.

Below are two new pieces Phlegm did on The Foundry in Old Street a few weeks ago. I walked past on one of my street art tours and was more than excited to see these here. I also have a feeling no one is going to mess with them for awhile. They look great next to ROA‘s squirrel, older Invader and Ben Eine x Part2ism collaboration. After so much work buffed on that building, it is nice to see it turning into a go to spot for street artists once again and aren’t just painting in the parking lot behind it.

Photo by Street Art London

Photo by Street Art London

Photos by Hooked and Street Art London

I know I haven’t been too active here lately. My dissertation and job hunting in London has pretty much consumed my life that past few weeks. But I saw this new El Mac piece on Arrested Motion and am absolutely in love with it. On a recent trip to Montreal, Canada, the artist painted this piece entitled Spirit in Summer as an homage to the town of Rosemount. The woman depicted is apparently El Mac’s interpretation of Rose Phillips, after whom the town is named.

Hoping this is going to be a print, because I would love to look at this piece on a daily basis in my flat.

Photo by Arrested Motion

So the other night I finally got around to watching Channel 4′s Graffiti Wars, otherwise known as “The documentary about ROBBO.” I have some mixed feelings about it, and obviously want to tread lightly talking about it with ROBBO’s condition (He is currently in a coma), but feel that RJ and I should at least attempt to address the pseudo-documentary.

For those who haven’t seen it yet, and you can over here on 4od online in the UK, the hour long special focuses on UK graffiti writer ROBBO and his ongoing turf war with Banksy. Vandalog has covered the “graffiti war” since the beginning, but pretty much Banksy covered a ROBBO piece along the Camden canal that had been there since the 1980′s and in retaliation ROBBO began writing graff again and he and his team would vandalize Banksy works.

My main issue with the documentary is not the extreme sympathy and bias that Channel 4 shows towards ROBBO throughout or the lack of interviews from street artists (not just all the graff writers that spoke on camera), but actually this alleged success story for ROBBO of him on the brink of becoming a fine artist.

I went back to Pure Evil yesterday (who is featured in the film for hosting ROBBO’s first solo show) to look at some of the unsold works. He has put them on display in the basement, so if you have a chance do go check them out. In all honesty, however, the work is not that great. Now we all know there is a lot of shit out there that people praise, but from a strictly artistic perspective, in my opinion the work is sub-par that was shown in the gallery. He is a graff writer and does amazing graff works, but his gallery work doesn’t reflect that wild style. The film focuses on ROBBO’s dreams of becoming a fine artist in his own right and that is is the crux of my issues. He is not a fine artist and he just used the feud between him and Banksy to make some money. He hadn’t been working for years, but all of a sudden, he used the notoriety of Banksy to get noticed and maneuver his way into the gallery system. Plenty of artists take advantage of publicity to sell art (Eine…), but eventually the work has to stand on its own. ROBBO’s does not. ROBBO might be a “king”, but he is not a great artist.

I am sure people have other views on this, but the documentary could have been more well-rounded and unbiased. It is a tragedy what happened to ROBBO, and my thoughts are prayers go out to his family and friends. If you want to help support ROBBO, there is a fundraiser/art auction taking place next month at Cargo.

Photos courtesy of Channel 4

So all summer I am researching the topic of how artists translate their work indoors. I am looking at everything from their change of materials, styles and finished works. Since I first heard about Morley, I wondered how he would adapt his wheatpastes when a gallery finally decides to capitalize on his popularity and put him in a show. But the artist beat them to it and showed off some of his original pieces that he just finished incorporating his wheatpastes into a diorama type environment. Here are some of my favorites from Morley’s blog:

Made from "Missed Connections" on Craigslist

All photos via Morley

On July 21, Moniker will be opening a show at Blackhall Studios in Shoreditch entitled Gossip Well Told. Featuring the likes of artists Swoon, Eine, Dabs and Myla, Case and Herakut. There will also be some great street art photos from Cheryl Dunn that I am really looking forward to seeing as well. Below is one of her photos from the Twist/Barry McGee mural on Houston Street in New York City.

Photo by Cheryl Dunn and courtesy of Moniker