Roa in London

Happy weekend. Hope you’ve had a less busy week than me.

• Various and Gould spotted this odd but awesome tribute to a piece of graffiti in Berlin.
• Jaz recently visited C215′s town of Vitry, France, where he painted this stunning wall.
• Meanwhile, Anthony Lister is going huge in LA.
• Also on the west coast, Aryz painted one of his best murals to date in San Fransisco.
• In Miami, the city commissioner complains that a mural risks making a neighborhood look like a ghetto. Kinda funny given how muralists have been accused of helping to gentrify Miami’s Wynwood neighborhood.
• Ben Eine is always a joy to watch on camera. A nice, honest guy who just doesn’t feel like giving his friends free paint.
• Mear One and Ben Slow collaborate in LA, and it’s Mear’s first mural with a brush.
• Invader hit London. What do you think about the Star Wars themed piece? It’s not for me.
• Rochester’s Wall Therapy mural project has an IndieGoGo campaign running to try and fund this year’s event.
• A bit late on this one, but tonight the shop/gallery/bookstore Needles and Pens celebrated 10 years of existence with a huge show at The Luggage Store in San Fransisco including work by Know Hope, Deuce Seven, Pez, and so many other talented artists. Luckily, the show is on through June 8th.
• Also late to mention that Martin Whatson had a show opening this week Reed Projects in Stavanger, Norway.

Photo by Unusualimage

Okay, I’ll admit this is a slightly odd collaboration, but still probably a pretty cool opportunity for M-City and I like the result. Earlier this week, M-City painted a car for the Lotus F1 Team as part of an event for burn, Coca-Cola’s energy drink. Lotus F1 Team driver Kimi Räikkönen even picked up a stencil and spraycan for a little bit. The event took place at burn Yard, a traveling event that will also be headed to Hungary, Korea, Mexico and Brazil. Here’s more from the event:

Photos courtesy of burn

A manic excitement came from Hellbent as he opened the door to his studio, his first visit in nearly two weeks. Strands of tape wafted in the breeze created as the artist circled the narrow room. The lace-patterned strips dangle, waiting for their newly reimagined purpose, as a part of the Mix Tape series. Leftover from masking his other series, cleverly titled Demos, this formerly discarded tool becomes repurposed. These two bodies of work combine to form Mighty Tanaka’s upcoming exhibition, Even Romantics Love Violence, opening tonight from 6pm – 9pm.

Hellbent continues tracing his way around the periphery of his space, as if following a track, and sharing his inspiration along the path. In the same breath, I am told about David Wojnarowicz stenciling through the 80′s before being launched into a discussion about graffuturism and post-graffiti art. With an education in art history, Hellbent rattles off influences with the intensity of someone who devours the visual culture in which they are surrounded. This excitement for art animates the room, bringing dimensionality to the flat plains in his panels.

The exuberance that Hellbent exhibits in his studio weaves itself though the neons and lace that connote his style. Once the backdrop for characters, his patterns have come to the foreground in the past year, most notably in the artist’s largest wall to date, a collaboration with See One in Bushwick. Here, the delicate details that were once behind bold graphics, such as Freud’s jawbone, now stand alone adjacent to See One’s shards, which dance lightly across the surface. Even Romantics Love Violence marks an several important transitions in Hellbent’s evolution; while the artist’s geometric interpretation has appeared in the public sphere in multiple locations, Mighty Tanaka is the first to give this work a solo exhibition.

The second shift in the artist’s body of work comes through the repurposing of masking tape, where patterns emerge from the overspray found used to mask his lace stencils. Using liquid glass, board, and tape, the Mix Tape series becomes a tongue-in-cheek poke at these materials. Just as the artist consumes the visual history with which he is surrounded, each part of his process has been utilized for these series. Through his varied means of creation, the two play off of one another as the light pieces of tape become encased between layers of board and glass. In contrast, the Demos sufrace remain untouched, thus retaining the delicate texture of lace.

The energy comes to a close with the studio visit as the florescent layers of tape, glass, and wood are stacked together. The pieces are placed on a shelf and the light is turned off.

For many artists, their work is a manifestation of themselves, be it politically engaging, thoughtful, or comedic. In the case of Hellbent, the care taken to thoughtfully plan out the arrangement of lace combined with the energy of neon spray paint speaks to these sensibilities.

Even Romantics Love Violence opens Friday, May 10th, from 6pm – 9pm at Mighty Tanaka (111 Front Street, Brooklyn, NY).

Photos by Rhiannon Platt

Colin M. Day made this video at Roa’s recent show in Brussels, Belgium. It’s not your typical show teaser or post-show wrap up video. Dolin is doing his own thing with what he is passionate about. And I guess I’m not the only one who thinks so, because Brussels TV did a piece about Colin filming Roa. It’s a great little insight into the mind of an art fan. If you’ve ever wondered why people like Colin do what they do or people like me run blogs in our spare time, this should give you some idea:

NoseGo is in Newcastle this week for his very first UK solo show. The Marvelous Clash opens tonight at 7pm at Unit 44. I’m so glad that the UK is finally getting some NoseGo.

Photos courtesy of NoseGo

Gaia, Nanook, Mata Ruda and LNY are trying to raise some money on Kickstarter to paint some arabber stables in Baltimore. Arabbers are fruit venders who sell fruit on the street from horse-drawn carts. Gaia already painted one mural at their stable last summer.

These four artists are all known as talented muralists, but they also do great sketches. Which is lucky because funders of the project can get some very affordable sketches for helping out.

Check out more about the mural project here.

LNY was at Haverford College this week to paint on James House, a student arts space that has also been painted by Gaia, Labrona and Troy Lovegates. Here are some photos of his mural, Apex Predator. One of his best pieces yet, in my opinion. Thanks to The John B. Hurford ’60 Center for the Arts and Humanities’ Student Arts Fund at Haverford College and James House for sponsoring the mural.

Photos by RJ Rushmore

Blu recently finished two murals in Niscemi, Italy, where residents are protesting the US Navy’s installation of communications satellites which will be integral to controlling the next generation of military drones.

The above piece is one of my favorites from Blu in quite a while. The drones slowly transform into crosses at a graveyard, and the multitudes of Niscemi stand up and resist against the military monster. Besides the ethical concerns about drones, residents are also worried about the electromagnetic waves that the communications satellites will emit. Check out the No MUOS website for more information about the protests.

Translation: “Free up the landscape”

While the idea of satellite dishes as visual pollution would probably come up anywhere, it’s especially relevant in Niscemi, which looks like an absolutely beautiful place. Just have a look at the spectacular view just next to this mural.

And I also want to give major props to Blu for continuing his mission as a mural painter on his terms, even when he could certainly be making a living by painting at mural festivals around the world and selling his work indoors. Instead, he gets to paint what he wants, where he wants, when he wants, but he doesn’t have the easiest time of it. Any other muralist of Blu’s fame and talent would have a scaffolding or a lift to get help him paint, but all Blu had for these murals was a ladder and an extendable pole…

Photos courtesy of Blu

Brooklyn-based Dega Films launched a Kickstarter last week to fund their upcoming series of street art films, Wild In The Streets. To me, the series looks like Dega Films is trying to make street art videos in the style of skate videos. It’s a really cool idea. I’m not sure if it will work, but it’s definitely worth a shot. Obviously graffiti writers have been making bombing videos for decades that work on that same principle, but those were always circulated among other writers and not really made for the general public.

Here are two of Dega Films most recent videos:

ART POLLUTION: The Yok & Sheryo – 5Pointz – Queens, NY from DEGA films on Vimeo.

Wild In The Streets: Jilly Ballistic from DEGA films on Vimeo.

Rone

A note from the editor: This is a guest post by Peter Drew, a street artist originally from Adelaide, Australia.

Although Adelaide’s urban art scene is the underdog to Melbourne, its larger and louder interstate cousin, recent years and new blood have seen Adelaide catching up to Melbourne’s lead. Oi You: Urban Art Festival marks a high point for Adelaide as a private collection of 70 works by ‘the worlds urban art megastars’ visits the city, on view now at the Adelaide Festival Centre through June 2nd.

As crowds flock to the glamour and safety of ‘street art’ in a state gallery, Adelaide’s artists are using the exhibition as a catalyst for painting new walls. In addition to Anthony Lister, Rone and Beastman, local artists Kab 101, Jayson Fox, Vans the Omega, Fredrock, Seb Humphreys, Gary Seaman, Shane Cook and Store are contributing to the +12 murals going up across the city. Organised by Matt Stuckey, this aspect of the festival couldn’t have happened a few years ago. “We actually ended up with more walls than resources to paint them this time” says Matt.

Seb Humphreys

Graffiti first hit Adelaide in the mid 80s and its tradition’s continues with most of the artists involved in the Oi You festival. After trying to eradicate graffiti for years The Adelaide City Council now seems to think that street art is the solution to their problem. According to Adelaide’s Mayor: “it’s frustrating that we spend more cleaning up ugly vandalism and graffiti than we do investing in street art…young artists could be tapping into an opportunity that’s going to bring the city to life.” Read the rest of this article »