Got this kind of confusing press release in my inbox today. For what I’ve been able to gather, there is a new London art gallery opening next month in Kings Cross. The Writers Bench is a gallery for graffiti. Their first show will be a solo show with Cept called “A Frozen Explosion.” That show opens on September 3rd and runs for most of the month. For me, Cept’s gallery work can be hit or miss (my preference being his superhero work, not so much the purely text-based paintings or the Zodiac series), but I do like it when I think it works, so I’m curious to see what he’s got in store. And with a show title like “A Frozen Explosion,” I think it’s safe to say we can see cool pieces like this:

Here’s a few things that I could/should have done full posts about, but I’d just like to quickly cover before they become too old and get lost in my inbox.

• Until May 30th you can get a special “early bird” rate on tickets to OFFSET2009, a 3 day conference taking place in Dublin this November. A number of street/urban/low-brow artists will be there including D*Face, Asbestos, and Brad Downey.
• Faile put up another prayer wheel in New York. Unfortunately, @newyourpulse has just tweeted that the piece is gone. A picture below (and more here):
  
• Jeff Soto has been in London. I’ve never been a fan of his work (admitted, I have only seen jpegs), which is why I didn’t cover his current show at StolenSpace Gallery, but he’s also done a couple street pieces which I like much more than his gallery work, so below is one of those. Also, here’s a recent interview with Soto for Civil Clothing.
  
• Public Ad Campaign‘s recent New York Billboard Takeover was even larger than I could have imagined. They’ve just released a Google map detailing all the work that was done. Great job guys. Looks like you took over the city (if only for a day or two).
• And lastly, the Brooklynite Gallery‘s latest show has brought a bit of London to New York, with Sweet Toof and Cept getting up in across the pond.
  

Jeff Soto photo by Sabeth718, other photos by SMKjr

Spent some time today checking out the catolog for the February 24th urban art auction at Bonhams in London. A few people have noted the extremely high number of Banksy lots (22 of 78) and dismissed this auction, but I’ve found a few potential deals to be had. If you’ve got the money to spend and you can weed through the crap, people are looking to sell some really nice work. Here’s what I’ve found:

1. Banksy – Kate Moss (series of 6)
Estimate: £100,000 – 150,000

There was a time when just one of these 6 could go for £100,000. Perhaps Banksy’s most sought after print. The winner of this auction will be a very lucky man/woman in a decade. Read the rest of this article »

Work by K-Guy. Photo by K-Guy

Everybody’s been talking about how the recession is going to destroy every part of our economy, and yeah, it probably will, but it’s not all bad new… street art might actually get a boost in the long run thanks to this economic downturn.

Here are three possible advantages for street art in this recession:

1. The not very talented artists who have found their way into galleries are going to be put in their place.
So many people have been buying street art either for the name of the artist, or just because it is street art. This year, some collectors are concerned that even great artists won’t sell much work. People have stopped buying for name or genre recognition. Collectors are buying those “special pieces” that they feel are particularly great. At the end of this recession, there are going to be a lot fewer crap street artists because their work  is going to stop selling. Nobody wants to buy a piece any more just because the Sotheby’s catalog describes it as “stencil and spray paint on found wood.” Read the rest of this article »