Last weekend, residents of Beacon, NY were treated to live painting by a couple of dozen artists, including some of street art’s finest. The artists were their for Electric Windows. Steph mentioned the event last month, but here’s the short version: artists paint panels which then go on display in the windows of a former electric blanket factory. An interesting idea, but I still think the best part of this event was the chance for members of the public to wait such talented artists work. Papermonster has over 100 photos from Electric Windows on his blog. Here are some of my favorite pieces from the event:
Papermonster
Elbow-toe
Gaia
Chris Stain, one of a few artists at the event who worked directly on walls
It gives me great pleasure to share with everyone that artists Chris Stain and Leon Reid will be exhibiting at the Creative Alliance right here in Baltimore. The exhibit opens Sat May 8 at the right by Patterson Park from 7-9pm, On view May 8-29 Free. Opens w/ From Mountains to Maryland at 5:30pm, and FUSION: Hip Hop on the Mountain at 9pm
As every schoolchild knows, John Henry was a giant of a man, who wielded a 20 pound hammer as though it were nothing, and won an epic contest against a steam engine, only to die on the spot. Henry was a slave, or former slave, and the battle that cost him his life is said to have taken place in Talcott, West Virginia on the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad. Built from found materials by Leon Reid IV, a statue of John Henry towers over this Main Gallery installation, amidst Hoovertown shacks made of wooden pallets and railroad ties made of cardboard. Giant stenciled murals by Chris Stain form a backdrop melding WPA-era social realism and urban graffiti, expanding on the themes of John Henry’s story—struggle and pride, race and dislocation in the face of technological and economic change. In this way, their installation serves as an ideal introduction to Urban/Appalachia, Creative Alliance’s series examining the long and complicated relationship between Baltimore and Appalachia, from past generations seeking work in city steel mills, to a generation today shipped to prisons in the mountains.
Born in 1972 and raised in East Baltimore, Chris Stain is a New York-based, self taught print maker and stencil artist inspired by NYC subway graffiti and poster design. His work has shown in museums and galleries internationally, and been published in books, magazines, and websites about street art and urban contemporary culture. Leon Reid IV was born in Virginia and raised in Ohio, an African American public artist who manipulates urban spaces, monuments and architecture with sardonic visual puns. He received his M.A. from London’s Central Saint Martins School of Art and Design and recently completed a public commission titled The Great Recession in Stavanger, Norway.
Drago (the wonderful Italians who published my book last year), Wooster Collective and Meet At The Apartment have a very cool sounding event going on next week in New York City. The 41st Parallel is a special Q&A event with some of street art’s biggest names. Some artists from The Thousands (Chris Stain, WK Interact, Elbow-toe and Swoon), other Drago-affiliated artists like Logan Hicks, Drago’s founder Paulo von Vacano and Marc and Sara Schiller of Wooster Collective will all be there. I spoke with Paulo today, and it sounds like the artists might be signing books as well. Unfortunately, I’ll be here in London, but I’m sure this is going to be the place to be in NYC next Wednesday evening. Check it out if you want to meet some artists, ask them questions and maybe pick up my book if you’re so inclined…
And yes I realize that I’ve been criticizing people recently for advertising stuff without really saying that they are advertising things. So, I guess this is an advert in the hopes that more people will buy my book, but if you’re flat broke or just don’t want to buy a book, this should still be a nice Q&A with some of the most influential people in street art.
A charity street art auction at the Factory Fresh gallery will see the largest array of street artists together anywhere so far this year in tandem with the book launch for Street Art New York.
The book by Steven P. Harrington and Jaime Rojo (brooklynstreetart.com), with a foreword by Carolina A. Miranda (c-monster.net), is published by Prestel – who have upped the ante with regards the front cover design. Instead of using a free download, ‘graffiti’ font, they have chosen one that doesn’t scream urban cool, tastefully adjacent to an image by Judith Supine. I’ve read that Harrington is a book designer by trade, so it makes sense. I guess the less said about the cover for the pair’s 2008 release, Brooklyn Street Art the better.
The art auction will raise money for the kids charity, Free Arts NYC, who aid children and families with educational art and mentoring programmes.
The list of participating artists thus far includes: Bishop 203, Billi Kid, Bortusk Leer, Broken Crow, C Damage, C215, Cake, Celso, Chris RWK , Chris Stain, Creepy, DAIN, Damon Ginandes, Dan Witz, Dark Clouds, Elbow Toe, Gaia, FKDL, General Howe, GoreB, Hellbent, Imminent Disaster, Jim Avignon, Jef Aerosol, JMR, Jon Burgerman, Keely, Know Hope, Logan Hicks, Mark Carvalho, Matt Siren, Mint and Serf, Miss Bugs, NohJColey, Peru Ana Ana Peru, PMP, Poster Boy, Rene Gagnon, ROA, Pufferella, Royce Bannon, Skewville, Specter, Stikman, The Dude Company, Tristan Eaton, Veng RWK.
The auction and launch will take place at the Factory Fresh gallery, Bushwick, Brooklyn, April 24, from 7-11pm.
Chris Stain has sent me some images of new rubylith prints that he made recently. They’re nice looking landscapes and extremely affordable at just $30 each. They are for sale at Chris Stain’s online shop.
Don’t ask me how it happened, I’m still not entirely sure, but if you happen to pick up a copy of Vogue Italia this month, you’ll find an article about me and street art on page 96. I don’t speak Italian, but based on Google’s very rough translation, the article seems to be about The Thousands and me proselytizing street art as “museum quality.” So that’s pretty cool. And, because a. I’m no fashion icon, and b. it was an article about the virtues of street art, instead of photos of me taken by a famous photographer, the article features some pictures from The Thousands book of work by Burning Candy, Skewville, Elbow-toe and Chris Stain, so be on the look out for next year’s line of Skewville inspired tshirts at H&M.
Thursday night was the opening of Green Day’s The Art of Rock at StolenSpace Gallery. It would have been easy for Green Day to put together a street art show full of random artists that street art fans would hate but Green Day fans would like because it has the Green Day name on it. Instead, The Art of Rock was curated by Logan Hicks and he got some really talented artists involved.
My personal favorite was this piece by Chris Stain, one of his best I think:
Photo by Paulo20210
And I think you really have to see Logan Hick’s laser etched pieces in person, but this shot should give you some idea. The background is laser etched.
Each piece in the show (other than Logan’s portraits) is based on the lyrics from a song off of Green Day’s latest album.
C215
Sixten
Broken Crow, Ron English and The London Police
If you ever liked Green Day, you need to check out this show. The lineup is solid, the art is great and the connection to music is different.
Chris Stain sent me over a sneak peek earlier today of the fantastic piece he will be showing in Old Skoolin For The Children, an art show x fundraiser x concert opening November 7th in Washington, DC. Lots of other great artists (plus DMC of Run-DMC!) involved in this event, too – check out the list on the flyer below.
I don’t want to hype this up too much, but last weekend I had a really enjoyable time at Nuart in Stavanger and I can’t believe there aren’t more tourists flying out to see this festival. Here are a few pics.
On Thursday I’m headed to Stavanger for Nuart 2009, so as a little taster, I’ve been checking out this trailer for a documentary about Nuart 2008.
And of course, been looking at the photos coming out of Nuart 2009. Chris Stain is already there and has put up a few stencils. While they have unfortunately already been buffed, Ian Cox of WallKandy was there to snap some pics. You can see more of Ian’s Nuart photos on his flickr stream.
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