Veng in NYC

Well, I’m just gonna brag for a second. Haverford College just got way cooler. M1 from Dead Prez is doing a residency here. Gonna go see him perform tonight in our tiny music venue. And yes, I am aware of the apparent hypocrisy of being a white male at a private educational institution and getting excited to see M1 perform. Anyway. Back to the art.

• This group show in Oakland, CA which includes Deuce 7 looks pretty cool.
• Over on the Vandalog tumblr, Steph posted about the album art that Ron English has made for Chris Brown. I’ve got to agree with her, it’s pretty bad. Maybe Ron was too busy curating this show of South Park themed art, which sounds like it could go either way.
• Loving this photo by Jake Dobkin of a mural by Anthony Lister.
• Here’s a video from the opening of the Street Art Pop Up Store in LA.
• I’m starting to really like Linelinedot.
• Next week, Londoners can pick up some free paintings at Mutate Britain.
• I love it when a street art or graffiti ethos goes digital.
• Some interesting Chinese graffiti in this online zine.
• Colbert sold that portrait of himself that Shepard Fairey and others “made into art” at Philips de Pury and the video is hilarious.
• Slick has done the best artwork to support Japan that I’ve seen so far.
• Zevs made a t-shirt. Not sure if I love or hate it.
• You may have seen this new piece by OverUnder around other blogs, but you definitely should check out his blog to read the full story.

Photo by Luna Park

Loving this video from the folks at MuTate Britain of Best Ever and Dead Leg painting a piece. It even includes a bit of animation.

And I’m thinking that the MuTate guys would like me to mention their new shop which is now online.

This past week has been pretty crazy. I’ve been running around NYC seeing friends and art, and now I’m in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Unfortunately, the art world does not hit pause just because I’m taking a holiday. Here are some of the things I would have loved to cover on Vandalog if I’d had the time. And keep an eye on Vandalog tomorrow because I’ll be doing a big wrap up of Primary Flight.

• Invader has gone HUGE in London by Truman Brewery.
• Grifters at Lazarides Gallery looks great. JR amazes me as always, there are some of those new Faile pieces with wooden blocks, and I don’t mind Invader’s neon characters.
• MuTate Britain has reopened for the holiday season. Cool as always.
• Damn you Mark Jenkins. Damn you and your awesomeness straight to hell.
• And last but certainly not least, ABOVE is in a giving mood with a new print to support a homelessness charity.

The latest in my series of videos for Babelgum Metropolis is online. Essentially, I’ve figured out how to best enjoy the latest large mural from Burning Candy as well as new pieces by Blek le Rat and Pure Evil which have popped up in East London.

Also, yesterday I meant to post a video of me at MuTate Britain, but accidentally posted another video of the show. Well here is the video I meant to post:

Here’s my take on this year’s MuTate Britain: Correction: I’ve got a video about MuTate coming up on Babelgum soon, and when I saw this on the Babelgum site, I thought this was it. I only saw the title, because the computer I was blogging from wasn’t working well and wouldn’t show me the video. 20 hours later, I’ve gone back to check out the video, and turns out this isn’t the one I made. Still a very cool video though.

MuTate Britain: One Foot in the Grove is now open. It might not match last year‘s event, but it’s still a great party with cool art and something for everybody.

Put simply: MuTate has sculptures shooting fire into the air. ‘Nuf said.

In all seriousness though, the sculptures and paintings are very cool. Best Ever, Busk, Mode2, Sickboy and many many many others have contributed to make something special and unique.

Sickboy

I could say that I liked this painting or that painting, but half the time I didn’t know who painted my favorite pieces, they were just good, regardless of the name behind them.

Bleach, Busk and Zadok

But is it the absolute best art in the world? Not always. It’s just fun to see. Even a poorly painted stencil contributes to the atmosphere and makes MuTate a nice place to grab a beer or two.

Best Ever

This is the art show you can bring your friends to who would rather just go to the pub (see: my comment about fire).

Part2ism

MuTate Britain is located underneath Westway in London near Ladbroke Grove station. Who knows how long this party is going to continue (even the artists I spoke with said anywhere from a few weeks to indefinitely), so go check it out now.

MuTATE Britain: Behind The Shutters was one of the best art exhibitions in London last year. And now the MuTATE crew is back with MuTATE Britain: One Foot in the Grove. One Foot opens October 9th at the corner of Portobello & Acklam Roads in London. Just like last year, the list of artists involved is staggering, but here are a few: Matt Small, Paul Insect, Best Ever, Part2ism, Pure Evil and Dr. D.

A few images have started to leak out, and here’s one of a piece Best Ever is painting:

Photo by Ian Cox

See you there next Friday.

And for updates, make sure to check out the official MuTATE blog.

Auction Saboteur will be one year old this week so its time for a little celebration, this Thursday at the Mutate Show from 7pm. It will also be the last Thursday party with the Mutoid Waste Crew, it will be great night. Sausages on sticks, cheese and pickled onions, mince pies as well fizzy pop and lots of rum. Not to forget a special Mucky dip and possibly the best show in Britain right now.

The end is nigh, mutate of die !!!

Send and email to info@auctionsaboteur.com and the first 150 people with ‘happy birthday’ in the subject bar will be placed on the guest list.

Here is a pic of one of the exclusive Mutate Britain Ceramic Spray cans by the Baroness that could be won in the £5 Mucky dip on the night.

Also there will be three special other exclusives released this thursday, half on the night half the next day online at www.auctionsaboteur.com

Looks like the guys at MuTATE Britain have been having some fun. Mutoid Waste brought one of their creations out onto the street the other day.

Friday was public opening night for the sickest show in London. MuTATE Britain, the opening show for the new Behind The Shutters gallery, was an idea five weeks ago, and now it’s a four or five story tall hodgepodge of (usually good) art. The list of artists would be too long to list here, but here are a few: Mutoid Waste Company, Part2ism, Pure Evil, Snub23, Dr. D, The Krah, Dotmasters, and many many many more.

I twittered photos and a few comments live from the show for a few hours, but I’m sure I didn’t see half the work. Romanywg actually ran out of space on his memory card.

All photos by WallKandy, who has a great set of images on his flickr.

Entering Cordy House, the first room is full of sculptures that are a mesh between man/animal and machine. Sure, it’s been done before, but that doesn’t mean these aren’t still sick. The walls of this room are covered in work by some of the most talented artists that I can’t name, plus some amazing stuff by the Best Ever crew, who also did this piece on Leake Street. Watch your head in this room. There’s literally an anvil hanging from the ceiling.

Read the rest of this entry »