MOMO in Baltimore for Open Walls Baltimore

Earlier this month, I wrote about my 25 favorite murals of the year over at Complex.com. Check out the list and let me know what you think. One caveat: I submitted the list to Complex before Miami, so nothing from Miami this year was considered for it.

Photo by Geoff Hargadon

After seeing that Brooklyn Street Art is running a contest for the best street art photos of 2012, I thought to myself that maybe I should enter. Then I remembered that I’m not actually a great photographer. I’m competent and I still post photos to Flickr and Instagram, but there are a lot of people with a lot more talent than me. So instead of submitting to BSA’s contest and surely losing, I decided that I would just highlight a few of my favorite shots here on Vandalog. So, here are my 10 favorite photos that I took in 2012… Read the rest of this article »

MOMO for Open Walls Baltimore

I think we actually did a pretty good job this week on Vandalog covering what needs to be covered, but here are the few things we missed:

• MOMO finished his mural for Open Walls Baltimore, shown above.
• DAL and Faith47 recently showed together in Australia, and here’s a video of the show.
• Gold Peg is one of the artists behind Release The Wolves, a project to build a go-kart track in South London. Pictures on Walls have released this awesome print by Gold Peg to help fundraise for the project.
• Herakut’s latest show is in London and it looks beautiful.
• Selim Varol, the mega-collector of urban art, has the gems of his collection on display in Berlin.
• Lush’s latest project is an appeal to help all those poor toys out there.
• Bushwick Open Studios is this weekend, and Robin Gearson has put together a really nice show of local street artists as part of the Open Studios events.

Photo by MOMO

Vhils. Photo by RJ Rushmore

This is the first post in a two-part series based on the visit to Baltimore that Caroline Caldwell and I made last week. We made the trip to see Open Walls Baltimore, but ended up getting a taste of the larger street art and graffiti scenes in Baltimore too. This post is about the work we saw at Open Walls Baltimore. Thanks so much to Gaia, Killian, Martha Cooper, Nanook and AVOID for showing us around the city.

As previously covered, Open Walls Baltimore is Gaia‘s stab a street art/mural art festival. Taking inspirations from festivals like Wynwood Walls and Living Walls, Open Walls Baltimore has been bringing some of the world’s most talented street artists to Baltimore to paint murals. With the help of friends like Martha Cooper and Nanook, Gaia has managed to pull of quite a festival. This video gives a pretty good idea of what’s been going on from Freddy Sam’s perspective:

Like so many mural festivals, Open Walls Baltimore manages to do a lot with a small budget (at least compared to budgets like the budget of the Mural Arts Program). Caroline and I slept in Gaia’s studio next to Ever, which was also being used as Jaz‘ studio so that he could finish the work for his show in Barcelona, the studio for many of Gaia’s friends and the meeting place for most of the Open Walls Baltimore artists. When we arrived in town, Ever was stuck a couple of stories up in the air because his lift had nearly run out of gas. Despite minor snags like that, Open Walls Baltimore’s outward appearance is as a great success. Most, but not all, of the walls look good and have had a positive reception from the community.

Unlike a lot of other mural festivals, Open Walls Baltimore have been pretty honest about the criticism they have received and the double-edged sword that is muralism. This interview with Gaia really highlights just how complicated a mural festival can be for those directly involved and the communities receiving murals.

There are still a few pieces left to be finished, but the festival is winding down. Check out some of what Caroline and I saw on our visit after the jump… Read the rest of this article »

LNY was in Baltimore recently to check out Open Walls Baltimore (exactly what Caroline and I are doing right now actually). He had quite a time while there and put up a couple of very Baltimore-specific pieces. Here’s what he has to say:

So I got a story to tell you and some pics to share, see I ended up making these drawings in Baltimore by randomly running into this group of urban horseback riders galloping down an East Baltimore neighborhood while visiting Gaia and Nanook. It was Sunday so what would be better than to go on a horse ride right? So I took some pictures and then made some work to later find out that they are part of this old Baltimore tradition of Huckstering, basically going around in a horse drawn cart selling vegetables. These guys are also called Arabs, which comes from the term “street Arab” as in an abandoned kid who roams the slums, and I was lucky enough to find a stable in South West Baltimore where horses are bred and taken care of by the community. All of which blows my mind because these guys were so happy and excited about my posters as I was about meeting them and discovering this otherwise invisible history of a city I am completely alien to. As I was putting the work up I got a lot of feedback from the neighborhood and they read the images in so many different ways that I had never even considered; we talked about resilience, beauty, vision, excellence, dead space, gold, bling and the efforts of Sowebo to rejuvenate the neighborhood from the inside. I feel totally overwhelmed by the way the work was able to engage and be fulfilled by having this conversation with the neighborhood. All of this thanks to Martha Cooper who introduced me to Sowebo and has been constantly engaging and documenting the area, these are her pictures and a lil clip I took of the spot.

Photos by Martha Cooper

Maya Hayuk. Photo by Martha Cooper

Thanks to Open Walls Baltimore and also Martha Cooper, there are a lot of new murals coming up in Baltimore these days. Here are a few from Maya Hayuk, Swoon, Nick Mann aka Doodles and Interesni Kazki for Open Walls Baltimore and a wall by Never2501 and Pixel Pancho organized by Martha Cooper.

Swoon. Photo courtesy of Open Walls Baltimore

Never2501 and Pixel Pancho. Photo by Martha Cooper

Interesni Kazki. Photo courtesy of Open Walls Baltimore

Nick Mann aka Doodles. Photo by Martha Cooper

Nick Mann aka Doodles. Photo by Martha Cooper

Photos by Martha Cooper and courtesy of Open Walls Baltimore

Via Street Art News

Specter for Open Walls Baltimore

This week’s link-o-rama is a few days delayed. Parents were in town earlier this week and even came to an event some friends of mine organized at Haverford College: A talk by Jayson Musson (the artist who created and plays the character Hennessy Youngman). I don’t think my mom was amused. Here’s what I’ve been reading this week:

• Fault Magazine interviewed me about street art and The Underbelly Project.
• Open Walls Baltimore is coming along nicely.
• Shok-1 and Remi/Rough collaborated on a wall.
• D*face has been busy in NYC.
• Shepard Fairey is the latest artist to work with Montana on custom spray cans. Of course, they come in red, black and creme.
• David Shrigley is the latest artist to have his work on a billboard near the Highline.
• Seven Years with Banksy by Robert Clarke allegedly offers a behind-the-scenes look at Banksy. I haven’t read it yet, but it’s out in the UK here and USA here.
• I’ve heard a lot of people talking about Crash lately. While I don’t buy the hype myself (but I’m willing to be convinced), it seems worth mentioning that he has a show of watercolors on now in Paris.
• Veng is showing now at Mighty Tanaka in Brooklyn.

Photos by Martha Cooper

A note from RJ: The following is a guest post by Washington DC’s iwillnot.

Last week I went up to Baltimore to check in with Gaia and see how the walls were coming along for Open Walls Baltimore. While there, I wanted to meet up with a Baltimore artist that I have been following for quite some time now: Nether.

It just so happened I met with him at a time when he was receiving a lot of local press and notoriety for his depiction of an ominous hooded figure in tribute to Trayvon Martin. Placed in desolate and sometimes eerily empty spots, the 7 foot tall by 10 feet wide image is haunting.

Extremely well versed in the local graffiti and street art scene, Nether describes his own work as “an urban art campaign that hopes to impact and beautify BMORE’s bleakness through vibrant street art with the hopes of evoking public discussion.” His images bring to mind the decomposition of society, urban decay, and toxicity of modern life.

His large scale wheat paste images can be found between all of the major walls of OWB. Frankly, it is very difficult NOT to encounter one of his pieces while in the arts district. Their size and excellent placement make them impossible to miss.

I encourage all who are visiting OWB to walk from wall to wall. Along the way, there are some great pieces from local artists. When I asked Gaia, “Okay, who are the local guys? Who is putting stuff up?” He told me “Nobody man, it’s just me Nether and Mata Ruda basically.”

While that is not necessarily the case, especially during Open Walls Baltimore (there are several Overunders throughout the neighborhood). They are definitely making a huge impact on an otherwise bleak urban landscape.

Whats next for Nether? He says, “The Trayvon piece is the first of a larger series that will deal with the stories of ordinary black youth in a progressive manner…The aim of this series is to highlight and iconisize these character’s stories… I think promoting these stories could really inspire others, especially at risk youth.”

Photos by iwillnot

Open Walls Baltimore is a project that I have been personally coordinating with the not for profit Station North and is supported by the PNC foundation and a generous Our Town grant from the NEA. The intention is of course to produce great art on the streets and put on for my city that I love so much. Yet, of course, as every public art project must be, the OWB initiative will hopefully produce more than just spectacular murals. This is about an investment in a neighborhood that is burdened by 150 vacant homes and bridging the gaps between the artist community that calls Station North home and the residents of Greenmount West. Inspired by my experience with both Wynwood Walls in Miami and Living Walls in Atlanta, this initial and very exciting start will hopefully result in a continued support for public art and experimental intervention that can become more holistic as time moves forward. The current line up is as follows: Interesni Kazki, Maya Hayuk, Swoon, Specter, Doodles, Jaz, Ever, Freddy Sam, Mata Ruda, Nanook, MOMO, Vhils, Sten and Lex, Chris Stain, Jetsonorama, Overunder, and others. The website is now live. More to come!!!

Photos by Martha Cooper