Overunder and Labrona. Photo courtesy of Pawn Works. Click to view large.

Overunder and Labrona were recently in Chicago for a mural project with Pawn Works (more info on that side of their trip soon), but they also had some fun installing less sanctioned work while in town. Here are a few of the pieces they put up:

Overunder. Photo by Overunder.

Overunder and Labrona. Photo courtesy of Pawn Works. Click to view large.

Labrona. Photo courtesy of Pawn Works.

Overunder. Photo courtesy of Pawn Works. Click to view large.

Overunder. Photo courtesy of Pawn Works.

Photos courtesy of Pawn Works and by Overunder

Quetzalcoatl and the Stork by Gaia. Photo by Brock Brake. Click to view large.

Continuing the work that Pawn Works, 25th Ward Alderman Danny Solis (who is paying for these murals), The National Museum of Mexican Art, and the Chicago Urban Art Society have been bringing to Chicago, Gaia and Roa both recently painted in the Pilsen neighborhood of Chicago.

Gaia painted a piece called Quetzalcoatl and the Stork, about the neighborhood transitioning from mostly having Polish immigrants to now being home to many Mexican immigrants.

Quetzalcoatl and the Stork by Gaia. Photo by Gaia.

Roa‘s piece is a nice illusion of sorts and utilizes the space absolutely perfectly. Some of the best placement of a mural or piece of street art I’ve seen all year. Remember folks, learn from Roa and always practice good placement.

Roa. Photo by Brock Brake. Click to view large.

Roa. Photo by Brock Brake. Click to view large.

While in town, Gaia also painted another piece independently of the Pilsen project called Afro Cuban Siblings.

Afro Cuban Siblings by Gaia. Photo by Brock Brake.

Photos by Gaia and Brock Brake

Click here to view large

RAE was in my hometown of Chicago a couple of weeks ago showing them how it’s done. RAE was in town thanks to Pawn Works, who had this to say about the visit:

We were very excited to be able to host Rae in Chicago to kick off an on-going mural project in the Historic Pilsen neighborhood on the Southside of Chicago of which we’ve been asked to participate in. We are working with the Alderman’s Office, The Mexican Museum of Art, The Chicago Urban Art Society and other partners to beautify a stretch of wall in the Pilsen neighborhood. With an array of amazing artists planned to come out to participate on our end we look forward to keeping everyone caught up.

Photos by Brooklynite Gallery

As far as I can tell, Pawn Works have brought Skewville to Chicago for the first time. Not My Type opened last week and looks to be just what we’ve come to expect from Skewville: A colorful celebration of fun. Most of the work is in the gallery, but Skewville also customized a full-sized school bus, painted this mural and tossed some kicks. And it looks like Skewville is trying to take back “Your Ad Here” from Shepard Fairey. Of course it’s not a term that Skewville coined, but there’s this little feud between the two concerning on the phrase.

Check out some photos from inside Not My Type after the jump… Read the rest of this article »

Following on the coattails of Rj just three posts down, to bring us all up to speed, Clownsoldier is this months artist showing at Pawn Works in Chicago. I have some vested interest in that space, but what they are doing for the chicago street scene is pretty spectacular as every artist that has come so far has left a little piece of themselves in the city. Now let’s see some more pieces on the street son, you ve got six days!

Photos by Mo.FoTo

We’re way late on this one, but Gabriel Specter had a show at Pawn Works Chicago last month. Here are a few of my favorite works from Repeat Offender. Check out the rest at the Pawn Works website.

Photos courtesy of Pawn Works Chicago

Clownsoldier is the next artist who will be showing at the Pawn Works gallery in Chicago. His solo show, The Human Cannon Ball will open in just under two weeks on Friday, June 24th. The press release describes Clownsoldier as “an explosion of absurdity wheatpasted onto a wall near you,” and I think that’s pretty accurate, but his gallery work isn’t half bad either! For this show, Clownsoldier has made collages on book covers and original paintings. In case you missed it, check out this studio visit I did with him last month. Clownsoldier’s best collages have a sense of wonder and playfulness. The combination of his fine arts background and seeming relative naiveté about street art culture combine to offer something a bit different from what street art fans have come to expect and yet make him the perfect fit for Pawn Works (whose previous shows have been with Specter and Gaia).

Check out The Human Cannon Ball at Pawn Works in Chicago, opening on June 24th from 7-11pm.

Photo courtesy of Pawn Works

An avid fan of both stickers and urban art, I love what Pawn Works has been up to: the design and installation of vending machines that makes the best of urban art available in sticker format.  I recently had a chance to speak with one of its two founders, Seth Mooney, currently living in NYC. His partner, Nick Marzullo, is based in Chicago.

I love the concept of a vending machine that dispenses stickers featuring urban art. How did you guys come up with the idea?  We thought it would be a great way to showcase contemporary artists and designers and make their work easily affordable and accessible to collectors. 

You guys have an amazing roster of artists, and the stickers look fabulous.  Not only have you featured some of my favorites – folks like C215, Dain and Gaia – but you’ve introduced me to artists whose work is new to me. How do you engage artists in your project?  We’ve approached some artists and some are referred to us. Others contact us directly.  The artists have complete control over their image. 10% of the stickers we print go directly to the artist. A small portion of the stickers printed are pooled and distributed in sticker packs among the sticker club’s members, as one of our goals is to connect artists from around the globe.

Where can we find these vending machines? We plan to place them in a variety of venues, including, of course, galleries and cafes. The first NYC gallery to have our sticker machine is Brooklynite in Bed-Stuy.

Do you collect stickers yourself?   I’ve been collecting them for over 20 years, since I was 9 years old. I love stickers. They are the most portable genre of tangible art!

Do you design your own? I’ve done some but I’m far more focused on other people.

I see that your partner in Pawn Works, Nick Marzullo, is running a gallery in Chicago.  How did you guys get into that?  About 5-6 years ago, Nick started doing shows in friends’ apartments and representing their work at art fairs.  In time, it led to the establishment of a gallery that features work by emerging contemporary artists. The current exhibit REPEAT OFFENDER features work by Gabriel Specter.

Have you a formal art background? I studied photography at Columbia College in Chicago and I also work as a photographer.  But I consider myself primarily a “facilitator of the arts.” 

Sounds good! I love what you’re doing and I look forward to seeing and collecting more of Pawn Work’s stickers.

Photojournalists Lisa Kahane on the left and Martha Cooper on the right

Sticker with image by Jesse Reno, mixed-media painter living and working in Portland, OR.

Images courtesy Seth Mooney

Neckface and Reader stickers in NYC. Photos by Sabeth718

If you looked at Vandalog this week, you’d think it was a slow week in street art. That’s not so, but I’ve been locked down working on Up Close and Personal (opening pics here). So here’s some of what I missed covering this week:

• This post at Brooklyn Street Art has the info on a number of shows that are opening or have opened recently (Hellbent and John Breiner in Brooklyn, Matt Siren in NYC, Chicago street artists in Chicago, Ad Hoc Art’s show at New Puppy Gallery in LA, Specter at Pawn Works in Chicago and The London Police in Denver).
• Moneyless has hit FAME Festival.
• Great ad disruptions in Lisboa.
• Just photographing Boxi.
• Emarama has a zine of her Dropmen characters (available here).
• I’m a fan of TYPE’s work in London, and Richard Mellor has put together a Google Map of the pieces.
• Gaia has put up one of my favorite pieces from him ever, and has a show opening with the talented Nanook next week in Baltimore. My Love For You’s post on all that is pretty much exactly what I would have posted.
• Roa’s been getting up in San Francisco with some great pieces.
• Malarky, Sweet Toof and Mr. Penfold have been collaborating on roll-gates in London.
• Eine’s latest print, Change, goes on sale at Nelly Duff on May 18th. 30% of profits will go to charity.

Photo by Sabeth718

After a solid two weeks of getting up in Chicago, a slew of commissioned projects and a wonderful preview at Pawn Works gallery in Ukraine Village, Resplendent Semblance was finally concluded at Maxwell Colette to a tremendous turnout. Here are some pieces from the show and photos from opening night.

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