Reka for the Dulwich art festival

Another update from Reka, this time from London. Reka continues to push his distinctive style around the world, he was recently in London for the Dulwich Art Festival.

From Reka “I was asked to take part in the Dulwich art festival in London this week. Each artist was to base their wall on a painting from the oldest Art museum in UK – The Dulwich Picture Gallery. Other artists taking part included Conor Harrington, ROA, Run, Shok1, Remi Rough and Phlem to name a few. I chose a piece called “The Rape of Europe” An ancient Greek Mythology. More info on the festival check the website.”

He also painted an abandoned house in South London.

And some lucky guys van! Wish it was mine!

All photos courtesy of Reka

Bovisa, Milan

Just got an email from Reka with some photos of the end of his European tour. Lots of painting. My favourite pieces are the ones in Bovisa Milan and Urban Spree Berlin.

Bovisa, Milan

Abandoned factory. Bovisa, Milan

Amsterdam

Wedding, Berlin

Abandoned factory. Friedrichshain, Berlin

Urban Spree, Berlin

Urban Spree, Berlin

All photos courtesy of Reka

Two deftly rendered, evocative pieces by the noted Australian artist James Reka aka Reka One have recently surfaced at Bushwick Five Points. Inspired by hurricane Sandy, they exude a mournful beauty.

Photos by Lois Stavsky

Truck in Bellville, Paris

Reka continues his tour of Europe, this time some shots of his work in France. As usual his work is amazing.

Loving these new skulls, a lot!! Looking forward to more updates. Read the rest of this article »

It makes me proud to see Melbourne-based artists traveling the world showing off the awesomeness of Melbourne street art and graffiti. Reka is doing a bit of a world tour at the moment, he’s currently in London and he is KILLING it! Check out these fresh pieces:

“Game Set Match” by Reka in Dalson Junction, London

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Awer in Berlin. Click to view large.

It’s a mega link-o-rama this week because I’ve been traveling from last Saturday until Thursday morning.

• Here’s a video of Morley’s show at Lazarides Newcastle. When I first saw Morley’s work about a year and a half ago, I thought it was hilarious and touching. Now though, while I appreciate that he has tried to literally make his gallery work 3D and therefore a bit different from what he does on the street, I’m kinda bored of it. Anybody else feeling this way?
• Zeus (the British one) has a pop-up show in London next month.
• Pez has some great commentary on the transition from the street to the gallery.
• Emol, Stinkfish, Zio Ziegler will be showing together at Carmichael Gallery starting August 11th.
• Okay, here’s one of the very occasional Olek pieces that I really like, but she got to start with a great shape so I’m not sure how much the yarn helped.
• Evol hit up some electrical boxes in Warsaw.
• A unicorn expelling rainbows from its mouth and ass.
• Some very odd but also oddly beautiful graffiti from Homer.
• Even Russia has a mural festival. Of course, the work is pretty tame. Nothing like this piece of Russian street art.
• There’s some great work to be spotted along the High Line.
• Pixote recently had a show in NYC. Nothing amazing, but it’s interesting to see what Pixote does besides rollers.
• This mural in Denver by Shepard Fairey is pretty nice. He’s in town for his part in a show at The Black Book Gallery.
• Reka’s in London.
• Ripo has a solo show opening next Thursday at White Walls Gallery in San Fransisco.

Photo by Awer

Morning Breath

One of the coolest spots in Manhattan’s Lower East Side/Chinatown neighborhood is the Klughaus Gallery, as it features some of the best graffiti and street art to be found anywhere. I haven’t been getting down there often enough, but when in the neighborhood earlier today, I dropped by. And it couldn’t have been a more perfect time, as the gallery was getting ready for Thursday evening’s Australia’s “Kingbrown Magazine” / Launch and Opening Exhibition. Curated by Fountain’s John Leo and Melissa McCaig-Welles in collaboration with Kingbrown and Morning Breath, the exhibit features a range of wondrous works. Here are some favorites:

Beastman

Reka

Anthony Lister

The Yok

Daek

More about the wonderful Kingbrown Magazine – that I’ve only recently discovered – in a future post.

Photos by Sara Mozeson & Lois Stavsky

M-City in Jarocin, Poland

Let’s see what has been happening off of Vandalog this week.

• I recently wrote a list of Complex.com giving my thoughts on the 50 greatest street artists right now. Let me know what you think. So far, the main criticism (besides the usual “screw you” flame war stuff) seems to be that I did not include enough women.
• The London Vandal broke a story about British former graffiti writers being arrested and being released on bail until November under some absurdly restrictive conditions. For example, they can’t enter a train station or use trains in London until November unless they can prove that they are going to court, to visit a lawyer or to make a journey relating to business or education. The New Statesman corrected some of The London Vandal’s claims and so the story is perhaps not as wild as initially reported, but it’s still a pretty messed up situation where bail conditions are being used solely for the purpose of maybe making The Olympics run more smoothly. Hyperallergic has more.
• Some great anti-Romney stickers are appearing in Philadelphia.
• This is a great piece by Remio.
• Meggs’ show at White Walls Gallery in SF is open and Graffuturism has photos.
• King Brown Magazine’s latest issue is launching in NYC on July 26th with a show including Mike Giant, Reka, Greg LaMarche, Anthony Lister, Sheryo, The Yok and others.
• DALeast’s latest mural is a beauty in a place that could use some art.
• Satterugly is doing some crazy stuff in Mexico.

Photo courtesy of M-City

Got an email the other day with some sad new for Melbourne and some awesome news for our friends in Europe and the USA. Reka’s moving overseas and having a final show at Backwoods to celebrate. I love his work on found objects so I’m really looking forward to this show.

From the Backwoods press release:

After a ten year career defacing the streets and gallery walls of Melbourne, Reka is packing up, moving overseas and having one last hurrah. He will be holding an open studio for one night only, displaying a new body of work exclusively painted on found objects.

Using spray cans and rusted metal found from walking the train lines and abandoned factories, Reka has organically used each aspect of his natural element to create a process- driven concept, turning everything from the cans’ paper labels to the folds of oxidised sheet metal into self-contained artworks.

On June 20th, Reka is opening up his studio for a behind the scenes look at his new paintings and mixed media works, plus throwing in some paintings from the past decade for good measure. It’ll be an exhibition and leaving party all rolled into one, so come down and join Reka for a one final beer.

More preview photos after the jump… Read the rest of this article »

Got an email from Mr Reka the other day with some shots of a new wall he painted in Fitzroy. Fresh, Loving everything he does lately.

Photos courtesy of Reka