Longtime readers will know that I am a big fan of Very Nearly Almost, a British art magazine for street art, graffiti, illustration and the like. Their latest issue has been a very welcome reprieve for me as I’ve turned to it in between writing essays upon essays for my final exams. Issue 22 features interviews with Vhils, Vexta, Cranio, Moneyless, Husk Mit Navn and more.

The Vhils and Husk Mit Navn interviews in particular make this issue worth seeking out. Vhils talks about his early career as a graffiti writer and suggests that he’s still active today, although the work isn’t traceable back to his career as a fine artist or muralist. This certainly isn’t unheard of for street artists who have “gone legit,” but it’s still a bit surprising to hear him talk about it, and about how graffiti still informs his work today. And Husk Mit Navn is an absolutely fantastic and underrated artist (check out some of his work here) who also has a lot to say about how his work is perceived in galleries, on the street, and online. Good stuff.

Although he is interviewed, the one thing this issue doesn’t answer for me is what people see in Cranio’s work. Seems to me like Nunca + Os Gêmeos – awesomeness/originality = Cranio, but people seem to go nuts over it. Is he a really nice guy? Is it just that people are so in love with what Os Gêmeos and Nunca are doing that they’ll accept a substitute when the masters aren’t available? This isn’t one of those times where I’m gonna say a grey wall would be better than Cranio’s work. There’s plenty of street art in the world that’s better than a grey wall but still doesn’t need to be celebrated like it’s the next big thing, and Cranio seems to me to fall into that category. If you have an answer or an opinion, I’d love to read it in the comments. Anyway…

You can pick up a copy of VNA 22 here.

Photo courtesy of Very Nearly Almost

I can’t wait to get my copy of Very Nearly Almost issue #21. This time around, VNA have spoken with Miss Van, Faith47, Dal, Rone and others, but I’m most looking forward to their interview with NoseGo, which was conducted by Vandalog’s Caroline Caldwell. You can pick up a copy of VNA here.

NEKST. Photo by C-Monster.net

So much news this week, but first and foremost is the untimely death of NEKST, a globally respected writer.

• I love trains like this with messages instead of names.
• But I love how 0331c uses extinguishers even more.
• Here’s a porcelain sculpture by Horfe.
• VNA has released a sticker pack with stickers by D*Face, Invader, Kid Zoom, Nychos and others.
• Great wheatpaste by Cannon in Oakland.
• Kathy Grayson defends Jeffrey Deitch, and Shepard Fairey backs her up. I’ve got to agree. He’s been getting a lot of shit for what he’s been up to as the director of the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles, and I’m sure Kathy’s right that he’s not always the easiest guy to get along with, she’s also entirely right that he’s also put on good shows at MOCA and attendance has gone up because Deitch isn’t willing to be as elitist about as others in the art community would like him to be.
• ZEVS hit this massive iPad ad in NYC.
• Brooklyn Street Art has a great post about Overunder’s artist residency in Reno, specifically ND’A's time there.

Photo by C-Monster.net

We’ve got 5 issues of Very Nearly Almost magazine’s latest issue to send off to Vandalog readers. I’ve been a fan of VNA since around the time I started Vandalog, and it’s a magazine that I always recommend as an alternative to Hi-Fructose and Juxtapoz.

For issue 19, they’ve got a great cover article on Anthony Lister, as well as interviews with Twoone, Remed and others. As it tends to be with VNA, my personal favorite part of this issue is not what you might expect (the interviews) but their photos of graffiti and street art in Newcastle. Of course the interviews are great too, particularly Lister’s.

We’ve got 5 copies of VNA issue 19 up for grabs, just answer this question in the comments: What country is Anthony Lister from? Out of those who answer correctly, 5 will be selected at random and sent a copy of the magazine. Answer by noon East Coast time on Saturday, September 8th. We’ll notify the winners via email shortly after that.

Photos courtesy of Very Nearly Almost

Specter

The week isn’t over yet, but this week’s news is going to be old if I don’t mention it soon. Here’s some of what I missed this week:

• The D*Face Smirnoff collaboration was anything but normal.
• Ian Stevenson’s show at Lzarides’ Newcastle space looks good.
• This is a one of Dal’s most complex walls yet.
• Vhils has a show opening this week in Paris as well as some new walls there.
• The new issue of Very Nearly Almost features Anthony Lister on the cover and will be launched on June 28th.
• Shok1 painted a great tribute to StayHigh149.
• Pixel Pancho, Never2501, GGT, Moneyless and Martina Merlini all collaborated on this wall in Milan.
• I really like this new print about to be released by Dolk.
• If you like UFO’s work in 2-demensions, you’ll love it in 3! Actually that isn’t the only sculpture he has made, but it is the newest.

Photo by SMKjr

Screw Conor Harrington. Screw Ronzo. Screw Remi/Rough. Not because all of those people aren’t great. Not because I dislike their work. Not because their interviews in Very Nearly Almost issue 18 are uninteresting. I don’t know Ronzo personally, but Conor and Remi have been nothing but nice to me. All three of them have made cool art. Their interviews in VNA are worth reading. But screw them because all of Very Nearly Almost issue 18 pales in comparison to their spectacular interview with the legendary Mode2. I’ll certainly admit that I don’t like everything Mode2 has ever done, but he has been an innovator in Europe for decades and when he gets it right, he gets it very very right. He is also very clearly a smart man. VNA’s interview with Mode2 is detailed, insightful and worth every moment you’ll spend reading it.

If you still haven’t picked up a copy of VNA18, I highly encourage you to do so now. You won’t regret it. Plus, after you’re done reading the Mode2 interview, Ronzo, Conor, Remi and the rest of the artists in this issue honestly do have some interesting bits to say as well, and there are some rare pics of How&Nosm’s work in Brazil.

Very Nearly Almost is available online.

Photos courtesy of Very Nearly Almost

I was finally been able to set aside some time this past weekend to ready Very Nearly Almost‘s issue #17. As usual, VNA have confirmed why they are my favorite magazine covering street art. For their latest issue, which is admittedly not that new so sorry for the delay, VNA interview some of the most interesting figures in street art, including El Mac and Interesni Kazki. Juxtapoz also recently had an interview with IK, but I get bored with Juxtapoz’s interview and found VNA’s interview interesting, so that’s saying something. As long as you ignore the interview with Goldie, VNA has once again shown their commitment to producing a magazine which is equally timely and timeless. They speak with some of the best-known names in street art today, but the magazine will be almost just as readable in a year or more.

The interviews with El Mac and Pablo Delgado were particular highlights for me. El Mac is well-spoken and just seems like a smart guy, which is always nice to learn. And Delgado is a figure who seemed to pop up out of nowhere in London and get bloggers and photographers all wondering “Who the hell is this guy putting up awesome tiny pieces all over Shoreditch?” practically overnight.

There’s also an interview with Malarky which should act as good documentation of his work on Brick Lane given that a lot of it won’t be around for much longer.

For the most part, I read other art magazines because I have to if I want Vandalog to be any good, but I read Very Nearly Almost because I enjoy it.

You can pick up a copy of VNA #17 online.

Photos courtesy of Very Nearly Almost

Very Nearly Almost issue 16 has been out for about a month and a half now, so I’m a bit late on this one. Issue 16 has Invader on the cover, a must-read interview with Kid Zoom, photos from the streets of London, Paris and Melbourne and much more. The stand-out of this issue is definitely that interview with Kid Zoom, and if you’re a fan of his, I’d pick up VNA16 just for that piece alone. It’s one of the most honest and mature interviews I’ve read from any young artist. That dude is going places.

You can buy Very Nearly Almost in their online shop.

Photos courtesy of Very Nearly Almost

El Mac

First week of school down. Just a boatload more to go. Here’s what I’ve been checking out to procrastinate doing homework:

• A nice time lapse video of Kid Zoom.
• Very Nearly Almost’s latest issue (with Invader on the cover) launches on September 8th in London.
• TrustoCorp have been putting up some clever new work recently. Arrested Motion has the images, and they’re running a TrustoCorp-related contest.
• The NYTimes has an article about the potential demise of 5Pointz.
• Euth, a street artist, sued Green Day for appropriating one of his images in background graphics for their live show. That lawsuit has been dismissed. Melrose&Fairfax seems to lean towards agreeing with Euth on this one, but while Green Day might have been in an ethical grey area by not compensating Euth, they were undoubtedly legally in the right, and on the whole, that’s a good thing. No idea is 100% original and appropriation is appropriate. As M&F point out in this post, a lot of street artists base their work on appropriation.
• Something new from Morley.
• A guy in the Hamptons is selling a bunch of Banksy pieces that were ripped out of walls from around the world. Gawker has some explanation of what happened. Of course the work is all unauthenticated and the morals of the whole situation are pretty sketchy.

Photo by unusualimage

The latest issue of Very Nearly Almost, issue 15, went on sale last month. As a fan and occasional contributor to VNA, it’s a magazine that I always pick up. This issue is particularly cool though because it might have the more interviews with artists that I’ve written a lot about on Vandalog than any other issue of VNA. This is a coincidence, but certainly a happy one for me. Besides the interview that I did with Jordan Seiler, there is of course a detailed cover article where VNA speaks to Shepard Fairey, some very insightful words from Logan Hicks, a crazy series of conversations with members of Burning Candy (the VNA team might have been the only people to ever get the full nine current and former members of BC in one room at the same time) and interviews with Ripo and Nychos (who I haven’t written about too much, but now I want to) as well. As always, the guys at Very Nearly Almost have put together a quality zine and I highly recommend picking up a copy.

Here are a few teasers from this issue:

Photos courtesy of Very Nearly Almost