Every year, Dan Witz plays a Halloween street art prank. This year it takes place on Santa Monica Blvd, LA.
Conor Harrington – Headless Heroes
Thursday night was the opening for Conor Harrington’s Headless Heroes show at Lazarides Gallery on Rathbone Place. The gallery was pretty busy, and as a few people pointed out to me, a number of attendees were people who rarely make it to other openings and are really just die-hard Conor fans.
As usual, Conor’s paintings combine graffiti, fine art, realism and abstraction.
Some of the best pieces weren’t canvases but the sketches and studies. In fact, I think it would be great to see an entire show of Conor’s studies.
Photos by Ian Cox. More photos on his flickr
The Art Street Journal Issue 4 – November
100 copies of issue 4 of The Art Street Journal arrived at my door today. The newspaper is put together by the folks at Carmichael Gallery and with issue 4 they’ve continued to expand their coverage and fill the paper with great interviews and photos. There are interviews with Hush, WK-Interact and Dan Witz and Sebastian from Unurth even put together a page of his favorite street pieces from the last month. It’s also the only place (for now) that you can read a half-decent explanation of The Thousands and why I’m putting on an art exhibition.
The best way to get The Art Street Journal is their website. You can sign up and they’ll send copies anywhere in the world for free. I’ll also be in Shoreditch tomorrow putting them in shops. And of course, there will be a few copies at The Thousands.
Other Side live painting
Looks like this should be a nice event to get down to in London. Live painting is always fun to watch.
Here’s all the details:
Silhouettes with spray-cans glinting in the darkness have long journeyed through the East End to the austere walls of the rail arches in Mile End, an underground showcase of underground art.
Now, in broad daylight, the elegant new Mile End Arts Pavilion opens its doors to some of the most notorious graffiti artists in East London.
This unique venue offers the opportunity for you, the viewer to observe from behind glass or get down and dirty with the artists painting LIVE! (Protective masks are available on the door)
Each week will feature a new wave of artists, sourced locally with a smattering of special guest painters.
Show is open each Wednesday to Sunday from 12-6 pm
Wednesday 4th November – Sunday 29th November.
Artists: Stik, Elate, Milo, Spat, Teddy Baden, Run, Fuel, Snoe, Smaki, Grems, Stenzilla, Suns, and Roots
I definitely want to go and see Elate, Milo and Run painting.
Rusk and Hera in San Antonio, Texas
I was wondering what they’d get up to for the Clogged Caps Festival – well, here it is! Read more about the event here.
Interview with RJ on Inspire Collective
Thanks to Inspire at Inspire Collective for interviewing me about street art. Here’s a snippet:
“RJ, tell us a bit about yourself and how you got into appreciate graffiti, street, and public art in general?”
My dad actually got me into the whole scene. He came home from work one day almost two years ago and asked me if I knew about some guys called Faile. He’d bought a print by them. Neither of us had been seriously interested in art before that, but we both fell in love with the world of street art and haven’t looked back since. Right now I’m taking a gap year before heading off to university next fall, and street art is the overarching theme for my year.
“Its always good to see another public art site out there appreciating independent artists, how did Vandalog begin?”
I started Vandalog about 1 year ago as a way to keep up to date on street art news and increase my involvement with the street art community. Because I post something every day, I always have to be on the look out for news or something interesting to write about, and when I go to gallery openings or visit another city, I can reach out to artists or blog readers and immediately I have some connections in that city who can tell me all the cool things to do. And of course, it’s a great way to help promote my friends’ projects.
Read the rest of the interview on Inspire Collective
Hrag talks to Public Ad Campaign
Hrag Vartanian has a really interesting interview on Hyperallergic with Jordan Seiler of Public Ad Campaign, the organizer of the New York Street Advertising Takeover (NYSAT) (as mentioned previously). Here’s a snippet:
Hrag Vartanian: Is the NYSAT campaign an art or activist project or both?
Jordan Seiler: Activism informed by art and the artistic process. Sometimes it takes a few hundred artists to move the law forward
HV: If it’s art, what would you consider the aesthetics of the project?
JS: Aesthetics? I don’t think this is visual as much as about mental clarity.
HV: Were you surprised that the advertisers were able to react as fast as they did this time to the street project? Most of the ads didn’t last through the day, did they?
JS: No. Many location saw ads go up a mere hour afterward.
HV: That’s incredible. How are these illegal ad companies able to avoid arrests for their illegal activities, while activists who are covering the same space with non-corporate ads aren’t?
JS: I am not sure. But I did call the cops while they were posting ads on Sunday and they did not listen to my complaint about them not having permits. I think it speaks to the fact that the city is ready to defend the private over the public.
Read the rest on Hyperallergic
The Thousands
Here’s a little update on The Thousands, the art exhibition that I’m curating and organizing in London next month. Just a few weeks to go before it opens, and I’m working my ass off. There is really an amazing line up of artists. Subject to slight changes here and there, here’s the full line up:
Adam Neate
Aiko
Anthony Lister
Armsrock
Banksy
Barry McGee
Bast
Blek le Rat
Burning Candy
Chris Stain
David Ellis
Elbow-toe
Faile
Futura 2000
Gaia
Herakut
Jenny Holzer
José Parlá
Judith Supine
Kaws
Know Hope
Nick Walker
Os Gêmeos
Roa
Sam3
Shepard Fairey
Skewville
Swoon
WK Interact
So the artwork is amazing, but The Thousands is also the book launch for my book, The Thousands: Painting Outside, Breaking In. Hope to see everybody there on the 18th.
Sneaking in to see Burning Candy and others
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:
Blue Print for Space at Basil Miami
Primary Flight is the art organization which has put on an amazing show of street art at Basil Miami for the past few years. This year, in addition to their outdoor murals, Primary Flight have organized an indoor show as well. Blue Print for Space has an impressive and diverse line-up ranging from Augor and Revok to Know Hope and Stormie Mills. Very excited to see how this goes.