Year: 2009

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Banksy’s Ikea Punk

One of my favorite songs by AFI is “I Wanna Get A Mohawk” (see video at the end of this post), my favorite stencil from Banksy versus The Bristol Museum was this piece of an “anarchist’s” grandma helping him get dressed for a protest, so I guess it’s not too surprising that Banksy’s latest piece is probably my favorite outdoor piece by him since New Orleans.

Banksy punk

This piece is in Brighton Croydon, right near an Ikea store.

Maybe the reason I love this piece so much is because I’m definitely a lot like that faux-punk. I’ve grown up very privileged, I sprayed a crappy stencil at Cans Festival, I’ve gone through phases of extreme left-leaning political outrage, and now I collect street art and I’m taking a gap year to travel (and do other things). If you can’t laugh at yourself, what can you laugh at?

And besides, for a stencil, that’s some real craftsmanship that few other artists even attempt.

Photos by Romanywg

That song by AFI:

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Questions for James Marshall aka Dalek

A couple of weeks ago I posted an interview with James Marshall on FADwebsite, but I thought it would be worth reposting part of it here because I know not everybody reading Vandalog also reads FAD where I post from time to time.

So here’s the first half of what you can find on FAD:

1 When did you start to make art?
as a kid I started drawing all the time …just sort of went from there…

2 How did you evolve into a professional artist?
by accident…just sort of happened..in reality it is still happening…its never really a finished process.

3 What drove you to make art as a professional vocation?
if I could make a living making art then that was better than making a living doing some other shit.

4 Explain your inspiration?
it varies from day to day….it just sort of exist in different forms..at different times…

5 In what way does your inspiration transform into ideas?
naturally I guess…i don’t really think about it… I just trust that it will happen

6 From Ideas to production of art – how? And why?
that’s a good question for someone else… I don’t really think about it…

7 Could your ideas be portrayed in any other medium? If so which?
sure I guess… Any number of things…architecture…sculpture…fabric…

8 Which artists would you most like to blatantly rip off?
none….what would be the point of that..

9 Why is your art made?
because I make it

10 What does being an artist mean to you?
nothing… It just is what it is… Why worry about what it means…

11 Are you happy with your reasons for making art? i.e Are there any trade offs that make life hard?
life is hard regardless…if it was easy then you aren’t trying very hard… I am happy with the path I am on….its moving in the right direction…i learn as I go…and that’s good enough…I feel solid that I am pursuing things in a manner that make sense to who I am …and that’s all I can ask for really..Read the rest at FAD…

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Protesting buff laws in Sao Paulo

Some news from the street artists of Brazil:

Last Sunday one of the biggest avenues of São Paulo, Av. 23 de Maio, received the biggest graffiti and street art attack ever. All the action was illegal and was done by 150 artists during the day on 1km of a grey wall. The protest is against the government buff of the Law “CITY CLEAN”. There were artists from all ages and styles, because the most important thing was to paint all of the avenue. You can see amazing graffiti works (character and letters) and works made by artists that were doing their first work. The variety of styles includes pixação, stencils and much more. The action was incredible and the cops arrived there and didn’t know what to do, so they only took 9 graffiti artist (only 3 police cars) to the police department to try to understand what it was that. The authority understood that was an art-manifestation, so the artists could go home. The government is now painting the wall with grey paint as they usually do every week.

Photos by JuGranjeia:

Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo

Sao Paulo

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Barry McGee solo in Rome

I know Barry McGee was the subject of a post on Wednesday, but I didn’t realize that he had YET ANOTHER major project going on. He’s in Rome. Now, I’d heard something about him being in NY Minute, a group show there, but had completely forgotten when that was (it opens Saturday), but what nobody expected (then again, with McGee you need to expect the unexpected) was that he would have a solo show opening in Rome as well. Mr. Brown opened at Galleria Alessandra Bonomo on the 18th. No pictures yet I’m afraid.

Via The Art Collectors Blog

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Where the wild things are

The film I am most looking forward to in 2009 is Where The Wild Things Are. I could go on and on about how excited I am to see it and how upset I am that I won’t be able to pay to do so (WHY MUST THE FILM BE RELEASED TWO MONTHS LATER IN THE UK THAN THE USA?), but let’s just say I want to see the movie.

Veng and Chris of Robots Will Kill have gotten me even more excited about the film and the book with their latest mural. The piece is at Espeis Outside and was curated by Brooklyn Street Art. Here’s a photo of the finished piece and a time lapse film. For more, check out Brooklyn Street Art.

Photo by Veng
Photo by Veng

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Nuart: The reason to visit Stavanger

I don’t want to hype this up too much, but last weekend I had a really enjoyable time at Nuart in Stavanger and I can’t believe there aren’t more tourists flying out to see this festival. Here are a few pics.

This first pic is by me, the rest are by Ian Cox.

Skewville
Skewville
David Choe and DVS
David Choe and DVS

main gallery

Skewville and Chris Stain
Skewville and Chris Stain
David Choe
David Choe
Swoon
Swoon

And Logan Hicks made this cool time lapse animation of David Choe and DVS painting:

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Barry McGee installations

The blogosphere has been buzzing with news of Barry McGee’s work at the Biennale de Lyon in France and the Armory Center For Arts. Good stuff. I’m hoping to make it out to Lyon in a few weeks.

Here’s a video teaser for Lyon, which opened today:

And a couple of pics:

Barry McGee

Barry

More Lyon info and photos at Guillotine.

And here’s some photos from Armory:

barry-mcgee

photo-1_1

And you can read more about Armory on Juxtapoz.

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Princess Hijab

Princess Hijab has been getting around. After a mention on Wooster Collective a few days ago, she’s also done this piece.

Before:

princess_before

After:

princess_after

There is definitely something to be said for Princess Hijab’s distinct and provacative style. A critique of Islam, the fashion industry, or a bit of both?

Photos by Antoine Breant

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Above: “When in Rome”

Above continues his European tour with this latest piece “When in Rome.” Can you guess where he might have painted it? Although it could be seen as a bit like some of Banksy’s work (CCTV nation, the highwayman, last graffiti before motorway…), I’ll excuse Above here because the piece also reminds me of that great scene in The Life of Brian where the Roman soldiers correct the poor grammar of Brian’s massive anti-establishment graffiti.

Above says:

I found this “gladiator” in front of the Roman Colosseum where he was asking 5-Euros from tourists to take a photo with him. I bargained with him and got waaaaay more than I could of ever imagined.

WHEN IN ROME… from ABOVE on Vimeo.