Month: March 2011

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Skewville’s Fame, Fortune & Desire – When Ad met Butterfly

I feel I’ve gone rather Skewville crazy recently since Ad landed in London about 3 weeks ago. But personally I believe this is justified, as amongst the increasing flood of street art, the twins are still producing work that is not only unique but is constantly evolving, adapting and pushing boundaries.

Before his show at High Roller Society, Butterfly caught up with Ad, sat him down in front of some rather hot gallery lights and grilled him about his art. The video she has produced is great and well worth watching!

SKEWVILLE – SLOW YOUR ROLL from Butterfly on Vimeo.

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Remi/Rough x Stormie in Newcastle

At the end of May, Hoults Yard, Newcastle will see the invasion of England’s Remi/Rough and Australia’s own Stormie Mills. The indoor show may not open for months, but I’m sure you will get to see some of their outdoor work sooner. Talented artists individually, they also surprisingly work well as a team despite their contrasting styles as evident by their wall in Miami and placement of their pieces in The Underbelly Project. This is definitely a show to get excited about.

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And it begins: Art In The Streets

Patti Astor at Keith Haring's Fun Gallery show, 1983, Photo by Eric Kroll

If you’re the Jeffrey Deitch or museum-hating type, the next few weeks are not going to be your favorite weeks, at least not when it comes to Vandalog posts. I’m gonna be talking a lot about this topic. I could hardly be more excited for MOCA‘s upcoming Art In The Streets show, and some substantive information about the show is finally starting to come out:

  • First of all, what lots of people have been asking for: a solid and confirmed opening date. Art In The Streets opens on April 17th.
  • There will be 50 artist installations including Futura, Margaret Kilgallen, Swoon, Shepard Fairey and Os Gêmeos. Arrested Motion has some photos of Shepard’s installation process.
  • The MOCA iteration includes a lot of West Coast stuff like Cholo graffiti and writers like Revok and Saber.
  • Oh, clarification on the last point: The show movies to The Brooklyn Museum next March. Presumably the show will be refocused a bit NYC graffiti for that iteration.
  • The show will include some mini-shows within it including a space dedicated to The Fun Gallery, a RAMELLZEE installation and Todd James, Barry McGee, and Steve Powers’ new iteration of their legendary Street Market show.
  • Because MOCA is looking at skateboarding as art on the streets too, there will be a custom skate ramp in the museum and Nike’s skateboarding team will be skating there throughout the run of the show.
  • There will be a film festival component to the show.

So yeah. Sounds good. Can’t wait for the opening. If this show succeeds, it could be the American equivalent of Banksy Versus The Bristol Museum in terms of impact.

Here’s some more preview images:

Chaz Bojorquez, Señor Suerte tag with ‘veterano/veterana’ roll calls, Arroyo Seco River, Los Angeles, 1975, photo by Blades Bojorquez
RAMMELLZEE, Battle Station, New York City, 2005, photo by Charlie Ahearn

Photos courtesy of MOCA

 

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Big things at White Walls and 941 Geary

Roa in Mexico City

White Walls Gallery and 941 Geary, sister galleries in San Fransisco, have two interesting shows opening in April.

Starting on Friday, 941 Geary will open an “indoor mural” installation, aka lots of artists painting the walls inside the gallery. Eine, Roa, Chor Boogie, APEX, Casey Gray, D Young V, Skinner, Hush and Blek le Rat have contributed or will contribute to the project as it continues to evolve over the course of a few weeks. So that could either be really cool or a complete mess. We’ll see. Here’s to hoping it works well.

Over at White Walls, Roa is installing a solo show. That show opens on April 9th. Roa’s recent installations in London got glowing reviews almost across the board, so this large solo installation will be one not to miss.

Photo by Roa

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New from Paper Twins

These pieces from Paper Twins are pretty cool for going semi-3D even as wheatpastes (even if the 3D part of the pieces will probably wash away quicker than the main posters).

Photos by Paper Twins

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Street Communications: Gaia, Jordan Seiler and Wooster Collective in conversation

Next Saturday (April 9th), I’ll be hosting an event at my school, Haverford College, which I hope you will be able to attend. I’ll be moderating Street Discussions, a panel with Gaia, Jordan Seiler, Marc Schiller and Sara Schiller. We’ll be looking at what roles and responsibilities there are on the street for both artists and advertisers. Gaia is a street artist and blogger for Vandalog. Jordan is the artist/activist behind PublicAdCampaign. Marc and Sara started Wooster Collective and their book Trespass was published last year. The event is open to the public, and, contingent on me getting organized, there might be a video uploaded afterward for anyone who can’t make it.

For those in Philadelphia, Haverford College is really easy to get to via SEPTA.

Random side-note: This is one reason why I love Haverford College. Two groups on campus (The Collection Fund and the Humanities Center’s Student Arts Fund) have come together to sponsor this event. They are fantastic.

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Stylewars: The Musical

So umm… Apparently Steve Powers, Todd James and Barry McGee are reuniting for MOCA’s upcoming Art in the Streets show. Then this thing popped up online. Steve Powers’ says on his blog, “Im in LA, working with Todd and Barry building the first solar powered rumor mill,” and Todd James says on his blog, “Style Wars the cult classic documentary By Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant has been reimagined by Todd James and Steve Powers as Style Wars the musical!!   To be seen at “Street” at LA Moca’s “Art in the Streets” April 2011.”

No idea how real, if at all, this is, or what it might have to do with what they are actually planning if this isn’t happening. But just thought I’d mention it because it’s sort of funny.

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Leon Reid IV at Pandemic Gallery in Brooklyn

Brooklyn’s Pandemic Gallery is hosting a solo show of Leon Reid IV‘s artwork next month. Leon Reid IV is probably better known as Darius from the duo Darius and Downey. In true Brooklyn fashion, the event is sponsored by PBR, but Reid is no hipster street artist cashing in on a fad. Over the past decade, his sculptures have pushed street art forward, and with his move into public art, Reid is a great example of street art gaining legitimacy among traditional art institutions (for better or worse).

A Decade of Public Art opens on April 16th and runs through May 8th. Here’s a video teaser:

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LA II: On the Streets of NYC’s Lower East Side and at the Dorian Grey Gallery

In late winter a number of Keith Haring-like images began to surface on the streets of the Lower East Side. I should have immediately recognized them as the work of Angel Ortiz (Little Angel aka LA ll), the main inspiration behind much of Keith Haring’s art. But I didn’t. Whereas Keith Haring is regarded as one of the key artists of the 20th century, LA ll is just now on his way to attaining the respect and recognition he deserves. Deemed as Keith Haring’s “silent partner,” LA ll collaborated with and traveled alongside him for about 10 years, profoundly impacting Haring’s style and sensibility. A solo exhibition of LA ll’s recent paintings is at the Dorian Grey Gallery at 437 E. 9th Street through April 17. It’s worth a visit.

photo by Tara Murray
photo by Lois Stavsky

Photos by Lois Stavsky and Tara Murray