It was only this summer that I first came across Alleg‘s work, thanks to Juxtapoz, but it looks like Alleg has been getting up in Italy for a good few years. I really love his style. He clearly knows how to draw and paint, but he doesn’t overemphasize intricate technique. Too many murals these days are too perfect and plenty more street artists just aren’t talented enough to make a perfectly-rendered image if they tried. Alleg is just right.
I was just there a couple of months ago, but I’m already missing London. For now, this video of Paul Insect and Sweet Toof will just have to do.
This year’s Wall\Therapy festival is winding down in Rochester, NY, so let’s have a look at the finished work (although a few were already covered by Daniel’s posts). There are a few really killer pieces, including this piece by Ever that I haven’t seen professional photos of yet, and some legal work along abandoned train tracks which is really interesting, but I’m not sure about this spot that looks like a little hall-of-fame setup. Those are valuable to have, but I personally wouldn’t put one in a mural festival these days. Still, plenty of good work all around, and I love that there are way more old-school writers at Wall\Therapy than just about any other mural festival I’ve ever seen besides perhaps a Meeting of Styles event. Conor Harrington knocked it out of the park, and Jessie and Katey did a simple but really effective piece.
Continue reading “Wall\Therapy, the finished products”
NYC is having a good couple of weeks for magazine launch parties. Today was the Very Nearly Almost issue with Faile on the cover, and August 10th is the launch of King Brown issue 9. This issue comes in a bag with designs by Unga of Broken Fingaz and Ed Templeton and the magazine includes features on Ed Templeton, Unga, Nychos, Huskmitnavn, Dabs Myla, Ghostpatrol and others. Issue 9 will be launched at Schoolhouse Gallery (330 Ellery St Brooklyn – Flushing Ave stop off the JMZ) on August 10th from 6-10pm. The launch party will include music by Fake Hooker and live painting by The Yok, Sheryo and Nychos. All good things. Except that I won’t be there, so please have fun for me.
Photos courtesy of King Brown
The “Fresh Flâneurs” show in Bari, Italy recently added new murals to the city by half a dozen talented artists, but the walls are at risk of being buffed by the city because they have begun to cause some controversy. Although some informal polling by the local newspaper shows that citizens of Bari are overwhelmingly in favor of keeping the work, there is still some resistance. Essentially, it seems to come down to regulations about changing building facades for the sake of historical preservation, which some people are saying apply even if the building is not historic.
I’m really excited that Vittorio Parisi of Bari’s Doppelgaenger Gallery saw what was happening nearby at FAME Festival and brought it some of it to Bari. The murals by Sten&Lex, El Tono and others are all really strong pieces, and it would be a shame to seem them go. If you’re in Bari, you can still check out these works in person for the time being, but here they are for the rest of us (hopefully this isn’t how the citizens of Bari will have to be looking at the works soon):
Photos by Beppe Gernone, El Tono and Sten&Lex
So this is definitely a strange-looking wall that Dan Isaac Bortz aka J.Because, but I’m really digging it and it’s actually kind of beautiful. The piece, titled “Shedding THE darkness to find the LIGHT within” is in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Thanks to Nick Mann for the heads up about Bortz and this wall in particular.
Photos courtesy of Nick Mann
Last week, the First Meeting of Writers and Urban Art – 26th Street – kicked off in Bogotá, brought you by IDARTES (District Institute of the Arts.) Participating in these interventions are groups that obtained a grant from the city to work on recreating new expressions in the urban space.
Participating artists include Guache (Bogotá), Toxicomano (Bogotá), Lesivo (Bogotá), Perversa (Bogotá), Vertigo Graffiti (Bogotá), Entes & Pesimo (Peru), and Elliot Tupac (Peru), Jade (Peru).
Here are some process shots of the murals:
Stay tuned for more updates!
Photos courtesy of Camilo Ara
June was another busy month in Melbourne. My round up for the month includes trains, walls, shows, a rad new publication and some other bits and pieces of goodness.. I’ll start with my favourite train for June. This one ran on June 6th – thanks to The best of Melbourne Graffiti for the pic. This guy has been killing it lately!
Some shots from Burg’s show at the Vic below, more here. Burg’s street characters are some of my faves with twisted and expressive faces appearing all around Melbourne.
Knock Knock Magazine released their latest issue, Issue 4 -The Travel Issue. Knock Knock is an online magazine focusing on talented creative people, this issue features articles on Ben Quilty, Mark Drew, Geoffrey Lillemon, Dave Cragg, Sobekcis, Sheryo & The Yok, Onur Gulfidan, Rosek, Haribow, Maaden, Beatrix Curran, Kate Florence Knowlden, Val Kelmer, Jess Howell, Robyn Aubrey, Arman Nobari, Embassy, Spoonty and DoubleTrouble. A great read and a well put together production. Check out these screen shots from Issue 4:
Continue reading “Melbourne Monthly Madness – June 2013”
Ryan Seslow is an artist and professor in New York. I asked him to write this guest post about his experiences bringing street art and graffiti into the college classroom. Hopefully it will help to inspire others to do the same. – RJ
Street Art & Graffiti has entered the college and university level. It was long overdue. At both Long Island University (Post campus) and this coming year at CUNY York College students earn 3 credits towards their degree requirements in the areas of art history, studio art, or as an art elective. “The History & Emergence of Street Art & Graffiti” is the title of the course that I created and began teaching at LIU Post in 2010. One may think that the course would have trouble with enrollment at a University on the North Shore of Long Island, but this is quite the contrary. The course has booked solid every summer since it has been offered. I started teaching at the college level in 2003 simultaneously between 4 colleges and universities here in the NYC area.
Bringing this subject and content to the college level did take some time and convincing, but not with the students, it was more with my peers, administrators and colleagues. Even rallying support and over all approval for a course of such nature took even more time, but here we are 3.5 years strong and only building and expanding. As a graffiti writer, artist putting his works in public spaces, and an art professor, the state accreditation aspect of the course is important to me. There are a few schools and programs out there that offer workshops in both street art and graffiti, and they are fantastic. Being able to earn actual credit towards one’s chosen degree requirements validates the importance of the content itself as an emerging art movement of value contributing to the “art world” in the realm of academia. I’m passionate about graffiti and street art, it is the core of my inspiration as an artist. As an art educator, I feel it is my responsibility to bring that passion into my classroom to share and instill its energy into my students. We just completed one of the most productive, collaborative and energetic classes of my teaching career to date. The course at LIU is a 1-week intensive course. The class is offered in July and runs from 9AM-6PM Monday-Friday.
I carefully curated this course, and have been micro testing and interweaving the content into all of my classes for the last 10 years. Keeping students engaged and excited is a huge part of my teaching strategy, and I’m lucky to have a multidisciplinary studio based workload of courses that I teach. Street art and graffiti are always a topic of interest, whether it’s drawing, painting, sculpture, print-making, graphic design, or art history based courses, my passion for the content, its history, and techniques always comes through. In the classroom, the students will find themselves switching regularly between slide and video based lectures, technical demonstrations, museum and gallery visits, guest artist presentations, and hands on collaborative art making experiences. This results in an over stimulating experience filled with retained use value, plus the generation of several new pieces of both collaborative and individual works. Students create a network of new colleagues in a communal course like this. Having guest artists frequent the courses is of huge importance. All of guests are highly respected in the movements for their prolific styles and commitment to their work. Best part of all, these are warm and open people, their process and love for their craft is transparent. If that is not contagious enough, I don’t know what is. Hearing their unique personal stories inspires motivation beyond one’s expectations. This course has filled to capacity every summer since 2010. I don’t have to convince anyone to take the course, and 90% of the students that do are not street or graffiti artists. People are inspired by the movements of street art and graffiti, and I’m taking about adults older than 20 years of age. This particular class that just ended had an average age range of 28 – 40 plus. Continue reading “Teaching graffiti history and practice”
Yet another trippy work by Cuellimangui, collaborating with muralist ASJ. Both artists from Orihuela (Spain) have incorporated two very distinct styles: realism and abstract expressionism. Really enjoying this match.
Photos courtesy of Cuellimangui
