Year: 2013

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Weekend link-o-rama

Awer
Awer

It’s a shortish link-o-rama this week, but with some really good stories and great walls…

Photo by Awer

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Henrik Haven’s Copenhagen – Part 4

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In the last week, I’ve posted part 1, part 2, and part 3 of our 4-part series of Henrik Haven‘s photographs of Copenhagen graffiti (and a bit of street art). Here is the final post in the series, which I am really loving. Throughout this series, rather than mention some artists in the photos and neglect others, I’m just going to leave the photos without artist credits.

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Click to view large
Click to view large

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Continue reading “Henrik Haven’s Copenhagen – Part 4”

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Sex or Suicide: Droid 907 says either way you’re fucked

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When I originally approached Droid 907 about his latest zine, Sex or Suicide (Either Way You’re Fucked), it was described as simultaneously the most honest book about graffiti and a collection of lies. This inability to distinguish which stories are strange enough to be true or perhaps so outlandish that they must be fabricated heightens the experience. From tomes written on a buffed square of an abandoned facade to gritty, type-written pages, Droid explores the limits of his medium, in both graffiti and storytelling. Through these pages, the often enigmatic but ever present force of New York graffiti slowly peels back the layers behind his “Droid” persona, or perhaps adds more if the stories are in fact fabricated. With 40 pages of travels, redacted locations, and a cover silkscreened by Bushwick Print Lab, S.o.S. is Droid’s most visceral text to date.

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Following a few month span in the artist’s nomadic lifestyle, readers are placed in media res, with no prior knowledge of the author’s relationships with those he encounters. You are suddenly left on the side of the tracks with no contextualization, in an anarchistic manner that mirror’s the text’s aesthetics. To help illuminate the backstories of a few of these individuals, as well as his own artistic practice in creating Sex or Suicide, Vandalog conducted a brief interview with Droid.

Continue reading “Sex or Suicide: Droid 907 says either way you’re fucked”

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Documentary – Children of The Iron Snake

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Pinched this post from Invurt, an absolute MUST see documentary on Melbourne’s graffiti and street art culture. From our awesome train graffiti to street art and gallery art; this documentary gives a great insight into the city I love and the amazing graffiti and street art that I’ve loved since I 1st got on a train as a kid. The movie features friends, favourite artists and familiar places so that makes it even more special.

From Invurt: “Created by Alex MacBeth and Miriam Hison, the documentary ‘Charts the development of the Melbourne street art scene,’ Children of the Iron Snake looks at the last thirty years and tracks the journey of graffiti from railway junctions at night to festivals, abandoned factories, rooftops, drains and galleries. Comprising interviews with over 15 artists, as well as criminologists, anti-graffiti activists, and politicians, the film offers a in-depth look at one of the biggest art movements of our time.”

Check out the preview below.

The FULL film is available online here. Make sure you check it out.

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sz zs play with paper

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Pretty much the most amateur thing you can do if you want to wheatpaste a giant poster is to print it out on a bunch of 8.5″ x 11″ sheets and paste them up in a grid. It’s gonna be complicated and probably look terrible. Unless you are part of the Italian street art duo sz zs. They make that 8.5″ 11″ grid work work amazingly well by playing with the possibilities it provides. I’m not artist, but I must say, in my experience as an observer, playing with the constraints you are given rather than staying within them or foolishly trying to ignore them is a one very important secret to successful artwork.

sz zs have been getting up in Venice for a little under a year, and I very much look forward to seeing where they take their project next.

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Photos by sz zs

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RAE’s zany sculptures move indoors to TriBeCa gallery, Masters & Pelavin

RAE, close-up; photo by Lois Stavsky
RAE, close-up; photo by Lois Stavsky

I can never get enough of RAE‘s zany characters that surface regularly on a range of public surfaces in Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn. TriBeCa gallery Masters & Pelavin is hosting two wondrously fashioned ones in the group exhibit, Legend Tripping, opening this evening from 6-8pm at 13 Jay Street.

RAE close-up; photo by Sara Mozeson
RAE close-up; photo by Sara Mozeson

Photos by Lois Stavsky and Sara Mozeson

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Goya 907: Dispatches From the Crud-Cake

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A perfect combination of endearing and grimy, Goya 907’s characters have long been one of my favorite pieces to spot. An active former New Yorker, his pieces will surprise you in places ranging from abandoned buildings to a sticker on a street corner that you must have walked by a thousand times, only to notice it now. Even though he may no longer reside here, Goya’s graffiti is still an integral part of New York’s landscape. Particularly of note in the artist’s studio pieces is his customization of his iconic image. Using the basic structure of claw hands and little stick legs, this skeleton becomes customized with traces of people Goya encounters in his daily life. Whether it’s his friend’s favorite boots or an arm tattoo, these pieces change his cartoon from a representation of self to an endearing representation of others.

Goya aka Tony Bones has a show tonight at Tender Trap in Brooklyn.

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For a short biography of the artist (one as comedic as his work) and details of the opening, curator Andrew H. Shirley sent this press release:

The Superior Bugout presents…
DISPATCHES FROM THE CRUD-CAKE
new artwork by TONY BONES

Opening Thursday April 18th 7-11pm
at TENDER TRAP
245 South 1st (btwn Roebling / Havemeyer) in Williamsburg, Brooklyn

Tony Bones grew up in Texas. He got his start painting graffiti around his home state and soon moved on to the rest of the country and beyond. Tony made his home in Brooklyn for several years but now lives in a cupcake by the Mississippi River in New Orleans. He has a hedgehog and a pickup truck.
*with Ray Mock of Carnage Zine setting up his zine table
**and music by DJ BOO RAPS of Rap Gang (it’s also his birthday!!!)

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In addition to sending preview images, included was a list of upcoming shows at the Tender Trap. Based on his previous exhibitions, it looks like viewers are in for an interesting few months with a mix of graffiti, photography, and conceptual work.

The Superior Bugout 2013 art series at the Tender Trap:
May 2nd Tod Seelie
May 16th AVone
June 6th UFO907

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Photos Courtesy of Andrew H. Shirley

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Preview: Dennis McNett show show in Copenhagen

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The fantastic Dennis McNett has a solo show opening on Friday at MOHS exhibit in Copenhagen, Denmark, so Henrik Haven went over to get some photos as McNett set up and worked on an installation. The show runs April 19th through May 18th, and is pretty much guaranteed to be killer if you have any interest in linoblock or woodblock prints. McNett is an absolute master. Check out more of Haven’s extensive preview photos after the jump… Continue reading “Preview: Dennis McNett show show in Copenhagen”

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Mata Ruda: Exploring histories at the Bushwick Collective – Part 1

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Note: This article is the first in a three part series that discusses how three artists dealt with the topic of histories within their Bushwick Collective murals.

Originally from Venezuela, Mata Ruda drew upon the history of Central America for his first wall in New York City at the Bushwick Collective. Inscribing his images upon the preexisting mural by fellow Open Walls artist Gabriel Specter, the artist combines the context of Specter’s poppy “El Adiós Grocery” with his monochromatic imagery. Using a source photograph of an unknown, undocumented immigrant, this anonymous voice is given an ominous presence within this space. In a city of immigrants, the face of this everyman is accompanied by signage for a store that could exist on any corner in the city, asking us to question our interactions with people and iconography that most New Yorkers would not give a second thought.

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Combined with the black and white central portrait are a series of masks that float ominously around him, looming over the grocery’s banner. One of the first Mexican civilizations, the Olmecs were a Mesoamerican culture that now only exists through and is represented by the objects they left behind. The defined faces and hollow eyes of these artifacts have become emblematic of the culture, often called “colossal heads.” By applying traditional imagery from the contemporary figure’s transplanted homeland, Mata Ruda links the importance of a person’s past in their present through the use of historical imagery. The Olmec expression is echoed by the undocumented immigrant, further underlining this message.

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Photos by Rhiannon Platt