In a range of media and styles, stikman has recently invaded Manhattan. It’s wonderful to have him back in town!
Photos by Lenny Collado and Lois Stavsky
Gaia Erases Revisionism in Woodstock
A few weeks ago, Acrylic Walls shared photos of their mural residency in South Africa, which includes artists Gaia, Freddy Sam, Jaz, and Know Hope. Local Freddy Sam has brought together international artists for, what I termed, a love letter to South Africa. However, sometimes love bites back.
One local took to Gaia‘s wall to voice his disapproval of the piece with not enough buff paint. Being an advocate for community and public space, Gaia used what some would view as heartbreaking into an opportunity to engage with the surrounding neighborhood. A hand erasing his Edwardian-animal hybrid has been accompanied by the phrase “revisionisme, uit te vee,” or “to erase revisionism” in Afrikaans. By commenting on the methodologies behind his piece, Gaia acknowledges the temporality of his work as well as its effects on those who, by their proximity to the piece, become forced viewers.
Photos Courtesy of Gaia
Banksy mourns Nekst and a community mourns a Banksy
Banksy‘s website was updated recently with an animated tribute to Nekst, a very talented internationally recognized graffiti writer who died last year. The screenshot above gives you the basic idea of Banksy’s tribute, but you can see the piece in action on his website. This is the first update we’ve gotten from Banksy in a little while. I think the last street pieces he put on his site were the Olympic-theme pieces from last July.
In other Banksy-related news, the above Banksy piece was recently removed from the streets of London and put up for auction in Miami at Fine Art Auctions. The piece, of course not authenticated by Pest Control but is pretty clearly by Banksy seeing as it’s on his website. The BBC has more about the removal of the piece. At this point, the legality of the removal is unclear, but the community is certainly disappointed. That same auction also includes another street piece, Wet Dog, which was painted in Bethlehem and was removed a while ago (it was also featured at the Context art fair in Miami last year, supposedly not for sale at the time).
Screenshot and photo from Banksy.co.uk
Goal Crew: A way of life
When I was first tipped off to Goal Crew’s work, I was told they were crushing the Buenos Aires subway and that I had to check it out. Scouring through their Tumblr archive I did find the kind of bold color blocky tags and characters that one would expect to see on a train. What I found even more attractive about their pieces is the precision timing and care taken into photographing each train.
Rather than focusing on a perfect dead-on shot that would accurately show their skills at bombing, Goal Crew depicts each train as if it has its own personality. Light streaks and unamused passengers on their daily commute dot the backdrops of their trains. These happenstance occurrences during their photographs bring an atmosphere to the pieces’ vivid colors.
Continue reading “Goal Crew: A way of life”
Ronzo is oh so fresh
Ronzo recently returned to Village Underground in London, where he also currently has a sculpture up, to paint this mural on one of the most highly-visible spots in Shoreditch (if I’m remembering the intersection correctly).
Fresh in Town – Roachio! from Ronzo on Vimeo.
Photo courtesy of Ronzo
Seimiek’s take on street art’s move out of the city
I spoke briefly with Peruvian artist Seimiek about a trend in street art I’ve seen a lot of in the past 2 years, one that that extends street art outside of the city and interacts with a new audience; perhaps forming new intent and meaning behind the works done by artists who’ve started to put colors in forgotten towns.
Laura Calle: I’ve noticed a lot of street artists have started to put up works outside the city, how do you think this changes the dynamics in your art?
Seimiek: I went outside of the city in search of new places to paint, in which case I did find new spots and the experience changed into something that gave me new ideas. New places, new ideas.
Laura Calle: What was your initial reason or purpose that has influenced you to paint in places like Canta Gallo?
Seimiek: I wanted to find new spots. When I went to Canta Gallo for the first time, there was a reaction by people that made me want to continue working there. I think, that that is what has made the whole experience so awesome. People will tell you, “come here, paint this spot, here here!” and then you go and finish painting that spot and they tell you how much they like it or how why they aren’t into it. That’s what made me come back. The difference in painting in the city is that you will finish something, sometimes you finish it only half way, and you leave the spot to sometimes find it gone in a few days.
Photos courtesy of Seimiek
Spidertag in Marseille, France
Weekend link-o-rama
Sorry for the late link-o-rama. Caroline came to visit on Thursday, so I’ve been trying to stay offline.
- I love these simply-sprayed but clever one-liners by MTO.
- Alexandros Vasmoulakis has a show open now at LeBasse Projects in LA, and it looks really really nice.
- The brilliant and massively under-appreciated Peter Kennard has a solo show this month at UpperPlayground’s Mexico City Gallery Fifty24MX.
- San Franciscans are lucky that two Brits, Sickboy and Word To Mother, have solo shows going on there now. Sickboy is at Shooting Gallery and Word To Mother is at the affiliated White Walls Gallery.
- Apparently Zilda and Ro have been collaborating for some time, but I think this is the first I’ve heard of it and the result is fantastic.
- It’s already sold out, but I really like this recent Nychos print from 1xRun.
- Half of La Pandilla just painted a mural in LA.
- Australian street artist CDH is thinking about the preservation of street art in a responsible manner and trying to get the effort going in Australia. Definitely an interesting, and controversial, read.
Photo by HowAboutNo!
Pun18 in Puerto Rico
While down in Puerto Rico this past fall for the Los Muros Hablan festival, I met a number of local artists – new to me – whose work intrigued me. Among these was Philip Cruz aka Pun18 whose surreal images fuse elements of comic, graffiti and pop art. These are two recent works Pun18 shared with me.
Photos courtesy Pun18
