Banksy brought back an old favorite today across the street from Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, a tagged leopard. He did a similar piece years ago in London at Cans Festival.
Tomorrow is the last day of Better Out Than In, so I think it’s fair to say that everyone’s expecting something big. Keep an eye on Banksy’s site for updates.
Today for the + 5, we have Vort Man, dRIP, Invader, Aris and one unknown artist parodying Banksy:
Photos by Allan Molho, Vort Man, dRIP, Aris,
After seeing photos of his show at Pandemic Gallery last spring and then seeing his solo show at Stupid Easy Gallery in person last summer, I began to realize that stikman was just as interesting of an artist when showing indoors as on the street. But what to do with that knowledge? Just keep in mind that I wanted to see more stikman shows I suppose. And then the Mural Arts Program, a 30-year-old public art program in Philadelphia responsible for about 3000 murals in that time, asked me to curate a show for the gallery space at their offices. Given a short timeline for putting a show together, there was no way I was going to be able to conceptualize and assemble a group show, but then I realized that Mural Arts is the perfect venue for stikman’s work. As I’ve said before, I wouldn’t say I curated this show so much as facilitated it. stikman knows his art better than I do, and I was just excited to see what he would do if I didn’t add any constraints beyond those created by the space itself and the short time between the invitation to do a show and the opening night. The result is …in the house… stikman’s second solo show in Philadelphia and third solo show anywhere.
…in the house… is a great introduction to stikman’s world, but it also takes Mural Arts and the space into account. The Mural Arts offices are located in the former home of painter and art professor Thomas Eakins, and at least two of the works in …in the house… reflect that the show is in Eakins House. A series of photographs found on Instagram and flickr showing people interacting with stikman’s work as they document it (generally by including their feet in the photos like this) hang in the hallway, a reminder that both Mural Arts and stikman value community engagement with their art. For me, that was what I most hoped to show with …in the house…, that stikman and Mural Arts have many of the same goals despite their different methods. Mural Arts puts up huge murals throughout Philadelphia, and stikman installs his usually tiny figures anywhere they will fit.
I’m really pleased with how …in the house… turned out. It’s probably been my most satisfying indoor project since The Thousands in 2009. There’s some absolutely fantastic work in …in the house…, and it seems it’s been really well-received by everyone at Mural Arts. It’s a diverse show, with sculptures, photographs, prints and paintings of all sizes and mediums. stikman does a lot with his little character. That said, one of my favorite works is a sort of hanging cairn made of bricks that stikman installed on a gate outside of the building. Many people don’t realize that stikman is also a prolific cairn builder.
With something around 100 works in …in the house…, it’s difficult to show it all here, but I’ll share a sampling. For the rest, you’ll just have to stop by the Mural Arts Program offices at 1727-29 Mt. Vernon Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130. …in the house… will be up through November 13th. If you stop by, be sure to grab a free stikman sticker, and if you love the work as much as I do, this is a great time to pick up a piece. stikman has offered to donate all the proceeds from sales at …in the house… to Mural Arts.
Continue reading ““…in the house…”, a solo show by stikman in Philadelphia”
Note from the editor: I know we here at Vandalog tend to neglect all the great things going on on the streets of Chicago, but hopefully this guest post by Terry Cartlon starts to make up for that. Terry visited Paint, Paste, Sticker, a show of work by street artists active in Chicago at the Chicago Cultural Center. – RJ Rushmore
With all the Banksyness happening across New York’s five boroughs this month, it’s difficult to focus on any other art happenings in any other part of the world. Unfortunately here in Chicago, we’re used to doing our thing in The Big Onion only to finish second to The Big Apple. Fortunately, when you’ve got Chicago’s heaviest of hitters gathered at the cultural center for a lesson in Chicago street art, it helps soften the blow from the international spectacle occurring in that first city.
The architectural gem that is The Chicago Cultural Center houses something for The Second City to be proud of: Paint, Paste, Sticker encompasses quite the retrospective of Chicago street art history in one impressive room. Past, present, and future are all represented…and represented well.
Coming up the stairs or exiting the elevator on the fourth floor, attendees get greeted by Matthew Hoffman‘s worldwide wonder You Are Beautiful stone slab and Zore‘s Sheltered Bombing, a painted CTA bus shelter worth the time it takes to get downtown alone. Once inside, pieces from Slang, Don’t Fret, Nice One, Stefskills, C3PO, Kane One, and Radah flank the walls with collections from Galerie F and their Logan Square Mural Project ricocheting ideas and possibility in the city. Paint, Paste, Sticker takes us far north for the Rogers Park Participatory Budgeting project, down south for the South Shore Art Festival, and to the 25th Ward for Alderman Danny Solis’, Pawn Works‘, and Chicago Urban Art Society‘s Art in Public Places initiative. All three of these excellent projects have taken Chicago street art to the next level over the past year while showcasing international and local legends on the exterior walls in an attempt to put Chicago in the rightful spotlight.
Hebru Brantley shows off his prolific significance, Tselone and Jeff Zimmerman input their importance to the movement, and Ruben Aguirre’s masterful stylistics are on display in full harmony with Secret Sticker Club’s underrated sticker presence that is prevalent throughout Chicago.
The artistic talent in Chicago is undoubtedly the most underappreciated in the country, and this event has the potential to create the necessary influx/outflux relationship for artists to get the recognition they deserve. Seeing a large scale collection of accomplishments on display like this really puts it in perspective, and the excitement that this exhibition should ignite is what it’s all about. Chicagoans are some of the most precisely knowledgeable and honestly humble artists in the game with some of the highest standards for street art and graffiti you’ll ever see. Lucky for show-goers, those standards are put into action for everything on display.
Paint, Paste, Sticker does a thorough job of representing the who’s who and what’s what of the Chicago street art scene—a scene made up of interdisciplinary, intergenerational artists who transcend time, space, race, and class. If you miss this exhibit, you should kick your own ass…
Continue reading “Paint, Paste, Sticker at the Chicago Cultural Center”
Juuuust in time for the end of the month, as usual. I’ve been working on some very special projects here in Melbourne all of which I will be sharing over the next month!
September was another great month in Melbourne. As usual a bunch of shows and some of the best street art and graffiti from the streets. Enjoy!
Meggs painted one of his biggest ever murals on the the Fare Share building. Fare Share is a “good rescue” organisation, taking unwanted food and making into meals for charity. Nice work.
Some mad work in Collingwood by some of Melbourne’s most prolific writers, Bolts, Sauce and Kawps. More shots here.
I’ve posted a bit of DVATE’s work in the past. Here’s some more of his work on a recent trip across Europe (not sure who all the collabs are with). More here.
Continue reading “Melbourne Monthly Madness – September 2013”
When Banksy announced today’s Better Out Than In piece this afternoon, people began running to a little thrift store on 23rd Street in the hope of scoring the deal of a lifetime. I would have run with them if I were in town. But luckily the thrift store was tipped off to what was about to happen. Banksy had just donated a “crude oil” painting. His crude oil series involves him taking old paintings, in this case one that he bought from this thrift store, and adding his own touches. Two early street artists, John Fekner and Peter Kennard, experimented with similar pieces long before Banksy, but Banksy has really pushed the idea and made it his own thanks to his habit of inserting his modified paintings in places where the unmodified paintings might normally hang.
This crude oil painting, titled The Banality of the Banality of Evil, features the addition of a nazi officer to the idyllic landscape. It’s in a thrift store that benefits Housing Works, a charity fighting “to end the dual crises of homelessness and AIDS.” Housing Works have put the painting for sale in an online auction ending in the evening on October 31st. As of this posting, the bidding has reached $157,200. If you’ve looking for a new Banksy and have $200,000 or so to drop, you can bid here.
More info and photos over at Gothamist.
Today’s + 5 includes work by Labrona, Ray Johnson Fan Club, Wakuda, Saki&Bitches and Dscreet:
Photos by Allan Molho, carnagenyc, Labrona, Ray Johnson Fan Club, Dustin Condley, Amy S. Rovig and Alex Ellison
Better Out Than In is nearing it’s end, but we still have a few days left of daily Banksy goodness. Today’s piece is in Coney Island. As pointed out by Animal, the numbers on the barcode seem to be a reference to a portion of the human genome (if I understand that site). If robots with spraypaint looks familiar, Lush thought so too, writing “Did #banksy just politely rip me off today? You decide, I rip people off everyday anyways.” Funny stuff.
Today’s + 5 includes Invader (more from his NYC adventures on his new Instagram), Alex Produkt, Fred le Chevalier and two unknown artists:
Photos by carnagenyc, Hanksy, Alex Produkt, Alper Çuğun, exilism and Jeanne Menjoulet
Today we have Lush‘s sixth comic in a 10-part series. What do you think? Is there any hope? – RJ
Comic by Lush
I really like today’s Banksy piece, even though it’s a bit more targeted towards an audience already familiar with street art and graffiti that most of the Better Out Than In. I was shocked these last few days. I was at a big family wedding, and it seemed like everyone I spoke with brought up Banksy. I know he’s got mainstream popularity, but sometimes I forget how much. But hey, if my grandmother doesn’t get this piece, I’m okay with that, because I think it’s a good joke for those who will get it. Plus, with my upcoming ebook Viral Art all about the internet, street art and graffiti, I’m always fascinated by street art that makes a joke about how it will be distributed online. Overall, one of my preferred pieces from the show for sure. The one I’d make a trip out to see in person.
Today Banksy also posted an ostensible “blocked message” to the Better Out Than In site along with this piece: The draft of an op-ed he submitted to The New York Times mocked up to appear as it would if it were published in the paper. But the NYTimes editors rejected Banksy’s article (which argued that Freedom Tower is a terrible building to put up in place of the Twin Towers). That’s not a blocked message. That’s an editor doing his or her job and deciding what to publish. Read the article and see for yourself. Do you really think it meets the standard of quality that people expect (whether or not it’s always reached) from the New York Times? I didn’t have an opinion one way or the other about Freedom Tower before today, and I still don’t have an opinion on it. Shouldn’t that op-ed have convinced me or at least got me thinking about the issue? I’ve definitely offered up some poorly thought out and poorly written criticism here on Vandalog from time to time, but I never expected it to appear in the New York Times or implied censorship when it wasn’t.
So today we have 2 elements to the + 5. First, I want to point out five articles that where I think the writers have done a nice job voicing an opinion about the work of street artists or graffiti writers or the cultures of street art and graffiti:
And for our regular + 5, we have work by Mr. Toll, Ken Sortais, Endless (I assume) and two unknown artists:
Photos by carnagenyc, Hrag Vartanian, failing_angel, Lord Jim and duncan c
Today’s Banksy is this little piece of advice on a truck in Sunset Park Brooklyn. Animal has the exact location. I’m in a rush, so moving right on to the + 5, today there’s work by Reinhard Schleining, Unga, Tek33, Ernest Zacharevic and one unknown artist:
Photos by carnagenyc, duncan c, Alex Ellison, Ronald Tan and KylaBorg
Yesterday Banksy announced his Better Out Than In piece quite late in the day. That, combined with some WordPress issues that we’ve been facing, and today’s Banksy + 5 is a day late. Sorry. Anyway, the piece was announced in the evening because it’s another performance and this one starts at dusk. As you can see in the video below (originally posted to Banksy’s site), the grim reaper in a bumper-car character drives all this little stage Banksy has set up at Houston and Elizabeth streets (right next to where Swoon and Groundswell are working on a piece at the Bowery and Houston mural location). The piece will be active from dusk to midnight today and Sunday if you want to go check it out. Me, I’m not too bothered. Also, there’s an audio description for the piece on Banksy’s site. Interesting side note: Banksy previously used the grim-reaper-riding-a-bumper-car image in this painting that he gave to the band Brace Yourself for changing their name from Exit Through the Gift Shop.
Today we have Clet Abraham, Revs, Ghost Owl and two unknown artists in the + 5:
Photos by The L.I.S.A. Project, carnagenyc, Dave Nolionsinengland, Brian Knowles, Jocelyn Kinghorn and Corrado Disegna
