RJ Rushmore – Page 133 – Vandalog

May 11, 2011

Paul Richard and mobstr

5696426542_7c3b1c48a6_z — £1,000 by mobstr, part of The Commodity Series. Photo by mobstr

Because the humor in these pieces is similar, I’m throwing them together in one post.

First, mobstr‘s new series of paintings is called The Commodity Series. I’m a fan. Sort of like On Kawara, but funny. So far it’s four paintings: £1, £10, £1,000 and £10,000. And yes, I know that blogs like Vandalog are probably part of the butt of this joke, as they should be.

And then there’s Paul Richard’s latest piece. Paul is one of those hidden gems that not nearly enough people know about. He’s always on the mark. Here’s what he has to say about graffiti:

5706084398_67f3dbc8a8_z — Photo by Lois Stavsky

Photos by mobstr and Lois Stavsky

May 10, 2011

Freedom at Corey Helford Gallery

Blurring the Lines, the current show at Corey Helford Gallery in LA curated by Roger Gastman, features graffiti legends Freedom, Risk and Crash. Nothing against Risk and Crash, but Freedom, maybe best known for his work in NYC’s Freedom Tunnel, is by far my favorite of those three. Here’s some of Freedom’s contributions to the show. Thanks for Hi-Fructose for the images. Check out more of the show on their blog.

Photos courtesy of Hi-Fructose

May 9, 2011

Fuera de la Linea – street artists at a museum in Argentina

Jaz sent over these photos from Fuera de la linea, a show at the Museum of Contemporary Art of Rosario in Argentina. Some great South American street artists have installations and canvases in this show. All the info can be found here. Here’s some photos of the show from Jaz:

Photos by Jaz

May 8, 2011

VNA x Martha Cooper interview

I always love a good Martha Cooper interview, and all the better that this one was done by Very Nearly Almost:

VNA x Martha Cooper at MOCA from Charlie Inman on Vimeo.

May 7, 2011May 6, 2011

Kenny Scharf film and artist Q&A at MOCA this weekend

Kenny Scharf will be at MOCA this weekend as part of the Levi’s Film Workshop video series at Art in the Streets for a Q&A about Kenny Scharf: More, Newer, Better, Nower, Funner, a short film that Malia Scharf and Nathan Meier have made a short film about Kenny. The film will also be premiering at the event, before being available online. The Q&A/screening will be at 3pm on Sunday. RSVP for free online.

Photo courtesy of the Levi’s

May 6, 2011

Weekend link-o-rama

While I should probably be studying for final exams right now, I’m spending just as much time getting ready for Up Close and Personal, which opens next week in NYC. Check out a preview on Brooklyn Street Art. Here’s some stuff I would have liked to have covered this week:

Saber has a solo show open now in New York.
If you haven’t seen NohJColey’s flickrstream in a while, he’s been making some interactive sculptures.
Faile have a new prayer wheel in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
This article does a good job of showing just how messed up the current legal system is when looking at graffiti.
A reminder that street art and graffiti can have a real impact.
Check out Nuria Mora.
A Keith Haring show in NYC.
Peter Kennard is showing at Black Rat Projects.
New questions about if Banksy’s This Looks a Bit Like an Elephant piece left a man homeless.
Banksy is selling a poster on Saturday at the Bristol Anarchist Bookfair, and all the proceeds are going to charity. Just £5 per poster. The design is a “Tesco Petrol Bomb,” referencing the recent riots in Bristol over the construction of a new Tesco supermarket.
Herakut get up in LA.
Melrose&Fairfax have an article about Jeffrey Deitch’s continued ties to The Hole, the gallery that his right-hand woman Kathy Grayson set up after Deitch Project closed and Deitch became the director of MOCA in LA. Most of what they mention was already well-known or expected and a lot less explosive than Melrose&Fairfax make it out to be, but I’d still be curious to hear what The Association of Art Museum Directors think about this.

Photo by TresOhUno

May 6, 2011

Retna’s mural in progress at Pasadena Museum of California Art

Retna has begun his mural at the Pasadena Museum of California Art for their Street Cred show that I posted about earlier. It’s looking good so far…

Photos courtesy of the Pasadena Museum of California Art

May 5, 2011

Specter, Olek, Leon Reid IV and Skewville outside the New Museum

LeonGloves — Leon Reid IV gets ready to work. Photo courtesy of Factory Fresh

Factory Fresh and Trust Art are putting together a mini Bushwick Art Park this Saturday as part of the Festival of Ideas for the New City‘s StreetFest. Leon Reid IV, Specter, Skewville and Olek will be showing installations. You can check out the mini Bushwick Art Park on Saturday from 11am-7pm just outside of the New Museum at 235 Bowery in New York. Here’s a little teaser of what you might find at the art park:

Skewvillecement — Skewville. Photo courtesy of Factory Fresh

Leon Reid IV's new sculpture, "Pedestrian Shuffle". Photo by Leon Reid IV

Photos courtesy of Factory Fresh and by Leon Reid IV

May 5, 2011

Floating stickers by Dan Witz

Dan Witz‘ new Japes Crew project is pretty fun. Basically, each artwork is made up of stickers and dirt. In the above photo, the red balls are printed stickers. The shadows are made of smudged dirt. These were all done in Poland, where Dan worked with at-risk youth and taught them how to get their stickers floating. Keep an eye out for a video on how to do this yourself soon…

Photos by Dan Witz

May 5, 2011

Street Cred – graffiti artists at the Pasadena Museum of California Art

5658264122_be26cd37d2_b — Chaz Bojórquez

Street Cred: Graffiti Art from Concrete to Canvas is a show opening this month at the Pasadena Museum of California Art focusing on the graffiti writers and street artists who have come out of the LA scenes. Artists in the show include Chaz Bojórquez, Craola, Kofie One, Risk, Jeff Soto, Retna, Revok and Saber. Perhaps just as important, the show will include photographs of graffiti by Steve Grody, because any graffiti art exhibit would definitely be incomplete without documentation out actual graffiti outdoors. Additionally, Retna will be painting a mural on the outside of the museum.

Sounds like Street Cred will be a good compliment to Art in the Streets at MOCA. A number of people I’ve been speaking with recently have argued that LA graffiti has not been given its due in the wider history of graffiti, so maybe Street Cred will help to correct that.

Street Cred opens May 14th and runs through September 4th.

Photo by Lord Jim