Author: RJ Rushmore

RJ Rushmore has been involved in contemporary art as a writer, curator, photographer, arts administrator, and fan since 2008. With a focus on street art, graffiti, and public art, RJ facilitates and promotes catalytic and ambitious art outdoors, in galleries, and online. He founded the street art blog Vandalog and has worked at The L.I.S.A. Project NYC, Mural Arts Philadelphia, and Creative Time. Currently, RJ is Co-Curator of Art in Ad Places.
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A very street art Christmas: some holiday gift ideas

After procrastinating and procrastinating about writing this post, I missed Hanukkah and Eid, so I guess this is a gift guide for Christmas. Sorry for the delay.

Here are a few street art related products that have come out in the last year or so that I think are pretty cool. If you’re looking for a last-minute holiday gift for the street art obsessive in your life, hopefully this will help…

  • DB Burkeman’s book Stickers: Stuck Up Piece of Crap is one of the best art books I have ever read. I cannot recommend it highly enough if you have even a passing interest in stickers. If you buy one thing off this list, it should probably be this book. The photo at the top of this post is for the deluxe edition which comes with signed stickers, but that version doesn’t come cheap.

  • Now, the flip side of that anti-fashion comment, I want to remind everyone that Vandalog still has shirts available from Gaia, Troy Lovegates and Faro. These very limited edition shirts are $30 each and you can buy them online.
  • Martha Cooper’s latest book is Name Tagging, a book about the Hello My Name Is stickers and graffiti. Personally, I prefer Going Postal, her book about postal stickers, but Name Tagging is a good quick read too. It has brief interviews with Twist, Sure, Cost and others plus plenty of photos.
  • These Buff Monster plush toys are on sale for $12.00 right now. Very cute.
  • If you want a unique iPhone case, either Incase or Uncommon seem like good options. Incase has that Jose Parla iPhone case and Uncommon let’s you customize your own case with designs from a number of artists including David Ellis, Dennis McNett and MQ.
  • I’ve only just started to read Trespass, but I’ve heard from others that it is a great book.

Or, if you’re a street artist, you could go out on Christmas, brave the cold, and do some art. Give a gift to the rest of us. Not enough street art happens in the winter months.

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Miami mural mayhem

Remi/Roughe and Stormie Mills. Photo courtesy of Remi

Here’s a hodge-podge of photos of some of my favorite murals from Miami this year… Probably more to come in future posts as well. Most of these were part of Primary Flight.

Kid Acne, The London Police, Will Barras and Ema. Photo by S.Vegas
How and Nosm (click to see a a large size of this wall). Photo by tatscruinc
Invader. Photo by Hargo
Shepard Fairey and Overunder. Photo by Hargo
Jeff Soto and Maxx242. Photo by S.Vegas
Amaze by Barry McGee. Photo by S.Vegas
Cash For Your Warhol. Photo by Hargo
Dabs and Myla. Photo courtesy of Thinkspace

Photos by S.Vegas, Hargo, tatscruinc and courtesy of Thinkspace and Remi

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Sugar Junkie – from Brooklynite and Pawnworks

This 1977 Winnebego was in Miami last week, where it was converted by Brooklynite Gallery and Pawnworks (a really interesting sticker project) into Sugar Junkie, a mobile party and semi-art-gallery. Despite a max speed of about 5 miles per hour, Sugar Junkie made its way around Miami last week, making stops at all the big events and letting just about anyone have a go at painting it. It was covered inside and out. Here are some of the artists whose work can be found on Sugar Junkie: COST, ELIK, MISS BUGS, SPACE INVADER, REMED, VARIOUS & GOULD, AIKO, DAVID WALKER, D-FACE, SKEWVILLE, PERU ANA ANA PERU, COLLIN VAN DER SLUIJS, JOE BLACK, ELUS, SPQR, DAIN, LUDO, CASH4, CHRIS MENDOZA, UFO 907, GAIA, NET KRT, STINKFISH, THUBDERCUT, NOJ, VUDU, LEAS, DDOCK, 5003, CASH FOR YOUR WARHOL, CELSO, RUBY, JULIA, HOPE, PAWNWORKS, RAE.

And here are some more photos:

Photos by Brooklynite Gallery

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Answers to why Blu’s mural was removed in LA

The street art community has been in a bit of a hubbub over a mural by Blu being painted over less than 24 hours after it was completed. Until now, MOCA, the museum that commissioned Blu to paint the mural on one of their walls, had stayed silent on why the mural was removed. In my post I tried not to jump to conclusions, but given what’s going on at the Smithsonian and the silence from MOCA, it was hard not to speculate and assume the worst: pointless censorship. Some people also speculated that the whole thing was a preplanned stunt. Luckily, it sounds like all this was just a series of unfortunate events, but with a reasonable explanation.

I’ve just received word from MOCA as to what happened:

MOCA commissioned Blu, one of the world’s most outstanding street artists to create a work for the north wall of The Geffen Contemporary at MOCA.

The Geffen Contemporary building is located on a special, historic site. Directly in front the north wall is the Go For Broke monument, which commemorates the heroic roles of Japanese American soldiers, who served in Europe and the Pacific during World War II, and opposite the wall is the LA Veterans’ Affairs Hospital. The museum’s director explained to Blu that in this context, where MOCA is a guest among this historic Japanese American community, the work was inappropriate. MOCA has invited Blu to return to Los Angeles to paint another mural.

Certainly not the way you want mural projects to go, but if Blu understands and respects MOCA’s decision enough to paint another mural there, then I do too. This was not the pointless censorship that it has been painted to be by the internet, it is being respectful to the community that would be living with this art every day.

Photo by Unurth

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Skewville, Burning Candy and Kid Acne in Miami

Dscreet, Skewville and Kid Acne

Kid Acne, Skewville and part of Burning Candy worked together a bit in Miami. I think all of these murals were for Primary Flight. Above is a mural they did together, and here are some of the things they did separately:

James Jessop and Dscreet
Kid Acne

And lots from Skewville:

68 pairs of Primarly Flight/Skewville shoes

The folks from Plaztik Mag (is that John Fekner's Stanley Cup in the background?)

Photos by Burning Candy, Kid Acne and Skewville

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MOCA asks Blu to paint mural, buffs mural after 24 hours

I heard the most wonderful news recently: Blu was about to paint a huge mural in LA. This week, that’s exactly what he did. Blu was invited to paint the wall by MOCA, the museum where Jeffrey Deitch is about to put on a major street art exhibition. In fact, the mural was painted on one of the walls of MOCA’s Geffen Contemporary. A mural by Blu would probably be, for me, a highlight of that exhibition. Unfortunately, less than a day after the mural was finished (and yes, it had been finished), it has been completely painted over by MOCA workers. What’s going on here? So far, nobody really knows. MOCA has declined to comment.

Unurth has more images, GOOD offers some speculation and LA Downtown News has a bit to add to the story. Most interesting given the content of Blu’s mural, LA Downtown News notes that the mural faced a Veterans Administration building and was also within sight of a war memorial. No evidence to say whether either of those things factored in to why the mural was removed though.

The buffing of this mural is especially worrying to me given the current controversy at the National Portrait Gallery about the removal of controversial art. Hopefully there will be more answers about what is going on in here in the next few days.

Photo by Unurth

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Kid Zoom interviewed by Morgan Spurlock

Earlier this week, we posted about Kid Zoom’s upcoming solo show, This City Will Eat Me Alive, which opens on Saturday in NYC. We also promised an interview with Kid Zoom aka Ian Strange. Because I admittedly don’t know much about Kid Zoom, I asked him to find a friend who could interview him for Vandalog. He chose art collector and filmmaker Morgan Spurlock. While Spurlock might be best-known for directing and starring in the films Super Size Me and Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden?, he is also an avid art collector. Here’s their interview:

Morgan Spurlock: When I first came to NY in 1991, I was overwhelmed but excited beyond words. I felt like I was meant to be here. What were your first thoughts when you arrived in NYC?

Kid Zoom: My first time in New York was only last year, but I had a very similar experience. It’s a massive, intimidating, overwhelming place, especially coming from a small city in Australia – But the great thing was exactly what you said, I felt like this was where I was meant to be. I went home to Australia, sold my stuff and 6 months later I moved here.

Morgan Spurlock: How is the art scene different here from your native Australia? What was it like back home and what drove you to come here?

Kid Zoom: The scene I was apart of in Australia is a small community of very talented artists and it seems similar here, I’ve had really positive experience as the new kid.
There’s just a lot more people around here if you want to paint walls.

Morgan Spurlock: This will be your first major art show in NY. That’s a huge accomplishment. How do feel? Any pressure? Nerves on end?

Kid Zoom: Thanks, I’m just very humbled by the caliber of people who have thrown their weight behind my career and let me basically do whatever I want with this show. There’s a lot of pressure and nerves, sleepless fumed out nights and i have taken to drinking with a lot more passion than usual. But it’s all things I love and it’s a great way to lose your mind.

Morgan Spurlock: How do you personally define success?

Kid Zoom: For me I think it’s a simple as getting to do the things you really want to do in life and being surrounded by like minded fools. I’ll feel successful if I can just keep creating bigger and stranger projects and continuing to do the dance involved in lining everything up to make them happen.

Morgan Spurlock: If it wasn’t for my parents giving me the freedom to be myself, I’d probably be working in a bank somewhere. Who are the greatest influences and inspirations in your life?

Kid Zoom: I came up in the Perth graffiti scene with some really great people and a lot of the older guys were a great inspiration and help.
My parents were also great, laid back people who always told me to do what I love – and I loved painting on walls, which when you’re 15 doesn’t really seem like anything with a future, especially when you start getting dropped home by the police. Before I could drive my mother used to drive me to walls I’d painted the night before to get photos – I can’t imagine where I’d be if I had more traditional parents.

Morgan Spurlock: What’s up with the bear?
 Kid Zoom: The piece is titled, ‘Tag on Bear [self portrait of the artist straight fronting]’ – So the short answer is its me, well, it’s kid zoom with the ego intact, so it’s a projected idea of myself.

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Kid Zoom‘s show This City Will Eat Me Alive opens this weekend in NYC. Here’s the flyer (with an image of Tag on Bear [self portrait of the artist straight fronting]):

Also, Fecal Face just did a studio visit with Kid Zoom.

Photos courtesy of Kid Zoom

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It’s not about the money (well, actually…)

Escif. Photo by Escif

Escif painted that mural outside of Graffiti Gone Global’s Fresh Produce show in Miami last week. While Basel Miami and the associated events aren’t all about money, it’s certainly on everyone’s minds. That doesn’t mean that the shows were bad though. There was actually a lot of great art on display for those who took the time to look. Here are some of the indoor highlights (unfortunately, I didn’t have a camera with me besides my cameraphone, so I have to link to other peoples’ coverage of everything):

  • Amazingly, Sanrio’s Hello Kitty show was, by all accounts, actually pretty good. I stuck to my vow of not checking out the show myself (okay, actually, once I changed my mind and wanted to see it, the show was close both times I tried to stop by). Of course it looks like there was some crap and boring pandering to the brand, but there seem to be a few decent paintings in there too. Also, it was super crowded every time I walked by, so hopefully those visitors who were there for Sanrio’s show also saw some of the other great shows nearby.
  • Hi-Fructose and Arrested Motion have some good photo-summaries of the main fair, Basel Miami.
  • Retna‘s solo show, Silver Lining, at Primary Projects was his first show since being on the cover of Juxtapoz. After landing in Miami last Thursday evening, I went to straight from the airport to Primary Projects to catch the end of this opening. There was a little bit of something for everyone: installations, canvas, monotype prints, work on old doors and more. Oddly enough, it was the more refined work that didn’t appeal to me. For me, the canvases seemed to be lacking that spark that makes Retna’s work so amazing. Everything else was a real treat though. The watercolors and monotypes in particular were beautiful. This show is still running, so any Miami residents who haven’t seen it yet really should stop by. For the rest of the world Arrested Motion took photos.
  • Jonathan LeVine Gallery put on a solid group show. The standout piece was a new artwork by Judith Supine. Unfortunately, Hi-Fructose’s picture of the standout piece is blurry (the super-glossy varnish must have confused the camera) and the gallery’s photo doesn’t show the glossiness of the piece. HF have photos of the rest of the show though.
  • While it was technically mostly a mural project, I’m throwing Wynwood Walls into this post because the vibe was like a gallery show. Hrag and I are pretty much in agreement on this one. Although I’d give Logan Hicks’ mural more credit than Hrag.

Lastly, I want to mention New Image Art‘s pop-up show. There was some new artwork by Judith Supine, Os Gêmeos, Bast and others, as well as a bunch of photos by Neckface and his friends, which are 100x more interesting than I had expected them to be. Here are a few photos from that show:

Os Gêmeos
Bast
Judith Supine

This is probably most, if not all, if the coverage I’ll be giving to indoor things at Basel Miami, but I’ll be posting a lot more about the murals and other outdoor events in the coming days.

Photos by Escif and courtesy of New Image Art