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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Hell’s Half Acre: Laz’ turn in the tunnels

Mark Jenkins

After a series of shows in LA over the summer, Lazarides Gallery‘s next pop-up show is taking place back home in London. Next month, they’ll be at The Old Vic Tunnels (aka, the Leake Street tunnels) for a group show: Hell’s Half Acre. The is only running from October 12-17th, but the list of artists is top notch: Polly Morgan, Vhils, Mark Jenkins, Bast, Todd James and more.

The entire show will be inspired by Dante’s Inferno and all the artists will making work based on their interpretations of hell.

For more info, go here (sorry, it’s a PDF).

Photo by Jack Two

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Know Hope’s huge wall at BLK River

Know Hope has just returned from Vienna and he left something quite special on the walls of the city for the BLK River Festival.

The image is in the same series as the one I’m currently using as the desktop background on my computer, so of course I’m a fan.

And while we’re on the topic of Know Hope, any readers in Toronto and in a fortunate position: Know Hope has a solo show coming up next month at Show & Tell Gallery. No doubt this show, There Is Nothing Dear (Nothing Is Too Much Dear), will be something special. I’ve been looking forward to it for a while.

Here’s the flyer:

Photos by Herbalizer

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Escape 2010: more street art in Vienna

Stefan Strumbel. Photo by Oliver Rath

Before Vienna has a chance to recover from the general awesomeness of the BLK River Festival, another art exhibition with some international urban artists will be taking place in the city. Escape 2010 will be an indoor exhibition taking place from October 1st-24th in Vienna. Xoooox, Stefan Strumbel, Faith47 and a number of other urban artists will be taking part in the show.

Xoooox

Photos courtesy of Escape 2010

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ABOVE: Because now I’m worth it

A classic Banksy

Many Banksy fans will recognize that classic Because I’m Worthless rat. And Vandalog readers will probably be aware that Banksy’s artwork doesn’t always stay on the wall it’s painted on anymore.

ABOVE‘s latest stencil is an interesting take on those events. Check it out in this video:

“BECAUSE NOW I’M WORTH IT” from ABOVE on Vimeo.

And if you go to the video’s Vimeo page, you’ll see that ABOVE has written an explanation of the piece and how it came about.

Photo by DigitalParadox

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Vote for PublicAdCampaign and help them win money

Jordan's proposal for the contest

Jordan Seiler from PublicAdCampaign is a finalist in an interesting competition which may have been partially inspired by Jordan’s own NYSAT project. The NYC government’s Urban Canvas Design Competition is offering the chance for a few winning artists to have their artwork used as protective covering on construction sites in the city. Additionally, the 4 winning artists will also each receive an award of $7,500. Right now, the contest is down to 8 finalists, and now it’s up to the public to vote for the winners.

I voted for Jordan, not just because I think he had the best design, but because if he wins, he plans to use the money on projects for PublicAdCampaign (NYSAT and TOSAT).

You can vote on the UCDC website.

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Now available on the Faile webstore…

The Faile webstore was updated this week with a number of new items.

The latest version of their Bronze Bunny sculpture is a “deep cherry patina.” It’s the third in a series of 5 different colorways for this sculpture in bronze, each editions of 10. The sculptures are available online for $4,000 each.

The special “artist editions” of their new book have already sold out at $250 each for a few different screenprinted covers (editions of 50 each), but there’s always eBay. A signed version of the standard printing of the book is also still available for $69.

The Brave and Strong print is available in two colorways. The above version is an edition of 24 and is available for $2,000. There is also a one-off orange and blue print available for $7,500.

Sorry if this reads like an infomercial. I know a lot of people have said that Faile’s pricing is out of whack, but hey, the work sells and that’s a sign of something. Maybe it’s a just a bit unnerving for some people to see something available on an artist’s website for $7,500 like it’s a one-click purchase from Amazon. Personally, I think it shows some balls from Faile that they are trying to break out of the gallery system (both from the angle of artists doing the work of galleries and the way that they have eliminated the politics of “waiting lists” and the rest of the weirdness that comes with galleries). Anyways, I think Faile are making some nice pictures.

Photos courtesy of Faile

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Word To Mother solo show coming soon to StolenSpace

Word To Mother, an artist I enjoy as much for his tags and pieces as his completely different indoor work, has a solo show opening in a few weeks at StolenSpace Gallery in London. StolenSpace actually has a show opening this week about posters that have been in Don’t Panic packs, but WTM’s show is much more interesting to me, so I’m posting about that even though it’s not the next show at the gallery.

WTM’s Blind By Stardom opens on October 7th and runs through the 24th (so I’ll unfortunately miss the opening, but be back in town to at least see the show – more on my upcoming trip back to London soon). This will be his 4th solo show at StolenSpace, with the previous shows being very warmly received. I’d say it’s common for “street art fans” and “street art collectors” to have very different ideas of what is good, but Word To Mother seems to be one that everyone agrees about. Work at his shows sells quickly and the regular Thursday-night crowd are at the gallery for the art, not just the free beer.

I vaguely remember Word To Mother saying something to me last year at FAME Festival about how he was going to be changing things up for his next solo show. While I enjoy WTM’s work, I must admit that I kind of brushed this comment aside as the typical artist plugging himself and feigning growth, but clearly I was wrong. From what I’ve seen so far, these paintings are a step forward for Word To Mother both in style and content.

The themes behind Blind By Stardom are meant to be celebrity culture and how people consume media. This is definitely something that a lot of artists deal with, but WTM doesn’t seem to be as annoying about it as so many Banksy-wannabes (and even sometimes masters like Ron English) are. I’m looking at these paintings and getting the message, but I don’t feel like I’m beaten over the head with it.

This is one show not to miss, so make sure to stop by Stolenspace between October 7th and 24th.

Blind By Stardom opens October 7th from 6-9pm.

Photos courtesy of Stolenspace Gallery

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New work from Stinkfish in Colombia

A simple tip for all you aspiring street artists out there: take a page of of Stinkfish‘s book and take interesting photos of your art. I’ve been enjoying these new walls from one of my favorite Colombian street artists, but what really sets them apart from similar walls by other artists is that Stinkfish puts some thought into the damn photos, which become as interesting as the art on the wall. Faith47 is good at this too.

Photos by Stinkfish

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Dan Bergeron aka fauxreel at Show & Tell Gallery

Dan Bergeron, aka fauxreel, had a show open last week at Show & Tell Gallery in Toronto. Faces of the City focuses on Dan’s recent series of portraits. There are some beautiful pieces on wood, but since this series really is all about the city and how the work interacts with the wall it’s on, Dan has also included a number of photographic prints showing the portraits as they looked outdoors. And I’m not sure how’s he’s done it because it is such a challenge, but Dan has managed that delicate balancing act of using found or otherwise distressed wood has his canvas without it seeming too contrived and fake. That’s not an easy thing to do, so I’m glad to see that Dan has pulled it off.

Check out more work from the show on the gallery website, or photos from the opening on their flickr.

Photos courtesy of Show & Tell Gallery