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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Now’s The Time at Black Rat Projects

Black Rat Projects (formally Black Rat Press) finally has their first show of 2010 opening in a few weeks. It’s called Now’s The Time. It’s a group show and it brings together artwork by some of the top names in street art’s history: Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Shepard Fairey, Swoon, Banksy, Barry McGee, Faile and Os Gêmeos. I’ve heard about this show coming together over the last few months, and I like to joke that the idea behind it is strikingly similar to The Thousands, but two artists really separate this show from The Thousands and other similar exhibition that have been put on in the past: Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat. It’s not often that a gallery has put on an exhibition of what is claimed to be the world’s top street art and been able to include those two essential artists in the line up alongside newer artists artists like Faile. This is going to be a very interesting show. Now’s The Time opens April 22nd at Black Rat Projects in London.

Via Pimp Guides

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New print from Rene Gagnon

The latest print from Rene Gagnon is an interesting one. That image might look familiar. You might know it from this piece by Banksy that appeared in Utah earlier this year. But of course, Gagnon was the first to use the image all the way back in 2008. The original photo that the stencils were based on can be found by a simple Google search, so maybe it’s coincidence, but I’d say probably not. I’d like to think that this whole series of events is a little nod to Rene by Banksy after Banksy essentially created Mr. Brainwash, the artist who subsequently ripped off Rene’s best known image: Campbell’s graffiti soup cans. And now, Rene can bring back his praying boy image and make a few bucks off of it. Good God the art world is complicated sometimes.

By the way, Rene’s print costs just $125 and is an edition of 50. Imagine how much prints would go for if Banksy turned his version into a print.

Via Feed Your Wall

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Shepard Fairey’s May Day

News is starting to surface about Shepard Fairey’s solo show at Deitch Projects in New York City. Most importantly, the show is called May Day and runs from May 1st through the 29th. This flag piece looks amazing, which is particularly good news since a few other pictures from the show have been surfacing lately, and the portraits that Shepard is painting look to me like he’s just phoning it in.

Here’s the press release:

Deitch Projects is pleased to present May Day, an exhibition of new work by Shepard Fairey, as its final project. Titled not only in reference to the day of the exhibition’s opening, the multiple meanings of May Day resonate throughout the artist’s new body of work. Originally a celebration of spring and the rebirth it represents, May Day is also observed in many countries as International Worker’s Day or Labor Day, a day of political demonstrations and celebrations coordinated by unions and socialist groups. “Mayday” is also the distress signal used by pilots, police and firefighters in times of emergency.

With energy and urgency befitting the title May Day, Fairey captures the radical spirit of each of his subjects, using portraiture to celebrate some of the artists, musicians and political activists he most admires. Says Fairey, “These people I’m portraying were all revolutionary, in one sense or another. They started out on the margins of culture and ended up changing the mainstream. When we celebrate big steps that were made in the past, it reminds us that big steps can be made in the future.”

Many of the steps Fairey refers to involve the advocacy of the working class, put forth in the songs of Joe Strummer and Woody Guthrie and the writings of Cornel West, and among the works of other heroes portrayed in May Day. International Worker’s Day celebrated in nearly 100 countries throughout the world, commemorates the 1886 Haymarket Massacre in Chicago when a peaceful rally supporting workers on strike was disrupted by a bomb, and then a barrage of police gunfire. Because of negative sentiment surrounding the incident, U.S. President Grover Cleveland decided it was best to avoid celebrating the day, but it is precisely such sentiment that Fairey believes must be voiced: “It’s a day to express frustration with the powers that be, but also a day for activists to pursue ideals.” In May Day, he does both, with images supporting free speech and bemoaning the U.S. two party political system, pushing for renewable energy and critiquing corporate propaganda.

In Fairey’s mind, the persistence of difficulties across all of these arenas—political, environmental, economic, cultural—points to that third meaning of May Day: a distress signal. “By now we thought we would be in post-Bush utopia, but we’re still having to call attention to these problems,” he remarks. Like any mayday call, however, the sounding of the alarm also brings hope for help on the way. “If we stay silent, there’s no hope,” Fairey muses. “But if we make noise, if we put our ideas out there, then maybe we can make a change like the people in the portraits have done.”

FOR MORE INFORMATION AND INQUIRIES ABOUT PURCHASING ARTWORK PLEASE CONTACT

DEITCH PROJECTS
p: 212.343.7300
e: info@deitch.com
www.DEITCHPROJECTS.com

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Exit Through The Gift Shop headed to the USA

My best friends are in town for a few days from New York, so I thought I’d take them to see Exit Through The Gift Shop last night. Turns out, we went to High Roller Society for James Jessop’s show there (very cool by the way) and missed the evening screening of the film in Soho. Of course, my friends are I were now worried that they wouldn’t be able to see the film until a potential DVD release. But I’ve just heard some great news: Exit Through The Gift Shop will be opening in select cities in the USA from April 16th. The first three cities are New York City, LA and San Fransisco. The film will start showing in more cities across the country in the following four weeks.

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Roa at Pure Evil Gallery

Roa‘s got a solo show opening at Pure Evil Gallery next month. Should be quite something. Roa’s recent solo show in Paris was practically sold out in less than 48 hours and looked awesome. Oh, and I hear that Roa will be in town for the show, so that pretty much guarantees lots of new street pieces. The guy is super prolific.

Solo Exhibition at Pure Evil Gallery 8th APRIL – 2nd MAY 2010

ROA’s eagerly anticipated UK solo debut opens in London this spring to exhibit his unique portrayal of large scale urban wildlife, disquietly cohabiting city streets, hand painted in his distinctive black and white style.

ROA started painting abandoned buildings and warehouses in the isolated industrial outskirts of his hometown – Ghent, Belgium. Fixating on the animals he found there; the wildlife became the central subject matter of his work, inspired by their clever ability to adapt into scavengers in order to survive. He used the dilapidated, coarse interiors and exteriors of the unyielding landscape as a canvas to portray his large-scale creatures.

Roa filled a vast abandoned warehouse complex of different chambers and exteriors with a menagerie of large-scale animals, creating an impressive spray painted zoo of city scavengers.

His obsession went global when he took to the streets of New York, London, Berlin, Warsaw and Paris, prolifically painting his trademark cross sectioned animals wherever he went, locating them where they naturally invade the main city streets with their quiet yet powerful presence.

Pure Evil Gallery is proud and extremely excited to present a new body of original artwork by ROA this spring, complete with street works in the local area. Look out for a new ROA city fox appearing on a street near you.

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While I was in Zambia…

…the world didn’t stop turning. I’ll have more to say about the trip in the coming days and some videos will go online in the next few weeks, but for now I’ll just say that I went to Zambia to work at a school with Swoon (artist from NYC), Matt Small (artist from London) and Mike Snelle (runs Black Rat Projects in London) and we had what I have found to be life-changing experiences.

I was more or less without internet access while in Zambia, but are some of the things I probably would have mentioned on Vandalog if I had been within reach of a laptop: