Nice preview video of Luna Park and Billi Kid’s group show “The Great Out Doors” has popped online. Some really cool doors in this show. Personal favorites are the pieces by Imminent Disaster, Deeker, Royce Bannon, and Infinity.
Matt Small Video Interview Part Two
Here’s part two of my video interview with Matt Small. It’s from his recent show, “Youngstarrs” at Black Rat Press in London. The show is up for another week, so you can still catch it if you haven’t seen it in person yet. There’s some really beautiful work which Viddler’s image quality does not show off properly at all. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can check out Part One of this interview as well.
The audio is poor, so there is a transcript below the video.
RJ: So how do you choose who to paint?
Matt: Well I got my film camera…
We talk about how I only brought a cheap video camera.
Matt: Yeah so I film people with a video camera and I do it at a nice discreet distance. So in a way it’s a bit naughty, but what you’re doing is you’re getting them unaware and you’re capturing them in their own natural way of being. You know what I mean? [inaudible] Because I film them and people assume an identity. We all do that. We all… I’m doing it now. So we all assume an identity, and we stop being ourselves as such. We put out what we believe we want people to see. I bypass that by filming you, without you knowing. And then I can just go through that and find ones that I believe in [inaudible] and I’ll get that person. So there are all just like kids on the street. And, as sinister as that might sound, that how I’ve got them. One of the kids here, he was from a place called [inaudible] estate in North London. He’s sitting there, and I just filmed him. He had that beautiful look about him. [Inaudible]. I just that was very telling of the kids that are growing up in that particular area. They’re growing up in a tough estate and [inaudible] and who knows what lies ahead.
RJ: What’s the process to paint one of these, the actual painting though, once you have the image?
Matt: Once I have it? Well I’ll film, sketch, and then I’ll build up the sketch on metal and I’ll use oils and use that to build up tones and then I use [inaudible] I’ll get loads of emulsions paints which you see [inaudible] different tones of paint that I use and then I scratch it on. And I’ve got a little tool that I use to smear the paint around and it creates a sort of collidial process where all the paints mix and it’s like being in a realm of chaos because what I’ve just done is before I painted a very conventional painting: a very nicely done picture. Every time I do that it’s me protesting against traditional portraiture. It’s me saying “damn the way that [inaudible].” And it’s quite liberating. I’ve just destroyed this picture that [inaudible], and then I’ve got to try to get it back. The way I [inaudible] to bring it back as a different picture. Almost like it’s been reborn into something that I would like to think is progressive and it’s saying a bit more than that picture before. What it was before was something that doesn’t represent me or what I’m trying to say about art and about the world. And when I destroy it and bring it back, it is something that is me and it does speak about the world. I think that’s what makes it really interesting personally. Because each time I do one of these paintings, there’s a little story behind it. And it’s a story that sort of speak about me as well as a person. I think that, as an artist, if you’re an artist then you really want to make sure that a picture is coming from you, and it’s you talking and that’s there in these pictures.
Last Night A DJ Bashed My Head In
If you live in London, you’ve probably had a hard time avoiding to police department’s latest advertising campaign for volunteer police: “Last Night a DJ Saved My Life.” In light of Ian Tomlinson‘s recent death at the hands of the London Police, some people are having a hard time believing the London Police always have the people’s best interests at heart. The Space Hijackers have done a very powerful project on this issue.
Via numusic
Photos from UK Indymedia
New York Street Advertising Takeover
Last weekend, 120 illegal street advertisements throughout New York City were covered up by art. The whole project was orchestrated by Jordan Seiler at Public Ad Campaign. He got a large group of artists and volunteers to cover a few of the many illegal outdoor advertisements on New York streets first with a layer of white, and then with artwork. Participating artists included Rachel Lowing and Gaia, Tristan Eaton, Ji Lee (of The Bubble Project), Enjoy Banking, Peru Ana Ana Peru, and many many more. Unfortunately, Jake Dobkin reports that all of these interventions seem to have been taken down (of course, I suppose that was sort of the point. At least it gets rid of the illegal ads. The Capital G project worked the same way. A week later, not only was Captial G gone, but so were those flyposted ads.). Here are a few images that have been popping up online:
More photos after the jump… Continue reading “New York Street Advertising Takeover”
Shows I Forgot to Mention (California Edition)
Yesterday I did what I thought was a moderately extensive post on some of the cooler shows opening soon or recently opened, but I realize I missed California completely. Here’s a few things you can go see if you’re in California and looking for some street art:
First, there is The Carmichael Gallery. While their Boxi and Neo-Cons/Zeus shows are still up until the 30th, I’d like to write about what they’ve got opening on May 7th.
In the main gallery, Thais Beltrame has a solo show.
And in their rear gallery is “Get Rich Quick!” GRQ is a show full of secondary market work from top-tier artists like Banksy, Barry McGee, KAWS and Faile.
I know nothing about the show in this next poster except that it is in San Fransisco and Know Hope is involved. That’s good enough for me. Love his work.
Papergirl Project Open Call
Just got an email this morning about an amazingly cool project that has been going on for the past few years in Berlin. Papergirl distributes packages of art on the street once a year. Sort of like Adam Neate, but Papergirl is open to any artists who send in work, and the art is passed out by bike, sort of kids on a newspaper route. Each package contains a number of works by different artists, so each recipient gets a unique combination of artwork. Check out a video from last year’s Papergirl:
Summer is fast approaching, so the Papergirl team is once again looking for artists to send in work. Last year, a number of artists from across the world participated including Various & Gould and Cake.
Details and PR spiel after the jump…
Continue reading “Papergirl Project Open Call”
It’s Showtime
The number of interesting shows is really starting to increase as it starts to get warmer. Here’s a number of shows around the world open or opening soon which look interesting:
(this show features Blu, Nunca, Os Gemeos and others)
- Spring Fever at Kings County Bar in Brooklyn, New York. A group show curated by Andrew Michael Ford. Open now.
- Nick Walker’s “A Sequence of Events” at Black Rat Press (speak of BRP, Part 2 of my Matt Small interview will be online as soon as my computer stops freezing when I try to upload it)
- The always amazing José Parlá has a show in Hong Kong right now.
- Lazarides will be reopening their main London gallery in a new location on Rathbone Place on May 15th. Lazarides Rathbone place will start out with another “Outsiders” show.
Nomad’s Giant Gifts
Nomad recently did this really great project in the Canaries. Note the sunbathers in comparison to the size of those blocks.
Via Sabotaz
Jaybo at Nancy Victor Gallery
Last night was the opening of Jaybo’s “The Pocket Show” at Nancy Victor Gallery. I couldn’t make it for the opening, but I stopped by this afternoon.
My friend Rachel and I had split views on the show. For me, although Jaybo is definitely a good painter, it just isn’t my kind of work. Rachel, on the other hand, really liked it. Overall, I’d say it’s a good show, just not for the typical street art fan.
Jaybo’s work is definitely different from what street art fans come to expect. So many of us are used to low-quality stencils, but Jaybo actually knows how to paint. Reminds me of Elbowtoe’s distortion of bodies, but painted.
The really cool work there has to be piece that Jaybo made out of painted match sticks.
Although it wasn’t really my sort of show, Jaybo is talented, and people who prefer a bit more of a painterly style than most street art should really enjoy it.
Photos from Remi
Vandalog Visits New York
Last week I had the chance to spend 2 days in New York City. New York is where modern graffiti and street art originated (yes I am aware that Cornbread was from Philadelphia), so it was a trip I had been looking forward to for a while. I crammed as much art into my visit as a possibly could.
First, before getting to New York, I was in Baltimore for a day. While there, I had lunch with Gaia. One of the topics we spoke about, the perception of street art as a democratic process, turned into a post on his blog, and soon (probably after finals are over) I think I’ll be doing a similar post.
My first day in New York, I made sure to see a number of galleries. I’m sure I’ll forget to mention somewhere I visited, but here’s a summary.
First I went to the Jonathan LeVine Gallery for their Phil Frost show. I’m not the biggest fan of Phil Frost. I own one small piece by him, and I really like it, but for the most part, I just don’t get his work. I had never seen more than 2 or 3 pieces together at a time though, so I thought that maybe seeing an entire show would convert me to a fan. It did not. I’m still pretty indifferent to his work.
Next, I made a quick stop at the Doma Café and Gallery for a show by Erik Otto. I’d never heard of Otto, but it was recommended by Hooked. I was in a rush, so I only browsed the show quickly, but it was pretty impressive for artwork in a café, and I’ll be keeping an eye out for Otto in the future.
Naturally, Deitch Projects was a place I had to stop, and though I originally had little interest in Ryan McGinness’ show there, a few pieces definitely caught my eye.
After popping in at Glowlab and then seeing the amazing wall where the above video took place, I was headed to Williamsburg, the heart of NYC’s street art scene… Continue reading “Vandalog Visits New York”