Marco Sueño has been spending some time in Mexico recently, where he’s put up these pieces (and others). Sounds like he has even more and even bolder work planned for Mexico. Expect it soon.
Photos by Marco Sueño
Paul Insect – “Out of Chaos”
As a great follow-up to their Ron English show, the next show at Opera Gallery’s New York location is a solo show with Paul Insect. Out of Chaos is Paul’s first solo show in New York City, despite seriously great and equally successful solo shows in London and LA in the past. The show opens November 29th from 6-9pm. I’m going to miss it, but I have a good excuse: I don’t live in the state. If you do live in New York, you’d best be there.
I’m a fan of a lot of Paul’s work on the street and in the gallery (as are people like Damien Hirst and Patrick Miller and Patrick McNeil Faile), so I’m excited that New York will finally be properly introduced to him (although he has had work in group shows at Opera Gallery in the past). Arrested Motion has photos from a studio visit with Paul Insect with more previews of what to expect at Out of Chaos. There are definitely a few pieces in the post on AM that could be mistaken for Banksy pieces or look heavily influenced by Banksy, but it’s worth noting that Paul Insect has some close ties to the Banksy camp and Opera says that Paul has been involved in “graphically developing [Banksy’s] work.” So, can you really blame a guy for making work that resembles the work of another person whose work he has helped to develop? While the Banksy-esque stuff isn’t usually my favorite of what he does, I’m also not going to call Paul Insect just another Banksy rip off artist either, because that’s not what Paul at all.
Photo courtesy of Opera Gallery
One tasty mural
This mural in Adelaide, Australia by Numskull, Run Cracker, Ankles, and Smile is a great example of how mural can relate to the business whose wall it’s on (it’s on the side of a diner, presumably one with some tasty food) without simply being another giant billboard polluting the city. Here’s a video of the wall coming together:
Tasty! from Capital Waste on Vimeo.
Photo courtesy of Capital Waste Pictures
“Momentum” by Blaqk in Athens
Momentum is one of Blaqk‘s latest street pieces in Athens. I love how they took the natural decay of the wall and incorporated it into his piece.
Photos by Blackq
The Yok and Sheryo paint their way around the world
Sheryo and The Yok have spent the last few months traveling, and as a result they’ve painted in a lot of different cities over the last few months. Here are some of my favorite recent-ish walls from them in the USA, Vietnam, and Australia.
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Weekend link-o-rama
Happy reminder that we’re less than a month from Christmas…
- This new print from Swoon, featuring one of her older images, is absolutely beautiful and available online through her studio.
- Yes. Kaws had a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Just like lots of other significant brands.
- Vhils has a show opening next week at Lazarides’ Rathbone Place location.
- Here’s a new collaboration from Jaz and Elian.
- London graffiti writer Oker was recently sentenced to two years in prison. Pure Evil Gallery has prints and canvases available to help support Oker’s family.
- Remed has a show opening next month in Marrakesh, Morocco.
- Graffuturism have curated a show which is due to open next month in LA. The extensive line up includes Delta, Mare139, Doze Green, DVS1, Eric Haze, Jaz, Futura, Greg Lamarche, Kenor, Sowat, and others.
Photo by Hyuro
New in The Vandalog Shop: Lush goes postal
I know it’s not Cyber Monday yet, but today we’ve got a special Black Friday announcement: Vandalog has teamed up with Lush on The Vandalog Shop‘s first poster release.
Lush’s poster was inspired by the United States Postal Services’ Label 228 Priority Mail postal label that so many sticker artists swipe from post offices around the USA by the hundreds, and Lush has blown up that label nearly to nearly 30x its standard size. In addition to the posters, each buyer will receive a special bonus item of original work by Lush, from an actual tagged postal label 228 to a tagged poster. The posters are available now for $15 plus shipping and handling through The Vandalog Shop. Pick one up by clicking here.
When I first saw Lush’s work, I wasn’t sure what to think of it. In fact, I’m still not sure. Lush is either the great jester of graffiti or the absurd conclusion of graffiti culture. He is either the most important or least important graffiti artist working today. Is he offensive for the sake of being offensive, or for the sake of art? It’s impossible to say. All that I’m sure of is that he won’t appreciate me calling what he does “art.” I approached Lush about working with us because The Vandalog Shop is a serious project, but it’s never safe to take yourself too seriously. I just want something on my wall to make me smile, and Lush has delivered on that front with this poster.
Dr. Lakra in Copenhagen
To be honest, I’d never really taken much interest in or a good look at Dr. Lakra’s work, but when Henrik Haven sent me photos of Dr. Lakra’s recent show at Nils Stærk in Copenhagen, I’ve finally taken the chance to look at the work and I’m blown away. It’s no wonder he is in MoMA’s collection. The show runs through December 15th, but for those of us who cannot make it to Copenhagen, here are photos of a portion of the show:
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2501 and Pixelpancho in the desert
Pixelpancho and 2501 were recently in the Navajo Nation region of Arizona for the latest round of The Painted Desert Project, which has previously brought Gaia, Overunder, and others to the region. Here’s what Pixelpancho and 2501 managed to paint:
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Ron English at Opera Gallery, show of the year?
So, I know that I haven’t seen too many shows in person this year, but of the ones I have, Ron English‘s Crucial Fiction show at Opera Gallery‘s New York location has to take the top slot. For most of the work in the show, Ron really does pop surrealism at it’s absolute best by creating pop-infuriated surreal scenes that draw you in and creep you out at the same time. The story behind Crucial Fiction is that the work is meant to be the result of a sort of dialog between Ron and his 8-year-old-self, the master now painting with impeccable technique what his childhood-self envisions. The paintings where this is most evident are some of the strongest pieces I’ve ever seen from Ron or any pop surrealist. Of the one piece in the show that was undoubtedly weak and out of place, all I’ll do is repeat what Caroline Caldwell once told me, “Glitter is the herpes of the art world.”
I’ve included a few photos here of some of my favorite pieces in Crucial Fiction, but Arrested Motion has a full set of photos from the show. Crucial Fiction is open now through November 29th, and it really is best experienced in person. And besides, I may not be the most trustworthy evaluator of the show since I went to the opening looking like this.
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