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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The Painted Desert Project – round 1, post 1

Tom Greyeyes

Last month, Gaia, Overunder, Doodles, Labrona, Jetsonorama, Tom Greyeyes and Breeze participated in the first iteration of The Painted Desert Project, a project developed by Yote and Jetsonorama and which took place in the Navajo Nation in northern Arizona.

Of the project, Jetsonorama says:

We hoped to connect artists with vendors working along the roadside in homemade structures where food and jewelery are sold. We attempted to familiarize artists with the culture before they started painting. Because of the location of this project where large walls are few, the emphasis was on establishing a connection with the community. Both Tom Greyeyes and Breeze are Native American and came to the project already sensitized. We’d hoped to get more local youth involved in working with the artists but will have to pursue this with future iterations of the project.

As much as I enjoy the mural projects going on around the world right now, things like The Painted Desert Project are fantastic low-key but potentially impactful counterpoints to the hype and huge walls that seem to accompany more urban festivals.

Some of the crew

Jetsonorama is a talented photographer who took some spectacular photos of the artists at work and of the finished walls and signs, so it’s going to take more than one post to show everything. After the jump, we’ll start with work by Labrona, Breeze and Overunder… Continue reading “The Painted Desert Project – round 1, post 1”

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New wall and a handfinished prints from Jaz

Click to view large. Photo by Jaz.

Jaz‘s latest wall continues his experimentation with using different materials for his paint. Eleccion was painted in Buenos Aires with coal and lime paint, the same kind of super-long-lasting paint that is used by politicians who hire crews of people to illegally paint ads for them all over the city. Here’s an example of one of those ads.

Jaz also has a print release this week with StreetArtNews. The print, Observadores, is a handfinished 1-color print depicting wrestlers in the ring. It will go on sale on the StreetArtNews website this Thursday. More info here.

Observadores. Photo courtesy of StreetArtNews

Photos by Jaz and courtesy of StreetArtNews

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When Lush went to London…

Lush‘s London warehouse show, You Become What You Hate, took place last week. Unfortunately, the show had a quick run and closed on Sunday. Luckily, The London Vandal, who recently launched their UK graffiti supplies store, took plenty of photos. Here are a few of my favorites, but you can see much more over at The London Vandal. Oh and yes, there are a few Mad Magazine-inspired but Roa-esque moveable paintings in the show.

Photos by The London Vandal

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Phlegm’s first walls in the USA

Phlegm, visiting from the UK, has just completed his first three murals in the USA. They are all located in Manhattan. One of the walls is a semi-collaboration with Know Hope, where Phlegm has added a mural that Know Hope painted earlier this year. That wall is part of an ongoing project with MaNY and FABnyc.

Phlegm with Know Hope

More photos, including detail and in-progress shots, after the jump… Continue reading “Phlegm’s first walls in the USA”

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Sweatshoppe videopaint Europe

So I think this video from Sweatshoppe is a. pretty cool, and b. street art. When I first saw their work a while ago, I thought the whole thing was a bit corny. But I’ve almost completely changed my mind. Yes, I’m sure there are writers out there who won’t appreciate the hard work of painting with a roller being mimicked, but I think the results look too damn nutty (in the best way) to complain.

As for the work being street art, most of Sweatshoppe’s work appears to be done with minimal or no audience so in that sense it is unlike some of the projections done by artists like Evereman and Saber, but I’m not too bothered about that. Yes, you could say they are taking advantage of street art’s hipness (and an idea pioneered by GRL) to promote something that could be done more easily on the wall of a studio or on a computer and I think that’s a fair concern, but as I tweeted the other day, there is a degree to which the street is the web and the web is the street. More people have seen this video and appreciated it in much the same manner as they would have appreciated a wheatpaste than would have seen an actually wheatpaste or illegal mural by Sweatshoppe. Just like in street art, the barriers to entry on the web are a hell of a lot lower than the traditional art world. I’m pretty sure I’ll be expanding on these ideas in the coming months, but this post from last year will have to do for now.

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Marco Wenegger’s custom GPS

Marco Wenegger’s Graffiti Path System (GPS) is a great way to remember where you’ve been and make sure that you’re up to no good whenever you leave the house. I can’t wait to see a modified version of this which includes a stencil…

Via Rebel:Art

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10 freights by Baer

Recently I’ve been spending a bit of time looking at freight graffiti. I’m no expert in graffiti, but Baer‘s work immediately stood out. His style is beyond “graffiti beyond letters,” and is more like something ripped from a pages of a graphic novel. But that doesn’t mean he has thrown letters away, just that they are sometimes a bit more hidden. Wild style that changes letters into other graphics rather than abstraction. Sort of like Horfe or Lush. Clearly, Baer isn’t the only guy to paint this way, but damn is he good. The folks at Juxtapoz are fans too.

Check out nine more great Baer freight pieces after the jump, thanks to tronald tronomics. You can find more in his flickr group. Continue reading “10 freights by Baer”

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Letters From America at Black Rat Projects

Ron English (and part of a TrustoCorp on the far right)

Letters From America opened last night at Black Rat Projects in London. The show, organized by Corey Helford Gallery, includes work by Ron English, TrustoCorp, Risk and Saber. I wasn’t sure how work from all of these artists would look when put together in one room, but it looks good. As usual, it looks like Ron and TrustoCorp brought some solid work, but the real treat is that the show is a rare opportunity for Londoners to see pieces by LA’s Risk and Saber. Risk and Saber’s work can certainly be a bit over the top, but so is graffiti. In particular, I am really enjoying Saber’s tribute to the UK’s National Health Service.

NoLionsInEngland was kind enough to pop by the show and take some pictures for us. See more of them after the jump… Continue reading “Letters From America at Black Rat Projects”

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DAL does it again

Showing once again how he is one of the most visually arresting muralists around, Dal recently painted this mural of a whale in Melun, France. It is called C. And yes, I’m aware that I posted this tweet last night. Dal’s mural is big, but that’s not what makes it good.