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.
Posted on

Marcos Zotes appropriates, subverts and activates

Marcos Zotes gained a lot of attention last fall for this projection in Brooklyn. Recently, he did two projections at Columbia University, where he is a research fellow. The first was with permission and displayed messages submitted to yourtexthere.org. I haven’t seen any documentation of how that projection turned out. The second, Appropriate, Subvert, Activate!, was done without a green-light university. For Appropriate, Subvert, Activate!, Zotes projected a series of phrases about the the use of supposedly-public space onto Columbia University’s Low Library. Great use of an otherwise blank space that looks like it was perfectly designed to display text.

Here’s a video of the piece:

Photos by Bernardo Garcia

Posted on

Zilda

It’s been a while since Vandalog checked in with Zilda, one of Italy most under-appreciated street artists. Here are a few things Zilda has been up to over the last six months or so.

Photos by Zilda

Posted on

Dal’s first solo show

Dal East has his first solo show coming up this week in Milan with Urban Painting Gallery. While some pay say that Dal is just another guy painting animals and maybe that’s the case, he does also have quite a cool style and some real technical skills. I am looking forward to seeing what he brings out for this show, Fever of the Worn Land. If you can get an invite from Urban Painting Gallery (urbanpainting-at-ymail-dot-com), you can check out the show on May 3rd. Otherwise just wait until the 5th when it will be at a new location and run through the 23rd.

Photos courtesy of Urban Painting Gallery

Posted on

Filthy Luker’s giant Space Invaders game

Filthy Luker‘s latest street intervention was up last month in Manchester: A building-sized and playable game of Space Invaders using construction materials and lights. Similar projects have certainly been done elsewhere, but using the construction materials makes this one distinctly a Filthy Luker project (and easily moveable to new locations). Here’s a video of the piece coming together and in action:

If you have more examples of similar projects, please post them in the comments.

Photo by dullhunk

Via Urban Art Core

Posted on

Mr. Brainwash is being sued again

Outside of the Mr. Brainwash/Google Music event

Star of Exit Through the Gift Shop and supposed-artist Mr. Brainwash is being sued again for his use of appropriated imagery. This time it’s the estate of the photographer James Marshall (not this James Marshall) suing Mr. Brainwash over his appropriation of photographs that Marshall took of Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane and others. The works in question were part of Google Music’s launch event, which took place at Mr. Brainwash’s studio last fall, so Google is also named in the suit.

Despite the poor quality of Mr. Brainwash’s work, I have to once again defend his right to appropriate Marshall imagery. Better to allow bad art based on appropriation that not allow appropriation at all. Here are two previous posts that I’ve written on this topic relating to the last time Mr. Brainwash was sued for similar reasons.

Photo by Lord Jim

Posted on

Thank you to our sponsors

We would like to take a brief moment to thank this month’s sponsors. These are the organizations and companies that keep us publishing, so be sure to check them out!

  • ArtPrize – Part art competition, part social experiment that awards $560,000 total in prizes; registration through May 24.
  • Pulse Art Fair – Pulse New York runs May 3–6, 2012, at The Metropolitan Pavilion, 125 West 18th Street, New York.
  • BAMart Silent Auction – Auction featuring over 100 artworks, with proceeds to benefit the Brooklyn Academy of Music and its programs
  • Saatchi Online – Online gallery that connects artists and art lovers directly: discover art, get discovered.
  • Dumbo Arts Festival – Brooklyn’s biggest arts event takes over Brooklyn’s waterfront with visual arts, music, and literature on 9/28-30.
  • Norte Maar – Community-building nonprofit organization with an emphasis on collaborative projects
  • UncommonGoods – Cool and unusual gifts for any occasion.
  • Adam Lindemann – Follow what the New York Observer columnist is seeing and reading at his site.
  • Storefront Bushwick – Bushwick gallery currently featuring artists Carol Salmanson and Stephen Traux
  • Unnamed Broadway Musical: The Musical! – An experimental, legally questionable restaging of an orphan-themed Broadway musical, at EFA Project Space
  • Pernod Art & Absinthe Guide – A handy mobile app that lists galleries, events and bars serving Pernod in Brooklyn
  • Artspan – Contemporary art destination and service providing totally customizable artist websites
  • FIT Art Market MA Program – The group exhibition “No Other Medicine” is now on view at NY Studio Gallery through May 19
  • “Oh hey. What’s going on?” – a project by artist Jesus Benavente
  • Art Systems – Professional art gallery, antiques and collections management software
  • Tyler Summer Painting & Sculpture Intensives – 7-week immersion program for artists interested in developing their work in a challenging and supportive environment
  • 950 Hart Gallery – The Lowbrow Society Smut! Show, a public celebration of private affairs, May 4–5.
  • Claremont Graduate University MFA – A highly focused graduate-only studio-art program

If you are interested in advertising on [name of site], please get in touch with Nectar Ads, the Art Ad Network.

Photo by skuzzbunny

Posted on

New walls in Baltimore

Maya Hayuk. Photo by Martha Cooper

Thanks to Open Walls Baltimore and also Martha Cooper, there are a lot of new murals coming up in Baltimore these days. Here are a few from Maya Hayuk, Swoon, Nick Mann aka Doodles and Interesni Kazki for Open Walls Baltimore and a wall by Never2501 and Pixel Pancho organized by Martha Cooper.

Swoon. Photo courtesy of Open Walls Baltimore
Never2501 and Pixel Pancho. Photo by Martha Cooper
Interesni Kazki. Photo courtesy of Open Walls Baltimore
Nick Mann aka Doodles. Photo by Martha Cooper
Nick Mann aka Doodles. Photo by Martha Cooper

Photos by Martha Cooper and courtesy of Open Walls Baltimore

Via Street Art News

Posted on

Weekend link-o-rama

Jack Murray aka Panik ATG

Exciting week next week: Troy Lovegates and Labrona will be coming to Haverford to paint a mural here, so look forward to some pictures of that… If I find the charger for my camera. Also, I’ve taken the plunge and I’m finally on Instagram. Here’s what I’ve been reading this week:

Photo by Jack Murray

Posted on

Another Lush update

I know I already posted about Lush this month, but he’s worth another update. These recent sketches by Lush once again show that nobody is safe from his wrath.

This one, I'll be sending to my mom, who has had to go into a graff shop to buy paint for Burning Candy

Photos by Lush