This week at Bushwick 5 Points the lyric and the comedic collided with the completion of walls by both LNY and Hanksy. Depicting Malik, a student of his in the Young New Yorker Program, LNY brought attention to a cause that he has focused on for the past several months. By depicting the student against the backdrop of the city, the artist gives a voice to the problematic nature of New York’s legal system in his wall.
LNY DetailHanksy
Countering the stark color palette and serious tone of LNY’s work, Hanksy brought his typical pop sensibilities to this Bushwick neighborhood. For these walls, or doors rather, the artist used cultural icons Theodore of the Cosby Show and Thor to play on the surfaces that he was given to paint. By transforming Thor to Dhor and stenciling a Theodoor Huxtable, Hanksy brings his light-hearted nature to an area that was once notorious for its violent crimes.
Walking around in the abandoned areas of Baltimore gave me a peace of mind that the NYPD would never allow in New York. However, engaging life-long citizens of Baltimore about the graffiti surrounding them in the streets came with its own merits. The blending of New York and Baltimore-based artists that I saw in the the city’s innards was mirrored in its streets. With the, then recent, invasion of international artists for Open Walls Baltimore, the city had become a hub for any east coast street artist to visit. As long as you had friends in the area or on the roster, chances are you ended up there. Continue reading “Illegal Baltimore part three: The city’s streets”
Futurism 2.0, the brainchild of London-based Gamma Proforma owner Rob Swain and New York-based theoretician Daniel Feral, attempts to draw a thread between several artists, most of whom evolved out of tag-based graffiti backgrounds and are now created geometric forms within their art. The show opened yesterday at Blackall Studios in the Shoreditch neighborhood of London.
Remi/Rough
On display during the exhibition is the work of Augustine Kofie, Phil Ashcroft, Carlos Mare (Mare139), Boris Tellegen (Delta), James Choules (sheOne), Matt W. Moore, Mark Lyken, Sat One, Christopher Derek Bruno, Moneyless, Mr Jago, Nawer, O. Two, Morten Andersen, Keith Hopewell (Part2ism), Jaybo Monk, Poesia, Derm, Jerry Inscoe (Joker), Remi/Rough, Divine Styler and Clemens Behr. Following the movement through several countries, Rob Swain has delineated a movement that attempts to place graffiti in within the larger canon of art history.
DermO. Two
In addition to creating a ground-breaking exhibition, Rob Swain and Daniel Feral have teamed up to create a catalogue that will push this movement beyond the life of the exhibition. With a comprehensive essay tying the Futurist movement of the early 1900’s to a graffiti-based style happening nearly a century later, Feral has cohesively put words to awe inspiring work as only he can.
Boris Tellegen aka Delta
Futurism 2.0 is open now through October 2nd at Blackall Studios in London.
(Left to Right) Droid and R2, Droid and Avoid, and NGC
Opening to the public this weekend, the New York Art Book Fair brings together the academic art history books with the grittiness of zines. This year, several graffiti zines have teamed up to display their wares at the Pantheon Books table. With zines from Baltimore’s NGC crew, 907, and Subway Art Blog, this weekend will be one that you need to fit into your tightly wound schedules (don’t forget it’s also Dumbo Arts Festival). Vandalog was lucky enough to be able to preview these zines before the public and the results were astounding. In the week since I have received these zines I have found myself flipping through them over and over, rereading passages and revisiting my favorite layouts.
NGCNGC
The sick rollers and pieces seen in my recent Vandalog posts are echoed within the pages of NGC’s zine. A few of the spots I was lucky enough to see are document within their zine as well as several that remain unseen. An excellent pairing of inside jokes and montaged pages of tags and personal photographs, NGC gives you a taste of what it is like to be writers in Baltimore. Like Natty Bo, it’s cheap, awesome, and sure to show you a good time.
Droid and R2Droid and R2
Being only familiar with the street work of 907, I didn’t know what to expect when opening the pages of their zine. The cover is decked with tags by some of the top writers on the East Coast, giving a hint that you are probably in for a read that is going to rock your brain. Droid and R2 have brought some of their favorite cudi spots together with some premium interviews. Between the eye catching pictures and a particularly moving narrative about loss, Droid and R2 have pieced the perfect pairing of opposites for this release.
Avoid and DroidAvoid and Droid
In addition to his release with R2, Droid and Avoid will be showing their zine from last year, which features stories from their adventures riding freights across the country. In the urban jungle where pretty much everything gets you arrested, their tales of run-ins and writing trains is enough to make any New Yorker want to eject themselves from the city for a taste of the fun.
Cover (Courtesy of Subway Art Blog)(Courtesy of Subway Art Blog)(Courtesy of Subway Art Blog)
Last, but not least, Subway Art Blog has teamed up with the graffiti writer-based zines to prove to New York that, yes, there is in fact still art in the subways. Now in it’s second issue, Jowy Romano has focused this production on etches and scratchitti. By bringing together graffiti writers as well as enthusiasts, the New York zine table provides short reads for visitors of all tastes.
To pick up copies of these zines visit table A12 (Pantheon Projects). The New York Art Book Fair will be open to the public this weekend from:
Friday, September 28, 12–7 pm
Saturday, September 29, 11 am–9 pm
Sunday, September 30, 11 am–7 pm
Due to the layout of Baltimore, the city makes the perfect playground for rollers. Built of bridges and tunnels, most of the graffiti spots contain elaborate pieces at eye level with equally as astounding rollers above them. The combination of these tunnels and the large amount of abandoned factories in the area makes for perfect spot to do elaborate, typographical rollers.
Nugz, Nanook, and Overunder
Even more astounding to me than the work itself was the number of familiar names I came across in, essentially, middle-of-nowhere Baltimore. People like Reverend, Nugz, Overunder, and Cash4, who had become my household names in New York had found themselves equally as prolific in this city. Through partnering up with local artists such as MTN NGC and Avoid, these New York artists seamlessly blended into the Baltimore scene, creating some interesting visual combinations in these spaces.
Avoid and FishoReverend, Nugz, and TenceCash4 and DroidNSFTence and StarNugz and ValGauzAvoidGaiaMTN NGCNanook, Overunder, and BloksCash4 and DroidHell NationCash4, Avoid, and Droid
In the first of hopefully a prolific series of exhibitions, Brooklyn Street Art presents Geometricks, curated by street artist and art historian Hellbent. Rather than simply pairing random street artists together, as many exhibitions do, Geometricks attempts to delineate a movement that is currently at play within the scene. Artists scattered around the world have started creating pieces whose focus is abstract geometry. Featuring the work of Augustine Kofie, Chor Boogie, Drew Tyndell, Feral Child, Hellbent, Jaye Moon, Maya Hayuk, MOMO, OLEK, OverUnder, and See One, the show reaches to several cities to gather artists from different ends of the geometric(k) spectrum.
(Detail) Overunder(Detail) Maya Hayuk
The different ends of this spectrum include artists who both directly and indirectly create work from rigid forms. With the paintings of featured artists Maya Hayuk and Augustine Kofie, the thematic connection to their imagery is blatant, though stunning nonetheless. It was, however, the installation pieces of Olek and Jaye Moon that I found to be most engaging in the space. The dimensionality inherent in the way that they create their pieces added a layer to their importance in a show centered on shape.
Jaye Moon(Detail) Augustine KofieJaye Moon
It is important to note that in addition to the work seen above, Hellbent has featured a wall specifically for a student’s budget. Many artists, such as Jaye Moon (featured above), See One, and Feral Child, have created smaller interpretations of their larger gallery pieces and have been priced at under $200.
Geometricks will have a public opening tonight from 6pm to 8pm at Gallery Brooklyn and will run from September 22 to October 28. Free shuttle service will be provided from the Carroll Street F/G station to the gallery as well as from the after party back to the station.
A few months ago, I was lucky enough to be able to visit Baltimore during their Open Walls Baltimore mural program. In addition to being fortunate enough to meet some of the most amazing artists from around the world, I was also able to explore the many hidden graffiti spots that the area had to offer. With a local writer as my guide, I was able to document over two dozen spots and see a wide range of work. Due to the prolific nature of Baltimore’s graffiti scene, the posts have been divided into three parts: pieces and freights, rollers, and street pieces. Continue reading “Illegal Baltimore part one: Pieces and freights”
For his first solo show, NohJColey has fabricated an installation that is nothing short of fantastic. Whenever a street artist moves to the gallery there is the fear that the installation will wash out the grimey aesthetics that made viewers love the work in the first place. Without giving too much away, I will say that In the Midst of Livinghas stylishly recreated this atmosphere.
Piled with cardboard boxes, wood, and drips, Weldon Arts has brought the breathless feeling of discovering a one-of-a-kind wheatpaste into their space. Piece after piece has been framed to a perfection that only further underscores the detail oriented nature of NohJ’s portraiture. This show will knock the wind out of you and make you never want to leave. To be blunt, if you are in the New York City area and miss this show you are a fool.
With what has been a relatively slow summer in regards to wheatpasting, Cost, Set, and Smells of KRT and Keely came as a breath of fresh air. Flipping between monochromatic color schemes to eye popping fluorescents, the designs in these posters grab the attention of viewers from a stylistically minimalist stance as well as those drawn in by painfully bright colors.
Of particular interest is the use of “emergency orange” in some of Cost and Smells collaborative pieces. While this color has been co-opted in the area by EKG for quite some time, I was glad to see someone else incorporating it into their work, especially when paired with an orange door.
For those who may not be drawn to text-based work, they are sure to notice the razor-sharp edges of Keely’s lizard. Having a presence on the streets for a while with stickers, these wheatpastes are the largest images I have seen from the artist outside of Pandemic’s walls. The imagery, scale, and voracity with which this team hit the streets recently makes for an exciting end to what has been a relatively slow summer.
With a name like Hellbent and the detail-oriented nature of his stencils, there isn’t a more fitting phrase to capture his work than “the devil’s in the details.” Hellbent on perfection, the artist taped down layer upon layer of paint, paper, and lace to create his geometric patterns. The intricate designs coupled with the florescent colors combine to form work that is both visually and technically complicated.
By incorporating various colors, fabrics, and shapes, Hellbent has given a gate to Bushwick that can be enjoyed by any viewer with imagination. While creating the work, one woman stopped by to share what kinds of clothes she imagine the fabric to be. Others simply fixed their gaze upon the colors, even as they continued their walk down the street.
