Three color variations of the latest Kaws companion are up for sale on the artist’s site. Designed in conjunction with Robert Lazzarini, the 8″ toys retail for $180 and will surely sell out. The melting design is really innovative, and in my opinion, are some of the best sculptural work I have seen yet. Certainly a bit more interesting than a play on a Disney or Looney Tunes characters.
UPDATE: I stopped by on January 15th and spoke with a friendly security guard for the building next door to this piece. He loves it. According to the guard, Banksy avoided a number of nearby security cameras while painting and probably painted the piece in the middle of the day. – RJ
New outdoor Bansky piece posted on the artist’s site. Made me a giggle like a school girl.
Image via Bansky
While RJ lounges in the sun, I am freezing my tush off in London. Well, actually, not even in London to be honest; I’m in the midlands, which is why I missed all of the openings this week unfortunately. But I will be back tonight and will let RJ tell you guys all about Miami next week, which I am sure you are all looking forward to.
Anyways… here are some of my favorite works I saw this week. I couldn’t help but sneak in Miami ones; the work is beautiful.
More Dran news, because I personally cannot get enough of the artist’s work. Thursday night was the private opening of Dran’s solo show, “I Have Chalks,” in conjunction with Pictures on Walls. The artist took 100 of his screen prints and drew on each to personalize them. The theme is a fantastic idea because the individuality of such a talented artist is endlessly displayed in each. Plus, buyers only paid a bit more above the usual asking price for one of his prints and take home an original piece.
Unfortunately, I was not in town to see the show, but Mark over at Hooked Blog took some great photos from the opening. Enjoy!
Update: You can buy The Phantom’s first print is now available from Morelworks.com for $125.00
I couldn’t help but laugh when RJ emailed me about posting about street artist The Phantom. Just like him my first thought was “Isn’t this the guy that created that Rage Against the Machine cover for “The Battle of Los Angeles.”” Well, yes, it is, (and yes I know who Rage is. I may be young, but I’m not that young), but he also does some really good outdoor workswork that I haven’t seen before and was not even aware of to be honest. Concentrating on the idea of outlines, shadows and social rebellion, The Phantom’s black and white pieces have a powerful impact amongst colorful tags and blank walls.
* Vandalog was sent pictures of the artist himself, but he freaks me out beyond belief. Clowns scare the crap out of me, so face paint and an upside down cross painted on someone’s forehead would go in the category of freaking me out.*
Recently made aware of their existence, The Woodpile Collective, is a Canadian based artist group that works with wood (obviously) to create gallery and public street works. Embracing the idea of the temporary, natural materials and collage, the group’s work walks the line of of pop and dada-esque art with a modern twist. Below is a mini-doc about the collective and their work.
Yet another group show for the holiday season, High Roller Society will play host to their roster (and some special guest artists) for a festive group show. Opening December 4, the exhibit features the likes of Filthy Luker, Pufferella, Run and a few others. Personally, I always love the outdoor conceptual/sculptural pieces by Luker, so he should be a highlight of the show.
German street art collective Mentalgassi teamed up with Amnesty International. The outdoor pieces will be entitled “Making the Invisible Visible,” which highlight the controversial death row sentence of Troy Davis. He has been on death row for 19 years, despite serious doubts about his original conviction. From head on the piece can only be seen as bars, but from a “new angle” the viewer can make out Davis’ face. There is also a video of Mentalgassi making the piece that is a really interesting accompaniment to the photographs.
All photos courtesy of Brothers and Sisters
It’s no secret Vandalog are big fans of David Choe. I love seeing his gallery work up close and was more than excited to see his work in the Leake Street Tunnel before the Hells Half Acre Show put on by Lazarides. Never stopping for a rest, Choe has a new print out on sale through Trapeze Editions. The print is entitled Tokyo Girl and was only on sale in Japan, but now it can be ordered stateside in two sizes. The larger one (44 x 44) is an edition of five, while the smaller (17 x 17) is an edition of 76 (at a much more affordable price tag).
I also thought I would post a mini-documentary of Choe’s time in Japan at Parco Factory with James Jean at the “Secret Space.” The video was posted back in October but I haven’t seen it yet, so I thought I would share it with you guys. It’s pretty funny. I am still wondering when the larger Choe documentary will be released on DVD, if ever. Soon hopefully.
Video found courtesy of Nuart. Photo courtesy of Trapeze Editions
Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada and the people of the Delta del Ebro area in Spain has done a huge outdoor piece to bring attention to the raging debate on climate change. The pictorial representation is that of a young named Gal·la, meant to represent the future generations who will have to live with what governments decide how to approach society’s negative impact on the environment.
The piece is part of a larger scale project, called 350 Earth, in which major outdoor public art pieces will be photographed around the world be satellites orbiting the planet. The campaign is led by author Bill McKibben. More information can be found on 350.org.
