Art News – Page 14 – Vandalog

February 10, 2012

Weekend link-o-rama

6796683457_d0a5ac9d1f_z — Troy Lovegates

Link-o-rama. ‘Nuff said.

As you probably know, copyright laws (particularly in the USA) are pretty screwed up. Maybe this is one solution.
Everyone is going crazy over David Choe right now because we all suddenly learned that he might be worth a lot of money. But did you know that he is also a talented artist and he was just as talented a month ago? Thankfully, his interview with Howard Stern seems to acknowledge this, plus it’s great and honest insight into a generally interesting guy.
Last year, Ron English took a road trip to Detroit with his family. Here’s the resulting video series.
Nychos and Flying Fortress collaborate.
Arrested Motion has a preview of the upcoming Os Gemeos show in LA.
Royce Bannon has curated this upcoming show at the Mishka shop in NYC.

Photo by Troy Lovegates

February 5, 2012

Belated link-o-rama

Thanks to spending the weekend in NYC for Skewville’s show at Factory Fresh (on now and great), I am late with this week’s link-o-rama. Nonetheless, here it is:

When David Choe painted Facebook’s offices back in 2005, he was given two options: He could either take a couple thousand dollars as payment, or stock in the company. He chose the stock. Assuming that Choe has held onto that stock, the New York Times estimates that Choe may be worth $200 millions pretty soon. So of course, Choe ended up on the front page of the NYTimes and is being written about all over the web, but he is also a talented artist. Here’s some of what he painted in Facebook’s offices (he just painted their new offices as well) and here’s what Choe and a few friends got up to in Denver recently.
Eloquent Vandals, a film about the Nuart festival, is now streaming online.
Ron English has two great new sculptures that are well-worth checking out: Fat Tony (the tiger) which will be for sale as a toy and Hulk Obama, which looks like a customization by Ron that may or may not ever be for sale.
Another great wall by Phlegm in Sheffield.
Dabs and Myla have a touching Christmas tradition (now let’s get a fun discussion going in the comments about the ethics/humility of making a video about that tradition).
This collaboration between Reka, Ghostpatrol and TwoOne turned out really nicely.

Photo by El Decertor

December 28, 2011December 31, 2011

A close look at Artists 4 Israel – part one

Temporary mural at Haverford College by Jedi5, Col and Broker. Photo by Broker

Update: Part 2 of this series is now online.

This is the first post in a two-part series on Artists 4 Israel and a series of events they put together, the Defend The Future Tour. This first post is an attempt at giving an account of my personal experiences with Artists 4 Israel and the DTF Tour. There are two primary reasons for this post: A. To give a firsthand account of what it is like to be subject to attempts of manipulation by Artists 4 Israel and B. To acknowledge some of the personal experiences and biases that I am bringing to the table when I write about Artists 4 Israel. This is done in an effort to be honest with Vandalog’s readers. Part 2 of this series, dealing with Artists 4 Israel in a wider context than myself and giving the organization’s take on the DTF Tour, will be published tomorrow. As is always the case on Vandalog, this post is mine and may or may not represent the views of any other Vandalog writers. – RJ Rushmore

On November 17th, the Defend The Future Tour came to Haverford College, spray cans in hand, in what now seems to me to have been an attempt to manipulate students into having a greater hate and fear of the Arab world and a greater love for Israel. This would have been fine, except for the manipulation. I go to Haverford College, so I experienced the DTF Tour myself. Continue reading “A close look at Artists 4 Israel – part one”

December 20, 2011

Update: Banksy Stolen in Melbourne

Remember when I posted a little while ago about the StealBanksy pr sunt in Melbourne? Well someone actually managed to steal it and not in a very creative way either. Posing from as a staff member from the Art Series Hotel (the hotel owners behind the gag) agency, Maura Tuohy stole No Ball Games out of The Blackman Hotel.

Apparently, the agency got so much press for this they are doing it all over again (for a final time supposedly) with Banksy’s Pulp Fiction until January 15th. Rememebr if you want to try your hand at stealing this piece you have to a guest at the hotel. Of course that’s the catch. There is always a catch.

Photo courtesy of Art Series Hotel

December 10, 2011December 10, 2011

Weekend link-o-rama

6441566365_603af8b4dc_z — Sorry in Philadelphia

Just a heads up in case you don’t like murals, unless I get really into procrastination through blogging (which isn’t unlikely), the blog will probably continue to be pretty Miami-centric for the next week or so as I’m bogged down in finals. Now that you’ve got fair warning for that, here’s what I’ve missed covering over the last two weeks in art:

Rowdy and Run both have updated websites.
Arrested Motion’s show in Hong Kong looks great (you can guess who has the best photos).
Some people destroyed a legal and commissioned piece by Olek in Poland, but rather than charge them with vandalism or something like that and give them a fine, Olek requested that the men crochet some scarves for the homeless. Good move.
Gotta love this abstract piece in Hollywood that’s been made out of colored tape.
Here’s a video interview with Zevs without a mask and saying his name (it’s Aguirre Schwarz). It’s in French though, so if anyone wants to offer up a translation of the interesting bits…
Always a busy man, Lister has show on in Melbourne, Australia.
The car company Fiat settled a potential lawsuit with NYC’s TATS Crew after the company used one of TATS Crew’s murals in an advertisement. If you’re interested in the issue of copyright concerning public art, here’s one place to start.

Photo by Caroline Caldwell

December 5, 2011December 5, 2011

Banksy news update

6382459125_f73e2a4c22_z — Photo by S.Butterfly

We’ve got a few bits of Banksy-related news to share, so it’s all being lumped together here:

It looks like there will be a new Banksy print ~~this Christmas~~ March 2012 from Pictures on Walls (no surprise). The print will be based on this gorilla image, which was recently buffed accidentally. Even Pictures on Walls’ description of the print in a bit tongue-in-cheek about the recycling of this older image into a print with different glittery color options.
A number of people have emailed me after seeing this Banksy installation (photo by Just) at Pictures on Walls’ winter group show (which Just has plenty more photos of) because it looks a bit like this sculpture by Giles Walker and Peter Dunne from a couple of years ago. Personally, I prefer Dunne and Walker’s piece, but I don’t think the pieces are too similar for comfort. Could Banksy have seem the work by Dunne and Walker and been inspired partially by that? Definitely. But it’s not just an outright copy, and I’m often hesitant to say that any Banksy idea has been outright stolen from another artist, since most of his ideas rely on pretty simple themes and symbols, so it’s likely that others have tried similar things before whether Banksy knew about it or not.
It now seems unlikely that we will ever get confirmation from Banksy’s website that the piece pictured at the top of this post and covered on Vandalog last month is a Banksy. Foreignstudents.com happened to catch some photos of the work being put up. No faces of the artist or his crew, but the site did get images of a scaffolding being put up that covered the work while it was being done, and they say a man posing as a security guard stayed at the scaffolding for some of the time that it was up. So if this wasn’t Banksy’s work, someone may still come forward claiming responsibility. I’m confident however that this was the work of Banksy, so given these photos and any more that might be out there, taking responsibility seems risky for his anonymity.

Photo by S.Butterfly

December 1, 2011February 28, 2012

L’Atlas solo show preview

Last week Graffuturism posted a preview of L’Atlas‘s upcoming solo show at the David Bloch Gallery in France. The show’s name, Morphologie, is perhaps a hint that L’Atlas has strayed from his signature style to try something a bit different.

"Here, for the first time, the letters stand out and hug each other and then a third dimension appears" - press release

L’Atlas typically works with black and white in his abstract, geometric typography, which is commonly his own name. At first glance, it looks like he has abandoned these trademarks in his new work. However, his new use of color has worked to encrypt his signature in more complex patterns.

Personally, I think his style works best at its simplest, black and white. I’m a very big fan of L’Atlas, particularly his lettering, so I’m interested in others think of this new direction.

Photos courtesy of Graffuturism

November 27, 2011

Daniel Gausman brings his talents to the streets of Brooklyn

Each time we visit Bushwick, surprises await. It’s always fun to come upon an artist at work, and this time we met one painting on the streets for the first time. Daniel Gausman, who recently made the move from the Midwest to Brooklyn, NY, draws his inspiration from “geometry, quilting and color.” Still in progress, his huge mural on Varet Street is a homage to all three. Seeking larger walls than his local apartment can provide and at home interacting with passersby, Daniel is likely to grace more NYC walls with his talents.

Daniel Gausman @ work on his mural, photo by Lois Stavsky

close-upT — Close-up of wall in progress, photo by Tara Murray

November 27, 2011May 10, 2013

Weekend link-o-rama

6376109541_12beb927e8_z — A wall in Munich

Sorry this is coming a day late, but Thanksgiving and related activities took priority. Here’s what I missed posting about this week:

Roa and Resto collaborated on this wall in the Netherlands.
Peter Bengtsen has written some thoughts on a controversial Boris Hoppek product.
Invader has a solo show opening at Lazarides’ The Outsiders next week. It will include Invader-shaped waffles.
Dabs and Myla have designed a toy.
James Marshall aka Dalek recently had a show at Womb Gallery in Oklahoma City. Arrested Motion has photos and there’s a behind-the-scenes video as well.
On December 9th, Mighty Tanaka in Brooklyn has a group show opening with Robots Will Kill and other artists that they crew have selected.

Photo by Luna Park

November 25, 2011November 26, 2011

Sursystem: An Independent Zine from Colombia, SA Reflects the Beat of the Streets

As an avid fan of ‘zines and independent publications, I particularly love the ones I come upon on my visits to Colombia, SA. Produced and edited by Marcelo Arroyave, Sursystem is among my favorites. Marcelo. on his recent visit to NYC, explained that Sursystem’s mission is to create and reflect the artistic fusion among distinct cultures, one of the positive effects, he maintains, of globalization. Featured this fall in independent zine festivals in Paris and in Buenos Aires, Sursystem includes many images — and stickers — crafted by artists who also maintain the streets as their canvas. Marcello reports that Sursystem is seeking talent for its upcoming issue. Info follows:

i love this world — "I love this world," by Angela Rodriguez Aristizabal & "Masters" by Juan Felipe Guirales from Sursystem 4

"And everything is just around the corner," Wizard in Sursystem 5

All images courtesy Marcelo Arroyave