Category: Art News

Posted on

Weekend link-o-rama

Keely

This week the Occupy Wall Street live streams have been very effective at distracting me from Vandalog, which I’m not too upset about. The violent and suppressive eviction of Occupy Wall Street is certainly more important that the latest swindle that some art gallery is trying to pull. Nonetheless, I have been paying attention even if I haven’t been writing, so here’s what’s been going on in the street art world this week:

Photo by Damonabnormal

Posted on

Kickstart some films: Style Wars and the story of OBEY

There are two new Kickstarter projects that look very worthwhile for the graffiti and street art worlds. Kickstarter is the website where people can crowdsource funding for their ideas. Both of these projects are looking for about $30,000.

On the set of Style Wars. Photo by Martha Cooper

The first project is the restoration of the 30 hours of unseen outsides from Style Wars, the ultimate classic graffiti and hip-hop culture film for inclusion on a blu-ray rerelease of the film. Here’s what Henry Chalfant, a co-producer of the film, has to say about the project:

Shepard Fairey's first billboard takeover, done in 1990. Photo by el-pablo

The second film is a new one, but it also tells a true story from before I was born: Julian Marshall is a filmmaker currently attending RISD, the college that Shepard Fairey attended. He would like to tell the story of Shepard Fairey’s early career. Julian’s film will focus on Shepard’s first billboard takeover, pictured above, the idea for which came from a class assignment at RISD. It’s kinda like The Social Network for Shepard Fairey (so less coding and more bombing). Here’s what Julian has to say about his film:

Each of these films only have about 3 more weeks to reach their funding goals on Kickstarter. Any contributions or help spreading the word could make the difference that these ideas need to see the light of day. To support the Style Wars outtakes project, go here. To support the authorized OBEY origin story film, go here.

Photos by Martha Cooper and El-Pablo

Posted on

Herakut Hits “The Wall Along Wilshire”

Herakut, "Good Can Come From Bad Can Come From Good" (Complete)

The Wende Museum has been doing some very interesting things lately, including the creation of an outdoor gallery wall (complete with framed work) on Main Street in Downtown Los Angeles, but its current project on Wilshire looks to be the most intriguing yet.

Now standing directly across the street from LACMA are several weathered sections of the concrete Berlin Wall. “The Wall Along Wilshire” is part of “The Wall Project,” the museum’s ongoing cultural history program.

For the front of the wall, the artists paired with Thierry Noir (one of the first artists to paint the Wall in 1984) were Kent Twitchell, Farrah Karapetian, and Marie Astrid Gonzalez. Yet, the museum also saw fit to invite several street artists to paint the back of the sectionals, asking Herakut, RETNA, and D*face to do the honors. It is expected that the other street artists will start Thursday or Friday evening, but Herakut have already completed their work.

I arrived last night when they had just finishing painting. One half of Herakut, Jasmin Siddiqui (Hera) explained that the Wall holds a very special significance for Herakut, not just because they are from Germany, but because she grew up in the West, while her partner, Falk Lehmann (Akut), grew up in the East.

“It’s amazing how small it looks now,” Jasmin said as she surveyed their work, “and it’s hard to imagine it kept so many people apart.”

Their piece on the left-most sectional, “Good Can Come From Bad Comes From Good,” was informed by the transformative circularity of history, and features two pregnant women crouched together in a yin-yang position. Their piece on the right-most sectional, “We Are All Just Kids, Right?” depicts a thin schoolboy tapering into a teddy-bear-like black and green shadow. Both showcase the dark, illustrative quality of their work, and are all the more poignant given the history of the material they are painted on.

“The Wall Along Wilshire” will be in front of 5900 Wilshire until November 13, 2011, where a private reception will be held with the artists from 1 to 4 p.m. After that, the sectionals of the Wall will shift to The Wende Museum’s permanent collection at 5741 Buckingham Parkway, Suite E, Culver City, CA 90230.

Herakut, "Good Can Come From Bad Can Come From Good" (Yang, Phase 1)
Herakut, "Good Can Come From Bad Can Come From Good" (Yang, Complete)
Herakut, "Good Can Come From Bad Can Come From Good" (Yin, Phase 1)
Herakut, "Good Can Come From Bad Can Come From Good" (Yin, Complete)
Herakut, "We Are All Just Kids, Right?" (Boy)
Herakut, "We Are All Just Kids, Right?" (Shadow)

Photos by Ryan Gattis

Posted on

Weekend link-o-rama

Jaz and Laguna in Madrid (click to view large)

This week just keeps getting better. Looks like we’ve got a bit of NYC coming to Philadelphia with a show curated by Matt Siren. Here’s what I meant to blog about this week:

Photo by Jaz

Posted on

The Wall: London’s most public art gallery

Steve Powers, Malarky, Word to Mother, Dabs and Myla, and Best Ever exhibit on The Wall.

Little over a week ago I was watching Word to Mother painting his outdoor piece for Moniker Art Fair. Allocated one of the 3 by 4 metre recesses he took to the piece with gusto. Layer after layer of tag and dub was laid down and a day later, a final coat of white was rollered onto the wall.

Appropriately dubbed, “The Wall”, the expanse of brick along Great Eastern Street has played host to a variety of artists, both local and international. Dabs & Myla, Best Ever and Malarky followed Word to Mother, but I could also name drop Steve Powers, Herakut, Nychos, SheOne, Shep Fairey and Know Hope among others. However soon after an artist completes a piece it is buffed or covered by another artist, pretty much like any wall I suppose.

But Village Underground hope this will all change following a Kickstarter fundraising project. Their aim is to raise enough funds to design, build and install bullet proof metal and glass frames over the recesses to protect the art work from theft and vandalism. In essence this will allow for artists to produce work in a variety of methods and on a mix of mediums. And with the addition of a digital wall and 10 million passing cars a year, “The Wall” will become London’s most public art gallery.

In a way I feel its a bit of a shame that the wall will be covered, but I’m sure you will agree that the project will certainly be interesting. Plus Village Underground, despite indicating that the artists will now obviously be able to sell their work, maintain they are working on a not-for-profit basis. It’s good to see that this project isn’t just about making money for them then!

For more info, including a nice little video, and to donate head here.

Photo by AdversMedia

Posted on

Weekend link-o-rama

Life-side wheatpasted photograph by Erik Berglin

Expect next week’s link-o-rama to be a big one. It’s mid-term week at school. Speaking of school, I’m organizing an artist residency for young artists at my college. If you are between 18 and 24 and could use $350 to do something creative, I hope you’ll consider applying for the Haverford College Undergraduate Artist Residency. Here’s what has been going on this week off Vandalog:

Photo by Erik Berglin

Posted on

Weekend link-o-rama

Sam3 in France

This week it seems like I’ve been appearing elsewhere on the web as much as here on the blog. I’ve been more active than usual on Vandalog’s tumblr, which I’ve finally getting a feel for; I was interviewed by Brian Sherwin over at FineArtViews; and I wrote a post for my friend at Hyperallergic about advertisers utilizing the style of Liu Bolin to sell stuff. Here’s what didn’t make it to Vandalog:

Photo by Sam3

Posted on

The Monster Island Paint Pour

For all of those who have been to Williamsburg’s Kent Avenue, Monster Island is a memorable building in attendance amongst the glistening condos that have reshaped the neighborhood’s landscape and demographics. Slated for demolition, the murals adorning the side of this non-profit artist space were washed away in a veil of vibrant color; a sad chapter in the gentrification of the area.

For more photos, Check out Luna Park’s coverage of the event at the Street Spot

Photos by Luna Park