Australian duo Dabs Myla recently teamed up with Ekundayo to collab on a sick mural out in Silver Lake on the backside of Static Medium’s headquarters. Check out some pics of the mural coming together below.
Dabs Myla have number of mural projects coming up between now and then and we hear there’s a special print addition coming soon from Static Medium, so keep your eyes peeled. Ekundayo is currently gearing up to invade the UK this October for a show alongside Morning Breath and Fernando Chamarelli at London Miles Gallery. Between now and then there are plans for more outside mural action too, so stay tuned.
This is about a week old now, but I’ve just seen that the NYTimes has done an article on Jeffrey Deitch and his transition from running his Deitch Projects gallery to now being the director of LA’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Of course, the article is mostly about how Deitch is handling that transition and why his move from running a gallery to running a museum is so unique. Okay. Nothing new here. People have been talking about that transition for months.
There was one particularly interesting sentence though: “And he is working to put together a major exhibition about the influence of street art, a movement that was central to the identity of Deitch Projects in recent years.”
Of course, I’d heard plenty of speculation that something like that would happen, but this is the first time I’ve actually seen it confirmed and stated as fact. Awesome. There probably isn’t anyone in the world better positioned than Jeffrey Deitch to put on a major street art exhibition in a major museum. Sounds like this is still the early days of planning, so maybe the show is a long time away and maybe it won’t end up happening, but at least we now know that it might happen and that Deitch would like it to.
Armsrock was in Cairo, Egypt recently for a Streets of Cairo festival. Naturally, he did some work outside, mostly more events in his continuing series of projecting drawings onto city walls.
Armsrock also put up at least one wheatpaste in Cairo. With permission, he pasted one image of an Egyptian man outside of Cairo’s Townhouse Gallery:
But by the next day, Egyptian police had seen the artwork and decided that they didn’t like it. The police painted the figure white:
Armsrock’s reaction? Not what you might have expected:
When I interact with the streets I want something to happen, some sort of situation should occur, and it always does. I have only never experienced such a direct form of censorship before, and expressed in such an interesting manner, and that was what I thought was a good thing.
I really do not advocate artists tagging over others’ work usually (unless it is absolute shit/Waterloo Tunnel/or the artist does it himself), but in this case I applaud TrustoCorp for doing what other artists have wanted to for awhile: vandalize MBW’s street art. Granted the guy is a joke, and his portrayal in Exit Through the Gift Shop did not exactly help to improve his credibility in the art world. TrustoCorps’s work is a physical manifestation of the discussion around Mr.Brainwash and his so called “art” so I smiled when I woke up this morning and saw these pictures. I especially liked the use of the phrase “Locals Only” which harkens back to summer memories of New Yorkers invading my beach on the Jersey Coast. Go away MBW and stop putting up street art. I would rather see a 14-year-old bombing for the first time paint on a wall then see your post modern Warhol wannabe stencils on the streets. And while I’m ranting, Dear Bennies, please stay off the Jersey beaches. Love Stephanie.
Here are some of the pictures from TrustocCorp’s Flickr. You can see the rest from his destructive spree here
San, one of the many talented artists that I don’t write enough about, has put together quite a festival in Miajadas, Spain with Insitu. Herbert Baglione (though not my personal favorite, I can see why people love him), Escif, Sam3 and of course San himself will all be involved. I’ll be keeping an eye on the festival’s blog to see what everybody paints.
Speaking of Escif, Unurth has photos of the pieces he recently painted in Poland.
One of my favorite new Banksy’s is this thing he did during a recent visit to New York City (is this Banksy’s version of performance art?):
The idea is clever, funny and quintessentially Banksy. Except, Banksy wasn’t the first to have the idea… In fact, Vienna’s Busk did the exact same thing last year at the BLK River Festival. You can check out photos of Busk’s version at the BLK River Festival blog, along with their take on Banksy’s version. Now, I’m not sure if Banksy “stole” this idea from Busk or if they just came to do similar pieces coincidentally (DEFINITELY possible, if not probable). This sort of thing happens all the time. With thousands and thousands of artists out there, creating something entirely original is impossible. The more interesting question is what the BLK River Festival blog asks: “Will Banksy’s portrait earn him another fortune at Sotheby’s next auction or will BUSK be inaugurated to art’s history for being the first to do so?”
For me, Banksy’s portrait is more interesting. I’m much more curious about the identity of Banksy than I am of Busk, and so are a million other people. Banksy’s portrait will be analyzed and picked apart by fans trying to discern his identity and compare it to previous supposed images. And of course, there is the question of if that is even really Banksy or if he just had one of his friends put on the balaclava and pose. Busk, while he may do some more interesting work or not (I’m honestly not too familiar with him besides this portrait and having known that he was involved in that festival), just doesn’t have that power and mystery behind his identity that Banksy does. Busk may have been first (or maybe there were other people doing this before him; surely somebody has gotten one of these portraits done while wearing a Halloween mask), and for that he deserves some credit, but The Cult of Banksy just makes this new version so much more interesting.
Then again, maybe I’m just caught up in the Banksy hype, as can happen with me from time to time. But isn’t that kind of the point of this portrait in the first place?
And let the comments calling me an idiot and a Banksy-whore begin…
Since the end of May until a few days ago, I’d been more or less cut off from the street art world. I was driving around Europe with my friends. That’s not particularly important, though I would like to thank Logan Hicks, Ripo, Paulo, C215, Nunca and (especially) Angelo for spending time with us.
Here’s some of the things that I missed while I was away…
Some local residents completely misinterpreted the meaning behind some Shepard Fairey murals and painted them over. Actually a really interesting story. I suppose that when it is a reality of everyday life, people don’t like to be reminded that the police will “kick your ass and get away with it.”
Daily Mail reports that Banksy has painted some pub in Primrose Hill. Reality: It’s a PR stunt by the pub’s owner, but at least now they have some artwork on their walls.
Kathy Grayson and Meghan Coleman, former gallery directors at Deitch Projects, have started up their own gallery in NYC called Hole. I’m not exactly sure how much street art or graffiti you’ll be able to find at the Hole when it opens later this month, but they sent me a press release, so presumably they haven’t ditched street art entirely. The Wall Street Journal has more.
Hrag Vartanian has started an interesting discussion on Hyperallergic about a new piece by Mark Jenkins which could easily be mistaken for trash. And by the way, if you don’t already read Hyperallergic, you should start. It’s perhaps my favorite art blog at the moment.
Armsrock has a solo show on right now at Signal Gallery. I’m going to check it out tomorrow, but based on the photos on Arrested Motion, I couldn’t be more excited. Armsrock is massively talented and just keeps getting better.
Nothing to Declare is a new zine coinciding with David Choe’srecent show of the same name. It features a story byJason Jaworski, based on various paintings by Choe. The zine is now available now through Lazarides’ Beverly Hills Gallery and is limited to a run of 187. Check out some of the pages below!
This impressive new project by Toronto based artist Dan Bergeron aka fauxreel recently went up in the Toronto Brickworks.
The Don Valley Brickworks operated for nearly 100 years and provided bricks used to construct many well-known Toronto landmarks such as Casa Loma, Osgoode Hall, Massey Hall and the Ontario Legislature. In 1928 the factory was sold and the name changed to the Toronto Brick Company. This change in ownership also saw the factory reach peak production of 25 million bricks per year. The kilns have been closed since 1984 and the property is currently owned and being revitalized by Evergreen.
“With some initial leads thanks to filmmaker Catherine Annau, I was able to make contact with some of the former workers who were employed when the factory shut down in 1984.
I visited each subject at the their home and I shot portraits of these proud men and installed their images in the factory’s Kiln Building.
To create the brick pattern, I worked with my assistant, Joe Cornfield, to cut everything out on-site as the bricks were of different sizes and the mortar various widths and heights. An arduous task for sure, but a testament to the men who helped to build Toronto, brick by brick.”
Okay, you’re thinking: What’s this about Ralph Lauren? Why does some mainstream fashion brand have their logo prominently displayed in a post on Vandalog? Well, turns out, Ralph Lauren/Polo Jeans Co. likes art, and they like street art. Art Stars is a project with 51 artists who have painted or sculpted their artwork onto a 3D star-shaped canvas made of denim. Some of the artists include James Jessop, Herakut, Case, Daniel Tagno, Delta, Bom K, Roa, Matt Small, L’Atlas and Alexone.
Case
So here’s the Art Star press release:
Polo Jeans Co. is proud to present ART STARS, a showcase of work from 51 of Europe’s most recognized up and coming contemporary artists. Inspired by the iconic American Star Spangled Banner and synonymous with the Polo Jeans Co. brand, the artists will create 3D pieces on stars made from the finest American denim. These will be displayed in select Polo Jeans Co. stores in key cities across Europe before coming together in a public exhibition in London in late 2010.
Representing Polo Jeans Co.’s core branding values, each young artist will be challenged to customize a canvas into a three dimensional star using an assortment of unique materials in combination with their practice to create their designs, including a variation of denim, replicas of the American flag, dyes, collage, bleach and embroidery. Beyond the shapes and sizes of the ART STARS, artists are only limited by their own imaginations in transforming the star and denim into a work of art that symbolizes their vision inspired by Polo.
Contemporary art and fashion aficionados will have the opportunity to own one of these exclusive Art Stars. All the stars created will be brought together in a public exhibition in London in late 2010 and auctioned in aid of Teenage Cancer Trust. Teenage Cancer Trust is a charity dedicated to improving the lives of young people with cancer between the ages of 13-24. Teenagers don’t stop being teenagers because they have cancer, which is why Teenage Cancer Trust builds specialist units in NHS hospitals, staffed by teenage cancer specialists. These units are designed for and by young people and aim to give teenage cancer patients the very best chance of a positive outcome whilst being as close as possible to normal life. State-of-the-art facilities keep patients occupied during long, and often grueling stays, whilst bringing teenagers with cancer together so they can support each other. Visit www.teenagecancertrust.org to find out more.
