Category: Art News

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Banksy news update

I am definitely behind on writing about Banksy news. So here’s a bit of what’s been going on in the Banksy world:

  • The distribution strategy for the US release of Exit Through The Gift Shop is pretty unique. The Wrap has more details, but basically, Banksy’s got a distribution company devoted entirely to his film, and they’ll be releasing the film city-by-city (leaving open the possibility of Banksy doing some street work across the USA? Maybe…).
  • There’s a new 5-minute teaser of the film available on YouTube. It includes a slight spoiler by giving away the plot, but if you’re reading Vandalog, you probably know the plot already anyway. Either way, you have to watch the bit at 0:59 where the guy is getting chased by cops. Those parkour guys ain’t got nothing on graff writers. Check it out:

  • And finally there’s the updates on the Banksy versus Robbo feud. Somebody, maybe Banksy, has struck back at Robbo on Regents Canal. This is really getting pretty boring for me, and I’m pretty sure these latest modifications are just by some random activist and not Banksy (which, admittedly might make things a bit more interesting, but they still look lame). Graffoto has photos and their take on the story.

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Female artists at Subliminal Projects + ARTnews

Subliminal Projects‘ upcoming group show, SUBject/subJECT, is an all-female artist show and will benefit LA Downtown Women’s Shelter. Out of the 13 artists involved in this show, Swoon is definitely the best-known, but I’m also very much looking forward to seeing what Monica Canilao will be showing.

Press release:

Subliminal Projects is pleased to present SUBject/subJECT, a group exhibition opening April 10, featuring works from over a dozen female artists handpicked by the gallery and co-curator Deedee Cheriel.

SUBject/subJECT examines women’s use of public platforms in mass media, inviting both artists and viewers into a dialogue about role models, self-image and the messages women project in both the mainstream and alternative media. Says Cheriel, “Now that women have ‘equal rights,’ what are we trying to say? What’s our subject? Since female artists remain underrepresented in galleries and museums, we created this show as a platform for emerging women artists to represent!”

Among the show’s artists are Swoon, whose gritty yet delicate paper cutout portraits and large-scale flotillas of otherworldly art boats have landed her on the cover of this month’s ARTnews; Elizabeth McGrath, who breathes beauty and life into the macabre through her creature sculptures and theater-of-the-mind dioramas; and Jen Stark, whose colorful paper sculptures, drawings and animations have been described by Wired as “coldly mathematical yet exuberantly organic.” Other artists include Cheriel, Monica Canilao, Kime Buzzelli, Mona Superhero, Meryl Smith, Mel Kadel, Jessica Hess, Marissa Textor, Jesse Spears and Nikki McClure.

Ten percent of proceeds from all SUBject/subJECT art sales will go to the Los Angeles Downtown Women’s Center, dedicated to providing permanent, supportive housing and a safe and healthy community for homeless women.

And speaking of Swoon on the cover of ARTnews, that article can be read online. It’s a very complimentary article, and it’s nice to see Swoon being compared to serious n0n-street artists. At once point in the article, Swoon is called a “young artist.” Sometimes I forget that Callie is still so early in her career. No doubt she’ll continue to innovate and mature artistically for many more years.

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Original Banksy stolen from Dennis Hopper

Dennis Hopper is claiming that a Banksy painting titled In The Future Everyone Will Be Anonymous For 15 Minutes and worth about £150,000 was stolen from him by his ex-wife. But that’s not all she is accused of stealing. All told, art stolen from Hopper is estimated to be worth about £1,000,000. More on Telegraph.co.uk.

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Shep is looking for walls in NYC

Do you own some property in New York City? Do you like Shepard Fairey’s artwork (of course you do)? Shepard Fairey is looking for legal wall that he can paste on in April to help promote his May Day solo show at Deitch Projects. This is a pretty unique and awesome opportunity (and hey, if you don’t like what Shepard does, just rip it down), so if you have a wall, I urge you to get in touch with OBEY. More details on the OBEY website.

Via Arrested Motion

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Some Os Gêmeos news

There are two cool things about Os Gêmeos to share today.

For the hard-core fans of the twins, 12oz Prophet has this video of Os Gêmeos, Raven and Sonik from back in 1997. You’ve got to love the commitment of risking a car crash just to put up a sticker properly. You can read more on the story behind this clip at 12oz Prophet.

12ozProphet Presents… Found Footage: 1997 Brazil Graffiti with Os Gemeos, Raven & Sonik from 12ozprophet on Vimeo.

And for some reason, the Wall Street Journal seems to be really interested street art this month. A few weeks ago, they printed a story about the Banksy and Robbo issue, and this week they have something about Os Gemêos.

From the WSJ:

The 100-foot-tall man painted on the side of a building here in the old downtown looks vaguely familiar, with features reminiscent of the migrants who flock to this city from Brazil’s vast hinterlands.

But his bright yellow skin and matchstick limbs, clothed in threadbare trousers and a psychedelic shirt, stamp him instantly as something else: a character from the dreamlike world of local street artists Otávio and Gustavo Pandolfo.

The 35-year-old identical twins, who call themselves Os Gêmeos (twins, in Portuguese), started out two decades ago as graffiti artists in Cambuci, the poor, working-class neighborhood where they grew up and still work. Today they are the toast of the international street-art scene, with murals on walls and exhibitions in galleries in cities across the world.

“The success is very gratifying, but we do this primarily for ourselves,” says Gustavo in the brothers’ cluttered office overlooking their studio.

Read the rest of the article at the WSJ online, and send a link to all your friends because it just might turn them into Os Gêmeos fans.

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D*face designs for Christina Aguilera

D*face, London’s king of stickering and billboard taker-overs, has designed the album cover for Christina Aguilera’s upcoming album, Bionic. Not that I’m about to go and buy the album, but the cover certainly looks great. D*face is a great designer, which I believe was his job before he went into art.

How did this happen? Aguilera has been a collector of D*face’s artwork for years.

Via Hooked

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London art-world weirdness

Most of the time, despite all the politics and whatnot, people in the street art world seem to get along. But there have been two incidences in London recently that have shocked me a bit.

Photo by unusualimage

First is what is currently happened to Jon Hammer (aka Elate). Jon believes that for a past few months he has been stalked and intimidated by people who presumably don’t like him and his artwork for whatever reason. This has even gone so far as somebody putting a virus on Jon’s computer and attempting to break into his home. The full story can be found on his blog.

And at the Pure Evil Gallery, two artworks were bought using stolen credit cards. One was by Herakut and the other by Pure Evil. Images of the artwork and more information can be found at Crack For Your Eyes.

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Exit Through The Gift Shop headed to the USA

My best friends are in town for a few days from New York, so I thought I’d take them to see Exit Through The Gift Shop last night. Turns out, we went to High Roller Society for James Jessop’s show there (very cool by the way) and missed the evening screening of the film in Soho. Of course, my friends are I were now worried that they wouldn’t be able to see the film until a potential DVD release. But I’ve just heard some great news: Exit Through The Gift Shop will be opening in select cities in the USA from April 16th. The first three cities are New York City, LA and San Fransisco. The film will start showing in more cities across the country in the following four weeks.