“Delicious Droid 907” T shirts available at www.articlemethod.com.the shirt will might not make it there by christmas, but its worth a try…. and they are going fast.
Well, while I had myself more or less locked in a library underground for the better part of last week, the art world did not stand still. And so we have this special Tuesday edition of the typically friday event – the link-o-rama:
Photo by Damonabnormal
Gestalten recently published a new book of Brad Downey‘s work: Spontaneous Sculptures. The book focuses on a series that Brad calls his spontaneous sculptures (of course): A mostly illegal and non-permissioned series of work where Brad interacts with public spaces somehow. While the book of course includes some academic-sounding texts and interviews with Brad, I found the real appeal here to be seeing all of this work in one place. Too often, Brad Downey is written off as nothing more than a dickish prankster when you see one piece on its own, but he’s much more than that. Yes, he’s at least an impish prankster, but Spontaneous Sculptures is a reminder that Brad is also a brilliant artist whose work encourages unfettered interaction with public spaces. If that occasionally results in a broken window or two, so be it.
Of course, not every sculpture Brad does is brilliant. Much of it is far from that, but within the context of an entire book, that’s okay. Even a boring or “failed” Spontaneous Sculpture is going to change public space in some way.
I can’t recommend this book highly enough to those who aim to view their world with more of twinkle in their eye and the inspiration needed to make change. It made me want to walk around and make the world a more interesting place, or at least a different one.
Photos by Brad Downey from “Spontaneous Sculptures” copyright Gestalten 2011
Happy almost Halloween. It’s been a week of wasted energy, or so it seems. A potential legal wall that I was organizing has fallen through for the time being, but hopefully things are just delayed rather than cancelled. Here’s some of what I should have posted about this week:
Photo by Bust
Very Nearly Almost issue 16 has been out for about a month and a half now, so I’m a bit late on this one. Issue 16 has Invader on the cover, a must-read interview with Kid Zoom, photos from the streets of London, Paris and Melbourne and much more. The stand-out of this issue is definitely that interview with Kid Zoom, and if you’re a fan of his, I’d pick up VNA16 just for that piece alone. It’s one of the most honest and mature interviews I’ve read from any young artist. That dude is going places.
You can buy Very Nearly Almost in their online shop.
Photos courtesy of Very Nearly Almost
Featured in USA Today’s Pop Candy blog as one of three coffee table book recommendations, Graffiti 365 by Jay “J.SON” Edlin is much more. An ambitious global survey of the key graffiti writers and street artists of our time, it serves too as an ideal reference guide. Here is a small sampling of images that accompany the writing:
Jay will be at Art Basel Miami Beach in early December. Meanwhile, my favorite post-publication photo is the one captured of former NYC mayor Ed Koch, who waged an aggressive campaign against graffiti back in the 80’s, signing GRAFFITI 365. (Thanks, Jay, for sharing it!)
Photos courtesy of Jay Edlin
Originally focused on bombing trains back in the late 80’s, GHOST has developed into a first-rate painter. I love his spirited work on exhibit through Sunday at TT Underground (91 Second Ave. in the East Village): its zany characters, brilliant colors and synthesis of styles. Here’s a sampling:
For a historical perspective on the graffiti of GHOST’s era and GHOST’s personal and artistic evolution, Ket’s book GHOST RIS CREW (published by From Here to Fame) is worth a read.
Photos by Lois Stavsky
Martha Cooper‘s latest book is, on the surface, a bit different from what she’s best known for, but really it’s not so strange at all. Continuing with Martha Cooper’s tradition of capturing authentic and unorganized expressions of creativity, Remembering 9/11 is a book of photographs that Martha took of the street memorials that popped up around New York after 9/11. In addition to the paperback version, Remembering 9/11 is also available on iTunes as an ebook (which means you can read it on an iPhone, iPad or iPod). Most days, the ebook will be available for $5.99, but on September 11th, it will be downloadable on iTunes for free. In addition to photos, there is also an essay by Martha Cooper.
Photos by Martha Cooper
Tomorrow, the authors of The History of American Graffiti
Here are a couple more images from the book:
Photos by Caleb Neelon and Jim Prigoff
Earlier this year, the Pantheon show, curated by Daniel Feral and Joyce Manalo, took place across the street from MoMA in New York. The massive 426-page catalog is finally ready and will be launched this weekend. They are describing it as “a hybrid of scholarly journal, popular magazine, and graff zine” and it features over 400 images, nearly 20 essays and 20 interviews, covering 33 artists. The launch is taking place this Saturday at Do or Dine in Brooklyn from 6-8pm. RSVP by emailing rsvp@pantheonnyc.com.
Photo by Luna Park
