Art Whino‘s G40 Art Summit resulted in almost two dozen new murals for Richmond, Virginia this month. Congrats to Art Whino. It looks like they have put together a really amazing festival and transformed at least a part of the city. Starting with this post and continuing for one or two more, I’ll be trying to show all of these new murals. First up, we have work by Pixel Pancho, Roa, Gaia, Aryz, Jaz, Lelo and Scribe.
This weekend Needles & Pens in San Fransisco has what looks to be a particularly cool group show opening. Everything Ever & Nothing Never, curated by Austin McManus, includes work by Read More Books, Deuce 7 and many others. The show opens this Saturday from 7-9pm and runs through May 27th. Seeing work made for indoors by either Read More Books or Deuce 7 isn’t too common, so seeing the art of these two very talented artists together in the same show is a rare opportunity. Don’t miss this one. Check out our exclusive preview of Everything Ever & Nothing Never after the jump…
HowNosm have just finished an installation, called “Reflections,” at the Andrew Freedman House. What is that building? Until the mid-1980’s, it was a poorhouse for the formally rich. Basically, the functioned as a place where those who used to be rich and had fallen on hard times could live with the comforts that they had grown accustomed to (like servants). Definitely strange, but that idea was put into practice for decades at this mansion in the Bronx. Now it is about to be used for a show of 20-some artists organized by No Longer Empty and curated by Keith Schweitzer. This Side of Paradise looks to be a fascinating show with a great space and great artists including Daze, Crash, Cheryl Pope and others. The show opens next week.
After the jump, check out more photos of HowNosm’s installation as well as a video of “Reflections” coming together. If anyone out there was worried that HowNosm might be one-trick ponies with their quite distinctive style, I think this should convince them otherwise… Continue reading “HowNosm’s “Reflections” installation”
Somehow I’ve only just come across Espir QFK, an awesomely fun and exciting artist out of California doing work which is a sort of back-to-the-basics street art/graffiti combo along the lines of guys like Swampy, Neckface, ORFN, You Go Girl and Ludvig. I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know much about graff, but I know what I like: Espir. Here’s an interview with him. Check out a bunch more of Espir’s work after the jump… Continue reading “So much love for Espir”
What an authenticated Banksy looks like, but not what it costs
Okay, so you’ve seen Exit Through the Gift Shop, right? You probably laughed at those IDIOTS paying boatloads for Mr. Brainwash pieces, the ridiculousness of MBW’s operation, and the complete sheep that art-lovers can be. Because YOU ARE SMART. You don’t like MBW. And you’d never fall for something like that. Exit was safe, and that made it entertaining.
But the real world is not safe, and as it turns out, you probably aren’t safe either. How to Sell a Banksy is the unofficial Banksy movie. The film tells the relatively honest (as far as I can tell) story of Christopher Thompson’s efforts to try to sell one of Banksy’s street pieces that he ripped down off a wall in London back in 2007. The piece at the center of the film are some very poorly salvaged scraps of paper that were once a poster of Banksy’s smiling cop in Shoreditch. Thompson starts out with a pretty limited knowledge of both Banksy and the art world, but since he hope to sell his scraps of paper for tens of thousands of pounds, he sets out to learn. Continue reading “[Spoiler alert] Film Review: How to Sell a Banksy”
Rizzoli recently published the official book documenting The Underbelly Project, We Own the Night: The Art of The Underbelly Project. If you haven’t heard of The Underbelly Project, check out my firsthand account. Basically, over 100 artists were taken down to an abandoned subway station beneath New York City to put up artwork and explore hidden depths of the city. Artists involved in the project include Revok, Roa, Anthony Lister, Faile, Ron English, Dan Witz, Gaia, Know Hope, Haze and many others.
In December, a collector’s edition of the book was sold at The Underbelly Project’s show in Miami. Until now, that show was the only place to pick up a copy of this special edition of We Own the Night. The collector’s edition version includes a hardcover copy of the book, nine photographic prints from the project, and comes in a handcrafted and laser-engraved oak box. This package is an edition of 100, plus 10 APs, and a handful were held back in Miami to be sold later. Now, the remaining collector’s editions are available online for the first time exclusively at The Vandalog Shop.
The Underbelly Project is one of the most fascinating projects to ever happen in the street art or graffiti worlds. While there are photos all over the web showing what the project looked liked, reading We Own the Night is just about the only way to get a sense of what it was actually like to participate in The Underbelly Project. I saw The Underbelly Project in the flesh, but hearing other people’s stories shed new light on it even for me. I’m extremely pleased that The Vandalog Shop will be selling the collector’s edition of We Own the Night, giving people who couldn’t make it to Basel Miami a chance to pick up a copy. My copy of We Own the Night was the best thing I’ve received under a Christmas tree in years, and I hope other people will enjoy the book and the photographs as much as I do.
Here are a just a couple of the photographs included in the set:
Photo by Emile SourisKid Zoom. Photo by Ian Cox
Other images include work by Roa, Anthony Lister, Skullphone, Kid Zoom, Revok, Ceaze and Jeff Soto.
Only a few of these collector’s editions are remain, and The Vandalog Shop is the only place you’ll find them online. They are available for $250.
A scan from Banksy's book "Cut It Out," click image to view large
You know what’s awesome? When things work out nicely and people don’t freak out. Last week, Hurt You Bad ran a post called “Banksy Plagiarism” claiming, as usual, something along the lines that most Banksy fans are idiots and that Banksy himself is a scumbag. And perhaps they are right, but at least this time they took their evidence entirely out of context and neglected to tell the full story.
Hurt You Bad pointed out that Banksy’s well-circulated “Brandalism” quote is largely based on a piece that Sean Tejaratchi wrote in 1999 for Crap Hound, a zine. Version of the “Brandalism” piece appeared in two books by Banksy: Cut It Out and Wall and Piece (which is essentially bits of Banksy’s previous three books mashed together). Both times, it is fair to say that most people reading “Brandalism” would assume that Banksy is the author of the text. There is no attribution in Cut It Out or Wall and Piece directly linking “Brandalism” to the original essay, Crap Hound or Tejaratchi. The only things pointing to Tejaratchi at all are the thank-yous toward the end of Cut It Out and Wall and Piece. In both books, Banksy vaguely credits a number of people for either assisting him the book or for inspiring some of the content and Crap Hound is mentioned in that list. Certainly, Banksy could have done a better job citing Tejaratchi and this has led to people quoting Banksy when they probably should have been quoting Tejaratchi, but I’m not sure that this incident makes Banksy an outright plagiarist (something I’m sure my professors would hate to hear me say).
A scan from Banksy's book "Wall and Piece"
Recently, Tejaratchi noticed that “Brandalism” was attributed to Banksy but based on his own work, so he blogged about it. In the post, he lays out exactly what Banksy borrowed from his text and explains his feelings on the incident. Basically, Tejaratchi’s issue was not that his words had been used, but that his words were essentially attributed to Banksy without any heads up from Banksy. Here’s some of what Tejaratchi wrote:
It’s hard to know how to feel about this. My first thought was, “Hey, Banksy reads Crap Hound!” Then, “What the fuck is going on?” Then, “Am I a real person? Am I actually happening?” And finally, “Am I a beautiful flower angel sent from heaven to inspire Banksy?”
As problems go, it’s a pretty nice one to have. I like Banksy’s art and ideas. I’m flattered he liked my writing and my sentiments, and I’m happy others liked the quote enough to post and forward. I’ve seen forums where people are debating the passage, including rebuttals from ad-agency twats. It’s on wikiquotes and a hundred blogs. My essay never would have had that impact on its own.
The downside is that Banksy’s name is always on it. Seeing my writing credited to someone else makes it a little less magical. Same with knowing that one day (maybe soon, since the issue in question is being reprinted), I’ll get to hear how I ripped off Banksy.
Tejaratchi used the post and a few connections to reach out to Banksy without anger or ill-will, just a desire to get to the bottom of things and set the record straight. Within a few days, Tejaratchi heard from man himself and things have been resolved. The details of the resolution can be found here. Basically, it came down to two guys (Banksy and Tejaratchi) who both made some careless choices and now the truth is out and future reprints of Wall and Piece will have the words attributed correctly. Here’s Tejaratchi’s conclusion of his dealings with Banksy:
I realize “Banksy stole the quote!” is much more dramatic and satisfying than “Banksy made a poor stylistic choice in his book layout, causing confusion years later! He attempted to inform me but had the wrong address!” The man’s not an imbecile. This would have been an absurdly clumsy and doomed attempt at plagiarism. I will also say that in my recent, limited contact with Banksy, he’s gone out of his way to be clear, kind, and genuine, in every way the exact opposite of a twat.
I’m very grateful to everyone who wrote, posted, and tweeted about this. The quote will remain out there with Banksy’s name on it, but the source is now established online (and in future reprints) for anyone who looks deeper. Likewise, no matter what your opinion of Banksy, it’s important and fair to establish that this was not a case of plagiarism. Lack of foresight, yes. Fraud, no.
Basically, Banksy might have screwed up but Hurt You Bad jumped the gun in attacking him. Can Banksy be attacked for using Tejaratchi’s essay? Maybe. But Tejaratchi doesn’t mind. Should you? For once, it seems that a potentially explosive case of copyright violations has ended rationally and reasonably. If only all copyright holders had a more liberal view of things, maybe artists wouldn’t have to resort to doctoring evidence in court when they have done nothing wrong.
Images taken from scans Banksy’s books “Cut It Out” and “Wall and Piece” that I found online somewhere
Last month, we relaunched The Vandalog Shop with two new t-shirts by Labrona. Initially they were priced at $30 each. But I screwed up. I’m not a math guy. Turns out, we didn’t really need to sell the shirts for as much as $30. Actually, we can happily sell them for just $20. Whenever possible, we will try to price items in the The Vandalog Shop at something reasonable and affordable. We said that last month. So why would we sell shirts for $30 that we could afford to sell for $20? We’re not trying to be greedy, so we’re not going to do that anymore. From today on, Labrona’s shirts will be available at The Vandalog Shop for just $20. And if you purchased one over the last few weeks for $30, you’ll find a $10 refund in your PayPal account.
Gaia and Nanook were just in Atlanta for their turn at the new Living Walls Concepts series of mini-conferences that are an extention of Living Walls. Here’s what Joshua Rackliffe, Living Walls’ director of programming, has to say about their visit:
Living Walls Concepts, a year-long extension of the conference’s programming, hosted its first collaboration of 2012 with seasoned Living Walls artists Gaia and Nanook. Over the course of their 4-day visit, they produced an original work in Atlanta’s Old Fourth Ward neighborhood. The creation spans the western wall of a structure on Edgewood Avenue, located on the opposite side of a building that displays another Living Wall by Tel-Aviv artist Know Hope. In addition to their mural, Gaia and Nanook hosted an open conversation and lecture pertaining to their experiences in street art and how it engages community, activates space, and conveys messages about the state of the urban environment. These two have been consistent representations of the Living Walls mission, and are enthusiastic about continuing their participation with the organization.
Keith Haring. Daze. Os Gemeos. Barry McGee. All of these artists have painted murals at the same spot at Bowery and Houston in New York City. The Street Spot has a history of the spot over the last five years, but it’s been being painted since at least the 1980’s. This week, Retna became the most recent great artist to paint at Bowery and Houston. Unfortunately, I’m not on the east coast right now because I would have loved to have seen this mural being painted, but plenty of New York photographers have been over to document the new mural both in progress on Monday and Tuesday and as a completed piece. Check out some of my favorite shots by Matthew Kraus after the jump… Continue reading “Retna at the historical Bowery/Houston wall”
