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The Chris Pape aka Freedom interview

Self portrait by Freedom, photo circa 2011. Photo by an urban explorer

Not many people can say that they have a tunnel named after them. Chris Pape aka Freedom aka Gen II can say that. He painted what is now known as the Freedom Tunnel between 1980 and 1996. Over the last few decades, this tunnel underneath the Upper West Side of New York City has become an icon for the urban exploring and graffiti communities. While graffiti has always been influenced by other art movements, Freedom made this more evident that most writers by skillfully recreating and explicitly referencing great art throughout history (from Renaissance art to pop art). Over the years, he turned the tunnel into his own personal hall of fame.

Since Freedom has a show on online at Dirty Pilot and he’ll be signing books this weekend at the NY Art Book Fair, it seemed like a particularly good time to speak with Freedom about his work, as well as his thoughts on graffiti and art in general.

RJ: Freedom is one of my all-time favorite artist pseudonyms. Where did the name come from? What does it mean to you?

Chris Pape: I wish I had a great story as to how I got the name but I don’t. What I can say is that when I returned to writing in 1979 I didn’t want to be GEN 2 anymore, that name held no weight to it and was more about being a teenager, FREEDOM was more message oriented.

Chris painting in 1985. Photo courtesy of Chris Pape

What inspired you to go from writing graffiti on trains to painting non-letter based work in a relatively private environment?

I wasn’t a very good graffiti artist, I didn’t steal paint and that meant I was never going to king anything. I used a lot of silver and black because you could stretch it. I began doing tonal work on the sides of trains and realized I could draw with paint, this was still while doing letters. I began doing portraits in the park above the Freedom Tunnel which were pretty bad. One day coming out of the park I looked through the grating above and realized that that was the place for the paintings, that the early works were monochromatic was a fluke, it just happened that the walls were too porous for color – the idea of priming a wall had never occurred to me.

I’ve asked writers the difference between street art and graffiti, and my favorite answer is that graffiti is a sport and street art is art. While I don’t think these two categories are mutually exclusive, it seems like you moved more towards the street art side of that definition once you began painting in the tunnel. How did you think about your work in the tunnel? Did you view it as graffiti, something closer to what would now be called street art or something else entirely?

It is weird that I ended up in the street art world, I had a very graffiti centric mentality. While I was around the early street art movement ie: Fekner, Ahearn and Haring I always considered myself a writer – still do.

Ted Williams baseball card, circa 1988. Photo courtesy of Chris Pape

Most people probably don’t realize that Freedom and GenII are the same person.  How and why do you separate your identities of Freedom, the tunnel painter; Freedom/Chris Pape, the gallery artist; and GenII, the graffiti writer?

I think that you think I’m the new GEN 2 who has gotten up extensively – that’s not me. At the age of 14 and 15 I wrote the name GEN 2 on the streets of Manhattan and Queens, I wasn’t up much because of my age, but it was a nice introduction to the graff world. While painting in the tunnel I would like to say that I took a lot more chances, there was absolutely nothing at stake, few people knew the works were there and they had no intrinsic value, I could fail consistently and did – if I was lucky I made art. OF course you could easily argue that the failures are art as well because without them I wouldn’t have gotten to the next level. As a gallery artist I’m more conservative. I have a responsibility to the gallery to include a few images that I know will sell, out of 10 paintings 2 of them will be proven winners, the other 8 are where I get to take risks. I can live with that percentage for now.

Yep. My mistake about confusing two different Gen II’s. Sorry. When Amtrak reopened the tunnel in the 1990’s, your art became linked in the minds of the public with the men and women living there who were kicked out. How would you describe the relationship between yourself, your art and the people living near it?

Luckily for me I was there first, I started in 1980, the homeless that I knew moved in in 1986. They had a natural curiosity of me and my paintings and we eventually became quite close. Early on I would only go in the tunnel if I was going to paint, by the late 80’s I was there hanging out and documenting the people. Towards the end I was involved in getting some of the people out. I would call them friends.

The Freedom Tunnel, 2011. Photo by an urban explorer

How did going to the La Guardia High School of Music and Art impact your graffiti?

It ended my days as a teenage graffiti writer. I was writing because of the urban competition part, I loved that. At LaGuardia the talent was limitless and you could draw with your friends all day – that’s where all of my energy went.

What was it like to revisit the tunnel recently with The New York Times?

I felt old because I had a problem getting over a fence that I used to be able to leap over – it’s been 11 years. I still love the environment but once they sealed the whole thing off and got rid of the homeless it was time to go. I left on a high point.

The Freedom Tunnel, 2011. Photo by an urban explorer

I’ve heard it said that, when graffiti moves indoors, it is a still life. How have you transitioned your art to an indoor setting?

It wasn’t easy. When I started in the tunnel I was 19 years old and homeless. By the time I left I was 35, had an apartment and a degree in visual journalism from the School of Visual Arts, I knew how to paint and draw and had a criteria for what I believed art was. I had a series of images to paint – that’s the good news. Everything I’ve done based on the tunnel works are diluted. Once you’ve reconciled yourself to that it becomes liberating because your no longer tied into the exact image in the tunnel, or the textures or the lighting etc. That feeling of liberation allows you to go down different paths and explore earlier ideas in a different way. They’re two separate experiences. The key thing is knowing that their two separate animals, that took a long time for me to figure out.

Artwork by Freedom, circa 1995. Photo courtesy of Chris Pape

You’ve been involved in several cycles of graffiti’s waxing and waning popularity in galleries. What do you think about the art market’s influence on graffiti?

It’s a larger question about money. A booming economy drove the art market in the 80’s which allowed for a larger amount of galleries and a new client base looking to get rich off the next Haring or Basquiat. When the crash came in 1987 the galleries closed and the client base dried up, everyone got hit across the board. Graffiti’s success in the galleries today is tied in with the larger success of street art and Banksy in particular. It’s happening during a bad economy which bodes well for the artists involved. Having said that, I don’t think the art world has any impact on real writers.

Portraits of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King Jr. by Freedom, photo circa 2011. Photo by an urban explorer

Do you see any moral issues about selling artwork in galleries based on your graffiti art that is linked to a disenfranchised homeless population?

None whatsoever. Having said that, there are 3 different portraits of the homeless on the walls of the tunnel, two have been transferred to canvas, nobody wants them. Even if I felt I were dealing in a grey area morally and decided to give 50 percent of the earnings from the canvasses to Bob and Bernard (the models for the paintings), I can tell you that people don’t want to look at homeless people. They don’t want to see them on the street and they certainly don’t want them on their wall.

Murals by Freedom, photo circa 2011. Photo by an urban explorer.

What is your relationship like today with graffiti, both old and new?

I have a very small relationship with new graffiti, it is a fault of mine. To me there is only the train era from 1969 to 1989. I’m at the point where I’m done archiving my collection, lately I’ve ben trying to get writers to talk about their trains and what they remember about specific events.

What have you got planned for the future?

I have another biography of a famous graffiti writer almost finished. I have a sketchbook being published. And the documentary Wall Writers should be coming out. I’m proud of all three projects. I also plan to sleep a lot.

Photos courtesy of Chris Pape and an anonymous urban explorer

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‘Young and Free’ Interviews # 4: Reka

Reka (also an original member of the Everfresh crew) is another of Melbourne’s street art pioneers. Reka has been decorating the streets of Melbourne and surrounds since 2002 and is another of my favourite Melbourne artists.

Reka has traveled and painted across America, Asia and South East Asia, including San Francisco, New York, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Tokyo.

I’ve watched Reka’s style evolve dramatically over the years, and I love what I see. From the older days with black and white paste-ups and pieces featuring Reka’s infamous characters to his newer painting styles. His last show at Backwoods gallery, ‘Down Low Too Slow‘, was a smasher and featured pieces painted in 3D (glasses required to take in the full effect).

I caught up with Reka at Everfresh Studios. This is what we talked about…

LM: You must be excited about ‘Young and Free‘. What do you think about this amazing opportunity and the impact it will have on the awareness of Melbourne, and Australian, street art, graffiti and artists?

Reka: I’m privileged and honoured to be part of this amazing show. The line-up of artists is seriously the creme of the crop coming out of Australia right now: a nice balance of traditional graffiti writers, street artists and pop artists. I think Melbourne and Australia has a really healthy scene, but I don’t think it has enough international exposure. I think ‘Young and Free’ will put Australia on the map, if its not there already! I’m really not sure of the impact that this show will make but I know at the very least it is positive and it’s an important start.

LM: Tell me about your background. How did you get into street art?

Reka: I actually came from a graffiti background. Mainly just doing stupid delinquent shit like tagging on pretty much anything I could find. I was ruthless and lacking style, but we all did when we started. Growing up next to a major train-line in Melbourne really opened my eyes to graffiti and different styles. In the early 2000’s I made the shift to street art. Though, at that time the name street art didn’t exist. I just liked doing characters and other abstract things. I just wanted to do my own thing and not follow what others were doing. The process was the same to graffiti – I was still getting up, but wanted to take my name and my work in a different direction. These days I explore graffiti and street art separately but I find both are a very important part of my creative journey.

LM: What does your name mean?

Reka: When I started graff in the late 90’s I came up with ‘REKA’ to match my enthusiasm of literally “wrecking” shit and destroying. I also wanted to find a combination of letters that I liked and that I was comfortable to write. I like how the ‘R’ and the ‘K’ compliment each other. The same goes with the ‘E’ and the ‘A’. Over the years the meaning of my name has dramatically changed, but my core ethics have stayed the same. In the end I always push style over anything else and rely on that that people can identify with rather than to have to put ‘Reka’ next to everything I do.

LM: What do you enjoy most about the whole street art process? The creation, the night missions, etc?

Reka: Street art has always been about the process: the exploration and the action. When I’m out bombing, whether it’s painting my characters, catching tags or sticking up posters, the end result is very secondary to me. What’s most important is the feeling I get. I do it for myself. It’s very selfish! Don’t get me wrong, I love people seeing my work and knowing that I did that illegally, but it’s a different felling I get from that. I also love painting legal walls and try to push my work on a large scale. Creating is very important to me too, but I still find it different to my illegal work. I get bored doing the same shit over and over again so that’s why I find it important to keep my work on the street illegally and also paint large scale commissioned walls. Using different mediums is a very important part of my practice. It keeps it fresh and exciting. I just like exploring in every sense of the word.

LM: Who or what inspires you?

Reka: I find and source inspiration from everything. Often it’s not from other artists but from nature and my surroundings, whether it’s patterns created from rusted metal, animals, rubbish etc. I keep my senses open and try to take it all in. I have to say that my studio, Everfresh, is a big inspiration and constant motivation for me. I find that it’s very important to surround yourself with creative people. Even if there is no actual dialogue or communication, just seeing them paint and create is very inspiring for me.

LM: Which artists are you into at the moment? Local and International?

Reka: I have to say that Roa and Blu are two artists that I have been looking at a bit recently. Not stylistically but my interest into their process and application of their art onto walls. My focus has shifted to painting large-scale murals and to see these two paint monster size works on the side of buildings is very inspiring. Unfortunately it’s very difficult to find walls like these in Australia. No one is really doing this compared to what I’ve seen in Europe and the USA. This is something that I want to fix.

LM: Where do you work from and what is your studio space like?

Reka: I mentioned I’m part of the Everfresh studio. We created this studio nearly eight years ago. Everfresh consists of mainly street artists that have come together with similar interests and their passion to paint but also to create artworks and push their work in the galleries and the fine-art world. The actual studio is a visual mess consisting of pretty much anything we have found and collected over the years. Although we all work separately on our own projects, whether it’s commercial work, walls, artwork etc., our essential core is that we all collaborate and work together too. I think that’s what separates us from other studios. My own studio is a blend of stuff I’ve collected including rusted spray cans, weird toys and of course my art and paints/materials etc.

LM: What is always in your “toolkit”?

Reka: Pens, markers, laptop, brushes, my black-book, NY fat-caps, spray paint, a lighter and acrylic paint.

LM: What has been the highlight (or highlights) of your career to date?

Reka: Honestly this ‘Young and Free’ show is pretty much up there. Exhibiting my work and also painting walls with artists that I have admired and have looked up to is a great privilege and honour to have been involved in. I haven’t been involved in too many international exhibitions yet – it’s something that I am just starting to do now. The NGA (National Gallery of Australia) recently acquisitioned some pieces of mine and had a recent touring exhibition around Australia. It is a great honour to have work in your country’s national gallery collection. I was also involved in a month long residency at the NGV (National Gallery of  Victoria) in Melbourne. I really didn’t think my work would end up in galleries, let alone these kinds of institutions.

LM: Tell me about your last show, ‘Down Low Too Slow’, in March.

Reka: I always love staging exhibitions in my home city Melbourne. I guess that’s where I have generated most of my work both in galleries and on the street. ‘Down Low Too Slow’ was an exploration into the inner child in all of us. The theme was very playful and I had a lot of fun creating this body of work. I actually made some of my works to be viewed in 3d with those old-school blue and red glasses. It was fun to watch the straight-edge art collectors have a giggle viewing my work wearing the 3d glasses.

LM: I’m also interested in the way your style has evolved over the years. How has evolution this come about?

Reka: My style has definitely changed over the years. It has never been a conscious decision or has been intentionally pushed, it’s just something that has come very naturally. I guess I’m looking for something that I haven’t found yet. Actually… to be honest, I don’t want to find what I’m looking for. I think the worst thing to happen to a creative person is to get too comfortable. If you are not evolving then there’s a major problem. I find the journey of being an artist very important. I like looking back on earlier work and cringing, but also love seeing where I have come from and how I have evolved. Back in the day my style was very bold and cartoony. These days my style is a lot looser and dynamic. I am viewing textures and mediums in a new light. I actually want to start creating sculptures and 3D objects. I don’t want to limit myself to just painting pretty pictures.

All photos courtesy of Reka

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A Know Hope installation

As Lois mentioned last month, a number of Israeli street artists are currently together in a show, Inside Job, at the Tel Aviv Museum of Art. Know’s Hope‘s main contribution is an installation called A Stumbled Forest (Stockpiled Like Littered Flags). Know Hope sent over a bunch of images if A Stumbled Forest, as well as an explanation of the piece.

An accompanying text by Know Hope:

With the abundance of humbled limbs and littered flags
(How we got here, and where we are now)

Sincerely swindled, the troubles piled like broken accents
(Like stock, or others’ truths)

Burdens like trials like trying/broke-down trains
(Tugging along these two-timing traintracks, persuaded to sing/mumble this damned anthem)

We’re all too homesick and so housebroken
(Anxious like stubborn stock markets)

But in the distance
(And through these empty spaces and their signaled echoes),

A setting sun, like an allowing toll-booth, reassures us
that sand becomes mountains become monuments become sand
(Nothing can ever stay precious on a sinking ship)

and that barricades are only as decisive as we make them
(So we sway back and forth/forth and back with the motions, hoping to reach anywhere or elsewhere)

‘No homeland ever’, the tides hint; ‘No homeland ever’.

Check after the jump for more images and Know Hope’s explanation of the installation… Continue reading “A Know Hope installation”

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Collage and Chlorophyll – An interview with Ludo

Greed is the New Color. Photo by Ludo.

For the last few years I have rather admired Ludo’s art – a surreal mash up of nature and technology. So I was rather happy when I heard he was headed over to London to put on his first solo show in the city at one of my favourite galleries, High Roller Society. Eager to see his work I popped along a couple of hours before the gallery doors opened to meet Ludo and to have a chat about his work, bus stops and Thrasher magazine…

Hey Ludo, welcome to London. Having had a browse of your website, the thing that perhaps struck me most, alongside you art of course, was a quote by the founder of Surrealism, André Breton.

“Collage allows people with no technique to make works of art, to express themselves in a visual way.”

But I’m sure that many would argue that you have a fantastic artistic technique, so why the quote and why do you choose to produce collages and paste ups?
I think the quote is more about saying something. I mean, everyone can say something with whatever they want. So it’s not about technique, or about a nice style. And I like things that say something, so I don’t really care about the technique, it’s all about the message. Collage and paste ups give me allow me to do that. It’s a technique that just suits me.

Great Outdoors. Photo by Ludo.

Well you have certainly mastered the art of the paste up. Did you ever go to art school or college?
I did some studies in Milan. Doing some graphic and design stuff.

So do you come from a more graphic background then?
Yeah.

But being a street artist did you ever start out tagging, following the more traditional graffiti route?
Yeah, I started tagging when I was about 13 or 14 years old. I used to write on trains and everything, I used to love that kind of thing. But it’s just visual, it’s just writing your name. I felt there was less depth to it, I couldn’t say as much as I can with paste-ups.

Do you still go tagging now?
No, not any more. I still like it but my style has evolved and I just stick to that.

The Mercenary. Photo by Ludo.

Much of your work is encompassed by the term Nature’s Revenge. Can you tell me a little about it and why did you choose to juxtapose machinery and mechanical objects with natural ones?
Honestly I don’t know why. It just started one day and I continued with it. I like to play with art, and I like to contrast things – curves and squares, straight lines and organic shapes, cold and hard, grey and colour.

So it’s more about the contrast rather than the content?
Exactly, and it means I can say whatever I want. I feel like I don’t need anything else to portray what I want to say.

The Duke of Cambridge. Photo by Ludo.

I personally really like the fact that your work is in an urban setting. It’s almost like nature is re-claiming back space that was once green but has now been covered in concrete.
Of course, but perhaps it’s more about putting something in front of someone. Making nature really common, making you ask; who cares about nature? Who cares about the flower? I know its stupid to say that, but I like making things really big, violent and sort of rough. A mix of nature and domestic things, making people think.

I wanted to ask about the use of the colour green in your work? You have almost become famous for the ‘Ludo green’. Why did you choose green and why only one colour?
I don’t really know! I think it’s because I don’t like too much colour in my work. I started with grey and then just added one colour. And I thought “Yeah I’m happy with that.” But I don’t really have any reason for green, I just like the colour and it’s maybe a bit unusual.

The Green Hornet Vs Co-Branding. Photo by Ludo.

Your “co-branding” project was based around re-appropriating advertising. Do you have anything against advertising in particular? And why did you concentrate on adverts in bus stops?
I think it’s more about trying to use the spaces within the bus stops. I don’t have anything against advertising, and as artists I think we also do advertising in a way when we step outside. But when I see a commercial, I will think how I could re-create it. I will take an advert and change it and put it in my way. But I like the space they have, I like the bus shelters, it’s maybe more about the space than the advertising.

How long do you find these bus stops advert hacks tend to last? Are they removed instantly or do they go unnoticed by the authorities for at least a few days?
Oh, it depends. I know when they change the adverts and billboards, so I try to be clever and go the day after. At least then I know that the piece should last for six days until they are changed again. I do the same for bus shelters. And during the weekends the authorities don’t work so I will go on a Friday night because then you know you will have your work up for at least two or three days.

The Green Hornet Vs Co-Branding. Photo by Ludo.

And the same with your paste-up pieces, how long do you find they last when up on a wall?
Again, it depends. I saw some in Paris the other day that have been there for over a year, but then some just go the day after I put them up.

Is this because the authorities remove them or do people steal them?
I actually think it’s to steal them. I once saw someone taking one.

But I like to see people’s reaction to my work when I change billboards and adverts. I like them to think; “What, what, what?! There is a collage, a commercial, what is it for? Is it new?” And when you have used a Nike logo, they think, “What are they saying? But ok, they have used that logo so it must be a commercial. So it might be something new?”

I like just staying and watching. I like the reaction, and to see how people think. I find it funny, especially that people think it has to be selling something.

Reebok Diptych. Photo by Ludo.

Perhaps it’s because in the modern society there is that expectancy that everything is actually trying to sell you something?
Yeah, exactly. I actually once had someone that asked me to pay to put up work.

Really?
Yeah, he came out of his shop and said, “Do you know you have to pay to put things up there? Usually you have to pay.” But why? You can’t rent public space!

Ha ha, I hope you didn’t pay! Having been to London a couple of times now, what do you think of the graffiti and street art here and how does it differ from Paris, or perhaps other places you have travelled to?
I think in general its more quiet now, which is good. And there are some people here that I really like and respect. In Paris, it’s perhaps more decorative, which is not always that good. And then New York is maybe a bit more rough and I like working there. I really like the vibes, they are great and I like it a lot. But I think London is actually between the two, a mix of both.

Ludo in London. Photo by Ludo.

Moving onto your gallery work, High Roller Society is playing host to Metamorphosis, your first solo show in London. Can you explain a bit about it, your influences and thinking behind the pieces?
It’s really about what I have listened to, or what I did, or things I’m still doing. Like the Thrasher piece I have done. I really loved the old colours from the 80s in the magazine, all the graphics and images, I was really into all that kind of stuff. So the show is about that and other simple things that reflect my simple life. Nothing too political or too social.

So it’s a bit of a retrospective of your life?
Yeah, yeah. It’s all about remembering moments.

Metamorphosis at High Roller Society. Photo by Ludo.
Thrasher. Photo by High Roller Society.

When you move from the streets into your studio and the gallery do you find your way of thinking and ways of producing your art changes? Is there a different mentality?
Of course, my thinking changes but my technique does too. Outside I use acrylic and inside I use oil. And my pieces inside are aimed to work inside. When you go outside you try to use the space the best you can and so it would be stupid to work inside in the same way. But you must also grab the chance to show your stuff inside, you have to make sure it is interesting and try to improve your work.

Obviously that’s where your sculptural work comes in.
And the house we built in the gallery, I think it’s great to have the chance to do that. My sculptures started as I though it would just be nice to do one and try it, but then I stopped for years as I was more into doing stuff outside. I would just go out everyday and put my work up. But now, I want to do more, I really like making them. I want to do bigger pieces and to progress, but I also want to progress outside, I was to improve all the time and hopefully I will do.

Ludo's laboratory at Metamorphosis. Photo by High Roller Society.
Tsing Tsing Fly. Photo by Severed Frequencies.

If you want to check out Ludo’s newly built house and sculptures for yourself, alongside his fantastic graphite drawings, then head over to High Roller Society sometime before October 7th. It is well worth the trip, especially as you have a chance of catching some of Ludo’s freshly pasted pieces on the streets. Have a hunt around Shoreditch and Hackney and see what you can see.

More information about the show, including opening times, can be found on the High Roller Society website.

And for a fantastic review of the show opening, check out Graffoto Blog.

Photos by Ludo, High Roller Society and Severed Frequencies

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Saber hits the LA skies in defense of murals

While some people would argue that LA has one of the most vibrant mural, street art and graffiti scenes in the world, there’s something holding it back: The legal impossibility of painting murals with permission. Because the city of LA essentially considers all murals commercial signage, getting permission from the property owner is not enough. Without permission from the city government (which sounds nearly impossible to get), even murals painted with the building owner’s permission are illegal in the eyes of the city.

Today, Saber decided to fight back against the city by hiring 5 skywriters to write messages in support of art and his friends across the skies of LA. Additionally, Saber has a blog post explaining his opposition to the city’s mural moratorium and cataloging instances where good art has been impacted by the absurd enforcement of a law that was intended to impact public advertising.

Saber has also started a petition urging the city to end its mural moratorium. You can sign that here.

Here’s a bit more of what Saber had his skywriters put up:

Photos by Saber

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Brad Downey verus(?) Banksy – “What Lies Beneath”

While some lazier blogs have been misreporting things (as the media notoriously does), here’s what really going on at a gallery in Germany where an artwork by Banksy has been “rediscovered” and uncovered beneath layers of paint. While one might initially suspect that this is a publicity stunt by a gallery (my first thoughts were: the piece could be a fake, or even if it’s real, it’s most likely a ploy by a crass gallery owner to get people in the door, and the wall will quickly be sold like so many Banksy street pieces and the gallery had just been waiting for the right time to do this), it’s not that simple. In fact, the room is installation by Brad Downey, titled What Lies Beneath.

Here’s what is known about the artwork: The Banksy piece seen the above photo is real and was painted in 2003 for the Backjumps Live show, Brad instructed art restorers to uncover the piece which was hidden beneath years of paint, Brad got the rest of the walls painted red, Brad got sections of the other walls in the room removed, Brad lists the materials as “restored/extracted ‘Banksy’ Installation (originally painted in 2003 for the exhibition Backjumps- Volume:1), red paint,” the piece is part of a show curated by Adrian Nabi called Do Not Think! and Adrian Nabi curated the Backjumps show.

That said, Brad Downey is a clever artist. In fact, one of the only street artists that I suspect might be more clever than Brad would have to be Banksy. For that reason, I suspect that there is some mystery yet to be uncovered about this installation. Especially given Brad’s use of the word “extracted” in the description of What Lies Beneath and also the text on Banksy’s piece, “Every picture tells a lie!”, I’m curious to know more about those segments that Brad has removed from the room. I’d say there’s definitely more to this story than meets the eye (maybe Brad has extracted a few Banksy’s to throw up on eBay), but maybe the installation is telling a lie. While of course many blogs and newspapers seem to be excited about the new (to them) Banksy, according to one German newspaper, “[Brad’s] work was not primarily about Banksy’s work, but to criticize the art market.”

You can see What Lies Beneath for yourself at the Kuenstlerhaus Bethanien gallery in Berlin through October 29th.

Photos courtesy of Brad Downey

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Poster Boy Show Cancelled / Censored

Hi Vandalog readers, it’s Elisa here (yup, it’s been a while). Just wanted to update you all, in case you hadn’t heard yet, that Poster Boy‘s upcoming show at Trinity College in Hartford, CT, which was set to open on September 15, has been cancelled/censored due to the illegal nature of his street work. I hung out with PB recently and know that he was not only looking forward to this opportunity, but was working very hard for it. I don’t know about you, but I don’t have much respect for censorship in the art world, no matter what the reason is. Not only has there been too much of it recently, it only seems to be getting worse and to put it crudely, makes this whole business, world or whatever you want to call it, look ridiculous.

Galleries, museums, institutions, general public: don’t say you want art if you’re just going to turn around and try to pretend it doesn’t exist, simply because you have an issue with it. Nobody can possibly like or approve of the work of every artist in the world – I certainly don’t – but that’s no reason to invite one to present what they do and believe in, then whitewash their wall, cancel their show, or attempt to stifle their voice. On the upside, of course, with people like Blu, Poster Boy, Ai Weiwei and the countless other artists who have suffered from this treatment recently or in the past, all it does is strengthen and help to spread their message.

Poster Boy is an interesting case when it comes to institutional censorship as he doesn’t often exhibit his work indoors and when he does, the focus is on spreading his views on the advertising industry, rather than profit off the artwork itself. Here are his thoughts on the situation, via the Hartford Courant:

“The main point of the show was to reach people and to bring awareness to the sort of visual pollution we see advertising to be and the whole hypocrisy behind being able to put advertising up yet street art and graffiti is illegal,” he said. “When the media gets a hold of it the fact that this was censored and cancelled, more people will hear about it, more people will be forced to think about what the work stands for and what Poster Boy stands for. Whether they agree with it or not it will definitely reach a lot more people.”

He said he had been looking forward to the show because “it’s a controlled setting, without someone looking over me or having to look over my shoulder for police officers. … That gives the artist involved a little more time to showcase maybe some flair or go in a little more depth than is usually gone into with subway pieces, which are completely improv with only a razor.”

Anyway, like everything else in life, this is open to interpretation and I’m sure everyone here at Vandalog would be interested in your opinion. Personally, I find it a bit hard to understand why  an artist’s show would be cancelled due to the illegal nature of some of their work. Last time I checked, a lot of graffiti and street artists have had gallery shows. Conservatism like this makes me sick.

– Elisa

Image via Poster Boy’s Flickr

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DMV and more at Galore Festival

Dran DMV

As we mentioned the other day, Roa and the French Da Mental Vaporz crew (Blo, Bom.k, Brusk, Dran, Gris, Jaw, Kan, Sowat), as well as others, were recently in Copenhagen painting for the Galore Festival. Here are some photos of the festival by S.Butterfly, mostly of DMV’s wall. You can find more pictures from her on flickr or her blog.

First though, this is a video by S.Butterfly of DMV working on their mural…

Da Mental Vaporz at Galore DK from Butterfly on Vimeo.

There’s actually an interesting story behind the mural. S.Butterfly explains, “The mural is a satyrical reference to unscrupulous people who are willing to deface street art walls for profit. The DMV also incorporated a tribute to Kase 2 (RIP), as well as Copenhagen landmarks, including the infamous  Christiania market, where you can find anything.” So the crew painted segments of the mural on removable panels, which they then moved to the end of wall and hung next to the “street art shop” (pictured above and below). In place of those panels, they painted windows to other places, as if the wall itself had actually been removed.

Dran
Jaw at work
Bom.k
Blo

Brusk at work

And the entire mural is huge and super wide, so the best way to view large it is by clicking here.

Roa

Photos by S.Butterfly

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Portland pigs attempt to shut down an art gallery

Swampy at The Railyard

Thanks to Endless Canvas for turning us on to this story.

It seems that police pressure in Portland has resulted in The Railyard gallery being evicted from their location. The Railyard opened earlier this summer with an installation-based show where dozens of artists (including Swampy, Feral Child and Gats) painted on the walls of the space. Portland police claim that the gallery is responsible, through that show, for bringing artists to Portland who then painted street art and graffiti illegally while they were in town. On the one hand, this whole thing is ridiculous: The Railyard is not responsible for what artists do in their spare time, and the work that The Railyard is responsible for was painted legally (and looks pretty good too). On the other hand, I’m surprised that more police around the world don’t try this tactic. Probably because a. it’s a difficult case to prove and b. it makes the police look like uncultured jerks. Shutting down art galleries isn’t exactly a popular move. Although in this case, it sounds like the police just used intimidation rather than actually pressing charges, so there’s really nothing that would have to be proven in court.

Get the full details on this series of events here and here.

Best of luck to The Railyard. Hopefully they can move to a new space where the police will leave them alone.

Photo by Nuclear Winter

Via Endless Canvas