Isaac Cordal is participating in Beaufort04, a triennial of contemporary art taking place now in Belgium. After the jump, check out a selection of Cordals’ work for the triennial… Continue reading “Isaac Cordal at Belgium’s Beaufort04”
Overunder’s touching tribute at Open Walls Baltimore
Overunder has finished his wall for Open Walls Baltimore, the mural festival that Gaia is organizing. Overunder’s mural is a tribute to Dennis Livingston, an activist who had been involved in politics since the 1960’s but died last September. Livingston worked on issues such as affordable housing, job training, environmental reform, and others.
Photos by Martha Cooper
Gaia and Nanook for Living Walls Concepts
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.
Living Walls have just gotten their status as an official non-profit organization and are starting on a big fundraising drive. I hope you will support them if you can.
Check out some photos and video of the wall coming together after the jump… Continue reading “Gaia and Nanook for Living Walls Concepts”
Preview: Fountain Art Fair NY 2012
It’s art-fair week in New York. Of course there’s The Armory Show, The Volta Show and SCOPE, but the fair that Vandalog readers are going to love is the Fountain New York Art Fair. That’s where the street artists are showing. 5 Pointz Art Space, KESTING / RAY, Mighty Tanaka, Station 16 and The Marketplace Gallery will all be there, plus GILF and Fab5 Freddy will be there independent of any gallery. Fountain runs Friday through Sunday, with musical performances on Friday night and Saturday night. I’ve been to Fountain’s fair in Miami twice, and each time it has been something a bit different from the standard art fair whateverness. I don’t want to give anything away, but I’ve heard that some Vandalog favorites will be working on indoor murals for the fair.
Photo courtesy of KESTING / Ray
Let’s talk: Discussions this week in NYC and ATL
This week, there are at least three discussions about street art and graffiti that look worth checking out.
The first two events are in New York at screenings of the film Vigilante Vigilante. VV is a film that I’ve been hoping to see for at least a year. It’s about the people who take graffiti removal into their own hands and paint over graffiti without permission. Here’s the trailer. VV has two screenings in New York this week at the Maysles Cinema: Wednesday and Friday at 7:30pm. After Wednesday’s screening, there will be a discussion with director Max Good, artists ESPO (aka Steve Powers) and Lava 1 & 2. After Friday’s screening, there will be a conversation between Max Good and retired Vandal Squad Cop Steve Mona. Either event should be interesting, but I’ll be at Friday’s screening (although I might have to bail on the discussion in favor of Fountain’s opening party. We’ll see). You can buy tickets for Vigilante Vigilante and read more about the film and the post-screening events online.
The final discussion is on Sunday evening in Atlanta. Living Walls Concepts is bringing Gaia and Nanook, both participants in the Living Walls Conference since its inception, to town to discuss “the impact of mural projects on urban areas” and “the importance of illegal street work and direct action.” Given their years at Living Walls and other mural festivals and Gaia’s experience starting up the brand new mural project Open Walls Baltimore, this should be something pretty special. You can find details of the event here.
Photo by Nanook
Everfresh at POW WOW Hawaii 2012
A few members of Australia’s Everfresh Studio were recently in Hawaii for POW WOW Hawaii 2012. Here’s some of what Rone, Phibs and Meggs got up to, along with some other collaborators.
Photos by Rone
Weekend link-o-rama
It’s officially spring break, which meant the last week for me has primarily consisted of sitting at my desk where I read and type furiously until my eyes are tearing up and my fingers are sore. It also means I could only blog when procrastinating and that the next few days should be a chance to write some longer posts that I’ve been sitting on. In the mean time, here’s what I’ve been finding around the web this week:
- The man who came up with the Broken Windows Theory died this week.
- Great piece by You Go Girl on a bus.
- If you like graffiti writers moving beyond text and generally pushing graffiti’s boundaries, make sure to check out this video of Askew.
- Todd James has a new print out at Pictures on Walls.
- Great group show coming up in London with Matt Small, MyMo, Sickboy, Fefe, Monica Canilao, Remi, Best Ever and more.
- Stinkfish‘s work is on the cover of Diplomat Magazine this month thanks to Jeannine Saba. Here’s the cover.
- David de la Mano did a fantastic job brightening up this spot in Uruguay.
- Interesting article about street art that definitely makes a real difference in the world.
- Plaztik Mag’s latest video features work by Skewville, Roa and Bast and is creepy/awesome.
- The Living Walls Conference has two great announcements this week: 1. They are now a 501(c)(3), aka an official non-profit organization. 2. In addition to the annual conference, there will be 6 “Living Walls Concepts” mini-events throughout the year, starting in March.
- Craig Ward wrote a letter critiquing Banksy’s critique of advertisers. Given: Banksy is one of the world’s best marketers himself. Beyond that, the letter is a bit of a mess and Ward points out that he has worked in advertising himself. Clearly, it’s written from the perspective of someone who has lost his perspective and seems to boil down to “There’s worse stuff in the world, so umm, please leave advertisers alone.” No doubt that there are greater evils in the world than the public advertising that seems to be the primary target of Banksy’s critique of advertising, but that sure as hell doesn’t mean it’s a good thing. Additionally, one of Ward’s points as to why traditional advertising isn’t as bad as Banksy’s advertising is that traditional advertisers pays for the locations they use. With that argument, Ward completely disregards both the negative externalities of massive ad campaigns that occur regardless of how much the advertiser pays (compared to the documented positive externalities of Banksy’s street art) and the illegal nature of many advertising campaigns which do not pay the government for the space that they use. By his standard, hiring an assassin to kill someone might be better than doing it yourself, because at least there’s money involved and somebody is getting paid for their time.
Photo by Ludo
Open Walls Baltimore Kicks Off
Open Walls Baltimore is a project that I have been personally coordinating with the not for profit Station North and is supported by the PNC foundation and a generous Our Town grant from the NEA. The intention is of course to produce great art on the streets and put on for my city that I love so much. Yet, of course, as every public art project must be, the OWB initiative will hopefully produce more than just spectacular murals. This is about an investment in a neighborhood that is burdened by 150 vacant homes and bridging the gaps between the artist community that calls Station North home and the residents of Greenmount West. Inspired by my experience with both Wynwood Walls in Miami and Living Walls in Atlanta, this initial and very exciting start will hopefully result in a continued support for public art and experimental intervention that can become more holistic as time moves forward. The current line up is as follows: Interesni Kazki, Maya Hayuk, Swoon, Specter, Doodles, Jaz, Ever, Freddy Sam, Mata Ruda, Nanook, MOMO, Vhils, Sten and Lex, Chris Stain, Jetsonorama, Overunder, and others. The website is now live. More to come!!!
Photos by Martha Cooper
Herakut at Nuart 2011
The Nuart festival in Stavanger, Norway has just posted this video of Herakut’s installation from last year’s festival.
Herakut Nuart 2011 from NUART on Vimeo.
Photos courtesy of Nuart
John Fekner for MLK Day
The Living Walls team installed the above stencil, designed by stenciling legend John Fekner, in Atlanta last week as part of a celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I Still Have A Dream is Fekner’s first work in Atlanta. It can be found at Pal’s Lounge at 254 Auburn Ave NE on the corner of Auburn Ave and Bell Street, and was installed just in time to be seen by participants in Altanta’s 2012 MLK Day Parade. More photos are over on Streetela.
Photo by Streetela