Before a painting by Ben Eine was given as a gift to President Obama, Eine already had a great new project up his sleeve: A poster for Don’t Panic. Londoners should be able to pick up the poster in Don’t Panic packs within the next few weeks. Thankfully, Don’t Panic have also made something to be enjoyed by people around the world, a video interview with Eine. Check it out below:
Via VNA
A few weeks ago, KPBS, a San Diego public radio station, conducted a very insightful and intelligent interview with Shepard Fairey, JR and Pedro Alonzo (curator of Viva la Revolución at MCASD). At nearly 40 minutes long, it’s an interview that you really need to set some time aside for, but it’s still worth listening to or reading. Especially if you enjoyed Vandalog’s coverage of Viva la Revolución. Check out the interview on the KPBS website.
Via Juxtapoz
Photo by Hargo
Earlier this week we gave you the first installment of our two part interview with world renowned street artist Elbow-Toe/Brian Adam Douglas. You can read Part 1 here. You’ll be pleased to know that the wait is finally over folks, so without further ado here is Part 2! Enjoy!
In my opinion your art work best suites the dirty brick walls and cracking pavements, simply because they seem to breathe life into the otherwise deteriorating side streets. How have you found the experience of putting your art work into modern galleries etc. Do you think your art work creates the same effect that it has out on the streets?
I believe it is a different effect entirely, and I wholly embrace it. I like being able to really play the game of making an interesting composition and crafting a piece of artwork that is intended to stand the test of time. I am really excited about my solo shows this year because I feel very strongly that my gallery work has achieved a very unique voice.
I am quite certain that it does not create the same effect it has on the streets, because it is operating in a very controlled environment. What I like about splitting my processes is that each process is enriched by it’s difference.
What does the term “Street Art” mean to you?
It means big public works. It means small intimate stickers. It means tags, sculptures, marks. It means an attack against corporate identity by making yourself into a corporate identity. It means a very public, interactive art form that has really come of age at the dawn of social networking. It means visual artists elevated to rock god status. It means community. But mostly to me it means a way to change my environment if even only briefly.
Do you find being able to produce work in the comfort of your own studio as a welcome break from the risks you take putting work up on the street, or do you prefer the adrenaline that street work provides?
I am not sure I would say it is a welcome break. As I am preparing for my show, instead of the short-lived adrenaline rush, I must deal with the months-long stress of postulating whether I can achieve all that I want in the pieces I am working on. I find myself often waking up at 5 in the morning, having gotten to bed at 1am or 2am, thinking about all I need to do.
I definitely have moments where I wish I had the free time to make street works right now. But I am just filling up sketchbooks with ideas of things to execute once my schedule opens up.
What is the key to keeping your work fresh and not getting mentally/physically burnt out by what you do?
I do my best to keep the ideas I am working with at arms length, so that I let my unconscious have as much free reign with the imagery as it can. Once I am in the process of executing the work, actually applying charcoal to surface, it becomes my job to infuse as much life into every object that I include in my pieces. Since I only use my photo reference as reference, as opposed to making “photo realistic work”, I am constantly solving problems visually and it really keeps me on my toes. In general, my favorite moments on any of the works of art, are the moment that I start the process and the moments leading up to the finish. Everything in between is work.
In terms of keeping from burning out physically, I exercise quite a bit. I also meditate and work with an Alexander specialist, to prevent any repetitive stress disorders.
And finally, what does the future hold for Elbow-Toe? In regards to your work, new projects and any other personal aspirations you have in life. Is there anyone you’d like to give a shout out to?
I would very much like to be able to make more time – at this point any time – to introduce a steady street art practice back into my schedule. I am very vested in the collage work, and now that I am making quasi-narrative images, I feel like I have quite a bit of artistic space I would like to explore. Fortunately I have a great opportunity to explore that right now with a solo show at The Warrington Museum of Art in December and a solo show at Black Rat Projects in March.
On other fronts I am extremely excited to be in the early phases of a book to be published by Drago, which will be coming out down the road.
I have a horrible addiction to plants so I am constantly building up my garden, and I am hoping to become a beekeeper next year with a hive on my roof, if the tests come back negative in allergies to bees.
Lastly I would love to give a shout out to my wife of going on 10 years, the wonderful folks at Black Rat Projects for their endless support and encouragement, and all the usual suspects in the New York Street Art Scene.
Be sure to check out more from Elbow-Toe by visiting his official website here
Photos by Elbow-toe, Luna Park and Sabeth718
Elbow-Toe/Brian Adam Douglas is a Brooklyn-based artist who has been creating introspective urban art for several years. His street art is grounded in myth, symbolism and poetry and is primarily executed in woodcut, stencil or large-scale charcoal drawings. By studying the act of human gesture as communication, Elbow-Toe utilizes public spaces as stages to house these private moments. His highly acclaimed gallery work focuses on portraiture and abstract narrative and is now primarily executed in collage. At first glance, these intricate collages might be mistaken for paintings as that they have a fluidity rarely seen in collages.
Elbow-Toe recently took some time out to talk to us here at Vandalog for this exclusive interview.
This is Part 1 in our two part interview with Elbow-Toe. Part 2 will be published later this week.
Why do you think you became an artist? Can you remember any defining moment in your life that ultimately shaped your career today?
My interest in art became solidified by my parents’ divorce. My parents divorced when I was 13 and I eventually moved from a community where I was very social and well respected in my school to a new town with very competitive schools. I had always had an interest in art, and it became an outlet in which to pour all my teenage angst. My junior year of high school I got accepted into a commercial art class that lasted 4 hours a day. I really think that this was the defining moment in my artistic pursuit. I was so determined to excell that I would pull at least 2 all night work sessions per week on my projects for the class. I gave as little as I could to all my other classes. This is where I developed a work ethic that I still carry to this day. It served to help me carry my art with me through several years of full time work. All the while I maintained a healthy art production of at least 40 hours a week on the side.
What is your opinion on graffiti art?
I am fascinated by the act of traditional graffiti. Artistically I believe that there is a HUGE amount of technical brilliance going on in a lot of that type of work, and that definitely grabs my attention. I am also very interested in the way that traditional graffiti imposes itself on its environment. I am constantly floored by writers that get up high. I have a horrid fear of heights and it just blows my mind that not only do they go out on that limb by climbing, and then leave their mark to boot.
If we are talking about graffiti art that is predicated on a concept or carries some sort of message, more often than not in a figuratively, then I feel the way I do about any other art form. There is good work, and there is bad work. I personally am attracted to work that asks more of me than to be impressed by technical brilliance. In particular I like work that causes me to have an emotional response or to really think. I like work that transforms the space. I am not talking about dominating the space by making it big. That’s impressive but it doesn’t do much for me personally in most cases. Rather I am interested in work that makes the environment richer for it being there. I would here point to someone like Dan Witz and his skateboarders.
I am also all in favor of illegal works over legal murals. I just find the act more interesting when there is some sort of deviance involved.
How do you intend or expect for people to react to your work?
My goal with the work is for it to resonate beyond the moment the viewer sees it on the street. I would hope that there is at least a glimmer of humanity that they can hold on to, and preferably at some point down the road it still means something to them. I hope that it defines the spaces that it inhabits so that they can’t think of the space without the piece, and can’t remember the environment before the piece was there. I try to interject a lot of wit into the work that may not be right in your face. I hope that it makes them smile and then think.
Like most street artists, you’ve decided to work under an alias. But you also work under your real name to. What are the pro’s and con’s of putting your work out there under both your real name and alias?
Who says it’s my real name?
When I started working as a street artist, I never really believed that I would make any money from it. It was a purely artistic outlet, sans commerce. My goal in using one name for the streets, and one for the gallery is an attempt to separate the two practices. I would like to have the ability to pursue my life long goal of earning a living from my art, while at the same time having the freedom to create work that is meant to be experience outside of a marketplace. Same creativity, different goals.
You’ve also created some very intricate and detailed collage and mixed media pieces. Can you summarize the process you go through when making one of these?
The technical process has many of the same roots that all the other work I do has. I take very detailed reference, or in the case of some animal work I do a lot of research trying to get as many views of the same actions as possible. With the animals in the pieces I research their anatomy, and with the flora I try to fully understand the geometry of the flowers. I translate all of this on to panels and more recently paper using vine charcoal. The drawings are rather detailed, and tend to serve as a roadmap. I have several boxes of paper that are separated in to major color motifs. I will comb through them to get a basic palette of paper to work with. I then just attack the image as if I was painting, but I get my colored marks from the magazines. I try to translate each mark as a description of form, as a distinct idea, so that the marks curve and twist around the objects I am working on. I then glue it down with acrylic gel medium. As soon as I glue on the first piece of paper, every other mark becomes a reaction to it.
Be sure to check out more from Elbow-Toe by visiting his official website here.
Photos by Elbow-toe and Sabeth718
Hailing from Cork; the second largest city in Ireland – Conor Harrington’s work is what can only be described as a perfect marriage between both the elegance of fine art and the abrasive techniques of street art. Conor’s routes in urban culture may be hard to see amongst his many historical references to those involved in battle; often seen marching through explosions of colour and graffiti styled lettering in his work. Needless to say, every one of Conor’s pieces portrays a small part of the battle field in itself or more to the point a brilliant potent clash of styles. However Conor’s hard, dripping and typographically-inspired lines are a culmination of years of practice working his way through the graffiti scene world wide. Years later and now wanting to shake off any labels, Conor’s work has come to mature and evolve into what he likes to call “post-graffiti” – A style that showcases his finer practice yet still remembers its routes.
Conor recently took some type out to talk to us here at Vandalog. Check it out!
Can you remember a time when Art really started to influence what you wanted to do with your life?
Its hard to put an exact time on it really, but I think I’ve always wanted to be an artist. I don’t come from a creative background at all so there wasn’t exactly a pre-prepared path for me. When I was around 10 I wanted to be an architect. That sounds desperately pretentious but don’t worry I didn’t know what an architect was, I just loved drawing pictures of buildings. My uncles moved to Chicago in the early 70s and worked on the Sears Tower when it was being built. Ireland didn’t have any sky-scrapers, and still doesn’t so I was completely enthralled by these huge buildings. I’ve toyed with the idea of adding an architectural element to my paintings but I think there’s a strong structural influence in there already. But I think the big moment came in ’94 when I did my first graffiti piece. That was the time I first realized there was no other road for me, although I’m not sure what the 14 year-old Conor would think of my work now.
In a rather short space of time your artwork has managed to make a rather large impact on the urban art scene and has created a lot of interest and attention fairly rapidly around yourself. But of course this wasn’t always the case. How does it feel to have become such a well known name in the street art world and how do you deal with such an experience?
I don’t really see myself like that, there are a lot of big names on this scene and sometime I’m not sure how I fit in, my work is so torn between two worlds really. But the last few years have been good, especially since the recession funny enough. During the Street Art boom people just wanted something that looked like Banksy so a lot of artists benefited from that, but now thankfully things have matured. The street art scene has been a kind of fast-track to success for a lot of people. Some artists had day jobs as designers and within months of the boom they had sell out shows. I had been to art college for 4 years before all that so I think that shows a dedication to being an artist. I came out and had a number of shows before the world had even heard of street art so I think I’d still be doing it with or without the street art explosion. I’m glad the boom is over, I’m just knuckling down in my studio as always and trying to improve my work.
Starting out as a graffiti artist must have been pretty hard for you, especially as you began on a rather small to non existent scene back in your home town of Cork, Ireland. Although you’ve credited this experience for allowing you to learn and pick up your own technique freely, has it been some what of an overwhelming experience visiting the U.S and painting over there? It must be a dream come true in some respects.
I’ve been to the US a few times now but the first time was fairly special. It was in 2000 and I went to NY on a student visa to work for the summer. I painted at what was then called the Phun Phactory (now called 5Pointz) and I remember coming over on the 7 looking down on all the graf with Nas’ ‘NY State of Mind’ playing on my walkman (yip tapes, took me so long to let go of them). Classic New York moment for me.
Like many other artists who share a background in graffiti, you are also trying to shake off those labels and become recognized for the work you’re creating now as a painter. Obviously you’re still actively painting on walls and buildings, so do you think it will be harder to get rid of such a label when ultimately you’re still creating graffiti?
That’s a good point but I think people are thinking a little less about labels these days. Also the majority of my output is indoors, from the studio, and I operate under my real name as opposed to a tag so I don’t think I suffer under the label as much as others.
Your girlfriend (Chloe Early) is also a very successful painter. Both your work and that of hers often seem to have a similar lay out and style. Do you ever look to each other for artistic advice or inspiration?
Everyday. Her studio is a 1 minute walk from mine so we spend a lot of time in front of each others paintings. We both understand each others work more than anyone else so if I’m struggling with a painting she can walk in with fresh eyes and tell me exactly what I’m doing wrong.
All of your artwork seems to have this very intense and fluctuating energy about it. Would you say that this is same type of energy you hold as a person?
I have a lot of energy but I think I’m fairly shy and chilled. I have a quiet nature but I can’t stand being in quiet places, that’s why I love cities and loud music. I think I need to be in chaotic intense places to compensate for my own lack of loudness. Its possibly the same with my work, I put it all down on canvas. I also like my paintings to reflect the world we live in today, like a loud, cross-pollinated, re-mixed, information-overloaded mongrel.
How long did it take you to paint the work for your latest show, Euro Trash?
I worked on it since Christmas but the 4 large pieces took up 95% of the time.
Were you a fan of Jr, Vhils and Antony Micallef’s work before the show came together?
Yip absolutely. JR and Vhils are making some of the most exciting and ambitious street art today and I’ve always thought of Antony as the strongest painter on the ‘urban’ scene, God I bet he hates that label, he’s so far beyond it.
What gives a you a bigger buzz – painting on walls or on canvas?
They’re very different things for me. My canvases take forever, I toil and toil over them, sweating, cursing, smiling (no crying yet) until I’m even slightly satisfied. My walls on the other hand are a lot quicker, although I do struggle with them more. If a painting isn’t working out I can put it away and work on something else. If a wall isn’t working out you can’t put it away so you have to work through these problems in a much shorter period of time and in public.
And finally, what’s next for Conor Harrington? In regards to your work, new projects and any other personal aspirations you have in life. Is there anyone you’d like to give a shout out to?
There’s a few exciting Laz shows coming up that I’m getting busy for and I have my solo show there in late 2011 that I need to start thinking about. I’m going out to Fame next week with Word 2 Mother, and Andy Telling will be doing a short film. Actually he still has to finish editing my Israel/Palestine trip so maybe I won’t let him on the plane. I’m looking forward to eating lots of ice-cream in Italy, don’t think I’ll paint at all, just eat. So I’d like to give a massive shout-out to all the Gelaterias in Grottaglie. I’m coming, get busy.
Be sure to check out more from Conor by visiting his website.
Photos by Wall Kandy/Ian Cox and Vandalog
James Jessop has made a video with SpineTV for all you graffiti nerds out there. James has a collection of markers and pens for tagging, from back in the mid 1980’s to the modern markers used today. In the video, he tests out each of these markers, goes through the history of his tags and even reveals one of the new secrets that graffiti writers have been taking advantage of this year. A must-see for those obsessed with graffiti history.
Via Hooked
Dan Witz is one of street art’s legends. For more than 30 years, Dan has continued to develop and innovate indoors and outdoors, always staying fresh and above art-world trends. He’s one of the artists that inspired countless others to start painting outside. People, street art obsessed or otherwise, tell stories about discovering Dan’s work by accident.
This month, Dan Witz had a massive book published by Ginko Press. Dan Witz: In Plain View: 30 Years of Artworks Illegal and Otherwise
Recently, Dan was kind enough to answer some questioned that I emailed him:
RJ: You’re one of the original modern street artists. Off the top of my head, it was pretty much just Jean-Michel Basquiat, Jenny Holzer and Richard Hambleton doing significant “street art” before you. How did working outdoors start for you?
DW: I got started as an art student in the late 70’s. First wandering around Providence and RISD, then while I attended Cooper Union in New York City. In the days before the internet, our knowledge of what was out there was pretty meagre but I was definitely aware of people who were making street art before me. Charles Simonds did his little people dwellings on the lower east side in 1971. Gordon Matta Clark did his building interventions from the mid 70’s to the 80’s; and there were dozens of artists whose names I never knew. Band posters were big in the east village and were very creative and were generally considered to be more a medium for self–expression than for branding or advertising. Jenny Holzer was in that mix but Richard Hambleton—whose work I really admire–came a few years after I started. And Jean Michel’s Samo stuff, which also appeared a bit after me, I enjoyed a lot, but it was generally considered to be tagging or graffiti writing, not street art. There was a lot of like minded written stuff around at the time, if not as charming or original.
The first things that cracked my mind open and got me working on the street were mostly not from the traditional art world. First and foremost was the subway graffiti, the bombed train cars, how extreme and powerful and utterly original that was. Photos don’t do it justice. Still some of the most astonishing art I’ve ever seen. Seeing and feeling one of those freshly spray-painted trains come rumbling and squealing into the station was just an awe inspiring experience.
Then there was punk rock, and the downtown NYC band culture I was a part of. In that world, art, especially high art, was not highly regarded—it was pretty much looked upon suspiciously, as most likely some kind of scam. The galleries and art magazines of that time were dominated by conceptual and highly theoretical works: a lot of reading and deciphering of dense coded texts was required to appreciate it. To us it just seemed boring and joyless and smugly exclusionary and totally irrelevant to the reality of our lives struggling to survive. The default setting for young artists back then was total rebellion. Against whatever you had. So it seemed obvious to body slam the pendulum as hard as possible to the opposite extreme. Continue reading “Q&A with Dan Witz”
After 6 months of “Team Robbo” running around, you’d think people would be tired of the guy already. I am. When 10 Foot dissed Banksy and a few other street artists, he was still getting up. As far as I can tell, dissing Banksy is all Robbo is doing these days. It’s not even that I agree or disagree with the politics of what Robbo is up to, it just bores me after 6 months. Juxtapoz isn’t bored yet though. They just posted an interview with Robbo. So, you know, if you disagree with me and you think Robbo is still interesting, you may want to check out that interview on Juxtapoz’ website.
Photo by MakaniMike
The very last film (for now) that I’ve helped to make for Babelgum is this chat with Pure Evil at his gallery and studio space in London…
There are a few little bits to mention today about my friends in Burning Candy. The crew have been keeping pretty busy lately.
