Under the Pulaski Bridge: Laguna, Cern & Cekis

I’d heard about these walls for awhile, as they’ve attracted not only local crews and writers but the likes of Os Gemeos and Laguna. But had I not decided to walk over the Pulaski Bridge connecting Greenpoint, Brooklyn to Long Island City, Queens, I may have never seen them. I will definitely be returning, but in the meantime, here are a few images:
Laguna
Cern
Cekis
Cekis

Photos by Lois Stavsky

DMV at work in France

Here are some behind the scenes photos that Butterfly took in France this week of the Da Mental Vaporz crew transforming the GHP Gallery that Vandalog covered earlier this week. I really can’t wait for pictures from the show to surface. It comes as no surprise that we are fans of DMV at Vandalog and is not confirmed whether or not I am a bit of a fangirl when it comes to dran‘s work.

Weekend link-o-rama

"Black Rose" by Ludo

Were you at the launch of Very Nearly Almost on Thursday? Well we probably didn’t see each other, since I was out of there by 8pm! Damn jet lag. Dunno how it lasted so long. Anyway, I’m in London for the summer now. I missed a link-o-rama post last week, so here’s some stuff you should check out but haven’t seen on Vandalog over the last few weeks.

  • I plan to pick up this book on San Fransisco graffiti in the 80’s and 90’s.
  • Don’t Panic interviewed Kid Acne.
  • 1000 swings are going to be installed across LA in strange places. Yes.
  • Speaking of 1000, Invader has placed his 1000th piece in Paris and has a show there soon to celebrate.
  • Street artists like Herakut painted murals in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
  • KAWS has some new paintings at Art Hong Kong.
  • Faile have brought their random cube paintings to a new interactive level with their Puzzle Box pieces. There are original “puzzle boxes” for sale where you can rearrange the cubes any way you would like, or you can try the puzzles out online or through an iPod/iPad app. Check it all out here.
  • This piece by Cyrcle and Chad Muska is either one of the most annoying pieces of so-called street art I’ve seen all year, or a very clever conceptual piece that still fails. Either, it’s an ad for some Chad Muska shoes trying to be street art, or it’s a commentary on the apparent double-standard that many street art fans (myself included) have when it comes to encouraging individuals to place art on the street but discouraging advertises from using the streets in a similar way to sell products. Problem is, if this is some conceptual joke (which I highly doubt), it fails like a lot of attempts at conceptual street art because it requires an artists’ statement or so much prior knowledge that it is extremely likely to be effectively be an advertisement for the vast majority of viewers, negating any conceptual/humorous basis for the piece. Or I suppose it’s both an ad for his shoes and a commentary on that double-standard, but since I don’t like wheatpasted ads, particularly those that try to pass themselves off as street art, well then I’m just upset about that. Stick to skateboarding Chad.

Photo by Ludo

New from Nanook

Nanook is a relatively new artist on my radar, but he’s quickly become someone whose next piece I am always looking forward to. Above is his latest piece in Baltimore.

Photo by Nanook

LA’s Morley hits London

Morley recently came over from LA to hit up London. I’m pretty impressed with the above spot. Have any UK street artists tried to hit up one of the busiest subway stations in the city, one that is absolutely rife with CCTV cameras? No doubt this trip has something to do with Morley’s upcoming project with Lazarides Gallery, so let the debate about advertising versus art ensue.

Photos by Morley

Two new pieces from Sam3

Here are a couple pieces that Sam3 has painted this month. Great as always. The billboards are in Murcia, Spain and the mural below is dedicated to the Spanish Revolution and painted in Poznań, Poland.

Photos by Sam3

ka and his wondrous murals

There is something magical about ka’s murals.  After I spotted one in Chelsea last year, I kept on returning to it whenever I was in the neighborhood.  The one he painted in the rain at last year’s Meeting of Styles at 5Pointz is now gone, but another amazing piece has taken its place.  And along with his girlfriend MTK, he has NYC pretty much covered with stickers.
In Chelsea
Meeting of Styles @ 5Pointz
New @ 5Pointz
With MTK in the East Village

Photos by Lois Stavsky

From UK to HK and back again

So I’m back from Hong Kong nursing about 130 mosquito bites, but luckily a lack of sunburn – there are some upsides! In between the usual tourist based things I managed to wander the streets in and around Midlevels for an hour or two with the aim of spotting a few pieces of street art. Here are a few of the photos that interested me for one reason or another. Enjoy…

East LDN x HK - Anti-Graffiti Network and Monkey getting up high
Xeme! and the Toasters risking it outside the American Embassy and Central Government Offices
D*Face outside Schoeni Gallery - It's amazing how long this piece has lasted untouched
D*Face D*Dog - picture taken in 2009
Lovely grimey Pez
Beautifully aged paste up by Orsek
You have been invaded. Artist unknown.
King Kong in Hong Kong? By Meggs
One of many paste ups by Michael De Feo

One thing I love about street art is the interaction between an artist and the environment, re-thinking spaces and re-appropriating objects, to produce art in its rawest form. In 2009 I spotted these two fire hydrants, unfortunately they had both been buffed with a new coat of paint when I re-visited them but they were my favourite pieces in Hong Kong and were too good to leave out of this post.

"I only have eyes for you" - Outside Man Mo Temple
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" - On the top of The Peak

Photos by Shower

Herakut in Tel Aviv

Herakut’s been getting around. This past week they were among a group of  a dozen artists — largely local — participating in the CASTRO Street Project at Tel Aviv’s Jaffa Port. Leora Cheshin — a Jerusalem-based photographer — shared these two photos with me:

Photos by Leora Cheshin