In case you missed seeing The Thousands in person, check out this quick video tour of the show. Part two coming soon.
The Thousands opens tonight
The Thousands opens in two hours. I’m super busy, but I will say this: It looks awesome. Arrested Motion has some photos of the set up.
How I feel today
I’ve been working on The Thousands since about 9:15 this morning, and this photo pretty much describes how I feel. But I’ll finish setting up tomorrow and then get some rest before the big opening on Wednesday. Thanks to CampBarbossa and Black Rat Press for coming by today and making sure the show looks awesome.
Vandalog around the web
This week and next, you might see Vandalog and The Thousands mentioned around the blogosphere, and I thought I would just share some of the links that have gone online so far.
- I’ve done a guest post about the best London street art over at Curated
- Brooklyn Street Art has interviewed me, and if you are a fan of Swoon, there are some pictures of her work in the interview that you have to check out.
- The Four Oh Five are doing a bunch of posts this week about The Thousands. So far they’ve posted a preview of the show and an interview with Rowdy of Burning Candy.
The Art Street Journal Issue 4 – November
100 copies of issue 4 of The Art Street Journal arrived at my door today. The newspaper is put together by the folks at Carmichael Gallery and with issue 4 they’ve continued to expand their coverage and fill the paper with great interviews and photos. There are interviews with Hush, WK-Interact and Dan Witz and Sebastian from Unurth even put together a page of his favorite street pieces from the last month. It’s also the only place (for now) that you can read a half-decent explanation of The Thousands and why I’m putting on an art exhibition.
The best way to get The Art Street Journal is their website. You can sign up and they’ll send copies anywhere in the world for free. I’ll also be in Shoreditch tomorrow putting them in shops. And of course, there will be a few copies at The Thousands.
The Thousands
Here’s a little update on The Thousands, the art exhibition that I’m curating and organizing in London next month. Just a few weeks to go before it opens, and I’m working my ass off. There is really an amazing line up of artists. Subject to slight changes here and there, here’s the full line up:
Adam Neate
Aiko
Anthony Lister
Armsrock
Banksy
Barry McGee
Bast
Blek le Rat
Burning Candy
Chris Stain
David Ellis
Elbow-toe
Faile
Futura 2000
Gaia
Herakut
Jenny Holzer
José Parlá
Judith Supine
Kaws
Know Hope
Nick Walker
Os Gêmeos
Roa
Sam3
Shepard Fairey
Skewville
Swoon
WK Interact
So the artwork is amazing, but The Thousands is also the book launch for my book, The Thousands: Painting Outside, Breaking In. Hope to see everybody there on the 18th.
The Thousands: Painting Outside, Breaking In
Well it’s official. You can now buy my book, The Thousands: Painting Outside, Breaking In, on Drago’s website.
I am ecstatic. This is a street art book with all the artists I’ve always wanted to see in a book together. Plus, it’s not just me writing standard bios for the artists (though there is a bit of that), a lot of the book was written by other contributors. Mike Snelle from Black Rat Press wrote the forward (did you know he is an amazing writer?), Panik ATG wrote about Burning Candy, Know Hope wrote about Chris Stain, Gaia wrote about Know Hope… the list goes on. Also, instead of just having photos of art on the street, many of the photos are of artwork that is now in people’s homes. That’s something I’ve always felt was lacking in street art books. In short, I think it’s a good book.
Until November, the only place you buy The Thousands: Painting Outside, Breaking In is on Drago’s website, but eventually it will be in stores and, of course, available for purchase at The Thousands the exhibition from November 18th to the 22nd.
For a little peak into how this book came to be and the panic of finishing it by deadline, check out this post I did for Drago’s blog.
The Thousands
UPDATE: New e-flyer, the full line up, opening times, and all the info you need at this new post.
The street art exhibition I announced last week finally has a name: The Thousands. It also has a special blog where you can find regular updates about how well (or poorly) the whole event is going along with plenty of teaser images. Go there now to see some examples of the work that will be on view at The Thousands.
Here’s a slightly adjusted announcement:
On November 18th, The Thousands, an exhibition of some of the world’s best street art, will open in London for just 5 days. The Thousands will feature original work by some of the top names in street art: Faile, Banksy, KAWS, Shepard Fairey, Swoon, Herakut, Barry McGee and many more. Most of the work will come from private collections, but there will be a few brand new pieces direct from the artists.
Last summer, the Tate Modern put street art outside their museum, and this year the Bristol Museum let Banksy take over for a few months. Those are definite steps in the right direction, but The Thousands attempts to show the art world and the public that there are great works of art within the sphere of “street art,” and that street artists deserve a place in art history at least equal to that of The Young British Artists or the great pop artists. Unlike any show that a gallery can organize (not that there’s anything wrong with art galleries), the goal of The Thousands is not to sell work, but to publicize it, and the vast majority of the work on display won’t be for sale. It’s on loan from collectors. To help extend that promotion effort even further, Drago Lab will be publishing a companion book to the exhibition.
The name The Thousands comes in part from a short fable by Daniel Alarcón which was published in McSweeney’s #28. I see the story of “The Thousands” in street art all the time. Around the world there are thousands of anonymous and semi-anonymous people and artists working outside the restrictions of government and/or the art establishment to create something that cannot be understood by those authorities. And this exhibition highlights the best of those thousands so that the art establishment will hopefully begin to understand and appreciate these artists. So that’s why it’s called The Thousands.
The Thousands will be open from November 18th through the 22nd of November at Village Underground in London (54 Holywell Lane, London, EC2A 3PQ).
Also, if you’re a UK based street art collector and interested in getting involved with this project, I’m still looking for more artwork to borrow so just shoot me an email (rj@vandalog.com).
A Vandalog street art exhibition
Could I be anymore excited right now? Probably not. Finally, it’s time to announce what I’ve been planning quietly for a while now.
This November, I’ll be curating an exhibition of jaw-droppingly impressive street art in London. One day, street art will be in the Tate Modern and there will probably be a museum or two devoted to it, but for now, there is London on November 18th. This exhibition will feature original work by some of the top names in street art: Faile, Banksy, KAWS, Shepard Fairey, Swoon, Herakut, Barry McGee and many more. Most of the work will come from private collections, but there will be a few brand new pieces direct from the artists. Naturally I’m bias about this whole exhibition, but I think it’s going to look pretty amazing.
Last summer, the Tate Modern put street art outside their museum, and this year the Bristol Museum let Banksy take over for a few months. Those are definite steps in the right direction, but I’m organizing this exhibition to show to the art world and the public that there are great works of art within the sphere of “street art,” and that street artists deserve a place in art history. Unlike any show that a gallery can organize (not that there’s anything wrong with art galleries), the goal of this exhibition is not to sell work, but to publicize it, and the vast majority of the work on display won’t be for sale. It’s on loan from collectors. To help extend that promotion effort even further, Drago Lab will be publishing a companion book to the exhibition.
You might be wondering, why it is that I keep saying “the exhibition” instead of whatever I’ve decided to call this project? I’ve decided to reach out to the greater street art community for suggestions on what I should name the exhibition. I had a few ideas myself, but I figure somebody out there must have a better name for it than I can possibly come up with. So if you have an idea of what I should call this project, just email it to rj@vandalog.com and let me know. I don’t want to turn this into a contest, since it’s more about trying to reach out to the global community of street art fans, but whoever comes up with a name will definitely get a shout out on Vandalog.
The exhibition will be open from November 18th through the 22nd of November at Village Underground in London (54 Holywell Lane, London, EC2A 3PQ).
Also, if you’re a UK based street art collector and interested in getting involved with this project, I’m still looking for more artwork to borrow so just shoot me an email (rj@vandalog.com).