Category: Gallery/Museum Shows

Posted on

Dan Witz: New Night Paintings

Dan Witz, who in my opinion makes some of the best and unpretentious street and gallery art out there today, just opened a show of new night paintings at DFN Gallery in New York. I didn’t make it to the opening on March 10th, unfortunately, as we had to head back to LA on the 7th to start prep for our next show here (Nina Pandolfo – I’ll post install pics soon!), but I did get to spend some time with Dan at his Brooklyn studio, so I can tell you that the works look spectacular in person. Make sure to stop by the gallery if you’re in New York to see them for yourself.

The lamp pieces below are inspired by Dan’s visits to Park Avenue lobbies near the gallery. His ability to transform something so simple into something you just can’t take your eyes off of is something quite extraordinary.

And his bar shrines are just plain awesome…

– Elisa

Posted on

Re-Creation II at Ogilvy & Mather New York

Last week, Carmichael Gallery took over the Ogilvy & Mather offices in New York for Re-creation II, a show with installations and/or paintings from Will Barras, Simon Birch, Boxi, Ethos, Mark Jenkins, Labrona, Aakash Nihalani, Nina Pandolfo and WK Interact. The show will be on until the end of July, so there’s plenty of time to stop by if you’re in New York.

Ethos
Will Barras

All these Aakash Nihalani artworks look great next to each other:

Aakash Nihalani
Labrona
Boxi

My favorite part of Re-Creation II has to be all of the things that WK Interact did:

WK Interact
WK Interact

Lots more photos of the show on Carmichael Gallery’s flickr…

Posted on

Armsrock and Imminent Disaster: Refuge

Last night, Armsrock and Imminent Disaster opened Refuge, their two-person show at Thinkspace, and Seth and I went along to check it out. I’d been looking forward to this show for some time, and although the installation and overall presentation didn’t flow quite as well as I was expecting it to, I thought there were a number of fantastic individual pieces. I particularly liked Armsrock’s small drawings and large charcoal and graphite works on paper. It’s always so wonderful to see his work in person; the immense power of them doesn’t always come across online.

Across the room from Armsrock, I felt that Imminent Disaster’s piece, “Crossing The River”, needed a bit more breathing room than it was able to have in the gallery (it’s 96 x 108 x 120 in – gigantic!), while Seth admired her wall of smaller works.

My favorite part of the artists’ installation was their piece in the gallery’s front window – I like the minimal play with bright colors amidst their characteristic use of black and white.

Both Armsrock and Imminent Disaster are important voices in the street scene so I urge everyone in LA to visit Refuge while it’s on view, particularly because it’s Thinkspace’s last show in Silverlake before relocating to Culver City next month! They’re going to be on the same street (Washington Blvd) as us (Carmichael Gallery) soon!

– Elisa

Posted on

Retna at New Image Art

The next show at New Image Art is Desaturated, a solo show from Retna. The show opens March 20th. It looks like the artworks are similar to this photo (maybe NSFW). Some people love Retna, some don’t, but what really can’t be argued is his influence on the LA graffiti scene.

Retna was born in Los Angeles, California in 1979. Since first creating a name for himself in the early 1990s, Retna has become an “eternal broadcaster” of sorts, shining a light to the kinetic urban soul of Los Angeles. The name RETNA itself evokes the timeless power, movement and visual vibrancy behind the artist’s acclaimed work. His work merges photography with graffiti style and paint, time with color, couture with street culture, the spiritual with the sensual, and fluidity with grit. Whether his paintings hang in a gallery or wall on the streets of Los Angeles, they serve as a retina through which we view the urban journal of contemporary art.

At an early age, Retna was introduced to L.A.’s mural culture. While still in high school, he led one of the largest and most innovative graffiti art collectives the city has witnessed. He is perhaps best known for appropriating fashion advertisements and amplifying them with his unique layering, intricate line work, text-based style and incandescent color palette reflecting an eclectic artistic tradition. RETNA became just as notorious for his ornate painting technique as his timeless style: he used paintbrushes mixed with the traditional spray can. Many of his pieces synthesize the line between fine art and graffiti, between power and opposition, between tradition and advancement.

Today, Retna traverses between the galleries and streets with ease. Retna is a member of the Art Work Rebels and Mad Society Kings Art Groups. In December 2007, he contributed to a large-scale mural project with El Mac and Reyes called “La Reina del Sur” at Miami’s Primary Flight during Art Basel. His most recent projects include an exhibition titled “Vagos Y Reinas” at Robert Berman Gallery and a mural called “Seeing Signs” at the Margulies Warehouse for Primary Flight.

Posted on

Solo show from Anthony Lister

Anthony Lister can be one of my favorite painters. He was once described to me as “an extremely talented painter, who happens to use a spray can,” and I completely agree with that assessment.

Terms of Engagement by Anthony Lister

Lister’s next solo show is at Lyons Wier Gallery in New York City, and it opens on March 19th. Should be pretty awesome.

Also, Lister recently painted a mural at the Pulse art fair in NYC for the Lyons Wier Gallery.

Posted on

FAME 2010 lineup

Last year, I had the amazing opportunity to visit the FAME Festival in Italy. This year, the festival looks like it will be bigger and better than ever. It opens on September 25th, which is a long way off of course, but they’ve just announced a tentative line up:

  • JR
  • Ericailcane
  • Sam3
  • Blu
  • Dalek
  • Maya Hayuk
  • Lucy McLauchlan
  • Swoon
  • David Ellis
  • Vhils
  • Conor Harrington
  • Word To Mother
  • Momo
  • Bastardilla
  • Nunca

Posted on

East Meets East

Admittedly, East Meets East might be a bit out of the way for some people, but their line-up is a solid one. I’m not really familiar with Nasimo’s work, but it looks interesting. The rest of the artists are some of London’s best. Blam and Busk are top-notch writers, Run is London’s answer to Blu or San, and kennardphillipps (Kennard in particular) have been making excellent propaganda since before Shepard Fairey had ever heard of Andre the Giant. I’m really looking forward to checking this out.