Next week sees the opening of Part2ism’s solo show with Urban Angel at The Art Lounge. Sounds like there will be a lot of new work hanging, plus a book. Hope to see you there next Thursday.
KAWS’ Solo Show Opening
KAWS had the opening of his solo show “Long Way Home” at Honor Fraser this week. As usual, it sounds like it was packed with stars and KAWS superfans. @bendunn said “4 deep line for two blocks @ KAWS opening”. The work includes some of his most abstract paintings yet, Kurf paintings (KAWS + Smurfs = Kurfs), and sculptures including some life-size Chums.
Check out more photos at Arrested Motion.
Photos from Arrested Motion
TOAD at Opus Underground
In all honesty, I’d never heard of TOAD before I got an email from Opus Underground yesterday announcing that he had a few pieces for sale on their website. Turns out, he’s been asking for feedback on his work from the WallKandy crowd, but I missed that thread.
Anyway, I’m excited by what TOAD has for sale at Opus Underground, and I’m looking to forward to seeing more of his mixture between charcoal and spraypaint stencils. I think he’s got a lot of promise.
Photos from TOAD’s flickr
Black Rat Press Print Show 2009
This Saturday (the 21st) is the opening day of The Black Rat Press’ first show of the year. Their annual print show will feature work from Matt Small, D*face, Sweettoof, Brian Adam Douglas, Gaia, Lucas Price, Nick Walker, Blek Le Rat and Slinkachu. The show will also feature their “largest and most complex print to date.” I’m guessing it is a Matt Small.
I won’t be in town for the opening, but I’m looking forward to seeing the show (and work from Sweettoof and Gaia in particular) as soon as I’m back in London.
Preview Pic: Hush at Carmichael Gallery
The other day I mentioned the three shows coming up in March at the Carmichael Gallery in LA (Hush, Flip, and Veng). Well here’s a preview image from the Hush show which opens March 5th.
Street Crush Preview
Here’s all the info on Street Crush, a show group show opening in NYC tomorrow. Looks like it will be good fun.
“Street Crush” a Brooklyn Street Art show and party, featuring brand new work by 42 street artists, 4 dazzling Street-Tart burlesque performers, and a Kissing Booth will be thrown at AlphaBeta in Greenpoint, Brooklyn on Friday, February 13th, 2009.
BrooklynStreetArt.com and AlphaBeta are thrilled to be hosting a timely and sexy show of brand new art by veteran and rookie street artists who are on the scene today redefining our ideas of street art. Working around themes of “Love, Sex, and the Street”, well-known street artists like Aiko and Jef Aerosol dig deep for fresh takes on gritty street ardor alongside relative whipper-snappers like Cake and Poster Boy. In addition to a salon-style show, the opening party will feature live art collaborations and installation.
An unprecedented killer lineup of many of 2009’s best in one Brooklyn location, “Street Crush” will run from February 13 until February 28 and will feature work from an artist list that includes: Aakash Nihalani, Abe Lincoln Jr., Aiko, Anera, Bortusk Leer, Broken Crow, C. Damage, Cake, Celso, Charm, Chris Uphues, Creepy, DirQuo, Ellis Gallagher A.K.A. (C)ELLIS G., Eternal Love, FauxReel, FKDL, General Howe, GoreB, Imminent Disaster, Hellbent, Infinity, Nobody, Jef Aerosol, Jon Burgerman, Matt Siren, Mimi the Clown, NohJColey, Pagan, PMP, Poster Boy, Pufferella, Pushkin, Chris from Robots Will Kill, Col from Robots Will Kill, Veng from Robots Will Kill, Royce Bannon, Skewville, Stikman, The Dude Company, Titi from Paris, and U.L.M.
Friday, February 13, 2009, 7-12 pm
Location: Alphabeta, 70 Greenpoint Avenue Greenpoint Brooklyn, New York 11222 Suggested Donation: $8
More info at Brookyln Street Art
Coming up at Carmichael Gallery
I wouldn’t normally have my only post for a day be about a gallery that I’ve never even had the privilage of seeing in person, but I found some exciting news about Carmichael Gallery in LA.
Right now, they have a solo show with Chris Stain on called “Up on The Roof Countin’ Pigeons”, which is cool in its own right.
The shows after that are what I’m particularly excited about though. March 5th sees the opening of solo shows are Carmichael Gallery by Hush, Flip, and Veng. Can’t wait for these.
Photos from Carmichael Galley and Veng
New VNA Issue Next Week
My favorite street art ‘zine, Very Nearly Almost, is releasing issue 8 next week. The launch party is at Stella Dore, and hopefully this time the power won’t go out (bought my last issue by cell-phone light). I’d be there to get a magazine and Kid Acne t-shirt, but I’ll be in Austria snowboarding all week.
Swoon Sails Adriatic in May
Looks about time for a weekend trip to Venice.
From The Art Collectors Blog:
Swoon is in the planning and fundraising stages for her next ambitious aquatic art project. Building upon Miss Rockaway Armad and Swimming Cities of Switchback Sea, the next installment of the artist’s floating armada is taking shape and is set to launch in May of 2009. Comprised of a fleet of three new handmade vessels, The Swimming Cities of Serenissima will hit European waters and navigate the Adriatic Sea, Beginning in the Karst region of Slovenia, the ships will make their way to the final destination of Venice, Italy, stopping along the way to entertain audiences. Once again, Swoon will be joined by a crew of collaborators, including playwright Lisa D’Amour, puppeteer Robin Frohart and the band Dark Dark Dark.
If you’re not familiar with Swoon’s boat projects, this video, teaser footage from a film shot during her last trip, may help you understand the project, or it may confuse you even more. Either way, FLOOD looks like it is going to be a pretty cool film.
For more information on the trip and the upcoming fundraisers in New York and New Orleans, check out the project website.
Brad Downey: An Honest Thief @ StolenSpace
On Sunday Graffoto posted their review of Brad Downey‘s current solo show at StolenSpace Gallery entitled “An Honest Thief”. Although I usually love and agree with NoLionsInEngland’s reviews, I have to go a slightly different direction this time.
Here’s an excerpt from thier review:
Ever been jealous of someone’s lateral vision, been envious of the gift of conceiving and executing simple, subverted variations to the street scenery around us? If you’re an ordinary guy and have come across Brad Downey’s street art – then the answer is probably yes and yes again.
However, have you ever been let down by your heroes or disappointed by the mediocre achievement of a show hyped up by your own expectation that the street work is somehow going to transpose to a white box gallery space? If you go to Brad Downey’s first solo UK show in Stolen Space, London, then again you may find yourself ticking yes several times.
I went into the show with absolutely no expectations. I had no idea what I was going to see. Of course Downey’s street work would be very hard to move into a gallery space, but I had seen him speak this summer at the Tate Modern, and he had shown some videos there which I’d liked.
When I arrived, the first thing that struck me was the large sculpture “The B in the Brad” which looks like a giant jack made of street signs. This piece is the centerpiece of the show, and although I could never imagine it in a house, it is an interesting project and a bit of a twist on Downey’s usual street sign work.
There were a few photographic prints of Downey’s outdoor work which show the before and after scenes. Most of these can also be found on his website, but it was nice to provide a context for the work. After all, Downey is best on the street, so why not show some of that.
There were a few pieces of more gallery-suitable work as well.
The “Night Dick in Love” and “Night Dick on Limp” pieces are well crafted and made it smile. These sculptures also come with a dvd of a police violence.
“Animals That Crossed” were probably my favorite physical works in the show. Normally I’m not a fan of fur, but I’ll make an exception here.
The real reason to visit “An Honest Thief” though are the videos. There are 4 videos of Downey’s work playing in the gallery, and these are what, in Vandalog’s Great in ’08 series, Asbestos said were so fantastic. My personal favorite has to be the video of Downey cutting out a giant heart shape from a red screen covering a building under construction. Brad ended up getting arrested and fined for that, but I suppose that’s part of street art.
Go down to StolenSpace Gallery before this show closes on the 8th, because while much of Brad’s work is online, who knows when you’ll be able to see his videos again. Plus, it’s always better to see work in person.
Keep an eye out on Vandalog later this week for my profile/interview with Brad Downey (right now I’ve got a physics exam to study for).