Sickboy has a solo show coming up next week in San Fransisco at White Walls Gallery. It will be Sickboy’s “first major US solo show” (whatever that means). Wonder Club, made up of a new body of work, opens on March 17th and runs through April 7th. While Londoners are probably quite familiar with Sickboy’s work on the street and in the gallery, this show should be something a bit new and very fun for San Franciscans.
Photos by Joanna Dudderidge
Last night I went to the launch of Reka‘s latest show “Primary Suspects” at Backwoods gallery in Collingwood. As usual Reka did not disappoint.
Reka’s blog gives a good run down of what the show is all about… “When a suit goes to work, they take their briefcase. When I go to work, I take my cans. Primary Suspects is a reflective exploration into the lifestyle of street vandals and the effect that it takes on us, both mentally and physically. From brushes with the law, confrontations with other graffiti writers, climbing onto rooftops and exploring the underground, the streets have become our desks” (Read the rest here).
The show also explores Reka’s fascination with old found spray cans, which he has painted and named after some of Melbourne’s graffiti and street art legends.
Apart from the paintings and old cans, Reka put together a short looping film of himself wearing a suit and getting sprayed by hydrants full of paint in the 4 primary colours. This played on the back wall and got a lot of attention.
Check out the promo clip as well, very funny! (from RJ’s post a few days ago) Continue reading “Primary Suspects by Reka at Backwoods Gallery”
It’s officially spring break, which meant the last week for me has primarily consisted of sitting at my desk where I read and type furiously until my eyes are tearing up and my fingers are sore. It also means I could only blog when procrastinating and that the next few days should be a chance to write some longer posts that I’ve been sitting on. In the mean time, here’s what I’ve been finding around the web this week:
Photo by Ludo
Okay this is a little bit outside of Vandalog’s usual coverage, but the fantastic street photographer and filmmaker Cheryl Dunn has a show opening in London this month at a brand new gallery run by Pedro Matos called Ivory & Black. Dunn’s work was included in the Art in the Streets show at MOCA in LA last year and also in the classic documentary Beautiful Losers. Dunn’s show, Sometimes the Answer, will open on March 23rd from 6-9pm and run through April 21st. Work for the show will span Dunn’s 30-year catalog of images and there will be a book published to accompany the show.
Ivory & Black promises to be an important addition to London’s art scene. They are working with Andrew Schoultz, Cleon Peterson, Cheryl Dunn, Deanna Templeton, Ed Templeton, Geoff McFetridge, James Jean, Pedro Matos, Richard Colman, Ryan Travis Christian, Skullphone and Wes Lang.
Photo by Cheryl Dunn courtesy of Ivory & Black
We made it over to Pandemic Gallery’s current exhibit ALL TALK! earlier in the week and loved the way it presented the works of some of our favorite artists whose work surface regularly in the public sphere. We also loved the incredible mix of aesthetic sensibilities. Here’s a sampling:
The exhibit continues through March 11th @ 37 Broadway (between Wythe and Kent) in Brooklyn.
Photos by Lois Stavsky & Tara Murray
Chris Stain (interviewed) has his new book, Long Short Story, will be launched at the Wooster St. Social Club, site of the television show NY Ink, on March 14th from 8-11pm. Long Short Story is being published by Drago. Drago describes the launch as a “book launch/art show/printmaking/music/food/lecture event extravaganza,” and the art exhibit accompanying the launch will stay up for two weeks.
Few things in the L.A. art world generated interest and excitement like Os Gemeos‘ recent solo opening at Prism Gallery. I hadn’t heard or seen people this excited since MOCA’s “Art in Streets” last year, and that show undoubtedly served to bring more recognition to the Brazilian twins. It paid off on Saturday when, despite a piece of paper taped to the gallery door that the show would be starting at 7 p.m. (and not the previously advertised 6 p.m.), a line had already begun to form outside around 4. When the butcher paper came down off the glass gallery walls, a few gasps went up, and when the doors finally opened early, few could hardly wait to get in and experience it for themselves.
Now, I should say I often feel the term wonderland is overused–particularly in regard to art installations–but the remarkably immersive artworks on offer in “Miss You” makes this description nothing short of apt. In some cases, this immersiveness was literal, as viewers could enter a side room and play with a collection of touch-screens, or duck inside an enormous box painted with a face to find a blue-lit, completely mirrored space that felt acres bigger than it was. Yet, nowhere was that feeling more evident than on the faces of the visitors streaming in around me. Everywhere I looked, I saw gazes of wonder. Children squealed and wove their way through distended light bulbs anchored to the floor, which brings me to an important part on this show: it was both deeply fun, as well as family-friendly, and it showcased what truly game-changing artists (who just happen to have a significant amount of experience with scale on the street) can do when given total control in a gallery. Continue reading “Miss You: Os Gemeos at Prism”
Da Mental Vaporz’ (Bom-K, Blo, Brusk, Dran, Gris1, ISO, Jaw, Kan, and Sowat) exhibition at RTIST Gallery in Melbourne in still open for a few more days, but if you can’t make it down, here’s a short video giving an idea of what’s going on (including a mural)…
DMV ~ Le Venin from Rtist Gallery on Vimeo.
Photo by S.Butterfly
Over 30 years ago, Crash’s visual rhythms were riding the subways of New York City. These early images have remained a consistent source of inspiration to the artist, as well as to the next generation of writers. Through Friday March 11th Crash’s new art paying homage to his time on the trains can be seen at TT Underground in Manhattan’s East Village. My favorites are the ones the legendary Crash – born John Matos — has fashioned on aluminum pieces constructed by his friend, Metal Man Ed. Here’s a sampling:
And here he is back in 1980:
And, more recently, on the streets of the South Bronx:
Gallery images by John Matos & Lois Stavsky; outdoor images, courtesy John Matos
It’s still technically the weekend for a few hours, so writing this is the perfect procrastination tool before I get down to doing homework. Hopefully you can take advantage of these links in a similar fashion:
Photo by Jade
