Gallery/Museum Shows – Page 5 – Vandalog

June 11, 2014June 13, 2014

UK travels link-o-rama

I’ve been traveling a bit and I’m in London at the moment, so here’s me playing some catch up:

There seems to be a big question mark on the freshly launched Street Art Project from Google. I’ve been getting friends outside of street art sending me links to the NYTimes article about the project and asking what the hell to think, and everyone within street art that I’ve spoken with seems unsure of what to think about the thing. I’m also unsure so far. On the surface, sounds great: A major institution offering to archive, tag, map and promote the best high-resolution photos of street art around the world. But the more I think about it, the less exciting it sounds: Only a select few contributors (from the amazing Living Walls to the questionable Global Street Art), essentially replicating the functions of flickr without the ability for anyone to participate, using art to whitewash the reputation of a controversial company… Honestly, if I had the opportunity to contribute photos to this project, I probably would just because of the possible selfish promotional value, but at the same time I’m not sure that this project is of any real worth the the street art or graffiti communities. I don’t know. I’m just not sold on the idea that this is the best strategy or documentation or archival. Anyone have any thoughts on this thing?
Banksy has updated (and upgraded) his website. Notable updates include the updates to the Q&A section and an embed of this video, titled “Better Out Than In – the movie,” which is essentially a slightly edited version of his Webby Awards acceptance video. The question now is whether that short video is really “the movie,” or a trailer for an upcoming movie. Street Art News seems to think it’s a trailer, but I don’t see Banksy having hinted one way or the other.
Ken Sortais aka PAL Crew’s Cony had a show on in Paris earlier this month. The show has closed now, but it’s worth checking out the photos. The sculptures are very George Condo-esque, but Sortais has some real talent. The work isn’t completely removed from his graffiti, but he’s certainly not using his graffiti reputation or skills as a crutch for these gallery works, something that happens all too often with less talented artists as they move from the street to the gallery.
All of London is talking about the Roa and Ripo shows opening today at Stolenspace Gallery. I’m looking forward to the opening: Two artists whose work I enjoy, and it will be my first time at Stolenspace’s new location.
Next week four of the great early photographers of graffiti will be on a panel hosted by Jay J.SON Edlin at the Museum of the City of New York as part of the City as Canvas show. That’s one event not to miss. I may even come up from Philadelphia for it, so if you’re in NYC, you have no excuse not to go. Use the discount code in this flyer to save a bit on tickets to the event.

Photo by RJ Rushmore

June 7, 2014June 17, 2014

The Sincura Group is back, and stranger than ever

The former site of the “Old School” piece by Banksy that was in the “Stealing Banksy?” auction/event/whatever

The Sincura Group, yes that company led by the hilarious Tony Baxter and hosts of the Stealing Banksy? auction from back in April, announced that the point of the auction of former Banksy artworks (street pieces removed from their original locations) was not to sell the artworks, but really to start a street art museum in London. Here’s an archived copy of their post-auction statement. Apparently, people are taking them seriously, with a stories about the museum in The Art Newspaper and The Independent, plus Global Street Art’s Lee Bofkin being considered as a possible curator for the museum.

According to The Art Newspaper, The Sincura Group now says that they never meant to sell any of the Stealing Banksy? works at auction for charity, as they had initially claimed, and that the whole auction and media circus was really just to test the waters for a museum of street art, to open in London next year. The Sincura Group’s statement says that some of the works were for sale, but it is unclear which ones. This seems to contradict what Baxter said in an interview with Vandalog where he was quite clear that a portion of the sale of every piece advertised as for sale at Stealing Banksy? would benefit charity.

So, nothing was for sale, or at least some pieces advertised as for sale really weren’t. The Sincura Group spent months promoting an event that they said would benefit many charities, but it was a lie. And now they are promoting a new project based of that that first project, and we are supposed to believe them. Fool me once…

I think this latest twist adds a new layer of crazy to an already ridiculous situation. At best, it is, as a Time Out blogger wrote, “all an unfathomable mind game.” At worst, it is falsehoods and a lack of transparency piled on top of more falsehoods and a lack of transparency. Essentially, The Sincura Group said that they would raise a bunch of money for charity by selling Banksy artwork and then practically did a 180 to say, “Gotchya! It was all just a social experiment!” Maybe they got the idea from BNE. Why would anyone continue to take The Sincura Group seriously or associate themselves with people who do things like this? Does anyone actually think that all of this is a good, or ethical, idea?

Sorry for this somewhat long, probably confusing post, but this has proven to be a long, confusing series of events. Now, the question I have is this: Was a museum really in the cards all along, or was the auction a complete failure, forcing The Sincura Group to come up with a plan b for all of these street pieces? I don’t no whether to laugh or cry at the entire situation.

Photo by eddiedangerous

May 23, 2014May 22, 2014

Logan Hicks and Joe Iurato to curate the first urban art museum

Joe Iurato and Logan Hicks, co-curators of The Mana Museum of Urban Arts.

Very exciting news for the worlds of street art and graffiti: Jersey City’s Mana Contemporary will be opening the world’s only urban art museum later this year. As much as I detest the term “urban art,” I’ll excuse Mana on this one because there is no good term for a museum that will include both street art and graffiti. So, The Mana Museum of Urban Arts it is. If this sounds familiar, it should, because Mana Contemporary announced plans for a street art museum in January, but at that point, details have been skint. Now, we know the museum’s curators, and they provide some major reassurance that Mana Contemporary will be doing this right.

I love the museum’s curators: Logan Hicks and Joe Iurato. Logan has been a friend since before Vandalog started, and he’s been one of my most valued guides to the art world and life in general. More importantly, he’s an underrated curator who is in the perfect place (at least within the street art world) to curate this museum. Logan actually introduced me to Joe’s art a few years ago. Both are hard-working guys with a great respect for street and and graffiti. I’m sure they will do a great job with this project.

The Mana Museum of Urban Arts opens this September in a 100,000-square-foot former ice factory in Jersey City, NJ.

From the press release:

The Mana Museum of Urban Arts’ mission includes: showcasing contemporary street artists from around the world through rotating interior exhibitions, large-scale exterior murals, and through an artist billboard; documenting and preserving historically significant works with a permanent collection and media center; educational outreach; and fostering creativity and community among artists through workshops, artist studios, and public works.

Of course, there’s the question of whether such a museum should even exist, maybe it signals the death of “urban art.” I like Mana Contemporary Eugene Lemay’s response to that question in an interview with Hrag Vartanian at Hyperallergic:

This sounds to me like a question coming from a place of fear. The idea is not to institutionalize the artwork, but to create a platform for learning about its rich history, increase accessibility, and build a gathering place.

Sounds good to me. I’m all for an institution making sure that the increasingly complex history of street art and graffiti are preserved. And definitely check out that entire interview. Lemay also says that there will be a free wall area where anyone can paint.

Congrats to Mana Contemporary, Logan Hicks and Joe Iurato. This could be something pretty amazing and important. See you in September!

Future site of The Mana Museum of Urban Arts (check the old KAWS roller) — Future site of The Mana Museum of Urban Arts (check the old KAWS rollers)

Photos by Logan Hicks

May 22, 2014

Pablo Delgado at Howard Griffin Gallery

6-Pablo Delgado Even Less Howard Griffin Gallery

Pablo Delgado has a solo show, Even Less, on right now through June 8th at Howard Griffin Gallery in London. It’s pretty clear that photos don’t do this show justice, but I’m going to post some anyway. I’m bummed that I won’t be able to see this in person. If you have seen it, please leave a comment with your thoughts.

Pablo Delgado Even Less 2

Pablo Delgado’s work is so great on the street, but it’s also so street-specific. The joy of the work is the scale and the surprise and that it’s on the street and a bit different from what anyone is expecting, even from other street art. It’s makes me very happy to see that, from what I can tell from these photos at least, Delgado has found a few interesting ways to translate his ideas indoors. Not an easy task. Congrats!

Continue reading “Pablo Delgado at Howard Griffin Gallery”

May 22, 2014May 22, 2014

From Mexico City to NYC: at Dorian Grey Gallery and on NYC streets

dorian=Grey

Ranging from meticulously-crafted drawings to bold paintings, the artworks on exhibit at NYC’s Dorian Grey Gallery are a homage to Mexican street art. A number of artists who were in town for the exhibit also hit the streets, as well. Here’s a sampling of both:

Fsuca with Kazy in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn — Fusca with Kazy in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn

12 Mexican Street Artists continues through June 15th at 437 East 9th Street in Manhattan’s East Village. Additional murals — by the artists on exhibit at Dorian Grey Gallery — can be found on the corner of DeKalb and Spencer in Bed-Stuy, Brooklyn.

Photos by Dani Reyes Mozeson and Lois Stavsky

April 17, 2014July 15, 2017

Fra.Biancoshock’s loving destruction

Detail of "Come to see my graffiti collection" — Detail of “Come to see my graffiti collection”

These new works by Fra.Biancoshock make me really uncomfortable. I love them. They are all part of his new series Graffiti is a Religion and were unveiled last month at his solo show Ephemeralism at 77 Art Gallery in Milan, Italy. The series is Fra.Biancoshock’s tribute to graffiti and graffiti culture, but it’s not as straightforward as that. Other artists, if they wanted to pay tribute to graffiti, might replicate what they see on the street onto a canvas. That’s certainly not unheard of. But that’s sort of work is just a facsimile. Fra.Biancoshock wanted the real thing, so he went out onto the streets of Italy and got it. He chipped graffiti off of walls and is putting it back on display in a series of artworks.

With “Graffiti Puzzle,” Fra.Biancoshock plays off the idea of famous paintings that get reproduced in puzzle form. Except, this time, it’s the actual wall that players are urged to reassemble. The wall is by the VMD 70′S crew (or a member of the crew), one of the most famous Italian graffiti crews. Although the labeling on the box suggests that the VMD 70’s were aware of this project and willing participants, I’m not sure, and I’ve decided that it’s more interesting not to know, so I haven’t asked Fra.Biancoshock.

Detail of "Graffiti Puzzle" — Detail of “Graffiti Puzzle”

For “Come to see my graffiti collection,” he carefully cataloged a process of removing small pieces of works of graffiti from around Italy and has put the tiny paint fragments back on display like a series of holy relics that references not only the complete pieces from which they were removed but the entire careers of those writers. Destruction, maybe? But as Fra.Biancoshock says, “The culture of graffiti here is treated like any other theme in the history of humanity.”

“Cornerstone” goes a step further and anonymizes the artists, a tribute to graffiti culture as a whole. It is made up of fragments of graffiti by some of the most historically important Italian writers, the people who together form the cornerstone of Italian graffiti culture.

We all long for physical representations of the things we hold dear or somehow important. But graffiti is ephemeral. 99.9% of the historic graffiti has been destroyed, and it’s really only through documentation that anything gets preserved. If graffiti is a culture that many people treat like a religion, what physical representations can we hold on to when the graffiti itself is made to be destroyed? Just old copies of Subway Art and black books I guess…

In this series, Fra.Biancoshock tackles that subject, and while his conclusions may seem absurd at first, they are not totally unfamiliar. Religious relics and historical artifacts are often treated like the pieces in Graffiti is a Religion: They are chopped up and spread so thin that they no long depict the whole of what they were, only reference it. In trying to love and preserve relics and artifacts, we often destroy them, as has been done here. And of as I’ve argued in the past, even ripping an entire artwork off of a wall in one piece, as has happened so often with Banksy’s work, does not really preserve it. That only gives a reference to what once was: An artwork placed on a particular wall in a particular public space. These paint chips are not graffiti, but they are all that we have once the buffman shows up.

With Graffiti is a Religion, Fra.Biancoshock simultaneously brings graffiti indoors and humbly acknowledges the impossibility of such a task. All of these pieces make me uncomfortable. The best art does that.

Photos by Fra.Biancoshock

April 17, 2014

Melbourne Monthly Madness – February (belated) 2014

Still playing catch up on my posts, so here’s my favourites from February. Lots of great stuff yet again in February featuring works by Melbourne’s local talent and a few from our many interstate and international visitors.

To start off the month AllThoseShapes brought us some great bits and pieces, including this great paste from Lucy Lucy, another neon piece from Straker (loving this new style of his), some more rad stencils from Akemi Ito, this apt piece by Spie with an angry gorilla commenting on taggers in Hosier and Rutledge lanes (2 of Melbourne’s most tagged/capped lanes) and a couple of slaps from MIO, who is killing it at the moment with stickers and lots of throwies around town.

Dean Sunshine captured these great abando pieces by Slicer, Rashe and Jaw. A shot of the finished wall at the annual Park St Party paint up by Mayo, Steve Cross, DVATE, Ethics, Askem, Sat, Porno, Awes and Simple Sime. And finally 3 from Dean’s top ten, amazing pieces by Choq and Sueb, Makatron and SAGE.

Jaws. Photo by Dean Sunshine — Jaw. Photo by Dean Sunshine.

Mayo, Steve Cross, DVATE, Ethics, Askem, Sat, Porno, Awes and Simple Sime (Park Street Party). Photo by Dean Sunshine.

David Russell was a busy man as usual. Rad pieces from the Pull UP party at Juddy Roller (which saw a full repaint of the space) by Choq, Slicer, Shawn Lu, Adnate, Jaw, Rashe, DEAMS, Taylor White and Brian Itch. A nice new piece from Kaffeine. And finally Ink and Clog, who visited us from Singapore, painted these 2 great walls. I’ve also included another great shot by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva showing a different perspective again of the Hosier Lane with his awesome 180 degree technique.

Slicer, Shawn Lu, Adnate, Jaws, Rashe. Photo by David Russell — Slicer, Shawn Lu, Adnate, Jaw, Rashe. Photo by David Russell.

Slicer, Jaws, Shawn Lu Rashe, Adnatea and DEAMS. Photo by David Russell — Slicer, Jaw, Shawn Lu, Rashe, Adnatea and DEAMS. Photo by David Russell.

Ink & Clog. Photo by Roberth Pinarete Villanueva.

Ink and Clog also put this short video together after their trip to Melbourne.

Phoenix the Street Artist - Photo via Invurt — Phoenix the Street Artist. Photo via Invurt.

Finally I had to include this interview by Fletch from Invurt with Phoenix the Street Artist, one of my favourite interviews I have read in a long time, about one of my favourite Melbourne street artists. (Check out his work here).

That’s all for February. March post coming soon.

Photos courtesy of AllThoseShapes, Roberth Pinarete Villanueva, Dean Sunshine, David Russell and Invurt

Video courtesy of Ink and Clog

April 14, 2014July 3, 2016

ÑEWMERICA: Birth of a Nation at Exit Room NY with LNY, Icy & Sot, ND’A, Mata Ruda and Sonni

Somewhat reminiscent of RAE’s remarkable recreation of an East Village bodega, Exit Room NY’s current exhibit, ÑEWMERICA: Birth of a Nation, focuses on the endangered bodega. In addition to a impressive installation recreating a bodega that is about to give way to a Bank of America, the exhibit features dozens of artworks by the members of the newly launched collective, ÑEWMERICA. Here’s a sampling:

Icy and Sot refashion bottles and cigarette boxes

Bodega exterior, collaborative installation

Mata Ruda, The Passage to Cosmos — Mata Ruda, *The Passage to Cosmos*

Sonni, El Tio Colorido — Sonni, *El Tio Colorido*

LNY, When he dies, Judith will bury him in the Gucci store — LNY, *When he dies, Judith will bury him in the Gucci store*

The exhibit continues through this week at 270 Meserole Street in Bushwick; check the Exit Room NY Facebook page for hours.

Photos by Lois Stavsky

April 3, 2014March 28, 2014

Barry McGee, Dan Murphy and Isaac T. Lin together in Philadelphia

Good news! One international superstar and two great Philadelphia mainstays are showing together in Philadelphia starting next week at the Department of Neighborhood Services show at Fleisher/Ollman Gallery. Barry McGee is of course Barry “TWIST” McGee. Dan Murphy is half of Megawords and Vandalog readers may know him as a key member of Steve Powers’ ICY Signs company. Isaac Lin used to be at Philadelphia’s famous Space 1026 and graffiti nerds around the world may know him for his involvement with the DFW zines (which Dan Murphy has also been involved in). These three artists have shown together before and Murphy and Lin are regulars in the Philadelphia art scene, but I don’t think McGee has not shown in Philadelphia since the Indelible Market show at the ICA Philadelphia in 2000.

That McGee should return to Philadelphia with this show and at Fleisher/Ollman is fitting, since Indelible Market was curated by Alex Baker, who is now the director of Fleisher/Ollman, and also included three artists with one foot in the art world and one foot in graffiti: McGee, Todd James and Steve Powers. If the name of that show and the artist line up sounds familiar, it’s because Indelible Market was the first in a series of historic installations including the same trio that have taken place in spaces including Deitch Projects and the Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles (the others being called Street Market and Street, with Street also including Murphy and others).

Is it too much to hope that Baker can strike gold again? Maybe that’s asking too much and expecting too little. Not every show that Baker does in this format has to be historic to be interesting, and it’s unfair to let one show define his curatorial/directorial career. Still, I’m really looking forward to Department of Neighborhood Services. At the very least it’s three really interesting artists, including one who hasn’t show in Philadelphia in far too long.

Philly, don’t miss this thing.

Department of Neighborhood Services opens on Friday, April 11th from 6-8pm and runs through June 7th at Fleisher/Ollman Gallery.

Image courtesy of Fleisher/Ollman Gallery

March 16, 2014March 15, 2014

More ways to bring the energy of graffiti indoors

Lek, Sowat, Liard, Larbi Cherkaoui and Nour Eddine Tilsaghani. Photo by Louis-Brisset. — Lek, Sowat, Liard, Larbi Cherkaoui and Nour Eddine Tilsaghani. Photo by Louis Brisset.

A note from the editor: I expected some people to object to my recent post about The Wa, but I’m glad that Sowat used it a chance for discussion. He emailed me after reading my post to let me know about a recent show of his where he, Lek and Arnaud Liard tried to bring of bit of graffiti’s spirit to a gallery setting. I thought his argument and the whole idea of the show was interesting, so I asked him to contribute this guest post about the project. – RJ

A few days ago, one of RJ’s post titles made me cringe. Documenting The Wa’s work, he wrote, “The Wa brings the street inside, but not in that cheesy ‘I’m a street artist painting on canvas, therefore I’m bringing the street inside’ way”

I was just back from a three-week residency in Marrakech with Lek and Arnaud Liard, organized by David Bloch Gallery. Except for Soccer slogans, Graffiti and Street Art, let alone muralism, seems to be relatively new in Morroco, which in itself was exciting. In addition to painting murals in the Medina and New Town with Local artists Larbi Cherquaoui and Nour Eddine Tilsaghani, we had put together a show with Lek and Arnaud Liard, called ‘Contraband’. Despite our own harsh views on the subject as teenage graffiti writers, most of this show was constituted of canvases… Had we done something cheesy?

Sowat on the left and right. Liard in the center. Photo courtesy of Sowat

Just like a lot a artists around us, from day one, our main motivation in accepting David Bloch’s proposition, was to find creative ways to keep in touch with 20+ years of writing freely around abandoned buildings when transitioning to the coded atmosphere of a white cube. How could we apply what Graffiti had thought us in this brand new territory?

Continue reading “More ways to bring the energy of graffiti indoors”