Gallery/Museum Shows – Page 68 – Vandalog

April 18, 2011

Art in the Streets link-o-rama

Why haven’t hotels figured out that they should have strong free wifi in all rooms? And, if they make you pay for wifi, the signal and speed had better be amazing? Starbucks has it figured out, and I don’t have to pay a boatload of money to hang out in a Starbucks for a couple of hours (unless I’m drinking their coffee while I’m there). And yet, hotels haven’t seemed to get the message. So that problem, and the general busyness of the last few days in LA, is why I am woefully late covering the opening of Art in the Streets at MOCA in LA, probably the biggest indoor event this year relating to street art or graffiti. And I’m still going to be woefully late with coverage today. Expect a full review in a couple of days, but in the mean time, here’s some of the best reviews and coverage from around the web:

Some overviews of the show by Arrested Motion and Sour Harvest.
Lots of photos of sections by Lee, The Fun Gallery, Swoon, Barry McGee, Todd James, Steve Powers, Rammellzee, CR Stecyk III, Ed Templeton, Shepard Fairey, Banksy (whose section is a work in progress) and Os Gêmeos.
Some thoughts on KATSU’s fire extinguisher on the side of the museum (since buffed and painted over with a mural).
Unurth’s thoughts on the show (and Hyperallergic’s comments on Unurth’s review).
Jake Dobkin’s comment on the lack of political content in Art in the Streets.
Hyperallergic on this being the “first” exhibition of its kind.
A review from The LA Times.
The LA Times reports on an increase in graffiti throughout LA because of the show. A. Umm… duh. B. MOCA director Jeffrey Deitch attributed this increase to “some of the young taggers who are anarchic,” but neglected to mention that some artists in Art in the Streets are involved too. Barry McGee, Amaze, ESPO and friends painted some graffiti. I saw some McGee stickers around the museum. And Shepard Fairey’s crew has been hitting up electric boxes right out in front of MOCA without permission.

April 15, 2011April 13, 2011

American Folk Art Museum brings graffiti to Venice

The American Folk Museum (AFAM) is one of my favorite places to visit when I’m in New York. I’ve always found something a bit strange though: this NYC based museum dedicated to self-taught artists has never done anything related to graffiti. Until now. This summer, AFAM is putting 4 old-school graffiti writers in an exhibition in Venice during the Venice Biennale. Vision and Vernacular: Eight African-American Artists in Venice includes four self-taught graffiti writers selected by Carlo McCormick: Blade, Quik, Daze and Sharp. Each artist will make an installation at the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. The show runs from June 1st-15th. This show should be really interesting, especially in contrast to the rest of the Biennale, and is definitely a giant leap forward for AFAM by acknowledging graffiti.

In a seemingly odd match, the exhibition is sponsored by Benetton, as in United Colors of Benetton, but hey, whatever gets the job done done!

Image courtesy of AFAM

April 14, 2011October 1, 2012

Martha Cooper gets remixed at Carmichael Gallery

Carmichael Gallery in LA has a pretty crazy show on right now. Martha Cooper: Remix has street and graffiti artists giving their takes on classic photographs by Martha Cooper, one of the photographers behind the classic Subway Art book. Here’s a bit of the show, but check out Arrested Motion for many more photos. Remix runs through May 7th.

Photos courtesy of Arrested Motion

April 13, 2011April 13, 2011

D*Face in LA

A little bit late on this show, but it is impossible to forget about it all together. “Going Nowhere Fast” opened last week at Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles. The highly anticipated solo show by British street artist D*Face debuted a lot of brand new work, and with the gallery space, it is no wonder there was so much to see.

Showing everything from screenprints, sculpture, readymades, taxidermy and spray paint, D*Face really outdid himself with the array and quality of what was shown. While not every piece is everyone’s cup of tea, there is definitely something for everyone. Moving further away from his patented logo character, this show places this type of art in an indoor setting, which is a change that is quickly occurring with street artists as they separate their outdoor and indoor work.

What I find most interesting about “Going Nowhere Fast” is the amount of publicity the show received before it even opened. Whether it acted as a comeback show for D*Face’s career, a reintroduction of a new direction of work or a debut in the west coast markets, the show is not just another gallery opening. That’s for sure. Plus with Art in the Streets opening this weekend, it is no surprise that the surrounding area galleries are putting on grandiose shows like this while the street art market descends on Los Angeles.

Staying true to his outdoor routes, D*Face created this mural (in similar fashion to the paintings for sale) outside the gallery.

Photos by butterfly except mural photo by futuradosmil

April 13, 2011

The Hole heads to LA – Facemaker

Get ready for some irony: Jeffrey Deitch closes Deitch Projects and leaves to be director at MOCA in LA, Kathy Grayson aka Deitch’s right hand woman at Deitch Projects opens The Hole in NYC to fill the hole left by Deitch’s departure and now The Hole has a show opening in LA this Wednesday night to coincide with MOCA’s Art in the Streets show.

The Hole are putting on a show, Facemaker, at Royal/T in Culver City. Basically, Facemaker is a portraits show. Despite one of the silliest press releases I’ve read this month (“The show will explore interpretations of the most universal element of human perception: the face.”), the show looks to be something worth seeing. The line-up is beyond impressive. Here it is:

Ben Jones, Barry McGee, Kenny Scharf, Joe Grillo, assume vivid astro focus, Tomoo Gokita, Eric Yahnker, Jane Moseley, Olaf Breuning, KAWS, Ted Mineo, David Shrigley, Shepard Fairey, Eddie Martinez, Taylor McKimens, Francine, Speigel, Avery Newman, Trenton Doyle Hancock, Robert Lazzarini, Aurel Schmidt, Kembra Pfahler, Rivas & Tullie, Aaron Johnson, Brian Belott, Matt Leines, Swoon, Allison Schulnik, Clare Rojas, Jules de Balincourt, Michael Williams, Takeshi Murata, Anders Oinonen, Justin Samson, Misaki Kawai, Andrew Jeffrey Wright, Dennis Tyfus, Katherine Bernhardt, Todd James, Matt Greene, Stefan Bondell, Spencer Sweeney, Nate Lowman, Mat Brinkman, Jakub Julian Ziolkowski, Billy Grant, Adam Tullie and FriendsWithYou

So regardless of a crazy press release, this is still something to get excited about. I’ll be there Wednesday at the opening (8pm-midnight) and the show runs through June 30th.

Image courtesy of The Hole

April 12, 2011

Pantheon now open in NYC

Pantheon: A history of art in the streets of NYC, opened recently across the street from MoCA in NYC and runs through the end of this week. It looks like a fantastic underground alternative to MOCA’s Art in the Streets show opening this week in LA. I’ve got a lot of respect for show who puts a group like John Fekner, Richard Hambleton, Don Leicht, Freedom, Stikman, UFO and John Ahearn all together. Check it out at 20 West 53rd Street, b/w 5th & 6th Avenue in NYC this week.

Photos by Luna Park

April 12, 2011

Elik returning to NYC via Brooklynite Gallery

Other than seeing some rollers around NYC and a vague recollection of a collaboration with Faile and Bast that made its way to auction at some point, I would not have been able to say much at all about Elik a week ago. Very quickly though, I’m realizing that this was due more to a lack of knowledge on my part than on a lack of skill from Elik. I just came too late into street art and Elik hasn’t been getting up for a while. Back in 2003 though, it looks like Elik was the man in NYC, with a wide range techniques for getting up. After a break since 2005, Elik is returning with a show at Brooklynite Gallery next month (and hopefully some street work too). Snake Bite, which unfortunately does sound like it will be relying on the the much overused idea of a shanty-town installation in the gallery, opens May 7th and runs through June 4th. I’m a bit wary mostly because this sort of return could go very wrong, but I’m hopeful that it will go very right, as Elik seems like a talented artist.

Photo courtesy of Brooklynite Gallery

April 12, 2011

Kosbe on the Streets of NYC and the Walls of the Carmichael Gallery

I’ve always loved Kosbe’s zany characters and somewhat esoteric messages. Mostly on stickers, they occasionally make their way onto wheatpastes, as this recent addition to NYC’s East Village.

Yesterday, Kosbe shared with me — via his iPhone — a photo of his piece currently on exhibit in Martha Cooper’s “Remix” at the Carmichael Gallery in Culver City, CA. A recreation of Cooper’s iconic 1980 photo of Dondi sketching in his room with friends in East New York, Brooklyn, it uncovers another side of Kosbe’s flair.

April 9, 2011April 8, 2011

Pixelpancho at Galo Art Gallery

Pixelpancho has a sort of low-brow style that I don’t usually go for. While I liked his murals, I didn’t think I’d dig his work as much indoors. Nonetheless, after seeing this piece last December (looks better in the flesh), I’ve definitely become a fan. So I’m happy to say that Pixelpancho is showing at one of Italy’s most fun art galleries: Galo Art Gallery in Torino. The show opened on Friday, but runs through May 7th. Here’s a wall Pixelpancho painted inside the gallery:

Photos courtesy of Galo Art Gallery

April 9, 2011April 9, 2011

Weekend link-o-rama

5585490424_332506ca08_z — ECB at work on a mural in NYC with Robots Will Kill and OverUnder

Steph is here in Philly now and tomorrow Jordan Seiler, Gaia, and Marc and Sara Schiller will be here too. Pretty good week. Plus, Art in the Streets is almost here and I’ll be in LA for that. Hopefully see some of you there. Here’s some (Philadelphia-centric) news to enjoy over the weekend:

Some very clever yarnbombing on the Rocky statue outside of the Philadlephia Museum of Art. It’s a world-class museum, but so many people just go to see that sculpture and then leave.
Robots Will Kill have a show up at Vincent Michael Gallery in Philadelphia right now. While there’s definitely some filler in there, each artist has 1-2 standout pieces, making this worth a visit. The opening was pretty great, as it was full of teenage sticker artists writing in each other’s black books. Classic.
Agnès B now has a space for art in NYC. The opening looks like an overly-swanky affair, but there’s definitely some good art on the walls (and t-shirts from Bast. What could be better?).
This wall by Cranio is pretty cool. Yes, there’s some Os Gêmeos influence, but the shadows are all Cranio and who in Sao Paulo isn’t influenced by them?
The LA Weekly has done a long feature on Art in the Streets.

Photo by Becki Fuller