I always love a good Martha Cooper interview, and all the better that this one was done by Very Nearly Almost:
VNA x Martha Cooper at MOCA from Charlie Inman on Vimeo.
Kenny Scharf film and artist Q&A at MOCA this weekend
Kenny Scharf will be at MOCA this weekend as part of the Levi’s Film Workshop video series at Art in the Streets for a Q&A about Kenny Scharf: More, Newer, Better, Nower, Funner, a short film that Malia Scharf and Nathan Meier have made a short film about Kenny. The film will also be premiering at the event, before being available online. The Q&A/screening will be at 3pm on Sunday. RSVP for free online.
Photo courtesy of the Levi’s
A new lightbox from Sweza
Lichtraum III – an urban showcase from sweza on Vimeo.
I really like Sweza‘s latest lightbox, Lichtraum III, because it’s graffiti but it also still requires the permission and interact of people, so what’s inside becomes a bit of a gift as well. Anyways, cool stuff as usual from this street artist who does things just a bit differently.
Credit Confidential tries to do Blu
My friend sent me over this video for some bank advertisement. Looks like some young hot shot animator liked Blu, because they took the stop animation look a bit too far in his likeness. Well, except that a- this isn’t real and b- no one really compares to blu and his more than 1 million views on videos attest to that.
Unintended Calculations Video
Here is a video following the artists who participated in the group show Unintended Calculations recently in Vancouver, BC. Featured are Augustine Kofie, Jerry Inscoe, Remi/Rough and Scott Sueme.
Herakut in Russia
Video of Herakut painting in Russia at a children’s home.
Katsu puts a massive tag on MOCA (for real this time)
Update: Here’s a photo of the piece being buffed in the middle of the night.
Katsu might be New York City’ smartest writer. He used a fire extinguisher to tag a massive wall on the outside of MOCA in LA, right by the entrance to their Art in the Streets show. Of course we can never be 100% sure what goes on behind closed doors, but from all I’ve heard, this was a legitimately illegal hit. He’s faked this sort of thing before with some clever video editing, but apparently this one is real. While I haven’t seen any photos of the piece taken by random passersby or reputable graffiti photographers, I’ve heard from folks in LA that this is real.
Here’s the video of him painting the piece in broad daylight:
So now the question is: What happens next? This may sound crazy, but I’d be more upset about this piece being buffed than Blu’s mural on MOCA, precisely because illegal pieces like this are what cannot be brought into a museum context except through bold actions like Katsu actually going up and hitting the building like graffiti writers are supposed to do. In fact, I’m surprised it took this long. I’ve been saying since December how the MOCA building is a perfect target for a writer with a fire extinguisher.
And, as I’m writing this, someone has posted a comment on the YouTube video saying that the wall has already been buffed… If that’s true, damn. Well, it’s MOCA’s right as property owner to do what they want and that can’t be denied (just as it would be fair for Katsu to hit the spot again), but still definitely sucks. I would’ve loved for that to be the first thing people saw as they entered the museum for Art in the Streets. I just hope they find a good artist willing to paint that spot instead (and one that Katsu won’t immediately tag over).
Even in the off chance that the video is a fake, well, he’s still got his name out there in the digital world, hence, successfully achieving fame almost as if it were real.
i art Woodstock
It’s always nice when artists can paint in a place where a community is improved by the art and where the community appreciates the work. I think that should be ideal for almost all street art, but unfortunately is rarely the case. That’s why I was so glad to see this video, i art Woodstock (part of i art SA, curated by A Word of Art), where over a dozen artists got together to paint in suburban Cape Town:
The Boneyard Project
Sometimes I see something and all I can really say is “Yes.” This is one of those times, and I’m not even 100% sure what I’m seeing. It’s call The Boneyard Project. It’s coming this summer. Here’s the trailer:
THE BONEYARD PROJECT from viejas del mercado on Vimeo.
Indelibly Ephemeral: Ellis Gallagher in Miami
Have you seen this great short film of Ellis Gallagher doing his 120 Seconds for Friends We Love? If not, it’s definitely worth a watch, as are all of the docs in FWL’s multi-series web tv station (Doze Green, Aakash Nihalani, Kenny Scharf, Poster Boy and Jeff Soto are just some of the artists they have profiled to date who may be of interest to you.) Whilst the Friends We Love team and I are stuck in LA, however, Ellis is flying down to Miami in a couple days to begin prep for his upcoming solo show, Indelibly Ephemeral, at Adjust Gallery. The April 9th opening is conveniently timed to coincide with the Wynwood Second Saturdays Art Walk.
The show will remain up through April 23rd, but I recommend stopping in at the opening if you can; in addition to the works, which span a broad range of media, that will be on display, Ellis will be there in person creating installations throughout the night. I’m not sure if he’s planning to fire tag, but I hope he does – it’s cool to watch.
On a more personal note: Ellis will probably ask me to take this down when he reads this, but recently we were having a drink near the back of a bar somewhere in Bushwick and he suddenly jumped up and started setting the wall on fire. It looked really good, too (until someone came toward us on their way to the restroom and he had to blow it out.) Seriously, though, it’s moments like this that underline the spontaneity I love about his process and the fact that it can manifest itself in so many different forms. Here’s a more classic piece below.
Show Info:
Saturday, April 9 | 5:00pm – 11:00pm
Adjust Gallery
150 NW 24th StMiami, FL
– Elisa
Fire photo by me, chalk photo by Ellis.