Egyptian photographers and street artists have put together an expansive book of revolutionary graffiti and street art. Read about it here, and read it online here.
As the walls continue to speak in the Santurce district of San Juan, Puerto Rico, they have begun to attract increasing attention and admiration from passersby. We even noticed a group of students speaking with Mexican artist, Neuzz. Here are a few images of works in progress by: Sego, also from Mexico, Rimx & the Puerto Rican El Coro collective, Ever from Argentina, and Neuzz from the Carribean’s first international urban arts festival:
Rmix close-up from El Coro mural in progressEl Coro CollectiveEver — the beginningNeuzz with visitors
Vinchen is a really underrated street artist from Columbus, Ohio who I haven’t given nearly enough attention to. Vinchen is one of the few politically-minded stencil artists besides Banksy who can consistently interest me. Here are a few Vinchen pieces that I really like, although they aren’t all particularly recent:
In part 3 of my series of posts about this year’s Nuart Festival (here are parts one and two), I want to highlight some of the less traditional outdoor work at the festival. While mural festivals like Nuart are known for, well, murals, three artists went a different direction for their outdoor contributions to Nuart: The Wa, Jordan Seiler and Aakash Nihalani.
Aakash Nihalani. Photo by Ian Cox.
Aakash Nihalani’s work was, as usual for him, tape-based. While it was 2D like a mural and could have theoretically been painted in the same spot with similar results, the tape reinforces the idea that street art is ephemeral. You couldn’t preserve one of his pieces outdoors even if you tried.
The Wa. Photo courtesy of The Wa.
The Wa installed a series of small sculptures resembling pools of oil in one of the main squares of downtown Stavanger, with the oil leading a path from the sea (where there is a lot of oil) to the nearest ATM. Again, a temporary intervention, but also a sculptural one. Nuart has had sculptures before, but it’s still not all that common at other, similar, festivals.
Jordan Seiler. Photo courtesy of Jordan Seiler.
Perhaps the most shocking of all were Jordan Seiler’s ad takeovers. He replaced around two dozen public advertisements (two large billboards and the rest bus-stop ads) with his own art. Like Aakash, that’s pretty much Jordan doing what he usually does, but it’s something that not many other mural programs seem likely to embrace, particularly programs like Nuart that get government funding. Nuart’s ballsiness is certainly to be commended. That said, it’s important to note that Jordan did something similar but on a much smaller scale in the early days of Living Walls. Unfortunately, only the large billboards lasted more than about 12 hours. Those bus-stop ad guys are quick.
The walls are talking in Puerto Rico, as over a dozen first-rate artists are busy gracing the walls of the Santurce district of San Juan. Organized by local artists Celso Gonzalez and Alexis Diaz of La Pandilla, along with Emil Medina of Buena Vibra, “Los Muros Hablan” marks the Carribean’s largest urban arts festival. Not only are we seeing some of our favorite artists at work, but we are also meeting many whose works is new to us. Here are just a few images we took today — many more to come:
Roa at workAryz at workLocal artist Bik-Ismo at work
Sponsored by Coor Light, “Los Muros Hablan” continues through the 14th.
Photos of Roa by Lois Stavsky; photo of Aryz by Dani Mozeson and of Bik-Ismo by Lenny Collado
Most of the sticker collectors I know take pride in their collections because they have some sort of personal connection to the individual stickers. The interest is not the stickers themselves, so much as how these collectors obtained them. For Martha Cooper, it means using a secret recipe to weaken the adhesive and collect stickers that were put up illegally on the street. For some collectors, it means going to art shows with a black book and bumping into the right people. For others, like Philadelphia’s family-like network of sticker artists, it means trading stickers between artists to save or frequently to collaborate. For these people, a book of printed stickers lacks the intrinsic value that comes with compiling a collection through unique experiences.
Stacey Rozich and Yonil
My favorite book (of any book, not just my street art books) is DB Burkeman’s Stickers: Stuck-Up Piece of Crap because it is an encyclopedia of sticker styles and artists. However, when Laurence King Publishing sent me a copy of one of their latest publications, StickerbombMonsters, the immediate dissatisfaction I felt forced me to reflect on what exactly makes a sticker collection special. Stickerbomb Monsters is a book of 250 monster-themed stickers designed by a number of current illustrators, street artists, and cartoonists such as Numskull, Sheryo, Iain Burke and others. To an experiential/sentimental sticker collector, this sort of thing might be similar to a printed autograph book. To be fair, there are people who would appreciate that, and to those people, you can purchase Stickerbomb Monsters here.
If you are a sticker collector, does aesthetic take priority over sentiment, or is your collection based off your personal relationships with the stickers?
Rome’s 999 Contemporary gallery suggested that I have a look at the work of Borondo, and I’m glad I did. Definitely reminds me of Guy Denning, and a few others, but on the street. Here are a few of his walls from the last year.
It’s Frieze week and London is in full swing with pompous art enthusiasts and decrepit rich men buying art and prostitutes all around the city. While most people get excited about the Fair itself, here at Vandalog, we like the satellite events happening that let the galleries go all out and give us a break from snobbery that encompasses Frieze. So besides Moniker and Lazarides’ Bedlam, Imitate Modern is joining the ranks of outsider shows with Just Be You Tiful – a solo show by Rich Simmons.
While most of our readers know Rich as Opera Gallery’ poster boy for commercial street art, this guy has really come into his own in 2012. While he may get a bad rep from all of the publicity that Opera threw at him, Simmons is one of the most hardworking artists I have had the pleasure of knowing. Always willing to lend a helping hand and constantly scrutinizing his own work, Simmons is his own worst critic (not the naysayers on the Banksy forum).
For Just Be You Tiful Simmons has been locked in the studio producing an entirely new body of work to showcase during Frieze at Imitate Modern. Known for its sold out Stik show last year, Simmons has impressed the gallery with his own brand of stencil and collage works. The master of the exacto knife, these intricate multi-layered canvasses are sure to turn a few heads when they find out this is Simmons’ new style especially the Sailor Jerry homages and naked pin-ups. Ooh La La!
Tiger in Sydney. Photo by BadDogWhiskas.Hope, Credo, Sow and Nesk in Sao Paulo. Photo by Credoum.Rude 3HC Vitry. Photo by Spam Crew.Soker in Bristol.Peeta in Italy. Photo by Herbilizer.Takt by Spam Crew.BGB, Cap and BGBS in Italy. Photo by Herbalizer.
