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Weekend link-o-rama

Jade in Ecuador

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:

  • Phlegm has a new print available. Quite a beauty.
  • A Love Letter For You, a film related to Steve Powers‘ project of the same name but also not the standard documentary you might expect, will be released soon. Here’s the trailer.
  • It’s definitely NSFW but also definitely worth checking out: F*CK ART at the Museum of Sex.
  • I’m guessing Vandalog will cover this in more detail with a full post and not just this tiny mention, but here are a boatload of shots from Os Gemeos’ show in LA.
  • Unurth happened to post cool optical illusion pieces this week by e1000ink and Rub Kandy.
  • Few things I’d rather see on a truck than a horse by Reminisce.
  • High Rise Murals is sort of a new project from Monorex. It organizes all of their murals (read: massive painted outdoor advertisements) under one banner. They launched High Rise Murals in two ways: By having INSA paint a mural and painting a massive Coca-Cola advertisement over some great graffiti. After someone very publicly shamed them, High Rise Murals selectively buffed the advertisement to make it look intentional and not about the massive tag (HW stands for the location of the advertisement, Hackney Wick). Over Twitter, Monorex said that they “are now in phase 2, re commissioning wall with artists.” This phase is also known as phase oh crap, we really screwed the pooch on this one and it’s time to backpedal. Monorex claim that phase two was always the plan, but I don’t see any reason to believe that. Artists need to get paid and painting advertisements can be a lucrative way to do that, but I think we can all agree that painting over graffiti and street art to replace it with advertising is not cool. Let’s hope High Rise Murals have learned from this experience and stop going over murals and art with advertisements.

Photo by Jade

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Anthony Lister at New Image

Opening Night at New Image

This wild week of L.A. gallery openings started on Thursday with Anthony Lister at New Image Art in West Hollywood. Although I’ve always admired the movement Lister conjures up in his pieces–in his superhero series or his street faces–I had come to expect still figures in Lister’s work, and, because of that, I had no idea what to expect from a show focusing primarily on the figurative movement of dancers. What I found was impressive indeed.

Lister’s decision not to back or frame his canvases enhanced the gallery atmosphere considerably. Instead, they hung flat on the wall and had a textured, organic feel. Perhaps because of this, visitors were encouraged to touch some of the pieces, and more than a few visitors shuffled through the canvases that had been stacked on top of one another and affixed to the wall, giving a sense of a flip-book without the sequential art component.

The effect came off as straightforward and intimate, as modern in the best possible way, and this was aided by Lister’s humorous strings of sentences, penciled onto the white walls above, around, and even underneath the works. In one, he suggested that an immovable load-bearing girder be moved to better accommodate his work, and in another he provided guidance on how his art needed to be lit. Beneath his portrait of van Gogh, he wrote: “Id like to think van gogh wouldnt agree with making his work into a laurel if he had a say in it”. Continue reading “Anthony Lister at New Image”

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Shepard pleads guilty to contempt during AP case

Looks like Shepard Fairey‘s problems stemming from his Obama “Hope” poster just won’t stop. Hyperallergic reports that today Fairey “pled guilty to one count of criminal contempt for destroying documents, manufacturing evidence and other misconduct” relating to the AP’s lawsuits over the source photograph for Fairey’s image. The fact that Fairey did all this is nothing new. He admitted so himself back in 2009. He settled those civil lawsuits with the AP, but this charge is a criminal charge brought against Fairey by the state of New York. By pleading guilty, Fairey faces up to six months in prison and thousands of dollars in fines. The sentencing will happen on July 16th.

Check Hyperallergic or The Boston Herald for more details.

Photo by craigCloutier

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In Progress: UGLAR x ZES Mural

UGLAR x ZES, as yet untitled mural

As RJ recently mentioned, L.A. is alive right now and ZES’s “Excavated Revelations” (a collaboration with RETNA which runs through February 25 at Known Gallery) is a big part of that.

But shows aren’t the only thing contributing to that feeling. Commissioned by the Holdup Gallery, ZES is currently collaborating with UGLAR’s Evan Skrederstu and Jose A. Lopez on the facade of the old Brunswig Drug Company Factory Building in Little Tokyo.

Originally built in 1931, this art deco tower now hosts a seamless integration of ZES and Lopez’s abstract work, one flowing into the other–and echoing, with one of ZES’s trademark curvatures in its lower left corner, a nautilus shell’s curl. These bursts of color frame an unsettling juxtaposition: an orangutan holding an AK-47 and what will be a walkie-talkie when Skrederstu completes it.

Location: On 2nd, west of Central, next to the Second Street Jazz Bar.

Close-ups: Skrederstu's Orangutan, Lopez & ZES's Flowing Abstractions

Photos by Ryan Gattis

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Dead Meat by Conor Harrington

Next Friday 2 March, one of the most anticipated shows of the year is set to open at Lazarides Rathbone in London. Conor Harrington will present new works for his solo show Dead Meat. He will showcase 8 large canvasses and 24 smaller studies all referencing art historical subjects. One of the most talented street artists working today, Harrington manages to translate his abstract portraiture outside just well, if not more beutifully, onto canvas. I have been looking for this show for awhile, so if you live in London make sure to check it out. See a preview of some of the works below… Continue reading “Dead Meat by Conor Harrington”

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Abstraction by Nelio

Nelio is a street artist hailing from Lyon, France. He has been painting for 14 years. His signature street work is composed of colorful and geometrical shapes, which are inspired by the atmosphere of the place they’re painted.

Photos by Neilo

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Reka at Backwoods Gallery

Reka, of Everfresh Studio, has a solo show opening next week at Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne. Primary Suspects opens on Friday and runs through March 18th. Reka says that Primary Suspects is an exploration of what choosing graffiti and street art as a career choice means for those artists.

Here’s a video trailer for the show. I’m not sure it says much about what sort of artwork we can expect at Primary Suspects (although Reka describes the video as a metaphor for his job as a vandal/artist), but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth watching…

Check out more previews from Primary Suspects after the jump… Continue reading “Reka at Backwoods Gallery”

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Writer to Writer: The Scott Sueme Interview, Pt. 2

Scott Sueme with test strips for Primary Flight

This is Part 2 of Ryan Gattis’ interview with Scott Sueme. Click here to read Part 1.

Ryan Gattis: What’s most inspiring to you right now?

Scott Sueme: Abstract painting and progressive graffiti piecing for the most part. I’m also really excited about working with other artists that aren’t necessarily coming from a graffiti background too. For instance, I worked with Andrew Young recently. He and I did some painting in Miami for part of Primary Flight.

RG: Andrew works primarily in oils, using multiple perspectives, and he did a portrait of you not too long ago. Is that right?

SS (laughing): Yes, he’s done my portrait. He works downstairs actually; we walked through his studio on the way up. He collages geometric shapes with wallpaper and other elements, then paints narrative driven realism in oils and blends the two together. Continue reading “Writer to Writer: The Scott Sueme Interview, Pt. 2”