Stikman has sent over some calendars to give away to Vandalog readers. The calendars feature a classic pin-up girl next to a Stikman character. I’ve got one on my wall right now, but Stikman sent 6 more for me to give away. If you’d like a calendar, just leave a comment on this post with the reason you’d like a Stikman calendar (and be sure to leave your email in the box where it asks for that info). I’ll choose the 6 winning responses on Friday, January 27th.
I’m told, although it’s certainly not the easiest thing to read, that this Retna mural (organized by Primary Flight) says “Brimstone MSK” and that Brimstone is a sort of alter-ego for Retna. Can you read it? Either way, there’s a great video showing the work in progress…
We made it over to Brooklyn’s Mighty Tanaka last week to check out its first exhibit of the new year: Lost & Found. Featuring the artwork of Adam Void, Curtis Readel, Alice Mizrachi, ELLE and John Breiner, the exhibit features an intriguing array of work in diverse media created largely from found objects. Here are a few images:
Adam Void, Baltimore Sunset, found objects on wood panel
Curtis Readel, Towering Stud, shredded US currency collageAlice Mizrachi, close-up of Luna, huge installation of acrylic on found wood & metal panelsELLE, Raven Got Your Tongue, acrylic w/oil paint & wheat paste on found tableJohn Breiner, Brubreck vs Brubeck, acrylic ink and etching on found book cover
The exhibit continues through February 5 at Mighty Tanaka’s new space @ 111 Front Street in Brooklyn’s DUMBO district.
In this video with Ride5 Films, Faile explain the use of the space shuttle Challenger in their work. Coincidentally, their explanation sounds a lot like the John Fekner’s random date work from the 1970’s.
As every year, we wanted to pay our personal tribute to the autumn that has gone by, because we love this season, which fills the streets with dry leaves covering the cold asphalt in wonderful orange tones.
But there are streets in Madrid to which, unfortunately, autumn never arrives, they are deprived, with only perrenial leaves, which makes strolling in them like entering into an area with no climatic or seasonal references.
In these harsh gray streets we wanted to carry out our installation Deciduous Lampposts.
For this reason we went to the Parque del Oeste, where we collected 5 sacks full of beautiful dry leaves, which we transported to the city center, specifically to Calle Flor Alta, recently renovated and in which there remains no sign of trees and other adjacent streets, where nature is represented by a few tiny, unidentied trees.
There we put the leaves under the streetlamps, as if they were resistant trunks, tall and erect, under which there is never shade, nor can the green freshness of vegetation on hot days be enjoyed.
It was a joy to see that, despite the late hours and autumn cold, some of the people who had stopped to observe the spectacle of leaves under the lampposts, decided to stay a while, to enjoy the curious scene.
Well, the internet went a bit crazy this week, but it looks like we’re winning. Thank you to anyone who noticed that Vandalog was offline on Wednesday in protest of SOPA and PIPA and took the time to contact their representatives to voice objections to the bills. But enough about politics. This is an art blog.
We first noticed Dal’s distinct — almost-spiritual — aesthetic a number of months back when we came upon a stunning mural that he had done in collaboration with Faith47 in Chelsea. We were thrilled to discover that he is one of the artists participating in Hybrid Thinkingcurated by Wooster Collective at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery. Here’s a glimpse of his amazing work fashioned from his intricate play with lines that we captured on the street and on canvas at Jonathan LeVine.
Dal to the left of Faith47Dal on canvas @ Jonathan LeVine
If you are anywhere in the NYC vicinity, Hybrid Thinking is certainly worth checking out, as it also presents work by several other first-rate emerging street artists from around the globe including: Herakut, Roa, Sit, Vinz and Hyuro. The exhibit continues through February 11th at 529 W. 20th Street.
It almost goes without saying that Martha Cooper has been one of the most important documentarians of graffiti culture for the last few decades. Her urban and hip hop culture photography is iconic. More recently, Martha Cooper has expanded her graffiti documentation to the photography and collection of stickers. Her two latest books, Going Postal and Name Tagging, spotlight sticker art made with postal labels and Hello My Name Is stickers.
I would gladly hop on the next plane and see this exhibit in person, but that was not an option so instead I asked Martha Cooper a few questions.
Caroline: In your book Name Tagging, you explain how you began appreciating stickers after you bought your first digital camera. What was it about the digital medium that initiated this interest in stickers?
Martha Cooper: Pre-digital, I rarely took my heavy, bulky Nikon out unless I was headed for something specific to shoot. It cost about 50 cents for film and processing every time I clicked the shutter. So although I had noticed stickers for years, I hadn’t looked at them closely and hadn’t bothered to shoot many.
My first digital camera was a little Olympus that I could easily carry around with me all the time. It had a very good close-up lens and performed well under low light. Once I had the camera, it didn’t cost any more to keep shooting so I was free to take as many photos as I wanted. Transitioning from analog to digital was a challenge. Shooting stickers was an unstressful way to practice new technology with interesting subject matter.
C: What led to you removing and collecting stickers off the street, rather than just photographing them?
MC: I’ve always been a collector. I like to look at different examples of things. At first after shooting a nice sticker, I printed it and saved it in an album. That began to feel unsatisfactory–I wanted the original. I only shoot and collect hand drawn stickers and this is pretty much the only form of graffiti and street art that can actually be removed from the street. Of course writers have criticized me for this and I know this is a dubious defense, but someday I hope to have a museum sticker exhibit.
