Back to Bushwick, we discovered new work by OverUnder, Aiko and Bast. We revisited, too, one of our favorite Roa walls.
Photos by Tara Murray and Lois Stavsky
Back to Bushwick with OverUnder, Aiko, Bast and Roa
While I was under a rock link-o-rama
Well, while I had myself more or less locked in a library underground for the better part of last week, the art world did not stand still. And so we have this special Tuesday edition of the typically friday event – the link-o-rama:
- Olek is facing charges in London (not related to her street art), and needs your help. Hyperallergic has more info.
- Banksy has loaned a sculpture to a museum in Liverpool. Meh. Another artwork that just as easily could have been seen at any urban art group show, but it’s by Banksy so the BBC and the rest of us should apparently care. What is this? It’s not just with Banksy. Bloggers in particular, we seem to have this urge to always be the first to say “Yeah, I saw that girl’s work first and said she was cool” and a fear of being caught in a situation where everyone except us thinks that some artist or artwork is great. And now I’m rambling…
- Blu just painted two walls in Buenos Aires. Here’s the first and here’s the second.
- I’m loving this new sculpture from Leon Reid IV about the financial crisis.
- Todd James also has a new sculpture in both bronze and porcelain. It’s for sale at Toykyo.
- Mode2’s new work (NSFW) might be the best I’ve ever seen from him. Amazing stuff.
- KAWS has a show on now at the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth.
- Knock Knock is a new online magazine with a lot about street art and graffiti in Australia.
- Kunle Martins aka Earsnot aka the founder of the infamous IRAK crew participated in Wynwood Walls this year alongside Jesse Geller aka Nemel. Martha Cooper has shots of what they got up to and then the Wynwood Walls video series has a great episode on them. For some people, it may be hard to avoid comparisons to this wall by Barry McGee. 12ozProphet says “The building painted by IRAK for Wynwood Walls is inspired by Barry McGee’s tag-filled murals… Earsnot and Nemel build on Barry McGee’s tag wall concept by filling the wall with a variety of monochromatic shades of overlapping tags creating the illusion of depth.”
Photo by Damonabnormal
Magazine covers by Shepard Fairey and WK Interact
In a funny coincidence, Time Magazine commissioned Shepard Fairey to illustrate their “Person of the Year” issue cover and Arrested Motion reports that Wired commissioned WK-Interact to illustrate their cover. In a further coincidence, Time’s Person of the Year is “The Protester” and Wired’s cover article is “#Riot: Self-Organized, Hyper-Networked Revolts—Coming to a City Near You.” Unfortunately, Wired changed their mind and used this cover, delegating WK’s art to staying inside the magazine.
Regarding Fairey’s cover for Time Magazine, the responses have been mixed. Here’s Fairey’s explanation of the work, an article criticizing it and an argument for it’s success for having mass appeal.
WK-Interact’s aborted cover for Wired is a real shame. The reasons for the change are not known, but I have seen the cover they used and it pales in comparison to WK-Interact’s work. My low-quality photo of the actual cover does not really do justice to how lame it is compared to what could have been. Sticking with the “rebellious street art/graffiti” vibe, even the Wired logo has been made to look it has been poorly stenciled onto the page, as you may be able to see more clearly in this close-up shot. I don’t know if Wired made their decision before or after news of Time’s cover came out, but maybe the Wired editors just thought that two street artists designing covers for major magazines in one month was too many. It’s too bad though, I think WK-Interact’s cover would have been much cooler than Fairey’s is.
Images courtesy of Arrested Motion and Obey Giant
Update: Banksy Stolen in Melbourne
Remember when I posted a little while ago about the StealBanksy pr sunt in Melbourne? Well someone actually managed to steal it and not in a very creative way either. Posing from as a staff member from the Art Series Hotel (the hotel owners behind the gag) agency, Maura Tuohy stole No Ball Games out of The Blackman Hotel.
Apparently, the agency got so much press for this they are doing it all over again (for a final time supposedly) with Banksy’s Pulp Fiction until January 15th. Rememebr if you want to try your hand at stealing this piece you have to a guest at the hotel. Of course that’s the catch. There is always a catch.
Photo courtesy of Art Series Hotel
Jade in progress
What I’ve finding cool about this piece by Jade is that it looks just as great, but in a completely different way, when it’s barely been sketched out as when it is finished.
The latest Judith Supine print
Last week, Paper Monster released the latest print from Judith Supine. It’s called “Give Up The Ghost And Put On Flesh” and like the other new piece we found from him recently, it seems that Judith Supine has been limiting the use of his formally trademark green tint. Each print in the “Give Up The Ghost…” series is unique. They are relief prints that have been individually handpainted with acrylic and watercolors. The series is an edition of 50 and they are available online for $625 each.
Photos courtesy of Paper Monster
Reverend x Droid Killing Shit
“ran into reverend in highland park, detroit at a punk show in an abandonded warehouse that one very curagious man is squatting in with help of a homemade wood burning stove. reverend scrounged up a few buckets and poles and he and i crawled up onto a nearby rooftop, on a very busy street corner. it was barley 20 degrees, and the traffic flowed steady from a 24 hour coney island and gas station both kiddie cornering the spot we worked on. a couple cars honked, but the rest drove by without noticing us, as did the only two cops that passed by in the few hours we worked. we heard at least three sets of gun shots go off throughout the session. while reverend finished his drop shadows, i borrowed a portable sawzall and cut down most of the popcorn trees (aka ghetto palms) that grew along side the building. funny the shit you can get away with in the D at 2:30 in the morning.”
Words and photo by Droid
More “art” from Lush
Lush is up to his old tricks at Backwoods Gallery in Melbourne, where he had his first solo show last year. Another shithouse “art” show opened earlier this month with a bang: At the opening, Lush held a “death match” between Jesus and Satan. And yes, it was captured on video. If you’ve been following Lush’s flickr lately, you’ve probably seen the sketches he has been putting up. Those are on display at the show and have turned into a zine that Backwoods is selling online.
Here’s part 1 of the fight videos, a bit of an introduction to the fight:
And here’s the fight itself (and yes, it’s violent, so be warned):
Here are a few shots from the show. You can find more on Backwoods Gallery’s facebook or at Arty Graffarti:
Photos courtesy of Backwoods Gallery
And one last thing about Miami
This is (probably) my last post about the outdoor work at Basel Miami 2011. Here’s a somewhat random selection of pieces that went up this year by Entes, Jade, Col, Anthony Lister, Free Humanity, Pez, Chanoir, How and Nosm, Greg LaMarche, Romi, Aeon, Haze, Aaron De La Cruz, John Wendelbo, Mare139, Gaia and others. Some of the walls are from Graffuturism’s In Situ project, and you can find a full set of those walls on their site along with an introduction to that project written by Haze.
More after the jump… Continue reading “And one last thing about Miami”
Swoon Interview on UrbanOmnibus
UrbanOmnibus recently has done a small interview with Swoon that is worth checking out. Also, for those unfamiliar with the website, it is a great resource for contemporary issues regarding the urban environment and more specifically New York.