From May to mid-July, Mathieu Connery aka 500M painted several murals on sidewalks for the second MURAL festival edition. To the frequency of 1 per week, he did 10 abstract murals on the Main, the Saint-Laurent Boulevard, official location of the festival. Guess the organizers really liked the 3 sidewalks murals he painted last year for the first edition of MURAL, as they asked him to enlarge his project this year. The Montreal based artist is well known in the city for his minimalist abstract pieces, “I try to make most of my interventions interact in different ways with the environment, to inspire appropriation of the public space in any other way. It also applies in the streets with concrete, tags that were there before,etc…” I just hope that one day he will get a real wall rather than always sidewalks in Montreal!
3rd. photo by Mathieu Connery6th. Photo by Mathieu Connery“Is rasberry rock”. Photo by Mathieu Connery8th. Photo by Mathieu Connery“Faceblob”. Photo by Mathieu Connery7th. Photo by Aline Mairet5th. Photo by Aline Mairet
And for my own pleasure, a street art piece found this summer, and then a tag of Gawd Mathieu Connery appropriated. Thanks Mister 500M !
500M. photo by Aline MairetGawd- Mathieu Connery. Photo by Connery
When I started to explore Montreal a few years ago, with my own very European background, it was a real pleasure to discover the possibility of walking across a city with the feeling of not being in an urban environment. The labyrinth of Montreal’s alleyways is a city in the city, without pollution, whether it was noise, cars, advertising or simply people. And in some of these back alleys, with time, I began to notice some amazing street art and graffiti spots. Several of these evolved, and became very popular, while some others finished to be abandoned by the artists. However, it was always the same pleasure to observe how artists succeeded in transforming places that were not aimed to be street art spots. The one I present below became a regular stop in my street art escapes when Gawd and Waxhead shared a studio 2 years ago and decided to paint the back wall of this place. Then this spring, Nixon, Kazy, Zoltan Veevaete and Kevin Ledo raised the alleyway to the next level by adding some impressive art work. Rapidly tagged, these guys came back in July to fix their pieces. It was also the perfect timing for Zoltan and Ledo to collaborate on a mural they called “Sand White in 3D” (above).
First piece by Waxhead and Gawd, summer 2012:
Waxhead, Gawd, Yaugt
Following pieces by Nixon, Kazy, Zoltan Veevaete, June- July 2014:
Nixon, Kazy, Zoltan V., June 2014Same wall, same artists, one month later. July 2014Nixon, June 2014Nixon, July 2014Kazy, July 2014Zoltan V., July 2014
Other pieces of Zoltan V. and Nixon, between June and July 2014:
Nixon, Zoltan V., June 2014Nixon, June 2014Same wall, July 2014
Wow. I have been falling behind on Vandalog lately. I’ve been just a little bit busy at the Mural Arts Program. The last month and half have been almost as busy up in NYC with The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. I’ve got to hand it to Wayne and Rey, the other two main team members there, for really carrying the project this summer as I’ve adjusted to my new job. There’s been some exciting work going up, including murals by a few people that we’d been wanting to work with for quite a while.
L’Amour Supreme
Let’s start with L’Amour Supreme. We first worked with L’Amour Supreme as part of a Secret Walls event in Little Italy last fall, and he came up with a really fun concept his mural on Mulberry Street: A series of twisted tin toys. I had the chance to hang out in front of this mural briefly while it was going up, and it felt like everyone walking by was stopping to give a thumbs up. Good stuff.
L’Amour Supreme
And then there’s Queen Andrea. She’s been on our list for a while. She knows how to paint, the work is uplifting, she’s a New Yorker. Her mural, on a security shutter in the East Village, went over a great Phlegm piece that I’ve long admired, but it had been hit with graffiti and it was time for a refresh. I’d say Queen Andrea did the wall justice.
Queen Andrea
One of my dreams has been work with Anthony Lister. When we found out that he was due to have a show at Jonathan Levine Gallery, I began pushing that we absolutely had to find a wall for him. I soon discovered that I didn’t have to push too hard. After all, who doesn’t want a Lister mural? He wound up with a pretty large spot on Mulberry Street, in the same lot as Ron English’s Temper Tot and our wall with Secret Walls.
Anthony Lister
I thought might have lost the wall at Mulberry and Kenmare where this happened with Mint and Serf, but no. While much of that spot has been taken up with a new display advertising magazines, we were still able to squeeze in a piece by Solus. Solus’ mural is tribute to NYC’s Irish and Italian immigrants, and it makes for great photos.
Solus
And finally, I’ve been a fan of Michael De Feo‘s work for a long time. His flowers just put a smile on my face, and last weekend, we got one in Little Italy. Another mural that’s long overdue.
Michael De Feo
Photos by Rey Rosa Jr. for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC
If you’re in Atlanta, I hope you’ll come out and support, not just because I would love to see a packed house for the panel that I’m on (although that would be nice), but because I love Living Walls and Living Walls has made me love Atlanta. This is going to be a great conference.
I’m back after a brief blogging hiatus. I’ve been meaning to post my review for this great event that happened back in April over in Western Australia for a while now…
Leaving a cold wet 17 degrees in Melbourne, I was pretty damn excited to fly to Perth on the 10th of April, right in time for the grand finale of PUBLIC by Form Gallery in Perth, Western Australia, which I posted a preview of a while ago.
I arrived to a perfect sunny 30 degrees and soon as I hit the ground, I had a good feeling about Perth, I hadn’t been before, but something felt right. I went straight to the hotel and dropped off my bags, and went for an explore. Within a few hundred metres of my hotel, I could see the amazing Phlegm and ROA murals in progress. I made a beeline straight for them. Upon entering the car park I also saw the work of many other great artists. The works were spread throughout the CBD and inner city suburbs. Here’s a selection of some of my favourite pieces from the event.
ROA. Photo by Bewley Shaylor.Pixel Pancho. Photo by Dean Sunshine.Pixel Pancho. Photo by Pixel Pancho.Pixel Pancho. Photo by Pixel Pancho.Phibs. Photo by Luke Shirlaw.Hyuro. Photo by Luke Shirlaw.Hyuro. Photo by Luke Shirlaw.Phlegm. Photo by David Dare Parker.Alexis Diaz. Photo by Alexis Diaz.Alexis Diaz (detail). Photo by Alexis Diaz.Amok Island. Photo by Amok Island.Ever. Photo by Ever.GAIA. Photo by Dean Sunshine.GAIA and Ever. Photo by Brendan Hutchens.Lucas Grogan. Photo by Dean Sunshine.Lucas Grogan. Photo by Jean-Pierre Horre.2501. Photo by Luke Shirlaw.Maya Hayuk. Photo by Jean-Pierre Horre.2501 vs Maya Hayuk. Photo by 2501.Beastman and Vans the Omega. Photo by Dean Sunshine.HEAVY Projects. Photo by Dean Sunshine.HEAVY Project. Photo by Dean Sunshine.HEAVY Projects. Photo by Dean Sunshine.HEAVY Projects. Photo by HEAVY Projects.
While the event spanned over ~30 days, the main event was the painting of Perth’s 1st ever giant murals over the last 3/4 days of the event. In total there were around 30 murals painted for the event, spanning across the City of Perth. I was very impressed by the organization of the event by the FORM Gallery crew. With a logistical nightmare trying to coordinate over 45 artists, paint and equipment, all in 35 degree heat, the FORM Crew did an amazing job, Well done guys!!! A very friendly and hospitable crew. Thanks very much for taking such great care of us while we visited.
There was a great selection of artists from ac cross the globe representing all different styles and genres. Unfortunately there was no graffiti, but I suppose street art was a big stretch for conservative Perth, so graffiti may have been avoided for this reason. For a city not really known for street art, the public reaction was encouraging. People of all ages and walks of life filled the city over the weekend. I love walking around randomly and listening to some of the conversations and questions people ask each other. In particular I was really impressed by the public’s reactions to the HEAVY PROJECTS installations (interactive works of art that use Augmented Reality on smart phones and tablets). Here’s a short video the guys out together to document the event (plus some footage from a previous project).
On the Friday night there was also a great show at FORM Gallery – PUBLIC SALON showing off canvases from the contributing artists, some great work on display, check out some shots here.
And finally. This great video by Chad Peacock is a really accurate representation of the event and well put together. Damn it takes me back!!!
The FORM guys also took a number of artists to visit the Pilbara, a very special part of top end of Australia with breathtaking views and incredible nature (also sadly known for mining – the 2 don’t really go hand in hand). A few of the artists had a paint while there, I particularly like the piece by Remed.
Remed. Photo by Ben Fulton-Gillon.2501 and Remed. Photo by 2501.2501 and ROA. Photo by 2501.2501 and Alexis Diaz. Photo by 2501.
After all of the above, any street art fan in Perth would have to be pretty happy, but it didn’t stop there. FORM has continued putting up murals in Perth, with Creepy (aka Kyle Hughes-Odgers) painting at Perth Airport (a sponsor of PUBLIC) and also Vans the Omega and Beastman’s new piece that went up last week.
Kyle Hughes-Odgers. Photo by Kyle Hughes-Odgers.Kyle Hughes-Odgers. Photo by Kyle Hughes-Odgers.Vans the Omega & Beastman. Photo by Jarrad Seng.Vans the Omega & Beastman (detail). Photo by Jarrad Seng.
What I loved most about the event wasn’t just the art, and was not unique to PUBLIC; is the sense of community I felt. This is something I really love about the street art scene. I got to catch up with some great old friends, and made some new ones who I will undoubtedly randomly catch up with again somewhere around the globe.
Fingers crossed that this event is on again next year. I will be there with bells on!
If you are in Perth, check out the full list of artists and the mural map. FORM has also put together this short book called PUBLICation available for Purchase at the Gallery and viewable online for free here. FORM have also started “PUBLIC Urban Art Walks” to give fans a guided tour of the city, well worth checking out.
Ok, so that’s enough, right? Actually no, there’s more. And it’s massive. Due to some logistical 😉 issues SANER was unable to make it over for the original dates. I was gutted to hear this when I found out, but when I found out FORM are still bringing him over in August to paint in Perth and also the Pilbara, I was pretty damn excited! I’ll make sure to cover this later in the month.
Invader recently released his own iPhone app, but it’s a lot more than a glorified eBook or an artist edition rebranding of standard drawing app. Invader’s app is a game that combines video games with real life. Flash Invaders is played by photographing (“flashing”) actual Invader pieces on the street, for which the players earn points. When players spot an Invader mosaic on the street and flash it, the app compares the player’s photo to a database of pieces to see if it is a match. If it is, the player is awarded a set number of points for that particular piece. Cleverly, the app has been designed to only allow players to flash pieces when their phone’s GPS shows that they are near the piece in question, so you can’t just take all your old Invader photos and flash those for points (trust me, I tried).
Invader’s work has always been a game in some sense, at least for the artist. He’s spoken about awarding himself points based on the complexity of the pieces he installs, and some of hisworks have even mentioned their point value. Now, it’s not just Invader playing, but his fans too.
I am very excited about this app because A. It’s not quite augmented reality, but it’s close and I could see Invader going in that direction in the future, and B. It’s a way to connect the virtual and the physical. I for one spend way too much time on my smartphone, often to the detriment of paying attention to what is around me, but Invader uses a game on a phone to get people paying attention to their physical surroundings. Players might not spend quite as much of their time in public spaces scrolling through other people’s photos of street art on Instagram. Instead, they’ll be keeping their eyes peeled.
While I have a lot of respect for him, I’m not one who usually gets overly excited about Invader these days, but the prospect of competing against a group of fans from around the world and hunting down his work has got me falling in love with Invader’s mosaics all over again. Kudos.
It’s not really a surprise if I tell you that Labrona is one of my favorite artist in the Montreal art scene… I could probably say he is my favorite. so I am really lucky to have time to catch him on several projects this summer. First, just before the MURAL festival, Fred Caron, Kashink and him collaborated on a mural in Griffintown area. Second, he painted 3 doors during MURAL. Then there is this big wall he painted with Gawd in mid-July (above), and finally a beautiful series of portraits with Monosourcil pasted on the streets in June. Very stunning collaborations! And it’s only the beginning of the summer…
Last summer, I was visiting London and came across the above piece by mobstr in Hackney Wick. The piece was good for a laugh and I took a photo, but then I didn’t think much more of it. Until last week that is, when mobstr emailed me the update to the piece. Turns out, mobstr’s piece wasn’t a one and done. The count was accurate. Like much of mobstr’s previous work, this piece is a taunt and a game with the police and the buffman and took some real commitment. Here are the results…
This Tuesday, Carnage NYC will be releasing a print with Ian de Beer, aka HERT, a writer that anyone keeping an eye out in NYC will certainly be familiar with. I try to avoid just copying and pasting press releases, but Carnage NYC has already told this story very well:
In September of 2010, Ian de Beer, aka HERT, was sentenced to 1-3 years in state penitentiary for graffiti. Regarded by many of his peers as one of the most talented young artists emerging on the East Coast, he now faced severe restrictions. After a year in prison he was moved first to a half-way house and is currently still confined to his hometown in Western New York State. His artistic interests have broadened considerably in recent years, but de Beer’s transition to a professional art career is facing serious hurdles: Under the condition of his parole, de Beer is not allowed to use a wide variety of art materials, including paint and any type of marker or pen, even to create works on paper or canvas.
In order to create this print without these essential tools, de Beer decided to incorporate these restrictions into the artistic process. He manipulated the imagery digitally and commissioned an external printer. Rather than signing the prints in a conventional manner, de Beer chose to tell the story of his arrest with his finger-prints and had a pint of his own blood extracted to use in place of ink. De Beer thus re-focuses the viewer’s attention from the banality of arrest procedures to the existential threat of suffocating restrictions that aim not to reform but solely to punish.
Some of the best art comes out of restrictions, sometimes self-imposed and other times imposed by society or the state or simply lack of resources. While I’m no fan of the criminal justice system that led to HERT’s incarceration for a non-violent crime or the restrictions on his parole, it’s great to see how he’s taken that situation and managed to create something unexpected as a result. Never underestimate the lengths a writer will go to get their name up. As HERT has shown with this print, the best writers are also great hackers.
HERT’s print will be available at Carnage NYC’s webstore starting Tuesday at noon, NYC time. It is an edition of 50, measures 18 x 24 inches and will sell for $50 each.
For several years now, the Woodward Gallery Project Space on Eldridge Street has been one of the Lower East Side’s visual highlights, showcasing works by an impressive range of artists from veteran graffiti writers to street art-stencil masters. Through July 26 a handsome retrospective of these works can be seen indoors at Woodward Gallery, directly across from the Project Space’s outdoor wall. Here are a few images:
L’Amour Supreme, Moody, NohJColey and Darkcloud & David Pappaceno on floor. Photo by Dani Reyes Mozeson.Moody, Chris RWK, Faro and JMR. Photo by Dani Reyes Mozeson.NoseGo. Photo by Lois Stavsky.Cycle. Photo by Dani Reyes Mozeson.Chris RWK and Royce Bannon in center. Photo courtesy of Woodward Gallery.Clockwise: Celso, Kenji Nakayama, Cassius Fouler, Visions Scmisions, Moody, UR New York and Buildmore. Photo by Dani Reyes Mozeson.
Located at 133 Eldridge Street, Woodward Gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday 11-6pm, Sunday 12-5pm and by private appointment.
Photos by Dani Reyes Mozeon and Lois Stavsky and courtesy of Woodward Gallery
