This piece on Howard St is the rooster messenger cradling the head of St John as depicted by Guido Reni. The photoseries was shot by local Baltimore Larry Cohen and the set can be seen in its entirety here http://www.flickr.com/photos/ishotbaltimore/sets/72157626026085788/ . Of course much props to Nanook for the help as well who can be seen scaling the back of the small billboard to tear off the excess pieces at the top for me.
Photos by I Shot Baltimore
This project by Octopus and Pauer is great. A. I love the song that they’ve used in the video and B. It’s that fantastic kind of street art that just makes people smile and have a better day without asking for anything in return. Press The Button took place in Ljubljana, Slovenia. Here’s the video:
Press the button project from Ergosum on Vimeo.
There’s been some speculation and wild guesses when it comes to how Banksy might possibly accept his Oscar, if Exit Through The Gift Shop wins this year for best documentary feature. An article on a NYTimes blog might have the answer. Supposedly, the Academy has arranged that producer Jaimie D’Cruz will have to accept the award on Banksy’s behalf, to avoid any monkey business that Banksy might try to pull otherwise.
And yes, one reason I’m posting about this is that I can make that bad pun about monkey business.
Photo by mermaid99
Legendary in his native Chile and throughout South America, Cekis is currently based in Brooklyn, New York. Working primarily as a muralist here in the U.S., Cekis’s artwork has also appeared in a number of galleries including the Carmichael Gallery, the Brooklyn Rotunda, Ad Hoc, and the Abrons Arts Center. As a member of the YMI Crew, working primarily with Cern, he has created large works in the streets of Bushwick and Washington Heights. While visiting his studio earlier in the week, I had the opportunity to ask him a few questions. – Lois Stavsky
When did you first get your work up public spaces? I was 17 when I first started painting on the streets of Santiago, Chile.
What was your inspiration at the time? I fell in love with graffiti when I saw the movie “Beat Street.” I was also influenced by the political graffiti I saw in my city. Then in 1993, a group of us started painting on the walls in Chile.
What was it like back then? There were risks. My country was in a transitional period. We were still reeling from Pinochet’s brutal dictatorship. We had to begin painting way past midnight. We’d start at 2 or 3 in the morning. We all spent some time in jail for what we were doing.
How did your parents feel about what you were doing? My parents are traditional. They didn’t really understand what I was doing. It was not easy gaining their acceptance.
Have you gained it? Yes, when they saw the respect I was getting as a muralist, they were better able to come to terms with my decision to be a full-time artist.
I know that you’ve painted with Os Gemeos back in Chile. Who are some of the other artists you’ve collaborated with outside of the US? Among those I’ve painted with are: Loomit, Lazoo, Vitche, Stohead, Herbert Baglione, Doze Green and Cycle.
What are some of the crews you’ve represented? DVE, ADEP, VLOK and YMI
Any favorite artists? Many, many. Among them: Aislap, Grin, Phil Frost, Kara Walker, Keith Haring, Lee Quiñones, Nick Cave, Nema TPG, Os Gemeos, Jr., Sure (RIP), Nunca, Diego Rivera, Martha Cooper, Dondi, Mode 2…
That’s quite a diverse group! These days you work mainly in your studio, and your work has appeared in galleries. But you still keep on working on the streets. Is that your preferred canvas? I love the way street art engages so many people. And I love interacting with the public. When I paint in my studio, I prefer wood to canvas because it feels more like I’m painting on a wall.
What do you think of the street art scene here in NYC – principally in Brooklyn these days? I like when artists use the streets to communicate and share their talents with passersby. I dislike when folks use the streets to further their own careers. Not all kinds of art belong or work in the street, and some artists use the streets as a means to access galleries. That’s not what street art’s about.
What about the street art scene in Chile these days? How is it different from what’s happening here? In Chile and throughout Latin America there’s more freedom to paint on the streets because most people don’t see it as a criminal activity. The South American writers lack the access to the kinds of art supplies that we have here in the U.S, so they’ve become more inventive – both in their process and, as a result, in their styles. Also, because the police generally don’t harass street artists in South America, they have more time and more space for experimentation.
Any other differences? The folks there tend to value us far more than they do here. They appreciate what we are doing. They often react strongly to what we are painting on the walls, and they love to watch us while we’re painting. They’re always offering and bringing us food and drinks.
I’ve sensed that in my visits there. I only hope it stays that way! What are you working on these days? I’m currently working on a series of paintings on the theme of immigration in preparation for my first solo show sometime later this year. I’m also in the process of working on a proposal for a public mural on an extended thoroughfare in southwest Brooklyn.
Good luck! I’m looking forward to all your ventures!
Photos and interview by Lois Stavsky
This might have been one of the least productive weeks of my life. Just one of those weeks. Here’s some of the stuff I didn’t post about while procrastinating 30 minutes of homework for 3 hours on Thursday:
Photo by Sowat DMV
Last night I had the chance to check out the opening of RETNA’s Hallelujah, presented by Valmorbida (the people behind Richard Hambleton’s show last year) and curated by RVCA’s PM Tenore in a giant pop-up space on Manhattan’s west side. RJ saw the show in the process of being set-up, and the finished product was certainly spectacular (not to mention really crowded. Cue me getting nervous as people bumped into the work). The artist’s glyphic pieces were presented on a series of very large mediums – most were canvas, some were ink on handmade paper, and a few had plaster (I think) letters rising out of the piece itself. Five sculptures in the middle of the room spelled out a monumental RETNA.
What the script on the pieces spelled out, I’m not entirely sure – but the effect was certainly cryptic, not to mention really beautiful. Others seemed to think so too, as the vast majority of the work had already been sold by the show’s opening. Like a lot of his other stuff, the pieces subsumed the space, covering nearly the entire wall from floor to ceiling, and in the dark of the warehouse, it was completely immersive.
When I could get close enough to a piece to really see it, the intricacy of his process was apparent, with the handmade paper and ink pieces, the textured paint on canvas, or his evolving use of negative space.
The sculptures I mentioned before, particularly their surroundings, were the only parts that may have taken away from the general strength of the show. Scattered around/under/on top of the sculptures were ropes, industrial pallets, and empty paint cans. Whether it was about paying homage to the process, or likely to his more graffiti-oriented beginnings, the props seemed unnatural in the space, particularly in the whole glamorous-company-collaboration context. If anything, it made me want to see his work outside of this setting, or at least caused me to question what it means, and whether its good, bad (or both) to move from street to a show like this.
Hallelujah will be making two more stops, in Venice and London, as it completes its tour. You can check out the New York show at 560 Washington St. in the West Village. Also, if you haven’t seen it, make sure to watch the epic video that accompanies the show.
Photos by Frances Corry
Last night hosted a packed opening at Black Rat Projects entitled Printmaking Today. Normally print shows tend to be a bit tedious, since they are usually reproduced images of originals or have been so before upon their initial releases. But Black Rat hosted a refreshingly eclectic display of prints by artists ranging from Damien Hirst, Banksy, Matt Small, D*Face, Shepard Fairey and more. As much shit as I got for a previous post of mine about street artists becoming accepted into the art canon, this show only adds further evidence to my point. While many high end fine art establishments look down on street art and find it a passing trend in galleries, this show saw Hirst’s work next to D*Face and Bridget Riley (whose work is in the Tate) close to a Shepard Fairey, without any work looking out of place. My friends and I were discussing how not only does street art borrow from fine art, but fine artists are definitely borrowing from the work of street and outsider artists. The lines are quickly blurring between low brow and fine art, so it is finally nice to see the two in such a show, and not just in an auction.
The show also boasted an incredible pop-up project space by ROA. Each angle showed a new image, and I swear you could walk around it ten time and would still see something different. The works may not be new, quite similar to the LA and NY shows, but the concept is so much more complex and is worth checking out just for that reason.
My favorite of the night had to be Pure Evil‘s “Dripping Liza” work that culminated with a puddle of teal paint down on the floor near the canvas. Andy Warhol may be done to death, but Pure Evil still manages to put a new spin on an over-saturated piece of art that needs to be seen in person to attain the full effect.
Pictures by butterfly. View the whole set here
Always a pleasure to party with the guys at VNA. Celebrating the launch of Issue 14, featuring Sickboy as their cover artist, the festivities included booze, beards, and brilliant art. I loved the special edition of the Sickboy cover (pictured above) and cannot believe the growth of such an amazing endeavor. Congrats to everyone at VNA for creating, yet another, fantastic zine this month.
Below is a teaser video that VNA put together to promote the latest issue. It might make you a bit nauseous, so put down your tea.
VNA issue 14 from Make Some Tea on Vimeo.
To order Issue 14, click here
Pictures by the lovely butterfly. Click here to view the full set.
Back in September I posted a photo of a sticker by TR£§ ØH UNO (301) on Vandalog’s Facebook page. It was a cool sticker, but I didn’t think too much about it after that. Then, I started to see 301’s stuff pop up in Lois Stavsky‘s photostream, and I really began to take notice. 301 was putting up some cool stickers. After an interview that Lois did with 301 on Bomit, I got hooked. He’s only been putting up stickers since September 2010, but already this guy is make some of my favorite characters. Can’t what to see where his work goes next. Here’s some of what he’s been up to already:
Photos by 301 and Lois Stavsky
