German street art collective Mentalgassi teamed up with Amnesty International. The outdoor pieces will be entitled “Making the Invisible Visible,” which highlight the controversial death row sentence of Troy Davis. He has been on death row for 19 years, despite serious doubts about his original conviction. From head on the piece can only be seen as bars, but from a “new angle” the viewer can make out Davis’ face. There is also a video of Mentalgassi making the piece that is a really interesting accompaniment to the photographs.
It’s no secret Vandalog are big fans of David Choe. I love seeing his gallery work up close and was more than excited to see his work in the Leake Street Tunnel before the Hells Half Acre Show put on by Lazarides. Never stopping for a rest, Choe has a new print out on sale through Trapeze Editions. The print is entitled Tokyo Girl and was only on sale in Japan, but now it can be ordered stateside in two sizes. The larger one (44 x 44) is an edition of five, while the smaller (17 x 17) is an edition of 76 (at a much more affordable price tag).
I also thought I would post a mini-documentary of Choe’s time in Japan at Parco Factory with James Jean at the “Secret Space.” The video was posted back in October but I haven’t seen it yet, so I thought I would share it with you guys. It’s pretty funny. I am still wondering when the larger Choe documentary will be released on DVD, if ever. Soon hopefully.
Video found courtesy of Nuart. Photo courtesy of Trapeze Editions
Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada and the people of the Delta del Ebro area in Spain has done a huge outdoor piece to bring attention to the raging debate on climate change. The pictorial representation is that of a young named Gal·la, meant to represent the future generations who will have to live with what governments decide how to approach society’s negative impact on the environment.
The piece is part of a larger scale project, called 350 Earth, in which major outdoor public art pieces will be photographed around the world be satellites orbiting the planet. The campaign is led by author Bill McKibben. More information can be found on 350.org.
Currently, a photo exhibition entitled Outsiders is a conceptual mixed media art show going on right now at the Centre Culturel Colombier in Rennes, France. The exhibit explores the works of different artists who bring in the materials of their works as the art itself, along with the photograph or video of the work as an installation. I think it is a really daring concept, especially one that many people would not necessarily understand right away. Here are some examples from David Renault who is one of the standout artists of the show.
Murky Swamp »Empty Sign par David Renault
Outrage en drapeau par David Renault
Action / vidéo / installation
Vandalog was sent over some pretty cool videos hyping the new Underdog show in Lisbon, Portugal opening Friday. Featuring primarily Portuguese artists, the goal of the project is to raise awareness of street art in Portugal.
Leading the show is the young whirlwind artist, Vhils, who created this trailer for the show in conjunction with Orelha Negra.
Another street artist’s first solo show is approaching as well. Veng, associated with Robots Will Kill, will premiere new studio works at the Pandemic Gallery in Brooklyn on December 17th. The show, Identifiable Reality, will feature new oil on wood canvasses by the artist. What I really enjoy about his work is not just the subtle outdoor aesthetic conveyed in the work above, but the strong figurative associations with surrealism and modernist European paintings. It is refreshing to see street artists have different styles, especially when they translate their work into gallery and museum spaces.
In a lot of ways, Hargo sums up Miami's art fair week
With so much of the art world migrating to Miami this week in a frenzy, there seem to be too many events and parties (and I promise not to blog about the parties in detail. This isn’t a gossip site) and exhibits and festivals and everything else to keep track of. Here’s a roundup of some of the things that I’m most interested in seeing (or not seeing).
Things that have already been mentioned on Vandalog:
Elisa Carmichael has her list of Miami must-sees, which includes a Dan Witz book signing and a Trespass book signing with Marc and Sara from Wooster Collective and Carlo McCormick.
Last year, OHWOW Gallery’s It Ain’t Fair show was one of the most interesting shows in Miami. Once again, they have a killer line up for the show including José Parlá, Rey Parlá (José’s brother who is, I believe, a filmmaker), KAWS, Phil Frost, Barry McGee and Neckface.
New Image Art’s pop-up show includes Neckface, Judith Supine and Os Gêmeos. Probably going to be a must-see.
Tristan Eaton and his partners are launching Contra Projects with a wide-array of events this week including a tent/lounge space, a mural (by Mr. Jago, Tristan Eaton, Ron English and others) and a TrustoCorp carnival aka TrustoLand. More info on the Thunderdog blog.
Carmichael Gallery, Joshua Liner Gallery and others will have booths at SCOPE, and I think Maya Hayuk is painting a mural there, which should be awesome if I’m remembering that correctly.
And of course there’s all the fairs I haven’t mentioned, because there are just so many. So many. Too many. It’s gonna be art overload. But if I’ve missed anything that you think is particularly special, please leave a comment.
Many of Blu’s time lapse videos, mural paintings and short animations will be combined into a feature length film called Blu 2010. As much as I like the idea of something like this, I don’t really understand the reasoning behind it since Blu’s work is all viral (and free) anyway. I’m sure some of the never before seen footage may be cool, but I think it is a bit of an easy way to cash in. To be fair though, I have watched his work multiple times and do enjoy it, so I don’t think the concept is a completely terrible idea. I just have mixed feelings about the whole thing…
For your enjoyment, however, are two of my favorite videos by Blu. The first is “Big Bang Big Boom” which attempts to trace the evolution of the world. The second is Blu’s collaboration with David Ellis at 2009’s Fame Festival in Italy, entitled “Combo.”
On December 4, the Warrington Museum in Chesire will host Elbow-Toe’s first solo show in the UK, entitled Due Date. A breath of fresh air in the art world, the New York based artist has been gaining attention with his colorful and witty “paper paintings” as the artist calls them. These pictures don’t even do them justice; Elbow-toe’s work really needs to be seen in person to fully comprehend the labor and creativity in his methods. This particular show is not just Elbow-toe’s paintings, but also works on paper. Both act as strong contrasts to one other and should play off each other well in the final set-up.
The show’s theme is based around the concept of parenthood and the ideas and preconceived notions that comes with it in today’s world. The works act as stories that stem from the artist’s own life experiences as well as what he believes others think of being a parent.
In a statement by the artist he states that “In these paintings I am addressing fears (loss of individuation as well as of the proverbial unknown), the strengthening of bonds in times of crisis, the issues of trying to become a parent later in life and the wisdom gained through the process of parenting.”
Sweet Dreams
For more information on the show visit Elbow-toe’s website and his flickr to see more images from the upcoming show.
Sorry for the silence over the last few days (yes, I realize the irony of saying that and picking the above image for this post). I was celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday with some friends in NYC and was barely online. Now I’m trying to get as much schoolwork done as possible before heading to Miami on Thursday and then it’s time for final exams… Until at least the end of the week, I’ll probably only be posting about Miami Basel and events surrounding that. Luckily, Stephanie has been picking up the slack and will continue to do so while I’m locking myself in the library.
That said, I couldn’t help writing briefly about worldwarwon. I’ve just been introduced to his street art, and he’s been doing some interesting things on the streets of London recently. Maybe it’s just me, but it seems like street art is getting a bit more conceptual. Maybe as a reaction to crappy stencils? Anyway, worldwarwon is a nice example of an artist possibly inspired by Banksy but going a bit more conceptual and using the streets. Okay, as I’m rereading those last three sentences, I get the feeling that I’m almost definitely overthinking and overexplaining things. Simply put, check out worldwarone’s website for some clever street art and maybe a laugh.
