The new 99% Gallery in Brooklyn, NY has their second show on this Friday, June 25th. Brooklyn Stand Up is a silent auction with work from (you guessed it) Brooklyn-based artists. This should be an opportunity to get some very affordable artwork from the likes of Cahbasm, Tod Seelie and many others. The event will run from 7-11pm, with the auction ending around 10:30.
99% Gallery is run by one of my favorite New Yorkers, Andrew Michael Ford. You might know Andrew’s name from back when he worked as the gallery director for Ad Hoc Art, or more recently at Last Rites Gallery. I’m really excited to see that he’s teamed up with Mikal Hameed to start up this space. You can check out an interview with Andrew and Mikal on Brooklyn Street Art.
San, one of the many talented artists that I don’t write enough about, has put together quite a festival in Miajadas, Spain with Insitu. Herbert Baglione (though not my personal favorite, I can see why people love him), Escif, Sam3 and of course San himself will all be involved. I’ll be keeping an eye on the festival’s blog to see what everybody paints.
Speaking of Escif, Unurth has photos of the pieces he recently painted in Poland.
One of my favorite new Banksy’s is this thing he did during a recent visit to New York City (is this Banksy’s version of performance art?):
The idea is clever, funny and quintessentially Banksy. Except, Banksy wasn’t the first to have the idea… In fact, Vienna’s Busk did the exact same thing last year at the BLK River Festival. You can check out photos of Busk’s version at the BLK River Festival blog, along with their take on Banksy’s version. Now, I’m not sure if Banksy “stole” this idea from Busk or if they just came to do similar pieces coincidentally (DEFINITELY possible, if not probable). This sort of thing happens all the time. With thousands and thousands of artists out there, creating something entirely original is impossible. The more interesting question is what the BLK River Festival blog asks: “Will Banksy’s portrait earn him another fortune at Sotheby’s next auction or will BUSK be inaugurated to art’s history for being the first to do so?”
For me, Banksy’s portrait is more interesting. I’m much more curious about the identity of Banksy than I am of Busk, and so are a million other people. Banksy’s portrait will be analyzed and picked apart by fans trying to discern his identity and compare it to previous supposed images. And of course, there is the question of if that is even really Banksy or if he just had one of his friends put on the balaclava and pose. Busk, while he may do some more interesting work or not (I’m honestly not too familiar with him besides this portrait and having known that he was involved in that festival), just doesn’t have that power and mystery behind his identity that Banksy does. Busk may have been first (or maybe there were other people doing this before him; surely somebody has gotten one of these portraits done while wearing a Halloween mask), and for that he deserves some credit, but The Cult of Banksy just makes this new version so much more interesting.
Then again, maybe I’m just caught up in the Banksy hype, as can happen with me from time to time. But isn’t that kind of the point of this portrait in the first place?
And let the comments calling me an idiot and a Banksy-whore begin…
Last night, Gaia’s “The Urban Romantic” show opened at Irvine Contemporary in Washington, DC. The artist drew a pretty decent crowd to the exhibit’s first night, as hipsters, art lovers, and curious residents descended upon the gallery. While the bulk of the work featured Gaia’s usual black and white intricate aesthetic of mythical anthropomorphic creatures, the following pieces really stood out among the works.
I especially like the oil paintings that demonstrate an even more mature side of the young artist.
Behind the gallery, Gaia left his mark with two large scale pieces that are great additions to the Irvine outdoor collection.
Manhattan’s Leo Kesting Gallery has a group show opening next week with some of my favorite emerging artists. Dead Letter Playground: A Collection of Contemporary Street Art opens June 24th (from 7pm-10pm) and has artwork from Carolyn A’Hearn, Chris Stain, Clown Soldier, Dain, DickChicken, Doze Green, Elbowtoe, Elle, Ellis G, Faro, Gaia, Head Hoods, Imminent Disaster, Jen.Lu, Jordan Seiler, Know Hope, Laura Meyers, Lee Trice, Love Me, Matt Siren, Mister Never, Nicola Verlato, Peru Ana Ana Peru, Phil Lumbang, Shark Toof, Anthony Michael Sneed and Sweet Toof. Of course, the show also includes one of my least favorite artists, DickChicken, but nobody’s perfect (ps, because I know that somebody is going to give me shit for that comment, I’d like to clarify: I actually don’t mind DickChicken’s tag or find it offensive or anything. I just don’t think he makes anything remotely interesting indoors). The show runs through July 18th.
Here’s some of the work that will be at Dead Letter Playground:
Kid Acne is headed to Electrik Sheep in Newcastle for a solo show in July. I’ve got a small Kid Acne piece that always sits on my desk, so of course, I’m looking forward to this. Kid Acne’s work is always fun.
Been crushing Columbia Heights, Dupont Circle and Chinatown in DC for tomorrow’s show at the Irvine Contemporary. Never really gotten up in this city hard before and its been fantastic. It has the Baltimore spots but the New York traffic and police are concerned with much larger matters. Check the flickr for more street shots. http://www.flickr.com/photos/gaiastreetart/
Brad Downey has a solo show opening tonight in Vienna. I Forgot What I Wanted To Say is at DIEAUSSTELLUNGSSTRASSE, has been curated by Sydney Ogidan and will be on through June 30th. This is definitely something to check out if you are in Vienna. Brad Downey is one of the smartest artists that I know. Conceptually, his work is miles beyond most street artists.
Here’s one of Elfo‘s latest pieces. When I mentioned to Elfo that this piece reminded me of The Door to Nowhere, it was pointed out to me that the intent of the two pieces were almost completely opposite. The Door to Nowhere led to, well, nowhere. But where does Elfo’s door lead?
