As Shepard Fairey suggests in his artful introduction to this first-rate survey of D*Face’s artwork and life, D*Face is a master of art that is both subversive and skilled. And of particular appeal to me is that despite his commercial success, the artist continues to use the streets as a canvas.
Like so many artists I’ve spoken to and interviewed, D*Face hated school and survived it through drawing and doodling anything — from bubble letters to cartoons — all over his school books. Through a mix of fortuitous circumstances, hard work and extraordinary skill, he emerged from a working-class family to become one of the globe’s most successful urban artists. Prodded by his determination not to ever work at a job he hated — as he had seen his mom and too many folks do — he was saved by the skateboarding culture that introduced him to graffiti.
He began tagging while looking for spots to skate, and with the discovery of Thrasher Magazine, Subway Art and Spraycan Art, he was on his way to forge a successful career as a street artist, fine artist and designer. And with the launch of his gallery, Stolen Space, in 2005, he’s paved the way for other artists, as well.
Always experimenting and evolving, D*Face represents the best of urban art. With his particular fusion of pop culture and graffiti meshed with his rebellious streak and ingenious imagination, D*Face draws both our eyes and minds into his vision. With its dozens of first-rate images and engaging text, The Art of D*Face: One Man and His Dog — published by Laurence King Publishing — is a model of an artist’s monograph. It came my way just as Banksy left town and it was the perfect antidote!
RAE’s “Word of Mouth” is perhaps the most entertaining exhibit I’ve yet to experience. And it is an experience! In his recreation of an East Village bodega, RAE places his wonderfully zany characters – crafted from and on just about every imaginable surface – amidst surveillance cameras, lottery tickets, plastic EBT cards, loaves of bread, sundry cans of beans, lose cigarettes and just about anything you’d expect to find in a bodega. Here are a few images:
RAE’s Food Center as seen when openOne of RAE’s many sculpturesAnother sculptureMore characters with Tibetan prayer flags flowing from aboveClose-up
“Word of Mouth” continues through November 16 on the corner of Avenue C and East 12th Street. It is open Thursday through Saturday from 2 to 7 p.m.
Photos by Dani Reyes Mozeson, Tara Murray and Lois Stavsky; image of bodega as seen when open courtesy of RAE
Last week, Elian finished a piece titled Environmental Influences, situated in the outskirts of Cordoba.
Elian’s work captivates shapes, colors that contribute to building structures in a way that can definitely bring life back to the space and, as he put it, the environment. I appreciate the thoughtful intent in all his works found in different places, even in abandoned country sides (like this one).
The explanation to his interventions is cohesive and shows strong efforts to communicate with the already built structures that are then enhanced by transformative colors and shapes that play in just right.
Banksy finished Better Out Than In today with the above piece in Queens. The balloons didn’t last long when people tried to steal them and then the NYPD came to take the balloons and arrest the would-be thieves (more on that on Hyperallergic). And Jerry Saltz be damned, this is one of my favorite pieces of the show. Jerry Saltz may say he has no problem with graffiti, but I’m not sure he quite understands it either.
The location of this piece is perfect, with a NEKST tag (and remember what Banksy did on his website when NEKST died), an ADEK tag, two ADEK throwups and two LEWY throwups all visible in the above photo, which is the lead image for the piece on the Better Out Than In website. And of course, Banksy went higher up on the wall than all of those writers, but in a cheeky manner. I’m not saying that Banksy is still a hardcore train bomber, although he did pull of quite a few stunts this month, but he certainly has respect for traditional graffiti. Banksy could have installed those balloons anywhere, but he chose that particular spot and was able to highlight serious graffiti by some of the best writers in the city.
The audio description for this piece includes a serious note:
Banksy asserts that outside is where art should live, amongst us. And rather than street art being a fad, maybe it’s the last thousand years of art history is a blip, when art came inside in service of the church and institutions. But art’s rightful place is on the cave walls of our communities where it can act as a public service, provoke debate, voice concerns, forge identities. The world we live in today is run – visually at least – by traffic signs, billboards and planning committees. Is that it? Don’t we want to live in a world made of art, not just decorated by it?
I can’t think of a better way to close out the show.
Poster Boy in NYC. Photo by Poster Boy.COST, ENX and Invader in NYC. Photo by Luna Park.Ludvig in London. Photo by Ludvig.Swoon in NYC. Photo by Luna Park.GANE and TEXAS in Philadelphia. Photo by RJ Rushmore.
Spaik got an early start on his mural for Street Skills in Colombia. The mural is part of the third edition of Street Skills, a festival aimed to gather street artists and graffiti writers to showcase their works in various cities throughout Colombia.
Street Skills will be taking place in 3 different Colombian cities throughout the month of November. Invited artists include Does (Brazil), Lelin (Brazil), Lola (Brazil), El Pez (Spain), Cix (Mexico), Olfer (Peru).
Banksy across from Yankee Stadium. Photo by Allan Molho.
Banksy brought back an old favorite today across the street from Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, a tagged leopard. He did a similar piece years ago in London at Cans Festival.
Tomorrow is the last day of Better Out Than In, so I think it’s fair to say that everyone’s expecting something big. Keep an eye on Banksy’s site for updates.
Today for the + 5, we have Vort Man, dRIP, Invader, Aris and one unknown artist parodying Banksy:
Vort Man in Salt Lake City. Photo by Vort Man.dRIP in Lambertville, NJ. Photo by dRIP.Invader in NYC. Photo by Luna Park.Aris. Photo by Aris.Not a Banksy, but still in NYC. Photo by Elisha Cook Jr.
After seeing photos of his show at Pandemic Gallery last spring and then seeing his solo show at Stupid Easy Gallery in person last summer, I began to realize that stikman was just as interesting of an artist when showing indoors as on the street. But what to do with that knowledge? Just keep in mind that I wanted to see more stikman shows I suppose. And then the Mural Arts Program, a 30-year-old public art program in Philadelphia responsible for about 3000 murals in that time, asked me to curate a show for the gallery space at their offices. Given a short timeline for putting a show together, there was no way I was going to be able to conceptualize and assemble a group show, but then I realized that Mural Arts is the perfect venue for stikman’s work. As I’ve said before, I wouldn’t say I curated this show so much as facilitated it. stikman knows his art better than I do, and I was just excited to see what he would do if I didn’t add any constraints beyond those created by the space itself and the short time between the invitation to do a show and the opening night. The result is …in the house… stikman’s second solo show in Philadelphia and third solo show anywhere.
Photo by Kendall Whitehouse
…in the house… is a great introduction to stikman’s world, but it also takes Mural Arts and the space into account. The Mural Arts offices are located in the former home of painter and art professor Thomas Eakins, and at least two of the works in …in the house… reflect that the show is in Eakins House. A series of photographs found on Instagram and flickr showing people interacting with stikman’s work as they document it (generally by including their feet in the photos like this) hang in the hallway, a reminder that both Mural Arts and stikman value community engagement with their art. For me, that was what I most hoped to show with …in the house…, that stikman and Mural Arts have many of the same goals despite their different methods. Mural Arts puts up huge murals throughout Philadelphia, and stikman installs his usually tiny figures anywhere they will fit.
Photo by Kendall Whitehouse
I’m really pleased with how …in the house… turned out. It’s probably been my most satisfying indoor project since The Thousands in 2009. There’s some absolutely fantastic work in …in the house…, and it seems it’s been really well-received by everyone at Mural Arts. It’s a diverse show, with sculptures, photographs, prints and paintings of all sizes and mediums. stikman does a lot with his little character. That said, one of my favorite works is a sort of hanging cairn made of bricks that stikman installed on a gate outside of the building. Many people don’t realize that stikman is also a prolific cairn builder.
Photo by RJ Rushmore
With something around 100 works in …in the house…, it’s difficult to show it all here, but I’ll share a sampling. For the rest, you’ll just have to stop by the Mural Arts Program offices at 1727-29 Mt. Vernon Street, Philadelphia, PA 19130. …in the house… will be up through November 13th. If you stop by, be sure to grab a free stikman sticker, and if you love the work as much as I do, this is a great time to pick up a piece. stikman has offered to donate all the proceeds from sales at …in the house… to Mural Arts.
Note from the editor: I know we here at Vandalog tend to neglect all the great things going on on the streets of Chicago, but hopefully this guest post by Terry Cartlon starts to make up for that. Terry visited Paint, Paste, Sticker, a show of work by street artists active in Chicago at the Chicago Cultural Center. – RJ Rushmore
With all the Banksyness happening across New York’s five boroughs this month, it’s difficult to focus on any other art happenings in any other part of the world. Unfortunately here in Chicago, we’re used to doing our thing in The Big Onion only to finish second to The Big Apple. Fortunately, when you’ve got Chicago’s heaviest of hitters gathered at the cultural center for a lesson in Chicago street art, it helps soften the blow from the international spectacle occurring in that first city.
Don’t Fret
The architectural gem that is The Chicago Cultural Center houses something for The Second City to be proud of: Paint, Paste, Sticker encompasses quite the retrospective of Chicago street art history in one impressive room. Past, present, and future are all represented…and represented well.
Matthew Hoffman
Coming up the stairs or exiting the elevator on the fourth floor, attendees get greeted by Matthew Hoffman‘s worldwide wonder You Are Beautiful stone slab and Zore‘s Sheltered Bombing, a painted CTA bus shelter worth the time it takes to get downtown alone. Once inside, pieces from Slang, Don’t Fret, Nice One, Stefskills, C3PO, Kane One, and Radah flank the walls with collections from Galerie F and their Logan Square Mural Project ricocheting ideas and possibility in the city. Paint, Paste, Sticker takes us far north for the Rogers Park Participatory Budgeting project, down south for the South Shore Art Festival, and to the 25th Ward for Alderman Danny Solis’, Pawn Works‘, and Chicago Urban Art Society‘s Art in Public Places initiative. All three of these excellent projects have taken Chicago street art to the next level over the past year while showcasing international and local legends on the exterior walls in an attempt to put Chicago in the rightful spotlight.
Zore
Hebru Brantley shows off his prolific significance, Tselone and Jeff Zimmerman input their importance to the movement, and Ruben Aguirre’s masterful stylistics are on display in full harmony with Secret Sticker Club’s underrated sticker presence that is prevalent throughout Chicago.
Hebru Brantley
The artistic talent in Chicago is undoubtedly the most underappreciated in the country, and this event has the potential to create the necessary influx/outflux relationship for artists to get the recognition they deserve. Seeing a large scale collection of accomplishments on display like this really puts it in perspective, and the excitement that this exhibition should ignite is what it’s all about. Chicagoans are some of the most precisely knowledgeable and honestly humble artists in the game with some of the highest standards for street art and graffiti you’ll ever see. Lucky for show-goers, those standards are put into action for everything on display.
Goons
Paint, Paste, Sticker does a thorough job of representing the who’s who and what’s what of the Chicago street art scene—a scene made up of interdisciplinary, intergenerational artists who transcend time, space, race, and class. If you miss this exhibit, you should kick your own ass…
Juuuust in time for the end of the month, as usual. I’ve been working on some very special projects here in Melbourne all of which I will be sharing over the next month!
September was another great month in Melbourne. As usual a bunch of shows and some of the best street art and graffiti from the streets. Enjoy!
Meggs painted one of his biggest ever murals on the the Fare Share building. Fare Share is a “good rescue” organisation, taking unwanted food and making into meals for charity. Nice work.
Some mad work in Collingwood by some of Melbourne’s most prolific writers, Bolts, Sauce and Kawps. More shots here.
Bolts. Photo by Dean Sunshine.Kawps. Photo by Dean Sunshine.Sauce. Photo by Dean Sunshine.
I’ve posted a bit of DVATE’s work in the past. Here’s some more of his work on a recent trip across Europe (not sure who all the collabs are with). More here.
DVATE. Photo by Just Another Agency.DVATE. Photo by Just Another Agency.DVATE. Photo by Just Another Agency.
Banksy in a thrift store window. Photo by Allan Molho.
When Banksy announced today’s Better Out Than In piece this afternoon, people began running to a little thrift store on 23rd Street in the hope of scoring the deal of a lifetime. I would have run with them if I were in town. But luckily the thrift store was tipped off to what was about to happen. Banksy had just donated a “crude oil” painting. His crude oil series involves him taking old paintings, in this case one that he bought from this thrift store, and adding his own touches. Two early street artists, John Fekner and Peter Kennard, experimented with similarpieces long before Banksy, but Banksy has really pushed the idea and made it his own thanks to his habit of inserting his modified paintings in places where the unmodified paintings might normally hang.
This crude oil painting, titled The Banality of the Banality of Evil, features the addition of a nazi officer to the idyllic landscape. It’s in a thrift store that benefits Housing Works, a charity fighting “to end the dual crises of homelessness and AIDS.” Housing Works have put the painting for sale in an online auction ending in the evening on October 31st. As of this posting, the bidding has reached $157,200. If you’ve looking for a new Banksy and have $200,000 or so to drop, you can bid here.
Labrona. Photo by Labrona.Ray Johnson Fan Club. Photo by Ray Johnson Fan Club.Wakuda in Seattle. Photo by Dustin Condley.Saki&Bitches in London. Photo by Amy S. Rovig.Dscreet in London. Photo by Alex Ellison.
