Faile released this print today on Papermonster.net, but it seems to have sold out instantly. The print is edition of 300 and was priced at $350 each. This image is the same as the largest canvas at last year’s solo show in London.
Dan Witz and Dark Doings at Carmichael Gallery
I would absolutely love to see something by Dan Witz in person one day. If you’re in New York, that’s been possible since the 1970’s, but now Dan Witz has a solo show coming up at the Carmichael Gallery in LA.
The press release:
Carmichael Gallery is proud to present Dark Doings, a solo exhibition of new works by Dan Witz. This is the Brooklyn based artist’s first US west coast solo exhibition.
In Dark Doings, Witz will showcase a selection of pieces from his expansive summer street project of the same name. Created both for the street and gallery, the subtle, haunting images of human and animal faces trapped behind dirty glass windows are inspired by a recent visit earlier in the year to the red light district of Amsterdam.
In speaking about the philosophy behind this body of work, Dan explains, “I’m trying to exploit our collective tendency towards sleepwalking by inserting outrageous things right out there in plain view that are also practically invisible. My goal is to make obvious in your face art that ninety-nine percent of the people who walk by won’t notice. Eventually when they stumble upon one or find out about it I’m hoping they’ll start wondering what else they’ve been missing.”
Artwork at the show will comprise of mixed media on digital prints on plastic, presented either framed or mounted to wood doors, the latter serving as both canvas and contextual framework through which the work can be viewed. A selection of photographs depicting the Dark Doings series in situ will also be exhibited at the show. They will be displayed alongside the piece with which they correspond.
About Dan Witz:
Dan Witz is one of the most prolific artists working on the streets of New York City today. With a career that dates back to the 1970s, he continues through each project to refine his technique and style, yet never loses sight of his original aesthetic and ideological goals. Acknowledged as one of the most important voices in the history of the movement by critics and peers alike, he both defines and challenges what it means to be a street artist.
Linking it up
Street art news seems to come in cycles, right now there is a lot of news coming in. Here’s a few highlights:
- Sam3 has a new book out with Studiocromie and it looks great. More info at Feed Your Wall.
- Shepard Fairey’s opening at the Warhol Museum looks amazing, but as Richard Lacayo points out, the AP case might have run into another snag for Fairey since the AP has countersued again on the basis that either Fairey only spent about 5 minutes “transforming” the photo into his poster or he is lying again and didn’t forget which image he based HOPE on. One thing Lacayo and the AP seem to have forgotten is that Fairey has a bunch of assistants. I don’t know how his studio functions, but it seems a fair assumption that Fairey sent his assistants a photo and they developed poster from there, or they gave him an already cropped photo based on his specifications and he went from there. It’s definitely not as simple as Lacayo is making it seem.
- Elbow-toe still has a few prints left for sale on Etsy.com for only $30!
- Anthony Lister has put up a beautiful new piece in Brooklyn.
- Damon Ginandes has also been painting murals in New York.
- This new video interview with Swoon is a must-see.
- I missed this piece by Vhils inside the monastery at FAME Festival. It’s just too awesomely well-hidden.
Banksy self portrait to be revealed?
Apparently there is a Banksy self portrait set to be revealed next week at a bar in Islington.
I’m not even going to link to this story. Google it if you think it’s interesting, but it sounds like PR hype to me.
Video from The Brick Lane Zoo
The first (along with the time lapse video of Roa painting) in a series of videos I’ve started to make for Babelgum.com is this tour of The Brick Lane Zoo, a show that just closed at The Brick Lane Gallery. Every week there will be two new videos going online: one will be a sort of different video like a time lapse or an extended interview, and the other will be me checking out the latest street art gallery openings.
In this video, make sure to listen to what Pure Evil says toward the end about street art and graffiti. And hey, there’s an interview with Roa so that’s awesome.
Roa and Mundano time lapses
Two timelapse videos to share today.
The first is this one by the Brazilian street artist Mundano:
And the second video is kind of special. This video of Roa painting outside of Urban Angel in London is the first in a series of videos that I’m making for Babelgum.com’s Metropolis channel. Let me know what you think.
This is the finished piece in daylight:
M-City Goes 3-D
Been meaning to post this little video for a while. I’ve always wondered what a large scale three-dimensional version of an M-City factory would look like. Well, here it is! You can find out more about the Fabryka project, which opens on October 23rd, here.
Another very cool aspect of Fabryka is that you can literally watch it take shape before your eyes. A web cam has been set up in the Center of Contemporary Art in Torun to document every minute of the construction. Below are a couple progress pics – the first from a couple days ago and the second of how things were looking last time I checked. Now get onto M-City’s site and see what’s happened since!
WK is coming to LA
US west coast fans of WK Interact, get excited: he is coming to LA! How To Blow Yourself Up opens November 7th at Subliminal Projects.
Unlike his solo exhibit in New York at Jonathan Levine earlier in the year, which showcased his fantastic motion portrait series, this show looks like it it’s going to feature a range of smaller, mixed media works. Here are a couple sneak peeks.
UK Street Art interviews Poster Boy
UK Street Art has a pretty lengthy interview with Poster Boy. Good to know since I was worried the guy had just disappeared and stopped the Poster Boy project.
Here’s an excerpt:
How did Poster Boy come about? Why did you start cutting-up posters and did you ever think it would turn into the phenomenon it is?
I’m constantly torn between wanting to be an activist and an artist. I’m not the greatest artist nor am I the greatest activist, but I’m a pretty good Poster Boy and that requires being little of both.
New York is inundated with advertisements. So why spend money on materials when posters and billboards are ripe for the picking? Stealing and vandalising ads is illegal, but littering the public’s visual space with images and messages that are motivated by profit is wrong. There’s a lot of potential in working with your environment, especially if the motives are well place. Besides, the traditional mediums have never satisfied my ambitions.
I always hoped this would catch on. I couldn’t have been the only one with these sentiments floating around.
What are your views on advertising?
Advertising is bizarro art. Both are cut from the same cloth, but what sets them apart is intent. Art is driven, at least in theory, by the desire to express oneself. Advertising is driven by the desire to promote a product or service. Often times the two overlap making it hard to tell the difference. As long as there’s money to be made there’ll be advertising. I can’t deny that. With development of technology and the market comes increasingly elaborate ad campaigns. Sometimes the campaigns are funny. Sometimes they’re artful. But one thing I’ll never accept is public advertising no matter how clever the campaign is.
Read the rest of the interview at UK Street Art
Photo from Poster Boy’s flickr
Lucy McLauchlan at FAME
It seems like Vandalog’s FAME coverage is never going to end (and given how awesome the festival is, why should it?). Here’s a video of Lucy McLauchlan painting outside at FAME. I missed this seeing this piece while I was there unfortunately, as I didn’t have a car, but it looks fantastic in video.