A huge fan of sticker art, I love coming upon Astrotwitch‘s beguiling women whenever I’m down in DC. Along with Astrotwitch, an array of these women recently traveled west to Portland, Oregon. Rendered in seductive colors with watercolor, acrylic and markers, they’ve made their way onto a range of surfaces in different sizes. Here’s a sampling:
Photos by Lois Stavsky and courtesy of Astrotwitch
DALeast sent over his two latest murals in Johannesburg and they are some of my favorites from him. Crashing Ego depicts a car crash in progress, and Counterattack Company shows a hunter becoming the hunted and turns the corner of a building so that the mural is split over two walls. The mural over two walls seems like an effective but simple way to switch things up.
Photos by DALeast
Had a fantastic time in New York last weekend finishing up The Art of Comedy, but that meant missing out on a lot of news, so some of this week’s link-o-rama is a bit more dated than usual:
Photo by Luna Park
Miss Van’s upcoming solo show “Wild At Heart” will open this weekend at the Dorothy Circus Gallery in Rome. The opening reception will be on November 17th at 7pm and the show will run until January 20th. Definitely worth checking out if you happen to be in the area over winter holiday. And if you’re not in the area, Drago published a catalogue of works from the show by the same name.
For more preview photos go to Arrested Motion.
Photo via Arrested Motion
With artworks ranging from the charming to the alarming, Rewriting Portraiture, curated by Rhiannon Platt, features the diverse visions of Jilly Ballistic, Rachel Hays, Vahge & Vexta. Here are a few more images from the exhibit that opens tomorrow – Friday evening – at 7pm at Low Brow Artique, 143 Central Ave. in Bushwick:
Photos by Lois Stavsky
Zoer CSX is difficult to describe because the only way I can find to describe the work is that it is beautiful graffiti. I’d like to say that it’s graffiti that the everyday person would walk by without fainting in disgust (or whatever happens when people see standard tags and pieces these days), but I usually hate that sort of work. Usually, it seems that even the cleanest graffiti or pieces at halls of fame can still easily look like “bad graffiti” to the everyday viewer (take Amuse as an example), while graffiti that’s completely boring-person-friendly comes across as lame (for a street art example of this, read Caroline’s recent article on yarn bombing). And suggesting that boring-person-friendly graffiti is superior to traditional and in-your-face straight-up-vandalism graffiti is something I don’t agree with and hate to do. But Zoer seems paint work that is generally completely unobjectionable and might not come across as “graffiti” to the uneducated viewer, but is still about lettering and still very interesting. It’s friendly graffiti without the lameness. Maybe it’s the muted colors and the way the work doesn’t shout “HELLO LOOK AT ME MY NAME IS ZOER!” but rather suggest “Hey, thanks for checking me out. Maybe stop and stare a moment. Whatever you do, Zoer wishes you a nice day.” I don’t know. But I like Zoer’s work and calmly beautiful seems like the only fair way to describe it.
Photos by Zoer
Update: Creative Loafing has done a more extensive article on what’s gone on and is going on with the mural as more facts have become more clear. This one is probably the article to read.
Last week, there was a petition started to save Roti‘s beautiful mural for Living Walls Atlanta. The petition got over 1500 signatures from around the world, but signatures don’t mean much against a paintbrush. Last week, a handful of upset Atlanta residents went to the wall and illegally buffed it (very poorly) in broad daylight. Later that day, volunteers and employees of the Georgia Department of Transportation (who own the wall) came to help remove the paint. Creative Loafing has the full stories.
Two things that I see as problematic interesting here:
Photo by Dustin Chambers
This weekend Bring Back The Boadwalks is holding a benefit art auction to raise money to help rebuild the Rockaways and Coney Island, two communities were hit hard by Hurricane Sandy. The silent auction will have work from some major names including Futura, Swoon, Phil Frost, Faile, David Ellis, Shepard Fairey, and Dennis McNett, and 100% of the proceeds from the auction will go to recovery efforts.
The auction will take place this Saturday, November 17th, at Trais Gallery at 76 Wooster Street (between Broome and Spring) in Manhattan.
More info on the Bring Back The Boadwalks website, and they’ve been posting photos of artwork that will be at the auction to their tumblr.
Photo courtesy of Bring Back The Boardwalks
For those who have seen Cash4’s work on the streets, his solo show opening tomorrow presents a rare opportunity into the mind of the man behind the tags. The word play and puns seen in his stickers (Crash Floor, Cash IV, and so on) take a predominate role in his pop-inspired florescent paintings. These words of wisdom are paired with equally as humorous characters, some missing teeth while others roll their eyes at the nonsense they are surrounded by. If you were not fortunate enough to see his solo show earlier this year at Weldon Arts, this is an opportunity to not only see some astounding work, but to do so while hearing the premium tunes of Rap Gang, of which Cash4 is a member.
The press release:
On Thursday November 15, 2012 please join The Superior Bugout as it hosts the opening night of Cash4’s new body of artwork entitled CASH FOR…. Accompanying the artwork will be new sounds from the Cash4’s Brooklyn based hip-hop group Rap Gang.
The show will be on display at the Tender Trap through December 6, 2012 during hours of operation (4pm-4am).
Cash4 is a painter, illustrator, and architect based in New York City. Cash4’s fine art documents the American urban experience using simple iconography and colloquialisms (those often based on the New York Metropolitan area). Cash4 likes to see his work as bridging the gap between the naive disenfranchised hooligan street kid and the pretentious overzealous contemporary gallery artist.
The Superior Bugout (a Brooklyn based party aesthetic) has been curating art for Tender Trap since the Fall of 2012. The Superior Bugout seeks to bring a synergy of sight and sound, combining elements of the streets with contemporary sound visionaries.
Cash4 show opening tomorrow called “Cash For” from 6pm-10pm at Tender Trap (245 South 1st St., Brooklyn, New York 11211).
Photos by Cranio, Dezio One, Ed Mun, JakeDobkin, LunaPark, Ripo, Sabeth718, Shock O Maravilha and Zeus40 and Wildboys
