Tag: aakash nihalani

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So many shows about to open

Bom.k and Sowat of Da Mental Vaporz

There are so many interesting shows opening in the next week or two that I thought I’d just throw them all together into one post. Here’s what I think looks worth checking out:

  • Yesterday, the Museum of Sex in New York opened a show that sounds absolutely awesome called F*ck Art. It’s on through June 10th and features artwork by Aiko, El Celso, Lush, Mode2, Cassius Fouler, Miss Van and many more.
  • Love & Hate is a group show opening at StolenSpace this week and runs through March 4th. D*face, Dan Witz, Ronzo, Word to Mother, Jeff Soto, Eine, Charles Krafft and others are included.
  • Chris Stain, Veng and Taka Sudo will be showing together at C.A.V.E. Gallery, beginning February 11th. Brooklyn Street Art has a preview of Chris’ work.
  • Zes and Retna are together at Known Gallery in LA. LA TACO has the info.
  • Nick Mann aka Doodles, Brett Flanigan, Craig Rodgers and Dan Bortz are collaborating with one another in Oakland, CA.
  • Another collaborative group show will be in Da Mental Vaporz‘ (Bom.k, Blo, Brusk, Dran, Gris1, ISO, Jaw, Kan, and Sowat) show at Melbourne. That show, Le Venin, will be at RTIST Gallery from February 16th through March 4th.
  • All Talk at Pandemic Gallery will include Aakash Nihalani, Cassius Fouler, Gabriel Specter, Jesus Saves, NohJColey and others and runs from February 17th through March 11th.

Photo courtesy of Da Mental Vaporz

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Where to look at SCOPE Miami

Maya Hayuk, who will show at New Image Art Gallery's booth

The SCOPE art fair’s Miami iteration should, as always, have a few booths of interest to Vandalog readers to year. SCOPE opens on the 29th and runs through December 4th. Make sure to stop by these booths: Mallick Williams for Skullphone and Love Me/Curtis Kulig; Jonathan LeVine Gallery for Olek, WK Interact and Aakash Nihilani; Dorian Grey Gallery for Richard Hambleton (and maybe LAII); and New Image Art Gallery for Maya Hayuk and Retna. Of course, all those galleries will be exhibiting other artists as well, those are just some highlights. And there should be plenty of else of interesting. For the last two years, SCOPE has been where I’ve seen some of the most interesting indoor art in Miami.

Maya Hayuk, who will show at New Image Art Gallery's booth

Photos courtesy of New Image Art Gallery

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Weekend link-o-rama

Dimitris Taxis in Barcelona

Usually I have something to say here about my week, but it’s all kind of a blur and I’ve been struggling to find any words to describe what’s been going on or excuses for not blogging about everything interesting I’ve seen this week. So let’s skip the pointless pleasantries and here’s the stuff I missed:

  • Some thoughts from Alone One on graffiti and street art coexisting (and the inherent superiority of graffiti, according to the author). While I agree with the author that, in the case pictured, Aakash Nihilani and Posterboy did the smart and respectful thing by utilizing a piece of graffiti in their street art rather than covering it unnecessarily, the all-to-common argument that graffiti is always always always superior to street art really upsets me. Is there something beautiful/powerful about a tag that street art cannot capture? Sure. Are there street artists (and young graffiti writers) who stupidly go over important graffiti? Definitely, all the time. But warning that street artists can never go over graffiti under any circumstances is narrow-minded and naive, especially today when so much work blurs the line between street art and graffiti. It’s too bad when such a talented writer has such a narrow view of things.
  • Here’s the latest work by Dal.
  • Evol never fails to impress.
  • MOMO is part of a show on at Space 1026 in Philadelphia and made this sculpture.
  • Os Gêmeos have a show opening next week at the Museu Vale in Vila Velha, Brazil. Here’s a bit of a preview.
  • Some stunning walls were painted at Meeting of Styles London this year, particularly by Shok1.
  • S.Butterfly has a set of images from the Moniker fair. I’d like to hear in the comments what people who were there in the flesh thought, but it looks to me like a bit of brilliance (Dabs/Myla, Matt Small), a bit of goodness (Cash For Your Warhol, Aiko) and then a massive logo from D*Face and Scream Gallery’s booth which both just make me want to scream in a bad way (although I think D*Face’s piece actually looked a lot better once someone tried to mess it up and he had to change the piece to this). Update: It’s actually unclear if that simple D*face Ddog logo was intended to stay that simple or if the additions were part of the plan all along given this piece inside the fair.

Photo by Dimitris Taxis

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When street art and advertisment collide

Yesterday RJ and I got sent this video of a a mural being put up in Sydney sponsored by Lipton Iced Tea. Despite tagging over some work already put there, the mural isn’t half bad. Apparently this is part of an ongoing series sponsored by the brand to create urban art projects in Australia while showcasing their partnered artists talents.

It’s no secret that art and advertising have been hand in hand ever since graffiti style became popular in the early 1980’s. But where is the line drawn between advertising art and art for advertising? And as such, can the work stand on its own as an entity to be appreciated or is it less appealing because it has brand association?

The video led us to further question other examples of this practice in the past and how audiences reacted to the works. I can think of several just near my flat alone- Tron Legacy painted ad on Great Eastern Street and the large scale Converse painted ad that went over the Eine piece on the Village Underground. Last week Vandalog posted about the annual Supreme paste ups depicting a celebrity photographed by everyone’s favorite “alleged” model molester, Terry Richardson. This year it was Lady Gaga who graced the streets of cities and my Tumblr dashboard as the photograph went viral. An annual event though, these flyers usually get bombed on their own by artists. In their own right, these photographs are artworks and can stand next to any Rankin or Chapelle portrait. But does the added connotation of being associated with Supreme lessen its artistic value? And what about artists like Faile and Poster Boy and Aakash Nihalani who amended the Lou Reed Supreme ads? Are those also further removed from the brand because the artist chose to alter the ads of their own volition?

I just wanted to put this idea out there and would love to hear what you guys think.

Photo by Steven P. Harrington for Brooklyn Street Art

Photo by Steven P. Harrington for Brooklyn Street Art

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Weekend link-o-rama

Unknown artist

Just got back from Jordan Seiler’s show at Vincent Michael Gallery. I’ll have more on that in the next few days, but I found an awesome store in the same area as the gallery: Jinxed. It sells cool toys and the like. Here’s what I didn’t write about this week while I was busy procrastinating and thinking about The Underbelly Project.

Photo by nolionsinengland

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Overlap: Aakash Nihalani at Bose Pacia

Aakash Nihalani has a solo show coming up at Bose Pacia Gallery in Brooklyn, NY. Entitled Overlap, the show will feature new works by one of my favorite geometric artists. Including photography, paintings, sculpture and digital design, the November show brings Nihalani’s to another level inside a gallery space. Always coming up with new ways to evolve his art, this show will definitely be one to watch.

PS- Does anyone know what artist’s obsession with balloon animals are these days? Not that I’m complaining, but first Banksy, then this guy La Bouller and now Aakash. Anyone want to make me a life sized one?

Photo courtesy of Jim Kiernan for Aakash Nihalani

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Booked – Group Exhibition and Book Day at Carmichael Gallery

It’s been a long time since Seth and I have had a group show this big at Carmichael Gallery – there will be over 35 artists represented on the walls when we open “Booked” on Saturday, June 5th! Some of the artists we’ve worked with for several years and others we’ll be showing for the first time. We’re also going to have lots of great art books and magazines from publishers like Drago, Gingko, Studiocromie (I really enjoyed opening up the box of Blu and Sam3 books!) and VNA. Books and art are two of the best things in the world, in my opinion, so it should be a fun event! We will be open from 12-8pm on Saturday for Culver City Art Walk (make sure to visit all the other galleries on the block if you come by; there will be lots of cool things to see) and the reception itself is from 6-8pm.

Here are some of the pieces in the show.

Martha Cooper

Escif

SpY

Anthony Lister

Lucas Price (aka Cyclops)

Bumblebee

Brad Downey

Here’s the full line up of artists and publishers:

Aiko, Banksy, Beejoir, Blek le Rat, Boxi, Bumblebee, C215, Henry Chalfant, Martha Cooper, D*Face, Brad Downey, Eine, Ericailcane, Escif, Faile, Shepard Fairey, Stelios Faitakis, Gaia, Hush, Mark Jenkins, Dave Kinsey, Know Hope, Labrona, Anthony Lister, Lucy McLauchlan, Aakash Nihalani, Walter Nomura (a.k.a. Tinho), Other, Steve Powers (a.k.a. ESPO), Lucas Price (a.k.a. Cyclops), Retna, Saber, Sam3, Sixeart, Slinkachu, SpY, Judith Supine, Titi Freak, Nick Walker, Dan Witz and WK Interact

Drago, Gingko Press, Murphy Design, Prestel, Rojo, SCB Distributors, Studiocromie, Very Nearly Almost, Zupi

The show runs from June 5 – July 3. Drop in to say hi if you’re in LA!

– Elisa