I’m going to be visiting London in a few months, so I thought I’d catch up on who’s been getting up on the street there. I found all of these pieces on Unusualimage’s flickr.
Continue reading “An update from London”
An update from London
Weekend link-o-rama
It’s almost December, and this December I’m going to be taking a bit of a holiday. For most of the month, Caroline Caldwell is going to be doing most of the writing for Vandalog, while I focus on another project. But, of course, the more important thing about it being almost December is that it means Basel Miami craziness is about to be upon us. Some artists are already in Miami (specifically Wynwood) and painting their murals. Not to piss all over that parade, but I’d like to quote Workhorse of The Underbelly Project. He once said to me, “It’s sorta sad that an entire district of 7-story-tall murals is becoming blasé, but it is.”
- Essam Attia, allegedly the artist behind the NYPD drone ad disruptions of earlier this year (interviewed here) was arrested recently and charged with over 50 charges. I guess the NYPD didn’t take too kindly to a friendly critique. Well, you know… Hopefully Attia gets off without too much trouble.
- Bilos is a bit of a Greek Horfe, so take that for what you will.
- It’s always good news when Kid Acne puts a zine for sale.
- DALeast has a show opening at Jonathan Levine on Saturday evening.
- Why would you carve “S.O.S.” into the ground at a size of 5 km x 1.7 km? Not without good reason.
- Concerned New Yorkers have been distributing some fake parking tickets asking people just what they think of the NYPD.
Photo by Alex Ellison
The Walls Project in London
The Walls Project is a series of legal spots organized by the folks behind Global Street Art. To date, they’ve organized over fifty of spots in London for local and international artists to paint. A lot of the spots they find are the roll-down shutters for shops in East London. It’s great to know that there are a couple of friendly guys in London who are simply interested in helping artists find more spots to paint and making their daily commutes a bit more interesting. You can see more of the walls and a map here.
A side note: Global Street Art are currently working on releasing their first book through Unbound, a sort of Kickstarter for books.
Here are a few of my favorites shutter pieces from The Walls Project:
Continue reading “The Walls Project in London”
Two show in the UK from Anthony Lister and lots of walls
Anthony Lister has a show opening this week with Lazarides / The Outsiders spanning both of The Outsiders’ locations (London and Newcastle). While in the UK for the show, titled Unslung Heroes, he’s stayed busy by painting a bunch of walls. They can all be seen, along with a few older Lister pieces, on Ian Cox’s fickr. Unslung Heroes opens on Thursday in both London and Newcastle.
Photo by AdversMedia
Contest: Win a copy of VNA 19
We’ve got 5 issues of Very Nearly Almost magazine’s latest issue to send off to Vandalog readers. I’ve been a fan of VNA since around the time I started Vandalog, and it’s a magazine that I always recommend as an alternative to Hi-Fructose and Juxtapoz.
For issue 19, they’ve got a great cover article on Anthony Lister, as well as interviews with Twoone, Remed and others. As it tends to be with VNA, my personal favorite part of this issue is not what you might expect (the interviews) but their photos of graffiti and street art in Newcastle. Of course the interviews are great too, particularly Lister’s.
We’ve got 5 copies of VNA issue 19 up for grabs, just answer this question in the comments: What country is Anthony Lister from? Out of those who answer correctly, 5 will be selected at random and sent a copy of the magazine. Answer by noon East Coast time on Saturday, September 8th. We’ll notify the winners via email shortly after that.
Photos courtesy of Very Nearly Almost
Event-o-rama
There are a lot of shows coming up soon worth checking out. Here are some of I wish I could check out in person…
- This week, the Iranian brothers Icy and Sot will have their first New York solo show, and it’s only open this Thursday through Saturday. Made in Iran will be at Openhouse, 379 Broome Street, New York.
- Lush also has a show opening in NYC this weekend. His will be a show of drawings at Klughaus Gallery. It opens on August 25th from 6-10pm. Lush’s show are practically a place to expect surprises, so best get their opening night before a blog like this one ruins the shock value for you on Sunday. If you do miss opening night, the show runs through September 7th.
- Next month, Stephen Powers aka ESPO will have his first New York solo show in over 7 years. A Word is Worth A Thousand Pictures opens September 7th from 6-9pm at Joshua Liner Gallery.
- Galo Art Gallery in Turin has a great two-man show coming up with Bue and Chase. Brothers from Different Mothers opens September 9th from 5:30-9pm.
- aMBUSH Gallery in Sydney, Australia has a big group show coming up with 67 artists including Anthony Lister, Askew, Does, Numskull, Vexta and The Yok. For Black and White All In Between, all the artists have painted on canvases of uniform sized and only used black ink. The show opens on August 31st from 6-9pm.
- Jonathan Levine Gallery‘s next three solo shows open on September 8th and you will not want to miss any of them: Judith Supine, Audrey Kawasaki, and Jeff Soto. All three shows open from 7-9pm on the 8th. And speaking of Levine, I caught their current show earlier this week and it is great. Go it see before it closes.
- Gold Peg’s Release The Wolves go-karting project in South London will have a gran-prix expo on September 1st. It’s gonna be some crazy and fun stuff. And art too, but I think that’s secondary.
- Shepard Fairey is finally showing those paintings he did for Neil Young’s latest album. The few pieces I’ve seen photos of are impressive. Americana opens at Perry Rubenstein Gallery (which recently moved to LA) on August 25th from 7-10pm.
- Finally, this last one is a mural festival, and it promises to be a big one… This year’s Urban Forms festival in Lodz, Poland includes Os Gemeos, Aryz, Inti, Otecki, Lump and Shida. Certainly the most-anticipated work of Urban Forms is the promised collaborative mural between Os Gemeos and Aryz. The events run from August 24th through September 30th and will bring the total number of murals organized in Lodz by the Urban Forms Foundation to 22. I can’t wait to see the photos of these pieces.
Photo courtesy of Joshua Liner Gallery
Klughaus Gallery Readies for Kingbrown Magazine / Launch and Opening Exhibition
One of the coolest spots in Manhattan’s Lower East Side/Chinatown neighborhood is the Klughaus Gallery, as it features some of the best graffiti and street art to be found anywhere. I haven’t been getting down there often enough, but when in the neighborhood earlier today, I dropped by. And it couldn’t have been a more perfect time, as the gallery was getting ready for Thursday evening’s Australia’s “Kingbrown Magazine” / Launch and Opening Exhibition. Curated by Fountain’s John Leo and Melissa McCaig-Welles in collaboration with Kingbrown and Morning Breath, the exhibit features a range of wondrous works. Here are some favorites:
More about the wonderful Kingbrown Magazine — that I’ve only recently discovered — in a future post.
Photos by Sara Mozeson & Lois Stavsky
Weekend link-o-rama
Let’s see what has been happening off of Vandalog this week.
- I recently wrote a list of Complex.com giving my thoughts on the 50 greatest street artists right now. Let me know what you think. So far, the main criticism (besides the usual “screw you” flame war stuff) seems to be that I did not include enough women.
- The London Vandal broke a story about British former graffiti writers being arrested and being released on bail until November under some absurdly restrictive conditions. For example, they can’t enter a train station or use trains in London until November unless they can prove that they are going to court, to visit a lawyer or to make a journey relating to business or education. The New Statesman corrected some of The London Vandal’s claims and so the story is perhaps not as wild as initially reported, but it’s still a pretty messed up situation where bail conditions are being used solely for the purpose of maybe making The Olympics run more smoothly. Hyperallergic has more.
- Some great anti-Romney stickers are appearing in Philadelphia.
- This is a great piece by Remio.
- Meggs’ show at White Walls Gallery in SF is open and Graffuturism has photos.
- King Brown Magazine’s latest issue is launching in NYC on July 26th with a show including Mike Giant, Reka, Greg LaMarche, Anthony Lister, Sheryo, The Yok and others.
- DALeast’s latest mural is a beauty in a place that could use some art.
- Satterugly is doing some crazy stuff in Mexico.
Photo courtesy of M-City
Weekend link-o-rama
Let’s do this:
- A Kidult interview on Hypebeast. Has he entered the belly of the beast in order to subvert it from within or has he always been at home there?
- New Yorkers will be getting their first auction dedicated to work by street artists and graffiti writers later this year.
- Neckface has two prints which went on sale last night online and at New Image Art. The show at New Image Art is still running.
- Nychos is in London.
- Ben Valentine asks “What Does Meaningful Engagement with Public Art Look Like?”
- NoseGo, Joe Iurato, LNY and others are in a show at Jinxed in Philadelphia opening Saturday night.
- Phibs and Anthony Lister collaborated on a wall in Sydney.
- Did you know that there’s a giant, colorful and fantastic mural at CERN?
- Sven Davis, the UK director of Arrested Motion, has curated a massive show opening in Portland this September.
- Here’s a video of Phlegm painting during his recent visit to NYC.
- Eine was recently painting in Vienna.
Photo by Lord Jim
Weekend link-o-rama
The week isn’t over yet, but this week’s news is going to be old if I don’t mention it soon. Here’s some of what I missed this week:
- The D*Face Smirnoff collaboration was anything but normal.
- Ian Stevenson’s show at Lzarides’ Newcastle space looks good.
- This is a one of Dal’s most complex walls yet.
- Vhils has a show opening this week in Paris as well as some new walls there.
- The new issue of Very Nearly Almost features Anthony Lister on the cover and will be launched on June 28th.
- Shok1 painted a great tribute to StayHigh149.
- Pixel Pancho, Never2501, GGT, Moneyless and Martina Merlini all collaborated on this wall in Milan.
- I really like this new print about to be released by Dolk.
- If you like UFO’s work in 2-demensions, you’ll love it in 3! Actually that isn’t the only sculpture he has made, but it is the newest.
Photo by SMKjr