artnet – Vandalog – A Street Art Blog

February 1, 2013June 7, 2013

Weekend link-o-rama

Sorry I missed the link-o-rama last week. Was having a fantastic birthday in NYC. Thanks to everyone who came out to say hello.

I just picked up the recent Troy Lovegates book (now sold out), and I wish I could pick up this print as well. Absolutely beautiful stuff.
Nice little Pink Floyd-themed stencil by Plastic Jesus.
Interesting JR-esque posters in UK mines.
Philippe Baudelocque in Paris.
Judith Supine on being bored with street art.
Leon Reid IV’s latest sculpture addresses the crushing personal debt of so many Americans.
Tova Lobatz curated a show at 941 Geary with Vhils, How and Nosm, Sten and Lex, and others.
Shepard Fairey released some prints using diamond dust, which is quite interesting. As the press release says, “Perhaps most famously used by Andy Warhol, who understood perfectly how to convey a message, Diamond Dust was used to add glamour, transforming ordinary images into coveted objects. The material aligns with Shepard’s work and interest in the seduction of advertising and consumerism. Diamond Dust, literally and metaphorically is superficial, applied to the surface of the print, the luminous effect is both beautiful and alluring.” But it’s one of those things that just gets me thinking about how the art world, much like capitalism, seems so good at absorbing critique and spitting at back out as product. People love the meaningless OBEY icon, so Shepard sells it. Shepard needs to make more product to continue selling to this market he has created, so he takes an old design (or a slight variant, I’m not positive), and adds meaningless diamond dust to it and sells it as something new. The best critiques participate in the system which they critique, but that’s a risky game to play. Of course, I say all this with a print by Shepard hanging on my wall.
OldWalls is a project where the photographer took photos of graffiti in the early 1990’s and recently returned to those spots to take the exact same shots, and then each matching photo is displayed next to its counterpart.
Artnet’s latest street art and graffiti auction has a handful of interesting pieces (Artnet is a sponsor of Vandalog btw). Here are my favorites:
- Greg Lamarche’s Krylon boxes
- A nice Futura with a character from 2006
- A classic Richard Hambleton print. He wheatpasted this self-portrait on the streets of New York in the early 1980’s.
- A great Todd James on paper

Photos by Luna Park

December 18, 2012December 18, 2012

Great painting, needs good home

richard-hambleton-standing-lady-shadow-r1-r9-paintings-acrylic-zoom-5 — Standing Lady Shadow #R1-R9 (detail)

It simultaneously amuses and saddens to me to no end how Richard Hambleton can be promoted and his works purportedly sold for astronomical sums by Valmorbida while at the same time fantastic paintings of his have difficulty reaching 5 figures at auctions when Valmorbida isn’t involved. Hambleton is one of the original street artists from the 1970’s, but his story has never really been told since the 1985 book Street Art by Allan Schwartzman. The short version is that Hambleton’s street art in the 70’s and 80’s, particularly his shadowmen, are easily up there with work by Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, or Jenny Holzer, but he has never really received due credit.

With the exception of charity events filled with people who just want to outspend the person sitting next to them, Hambleton’s work has consistently sold at auction for significantly lower than what you’d find at art galleries, and now artnet’s latest online auction of work by 1980’s graffiti writers and street artists has a few Hambleton’s up for sale (and yes, artnet is a sponsor of Vandalog this month but this is not a paid post). Of particular note is Standing Lady Shadow #R1-R9. This piece on canvas from 1985 is a great indoor version of his shadowmen series of street pieces.

It’s difficult to say if Standing Lady Shadow #R1-R9 is worth the tens of thousands that a gallery might ask for it, the hundreds of thousands Valmorbida might ask for it, or something else, but I’m pretty confident that anything this solid by Hambleton should go for more than the $6,000 opening bid that artnet has it at right now.

I just hope there’s someone out there with $6,000 and a good home who agrees with me… The auction ends of December 20th just after noon Eastern Standard Time.

Photos courtesy of artnet

June 26, 2011

No bid: artnet’s latest graffiti/street art auction

Keith Haring. Estimated $200,000 to $250,000. Opening at $145,000. No bids so far.

There are 148 lots in artnet’s latest graffiti and street art themed auction. The sale began on Tuesday and ends on the 28th. So far, over 100 of those lots have no bid.

The work isn’t bad. There’s a nice Richard Hambleton, iconic pieces by Haze, a classic photo by Henry Chalfant and a lot more. With a range of artists from Taki183 and Futura to Shepard Fairey and Zevs, there’s a little bit of everything in this auction. While there are some stinkers for sure, most people who read Vandalog will probably find something they like.

So what’s going on here? Why no bids? Do people not want to buy expensive art online? Do people not want to sell good art through an online auction? And what about things like that Richard Hambleton piece going for super cheap, compared to what galleries are trying to sell his work for? I guess that’s that bubble burst, yet again (his auction results are usually much lower than his gallery prices). Maybe one big plus about auctions like this is that they cut through all that hype. Unlike an auction at Christie’s or Sotheby’s, artnet auctions don’t have auctioneers and specialists goading buyers to spend big. And at a quick glance, some of the opening bids look high. Anyway, I’m not going to look through every single listing, but I suspect there might be a few deals hidden in this flop of an auction, if you can wade through everything else.

Better luck next time artnet.

Photo courtesy of artnet

July 13, 2009July 13, 2009

Artnet Urban Art Auction

Artnet.com is having an online urban art auction, which began July 7^th and runs through July 23^rd. The catalogue contains works by many of the major names in the scene, from the 80s through today, such as Dondi, Crash, Haring, Basquiat, Barry McGee, Banksy, Nick Walker, Faile and Shepard Fairey. There are also some strange, albeit nice, inclusions such as Mr. and Jim Houser, as well as some weaker urban choices, but on the whole this auction is definitely worth checking out as there is a good range of pieces in it.

It is also quite well-presented and easy to use; you can either scroll the catalogue page by page or search by artist. The biographical information is nice to have and I like the inclusion of sales results for comparable work – this is particularly handy if you are considering placing a bid.

I have highlighted a few of my personal favorites. Clicking on the image will take you to the lot.

Keith Haring "Luna, Luna, a poetic extravaganza!" 1986

Keith Haring "Untitled (DOG) Oil on Wood" 1983

Jean-Michel Basquiat "Anti-Baseball Card Product" circa 1979

Doze Green "Ancestros Totemic Series: Cuba" 2008

Elisa x