Review: Art in the Streets

Retna. Photo by Lord Jim

Last week, The Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art opened an exhibit of street art and graffiti that promised to go down in history, Art in the Streets. It’s a massive exhibit of over 100 street artists and graffiti writers. I visited AITS three times, and still wasn’t satisfied that I’d appreciated the show fully. I think MOCA has delivered something special, but maybe did not quite fulfill that original promise.

I want to spend a good amount of time addressing criticisms of AITS, because that should not be ignored, even if they are far outweighed by the good of the show.

This isn’t the show that I would have put on. This isn’t the show you would have put on. AITS is the show that only Jeffrey Deitch, Roger Gastman and Aaron Rose would have put on. Artists that I would have included without a moment’s hesitation (Judith Supine, Faile, Brad Downey, Jenny Holzer…) were oddly absent, and some artists in the show were out of place or allotted too much space (Geoff McFetridge, Terry Richardson, Mr. Cartoon…). For a show attempting to paint the picture of a history, the historical timeline was given a strange second billing to a hodgepodge of individual artist installations.

The selection process for a lot of the show seems like it was a political battle rather than an ideal model of art curating. When the curators’ names were announced, a good chunk of the show’s line up could already be predicted based on their personal relationships. Luckily, the curators are connected to many of the same people that anyone would have put in a similar show to AITS. What would this sort of show be without a contribution from some Beautiful Losers and artists who had shown at Deitch Projects? The unfortunate thing is that there definitely could have been less of a focus on those well-connected artists, and the many talented artists who aren’t connected to the curators probably had a harder time getting invited to be part of the show (or weren’t invited at all).

Os Gêmeos. Photo by RJ Rushmore

Briefly, it’s worth mentioning the lack of strong political artwork in the show. Any political statements made were “safe” ones, and the most controversial (Blu’s message of “war sucks and people make money off of it”) was removed. But just as all illegal street art and graffiti is inherently political, putting work by street artists and graffiti writers in a museum is a political act, even if the content of the work is not explicitly political.

The outdoor murals and the way MOCA has generally dealt with truly accepting the “street” side of street art and graffiti has also been a bit of a mess, but I think that would be true of almost any institution of MOCA’s size. The buffing of Blu’s mural and then the buffing of Katsu’s tag both tainted AITS, regardless of MOCA’s right to do what they want their walls, and the murals that replaced those two are not fantastic (although Push and Futura’s contributions to Lee’s mural work pretty well). And just this past week, Deitch’s inability to publicly defend and embrace illegal street art being committed near the museum has been laughable and depressing. Critics of the show are right to point out the hypocrisy of his position on the legitimacy of street art being produced today versus that of a few years ago. But just like it is the critics’ job to point out that hypocrisy, it is Deitch’s job to say politically wise things to reporters. Simply put, MOCA haven’t been very ballsy when it comes to the “in the streets” part of “Art in the Streets.” This minor fail is maybe what best points out what AITS is and what it isn’t.

In essence, the show has the wrong name. It is not “art in the streets.” It is “documentation of art in the streets or art by artists who began their careers by making art in the street but probably don’t do that too much now, or maybe they do but this is a different side of their artwork.” Yes, a lot of these artists still get up outdoors, but, for many but not all of the AITS artists, it’s a different sort of thing these days: OBEY posters are advertising, Banksy stencils are tourist attractions that last a few days before ending up on eBay and Steve Powers paints amazing murals for an organization founded with the expressed purpose of covering graffiti like his. I’m not saying that artists can’t or shouldn’t evolve, but many of the street artists and graffiti writers that AITS focuses on make “museum friendly” art. And that’s great for them. But AITS is not a show of art in the streets but art by artists who have, as I’ve heard a few people put it, “graduated” from the streets, even if they still get up a bit. As Unurth points out, there is a general lack of names from the last 10 years. So let’s reframe this for what the show is, and look at it that way. Putting aside the politics and minor flaws that only a street art or graffiti fanatic will pay much attention to, AITS is a huge hit.

AITS has two main components: it has a brief history of street art and graffiti, and it has mini-shows of fine art from some of the most acclaimed street artists, street culture documenters and graffiti writers over the last few decades.

Part of the timeline. Photo by Lindsay T

The timeline is the most “museum-y” part of the show, and it should provide newcomers a history of what graffiti, street culture and street art are about, as well as give long-time fans some new insights. While visitors should also take a trip to see the show currently on at Subliminal Projects to get a better idea about 1980’s street art in NYC, the timeline definitely does its job as a brief overview of the history informing the rest of AITS.

Most of the highlights of the show can be found in the installations.

Three of the best installations make a point of acknowledging that their work is in a museum, even though AITS is meant to be about illegal outdoor art. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: Street art and graffiti is about good placement and understanding context. Neckface, Os Gêmeos and the trio of Barry McGee, Todd James and Steve Powers all understand this very well, and it came across in their installations.

Neckface. Photo by Gelatobaby

Neckface’s section was billed as one of his “haunted house” installations, but ended up being a recreation of a dark inner-city alleyway (complete with a drunk, drugged up or just plain crazy homeless man) with some Neckface tags on the walls. Of course, suits and bloggers like me were lined up to check it out, but few of us would be smiling so much if we actually found ourselves alone in that sort of an alleyway at 3 in the morning. That’s the street, the thing MOCA is supposed to be celebrating. It is like a voyeuristic natural history exhibit for historically middle and upper class museum visitors, pointing out the impossibility and absurdity of bringing the streets indoors in the fashion that the title of the show suggests.

Os Gêmeos reinstalled a show that they had last year at a museum in Portugal. It was definitely a highlight of the show, with a little bit of everything from the twins. Hidden in a bit in their cluster of work was one piece of wood where it was written: “This is not graff the graffiti is outside!!” Simple. That installation is their fine art and it is awe inspiring and thought provoking and should be seen. The graffiti is outside. And so is the street art.

Os Gêmeos. Photo by RJ Rushmore
Street (Barry Mcgee, Todd James and Steve Powers). Photo by Gelatobaby

And then there is Street. Barry McGee aka Twist, Steve Powers aka ESPO and Todd James aka Reas reunited to make a new version of their historic Street Market installation, versions of which had previously been put on at Deitch Projects and the Venice Biennale. First of all, this might be the best installation in the show. Particularly when the area isn’t too crowded with other museum-goers, it’s like being transported into another, more Technicolor and mad, world. It’s a graffiti writer’s urban dreamworld where taggers can hide invisible bushes and bodegas sell cans of street cred. The space is an art-crowd friendly dreamworld of a street, where Style Wars isn’t a documentary but a musical without any real-world consequences. Again though, the installation touches on the impossibility of bringing a true street inside, going for the asurd illusion instead. Street is what would happen if graffiti writers could have a ride at Disneyland, and I mean that in the best way, but it’s still a ride at Disneyland rather than an actual street and the artists know it.

Street (Barry Mcgee, Todd James and Steve Powers). Photo by RJ Rushmore
Street (Barry Mcgee, Todd James and Steve Powers). Photo by RJ Rushmore

The show is just too massive to write about everything. This review is already far too long. Sections by Margaret Kilgallen, Roa (who again, understands that he is in a museum), Invader (who plays with the fact that he is in a museum), Shepard Fairey, Banksy, The Fun Gallery, Rammellzee, Retna, Chaz Bojorquez, Swoon, Kaws, Ed Templeton and many others add together to be the most substantial gathering of art by this group of artists that has ever been assembled. I rediscovered artists I’d overlooked, found new favorites and enjoyed revisiting the work of my old favorites. The show is so massive that a pessimist will undoubtedly find something that they do not like and many visitors will be overwhelmed, but it would be difficult to go through the entire show and not find a few gems, no matter your taste in art.

Swoon. Photo by RJ Rushmore

For a moment, forget about the BS and the politics and the buffing and Deitch-hating and Alleged Gallery controversies from a decade ago and the lack of this person and that person and why this person got an installation and that person painted a mural and blah freaking blah. Outside of our art-world BS political pissing contest context where AITS can and will be criticized on many levels, people are going to visit AITS and they’re going to see some amazing art by artists who were and are pillars of street art and graffiti history. I expect that the vast majority of visitors will like what they see and they will learn something. And that’s important. This is street art. It’s supposed to be for “the people,” and “the people” will still enjoy this show even if my or your 4th favorite artist was snubbed or whatever other minor flaw you can find. And if you go and visit the show and you can put aside your minor internal art world squabbles for a couple of hours, AITS should be a magical experience for you, just as it was for me. I highly recommend setting aside a day to visit AITS.

Photos by Lord Jim, Gelatobaby, LindsayT and RJ Rushmore

Art in the Streets link-o-rama

The entrance at Art in the Streets

Why haven’t hotels figured out that they should have strong free wifi in all rooms? And, if they make you pay for wifi, the signal and speed had better be amazing? Starbucks has it figured out, and I don’t have to pay a boatload of money to hang out in a Starbucks for a couple of hours (unless I’m drinking their coffee while I’m there). And yet, hotels haven’t seemed to get the message. So that problem, and the general busyness of the last few days in LA, is why I am woefully late covering the opening of Art in the Streets at MOCA in LA, probably the biggest indoor event this year relating to street art or graffiti. And I’m still going to be woefully late with coverage today. Expect a full review in a couple of days, but in the mean time, here’s some of the best reviews and coverage from around the web:

Banksy’s Crayon Forclosure for sale

A couple of days ago, I got an email from someone selling Banksy‘s Crayon Foreclosure piece (photo above), painted earlier this year in LA. The seller describes the piece as and 12 x 8 feet and “mixed media on concrete.” Of course, the piece would never come with official Pest Control certification (standard for legitimate Banksy artwork), as Pest Control does not authenticate Banksy’s street pieces, but the piece does appear on Banksy’s website. No word yet on the price that is being asked.

Photo courtesy of Banksy’s website

Exclusive: Art in the Streets – The COMPLETE artist list

JR for Art in the Streets

Last night, the LA Weekly revealed the list of almost all the artists in MOCA’s Art in the Streets show, opening next week. Here it is:

Alexis Ross, Andre, A-One,Barry McGee, Bear 167, Bill Daniel, Bill Ray, Blade, Charlie Ahearn, Chaz Bojorquez, Coco144, Cost, Craig Costello, Craig R. Stecyk III, Crash, Dan Murphy, Dash Snow, Daze, Delta, Devin Flynn, Don Leicht, Dondi, Drugs, Ed Templeton, Eine, Erik Brunetti, Estevan Oriol, Fab 5 Freddy, Freedom, Futura, Gordon Matta-Clark, Gusmano Cesaretti, Haze, Henry Chalfant, Howard Gribble, Hugh Holland, Invader, Irak, Iz the Wiz, Jamie Reid, James Prigoff, Jane Dickson, Jean-Michel Basquiat, John Ahearn, John Fekner, Jon Naar, Josh Lazcano, JR, Kaws, Keith Haring, Kenny Scharf, Kiely Jenkins, Koor, Lady Pink, Larry Clark, Lee Quinones, Loomit, Malcolm McLaren, Mare 139, Margaret Kilgallen, Mark Gonzales, Martha Cooper, Miss Van, Mister Cartoon, Mode 2, Neckface, Noc, Os Gêmeos, Patti Astor, Phase 2, Rammellzee, Retna, Revok, Revolt, Revs, Risk, Roa, Robbie Conal, Ron English, Saber, Sharp, Shepard Fairey, SJK161, Snake 1, Spike Jonze, Stelios Faitakis, Stephen Powers, Steve Grody, Swoon, Taki 183, Teen Witch, Terry Richardson, Todd James, Toxic, Tracy 168, Zephyr.

The LA Weekly also reports that there is one more “extra bonus artist.” We here at Vandalog can exclusively complete the line up for Art in the Streets and say that the one extra bonus secret artist is…. Banksy!

I’m being sarcastic. The final artist is Banksy, but that isn’t news. Banksy’s involvement in the show was confirmed by Deitch MONTHS ago in the LA Times.

So yeah, that’s the full line up for Art in the Streets. Not the exactly list that I or anyone would’ve come up with, but I think it’s an overall solid show. A bit heavy on the LA writers and there are some big gaps, but I’m still thinking this will be an interesting show. One important thing has been pointed out to me though: This show could very well define all future street art and graffiti museum shows. Any gaps in Art in the Streets could easily carry on for a long time to come. Should Jeffrey Deitch be the definer of street art? I can’t think of many people better suited for the task, but I’m not sure any single person should have that responsibility to begin with… So I think it’s important to keep in mind that this list, and this show, is not the end-all-be-all of street art history. To many people, what I’m saying is obvious, but I think it’s still worth a mention.

Photo by Brandon Shigeta

Dreweatts Urban Contemporary Sale

Dreweatts is holding their next Urban Contemporary sale on Wednesday, April 6. Whilst I continue to struggle to understand why works by artists such as Lucien Freud, Russell Young and Damien Hirst are included in a sale with the aforementioned title, there are certainly a few lots that are both worth taking a look at and actually fit the sale’s theme. These include eight Banksy prints and one of his Family Target canvases from 2003 (est. 30-50k GBP),  a cool Martha Cooper photograph of Shy 147 precariously balanced between two train cars as he paints (est. 1200-1800 GBP), a haunting Guy Denning canvas (est. 3-5k GBP), a Jonathan Yeo Leaf Study (est. 4-6k GBP) and a really beautiful Adam Neate Self Portrait on cardboard (est. 8-12k GBP). The Neate is probably the highlight of the auction, at least in my opinion. It’s my birthday on Friday if a Vandalog reader out there is feeling generous. I’ll take you out for a drink next time you’re in LA to show my gratitude.

One of the more interesting aspects of this sale, however, is the final group of works, which will be auctioned in aid of Haven House Children’s Hospice. The twenty-five lots that comprise this section were curated by 15 year old, London-based Liam Patel. I don’t normally reprint press releases, but the text below sums up Liam’s endeavors fairly well so I recommend reading it. Stand-out works include those by Mantis, Herakut (pictured above), Remi/Rough and Matt Small.

Liam Patel has been collecting Urban Art since he was 12; now at the ripe old age of 15 he has brought together an extraordinary group of 25 cutting-edge lots to be sold at Dreweatts’ Urban Contemporary sale on Wednesday 6th April, to raise money for the Haven House Children’s Hospice.

Unable to do physical charity work for his Duke of Edinburgh Award because he had a broken arm and shoulder, Liam decided to ask some of his favourite artists to donate their work to raise £10,000 for the Children’s Hospice, which offers vital support to children with life-limiting conditions and their parents. Liam then approached Dreweatts to host the sale in their central London branch at 24 Maddox Street W1 and they were only too happy to help by offering the venue, and any extra expertise.

‘I came up with the idea to curate an Urban Art charity auction as the Haven House Children’s Hospice needs to raise around £2m each year to provide fantastic support for children and their families.  Even though I won’t be able to raise that amount, every little helps.’ Each piece comes with a certificate of authenticity from the artist and estimates range from £100 to £1,200.  The group to be sold for the charity includes works by the likes of Matt Small, Schoony, Handiedan, Mantis, Nick Gentry, Herakut and Arkiv Vilmansa all of whom were delighted to be able to help by donating the proceeds of their pictures.

– Elisa

Image via Dreweatts‘ Urban Contemporary catalogue.

Printing Banksy – two short films about his 2006 LA print series

Printing Banksy: Modern Multiples Creates the LA Prints is a short film/interview with Richard Duardo about the prints that he made for Banksy at Modern Multiples back in 2006 for Banksy’s Barely Legal show in LA. The interview was done soon after the prints were made, but the film was just put online last month. It’s just about the closest thing to a behind-the-scene looks as anyone has ever gotten when it comes to Banksy.

As for that whole story in the video about Richard Duardo destroying the screens and test prints and whatnot, there’s more documentation of that on another little-seen YouTube video (and you can spot Mr. Brainwash filming there too).

Printing Banksy via Melrose&Fairfax

Weekend link-o-rama

Overunder

This week is spring break, so I’ve been enjoying some relaxation and watching too many films on Netflix, but in the mean time, there were of course some stories that slipped by me. Here are some of them:

Photo by Overunder

Before Banksy, that “Elephant” tank was a man’s home

It seems that there is more to say about Banksy‘s recent piece, This Looks A Bit Like An Elephant, which was removed and is now for sale. Until as recently as September of 2010, a man had been living inside the water tank that Banksy painted. Tachowa Covington aka Rollerball has lived inside the tank for about seven years. In fact, it’s probably a good guess, although I can’t say for sure, that Tachowa was still living in the tank when Banksy painted it, given that he shows up in the video that Banksyelephant.com (the folks trying to sell the tank) have posted on their homepage and says that he saw Banksy paint the tank.

There have been a couple of short films made about Tachowa:

Melrose and Fairfax wonder if maybe Banksy was unaware of Tachowa’s story or that maybe he was aware of Tachowa but was doing a favor for a friend who wanted the tank removed (local residents had been trying to get the tank removed because it disrupts their view of the landscape, and if it weren’t a home, I’d probably agree with them). They also point out that whatever Banksy’s intent, the consequences seem to have left Tachowa homeless.

I’m not so sure about that (edit) that Banksy was unaware of Tachowa though. Given that Banksy has dealt with the issue of homelessness before (including tangentially during the same trip to LA when This Looks A Bit Like An Elephant was painted), it seems possible that this piece was about homelessness (the elephant in the room) and that Banksy was aware that the tank was Tachowa’s home. If that’s true, the meaning of the piece becomes mutli-layered and more than a quick joke about the shape of the tank.

Either way, the questions are now: Where is Tachowa now, how is Tachowa doing, will Banksy help him out and has Banksy done so already?

Photo from Banksy’s website

Banksy’s “A Bit Like An Elephant” tank for sale

UPDATE: Before Banksy came along, a man had been living in the tank for 7 years.

Melrose and Fairfax, and LA-based street art blog, has been following the Banksy drama in LA very closely (check out these postsalthough that last one is basically a forum user pulling claims out of thin air which may or may not be true M&F points out that The LA Weekly has backed up some of the claims in that last post, which seems a lot more reliable to me), so of course, they were the first to discover that the above Banksy, recently painted on an old water tank as part of Banksy’s pre-Oscars campaign in LA, is for sale. Banksyelephant.com is attempting to sell the tank. While the site claims that the owners “personally acquired ownership to preserve and protect the work of Banksy in hopes that it will end up exhibited in a respected museum where his work will live on without harm,” I think it’s safe to say that money was a bit of a motivator too. Of course, Elephant will never get Pest Control certification (they do not certify street pieces) and without that, the value of a work by Banksy drops dramatically.

Historically, the water tank has been a bit of an eyesore that residents have tried to get rid of, but the owner would not remove. Melrose and Fairfax wonders if maybe Banksy was aware of that history and painted it knowing that the owner would finally remove the tank in order to try to sell or protect it.

Photo from Banksy’s website