Tag: beau stanton

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The Bushwick Collective and McDonald’s Team Up to Screw Artists

The opening to a new McDonald’s ad featuring murals in Bushwick.

UPDATE (April 23rd, 2017): A group of artists whose work was used in this campaign without their permission is now threatening legal action against McDonald’s.

Many artists are feeling betrayed this week, as they realize that their art has been used without their permission in a McDonald’s advertisement, apparently thanks to the cooperation of The Bushwick Collective‘s Joe Ficalora.

As first noted by Brooklyn Street Art, McDonald’s new ad campaign for the “New York Bagel Supreme” (a burger/bagel hybrid launching in the Netherlands) centers on “the vibe of Bushwick.” They got that local flavor from The Bushwick Collective, one of New York’s more well-known mural projects. A cornerstone of the campaign is a 4-minute advertisement (UPDATE: McDonald’s appears to have taken the advertisement offline, but we’ve uploaded a copy to Facebook) with Bushwick Collective founder Joe Ficalora giving a tour to highlight his project’s collection of murals. Except… At least two of the murals in the ad aren’t even Bushwick Collective murals (despite what is implied) and at least five artists whose work is featured did not give their permission for McDonald’s to use their work.

Lmnopi’s mural, as featured in the ad. The mural was not painted as part of The Bushwick Collective.

On Facebook, Lmnopi made her feelings clear:

McDonald’s just teamed up with the Gentrifying Bushwick Collective to exploit street art in Brooklyn to sell Burgers in Netherlands. This will not stand. They did not get my permission to use my work in their psuedo doc and the mural is NOT part of the Bushwick Collective. PERIOD

Similarly, Beau Stanton was unaware that his work was featured in the ad until someone sent him a link to the video. Stanton’s mural was commissioned by the building owner, and is not affiliated with The Bushwick Collective either. Continue reading “The Bushwick Collective and McDonald’s Team Up to Screw Artists”

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Beau Stanton in Little Italy

Click to view large
Click to view large

Ever since he helped out Ron English on Ron’s Little Italy mural, I’ve been hoping to see Beau Stanton‘s own work on Mulberry Street. This month, everything finally came together and Beau painted the above piece at Mulberry and Grand as part of The L.I.S.A. Project NYC. When we’re arranging murals for The L.I.S.A. Project, I particularly like when we can bring in something fresh that doesn’t totally leave the context of the area behind. With the neighborhood’s rich history of immigration, I think Beau’s mural is a perfect fit. I have to be honest though, this wall was entirely organized by Wayne Rada and Rey Rosa, with me watching jealously from the sidelines here in Philadelphia.

Beau Stanton starts the mural with a base layer of blue and white
Beau starts the mural with a base layer of teal and white
After dark, Beau projects his design onto the wall and makes a sketch
After dark, Beau projects his design onto the wall and makes a sketch
With the sketch in place, Beau can come back during the day to paint with proper lighting.
With the sketch in place, Beau can come back during the day to paint with proper lighting.

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Photos by Rey Rosa for The L.I.S.A. Project NYC

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Inside Beau Stanton’s Cabinet of Curiosities

During the Renaissance, a cabinet of curiosities collected works of art, historical relics, and other artifacts in a room, or cabinet, for display. Through not only his style, but in the way that he inhabits his space, Beau Stanton harkens upon these old world ideas. Inspired by objects he finds exploring abandoned buildings, the shelves of his studio embody this Renaissance display technique. Photographs, bottles, and broken mechanisms touch upon Stanton’s affinity for craftsmanship of days gone by.

Deeply rooted in art historical tradition, the artist’s inspiration board gives direct insight into types of craft work that are replicated within his paintings. In addition to his collection of antiquities, stained glass windows from the same era act as additional visual inspiration. The stained glass forms that are displayed in the vaulted windows of Renaissance churches can be seen strategically flanking, or more often than not covering, the bodies of the women the artist chooses to portray. However, Stanton is well versed in the use of patterns throughout art history, not limiting his influences to a specific time or movement. The work of turn of the century artists such as Gustav Klimt and art deco furnishings can also be seen as driving forces behind his pieces.

It is not only the decorative flourishes of 19th century furnishings, but also the craftsmanship behind each piece that speaks to his aesthetics. With the smallest of brushes, Stanton replicates the minute details of the masters of carpentry and glass that he so admires. It is not only by drawing upon these visual elements that Beau Stanton stand apart from other contemporary artists, but also through the emulation of a work ethic that is sadly waning in our current mass production culture.

Photos by Rhiannon Platt

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Finals are approaching link-o-rama

OX in Paris
OX in Paris

This weekend I’ve been without solid internet access, and Caroline and I have both been knee-deep in exams and final essays for the last week, so here’s a belated link-o-rama…

Photo by OX

 

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Beau Stanton paints the Berlin Wall

Beau Stanton was recently in Germany where he painted a section of the Berlin Wall. Of course, Beau is Ron English’s assistant and has been mentored by Ron for a couple of years now, and Ron painted the wall back before it came down and when painting it meant risking arrest. Still, Beau’s work for this project was pretty spectacular. Somebody give this man some wallspace to paint murals in NYC!

Photos by Beau Stanton

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Weekend link-o-rama

Beau Stanton and Darkclouds at Welling Court

So I got the latest issue of Juxtapoz in my inbox today (I have a digital subscription), and realized that I still haven’t read the last issue yet. D’oh. So while I get on that, here are a few links to keep you busy.

  • Contra Projects showed at Scope in Basel, Switzerland. They had work from TrustoCorp, How&Nosm and Tristan Eaton.
  • This is perhaps a controversial statement, but Faile’s print show in LA looks great. I barely mentioned the show here before it opened because I didn’t have high expectations and the print release seemed silly, but damn was I wrong (about the show, still big on the print release). Faile get a lot of crap for their prints, but when they are on, they are really really on.
  • This is a few weeks out still, but Subliminal Projects has a group show of female artists including Swoon.
  • Lois has been posting on Vandalog about Ad Hoc Art’s Welling Court mural project, and the photo at the top of this post is from that project as well. Obviously I’m a fan. So here’s even a bit more from Welling Court, over at Brooklyn Street Art.
  • This show over in Milan with Futura, Os Gêmeos, Delta and more looks great. Especially the Futura pieces.
  • If you haven’t in a while, go check out Xylo’s website. Lots of good stuff on there. Especially his supermarket pieces.
  • Someone, possibly associated with Banksy and possibly not, tagged this Banksy piece at MOCA. There has been work put up inside MOCA by uninvited artists, both in the bathrooms and throughout the McGee/James/Powers Street installation, but Banksy has also been changing up his section, so either option is definitely possible.

Photo by Beau Stanton