Tag: dface

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Dreweatt’s latest auction disguised as a hotel exhibition

Charming Baker "Panda Boy remix" (2007) (£6,000 - £8,000)

This week sees the opening of Autumn’s most high profile street art “exhibit” at The Cumberland Hotel in Marble Arch. I say exhibit loosely since Urban Contemporary is a ten day show culminating in the 150 works being auctioned off by Dreweatt’s on October 10. As usual, there is a mix of crap and some rare works that haven’t been seen in a while. The two that stood out for me is JR’s Adama, Montfermeil, Portrait d’une generation (2006) and the Charming Baker Panda Boy Remix (2007). Not only is the piece an early Baker, but this is also the first time (I cannot find evidence to say otherwise) one of his works has cropped up in the secondary market. Other artists in the show include D*Face, Barry McGee, Shepard Fairey, Banksy, Blek le Rat and Eine.

The show opens September 30th at The Cumberland Hotel in Marble Arch.

D*Face "Pop Tart" (2007) (£4,000 - £6,000)
Shepard Fairey "Johnny Ramone" (2008) (£6,000-£8,000)

All Images courtesy of Dreweatt’s Bloomsbury

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D*face, Galo and Logan Hicks in Oslo

Logan Hicks in progress. Photo courtesy of Logan HIcks

Here’s the latest from the T&J Art Walk in Oslo. Previously, we’ve posted about Faile and Shepard Fairey‘s murals for the event, and Brooklyn Street Art has some photos of what The London Police are working on. Most recently, D*face, Galo and Logan Hicks have finished their walls. Art Walk’s indoor exhibition to benefit Human Rights Watch also opened at Blomqvist opened on the 19th. But here are the new walls…

D*face. Photo by Ole Walter Jacobsen
Galo. Photo by Ole Walter Jacobsen
Logan Hicks. Photo by Ole Walter Jacobsen
Logan Hicks. Photo by Ole Walter Jacobsen

Photos by Ole Walter Jacobsen and courtesy of Logan Hicks

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Faile in Oslo and the T&J Art Walk

Faile have been painting this week in Oslo in preparation for the T&J Art Walk taking place this month for the benefit of Human Rights Watch. Faile are the first artists to get to Olso and start painting for the event, but Shepard Fairey, Logan Hicks, D*face, The London Police, Seen, Fenx, Galo and others will be taking part as well. In addition to 10 murals in central Oslo celebrating the work of Human Rights Watch and memorializing the victims of last month’s terror attack, there will be an exhibition from August 18th through September 4th at the Norwegian auction house Blomqvist for the benefit of Human Rights Watch.

Check out some of what Faile has been up to in Oslo after the jump, and expect to see more T&J Art Walk murals on Vandalog soon… Continue reading “Faile in Oslo and the T&J Art Walk”

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Mobile graffiti machines

Photo by withassociates

With two new videos that have come out this week about artists making machines to spray paint using skateboards, I thought I’d mention some bike-based graffiti-making machines that have been made in the past before posting those videos…

In 2009, someone in London made a spraycan holding device that attached to a bike (similar to DTagno’s gadget from 2008, but mounted on a bike), so that they could ride their bike and paint at the same time. The above photograph show the results of that device. And then earlier this year, Akay did something similar with his spray-painting robot that can paint a rainbow. Those were both on bikes though. The two devices unveiled this week use skateboards.

D*Face returned to California to once again paint The Ridiculous Pool, an empty pool used for skating. Except that he didn’t paint it in a traditional way. Instead, he came up with a device that hooked up a spray can to the bottom of a skateboard so that the lines of each skater in the pool are painted onto the pool. Pretty cool. Check it out:

But that device is overly complex and difficult to build. Certainly not how I would have made it. Why did D*face have to cut the deck up? Dave the Chimp has a much simpler solution, and he’s been taking it to the street:

Dave says he made his device to encourage a punk/DIY spirit and get people to actually do stuff instead of just sitting around all day and thinking it takes money and months of research to do something cool.

Photo by withassociates

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Next week: Stolenspace’s summer group show

D*face

Stolenspace Gallery‘s summer group show opens next week, on July 7th. All the work in this show, prints and originals, will be new. The artist lineup includes D*face, Dan Witz, Eine, Miss Van, Ripo, San, Shepard Fairey, Word To Mother and a number of others. Check out the full artist list on Stolenspace’s website. Here’s a great little piece from Dan Witz that will be there:

Dan Witz

The show runs from the 7th of July (opening from 6-9pm) through July 31st.

Photos courtesy of Stolenspace Gallery

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The Street Art Show at Opera Gallery

Rich Simmons "Homeless Superman"

I normally am not this much of an ass, but this was too good to pass up and not post. I have heard about this show at Opera Gallery for awhile now, as I am sure most of you have as well. I may have been able to overlook the ridiculous name of the show, The Street Art Show, because of the incredible line-up: Keith Haring, Jean-Michael Basquiat, Banksy, Blek Le Rat, Seen, Ron English, Logan Hicks, Crash, The London Police, Nick Walker, How & Nosm, Saber, ROA, D*Face, Sweet Toof, Mr. Jago, b., Swoon, Kid Zoom, ALEXONE, Anthony Lister, Alexandrous Vasmoulakis and Rich Simmons, but then I remembered that this is still a show put on by Opera Gallery, the home of the beloved Mr. Brainwash. They do put on good show as well as some really shit ones, and I really do want this to be good, but that association still leaves a bad taste in my mouth. Plus I cannot help, but feel a bit suspicious since the show is launching on the heels of Art in the Streets.

The Street Art Show seems to be more for the collectors’ benefit who are still salivating over the interest in the LAMOCA show and want to buy more/start buying some pieces for their own collections. Well, at least Mr. Brainwash isn’t an option this time around, although i am sure he will be again soon enough.

The show opens June 17th at Opera Gallery in London.

Photo courtesy of Opera Gallery

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From UK to HK and back again

So I’m back from Hong Kong nursing about 130 mosquito bites, but luckily a lack of sunburn – there are some upsides! In between the usual tourist based things I managed to wander the streets in and around Midlevels for an hour or two with the aim of spotting a few pieces of street art. Here are a few of the photos that interested me for one reason or another. Enjoy…

East LDN x HK - Anti-Graffiti Network and Monkey getting up high
Xeme! and the Toasters risking it outside the American Embassy and Central Government Offices
D*Face outside Schoeni Gallery - It's amazing how long this piece has lasted untouched
D*Face D*Dog - picture taken in 2009
Lovely grimey Pez
Beautifully aged paste up by Orsek
You have been invaded. Artist unknown.
King Kong in Hong Kong? By Meggs
One of many paste ups by Michael De Feo

One thing I love about street art is the interaction between an artist and the environment, re-thinking spaces and re-appropriating objects, to produce art in its rawest form. In 2009 I spotted these two fire hydrants, unfortunately they had both been buffed with a new coat of paint when I re-visited them but they were my favourite pieces in Hong Kong and were too good to leave out of this post.

"I only have eyes for you" - Outside Man Mo Temple
"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder" - On the top of The Peak

Photos by Shower

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D*Face in LA

A little bit late on this show, but it is impossible to forget about it all together. “Going Nowhere Fast” opened last week at Corey Helford Gallery in Los Angeles. The highly anticipated solo show by British street artist D*Face debuted a lot of brand new work, and with the gallery space, it is no wonder there was so much to see.

Showing everything from screenprints, sculpture, readymades, taxidermy and spray paint, D*Face really outdid himself with the array and quality of what was shown. While not every piece is everyone’s cup of tea, there is definitely something for everyone. Moving further away from his patented logo character, this show places this type of art in an indoor setting, which is a change that is quickly occurring with street artists as they separate their outdoor and indoor work.

What I find most interesting about “Going Nowhere Fast” is the amount of publicity the show received before it even opened. Whether it acted as a comeback show for D*Face’s career, a reintroduction of a new direction of work or a debut in the west coast markets, the show is not just another gallery opening. That’s for sure. Plus with Art in the Streets opening this weekend, it is no surprise that the surrounding area galleries are putting on grandiose shows like this while the street art market descends on Los Angeles.

Staying true to his outdoor routes, D*Face created this mural (in similar fashion to the paintings for sale) outside the gallery.

 

Photos by butterfly except mural photo by futuradosmil

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Some NY art fair suggestions

EVOL will be at the WILDE Gallery booth at Volta

With two midterms exams tomorrow, I’m rushing this post, but here’s a simple list for some of what to check out at the art fairs in New York this week.

I won’t be in NYC for the fairs myself, but I’ll hopefully have some photos to post. Otherwise, the places I will be getting my art fair news will be Hyperallergic and Arrested Motion.

Photo courtesy of Volta Art Fair

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Printmaking Today at Black Rat Projects

Last night hosted a packed opening at Black Rat Projects entitled Printmaking Today. Normally print shows tend to be a bit tedious, since they are usually reproduced images of originals or have been so before upon their initial releases. But Black Rat hosted a refreshingly eclectic display of prints by artists ranging from Damien Hirst, Banksy, Matt Small, D*Face, Shepard Fairey and more. As much shit as I got for a previous post of mine about street artists becoming accepted into the art canon, this show only adds further evidence to my point. While many high end fine art establishments look down on street art and find it a passing trend in galleries, this show saw Hirst’s work next to D*Face and Bridget Riley (whose work is in the Tate) close to a Shepard Fairey, without any work looking out of place. My friends and I were discussing how not only does street art borrow from fine art, but fine artists are definitely borrowing from the work of street and outsider artists. The lines are quickly blurring between low brow and fine art, so it is finally nice to see the two in such a show, and not just in an auction.

The show also boasted an incredible pop-up project space by ROA. Each angle showed a new image, and I swear you could walk around it ten time and would still see something different. The works may not be new, quite similar to the LA and NY shows, but the concept is so much more complex and is worth checking out just for that reason.

My favorite of the night had to be Pure Evil‘s “Dripping Liza” work that culminated with a puddle of teal paint down on the floor near the canvas. Andy Warhol may be done to death, but Pure Evil still manages to put a new spin on an over-saturated piece of art that needs to be seen in person to attain the full effect.

Pictures by butterfly. View the whole set here