Fab 5 Freddy – Vandalog – A Street Art Blog

March 7, 2012March 6, 2012

Preview: Fountain Art Fair NY 2012

Swoon will be showing at KESTING / RAY's booth

It’s art-fair week in New York. Of course there’s The Armory Show, The Volta Show and SCOPE, but the fair that Vandalog readers are going to love is the Fountain New York Art Fair. That’s where the street artists are showing. 5 Pointz Art Space, KESTING / RAY, Mighty Tanaka, Station 16 and The Marketplace Gallery will all be there, plus GILF and Fab5 Freddy will be there independent of any gallery. Fountain runs Friday through Sunday, with musical performances on Friday night and Saturday night. I’ve been to Fountain’s fair in Miami twice, and each time it has been something a bit different from the standard art fair whateverness. I don’t want to give anything away, but I’ve heard that some Vandalog favorites will be working on indoor murals for the fair.

Photo courtesy of KESTING / Ray

September 24, 2011

Weekend link-o-rama

6169453877_506aaa4769_z — Sam3 in France

This week it seems like I’ve been appearing elsewhere on the web as much as here on the blog. I’ve been more active than usual on Vandalog’s tumblr, which I’ve finally getting a feel for; I was interviewed by Brian Sherwin over at FineArtViews; and I wrote a post for my friend at Hyperallergic about advertisers utilizing the style of Liu Bolin to sell stuff. Here’s what didn’t make it to Vandalog:

Revok called out Fab 5 Freddy for appropriating (or in Revok’s words “stealing”) letters from other artists including Sever and using them in his own work. You can read Revok’s post here, and hopefully I’ll have some thoughts about it in a post on Vandalog over the weekend. A commenter on Vandalog actually noted that Fred was doing this about two months ago.
New York Magazine published an article, and not a particularly brief one, all about a painting that is supposedly by Jean-Michel Basquiat but was denied by his estate’s authentication committee. Well, while the writer of the article tries to get readers to sympathize with going through a potentially daunting and certainly not transparent authentication process, there was really no point for the whole thing: The painting is clearly by Phil Frost, something that the article doesn’t mention at all. So, umm… good work. Thanks to Known Gallery for pointing this all out.
Nunca, Titifreak, Invader and more at this show in Paris.
Retna painted a mural in Miami.
Here’s some images of Bast’s show in Newcastle.
The New York Times went with graffiti writer Freedom back to The Freedom Tunnel where he used to paint and took some photos.
A street art / mystery investigation documentary film thing. Looks kinda cool except that they are trying to “out” an artist, so I’m not sure I’m 100% cool with that.

Photo by Sam3

June 29, 2011June 30, 2011

New Paintings from Old School Legend Fab 5 Freddy @ Gallery 151 on the Bowery

One of NYC’s most active train bombers in the late 70’s and early 80’s, Fred Brathwaite aka Fab 5 Freddy is probably best-known for his work as a film producer, director and co-host of Yo MTV Raps. He was also, as Jeffrey Deitch reminds us, one of the leading forces behind the movement that brought graffiti into galleries and helped link the distinct uptown and downtown cultures. With a painting on exhibit at MoCA’s Art in the Streets and a solo exhibit of recent work at Gallery 151 at 350 Bowery, this hip-hop pioneer is once again gaining recognition for his visual art. Last night I stopped by the gallery to check out “New York: New Work” that opened earlier in the month (and closes this Friday). There’s a range of mixed-media paintings on exhibit including images of boxers and exotic dancers. My favorite pieces, though, are those that celebrate the bold flavor and brash spirit of old school graffiti. Here are a few:

FabFive2forVandalog — Photo by Lois Stavsky

FabFive1forVandalog — Photo by Lois Stavsky

: Metro Movement, an allusion to the New York City subway car Fab 5 Freddy covered with Campbell’s soup cans in 1980, Image courtesy Gallery 151