Gilf! show this week at Galerie Swanström

UPDATE: THIS OPENING OF GILF!’S SHOW HAS BEEN DELAYED DUE TO THE HURRICANE. IT WILL NOW BE ON NOVEMBER 8TH FROM 5-9PM (SAME LOCATION OF COURSE).

This Thursday NEXT THURSDAY from 5-9pm, Gilf! there will be a public opening for Gilf!’s solo show at Galerie Swanström (136 Sullivan Street, 3rd Floor, New York City). I was really impressed with Gifl!’s booth at Fountain New York earlier this year, and so I’m excited to see what she’s done for this show. Check back later this week or early next for photos from the show and from The Art of Comedy, which Gilf! is a part of along with Hanksy and Ron English.

Photo courtesy of Gilf!

The Art of Comedy with Ron English, Gilf!, and Hanksy

From left to right: Hanksy, Ron English and Gilf!

UPDATE: THE ART CRAWL / MURAL TOUR WILL TAKE PLACE ON NOVEMBER 10TH AT NOON RATHER THAN NOVEMBER 3RD.

The New York Comedy Festival, in association with Vandalog, Little Italy and Montana Cans, are bringing street art into this year’s New York Comedy Festival with The Art of Comedy. The Art of Comedy is a series of indoor and outdoor installations around Manhattan by some of New York’s funniest street artists: Ron English, Hanksy, and Gilf!. The installations include murals in Little Italy on Mulberry Street between Canal and Broome, and work inside of the historic comedy club Carolines on Broadway. I’m very excited to be a co-curator on this project alongside Wayne Rada. Caroline Hirsch, of Carolines on Broadway and creator of the New York Comedy Festival, says,”We’re always looking for new and creative ways in which humor is represented in art. These talented artists add a really unique element to this year’s festival, literally taking comedy to the streets.”

The installations inside of Carolines on Broadway by all three artists will be up from November 7th-11th, so if you’re going to check out The Wayans Brothers or maybe one of the other New York Comedy Festival shows at Carolines, be sure to have a look around the Carolines Lounge before you get seated for the show.

Over on Mulberry, the artists will be painting a mix of temporary and permanent murals. Ron’s mural is of particular note since it will be the first mural he has painted in Manhattan (excluding billboard takeovers) since 1987, and this one is going to be big enough that it may just be worth the wait. I’m also looking forward to seeing the election-themed work that Gifl! will put up and work by Hanksy starring some of the performers in this year’s New York Comedy Festival.

I hope you’ll join us on Saturday, November 3rd November 10th at noon on a short tour of the completed murals. We’ll be meeting at Caffe Roma (385 Broome Street).

The Art of Comedy and The New York Comedy Festival also line up nicely with solo shows from all three artists opening on November 1st November 10th. Ron’s show, Crucial Fiction, opens from 6-9pm at Opera Gallery NYC (115 Spring St) and runs through November 29th. Gilf! will be showing at Galerie Swanström (136 Sullivan Street, 3rd Floor) opening from 5-9pm. Hanksy’s show, Young Puns 2 – Now With More Pun, opens at Krause Gallery (149 Orchard Street) from 6-9pm and runs through November 28th.

As for the main events at the New York Comedy Festival, this year has some amazing headliners performing all over the city including Aziz Ansari, Bill Maher, Robin Williams and more. Personally, Caroline and I are going to try to catch Jim Gaffigan. The full schedule can be found here.

Photos courtesy of the artists

Illegal Baltimore part three: The city’s streets

Doodles

Part one of the Illegal Baltimore series can be found here, and part two can be found here.

Walking around in the abandoned areas of Baltimore gave me a peace of mind that the NYPD would never allow in New York. However, engaging life-long citizens of Baltimore about the graffiti surrounding them in the streets came with its own merits. The blending of New York and Baltimore-based artists that I saw in the the city’s innards was mirrored in its streets. With the, then recent, invasion of international artists for Open Walls Baltimore, the city had become a hub for any east coast street artist to visit. As long as you had friends in the area or on the roster, chances are you ended up there. Continue reading “Illegal Baltimore part three: The city’s streets”

“Just My Type” @ Bushwick’s Low Brow Artique

Opening this evening from 7 to 10 pm at Bushwick’s Low Brow Artique at 143 Central Ave is Just My Type, an exhibit featuring the work of four Brooklyn-based artists — Gilf!, Dirty Bandits, ND’A and QRST — who utilize typography in their artworks. Ranging from the playful to the poignant in a variety of styles and media, the pieces often amuse and always provoke. Coordinated by Low Brow Artique’s resident curator, Rhiannon Platt, the exhibit continues through October 7th.

Images clockwise: Gilf! close-up, photographed by Lois Stavsky; QRST photographed by Tara Murray; Dirty Bandits on postcard courtesy of Low Brow Artique and ND’A photographed by Lois Stavsky

Williamsburg murals

Gilf

Gilf recently organized a legal spot for seven artists, including some of my favorites, at 229 North 10th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Here are the finished results:

Cake
Sofia Maldonado
Veng
LNY
Joe Iurato
Icy and Sot

Photos by Gilf

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

Temporary walls at Fountain Miami

Hugh Leeman

We’ve got more photos today from Mike Pearce‘s time in Miami. Today we’re focusing on the art installation at the Fountain Art Fair. As they have done in past years, the fair got some street artists to paint on temporary walls in an outdoor section of the fair. This year, the installation was curated by Samson Contompasis of The Marketplace Gallery and included Hugh Leeman, Sharktoof, Gilf!, Elle, Know Hope, Chris Stain, Joe Iurato, Overunder and White Cocoa. Mike has more from Fountain in this flickr set.

Overunder and White Cocoa
Joe Iurato
Chris Stain and Sharktoof
Know Hope
Gilf! and Elle

Photos by Mike Pearce