judith supine – Page 3 – Vandalog

January 24, 2011January 24, 2011

New DAIN in NYC

Dain has been quite busy in NYC lately. I am loving the new works found on BSA yesterday, not just because they are colorful collage and I wish I could walk by them every day, but the images are so rich in art history that it boggles my mind. Maybe it is jsut because I am sitting in Sotheby’s being lectured at about Documenta X and seeing slide after slide of artists, but DAIN’s work (as well as Judith Supine) really remind me of Hannah Hoch, a German collage artist known best for her feminist and political works in the DADA movement in the early 1900’s. Understanding that street artists come from so many backgrounds, I find it fascinating that the ones that don’t have any art history background are actually repeating pieces from the art canon and putting their own modern spin on it without even knowing it. Possible dissertation piece maybe?

I could be completely wrong, and maybe the striking similarities are not just purely coincidental, but influenced by Hoch and John Heartfield, and other participants from around the world (not just Berlin). We all know that artists are influenced by others in order to find their voice, and some are blatant copycats, but the inclusion of established art history in street, whether intentional or not, furthers the notion that street art does have a place alongside fine artists.

All Photos by Jaime Rojo for Brooklyn Street Art

December 7, 2010December 8, 2010

It’s not about the money (well, actually…)

Escif painted that mural outside of Graffiti Gone Global’s Fresh Produce show in Miami last week. While Basel Miami and the associated events aren’t all about money, it’s certainly on everyone’s minds. That doesn’t mean that the shows were bad though. There was actually a lot of great art on display for those who took the time to look. Here are some of the indoor highlights (unfortunately, I didn’t have a camera with me besides my cameraphone, so I have to link to other peoples’ coverage of everything):

Amazingly, Sanrio’s Hello Kitty show was, by all accounts, actually pretty good. I stuck to my vow of not checking out the show myself (okay, actually, once I changed my mind and wanted to see it, the show was close both times I tried to stop by). Of course it looks like there was some crap and boring pandering to the brand, but there seem to be a few decent paintings in there too. Also, it was super crowded every time I walked by, so hopefully those visitors who were there for Sanrio’s show also saw some of the other great shows nearby.
Hi-Fructose and Arrested Motion have some good photo-summaries of the main fair, Basel Miami.
Retna‘s solo show, Silver Lining, at Primary Projects was his first show since being on the cover of Juxtapoz. After landing in Miami last Thursday evening, I went to straight from the airport to Primary Projects to catch the end of this opening. There was a little bit of something for everyone: installations, canvas, monotype prints, work on old doors and more. Oddly enough, it was the more refined work that didn’t appeal to me. For me, the canvases seemed to be lacking that spark that makes Retna’s work so amazing. Everything else was a real treat though. The watercolors and monotypes in particular were beautiful. This show is still running, so any Miami residents who haven’t seen it yet really should stop by. For the rest of the world Arrested Motion took photos.
Jonathan LeVine Gallery put on a solid group show. The standout piece was a new artwork by Judith Supine. Unfortunately, Hi-Fructose’s picture of the standout piece is blurry (the super-glossy varnish must have confused the camera) and the gallery’s photo doesn’t show the glossiness of the piece. HF have photos of the rest of the show though.
While it was technically mostly a mural project, I’m throwing Wynwood Walls into this post because the vibe was like a gallery show. Hrag and I are pretty much in agreement on this one. Although I’d give Logan Hicks’ mural more credit than Hrag.

Lastly, I want to mention New Image Art‘s pop-up show. There was some new artwork by Judith Supine, Os Gêmeos, Bast and others, as well as a bunch of photos by Neckface and his friends, which are 100x more interesting than I had expected them to be. Here are a few photos from that show:

This is probably most, if not all, if the coverage I’ll be giving to indoor things at Basel Miami, but I’ll be posting a lot more about the murals and other outdoor events in the coming days.

Photos by Escif and courtesy of New Image Art

December 1, 2010March 22, 2015

Miami Madness

4167923180_fab9cb72ae_o — In a lot of ways, Hargo sums up Miami's art fair week

With so much of the art world migrating to Miami this week in a frenzy, there seem to be too many events and parties (and I promise not to blog about the parties in detail. This isn’t a gossip site) and exhibits and festivals and everything else to keep track of. Here’s a roundup of some of the things that I’m most interested in seeing (or not seeing).

Things that have already been mentioned on Vandalog:

This year’s Primary Flight mural project has an impressive list of artists including Roa, Escif, Retna and Boxi.
Fresh Produce looks to be a solid group show of graffiti and street artists.
There will be some new Cash For Your Warhol billboards.
Retna has a solo show at the new Primary Projects space.
Wynwood Walls is a mural project (among other things) with some big-name artists but questionable motives.

And things that I haven’t already blogged about:

Elisa Carmichael has her list of Miami must-sees, which includes a Dan Witz book signing and a Trespass book signing with Marc and Sara from Wooster Collective and Carlo McCormick.
Sorry to bring this up, but Sanrio’s exhibition of Hello Kitty art is just annoying. They got some great artists like Jim Houser to paint Hello Kitty characters. I’ll be avoiding this show like the plague.
I mostly go for Ryan McGinness’ really abstract work and this isn’t that, but McGinness fans will probably want to check out his solo show.
Barry McGee will be showing work and signing books at Ratio 3’s book in Basel Miami.
Jonathan LeVine Gallery has a pop-up show as part of Wynwood Walls. Some of the artists include AJ Fosik, Judith Supine, Doze Green, Dan Witz and WK Interact.
FriendsWithYou are filling a park with giant blow-up sculptures.
Last year, OHWOW Gallery’s It Ain’t Fair show was one of the most interesting shows in Miami. Once again, they have a killer line up for the show including José Parlá, Rey Parlá (José’s brother who is, I believe, a filmmaker), KAWS, Phil Frost, Barry McGee and Neckface.
OHWOW Gallery are also opening a bookstore at The Standard Hotel in Miami.
New Image Art’s pop-up show includes Neckface, Judith Supine and Os Gêmeos. Probably going to be a must-see.
Tristan Eaton and his partners are launching Contra Projects with a wide-array of events this week including a tent/lounge space, a mural (by Mr. Jago, Tristan Eaton, Ron English and others) and a TrustoCorp carnival aka TrustoLand. More info on the Thunderdog blog.
Carmichael Gallery, Joshua Liner Gallery and others will have booths at SCOPE, and I think Maya Hayuk is painting a mural there, which should be awesome if I’m remembering that correctly.
And of course there’s all the fairs I haven’t mentioned, because there are just so many. So many. Too many. It’s gonna be art overload. But if I’ve missed anything that you think is particularly special, please leave a comment.

Photo by Hargo

August 11, 2010

The Lost Ones in Mexico City

The Lost Ones is a group show opening this week at Fifty24MX, Upper Playground’s Mexico City gallery. The show is being curated by New Image Art Gallery‘s Marsea Goldberg and features some great street artists like Retna, Shepard Fairey, Judith Supine and Neck Face. The Lost Ones opens on Friday. I wonder of Arrested Motion will have photographers there, because I certainly don’t know anybody who will be there taking photos and I’d like to see this once it’s open.

August 8, 2010

EVOL and Judith Supine at Jonathan LeVine

Jonathan LeVine Gallery‘s annual summer group exhibition is on right now, and there are a few noteworthy pieces that I just had to share.

EVOL is one of the artists really pushing forward the use of multi-layered stencils, and he doesn’t get enough credit for it. His cityscapes on cardboard are something special. And, unlike a few other artists who depict the urban environment and attempt to achieve something nearing photo-realism with stencils, EVOL’s style doesn’t look like a ripoff of Logan Hicks.

And then there are the new paintings by Judith Supine. Like his painting at Shred, these two paintings seem to have that glossier-than-a-sheet-of-glass look. Personally, I think it’s great. Other people don’t like it. But I’m pretty confident that the super-glossy look makes theses paintings look even better. As usual, Supine has made something beautiful, mesmerizing and disturbing.

The Lives of Lee Miller by Judith Supine

Jonathan LeVine Gallery’s summer group show runs through August 21st.

July 28, 2010

Definitely go see: Shred at Perry Rubenstein Gallery

Among the street and low-brow art communities, the Shred show on now at Perry Rubenstein Gallery is probably the most-talked-about exhibition currently on in New York. Shred is a show of collaged-based artwork which has been curated by Carlo McCormick. While Shred is by no means intended as a show about “street artists,” there are works by a number of street artists hanging alongside classic collage artists like Gee Vaucher. Perry Rubenstein Gallery is a major New York City gallery, and to my knowledge, this is the first time they have exhibited work in their gallery by the current generation of street artists (although there is a Faile solo show at the gallery later this year).

After speaking with a few people about this show, but not yet having seen it in the flesh myself, I was disappointed. Most of the people that I spoke with were of the general opinion that although the show might have one or two solid pieces, it wasn’t really worth stopping by and it was generally not as good as anyone had expected. Luckily, I didn’t listen to those friends and stopped by the gallery anyway while I was recently in New York. I can’t figure out what people were complaining about. The show has plenty of solid pieces along with some of the best work I have seen from Judith Supine and Shepard Fairey.

This piece by Judith Supine is one of my favorites that he has ever done (I always seem to say that when I see his work in the flesh, but he just keeps getting better). Unfortunately, this photo just doesn’t do the work justice. The varnish that Supine often coats his paintings with has been lapped on extra thick and reflective here and the green specks throughout the piece are actually fake nails embedded into the varnish. I’ve heard complaints that the work is too reflective, but I have to disagree. Besides, most any frame that the work’s owner might put on the piece would be reflective as well unless they decided to spend extra money on non-reflective glass. New Yorkers really need to go see this one in person. It’s a real beauty.

And Shepard Fairey’s piece is a retired stencil; in fact, it’s one of the best retired stencils I’ve seen from Fairey.

Shred marks the start of something new for Brian Adam Douglas (did you know that Vandalog recently interviewed Brian?), with his collages moving from portraits to a new narrative subject matter:

Finally, there is Swoon’s contribution to Shred. While I’m not really liking this new image that she’s been using recently (the man’s head looks like more of a caricature than her typical portraits which bring out the inner beauty of her subjects), the collaged details are what makes this piece so interesting. It’s definitely not a typical Swoon. For this work, Swoon has taken to doing Fairey-like collages of newspaper artists and tiny screenprints in the background of the work. Unfortunately, I don’t have an image that really shows these off well, but the small screenprinted designs towards the bottom of the work are stunning.

Shred runs at Perry Rubenstein Gallery in New York City through August 27th, and I urge you to go have a look in person.

Photos courtesy of the artists and Perry Rubenstein Gallery

June 2, 2010October 3, 2010

Booked – Group Exhibition and Book Day at Carmichael Gallery

It’s been a long time since Seth and I have had a group show this big at Carmichael Gallery – there will be over 35 artists represented on the walls when we open “Booked” on Saturday, June 5th! Some of the artists we’ve worked with for several years and others we’ll be showing for the first time. We’re also going to have lots of great art books and magazines from publishers like Drago, Gingko, Studiocromie (I really enjoyed opening up the box of Blu and Sam3 books!) and VNA. Books and art are two of the best things in the world, in my opinion, so it should be a fun event! We will be open from 12-8pm on Saturday for Culver City Art Walk (make sure to visit all the other galleries on the block if you come by; there will be lots of cool things to see) and the reception itself is from 6-8pm.

Here are some of the pieces in the show.

Martha Cooper

Escif

SpY

Anthony Lister

Lucas Price (aka Cyclops)

Bumblebee

Brad Downey

Here’s the full line up of artists and publishers:

Aiko, Banksy, Beejoir, Blek le Rat, Boxi, Bumblebee, C215, Henry Chalfant, Martha Cooper, D*Face, Brad Downey, Eine, Ericailcane, Escif, Faile, Shepard Fairey, Stelios Faitakis, Gaia, Hush, Mark Jenkins, Dave Kinsey, Know Hope, Labrona, Anthony Lister, Lucy McLauchlan, Aakash Nihalani, Walter Nomura (a.k.a. Tinho), Other, Steve Powers (a.k.a. ESPO), Lucas Price (a.k.a. Cyclops), Retna, Saber, Sam3, Sixeart, Slinkachu, SpY, Judith Supine, Titi Freak, Nick Walker, Dan Witz and WK Interact

Drago, Gingko Press, Murphy Design, Prestel, Rojo, SCB Distributors, Studiocromie, Very Nearly Almost, Zupi

The show runs from June 5 – July 3. Drop in to say hi if you’re in LA!

– Elisa

February 8, 2010February 8, 2010