Nick Walker has been spending some time painting in Japan. Here’s one of his pieces:
Artnet Urban Art Auction
Artnet.com is having an online urban art auction, which began July 7th and runs through July 23rd. The catalogue contains works by many of the major names in the scene, from the 80s through today, such as Dondi, Crash, Haring, Basquiat, Barry McGee, Banksy, Nick Walker, Faile and Shepard Fairey. There are also some strange, albeit nice, inclusions such as Mr. and Jim Houser, as well as some weaker urban choices, but on the whole this auction is definitely worth checking out as there is a good range of pieces in it.
It is also quite well-presented and easy to use; you can either scroll the catalogue page by page or search by artist. The biographical information is nice to have and I like the inclusion of sales results for comparable work – this is particularly handy if you are considering placing a bid.
I have highlighted a few of my personal favorites. Clicking on the image will take you to the lot.
Elisa x
A Sequence of Events
Thursday was the extremely crowded opening of Nick Walker’s latest show at Black Rat Press, “A Sequence of Events.” People were queued for 13 hours just to buy a print. Just the usual sort of reception that Walker receives. The show was done in conjunction with the release of Walker’s book.
Because all the work was only in one or two colors, prices were lower than usual. Also, the size of the work was generally smaller than Nick’s trademark pieces in the past. This means that prices were lower than usual and fans who might only be able to afford a print might to able to afford an original.
There aren’t any new images in this show, so I doubt anybody who didn’t like Nick in the past will be convinced to buy his work all of a sudden, but if you like Nick Walker, this show provides a solid overview of all his most popular images.
Photos by unusualimage
Nick Walker book launch @ BRP
“A Sequence of Events” is Nick Walker’s new book, due to be released this spring, and in conjunction with the book, Walker has a solo show at Black Rat Press.
The show, also called “A Sequence of Events” opens May 28th, and there will be 2 screenprints released on that night.
They’ll kill me for saying this, but start lining up outside of BRP soon, and bring tents. Camping out overnight may be the only way to guarantee your chance at one of Walker’s highly-in-demand screenprints.
It’s Showtime
The number of interesting shows is really starting to increase as it starts to get warmer. Here’s a number of shows around the world open or opening soon which look interesting:
(this show features Blu, Nunca, Os Gemeos and others)
- Spring Fever at Kings County Bar in Brooklyn, New York. A group show curated by Andrew Michael Ford. Open now.
- Nick Walker’s “A Sequence of Events” at Black Rat Press (speak of BRP, Part 2 of my Matt Small interview will be online as soon as my computer stops freezing when I try to upload it)
- The always amazing José Parlá has a show in Hong Kong right now.
- Lazarides will be reopening their main London gallery in a new location on Rathbone Place on May 15th. Lazarides Rathbone place will start out with another “Outsiders” show.
Phillips de Pury Results
Just a quick run through of Saturday’s Phillips de Pury auction results (all prices include buyer’s premium).
- Herakut’s canvas for the War Child charity went for £3750.
- Only one Paul Insect piece managed, to sell (a print at £375).
- Seen was quite strong, with a large painting on subway maps selling for £4000.
- Out of 2 prints and 1 original by BAST, only one print sold and it was at below estimate (and that original was really nice in person, even if it isn’t his typical style).
- None of the Faile prints or originals sold.
- Nick Walker’s Moona Lisa, which was estimated at £7-9000, sold for £18,750. Seems like a bit of a fluke though, as the rest of Walker’s work was within the estimate.
- The Swoon on Mylar was withdrawn
- Finally, as I anticipated, the two Os Gêmeos giant head boxes sold for more than the estimate of £4-6000, but they sold A LOT more: £18125 including the premium.
For the full results a pdf can be downloaded here.
Bristol Graffiti Show – Crimes of Passion
I probably won’t be able to make it to this, but if you live it Bristol it sounds fantastic.
Crimes Of Passion: Street Art in Bristol
This Spring Bristol’s oldest and grandest gallery, the Royal West Of England Academy is throwing open all 5 of it’s galleries to host a major show by 50 of the city’s best known and most successful graffiti and street artists. This is the first major show of its kind in the city since the Arnolfini’s groundbreaking 1985 show, Graffiti Art and is a full-blown celebration of the city’s rich and diverse contemporary scene.
Bristol has nurtured many of the UK’s most successful graffiti and street artists, including 3D, Inkie, Banksy, Nick Walker, Sickboy, Cyclops and TCF Crew, to name but a few. The city continues to be a breeding ground for a wealth of exceptional creative talent and continues to have one of the UK’s most diverse and thriving scenes.
Crimes Of Passion takes the love of (and heartfelt dedication to) the art form as its starting point, but is far from a typical gallery retrospective, all the artists will be showing completely new work, as well as installation pieces and working both directly onto (and into) the walls of the gallery.
Crimes of Passion will also include a city-wide programme of large-scale painting, a photographic exhibition,a film season at local arts cinema The Cube (www.cubecinema.com) and a series of workshops and talks.
Exhibition venue:
Royal West of England Academy, Queen’s Rd, BristolExhibition dates:
21st March – 2nd May
Artists involved in the show include Cyclops, Inkie, Mudwig, Nick Walker, Sickboy, Xenz and many many many more.
If anybody goes, please let me know how it is.
Nick Walker and Gauging The Street Art Market
Next Tuesday the London Art Fair opens, and the world is watching. Bloomberg, Animal New York, The Art Collectors Blog, Artbleat, and others have all been talking about Black Rat Press’ print release Tuesday evening at the private opening: Nick Walker’s latest “Morning After Series” print. this one feature’s New York city and the Empire State Building. It’s an edition of 175, for £475 each.
Besides just a print release, this particular print is being viewed as a sort of barometer for the state of the art market. Usually, Nick Walker prints are instant sell-out items for Black Rat, but nobody knows for sure what’s going to happen with so many collectors reluctant to spend. Continue reading “Nick Walker and Gauging The Street Art Market”
The White Noise Review
So last night was the opening of Black Rat Press’ White Noise show. Most of the work was from Lucas Price/Cyclops, Asha Zero and Brian Adam Douglas/Elbowtoe, but there was work from Blek le Rat, Nick Walker, Matt Small, and D*face as well.
For Brian Adam Douglas, the show was a chance to introduce a whole new direction in his work: collage. These collage pieces are amazingly detailed and I can’t wait to see how the work progresses. For now though, there is at least one collage which had a crowd of people around it all night. Douglas’ self-portrait, pictured on the left, may be the perfection of collage. His other collages were good, though I prefer his older work to most of them, but his self portrait is probably the best piece I’ve ever seen by Douglas. The video below from JetSet Graffiti features Douglas/Elbowtoe and talks a bit about his collage work at the end.
More after the jump…
Continue reading “The White Noise Review”