ola bad – Vandalog – A Street Art Blog

November 12, 2011November 13, 2011

Weekend link-o-rama

6319407195_2fe735f54b_z — Os Gêmeos in Greece

It’s 11/11/11, so I guess that’s a big deal to some people. That seems so arbitrary to me, since our calendar is pretty arbitrary to begin with. Besides, it’s really 11/11/2011. A few years ago, 11/02/2011 was much cooler. In my social sphere though, 11/11/11 seems like an excuse to throw parties, so maybe I shouldn’t complain. While I was thinking about the ridiculousness of this date, here’s what almost passed me by this week in art:

As pictured in part above, Nolionsinengland came across a well-preserved mural by Os Gêmeos, Nina, Same84 and Nunca in Athens, Greece.
LNY designed a couple of t-shirts.
I’m loving this “Occupy Your Mind” poster by EZRA.
Echo and The Bunnymen are a brilliant band and Will Sergeant is a fantastically talented member of that group. Unfortunately the same things cannot be said about his attempt at street art.
Last month, Ola Bad’s first solo show took place in Atlanta. It does not look like it’s his first show. It looks much better than any artist’s first solo show should look. There are a number of photos from the show here.
A tribute to Robbo has been painted on the wall where he and Banksy feuded. It looks like it’s by Banksy, but there’s been no word from his camp or any other artists claiming responsibility. Last we heard, Robbo was still in intensive care at a hospital due to the injuries he sustained back in April.

Photo by Nolionsinengland

August 20, 2011August 20, 2011

A portrait of Atlanta

Here’s the mural that Ola Bad (who has no website but can be reached at olabad.art@gmail.com) and Howdy Nater collaborated on for Living Walls.

Ola Bad tells this story of how the mural came about…

This is my first wall which was done in collaboration with Howdy Nater. The wall is out in the West End of Atlanta on the border of two run down neighborhoods, Adair Park and Oakland City. It lies directly along the Northbound Marta Line which is what everyone coming into the city has to take from Hartsfield Airport. Living walls had started a few days before we started painting and we were just tripping out at how much all the out of town artists were talking about all the love they were recieving and how this felt truly like a home away from home. We had decided that because of the location we wanted to welcome every traveller into the city with the hope that they would experience the same feeling as the artists.

Howdy Nater came up with the saying Your Southern Home Away from Home. I wanted to do portraits but didnt know who. As HN was laying out some letters I walked across the street to goto the gas station to buy us some 40s of Colt 45. The gas station had two lines , mine which was barely moving and the other which was flying by. I decided to move over to the other line when I was greeted by a man named Fred. He had two gold fronts a towel over his shoulder and was completely thugged out. He congratulated me on my patience and offered to let me cut in line. We started a converstion when a homeless man i was talking to earlier came in and asked me to buy him a hotdog. Before I could even reply Fred interjected that anyone who was humble enough to ask for food deserved to eat and purchased the hotdog. Fred told me that he had lived in Oakland City his entire life. I was completely blown away by his kindness and the way he treated anyone in his neighborhood like family. I knew immediately that he was the perfect ambassador for the mural and got to work.

The second portrait is of a wonderful woman who is heavily involved in the atlanta graff/street art scene, whos name is Sharon. She and Fred both share the same love for Atlanta and its inhabitants no matter who they are or what they look like. Its rad to think that two completly different people with completely different backgrounds share the same love and the only hope I have is that there are people like this in everycity to welcome and love people.

Photos by Ola Bad

June 27, 2011June 27, 2011

Atlanta in Berlin

The perennially positive and southern homie Ola bad, whose smiles glint like the sun, just sent me these nice works he put up in Berlin for his people back in Atlanta. Ola bad explains the rest:

“I was recently blessed to have a trip to Berlin for a group Exhibition at Retramp Gallery as a part of a 48 hour festival in the neighborhood of Neukölln. I got this exhibition from the owner seeing the dreamcatcher project on vandalog which was kinda crazy. I was toying around with the idea of being an “international artist” and how meaningless it is. There are people who put up way more awesome work more frequently than i do so i decided that i was going to take my city with me. I called pretty much every street artist in atlanta and started collecting work so everyone could be an “international artist” Here are the results. ”

The artists included are Ola bad, Paper Twins, Scatterbrained, Evereman and Sherman. Summer is here and Living Walls is approaching! I’ll see you guys in a couple months! more photos after the jump.

Continue reading “Atlanta in Berlin”

January 24, 2011January 24, 2011

Ola Bad’s dreamcatchers in Atlanta

In a city with very little street art like Atlanta, Ola Bad is making a big impact with his dreamcatcher project.

Check out his flickr for more info about the project.

This picture was taken right before Christmas:

photo credit by Ola Bad

This is the first in a series about empathy and homelessness. The idea is to draw dreamcatchers and put them up where homeless people sleep and go back at night to photograph them sleeping under it. My goal is in atlanta for the symbol of the dreamcatcher to become synonymous with empathy and gratitude. To see one outside even when noone is sleeping under it is to hopefully become thankful for what you have.

I got to talk to phil in the middle of putting this piece up. Hes been here for a long time and let me know that when the sun goes down thats where i can find him. We discussed the issue of homelessness and why atlanta is spending money on things other than a solution to housing them. I gave him a bottle of rum, canned food , some baked goods, and cigs. He insisted on shaking my hand even though it was covered in wheatpaste.

The next day when i was walking i saw him and he introduced me to his friend, gave me the biggest hug, and told me he loved me. Thats what its about. I could care less on how many views this gets my goal is already accomplished on a personal level. My hopes are to get a show built around a series of these and donate half of what i make to the specific person in the photo.

Have a great holiday and be thankful you arent out in the cold.
Love Ola

and this one right after the snowstorm that hit Atlanta last week:

Photos by Ola Bad