That was a long week. But at least it was a fun one too. For one thing, Jill Cohen was in town for a show at my university. Definitely have a look at her drawings. That’s some crazy skill. Here’s the art news I’ve been reading:
Shepard Fairey’s latest print is called Eat The Rich. I hate to be the one to call him out on this one since many will understandably perceive it as hypocritical of me, but can a millionaire artist really legitimately make that statement? I know he is a hard-working guy who has been at this for decades, but then the proper time for that rhetoric was 20 years ago. Not when his art sells for hundreds of thousands to millionaires and his overpriced t-shirts are found in the fanciest clothing stores. Plus, the man is a committed and unashamed capitalist. Thoughts? Maybe he is just using the phrase as an example of a culture he is interested in, rather than as part of an intended propaganda poster?
It’s officially spring break, which meant the last week for me has primarily consisted of sitting at my desk where I read and type furiously until my eyes are tearing up and my fingers are sore. It also means I could only blog when procrastinating and that the next few days should be a chance to write some longer posts that I’ve been sitting on. In the mean time, here’s what I’ve been finding around the web this week:
The man who came up with the Broken Windows Theory died this week.
The Living Walls Conference has two great announcements this week: 1. They are now a 501(c)(3), aka an official non-profit organization. 2. In addition to the annual conference, there will be 6 “Living Walls Concepts” mini-events throughout the year, starting in March.
Craig Ward wrote a letter critiquing Banksy’s critique of advertisers. Given: Banksy is one of the world’s best marketers himself. Beyond that, the letter is a bit of a mess and Ward points out that he has worked in advertising himself. Clearly, it’s written from the perspective of someone who has lost his perspective and seems to boil down to “There’s worse stuff in the world, so umm, please leave advertisers alone.” No doubt that there are greater evils in the world than the public advertising that seems to be the primary target of Banksy’s critique of advertising, but that sure as hell doesn’t mean it’s a good thing. Additionally, one of Ward’s points as to why traditional advertising isn’t as bad as Banksy’s advertising is that traditional advertisers pays for the locations they use. With that argument, Ward completely disregards both the negative externalities of massive ad campaigns that occur regardless of how much the advertiser pays (compared to the documented positive externalities of Banksy’s street art) and the illegal nature of many advertising campaigns which do not pay the government for the space that they use. By his standard, hiring an assassin to kill someone might be better than doing it yourself, because at least there’s money involved and somebody is getting paid for their time.
Too often I see an artist releasing a new mass produced screenprint, pulled by a large print house, and with little or no input from the artist themselves. As a result, I rather enjoy seeing the process an artist goes through to produce a piece of work, be it print or original. It is almost refreshing.
Recently Remi/Rough team up with David Shillinglaw in David’s north London studio to paint this lovely colab canvas. And whilst doing so, posed for a few nice photos of them at work…
Surge, Gaia, Stormie, Remi/Rough and in The Underbelly Project
UPDATE – LOCATION CHANGE: The Underbelly Show has moved to 78 NW 25th Street in Wynwood, Miami to accommodate the large scale of the artwork in this show.
The Underbelly Project is back. Last year, I posteda lotabout the project where 103 artists from around the world secretly painted an abandoned/half-completed New York City subway station. After that initial burst of press here and around the web, The Underbelly Project organizers stayed silent. With only occasional vague tweets from a mysterious twitter account and the appearance on Amazon of an upcoming book about the project. Yesterday though, The Underbelly Project announced that they will be participating in this year’s Basel Miami Week madness with a pop-up gallery in South BeachWynwood.
The organizers of The Underbelly Project and The Underbelly Show, Workhorse and PAC, have this to say about the show:
Workhorse: The New York Underbelly was an important chapter for us, but the story hadn’t been comprehensively told. The Underbelly Miami show gives us a chance to present the broad scope of documentation – Videos, photos, time-lapses and first hand accounts. The project is about more than just artwork. This show gives us a chance to show the people and the environment behind the artwork.
PAC: While the experience each artist had in their expedition underground can never be captured, it is my hope that this show will highlight some of the trials and tribulations associated with urban art taking place in the remote corners of our cities. Too often the practice of making art in unconventional venues remains shrouded in mystery and I hope this exhibition will shine a faint light on those artists who risk their safety to find alternative ways to create and be a part of the cities they live in.
35 of the 103 artists from The Underbelly Project will be exhibiting art in The Underbelly Show, plus video and still footage of the artists at work in the tunnel. Here’s the full line-up: Faile, Dabs & Myla, TrustoCorp, Aiko, Rone, Revok, Ron English, Jeff Soto, Mark Jenkins, Anthony Lister, Logan Hicks, Lucy McLauchlan, M-City, Kid Zoom, Haze, Saber, Meggs, Jim & Tina Darling, The London Police, Sheone, Skewville, Jeff Stark, Jordan Seiler, Jason Eppink and I AM, Dan Witz, Specter, Ripo, MoMo, Remi/Rough, Stormie Mills, Swoon, Know Hope, Skullphone, L’Atlas, Roa, Surge, Gaia, Michael De Feo, Joe Iurato, Love Me, Adam 5100, and Chris Stain.
For this show, the space will be transformed into an environment imitating the tunnel where The Underbelly Project took place, right down to playing sounds recorded in the station while The Underbelly Project was happening.
If you absolutely cannot wait until February to get We Own The Night, the book documenting The Underbelly Project, a limited number will be available at The Underbelly Show in a box set with 9 photographic prints and the book all contained in a handcrafted oak box. Additionally, you will be able to your book signed by the artists participating in The Underbelly Show.
The Underbelly Show will take place at 2200 Collins Avenue, South Beach, Miami78 NW 25th Street, Wynwood, Miami. There will be a private opening on November 30th, and the space will be open to the general public December 2nd-5th, with a general opening on the 2nd from 8-10pm.
I have got to admit that this piece is one of my favourite walls of the year, if not my number one favourite…
Native Australian duo, Dabs and Myla have crashed head on with Remi/Rough and this explosion of colour is the result. Old Street has never looked so good!
Stormie Mills asked some of his favorite artists to paint three self-portraits from different perspectives. The result of that brief is For, Against, the Truth, a show opening this week at Linton & Kay Contemporary Art in Perth, Australia. The show includes Vandalog regulars Remi/Rough, John Fekner and Jordan Seiler, as well as Kenton Parker, Jaybo Monk, Matt Doust, Marco ‘Pho’ Grassi, Jade Palmer, Amanda Lynn and Darren Henderson.
Photo by Jordan Seiler, flyer courtesy of Remi/Rough
Following in the footsteps of the fantastic VNA Magazine, comes Outside In, the product of an up and coming design graduate from Winchester University. Documenting street art, design and illustration, this non commercial art magazine is debuting today, Friday 17th, at 3pm British Summer Time!
Running as an edition of 155, with 55 special edition copies, the magazine boasts illustrative duo Static as its feature artist. Adding interviews and features with Miss Bugs, Lifestyles of the Poor & Unknown, Remi Rough, Dale ‘vn’ Marshall, Slinkachu and Ben Slow, I’m sure you will agree that for just £6* you can’t go wrong!
*Standard edition price… Or for all you big spenders, the two special box set deals offer you signed photos and hand finished prints by Static.
Check it out on the Oi website here. Personally I’m quite looking forward to seeing what Remi has to say and reading the feature on Slink.
Unit 44 in Newcastle opened last week for their first show, a two-man show with collaborations between the UK’s Remi/Rough and Australia’s Stormie Mills. Unfortunately I haven’t made it over to Newcastle myself, but word is that Selected Moments is a big hit. Looks pretty cool. Here’s a portion of the show:
Opening tonight is Selected Moments at Unit 44in Newcastle. The show features the individual and collaborative works by Remi/Rough and Stormie Mills. I am really sad I cannot be at the show because these artists combined aesthetics are incredible when put together and is going to be one hell of an exhibit. So head over tonight and check it out. In the meanwhile, check out these photos sent to Vandalog of the pair working behind the scenes as well as one of their finished pieces.
Here is a video following the artists who participated in the group show Unintended Calculations recently in Vancouver, BC. Featured are Augustine Kofie, Jerry Inscoe, Remi/Rough and Scott Sueme.
