Out-America the neighbors.
Photos by BadDogWhiskas, FunkandJazz, HowAboutNo!, MDC Grupograffiti, Preys, Startape Photographe, Tatscruinc, and Zéh Palito
Wild Style Wednesday!
New portraits from Stinkfish
Good Times Roll at High Roller Society
Tonight (29th June) sees the opening of Good Times Roll at High Roller Society. The show presents “an eclectic selection of 39 international artists for a salon style Summer Show that finally heats things up a bit this season. Ranging from the street to the studio, painters, sculptors, photographers and printmakers hailing from Australia, Brazil, Portugal, USA and UK join forces to showcase their wares through their passion for different creative practices.”
Following the opening, the t-shirt and letterpress printing workshops with artwork by Rowdy, Sweet Toof & others will keep you going back for more. So check out the opening party tonight, add these following dates to your diary and let the good times roll.
Workshops (minimum donation of £3 per workshop):
- T-Shirt Printing: with COPYEM12 –– 30th June and 1st July 1.00–5.00pm (both days)
- Letterpress Printing : with Alex Booker –– 29th July 1.00–5.00pm
Photos courtesy of High Roller Society
Stinkfish and Bastardilla in Valencia
Colombian artists, Stinkfish and Bastardilla, have made their way to Valencia, Spain amidst their European tours. Kicking off the journey, new murals have appeared from the two for the Poliniza 2012 Urban Art Festival. They will continue to paint around Europe and Stinkfish will conclude his European travels in London. Here’s Stinkfish’s piece in Valencia. Street Art News has photos of Bastardilla’s wall.
Photos by Stinkfish
My Turn: Group Show at the Carmichael Gallery
As Lois mentioned, “My Turn” (curated by L.A.-based Bumblebee) opened at the Carmichael Gallery recently, showcasing global artists deserving of wider audiences. Although the show’s title and theme failed to carry through to the works on display, it’s worth noting that Bumblebee showed admirable range in selecting fellow artists from the UK, Colombia, Argentina, Italy, and the Ukraine.
Interesni Kazki stood out as capably transitioning indoors without losing the magic that makes their large-scale work so spectacular. Building on their solo opening at Mid-City last year, the duo contributed separate pieces this time (each attributed to either WAONE or AEC), employing acrylics, rather than aerosol, in all but one piece.
Moneyless also showed strongly, with geographical works that utilized similar techniques to his yarn sculptures. (In fact, I’d be very interested to see what Moneyless could do if given free range in an entire gallery.) Though I love the idea behind Jaz’s animal transformations, they weren’t nearly as impressive on a smaller scale. However, what was impressive about the show was the diversity of work on offer–from Hyuro’s detailed pen work to Klone’s watercolors–bringing a solid perspective on where street art is going, and how it might continue to transition into gallery spaces.
“Play Me” runs through April 7 at the Carmichael Gallery, 5795 Washington Blvd, Culver City, CA 90232.
Photos by Ryan Gattis. More photos available here
Weekend link-o-rama
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.
- Great piece by You Go Girl on a bus.
- If you like graffiti writers moving beyond text and generally pushing graffiti’s boundaries, make sure to check out this video of Askew.
- Todd James has a new print out at Pictures on Walls.
- Great group show coming up in London with Matt Small, MyMo, Sickboy, Fefe, Monica Canilao, Remi, Best Ever and more.
- Stinkfish‘s work is on the cover of Diplomat Magazine this month thanks to Jeannine Saba. Here’s the cover.
- David de la Mano did a fantastic job brightening up this spot in Uruguay.
- Interesting article about street art that definitely makes a real difference in the world.
- Plaztik Mag’s latest video features work by Skewville, Roa and Bast and is creepy/awesome.
- 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.
Photo by Ludo
New stuff from Stinkfish
This new piece, located in Bogota, was based on this portrait by photographer Brett Walker. The stenciling style is a bit darker than what Stink usually does, but it’s an interesting marriage between Stinkfish’s distinctive brightness and Brett Walker‘s characteristic high-contrast darkness.
Photos by Stinkfish and Brett Walker
Interview with Stinkfish
Stinkfish is an artist from Bogota, Colombia and personally, one of my favorites. He does a little of everything from rollers to posters, stickers to straight up tagging, but he’s renowned for his vibrant portraiture. I was lucky enough to get to ask him a few question.
How long have you been with your crew, APC?
I created the Animal Power Culture (APC) with my friend Aeon (aka Lorenzo Masnah / Third World Pirat / El Peor –www.masnah.tk) at some point, I do not remember exactly, between 2006 and 2007. We came up with the idea of make up a crew without rules or defined styles, which could grow and grow as a large family of animals of different races and backgrounds. There were only the two of us for a while; later, friends from different cities and countries join. Today we are about 30 animals in Colombia, Mexico, United States, Brazil, Venezuela, Guatemala, Spain, Holland and Argentina.
What did you like to do as a kid?
My childhood was spent between the typical TV addiction of the 80’s and 90’s, playing soccer outside my house and going for bike rides around the neighborhood. But one thing I remember with special affection are the cameras that my dad bought and sold frequently, I could spend hours “playing” with them, discovering how they work: framing, focusing.
What were your first few experiences with vandalism like?
Destruction of street furniture, but those are fuzzy memories of confusing days.
Was there anything specific that inspired your involvement in street art? Is there anything now that inspires you to keep doing it?
I liked being on the street and spent hours walking around aimlessly. I also made images that were stored on the hard drive of my computer without anyone to see them. But I wanted to show them to as many people as cheaper as I could. Then it all started. Now days I’m in this for the same reasons and because I believe in the sincerity of graffiti, street art or whatever you want to call it. I believe in doing what I like out of conviction, without permission. Doing what I wish to do with what I have at hand in the place I want and when I want to, without thinking about health insurance, a salary or a pat on the back.
The style you have is very recognizable. Have you always painted in this way?
I have used different media and techniques during these years of work in the street: stencils, stickers, posters, brushes, rollers, fire extinguishers, extenders, chalk, etc.. For a long time I worked with stencils until I decided to leave it almost entirely. Then I began to paint with spray, brushes and rollers, and make quick tags and characters. Later I return to stencil with new ideas, looking for other stories, closer ones. I think that is a part of what I do today but I dont think I have one only style. I like to create images in different ways, with the tools I have available in the place where I am. I do not like being tied to one way of doing things.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not painting?
Walking is one of the things I like to do. Walking aimlessly with loud music and accidentally find coincidences of sound and movement, between the lyrics of songs and what happens every day.
What’s the best part after you finish a piece?
The best part is that moment when I finish packing everything and start to walk away from the wall with complete certainty that I painted the wall I want as I wanted, at the right time and without any permission.
Some of the faces in your portraits are people you don’t know. Has this ever led to anything interesting?
Most are people I dont know. I have my camera always at hand and all the time I take pictures of unaware people. I also found pictures abandoned on the floor and others I have bought in street markets. The interesting thing for me is to give new life to these portraits, make a new larger scale picture on a wall, make them travel.
What countries have you put up work in?
Colombia / Mexico / Guatemala / El Salvador / England / Spain / Holland
What has been the greatest experience you’ve had doing street art?
To know the thoughts and feelings of some people.
What has been the worst experience?
To know the thoughts and feelings of some people.
Do you have any goals for 2012?
Paint and travel as much as possible / publish a new fanzine.
Photos by Stinkfish
Thinkers of This – Stinkfish and Other
Stinkfish and Troy Lovegates aka Other are showing together now at Brooklynite Gallery now for their show Thinkers of This, but it’s almost over: Thinkers of This closes on November 26th. I wish I could have seen all this in person, but in case you’re like me and will only have a chance to see Thinkers of This online, here are some highlights:
For a full set of images from the show, check out Brooklynite Gallery’s flickr.
Photos by Brooklynite Gallery
Tubu community project
The Tubú community is an indigenous group of families now living in the city of Bogotá, Columbia. Tubu Community is a project to help raise money to build a new home in Bogotá for a Tubú family. To learn more about the Tubú people, you can watch this video or read this info.
At their webstore, Tubu Community has begun to sell prints and original art by South American and European artists to help with the effort. 100% of the proceeds from these sales go to the Tubú people. Blu, Bastardilla, Buytronick and Stinkfish have contributed original art and Eine and Stinfish have contributed prints, including a new 7-color screenprint by Stinkfish. Expect more products to be added to the webstore in the future.
Photos courtesy of Tubu Community