How many street artists can Hyundai rip off in 30 seconds?

0
Screenshot from the Hyundai ad

Major hat tip to Ian Cox for coming across this one, as well as Caroline Caldwell for alerting me to Ian’s find and for research help.

A car commercial currently airing on UK television for the Hyundai i20 appears to steal the work of at least half a dozen street artists in just 30 seconds. Here’s the ad:

I guess this just goes to show you what advertising executives mean by “inspiration”.

How many stolen pieces can you spot? Spoilers after the jump.

Continue reading “How many street artists can Hyundai rip off in 30 seconds?”

Banksy + 5: October 17th

Banksy in Brooklyn. Photo by carnagenyc.
Banksy in Brooklyn. Photo by carnagenyc.

Today’s Better Out Than In piece only lasted for a few minutes after it was announced before it was defaced, which is too bad because it’s really a great example of how a simple intervention with the right placement can be great. Banksy is one of the best at this sort of thing.

Today Swoon, Zap, Mygalo, Sweet Toof, Paul Insect and one unknown artist make up our + 5:

Swoon. Photo by Alex Ellison.
Swoon in London. Photo by Alex Ellison.
Zap in Paris. Photo by vitostreet.
Zap in Paris. Photo by vitostreet.
Mygalo in Paris. Photo by vitostreet.
Mygalo in Paris. Photo by vitostreet.
Sweet Toof and Paul Insect. Photo by liborius.
Sweet Toof and Paul Insect in London. Photo by liborius.
Iztok Alf Kurnik in Cádiz, Spain. Photo by Iztok Alf Kurnik.
Unknown artist in Cádiz, Spain. Photo by Iztok Alf Kurnik.

Photos by carnagenyc, Alex Ellison, vitostreet, liborius and Iztok Alf Kurnik

Banksy + 5: October 2nd

Banksy on 25th Street between 10th and 11th Avenue. Photo by Luna Park. Click to view large.
Banksy on 25th Street between 10th and 11th Avenue. Photo by Luna Park. Click to view large.

So I know that late last night I said that I didn’t expect we would be covering all of Banksy’s new NYC work on this blog (also, did you somehow miss that he’s doing a bunch of work in NYC in October for his Better Out Than In project?). I said that we’d probably just be sending out links on Facebook or that I’d be tweeting about it. But then Jonathan Lynn from Anewspace in Dublin tweeted an idea at me: “you should do a column called ‘this is the new banksy & here is 5 more artists who painted today'”.

Banksy + 5 is a slight twist on Jonathan’s idea. Every time a new Banksy work for Better Out Than In is discovered, I’m going to post a photo of that work, as well as 5 photos of street art by other artists. The photos will be photos are sent to me or were uploaded to Flickr the day before the latest Banksy piece. So, for example, today’s Banksy + 5 includes the latest Banksy (the “New York Accent” stencil shown above) and 5 photos that were uploaded to Flickr on October 1st.

For today’s +5 we have NiceOne, Kid Acne, El Mac, Loretto and a collaborative piece by Shuby, Rowdy and Sweet Toof next to a piece by Eine:

NiceOne. Photo by Christmas Junkie.
NiceOne. Photo by Christmas Junkie.
Kid Acne. Photo by Kyla Borg.
Kid Acne. Photo by Kyla Borg.
El Mac. Photo by bernardoh.
El Mac. Photo by bernardoh.
Loretto. Photo by Sarflondondunc.
Loretto. Photo by Sarflondondunc.
Shuby, Rowdy and Sweet Toof next to Eine. Photo by Delete.
Shuby, Rowdy and Sweet Toof next to Eine. Photo by Delete.

Want to digitally side-bust Banksy and get some attention by being featured in a Banksy + 5 post? Get up, take some photos, and send them my way (rj a-t vandalog dot com).

Photos by Luna Park, Christmas Junkie, Kyla Borg, bernardoh, Sarflondondunc and Delete

Weekend link-o-rama

Paul Insect and Sweet Toof
Paul Insect and Sweet Toof (and Sope)

For me, school is back in session. Hopefully everyone else out there is still enjoying the tail end of the summer. Here’s some art to keep your weekend interesting:

  • Martha Cooper and I have announced our picks for the MOCAtv Upload More Art challenge. You uploaded your street art videos, and we selected our favorites. I used the opportunity to highlight videos of Enzo & Nio and A.CE. As you can probably guess when you watch me explain my picks, I made those picks during Illegal August, so those sorts of thoughts were on my mind. Martha Cooper also selected two videos to highlight.
  • Just because Colossal Media paints murals based on designs by people like KAWS and Faile doesn’t mean there should be any love for them. They paint advertisements. That is their business. If they paint some murals on the side, that doesn’t excuse billboards invading public space. Unless you think BP sponsoring art exhibits excuses oil spills and pollution…
  • Also what’s up with KAWS’ work being used for a mural (I hesitate to say he did a mural, since it appears all he did was license his imagery)? He’s spent the better part of this site’s existence distancing himself from street art and graffiti and his public art has consisted of sculptures and flyposted advertisements (if you consider that public art).
  • Maybe I’ll be able to ask KAWS about all this myself soon, since presumably he’ll be in Philadelphia for his show at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. Arrested Motion has a bit of a preview, but I think the link really worth checking is PAFA’s website (and this archived version of the same page from mid-August) because of this section of the show description which has since been removed: “Placing KAWS’ sculptural works throughout PAFA’s historic galleries will further the ‘graffiti effect,'” and the edit of (emphasis added) “KAWS grew up in Jersey City, where he emerged as a graffiti artist in the early 1990s.” to “KAWS grew up in Jersey City, where he emerged as an artist in the early 1990s.” So that’s interesting.
  • I’ve never been a big fan of Elle’s work, but I do love this ad takeover.
  • And here are more ad takeovers, these from Jordan Seiler.
  • So many nice graffiti pieces on Ekosystem today.
  • I really like this new print from Shepard Fairey.
  • Pablo Delgado tiny pieces alway makes me smile.
  • Speak of small street art, here’s BSA’s take on the subject.
  • FAME Festival is no more, although ad hoc projects will continue to be organized in the town of Grottaglie, Italy by festival organizer Angelo Milano. It’s definitely sad news, but Angelo is always ahead of the times. Maybe this glut of street art festivals is just too much. Maybe it’s time for something different. Let’s hope Angelo figures it out. I can’t wait to see what he tries next.

Photo by Alex Ellison

Weekend link-o-rama

Gold Peg
Gold Peg

What am I missing? Because I don’t have much to add this week for the link-o-rama. It’s the middle of summer? Aren’t people getting up? Am I just not seeing it?

  • Horfe and Coney/Ken Sortais went wild in an abandoned swimming pool.
  • Sweet Toof is understandably upset that a recent mural project in Hackney, where he and the rest of the Burning Candy crew painted some of their best illegal street art and graffiti, intentionally avoided including local artists. You’ve gotta love this quote from Sarah Weir, who heads the charity that commissioned the new murals: “We unashamedly wanted to showcase the best international artists and transform this part of the canal into a destination for street art.” That might be the dumbest thing I’ve read all summer, except for course for arguments defending the NSA or calling for Edward Snowden to return to the USA. First of all, murals (while interesting) emulate street art and graffiti, but there is a distinct difference between legal murals by street artists and illegal street art by the same artists. I’m sure that on Vandalog I have referred to murals as street art for the sake of simplicity, but not in a context like this where the difference between murals and street art is actually quite important. Hackney Wick’s canal already is a destination for street art, in large part due to the work of Gold Peg, Sweet Toof and the other members of Burning Candy. Weir is trying to turn it into a destination for murals, most likely at the expense of street art and graffiti if the intense pre-Olympics graffiti removal efforts in the area are anything to go by. Mural projects and festival are awesome, but they are not the same thing as illegal street art or graffiti.
  • Israel Hernandez, an 18-year-old Miami graffiti writer, was killed this week when he was tazered by police. They were chasing him after catching him writing in an abandoned building. CNN’s coverage of Hernandez’ death was surprisingly fair. Their piece was framed as the tragedy that is clearly is, rather than a piece demonizing Hernandez for his artwork like you might expect from some mainstream media.

Photo by Alex Ellison

Tim Hans shoots… Sweet Toof

Sweet Toof 1

The secretive Sweet Toof recently invited Tim Hans over to his studio as part of Tim’s continuing series of photo-portraits of street artists, and Caroline Caldwell has interviewed the artist.

Caroline Caldwell: What influenced you to do street art? Do you remember your first time?

Sweet Toof: No one forgets the first time, its like sex, started in 1986, and still at it. I blame Beat Street and Style Wars.

C: Do you try to do different things with your work or do let it evolve naturally?

ST: It is always good to experiment, working on the street fuels the studio work. One feeds another, what ever it takes a fat roller to a fine brush. The work evolves from mission to mission.

Sweet Toof 2

C: Burning Candy represents like a graffiti crew however the work is almost entirely character based. When Burning Candy was coming together, was there discussion over whether you all identified as a “graffiti” or “street art” crew?

ST: I left BC 3 years ago…. Burning Candy is what you see is what you get. We are like minded people working with characters, letterforms, tags, pieces, throw ups. Canvas sculpture print etc.

C: What’s one of the most interesting experiences you’ve had painting alone?

ST: Sinking in Quicksand was a strange experience.

Sweet Toof 3

C: And what about when you were painting with someone else?

ST: New York with friends was killer.

C: Have you been working on anything or collaborating with anyone lately?

ST: Working on a new body of work at present, watch this space for the rest.

Photos by Tim Hans

Weekend link-o-rama

Dart, PC, Curve, Rams, and Sane
Dart, PC, Curve, Rams, and Sane

As I’ve been gearing up for midterms, I’ve missed posting some great outdoor work (and other things) this week.

Photo by Carnagenyc

Jester Jacques Gallery pop up print sale in Shoreditch

Sweet Toof
Sweet Toof

Starting Feb. 7th at 6pm, Jester Jacques Gallery will be hosting a pop up sale in Boxpark Shoreditch. The lineup, including Philip HarrisMighty MoMister MillerchipShepard FaireySweet ToofJon BurgermanAdorJimmy CMarcus PetterssonRosemary Cronin and others were, as Jester Jacques puts it, “chosen for their investment potential and contemporary relevance” to the street art scene. The featured prints look great, but what does that matter if they’re intended to be bought as street art stock? And if you are trying to buy some street art stock, you’re probably a couple of years too late.

Shepard Fairey
Shepard Fairey
Jon Burgerman
Jon Burgerman

Photos courtesy of Jester Jacques