This documentary about street art in Buenos Aires, Argentina gives a great sense of the scene, the people and the culture that make up their street art community. It includes interviews with a number of Argentinian artists, including Jaz and Ever. I liked the video, but if that description doesn’t sound like your thing, just skip ahead to 10 minutes in, because the story of José Carlos Martinat Mendoza’s time in Argentina is one that you definitely have to hear.
Troy Lovegates aka Other is trying to get to New York City this fall for his first solo show there. In order to make it, he needs to raise some money, so he’s put a couple of really great pieces for sale on his flickr page. The only painting in the sale has already sold, but there are still some prints available.
This 2-color lino-block print, edition of 18 and a size of 23 x 32 cm, is available for $120 Canadian dollars:
Unfortunately but not surprisingly, these beautiful drawings, which were just $20 Canadian dollars, have already sold out (click the image to view it large)…
If you want to help Troy get to NYC (and hopefully paint plenty of walls while he’s there), you can buy an Orgins print by emailing him at troy.lovegates@gmail.com.
A few days ago Couture Gallery in Stockholm opened their latest show Strange Fables. The exhibit features new works by the likes of Herakut, Saddo, Labrona, Other, Ruskig, and Angest. Here are some shots sent to us by Labrona that I thought I would post.
Thursday night was the opening of Up Close and Personal, and it was a pretty great (although my opinion is biased since I helped curate it). We’re open through Sunday evening, so if you’re in New York, please stop by and check it out and let me know what you think. Up Close and Personal is taking place at an apartment on the Upper West Side; it’s not the traditional setting for art, but trust me, buzz and somebody will let you in. We’re at 217 West 106th Street, Apartment 1A, New York, between Broadway and Amsterdam.
Here’s some photos from last night:
Troy Lovegates aka Other. Photo by Michael PearceWhite Cocoa. Photo by Michael PearceSkewville. Photo by Michael PearceR. Robot. Photo by Michael PearceAiko. Photo by RJ RushmoreKnow Hope. Photo by RJ RushmoreRadical. Photo by RJ Rushmore
Freshman year is almost over and soon I’ll be leaving Philadelphia for NYC and London (just for the summer though). And yet, I still have finals to study for, so I didn’t get time to write about these things…
In two weeks, Vandalog and Murals Around New York (MANY) will be putting on a pop-up show in a New York City apartment. Up Close and Personal mostly came out of two ideas: 1. Street artists tend to work large outdoors and we wanted to challenge people to make art on a small scale and 2. We’ve all seen artwork in galleries that either would only look good in a gallery but not in a home, or is just too big to fit into a typical apartment and we wanted to see something different from that. With Up Close and Personal, the show itself is taking place in an apartment on the Upper West Side, and we have capped the size of the artwork at 30 x 30 inches, with an emphasis on going as small as possible.
I’ve worked with Keith Schweitzer and Mike Glatzer of M.A.N.Y. to curate this show, and we’re really excited with the line up that we’ve managed to put together: Aiko, Chris Stain, Clown Soldier, Don Leicht, Edible Genius, Elbowtoe, Gaia, How & Nosm, Jessica Angel, John Fekner, Know Hope, Logan Hicks, Mike Ballard, OverUnder, R. Robot, Radical, Retna, Skewville, Tristan Eaton, Troy Lovegates aka Other and White Cocoa.
Up Close and Personal opens May 12th from 7-9pm. We’ll also be open from 7-9pm on the 13th. Then noon-9pm and noon-7pm on the 14th and 15th respectively. Particularly on the 12th, it is possible that we’ll be shifting people in every half hour or so, since the space is a small apartment. The show is taking place at 217 West 106th Street, Apartment 1A, New York, NY 10025 – Between Broadway and Amsterdam Avenues.
The latest exhibit at Show & Tell Gallery is Good Folk, a group show celebrating the gallery’s 2nd anniversary. Here’s the line up: Swoon, Monica Canilao, Jeremiah Maddock, Derek Mehaffey aka Troy Lovegates aka Other, Labrona and Troy Dugas. It’s an impressive line up of folk-art influenced art. Good Folks opened this week and runs through March 27th. Here’s a sample of what is in the show:
Monica CanilaoWhat looks to be a new image from Swoon (someone please correct me if I'm wrong)
Labrona is participating in an upcoming show, Good Folks, at Show and Tell Gallery in Toronto opening on March 4. Other artists include Swoon, Other and Troy Dougas. It’s a good line-up and am looking forward to pictures from the opening.
Here are some preview shots of Labrona’s work in the show.
Other aka Troy Lovegates is in Buenos Aires and I’m loving these new street pieces from him. Sometimes it can be better to go small with great placement and resist the temptation to paint something huge at the first big wall available.
After procrastinating and procrastinating about writing this post, I missed Hanukkah and Eid, so I guess this is a gift guide for Christmas. Sorry for the delay.
Here are a few street art related products that have come out in the last year or so that I think are pretty cool. If you’re looking for a last-minute holiday gift for the street art obsessive in your life, hopefully this will help…
DB Burkeman’s book Stickers: Stuck Up Piece of Crap is one of the best art books I have ever read. I cannot recommend it highly enough if you have even a passing interest in stickers. If you buy one thing off this list, it should probably be this book. The photo at the top of this post is for the deluxe edition which comes with signed stickers, but that version doesn’t come cheap.
Now, the flip side of that anti-fashion comment, I want to remind everyone that Vandalog still has shirts available from Gaia, Troy Lovegates and Faro. These very limited edition shirts are $30 each and you can buy them online.
Martha Cooper’s latest book is Name Tagging, a book about the Hello My Name Is stickers and graffiti. Personally, I prefer Going Postal, her book about postal stickers, but Name Tagging is a good quick read too. It has brief interviews with Twist, Sure, Cost and others plus plenty of photos.
If you want a unique iPhone case, either Incase or Uncommon seem like good options. Incase has that Jose Parla iPhone case and Uncommon let’s you customize your own case with designs from a number of artists including David Ellis, Dennis McNett and MQ.
I’ve only just started to read Trespass, but I’ve heard from others that it is a great book.
Or, if you’re a street artist, you could go out on Christmas, brave the cold, and do some art. Give a gift to the rest of us. Not enough street art happens in the winter months.
is one of the best art books I have ever read. I cannot recommend it highly enough if you have even a passing interest in stickers. If you buy one thing off this list, it should probably be this book. The photo at the top of this post is for 
