Hidden Street Art

October 2009

2010-05-29T07:27:00.000-07:00

The late downtown artist, Dash Snow.

Season's Greetings

2010-05-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

I have not posted a blog in over year. In that time I've seen and shot some amazing art on the street and galleries both in the United States and Europe. Photos are coming shortly and I will attempt to be more diligent with my updates.

Street Art 04.09

2009-04-26T19:38:00.000-07:00

Street Ladies 04.09

2009-04-26T19:29:00.001-07:00

Jay Street

2008-12-14T19:14:00.001-08:00

Dumbo in the rain. I like how the street light is captured in the frame and the image appears to be lifting her face up to the sun.

KP

20th Street and 12th Avenue

2008-12-14T19:11:00.000-08:00

I was driving up the West Side Highway in an U-Haul truck when I spotted these.

KP

Wiiliamsburg Street Ladies

2008-12-02T08:03:00.000-08:00

North Sixth Street, Brooklyn

2008-12-02T07:53:00.001-08:00

Mostly Memory Exhibit at Thinkspace Gallery

2008-12-02T07:49:00.000-08:00

Thinkspace Gallery is presenting, "Mostly Memory," a two person show featuring new works by Armsrock from Denmark, and Elbow Toe, from New York. The show will opens December 12th at 7pm and runs through January 2nd.

Thinkspace Art Gallery
4210 Santa Monica Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90029
(323) 913-3375

Street Art is Dead! Long Live Street Art!

2008-11-24T15:26:00.000-08:00

Is Street Art dead? Is it too early to mourn? Too late to cry? Peep the commentary from High Snobiety below.

The good folks at SuperTouch weren’t too far off when they mentioned the lack of dynamism over at ArtNews. It is, for lack of better phrasing, the old guard of contemporary art. However, and perhaps for the best (worst?), they’ve come around to the Street Art Movement. “Street Art Gets Hot!” reads November’s cover. Yes, we already knew that. Yes, the proclimation from this publication is like a nail in the coffin of hip and cool.

Negativity aside, the keynote article by Caroline Miranda, A Two Way Street, properly and succenctly presents the core issues surrounding Street Art and its progression within the mainstream art world. For those interested in the constant debates over definition and the arguments over mass market presentation of artists like Swoon, Miranda’s essay is a worthy read. And, surely, like us you’ll see some merit in a piece that is not without fault. (And, there are no excuses to miss it, it’s free online).

Now Showing | Aakash Nihalani

2008-11-23T06:34:00.000-08:00

Interview from the Times with street artist Aakash Nihalani whose work you may have seen in Downtown Manhattan or Brooklyn. Nihalani works with brightly colored tape and creates 3-Dimensional pieces. There is also a video excerpt on the Times' website.

There’s a renegade romance to street art — sprinting from cops, working in the shadows, using an alias, all in the name of art. But Aakash Nihalani, who creates trompe l’oeil 3-D boxes using tape on sidewalks and public surfaces, isn’t so cloak and dagger about things. He takes his time creating installations in broad daylight, makes videos of the process and even uses his real name. (Maybe his nonchalance relates to the fact that his artwork is easily peeled off, unlike spray paint.) His work is currently on view throughout the city and, for the next two Saturdays, at the 17 Frost gallery space in Williamsburg. For those interested in further demystification of his street art, this Saturday Nihalani will be presenting a slide show and answering questions at the gallery.

http://themoment.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/21/now-showing-aakash-nihalani/

Graffiti Activists Target São Paulo Biennial

2008-11-22T07:05:00.000-08:00

From ArtInfo

SÃO PAULO—Officials at the São Paulo Biennial have stepped up security measures and added metal detectors after a group of graffiti activists vandalized an exhibition, reports Artforum via O Globo. The activists targeted the walls of the empty first floor of the Ciccillo Matarazzo pavilion in Ibirapuera Park, where no artworks were on display, and wrote slogans such as "the empty biennial," "under dictatorship," and "this is art."

The responsible group, known as the “Pichadores,” are renowned in São Paulo for attacking cultural institutions including the academy of fine arts and for leaving their tags across the city. The 40 vandals involved struggled with the guards on duty, but most of them escaped, some by breaking a window in the pavilion. Only two were arrested.

Prince Street

2008-11-17T18:36:00.001-08:00

Heard on the Street

2008-11-12T07:34:00.000-08:00

Faile: Lost in Glimmering Shadows Exhibit

2008-11-11T07:52:00.000-08:00

The Brooklyn based Street Art collective Faile is having their Lost In Glimmering Shadows Exhibition at Lazarides Gallery through November 16th.

Lazarides Gallery
Lilian Baylis Old School
Lollard Street
London SE11 6PY

Rivington Arms to Close

2008-11-07T07:07:00.001-08:00

From ARTINFO

NEW YORK—Lower East Side fixture and contemporary art gallery Rivington Arms is shutting down in January, reports Artforum. Co-owners Mirabelle Marden and Melissa Bent have announced their decision to part ways after returning from the Frieze Art Fair in London this past month. The partners insisted that the closing is unrelated to the current state of the economy. “It had to do with where each of us wanted to take the gallery,” Bent said. “We are not ending because we are getting crushed out.”

The gallery, started in 2001 by the two Sarah Lawrence College alums, has helped launch the careers of young artists like New York–based art collective Lansing-Dreiden and the enfant terrible duo Dan Colen and Dash Snow. Works have gone on to be placed in prestigious shows, such as the Whitney Biennial, and with notable private collectors, like advertising mogul Charles Saatchi.

Although the business relationship between Marden and Bent has fizzled, the two have said they will “remain close friends.”

KAWS Exhibit at Gering & Lopez on 11/6

2008-10-31T23:31:00.000-07:00

The KAWS exhibition at the Gering & López Gallery opens November 6th with a public reception from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm. The exhibit runs through December 23rd. Gering & López is located at 730 Fifth Avenue, between 56th and 57th Streets in New York City. Gallery hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 am - 6:00 pm. (646) 336-7183.

I know the opening reception is going to be packed, so I will probably skip it and go during the week. If you want to actually see the pieces and not have your view blocked by wine-spilling hipsters and sneaker heads that just want to be seen, I advise you do the same.

Henrik Vibskov Tent City Show

2008-10-31T23:28:00.000-07:00

Lost Mid City Exhibit

2008-10-31T23:27:00.000-07:00

Censored Soldier Billboard Project to Get New Showing

2008-10-23T15:28:00.001-07:00

From ArtInfo

Artist Suzanne Opton’s "Soldier Billboard Project," which was banned in the lead-up to the Republican convention in the Twin Cities, is now going up in several U.S. cities, including Atlanta, Houston, Miami, and St. Paul, Artnet reports.

The billboards feature selections from the more than 90 photographs Opton has taken of soldiers returning from tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In August, CBS Outdoor, the company that owns the billboards originally slated for the project and is part of the media conglomerate CBS Corporation, canceled its participation over fears that passersby would think the depicted soldiers, which are shown laying down, were dead. The images will now be hosted in billboards owned by Clear Channel.

The project will remain on view through the November presidential elections.

Torso

2008-10-23T06:36:00.000-07:00

The Eyes

2008-10-23T06:28:00.000-07:00

In The Language of Angels Exhibit-Ad Hoc Art

2008-10-21T09:10:00.000-07:00

In The Language of Angels featuring: Lisa Alisa, Camilla d'Errico, Sarah Joncas, Simone Maynard, Mia & Mijn Schatje.

"In The Language of Angels" examines the softer side of Pop Surrealism through the collection of artworks by an international group of young female artists. Paintings and digital prints by Sarah Joncas (Canada), Camilla d'Errico (Canada), Mia (USA), Lisa Alisa (Russia), Mijn Schatje (France) and Simone Maynard (Australia) will be on display from October 24th through November 23rd at Brooklyn's own Ad Hoc Art. Each artist, while maintaining their individualism, find themselves to be part of a larger whole which has reached global proportions. Finding it's roots in late 70's Los Angeles (also reinforced and added to by the Japan of 1980's), Pop Surrealism has grabbed the attention of the world through artists such as Robert Williams, Mark Ryden, Ron English, Sas Christian, Camille Rose Garcia, Lori Earley, Joe Sorren and many more. Discover now a whole new generation of young talented Pop Surrealists who are globally based and quickly taking the world by storm.

49 Bogart Street
Buzzer 22, Unit 1G
Brooklyn, NY 11206
Tel: 718.366.2466

Interview with Fly Lady Di

2008-10-20T05:45:00.000-07:00

Hidden Street Art has the pleasure of interviewing Diana Reyes aka Fly Lady Di. Fly Lady Di is a Toronto transplant and a fixture on the New York Scene and is gaining prominence in the world of Live Art.

What attracted me to your art was the similarity of some your images to graffiti. I know that you consider your work in the realm of cubism and graffiti. How would you describe your aesthetic?

I would describe my aesthetic as sort of a soulful cubism; flat figures and fragmented forms divided by distinct contouring black lines and bold colours. Ultimately, I think people see my artwork differently than I do. I never really painted anything with the intention of looking 'urban', but people always seem to paint me with that brush. Also, I feel like my aesthetic is evolving because I've lately been trying to adapt new styles and techniques into my own.

Growing up, your father was an artist. Who or what else had an influence on your art?

As soon as my father learned that I wanted to be an artist, he took me to the library where he showed me books of all the greats; Picasso, Dali, Van Gogh, etc. They were children's books showing how these artists evolved from their childhood. It was pretty fascinating. My father shared the same enthusiasm I had for learning about the masters, and for that, I feel the masters have had a tremendous influence on my style and eye for aesthetics. Also in my teens, I would buy every graffiti magazine I could find and study the masters like Lady Pink, Futura, and a host of others which in turn greatly influenced my style.

You have a background as a dancer and are also a live painter, how do those two disciplines influence your art?

Being a freestyle dancer, I learned there are several principals of dancing that you could also apply to painting. Spatiality, fragmentation, rhythm and flow can all be used methodically to create something beautiful and timeless. The music can be used to move through you when dancing and also when painting. That's why I enjoy painting live so much, because it's a way of capturing a moment with colour on canvas - creating something tangible of your thoughts, emotions and the energy around you. With dance, all you have is that moment, that's why painting live is so great - you can take the moment with you and look at it from time to time.

What are the main mediums you work in?

Acrylic on canvas has always been the medium I'm most comfortable and confident using.

The female form appears frequently in your work. What does female imagery and color represent in your work?

Female imagery is always a reflection of my being. Also, sexuality and beauty are things that influence me as well. It represents inner strength, stability, growth and love. I can't really explain colour. Colour something that sort of happens on its own - though all colours have meaning. The cold colours (blues, greens, purples, etc.) represent a calmness and depth. The warm colours (reds, pinks, yellows, etc.) represent intensity, love and passion.

What inspires you to paint and how do you stay motivated?

A lot of times when I am emotionally distraught, I like to paint my feelings out. I'm not a person who likes to talk much, so my thoughts and emotions become expressed through my art. Also, there are times when I get a vision to paint something and I can't rest until I see that vision on a canvas. Other artists, like my partner Ibrahim Yaqut, inspire me to become a better painter and develop a new style, and new way of seeing things. But sometimes it's really difficult to stay motivated. Even now, I feel as though the past 8 months or so were replete with having to express myself on demand, and since it was so intense, I find it hard to paint independently right now.

How has your art evolved over the last five years?

Five years ago, I wasn't painting or drawing at all. I was more focussed on dancing and becoming a successful dancer. I never thought I would pursue a career in fine arts because as much as my father taught me, he always discouraged me from being an artist. I started drawing and painting three years ago after meeting a fellow dancer who was also an amazing artist. I started from scratch, remembering all techniques and I even bought a mannequin to practice sketching and build proportion. I felt like a baby all over again. I was just so hungry for it that I kept at it and didn't stop until I proved it to myself that I could create something that even I liked and admired. I feel like now, I can create anything that is asked of me, and I'm proud of that because before, I was timid and reserved about what I could produce artistically.

What do you think of the current New York art scene?

The art scene in New York is great - but I see it becoming a little stagnant. There are some amazing live painters out here, and the live art scene is becoming increasingly popular and integral when it comes to events. It is definitely growing and I feel like people are paying attention to visual art more than they were 2 years ago. I think it has to do with the people producing the artwork having marketable personalities like rappers or dancers. But I feel like the artists have to push harder to get to that next level, maybe develop businesses or ideas that larger companies can invest in - in order to be taken more seriously. Otherwise, the artists will just be doing the same thing over and over again and produce no greater results.

What's the Fly Lady Di soundtrack to the streets?

I'm obsessed with J*DaVeY and I listen to her all the time. I love her writing style and the beats of Brook D'Leau. I love hip hop and r&b of the early 90s. Radiohead is always good. D' Angelo, Erykah Badu, and neo-soul in general is a staple for my iPod. I like anything soulful and funky.

The Lower Street Ladies

2008-10-20T05:40:00.000-07:00

Bridge Art

2008-10-20T05:36:00.001-07:00

Doze Green Exhibit at Jonathan Levine Gallery

2008-10-18T11:25:00.000-07:00

Graffiti artist Doze Green has the N.O.O.N. opening exhibition today at Jonathan Levine Gallery from 7PM to 9PM. The gallery is located at 529 West 20th Street, Suite 9E, NYC and the exhibit runs through November 15th.

Meatpacking District Street Art

2008-10-17T08:43:00.000-07:00

I took these before and after the Jason Douglas Griffin 80's Babies exhibit at Leo Kesting Gallery. The exhibit was good; iconic imagery of people of color. The only drawback, as with most New York City gallery openings where free alcohol and music are available, were the hipsters posing and blocking the art.

Czech Street Art

2008-10-17T08:36:00.000-07:00

I snapped these images after leaving the Josef Koudelka Invasion 68 Prague exhibit at Aperture last night.

Shepard Fairey: Closer to Mainstream, Still a Bit Rebellious

2008-10-17T06:23:00.001-07:00

An article from the New York Times interviews street artist Shepard Fairey and also obtains the opinions of gallery owners and fellow artists who opine on whether Fairey has become, gasp, too commercial. The link to the full article is below:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/02/arts/design/02fair.html?ref=design

Illustrations

2008-10-15T06:31:00.000-07:00

MIxed Media

2008-10-15T06:26:00.000-07:00

London Frieze Art Fair

2008-10-15T06:23:00.000-07:00

From ARTINFO.com

Although its moniker refers to an ancient art form, London’s Frieze Art Fair, staging its sixth run in Regent’s Park from October 16 through 19, is a high-glam gathering of the world’s edgiest and most influential contemporary-art galleries. Along with a solid presence of American, European and Japanese exhibitors among the 150 dealers on hand, there is strong representation from the fast-expanding markets of Brazil, China, India and Russia.

Beijing’s Long March Space, one of nine newcomers, is bringing work by two Chinese artists: Lin Tianmiao, whose mannequinlike figures encased in luminescent materials sell for $80,000 and up, and Guo Fengyi, who draws complex compositions of historic sites and human biological systems that are priced at about $12,000 each. São Paulo’s Galeria Vermelho features the work of the Brazilian-born duo Angela Detanico and Rafael Lain, whose collaborative installations, objects and videos investigate the forms and systems of language and are priced from $5,000.

“The Frieze fair, with its devotion to living artists, has a real freshness to it,” says Alex Dodge, of New York’s CRG Gallery, which is displaying a mix of sculpture and photography by emerging artists Colby Bird, O Zhang and Mindy Shapero with price tags under $10,000. New color photographs by Cindy Sherman exploring notions of self-image and beauty— familiar themes for Sherman— are priced between $150,000 and $250,000 at the booth of New York’s Metro Pictures. The Cuban-born artist Wilfredo Prieto is Frieze’s 2008 Cartier Award winner. Known for installations that recontextualize everyday objects, Prieto has created a work for the fair composed of more than 100 oil drums. “Frieze is unique,” says David Tung, of Long March Space, “for its role as a marketplace not only for artworks but for ideas.”

Gilbert & George at the Brooklyn Museum

2008-10-14T10:42:00.000-07:00

I saw this exhibit two weeks ago at the Brooklyn Museum and it was incredible. The use of size, color, and images is amazing and worth seeing in person. More below.

October 3, 2008–January 11, 2009
Morris A. and Meyer Schapiro Wing and Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Gallery, 4th and 5th Floors

The Brooklyn Museum is the final venue of an international tour of the first retrospective in more than twenty years of work by the internationally acclaimed artists Gilbert & George. The exhibition comprises more than eighty pictures created since 1970, among them more than a dozen that are only in the Brooklyn presentation. The exhibition traces their stylistic and emotional evolution through their pictures and art in other media, ranging from charcoal on paper sculpture from the early 1970s to postcard pieces to ephemera dating back to the 1960s.

Banksy in NYC: The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill

2008-10-14T08:26:00.000-07:00

From Cool Hunting

The last time street artist Bansky did a piece in New York, it was a small painting of a cheap can of soup—his tribute to Andy Warhol—that he smuggled onto a gallery wall at the MoMa. As you might have already seen, Banksy recently put up three giant billboards in the Big Apple. All depicting the NYC mascot, one rat sports an "I heart New York" shirt at the corner of Grand and Wooster, another is found whitewashing the wall at Houston and Macdougal and the last rat at Howard and Broadway is holding a briefcase full of money accompanied with text that reads "Let them eat crack." In a statement Bansky comments, "I wanted to play the corporations at their own game, at the same scale and in the same locations. The advantage of billboard companies is that they'll let you write anything for money, even if what you write is questioning the ethics of letting someone write anything because they have money."

However, these works seem like they were just a warm up for his first official show in New York City (Wooster Collective claims the others have been fakes). Diehard Bansky fans are most excited to see his popup store, The Village Pet Store and Charcoal Grill located at 89 Seventh Avenue South. The tiny space can hold no more than 20 people at a time, and because it's a storefront, the exhibit is also viewable at night. Don't expect to find any of his more identifiable works inside. Demonstrating his twisted but thought provoking sense of humor, Banksy designed a pet shop that includes fish sticks swimming in a fish tank, a chimpanzee watching chimp porn, a fur coat playing a cat, and hot dog hamsters. One of our favorites has to be the Chicken McNuggets sipping barbeque sauce (image via wooster collective). With the use of animatronics Banksy is able to take his artform to a whole new level.

Concrete Che

2008-10-12T11:04:00.001-07:00

DUMBO

2008-10-12T11:02:00.001-07:00

Prayer

2008-10-11T09:32:00.000-07:00

Street Ladies

2008-10-11T09:30:00.000-07:00

Prints

2008-10-11T09:27:00.000-07:00

Let Them Eat Crack

2008-10-06T06:05:00.000-07:00