Huck Magazine article
Huck is a bi-monthly magazine rooted in skate, surf, snow, music, art and activism. I contributed to the latest issue no.30 which is an ‘Art Special’.
Firstly I wrote a piece entitled “The Fundamentals of Street Art” – which outlined what I believe to be the key ingredients in this art form.
Secondly they asked me to curate the back section of the magazine by choosing artists who I found particularly inspiring.
My choices included Colombian graffiti artist – Bastardilla, Open source guru – Evan Roth, Light artists – Luz Interruptus, Thrift store painter – Wayne White & Stencil impresario – Evol. You can see the magazine online for free here.
Above: Passport
Above’s new Passport book is huge! The special boxed edition now stands as the biggest book on my shelves. I was flattered to be asked to contribute a text to this artist’s monograph alongside others such as Faile and Wooster Collective. Ever since featuring Above in my second book Street Logos we have stayed in touch regularly, I’ve followed his travels and watched his work evolve over time so it was a pleasure to give my perspective on that.
Having created street art across the globe this book is a perfect celebration of his many free-wheeling adventures. The boxed version of the book is also an impressively designed object.
Eloquent Vandals
Earlier this year Nuart festival asked me to contribute a written piece on the subject of Street Art for their book “Eloquent Vandals. The History of Nuart”. Based in Stavanger, Norway – the Nuart Festival has consistently brought some of the most interesting Street Art year after year to a city that is otherwise off the beaten track. Although its hard to be unbiased towards an organisation that has supported my work -I’ve always felt that Nuart has consistently shown a genuine passion for Street Art and strives to keep innovating in the way it operates and supports artists which is exemplified in contents of this book which was published in November 2011.
My essay entitled “The Medium is the Mess Age” was intended to be a back to basics look at Street Art, introductory yet personal and getting into the important relationships of street art – the viewers, the street, the city. This is a theme I’ve been looking at in a renewed way in recent talks and articles.
The book is also a very personal look into the creativity of the artists who over the years have made their mark on the festival.
…Capitalism?
Last month I took part in a debate called …Capitalism? held at NHH Norwegian School of Economics in collaboration with the Nuart Festival.
NHH, a leading business school in Norway, had the idea to use street art as a way to engage with how the institution was perceived internally and externally and more broadly to comment on ideas about economics and capitalism.
NHH perceives itself as an institution with long and proud traditions and as a key player in the Norwegian economy both when it comes to educating future economic‐ and political elite and as an contributor in contemporary societal debates. However, NHH may also be perceived as an intellectual gatekeeper for capitalism and economic liberalism, a conservative environment where debate only takes place within the “safe” boundaries of the institution and as being little accessible for “normal people”.
To challenge this perception of NHH, the school collaborated with Stavanger’s Nuart festival to invite some of the world’s most renowned street artists such as Escif, M-City, Dolk and Eine to comment on NHHs ideological foundations on the schools huge walls. The artistic comments from the street artists was be supported by an academic program of presentations of which I was a participant.
The works created by the artists can be found on their website along with videos of the conference. The presentation by fellow speaker Evan Roth which centred around ideas about open source was very inspiring. It was interesting to note that the expectation was that the murals produced would be confrontational and controversial – but given complete free reign to produce whatever they wanted the artists produced work that was more contemplative and intriguing.
Atlanta Living Walls Conference
Jaz
Its been a while since the event but I had a throughly enjoyable and interesting time this August at the Atlanta Living Walls Conference. Now in its second year this grassroots festival is a celebration of street art with over 20 walls painted across the city by artists worldwide, including old friends such as Sam3, Escif and Labrona and artists I hadn’t met in person before such as the amazing Jaz from Argentina, Entes and Pesimo from Peru and Freddy Sam from South Africa.
Entes & Pesimo
I was very flattered to be invited as key note speaker to take part in some interesting debates which discussed the role of street art within public arts programmes. The conference included artists, public art organisers, workshop coordinators, community gardeners and many more to look at the wider picture.
Freddy Sam
The main venue for an accompanying exhibition, launch party and general hang-out was a place called the Goat farm – a complex of many old industrial buildings that are now being used for arts studios.
Goat Farm
One of the buildings which usually hosts a dance studio was the venue for our Pecha Kucha talks. This was the first time I’d done a Pecha Kucha before – the idea is that you have 20 slides and for each slide you speak for 20 seconds. The whole thing is automated so you have to speak fast – I’m not sure how well I did as I only prepared the night before. RJ from Vandalog and the American artist Gaia put on some stirling performances.
Feral Child
This is now my all time favourite Roa piece!
For more on Living Walls check out their website and Facebook page.
10 Best Street Artworks – The Observer Magazine
I was pleased to be commissioned by the Observer magazine to compile my 10 Best Street Artworks as part of their 10 Best series. The feature appeared in their Review magazine on the 7th August and can also be found here on line at their parent newspaper’s website … http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/gallery/2011/aug/07/art
Steve Powers: A Love Letter to You Project, Philadelphia Photo: Becki Fuller
It was a tricky assignment, since it had to cover some history and what is generally a vast topic. It’s perhaps not the 10 ten best critically or aesthetically, but in my own opinion these are 10 excellent examples of Street Art that make the most of the possibilities of the genre, with a focus on community and communication.
Daniel Melim rises
News from my friend the Brazilian stencil artist Daniel Melim – he just painted this 30 meter high mural in downtown Sao Paulo. If you know your way around the city you’ll know this is a great spot – next to some squatted buildings and near to the Pinacoteca…
More images here…
http://entretenimento.uol.com.br/ultnot/….da -luz-sp.jhtm
Bulgarian Banksy
Dubbed unimaginatively as the Bulgarian Banksy – you’ve got to hand it to the anonymous artist this is an audacious move…
Basco Vasko website
Finally one of my favourite artists Basco Vasko has a website.
For years I’ve scrabbled around trying to see his work online – also featuring him in my last book but now he’s spent some time collating his work and sharing it here – a very interesting artist in my opinion.
Arte Urbano Mexicano
Since traveling to Mexico – I’ve become a great fan and follower of its urban art scene particularly the young talent that is emerging there. Three Mexican artists who I featured in Street Sketchbook Journey’s – namely Sego, Saner & Dhear have been invited to create a show in Spain…
Here are a few images of what they got up to…
Sego
Saner
Sego
For more info check Belio Magazine.
Art in the Streets – Juxtapoz Magazine
April’s issue of Juxtapoz is a special edition to celebrate the Art in the Streets exhibition at MOCA, Los Angeles. My small contribution to it was a piece about Belgian artist Roa who was featured in the exhibition and my last book Street Sketchbook: Journeys.
Now That’s What I Call Art
Now That’s What I Call Art is a tongue-in-cheek celebration of contemporary art by Ian Stevenson published by Pictures on Walls. My role in this small book project was in its design and production. The printing was by Calverts, perfect bound on Munken Lynx Rough paper stock.
Perfect for the Tate Modern book shop…
Memoria Canalla – (Scoundrel Memory)
_SCOUNDREL MEMORY_ from B a s t a r d i l l a on Vimeo.
In 2009 I took part as a guest speaker in a project called Memoria Canalla held in Bogota, Colombia. At the heart of the project was an exhibition exploring the history of graffiti in Colombia from its political roots to today’s vibrant graffiti culture. Accompanying the project, a film was produced to provide a context for the exhibition and its various satellite workshops.
The documentary features images and views of both local artists and people who have devoted part of their work to study the graffiti in Colombia, not only from its aesthetic aspect but from the political and social too .
Finally, I’m happy to say the film is available to view online with subtitles - a short clip of which was used in Banksy’s Exit Through The Gift Shop Street Art documentary.
Pick Me Up 2011
The second Pick Me Up show at Somerset House is coming to an end and it was pleasure to have visited it on the opening night. Billed as a contemporary graphic art fair – the emphasis was on graphic designers and illustrators who produce and sell self initiated work. There were a great number of silkscreen and risograph prints, zines and books on offer as well as more unusual printed and handmade items. The layout this year was similar to last and included some of the same people such as the excellent Nobrow team and Print Club.
It was great to see POW collaborator Anthony Burrill‘s open studio, which was very rock and roll with regular workshops, music jam sessions and make your own zine project.
I was also keen to catch up with Andy Rementer an artist who appeared in Street Sketchbook, he was chosen as one of their 24 rising stars. Another artist chosen, who it was nice to see in person was Otecki, who I profiled in my recent Street Sketchbook Journeys book. Otecki presented some wonderful large format linocuts…
Amelia from Amelia’s magazine did a good review of the show for further reading. I tended to agree with some of her comments that although its a vibrant and much needed show, there was room for a wider variety of work. For my own taste, there was some work that was a little too fashionable and lacked honest substance and some stands seemed very similar to one another – but the enthusiasm of all involved made up for it and to critique it too hard seems a little unfair. Its also nice to be surprised with new work, even if its not all too your own taste.
Para Mi Gente
In January 2010, I was contacted by an artist known as BooksIII who told me about a mural he had painted at the Mia Art Fair together with Typoe and She Kills He. BooksIII is from Miami, Typoe is Cuban and She Kills He is from Venezuela – all of them are inspired by Bodega writing. Having read about Chicha Posters through Creative Review they saw a connection and thought the style would be a perfect way to collaborate through. Knowing that I was similarly interested in all things Chicha they kindly got in touch.
Work in progress Mia Art Fair 2010
In 2011 BooksIII has expanded the project has been expanded to include 50 artists… Here is the statement of intent from the Primary Flight… “Primary Flight interprets the designs and concepts of more than 50 local and international artists in Para Mi Gente, an exhibition inspired by the Chicha poster art of Peru. Translated as “for the people,” Para Mi Gente merges traditional Peruvian propaganda, contemporary art and graphic-driven installations.
Participating artists such as Shepard Fairey, Tristan Eaton and gallerist Fred Snitzer have provided Primary Flight with vector images that will be cut into stencils and collaged together to generate one, fluid Chicha-style piece. This show is co-curated by Books IIII Bischof, Typoe and Chris Oh.
“The Chicha poster art movement has largely been attributed to the Urcuhuaranga family in Lima, Peru. Unable to afford the cost of printing their own posters to promote local Chicha-music bands, father and sons conceived a homegrown press as a do-it-yourself solution. Vibrant embroideries and Huanca textiles native to the Andean region inspired their fluorescent palette, while distorted fonts and logos emerged to fit increasingly more information onto the posters.
“The visual output of Chicha art resembles a burst of luminescent lettering, mismatched in size, style and proportion – a vibrant puzzle of information. Since its inception in the 1990’s, the genre has grown exponentially to reflect popular culture as a leading marketing tool publicizing the now prevalent Cumbia music scene.”
“Chicha is one of the most basic yet effective propaganda styles and has emerged as an art form in its own right,” said Books Bischof, principal of Primary Flight / Primary Projects. “So much of our culture involves integrating text and altering typography to fit into our overall brand aesthetic. Para Mi Genteallows us to take control of our mass marketed environment while we work with tools provided by contemporary artists.”
Para Mi Gente will be an installation of hundreds of artist-designed logos, texts and icons, collectively arranged and curated in the Chicha aesthetic. As the street mural movement rapidly evolves in Miami, Primary Flight art collective looks toward grassroots Peruvian propaganda to inspire its latest fine arts exhibit.
For more info check out the Modart blog.
Titifreak in Newcastle
Titifreak is a long-standing friend and collaborator, we’ve shared times in Birmingham, London, Brighton, Berlin, Sao Paulo and Rio and it was a pleasure to finally feature his work in depth in the last book Street Sketchbook Journeys…
So its great to see him returning to the UK even if it has been only briefly. Titifreak was invited by onethirty3– a new project space in Newcastle to make an immersive installation. The idea behind the project as I understand it, is to invite six artists per year to create indoor murals and installations where nothing is for sale except a limited print edition to help fund the costs.
The installation is open for one night only. Although creating an indoor installation is not a new one, Titifreak has created some beautiful installs for museums and institutions such as MASP and Tomie Ohtakemuseums, but what makes this different a museum show is the complete freedom to paint is like being in the artist’s own studio. While what makes it a change from a normal commercial show is the lack of pressure to create works for sale such as canvases. From my own experience working with Titifreak and other Brazilian artists, the problems of importing and exporting art to and from Brazil with its insane tax laws, can also be prohibitive.
El Celso
Further to my continuing interest in Chicha posters comes news (via Vandalog) of an American artist called El Celso who spent time researching, collecting and producing his own Chicha posters in Peru. Finally resulting in an art show at Brooklyn based Pandemic Gallery. The press release has more details…
¡NO HABLA ESPAÑOL! is El Celso’s most personal show to date. This new series of works was inspired by a recent trip to Peru where the artist became obsessed with posters made in the “chicha” style. These hand-made posters line city streets all over Peru and generally feature an eye-popping neon color palette and commercial graphics-inspired lettering. They are generally used to advertise working class concerts and other events. During a recent trip around Peru, in 2010, Celso began collecting discarded and out-of-date fragments of these posters – known as afiches chicha in Spanish – from the streets of towns such as Chachapoyas, Chiclayo, Cajamarca and Lima (to name a few).
Further inspired by their look, he established contact with the esteemed Fortunato Urcuhuaranga at Publicidad Viusa, the print workshop that originated this iconic DayGlo look back in the 1980s. (Urcuhuaranga is a former radio DJ and he originally created these posters to advertise his station’s musical happenings.) Based on the outskirts of Lima, in the suburb of San Juan, Ate, this renowned family-run studio has produced posters for countless local Peruvian acts, as well as visual artists and arts organizations around the world.
In collaboration with the Urcuhuarangas, Celso created a series of posters inspired by the Peruvian chicha style. However Celso’s posters are a wry play on the idea of the advertisement: event posters created for non-events. Since last year, he has installed dozens of these on the streets of New York and Miami.
The project reminds me of Equipo Plastico’s response to Chicha posters – although the gallery show is in a commercial rather than cultural context.
History of American Graffiti
News from friend and fellow writer Caleb Neelon (who co-authoered Graffiti Brasil with me) – that finally the book he has been working on with Roger Gastman is out. After five long years of work and research – this looks like it going to be definitive. I’m waiting for my review copy to land but early reviews seem to be superlative… Knowing how seriously Neelon and Gastman take their work, they will have put in the effort – with a forward by Taki 183!
“‘Wild Style’ graffiti may be the most influential art movement since pop art. Roger Gastman and Caleb Neelon have written the definitive history of the origins and the heritage of the graffiti styles that emerged in Philadelphia, New York, and Los Angeles in the early 1970s and inspired young artists around the world.”
— Jeffrey Deitch, director, Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art
Roa – Mexican Adventures
Roa is one of the artist’s who appears in my latest book and one who I enjoy following – so I’ve been looking forward to seeing photos from his Mexican Adventures. There is a nice book connection too, as Roa was keen to paint with some of the Mexican artists who he first got to know through Street Sketchbook: Journeys… So although I can’t take credit at all, it is greatly satisfying to see him collaborating with fellow featured artists Sego & Saner.
Sego & Roa
Haring by Mark Vessey
I’m the very proud owner of an amazing new photo edition by Mark Vessey (archival Fuji print – edition 25). The print is called “Haring” and its self-explainatory in that’s its a still life tribute to the man himself. Still-life photography is Vessey’s forte.
To steal a few words from my wife’s biography of the artist… UK-based photographer Mark Vessey blurs the lines between photographer and contemporary artist. Heavily influenced by Pop American culture, with Warhol and Haring particular heroes, Vessey uses his lens much as a painter uses his brushes, using light, colour and focus to produce his stunning and uniquely popular images.
His photographs of iconic pop culture heritage have now become icons themselves, highly prized in international collections and exhibited in such respected institutions as the Royal Academy. His group and solo exhibitions at galleries and international art fairs have been to huge acclaim and success and his work has been discussed in publications as diverse as Attitude magazine toThe Times. He has further produced cover images for several books and been commissioned to take striking portraits of various personalities.
The print is great image for any Haring fans like myself and I lent a few rare books from my collection for the photoshoot…