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Monthly Archives: April 2012

Video / Streets: ABOVE (South Africa)

Posted by sleepboy, April 10, 2012

The Northern Cali-based ABOVE (interviewed) continued his many travels with a recent trip to South Africa. On arrival, the street muralist turned his attention to an issue that he felt strongly about – blood diamonds – and went about figuring what the best way to get his message across was. He ended up convincing the traders at Johannesburg’s largest diamond exporter Jewel City to allow him paint their exterior wall with the slogan “Diamonds Are A Woman’s Best Friend.” What they didn’t realize was that he […]

Openings: Cai Guo-Qiang – “Sky Ladder” @ MOCA

Posted by sleepboy, April 10, 2012

For Cai Guo-Qiang’s legions of fans in Los Angeles, Saturday night was the culmination of weeks of anticipation after seeing photos from his three creative sessions (here, here, and here) as well as the setup leading up to the explosive opening of Sky Ladder, at the Los Angeles MOCA. Not only do we have photos of the pyrotechnic performance held on the wall of the The Geffen Contemporary, we also take you inside the exhibition featuring Cai’s exploration of natural forces and extraterrestrial life in the form […]

Streets: Phlegm (Isle of Man)

Posted by sleepboy, April 10, 2012

Street muralist Phlegm recently came across an abandoned pool on the Isle of Man and immediately knew what to do. Befitting the location next to the sea and true to his longstanding love affair with marine imagery, the Sheffield-based artist painted a large sea creature with one of his signature characters in tow. Adding an added layer of complexity was the background filled with years of graf work. More photos after the jump…

Streets: D*Face (New York)

Posted by juggernut3, April 9, 2012

In March, D*Face (interviewed) paid a visit to New York City for a little Armory Week action. Not only did he hit up the Scope Art Fair (more on that later), he also left his mark on the streets by hand painting murals in both Manhattan and Brooklyn. Despite freezing temperatures, D worked the bricks with new imagery to delight the senses in both SOHO & Williamsburg. AM’s Joe Russo was on the scene to catch the action, check it out after the jump.

Openings: Nimit Malavia – “Finding Together Again” @ Spoke Art

Posted by rhinomilk, April 9, 2012

Last Thursday evening, Spoke Art in San Francisco hosted Nimit Malavia’s solo show entitled Finding Together Again (previewed). The show featured drawings and paintings on paper, depicting reinterpreted myths and religious symbols in his signature flowing style. The first 100 patrons of the show were treated to a free exclusive print, courtesy of the gallery. Check out photos from the evening after the jump…

Teaser: Arrested Motion – “City of Fire” Exhibition

Posted by sleepboy, April 9, 2012

After our first curatorial experience last year in Hong Kong with the East West Connect exhibition, our next project is a little closer to home. Entitled City of Fire, this new show in Los Angeles will again bring together a diverse list of artists that we have admired and covered through the years here on AM. We’ll be revealing more details soon as we draw closer to the opening in June.

Interview: Seonna Hong

Posted by sleepboy, April 9, 2012

Seonna Hong is a Los Angeles-based multi-talented painter, illustrator, writer, animation art director, and Emmy winning artist that we have admired and written about here on AM in the past. We last caught up with her at last year’s Art Basel in Miami where we quite enjoyed a showing of her new paintings. She graciously agreed talk with us about the many facets of of her work, her inspirations, her experience working with Murakami, and more in an interview. Questions and answers after the jump…

Streets: World Roundup (April 2 – April 8)

Posted by sleepboy, April 8, 2012

At week’s end, AM is again catching you up with the latest walls from around the world. Leading things off is this sick spider’s web collaboration between Flying Fortress, ZAY, and LAY-Z. Other murals you should check out come from Dabs & Myla (Australia), Bacon (Canada), DECYCLE (Germany), Eine, Sickboy, and Niels Shoe Meulman (California), City Bilder x Otecki (Germany), JR x Cyrcle. (France), M-City (Poland), Mea & Mart (Brazil), Ewok & Rubin (New York), Pøbel (Norway), Faith47 & DAL (Denmark), Deedee Cheriel (California), and […]

Openings: Quam Odunsi – “Anachronistic Capture: Motion & Stills” @ Design Matters

Posted by sleepboy, April 8, 2012

Opening a couple of weeks back in Los Angeles was Quam Odunsi’s debut solo exhibition (curated by AM’s Khoi Nguyen) of captivating film, still images, slides, and Polaroid collage-based artwork. The well thought-out and displayed exhibition was one of the first shows in the new Design Matters space (down the street and on the other side of the 405 from their former location). Consisting of a film projector, two slide projectors, a wall of 100 Polaroids, and framed pieces throughout, the show of completely new […]

Ron English – Kinkade Bunny

Posted by sleepboy, April 8, 2012

As this is Easter Sunday, Ron English (featured) has decided to paint something with imagery that has a two-fold tribute. One is obviously for the holiday with his interpretation of the Easter Bunny. As seen in the background for the piece, the piece is also in remembrance of painter Thomas Kinkade and his signature “idyllic cottages and bucolic garden gates” as sad news came of his untimely death just this Friday. Discuss Ron English here.