2015 « Arrested Motion

Yearly Archives: 2015

Streets: Usugrow (Marrakech)

Posted by sleepboy, March 6, 2015

Last month, the facade of the well known Cafe Des Epices in Marrakech, Morocco was painted over with the street calligraphy of Usugrow. Curated by Valerie Liais du Rocher of Studio IWA with support from Upper Playground, the Japanese artist left his mark in the heart of the Medina at in Rahba Kedima spice square covering one side of the rooftop structure with his signature script. Photo credit: Raphael Liais (via Upper Playground). Discuss Usugrow here.

Interviews: Aaron Li-Hill

Posted by sleepboy, March 5, 2015

Recently, we had a chance to stop by the solo by Aaron Li-Hill at the C.A.V.E. Gallery in Venice (showing through this Sunday) and the associated mural. The selection of work on display, of which some can be seen below, focuses on one part of his oeuvre – renderings of the natural world. We talk about this as well as his background, installations, fencer imagery, and more in the interview below… Arrested Motion: Can you tell us a little bit about your art background and how you got […]

Openings: Sarah Joncas & Camilla d’Errico – “Beauty in the Breakdown” @ Thinkspace Gallery

Posted by sleepboy, March 5, 2015

Last weekend, Sarah Joncas (seen above) and Camilla d’Errico (seen below) opened up a joint show together at Thinkspace Gallery in Los Angeles that included good representations of what they were known for. Beauty in the Breakdown featured the feminine portraiture of Joncas in film-noir settings contrasted against the manga-inspired surreal work of d’Errico. Both Canada-based artists were in attendance and it looks like a good time was had by all. Photo credit: Birdman Photos. Discuss Sarah Joncas here. Discuss Camilla d’Errico here.

POW! WOW! ’15 / Streets: Doze Green

Posted by SAL, March 5, 2015

Working on probably the biggest wall of this year’s POW! WOW! Hawaii (more coverage here), the legendary Doze Green and his team painted a mural with warm tones showing his signature characters in action. Using his recognizable line work and intuitive style, the artist who made his name on the streets of NYC came up with an interesting composition on a long wall. Spending days doing the fill ins and shading the large, almost tribal like characters, the sight of his mural slowly turned into a neighborhood attraction […]

Openings: Yaze – ‘The conference of the Birds’ @ David Bloch Gallery

Posted by butterfly, March 5, 2015

Yassine YAZE Mekhnache just launched a new solo exhibition titled The Conference of the Birds at David Bloch Gallery in Marrakech. In the past ten years, the French artist has built up strong ties with Morocco and particularly with the embroiderers of the small mountain village of Tameslouht, in the region of Marrakech, whom it is thought shared encoded information in their silent works for many years. Through a series of thirty large scale canvases, the artist invites the viewer to a mystical journey by merging figurative drawings together […]

Studio Visits: Junko Mizuno

Posted by sleepboy, March 4, 2015

Leading up to her current showing at Narwhal Contemporary in Toronto, we stopped by the studio of Junko Mizuno in San Francisco to learn more about her work environment and to see some of the works in progress. Using acrylic, ink, and graphite, the Japanese artists creates recognizable cute, grotesque, and provocative imagery that has a mixture of influences from pop culture to manga. You can see more of the work created for the show here, but can also glimpse some of the pieces that […]

Upcoming: Daniel Arsham – “Remember the Future” @ CAC Cincinnati

Posted by sleepboy, March 4, 2015

Coming up on March 20th at the CAC Cincinnati, the New York-based Daniel Arsham will be opening a show entitled Remember the Future. For his first major exhibition in Ohio, the artist known for his sculptural works created with an architectural mindset, will “respond in unique ways to the scale, light and structure of the CAC building.” Discuss Daniel Arsham here.

Streets: Blu (Mexico City)

Posted by SAL, March 3, 2015

While much of street art these days is primarily decorative and created with a purpose of promoting an event, art show, or commercial endeavor, there are still artists out there that are using the streets as a powerful medium for sharing information and making statements. One of those artist is Blu, who is currently traveling around the America’s and creating engaged works. After recently visiting Bolivia (covered), he just finished another strong and meaningful piece in Mexico City, where he was invited by Fifty24Mx for their ManifestoMx project. The […]

Studio Visits: Christian Rex van Minnen

Posted by SAL, March 3, 2015

AM recently had the privilege to visit Christian Rex van Minnen’s studio in Brooklyn and see several pieces he was working on as well as some previously undisclosed paintings. We also had a chance to talk to the him about his beginnings in the art world, the influence of the Golden Dutch Age on his work, the origin of his grotesque portraits, tattoos, the Internet and NYC art week. Christian Rex Van Minnen is self taught painter, which is hard to believe once you see his skills […]

Releases: Søren Solkær – “Surface”

Posted by SAL, March 3, 2015

Danish photographer Søren Solkær is set to launch a series worldwide exhibitions in conjunction with the release of his latest book. Surface is the definitive portrait anthology of some of the most significant street artists in practice today. The Copenhagen-based photographer has spent the last three years shooting artists across the globe, closely working with them on making these portraits represent them in the light they feel comfortable with. The photos have been staged in Søren’s signature style, drawing influence from cinema and painting, and were shot in places like Berlin, London, […]