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Category Archives: Art

Interviews: Daniel “Mudwig” Sparkes

Art historian Hector Campbell sat down with British artist Daniel Sparkes aka Müdwig to discuss his early street works, artistic influences, the evolution of his gallery work and his collaborations with fashion brands. The British artist also recently teamed up with art collective Fluorescent Smogg to release a new limited edition printed silk pocket square, available here. Hector Campbell (HC): Many people will have first encountered your artwork around 15 years ago through your series of altered billboards, which became known as the ‘Mudverts’. What drew […]

Overtime: March 5 – March 11

More stories below from this week (click on bolded words for more information): JR mounts a towering monument to refugees at The Armory Show. A tour of NADA New York 2018. How NADA helps young galleries in hard times. At Independent Art Fair, emerging and established artists share the stage. Searching for trends at The Armory Show with empty pockets and a drink in hand The 20 best booths at The Armory Show. How the 1913 Armory Show dispelled the American belief that good art had to […]

Showing: Jean-Pierre Roy – “Aporetic Sequence” @ Volta NYC / Gallery Poulsen

With Armory Week 2018 being in full swing this weekend in NYC we keep getting reports of new shows, releases, openings and some interesting behind the scene stories from the fairs. One that is getting a lot of attention is the sale of Jean-Pierre Roy‘s painting from Aporetic Sequence show/booth with Gallery Poulsen at Volta NYC. The NYC-based artist has been preparing this particular body of work for over half of year now, which resulted in nine oil paintings comprising a unique narrative that plays out over each canvas and onto […]

Showing: “You Are Welcome Here: Paintings by Paul Wackers” @ Morgan Lehman 2

Currently in New York at Morgan Lehman’s auxiliary space (526 West 26th Street, 4th Floor), there is a small popup show of Paul Wacker’s work on view. Running from March 8-10, the short term exhibition will feature a book launch party Friday night (5 – 8 pm) featuring Wacker’s newest book – You Are Welcome Here. The gorgeous new 239 page monograph includes much of his work from last 10 years, his modern take on still life portraits. Discuss Paul Wackers here.

Previews: Geoff McFetridge – “The Beringians” @ Half Gallery

Tomorrow (March 9th) in New York, Half Gallery will be opening a new show from Geoff McFetridge entitled The Beringians. On display will be the highly stylized paintings from the Canadian artist with his signature minimalistic approach of breaking down the subject of his portraits to their most basic form, while playing with the perspective. He further explains the title of the exhibition – “The Beringians were the people that lived on the Bering land bridge. Westcoasters. Their home was the split between two places […]

Releases: Kenny Scharf – “Sloppy Melt” Lithograph

Print Them All recently teamed up with legendary artist Kenny Scharf (interviewed) for a fresh new limited edition release. As a part of his recent Sloppy Styles series, Sloppy Melt is a new take on his signature cartoon-inspired imagery. The California-born artist was a contemporary of such names as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Andy Warhol or Keith Haring, working alongside them in the 80s in NYC. His graffiti-based work has been called pop abstract surrealism, and is constructed of alien-like cartoonish characters that form everything from single portraits to complex multidisciplinary installations. […]

Streets: Vhils x Retna (Los Angeles)

Following a collaborative wall with Shepard Fairey (covered) while in Los Angeles for his solo show (covered) a couple week ago, Vhils recently created another mural with a high profile artist. The latest piece (with support from Branded Arts) features one of the Portuguese artist’s signature chiseled portraits surrounded by RETNA’s (featured) instantly recognizable urban script. If you are around Echo Park (Alvarado & Sunset), stop by for a look yourself. Check out more photos and a video below… Photo credit: @metalzombieman (top image), @streetartfocus, @streetartdistortion, and the artist. Discuss Vhils here. […]

Showing: Phil Frost – “Ellipse of Passage” @ Galería Javier López & Fer Francés

Currently in Madrid, Ellipse of Passage is showing at Galería Javier López & Fer Francés, timed to coincide with this year’s ARCOmadrid. The exhibition from Phil Frost is a followup to his 2014 solo (covered) with the gallery with some previously unseen works that once again features the gritty visual language he honed to perfection while coming up in the early NY graffiti scene. Included in the body of work are some medium to large sized paintings, covered in Frost’s familiar tiki form and patterns and […]

Upcoming: Robert Williams – “Slang Aesthetics” @ LSU Museum of Art

On March 8th, the LSU Museum of Art in Baton Rouge will be opening Slang Aesthetics from Robert Williams, a show that has travelled thru Los Angeles (covered), Sonoma County, and Santa Fe, and the Midwest (covered) already. Presented by Thinkspace Gallery and Josef Zimmerman, the exhibition will feature over 30 oil paintings as well as ephemera and drawings from the “godfather of the lowbrow and pop surrealist art movements.” You can take a look at some other associated events here if you are interested. Discuss Robert Williams here.

Basel Week HK ’10 / Update: Mark Ryden

Currently in Hong Kong, Mark Ryden (interviewed) has a striking new sculptural piece on view in the foyer of the Hong Kong Cultural Centre. Entitled Dodecahedron–Quintessence 132, the twelve-faced piece features symbolic imagery on each side including the all-seeing eye that the Lowbrow artist is known for. Ryden further explains – “Quintessence 132 is a sculptural piece that continues my interest in the Dodecahedron. I have been numbering my paintings and sculptures since my first major solo exhibition in 1998. This is number 132. On this piece, I […]