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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 […]

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 […]

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 […]

Alex Chinneck – “Pick Yourself Up and Pull Yourself Together”

Posted by sleepboy, March 1, 2015

British artist Alex Chinneck has put together another mindbending installation a little different than the modified structures we have seen from him before (see melting & upside-down house). Created in a car park at London’s Southbank Centre, the piece features what appears to be a peeling away asphalt surface with a car still on top of it but upside down. Sadly, Pick Yourself Up and Pull Yourself Together was only on view through February 25th but enjoy the photos below… The Hackney-based artist states – “While I am most excited by […]

Overtime: Feb 23 – March 1

Posted by Khoi, March 1, 2015

More stories from the week that ended March 1 (click on bolded words for more information): First Jeff Koons public art sculpture acquired by a city to go up in front of new arena in downtown Sacramento. RIP: Leonard Nimoy, who died at the age of 83. The famous actor was also a photographer, collector, and arts supporter. RIP: Edward Albers, who died at the age of 59 after a fire in his apartment building. Previously missing Picasso painting resurfaces after it is shipped to […]

Studio Visits / Previews: Kenny Scharf – “Born Again” @ Honor Fraser Gallery

Posted by sleepboy, February 28, 2015

Tonight at Honor Fraser Gallery, Kenny Scharf (interviewed) will be presenting his latest solo exhibition to his fans in Los Angeles. The new showing promises to be a diverse one, ranging from a fresh set of paintings, a selection of rarely shown early videos and collage, to his never exhibited before assemblages. The new Born Again series sees the Scharf repurposing and painting over discarded artwork, which you can see him working on in the studio visit photos here. Also rounding things out will be a series of installations where the aforementioned videos will […]

Streets: Blu (Bolivia)

Posted by sleepboy, February 27, 2015

It looks like Italian street savant Blu has began his swing through the Americas with a mural in Bolivia. The quickly painted wall again provides biting social commentary on the value of people in the country when weighed against the value placed on money. Next up for Blu will be work for the MANIFESTO street initiative in Mexico. Discuss Blu here.

POW! WOW! ’15 / Streets: Esao Andrews & Aaron Horkey

Posted by SAL, February 26, 2015

Arguably one of the best murals created at this year’s POW! WOW! Hawaii (more coverage here) and one of the most unusual and interesting collaborations was the one by Esao Andrews and Aaron Horkey. None of the artists are really known for their mural skills or even large scale works, so it was interesting to watch their talents pulling off one of the most detailed and exceptional pieces created. Painting on the facade of Fresh Cafe in Kaka’ako, this was Esao’s second ever mural he’s worked on, while […]

Streets: Reka (Rome)

Posted by SAL, February 26, 2015

James Reka was recently in Tormarancia, Rome, painting a new mural on a residential building. Entitled Natura Morta (Still Life), the finished piece is a great example of all the qualities of Reka’s work – skilled spray control that results in sharp, crispy lines and perfect shapes, a good feel for colors and use of facade color as a background, as well as neat incorporation of architectural elements in his work. In this particular piece, the Berlin-based artist demonstrates the effectiveness of his visual language created over the years. Through […]