This week’s artist who we want to introduce to you in our Art Focus feature is Jill Sylvia. The American artist uses an unusual medium – ledger paper – to create famous buildings in the United States utilizing a painstaking and time-consuming process. The symbolism of her raw materials is not lost on the viewers as she explores ideas of greed, debt, financial responsibility, and economics with a sort of an artistic hijacking of the idea of “accounting.” For those who are interested, head over […]
With the US Open of Surfing opening tomorrow in sunny Southern California, Push was commissioned to paint some murals for Converse. This piece was painted at Livery Design Gruppe in Huntington Beach featuring some of the MSK-affiliated writer’s signature patterns and colors. Check out a photo set of the walls below as well as some in-progress shots. Photo credit: James Ng for Arrested Motion.
We haven’t heard much from Blu (since April in Morocco), but it looks like the the Italian street savant has made the short trip over to Spain recently for the Desordes Creativas Festival. Set in the town of Ordes, the has a nice lineup of participants including Ericailcane, Liqen, Sam3 and more. For now, check out this amazing new wall from Blu featuring a horde of vegetables jumping into a blender, painted with some of his his signature dark humor. Tipped off by Savage Habit. Discuss Blu here.
Sheffiield-based street muralist Phlegm recently made a trip out to New York and it looks like he brought along instruments of his trade as he put up multiple murals in Manhattan at the Fulton housing project on West 17th. Featuring his intricate imagery, the pieces follow his characters as they handle enigmatic and complex contraptions and gadgets. On interest, he also added one of his creatures to an existing piece by Israeli street artist Know Hope leading to an interesting collaboration after the fact. For a […]
Leading off last week’s Streets: World Roundup is this amazing mural (seen above) painted over the course of a year by Josef Kristofoletti. The project was commissioned by the ATLAS Experiment at CERN, the European Organization for Nuclear Research and was painted on the side of the ATLAS control room directly above the detector, near the Swiss-French border outside of Geneva by the Texas-based artist. It depicts the artist’s interpretation of what the Higgs boson might look like. For those interested, Kristofoletti also sent us a link […]
This week’s featured video in our Rewind summary is a short film from Miami design collective FriendsWithYou. The focus of the animated shore is an exploration into the life of clouds, a reoccurring motif in Samuel and Arturo’s work. The visual soundscape that results certainly projects the happy and joyful vibes that has become their signature aesthetic. Other notable videos below include: Teaser for Rebecca Lowry, who is showing in August at Design Matters Gallery. BMW Art Car. 1975 – 2010. The LA Launch of […]
After a look at the street pieces Ethos and Vhils put up for Komafest in Norway, we turn our attention to Conor Harrington (interviewed). The UK-based painter worked on several murals while he was in Vardø which featured imagery similar to what was seen during his recent London solo (covered) as well has mix of photorealistic and abstract colonial portraiture. Top photo by Andrew Telling. Discuss Conor Harrington here.
With the Summer Olympics opening this Friday, it was only a matter of time before Banksy put his thoughts on the event out there. Two new images (unknown locations as of yet but presumably in London) were just uploaded to Mr. B’s website – one showing a missile substituted in for the javelin throw and the other stencil placed perfectly next to a a barb wire fence featuring the pole vault. Keep your eyes out for more work from the elusive street artist if you are […]
Dzine has a show opening next Friday in London inspired by the “Szwaybar,” a phenomenon that is central to the youth of Curacao. Ed Ruscha steps down from MOCA board of trustees – last artist to leave. Barbara Kruger and Catherine Opie’s resignation email letter to MOCA. Christopher Knight discusses Kruger and Opie’s resignations and the role of artists in MOCA’s board. More from MOCA and Ruscha regarding resignations of artists from board and the future of the institution. Which Way, L.A.? examines the situation […]
The Picturin Torino Art Festival recently played host to artists Graphic Surgery, V3RBO, and 2501 as they were invited to paint murals in an area of the Italian city with old warehouses and factories. They were among a group of 30 artists from France, Holland, Bulgaria, Spain and Italy who were tasked with beautifying city landmarks – Parco Dora, Amedeo di Savoia Hospital, Hiroshima Mon Amour, schools and façades – and turning Torino into a big outdoor museum. Photo credit: Diego Fatone & Picturin Torino via Graffuturism.
After opening a duo of shows in Lisbon and Paris, where he also was able to make his mark on the city streets in those major metropolises, Vhils moves north to the much smaller town of Vardø. The relatively tiny Norwegian town is the site of Komafest, a street art festival which hopefully will help revitalize a region that has suffered from depopulation and the decay. The Portuguese artist applied his unique technique to a something we haven’t seen before, a wooden building – with a pretty sweet result […]
AM dropped by Mark Whalen’s studio recently to get a preview of his new work, which will be shown as a solo exhibition with Edwina Corlette Gallery at the Melbourne Art Fair (August 1-5). If you can’t make it to the art fair, follow Mark Whalen (nowhaywhay) on Instagram for a play by play of the event. Looking into Mark Whalen’s psychedelic gridded realities is like a mythic journey into hyperspace. He redefines the atmospheric picture plane, using pure geometric forms and grids to create […]