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 […]
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 […]
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.
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 […]
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 […]
After several months of silence, the world wide phenomenon that is Banksy just updated his official website with a new series of works recently created in occupied Gaza. In his sharp and critical style, Mr B. has put ups some meaningful pieces including a cat playing with iron wire from destroyed homes, an image of the weeping Niobe, a Greek goddess that was punished for pride in her children, a watchtower being used as a merry go-round, and finally a strong message that states “If we wash our hands of the conflict between […]
While most artists were painting large murals at one location, Ernest Zacharevic contributed to POW! WOW! Hawaii (more coverage here) with several smaller interventions scattered around town, making visitors go on a real hunt for his work. Due to their nature, a few of them actually got buffed soon after their creation, but some of them stayed up waiting for people to discover them. The first piece he created was on the side of the bridge on Ala Moana Blvd at the beginning of Waikiki. The Lithuanian artist painted one of […]
While preparing for his next big solo at Gallery Wendi Norris in San Francisco, Tomokazu Matsuyama (interviewed) recently hosted a studio visit from prolific art patron Swizz Beatz. While one of the pieces glimpsed in the New York-based artist’s workspace will end up in the record producer’s collection, the photos sent us reveals some of what Matzu has been working on for Come with me, his planned third solo with the Bay Area gallery. The exhibition opening on March 12th will feature paintings rendered in his signature aesthetic […]
After taking his own work up to space and living up to his moniker, Invader has recently expanded his activities to spread his work further along similar lines. Not only has the French street artist put up his signature tiled mosaics up at the European Astronaut Centre in Cologne and Euro Space Center in Belgium (above), but it also looks like one of his pieces has made it up with an astronaut to the International Space Station. Discuss Invader here.
AM recently covered the opening and first week of the last show by Dran, which was hosted by Pictures On Walls and closed on Saturday 21 February. The uniqueness of Public Execution is that it was produced by the artist — bit by bit and in public view — over the course of its duration. A white space filled with spraypainted images of blank canvases on Day 1 evolved into a picture-rich multicoloured venue on Day 17, the grand finale. Some visitors have referred to […]
Probably most original and unique artist of this year’s POW! WOW! Hawaii (more coverage here) was the Minneapolis-based HotTea. Known for his yarn installations on fences, he found a very original and harmless way of expressing himself on the streets. He created this technique after getting in trouble for doing graffiti but still wanting to be able to continue bombing, but not get in trouble. Thinking of his grandma’s knitting skills, he found a way to incorporate this unusual medium in creating public works. His unique style and […]
More stories from the week that ended Feb 21 (click on bolded words for more information): Landon Metz show opens at James Fuentes. Metz discusses the show with Interview Magazine. RIP: Sheila Caro, artist and wife of Anthony Caro. Michael Asher’s only permanent outdoor work destroyed by man welding a sledgehammer. UN Security Council bans all trade in artifacts from Syria, accusing IS militants of looting to raise funds. Dispute over Cornelius Gurlitt’s will delaying efforts to research works and process restitution cases. Prosecutor in […]
