Mr. Brainwash NYC Icons Show Location Revealed

According to his website and Facebook page the location of Mr. Brainwash's solo show was supposed to be kept under wraps until Friday at noon. However I noticed that Flavorwire spilled the beans (perhaps unknowingly) earlier today when they posted a sneak peek look at the show. So to stir the pot I posted the location to his fb page, and thought I would share here too!

I am certainly into the Mr. Brainwash conspiracy theories and I find it pretty clear that Mr. Brainwash pieces are more than the work of Thierry Guetta alone or produced solely under his direction. I'm more in the camp that there is some sort of cadre of artists who put out work under the Mr. Brainwash moniker. It's an interesting soap opera that I think has not fully played out.

In watching videos of the LA opening as well as pictures on flickr I am certain the 15,000 square feet will be a spectacle to behold and is still a must see if you are in the area regardless of what you think of Mr. Brainwash as an artist. How can you not be into full sized taxi cabs as Matchbox cars and boomboxes on steroids that stand 12 feet high? Sign me up.

So 36 hours before they were supposed to be released, here you go:

Mr. Brainwash ICONS
The Bohen Foundation
415 W 13th St, New York, NY 10014

"Sailor" Logan Hicks Time Lapse

Very cool time lapse video of the Logan Hicks 30'x8' stencil of his son Logan that I have been using in the header for the past week or so.

Rene Gagnon HOOD Opening Party and Prints

Even though we saw most of the Rene Gagnon show over the weekend I was still making sure that I went to the opening party tonight. Kudos to Rene and the folks at The Narrows for a really cool night. As someone who was born and raised in Fall River it was cool to be able to drive to Fall River and check out an event of this caliber in a great space in a old mill right on the Taunton River with the sun setting over the Braga Bride and the Battleship Massachusetts. Nice gallery space and a huge performance area for bands and such complete with rows of church pews.

Since Rene and I went to the same high school but a couple years apart there was a small smattering of guys there that I recognized from high school. My graduating class was probably 800 kids and I pretty much have not talked to anyone from it, or my school for that matter in at least 10 years. So being at something where even half a dozen people that I went to school with was worth a chuckle.

I picked up the one print that features the Braga Bridge and have developed a short list of original pieces that I liked and will have to mull some stuff over. But I think my first big original piece purchase will be coming from this show in some fashion.

Oh yeah the prints... The pictures above feature the 5 limited edition HOOD show prints. These should be the first pictures of them on the internet right now. If my memory serves me the prints are all in editions of between 10 and 50. All prints that didn't sell at the opening should be available on Rene's website within 24 to 48 hours or so.


Rene Gagnon Fine Art
The Narrows Center For The Arts

HOOD- A Solo Exhibition by Rene Gagnon

Narrows Center For The Arts
Fall River, MA
Now thru August 15, 2009
Opening reception this Thursday 6/25 6pm-11pm

We went to Fall River today to take in Rene Gagnon's solo show titled "HOOD" on its first day open to the public and in advance of Thursday night's opening party.

The show looks great, it was hard to pick favorites but we whittled it down to a few. We certainly hope to be taking home one of the originals from the show. There are going to be 4 limited edition show prints as well. I was hoping that those might have been hung today, but no such luck. Those will be a surprise on Thursday night. I'll probably want them all!


Rene Gagnon Fine Art
Narrows Center For The Arts

Shepard Fairey Arrested In Boston Tonight

So Crystal and I were at the ICA tonight to see Shepard Fairey and Z-Trip man the decks at The Obey Experiment. Z-Trip took the stage first shortly after 10pm which I found a little strange because I figured he would be the closer, but I didn't pay it much mind since it was Shepard's show and started getting my dance on. Sometime around 11pm Z-Trip gets on the mic and announces that Shepard was arrested by Boston Police tonight so he won't be joining us. Menino let Shepard through a 25 foot Peace Goddess mural on the side of City Hall and the Boston PD picks him up on 2 warrants on his way into the party that kicks off his show at the ICA which will run in their fine city thru August.

I'm sure Boston PD will say they had to act tonight because Shepard was leaving town after this event or something like that. How lame. Interested to see what these warrants are for. At least Z-Trip didn't slow down and rocked the museum with a solo set for 3 solid hours! Link below to the Boston Globe article about the arrest.


Shepard Fairey Arrested

Shepard Fairey Crushing Boston With Pasters!

After visiting DC last week it seems that Shepard Fairey and the Obey crew have landed in Boston to bomb the city streets with some sweet looking Obey propaganda. Pasters are up from Chinatown to Harvard Square and points in between.

I will have to get out there within the next few days after work for some picture taking, or perhaps a weekend drive is in order.

Thanks to Hargo on Flickr for snapping these great shots!


Obey In Boston

Rene Gagnon Opening @ Deblois Gallery Newport RI 10/4/08

This coming Saturday is the Opening Reception for the Rene Gagnon show at the Deblois Gallery in Newport, RI.

On Saturday Crystal and I will be going to the opening with my mother as a sort of Happy Birthday hangout with my mom. It is pretty much thru the street pieces of Rene that I have introduced my mother to the world of graffiti and stencils and street art. Now she is even borrowing my Banksy books from me and snapping graffiti pics on her cell phone and sending them to me.

Rene was nothing but nice when Crystal and I met him in Beacon NY at Electric Windows earlier this summer, plus we went to the same high school and grew up in the same city. I'm sure everything at the show will be out of my league price wise, but it will be cool to hang out with my two favorite ladies and look at some cool pieces of art in the flesh.

 Rene Gagnon Fine Art

Banksy Klansman Piece in Alabama lasts 36 hours before being painted over then removed!

The striking image of a lynched Klansman on the wall of an abandoned gas station outside of Birmingham, AL certainly did what a good piece of art is supposed to do. Provoke thought and discussion.

Below is a link to an article in the Birmingam Weekly that covers that short 36 hour window that the Banksy Klansman hung from a rope, legs limp on the wall of an abandoned weed strewn gas station along I-59 in the deep south.

It is a shame that the piece did not last longer, but I can see where townsfolk would be uneasy about this in their locale. As a fan of street art there is still more to this story that I want to know about. The piece was spraypainted black before the piece of wall was physically moved. Was it done by the same people? And was it removed right after it was painted over? Does it still exist is some form?

And the big question is.... I'm sure at this point whomever removed it/defaced it must be more aware of Banksy's fame at this point, and I am confident that this peice could have fetched upwards of $75,000 at auction if it was removed without being destroyed.

*Update* Might have answered my own question as this was posted on banksyforum:

I went down to Birmingham from Nashville Monday night to check this out…it’s not everyday something like this is happens so close. Got to the site around 11:30pm (not a good idea in that neighborhood that late!) only to discover that the piece had just been painted over. The paint was still drying...I was gutted.

So...we went back Tuesday morning to get a better look. We ended up sticking around for pretty much the entire afternoon. There was a steady flow of the people in the neighborhood stopping by to check it out as well as those tipped off by sites like this. It was really amazing to see the range of responses that this piece evoked. Some people saw it as death to racism…other just saw it as hate. As one local said...”Hate breeds hate”…it didn’t matter to him who was hanging from the noose…all he saw was hate. Overall…it really sparked some great conversations between people who probably never would have stopped to talk if it weren't for this piece. Love it or hate it...I think the piece did it's job.

While we were there...we had started talking to and older African-American man who ended up being the property owner. He had seen the image the day before and had come back to take video of the place – only to find it painted over. He understood the painting and appreciated the quality of work...but he had no idea what he was dealing with...so I got to fill him in and explain why so many people were coming by to take pictures.

Long story short...in an effort to protect this image from further damage or from disappearing altogether...I told him he might want to take the piece down himself. Not sure if I'll get some flack for that on this site...but I thought it was the right thing to do. So…my friend and I ended hanging out with this amazing gentleman for the day and helped him remove the work. He did let us each keep one of the blank grey panels…so I guess I can say I own an original Banksy! HA!

Anyways…I told him I told him I’d help out and try to get an idea of what something like this could fetch if being sold. Any feedback would be great! I’d also be curious to know if anyone thinks there is any restoration that can be done. I'm not thinking there is...but I thought I'd ask.


Banksy Tags Birmingham

Banksy Hits New Orleans

"going through the motions kills the emotions" - Banksy

The world's most well known street artist Banksy has taken to the streets of New Orleans this past week, to put his unique spin on the Hurricane Katrina disaster and clean up efforts three years after the fact.

These pieces are top notch works and reflect the social and political commentary of the devastation that Katrina left in her wake. The timing of Gustav hitting NOLA this weekend is uncanny and I hope that a repeat of Katrina will be avoided at least on a human level, but it seems that the meteorological impact is going to be pretty severe. It will be interesting to say the least how these rebuilt levees hold up.

The top picture is actually a new piece was also discovered over the weekend in Birmingham, AL featuring a lynched KKK member on the side of an abandoned gas station. I can only hope that Banksy has a safe and long journey on the highways and byways of the good old USA painting pictures on walls that are truly thought provoking.


Banksy New Orleans Pool on Flickr
Bansky.co.uk

Manifest Hope Gallery Show @ Denver DNC

It seems every heavy hitter in the US street art scene is getting up and getting down in Denver this week for the DNC. The folks at the Andenken Gallery have been hosting a mind blowing collaborative effort of works titled Manifest Hope at their space in Denver. Many of the heavyweights of the scene have been hitting the streets as well.

It seems that Shepard Fairey was arrested last night while putting up some less than legal work and was detained for 16 hours before his release. Ron English who created a stir with his Abraham Obama image is at it again in Denver as is the one and only David Choe and a host of others.

The enthusiasm that all the artists have for this campaign is plain to see and some of the images that are part of this exhibit speak louder than words. The way that street artists who usually would be living and working and holding their ideals on the fringes of society have rallied around the Obama campaign is truly inspiring.

I was able to see the effect that political street art has on the masses way back on Super Tuesday when I received some Shepard Fairey Progress prints in hand thru the mail less than 2 hours before Hillary Clinton was to speak at Clark University. I took a few of the pasters up to Clark and proudly stood silently (for the most part) outside of the Hillary rally. I was yelled at by middle aged folks, and there were plenty of high school and college aged kids who flocked to the image and would start talking to me. After a while people were coming up and wanting to have there picture taken next to the paster. That is when I began to understand the power of street art and this image. The Shepard Fairey image has become THE definitive image of the campaign and I am happy to say that I had these pasters in my hand on Super Tuesday which was basically the first big drop of this now iconic image on the US consciousness.

The fact that the first Shepard Fairey image mushroomed into something much larger, with tens of high profile artists producing limited edition prints with the proceeds going to the Obama campaign and generating buzz and awareness to a whole new group of people is astonishing.

Street Art In And Out, DeBlois Gallery Newport, RI

Had myself a nice day off from the workday grind today. Went down to Fall River in the morning and we headed out to Second Beach in Middletown, RI.

Absolutely no waves and a bit of red tide, but catching some rays and eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches on the beach is certainly better than a day at work under florescent lights staring at rows on an excel spreadsheet!

After a few hours at the beach we went to The DeBlois Gallery in Newport to check out the street art show they have running this month. Since getting my mother up to speed on graffiti and street art earlier this summer she has become quite intrigued by the cukture and has become a bit of an amateur graffiti hunter herself.

The gallery was manned by what was probably an old money 70 year old plus pearl necklace type lady, but she knew what was up on the walls to some extent. I was happy to fill in some of her blanks regarding some of the artists and hear her take on the graffiti and street art on the gallery walls. My mom thought it was a worthwhile side trip and I got to show her some prime examples of stencil pieces and wheatpastes.

After leaving the gallery we walked the block and found a couple street pieces from Michael DeFeo, Billi Kid and Stikman. Upon getting back to Fall River I spent two hours or so screening a pile of dirt and grass into a nice pile of fine and fresh loam that my father will use to re-sod an area in the front of the house.

I did have to fight some Providence drive time traffic on my way back to Worcester, but all in all it was a nice change of pace for a Thursday. Summer is winding down fast, gotta have days like this while there is still the chance!

Ron English Obama Lincoln Print

Is it Barack Lincoln or Abe Obama?

I see a touch of Alfred E. Newman in the smile.

This brand new Obama print by Ron English just dropped today. A 200 edition screenprint signed and numbered by the artist.

This is the 8th in a series of prints put out by Upper Playground in support of the Obama campaign. All editions have sold out and this one will be no different.

Crystal and I both dig English's style and take on corporations and pop culture icons. We saw him hanging out when we went to Electric Windows in Beacon NY but I wimped out when it came to interrupting him for a picture. Now I wish I would have, as I was lucky enough to score one of these prints today! I would expect them to sell out by tomorrow.


Upper Playground Obama Prints
Ron English
Boing Boing Post

You Trip I Trip Road Trip!!!

About two weeks ago I found out about an arts event that was taking place last weekend in Beacon NY. Beacon features the art museum Dia: Beacon which features art from the 60's through the present and opened in 2003. Dia: Beacon and is housed in an old Nabisco factory which was then used by International Paper before being donated to the museum.

But we didn't even make it to Dia: Beacon since we headed there to check out the live painting for Electric Windows which is a street art installation that will hang in the windows of an abandoned and derelict factory for the next year. Last weekend 20 street artists headed to Beacon to paint their own 8' x 12' canvas live on the street while people milled about and djs, bands and spoken word sessions went down on the other sidewalk. Main St. is a thriving arts scene with at least 8 to 10 art galleries, plenty of interesting independent and ethnic restaurant choices side by side with hair salons, convenience stores and cutesy tea rooms and candle stores that look like they would fit right in on Cape Cod.

From talking to the locals the town (with a 2000 census population of just under 14,000) had all the same issues facing them that we see here in Worcester. Of course they have the advantage of being one hour by train from from New York City and sit at the base of a mountain on the shore of The Hudson River and we here in Worcester sit in The Heart of The Commonwealth.

Walking around the downtown area from gallery to doggie treat shop to coffee shop Crystal and I got nothing but a good vibe from the town. And it is easy to see that they are in the process of leveraging their past, their urban blight, the hand that they were dealt over the years and using the bones of unique features of their old buildings to create something that is viable for today. After all this is an event that made Crystal and I drive 3 hours each way to pump our small disposable income into their town's economy just because they were getting street artists to come and install pieces of work on an abandoned building.

Electric Windows- Beacon, NY 5/17-5/18

Cross your fingers for nice weather next Saturday. There is a street art throwdown in Beacon, NY and if the weather seems favorable I think Crystal and I will be heading on a road trip. I think the day will be well worth the 3 hour drive each way and $40.00 (eek) in gas.

Electric Windows will be a street art installation in an abandoned electric blanket factory. The building currently has 24 empty window bays that measure roughly 8'x12' and 24 street artists will be on hand over the weekend to create a piece to fill one window. The completed project will stay in place for 12 months. One of the funniest aspects of this project is how similar in style the building is to The University Park Lofts here in Worcester which doubles as 4rilla Worldwide HQ.

And the artist lineup is top notch, including:

Rene Gagnon
Ron English
Michael DeFeo
Elbow Toe
+ 20 more

A gallery show accompanies the installation along with bands and dj's all day as well as an afterhours party at a BBQ joint! Other events in Beacon NY on the same weekend include open studios at both Beacon Studios and Spire Studios and launch of Habitat for Artists.

This sounds like the perfect recipe for a road trip!!!

Check out the links below:


Electric Windows
Beacon Studios
Spire Studios
Habitat For Artists

Bicycle Alley Buffed The Java Hut Graffiti Wall

I went and got gas this morning at the Hess Station in Webster Square. Heading back home I noticed that Bicycle alley had gotten around to removing the Java Hut sign and it was sitting on the sidewalk. I pulled into the parking lot to jump out and take a quick picture, but what I saw turned my stomach.

Bicycle Alley decided it was in their best interest to buff the graffiti from the side of what used to be the Java Hut wall. On one hand I can see where they may think that graffiti on their parking lot wall doesn't fit their company image but come on. The murals were quality work and because of that 'hood rats from around the way left that wall alone. Within .2 of a mile in any direction from that parking lot you can see ugly and possibly "gang" or "uneducated hoodlum" type tags and throw ups that look ugly and detract from the area.

The pieces that were up on the side of Java Hut added art, and value and thoughtfulness to the wall, but these other tags right in Webster Square bring down the area where the previous art certainly lifted up the area. If even for a moment while they were sitting at a red light or riding the bus. I can bet you my bottom dollar that that freshly painted wall will be hit with some sort of worthless no talent tag by the 4th of July. Only then may the owners realize the power of street art.


Graffiti dot org