After painting the town in New Orleans this past week, rogue British street artist BANKSY had the good sense to get out of Hurricane Gustav’s way and piloted his caravan towards the Old South stronghold of ALABAMA where these newest hits quickly popped up. Keep an eye on ST for updates as Her Majesty’s royal artist makes his way east, spraycan in hand. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »
And you thought London was under surveillance…
French photographer/street artist JR, best known for his technique of photographing inhabitants of an area & pasting the resulting imagery up on grand scale around the community, has taken to the favelas of RIO DE JANEIRO in a grand project to honor the female residents of one of the world’s biggest slums in a hillside installation called “28 Millimetres: Women”. Following in the footsteps of his recent large-scale installation in Spain, JR has truly outdone himself with this massive paste up, the scope of which is simply stunning. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »
Top: A close up of Quinn’s new golden Kate Moss “Sphinx” sculpture. Below: Quinn’s original “Sphinx” in white…
British sculptor and scarily dedicated KATE MOSS fan MARC QUINN whose incredible sculptures of the aging supermodel in a variety of yoga poses made even the most art oblivious take note in 2006 has announced that a $2.8 million, 110-pound solid gold statue of his most prominent Moss sculpture will be unveiled at the BRITISH MUSEUM in October. Hailed as the largest gold sculpture built in the world since ancient Egypt, the new work will take center stage at a group show of new artwork by leading modern British Artists including Damien Hirst. Says Quinn of his inspiration for the work, “I thought the next thing to do would be to make a sculpture of the person who’s the ideal beauty of the moment, but even Kate Moss doesn’t live up to the image.” Keep an eye on ST for a closer look at the sculpture as the exhibition opening approaches. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »
Banksy’s art & life intersect in the lower ninth ward…
One wouldn’t normally expect to find the world’s most Googled street artist lurking among the ruins of the lower ninth ward in NEW ORLEANS, but that’s just where renegade stencil artist BANKSY has been holed up for the past week, covering the desiccated city with art to commemorate the anniversary of KATRINA, the hurricane that killed 1800 people when it struck the coastal city in 2005. Said Banksy of the operation, “Three years after Katrina I wanted to make a statement about the state of the clean-up operation,” and attested that the city’s levee wall offered “the best painting surface in the state of Louisiana.” However, the Bristol Bomber seemed to feel some pangs of regret in his action when he added, “…I wanted to highlight the state of the clean-up operation. Only later did it dawn on me that if you choose to do this by drawing all over their stuff, you’re actually only slowing down that clean-up operation.” Of course, in the art world, timing is everything, and as the roving stencil demigod wraps up his project, the city braces for the onslaught of oncoming tropical storm Gustav which threatens to again devestate the slowly healing city. Hopefully, once residents realize what’s been painted on their doorstop, a quick sawsall session and a little eBay savvy will net them enough to build a mansion in the French Quarter. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »
Yo, it must be the shoes…
In town to ride the BARACK OBAMA express, none other than MARS BLACKMAN himself (aka: SPIKE LEE) dropped in on the “Manifest Hope” art show at the DNC this week to catch up with Obama’s First Artist & Supertouch’s own SHEPARD FAIREY whose giant original Barack piece was the centerpiece of the show. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »
Just another brick in the wall…
Like his comrade-in-arms RON ENGLISH, guerilla street artist SHEPARD FAIREY is also on the move in Denver, keeping the city walls well dressed while BARACK’s in town. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »
We really need to meet the owners of the OBAMA VOLVO. They look really, um, politically astute. For them, we might even consider going bio-diesel. Call us…
Ronnie packs up the kids for a summer vacation in Denver…
Street art saboteur and renegade Supertouch Popagandist RON ENGLISH has taken to the streets in Denver where he’s front and center at the pro-OBAMA art-a-thon that is the “Manifest Hope” gallery show supporting “Barry” during his DNC tour-de-force. Of course, his art wasn’t confined to the sterile gallery walls and soon Ronnie’s street bombs began appearing in lotsa places they weren’t supposed to. Here we get a peek at the first bits. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »
Top to bottom: WK x Lister. Quien es mas macho?…
The French & British finally made amends when Supertouch’s own art frog WK INTERACT and limey street artist ANTHONY LISTER teamed up for an imaginatively titled joint art show, “WK – Lister,” at the progressive ELMS LESTERS PAINTING ROOMS. Opening last week to a throng of rabid fan boys & girls, the sellout show—especially notable for including WK’s first color works ever—proved once again, that the art world is now officially recession-proof. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »
It’s summer in London (yes, that cold dankness is considered “sunny weather”), and the city walls have once again bloomed with the fresh artwork of Supertouch’s own French street art ambassador, WK INTERACT. In town for the opening of his joint art show with fellow painter ANTHONY LISTER at the venerable ELMS LESTERS PAINTING ROOMS, monsieur Interact has once again left his signature black & white fingerprints on some of the city’s prime real estate. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »
Friday was a big nite in the Midwest when SHEPARD FAIREY’s Ohio installment of his traveling retrospective “Supply & Demand” opened at the CINCINNATI CONTEMPORARY ARTS CENTER and shattered the institution’s all-time attendance record.
What has to be the final nail in the “Street Art” coffin was driven in last weekend by none other than MR. BRAINWASH (aka: “The Christian Audigier of Street Art”) when he opened his massive, self-produced “Icons” show in a rented space (which, ironically, was once a real art gallery, pre-recession) in the heart of Chelsea. As the subject of Brit Street Art king Banksy’s recent docu-parody film, “Exit Through The Gift Shop,” MBW has been the focus of much hype and speculation as his presence finally seeps into the fairly muddy stream of mainstream consciousness. Last week’s Wall Street Journal article articulated this particularly well:
One of the fashion world’s foremost visionary designers ALEXANDER McQUEEN was found dead today in his London apartment, an apparent suicide just days after the death of his mother, and the suicide of one of his close friends Isabella Blow, who discovered the young designer and helped forge his early career:
Despite MOCA’s financial woes of late and near collapse last year amid the chaos of the economic holocaust, the veritable Southland institution seems on to a bright future now, having secured ST buddy JEFFREY DEITCH as its new director (starting June 1) and financial security (for the moment). If ever there was a time to celebrate, it is now. HAVE A LOOK:
By now it’s no secret that JEFFREY DEITCH is closing shop in downtown NYC to head West for the sunnier confines of the MoCA Director’s office, starting June 1st. That leaves SHEPARD FAIREY’s upcoming portrait show as the farewell exhibition at one of the city’s most legendary and influential commercial art institutions in the city’s history.
J O'Shea/Editor
Shepard Fairey
Everlast
Dr Romanelli
Lupe Fiasco
Billy Gibbons
Christian Parkes
Davey Havok
Eric White
Erik Foss
Christian Hosoi
Josh Davis
Kenna
Mark Ryden
Masa/Three Tides
Sarah/Colette
Scott Campbell
Tim Biskup
WK Interact
Donny Miller
Lance Mountain
James Jean
Andy Cruz
Adam Glickman
Ron English
Jose Parla
D* Face
Eric Nakamura
Nathan Cabrera
Kostas Seremetis
Phil Frost
Kyle Ng
Suitman