ST buddy SHEPARD FAIREY has teamed up with his STUDIO NUMBER ONE (creaters of the “Hope For Haiti” CD cover) designers CLEON PETERSON and CASEY RYDER to create a new poster for HAITI relief based on a photo by TAO RUSPOLI. The $50 signed and numbered edition goes on sale at an unannounced time on Friday, February 5th at Obeygiant.com, with all proceeds from the sales going to ARTISTS FOR PEACE AND JUSTICE:

“Artists for Peace and Justice (APJ), established in early 2009, is a fundraising effort founded by Paul Haggis and friends that encourages peace and social justice and addresses issues of poverty and enfranchisement in communities around the world. Over the past year, APJ has directed its efforts to raising enough funds to fully sponsor three schools in Haiti in support of the initiatives of Father Rick Frechette and his team. These schools aren’t just a place to learn but provide for a hot meal, clean water and a chance at the future to children who desperately need it. Following the devastating earthquake in Haiti, APJ has focused its efforts on raising much needed dollars for emergency aid in the ravaged country that is only a few hours from our shores.”

Shep needs love, and pays graphic homage to one of downtown NYC’s foremost artistic forebears…

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. And that’s saying a lot, given SoHo’s storied art legacy. As Shepard toils away in his LA painting studio logging long hours behind the spray can and paintbrush, DEITCH PROJECTS ST’s own Jamie O’Shea dropped by the spot for an exclusive look at the work in progress (portraits of artists, musicians, gurus, and politicians), easily some of his finest to date. Since we couldn’t reveal most of the new works in full, cropped eye shots of the large canvases will have to do for now. Stay tuned to ST for a comprehensive first look as May draws near. Meanwhile, HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

Andre waxes poetic on the subject of waxing…

Supertouch buddy MR ANDRE is known worldwide for his trademark pink, spaghetti-legged graffiti character. Now Parisian couture and street culture hotspot COLETTE celebrates his fine artwork with a new exhibition, “Drawings.” The title, of course, says it all, but the notorious French five-footer mixes things up nonetheless with an array of sculpture and customized objects. Fun art for cheap, what could be better during the dog days of a global recession? HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

Banksy’s “Are You Using That Chair,” oil on canvas, from 2005. A steal at $1.5 mil, or just a painting deserving to be stolen?…

Despite the ripple effect of the economic crisis on the art world and the rapid deflation of the vastly overhyped “Street Art” scene in general, London-based ANDIPA GALLERY is currently staging a secondary market “flipper” show of work by BANKSY, the centerpiece of which carries a sticker price of nearly $1.5 million USD. No need to stop and re-read that sentence, you read it correctly the first time. Flying in the face of all rational thought, the gallery’s namesake dealer Acoris Andipa remains undaunted by modern reality and is determined to see “Are You Using That Chair,” a 14-foot-wide canvas dating from 2005 that depicts a drunken hooligan inserted into a copy of the famous Edward Hopper painting from 1942 titled “Nighthawks,” fetch a price that would have been expensive even in the overheated 2008 market. The piece is one of 35 high-priced originals currently on offer by the 400-year-old art institution (Andipa was established in 1593) and the first significant—if unsanctioned—show of Banksy’s work in 2009. Obviously hesitant of wading into the currently chilly waters of the modern art market, Banksy himself has been a ghost since late last year, keeping an incredibly low profile with only a few minor street pieces to his name so far. Despite the fact that values of Banksy originals have dropped a minimum of 30% – 50% since late last year, Andipa’s attitude on the artist’s bankability remains unshakably optimistic: “We’re still doing good business for originals,” he said recently. “We feel the long-term picture for Banksy is still rosy. He’s the artist who perfectly sums up the early 21st century. We aren’t dropping our prices” To date, the record price paid for a Banksy original remains the $1.9 million tag attached to the artist’s collaborative painting  “Keep It Spotless,” executed with Damien Hirst for Project RED’s charity auction at Sotheby’s in NYC in early 2008. Until Obama pulls a magic rabbit out of his hat, we’re willing to bet that’s a record that holds true for quite some time to come. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

Supertouch buddy AARON ROSE opened the doors to a little show he curated at the venerable CIRCLECULTURE GALLERY in Berlin this past Saturday, titled simply “McGee, Templeton, Pettibon.” Bringing “Zee Germans” a healthy dose of American street culture, the show aptly surveyed the recent work of all three of these iconic artists (all of whom also took part in Rose’s previous “Beautiful Losers” exhibitions), and included photographs and paintings by Barry McGee and Ed Templeton and a nice display of recent ink drawings by elder statesman Raymond Pettibon alongside a large array of neatly framed examples of his ultra-seminal Black Flag photocopied gig flyers (whose ever-elusive matching original artworks remain the ultimate holy grail for Pettibon collectors). HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

This weekend in NYC saw the return of one of the city’s most elusive artists to the formal gallery scene when Supertouch’s own PHIL FROST premiered his new solo show “Paperweight” at JONATHAN LEVINE GALLERY. Creating over 65 works on paper—the majority of which clocked in at a comfy and affordable 22″ x 30″—the show was an explosion of color (and white out) from the so-called “street artist”, who, despite gaining notoriety for first plying his trade on city walls, has strived to elude the misnomer in his professional career. A show of this kind has never before been mounted for Phil, whose imagery usually begins on canvases before spilling over onto all matter of physical ephemera, from baseball bats and footballs, to old mattresses, glass bottles, BMX bikes, and even suitcases, and proved to be an amazing spectacle in its well contained uniformity. Of course, Frost’s fanbase was out in numbers to greet their art hero and art collector and onetime funnyman MIKE MEYERS even patiently waited his turn in line for a photo with Philly Phil followed by chants of “I’m not worthy, I’m not worthy,” obviously not in reference to his performance in “The Love Guru.” HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

Underground art stars BARRY McGEE (in the guise of alter ego LYDIA FONG), CLARE ROJAS, and ANDREW JEFFREY WRIGHT came together last weekend at West Hollywood art hotspot NEW IMAGE ART to present the artistic tour-de-force that was their stunning joint "American Realities" exhibition. Punctuated by a comedic performance by Mr. Wright (how many times has he introduced himself to the ladies as such?) and folk singer PEGGY HONEYWELL (who looks an awful lot like Clare Rojas), as well as the mandatory lengthy autograph session by Twisto (with daughter Asha Kilgallen-McGee tagging alongside him like a pro), the scene was one of the highlights of 2009's spring gallery season with an appropriately massive (and sweaty) crowd of admirers to match. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »

This year's installment of the legendary SOUTH x SOUTHWEST music festival in Austin, Texas again proved to be one of the last fleeting moments of relevancy in a modern music world gone post-apocalyptic. Aside from washed-up metal has-beens Metallica playing a gig in honor of their new signature Guitar Hero video game (if only Satan would rise up and strike them down now, lord), the dusty Texas town played host to a staggering array of ripping new talent proving there might still be hope for Hollywood—if not the big box chain record store—yet. On the scene to wheatpaste the town red, white, and black was Supertouch's own SHEPARD FAIREY who went big on the side of LANCE ARMSTRONG's personal bike shop, MELLOW JOHNNY'S immediately after touching down. He pretty much slammed the rest of the town too. HAVE A LOOK: Read the rest of this entry »