Brooklyn-based street artist Specter is one of these very active artists who always come up with new projects. You may or may not like what he does but you have to give him credits for always keeping his creativity flame burning like Hell.

Pure Evil gallery is currently hosting his first UK solo show where Specter using garments such as scarfs or bandanas in his new portraits.

Here is what Specter says about it – “the story behind the pieces is that these are portraits of people who have influenced me artistically but instead of painting their faces I am painting fabrics that I feel represent them. I basically close my eyes and these images are what appears.”

The show only occupied the front room in the gallery, in other words the number of artworks is rather limited. I was quick to go round then and to be honest did not feel loads of excitment about what I had just seen. While I agree that the use of garments is an unique portrayal approach, it is most definitely not the most emotion-trigger one which I believe portaits should be all about: hard to feel sadness or joy looking at a piece of checkered shirt.

Solid drawing and painting skills though and a great attention to detail.

The show runs until the 24th August.

I cannot resist to include a few photos of Specter’s installations and street artwork which is known for in the US. I could not described better what his work is all about than what I read on the Pure Evil website:

He evolves the subject matter by interlacing influences from the environment he chooses to adorn, incorporating characteristics from the surrounding neighbourhoods, architecture, local business and social economic classes; transforming the unwitting publics’ understanding of the space.

Through graffiti influence, he became obsessed with art in public spaces, where he sees potential inspiration and appropriate location to express his creativity. His aim is to deconstruct preconceived perceptions and draw attention to the neglected and less desirable issues, the non-sensational stories of the undervalued detritus of our culture we seldom hear about.

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Related links
> Specter’s art: www.specterart.com
> Make It Fit” Various & Gould exhibition at Brooklynite gallery (New York)

Photos from the show at Pure Evil below as well as Various street installations and artwork from Specter below

Barcelona based street artist Zosen brings his premier UK solo show to StolenSpace.Featuring a collection of new paintings on canvas and the release of a limited edition screen print.

Born in Buenos Aires, Zosen developed his art practice on the streets since he was 11 and in 2001 became a long time member of Barcelona’s infamous ONG crew. Zosen continues to expand his creative practice with performance, illustration, video and collaborations with artists across the globe and he is co-founder of the street wear label, “Animal Bandido” with designer Clàudia Font.

System Collapse is a colourful vision of the world around us and an incisive commentary on the current state of the world’s economy. The distinctive lettering styles, loosely influenced by the artwork of the punk and the ‘do-it-yourself’ movements of the 70’s-80’s, the illusory characters and bright, pure colours reflect a hopeful optimism while the meanings of the words, real and conceived, provide a complex context for a creative discharge of
conscience.

The simplicity of the imagery in psychedelic colours references a plethora of social and political issues, juxtaposing the heavily distorted photo imagery of today’s consumer society with naive, two dimensional characters and imaginary of primitive African art and Latin-American Folklore. In System Collapse, symbols saturated in colour represent the inequalities and injustices that separate the First and Third Worlds.

Zosen’s street art and ubiquitous interventions are essential to his practice, informing his gallery works and providing the impetus for his irrepressible creativity. His multidisciplinary work has been exhibited internationally between the street and the gallery.

The strong appeal of Zosen’s work lies in it’s child-like charm and it’s distinctly political edge. Building on the popular anarchy and contemporary art movements associated with his adopted home town and internationally recognised amongst the underground and mainstream arts and graffiti movements, Zosen’s unique style remains synonymous with Barcelona.

The show runs from 13th August till 29th August 2010.

NB: Words taken from the Stolen Space website.

Related link
> Animalbandido

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