I got myself down to the mighty Brick Lane at the week end, the i-phone (to post photos on Instagram of course) in one hand and the camera in the other one and as always I spent a solid two hours strolling around the area looking for little wonders that is called “street art”.
I spotted a loads of C215 pieces but also a nice sets of PEZ smiling fish. Conor Harrington also has been at it and has produced striking artwork. Enjoy the pictures below. There was so much to see that I had to break into two parts, you are looking at part I, here is part II
On February 16, 1990, at age 31, Keith Haring’s life was cut short due to an AIDS-related illness. He would have been 54 today and as a homage, here are a few words and a tribute to his most iconic pieces of art.
I wonder what Keith Haring (May 4, 1958 – February 16, 1990) would make of the global phenomenon that street art is now, art form very much confined to the street of New York City at the time when he decided to move there in 1978, aged 19.
Having studied commercial art and then Fine Arts, he took a keen interest in graffiti art, Haring would go out there and paste collages of fake New York Post headlines on lamposts or news stands. He explored the likes of SAMO (Jean-Michel Basquiat) or Fab Five Fred (Fred Brathwaite) graffiti art to quickly put in practice his own interpretation of this form of art and would develop his future vocabulary of primitive cartoon-like forms. The Haring’s chalk-drawn “radiant babies” and “barking dogs” were born (see pictures) and woud become familiar sights on the matt black surfaces used to cover the old advertisements in the subways.
These chalk drawings in the subways of New York got Haring in the public eye and he would go on from there to have his first exclusive exhibition in the Tony Shafrazi Gallery which put together a retrospective a few years ago about it – see picture. Willing to reach a larger public, he immersed himself in popular American culture and befriended individials such as Andy Warhol, Madonna or Grace Jones (whom he would body-paint).
Haring was also a keen social activist and as a result of his ever increasing political involvement; he designed a Free South Africa poster in 1985 (see picture) and painting a section of the Berlin Wall in 1986 (see picture). Other works include design for Swatch watches or the Absolut Vodka advertisement (see picture)
Keith Harring’s work are just simply one of the best examples of how consumerism, popular culture and fine art merged in the 1980s.
Recommended readings
Keith Haring: The Authorized Biography by John Gruen (1991) includes interviews with the artist and those closest to him and is an invaluable source for understanding the art and life of Haring.
The early work is illustrated in Art in Transit: The Subway Drawings (1984) and Keith Haring (Shafrazi Gallery, 1982). An enlightening interview by David Sheff appeared in Rolling Stone (August 10, 1989).
Elizabeth Aubert directed an insightful video entitled Drawing the Line: A Portrait of Keith Haring (Biografilm, 1989).
Later an attempt was made to place Haring within a broader art historical context in Keith Haring, edited by Germano Celant (1992). □
Fabio, a.k.a. Cranio is from São Paulo, Brazil and have been spraying around since 1998.
Still to have a show in the UK, I am sure it is just a matter of time, Cranio is getting more and more attentionI in his native country. Armed with sprays, latex paint, brushes and paint rollers, he leaves his imagination flow and his passion for indigenous art blossom.
Enjoy a selection of some of his works below. The first photograph is his latest work. We love the Brazilian pareo!
James Bullough and Addison Karl are JBAK ans is a creative collaboration between two artists originally from Baltimore and Seattle respectively and hitting the walls of Berlin.
I could not describe better than Jennifer Weitman what JBAK is and is all about so here are her words. We particularly like the “Paintin Meryt’ piece which you can watch below
“Each artist brings his unique vision and style to their combined body of work. Bullough’s main focus is photo-realism, with attention to ambient and deep space, layers, and geometric forms. He combines contemporary street art techniques and materials with those of realist oil painters, creating pieces of vivid color and masterful detail. Conversely, Addison’s work is produced using a hatch drawing style, which utilizes fine lines and details to create fantastic illustrations of both diminutive and immense images and proportions.”
“JBAK have blended their contrasting styles into a mashup of antonyms: realism vs. illustrative, expressive vs. precise, hard vs. soft, black vs. a spectrum. The pair seeks desirable locations paying close attention to the space and the people that live and work within it. Their intent is not to disrupt but rather, to integrate their art into the existing environment, creating harmony, balance, and adding life to an otherwise colorless wall. Together, JBAK create large-scale murals, which highlight their differing design aesthetics while at the same time, reaching a common goal—to give people a reason to look up, around, and beyond themselves.”
Fab or #CODEFC has been busy in the last few months and have been throwing a few pieces around town where his current topic, the Olympics, is being broken down according to his mindset.
Stay tune for more information and a sneak preview about his upcoming solo show at the Curious Duke gallery on white cross street
James Bullough and Addison Karl are JBAK ans is a creative collaboration between two artists originally from Baltimore and Seattle respectively and hitting the walls of Berlin.
