Although street art is inviting itself in auction rooms and household lounges these days, it is still regarded by a large majority of us as vandalism. It is hard to understand anything when you do not try to understand where it comes from but only look at the surface and leave your ignorance driven your judgement which is bound to be false.
New York Kings at Pure Evil and curator Christophe Demoulin would definitely like to put this point across to any visitor and underline the importance of the US graffiti movement that started along with the hip hop one in the 70’s and 80’s. The purpose of this writing is not to tell about the social or politic importance aspect of the movement but about looking at the creativity that came out of it which is on display in this show.
All the graffiti and street art pieces have been drawn on actual New York subway maps which is the new medium the “old kings” have found to pursue the tradition of “subway art”. This was a necessity more than anything since the authorities have actually banned any artistic intervention in the subway. The most prolific and subversive won the right among peers to use a crown symbol next to their work, meaning graffiti king.
The show spreads onto the two floors at Pure Evil and has got pieces from all the big names that made the graffiti genres used widely by other artists all over the world from BLADE for the 3D lettering to COPE2 for the bubble lettering. Other names includes FUZZ ONE, BOM5, SEN2, INDIE 184, STAY HIGH 149, POEM, RD 357, DECK, EASY & JOZ.
We have recently partnered with ArtiLink, a young business who has created a social network dedicated to artists from all kind of artistic fields, creative professionals or cultural structures. Their website offers them one more visibility solution for free and it is also possible to buy a premium account to increase his visibility. Artists can put all the medium they want on their profiles and their actualities, and follow the people or structures they like to be informed of their projects.
From Charlotte Canario, artistic creation – “Our goal is to create links between arts, people and their different activities, that is why we organize meetings each month in Lyon since a year and a half where people can gather them, bring their books and share about their projects, in a convivial way !”
The meeting begins usually at 19 pm and ends around 23 pm. The first part of the meeting is for networking, then a second part is dedicated to a showcases, where 5 or 6 people (artists, associations, musicians…etc.) come to present their work to the gathering. It can take the form of a concert, a performance, a PowerPoint presentation, a dance show… We try to mix as most as possible the fields of intervention!
The first ArtLinki meet up of 2013 is this Thursday 21st February and is taking place at StrongRooms and what a program they have put together!
– ACME TV : Company of The Year Acme is an independent production company
– AND NOW WEE : Fashion Design Brand which draws it’s inspiration from the rich cultural heritage of East London.
– CYRUS MAHBOUBIAN is a London-based photographer working in analogue materials.
– MARK : graffiti artist for 26 years now and have life-long experience painting graffiti murals in the United Kingdom and abroad.
– Live Art by Street Artists from LSD Magazine
– KOMA JAZZ : Dj live set all Night long
WHERE – STRONGROOMS | 120-124 Curtain Road Shoreditch London EC2A 3SQ. WHEN – 21st February 2103 | 6 to 11pm
Okuda (Spain) and Remed (France) have renewed the symbolic sculpture located in the vineyards of the winery Campo Viejo in La Rioja, Spain this past week. The work entitled “A Bridge Between Sky and Earth” pictured by the artists was built in 2013 and became an icon for the wineries. Three years later, the sculpture is reborn with a new look, colourful and vibrant with the unmistakable graphic line of the two artists.
A 6 meters hight sculpture
The renewed appearance of this large public artwork, more than six meters high, is a celebration of the Campo Viejo Wineries with the art and this intense collaboration of the two artists.
The fourth limited edition label of Campo Viejo Art Series range signed by Okuda and Remed, will be presented with the image of the sculpture as well.
A long running collaboration between the two artists
Over the past four years we have had the opportunity to witness how this duo of artists, Remed and Okuda, has gradually created a lot of artwork and participated in several places around the world teaming up with Campo Viejo.
Okuda
Places as diverse as Mexico, Miami, Toronto, Warsaw, Madrid, London, Oslo, Zurich, Brussels, Dublin… have hosted the multiple stops of the Streets of Color, Rioja winery project in which the two urban artists have created a recognizable style in which the bright colors and geometric shapes intertwine in a unique way. “It is like a third artist were born from the collaboration of our two styles.” Remed says.
This ongoing collaborative journey between Okuda & Remed with the Campo Viejo winemakers celebrates the expressive nature of the wines and the sculpture in the vineyards was the first work and starting point for all other collaborations that have emerged on the edge of the years between the renowned Pernod Ricard brand and the two artists.
The artistic collaboration is managed by the cultural enterprise Nobulo since 2012.
More about the artists
REMED
Remed
Remed (Paris, 1978) is an expressive French Artist based in Madrid who is well known for his bold use of shapes and colour and large-scale murals. He started painting in 1995 in the privacy of his studio in his home town of Lille, but felt limited by a canvas framework so quickly moved his art to the streets.
Born in Santander, Spain, in 1980 and based in Madrid, Okuda is a passionate and internationally renowned Urban Artist.
Okuda has developed over the years a unique style of artistic expression characterized as “pop-surrealism meets Urban Art”. He uses geometric, bright-coloured abstract shapes with interplay of grey bodies and organic forms to depict contradictions about existentialism, the fake freedom of capitalism, the war between humans and themselves, and the meaning of life.
Since 2002, Okuda has received international recognition and now gets invited to participate in group shows and art events across the world. He has showcased his work at over 56 exhibitions and his portfolio expands a range of mediums from conceptual mixed media installations and mixed media canvas to mural paintings and Street Art.
Ever since two local winemakers – Beristain and Ortigüela – created the first vintage in 1959, Campo Viejo has represented the expressiveness, colour and vibrancy of Rioja.
The Rioja winemaking region is situated in the north of Spain, in the heart of the Ebro valley. It’s the most important Spanish wine region and in its heart lies Campo Viejo.Campo Viejo’s winemakers work hard to ensure that Campo Viejo wines are the very best expressions of contemporary Rioja, conveying the vibrancy of the region in a way that is in keeping with the expressive, fruit-driven style which today’s wine drinkers are actively seeking.
Les Baker V’s INEBRI-NATION project is one of a kind. One may look at it as another purely photographic work while others a bold take on drug use and in some cases, abuse.
Meet Les Baker, a New Mexico-based photographer who has embarked on the most ludicrous, yet interesting in many aspects, projects taking portraits of people at the moment when the subjects reach the ‘high’ state on different drugs.
The idea behind it is to showcase just how diverse the effects can be, with many various transformations of individuals’ faces. And this is why we like the concept, because we believe the last thing a drug user wants is to face their face in such a state.
Another point worth highlighting is the array of people who took part in this project. You may have thought participants are all drug addicts or heavy users and perhaps from a disadvantaged background, but you could not be more wrong.
“The individuals featured in this series showcase the diversity of those who use mind altering substances. They include students, servers, doctors, soldiers, lawyers, politicians, mothers, fathers, artists, teachers, police officers, fire fighters, and judges,” .
The Creators Project spoke to him about his influences, his visions, and why he started the project in the first place, so head over to find out more about it.
In the meantime, we included some of these portraits below, notice the caption for them which tells you what drug these (brave) souls are on.
Would you be up for having your face which you may not feel but you probably like it <– some may have worked out the reference to this tune “Can’t feel my face” by The Weekend… fitting nicely uh? 🙂
Voina, a russian art collective, is making people to talk about them again. They have done crazy things in the past such as hurling live cats at McDonalds workers, engaging in a full-on orgy in a state museum, and shoplifting a raw chicken from a store by hiding it in one member’s vagina!
Their members got in all sort of problems of course with some being put in jail but they are now recognized by the establishment, VOINA has indeed just received one of the highest honors for contemporary art in their country Russia.
Dick in FSB Captivity is why they got this award. The artwork is a 210-foot outline of a penis on a drawbridge facing the the headquarters of the state security services, yes the KGB. When the drawbridge raises, the penis appeared to become erect – genius.
Bansky takes a keen interest in VOINA and gave a large amount of cash earlier this year to get two members of the collective out of custody.
To kick off the new year, High Roller Society teams up with Cirque du Soleil to launch a brand-new art project called SAFEWALLS.
On the first leg of a worldwide tour SAFEWALLS will stop over in London for 3 days ONLY, featuring original works and limited edition prints by British artists Sweet Toof, Jon Burgerman and Glenn Anderson.
The Safewalls project celebrates Cirque du Soleil’s roots—the street—as well as the creative freedom and raw energy associated with street arts by pairing up with artists all over the world to create art posters inspired by its shows. These art posters will be exhibited around the world on a 12-month tour, and limited edition prints of the works will be available for sale via High Roller Society and a dedicated website: www.safewalls.org
In this first video, in a series of three, Jon Burgerman, Sweet Toof and Glenn Anderson introduce themselves, talk about their art, about street art and a bit about breakdance! The next video will be unveiled next week and will present the artists’ vision of London.
SAFEWALLS: Art Project by Cirque du Soleil When: 18 – 20 February 2011, Private View 17 February 7:00-10:00pm
Gallery hours Friday-Sunday 11-6pm (during exhibition) and by appointment Where: 10 PALMERS ROAD | LONDON E2 0SY
If you are keen on graffiti, you must have seen #codefc stuff on some walls, one of his latest and probably most seen is the Olympic runner with the message “Fuck 2012 – I am ready now ”
The man behind #codefc has been active as a graffiti artist for a long time, for about 22 yrs actually but he has been using #codefc for the last 12 years. #codefc references to a hexadecimal color code use in web technologies which coincidentally can be broken down into the word “code” and “fc”, the initials of our artist in question.
#codefc started to do graffiti in Rome where he got arrested doing a train carriage. Keen on using stencils, most of his stuff are location related, some of his projects are coDe-DAY in Normandy , stuDIED in Cambodia or viet-code in South Vietnam where fictive characters are invented and stencil on a surface.
Some of you will have notice the use of what looks like a filming camera. Talking to #codefc, we found out that he is also a keen film maker and that the camera depicted in his works is S8 cinecam which is also used as a logo.
#codefc paint as much as in London than abroad and some of of his works can be seen below.
Having two sisters, Barbie dolls have been in sight most of my childhood and seemed anything but wild individuals. But maybe my sisters had a secret, a can’t tell story about these dolls.
I know there was such a story now thanks to Hollywood Tyler Shield’s collaborative work with Emma Roberts, The Scream 4 star, which gets out there what is really going on in the life of this iconic figure that is Barbie.
I knew she never liked Ken.
See more photos after the jump. Courtesy of Tyler Shields
Although street art is inviting itself in auction rooms and household lounges these days, it is still regarded by a large majority of us as vandalism. It is hard to understand anything when you do not try to understand where it comes from but only look at the surface and leave your ignorance driven your judgement which is bound to be false.
We have recently partnered with 
