Exhibits

Out of the Cold — Appleton Diabetic Awareness Through Art Exhibit — Continues at 51 Orchard Street through Sunday

August 11, 2016

For the past several years NYC-based artist and photographer Appleton has been taking his message of diabetic awareness to our streets. While visiting his hugely impressive solo exhibit, Out of the Cold, I had the opportunity to find out a bit about him and his mission:

The artworks on exhibit here are so impressive. They are beautifully executed, as well as emotionally and intellectually engaging. How long have you been working on this body of work?

Many of the works displayed here have been created this past year. But this exhibit is, actually, a culmination of my artworks of the last few years.

Can you tell us something about your process, your particular aesthetic? It is certainly distinct.

I have been collecting insulin bottles for the past 35 years. I began shortly after surviving a diabetic coma at age six. The bottle has since become my iconic image and has clearly informed my aesthetic. I work with a range of media — photography, paint, hand-cut images and sculpture — that almost always feature the insulin bottle.

You are clearly a man with a mission!

Yes. I want to raise and spread awareness of diabetes, a devastating disease that impacts over 30 million Americans. Too many people do not understand the challenges that diabetics face daily — the physical and psychological damage the disease can cause. It can be a living nightmare.

And have you a message to diabetics, as well?

Yes! I want them to feel less lonely and alone in the daily battle they face. There are millions of us carrying on. We never — even for a moment — can stop thinking about our disease.

Your wheatpastes featuring bottles of insulin have become part of our visual landscape here in NYC. What other cities have you hit?

Among the cities I’ve pasted up in are: LA, Miami, Chicago, Boston and St. Louis.

How have folks responded to your work — both on the streets and in gallery settings?

The response has been consistently positive. Many folks who have the disease have thanked me for spreading awareness of it.

Occasionally, I hear that we are close to a cure.

I wish that were true. I don’t expect a cure in my lifetime. If there were one, there would be a global economic breakdown. A cure should have and could have happened by now.

What’s ahead for you?

I plan to take my message abroad this year. Among the cities I will visit are: Paris, Barcelona and London.

That sounds wonderful and thank you for what you are doing!

Note: Although the exhibit remains open through Sunday, a closing reception takes place tonight, Thursday, from 5-9pm at 51 Orchard Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side. There will be limited edition signed artist prints for sale.

Images

1. Skid Row, Metallic paper, Museum glass, Archival elements

2. Out of the Mine, Mixed media: Paint, Paper, Acrylic

3. Empire State Building, Photograph on metallic paper, Museum glass, Archival elements

4. Insulin to Ashes, Metallic paper, Museum glass, Archival elements

5. Top of the World, Mixed media: Paint, Paper, Acrylic

Interview by Lois Stavsky; photos of artworks: 1, 2 & 5 Lois Stavsky; 3 & 4 Tara Murray

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Truth to Power Showcases Socially Engaged Art: Keith Haring, Mear One, Beau Stanton, Shepard Fairey, Lmnopi, Mata Ruda and more

July 28, 2016

Coinciding with the Democratic National Convention, the non-profit Rock The Vote launched its Truth to Power campaign in Philadelphia earlier this week. Among its events was a three-day pop-up art exhibit featuring a varied range of socially and politically engaged works in different media. Among the artists who participated are many whose works have also surfaced in public spaces. Pictured above is Keith Haring with the City Kids Foundation. Here are several more:

Mear One, False Profits

Beau Stanton, Elemental Crisis

Shepard Fairey aka Obey

Lmnopi, Tehrir

Mata Ruda, How Can I Write My Own Future with My Hands Bound?

Photo credits: 1-3, 5 & 6 Lois Stavsky; 4 Sara Ching Mozeson

Note: Hailed in a range of media from the Huffington Post to the New York Times, our Street Art NYC App is now available for Android devices here.

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Apostrophe NYC Transforms Subway Station into a Pop-Up Gallery

July 25, 2016

Earlier this year we met up with the wonderfully talented and intrepid Apostrophe founders and curators — Sei and Ki Smith. Since, they’ve successfully hosted guerrilla pop-ups at The Whitney Museum of American Art — from which they’ve been banned for life — and at MoMA PS1. This past Friday we attended Apostrophe‘s Base 12 Subway Show, a pop-up exhibit at the Kosciuszko Street stop on the J Line featuring works from Apostrophe‘s 12 artists. And what fun it was!

Sei Smith, curator and recently featured, along with his brother, in Time Out New York’s 10 NYC artists 35 and under you should know

Morell Cutler and artwork by James Rubio on right

Alana Dee Haynes

And healthy non-alcoholic beverage — provided by Costa Brava — served at artists’ reception on subway platform!

Apostrophe‘s Base 12 Project will continue throughout the year with three pop-ups in city parks, three in European galleries, one more museum pop up and then finally a project retrospective at Mana Contemporary that will exhibit all 144 paintings from the 12 pop-ups.

Photo credits: 1-7 Lois Stavsky; 8 & 9 Tara Murray; additional photos on the Street Art NYC Instagram

Note: Hailed in a range of media from the Huffington Post to the New York Times, our Street Art NYC App is now available for Android devices here.

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Icy and Sot Pop-Up Exhibit and Book Signing at 51 Orchard Street

July 22, 2016

The newly released LET HER BE FREE documents Iranian brothers Icy and Sot‘s foray from skateboarding teens in Iran to politically-conscious, internationally acclaimed artists. To celebrate the launch of their book, the artists invite you to a pop-up exhibition of small and mid-scale stencil artworks that have been created exclusively for this book launch. Opening tomorrow evening. July 23 at 51 Orchard Street with a book signing, the exhibit continues through July 30.

Unity, spray paint on canvas

Justice, spray paint on cut-out wood

In Long Island City

And book cover

Published by Lebowsi Publishers with an introduction by filmmaker and poet Jess X Chen and an afterword by Brooklyn Street Art‘s Jaime Rojo and Steven P. Harrington, the artists’ first collection of works features over 200 full color photos.

All images courtesy Icy and Sot

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“HomeStyle” — Cap Matches Color’s First International Exhibit — to Open Tomorrow, July 22, at Bristol’s HANGFIRE Gallery

July 21, 2016

Celebrating the history of today’s spray paint culture, Bristol-based HANGFIRE has teamed up with U.S.- based spray brand collectors Cap Matches Color to present HomeStyle. On display and for purchase will be a strong collection of spray paint memorabilia from the archives of Cap Matches Color and U.K. based collector, Ticks. Also on exhibit will be limited edition photographic prints from worldwide traveller and photographer Mr. Yoshi and original artwork and limited prints from Cheo.

Copies of Two Decades of Digging will be available for purchase, along with limited edition silkscreened skate decks featuring vintage spray paint graphics of Marabu Buntlack, Krylon and Rust-Oleum by HANGFIRE.

The exhibit opens at tomorrow — Friday evening — at 49 North Street, BS3 1EN Bristol, UK on the eve of Bristol’s famed Upfest Festival and continues through August 5th.

Images for this post courtesy HANGFIRE and Cap Matches Color; photo of Cap Matches Color by Lois Stavsky

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Jamie Hewlett’s Premier USA Exhibition, The Suggestionists, Continues Through July 16 at Woodward Gallery

June 27, 2016

Currently on view at Woodward Gallery is The Suggestionists, the first USA exhibition of international artist, designer and co-founder of the Gorillaz band, Jamie Hewlett. Divided into three distinct thematic sections – all linked through the power of suggestion — the exhibit is a mesmerizing foray into a world whirling with urbane wit and seductive charm.

Close-up from one of 22 larger-than-life Tarot cards, as distinctly interpreted by the artist

Honey, Hewlett’s homage to the exploitation movies of the 60s and 70s, presented in a series of giant light boxes

And — in an entirely different vein — Pines, detailed illustrations of trees Hewlett observed while in the south of France

Pine 20, close-up

Hewlett explains his obsession with pine trees and why he’s not likely to ever draw another one!

Woodward Gallery, located at 133 Eldridge Street on Manhattan’s Lower East Side, is open Tuesday-Saturday 11:00am-6:00pm and Sunday 12:00pm-5:00pm.

Photo credits: 1, 3 & 4 courtesy of Woodward Gallery; 2 & 5 Lois Stavsky

Note: Hailed in a range of media from the Huffington Post to the New York Times, our Street Art NYC App is now available for Android devices here.

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Deep Calls Deep Continues at World Trade Gallery through July 12 with: Michael Alan, Rubin, Erasmo and more

June 26, 2016

Back in March, Joshua B. Geyer‘s splendidly curated exhibit introduced us to the World Trade Gallery. We recently returned as its current exhibit, Deep Calls Deep, again features some of our favorite artists. Pictured above is a recent work by the wonderfully talented and highly imaginative Michael Alan.

Also by Michael Alan

Rubin

With Erasmo to his left

Located at 120 Broadway in Manhattan’s Financial District, the World Trade Gallery is open Monday – Thursday 9am-7pm; Friday 9am-6pm and Saturday 11am-5pm.

Photo credits: 1, 4 & 5 Tara Murray; 2 & 3 Lois Stavsky

Note: Hailed in a range of media from the Huffington Post to the New York Times, our Street Art NYC App is now available for Android devices here.

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NET on TAGSTRACTION, Tonight’s Unsanctioned Exhibit, the Art World and more

June 23, 2016

As NET was getting ready for TAGSTRACTION, tonight’s unsanctioned exhibition on the streets of NYC, I had the opportunity to speak to him and find out a bit about it all.

Just what is TAGSTRACTION?

It is a mix of tagging and abstraction, blurring the lines between graffiti tagging, abstract expressionism and stylized signatures.

And when was NET born?

NET was born in 1987, but I’ve been tagging since I was a child.

Were you ever arrested?

I was arrested about fifty times for graffiti since I was 14.

Who are some of your inspirations?

There are many: Barry McGee aka Twist, Adam Cost, Jon 156, Al Diaz, Easy, Phantom 13 aka P13, Old English, Enx, Phil Frost and multiple Brooklyn artists.

You define TAGSTRACTION as “too hood for the nerds and too weird for the thugs.” Who is your audience?

Anyone and everyone who’s on the street with eyeballs.

How can folks see tonight’s exhibit?

The location will be announced one hour prior to the 7pm opening. Check out my Instagram for it.

And why did you choose an unsanctioned outdoor location for an art exhibit? Is there a message here? You seem to be on a mission of some kind.

My message is that you do not need the approval of the Art World to accomplish your goal. It is time for us to take it into our own hands.

Yes!

All images courtesy NET; interview by Lois Stavsky

Note: Hailed in a range of media from the Huffington Post to the New York Times, our Street Art NYC App is now available for Android devices here.

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With Valeri Larko at the Bronx Museum of the Arts

June 9, 2016

On view through June 26 at the Bronx Museum of the Arts is Bronx Focus: Paintings by Valeri Larko, an extraordinary visual ode to a borough whose landscape is rapidly changing. Among Valeri Larko‘s paintings are many that are infused with the Bronx’s gritty graffiti. With her impeccable renderings of tags, throw-ups and pieces, the artist has immortalized our favorite art form in the borough that birthed it. On revisiting the exhibit last week, I had the opportunity to meet Valeri, who gave a tour of her exhibit.

We love the way you are keeping some of our favorite walls alive through your paintings. What spurred you to focus on this aspect of the Bronx?

I’ve always been interested in the urban landscape, and when I moved from New Jersey to New Rochelle — just a short drive from the Bronx — I discovered the just how rich the graffiti in the Bronx is. I think it is gorgeous, and I love how sites with graffiti always have great stories to tell.

Can you tell us something about your process? How long does it take from beginning to end to create a painting?

Everything is done on location. If a site interests me, I begin with a quick pen and ink sketch in a small notebook using a uni-ball pen. If I then decide that I want to do a painting of the particular scene, I do an oil sketch of it. For most of my studies, I work on 300 pound watercolor paper that I staple to a board. For the larger version, I typically paint two to three months, also on location.

What are some of the challenges you face in producing this work?

The weather is, by far, my greatest challenge. The wind is my biggest enemy. My car is — many times — my only shelter, and that is where you will often find me painting, especially in the winter months.

How do the graffiti artists feel about what you are doing?

They love it. If they see a blank surface at a particular space where I am painting, they will sometimes ask if they can leave their mark on it — to be included in my painting.

What is your most memorable experience of painting on location?

There are so many, but here is one that comes to mind: I had been working at a site for several weeks on Top Dollar, a painting of a trailer truck. Then one day when I showed up, I was surprised to find a very large boat in front of the truck. I could’t imagine how it got there! Luckily, I had mostly finished the painting, and the boat seemed too clean, too pristine and too out of place to include. But a few days later, the graffiti artist SAET with his friend NARO showed up. Once SAET had christened the boat with his tag, it was totally transformed. And so I decided to add the boat to the painting. I was even thinking of doing a new painting of the boat. But that never happened!

Why was that? Why didn’t you get to do the new painting of the boat?

While I was still working on Top Dollar, Tommy — who was living in the Jay’s Hot Dog Camper — informed me that the site was about to be demolished. That is one of the hazards of working on site. Whoa! I still needed at least a week to finish my painting. Luckily I found the guys doing the demolition work, and they agreed to give me one more week to complete my painting! It actually took me eight days, and within hours after I finished, everything on the site was demolished. And what about Tommy who had been living in the camper? He headed on a Greyhound back home to Kansas City where he and his sons had built two houses!

What’s next? Are any walls calling you? Any sites that particularly intrigue you?

Yes! I discovered an abandoned golf course across from Co-op City. And since I don’t know how much longer it will be around, I’ve been heading there as often as I can!

What an incredible visual history you are creating! And we are already looking forward to your upcoming solo exhibit at WallWorks in the fall.

Images

1. Valeri Larko — as seen last week — at the Bronx Museum

2. Ferris Stahl Meyer Diptych, close-up

3. Corner of Boone Avenye and 173rd Street

4. Bronx Drawbridge

5. Valeri Larko painting at Top Dollar

6. Top Dollar

Photo credits: 1-3 Lois Stavsky; 4 City-as-School intern Sol Raxlen; 5 John Wyatt & 6 courtesy of the artist; interview conducted and edited by Lois Stavsky with Sol Raxlen

Note: Hailed in a range of media from the Huffington Post to the New York Times, our Street Art NYC App is now available for Android devices here.

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Scholastic’s Art.Write.Now. National Exhibition Continues at Parsons at the New School and at Pratt Manhattan Gallery through June 12

June 6, 2016

Since 1923, The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards have identified, celebrated and fostered the talents and visions of our nation’s teens in grades 7-12. Works by this year’s winners remain on exhibit through this week at the Parsons School of Design at The New School and at Pratt Institute’s Manhattan Gallery. Pictured above is Subway Story, a cardboard sculpture, fashioned by 16-year old Shaun Rogers. Here are several more artworks reflecting not only extraordinary talent, but a strong social consciousness, as well.

Vanessa Anthony, Collateral Damage, age 16

Sophia Cai, Faces of Baltimore, age 16

Alexis Peabody, Black Lives Matter, age 18

Eli Lederberg, The Presidentials, age 17

Ryan Sundada Wong, Insatiable Appetite, age 15

Presented by the Alliance for Young Artists and Writers, Art.Write.Now.2016 remains on view through this week. Parsons School of Design at The New School is located at 66 Fifth Avenue at 13th Street in the Village, and Pratt Institute’s Pratt Manhattan Gallery is just up the block at 144 West 14th Street.

Photo credits: 1, 2, 5 & 6 Tara Murray; 4 Lois Stavsky

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