31st March 2009

Cant believe its been SO long since i updated the site.
no excuses for being so lax !

So quick catch up – after the solo show last year i had some work in a group show at Signal Gallery ,London that was well received , this was followed by inclusion in Red Star group show in Seattle which was a resounding success , finally the 12daysofxmas in Bristol organised by the Stealfromwork crew , once again a great event and one i hope to see recurring every year
This year has so far seen the next Dreweatte auctions at Selfridges , and Urban Scrawl (Portobello Road) – which is still open for another week and has online listing of available works here !

Other news :
my ‘Store Trek’ piece on Stokes Croft made it to Argentina!!?? how ? well thanks to a cracking photo taken by Romanywg !! see the original photo here – and the massive canvas version of the photo hanging in the show here

Had fun putting up ‘CCTV Judge’ on Park Street , Bristol back in January .. a film crew followed along to watch proceedings , the footage should be seen as part of a documentary looking at pros and cons of CCTV .. before the paint was dry this piece had alot of attention from the Police as well as the Council .. the council had the graffiti clean squad booked in to buff the work before i had even finished it !!! LOL …. see photo here
(have since also painted this ,though sadly not at his full height , on Portobello Road – pic )

Dissolving Liberty canvas is now heading from the Italian Urban Painting Festival to a show that opens on 23th april 2009 and last for six months in Walldorf, Germany (Street Art Painting Exhibition )

the Affordable Art Fair with Signal Gallery earlier this month also saw some new (and reworked takes on old themes) from myself .. a range of affordable Butterfly canvas’ and a reworking on the ‘Evolve’ theme in Black and Silver generated alot of interest and has led to some interesting new contacts.

Right , lots more in the pipeline that i will announce shortly .. and expect to see some pieces pop up in the shop section soon (have a few remaining screen prints and lino cuts ! )

Thanks for your interest , SPQR

• linked fromhttp://spqr.uk.net/blog/38/time-flies

• linked fromhttp://friend-and-co.blogspot.com/2009/03/china-mike-show-9th-april.html

You can see more of Poppy’s painting here.

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wooster/~3/LMSE-l2IGBo/shit_were_diggin_poppy_van_oordegrainger.html

We received the following note from faith47 in Cape Town South Africa and wanted to share it:

“We are facing a new anti-graffiti by-law in Cape Town which takes away the house owners rights to give permission for any artworks on their walls besides a house number.

The new, proposed graffiti by-law makes no distinction between vandalism and public art that is done with the permission of the owner of the property.

Please can you assist us in our efforts to amend this by-law by signing the petition and forwarding it on… As we need to present it to the council during the public participation process.

Here is the link and below are the details of the two points in the by-law that we would like to amend.

http://www.petitiononline.com/art4all/petition.html

To: The City of Cape Town

The new, proposed graffiti by-law criminalizes all forms of public art and violates our personal right to freedom of expression on private property. It makes no distinction between vandalism and public art that is done with the permission of the owner of the property. The by-law will soon be presented for public discussion and these are the two main issues that we feel need to be addressed:

1. The definition of ‘graffiti’ under the by-law is too broad. It classifies ‘graffiti’ as any inscription, word, figure, letter, sign, symbol, sketch, picture or drawing. There should be a clear differentiation between ‘graffiti vandalism’ [e.g. gang tags, scratchings] and public art that is done with permission from the owner [murals, colourful characters and positive, inspiring messages].

2. The by- law removes the legal right of the private property owner to paint anything other than a house number on his/her wall. We strongly believe that the private property owner should maintain the right to determine what to paint on to his/her property without permission from the City.

if you agree with these two amendments please sign the petition on the link above
and hopefully we can adjust the by-law to become a more inclusive one and thus limit the damage it can potentially do to the creative growth of our city.”

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wooster/~3/1RTrCvnAI9M/sign_the_petition_to_help_stop_new_antig.html

• linked fromhttp://bristolgraffiti.wordpress.com/2009/03/30/news-roundup/

When we opened up our email today and saw this stencil, from Czarnobyl in Berlin, all we could say was – “Wow!” The latest in his “Oldboy” series is 8 colors, 7 separate stencils and is 250 x 150 cm. It took six months to create.

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wooster/~3/so5aP8Af4A8/fresh_stuff_frm_czarnobyl_in_berlin.html

You can see more of Brian’s work here.

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wooster/~3/BLGt-Eq4Guc/shit_were_diggin_brian_harts_light_photo.html

Share and Bookmark

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WorldGraffiti/~3/DJnTFcgyQgc/

So… I’ve been using Photoshop to create my latest work, there’s almost a month of meticulous drawing involved and today I boot up my external Lacie drive today, start Photoshop, open the file and guess what, it’s corrupted, what’s more so is the back up from two days ago.

I’m going to have to upgrade from USB2 to firewire and build a better scratchdisk, it’s the only solution I can think of. Essentially a month of my life has just gone in the bin. I’ve had a look around for a way to recover the files but all the software solutions are in Windows format (what a surprise) plus and here’s the most worrying aspect about the whole debacle, each file (which was at least 80+ MB each) is now registering at 32kb.

So I guess even if I moved it to a PC and tried to recover there’d be nothing in it anyway. So, if you’re an artist and you work in Photoshop beware, this could happen to you. I feel totally depressed today, all that work, effort, time, heart and soul poured in to a total waste of everything you could possibly imagine.

I am probably going to start again, I will back up all my work ten times from now on and keep some of the backups on my Mac – let’s hope that makes a difference.

I’d love to show you what I’ve been working on, I’d thought it may just have been my best work yet, entitled "Outta Space", but I can’t, because it is no more. What a way to spend one’s life, at the beck and call of technology. I am still waiting on a few bolts from the guys near the Tate who sold me my print table, I also need to clear more junk from the basement to make some room, but everything is on hold for now. I’m tempted to spend a week in a drunken haze just to give myself a break but I am sure before long, or even short, I will be slaving away once again to finish this piece (even if it kills me).

Gawd I hate technology.

Tags: adobe, art, error, nightmare, photoshop, problem, tragedy

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• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/paulbaines/~3/NEXYYl-wAPA/

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WorldGraffiti/~3/YtWblhl52vE/

Hey! Today we’ll get into the work of the AT.AW Crew from London and Toronto.

They began in Toronto, Canada and actively promote ‘urban play’ through the optimistic subversion of often neglected, mediocre and complacent urban conditions.You’ll see below to types of their street art production, the Orphans and the Natural urban intervention.

‘The Orphans’ ‘consume’ ubiquitous urban objects and space to create a whimsical layer to the often mediocre or bland design of urban infrastructure. These character are mass produced mini-portraitures that celebrate the potential manufactured diversity of the urban environment.

With The Natural Urban Interventions their interest in using natural elements, grass, leaves,or ice in our urban interventions emphasize a purposeful transience to the act of the intervention that emphasizes both a modesty and provocation of the natural operating in the built environment .

You want more? It’s here : ATAW

Enjoy!

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/fatcap/~3/l88pmylz9Fw/

CREATIVE DATABASE – 2009

Over the years, as the Wooster site has grown in popularity, almost on a weekly basis we’re contacted by brands and companies from around the world looking for our thoughts and recommendations for artists and designers for a range of amazing projects, both commercial and non-commercial.

We’ve never had a good comprehensive database to tap into to connect artists with opportunities that come our way.

Given the current economic environment, we thought now is the time to put together, as comprehensive as possible, an informational database of all the incredibly talented Wooster artists that we’ve featured on the site (as well as those who we haven’t). With the database we can then more efficiently recommend artists who are interested in being considered for commercial projects.

If you’re an artist interested in being included, please download the attached form, fill it out, and email it back to us at woostercollective@gmail.com

Then when we’re contacted by companies looking for artists, we’ll have the information handy to make recommendation when appropriate.

If you have any questions, let us know.

Here’s the link to download the information sheet: Download: Wooster Collective Creative Database Info Sheet

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wooster/~3/-PS4QzRuek4/annoucement_submit_your_info_to_the_woos.html

Excited to hear that David Choe‘s currently painting in China. This latest piece is one of our favorites.

(Click to see the full effect of the brush strokes)

To see more of David’s travels in China, click here.

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wooster/~3/H3SnQR6pd0Q/david_choe_hits_china.html

Had the pleasure of catching up over dinner last night with Dan Witz. It’s great to see him pushing his work into new areas. His latest series – “In Plain View” incorporates fake metal grates in some very risky locations…

You can see the rest of the series here.

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wooster/~3/LcSGDmH87Sk/fresh_stuff_from_dan_witz_in_plain_view.html

If you missed the opening to Hush’s solo exhibition ‘Hymn of Beauty’ at the Carmichael Gallery in LA, here’s a time lapse of a installation piece that took two days to complete…

Earlier this month, Hush had an opening in Los Angeles at the Carmich

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wooster/~3/aBbwYnDq828/hush_hymn_to_beauty_installation_video.html

You can see mored work from suso33 here.

Photo by Juan Carlos Noria

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wooster/~3/YrQrsFQVkYM/fresh_stuff_frm_suso33_in_barcelona.html

Featuring bombing from the likes of  (in alphabetical order) 47er, Admire, Axion, Baer, Bela, Bgn79, Bobs, Bobkat, Boke, Buket, Cake TKO HR, Cirus, Civ, Coi, Cope2 KD, Cue, Cupcake Cartel, Daks, Dsek, Eler, Ewok 5MH, Fate, [...]

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/WorldGraffiti/~3/AYO23mtAv7o/

Nope it’s not a spelling mistake, I do know how to spell propaganda, call it artistic license, as a matter of fact "popaganda" is actually Ron English’s favourite word for describing his own highly unique brand of post-Pop Art. Sometimes described as "agit-pop" Ron English’s work undermines corporate iconography in order to turn the tables on the establishment and distort the commercial ideology of major companies and their stranglehold over the world. Taking influence from all quarters, some of the most recognisable icons in his work include Marilyn Monroe, Mickey Mouse, and the heavy metal band KISS.

Formerly a billboard artist Ron English was used to working on a grand scale, his paintings originally enabling those very same corporate entities he now aims to subvert. From his teenage years he worked with film and photography, and this somewhat explains his mastery of lighting and blending in his paintings. To this day he will still create a model in order to examine directions of light and angles of perspective for what is usually a series of works dealing with one subject, executed in a variety of styles, sometimes mimicking artists such as Pablo Picasso, Van Gogh and Andy Warhol, and at other times in his own inimitable psychedelic-cartoon fashion.

One of his most memorable works is Marilyn with Mickeys featuring Mickey Mouse faces for breasts.

Pair of Pears

M.C. Supersize and the Cowgirl Posse

The Last Cartoon

Guernica Triptych

Hulkboy

 

Color Corrected

Ron English is one of the most powerful American contemporary social commentators of our time, to see more of his work, find out about his latest and past exhibitions, and related news visit Ron English’s site at www.popaganda.com.

Tags: agit pop, anti corporate, Marilyn, Mickey Mouse, Pop Art, pop art paintings, popaganda, Ron English

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• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/paulbaines/~3/ad_0e0ZICJ0/

• linked fromhttp://bristolgraffiti.wordpress.com/2009/03/28/painting-at-the-black-swan-tonight/

Last night Sara and I had the pleasure of attending the opening of our friend Michael Anderson’s new solo show, COLLAGE GEOMANCY, at Marlborough Chelsea Gallery in New York.

The show is absolutely magnificent. If you do one thing this weekend (even if it’s raining) go over to the gallery on 545 West 25th Street and check it out.

A few months back Michael asked us to write the essay for the catalog. We were absolutely thrilled and honored. So rather than tell you about the show, we thought we’d share with you our what we wrote for the catalog:

THE ART OF UPCYCING

It is said that each day, from the moment we New Yorkers awake until the time we fall asleep, we will encounter 3,000 advertisements. It is in this context, at a time where mass media advertising is persistent in almost every moment of our waking lives, that the art of Michael Anderson can best be understood.

Michael Anderson is part of a new generation of contemporary artists who have grown up not only with mass media, but also with the philosophy that pop culture is there for the taking and the true power of a work is not found in its original form, but rather discovered only when remixed and rearranged into something completely new and fresh.

The pop culture imagery in the advertisements that we encounter each and every day has one sole purpose; to sell us something. But in these advertisements, Michael finds and discovers tiny elements of energy and life that can be transformed into abstract shapes and colors. During the process of breaking things down and then rebuilding them up again into something new, he strips the original advertisements of their power of persuasion and replaces them with something much more complex and insightful. What he ads is an emotional dimension – a soul to the work – that was completely lacking in the original.

With his art, Michael engages in the act of “upcycling” – transforming and reducing a degenerative form of art – advertising – into something of far greater value. The finished work takes on the quality of a Hindu or Buddhist mandala, where through the repetition of fragments of imagery, it becomes almost hypnotic, luring the viewer into a trance- like contemplative state that stays far longer than expected.

One finds in Michael’s work a deep appreciation for graffiti art. He creates abstraction by deconstructing, distorting, and then combining letters to create a feeling of motion and energy that is greater than the letters themselves. In graffiti, letters often become so abstracted that they lose all legibility. Similarly in Michael’s work, text taken from advertisements (which at its core needs to be easy to read and understand) is completely abstracted making the words almost undecipherable. The result is something completely unique and incredibly absorbing.

The work included in this exhibition demonstrates not only the hand of a talented artist, but also that of an obsessive collector. Each piece is an assemblage of street advertisements meticulously hand-collected by the artist over the course of many years. Layered deep in each work is a visual topography of the vibrant ethnic neighborhoods of New York City that collectively drive its pulse and frenetic energy. Fragments of images from posters acquired in the dead of night on the streets of Little Jamaica in Brooklyn become mixed and interwoven with those found years later across town in Spanish Harlem. As a collector, Michael wanders the streets incessantly, waiting until the time is right to harvest posters, all-the-while understanding and knowing which posters are layered on top of which. Once taken down, he can then methodically pull each apart to capture imagery covered up many months before.

“Remixing” is the true art form of Michael’s generation and he is one of its visual masters. Michael “samples” images the same way a hip-hop artist samples music. For Michael, scraps of torn paper become notes that can be played and repeated. Like a sculptor, he layers and repeats fragments of images into a visual staccato that he brings together on the canvas to create an elaborate and wonderful tapestry. By rearranging pop culture iconography into something that is new and unique, Michael becomes both critic and participant.

All this is to say that it is too easy to pigeonhole Michael Anderson simply as a “collage artist”. For us, this is doing him a great disservice. Michael’s work has none of the nostalgic trappings of collage, allowing it to remain completely contemporary and – in the end – timeless.

Marc and Sara Schiller
Wooster Collective

• linked fromhttp://feedproxy.google.com/~r/wooster/~3/mtgr43wnRWw/one_not_to_miss_michael_andersons_collag.html