Category Archives: gallery fun

Street Art at “The Clock”

Posted on by theworldisacanvas

This past weekend, I got up bright and early to help ForYourArt with their show and event centering around “The Clock.” Basically, for twenty-four hours (yup, a whole day from noon to noon) The Los Angeles County Museum of Art screened Christian Marclary’s film “The Clock” and ForYourArt added free donuts and a cool show.

Any artist that wanted to participate could pick up a snazzy clock from ForYourArt and then give it their own spin for inclusion in the show. The clock then went on sale for $99. That means anyone could show their work and possibly have someone take it home.

The amount of different takes on the clock made the show worth seeing. Some completely gutted their clock, leaving only plastic and un-ticking hands while one participant kept the clock complete with its box and only added text (talk about ready made). Some clocks referenced pop culture/current events but a lot just sprang from the imagination of these talented artists.

Some of which – drum roll – were well-known street artist. I caught photos of the works from street artists still up on the walls. It’s a different sort of canvas for these street art mavens usually posting around the city but their style stayed distinct. Check out work from Louis Cannizzaro, 2wenty, Annie Preece and Gregory Siff.

 

louis clock

Louis’ piece above is easily recognizable because of the text and signature handwriting. It’s interest that he just layers the paint on with thick brushstrokes so as to obstruct most of the clock. You shouldn’t be thinking of time. You should be thinking about that mystery lover.

I admired the works that took only parts of the clock because that meant really tearing into the material to come up with something new. The artists’ personality really shines through but we still get a small hint of a clock with the hands. I’ve never taken apart a clock before but I’m glad the result is so beautiful.

preece clock

Preece’s work had a title that was something like ‘old man’ which you can tell from the large face covering the clock. It’s light-hearted like Preece’s art tends to be but still separates her clock from the other ones in the room. For one, the face is only a few lines but it’s somehow a face that intrigues. Who is this old man? Why is his face on a clock?

siff clock

Siff also only had to use a few lines to give away his style with this glitzy clock. It’s an LA piece on the surface but  could be a deeper commentary at its core. How much of our time does Hollywood take up in one form or another? We can’t tell because the face and hands of the clock are gone. All we see now is gold.

Make Your Heart Melt — Buff Monster @ Corey Helford Gallery

Posted on by theworldisacanvas

It’s  not every day you see pink ice cream scoops with one big eye involved in all types of war-like scenes.

But that’s exactly what greeted me when I went to check out the work of street artist Buff Monster. Merging his love for Japanese culture and the color pink while taking inspiration from Renaissance paintings, Buff created some interesting and unique pieces for his solo show “Legend of the Pink Cherry.”

 

 

This guy covers almost an entire wall and is pretty much the character you see throughout the whole show. The pieces on the first floor are acrylic on wood done with airbrush – a first for the artist – and center around a common theme war and gore sprinkled with humor. I’ve never seen such adorable creatures in such dangerous situations. “Birth of a Zombie” was an especially interesting piece. There’s a lot going on in small amount of space and Buff has a great attention to detail – both the ice cream scoops and the flying creatures seem to be dripping, the cloud has plenty of shades of pink and there are even small shadows on the ground.

 

Same goes for “Triumph of Death.”

 

 

Look at that poor guy lying dead in on the floor with an arrow through him! So sad and funny and adorable. And violent. Pleasantly confusing.

One of my other favorites was “The Demon Tamer” because it looks very much like a Renaissance portrait.

 

 

Here are a few more shots of some of the works downstairs.

 

 

 

 

Upstairs you can see Buff’s series “Melty Misfits” which is inspired by Garbage Pail Kid trading cards.

 

 

There were also some studies of the works in the show. You can also buy a pack of the trading cards!

Who knew you could create such cute yet violent art?

 

This little guy just  makes me melt. I’d love to have him as my bodyguard…

 

Victor Reyes @ Known Gallery

Posted on by theworldisacanvas

It’s fun to look for street art around your neighborhood so imagine looking for twenty-six letters throughout a portion of the city.

Street artist Victor Reyes was able to provide that for the residents of Mission District in San Francisco. In swirling, beautiful colors he covered certain parts of the streets with letters – one was a giant ‘M’ on the wall of a liquor store. Reyes began his career in the 1990s and now has a second solo show at Known Gallery. “The Jungle,” which runs until the 7th, shows off both Reyes’ skill with typography and his ability to work with colors.

When you first walk in, two opposing pieces greet you. What I liked about these were that they were so different yet so similar. “Diamond” was a strictly black-and-white piece with an amazing amount of detail.

Across from this piece was “The Jungle” which was an explosion of color that contrasted this piece. But it also had a good amount of detail and some of the same swirling shapes.

What helped show off the art even more were some cool artistic and curatorial choices. In any given show, the curator works with the artist to decide placement of pieces and in this particular show both the curator and artist’s vision came through.

For example, the gallery chose to dedicate an entire wall to a group of piece which Reyes entitled “Quilt” followed by the piece’s respective number.

 

 

Reyes also chose to pair some pieces together, with one triangular canvas on top of a rectangular one.

 

Some pieces also showed off his typography skills, while still keeping to the themes of the other pieces (i.e. the swirling colors).

 

The show was focused on showing the “savage nature of humanity in context of modern day America while simultaneously exploring the primal, mammalian inclinations that pulse just under the facade of contemporary culture.”

My favorite piece was “Lions” because from far away I couldn’t tell that there were in fact two animals fighting. The color are spectacular here and it’s one of those pieces that you can’t just glance at and walk away from.

 

 

Check out the other pieces in the show. I definitely recommend seeing it in person. There’s something about these colors that is transifixing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Live Painting, Free Drinks, Art and Crafts @ Hold Up Art

Posted on by theworldisacanvas

Looking for something to spice/art-sify (just made that a word, yes) your night tomorrow?

Look no further!

There will be a really cool event tomorrow at Hold Up Art from 6 p.m. to midnight (at which time your carriage turns into a pumpkin).

Graffiti artist Mear One will be doing live painting at the gallery’s “Art and Artisan’s fest.” The event is part of art and crafts made by local artists and the first 25 people to show up will snag free silkscreens. There will also be drinks on hand and some tunes from DJ Sutah and DJ Amazon.

So basically, there’s nothing not to love.

Here’s to artsy Saturdays!

The Mark ZES and Retna Left on Known Gallery

Posted on by theworldisacanvas

I’ve been holding out on you.

My memory card’s been bursting with the photographs I took of the last show I went to but I’ve been afraid to post them. You see, the more I get in tune with the Twitter-sphere and the big guys of the photography and art photography and art writing world, the more I get scared. The more I realize that if you’re going to dedicate your time to street art and documenting anything relating to art, you have to be on your A game. You have to check-in/Tweet/Facebook while you’re there, you have to post the photographs right away.

Because someone somewhere else is sitting behind their laptop posting it and trying to beat you to it and maybe even do it better than you.

So, basically, to cut the rant short, I got discouraged. And I figured it wouldn’t really matter whether or not I updated my blog. Someone out there was already reporting it and with a nicer camera and a nicer blog.

Maybe I can’t compete but there’s no point in leaving the photographs just sitting there.

My latest venture was the ZES and Retna show “Excavated Revelations” at Known Gallery. The show is over now but it’s worth writing about because of the nature of the two artists. They’re both street artists that have gotten big but their roots started in the street art crew MSK. There are photographs of ZES, or who the photographer thinks is ZES, just hanging out on top of street posts, either before or after his latest work. That’s legit street art.

But the show is very different from all of this. Known Gallery was hard to find but it’s pristine white walls were like that of any other established gallery.

The works speak for themselves. Both artists have a very trademark look and went outside of their usual mode of working – i.e. ZES brought his works inside for the very first time, Retna did some awesome works on wood.

ZES works had obvious similarities but each was also independent.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Retna’s work was in another smaller room but that didn’t take away from its impact.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Overall, a great show and the authenticity of these awesome street artists wasn’t lost in the white walls of the gallery. If anything, the pieces transformed those walls into something exciting.

 

 

Thought this was a cute little note, too… The most important part of any street artist’s career is having a huge following and ZES and Retna are pros at that already. This one was left for ZES, wherever he may be…

 

 

Vyal One Transforms Hold Up Art

Posted on by theworldisacanvas

If you’re a great street artist, you dedicate yourself to covering any inch of space, no matter the risk of physical injury or legal backlash. If you’re a savvy street artist, you make art that makes someone go ‘hey I know who that is!’ It’s not enough to just make art on the streets – you’ve got to make a name for yourself, too.

While I was walking by one of my favorite art galleries I noticed a few pieces on the wall and I immediately recognize the mastermind behind them as Vyal One. I previously wrote about his work at Crewest and was really a fan of his piece there. I immediately saw the same flowing movement, dream-like forms and muted, soft colors. But don’t get me wrong, Vyal’s art isn’t something for the soft-hearted. He really pushes the envelope when it comes to traditional street art composition and color. The bubble-like forms are spray-paint creation on a flat wall or canvas but with the right movements he makes them come alive.

This time Vyal was working on a pair of columns that frame Hold Up Art.

Both of them have his trademark bubbles with some great movement and pops of color. As he spray painted, Vyal joked about the windy weather and what he must have looked like to people walking by (which inspired him to also sing “Colors of the Wind”). The weather might not have been ideal but there were some spots where it made the piece even more interesting.

Seen from far away the pieces pull you right in and when you really look at the small details, you see what makes up Vyal’s distinct look.

Both piece will be topped off with an eye, one of which was already done when I took pictures a few days after running into Vyal.

Swing by the gallery to check them out in person and stay tuned for his solo show in April. Vyal’s not only a talented artist he’s also genuinely friendly and quite funny. He talked to a lot of people that walked by, even those in strollers. Oh, and he gives really good hugs – even to complete strangers like myself, gushing at him and snapping pic after pic.

In the end, the tools might be the same for all street artists, but it’s up to each one to make the art their very own. That’s the magic of it all.

Audio Canvas 3 @ Crewest Gallery

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Despite the fact that a lot of graffiti and street art is made with mostly the same medium, the style out there are probably more varied than any artist’s given spray paint can palette.

Crewest Gallery in Downtown Los Angeles is yet another gallery showcasing some memorable, exciting pieces from street and graffiti artists. One of their current shows called “Audio Canvas 3″ revolved around live music and art. The opening night featured DJs spinning while artists did their stuff.

When you first venture forth into the exhibition, the first thing you’ll probably see is this piece…

 

The piece is by artists SER @ USE. It’s quite large and is mixed media – the smaller LA square are actually smaller individual pieces of paper. I especially like how a lot of the pieces liked to show off the fluidity of the spray paint, letting it drip in certain places for more effect.

In fact a lot of the pieces were about going beyond just the canvas, something street and graffiti art is definitely good at.

Take this untitled piece by Vyal, for instance. It’s on a canvas but the piece comes to life and extends onto the walls next to the canvas. So basically, it’s so artistically complex that it can’t simply be confined onto a canvas’ surface.

 

I’m not sure if those are meant to be bubbles or just bubble-like figures but check out those details! Vyal obviously knows where to put shadows and whites to create a realistic look.

The best part of the show was how different the styles of all the artists were. The owner of Crewest, Man One, actually had a piece in the show called “Reaching Up.”

I asked him to tell me about his piece and he basically explained that the figure is part of a series where he paints graffiti spirits. The background of the piece is made up of tags, which represent the negativity of the city. Basically, the spirit is rising out of this negativity.

 

The figure is reaching (thus the title!) for the cap of a spray paint can; Man One explained that he did this in order to say that graffiti art can be an escape from the negativity of the city.

 

Neutra’s work was also visually interesting though more playful.

 

This piece is interesting because it also plays with the way that canvases are set up. Some of them are on canvases even though the majority of the piece is painted directly on the wall. In “Ice Cream,” Neutra sets it up so that there is a pedestal on the wall and a canvas mounted on top in a clever mesh between the wall and the canvas.

The way in which the colors were blended in this piece was quite captivating, even when Neutra chose to use common, everyday subjects.

 

 

Another interesting part of the exhibit were the works of Black Light Kings, a duo made up of street artists Axa and Pops. Basically, a black light is shone on the piece at night for a cool viewing experience. But the piece are visually captivating even during the day.

 

 

 

 

There were also works from artists AISE Born and Robert Vargas, who also had their own distinct styles. AISE’s work used a dark background and contrasted it with brighter colors.

 

 

 

Vargas’ work on the other hand, used lighter colors. I liked the way that he created shadows and let the lines of his work show.

 

 

Overall, the show was quite diverse and exemplifies the versatility of street and graffiti art. It’s also a sure sign that street/graffiti will only keep developing. “Audio Canvas 3″ is up until Jan. 29 so check it out if you can! Sound off in the comments about the artists, street art, galleries and anything and everything in between!

 

Getting Cryptik

Posted on by theworldisacanvas

If you’ve ever been to Little Tokyo, you know how bumping it is on any given weekend. But the one place you should definitely check out, that won’t require you spending tons of money, is Hold Up Art. It’s a fairly new gallery that shows some awesome, intriguing contemporary art. The people there are super friendly and every show is different.

This past Friday there was a closing reception for the work of a painter and street artist named Cryptik and his show “Sacred Syllables.” He’s got a very recognizable style and I’ve seen his stuff on the street, too.  The show’s unfortunately over now but make sure to check out his site and swing by Hold Up to see some awesome stuff. I snapped some pictures of the show – not only was the art itself mesmerizing but the set-up was ambitious and made the show all the more memorable. The calligraphy you see everywhere is his own creation, influenced by everything from cholo writing to Sanksrit texts. The best part was that this writing was on plenty of surfaces, from candles to leaves. You might not be able to read it per se but it’s visually complex and only more captivating because of its mysterious quality. Check it out!