KAWS Opening at Galería Javier López

18 February – 7 April 2010

Galería Javier López
C/ José Marañón, 4
E-28010 Madrid

Ferdinand Ahm Krag Interview

Exclusive interview with Scion Presents: 'Euphoria Left The Room' artist Ferdinand Ahm Krag. For more information and content visit us at scionav.com.

Sergio Jiménez "Fácil" Exposición

Sergio Jiménez

Fácil

Exposición

Martes 2 de marzo, 19:30hs

Sergio Jiménez es ilustrador, diseñador gráfico y skateboarder que se hace mayor. En Fácil expone por primera vez en Madrid sus trabajos más recientes de letras hechas a mano y de mil cosas más. Fácil es una colección de dibujos a medio camino entre el lettering y la caligrafía de mala letra. Fácil es una exposición del proceso de dibujar y mirar letras. Es un resultado de laboratorio. Fácil es un estado de ánimo difícil de conseguir, sobre todo en tiempos de crisis. Fácil es difícil, pero posible. Es una inspiración, es técnica y diversión. Enfados y risas. Fácil es algo de vida en tinta china y papel. Si te gusta la tipografía, el lettering y la ilustración y si nunca lo has tenido tan difícil como ahora, no te lo puedes perder.

Panta Rhei
Hernán Cortés 7, Madrid

Upper Playground Presents: MQ Capsule Collection

Upper Playground Presents: MQ Capsule Collection

“MQ doesn’t paint, he bombs.”

MQ is notorious for his brash style and the sheer volume of his work in the streets. For over a decade, the New York City-born artist has made his name in the graffiti world by being fearless and staying true to street culture. Now, for the first time, MQ’s style is being applied to new canvases: the New Era 59FIFTY and the t-shirt.



The MQ New Era caps come in 2 variations: LA Style and UP Bubble. LA Style features the style originating from the City of Angels and features the angular, linear letters in bright orange embroidery on black wool. UP Bubble features MQ’s bubble handstyle embroidered in MQ’ s signature metallic silver. Both New Eras feature a Tyvek label with MQ’s rendition of the UP logo on the back of the hat.


The MQ t-shirt collection features 3 styles for men and women. LA Style and UP Bubble feature the same art that is featured on the New Era 59FIFTY caps. The third style, UP Sticker, features the UP Walrus logo defaced by MQ stickers.

The clothing collection is not the first time that MQ and Upper Playground have worked together. At the end of last year, Upper Playground and MQ teamed up with Montana Colors to release an artist series hardcore can.

The new collection, as well as the Montana Colors can, is now available at all Upper Playground retail stores and online at the Upper Playground web store.

MQ doesn't paint, he bombs. The NYC-born, world traveled graffiti writer has been blazing a path of aerosol destruction since the 1990s. Notorious for his signature lettering, the artist-vandal has commanded respect of peers and his fans. Always true to his roots, MQ has maintained a presence on the street. His prolific collection of spray painted stained work continues to inspire generations of artist from coast to coast and beyond.

GSB presents: The Alphabet Show

GSB presents:

Eine/UK, Greg Lamarche/US, Huskmitnavn/DK, Jakob Boeskov/DK, Jonas Nobel/SE, Lisa Jonasson/SE, Marten Damgaard/DK , Nug & Pike/SE, Michael Genovese/US.

DATE: 26 February – 25 Mars
OPENING Friday 26 February 18 - 22

Text has always existed as a means to share opinions and externalise existence. In Egypt, 3,500-year-old graffiti survives in which someone expresses his or her opinion of a magnificent pyramid. In the ancient city of Pompeii, messages can still be deciphered such as ”Myrtis, you do great blow jobs” or ”Lucius painted this”. Today, the practices of painting and engraving remain, but now, even the Internet exists as a forum for continually expressing what we do and how we feel. Text has increasingly become instrumental in the processes of constructing identities, of communicating with the outside world, and in the demarcation of territories.

Simultaneously, art is an arena where individuals can choose to engage in uncensored modes of expression and progressively, artists are deciding to utilise text in their work. What is the significance of these developments? Can it be said that, even in art, more conscious intentions exist to reach out and communicate with the outside world? Where do these desires come from, to expose completely one’s feelings and perspectives? Who are these artists currently working with text, and can any points of intersection be said to exist between them?

With The Alphabet Show, GSB aims to exhibit a number of these artists and their individual approaches towards the use of text. The selected artists originate in various parts of the world and their work demonstrates, to varying degrees, senses of irony, seriousness and critical awareness, leavened with much humour and playfulness.

GSB, is run by Jeanette Steinsland and Jacob Berliner. Emphasis is placed on young contemporary art with connections to street culture and associated contexts. The gallery also has a range of carefully selected art magazines and books available for purchase.

STEINSLAND BERLINER
BONDEGATAN 70, 11633 STOCKHOLM

Jonathan LeVine Gallery Five Year Anniversary Group Exhibition

Jonathan LeVine Gallery
Five Year Anniversary Group Exhibition
Featuring work by 40 Artists

February 27th—March 27th, 2010
Opening Reception: Saturday, February 27th, 7pm—9pm

Jonathan LeVine Gallery will celebrate its fifth anniversary with a commemorative group exhibition featuring exceptional and exemplary new works by forty artists who are either currently represented by the gallery or who have exhibited at the gallery in the past five years. The exhibition will be on view from February 27—March 27, 2010, and there will be an opening reception on Saturday, February 27, from 7—9pm.

Since 2005, Jonathan LeVine Gallery has been an important venue for Street Art (ephemeral work placed in public urban environments) and Pop Surrealism (work influenced by illustration, comic book art, and pop culture imagery). As such, the pieces in this exhibition—comprised of paintings, drawings, and sculptures—will be primarily figurative with a strong sense of narration.


Artists in this exhibition have developed prominent creative voices for themselves as individuals, while also playing valuable roles within the historical context of the larger Street Art and/or Pop Surrealism movements. All of them have been influential in shaping the gallery’s program, creating work with a unique counter-culture point of view.

In LeVine’s words: “I believe that my program represents a generational shift, and that the artists who I work with will continue to define the evolution of this genre.”


Artists in the exhibition include: Adam Wallacavage, AJ Fosik, Andrew Brandou, Andy Kehoe, Blek le Rat, Chris Mars, Dan Witz, Date Farmers, Dave Cooper, Doze Green, Eric White, Erik Mark Sandberg, Esao Andrews, Gary Baseman, Gary Taxali, Invader, Isabel Samaras, James Jean, Jeff Soto,
 Jim Houser, Josh Agle (Shag), Kathy Staico Schorr, Mark Dean Veca, MARS-1, Miss Van, Natalia Fabia, Nouar, Plankton, Ray Caesar, Ron English, Scott Musgrove, Shepard Fairey, Souther Salazar, Stephan Doitschinoff (Calma), Tara McPherson, Titi Freak, WK, and Xiaoqing Ding.



Jonathan LeVine Gallery
529 West 20th Street, 9th floor
New York, NY 10011

Mr Penfold "Samebridge" solo show at the FrontRoom space

Mr Penfold

Amid the bicycle ridden streets of Cambridge Mr Penfold lurks. Observing characters, then re-creating them on walls and canvas’.

Using strong linear elements against organic outlines with an overly scientific approach to colour, Penfold works with record labels, promoters and clothing companies and has also appeared in a range of magazines such as Graphotism, K Mag and Don’t Panic!

Penfold is one of Cambridge’s hidden gems.


Samebridge

Putting his perfectionist skills to good use (and his trusted colour wheel), Mr Penfold intends to make The Frontroom hum with lines of clashimentary colour.

Amongst the lines, characters will be loitering with intent, interacting with the undeviating forms and generally enjoying their stay.

PRIVATE VIEW: FRIDAY FEBRUARY 26TH - 6PM ONWARDS!!!

The Frontroom
23 – 25 Gwydir St
Cambridge, United Kingdom

Park Life "Bro Palace" Art show

"Bro Palace"

Skinner
Pourous Walker
Jay Howell
Deth P Sun
Ferris Plock

Opening Reception: Friday February 26th, 7-10pm
Now for something completely different ..

Bro Palace is the title of our upcoming art show featuring the work of Skinner, Porous Walker, Jay Howell, Deth P Sun and Ferris Plock. Although their work is mostly rooted in illustration, each artist has a very distinct and instantly recognizable style. From psychedelic mash-ups to ink drawings to sculpture this show promises to tickle the artistic fancy of a wide viewing audience. To further add a touch of mayhem, the SF based band Thee Oh Sees will be playing a special set during the night of the reception. This show is not to be missed, bro.

Skinner is an obsessive painter / illustrator who collects animals and friends while envisioning the end of all humans in his psychedelic nightmare paintings too hideous to behold.


Porous Walker is somebody. Porous draws, paints, writes, sculpts, acts, films, photos, fashion designs and anything else it takes to get his vision across. Porous has shown works all around the globe and even in fancy places like the NY MOMA. His works have been featured in major motion pictures and television. Porous Walker has been officially selected by himself to waste hours of your time with his crap.


Jay Howell is an all around kind dude that draws funny-ass cartoons and stuff.
He lives in San Francisco where he can be seen on the streets messin' around and sayin' classic shit on a regular basis.


Deth P. Sun is a painter/illustrator currently residing in Berkeley, California. He is originally from San Diego, California, and moved up to the Bay Area for schooling. He received his BFA from the California College of Arts and Crafts in 2002 in Painting and Drawing.


Ferris Plock is an artist who currently enjoys drawing tacos fighting burgers in a battle for fast food supremacy. He can be found roaming the beautiful streets of Western Addition with his wife and his son. He has been creating his art for a few years now and hopes to continue to do so in the near and distant future. He is very excited to be working with the likes of Deth, Jay, Porous, and Skinner.

Park Life
220 Clement St
SF CA 94118
415.386.7275

Mike Giant “Welcome to Frisco” Exhibition at Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea

Welcome to Frisco - Mike Giant
curated by Silvia Girardi

25th February - 10th April 2010

On February 25th 2010 Antonio Colombo Arte Contemporanea of Milan opens the first solo show in Italy by American artist Mike Giant.

“I got the name Giant from skating with some friends, actually, I fell down really hard, and this guy I went with said ‘it felt like you went down like a giant’ and at that time there was a graffiti just across the same ditch we were skating, and I just kinda thought ‘oh that could be my name!’ and it is generic as that, you know, and then I started writing it maybe a month or two after that.”

Master of black and white, and representational leading figure of the mid-1990s underground movement in San Francisco, Giant is internationally known for his graffiti, his skateboards, his tattoos and the immaculate precision of his graphics. Born in Upstate New York, Giant moved to Albuquerque, New Mexico as a child, where he later studied architecture. In 1993 he was offered a position drawing graphics at Think Skateboards in San Francisco. There he stayed for the next ten years developing his unique artistic style and becoming a leading figure of the street art scene.

At first most known for his graffiti art, recognizable by solid letterforms, his tattoo work has also become internationally renowned over the last decade. Since 1998 Giant has been working at remarkable tattoo shops in San Jose, San Francisco and New York City, next to Paco Excel, Mike Davis and Patrick Conlon. His recent work can be seen in the 2004 tattoo issue of Juxtapoz magazine.

In 2003 Giant returned to Albuquerque and opened the tattoo shop, Stay Gold. Back to San Francisco in 2007 he retired officially from tattooing and devoted his time to a more intentional way of drawing, very much guided by Buddhist meditation. In February 2002, Giant had his first solo exhibition at WDWA Gallery in New York. His work has been seen in Tokyo with Sam Flores and Bigfoot, at Misanthropy Gallery in Vancouver, at Magda Danysz Gallery in Paris, as well as at numerous venues in San Francisco and Los Angeles. His drawings can be found on the latest Cinelli book, on apparel from Tribal Gear, Upper Playground, and REBEL8 clothing, his signature brand.

About the street scene in San Francisco he says: “First of all, I’m a ‘grandpa hipster’, and it suits me just fine. And after dedicating almost 20 years to writing graffiti, I hope it never dies. And as for track bikes, there have been hip, cocky young men and women riding them around the streets of San Francisco for over 100 years! Look it up. None of this stuff is played out, dead, or otherwise. It’s ongoing.”

For this unique Milan exhibition Giant created a new body of graphics, narrating stories of voluptuous urban femme fatale's on bikes, religious iconography, street views of San Francisco, a few indispensable skulls, unavoidable memento mori of the street world.


A video loop created by Giant’s friends and collaborators Colin Arlen and Sean Patrick will tell about his lifestyle; we will see him in action, biking his way around Frisco, writing on walls or on candid paper, and saying it in his own words…a black and white peaceful underground explosion.

A bilingual (Italian/English) catalogue will be published for the occasion, with words by Mike Giant, a text by Luca Beatrice and an interview by Silvia Girardi.

Antonio Colombo

Arte Contemporanea
Via Solferino, 44 - Milano

Mist and Tilt "Faux jumeaux" at The Speerstra Gallery

The Speerstra Gallery presents:
French Graffiti Artist Mist et Tilt "Faux jumeaux"

Paintings / Drawings

Opening saturday 27 february from 4 till 7 pm
artists reception - SHOW from 27 february – 27 march 2010

"Faux Jumeaux" (fake twins) an exhibition by two of France's well renowned Graffiti writers.

In this new series exclusively made for the gallery, the duo have worked together on large canvas and drawings exploring new horizons in their calligraphy styles. The works are the result of a long adventure between them, often side by side while practicing graffiti on walls around the globe.


Avec Faux Jumeaux, les artistes Mist et Tilt jouent de leurs similitudes. Tous deux issus du Graffiti, leurs recherches picturales communes forment sur la toile un uppercut graphique étonnant entre lavis altérés, et calligraphie nette et acidulée.

Speerstra Gallery

Chemin des Cerisiers 1 - 1183

Bursins – Suisse / Switzerland

NEW FROM HURLEY ART // Robert Williams & Levon Jihanian

New features and interviews from Hurley Art include Robert Williams and Levon Jihanian, which can be viewed at Hurley.com.

ROBERT WILLIAMS

“I have generated an entire art movement that hates me,” says Robert Williams, the Father of Lowbrow, in this interview with Hurley’s Jason Maloney.

LEVON JIHANIAN

His superheroes fight backaches and uncomfortable spandex. He’d like to draw a 200-page comic of someone watching TV from the perspective of the TV. He likes depressing music. Sometimes he starts a drawing from the armpit. Meet Levon Jihanian.


Hurley
www.hurley.com

Haze x Stussy at Known Gallery

My ace Carl and I are heading out to LA tomorrow, where we will be spending the next week painting and setting up for the upcoming exhibition and launch event for the US release of the Haze x Stussy S/S 2010 collection.

The exhibition will include over 30 framed pieces of the original art created for the collection, a custom built display of the finished products, video installations, and a 16’ painted mural inside the gallery.

The show will also be the first exhibition at the newly constructed Known Gallery, which has been masterminded by my good friend Casey from The 7th Letter Crew. My man Cut Chemist will also be representing on the 1’s and 2’s at the opening for a proper dose of audio flavor.

The opening event will be held on Friday, February 26th, from 8:00 - 11:00 PM, and the Gallery will also be open from 11:00 AM - 6:00 PM the following Saturday and Sunday for public viewing.

I’m looking forward to some quality time building again with all my old west coast peeps, and going back to Cali, Cali…yeah, I think so.

-HAZE