Vyal One Transforms Hold Up Art

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.

Shaping Up to Be a Sticker Art Star

So I’ve done a few posts about sticker art but I’m quite intrigued by this artist mostly because I can tell he/she really wants to be found.

Because I saw about six stickers in the span of 10 minutes on a walk of only about 5 or 6 blocks.

It’s a simple sticker made up of three trapezoids stacked to create an upside down triangle in the middle. All of it is in a white circle with a black outline.

Definitely a symbol for something. Whatever it is, I kept finding sticker after sticker with every few steps I took. Someone took the time – and went to some good heights – to post their stickers anywhere a careful or even not-so-careful observer could see them. These are only a few of the ones I spotted.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over-eager or admirably determined? You decide.

Meanwhile I’m curious to know the artist. Send me a message? If not, stay mysterious. That’s always cool too. I’ll be seeing your stickers.

 

I Present You with a Facebook Page!

If you’re reading this, thanks a bunch!! I might not update often but this blog has been awesome to keep up. 

So to kick everything up a notch, I’ve created a Facebook page! Please click ‘like,’ share with friends and stay tuned! I’ll be putting up new posts but also sharing art-related news and tidbits. 

Get your art on.

Link here!! https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-World-is-a-Canvas/330210570352094

Every Sticker Has its Story

**Disclaimer: this post has some semi-inappropriate words and image**

Sometimes sticker art seems like the easiest of things. You find an image you like, you head to FedEx or a similar local, create your stickers and BOOM. You’re famous. Right?

Not always. Don’t be disappointed though… that’s half the fun.

The most intriguing part of street art is that you don’t know whose fingertips pressed that sticker onto your neighborhood dumpster, wall or mailbox.

As I was on my way to a cutesy cafe I’d been wanting to check out I spotted this creation…

 

 

I’m not entirely sure that the piece on the left is by the same artist, especially since The Dirt Floor found another piece with the same phrase. Be forewarned, it’s not the prettiest of pictures.

But the piece on the right is what really interested me.

Somehow this figure – a woman without a shirt holding up a spray paint can – followed around enough places to get my interest piqued.

Eventually I asked around and found out the pieces are done by Bankrupt Slut. Definitely an attention-grabbing name, eh? And suddenly I get seeing stickers of this woman and the words ‘Bankrupt Slut’ in place after place. The stickers were asking me to find out more.

Not all the Slut pieces are this same woman. Some are different images, some are simply stickers bearing the phrase ‘Bankrupt Slut.’ But all of the ones I’ve seen are done in black and white. This is the largest one I’ve encountered so far.

If you click on that link, you can see that he’s also done some work on Dunnys. A dunny is basically a bunny meant to be a blank canvas for an artist to create whatever he/she wishes. They range in size but are usually 20″ the most unless an artist decides to take  a stab at decorating a taller one. Some come with accessories like laser guns and apparently a few have been sold on eBay

Bankrupt Slut has been one of the harder ones for me to research. But I did find out that he/she was a part of the 2011 Maximilian Gallery show called “What Graffiti is to New York — Street Art is to Los Angeles”  along with a few other well-known artists like Homo Riot and Alec Monopoly. And according to the show’s press release the artist has been able to put up “over 30,000 stickers and other pieces on the streets of LA” during all of 2011.

Apparently there is also a band named Bankrupt Slut. Coincidence? I think not. Especially since there are Slut stickers in the background of some of their photos.

So next time a sticker art piece catches your eye, stop and wonder who put it there. Where did it come from? Where else are there more of them?

Because there is probably much more behind that small sticker than you expect. That’s the beauty of street art – you don’t always know who created the piece you’re looking at, but when you dig deeper that piece just gets all the more interesting.

Audio Canvas 3 @ Crewest Gallery

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

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!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Girls Can Do Street Art, Too

Talking about women and art might be a worn subject by now or you might say this is a post oozing with feminism, but it’s interesting to note that most of the time the first names that pop up when talking about street art are those of men. At least that’s what I’ve noticed from talking to people who are only slightly interested in street art and those who are a tad bit more obsessed with the phenomenon.

But that doesn’t mean there AREN’T any women artists out there. Since decades ago, there have been women also going behind the police’s back to post their art. I imagine putting on the same dark outfit, pulling on a hoodie and getting to work.

Back when plenty of guys were posting their art on New York subway trains, Ecuadorian artist Lady Pink decided to join in on the fun. She became such an important figure in street art of the late 70s/early 80s; she was even featured in Wild Style, a much-revered film from 1983 that also features legendary graffiti figures like Lee Quinones and Fab 5 Freddy.

Fast-forward a couple of decades and you’ve got artists like Swoon, who I mentioned in an earlier post and who was in the Museum of Contemporary Art exhibit “Art in the Streets” this past summer. The women’s styles and mediums are completely different – decades after the New York subway train graffiti movement, street art has evolved and it has done so thanks to the help of a few innovative minds, including women artists.

Another artist with her own quirky style is Becca, a street artist who started out in the late ’80s. I found this piece while on a quest to find other pieces.

She was an important street artist in Los Angeles in the ’90s when the street art movement hadn’t really taken off yet. And like any good street artist, she’s got a style that makes her pieces easy to recognize. They’re usually vintage-style figures that remind me of old-school Barbies. She also signs all her pieces with the same lower case b and the same crayon-esque look. Her work has been everywhere from Beverly Hills to Downtown Los Angeles.

All street art pieces have names/signatures near them but if you walk around enough, at least some of the pieces you see are by women, too. Thus, the street/graffiti art is not just for guys. Girls can have their fun, too.

I agree with something Becca told The Dirt Floor in an interview last year and I think it sums up nicely how art, and by inclusion street and graffiti art, is universal.

The question was “Why should people care about art?” to which Becca responded: “Because art can be mind blowing and strengthen your heart.” Truer words have never been spoken.

Sound off in the comments about Becca, women and street art and anything in between!

Poster Art Paradise

The life of a street artist, at least when he/she is posting up some badass art, is a bit of a paradox sometimes. On the one hand, they are scouting out the darkest alleys and most abandoned streets and one the other they seek the most visible buildings and street signs.

Lucky for some of the inhabitants of Los Angeles, some street artists seek out both. So you can spot awesome street art when you’re driving or you can come across it where you least expect it.

The best is when you get lost. I’ve a penchant for getting lost as is obvious by some of these posts but it pays off when I stumble across walls like this one…

Somehow a group of street artists decided this was their wall. It probably started out with one poster and bloomed into the beautifully crowded wall you see here. There were funny phrases (the above wall has a poster near the bottom that says “You know I’m allergic to ugliness”), political statements and plenty of faces, both fictional and real.

If Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t legit enough, how about fictional detective Robert T. Ironside? “Ironside” was this show from the ’60s. I used to watch it all the time on KDOC; it’s basically about a guy in a wheelchair who nabs the bad guys. Legit.

The political messages were pre-tty clear.

It was a fairly large wall and almost every inch of it was covered…

There were a few pieces that especially caught my eye. This one looks very much like a Banksy piece…

Shepard Fairey‘s face was also looking out from all the posters…

I took some closer shots to peek at some posters a little closer.

I saw this guy at the Mr. Brainwash show not too long ago! Though I didn’t post the photo because it wasn’t great. But apparently this guy likes to travel.

Not even the dumpsters were safe.

See that bright pink spot on the left?? That’s another guy that kept popping  up everywhere…

There was a really huge awesome piece that I later found was done by Cryptik, an artist who creates pieces with his own type of calligraphy.

As I kept walking I noticed some pieces on the floor too…

It looked like that giant hand said ‘count the wavs.’ Clever, no?

The funniest piece was this Banksy one…

Thankfully there weren’t any barking dogs around.

So there you have it, a good 30 minutes spent snapping pics of art that randomly jumped out at me while I was walking. I got lost on purpose because I wanted to find some good art and thankfully I found quite the street art hot spot before I found my way back.

A Very Mr. Brainwash Christmas

Thierry Guetta didn’t start out as a street artist.

As fans of the documentary “Exit Through The Gift Shop” know, Guetta started out trailing along big street artists documenting their activity. At the heels of major street artists like Shepard Fairey, Invader (who is actually his cousin) and Banksy, Guetta learned what made the artists tick. More importantly, he learned how they broke the law. And then he wanted to do it too.

So he took a picture of himself, made it into a poster and hit the streets. Oh, and christened himself Mr. Brainwash (MBW for short).

So what makes him different, you ask? Well, most people don’t really think he’s legit. Banksy likes to play games, so the entirety of “Gift Shop” could be fake. And even if it isn’t, some feel that Mr. Brainwash’s art is not anything too original. The movie basically ends with him being more than a little disliked by Fairey, Banksy and Invader.

His 2008 show “Life is Beautiful” was his debut to the world and three years later he’s still at it, whether or not he’s legit. “Art Show 2011″ opened officially Christmas day and I figured it wasn’t something I should miss. On the 25th, there were a pretty good number of people milling about, some waiting in line with a free poster in hand to get a signature and chat with MBW.

Whether or not his art is the most original or whether his entire character is made up, the opening was interesting to check out, especially since there was no entrance fee.

The idea itself is pretty genius. The show took place in a fairly sketchy area on La Brea inside a building that wasn’t anything special except for its labyrinth-like structure. Some of the columns that held posters were even peeling but that added to the overall look.

The building is hard to miss. There is a giant spray can outside and even walking on the block, you can see some posters up.

I unfortunately left my camera at home (which I obviously was kicking myself for) so the pictures aren’t the best because they were taken on my iPod. I like to think maybe it adds to the semi-gritty look of the inside…

There were plenty of chairs to sit in. This area was obviously marked off for sitting but there were also chairs randomly in front of artworks. MBW is a huge fan of using familiar faces, like good ‘ole Benjamin Franklin, just jamming out with some headphones…

I thought this tribute to “Jackass” persona Ryan Dunn was pretty funny. The photo is basically his version of a photo of Dunn doing a stunt — he just added some more color and spray paint can that says ‘Tomato Spray’ — a very Warholian creation that comes up a few times in the exhibition.

The spray paint can is outside and also inside, on a smaller scale but still at a pretty large size.

In fact, MBW has quite the thing for large spray paint cans. There were plenty of them, with different designs and a good dose of humor. Pop Art anyone?

If that can would spray out giant Lifesavers it would be quite frightening but maybe you could call this can to help you…

If not, there’s always these guys hanging out too…

So there were quite a few silly choices of subject matter that could be criticized, such as Mr. Potato Head…

… but there were also some pretty cool set-ups, like this Mickey Mouse.

Not the best photo but basically he’s being hit with a very kaleidoscopic, colorful light that’s constantly moving so it looks like he’s underwater. And if you look hard enough on the right, M. Mouse is set up at the right angle so that his shadow is freakishly large, dark and looming. It’s a tired subject but I found the effect really interesting. There were a few other setups in which MBW made clever use of light.

There were small lights set up randomly everywhere but there were also some darker areas like this one…

The corner was somewhat well-lit (I played with the pics a little) but once you turned around, there was pretty much just darkness…

You could just barely make out more writing in cursive on the walls and if you wanted to walk further in, you had to without any light to guide you. It was the only room that I saw set up this way so it was a good contract to the rest of the rooms. The building had quite a few floors and the stairs, roof and even stair bars were completely covered in spray paint. A lot of the floors were still enveloped in a strong smell of paint. MBW even decided to make his own brand.

If you look at the wall behind, you can see what I mean about everything being covered in some form of paint. The pieces were probably a little familiar at times — there was nothing too shocking and the famous faces are familiar and have been used in plenty of artworks — but I really respect the way the space was used. It really felt like every inch of the space was used — there were random images on the floor.

The best part was seeing so many different surfaces purposely being used as canvases, like everything from chairs…

… to kitchen appliances.

There was section that didn’t have very many large exhibits but had plenty of posters on columns. The last poster on here is especially wise advice for college students…

That face is MBW himself…

The walls were also covered in posters…

…and some graffiti art. I think MBW got some help from other street art friends because this piece has the signature of a well-known street artist.

It stood out to me because its style is very different from the pieces in the show and I recognized Revok‘s name in the signatures.

There was also a piece that looked familiar because I took a picture of it some time ago. I’ve yet to find out who actually made it but it’s definitely very similar to the one I found on a street nearby.

So all in all, yes, there wasn’t too much that was mind-blowingly original and, yes, MBW’s personal style was a little hard to pin down because his works are so influenced by other artists and genres, BUT in the end the exhibit as a whole was an awesome experience. The set-up was ambitious and though at times it can be overwhelming, it’s like Disneyland for a street art, or even general art, lover.

The question is always whether the street is just better on the street or not. Whether this art should be indoors. I think in this case, it worked. Every inch of space seemed covered in something and the mysterious layout and multiple staircases made it an adventure.

Here are a few more photos!

There were a lot of cool little scenes like this one set up in different spots. Some of them you had to peek through an opening and some caution tape to see, but some were out on the floor…

That last one says ‘If everyone thought the same, nothing would ever change.’

I took 80-something photos total, but I tried to share the best gems! The show has a limited running and the last day to catch it is the 29th. It’s definitely worth checking out, whatever your thoughts on MBW.

Sound off on the comments about MBW/the show!

Blu’s Wacky, Intriguing Video

So this is a little different from my usual posts but why not try something new?!

Which in this case means… video!

There is an awesome new video out by the artist Blu. It’s nearly 7-and-a-half minutes of trippy, creative, mind-boggling scenes. Apparently this was ALL done on the walls of Buenos Aires and Baden. That means Blu took who knows how many hours creating all his art on walls – inside and outside – in order to animate that art into one seriously wacky video.

If you haven’t heard of him before, Blu is an Italian artist who started out as a graffiti artist but now works in other mediums as well. His work has invaded walls all over the world, from Germany to Central American to the United States. In fact, there was a bit of controversy when Blu created a mural on the wall of the Museum of Contemporay Art’s Geffen Contemporary Museum in Los Angeles that featured coffins draped with dollars bills. The piece was apparently not approved of and the mural was painted over, much to fans’ dismay.

But Blu did get away with the work he made on these walls and the result is the video below that you get to enjoy. It’s interesting to see street art, animation and video bundled up into one – maybe it’s the start of a new street art movement? If so, this is going to be hard to top.

Sound off on what you think about the vid and Blu. I’m curious to hear your opinions.