Alive heart by Promesto

We have come across this meaningful street art installation by Promesto and we like it so we talked to the artist and asked him to tell us a bit more about it.

Make sure to check out the video!

ART-PIE: What is “Alive Heart” all about?
Promesto: This installation is built to provoke and catch the reaction of the people as they pass by the broken-hearted mannequin and to intervene in the daily life of broken hearts and reminds them: no matter how broken your heart is now – tomorrow is another day!

A-P: How are people reacting to it?
P: People responded variously ‘heartbreak’ as a feeling of heaviness, emptiness, grief, sadness, confusion and even jealousy all at once. Our installation art on London’s famous Brick Lane made quite a few people ponder.

Some of the best quotes we got:
“it’s a bit “scary-tragic but true”
“My heart was broken once. It really hurt and I’m glad it’s over.”
“I still remember that B!$%H or BA%$!RD”

Color Jam

At last there is something for the “looking down while walking” individuals. There is a good reason to ignore your siblings, there is the new work from Jessica Stockholder to look at.

“Color Jam” is the name of the installation and is a make-over of State and Adams streets in downtown Chicago. A flow of colors have landed on the concrete and are licking the surrounding building.

Orange, lime green and turquoise shapes seem to wait for the bypassers in the hope of lighten these often bleak faces. Jessica Stockholder hit again with what she does best – site-specific works that merge painting to a three dimensional element.

ART-PIE - Color Jam by Jessica Stockholder

ART-PIE - Color Jam by Jessica Stockholder

Below is a photo of another installation made also in Chicago back in 2009 where brightly colored plywood platforms and metal bleachers were assembled to turn a section of Madison Square Park in New York into an abstract painting, “Flooded Chambers Maid.” Children instantly appropriated it as a playground, and adults used it as an informal seating area.

ART-PIE - Flooded Chambers Maid by Jessica Stockholder

Sound painting – get your own today

I have not been felling so excited like this for a while. Steady, I am talking here about the concept of sound painting. I know what you are thinking right now – “How does it work?”. Read on.

Right, the gear you need first – a camera with a flash, a loudspeaker unit, plastic sheeting, electrical tape, paint (ideally poster paint), and a laser trigger (if you happen to have one).

So what is it really? “captured images of specific moments when paint is propelled into the air by sonic vibrations.” <- that sounds good to me – literally.

The pictures below are the work of  Martin Kilmas, German born artist,  who spent some time to get the right shots, the moments that are truly moving. I am sure you will agree?

Hands on – head over to www.thecreatorproject.com blog where all the steps are break apart. But first have a look below and see what you could achieve.

What is really remarkable with this concept is what you actually get – A spontaneous and ephemere somewhat  abstract visual of whatever tune you have decided to blast out. Awesome.

Pictures and initial read from www.thecreatorproject.com

Miles Davis - "Bitches brew" by Martin Kilmas
Miles Davis - "Bitches brew" by Martin Kilmas
Kraftwerk - "Transistor" by Martin Kilmas
Kraftwerk - "Transistor" by Martin Kilmas

Der Tiere Solo show by Bael at Signal gallery

bael-signal-gallery

It’s a rare thing for a young artist to come along with a style and visual language fully formed. But this is definitely the case with Bael (AKA Michael James Bell). Still in the early stages of his career, his work has a confidence and clarity that many other, more experienced artists would envy.

Having briefly flirted with an art college education, Bael found the whole experience less than inspiring and decided to go it alone. The results seem to have proved that this was a wise decision. Looking at his intense, spare, highly personal artwork you have the distinct impression that they would not have been produced with such single mindedness, if he had been bombarded with the ideas and prejudices inherent in an art college education.

bael-signal-gallery

> Read more about the artist on the Signal gallery website

Private View: 13th January 2011, 6 – 9pm
Where: Signal gallery (London) – view on Google map
When: Open to the public: 14th January – 5th February 2011, Tuesday – Saturday 12 – 6pm

ART-PIE

Specter at Pure Evil gallery

Brooklyn-based street artist Specter is one of these very active artists who always come up with new projects. You may or may not like what he does but you have to give him credits for always keeping his creativity flame burning like Hell.

Pure Evil gallery is currently hosting his first UK solo show where Specter using garments such as scarfs or bandanas in his new portraits.

Here is what Specter says about it – “the story behind the pieces is that these are portraits of people who have influenced me artistically but instead of painting their faces I am painting fabrics that I feel represent them. I basically close my eyes and these images are what appears.”

The show only occupied the front room in the gallery, in other words the number of artworks is rather limited. I was quick to go round then and to be honest did not feel loads of excitment about what I had just seen. While I agree that the use of garments is an unique portrayal approach, it is most definitely not the most emotion-trigger one which I believe portaits should be all about: hard to feel sadness or joy looking at a piece of checkered shirt.

Solid drawing and painting skills though and a great attention to detail.

The show runs until the 24th August.

I cannot resist to include a few photos of Specter’s installations and street artwork which is known for in the US. I could not described better what his work is all about than what I read on the Pure Evil website:

He evolves the subject matter by interlacing influences from the environment he chooses to adorn, incorporating characteristics from the surrounding neighbourhoods, architecture, local business and social economic classes; transforming the unwitting publics’ understanding of the space.

Through graffiti influence, he became obsessed with art in public spaces, where he sees potential inspiration and appropriate location to express his creativity. His aim is to deconstruct preconceived perceptions and draw attention to the neglected and less desirable issues, the non-sensational stories of the undervalued detritus of our culture we seldom hear about.

ART-PIE

Related links
> Specter’s art: www.specterart.com
> Make It Fit” Various & Gould exhibition at Brooklynite gallery (New York)

Photos from the show at Pure Evil below as well as Various street installations and artwork from Specter below

 

Havana Club presents Wall Project @ Rich Mix

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie
Click to enlarge

The Project is an art competition that will allow emerging talents to gain exposure in one of East London’s cultural hotspots. The twelve-month project includes three commissions launched by three live events, hosted in conjunction with the start of Rich Mix’s new seasons.

We went to see the wall painted by Remi Rough and it is ace – see pictures below

More about the project below:

The Havana Club Wall Project is a celebration of the unique spirit of the Cuban city of Havana. It will embody the unique and inspiring attitude that reflects the true values of the Cuban capital – humanity, spontaneity and creativity – all of which are synonymous with authentic Cuban rum.

Artist Remi/Rough is launching the Havana Club Wall Project with his interpretation and vision of the values that make Havana so unique. The celebrated urban artist has been specially commissioned to design and paint an interior wall that runs the entire length of the Rich Mix events space. The Wall Project is then open as a competition to encourage amateur or professional artists to submit their interpretation of the true values of Havana.

Two winners will then launch the following seasons with their designs on Saturday May 7th and Friday 2nd September. Entries are submitted by e-mail to visualarts@richmix.co.uk, a selection will be posted on the Havana Club UK and Rich Mix facebook page to invite public feedback and final judging will be made by a panel led by Remi/Rough.

Entries must be submitted by: March 7th – with the winning wall design on show from May to July 2011 / OR / July 2nd – with the winning wall design on show from July to September 2011 For further enquiries please contact Krista Booker krista@theneonhub.com or 0207 729 5129

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie
Click to enlarge

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie

Remi Rough at Rich Mix | Art-Pie

Related links
> Havana Club UK
> Rich Mix London on Facebook

ART-PIE

New Banksy in Calais depicts Steve Jobs

Banksy in Calais | Art-PieYou’ve probably heard of Banksy‘s Dismaland, a dystopian amusement park which closed its doors in October of this year.  However you may not have known the installations used for this art project have since been transferred to the port-side town of Calais France by volition Banksy himself.  Labeled “Dismal Aid”, the timber and building materials have been repurposed into housing, children’s play areas, and community centers for the 7000+ Syrian refugees.

At the same time, Banksy has taken this opportunity to spread a few messages about the situation of “The Jungle”, the largest refugee camp in Western Europe. Three new pieces with very strong messages can be seen around Calais – read on below to see the images and brief descriptions.

The Steve Jobs Piece

With weathered clothing and an exhausted body language we see a depiction of Steve Jobs, sporting the now notorious expression from this iconic photograph.  Steve carries an old Macintosh computer and a bin bag or rucksack on his shoulders. The message? Jobs is himself a son of Syrian migrants, he is of the same lineage as the refugees escaping ISIS today.

In a rare public statement to accompany the piece, Banksy expressed his drive and the message:

“We’re often led to believe migration is a drain on the country’s resources but Steve Jobs was the son of a Syrian migrant. Apple is the world’s most profitable company, it pays over $7billion a year in taxes – and it only exists because they allowed in a young man from Homs.”

Banksy in Calais | Art-Pie
Banksy in Calais | Art-Pie

The Medusa Piece in the Center of Calais

Based on French artist Théodore Géricault’s Raft of The Medusa, Banksy updates the dark and striking piece with a small background image of a modern cruise ship or luxury yacht. The boat, like the original piece, is embroiled in an intense struggle with the sea.  The message of “We are not all in the same boat” speaks for itself.

Banksy in Calais | Art-Pie Banksy in Calais | Art-Pie

The Young Boy Piece on the Beach

A silhouette of a young boy can be seen looking through a telescope while a vulture watches over him. The message of hope, future and dreams is cast harshly against a looming potential reality of darkness and death.

Banksy in Calais | Art-Pie

These artworks have been well-received by the city of Calais with an official statement in the local newspaper by mayor Natacha Bouchart, describing their value for the city.  The city has expressed their commitment to protect the pieces behind transparent plastic shields, so the message and artworks remain intact for the foreseeable future.

The Welling Court Mural project

Now its in third edition, a bunch of international artists took on a few block in Astoria, Queens, New-York for Ad Hoc Art’s Welling Court Mural Project and have produced a series of varied and eye-catching graffiti/pieces of street art.

The project aims at mashing up art, music and community and celebrate talents wherever they come from. Read more about the project from the Ad Hoc Art website. We have included a few shots of the artworks that was produced for the occasion.

Pictures taken from artinfo.com

Some of the featured artists include : Olek | Score | High 149 | Chris Stain | Mode | Queen Andrea | Wane | M-City | 01 | Jaz | Sinned | Veng | Chris RWK | Gilf

Welling court mural project - Art-Pie

Welling court mural project - Art-Pie
A knitted piece by OLEK
Welling court mural project - Art-Pie
Queen Andrea (left) and Wane (right)

STREET ART ENCOUNTERS