FAILE's Bedtime Stories at Perry Rubenstein features twelve vibrant works assembled from painted or silkscreened blocks of wood arranged into patchwork compositions. FAILE, a Brooklyn-based, multimedia, street art collective, is Patrick McNeil and Patrick Miller. The pair have created a series of puzzle-like paintings packed with bad-ass pin-up girls, bold color, dizzying patterns, and cryptic text. The results are eye-catching and humorous "frenetic visual tapestries" (from show's press release).
In an interview with Brooklyn Street Art, the artists reveal that the works in the exhibit were initially inspired by quilt-making. Bedtime Stories (also the title of one of the paintings) also "refers to the narrative quality of the pieces... As they come together and we take bits out of one thing and put it into another thing it starts to make new stories." They compare the works to dream fragments—"parts of the dream that you remember... the most vivid, emotionally charged ones, or psychologically charged parts..." Referencing the "pixelation of digital technology" and pointillism, as well as "collage and street art" (from press release), FAILE's pop imagery is definitely memorable and arresting. Learn more at Perryrubenstein.com and read the full Brooklyn Street Art interview here. Through December 23rd.
Angels, 2010
Bedtime Stories, 2010
Nuthins Sacred Youth, 2010
Live, 2010
No Change (left), 2010, Stilettos (right), 2010
Fashions Last Stand, 2010
FAILE Tower, 2010, Our Romance (right), 2010
This reminds me of when I was in High School. We would cut out words and images from magazines and make punk rock collages for the covers of our notebooks and bookcovers. Of course, this is a pretty big step up from that, but it takes me back. Faile is awesome!
Posted by: Michele Powers | 11/18/2010 at 02:06 PM