Art Hag

Chinatown NYC Street Art

Chinatown Mural Project's Dragon Lion Medley, 140 East Broadway

A quick trip to Manhattan’s Chinatown this week offered the opportunity to check out some great street art.

First off was the Chinatown Mural Project’s exuberant Dragon Lion Medley on the exterior of Chinatown Lumber at 140 East Broadway. A collaboration between community activist Karlin Chan and artist Peach Tao @peacheeblue, the mural features a festive dragon and lion dance amid neighborhood fixtures such as PS 23, Church of the Transfiguration, and Wo Hop and Hop Kee restaurants.

The Chinatown Mural Project was founded earlier this year to install similar charming and “culturally appropriate” murals across the historic lower Manhattan neighborhood that “reflect the cultural and daily lives of residents of Chinatown,” according to the organization’s Facebook page. The initiative aims to attract tourists back to the once bustling neighborhood with Instagram-ready “selfie spots” and help the local businesses that have struggled during the pandemic.

Other Chinatown Mural Project works include Zodiac Dim Sum, the twelve Chinese astrology animals happily dining on dumplings and buns; Mahjong Social, featuring four pigeons playing the tile-based game; and Noodle Shop, starring a scallion-chopping tiger and a white rabbit serving up a bowl of noodles. The murals are filled with detail and whimsy and are sure to delight residents and visitors of all ages. There's a Go Fund Me page to help pay for supplies for Chinatown Mural Project. Click here to contribute.

MADSTEEZ, tribute to Kobe and Gianna Bryant, exterior of Emma Lazarus High School, Eldridge Street

BKFOXX, One Man's Trash (is a mouse's treasure), exterior of Emma Lazarus High School, Eldridge Street

On the wall of Emma Lazarus High School over on Eldridge Street (at the corner of Hester) are two recent murals curated by @eastvillagewalls. Street artist Mark Paul Deren @madsteez painted a touching tribute to the late LA Laker Kobe Bryant and his 13-year-old daughter Gianna who were killed in a plane crash in January. To the right is BKFOXX’s One Man’s Trash (is a mouse’s treasure), a stunning photorealistic ode to the Year of the Rat featuring a larger-than-life white rodent surveying his collection of golden trinkets.

BKFOXX, The Wrath of God, 69 Eldridge Street

@AdamFu and @SurfaceofBeauty on Hester near corner of Eldridge Street

On the opposite side of Hester Street, one block up, is BKFOXX’s The Wrath of God, an eerie black-and-white image of a mask-wearing skull. Just around the corner on Hester is a soothing collaboration between Adam K. Fujita @adamfu and Natasha May Platt @surfaceofbeauty. The piece features a striking neon violet heart by Fujita surrounding a delicate floral arrangement by Platt.

277 Grand Street

Sidewalk koi on Walker Street

@budha_delight, 7 Allen Street

@budha_delight, 7 Allen Street

Greetings from Chinatown, Allen & Division Streets

The cheerful postcard-like mural, Greetings from Chinatown, welcomes everyone at the intersection of Allen and Division Streets. The proud and loud ode to Chinatown was created in 2014 by artists Victor Ving and Lisa Beggs.

Large-scale letters spelling Chinatown contain landmarks and images found throughout the neighborhood, including a lucky cat, the Manhattan Bridge, the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory mascot, Canal Street "Louis Vuitton" bags, the Fung Wah bus, and Nom Wah Tea Parlor. After completing this eye-catching mural, the couple set out in an RV on a mission to create postcard murals in every state. They’ve completed 44 so far. Learn more at greetingstour.com and @greetingstour.

Take a trip to Chinatown and search for more street art yourself, and remember to support the small businesses while you're there.

Kenny Scharf | Paul Kasmin Gallery

Kenny Scharf is everywhere!  The artist currently has two shows on view at the Paul Kasmin galleries, a mural up on the wall on the northwest corner of East Houston and Bowery, and assorted spray-can paintings adorning various storefront shutters around NYC.  NATURAFUTURA at Paul Kasmin's 293 Tenth Ave space features new large-scale paintings inspired by the nature surrounding Scharf's studio in Bahia, Brazil.  The works "explore the richness of this landscape and humankind's multilayered connections to it," (from the press release).  The vibrant jungle and ocean scenes are populated by Scharf's cartoonish cast of widely grinning, anthropomorphized flowers, fish, crustaceans, bugs, bears, and oil spots.  The aptly titled Oil Painting is the longtime rainforest activist's response to the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill that occured while Scharf was working on this series of paintings.  Sinister-looking oil splotches overwhelm a deep blue sea — a completely contradictory scene compared to his other works showing happy, Disney-on-acid-like characters in their unpolluted habitats.

Around the corner at 511 West 27th Street is THREE DOZEN!, thirty-six of Scharf's "signature donut paintings."  The canvases each show a single doughnut floating before a surreal sky, showcasing "the artist's trademark wit and fascination with optimistic fantasy."  THREE DOZEN! brought out the Homer Simpson in me and made me wish there was a Doughnut Plant nearby.  Mmm, doughnuts...

Directly across the street from 511 West 27th are two of the one hundred roll-up, storefront shutters that Scharf will be covering with his lively, magical creatures.  The Mediacy Group enlisted Scharf to create spray-can paintings on 100 metal grates around Manhattan for its Gatescapes program.  What a wonderful way to brighten up the city! 

And finally, the wall on East Houston and Bowery that displayed the Shepard Fairey mural last year is now home to a vivacious mural by Scharf.  Jam-packed with cheerful, blob-like faces, the wall definitely warms up the drab corner during this brutal, snowpocalyptic winter.  Check out all of Scharf's charming, energetic works around town for a surefire pick-me-up from the winter blues.  Learn more at Paulkasmingallery.com and at the artist's website Kennyscharf.com.  NATURAFUTURA and THREE DOZEN! run through February 26th. 

Swamp Style, 2010

Oil Painting, 2010

Daze-E-Bugz, 2010

Bear Jungle, 2010

Picnic, 2010

Left to right, starting from top-left:  Chocolate Frosted at Sunset, Pink Frosted Donut!, Glazed Cruller in Space, Crumb in the Sun, Chocolate Chocolate!, Glazed in Space, Chocolate Frosted Cruller on a Cloudless Day, Glazed Donut Galaxy, all 2011

Cream Filled + Calm, 2011

Gatescapes painting on West 27th Street

Gatescapes painting on West 27th Street

Mural on East Houston at Bowery

Mural on East Houston at Bowery

Mural on East Houston at Bowery close-up

FAILE | Perry Rubenstein

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

Graffiti NYC | Benrimon Contemporary

Graffiti NYC: Artists of the Third Rail is a group show at Benrimon Contemporary documenting the 40+ years of graffiti in New York City.  Featuring murals, paintings, works on paper, photos, sculptures, and even actual NYC subway doors that were covered in graffiti during a live demonstration at the exhibit's opening, the show includes work by Martha Cooper, John Naar, Richard Hambleton, Snake1, Noc167, Jamestop, Stayhigh149, PNUT, Cap1, Tracy168, Futura2000, Dondi, Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Phetus, and more.

Starting as a "humble trend of 'tagging' in 1969" (from show's press release), the art form grew throughout the years from simply "Aerosol Art" to include painted murals, wheat pastes, and stickers.  In the 1970s, graffiti moved from the streets into museums and galleries, and now many graffiti and street artists have attained iconic, rock star-like status, with collectors substituting groupies vying for their artwork.  Along with the specially created subway doors that were auctioned off to benefit The Bowery Mission, the exhibit features photos from the 70's and 80's showing samples of street art that have long been covered up or removed, as well as two murals painted on the gates of the gallery specifically for the exhibit.  See bcontemporary.com for more info and see my photos below.  Unfortunately, I could not find a checklist at the gallery or online, so I wasn't able to label my pics.  Through August 10th.

Banksy, is that you? | Boston

During a quick jaunt to Boston this holiday weekend, I managed to take a pic of a new piece of street art on a wall in a parking lot in Chinatown.  Located on the exterior wall of a Chinese restaurant on the corner of Essex Street and Harrison Avenue in Boston's Chinatown, the life-size image of an old-timey, Humphrey Bogart look-alike bill poster standing beside the scrawled phrase "Follow Your Dreams" with a big, red "Cancelled" stamped across it is rumored to be the work of mysterious, British street artist Banksy.  Another piece (that I didn't get to check out) of a child sitting in the window of a white, scribbled house bearing a "No Loitrin" sign can be found on Essex Street in Central Square, Cambridge.  It's rumored that Banksy, one of Time Magazine's most influential artists, and his team are "bombing" cities with his artwork to promote his film Exit Through the Gift Shop, though it is difficult to confirm since the artist does a better job than the CIA at keeping his identity top-secret and accordingly does not do interviews. 

Though I have yet to see it, Exit Through the Gift Shop, is receiving rave reviews.  In it Thierry Guetta (aka Mr Brainwash), a French ex-pat now living in LA who happens to be cousins with French street artist Invader, attempts to follow and document Banksy only to have the crafty artist turn the camera on him.  Find out where the film is screening and see the trailer at banksyfilm.com and read more about the two Boston pieces at boston.com. 

Banksy work (?) on Essex Street in Boston's Chinatown

Shepard Fairey | Deitch Projects

Deitch Projects' final exhibit, Shepard Fairey's May Day is certainly a crowd pleaser.  From the throngs overflowing onto Wooster Street on opening night to the heavy daily traffic through the gallery, Fairey is helping Jeffrey Deitch bid adieu to NYC with a bang.  

The show's name not only refers to its May 1st opening date and  a "celebration of spring and the rebirth it represents" (from show's press release) but also references International Worker's Day  or Labor Day which is observed in almost 100 countries as a day of "political demonstrations and celebrations coordinated by unions and socialist groups."  With his large-scale, black, white, and red portraits of icons including Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, Deborah Harry, Nico, Iggy Pop, Joe Strummer, Muhammad Ali, The Dalai Lama, Cornel West, Robert Rauschenberg and Jasper Johns, Fairey presents revolutionary figures whom he admires for their political and cultural contributions.  As the artist states, "These people I'm portraying were all revolutionary, in one sense or another.  They started out on the margins of culture and ended up changing the mainstream." 

The term "Mayday" is also a "distress signal used by pilots, police and firefighters in times of emergency."  With this show Fairey is sending out a distress signal to call attention to the "political, environmental, economic, cultural" problems that exist globally.  As the artist behind the Barack Obama "HOPE" poster states, "By now we thought we would be in post-Bush utopia, but we're still having to call attention to these problems.  Like any mayday call, however, the sound of the alarm also brings hope for help on the way... If we stay silent, there's no hope.  But if we make noise, if we put our idea out there, then maybe we can make a change like the people in the portraits have done."  Learn more at Deitch.com.  Through May 29th. 

Parking lot across from gallery

The Great Outdoors | Woodward Gallery

Lower East Side's Woodward Gallery currently has on view The Great Outdoors, a terrific group show celebrating some of the top names in street art including Royce Bannon, Darkcloud, Michael De Feo, El Celso, LA II, Kenji Nakayama, Neckface, Lady Pink, Matt Siren, Stikman, and Swoon.  Typically, when thinking of "the great outdoors" visions of vast green landscapes come to mind.  However, for street artists, the great outdoors happen to be their venue and workspace and as the show's press release states, "[T]hese artists carry on the enlightened tradition of adapting their artwork to weather, people, space and situation."  Their "exposed" and "unprotected" art stands up to "the elements of extinction, theft, decay and urban renewal," and as Woodward Gallery hopes to prove with this exhibit, the work is capable of conjuring "inspirational effect" and "cultural exchange" when brought into a gallery environment.  

Street artists not only risk being caught by the authorities, they also chance their work being destroyed, vandalized, or stolen when leaving the fruits of their labor out in public under dubious circumstances.  As the press release states, these artists have mastered the art of survival.  More than just graffiti or tagging, the pieces on display are skillful works in varying media and styles created by talented and dedicated artists whose "individual works have become indelible, iconic images for the public."  Drop by Woodward Gallery to check out The Great Outdoors and be sure to say hello to Lucy and Ethel - the sweetest and furriest gallerinas in town!  Learn more at Woodwardgallery.net. Through July 24th.

RD, Insubordinate, 2010

Stikman, Outside In, 2010

Michael De Feo, Flowers, 2009

Swoon, Myrtle Avenue Windows, 2008

Lady Pink, Untitled, 2010

LA II, Pegasus, 2010

Darkcloud, Dead End, 2008 and El Celso, Otto's Dream, 2010

Neck Face, Brittany Shaved Her Head, 2007

Matt Siren, Mistress, 2009

Royce Bannon, Three Heads are Better, 2010

Kenji Nakayama, Concrete Jungle 1 and 4, 2007

Ethel (left) and Lucy (right)

And now a special message from Dick Chicken

Stomping around Chelsea on Wednesday, still in a foul (ha!) mood due to my canceled flight, I came across this note on W22nd Street that made me smile...

Aw, ain't that sweet?

In case you've never seen one, just across the street, on the exterior wall of the Comme des Garcons shop, is one of Dick Chicken's ubiquitous tags...

Just who is Dick Chicken?  You can try to find out in this interview at brooklynbased.net or at dickchicken.com.

Shepard Fairey, Day 3

I passed by Shepard Fairey's May Day mural again yesterday around 4:00 in the afternoon.  They seemed to be wrapping it up.  Fairey was shaking hands with well-wishers and passersby and doing interviews.  I took one pic from across East Houston because I didn't want to get too close up again and be mistaken for an obsessed fan-girl.  Don't forget, the mural is a part of Fairey's upcoming May Day show at Deitch Projects scheduled for May 1-29th.  Learn more about May Day at Deitch.com. 

This will sadly be the last show at the 14-year-old gallery as Jeffrey Deitch was appointed the new Director for the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art.  His first exhibition at LA MOCA scheduled for July 11th will be Art Is Life, a survey of works by the ailing actor/artist Dennis Hopper, curated by his long-time friend, Julian Schnabel.  If Hopper's show Signs of the Times at Tony Shafrazi last September is any indication, Art Is Life will be a definite must-see!  Learn more about the upcoming exhibition at latimesblogs.latimes.com. 

Shepard Fairey's May Day mural at Bowery and East Houston: Day 3

Shepard Fairey, Day 2

I dropped by the NW corner of Bowery and East Houston again today to check out the progress of Shepard Fairey's mural.  As you can see, they've gotten a lot accomplished.  I got there around 4:00pm, just before the crew started to pack up to beat the rain.  I like it so far.  It's graphic, stylish, political, and slightly nostalgic with the hints of Andre the Giant in the background.  The communist reds really jazz up that corner.  What do you think?

View from Elizabeth Street & East Houston

Shepard Fairey at work

I should be on a plane right about now, but since that wicked volcano Eyjafjallajokull keeps spewing out plane poisoning ash, I'm stuck here in NYC (I know, I know, it could be worse...)  Since I'm here with nothing to do, I took a stroll a couple of blocks and shot some pics of Shepard Fairey at work on his mural for Deitch Projects on the corner of Bowery and East Houston (diagonally across from Whole Foods).  As you can see, he and his crew just got started.  Perhaps I'll go back each day and shoot their progress since my travel plans have been thwarted (why yes, I am bitter).

If you'd like more Fairey stalking opps, head over to the Brooklyn Museum on Sunday the 25th at 3:00pm where he will discuss his work with the Associate Curator of Exhibitions, Sharon Matt Atkins, and sign copies of his books Supply and Demand and Obey: E Pluribus Venom.  Learn more here.  Fortunately, this isn't Boston, so the likelihood of Fairey being arrested whilst working on his mural or heading over to Brooklyn for his talk are slim.  That would wicked suck - just like Eyjafjallajokull!

Shepard Fairey and crew at work on the corner of Bowery and East Houston today at ~5:00pm.

 

Keith Haring | Tony Shafrazi

To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the artist's death, Tony Shafrazi presents Keith Haring 20th Anniversary.  Haring, the innovative street artist known for his energetic lines, vivid colors, and bold, iconic images depicting among other subjects "birth, death, love, sex and war," passed away from AIDS-related complications on February 16th, 1990 at the staggeringly young age of 31.  This show celebrates the life and work of a pioneering and giving artist.

Born and raised in Pennsylvania on May 4, 1958, Haring moved to New York City in 1978 and studied at the School of Visual Arts.  It was at SVA that Haring became an active member of an alternative art scene that brought art to the public via the streets, subways, and night clubs.  Haring started off using blank ad spaces in subway stations to make chalk drawings featuring his signature "rapid rhythmic lines, sometimes creating as many as forty" a day.  His first solo NYC show was in 1981 at the Westbeth Painters Space.  In 1982 he had a well-received solo show at Shafrazi's former gallery space at 163 Mercer Street in Soho.  Throughout the 80's, Haring created numerous public projects and murals throughout the world, designed sets for theaters, collaborated with Swatch on watch designs, and worked on advertising campaigns.  Always a believer of making art public and accessible to all, in 1986 Haring opened up the Pop Shop, a retail space located on Lafayette Street in Soho that sold "T-shirts, toys, posters, buttons and magnets bearing his images."  The store sadly closed in 2005 but still operates online.

Though his works appear playful and light-hearted, many of Haring's pieces contained strong political and social messages, tackling topics like Apartheid, AIDS, and drugs.  Between 1982 and 1989, he "produced more than 50 public artworks... in dozens of cities around the world, many of which were created for charities, hospitals, children's day care centers and orphanages."  After being diagnosed with AIDS in 1988, the artist founded the Keith Haring Foundation which provides "funding and imagery to AIDS organizations and children's programs," and "expands the audience for Haring's work through exhibitions, publications, and the licensing of his images."  

Featuring over 50 works including drawings, paintings, and sculptures, displaying Haring's distinct, exuberant, colorful, lively style, Keith Haring 20th Anniversary is a loving tribute to a talented, socially-conscious artist whom we lost far too early.  Most of the info and all of the quotes in this post were taken from the bio at the artist's official website, Haring.com.  See the works in the exhibit at Tonyshafrazigallery.com.  Through April 3rd.

(Left to right) Spaceship with Ray, 1980; Untitled, 1981; Untitled (vase), 1983; Untitled (Elvis), 1981; Untitled (Marilyn), 1981; Untitled, 1982

Untitled, 1982; Untitled (blue sculpture), 1985; Untitled, 1981

Untitled, 1979 and Untitled (Breakdancer or Red Fallen Man), 1986

Untitled (Acrobats), 1982 and Untitled (Break Dancer), 1985

Left: Untitled (Head Stand), 1987-88 and Right: Untitled, 1987

Robot, 1983

Andy Mouse, 1985

Big Bad Wolf, 1984

Untitled (Fertility Suite), 1983 and Untitled (Fertility Suite), 1983

Icons, 1990, and Untitled (Three Dancing Figures), Version C, 1989

Mr. Brainwash | Icons

I am a total sucker for pop culture, fashion designers, supermodels, artists and rock stars, so French street artist Mr. Brainwash's first U.S. show, Icons, is right up my alley.  Mr. Brainwash (Thierry Guetta) fills up two floors of a 15,000 square-feet warehouse space in the Meatpacking District with silkscreens of iconic figures from the art, fashion, music, and even technological worlds; larger than life installations; sculptures made from tires; and collages of famous musicians from various genres made entirely of broken vinyl records on wood (I can't even imagine how many crates of vinyl were smashed to bits for this show).  Though you may not have known his name before, you'll recognize Mr. Brainwash's work - he designed the pop-inspired cover for Madonna's latest greatest hits album Celebration (which has a huge wall in the show devoted to the many variations of the cover), and he's responsible for the prints that popped up around town last summer of Mr. Spock dolled up in Marilyn Monroe drag.

While his silkscreen and vinyl record portraits make up a bulk of the show, his large installation pieces are definitely impressive and cheeky.  See my pics below of the real taxi cab the artist had custom built for the exhibit which he encased in Matchbox packaging, his giant, pink paint can, tipped over and spilling "paint" down through the grates in the floor, and the 12 feet-tall, old-school boombox down in the basement level with all his vinyl portraits of musical legends.

The bright colors, famous faces, and kitchen pantry labels all pay homage to pop art and Warhol, but Mr. Brainwash adds his own street art touch to the works - especially in Tomato Spray, a parody of Warhol's famous Campbell's Soup cans which instead shows a tagger's spray-paint can wrapped in the iconic, red and white label.  Mr. Brainwash clearly admires many high profile players in many fields, and clearly has a blast representing them in his work.  Definitely check out this fun, celeb obsessed, pop infused show.  Through March 30th at 415 West 13th Street between 9th Avenue and Washington Street (open daily from 3:00-10:00pm).  Read a brief article on Mr. Brainwash at flavorwire.com and check out the artist's website at mrbrainwash.com.

AC/DC, broken vinyls and CDs on wood 

Barry White, broken vinyls and CDs on wood

Biggie Smalls, broken vinyls and CDs on wood

Billie Holiday, broken vinyls and CDs on wood

Blondie (Deborah Harry), broken vinyls and CDs on wood

Bruce Springsteen, broken vinyls and CDs on wood

Diana Ross, Sade, Michael Jackson, broken vinyls and CDs on wood

Elvis, broken vinyls and CDs on wood

Jay Z, broken vinyls and CDs on wood

Kiss, broken vinyls and CDs on wood

Louis Armstrong, broken vinyls and CDs on wood

Prince, Stevie Wonder, Nat King Cole, broken vinyls and CDs on wood

Close-up of lower, right corner of Prince portrait

Slash, broken vinyls and CDs on wood

Velvet Underground, broken vinyls and CDs on wood

Silkscreens of assorted artists, designers, models

Tomato Spray, silkscreen and oil on canvas

Silkscreens of Bill Gates (top left), Jack Dorsey (top right), Steve Jobs (bottom left), Mark Zuckerberg (bottom right)

Silkscreens of Madonna, Andy Warhol, Mr. Spock

Invader at Jonathan LeVine Gallery | Part Deux

I'm back in NYC and exhausted but thought I should keep my promise from Friday and post what I saw of Invader's Top 10 show at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery on Saturday.  I fortunately arrived at the gallery shortly after it opened at 11am, managed to spend a good amount of time checking out the work, and still made it to catch my ride out of town!  Though it was a frantic, mad dash on a Saturday morning, it was totally worth it to catch Invader's fun, poppy, musically-influenced, eye-crossingly dazzling pieces! 

The images on view, created from Rubik's Cubes (or Rubikcubism), reminded me of a few things - Georges Seurat's neo-impressionistic work (perhaps this is neo-neo-impressionism!), Devorah Sperber's thread spool pieces, Roy Lichtenstein and pop art in general (with its bright colors and pop culture imagery).  As the title of the show suggests, Invader selected his Top 10 album covers and faithfully recreated them using Rubik's Cubes.  The albums chosen were:  The Cure's Three Imaginary Boys, Nirvana's Nevermind, The Velvet Underground & Nico, Daft Punk's Homework, The Sex Pistol's Nevermind the Bollocks, Supertramp's Breakfast in America, Pink Floyd's Atom Heart Mother, Iron Maiden, The Clash's London Calling, and The Beatles' Abbey Road. 

While the four images grouped together (Nirvana, The Velvet Underground, Daft Punk, and The Sex Pistols) as well as The Clash were immediately recognizable, it took me a moment to recognize The Beatles and the Iron Maiden covers.  Though I love The Cure, I couldn't make out the recreation of their Three Imaginary Boys cover.  In all honesty, I am not a fan of Pink Floyd and while I was able to make out the cow on their album cover, I did not know whose or which album it was.  And since I know nothing about Supertramp I could not make out that cover at all.  I had to cheat and use the show's list at the gallery desk to identify the last three :(

There was also an iPod availabe showing a short (a little over 2 minutes)  time-lapse video of The Clash and The Beatles reproductions being made.  Also on view in the Rubik's Cube designed gallery were six tiled Space Invader characters grouped together, and one little blue guy hiding above the entrance watching visitors come and go.  I'm really happy that I got to see Top 10 before it closed.  See my photos from the exhibit below.  I've provided links to photos of the album covers for easy reference.

The Beatles, Abbey Road (below)

The Clash, London Calling (above)

Pink Floyd, Atom Heart Mother (above)

The Cure, Three Imaginary Boys (above)

Supertramp, Breakfast in America (above)

The Velvet Underground & Nico - Nirvana, Nevermind - Daft Punk, Homework - The Sex Pistols, Nevermind the Bollocks (above)

Iron Maiden (above)

 

Invader at Jonathan LeVine Gallery

Wow!  How serendipitous!  I was going to write a post about Parisian street artist, Invader, simply because I really love his work (I always get a stupid grin on my face when I see one of his pieces), and whilst doing a little research on him, I found that he's currently got a show in Chelsea - that ends Saturday the 25th -- tomorrow!!!  I don't know how I missed that!  Fortunately, his show is at the Jonathan LeVine Gallery, and after calling them tonight, I've learned they are one of the few Chelsea galleries that is open on Saturday over the summer (I hope I am not mistaken).  Hooray!!!

So I am going to rush over to the gallery tomorrow morning before I take off for the weekend and check out the Invader show before it closes.  I will post about what I see on Monday, but in the meantime, here's some info about Invader...

He's a street artist from Paris, who in 1998, began a project in which he "invades" public spaces in cities throughout the world with his artwork created with colorful mosaic tiles that make up characters from the vintage Atari video game Space Invaders (and sometimes Pac Man ghosts as well), creating pieces with a digital pixel feel.  Currently these works can be found in 40 major cities across the globe, spanning 5 continents! 

Top 10, the artist's current solo show at Jonathan LeVine, uses tiles as well as Rubik's Cubes to recreate his personal selection of the top ten album covers of his generation.  The Clash's London Calling, The Beatles' Abbey Road, The Sex Pistols' Nevermind the Bollocks, Nirvana's Nevermind, and The Velvet Underground's Warhol illustrated banana album cover, are all represented using his unique technique of Rubikcubism.  Awesome!  I really hope I'm able to make it to see this show before it closes.  If not, I am going to be one very sad Art Hag :*(  Fingers crossed!

Read more at the Jonathan LeVine website here.  And check out the artist's very cool website here.  It includes a map of cities that have been "invaded" as well as some other samples of his work from this project.

A Rubikcubism Pac Man ghost above the entry-way to my favorite NYC shop, Comme des Garcons, on West 22nd Street.

A Space Invader around the corner on West 21st Street and the Westside Highway (northeast corner).