Whitechapel Gallery promotion

Walking along Whitechapel Road just out of Aldgate East tube and noticed this graf promo piece. Nice concept. Not sure what show is on there at the moment, but I'm guessing it's a street art show of some sort? Nice Gorilla piece.
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Chimps need pets too...

Jef Aerosol's Chimp (and cat)

Was leaving Mikee's house last night near brick lane when I noticed the Jef Aerosol I had shot in April (see post: Some more Bethnal Green scrawlers... Wed 15 April 2009). The chimp had been tagged and also had an addition - a pet cat. Not sure who the past up artist is, but nice job.

Not sure why some retard would go over the top of Jef's work with an ugly tag, but there's no accounting for some peoples mentality eh... Sorry the photos a bit crap, but I was loosing light and only had my phone on me.
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Charlie Ash play the Rhythm Factory

Ben, Mailee, and Rosie at the Russian Bar post gig

Rosie rides Rupert (like the donkey he is) during the final track

Ah, a kissy kissy moment with Rosie

Had a great time at the Charlie Ash gig last night. They put on a free gig for friends at the Rhythm Factory in Whitechapel Road. This was their last London gig as they're off to Paris today, followed by Germany, but will be back to London for a few days of R&R before returning to NZ. They supported Ladyhawk last week, which, by all accounts went off.

It was great catching up with Rosie and Mailee - who I know from my Radio@ctive days - over a drink before the gig, as well as a host of ex-pats. The show was short but sweet, and included Rosie's cheeky banter, all of their electro synth poptastic hits, some swinging from the lighting rig, and even some crowd riding (Rupert was the lucky donkey selected for that treat during the finale. Good times indeed.

Followed that up by a trip to the Russian Bar in Kingsland Road for some crazy dancing and more crew catch ups. Was lovely to see them again and catch up with the news from home. Go Go C. ash crew...
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Write4gold in action in Liverpool 09 final

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Here’s a little teaser from the concept wall painted in Liverpool. Write4Gold managed to defend their Western Europe title and qualify for the Final at the Splash Festival in Germany next month!! I love the Irish leprechaun getting a hiding (sorry Ross!)

Detail from the 'Hands' wall. (click on image to enlarge)

Detail. (click on image to enlarge)

Some new pics from the Represent London crew, a community of street artists making waves at the moment.
See more of their work on the regularly updated site:

representlondon.com
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Jim Darling's 'Giant' in Beacon, NY

Giant by Jim Darling

Giant by Jim Darling

Came across this nice concept on Wooster today. Great creative use of rubbish and a community service rolled into one. I didn't have any idea of the scale until I read the artists statement, and saw that the torso was made up of 2 single beds!

Here's the artists notes:

"The area that I've been spending time in has multiple abandoned buildings, which are amazing. Unfortunately it also has a ton of trash scattered between the buildings. I decided to clean up the area by dragging all the junk into one location and making something out of it. With a little help I pulled four beds, six tires, and a large amount of scrap into one consolidated area... The trash that was scattered everywhere, was transformed into one giant character who found a great place to relax."

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At the moment I'm really into Evol

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Close up (click image to enlarge)

Lovin' this level of detail (click image to enlarge)

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Evol at work (click image to enlarge)

Evol at work (click image to enlarge)

Really digging this guy. He's just opened an exhibition at Wilde Gallery. Pretty hard to find any info about the dude, but absolutely loving his work. What attracted me to it originally was the medium he was using - corrugated cardboard cartons. The same strata I've been using for my series over the last year. I think there have been a number of American artists over the last few years who've struck notoriety for work on recycled cartons and pizza boxes.

Evol's Exhibition at Wilde-Gallery runs for a month from 01.05.09.

See the whole 40pages Evol-.pdf-Catalouge:
http://www.wilde-gallery.com/Evol_final_150dpi.pdf
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Evol electric box conversion

Evol (CTink). Click image to enlarge.

Thought I'd throw Evol's flickr up so you can see some of what he's been doing under the guise of the Evol (CTink) name.

This pic is from Berliner Antonio Shultz. Not sure when she shot it - think it may have been Berlin, but interesting story:

"EVOL transformed this electricity box into a block of flats (it`s a "Plattenbau"). A really beautiful place was born! And then some squatters came to live in this house. My foto shows an early state, in the end there were about ten creatures and characters sticked into the windows by other artists (AEM, NOLOGO, ...). There was even a mini-throwup at the basis."

[EVOL used stencils on a transparent paper and pasted it to the electricity box.]

Check Evol's site out here: http://www.flickr.com/groups/evol/pool/page3/
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Rarekind gallery launch

The first show for RareKind in their new space

Goldie, David and Yannie

First show at RareKind

First show at RareKind

First show at RareKind

Was lucky enough last Thursday evo to get along to the gallery opening of Rarekind in their new space in Shoreditch. Was the third gallery of the night, but a great space, fantastic group show, and a top bunch of peeps there for the meeting.

Looking forward to that becoming a staple part of my monthly calendar. The security guy on the door was part of a crew too, and gonna be going out with him on a mission soon, so looking forward to that. Thanks to the RareKind team, and Viktor for the pics.

The show will be on for a month. Check it at: RareKind@Chrome & Black, 49 Bethnal Green Road, Shoreditch, London, E1 6LA - Tel: 0207 739 7871. http://rarekind.co.uk

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On the street with Jeff Soto

Ha! Love the messaging, although I didn't notice that
'till my second walk by

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(click image to enlarge)

Well, as promised, here's the pics from Jeff's trip up Brick Lane. What was of most surprise to me
was that I saw this piece on my way to the exhibition opening last Thursday, and didn't realise it was Jeff's until I got tom the show at StolenSpace. Duh!
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Jeff Soto - Inland Empire show at StolenSpace

Jeff and Rebecca at StolenSpace

Jeff Soto exhibition image painting

Painting detail (click to enlarge)

Painting detail (click to enlarge)

Painting detail (click to enlarge)

Thursday just been was exhibition opening night, and I managed to cram in 3 galleries as well as a photo walk down Brick Lane (but I'll cover that in following posts). Will mention at this point tho, that whilst on that walk I photographed a fantastic Soto piece on a ply sheet gate, and had it up online before the folk at Wooster Collective. Ha!

The Jeff Soto show featured over twenty new paintings on wood panel and paper, as well as large-scale outdoor installations. The opening saw the release of a limited edition hand pulled screen print and Soto was signing copies of his newly published book ‘Storm Clouds’. ‘

The Inland Empire’ is a politically charged exhibition focusing on the theme of recession in the area in which the artist lives and how it reflects what is happening all over the world.

Got to meet Jeff at the show, and he seemed like a top chap (he was obviously very busy doing the signing, photos and general chatty stuff).

Runs 14th May – 07th June 2009. Stolenspace, The Old Truman Brewery. 91 Brick Lane, London E1 6QL

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Post 100 celebration

Well folks, we've hit 100 posts on Urban-Escapades. A bit of a milestone for something that started off as a bit of a hobby. I hope you've enjoyed following it as much as I've enjoyed producing it.

To celebrate, we're giving away a signed Banksy print. To win, simply be the first reader to drop us a line and tell us we're the joy in your day.*

The content and format has changed a bit throughout the last 100, but I'm sure you'll agree - the quality has just continued to get better. If there's anything specific you'd like to see, or you have some great street art pics you'd like to see posted up, why not drop me a line.

* Sorry, not really, but you know if I could I would... Stay tuned for the next 100, or join up for mail notification as a follower.

Hx.
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New styles for Brick Lane

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Wondered down Brick Lane last night on my way to an exhibition opening at StolenSpace gallery. First time in absolutely ages that I've been down that way, and was well surprised at all the new graf up, both on and off the lane. I'll feature some of the artists I shot last night in later posts, but wanted to show this chap first. Not sure who he is, but his style is unique. Very complicated (and time consuming I'm sure) sketchy style, the likes of which I've never seen before. Given the fading light the photos have turned out ok.

I highly recommend clicking on these pics to see the detailed line work

I'm trying to get a name, but no joy so far.
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Supine in Central Park, NYC

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How fucking awesome is this piece installed by Judith Supine yesterday in Central Park. He told the crew at Wooster Collective in an interview yesterday - "I sank in the mud up to my waist."

I definitely see some of this being a good idea along the edge of the Thames. My concept would be similar to Supine's, but because the Thames is tidal, a portion of the figure would disappear at high tide, and be exposed at low tide. Thoughts?

Photo by Kevin Walsh
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The Photographic Object exhibition

Priscilla/Second Hand Portraits series by Maurizio Anzeri
(clickto see image detail)

Damage 2/Damage series by Catherine Yass

Went to an excellent exhibition at the Photographers Gallery on Friday avo. The internationally renowned artists in this exhibition use stitching, cutting, piercing and punching to explore the ambiguous space between 2 and 3 dimensions. Dissatisfied with the conventional function of photography as a surface that reproduces a copy of the external world, these artists test the meteriality of their medium. Through a variety of distinct propositions, this exhibition traces an eclectic journey from the potential of photography to exceed its medium to relishing its hermetic and decorative function.

There was definitely some twisted shit going on, and 2 of the artists that stood out for me were Italian artist Maurizio Anzeri, who stitches into the surface of anonymous black and white family portraits, adding physical and psychological layers through intricate colour patterns.

The second was UK artist Catherine Yass, showing an ongoing series called damage, in which she (mis)treats her film transparencies according to their subject matter: scenes of waterways are drowned or representations of gas towers are burnt, etc.

The show also included some experimental works by a number of other artists inc. Andy Warhol (who used repetitive images to subvert the objective aims of photography and stitched them together into unique fetishistic objects), and German artist Gerhard Richter (who paints thick layers of oil paint over his photographs).

Well worth checking out if you're in London. Runs till 14 June at TPG, 16-18 Ramillies St, W1F 7LW. www.photonet.org.uk
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City Showcase - Spotlight London

Was lucky enough to be walking down Carnaby St on both Thursday and Friday avos, and be a part of Festival of New Music - a festival spotlighting some of today's hottest new talent in music and fashion in London. The festival ran for 3 days throughout the West End (mainly in shops in and around Carnaby St) and featured some 46 artists and bands performing in 24 shops.

I managed to catch a few of the acts including Mr Twist at Lee Jeans and The Sound Movement at Vans.

New tag for Disco Teck aka Teck1

From Monorex: Teck1's new tag is up now. Really like it, so thought I'd chuck it up on Urban Escapades. Respect bro.
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A quick trip to Prague for Monorex

Mr K and Alfa instore

Mr K and Miss Czech Republic

Miss Czech Republic (definitely click to enlarge image)

Mr K and Miss Czech Republic

Miss Czech Republic

Monorex were asked to fly out to Prague last week by Reebok Czech, the mission was for Alfa and Mr K to paint shoes for the buying public in the Reebok store.

Sounds like a normal day in the office, but not this one - as Reebok decided to invite Miss Czech Republic to get involved and have a go in front of the local press.

Nice one boys - it's a dirty job but someone's gotta do it. Check out Mr K getting hands on!

Secret Wars NY v London announce date

Secret Wars have just announced the date for their NY v London battle. June 17 looks like the finals date, and will feature Teck1, Jimi Crayon and Alfa representing London v NY finest (tbc).

The battle will also be supported with another battle day featuring Secret Wars v Art Battles, and a Secret Wars hip hop festival. Would love to be there to check that one out. Donations gratefully accepted for the cause.
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Secret Wars Glasgow: England v Scotland

(left) London's Jimi & Tecks v Scotlands Conzo & Vues (right)

It was a close battle with both teams flexing different styles, Jimi and Teck flew in just hours before the battle so they were jet lagged but as usual the gents morphed up a beautifully clean, bold and well composed battle piece taking a striking lead from the start. The Scots, Vues and Conzo brought two different styles to the table stirring up a tasty Glasgow flavoured inky broth!

In the end the Scots managed to scoop a win on their home turf with the judging as follows:
• Crowd Vote (an obvious one!) - Scotland
• Judge 1 (Amy from the Recoat Gallery) - England
• Judge 2 (Australian Graffiti Artist ‘Smug’) – Scotland

Check out the official Secret Wars Website for updates and other battles happening in a city near you throughout the rest of the world. Also stay updated with the Scottish Secret Wars blog as pictures and videos from Friday’s battle will be added soon.
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