Arti11 The Hague 5- 9 October www.arti11.nl
We are asked to organize a big street art show on the Dutch Art fair www.arti11.nl
So we present some big names from the Graffiti and Street art scene..
Banksy, Mr. Brainwash, Gary Baseman, EINE, Capt. Hereford, Kool Koor, Laser 3.14, Pipsqueak was here.., Pure Evil, Paul Tas and Sit.
Artist: Banksy
Title: Kill People
Banksy is the pseudonym of a British graffiti artist, political activist and painter, whose identity is still unconfirmed. His satirical street art whom is often described as dark humor is done with graffiti using the stenciling technique. His work has been featured on streets, walls, and bridges of cities throughout the world. Banksy’s work was born out of the Bristol underground scene which involved collaborations between artists and musicians. According to author and graphic designer, Tristan Manco, Banksy ” was born in 1974 and raised in Bristol, England. He was the son of a photocopier. He trained as a butcher but became involved in graffiti during the great Bristol aerosol boom of the late 1980s.” Observers have noted that his style is similar to “Blek le Rat”, who began to work with stencils in 1981 in Paris. Known for his contempt for the government in labeling graffiti as vandalism, Banksy displays his art on public surfaces such as walls and even going as far as to build physical prop pieces. Banksy does not sell photos of street graffiti directly himself; however, art auctioneers have been known to attempt to sell his street art on location and leave the problem of its removal in the hands of the winning bidder. Banksy’s first film, Exit Through the Gift Shop, billed as “the world’s first street art disaster movie”, made its debut at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.The film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Documentary for the film.
Artists: Pipsqueak was here!!!
Title: Sad Bear
Pipsqueak is the new improved formula of Plusminus Produkties. Politics, media and commercials are growing louder every day. Plusminus Produkties’ Pipsqueak wants to communicate louder as well. Although his voice might be too small to be heard, it never hurts to turn up the volume. To be loud feels awkward, for he always sees two sides of a story. The harshness and sweetness of reality; ‘sugar coated horror’. Pipsqueak does not have the intention to prophesize a better world, but notices there are quite a few flaws ready for improvement. Pipsqueak cannot make a change in big issues, as there are wars, oil spills, commerce and another wide variety of human failures, but feels an urge to share his concern. From now on some of the paintings will be accompanied by this button. Which gives you background information on the painting.
Pipsqueak was here was finalist for the Amsterdam Street Art Award 2011.
Artist: Laser 3.14
Title: Are you reading me? (NEON)
Laser’s passion for graffiti began as a kid in the early 80’s; greatly inspired by early Amsterdam writers like Ego, Dr Smurry, Dragon, Collodi, Tarantula. In ‘84 he attended graphic school in Amsterdam: It was here where he met the brother of Harakiri, an artist who he, and many others, considered an old-school graffiti king: He taught Laser the ins and outs of tagging and much of what he knows to this very day. Soon after, in the early 1990’s, he began sketching and producing comics, illustrating, and writing poetry. Experimenting in this manner led him to showcasing much of what was produced. Towards the end of the 90’s he ran into an artistic impasse and felt the need to re-ignite a creative spark he felt had been lost. As a result, he went back to his roots; graffiti writing. It was at this point he began to utilize the city as his canvas, and turned his poetry into street art. On April 24th 2009 Lebowski Publishers released a compilation of Laser’s street poetry in the book entitled, Are You Reading Me? His artwork combines a great variety of different styles, techniques and materials. Graffiti-based paintings, graphic styled drawings, collages and 3D artwork.
Artist: EINE
Title: Carebear
EINE Ben Flynn, a.k.a. EINE, shot to international fame when David Cameron presented one of his works to President Obama as a gift on his first official state visit, but is arguably more famous for ‘Alphabet Street’ – the shutters and murals he painted in his trademark colours and typography in Middlesex Street, London– described by The Times as “a street now internationally recognized as a living piece of art with direct links to The White House.” Born 1970. London, England. Ben Eine is one of London’s most prolific and original street artists who specialises in the central element of all graffiti – the form of letters. Originally a ‘writer’ he started his career over twenty five years ago as a vandal leaving his first tag all over London before eventually developing a distinct typographic style. Eine specialises in producing huge letters on shop fronts, his bright, colourful letters have transformed streets around the world in cities including LA, San Francisco, Paris, Dublin, Tokyo, Stockholm as well as his home city of London. Eine’s letters transgress the usual stylised image devised to depict form and emotion and through a combination of colour, placement and size they become abstract and unique works of art in their own right. Eine’s most recent solo show at White Walls gallery in San Francisco sold out prior to opening. He was also included in the biggest exhibition of street art to date “Art in the Streets” at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA), Los Angeles. This year Eine was invited by Amnesty International to design their 50th anniversary poster, joining other artists such as Picasso and Miro in supporting the charity through art. From single letters to complex and wry statements Eine has left his mark worldwide, his stunning words and letters can be found on shop front shutters and walls as well as in museums and galleries in a style Eine has made striking, effective and his own.
Artist: Capt. Hereford
Title: Howdy Boss
Capt Hereford featuring in: The Trabantic pop series First Appearance: Amsterdam, Oct. 2010. Monday Morning, 9:00 (Office Time) Biography: In the 21st century, the evil Mastersuit Doctor Sheridan C , a former stockbroker with financial immunity, sends his Doom Suits out to conquer the world. Captain Hereford used to be one of them!. Present: Based in a former officebuilding in the city Groningen, The Netherlands, Captain Hereford operates as a cardriving ex-suit who has been known to operate undercover in the same grey areas as his opponents. Captain Hereford is a charismatic, restless lone ranger, hunting on corrupt suits, financial sharks, and other big city predators. Although he works alone, he reports to Major Olive Green and General Belle V., who’s headquarter is based in Amsterdam with safehouses across Europe and America. They provide Captain Hereford with intel, unlimited funding, worldwide safehouses and of course a license to set “mergers and acquisitions” *** Famous quotes of Captain Hereford: “ I just love the smell of burnin’ suits in the morning ” “ Monday mornin’, office time! But!! No more!! ” *** “Mergers and acquisitions” has to be read as Murders and acquisitions. It’s a linguistic joke, common under stockbrokers all over the world. I first heard it in 1999 while working for this brokeragefirm owned by Doctor Sheridan C. in Bangkok
Artist: Mr. Brainwash
Title: Starwars Reunion
“Mr. Brainwash is a force of nature, he’s a phenomenon. And I don’t mean that in a good way.” – Banksy Mr. Brainwash is an enigma. I want to hug him one second and smack him the next. He is awesome, infuriating, almost impossible to define, but if an artist is defined by relentless, obsessive passion, then MBW is definitely an artist. Which kind of artist though? When I first met MBW he was a film maker. He started documenting me putting art up on the streets and in galleries back in ’99. He has hundreds of hours of footage and often risked his neck climbing with a camera to very dangerous spots. MBW’s camera was ALWAYS on… Theoretically MBW is coming out with an OBEY documentary eventually. Somewhere along the way I introduced MBW to Banksy, which seemed to lead him to transition from just a voyeur to a participant, and he began making his own street art. MBW told me he used to paint and had actually sold his art to Michael Jackson years ago. Knowing this art background and his obsessive nature, it does not surprise me how quickly MBW rose to prominence with his street art, becoming one of the most “up” people in LA in a short amount of time. Not all of the work was magnificent, but it improved steadily, reflecting the maxim that practice yields results. Meanwhile, in addition to his street art, as flows logically, MBW was also making canvases and screen prints that could be shown in a gallery. In his usual style, MBW could not just do a small art show, he had to go completely over the top and put together one of the largest, most ambitious, non-museum shows I can think of (more detailed description below). Of course nothing can go smoothly with MBW and over the weekend he wrecked his car and fell off a billboard breaking his foot. A less insane person would have postponed their art show, but he instead postponed his foot surgery and is continuing work. With the ambition and commitment MBW has, I’m pretty sure he’ll pull the show off, but if he doesn’t, to paraphrase Malcolm Mclaren, a glorious failure is better than an underwhelming success. I will be playing records and a jazz band will perform, so it is going to be a good party. – Shepard Fairey / Obey