Jeremy Fish has been working his ass off for this show opening up @Joshua Liner Gallery in NYC on June 21st. Check back with Fecal Face later in the week for a studio visit we did with him.
Jeremy Fish's art naturally lends itself to storytelling. In an unabashed celebration of this folk art form, 'Listen and Learn' puts stories and storytellers front and center as Fish demonstrates the enduring appeal of storytelling in popular culture. The exhibition features assorted tales from a wide swath of contemporary life—including from artists, skateboarders, rappers, athletes, a stripper, a cop, and a historian—which Fish has reinterpreted in lovingly realized painted works.
For this impressive project, Fish gathered a selection of friends and acquaintances whose rich lives have engendered no end of interesting tales. Most prominent among them is rapper/producer/actor Snoop Dogg, who recounts a story from childhood. In the tale, Snoop is among a select group of neighborhood kids to be bussed to a brand new, highly touted elementary school. Right off, Snoop gets into trouble when he allegedly exposes himself to a female student in the lunch line. The rapper's account of the principal's reprimand displays his undisputed gift for storytelling and turning naughty content into witty word games with a humorous twist. In 'Pulled Out My Worm', Fish's painted rendition of the tale, these story elements are incorporated into a baroque-style mirror image of two dog silhouettes, adorned with scrolling filigree, cartoon characters from an American childhood, and neighborhood identifiers.
See Fish's complete story this month at Joshua Liner Gallery in NYC. 'Listen and Learn' opens to the public Tuesday June 21st with an opening reception party on Thursday June 23rd from 6-9pm.
Mel Kadel and Travis Millard have put together a new zine for their upcoming show @FFDG opening this Saturday, June 11th (7-10pm). We'll have some available here online next week. In the meantime, enjoy the preview... Also included is a new one from Travis Millard... Give the dude some attitude!
Collaborative zine by Travis Millard and Mel Kadel
5.5" x 8.5"
56 pages, b&w + color insert
2 - color silkscreen cover
edition of 220 $15 for sale here
I'm down in Oaxaca, Mexico right now, and I saw the flyer for Swampy art show on your blog. I shot this photo a few weeks ago. The wall was just above a secluded beach near the Puerto Escondido town. -derekdunfee.com
Thanks for the photo, Derek. Yep, his show opens @Fifty24SF this Saturday, June 11th (7-10pm).
Got an email from Brooklyn based XAM, a former architecture student and 2009 graduate from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago, who creates these awesome contemporary urban bird houses equipped with passive ventilation systems, solar panels, LED porch lights to attract insects and "green roofs". The houses pack flat, assemble like a 3-D puzzle and hang from city signage. They attract Wrens, Swallows, Warblers and many other small birds. We asked him what inspired him to create these awesome little feathered homes.
I am a former architecture student with a history in graffiti and street art. I like the idea of building functional objects to scale that can embody similar rules of that of architecture. I also like the idea of participation in art. The viewer participates on a level that questions morality. The units are illegally placed, but are serving a function that many benefit from. I don't bolt them to the signs I simply hang them and if you feel the units don't belong amongst the clutter of city signage, then take them down. I like to play with the idea that street art is ephemeral and it is up to society to decide the lifespan of the units. Also attached to the back of every unit is a QR code that when scanned lists a number of ways we benefit from birds in the urban environment. I don't promote people taking them down, but I would like them to question their reasoning and see if it goes beyond 'well it's illegal'.
CSD DWELLING UNIT 2.0 - Equipped with a "green roof" system that acts as insulation. The unit also has a birdhouse on one side and a food dispenser on the other. There is an adjoining wall that allows the residents to eat from inside the dwelling rather than flying to the other side to feed. This unit straddles city signs.
Might spy some of this around Barcelona these days. The project has just began and here are a few shots, but you'll see much more here in the future. Great idea and soooooo creepy.
Got an email from NYC based and Pratt professor Dennis McNett who just got home after a 3 month tour of 10 places across the U.S. doing performances or a parade at each stop with local students, artists, wolfbats, etc... Stops included Vermillion, SD, Bellingham, WA, Madison, WI, Jacksonville. FL, St. Louis, MO, Kansas City, MO, Emporia Kansas, Wichita, KA, Omaha, NE, Lubbock, TX, and Odessa, TX.
This adventure involved sacrificial burnings, fortune telling pinatas, overrun streets, metal bands, trains, ufo's, chupakabras, viking ships, and blood ice castles. Here is a small taste of the chaos.
White Walls Gallery - San Francisco || April 9- May 7, 2011 || Street artist ROA got his start by painting intriguing murals of animals in hidden places – underneath bridges and on walls that strayed from the beaten path. A darling of the underground street art scene, photos of his work regularly appear on Vandalog, Brooklyn Street Art, Wooster Collective, Unurth, and a fury of London newspapers and blogs running to his defense when a street piece he did in Hackney faced removal late last year. ROA is earnestly repopulating the cityscape with animals, as a way to have them re-enter the contemporary landscape that was once theirs. With a style all his own.
San Francisco based Mario Martinez (Mars-1) is in NYC preparing for his show Afterglow which opens tomorrow (5/26) at Jonathan Levine Gallery. Looking good. If you're in that part of the world, get to the show. It's going to be amazing.
Mars-1 working on a massive painting... Remember this one?!
Ian Shults' (Austin, TX) paintings forge fine art and the profane to tell sordid tales of debauchery with a sly sense of humor. His paintings recall a bygone era when the sheen of the American Dream dulled, and subversive behavior of illicit drugs and kinky benders were swept under the rug.
Ian emailed over a few recent paintings that feel more painterly than his earlier works that resonated a bit of a found photograph broken down in Photoshop feel. Nice direction with the newer works, Ian. Dig it.
Currently studying at Santa Cruz, photographer Raphael Villet stopped in FFDG a couple weeks back and mentioned his show at Adobe Books opening on May 28th. We've published Raphael's great photos in the past and dig his new work as well. Below is a taste of what you're going to see at the Adobe show. ~Oh, and the band Meat Market will be playing at the opening as well.
Earlier this year I packed up a small bag and headed down to Miami in order to board a giant cruise ship. While this would normally be a horrifying proposition, I was comforted by the fact that Ian Svenonius and Jonathan Toubin would be along for the ride as well, along with The Strange Boys, Black Lips, Vivian Girls, Surfer Blood, Thee Oh Sees, Quintron And Miss Pussycat, Ty Segall, Turbo Fruits and Jacuzzi Boys. The first ever Bruise Cruise music festival set sail down to the Bahamas on February 25th and to be honest, I'm not even going to try and review it. John Norris, Spin, VBS and a slew of other media outlets did a bang up job already saying everything there is to say about it in the months since it took place. However, just so you get the idea, the cruise included one bass guitar being launched into the Atlantic, one successful marriage proposal during a Ty Segall set, one couple meeting, falling in love, and getting engaged, one Black Lips video being made, and two documentaries being filmed. Not to mention all the free pizza and ice cream that I ate.
This is either the most fun you have ever had for 3 days straight or probably your worst nightmare.
I have had many people (most of whom stayed on dry land) tell me their varying opinions on the cruise and the fact is; either you get it or you don't. Either way it's miles away from the same old song and dance, which is a feat in itself these days. The photos below back that story up in the sense that normally I document everything relentlessly, but this time around I barley remembered to pick up a camera. Those are the times that you can tell something worthwhile has occurred.
Pantónio and 4ink altered some poster ads in a street of Lisboa. The next day however came with a surprise, when Amnesty International replaced them with their series of posters but left one of them untouched, which played very well with their message. Props to the paste-up guy on this one. -4zero
Nathan Brown is a Montreal based artist who's currently showing at Brooklyn's Rouge 58 with 3 other Montreal artists.
"Nervous Breakdown"is a 100% paper, 21in x 24in life-size (wearable) vest, Silkscreen, digital print, and Ink on paper.
The start of a 10 piece series which represents the archived ritual vests of No-Valleys inhabitants. Screen Printed denim vest pattern on paper, cut-out, and assembled. Original drawings collaged and drawn directly onto the surface. Inkjet on rice paper linings unique to each vest.
These are life size and wearable.
"Deths of Adonis!" is a 4ft x 6ft ink on paper drawing.
6ft x 6ft, Ink on Paper. A reprise of this Giuseppe Mazzuoli sculpture that I enjoyed in person at the Hermitage last summer.
William Emmert, who we interviewed last year, emailed over a few of his newer works we wanted to share with you. William moved down to San Francisco last year from Seattle and has shown his work around town. These works are remakes of posters or other items from his childhood bedroom.
Got an email the other day from 24 year old Santa Cruz artist Cole Willsea as he wanted to share his awesome collection of abstract-ish interpretations of beers that he's consumed. In his words, I am very interested in exploring the intersections between art and partying (for example, the word art is inside of the word party and what does that mean)... Sounds good and your homage to the tasty beer treats is good enough in our eyes. Thanks emailing, Cole. -->colewillsea.com
This may have to be one of the best posts on Fecal Face like ever... Jon Rafman finds these insane screen grabs from Google Earth Street View. Fucking amazing --> See if you can spot the Rod Stewart Fan Club building on his site.
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, written by Mark Twain, has been the source of much controversy over the years due to the frequent use of the word "nigger" and other racial slurs. In this piece, I've blacked out the entire text of the book, except for the 212 instances of the word. It was recently announced that the book will be re-released with all instances of the word replaced by "slave" instead.
A new HBO documentary looks at the work of street artist JR, whose giant portraits force people in troubled areas to confront the humanity that's all around them... On the day JR found out he'd won the $100,000 TED Prize, the French pasteup artist found himself in China being questioned by police for doing his thing on the streets of Shanghai. ~continue reading
Street artist JR HBO documentary premiered yesterday, May 20th
Art lovers, collectors and gallerists will gather on Thursday for Hong Kong's inaugural edition of Art Basel, sealing the city's status as an international art hub and Asia's leading art destination... Hong Kong has surged to third place in the global art auction market behind New York and London and Western galleries are falling over each other to open franchises in the former British colony. ~continue reading
Our buddy Ferris Plock opens a small show of drawings at Benny Gold on 3169 16th St this Friday, May 24th (7-10pm) featuring 31 drawings priced at 75-140 bucks.
Ferris also released the video Fingered! he produced with animator Jim Dirschberger. View it
Wowzas, there's a lot of art happenings this weekend, and while you're making the rounds, be sure to stop at SFAI's MFA show Currency opening Friday, May 17th at the beautiful old SF Mint Building (88 5th Street).
SFAI's 2013 MFA graduates—working in painting, photography, printmaking, film, sculpture, installation, digital media, performance, and across media—will present work that embraces the Institute's signature spirit of experimentation and conceptual risk-taking.
Opening reception: Friday, May 17, 7–9 pm & running through Sunday 11-6pm daily. -- complete details
London based Pedro Matos opens the solo show Building Castles Made of Sand this Friday in Los Angeles at the Martha Otero Gallery featuring a new series of oil paintings on canvas and azulejo panels - a traditional Portuguese medium of hand-painted, tin-glazed, ceramic tile work.
San Francisco -- CCA opens their 2013 MFA Thesis Exhibition this Thursday, May 16th at their SF campus. Every year another graduating class produces steller work. One of the best SF art events worth getting to, but be sure to get there early as there's always a long line. ~details
FFDG opened up the group show featuring original works by the artists of the world famous Skull & Sword tattoo last Friday here in San Francisco. Thanks to the huge crowd who turned out to support these four incredibly talented artists. Here is a taste of the show, and be sure to swing in to view in person. The show runs through June 8th.
Gary Baseman's retrospective "The Door is Always Open" at the Skirball in LA opened recently to massive crowds in a huge celebratory opening party. The exhibition is so complex and personal, delving into Baseman's background, family history, and all the layers of prolific work that he has done over the years. After the opening festivities winded down, I caught up with Baseman for an interview. We discussed the underlying meaning to some of the components of the show and how it felt for him, coming from such an honest personal perspective in putting this massive show together.
Fertile Menace, a new show of Mark Mulroney's (NY) work opened at Ever Gold on May 4th and it's not one to be missed. It is intelligently hilarious, with jokes riffing off sex, Foucault, and the body, and while it makes you laugh it's also going to make you think.
Our buddies Jay Howell, Andreas Trolf, and Jim Dirschberger are hyped as their show, which they've been working on for like 2 years, premieres on Nickelodeon Saturday. From the trailers we've seen so far and from what Jay has told us about, the show is going to be pretty epic. Congrats to those radical fellas.
Here's a little taste of work by the artists of the world famous The Skull and Sword tattoo shop who open their show at San Francisco's FFDG on Friday, May 17th (7-10pm).
Following his solo exhibition "The Collected" at Gallery Wendi Norris, painter Amir H. Fallah is in the throes of developing more new works for upcoming international exhibits. We spent some time in his studio in Highland Park, Los Angeles recently, discussing his process and inspiration.
We were first introduced to the photography of Spanish born NYC based Bubi Canal when he emailed us his great video Trust in Me a couple years ago. His solo show Special Moment recently ran at NYC's Munch Gallery in February, and he recently released his newest video Chrystelle below.
Although I missed the opening of Northern-California photographer Michael Garlington's newest show, Constructed Realities, I was fortunate enough to see the work still up during the Metaphysical fundraiser a couple weeks back at 111 Minna. Metaphysical fundraiser, an auction to benefit Wayne Ernzer. --- The ghoulish photographs in their heavy, hand-made frames are reminiscent of photos from the old west, and the glass crucifixes, complete with fetuses and guns, emphasize the accumulated time within the works themselves. Whether you're looking at the frames, the photos, or both, this show deserves a visit, and a walk through the golden archway Garlington constructed around the front door.
Fecal Face contributor Rachel Ralph (rachel(at)fecalface.com) has been profiling this Oakland based painter as he travels about Japan. In this segment, we feature some photos as he prepared for this show and residency at Spes-LaB in Tokyo which opened last weekend. Arnold will be featured in SFMoMA's Minna Street windows on June 8th.
Last Saturday, here in SF's Mission district, Guerrero Gallery opened two new shows with Philly based Alex Lukas and SF based Richard Colman respectively. Colman's work occupied the project space while Lukas' work and foliage was presented in the main space. Worth getting to if you haven't already.
Just got back to SF after a little trip south to Sayulita, Mexico. After 10 years without a vacation, me and the Mrs. headed south for some mental time off sitting in the sun, swimming and enjoying the watery Mexican beer. Here are some photos as we get back into the swing of things again.
Athens, Greece based designer, architect and artist Dimitris Polychroniadis emailed over more of his work which consists of mixed media, pop-humorous diorama sculptures that make a comment on the harsh realities my country and much of the world is facing at the moment.
FFDG will open a group show with the artists from the famed Skull & Sword Tattoo on Friday, May 17th (6-9pm). Artists: Grime, Henry Lewis, Yutaro, and Lango. Below are a series of videos on Grime for Vice's Tattoo Age produced in 2011. Fascinating look at one of the greatest tattoo artists alive today.
ARYZ (Spain) opened his newest gallery show at Fifty24SF last Friday and, if you live in the Bay Area, you need to go. This dude can obviously paint, and he doesn't need an entire building to show his impecable skill. The show has lots of small works on paper which contrast his highly-defined line work to his hard-edged painted objects. The contrast between the hard and soft was the most striking thing to me about his work, since I had never seen it in person before, and the washes blend with the thick paint seamlessly. The show also contains a larger work on canvas, a huge head suspended in the back of the room, and a big wood sculpture of a wolf figure. This diversity in such a small space was impressive, and those of us that went to the opening even got to meet the man in person. If you didn't make it out this weekend, check it out before May 31st when it closes and these works will be off to some very happy new homes.
Water McBeer is please to announce its latest exhibition "Precious" a solo exhibition by David Bayus (April 6 - May 4, 2013) -- David Bayus born 1982 holds his BFA from the Savannah College of Art and his MFA from the San Francisco Art Institute. David lives and works in San Francisco and is a founding member of the basement collective. This will be his first exhibition with the world renown Water McBeer Gallery highlighting his most recent achievements with paint and digital media. David Bayus will be exhibiting 5 relatively large-scale mixed media works along with a collaborative object featuring Hungarian sculptor H.R KOONS.
The Shooting Gallery handed over the reins to the Red Truck Gallery (a New Orleans based gallery) which curated their new show, Hard Time Mini Mall and opened the it on Saturday night. This is my favorite show (so far) in the Shooting Gallery's new space and was packed full of art, a mini bar, and cowhide rugs. The Red Truck Gallery chose works with clear craftsmanship and it was easy to see in Ian Berry's denim assemblages and Chris Roberts-Antieau's awesome quilts. The space was completely packed, making it hard to see each piece individually, but this show deserves a second trip anyway. I look forward to spending more time with the chandeliers, automatons, and paintings before the show comes down on May 4th.
Toronto based photographer Nathan Cyprys emailed to let us know about his newest series "Neighbour State", and we were about to post it when we spotted this series on his site entitled "Ayre (of Distances)" and had to post this one instead. After you view this one, view "Neighbour State" on his site. Both are visually enjoyable.
Working from found photographs, Lyle's paintings are created through a reductive painting process where each piece is rendered using only black paint and turpentine. Lyle begins this process by priming a panel with white gesso. He then paints a thin, rich, oily black veneer over the primed panel, slowly and systematically developing his images by removing some of the black paint with a cloth. In doing so, Lyle renders layer upon layer of various values of black paint resulting in his signature-style of luminescent works.
London based David Shillinglaw who's blogged it up for Fecal Face in the past recently completed this mural in London as he prepares for his solo show at Stolen Space opening on April 26th.
Our buddy Henrik Haven, who brings us some goodies from his native Copenhagen, has been shooting some of his city's graffiti and street art. Last week we brought you part one of his camera's explorations.
San Francisco based artists Raphael Villet and Sean Vranizan are currently showing Just the Two of Us at Adobe Books through April 21. Here are some photos from the opening and works.
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