One of Sylvia Ji’s paintings was recently featured on the cover of LA Weekly. This week’s issue included an 8 page spread on lowbrow artists. The featured painting was one of her many “dia de los muertos” inspired paintings called Dona Dolorsa (top left).

In December Sylvia will be showing her work at the Art Basel in Miami Beach. This is one of the most prestigious contemporary art shows showcasing the works of over 2,000 artists worldwide. One of her paintings was also recently featured on the cover of LA Weekly. This particular issue featured a story on lowbrow artist.

You can see more of her work at www.sylviaji.com

February only started painting four years ago. With no formal art education, this self taught artist is already finding himself with several exhibitions in his hands. Constantly observing other artists, February, lists Jeff Soto, Camille Rose Garcia and Blaine Fontana as influences in his work.

February uses his pop surrealist painting style to depict imagery that is deeply personal and emotional. For this same reason, the artist often goes by an alias. “When I started I used a fictitious name because I felt awkward around the people at my first few shows…” says February. I believe that there is a nobility to this approach - an artist that does not want a name or a face attached to their art. As the artist himself says, “I could care less if people know my name, I would rather them know my art.”

This is not a very far fetched concept. February’s art has constant imagery of large birds, vividly contrasting colors, and a notion of being in a fantasy land. His works, which were originally acrylic on panels (with a new transition into oils), already have a voice of their own. In a few short years, February, has been able to produce a cohesive body of work that makes him one of our featured artist.

While I cannot tell you what name he will present his next show under, I can tell you that you will see his work around.

Banksy has reached world wide fame for his street art. He is the subject of many books, magazine articles and his works sells in auctions and galleries world wide. However, there are many other artists that are putting out amazing work and deserve some praise. In the spirit of ackowledging those street artists I have compiled a top ten list of street artist you should know. I am using this list as a catalyst for conversation, on that note, you should feel free to propose your own top ten!

10. Imminent Disaster / 9. NeckFace

Imminent Disaster’s paper cut stencils are often inspired by her love for 18th and 19th century oil paintings, specifically by Caravaggio. Although not the sole body of her work, she often portrays women in her art work. Imminent Disaster started her quest in public art with culture jamming - adding and altering advertisements in popular stores.

Neckface is a bay area artist that now lives and works in New York. His work is known internationally - i have seen his tags in major cities like Tokyo and Rome. He paints creatures in tighty whities, huge crawly hands and other creatures that are both comical and disturbing.

8. Elbow Toe / 7. Jef Aerosol

Elbow Toe is a Brooklyn based artist known for his figurative works on paper. He uses a range of medium from charcoal to acrylic paint. He creates large woodcuts, drawings and paintings which are then carefully placed in an urban setting.

Jef Aerosol is one of the first French street artists in the early 80s. His main body of work consists of witty stencils and can be seen in Paris, London, Venice and Amsterdam. Jef Aerosol works mainly in black and white and has a great graphic sensiblity.
6. Blu / 5. Seen

Blu is an artist from Buenos Aires, Argentina. He is known for large scale paintings of human like creatures all over the world. Blu has some very impressive animation that you should also google. I first saw Blu’s work in Verona. There is a new book published of his works between 2004 and 2007. Go out and cop this!

Seen is an artist from the Bronx, New York (my hometown). He is known as The Godfather of Graffiti and was one of the artist featured in the documentary Style Wars (a must watch film by PBS). Originally a graffiti artist, Seen, started producing works on canvas and has shown with many of the other great street artists of the early 80s including Basquiat and Keith Haring.

4. Obey / 3. Swoon

Shepard Fairey is an artist, graphic designer, illustrator that started the Obey Giant campaign while he was a student at RISD. This artist has an amazing “take it to the street” mentality. His images have a viral way of spreading across america. Most recently, his Obama Hope posters are images that have shaped the Obama campaign.

Swoon is originally from Florida but now lives and works in New York. She often portrays women issues in her artwork which mostly consists of paper cutouts. I first met Swoon when I was helping at the Feral show at the Luggage Store Gallery in an Francisco. Although most of her work is in the streets, she is shown in galleries world wide. Swoon has a formal art education from the Pratt Institute in Brooklyn.

2. Barry McGee / 1. Os Gemeos

Barry McGee, also known as Twist, is an artist from San Francisco. He got his BFA from the San Francisco Art Institute and originally worked as a graffiti artist. After being included in the Venice Biennale, alot of Barry’s work was scavenged and stolen. He was married to Margaret Kilgallen (honorable mention, RIP). He is also one of the founding fathers of the low brow art movement and the mission school.

While I am not sure if they should count (because they are really two people), my top post goes to Os Gemeos (portuguese for the twins). Os Gemeos are a pair of twins from Brazil, their work consists of large scale cartoon figures with intricate patterns on their clothes often scaling entire building facades. I love these guys because they represent alot of the elements of hip hop cultures; they started out as break dancers before moving on to being graffiti artists. I also found out about these guys from “The Luggage Store” where they had their first US solo exhibition.

Honorable Mentions: Blek le Rat, Jorge Rodriguez-Gerada, James de la Vega, Margaret Kilgallen, Kill Pixie , Graffiti Research Lab, Dreck, HaHa

PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COMMENT. LIKE I SAID AT THE BEGINNING I WANT THIS LIST TO BE A CATALYST FOR DISCUSSION! WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE? WHY?

I have thought about doing this post for a while but thought that the artists, activists, art lovers that read Curbs and Stoops might not be into a political blog post. Recently a hammer has fallen on my head and made me realize that politics and art are indefinitely related. All of my creative friends are Barack Obama fanatics. This post is a simple amalgamation of the Obama art that many of the great artists in our community have made. Artists include: Shepard Fairey, The Date Farmers, Bask, and Munk One.

Top Left: The Date Farmers for the Democratic National Convention, Top Middle: Munk One, Top Right: Bask
Bottom Left: Shepard Fairey Poster, Bottom Above Left and Right: Shepard Fairey Installation, Bottom Right: Hito Desu stencil in Boston

Another Artist for Obama on Youtube

Please remember to go out and vote for change on November 4th.

This weekend I went to Pink Comma Gallery, an alternative art gallery in the Boston art district.
Pink Comma Gallery is an interesting collaborative space where art meets architecture, product design, and graphic design. Their current show exhibits the works of Corbin Smith. Corbin is a Los Angeles based photographer who uses his camera to abstractly study parts of urban environments. Corbin’s show “Close Encounters” is an exploration of LA’s Venice Boulevard. Corbin’s images capture beauty in a place where few have sought or found it.

Corbin, who has worked in the field of architecture as a project manager for Villa Project at the Getty, is used to having a keen eye. This is expressed in his photography. Corbin explains, “I like using a long zoom lens or its converse, a lens with macro capabilities. I get up very close to what I’m seeing to grab details or to create an abstraction of the subject to capture its essence, or I foreshorten it in ways that make it more graphic and two-dimensional.”

Each image is a print in a limited edition of 15 and are selling for $325 each. To see more information on Pink Comma go to their website www.pinkcomma.com

Below and Left : Artist Corbin Smith explains his images.
Below and Right: Viewers look at prints of Corbin Smith’s work.