It took me a few days to find the ground again after feeling elevated last weekend at Electric Zoo, New York’s electronic music festival on Randall’s Island. And with names like Axwell, The Chemical Brothers, Benny Benassi, and Major Lazer playing at the venue only some of the top street art stars could possibly create a visual presence that responded to the rhythmic thumping of the bass.

The music captivated many of us but the live art rounded out the experience for hundreds who watched on as Chor Boogie, Pose2, Doze Green, Cern and Cekis took on two giant buses as their canvas for the two day project. Watching them labor away during the day was enchanting as the artists went through dozens of spray cans in unprecedented time. The fruit of their labor was best seen at night when the pieces really came to life. With black lights shining up at the buses, Chor Boogie’s brightly colored piece became electric as the fluorescent colors made the patterns pop off the surface. Cekis’ bird looks majestic and menacing as his eyes glow a fierce neon green. Doze Green and Cern brought together to very different styles to create a careful calibration between detailed rendering and illustrative line work. And Pose2 shows off some of his old school funk as he works in a hybrid of styles fusing a surrealist figure with abstract patterns.

Big thanks to Chor Boogie and Pose2 for including us in the festivities.

To go to the artist’s website click below:
Chor Boogie, Pose Two, Doze Green, Cekis, Cern

“Tibet Imprisoned” by New York based artist Jeffrey Pena aka Once5 is a graphically captivating image of Palden Gyatso, the Tibetan Buddhist monk who was arrested for protesting the Chinese invasion of Tibet. As a result Gyatso spent 33 years in Chinese prisons and labor camps where he was severely tortured until he fled to live in exile. The print is an edition of 20 spray paint on handcut paper mounted on chipboard. Each piece is hand embellished with different ink and coffee staining techniques used by the artist. Each piece measures 18″ x 24″ and will be available through My Addiction Gallery starting September 4.

As a show teaser for his solo show “What Keeps Me Radicalized.”, Once5 put up “The Self Immolation of Thic Quang Duc.” in his Bushwick neighborhood. The street version of the piece stands majestic on a rusted door in the middle of a sea of tags in an industrial part of town. To read more about the paper cut piece click here. To go to the artist’s website click here. To check out the gallery’s website click here.

The french street artist shared recent pieces he put up around New York City in a trip to Espeis Outside. An outdoor curated space in Brooklyn where artists like Veng RWK, WK Interact and Logan Hicks have recently painted some amazing murals. Ox’s approach was different in that he was creating large scale collages. Like his previous work, Ox painted colorful patterns that take over entire billboards. At Espeis Outside, he was able to execute three iterations of the buildboard (two shown in this blog post).

The most intruiging parts of the Ox murals are that they respond directly to the built environment. Most of his pieces are site specific images that respond to an already established graphic. The artist appropriates the colors and icons from the surrounding area and makes them his own piece of art. Because these pieces are so integrated into their environments, it is easy to overlook them. However, when you stop to notice the subtle surprise, you find a work of art that mocks the culture of advertising.

Also interesting, is the placement of the works of art. Any old wall won’t do for Ox, who always applies his art as “billboard takeovers” which can be found all over France and other major cities in Europe. You can see more of Ox’s work on his website at ox.com.fr  or by checking out his blog at postertime.blogspot.com.

Today was the opening of the highly anticipated last show at Deitch Projects with Shepard Fairey. The artist and his team made incredible efforts to put together “May Day”, as the show is appropriately called. Coiciding with the opening a new store popped up on 151 Orchard Street with Obey Clothing, Fairey’s clothing line. In addition, a series of beautifully executed prints were created for the opening including a print of Jean Michel Basquiat. The Basquiat image is based on a video still from the Tamra Davis documentary “The Radiant Child.” Finally, the group will end the night with a party where Fairey himself will be spinning under the name Diabetic.

Despite all of the great momentum the team has had it was not without difficulty. The group received a Work Stop Order from the New York City Buildings Department who classify the wall that Deitch Projects built out as a “small building.” The violation statement read “At the premises, which is an odd shaped plot of land, a structure aproximately 4′ wide x 24′ high and 60′ long has been built. This structure which is a small building with no visable windows was then painted like a billbard complete with approximately 8 lights that illuminate buildboard. All work done without a permit.” I hope that the Deitch legal team can battle this so that the mural can have the longest life possible. It is shameful that New York City isn’t more welcoming to this kind of project.

Chor Boogie recently finished one of his most amazing and inspiring murals to date. The impressive mural called, “The Perception of Color Therapy” shows Chor Boogie’s explosion of colors and patterns which he is known for. But this incredibly sized mural is not only interesting because it is nearly half of a city block but also because Chor Boogie showed his devotion to public art by finishing the mural even after being stabbed in the neighborhood while working on the mural. A week after the accident he returned to work on the mural which was commissioned by the San Francisco Arts Council in an effort to beautiful the community.

The Art in Storefronts program takes abandoned storefronts in San Francisco neighborhoods and adds welcoming and visually interesting works by artist on plywood covered storefronts. This particular mural “explores the healing aspect that colors have on the subconscious and their conscious effects on modern-day society”. The artist believes that color has the power to move the viewers and has a “healing power” which he incorporates into his imagery.

For more on Chor Boogie, check out his website at www.chorboogie.com. His work is also included in the book Mural Art Vol. @ which showcases large scale work by many artists including Chor Boogie himself. You can also become a fan of Chor Boogie’s facebook group by clicking here. The last image is a portrait of the artist in front of an earlier piece.