Speaking of Andy Kehoe(last blog), he deserves a spotlight blurb and more fans. His quirky creatures appear out of nowhere, doing random things in random locations. The colors in each piece including burnt auburn, murky yellow, browns and greyish whites provide mysterious settings and earthy color pallets.

All seem to take place outdoors where the trees and creatures emerge from repeated patterns, shapes and textures. The scenery is beautiful and plays a large role in the overall feel of the work. The trees are used for various purposes and are present in the vast majority of Kehoe’s work.

His subjects are wanderers, all taking the time to pose for portraits in isolated areas. No matter what is going on around them, each creature appears somewhat aloof and indifferent. The more sophisticated creatures wear human clothes, scarves, top hats, sports coats and such. Some smoke, which is amusing, and the occasional weapon is featured here and there. They are painted in scenes of business deals gone astray, hunting trips, and simple aloof creatures looking out, engaging with their audience. If you were were able to make it to Gallery 1988 San Francisco on June 20th for his most recent show let us know how it went.

We are always on the hunt for new artists to obsess over and Adam Flores is exactly that. His recent opening at Gallery 3, a new gallery owned and operated by The Shooting Gallery in San Francisco, has brought much appreciated attention for this up and coming artist. We met Adam back in March and have been keeping up with his work since.

Adam Flores’ work is fanciful, comprised of castles, windmills, and churches- all seemingly abandoned and in the process of being taken over by tentically bushes and masses of land and water. There are no hints of human existence aside from the buildings, and the only form of life and movement present is from the plants which appear to be destroying them. There are playful aspects to his work including the ever-so-present orange cone and hanging pinata, which we all know recognize form our studies of mid evil day and time. This body of work comments on the passing of time, how life and lifestyle have changed and evolved throughout but when it comes down to it nature is still a prevailing element in how we exist in the world.

One of the most interesting aspects of his work is the detail and accuracy of the repeating forms used to create texture and movement within each piece. The detail is reminiscent of Andy Keyhoe, another C&S favorite. After recently catching up with Adam, C&S learned that Flores is currently working on two pieces waiting to be shipped to Berlin for a group show. Adam has also donated a piece to the C&S collection and will be featured on our mobile art gallery as one of the C&S Public Projects! We don’t see him slowing down any time soon.

In starting Curbs & Stoops, the central idea in our mission was to make art accessible to our community. We have brainstormed and drafted out many ideas in which to do this through what we have labeled our “Public Art Projects.” On a whim Monday evening we decided to take portraits of the people in the diverse Mission District of San Francisco, California.

We set out with a two digital SLRs and a sign that said “Free Portraits (woot!)” with the idea of taking a few portraits. Starting out as something “just for fun,” this project turned out to give us a lot more than something to do on a Tuesday afternoon/evening. Needless to say, we got a lot more out of the experience. Not only was it a bonding experience for Curbs & Stoops, it was also a bonding experience with the rest of the community. We met some extremely vibrant characters with great stories to share. From a homeless man with jokes to spare who loved getting his picture taken to American Idol contestants who serenaded us in return for their portrait.

For those who were unable to come by Mission Playground, we have attached a few “process” images in order to share the experience. Big thanks to those of you that came and participated!”

See all pictures from yesterday’s event here!

I saw “Neck Face” spray painted on the side of a building for the first time in 2005. It said “My Old Lady Loves Neckface,” – actually it had a little heart instead of “loves.” The note on the abandoned storefront of “My Old Lady” in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood made me giggle. I found the scribbled sayings and characters humorous and amusing and Neck Face became an immediate favorite. The easily-recognizable scribble, “Neckface” with accompanying random quotes, not to mention his awkward demonic monsters and larger than life hairy arms and clawed-hands lurking ominously around the sides of buildings were awesome.

Discovering new Neckface pieces is always a treat. In Seattle, I stumbled upon a skate shop and without hesitation purchased a t-shirt designed by Neck Face which has been my favorite default article of clothing since. A recent trip to Rome caught me snapping shots of scribbled Neckface’s in alleyways and door stoops in the Centro Storico, the historic center. Funny enough, his scribbles were similar to those founds in the Roman ruins. After some mad googling, I found out that the street-artist has had a few solo shows at various galleries and spends a good portion of his time designing skateboards, sneakers, and clothing. Neckface spent much time in art galleries like The Luggage Store Gallery scribbling notes. He is most recently rumored to be the art director for Baker Skateboards.

To some, it seems as though the tagger/artist/skater has fallen off the map and is spoken of as a one-minute wonder in the spectrum of street artists. His recent show, “Death Becomes You” at the Don’t Come Gallery in Melbourne, Australia has proven the opposite. Neck Face has definitely transitioned from the streets to the gallery but doesn’t seem to be slowing down. Personally, I’d like to see more of his work on the streets- for everyone to experience and enjoy but I suppose in some way his growing empire of apparel is doing just that. Making his work accessible to the masses and shared by passers-by rather than on street-sides and alleyways. Whatever he is doing, I want to see more of it!

In the market for a pet but can’t possibly find the time or energy to justify actually getting one? Sounds like you may be in the market for one of Josh Longo’s beasties. I discovered Longoland over a year ago in a short article featured in High Fructose Magazine. I hurriedly returned home, googling to find all we could about these fascinating creatures and their maker only to find an email address on an under construction website. After a long correspondence via email exchanges, the best pet I could ever imagine was delivered via a US postal worker.

All of Longo’s beasties are quite charming despite their irregular figures and lack of dashing good looks. Every characteristic has been imaginatively thought out, sculpted, hand-cut, and sewn together to create his one-of-a-kind creatures. As no two beasties are exactly alike, some have eyes and others don’t, some have legs, others have wings, most have butt holes, some of which bearing nice little surprises.

Josh Longo’s first solo show is currently taking place at the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont. A complete instillation filled with beasties of all shapes and sizes taking over and replacing the Kalkin House with a land all their own: Longoland. Also check out a recent article on Josh in Flaunt Magazine.