Curbs and Stoops has a new limited edition print by San Francisco based artist, Adam Flores. His new piece, Get the Fuck off my Grass (first image), is 16″ by 22″ mixed media on arches paper. ‘Get the Fuck off my Grass’ is produced in a limited edition of 50, signed and number by the artist and costs $150.

As we wrote in our previous blog, “Adam Flores’ work is fanciful, comprised of castles, windmills, and churches- all seemingly abandoned and in the process of being taken over by [ominous bushes]… 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.”

Adam describes his work by saying: “Some of the common themes in my work have to deal with a basic idea of man vs. nature, nature taking back, overpopulation, the expansion of huge housing developments continuously plaguing my home town (San Fernando Valley), religion, morality, and the idea of the “american dream” being unattainable.”

You can but the print directly here.

You can view Flores’ website at www.adamaflores.com

Sean Barber is one of my favorite San Francisco based artists. He graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Ringling School of Art and Design in 1999.

This dude has some amazing talent. Not only is his technique masterful, but his subjects are vibrant, interesting characters themselves. For the last four years Barber’s main body of work portrays other heavily tattooed artists including Kat Von D., Mike Giant, Silvia Ji(previously featured on our blog here), Seen (previously featured on our blog here) and many other internationally known artists. These paintings are interesting because there are several levels of art involved.

At one level there is the personality of the artist that always finds its way to the canvas. On the next level are the story of their tattoos and the tattoo artists that did the original works of art. The third level is the most interesting: Barber’s composition and derivative work in which he cleverly composes a painting which often shows movement and his own work process.

In addition to portraits, Barber is very interested in painting artist’s hands. “Artists hands are so unique because that is their primary tool… your hands have so much history to them.” says Barber in his Vimby video early last month.

Last March Barber put out a book entitled “Forever and Ever” through 9mm Books.

Images (in the order in which they appear)
1) ‘Dan Dringenberg’s Machine’, 20″x26″, 2008 2)Portrait of the Artist, Alison Casson progress shot.
3) ‘Tattooed Self Portrait II’, oil on canvas, 50″x40″, 2008 4) Juan and Otto Puente’, oil on canvas, 22″x32″, 2008
5) ‘Portrait of the Artist, Chantal Menard’. oil on canvas. 2007 6) ‘Portrait of the Artist, Henry Lewis’, oil on canvas, 28″x22″ 2005

For other series go to the artist’s website at www.sdbarber.com

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.

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?