Graffoto Round Up of the Year - Part 4

Photos by HowAboutNo and NoLionsInEngland


And here we have it folks, part 4 of 4 in the round up of 2011.

This final look at the year now covers September all the way through to the end of December. Being that it was mild for the time of year, and there were a shed load of art festivals and paint jams in town, the surrounding areas had a nice smattering too.

Street art pastes and stencils seemed to be out of the window for pretty much most of this quarter, and I think that was also a big shift for the year. Good to see more talented artists grafting it at the side of a wall. Also nice to see lots of quick and dirty damage throughout town.


Rowdy/Horror, photo HowAboutNo



Rusht, photo HowAboutNo



Shane ODV, photo HowAboutNo



Roid MSK, photo HowAboutNo



D*Face in progress outside the Moniker Art Fair, photo HowAboutNo



And completed, photo HowAboutNo



Various, photo HowAboutNo



Gold Peg, photo HowAboutNo



A solid year for the machine of graff that is Probs. Think this is my fave piece he has done ever. (photo HowAboutNo)



I think we'll see a bit more of JimmyC in 2011 (photo HowAboutNo)



Motor, photo HowAboutNo



C215, photo HowAboutNo


, photo HowAboutNo


2011 was the year Ronzo turned his hand away from sculpted pieces to graff.....and a welcome turn it was. This piece painted with Conor Harrington


photo HowAboutNo


Evol impressively buggered about with scale this set of blocks making up a mini housing estate complete with Elk, Drax and Shun tags. Read more about his visit here


photo HowAboutNo


Banksy did quite a few street pieces, all outside Soreitch - consequently I didn't get off my lazy arse to photograph them. No bother, this was my favourite thing he did all year anyway.


General and most lovely damage . . . (photo HowAboutNo)



Swoon, photo HowAboutNo



This superb paste up by Gaia lasted no more than a few days and was fly posted over (photo HowAboutNo).



Revok/Roid at the most single hit "legal" spot in Shoreditch (photo HowAboutNo).


Don’t believe the nay-sayers saying the scene has tanked, looking back we have been overwhelmed with top quality shit on the streets of London in 2011. Stuff that should have got a mention earlier but just got missed in the admittedly random selection process includes:

Phlegm was down several times during the year


photo: NoLionsInEngland


One of the highlights of the year was the privilege of seeing Sweet Toof and Paul Insect collaborate on this stunning rooftop piece, and in case you missed it, the timelapse is here


photo: NoLionsInEngland


Elbow Toe


photo: NoLionsInEngland


This Chu sticker made us chuckle earlier in the year


photo: NoLionsInEngland


So that's it for Graffoto's round up of the action in 2011. At the beggining and at lots of points throughout the year it did seem like it was stale and not moving anywhere. Part of wanting to look back at the year at the begginging of a new one has shown that it was a busy and colourful year, full of lots of new names and techniques and people to watch in 2012.


The shift also seemed to go towards lots more "with permission" spots last year, I guess a big test for those shutters and areas may fall closer to Olympics time, when the council may decide to buff at random for no reason whatsoever.

Happy 2012. Fuck The Buff.

Papal Bull

Pope In London - Street artists rise as foretold

photos Nolionsinengland except S.Butterfly where noted


Benedictus episcopus servus servorum Dei, Pope Benedict, Bishop, Server of The Servants of God, etc etc is in the UK to give us a bit of a telling off and to enjoy one of the most expensive inter-city long-weekend breaks on record (Twelve million quids worth is the accepted estimate of his inclusive board and travel deal). Graffoto was a little disappointed that the opportunity presented by the elections in the UK this Summer passed by un-remarked by most of the street art/anarchist community, perhaps with the honourable exception of Dr d, so it is encouraging to see quite this papal visit has stimulated the minds and exacto knives of a few stencilistas in London. For anyone not familiar with the circumstance, the two protest themes hinge around expense and paedophilia cover-ups.

Top prize goes to the ever thoughtful K-Guy who placed controversial work in a couple of spots designed for maximum visibility to the papal entourage and all passing Catholics. K-Guys is at his best when presented with a toxic cocktail of politics, religion and hipocracy and the quality of his political work is sustained in this hear-no-see-no-speak-no cannon-ised monkeys. Reducing the pontiff to the level of a primate and mocking the Church’s inability or un-willingness to properly and clearly address the horrendous crimes committed within its’ sanctuary by a few (“Paedophilia is a sickness, they were “ill”), this work pulls no punches.


K-Guy “see-no-hear-no-speak-no”


K-Guy placed a version of this image on Thursday night on the Popemobile route to Westminster, Graffoto made a detour on the way to the day job on Friday morning arriving just as one chuffed-to-bits cleaner removed the piece off the streets. 0-1 to the buff.


I’ll ‘ave that


K-Guy was motivated to go one better for the Pope’s benefit on Saturday (today), placing a second specimen inside Hyde Park where the Pope was due to lead an open air séance or something. Wonder if it survived until the vigil, certainly thousands of Catholics will have got the message if it did.


K-Guy


SPQR also addresses the popular theme of papal cover-ups, this splendidly executed work referencing the less than transparent internal investigations supposedly carried on by the Catholic church. Being placed on a gallery wall miles from where the papal retinues and the flock would gather renders this effort a tad futile but to be fair to SPQR, he was presumably rather busy with a solo show opening at Signal Gallery that night.


SPQR – “Report Exposes Church Sex”


Much closer to the heart of the papal action geographically speaking is Nick Walker’s Cardinal Sinister placed on the walls of the Royal College of Art immediately outside Regents Park. Nick Walker renders the Pope as a Blofeld-like evil head of a sinister organisation stroking the cat on his lap. We like the analogy to the head of a crime based organisation, the stencil has impressive scale and detail but we feel the Royal College of Art gains more through boosting its’ flagging “edginess” quotient than Mr Walker gains for his imaginative composition.


Nick Walker "Cardinal Sinister"


We thank the ever vigilant Ms S Butterfly for photographing this effort by Raymond Salvatore Harmon (anyone like to hazard a guess at his religion?) aka RSH, location unknown. Perhaps the splatters of blood are a bit OTT but the few pieces by RSH we have seen recently have been almost violently dayglo, the point of the work is more important than the colour palate.


RSH – Suffer The Children (photo S Butterfly)


D*Face used the opening on Thursday of a retrospective show at Electric Blue Gallery, Middlesex St to mock the new religions of corporatism and branding with his logo cross (curiously, this time hung upside down St Peter style), previously seen at the 2008 aPOPcalypse Now show.


D*Face logo cross (aPOPcalypse Now, 2008)


The Pope angrily charged D*Face with what he called “Aggressive Atheism” but the bulk of the mainstream press have chosen to interpret the remark in the wider context of British Society.

Attention Spam - Hong Kong Happenings

ATTENTION SPAM - 14 November - 10 December

Cyclops, D*Face, David Bray, Vesna Parchet & Word to Mother

Schonei Main Gallery
21-31 Old Bailey Street
Central Hong Kong
MON - SAT 10.30am - 6.30pm
http://www.adaptagallery.com/

A special blog post and props going out to our friend and fellow blogger Selph ESP http://espvisuals.blogspot.com/ for what looks like it will be an absoloutely amazing project.

D*Face

UK Adapta have just set up their satellite gallery project known as Adapta Gallery and the first show called "Attention Spam" will be in Hong Kong next week, Thursday NOV 13th. They have imported 5 British artists: D*Face, Cyclops, David Bray, Word To Mother & Vesna Parchet to HKG to go bombing the streets, as well as maybe attending the preview perhaps for a refreshing cold beer afterwards.

Cyclops

David Bray

Vesna Parchet

Selph has expressed his extreme joy at getting to go out and hit streets with some of his idols and contemporaries, we should receive exclusive film footage of their happenings upon his return to the UK all being well.

Black Rat Press Print Show

Rivington Street 16 Feb 2008


With domestic interiors across the land filling up with prints from street artists, Black Rat Press have blessed the inquisitive and acquisitive with an education in the back stage aspects of the artists work. Sadly, the Rat couldn’t make it to BRP’s Print Show opening so will remain ignorant of how Matt Small suppresses the DTs to scrape a sharp object in smooth curves across an etching plate.

The walls however contain a good variety of new and familiar prints from most of the great leaders of the revolution, in no particular order (but willing to promote or relegate for gifts) these are Swoon, D*Face, Blek Le Rat, Matt Small, Nick Walker and Slinkachu.

In addition to prints released on Valentines day, D*Face has produced unique variants on dead Che, this time the luscious unique Che collage on ultra commie red background has a further inner skull tearing its way through the surface Che with skeleton hands bursting through the paper of the surface Che. Dead Che also appears in three colourways on burnished steel, wildly bling and strong wall mounts required!

D*Face

Tastily displayed are a set of Swoon very limited edition (20 I think) very hand finished prints called Baba Yaga (the wild woman, the witch, the mistress of magic – google expert). When Swoon hand finishes to make each edition copy different it isn’t the old “on this one that line is 1mm longer” trivial differences, each of this Swoon edition did look radically different, compare the two below. Baba Yaga has the wisdom of the years gouged in her wrinkles, not page 3 material.
Baba Yaga - Swoon


In parallel with the familiar but still stunning multicoloured portraits, Matt Small has worked on 6 light boxes, which weren’t actually turned on at the time of viewing. The paint run effect looked a bit messy and the usual capture of the subjects’ distrust, boredom, sullenness or suspicion is not quite there but these may well look spectacular with the light actually on, we shall return! [edit - rubbish! linoprints on VCRs, not lightboxes. Doesn't make them any better to these eyes. Sorry - NoLions] Several other Matt Small prints in the usual rich multi colour splatter are shown and an interesting etched line drawing black on cream paper, apparently Matt wasn’t impressed with the multi-colour version.

Matt Small Linoprints on dead VCRs


Six different Blek le Rat rat monoprints, all unique, looked the nuts with their rats clambering over a bleached background. The gun toting Space Cowboy, intimidating in posture and size, remain available having been seen at the White Noise show.

Blek Le Rat



At the time of viewing several blank spots on the wall were getting the BRP illumination effect – wouldn’t we all love to be able to light our collections at home like that – hopefully the missing Nick Walkers will have filled these spaces.

The Slinkachoo night time lover’s lightbox looked sweet, the out of focus background echoing the lovers’ oblivion to their surroundings.

Slinkachu



This show does what it says on the tin, a strong collection of prints and artists has been assembled for the benefit of those not quite in the league of commissioning one off canvasses direct from the artist, plus a bit of education for us rude mechanicals to boot.

Urban Art - Insanity Takes Hold

(all photos Bonhams)

Originating from the streets of Bristol, Brighton and London, growing up via galleries in the East End (TLSG and BRP well represented tonight), the street print and canvas fetish they call urban art arrived in the plush west end auction rooms of Bonhams tonight .

Standing room only as Banksy stole the show, with new records for signed and unsigned screenprints, and a high score of £190,000 plus about £50,350 in premium and taxes was reached for the multiple Laugh Now monkeys on painted board. Other Banksy highlights included £82,000 for the pink punk canvas, rather a lot for a picture which looks like it might belong in your daughter’s bedroom and the jaw dropping £80,000, that’s over £100k with add ons, for the signed editioned print, read it again..editioned, Kate Moss (30/50) which undoubtedly brought a smile to one seller’s face.

Note all prices here are hammer prices, add a further 26-28% for buyers premium, VAT and artists fees, which raises the interesting question of how will Banksy get his since you have to provide name and address to collect!

Christ With Shopping Bags (13/82) topped the prices for other signed prints at £17,000 whilst signed HMV (19/150) and Golf Sale (27/750) both realised £11,000 and signed I Fought The Law brought in £10,000. The last three make the £11,000 paid for an un-signed Bomb Middle England (288/500) look like in-explicable lunacy. The only rat at the show other than me, an un-signed Gansta Rat (94/350) went for £6,500.


Nick Walker’s burgeoning recognition, his soaring talent showcased superbly in LA at the moment was rewarded by a Moona Lisa canvas stretching to a cheeky £45,000. The beautiful London Morning After AP 12/12 with its lush blue sky went for £4,500 and probably drew the largest number of frantically waved paddles.

Two very dark but classy Guy Denning oil on canvases priced erratically with the 50x70 Fear and Loss knocking down for £8,000 compared to the comparative bargain of £2,000 for the 50x50 We Saw This.

Antony Micallef flippers failed to catch fire with the Peacekeeper Uzi loving quartet ranging from £1,700 to £2,200. That’ll teach ya.

Adam Neate’s The Apprentice went for a tasty £36,000 making the smaller Neates on cardboard look a comparative steal at between £5,500 and £8,500.

Catalogues sold out so expect those to flip on eBay at a ridiculous premium any minute now.

The auction had more buzz than a hive on acid and undoubtedly suggests that apparently faltering prices are due to kick on again. If that’s what you want. Frankly the mood did border on the insane, though the buyer of the top priced piece has been popping up at all the street art openings for some time so wasn't bidding in ignorance. Given the awesome/in-explicable prices achieved for the somewhat patchy to mediocre selection auctioned tonight I would be surprised if cashing in on the street art bubble isn’t attempted again fairly soon.

Bonhams biggun

After lunch, to Bonhams in the charabanc to view some arty items previewing for the so-called first ever Urban Art auction. No Sol or San Mig. so had to endure the daubings sober.

The star piece imo is the ultra pink Sid/spikey punk canvas by Banksy. Most spectacular is the multiple Laugh Now from that bar in Brighton, shame more care wasn't taken in removing it. The Guy Dennings pair look gorgeous.

It is worth popping along to the preview given the number of works you may not have seen in the flesh before.

Bonhams have used the same lighting as BRP at their recent show which makes the dullest screen print look like it has had the lightbox treatment.

I've been told that bloggies like a good moan, so: it's hard to shake off the impression that there are too many large edition prints, some (D*Face Lenticular, called "Dizzie Rascals" by Bonhams but I don't recall it having that name on release) only released 2 months ago. Also it's a bit Keith Haring heavy. Quite why the seller needs to include an "Authorised Graffiti Area" sticker with Happy Chopper defeats me, Gareth Williams, Bonham's annointed Senior Urban Art specialist says it "came with the print at the show", well blow me, at most shows one can rely on necking a bit of bubbly, so why not a free bottle of champers with all the other items. And the catalogue is a bit pricey, dammit.

Provenance on some items must be a bit iffy. Asking the staff about the Paris CD, they reckoned anyone cloning Banksy would be doing it for more expensive items. I reckon anyone of that bent with half a brain went out and bought a few legit Paris CDs that week (to obtain receipts) and has been churning CDs out since, cos there is no possible provenance on that (can "Banksy's people" distinguish a CD burner/photocopier copy from the original?).