Gabriel Villa spent two weeks painting this mural in Bridgeport for an arts festival on a wall owned by the mother of Ed Marszewski, a festival organizer. In other words, he was granted permission to paint a mural on private property. It didn't last long though, as Ald. James Balcer (Ward 11) had it buffed. In his own words, he was quoted saying:
"You know I don't know if there was hidden gang meaning behind it with the cross, with the skull, with the deer, with the police camera's. Was there something anti-police about it? I don't know what's in his mind. That's how I viewed it."
Hater? Or just dumbass? I call a combination of both. But on the real, this was an entirely unfair move on the governments part to squash the little guy because someone didn't like what was painted. It's art. One of many things art does is challenge you. Even though the wall now bears the infamous brown buff, I sort of consider it a win on Villa's part (even though, I would imagine he may understandably disagree), as he obviously challenged the alderman, and the alderman couldn't handle it.
BEFORE
AFTER
Feel free to contact him and express your disgust with his decision: 3659 S. Halsted St. Chicago, IL 60609 jbalcer@cityofchicago.org (773) 254-6677
Flyer design by yours truly. Holla at ya boy if you have any design needs!!!
Meat Number 5's having a release party at Sonotheque tonight for The Oblivion EP. All those performing tonight had a part in the making of this EP which makes this show super tasty. Many will tell you Sonotheque has one of, if not thee best sound system in the city. I'm personally excited to see Meat Number 5, Phaded and Maker all on the same bill. Hopefully you can make it out and support their new release. I'll see ya there!
As some of you know, I've branded my own line of apparel, but haven't done anything of great magnitude to see it flourish. It was a big day for me about a year ago, when I stumbled upon several stretched silk screens in an alley. Before then (and even now still), I've used an online service that, for the most part, has been a great resource for my printing, billing and shipping needs. However, they enforce certain restrictions that limited what I could design/print. Well, my friends Meat Number 5 inquired about the screens I found, and asked for my help printing shirts for their upcoming release party on Thursday. Naturally, I was glad to help, but maybe even better, it forced me to get my act together and finally screenprint at home. Tara helped me get the screens prepped, and the shirts were printed last night!
It had been since college when I last printed with silk screens. I learned last night why the shirt needs to be flat. That in turn caused a whole mess. A mess, for a moment, I was sure was gonna end our operation with a quickness. However, with some MacGyvering, we solved our problem and finished the job. They're now drying and will be for sale at their release party.
I met Shawn at the Bits + Pieces show a few weeks ago. Cool dude. About 20 seconds into this video, you'll see his Baby Frankenstein piece I am now the proud owner of, although it's still hanging at the coffee shop for another week, so hands off! In this video, they mention that they're working on a video game using his characters. That's awesome; Congrats!!
DUDE!! It's a big weekend for artist's and art enthusiast's!
I attended Artropolis last year, and let me tell you, this event is enormous. You know of the Merch Mart downtown, right? It's huge, right? well, imagine an art show taking up almost half that building! Luckily, it's open for the entire weekend as I only had the chance to go through one level at my own pace, and another level road runner-style. There's gonna be something here for everyone, so I urge you to stop by. Basically, there will be three levels. One level titled Art Chicago gathers emerging and established galleries of contemporary and modern art from around the world to display their collections. This was the level I was rushed through, and am hoping I get more time to check things out. The level I'm least excited about however (sorry! but it's true), is the International Antiques Fair. Umm, yeah, antiques. But the level I'm most excited about is titled Next. Here you'll get to see, in my opinion, the most exciting, cutting-edge work in contemporary art from both new and established artists.
I always intend on stopping by Caffe Baci on Wacker when they have a show opening, but for some reason, it never happens. AK Events consists of Allison Glenn and REVISE CMW. They curate the shows at Caffe Baci, always opening at 6p on Friday's (about once a month), which is a great reason to head downtown and get your evening started off properly. Complimentary wine from 6-7, DJ Genghis Won on the wheels of steel, and art!
So, I've always had an admiration for Martha Cooper (and Henry Chalfant) thanks to their passion for photographing New York's subway art movement in it's earliest of stages, and still standing strong. Martha released a new book recently titled Going Postal that documents the USPS label craze seen on the streets of probably every city known to man. In addition to that, Martha and Henry's Subway Art book celebrated it's 25th anniversary since it's release. To celebrate, they're releasing a special Subway Art anniversary edition (mentioned a couple posts down). Even better for Chicago, Novem and Upset are bringing Martha to the Novem Store Friday night. Get a chance to kick it with a legendary photographer, maybe even a chance to chat with her, along with a display of hand-drawn stickers from over 70 artists selling for only $5 a piece. Admittedly, I'm a little skeptical of the location for this, because I would imagine this will attract a good-size crowd, and The Novem Store...well, it's not that large. However, to help that situation, just a few doors down, Frank Serpico will have an installation on display as well as slinging his magazine Making Deals all in conjunction with the Martha Cooper book signing. Wow!
Rotofugi's bringing Ken Keirns and Scott Tolleson to Chi-Town for their Common Nonsense show. I still remember the show Ken had at Rotofugi last year. I love his work, and am extremely excited to see his new work. You should be too.
Something I didn't know until now, May is National Cancer Research Month. In conjunction with that is Paint the Town Blue! Some friends are listed on the flyer as contributing artists, and there's more still, just not listed. All proceeds benefit Cancer-Sucks and The American Cancer Society. Check it out!
A few weeks ago, the art community was hit hard after news spread about the loss of AFROE 42, EVOL and KOOL KEP. The fine folks at Upset have organized a wonderful silent art auction where all money raised will be split amongst the families of these three individuals. It includes a great lineup of artists, but for an even greater cause. Please try to make it out for this event, and show love and support for the family and friends of Fausto, Andrew and Nazon.
I have wanted to see a Matthew Sharp show for some time now. I really dig his characters. Both he and Toby Stanger have a show opening Saturday at Revolution Tattoo. The flyer mentions Kuma's as caterer which makes my heart skip a beat, but then I think back at their valentine's show that promoted Three Floyd's brewery as sponsors. The only beer I saw at that show was a case of Schlitz in the fridge, so I'm not holding my breath for Kuma's at this point. That's all irrelevant however. I mean, c'mon, it's about the art baby!
DROOO is the brand of Andrew's talents. Amongst all his interests, he's truly passionate about art / design and beer. When he's not working his day job, he's usually either painting or drawing, working as a freelance graphic designer, photographing, or most often, studying & brewing beer. Naturally, he also loves drinking it.
AFTER
Posts
