Souls performing at Jefferson High in 1993. Fools was 19!

thanks stinke…

Collaborative artists Retna (Juxtapoz #78) and Mac are set to launch a live painting event and exhibit today in Los Angeles. The opening event takes place today, Sunday, June 7th from 12pm – 6pm at 33Third in LA. The art exhibit will be on display in the adjoining Mid-City Arts gallery.

More info: Juxtapoz.com

Speaking of Retna…

Retna canvas piece spotted in the background of a clip from Seth Macfarland’s new movie “The Hangover.” RETNA always hangs with the best of ‘em, but it’s always nice to know even big movie execs have good taste in art too. If you haven’t seen The Hangover yet, which dropped this past Friday night. Do it, it’s worth the $10.

As promised, Tara McPherson has been busily traveling on her massive 28-city tour. The tour is for her one night signings and exhibitions for the new Lost Constellations book by Dark Horse and Gamma Mutant Space Friends Mini-Figure Set by Kidrobot.

“I’ll be bringing some small prints with me and tour posters that will be for sale at each event,” the artist tells us. “But be sure to check with each gallery/store the day of the event for the exact signing times.”

Click here to view tour dates.

It’s been a while since we had any updates on Shepard Fairey (Juxtapoz cover #82). Well, the artist got a big break in his court case involving the city of Boston, but he’s not out of the woods yet.

Prosecutors said they dropped 14 vandalism charges against the Los Angeles street artist, who is best known for creating the Hope poster for then-presidential candidate Barack Obama. Court papers filed Tuesday revealed that lawyers didn’t have enough evidence to prove that it was Fairey himself who placed stickers on signposts and other public property in Roxbury, Mass. 

The district attorney for Suffolk County said he still has the option of pursuing 13 other vandalism-related charges against the artist.

Fairey’s lawyer Tuesday disputed the numbers, saying 13 charges, not 14, had been dismissed and that his client was still fighting 15 more, according to a report in the Boston Globe.

“We’re happy that those cases have been dismissed, and we’re looking forward to others being dismissed as well that rely on the same set of facts that these did,” the artist’s lawyer was quoted as saying.

Fairey, 39, was originally arrested and charged with vandalism on February 6, 2009. He is also in the midst of a legal battle with the Associated Press, which claims that the artist violated copyright laws when he used one of its photographs for his Hope poster.

Info via Known Gallery blog.

Click Image For Details

FUTURECLASSIC featuring KON & AMIR (NYC) + special guest OHMEGA WATTS

Just a reminder that “Reverberations,” an exhibition featuring new works by Che Jen and Kenji Hirata, opens tonight at FIFTY24SF Gallery from 7 to 9 PM.

248 Fillmore Street
San Francisco, CA 94117
7 to 9 PM

It’s where Louis XIV Meets Crash and Blade. We’re talking about the show everyone has been talking about: NYC’s Whole in the Wall. The show is billed as the largest exhibition of American and European street art from 1970 to today, and includes paintings, sculpture and photography.

Whole In The Wall
Words and photos by George Koroneos

The largest graffiti exposition in years was launched in NYC on Thursday, as hundreds of street art fans and fine art collectors made the pilgrimage to a massive two-story gallery to pay tribute to the legendary graf artists from NYC and beyond.

The guest list was a who’s who of the old school street art community – Blade, Haze, Daze, Blek Le Rat…you name a living legend and they were probably there. It was so easy to play guess-the-writer that one almost forgot about the massive amount of art on display. Massive canvases covered in new and old school styles, real Porsche 911 hoods splattered in layers of acrylic adorned the walls, and life-size sculptures were mounted in the middle of the urban garden.

The event was created by Paris, France-based Helenbeck Gallery, run by two twin sisters that are passionate and wild about New York-style graffiti. The same show ran in Paris in November to acclaim reviews and sold out before it closed. It was so overwhelmingly successful that the gallery ran the show in Nice and now New York.

The rationale was simple. Since half the artists in the show are from Manhattan and they get so much attention in Europe, why not bring their work to their hometown with the same prestige and fanfare?

Of the 150 paintings, sculptures, and photos in the show, 50 were commissioned for Whole in the Wall and many of those were created on site. The crown jewel of the show is an installation of 17th century antique King Louie furniture juxtaposed with traditional graffiti art from the likes of Victor Ash and other street greats.

“Jean-Michel Basquiat was able to show that graffiti could be accepted by fine art galleries and that’s what we are trying to do here,” Curator Jean Gismondi told Juxtapoz through a translator. “Nowadays the heirs to Basquiat and the followers of BLADE show that they are real artists. For example SHARP’s inspiration comes from major artists in the Baroque style. Just look at Damien Hirst’s diamond skull. That’s a good example of how street artists can borrow from classic and make it new.”

Whole In The Wall: 1970 – Now
Friday, May 29 to Saturday, June 27
Open 10:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.; Tuesdays through Saturdays
529-535 W. 35th St. @ 11th Ave.

Photographer Henry Chalfant in focus

NIC ONE with his signature mini spray can

In the shadow of greats

Kid Lew, Martha Cooper, and Aiko

Martha Cooper shows off her old school jacket… (rules!)

More photos and full scoop here: Juxtapoz

The Ronin Gallery is proud to present:

METALLUM

An Exhibition of Architectural Patterns on Found Metal Objects

From mix media artists: Kofie and Codak

Curated by Zury Ponce

Works include:

Interior & Exterior mural collaboration, Edition of 20 2-color screen prints

over 40 painted file boxes & 40+ new works on found metal by Codak & myself.

Friday June, 5th from 7-11pm.

The Ronin Gallery

1924 Echo Park Ave

Los Angeles CA 90026

p:323.284.8782

info@theroningallery.com

Show Info:

http://keepdrafting.com/?p=693

http://www.theroningallery.com

FREE Soundtrack Download for the show:

http://soundcloud.com/4x4tracktor/metallum-soundtrack