A few weeks ago, I tracked down A Frightening Prospect, the creators of this powerful street poster that I saw on Houston Street last fall during the weeks surrounding the US Presidential elections. Unfortunately I was driving too fast in rush hour traffic to stop or even take a picture of it. These posters were really difficult to find on the streets, undoubtedly b/c they were such a hot item. The artists kindly donated one to me, however, and I offered to have SLU buy another one for the Permanent Collection.
Archive for December, 2009
Merry Christmas 2009
Published December 25, 2009 "The Process is the Product" , Stickin' it to the Man , Street Art , US Election 2008 Leave a CommentBrooklyn Street Art: list of artists + ANERA/anera
Published December 24, 2009 "The Process is the Product" , Stickerz , The Gallery Has A Posse 1 CommentWow. I just came across the finest list of street artists on the Brooklyn Street Art blog. This will be tremendously useful in identifying these li’l pranksters. I saw Anera on there with a direct link to endlesslove.com, though no other mention of Anera once I got there. When I looked up “Anera” on Google, I found ANERA (American Near East Refugee Aid). Just tried “Anera sticker” and found something called Stickerthrow! 2004 with Anera listed as one of the artists, tho no other link to this sticker artist. This is the sticker I found in NYC, November 2004.
Time to begin research!
Published December 23, 2009 "The Process is the Product" , Berlin , Stickerz Leave a CommentWith a little time off from work, I can begin research on the Berlin stickers gathered in November. My plan is to spread them all out (hundreds), sort them by subject, Xerox them (until they can be scanned and added to the database), and begin research in earnest. Hot dog!!!!
Shepard Fairey
Published December 18, 2009 "The Process is the Product" , Stickerz , Stickin' it to the Man , Street Art , The Man stickin' it Back Leave a CommentThe NY Times ran this article in March 2009 about Shepard Fairey, which provides a useful bio and overview of this ne’er-do-well’s career.
I’ve added a new category of links to this blog listing artists who work in character design. Many of these artists overlap with those who do contemporary street art and stickers. The Pictoplasma conferences in Berlin are probably the best place to find artists who create digital illustrations, animation, comics, skateboard designs, plushies and vinyl toys. My favorite plushie and toy artists are Friends With You and Dalek, but check the links on the bottom right for more character design artists.
Plushie toys are difficult to describe, but Wikipedia provides this outline:
- A stuffed toy
- An enthusiast of stuffed toys, often of the furry fandom community
- A plushophile, a person who is attracted to stuffed animals
B.N.E.
Published December 9, 2009 "The Process is the Product" , Public Art , Stickin' it to the Man , Street Art Leave a CommentCheck out this story about B.N.E in the NY Times today, forwarded by the tallest ninja in the sticker posse, Grant Cornwell.
From the article: “Peter F. Vallone Jr., of Queens, chairman of the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, condemned the show. ‘This isn’t even someone who’s decided to go legitimate,’ he said. ‘This is an unrepentant criminal who has cost honest taxpayers a lot of money, and he’s profited from it’.” Sorry, Pete!!
B.N.E. uses a “serious-looking Helvetica Neue Condensed.” I just watched the film Helvetica a few days ago, which describes the way the font was developed 50 years ago and how it has been used in a variety of social contexts. One person said, “Helvetica is the perfume of the city.” I guess B.N.E. is having love affair with the urban environment.