Tag: graffiti

Eye to eye #2

A horrible act of vandalism in a Russian art gallery occurred last December.

Vandal added eyes to figures in painting by Malevich’s student – The Art Newspaper Russia
Anna Leporskaya’s painting “Three Figures” (1932-1934) from the collection of the State Tretyakov Gallery, provided for the exhibition “The World as Non-Objectivity. The Birth of a New Art” to the Yekaterinburg Foundation “Presidential Center of B.N. Yeltsin”, as it became known to our publication, suffered from the hands of a vandal. An unknown person drew small eyes with a ballpoint pen on the abstract faces of two figures in the picture.

A somewhat different set of art gallery eyes than Chris Eckert’s, certainly, but still a case for the local police, surely?

Russian police won’t investigate after vandal draws eyes on painting at museum – ARTnews
Once the damage was reported, law enforcement agencies refused to open a criminal case because there were no signs of a crime as defined by the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation. Since the image did not look fundamentally different, and since the painting was no longer in Yekaterinburg at that time (it had returned to Moscow for restoration by the time police got involved), the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation sent a complaint to the Russian Prosecutor General’s Office about the refusal to initiate a criminal case. When asked about the subject, Alexander Drozdov, executive director of the Yeltsin Center, said, “We were not even slightly puzzled when police decided not to open the case, because based on their damage assessment there was no legal grounds for [an investigation]. They say ‘no,’ you obey. We’re law-abiding citizens.”

Turns out it was another inside job.

“Bored” security guard draws eyes on faceless Russian painting on his first day – It’s Nice That
Anna Leporskaya’s Three Figures, a painting on display at the Boris Yeltsin Presidential Center, has been vandalised by a security worker, who scribbled small eyes on two of the figures with a ballpoint pen. In what is possibly one of the worst first-day-on-the-job horror stories in recent history, the security guard had apparently worked at the gallery for less than 24 hours before he drew on the painting; Three Figures is insured for approximately £740,000.

Russian gallery guard charged after drawing eyes on avant-garde painting with ballpoint pen – The Art Newspaper
The guard has been fired and was last week detained by police on criminal vandalism charges. He faces a fine of up to RUB 74.9m (£738,000)—the amount the painting was insured for—and up to one year of correctional labour or up to three months in prison, according to The Times.

Has Banksy been back to Bristol?

Let’s wait and see.

‘Banksy’ sneezing woman artwork appears on Bristol house – BBC News
The creation, on the side of a semi-detached house in Totterdown, depicts a woman in a headscarf sneezing and her dentures flying into the air. Resident Dale Comley, said he saw a “bulky guy in ahigh vis jacket” early on Thursday who he thinks was Banksy.

New Banksy-style art appears in Bristol’s famous Vale Street – Bristol Live
Banksy murals tend to poke fun at current affairs, so suggestions were made that the sneeze referred to Covid-19. One Totterdown woman added that it could be a nod towards the strong wind on Vale Street. Vale Street is known for being the steepest street in England and is home to an annual egg-rolling competition.

Shortly after posting this, I can see that, yes, Banksy has authenticated this.

And with this photo, its location — the steepest street in England — makes much more sense now.

Better Valentine alternatives

If you don’t want to send your sweetheart a Vinegar Valentine’s card, you could always try something a little different, like– a Valentine’s wall?

Say it with Banksy? Valentine’s gift catapults house to street art fame – The Guardian
She said: “We really want to preserve it, but he’s given us a bit of a headache. First thing’s first is to maybe get some Perspex to preserve it so everyone can enjoy it and then try to get some professional advice. It has been a crazy day, with lots of people being able to come and enjoy it and we want people to be able to continue doing that.

“I just kept like squealing and I’ve not stopped smiling all day. It’s just so special. They are calling it the Valentine’s Day Banksy.”

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It’s nice to see that Banksy has since confirmed it’s one of his.

OK, so sending someone some street art might not be very practical. Pen and paper it is, then.

Grab a pen. It’s time to revive the love letter. – The Lily
Unlike digital messages, they’re concrete; we can feel their weight in our hands. (“Will we ever glow when we open an email folder?” Simon Garfield writes in a book celebrating letter writing. “Emails are a poke, but letters are a caress, and letters stick around to be newly discovered.”) Months, years, decades in the future, they prove we lived and loved, savored and felt sorrow. They allow us to grasp at immortality.

Enduring love: how greetings cards are surviving the smartphone era – The Guardian
“The real growth we’re seeing is among people sending a message to cheer someone up,” says Fergusson, explaining that there has been a huge rise in “No occasion” cards. She believes millennials and gen Z are buying these cards because they are more powerful than social media messages. Hare calls her new range “contemporary sentiments” – one card says, “Just be your beautiful self”, while another reads: “Proud of you.” In 2019, the online retailer Moonpig launched a collection with the Samaritans – personalised cards were emblazoned with messages such as: “Matthew, I’m not sure how to help but if you need me, I’m here.” Fergusson says there has been a recent rise in “man-to-man” sending, but GCA research suggests 85% of cards are bought by women.

Alternatively…

Poundland sells 40,000 engagement rings ahead of Valentine’s Day – BBC News
The £1 “Bling Rings” and “Man Bands” are meant to be used as “placeholders” for proper rings, it said. But one analyst described such promotions as “increasingly desperate”.

And here’s a modern take on that Vinegar Valentine idea.

Name a cockroach after your ex and watch an animal eat it on Valentine’s Day – CNN
For just $5, zoo staff will name a cockroach after your former lover and feed it to an animal at their “Cry Me a Cockroach” event on Valentine’s Day. And if your ex-boo was an especially snakey one, pay $20 more to have them name a rat and feed it to a reptile instead.

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Update 20/02/2020

Sadly/inevitably, that Banksy Valentine’s Day graffiti has been graffiti-ed, which raises a number of interesting questions (including is it even possible to actually damage Banksy’s artwork, given that it itself is criminal damage, in law).

Banksy: what happens when someone vandalises graffiti – and who owns it anyway? – The Conversation
Where graffiti has been applied to the wall of a property, that physical piece of “art” belongs to the owners of the property, who may choose to lawfully remove it or to protect it. If the property is rented – as is reportedly the case for the Valentine’s mural – the graffiti becomes part of the fabric of that building and belongs to the property owner, not the tenants. Ownership of the intangible rights to the artwork (the copyright), however, will remain the property of Banksy as the artist.

Leading you through the street art of London

There’s more to street art than Banksy, of course, especially in London. You’d be forgiven for thinking the place was one giant, open air art gallery, going by the number of locations highlighted in this tour of street art hotspots: Brixton, Camden, Dulwich, Hackney, Shoreditch, Walthamstow… (Via London Life With Liz)

10 best places to see street art in London – Dutch Girl in London
Is street art in London legal?’ people often ask me on my history & street art tours in East London. Technically, street art in London is very much illegal. However, having become one of the world’s leading cities to feature such high-quality urban artworks, some local authorities condone it. You won’t be able to find street art in all London neighbourhoods so to help you, I’ve compiled a guide with the best places to see street art in London.

So many wonderful paintings here. I love the contrast between the traditional murals…

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… the photorealistic portraits…

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… and the punchy, graphic work from Stik.

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The beautiful game

Not being a fan of the game doesn’t stop me from enjoying these two recent football articles from The Guardian’s Art Weekly newsletter, especially with one being from my home town.

A fan’s-eye view at the football – a photo essay – The Guardian
I was interested in capturing characters, emotions and expressions and also the dynamics of the group. I kept an instinctive approach throughout and often shot from the hip. Nothing was planned or staged. It was all about capturing those little moments – a feeling that could so often get lost if I’d spent time framing the shots.

It definitely helped being a Spurs boy, but you don’t just turn up and get invited in and start taking pictures. In the beginning there were certainly a few people who questioned what I was doing pointing a camera in their face. I knew from the beginning that I had to take my time. It was important for me to get to know people first, find out what they are doing and just go with the flow. It might sound like a cliché, but you can’t make images happen when you want them to – the images will come to you. It’s a little bit like fishing – sometimes you catch something and sometimes you come home empty-handed.

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The Leeds United fan making the city beautiful – one electric box at a time – The Guardian
Popular with fans and residents alike, McVeigh creates his designs independently – he isn’t paid for his time or imagination – simply seeking to improve the aesthetics of his local neighbourhoods and honour his home club. “There’s virtually no Leeds United art anywhere in the city, which seems daft to me,” says Andy. “Even in the City Museum there’s a pretty pathetic token gesture to the club when it’s one of the most famous things about the place.”

The murals leading to the ground have become part of the matchday experience for many, with fans tapping the boxes for luck before games. Younger fans are also enamoured with his colourful compositions. “Kids love it, which is brilliant because I’m a primary teacher and had that in mind when I did them. One bloke told me his kids asked him to do a tour of them with him.”

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Looks who’s back

Or maybe isn’t.

Yet more mysterious Aphex Twin-related artwork has popped up
Aphex often emerges briefly only to disappear back into the acid-lashed shadows, a ginger mystery, leaving little behind except a string of deeply weird, often brilliant records. We think he might be about to drop another one. Possibly. Maybe.

Keith Haring should be 60

It’s Nice That has a great piece on Keith Haring and his legacy.

Celebrating the life, work and enduring legacy of Keith Haring on his 60th birthday
Today, Haring’s characters are everywhere, on T-shirts and posters the whole world over, and he’d be very happy about this. More than anything he wanted to connect with as many people as possible and spread some joy. He’s gone but his legacy is greater than ever, and not just in culture but also in the fabric of our cities: in the words of his friend and sometime collaborator William S. Burroughs, “Just as no one can look at a sunflower without thinking of Van Gogh, so no one can be in the New York subway system without thinking of Keith Haring. And that’s the truth.”

He only had one decade in the art world and yet created so much and left such an impression. Imagine what else he could have got up to, these last 30 years.