MANCHESTER IS SHIT

14 August 2008

brya stencil - cb

Labels: brya, graffiti, graffiti character, graffiti letters, graffiti tags, Stencil

Roll Up Roll up - it's the Cans Festival

It is THE street art (possibly art) event of the year. It was exciting no... thrilling, exhilarating. It made living in London an honour. Jeeeeez - you can get on a tube and actually be there, free. And then you get there and see the crowds and hear the loudhailers and smell the buzz and think that this is as important as San Francisco nineteen sixty-whatever and you yes YOU are a part of it.
Until the loudhailers tell you sneeringly how to queue and condescendingly how to support the artists by buying a programme and you start to feel like a mug punter. And that in spite of this being the single greatest explosion of artistic expression since Pop Art it is in the hands of a bunch of fairground hucksters.

Labels: banksy, cans festival, graffiti, Stencil, street art

GAJIN FUJITA - HAUNCH OF VENISON, LONDON 25 APRIL - 24 MAY 08

Large scale paintings present graffiti overlaid with stylised geisha women, samurai warriors, flowers and animals, motifs from contemporary Japanese cartoons and imagery from American Hip-Hop culture.
Semi-precious metals including white gold and gold leaf are applied to wooden panels. These are then obliterated with graffiti, spray-painted by Gajin and his crew. Finally, a composition of stencilled figures, animals and motifs inspired by traditional Japanese Ukiyo-e imagery is laid over the top.