Did you know we have a Facebook fan page for the book? Please swing by and become a fan!
http://www.facebook.com/street.artists
We are almost done uploading Glenn's images that appear in the book for all to see. We're also trying to maintain a steady stream of info & links about artists featured in the book (e.g., new works, upcoming gallery shows).
As 'mainstream' street artists get ever more exposure in the media, where does that leave the underground graffiti artists?
It's ironic that, whilst councils make public apologies about removing work by Banksy, British authorities have made an unprecedented clampdown on the rest of the less famous painters, meaning London is one of most difficult places for underground graffiti artists to work.
These issues, plus the naturally secretive nature of graffiti crews, means that anyone trying to get a better idea of the scene would find it an almost impossible task.
However, Keep The Faith, a brand new magazine, is set to lift the lid on the underground scene.
With exclusive access and pictures from some of the active writers and crews over the past few years, the magazine's aim is to open up people's eyes to what has been going on, and to show that the heart of London graffiti still beats strong.
You can order the magazine at www.keepthefaithmagazine.com
I saw this wall right next to the MACBA in Barcelona's El Raval. I really like the visual effect of the negative space between the arrows also being arrows (so, are these black arrows with hidden white arrows or white arrows with hidden black arrows?)
This shot (San Francisco, 2002), showcase his work with arrows, particularly arrow stencils on USPS postal labels (no 2 seem alike).
Featured in the Graffito book, STREET ARTISTS: the complete guide.
Has taken me this long to write about the book launch we had at the Pure Evil Gallery the other week – as it was so exciting – needed time to recover! I had an amazing time and was so pleased with everyone who came down to support us (friends, family and lots of people I have only worked with online so it was great to put faces to names!) It was great to meet Duncan Cumming who has a fantastic collection of graffiti photos on his website, and the boys from 2SickBastards, who we featured in our Protest T-Shirts book. Also brilliant to meet some of the photographers from the new book including Sam Martin, who took the photos of Cut Up Collective that appear in there. Was also really great to see Ricky from Shop, a really interesting space/design agency in Nottingham, which will be stocking our books. Thanks Ricky for making it down from Nottingham to see us (sorry that the drinks had run out by then!).
The one person I wished could have been there who couldn't make it (bit too far to come from San Francisco) was Glenn Arango, the photographer whose collection of fantastic street art photos made the whole book possible.
Thank you to everyone who helped on the night, Havana Club for being our drinks sponsor (Havana Club Anejo Especial and Ginger Ale is my new favourite drink), to everyone who came down to support us and everyone who bought a book! (if you didn't make it down/get a copy on the night, you can buy yours from here)
Also huge thanks to Pure Evil for the brilliant venue, I couldn't imagine a better location for the launch. There is a great exhibition of Pure Evil's work on there at the moment as well, which is well worth checking out. If you aren't in London you can see it on the gallery website, which has a 360 degree tour of the gallery – almost as good as being there!
Thanks also to Christopher Fleming, who took the photos of New York in the Street Artists book, for the amazing photos he took of the night - you can see the full set in a slideshow here and some below...
Such a good night, thanks to everyone again, wish I could have one every week...
Ellie x
Found these two pictures I took on Kingsland Road back in July...not sure who this is by but really like it...
I went to the opening of the new Mode 2 show 'Reality, Fantasy and the Web' at Lazarides Newcastle when I was back at home last week. The work was chalk and pastel drawings (mainly erotic portraits of women) which had been drawn on-site on flattened cardboard boxes stuck up around the downstairs walls of the gallery. The Lazarides site says Mode was recently made artist in residence at Coco de Mer, where he paints customers from a cubbyhole in the changing rooms (with their permission, thankfully) and the drawings on display here had that voyeuristic feel to them. I also liked Mode's pencil drawings upstairs, which haven't been exhibited before.
While I was there I bumped into the guys from Prefab 77, who appear in our new book Street Artists: The Complete Guide – had the first copy of the book back from the printers so showed them it and they seemed pleased – they said they would order 1000 copies for their shop Electrik Sheep! (don't worry guys won't hold you to that...)
Here is one of the Prefab spreads in the book (showing the huge screenprinted piece they pasted up on the side of The Ship Inn, Byker, Newcastle in 2008):
There is a Seb Lester show currently on at the Electrik Sheep gallery which you can see on the shop's new flickr page here. Mode 2 had been to the opening for that the week before...who needs Shoreditch, its all about the Toon: maybe Newcastle could be the next street art destination...
Here are some photos of our new book, Street Artists: The Complete Guide on press in Lisbon, Portugal. Have been working on it with Glenn (Arango) the book's main photographer for over a year, so its very exciting to see it finished! The book will be on sale on our website and in shops soon, keep checking for updates...
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