BREAKING NEWS: Banksy’s Dismaland Confirmed

Dismaland

There have been murmurs for the past couple of weeks that a new Banksy show may be abound, but today it has been confirmed that it is happening in Weston-super-Mare, August 22-September 27, 2015.  Located on the Bristol Channel Coast of Somerset, England, Weston-super-Mare is, or was, a popular tourist destination with a population that is largely 65 or older.  Weston-super-Mare is also the title of a Banksy print from 2003, image of which is found below.

weston super mare

According to the website, you can expect to see work from many artists from all over the world, not just Banksy, including Polly Morgan, Josh Keyes, Paul Insect, Bast, Espo, and even Damien Hirst.  Tickets for guaranteed entry to the “amusement park” will be available starting Friday, London time, for only £3.  You can bet your dollar that I will be F5’ing all day to get my ticket. site2

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Visit Dismaland’s website [here] for more information.

 

ROA Paints in Townsville, Australia

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ROA painted three walls in Townsville, North Queensland, Australia, early last month, but all of the usual street art media have completely missed it.  Now that begs the obvious existential question in this Internet age of street art:  If no blogs report it then were the walls actually painted?

It looks like this Belgian muralist has once again done his research on the local animals.  ROA almost always paints animal species that are native to the country or city where the wall is located for greater engagement with the community.  In this case he has chosen a goanna holding his own tail as a whip, a turtle sitting atop a crocodile, and a sugar glider chained to a faucet.  Is the goanna a reference to legends of how it beat people by using its tail as a whip?  Is the turtle and crocodile an aboriginal totemic symbol?  Is the sugar glider a commentary on illegal pet trade?

The walls were commissioned by Townville’s city council as part of an initiative to guide the development of street art in the city.  I’m glad to see small cities like this investing in street artists’ livelihood and hopefully it will soon trickle down even to artists all over the world that aren’t as famous or popular as Roa.

Check the jump for more pictures gathered from around the web.

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David Choe and Mangchi Play @ Los Globos

Dave Choe's painted drum set
Dave Choe’s painted drum set

Mangchi, the twisted lovechild of David Choe (@davidchoe) and the musically talented members of the DVDASA family, namely Steve Lee (@quangou, on the vocals), Ashley Dzerigian (@heatherleather_, slapping the bass), legendary producer/music extraordinaire Money Mark (on the keys, guitar, etc), James Jean, (@jamesjeanart, on the keys) Dylan Fujioka (@farpomarx, on the drums), Eddie Kim (@denjahng, DJ), and new member unnamed violinist (if anyone knows her name, could you let me know?), played at Los Globos nightclub in Silverlake, Los Angeles, last night.  BDAB was in attendance, and it was everything that I would have expected from a Mangchi show.

Let me describe it this way:

99% male, 0.9% female, 0.1% unknown.  Hipsters, juggalos, goths, perennial hermits, Asians, hispanic, whites, blacks, rockers, ravers, 9-5ers, no-gooders.  Mosh pitting to country songs.  Screaming.  Sweating.  General sense of mayhem.  Good ol’ Mangchi.

Check the jump for more photos from the show.

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Shepard Fairey’s “Covert to Overt” Panel Discussion in LA

"Covert to Overt" by Shepard Fairey

The creative behind Obey Giant, Shepard Fairey, is releasing a new book titled “Covert to Overt” on October 6th, 2015.  It will features his outdoor murals, silkscreen prints, fine art, and mixed-media installations from post-Obama “HOPE” hype to now.

Coinciding with the book release is a live talk with Shepard Fairey at the Anne and Jerry Moss Theatre in Santa Monica on the same day as the book release.  You can purchase your ticket [here].

Thursday, Oct. 6th, 2015 @ 8:00PM

Anne and Jerry Moss Theatre
Herb Alpert Educational Village
New Roads School
3131 Olympic Boulevard
Santa Monica, CA 90404

BDAB will be in attendance at the event, so we hope to see you there.

If you would like to support BDAB AND purchase Shep’s new book, we have a convenient Amazon link [here].

Thank you.

Os Gemeos on Times Square August 1-31

The Brazilian twin street artists known as Os Gemeos (@osgemeos) announced this morning through their Instagram page that they have been tapped to bring animations of their colorful characters to Times Square billboard monitors.  The videos will begin at 11:57pm and end at midnight every night from August 1st to the 31st.

Titled “Parallel Connections”, this project will bring attention to their art, and indirectly to street art in general, to millions of casual New Yorkers and tourists alike that frequent the popular spot in Times Square.  This is big news!

If you’re in the area, make sure to stop by once.  If you do, please tag #bestdamnartblog on Instagram and hopefully we’ll feature your video.

Museum Visit: Vitality and Verve @ LBMA- Part Dos

"Untitled" by Meggs
“Untitled” by Meggs

As you walk up the stairs to the second floor of LBMA (@lbmaorg) to continue your tour of “Vitality and Verve: Transforming the Urban Landscape“, the first piece you will encounter is an untitled installation by Meggs (@houseofmeggs) of a familiar gun range target character bursting out the wall as if he had just shot a bullet through it.  If you look closely at the wall in person, you can see where Meggs plastered the wall to create this effect.  If you walk behind this wall, you will meet the gunman in full view, except now you will notice that he is in fact NOT holding a gun, but rather a spray can.  This is a huge distinction that I did not catch the first time I visited.

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Week 1: People to Follow on Instagram

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It’s no secret that bestdamnartblog.com is a huge fan of the photo-sharing app Instagram.  It is the only social media outlet in which we are active, and you will have noticed that we link to the Instagram pages of all artists covered in our posts.  Instagram became a natural gathering ground for collectors, artists, and gallerists alike due to it elegant and simple interface and obviously because of its relationship to the artistic endeavor of photography.

Every week we’ll try to bring you a group of 5 Instagram pages that you probably aren’t following yet that you should.  Read on to see the list.

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Museum Visit: Vitality and Verve @ LBMA- Part Uno

"Vitality and Verve" at the Long Beach Museum of Art
“Vitality and Verve” at the Long Beach Museum of Art

Art in the Streets” at MOCA, The Geffen Contemporary, in 2011 saw the beginning of museums opening their walls and exhibition space to the burgeoning street art community.  The who’s who of the international street art scene were present at that show, past and current.  We’re talking Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Kaws, Retna, Futura, Lee, Fab 5 Freddy, Os Gemeos, Barry McGee, Steve Espo Powers, Todd Reas James, Neckface, and these are just the artists off the top my head.  “Vitality and Verve” seem to be looking to tap this niche as well.

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Street Hunt: POW! WOW! Long Beach- Part Dos [UPDATE]

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We start off exactly where we left off last time, in Long Beach, CA.  I will admit that most of the artists below are new to me, but that is why events like Pow! Wow! Long Beach are so valuable to expand your horizon of artists that you were unfamiliar with prior.

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Street Hunt: POW! WOW! Long Beach- Part Uno

At the Varden Hotel on 4th and Pacific in Long Beach, CA

Street art purists bemoan the loss of ephemerality of sanctioned walls, that it no longer requires artists to employ stealth, speed, and creativity to complete a mural all while dodging law enforcement, and that it loses its impact of unexpectedly running into a powerful image in the street that wasn’t there the night before.  I can agree with that.  However, I think there’s still room for community participation in street art that invites casual observers to dive in headfirst to naturally grow the movement.

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