Wot you lookin at?…
As we reported earlier on Supertouch, downtown NYC-based street & gallery artist ESPO is currently living & working in Dublin, Ireland on a Fulbright Scholarship where he’s been keeping himself very busy steadily turning the city streets into a museum of his artistic handiwork. The past several weeks have been especially prolific with more giant pieces popping up at every turn. HAVE A LOOK:
One wouldn’t normally expect to find the world’s most Googled street artist lurking among the ruins of the lower ninth ward in NEW ORLEANS, but that’s just where renegade stencil artist BANKSY has been holed up for the past week, covering the desiccated city with art to commemorate the anniversary of KATRINA, the hurricane that killed 1800 people when it struck the coastal city in 2005. Said Banksy of the operation, “Three years after Katrina I wanted to make a statement about the state of the clean-up operation,” and attested that the city’s levee wall offered “the best painting surface in the state of Louisiana.” In the art world, timing is everything, and as the anonymous bomber wraps up his project, the city once again braces for the onslaught of an oncoming tropical storm. Hopefully, once residents realize what’s been painted on their doorstop, a quick sawsall session and a little eBay savvy will net them enough to build a mansion in the French Quarter. HAVE A LOOK:
On the eve of the opening of “Blood & Treasure,”TODD JAMES‘ solo exhibition of new war-themed paintings at the starmaking LAZARIDES GALLERY in London this Friday, August 29th, we sat down with the New York-based artist, animator, and new dad for an in-depth discussion on the state of the nation. And a bunch of art stuff too. READ ON:
With all the mainstream news outlets presenting the “official” view of the 29th OLYMPIC GAMES in Beijing (including computer-generated fireworks and lip-synching 6-year-old body doubles), Supertouch brings you a street level look at the real haps around town from the back alleys to the 798 Arts District, you won’t see anywhere else…
As we previously reported, New York artist STEVE POWERS (aka: ESPO) has been working on a torture-themed art project for a while now and in conjunction with CREATIVE TIME as part of its national public art initiative “Democracy in America: The National Campaign,” he’s just opened the Guantanamo Bay-themed “Waterboard Thrill Ride” on Coney Island in the shadow of the legendary Cyclone roller coaster and Nathan’s hot dog stand in an empty storefront on West 12th Street. When a dollar is fed into a machine standing outside Powers’ mock jail cell installation featuring paintings by the artist inside and out, viewers can climb a short flight of steps to peer through cell bars and view an animatronic torture scene of a hooded jailer pouring water down the throat of an orange jumpsuit wearing Gitmo detainee…
Bringing the low-fi art world of BEAUTIFUL LOSERS to the big screen with a full-length documentary on the movement is director and Losers mastermind AARON ROSE, who will debut the film in NYC this Friday, August 8th (aka: 08.08.08) at the IFC CENTER. Presented by NIKE SPORTSWEAR, the film chronicles the lives and creative process of artists including Shepard Fairey, Margaret Kilgallen, Mike Mills, Barry McGee, Jo Jackson, Chris Johanson, Harmony Korine, Stephen Powers, Geoff McFetridge, Thomas Campbell and Ed Templeton, among others, whose DIY attitudes informed the aesthetics and ethos of their generation….
J O'Shea/Editor
Shepard Fairey
Everlast
Dr Romanelli
Lupe Fiasco
Billy Gibbons
Christian Parkes
Davey Havok
Eric White
Erik Foss
Christian Hosoi
Josh Davis
Kenna
Mark Ryden
Masa/Three Tides
Sarah/Colette
Scott Campbell
Tim Biskup
WK Interact
Donny Miller
Lance Mountain
James Jean
Andy Cruz
Adam Glickman
Ron English
Jose Parla
D* Face
Eric Nakamura
Nathan Cabrera
Kostas Seremetis
Phil Frost
Kyle Ng
Suitman