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    “I & the ME” Group Exhibition at THE SHOPHOUSE in Hong Kong

    THE SHOPHOUSE gallery in Hong Kong is pleased to present group exhibition “I & the ME” by Anders Lindseth, Iabadiou Piko, Josh Reames,  Julian Watts, Kour Pour, Mahsa Tehrani, Osamu Kobayashi, Yves Scherer and Zhang Ji. Participating artists are invited to create two works, one representing “I”, the subjective side of the artists evaluating themselves. Another piece about “Me” – the objective side of themselves shaped by the market, exploring how artists rover around today’s art world.The exhibition is inspired by late 1800’s sociologist George Herbert Mead’s theory of self. Mead believes that the self is formed by the dynamic relations between the “I” and the “ME”. The “ME” is the others’ perspectives on ourselves – the “Objective part of self”. The “I” is the part of us that responds to these attitudes – the “Subjective part of self”.“The art world has radically transformed in the past thirty years, turning into a multibillion-dollar international industry. Artists and their career are becoming commanded by the market system, often packaged as a celebrity with unceasing output for the growing demand in consumer culture, sought after as profit generators of the commercial powerhouse. Would artists be affected in expressing themselves under such influence?”Scroll down below to view more photos from “I & the ME” exhibition. More

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    Discovering Banksy – Part 8

    British street artist Banksy has a career that has been marked by experimentation, risk, and a daring playfulness. His stencil-heavy motifs—of rats, cops, and kids with balloons—have simply become part of a shared cultural vocabulary, reproduced (and ripped off) with abandon.Banksy’s signature style emerged around the 1990s and became recognized around areas of Bristol. It was by the early 2000s that Banksy relocated to London. This is where he began to gain notoriety; but, at the same time, his international work took off.“Royal Guard Peeing on Wall” London, 2002Initially, he preferred drawing and producing freehand, but in 2000 he began using stencils, in part due to how quickly they may be produced. Scroll down below and view our selection of Banksy’s early stencil-works in around London.“Girl hugging TV” in Covent Garden, London, 2005Old Street, London, 2005East End, London, 2005Banksy’s CCTV’s in London, 2003Banksy’s Pooh Bear in London, 2003“Snorting Copper” by Banksy on Curtain Road, in Shoreditch, London, 2005Curtain Road, Londoin, 2004“Che Guevear” by Banksy in London, 2003Board X Urban Games, London, 2000Dalston, London back in 2003“Flower Thrower” in London, 2000Again, much like his other works, this simple image of “Flower Thrower” conveys a lot, in terms of his political commentary. By substituting flowers for a weapon, it’s as if Banksy is sending a message that there can be peace and hope, even in places where there is a lot of destruction. More

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    “BTC Flower Vs Elon” by Ludo in Paris, France

    French street artist Ludo recently worked on a striking new piece in Paris. Entitled “BTC Flower Vs Elon”, this crypto-currency mural features Ludo’s iconic Bitcoin flower with a tombstone of billionaire tech mogul Elon Musk.We all know (even Elon) that Lithium-ion batteries are needed to make our electronic devices work, and the batteries use rare mineral cobalt. This is a very precious mineral, with over 60% of world production originating in the Democratic Republic of Congo. In this country and others, it is still estimated that some 40,000 children have to work in these mines to collect this mineral instead of going to school, playing or simply experiencing childhood.According to an Amnesty International report, children work for at least 12 hours a day without protective equipment in deep underground shafts around 10 metres long, which they have often dug themselves, putting their lives in danger. This is what we create to make sure our electric tools and hybrid vehicles are always fully charged.“BTC Flower Vs Elon” is available as a unique NFT original work on Foundation later this afternoon (May 19th, 6pm CET)Proceeds from the sale will be donated to Pure Earth. Pure Earth works in highly polluted locations in the developing world with the intent of mitigating human health risks from pollution. They identify toxic hot spots and teach communities how to improve soil, water and air quality with cost effective solutions. Thanks to productive interventions, Pure Earth aim to reduce the impacts of toxic pollution on local communities. More

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    Roby Dwi Antono “Ranger Merah” Limited Edition Print – Available May 20th

    Indonesian artist Roby Dwi Antono have collaborated with ArtPort for his latest limited edition screenprint entitled “Ranger Merah”. In his print, a child with insidious eyes that somehow bleed innocence is portrayed with a dead dinosaur corpse behind her. She stands staring right back at the viewer, smugly wearing her prey’s head, holding the weapon with a sense of uncertainty washing over her face.Ranger Merah comes in an edition of 50 and measures 67 x 50 cm. The print is priced at 5,850 HK$.Ranger Merah will be available in May 20, 2020, Thursday 7PM HK Time (7AM NYC, 4AM LA, 9PM Melbourne, 12PM UK, 8PM Tokyo) at ArtPort website.Roby Dwi Antono is a visual artist mainly creating surrealistic paintings as well as sculptures and prints. His work opens a portal to another universe where spaceships, aliens, dinosaurs and creatures with humanly features come together. These surrealistic creations that once lived only in Dwi Antono’s imagination come to life in a new realm on his canvas.ArtPort is a publishing house established in 2020. ArtPort supplies limited high-quality editions and prints by artists from the new contemporary art wave. Created around the theme of travelling, ArtPort aims to have people on board, offering them a journey through the art world and an easy way to bring it to their homes. Each edition is a unique and exclusive collaboration between ArtPort and leading contemporary artists.Take a look below to view more photos of Ranger Merah screenprint. More

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    “Revenge Body” by Emma Stern at Carl Kostyál Gallery, London

    Carl Kostyál London is proud to present Revenge Body, Emma Stern’s first solo show with the gallery. The exhibition is open from 13th May to 12th June 2021.Borrowing from the visual vocabulary of online niche subcultures such as fursonas, fandom and 3D erotica, Stern plays with the quasi-pornographic representation of women in the virtual world, combining traditional painterly techniques such as monochromatic underpainting and chiaroscuro with virtual 3D programmes and modelling to create eerily anonymous, finely-worked ‘portraits’, reclaiming these man-made avatars for the female domain.“What my work is most critical of is the inherent inclination toward pornographic (or at least porn-adjacent) representations of women throughout cyberspace. As our virtual selves become ever-more inextricable from our physical selves, I’m interested in how the preferences of the programmers are imposed on virtual female bodies within the largely male-dominated arena of software and technology.” – Emma Stern in conversation with Evan Malachosky, Cool Hunting, 2019.“There are recurring female archetypes that appear all throughout history but are especially pronounced in the world of 3d fandom and pornography: the cheerleader, the cowgirl, the pin-up girl, the bimbo, the secretary, the girl next door… and then when you start involving all these niche internet/gamer subcultures, you get these fantasy elements and wind up with the slutty elf, sexy centaur, the warrior princess and so on. All these characters are recognisable even if you’ve never seen them before, so they have their own narratives in a way, because they are archetypal.” –Emma Stern, De:Formal, 2020.Emma Stern (b. 1992) lives and works in Brooklyn, New York. She holds a BFA from Pratt Institute’s School of Painting. Her recent solo shows include ‘Slow Fade’, The Newsstand Project, Los Angeles (2020); ‘Works’, Jorge Andrew Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2017); ‘Tabs’, Stream Gallery, Brooklyn, NY (2015). Stern has an upcoming solo show at Carl Kostyál, Stockholm in November 2021.Recent group shows include ‘Stockholm Sessions’, Carl Kostyál, Stockholm (2021); ‘Resting Point of Accommodation’, Almine Rech, Brussels (2021); ‘The Artist is Online’, Konig Gallery, Berlin (2021); ‘Friend Zone’, Half Gallery, New York (2021); ‘06’, PM/AM, London (2020); ‘Escapism’, Meredith Rosen Gallery, New York (2020) and ‘American Woman’, Allouche Benias Gallery, Athens, Greece (2020).Check out below for more images of “Revenge Body”Fiona, 2020. 3D printed PLA plastic, pearlescent acrylic enamel paint, clearcoat laquer.Erowid + Emily, 2020. Oil on canvas.Gabbi (Flexing) 2, 2020. Oil on canvas.Nina, 2020. Oil on canvas.Jess 2, 2020. Oil on canvas.Emily and Fiona 1, 2020. Oil on canvas. More

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    “Botanica Resistente” by ETNIK in Rome, Italy

    Recently, the urban artist ETNIK, flanked by Mirko Pierri, curator of urban art for the a.DNA association, was finally able to start transforming the facade of the Liceo Scientifico Statale Francesco D’Assisi, between via Castore Durante e Viale Palmiro Togliatti, in Rome. The work, entitled “Botanica Resistente” was created in the days around April 25th, the “Liberation Day” in Italy, which commemorates the end of the Nazi’s occupation and the liberation from Fascism.The title refers to the original name of Viale Palmiro Togliatti which, until about 1979, was known as Viale della Botanica. A direct reference, therefore, to the toponymy that characterizes the whole district of Centocelle with its streets named after plants, trees, and flowers. Etnik’s work is undoubtedly based on the irremediable antithesis between architecture and nature: in the mural concrete blocks, asphalt and artificial works succumb to natural elements, giving life to a slow but gradual reconquest of spaces taken from nature. But “Botanica Resistente” has multiple readings.Those plants and flowers represented by the Italian urban artist, known and respected all over the world, also want to symbolize the ability to react of the inhabitants of Centocelle after the fires at La Pecora Elettrica, at the Baraka Bistrot, and other local shops in 2019. The symbolism used is a tribute to those who take action in their territories in defense of the common space for the dissemination of culture, inclusion, and social interaction. A feeling that is also the engine of the Uno, nessuno, Centocelle project. The light that is rekindled, the letters that thanks to the interaction come back to compose a collective story, culture as a tool.After five days of work in progress, the work is finished. Some hidden details are indirect references, such as the blank pages of suspended books. They are small dedications wanted by the artist, which can only be grasped by those who have lived in those places. “I wanted to symbolize a rebirth – explained Etnik – a breach in the concrete as a glimmer of possibilities to overcome this long dark period. The blank pages that I inserted in detail of the mural are still to be written – he concluded – a way to entice to leave negative events behind to move forward and write a better story.”The work is representative of familiar urban corners, on the border, where between asphalt and concrete, spontaneous plants are in a constant struggle for survival. “Living the streets to fight the social isolation and the speculative and criminal control of the neighborhood is necessary”, explained Mirko Pierri of a.DNA Project. “A similar work can and must support the inhabitants of the place that hosts it because telling about their actions enhances their constancy – he outlined – which is fundamental for the defense and survival of the identity of a territory”Check out below for more photos of “Botanica Resistente”. More

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    Discovering Banksy – Part 7

    Arguably the most controversial street artist in the world, the works of Banksy have become a subculture in their own right. Banksy’s works are well-known for being political and thought-provoking at the same time. The anti-establishment slant together with his creativity made him reach this level of popularity.Banksy is without doubt among the most gifted minds and has expressed his thoughts through his graffiti. Take a look below and enjoy these quotes and sayings by Banksy.“Do not punish yourself”, 2005Artwork from Los Angeles Series, 2003Japan, 2002Graffiti work in Los Angeles, USAMural done on Melrose Ave in Hollywood, California. It depicts the famous sidekick Robin with the quote “NO MORE HEROES”.Bristol, England, Late 90’sThis is a very obscure early Banksy stencils from the late 90s in Bristol. The text is paraphrasing a quote from the film director David Puttnam “Nowhere in the world will you find a statue of a critic, or the biography of a committee”.Early London, UK work, 2001Quote from Los Angeles show, 2006“Fame is a basic human right” Los Angeles, USA, 2006“You looked better on myspace” another work from Los Angeles, USA, 2006Early piece of Banksy from Glasgow, Scotland,“Lying to the police is never wrong”Banksys “The Bear and the Bee” in Kensington Park Road, LondonThis piece is found on the side of a trash container in Notting Hill, London.  It is a parody of a La Fontaine fable.“If you win the rat-race, you’re still a rat”London, United Kingdom, 2004A love poem by Banksy form Los Angeles show, 2006Last image is Banksy’ s take on romance injected with his kind of humour. More

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    James Prigoff, Who Documented Street Art, Dies at 93

    In thousands of pictures, Mr. Prigoff captured the often ephemeral but complex works that were once dismissed as vandalism.James Prigoff, who after beginning his career in business turned his attention to photography, documenting public murals and street art in thousands of pictures taken all over the world and helping to legitimize works once dismissed as vandalism, died on April 21 at his home in Sacramento, Calif. He was 93.His granddaughter Perri Prigoff confirmed his death.Mr. Prigoff was the author, with Henry Chalfant, of “Spraycan Art” (1987), a foundational book in the street-art field that featured more than 200 photographs of colorful, intricate artworks in rail tunnels, on buildings and elsewhere — not only in New York, then considered by many to be the epicenter of graffiti art, but also in Chicago, Los Angeles, Barcelona, London, Vienna and other cities. It included interviews with many of the artists and even captured some of them in the act of creating their work.The book sold hundreds of thousands of copies. Mr. Chalfant, in a phone interview, said a British newspaper had also given it a less financially rewarding distinction: It said “Spraycan Art” was the second-most-stolen book in London. (The most stolen book, Mr. Chalfant said, was the similar “Subway Art,” which he and Martha Cooper had published three years earlier.)“Spraycan Art” came out at a time when street art had grown fairly sophisticated but the artists who made it were still regarded by many as mere vandals. Mr. Prigoff, in subsequent books and in the talks he gave, argued otherwise.“‘Vandalism’ may be a matter of point of view, but it is clearly art,” he told The Press-Telegram of Long Beach, Calif., in 2007. “Museums and collectors buy it, corporations co-opt it, and it matches all the dictionary definitions of art.”“Spraycan Art,” written by Mr. Prigoff and Henry Chalfant and published in 1987, was a foundational book in the street-art field. Those who dismiss street art, he contended, are missing its significance. That was certainly the case for the Black artists he and Robin J. Dunitz documented in “Walls of Heritage, Walls of Pride: African American Murals” (2000), who were long marginalized by the white art elite, as was their culture.“Given limited access to the more formal art venues,” he wrote in the preface to that book, “African-American artists chose the streets and other public places to create images that challenged negative messages.”In a 1993 talk in Vancouver, British Columbia, he decried what he called a double standard in cities that continued to conduct a war on graffiti but allowed billboards for Camel cigarettes, with their images of Joe Camel.“You tell me what’s uglier,” he challenged the audience, “a wall of spray-can art or the cartoon character with the phallic face?”James Burton Prigoff was born on Oct. 29, 1927, in Queens. His father, Harold, was a mechanical engineer, and his mother, Fannie Bassin Prigoff, was a homemaker who the family said graduated from Syracuse Law School.Mr. Prigoff grew up in New Rochelle, N.Y., and graduated from New Rochelle High School at 16. He studied industrial engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, graduating in 1947. Among the positions he held in the business world were division president at Levi Strauss and senior vice president of the Sara Lee Corporation in Chicago.He first made headlines not for his photography, but for his squash playing. “Prigoff Triumphs in Squash Tennis; Beats Bacallao to Win 6th U.S. Title in 8 Years,” read one such headline in The New York Times in April 1967.“The Lion’s Den” (1982), by the street artist known simply as Lee.James PrigoffMr. Prigoff said that his interest in street art and public murals was piqued in the mid-1970s when he attended a lecture by Victor A. Sorell, an art historian who had been documenting the work of Hispanic street artists in Chicago.“I quickly found that documenting murals satisfied three interests that strongly motivated me,” he wrote in the preface to “Walls of Heritage.” “I enjoyed photography, I respected the community aspect of public art, and I had a strong concern for social and political justice — often the subject matter of street art.”Mr. Prigoff retired from the business world in 1987 and two years later settled in Sacramento. He continued to pursue his passion for photographing public murals of all kinds, sanctioned and otherwise.“Sometimes it takes a book to help us ‘see’ the artistic merit of places we drive or walk by daily,” Patricia Holt wrote in 1997 in The San Francisco Chronicle, reviewing “Painting the Towns: Murals of California,” an earlier Prigoff-Dunitz collaboration.Mr. Prigoff, who also photographed archaeological sites, viewed street art as part of a very long historical chain.“Go back thousands of years,” he told The San Diego Union-Tribune in 1995. “People have been writing their names in the damnedest places for so long.”One of his favorite cities for mural hunting was Philadelphia, and in 2015 he lent 1,500 images he had taken there to Mural Arts Philadelphia, where Steve Weinik, the digital archivist, has been working to create an archive of them.A work by the artist Futura 2000, photographed in 1986.James Prigoff“Jim was early to recognize the fact that graffiti is both legitimate art and ephemeral,” Mr. Weinik said by email. “He understood that the photograph was the record, and worked to document graffiti and murals at a time when virtually no one else recognized these things. His photography and his push to share it with the world helped to both preserve and validate the work.”Mr. Prigoff loved to travel, and he took pictures everywhere he went. One seemingly harmless picture landed him in hot water, and in a civil suit against the U.S. Department of Justice. In 2004 he was near Boston and took a photo of the so-called Rainbow Swash, a colorfully painted gas storage tank.“Private security guards filed a suspicious activity report on Mr. Prigoff simply because he photographed public art on a natural gas storage tank in the Boston area,” Hugh Handeyside, senior staff attorney for the National Security Project of the American Civil Liberties Union, said by email, “and F.B.I. agents later visited him at his home in Sacramento and questioned his neighbors about him.”Mr. Prigoff became one of several plaintiffs in a 2014 lawsuit against the Department of Justice contending that, in its zeal after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the government was overreaching in its definition of “suspicious activity.” The suit, Mr. Handeyside said, ultimately failed to change policy, but Mr. Prigoff thought the issue was important.“I lived through the McCarthy era,” he wrote of the incident, “so I know how false accusations, surveillance, and keeping files on innocent people can destroy their careers and lives.”Mr. Prigoff’s wife of 72 years, Arline Wyner Prigoff, died in 2018. He is survived by two sons, Wayne and Bruce; two daughters, Lynn Lidstone and Gail Nickerson; 11 grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.Mr. Chalfant said that Mr. Prigoff had just recently sent him images he had shot of Sacramento during the coronavirus pandemic.“He took pictures all around the city,” Mr. Chalfant said, “of the emptiness of it.” More