ADW: Subversive Commercials

It's some time ago since I posted something from Dublin Ireland.  I think the works of  ADW represent the soul of street art; politically charged and opposition towards the power (financial, political and commercial). ADW is an activist and do illegal and legal works in the streets.

'Cop on' is Irish slang for 'Get real' or 'Wise up'

a comment on fake tan which give an orange look rather than brownish

An attack on dominating brands with huge financial resources and interests! 

ADW is clearly an admirer of Banksy and in an interview ADW says: “There’s French Banksys, Spanish Banksys. Banksy changed what art could mean, everyone could understand his artwork, that’s what I try to achieve too. In the wake of him a lot of good street art has come about.” He hopes that people see the difference, not least an Irish sense of humour in his pieces. ADW doesn't regard himself as just a street artist, a label he struggles with. “I hate to pigeon hole it, what I do is stencils. But I plan to keep pushing, printing forms, screen printing. I prefer to just say artist. Street art, urban art, various terms, it’s all art.” I like the works he has left in Dublin and hope yo see more when I go back.

Eluus: The dark side

I've seen only one work by Eelus. I found this piece in Dublin, and when I posted it on instagram the artist him self asked for the photo. Eelus moved to London when he was 22 and became fascinated by the street art scene in the Shoreditch area and began to make work in the streets him self.  He rapidly got a reputation for imagniative, dark and mystical stencils. Eelus in his own words: “I live in a different world to most people. A world that is crawling with hidden magic and strange creatures. There are dinosaurs and strange beasts within the centre of the Earth, Bigfoot is alive and well within the forests of many lands and the skies are full of beings from other worlds. There are gnomes in the mountains, secret bunkers in the desert, and always, ALWAYS monsters under the bed. From within this world, I love to paint, draw, photograph, write, watch, read, listen and most importantly, learn. My goal is to continue making a living from doing all these things I love and being creative in any way I can." Eelus doesn't do art in the streets anymore, but in his studio and exhibit in galleries.

Together with this post I choos "Both Sides Now" with Joni Mitchell (Click on the link or the 'play' button in the box below.

Conor Harrington: The old and the new

Conor Harrington, originally from Cork in Ireland, combines his graffiti background with his training in fine arts. A common theme in his works are conflicts within modern masculine identity in the urban environment. He lives and work in London and have gallery exhibitions and do street art work all over the world. The picture above I took in East London. Harrington's works are not common in the streets, but when you spot one, you'll get surprised and just know it's his work. Last summer he also did work in the north of Norway. You can see more of his work and projects on conorsaysboom. 

Conor Harrington in Dublin

Some years ago I was sitting on a city tour bus i Dublin and had just passed st. stephens green and in a blink of a moment I spotted a painting on a wall in distance. What was that? I jumped of on next stop and went back to have a closer look. It was a mural of a 18th century man sitting in a chair with a sword in his hand and a dead animal in front of him. "Pity!" I thought. "Why have they ruined it?" Well, first of all the the old time figure on the painting seemed misplaced in a modern urban environment. Second, maybe the mural just where old, a kind of sign, logo or commercial for a guest house of some sort, or.... a whiskey?. My next thought was: "Why ruin it in this manner? Didn't look like vandalism. Aha!.., maybe it's not finished. Yeah, It's an ongoing work..... Nah,...this blue colour didn't quite fit in as a grounding colour. Hm... maybe its supposed to be this way? My god! This piece is rare and brilliant!" I was quite astonished and looked at it for a while. A figurative and abstract post-modern piece. It changed my perception of street art as form and what kind of possibilities and themes which are possible to do in the streets. A socio-psychological theme about masculinity, the old and the new, the urban environment as a hunting field or a battleground for archaic male figures. Harrington calls his work for 'post-graffiti'. I think Conor Harrington certainly takes street art in a new and interesting direction. The picture below (from London) is made together with Ronzo and made me laugh.

 Together with this piece I go for Gorillaz with 68 state. (Click on the link or the 'play' button in the box below).




 

Run: Spreading Colour in Cork

Run is an italian that thinks big is better, especially in a era when the mass communication from corporate advertisements are so massive everywhere.  Tags and wall writing graffiti are almost invisible in a busy visual environment. The street artist should create a contrast.  If the background is gray, Run will use as much colour as he can.

Run has created big murals all over the world and travel all the time. I ran into Run for the first time in Cork, Ireland. I love Cork and the area around and I'm always feel at home there. The fresh air from the sea, the green suroundings and the atmosphere is calm and easy. Maybe thats just on the surface, 'cause Cork is known as the "rebel city" (a name that originates from their support to the Yorks against the Lancasters)  and my friend in Cork says that they're still "rebels", nowadays against the more influential big brother Dublin and Corkians refer to their city as "the real capital".

The city is divided by the river Lee and it was on a walk along the canal i discovered these strange figures and human like wall paintings. Like Run him self, the figure on the photo spreads colours from his hand. His style is unique and easy recognizable by the way he paints faces and hands. His figures are colurful and supernatural. Run have his own motivation for painting and says in an interview: "Let’s just say that I paint because I want to travel.  There’s no better thing than to see another country and culture and possibly work during the trip.  If I can keep my travel wheel spinning that’s enough for me to be happy". I think that's a really good idea. Run is hard to reach. but have his own website for for followers who wants to know whats going on, here. Fairport Convention with "Who Knows where The Time Goes" follows this post (click on the link or the "play" button below to listen).

Steve Powers: A love story in the streets

In 2008 Steve Powers also known as ESPO spent about six months in Ireland, in Dublin and Belfast. Steve Powers is from Philadalphia US, and have a history of being a notorious graffiti maker and a writer (one who makes tags). In 1994 he moved to New York and became infamous for painting his signature boxy letters in daylight on shuttered storefronts. His work led to his apartment being raided by the police’s vandals squad in 1999. With six felony charges in Manhattan and Brooklyn for criminal mischief, he eventually accepted a plea deal in which he did five days of community service. In an interview Steve Powers explained his decision to stop painting illegally: “I wanted to find a way to grow out of it while succeeding at being creative.”

In 2008 he was granted a fulbright. His idea was to create public artwork with the help of teenagers from troubled housing projects in Dublin and Belfast. The theme was " a love story in the streets". The fulbright primarily go to scholars and professionals who go abroad to pursue research and teach in academic and specialized fields. Thirty-seven Fulbright winners have also received Nobel Prizes.

“I was shocked,” Steve Powers said in an interview; “I didn’t think I would get it but I felt a few feet taller when I did.” Although a Fulbright scholar typically must have a doctorate, Steve Powers, an art school dropout, was granted an exception because of his achievement in the arts.

I first heard about Steve Powers when I saw the documentary film "Beautiful Loosers" and fell in love with him and his hair he he. A lovely personality and brimful of creative ideas. I took the photos in this blog in Dublin on a nice an windy nice afternoon together with my daughter (she is found of street art). 

Visit the online home of Stephen Powers and the ICY Sign mechanics here. Together with this I choose the song "Overkill" from the scottish born artist Colin Hay, known from the band "men at work". (Click on the link or the "play" button in the box below to listen).

A special visit! Mount Melleray Abbey

Mount Melleray Abbey is situated in the county of Waterford in Ireland and was founded in the year 1833. My friend took me for a drive to this place yesterday and in the middle of February the air was mild and the fields still green. The Abbey is on the southern slopes of the Knocklemealdown mountains, around five miles from the borders of Tipperary! The landscape is mild and beautiful as we see the big, light grey cathedral.

It was a quite day and inside there were no other people than us. The monks of Mount Melleray are members of the Cistercian or Trappist Order, an Order of the Benedictine family, founded at Citeaux in France in 1098.

Constitution 7 says:"In the Cistercian Order of the Strict Observance the way of life is consecration to God expressed in fraternal union, solitude and silence, in prayer, work and a disciplined life". My friend tells me that she visited this place often as a child. Now, I became curious! Why? They visited her grand uncle who was a monk at the abbey and further her father was a monk at the abbey, but decided to leave the Monk Order at 23 to start a family. So this is a special place for you, I replied! Yes, she said and told me a facinating story about her grand uncle and her father, once a Monk.

The confession boxes looked rather scary I think, and it was a strange thing to sit in one! A poster invited me to stay and live with the community and actually stay for life as a monk. I could stay for a while, but at this point, certainly not for life.

My friend tells me that at one point there where so many as 700 monks at the Abbey, and they were self sufficient with food, equipment and even had their own power station. They had huge land areas, animals and crafts. It's said that they put food in a certain box for the beggars and poor, and the box never got empty.

Its a special place for my friend, and all her stories made it a special day for me.