Queueing for three hours (Tour Paris 13)

Last day in Paris. After a lazy morning, I arrived at Tour Paris 13. Tour Paris 13 is an abandoned apartment block in Paris 13th district by the river Seine. At arrival I saw the big crowd outside the building queueing for entrance. It's a grey and cold Sunday in October and I find my place in the queue.

Tour Paris 13 on the quai d'Austerlitz. Calligraffiti by eL Seed

Tour Paris 13 is an unique exhibition for street art. About hundred international artists have used seven months to paint the building and apartments inside. 4500 square meeters over 9 floors. I would really like to see this.

piece by Tore

The queue moved really slowly and I got to know that they only let 45 people inside at the time. After 1 hour I had just moved some meters.

Dan23 portrait and Elseed Calligraffiti

The organisers believes it is the largest temporary street art and graffiti project of its kind and open for one month, October 2013. The building is planned to be demolished by the end of the year, but there are still people who refuse to move out. After two hours in line, I was starting to loose hope. Two hours to closing time and people around was restless. We began to think that this would not go. Some left, but I decided to stay for a while more. This was my last opportunity to see this during my visit to Paris this time.

After three hours it was beginning to get dark and it began to rain. A security person came by and told that we would not be able to enter before closing time. We were wet, cold and hungry and I realized that I would never see this exhibition inside. I was really disapointed. Can't be lucky every time. I had a good time in the line and learned something important: The project and street art is way more popular than I had anticipated, and I have to plan more carefully around this next time.

Mona Lisa by Inti

Relaxing on fron of a piece by Kazar

Raiden by STeW

After a while the crowd dissolved and many went dissapointed home that evening. I got a feeling of the project at least and took photos of the works outside.

Sorry! We're closed today! (Nuart 2013 Inside)

DAL east (Tou Scene 2013)

While doing some work in the area, I decided to visit Nuart 2013 at Tou Scene in Stavanger. When I arrived the doors were closed and a sign that could tell it was closed on Mondays. "Fuck!" I went up to the administation office and begged on my knees to have a look. Well, I didn't actually beg on my knees, but said that I had travelled far to see the exhibition (that was true). A kind person said "Well we have to open it for you then" I took me to the old halls of the old brewery open the gate, turned on all the lights and said "enjoy". I was left alone in the in the huge halls made of concrete with all the art made by the best street art artists in the world.

Hush (Tou Scene 2013)

C215 / Christian Guemy (Tou Scene 2013)

Tou Scene and the old brewery halls are a good venue for Street Art. The place is unpolished with dark concrete halls.  The space is limited and the artists really have to think about how to use it.

Faith47 (Tou Scene 2013)

 Nuart 2013 is inspired by Italo Calvino's book 'Invisible Cities'. The book is a masterpiece and very poetic with small chapters on Cities & Memory, Cities & Desire and Cities & Signs.. and so on. The novel begins with an imaginary meeting between the great mongol Kublai Khan and the traveller Marco Polo: "Kublai Khan does not necessarily beleive everything Marco Polo says when he describes the cities visited on his expeditions, but the emperor of the Tartars does continue listening to the young Venetian with greater attention and curiousity than he shows any other messenger or explorer of his"

m-city (Tou Scene 2013)

Nuart festival in Stavanger is known world wide. News and Pictures from the festival is spread by internet (newspapers and blogs) to street art and art lovers. The works have high quality and show the latest developments in street art and fresh works of street art based artists.

Ernest Zacharevic (Tou Scene 2013)

I enjoyed Ernest Zacharevic's works both inside and outside. Ernest Zacharevic (from LIthuania) became know for his street art work in Malaysia, where he created interactive murals in the streets. His works at nuart (both inside and outside) were great. Visit his webpage to see more of his works.

AIKO (Tou Scene 2013)

I had a nice time wandering around in the huge empty gallery in Stavanger and thanked nuart for their generosity towards me, and I went outside to see the works around in town.......

DotDotDot (Tou Scene 2013)

I call him Bansky!

- Hey!! Do you know who did this?
- Eh?
- I met the guy who did this, I own the building!
- It's DOLK!
- Yeah, he is a mystery guy Ah? Just like Bansky.
- Mm... Banksy
-  Whatever! Where u from?
- Norway! Just like DOLK
- And u come all the way from Norway to see this?
- Eh.. yeah! And New York of course!
- Tell Dolk that I keep his work there for at least 50 years, yes forever!
- Well... I probably never meet him....but you have to keep his work, that's a good thing!
- Yeah! And when I meet Banksy, I will call him Bansky
-Ok!

The owner starts up his car and I shoot some more photos. This piece of work outside is just awesome and location is perfect. I'm in East Williamsburg, New York City. I'ts September and the weather is still warm.

The streets of New York are incredibly long and I have walked around for hours and my feets are hurting. But I don't care because it's so much to see, to take in and discover.

Williamsburg is one of Brooklyn's most exciting neighborhoods and straddles old and new, commerce and alternative. It's a lively arts and music scene here and numerous small galleries, cafes and restaurants.

I rest my legs at a gallery/cafe/music venue and soak up the creative energy.

I love Dolk Outside! And finding this piece made my day. As far as I know Its the only Dolk piece left (outside) in Brooklyn and goes back to 2010.

Wildlife

A classic black and white stencil, a colored one and a toy version. One collector bought them all.

Dolk have moved inside. It's cosy and warm to see his works on a white wall in well a organized environment like the gallery. However, maybe freezing and wet, it's quite extraordinary and unique to gaze his illegal works otside. The works outside do not belong to anyone. It's for all and it is free. Outside is more wild and exiting. In a interview with local press Dolk says that he does'nt do illegal works anymore, but also states that he everyday sees walls around in town that he would like to paint. So there is hope.

Did Dolk kill street art with this piece?

 The "Wildlife" exhibition is regarded as the most successful exhibition in Bergen ever, by public interest and economically. Almost all the works were sold before the doors opened. About 30 000 to 50 000 dollars for each piece.

Classical cu

t outs by Dolk All three of them originally done illegal in Bergen

A new development in Dolk's art is installations. He exhibits two pieces this time. "Puppy Love" and "Goldrush".

"Puppy love" was originally made as a stencil. R2D2 is mounted by a dog (or wolf)

"Goldrush" is a wild bull crushing slot machines

I still think that Dolk's art is best outside, best as street art. The exhibition is interesting because it shows some developments in his art and and style. I think the figures or motives in newer pieces is more "seriocomical" now than before. I think earlier pieces was more warmer, and sometimes just clever and witty.

This piece is named "Dear Flasher" and was bought by a russian collector

This work is called "3D"

I'm was not suprised by this exhibition. I smiled a bit, but did not laugh. I reflected on some of the works, but they did not make me puzzled. And I was not excited.

Framed Dagger!

The piece isn't signed, but it smells argus!

A funny street art peace popped up in town yesterday. A framed "golden dagger"! The norwegian word for dagger is "Dolk". Dolk is in town and has his first solo show in Bergen called "Wildlife" at Gallery S.E. It's worth a visit. Dolk is showing original stencil works on canvas and a couple of installations. I think that Dolk found a nice venue for marking his 10 year anniversary. News can tell that he has sold for about one million dollars on his first solo show in Bergen. Hence, the "golden dagger".

Dolk "Wildlife" exhibition at Gallery S.E

Street Art is Dead...?

Sever - Street Art Funeral. Picture by Jsinghur

It's some time now since Sever made this piece in Detroit. I've been thinking some time about this piece since I saw it on the net some months ago. What do Sever wants to tell us with this. All the figures in the piece, Shepard Fairey (Obeygiant), Os Gemeos, Twist (Barry McGee), Banksy, Futura and Kaws are artists that began their career doing illegal graffiti and street art. Now, they are recognized artists doing gallery exhibitions, sell prints and merchandise, and do commissioned work around the world. Their works are sold for huge figures on art auctions. They have a commercial market value and have become part of the establishment.

 If street art is dead, it refers to a certain opinion or notion about what street art was and how it died, And yet, It's quite difficult to find a common understanding of what street art is or was.

We could think of Street Art in a broad sense as art in different genres made outside (in the streets) and free for the public to see. Then we would have to include art genres as graffiti in all its forms, murals, sculptures, performances, installations, music, dance, literature etc. One criteria could probably be that you could distinguish these works from business signs, commercials and event posters. This definition does not distinguish between public art placed or organized by officials or legally by private interests and art work which is done spontaneous or illegally in the streets. With this definition we could say that Street Art is still alive, even if time have made the boundaries between public and private interests, commercial and non-commercial art, and legal and illegal art more blurred and unclear. So, when Os Gemeos paints a huge wall legally in Boston on commission (which may or may not be paid), it's regarded as Street Art because it's in a public space and free and for everybody to see.

Another way to look at it, is to see Street Art as part of the Graffiti movement, a culture, which started in US, France and UK in the late 70's together with rap music, punk music and politically radical communities. It was illegal, anti-commercial, subversive, political and regarded as underground activity and vandalism by the officials and the establishment. In the 80's and 90's the culture grew, expanded and differentiated into a multivariate of styles, technics and inspirations. New York based train painters influenced kids in Europe, and French stencil makers gave ideas to US and Australian artists and so on. The graffiti and street art culture became international, but also divided into subcultures with different "rules" and views on what their work was about. During the 2000s, the globalization of graffiti and street art have continued and the respective subcultures too. When these subcultures clash, they are referred to as "Graffiti War.” I think Sever's work in Detroit must be seen as a comment on the parts of the street art culture that have been commercialized, and that the main representatives (the coffin carriers) are ruining, in his view, what street art is about, the spirit and values.

The situation is confusing because today, the same "vandal" can be exhibited in a famous art institution in L.A., and arrested for vandalism in another state or country; A stencil piece raising awareness about child labour made illegally on a wall in North-East London, can be removed and sold on a art auction in America for more than a million dollars; President Obama have a street art print in the White House presented to him by the conservative prime minister in UK made by an artist who have been arrested and fined several times for vandalism.

In this view, the street art culture may not be dead yet, but the idea of a street art movement is deconstructed and transferred into a pop culture with present "street-art-stars" which travel the world. The public follows and everybody with an artistic talent wants be like them. The visited city gets free publicity on internet worth millions. Organised street art festivals around the world even use the word "Line up" when they refer to which artists that will be presenting their works.  When "the biggest of them all" Banksy is asked: "Why are you such a sell out?" His answer is "I wish I had a pound for every time someone asked me that."

Street Art in Malaga and introducing Dadi Dreucol

A disney like mural with easter island statues

Malaga is the birthplace of Pablo Picasso, probably the most influential artist of the 20th century. Picasso was a painter, sculptor, printmaker, ceramicist, stage designer and a street artist. In 1937 he painted a wall in Guernica as a protest against the german bombing of the city and the coming of General Franco's dictatorship. It's an amazing mural. And if you ever go to Malaga, please visit the beautiful Picasso museum. 

The beautiful patio of the Picasso Museum

Nowadays the andalusian city Malaga is not known for street art, but when you walk around, you see murals and shutter paintings. Small shops and cafés often use murals and paintings  as part of their public image. In addition, as all cities of some size, there are graffiti artists and writers around, using the spray cans with varied skills and experience.  An artist who signed  the works with "Doger" was of the high quality kinds.

True Love by Doger

Dadi Dreucol

However, there was some quite interesting and original stuff in the streets I hadn't seen before. The style reminded me of Escif, the more internationally known brother from Valencia. Dadi Dreucol is from Malaga, but lives and study art in Valencia at the time. In the near future, we probably will see his works in all major street art cities in Europe.

He has a funny/serious characteristic style and go to his web page to see more of his works

DOLK 10 years! From vandal to artist

From illegal street art to high priced prints

Dolk began as street artist in Bergen in 2003 and according to an interview done in 2004, he had clear goals with his work: To travel the world and make money from his art. That goal is reached. He sells prints through hand made posters (hmp) where most works are priced about 900 pounds and most works are sold out. These works goes on ebay for way higher prices. Dolk have gallery exhibitions and are invited to major international street art festivals and do commissioned works all over the world. Dolk have been and is a success story.

His break trough as a stencil artist was probably when Dolk participated at "Santa's Ghetto" festival in London in 2006 (Invited by Banksy). At the same time, this probably also ends his underground image as a vandal, doing illegal works in the streets.

There are not many illegal pieces from Dolk left, and Bergen is probably still the only place where you can find early illegal works by Dolk.

Dolk in Sandviken Bergen (photo 2011)

"Crush" by Dolk in Skottegaten, Bergen (Photo 2011)

Ghetto Spedalsk (Lofoten 2008)

One of Dolks most remarkable projects so far is Ghetto Spedalsk together with Pøbel in the rural area of Lofoten, Norway. They began to paint abandoned houses in 2008 and have continued to do so every summer. This project brought attention to the depopulation and decay in rural parts of Norway and is nationally and internationally recognised. These art works are as far away from their urban roots as possible. I have not been in the Lofoten area my self and is high on my "things to do list". See some works in Lofoten here and on Dolk's own webpage here.

Dolk vs. Banksy

Back in 2004, Dolk formulated another goal in his interview: To "crush" Banksy. Well, that goal still seems far fetched. Banksy was (and may still be) Dolk's idol and hero and influenced Dolk's stecil style early on. Dolk, as Banksy, have still kept his identity a secret and people mix up works by the two artists. Banksy undoubtably helped Dolk's career by inviting Dolk to festivals in London and probably they are friends. Banksy is still the master of this game. While Dolk do commissioned work, sell prints and exhibit in galleries, Banksy still do illegal work in the streets, he makes books, films and action oriented art stunts. Banksy have kept his subversive tone and seems to be more a better organiser and creative to a larger extent than Dolk.

"The Winner" one of the latest works from Dolk. Made for Bergen Night Jazz, May 2013 (photo 2013)

Derelict and abandoned buildings: A good space for Street Art

FIRST TIME

I first visited the old paint manufacturer a gloomy dark evening in January more than a year ago. The IFA factory on Damsgård is abandoned and left to decline. Couriosity made me take a walk inside for a look.

All factory equipment was removed and big the naked halls was empty and dark. Just pipelines, steel doors and concrete columns was left. The "can artists" had been there! the place was sprayed down with graffiti works. It looked like a practice ground for the graffiti crews. Probably illegal, but not illegal enough to lead to prosecution or fines. Here they could work relatively peacefully and use time to develop their writing and use of color.

SECOND TIME

Second time visit to the abandoned buildings was quite a suprise! During easter time, local street artists had made an inside street art gallery in the old factory buildings. I piecefully walked around and looked at the works. 

It was lovely and the space was perfect!

THIRD TIME

My third time visit i found that most of the street art was tagged or destroyed by vandals with cans. A small scale "graffiti war". There is a conflict in the Bergen area between "spray vandals", between the ones that do street art in the form of figurative stencil and paste-up works and those who do more old time graffiti writing and marker writing. I think that the street artists had moved in to wrong territory this time.

At this moment they are tearing down the old factory building and the spray can vandals are gone. For a short time the abandoned building had served as a graffiti and street art gallery. I think abandoned and derelict buildings serves well as a presentation space for graffiti and street art. A kind of "popup gallery" for a limited time, curated by the street artists them selves.