It’s always great to see old friends get some shine. Mario Desa and I used to trade back and forth drawing skate deck graphics and then graffiti from middle school through high school. His skills were always on point and blew me out of the water. He’s been tattooing now for awhile (at Great Lakes Tattoo) but just worked with 1xRun to drop a brand new print and as to be expected, it’s dope. Scoop it up quick cuz it’s on the cheap and in an edition of only 50 (as of this writing half have already been sold).

Get yours, here.

(All photos from GoddoG’s Flickr)

Dave Kinsey was pretty hot on the graffiti/street art/blah blah scene a few years ago with his gestural portraits with blasts of color (similar/different from Doze Green). His style was pretty instantly recognizable for better or worse, it was great but I was also unsure how he’d progress and push it further. He’s been seemingly laying low for awhile but now he’s back with an opening thursday, December 13th at the Joshua Liner Gallery in nyc. FecalFace has a little sneak peak and Kinsey’s new work looks kinetically awesome, it’s great to see he’s still putting out such dynamic work. Check out more @ FecalFace.

Apparently, after painting the following mural on a Sunday the owner had a change of heart and buffed it by Tuesday. Had they been smart they would have chopped up the wall, sold it at auction, and retired millionaires. Anyway, check for a few more flicks after the jump. Big ups to the Hawaiians that decorated the then buffed wall with signs and spray paint of thank you and apology. And of course, follow Choe’s always entertaining Blawg (images are from Choe’s site).

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But alas Hawaii he did some other art (and play) while there.

Enter their art collabo with Sophia Chang. She tackles the Bun Bao experience with a perfect combination of cute and hardcore, taking the bun and spittin out  a hip hop pun. I’ll let her work speak for itself…with assistance by the lyrics of Action Bronson, Tribe Called Quest, Camron, Juelz Santana, and more.

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“Our families came on boats, but now we on a space ship, fuck with us.”

-BaoHaus

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Brooks Golden, painted an owl on the 16 Street wall beneath the railroad tracks near Paulina. Chicago Alderman Danny Solis, is stepping up a campaign to use public art to combat crime and graffiti. Wednesday, August 22, 2012 | Scott Stewart~Sun Times

Great to see the Sun-Times give some space to a great artist, Brooks Golden, and a great idea by Ald. Danny Solis. I know, it’s crazy to think public art would contribute to a higher quality of life. I use to chill with Brooks during high school and he was always pushing creativity and positivity and going for yours. The man deserves his props.

Read the whole article at the Sun-Times.

“Here’s a look at the process Kid Zoom, the Australian born, New York based artist, and his slightly insane cat go through with a painting, start to finish.” - Kingbrown Magazine

KID ZOOM process from KINGBROWN Magazine on Vimeo.

The Two Sisters

Mr. Wiley is back with the same style, different subject. Some may have said “Okay, his portraits are epic and novel in the treatment of their subject matter and decorative background, but where does he go from here?” (I said this, I wasn’t sure how he could move on or what his next step would be w/o being redundant.) Well, it was one of those obvious ones, instead of doing classic portraits of men taken off the streets of Harlem, do them of men from around the world, such as the political hotbed of Israel and Palestine. Good, but still men and too similar. Boom. He goes back to the streets of nyc but flips the script and changes the subject matter to the female. The ladies get their due, their well deserved due. Enter, “An Economy of Grace,” his latest show at Sean Kelly Gallery in New York.

If you haven’t had a chance to see any of Kehinde Wiley’s work in person, do it. Like I said they really are epic and I mean that in the truest sense of the word not like “duuude, that burrito’s epic, bruh.” They’re enormous and overpowering in size and detail. I first saw his paintings at the Deitch Projects and being in a huge, open room with these massive paintings was awe-inspiring (couldn’t use awesome cuz I already used epic.)

Anyway, check out more coverage on “An Economy of Grace” over at OkayAfrica and at the Huffington Post.

And if you are unfamiliar with his work here are some examples of his previous paintings, and don’t forget these are like 106in. x 83in., that’s almost 10′ x 8′!-

I’ve had a crush on Maya Hayuk for a long time. It first started when I discovered her art through Barnstormers. For the longest time I had no idea what she even looked like but I didn’t need to cuz her work did something to me and made me a giggling little school boy. It’s been years and she continues to gift the world continuously with pieces of her explosive self, big and small (murals on barns to record covers for Savath & Savalas).

The Universe II

I was super stoked to see the awesome folks at Cinders Gallery make her the artist of the month and do an interview with her. They’ve done a tremendous job of giving support/exposure to true artists like Maya and others of her ilk.

"Cinders: what is your spirit animal? Maya: a chrome dolphin."

In the interview Maya succinctly sums up her work as “play.” Which is so true. But as simple as that is so is the complexity of her patterns and lines and color. As is the implicit meaning woven into her work, subtle, not having to scream “MESSAGE!” Politics and humanity are intrinsic without labeling itself “Political”, femininity is a presence without having to state the obvious. Cinders asks her about being a female artist and she puts into words what i’ve always felt-

Cinders: can you talk about being a female artist specifically?

Maya: well, as long as women still remain second class citizens in our society, we will be referred to as “female artists” and not simply as “artists” (which implies a white male normal). i mean, how many times are male artists asked “can you talk about being a male artist?”. until women are respected as equals and their rights to proper healthcare, education and equal pay are secured, we’re still going to be living in a broken society. this affects us all (male and female).

There is so much more to Maya than could ever fit in this little ol’ blog post and I claim no part of doing her any justice, so go read the INTERVIEW for another small glimpse into her psyche!!!

And check out-

Cinders Gallery.

MayaHayuk.com

She has also put out a book out with Upper Playground, Just Good Vibes, has a segment in The Run Up DVD and an awesome zine with Nieves, Round the Way (with a two disc soundtrack!)

(I’ve yet to meet her but I was really stoked when I got asked to contribute art to a group show based on The Pat Roberston & Friends Coloring Book and she was amongst the other artists)