Best of Cave Gallery & "Street Art" Exhibit - Abbot Kinney, Venice, Ca

Dropped in to check-out Cave Gallery in Venice (CA) on our travels and were able to see the opening of the current "Street Art Saved My Life Show". ( It's up thru Sept. 4th) Lots of nice rough and ready art in the show and on the back walls as well. Here are some of our favorites, plus some detail shots for all you detail-oriented artists out there.

Front, street view of sculpture assemblage by, NohJColey

Back, NohJColey

Back detail, NohJColey

This great piece by NohJColey (above) was in the window and grabbed our attention with it's expressive gesture and weathered found-wood components.  Apparently the artist chains the components around street poles to create the finished sculpture.

The next pick (above) was a mixed media piece by Chris Stain,  really beckoning, titled "Give 'Em Hell".

Hoodys Kissing, Dan Witz

Detail, Dan Witz

This "Hoodys Kissing" piece by Dan Witz was the top pick of the current exhibit. Daring and emotive with a twisted feel of gay monks doing it. Dan's figurative works are all wonderful and this was no exception.

Another really fantastic piece - "Past, Present, Future" by El Sol 25.  (above)

The next picks were all from the gallery's current consignment inventory and were hung about in back or along the stairs. There were many stupendous works here, "stealing the show" so to speak. First up is "Give Me New Love, Where Did My Tree Go?" (below) by Josh Hart - just wonderful!

And a work by Paul Chatem, "The Disillusionist" (below). Paul's works really have to be seen in person, they have a carnival feel with his own signature color palette,  painted on cut-out pieces of wood. Such depth, dimension and detail are way to hard to capture in a flat foto.

Paul Chatem

Detail, Paul Chatem

Not sure who the artist is (or the title) on the piece below, but we loved it nonetheless. Drop an email if you know and we will credit it.

Unknown

Loved this stylish, red-headed and original critter by Megz Majewski, "Sunbathing At Sea" (below).

The masterpieces (in our humble opinion) of all the art we viewed at Cave were the two below, by the artist, Macsorro. These two just floored us with their surreal and imaginative imagery. Wow!

Pheramone by Macsorro

The Dissipation of Our Childhood Dreams by Macsorro

Herakut in Culver City

On our travels around Southern California in early August, we spotted these great murals by Herakut. They were wrapping the corner of a vacant building in Culver City (maybe Washington Blvd.?)  So glad to spot these, they made the day so much happier with their art! Love the emotive and drippy works by this duo, hope it gets to stay.... maybe a great spot for an art supply store?

Herakut Website

David Ball & Locals in "The City We Love" Exhibit

This Saturday, Aug. 13th - an all locals group show opens at 941 Geary-  "The City We Love." It has a large line up of great artists, predominantly all male, some of which we have blogged before. From the gallery site:

"The show is co-curated by Justin Giarla and local graffiti practitioner APEX, and features new work from artists actively engaged in San Francisco’s graffiti and street art culture. The opening reception is on Saturday, August 13, 2011 from 6- 

9 pm, and the exhibition is free and open to the public for viewing through September 3."

Featured here are the works of one of the artists, David Ball. His surreal narrative works are sure to be one of the highlights - beautiful collage and mixed media spectaculars. When we asked David about his technique process, here's what he shared with us : "Acrylic, collage, and colored pencil. It starts with abstract paint, then goes to collage. From there it alternates between acrylic and pencil with the occasional collage addition, as it makes sense." And a wondrous sense they all make!

For a wonderful video on David and his insightful, non-toxic thoughts on art, click here.

For some informative tips from David on his mixed media technique, click here for the interview by Argot & Ochre.

Robert Montgomery’s Inspiring Word Works

Robert describes himself as working within "a poetic and melancholic post-situationist tradition" and his billboard-style art often "hijacks" advertising space in the city to highlight the absurdity and complexity of modern life. He also made a series of “hijacked” neon signs and created desert sculptures using solar cells. “They are intended to be encountered by commuters who don’t know they are art and an attempt to describe in public space what it feels like to live now.”

LINK to Robert's Website

(Originally posted on the Eclectix homepage "BURN" Issue, August 2011,

 along with the permanent online exhibit of fire-related art, LINK HERE.)

Sneak Details and Preview Of "That Was Then, This is Now" at 111 MInna

Eclectix popped into 111 Minna Gallery this week and caught the new exhibit before it's opening reception tonight. One of our favorite artists, the esteemed Nathan Ota has all new works here in a collaboration. From the Minna site:

Tonight, 111 Minna Gallery proudly presents, “That Was Then, This Is Now.” The first major collaborative exhibition by Kelly Graval and Nathan Ota, aka RISK and COOZ, reunites these artists whose friendship began before they would respectfully become graffiti legends in the streets and revered artists in galleries and museums across the globe.

Took some photos of the works below - some are very cropped to show the fantastic detail and glow of the works. For all the complete images - go to the Minna site HERE.

Los Angeles Crimes Street Art

Happened upon this mural going up in LA, in the alley right across the street from Pink's Hot Dogs (Melrose and La Brea). The artists were busy working on it and what they had done was pretty cool. Not sure how the LA Times will feel about it, tho... Can't wait to see it finished.

Banksy Versus The Gray Ghost, A New Orleans Gallery

In New Orleans, the street artist known as Banksy has created more than a dozen murals around the city, including the one shown above. The murals depict a variety of scenes, including Abraham Lincoln as a homeless man pushing a basket, a marching band wearing gas masks, an old man in a rocking chair with an American flag below the words “No Loitering,” and a boy on a swing made out of a life preserver. According to a statement released by Banksy on Thursday, the murals were created in response to Fred Radtke, an antigraffiti campaigner also known as the Gray Ghost, who uses gray paint to cover up graffiti. The statement also said, “Three years after Katrina I wanted to make a statement about the state of the clean up operation.” - Via The New York Times
It's ironic that the anti-graffiti zealot Radtke is himself guilty of the crime he seems intent upon destroying. He even painted over a mural on someone's home who had commissioned the work! Nice to hear he got nailed for it, (below) - I mean would you rather see a blot of gray paint or a Banksy original on your city walls? I think he needs to get a life.

Radtke in action, Operation: Mean Sweep

"Radtke was sentenced to a 60-day suspended sentence for overpainting a graffiti-style mural on the corner of Press and Burgundy streets. Conditions of the suspension of the sentence include that he can no longer remove grafitti without first getting the property owner's OK. Radtke and members of his graffiti-eradication organization, Operation: Clean Sweep, were in the process of rolling gray paint over the colorful mural, when stopped by patrolling National Guardsmen, who took the Gray Ghost briefly into custody.The muralists had been given the go-ahead from the owners of the property to create the painting. Radtke, who is known as the Gray Ghost for the color of paint he uses to blot out graffiti around the city, had not obtained permission to destroy it." - Via Doug MacCash, The Times-Picayune 
Enjoy these pictures of Banksy's clever art, below, that may or may not still exist in New Orleans.

Crono Street Artists: Painting Portugal

Crono is a Portugese Urban Art project with the intention of pairing some of the best street artists with huge, beautiful (abandoned) buildings in Lisbon. The idea already has had a significant impact on the ‘look’ of the city and will continue to provide some amazing street art.

-Via LostAtEMinor