Artwork: Paste-up by OAKOAK, Paris, 2024
Another brilliant and funny paste-up by OAKOAK in France, subtitled with the quote by Ernest Hemingway “The only kind of writing is rewriting.” I can relate.
Sky fishing
Artwork: Shaun Tan, Never drop your jar, oil on canvas
The wonderful artist/illustrator Shaun Tan is currently featured in the exhibition Ten Years of Summer at Beinart Gallery in Melbourne, from 28 September to 20 October. Here’s one of Tan’s artworks in the exhibition, Never drop your jar, and his comment about the piece:
“Note the omnipresent crow, which owes something to the paintings of Australian artist Arthur Boyd, who often included a quiet animal observer of ‘secret’ human transgression. I grew up in Hillarys, a suburb of Perth dominated by ravens, always watching, calling out like something dying of thirst on the power lines. Also spent most of the summer fishing. As the younger and more inept brother, I was always dropping things into the inaccessible gaps between rocks, or otherwise needing help with a snag.”
I'm a star...
Artwork: Paste-ups by a collective of artists for Palestine, Can You See, for the 3 ° Festival Internacional de Paste Up Barcelona 2024, La Prosperitat September 21, 2024
Words written by a little boy in Gaza:
I’m a star
but there is
no sky
Everything Is Going To Be Alright
Artwork: Martin Creed, Work No. 3435: EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT, Braemar Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 2020
British artist Martin Creed first used the phrase “EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE ALRIGHT” in 1999, featured in various LED colours it has since cropped up in spaces all round the world. The message draws on advice given to him by a friend, and Creed says about its meaning to him, “No one can say everything is going to be alright, but despite that, many times in my life I have been very comforted by people saying something like that to me.” This iteration is from Braemar Castle, Aberdeenshire, Scotland, 2020.
JOY
Recently Nick Cave asked his audience at the Red Hand Files what brought them joy. Feeling at a low point, Nick wanted people to respond to this simple question and got flooded with answers! He said he’d post his favourites, but being so numerous he has created the “JOY” files instead. Here’s the link, JOY and I hope you find a glimmer of hope, laughter, resonance, and that this makes you smile. At the top of the list is one response that made me laugh outright, and made Nick cry apparently, “Golf”!
ERON
Artwork: ERON spray painting, Chiesa di San Martino in Riparata, Rimini, Italy
Love this image of Italian artist ERON (@eron_artist) spray painting birds on the wall and ceiling of Chiesa di San Martino in Riparotta, Rimini (Italy). Especially love his wings!
A Yoshitomo Nara Day
Be fierce…(recent drawing by Yoshitomo Nara in Toya, 2024).
That I did always love
Came across one of my favourite Emily Dickinson poems (written c.1862) yesterday and had to share:
Artwork: Wall mural by Kennyrandom (@kennyrandom), Padova, Italy, 2020
That I did always love
I bring thee Proof
That till I loved
I never lived—Enough—
That I shall love always—
I argue thee
That love is life—
And life hath Immortality—
This—dost thou doubt—
Then have I
Nothing to show
But Calvary—
(source: Emily Dickinson: The Complete Poems, Faber & Faber, 1960, p.267)
Tell a vision
Artwork: Mural by Huariu, Tell a vision, Bacău, Romania, 2024
Portuguese street artist Huariu (@huariu) has created a powerful mural for ZidArts Festival in Bacău, Romania titled Tell a vision. Huariu wrote this about the ideas behind the mural:
“Addressing the impact mass media has by compelling citizens to accept obvious falsehoods and the power to dictate what is real, to manipulate and oppress individual thought and perception. For this I have chosen to use George Orwell’s ‘2+2=5’ idea from one of the most banned books in history: ‘1984’. The little boy, mesmerised by the TVs, will soon forget how to play. Slowly killing his ability to imagine, he becomes more and more attached to screens. His understanding of the world will soon be shaped by these same screens.”
Gold Coast
Wonderful to listen to Ghanian-American singer, writer and multi-disciplinary artist Moses Sumney’s new EP Sophcore (2024). Sumney’s voice and poetic lyrics have always been a standout for me. One song hooked me in, Gold Coast, with its lush and layered sound; it’s a sensuous, hazy track with an edge of grit, an intimate story of intense attraction and surrender. Enjoy!
Banksy's back
Artwork: Stencil work by Banksy, Richmond, London, 2024
Banksy is back with a series of stencil works around London, the first is a mountain gazelle on a wall in Richmond, near the Thames River and Kew Bridge. It’s a black silhouette of a mountain gazelle, and many have noted it is the national animal of Palestine, and is also an endangered species. Simple, powerful and direct. However I’ve also come across Banksy’s “team” at his support organisation Pest Control Office, posting comments that the works are meant to provide amusement and emphasise the “human capacity for creative play” in opposition to destruction and negativity. Other animals to crop up have been monkeys, pelicans, a howling wolf and two elephants, a veritable menagerie. What I’ve always liked about Banksy is allowing the images to speak for themselves, with literally no discourse around the work’s creation. Make of them what you will!
peace
Artwork: By Kennyrandom, Padova, Italy, 2024
Always, peace…another poetic work from @kennyrandom.
small stories: no end
Artwork: Mural by Banksy, Bomb damage, Gaza, 2015
the bombs
keep coming
at first light
waiting in queues
when asleep
searching for food
carrying water
kicking a ball
catching a breath
the noise a terror
as if there is
no end
and we become
as though we are
nothing
© Angela Jooste
To reach for the moon
Artwork: Stencil by OAKOAK, To reach for the moon, 2024
Simply luminous…stencil artwork by OAKOAK (@oakoak_street_art).
How to Meet an Angel
Artwork: Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, How to Meet and Angel, Garage MCA, Moscow, 2019
Flight, escape, freedom—despite the impossibility of these conditions—are major themes of the Russian artists Ilya and Emilia Kabakov, and are evident in this most improbable yet hopeful installation, How to Meet an Angel. The Kabakovs are renowned for their immersive installations featuring drawing, architecture, painting, objects, books, models, and this particular outdoor installation features an assemblage of scaffolding supporting a ladder reaching into the sky, with a sculptural figure of a man with his arms reaching upwards. It is immensely strange and thought provoking: What is this about? What’s the story behind it?
Storytelling is a fundamental element of the Kabakov’s work as Emilia Kabakov has noted: “Storytelling makes people think and contemplate and it becomes not only about an image but about the content of the painting or installation. But narrative is what makes art work interactive. In a way, it is this interactive work that we are trying to implement into every artwork we create.” What seems to have inspired the creation of the work is the belief in angelic encounters, as the Kabakovs have stated: “An encounter with your angel in real life appears to be virtually impossible. But that is far from the truth. All that is necessary is to recall that this encounter can take place in extreme circumstances, and especially at critical moments in a person’s life. And, it is within our powers to create the situation for such an encounter.” In this story, the imagined extreme scenario is the ladder providing a testing situation that a person must ascend and be prepared to stay for two days: “However, once he is near the top he finds himself high above the clouds, alone within conditions of wind and inclement weather; he thus creates—it will absolutely arise—that crisis moment when, upon the request for urgent help, the appearance of an angel will turn out to be inevitable.”
Hope, imagination, fantasy, spirituality, possibility…all these elements underpin what is certainly an extraordinary creation, whatever you choose to believe. Central to this work is the human experience in such a story. As Emilia Kabakov summarized: “Our work is always about human conditions, fears, hopes and, most importantly, dreams. We try to create an utopia, ideas of paradise, imaginary cities, angels and that is why it is universally accepted and understood. Of course, it is important that all of our works are using the universal language of art.”
Please help me
Artwork: Mural of children in Gaza by Banksy, 2015
A young girl called Sarah from Gaza wrote these words on sheets of paper and filmed herself, slowly revealing all she’d lost:
I want my hand
I want my house
I want my school
I want to live in peace and freedom
I want to live my childhood
Please help me
Inhibitions
Massive track from Nox Vahn and Joseph Ray that was love at first listening and that I keep coming back to, Inhibitions. It came out a couple of years ago under the Anjunadeep label. Dark, cool and a real banger. Check it out!
Memories
Artwork: Mural by Millo, Nuart Festival, Aberdeen, Scotland, 2024
Stunning new mural from Millo in Aberdeen, Scotland, for the street art festival Nuart Aberdeen, featuring images from the city’s history and Millo’s own experiences that coalesce into a new moment in time.
Millo says of the work: “Having a life in constant movement made me understand how the memories of all these experiences is the biggest legacy. […] As the unwritten stories represented, so my wall is destined to fade away, both subject to time passing, both signs of living heritage.”
SWWAY
Japanese surfer Naomi Kobayashi has a cool effortless surf style that’s the major feature of this recently released short video shot in Mexico, SWWAY, by Make it smooth Productions. Opens with a great track by Populous & Emmanuelle, Flores No Mar. Check it out!
Sacrilege
Artwork: View of Jeremy Deller’s wall mural, A Good day for Cyclists, 2013, at the Venice Biennale, British Pavilion
In Jeremy Deller’s 2013 Venice Biennale exhibition in the British Pavilion, English Magic, a large wall mural featured a giant protected hen harrier bird aloft and clutching a tiny red Range Rover in its claws. The mural is titled, A Good Day for Cyclists, and is a curious piece, the story behind it illuminates much of Deller’s thinking and approach to his art. Six years prior an incident was reported that two hen harriers were shot out of the sky above the Queen’s Sandringham Estate in Norfolk. Prince Harry and his friend were apparently the only ones in residence at the time. As Deller noted, while the identity of the shooter was never revealed, if an ordinary citizen had shot one of these birds, they would have gone to prison for six months, and this bothered Deller. There is an element of justice prevailing, nature triumphing over humans, and a “flipping the bird” at the aristocracy and elites who most often drive the archetypal Rover SUV. Trained in art history, there is an investigative and curatored aspect to his work, where his ideas are often brought to life through collaborating with others. The mural is an example, having been painted by another artist. Deller employs whatever means best communicates the idea, and I’ve featured blog posts on his various paste-ups and wall posters used to focus attention on subjects such as international human rights, poetry to British elections.
Artwork: Jeremy Deller, Sacrilege, 2012
Humour, irreverence, and a keen interest in history and its relationship to the present are key elements to his art, a classic being his inflatable life-size bouncy castle of Stonehenge, Sacrilege, which toured England in 2012, and also featured as a video in English Magic. It’s a work of joy, fun and daftness, yet there is an undercutting satire of reducing Britain’s famous ancient monument associated as a Druidic temple, to a playful entertainment spectacle. Deller was commissioned to create an artwork by the Glasgow festival of Visual Art and the Mayor of London for the Olympics and says this about it: “I just wanted to make the most stupid artwork ever made […] Some people will be very annoyed by it, so I just thought, well, you might as well just get the criticisms in first.” The title kind of one-ups the critics as kids and the public have huge fun trampling a national icon. He continues: “In a way [Sacrilege] was meant to counteract what I felt was the pomposity of sport and the Olympics. As it happened, it wasn’t so pompous in the UK, but the whole Olympics movement seems to be really full of itself, so I just thought, let’s do something about Britain that shows we have a sense of humour about our history and we’re willing to satirise ourselves almost and have fun with our history and identity.”