Forget the streets: If you want to find some of New York’s best graffiti art, you have to dig a little deeper. While much of the city’s graffiti has been washed away, some of the more provocative tags still exist miles beneath the sidewalks, in nooks and crannies invisible to the pedestrian eye. I discovered these spray-painted secrets on a recent trip to the Freedom Tunnel, a legend among street art aficionados and underground urban explorers alike.
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Seeking Truth Through Karaoke In Chinese Communist Art
There’s Communism in the air here in Beijing! With the 90th anniversary of the founding of the Chinese Communist Party having just passed (per official accounts, the Party was founded July 1, 1921), China is in the midst of a country-wide celebration—and one that presents the perfect opportunity to take a look at some examples of crowd-sourced and “official” Party-related art.
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Touring The Barnes Foundation That Was
Visiting the Barnes Foundation was always high on my list of things to do during my next visit to Philadelphia. Unfortunately, I still haven’t managed to make it to Philadelphia. Good thing the New York Times has stepped up to make a visit to the Barnes easier than ever, at least virtually.
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Art From The Developing World: A Bargain Basement?
Artists who live and make work in regions that have little to no art infrastructure often have the freedom to be creative, experimental and reactive without the boundaries that accompany exhibiting work in formal spaces. But there’s also a significant divide between achieving a sustainable art career at home and reaching the point of exhibiting and selling one’s work in the global art market.
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Tuesday Video: A Murakami For The Whole Family!
Pity the poor parents who want to introduce their tots to the work of a contemporary artist like Takashi Murakami. Sure, all those laughing daisies and dancing bears are adorable, but how do you explain to Junior on a Saturday afternoon trip to the museum why that lady’s breasts are so big, or why that blonde dude is twirling a lasso of white stuff that’s coming out of his … uh, never mind.
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Microtrend Of The Week: Google+ Fan Art
After all the serious back-and-forth debate about social media-based art around here lately, we figured it would be nice to lighten things up a little …
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Fake Real: The Journey West Travel Office
Artists Stephanie Rothenberg and Dan S. Wang’s Beijing-based Journey West Travel Office is both performance and installation, a blend of “fake real” that explores tourism, mass culture and “the aesthetics of America’s parking lots.”
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The (Other) C-Word
(via Steve Lambert/kickstarter.com) Quick—what’s the dirtiest word you can think of? The one that makes people the most uncomfortable? The one you wouldn’t dare say at a party for fear you’ll spend the rest of the evening alone in a corner with everyone around you doing their best to pretend you’re not there? Artist Steve […]
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Taking a Bite of Lucky Peach: The Art of Food
Lucky Peach debut issue (mcsweeneys.net/luckypeach) It only takes one look at the cover of the debut issue of Lucky Peach to realize that this isn’t your typical food ‘zine. No glossy photo of an impeccably styled dish here; instead, there’s a dead chicken being held unceremoniously upside down by its feet, its pale, thin, pocky […]
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Dear Photograph: Analog Meets Digital Meets Nostalgia
The idea behind “Dear Photograph” is simple: “Take a picture of a picture from the past in the present.” But the results are anything but.
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Videos by Dave Greber: Life, The Universe and Everything
New Orleans artist Dave Greber’s video work addresses issues of optical phenomena and universal spirituality. It’s also a hell of a lot of fun to watch.
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Summer in DUMBO: A Visit to the Sharpe Foundation
The Marie Walsh Sharpe Art Foundation’s “Space Program” offers seventeen emerging artists a year’s worth of studio space and a summer show in DUMBO. Here’s a look.
