“I tell ya, I saw a rabbit!”

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THIS IS THE KIND OF URBAN STREET ART/GRAFFITI WE NEED MORE OF. Mysterious, beautiful and well-done, this urban rabbit would turn any vacant lot into a magical place.

Via Gugazine

Introducing Elbow-Toe

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(Click any image for larger view)


(Click any image for larger view)


(Click any image for larger view)


ELBOW-TOE IS A BROOKLYN, NY BASED ARTIST THAT HAS BEEN CREATING introspective urban art for several years. His artwork for the streets is grounded in myth, symbolism and poetry and is primarily executed in woodcut, stencil or large-scale charcoal drawings. His oeuvre is a study of human gesture as communication and he utilizes public spaces as stages for private moments. He is particularly interested in the ability of environmental forces outside his control to create a timeless quality to the work thereby allowing it to feel as if it has been memory and is part of the collective unconscious.

ELBOW-TOE’s gallery work focuses on portraiture and abstract narrative and is primarily executed in collage. These intricate collages at first glance might be mistaken for paintings given that they have a fluidity rarely seen in collages. Whilst his work has a very unique style it draws on a rich history of figurative painting and has qualities reminiscent of Freud, Bacon and Soutine.

Via Elbow-Toe.

Drive-by Illusions

I’LL TELL YOU WHAT I LIKE ABOUT THESE “COMMANDEERED” BILLBOARDS. It’s graffiti without a political, personal, gang territory, tribute or other agenda. It’s about art. For the most part, billboards are already an eyesore, so why not take the ones which say nothing (or that have been neglected) and make them say something! Like these trompe’loeil billboards in Europe. The illusion of spatial depth using highlights, shadow and dark space created by this artist is truly remarkable—beautiful tricks of the eye. Add to that the fact that the audiences of these billboards are usually driving past in their automobiles, and the illusion is even harder to process. What’s left is: “what did I just see? I must go back and see that again!”

And isn’t, at least on one level, what art is all about?

See more public art here.

Existencilism

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Click any image for larger view.


Click any image for larger view.

“When I was a kid I used to pray every night for a new bicycle. Then I realized God doesn’t work that way, so I stole one and prayed for forgiveness.”

- Emo Phillips

THE ABOVE QUOTE BY COMEDIAN EMO PHILLIPS IS THE MANTRA FOR underground grafitti artist Banksy. You gotta love it. Banksy, who lives in the UK, is the most famous graffiti artist in the world. While most artists, musicians, and politicians seek to be recognized, no one to date is even sure they have ever really seen Banksy’s face. He works in the dead of night and his work appears in the most unlikely of places. Because he has to work fast and by stealth, Banksy turned to stencils some years ago to speed up his work. Banksy and others like him have been changing the urban landscape with sometimes funny, sometimes strange and often very powerful statements about politics, housing, social conditions, politicians, the Royal family, war, the environment and many other things. That he has never been caught or identified only adds to his legend. Banksy does produce paintings and drawings as well as his wall art— and he has had art exhibits all over the world. His work can sell in the hundred’s of thousands of dollars. Banksy has a Web site, where I found these images. Just go here, to www.banksy.com. If you would like to read about one of Banksy’s most recent audacious hits (it’s awesome!) then click here.