Special Edition: ArtSlant STREET #2

From Street to Sleek - The Changing Game of Street Art in Berlin By Nicole Rodriguez The negotiation between street artist and larger institution is deceptively simple. While there is a constant proliferation of artists and talents immediately visible on the streets, there is an equally large market and demand for the “cool” and the “hip”. How do you negotiate the two without losing some semblance of authenticity? Without selling out?... Read more...
ARTSLANT STREET SPONSOR Established in November of 2005 as a joint effort between Sour Harvest and Cannibal Flower,Thinkspace exists as a catalyst for the ever expanding new contemporary art movement that is exploding forth from the streets and art schools the world over. Thinkspace's August exhibition features work by Brett Amory and Adam Caldwell, followed by DABS MYLA and friends from Sept. 1 - 22.
New Interview: KLUB7 By Max Nesterak Berlin: Since 1998, the Berlin-based street art and design collective KLUB7 has been showcasing their work--a mixture of pop art, street grunge, and childlike playfulness--on street fronts and in store fronts. True to their street art roots, they spend a lot of their time on free, public art projects, although they're also pragmatic enough to know they can't live off of creating free art. However, instead of turning to the gallery, they choose to take on projects for businesses looking to bring a bit of street to their brands. They've customized everything from television sets to stairwells in posh hotels. While they could easily sell their street work too, they say they like creating original pieces for commercial businesses to intentionally keep their commercial and anti-commercial styles separate. It's a kind of code-switching... Read more...	In the Archive: LASER 3.14 By Athena Newton Amsterdam: "What I love about graffiti is that it’s one of the only few art forms that did not originate from the elite. It’s something that just started with kids on the street, and then it had such a big global impact. That’s what I love about [graffiti]: it grew into this massive, very influential, global phenomenon. I like the idea that it wasn’t about this intellectual guy starting it up. It’s something that really came out from the people. "To be honest I always saw myself as an artist; whether it’s a graffiti artist or a poet or as a painter, the creative process is all the same for me. It starts with this creative spark and it doesn’t matter in which way I execute it…  I believe you have two kinds of graffiti artists: you have the ones that really like to vandalize…then you also have these graffiti writers who are really artists… For me both are part of graffiti and have the right to exist." Read more...
Street Art: Ephemera, Erasure, and Reality of Territory By Jolene Torr Balmy Alley and Clarion Alley in San Francisco’s Mission District are well-known for their high concentration of murals, for the diversity of color contained in one-block stretches of fences and residences with bustling commercial streets astride. Swoon, Andrew Schoultz, Sirron Norris, among many others, have added their signature styles, commissioned or not, to the famed narrow alleys. But it’s thanks to Intersection for the Arts in the Mid-Market for their exhibition programming that consistently explores, investigates, and expands on the ways in which people interact with art in public spaces... Read more...
Editor's Picks Berlin - Circleculture  RUNNING WITH THE HUNTED Jaybo Monk solo show... til September 8th.	London - StolenSpace SUMMER SIZZLERS Group show... til July 29th.
Paris - Galerie Magda Danysz ENTROPY Vhils solo show... til July 28th.	Vienna - INOPERAbLE BROKEN FINGAZ Broken Fingaz crew, til August 4th. ...More Editor's Picks
ARTSLANT STREET SPONSORS Located in the Lower "Far East" Side (Chinatown) under the Manhattan Bridge, Klughaus Gallery is a contemporary art gallery that primarily works with artists who have roots in graffiti/street culture. Our goal is to show fine art works by emerging artists and provide a comfortable atmosphere for new and experienced collectors. Australian artist LUSH will be shown in the gallery Aug. 25 through Sept. 1, followed shortly by REYES & STEEL of MSK Crew opening on Sept. 14 and running through Sept. 30.
From graffiti to digital art, from paint to sculpture, Downtown L.A.'s Crewest Gallery focuses on what's current, relevant, and happening now. Our purpose is to promote gifted artists whose work may be too edgy and non-conventional for other elitist venues. From August 4 - 26, Crewest presents two exhibits "MYTHOGRAFF" by WERC in the main gallery and "KUYA" by RELIC in the front room gallery. Reception for both shows is Saturday Aug. 4th, 7-10pm.
Charlene Weisler, a New York City native, is a photographer who has been chronicling street art since 2003. Concentrating on the evolving nature of layered graffiti, Weisler’s art captures a timeline of competing messages eroded by time.  (Charlene Weisler, Butterfly, 2008, digital print, 11x14 in., Edition of 25.)	Kevin L. O'Brien'spaintings are influenced by Van Gogh, Abstract Expressionism, Rauschenberg, Klee, Dubuffet, children's art, surrealism, dada, pop art, jazz, street art, comics, graffiti, neon signs, and advertisements. (Kevin L. O'Brien, Girl with Golden Hair, 2012, 32 x 40 in.)