Blek le Rat at Subliminal Projects Gallery

"I fought the war and the war won..."

I heard this guy on Indie 103.1 the other day on Jonesy's Jukebox, guest starring with Shepard Fairey. Hailing from Paris, his first LA solo show will be at Fairey's gallery, Subliminal Projects, Saturday, April 5th, from 8-11pm. He's been on the scene way longer than most active stencil artists, pioneering the life-size stencil on the streets. He is also one of the first people to use stencils instead of bombing their name all over walls.

Written in the show's press release: "The concept for Art Is Not Peace But War is inspired by an article about graffiti written by Norman Mailer for The New York Times in 1972 read by le Rat during his first visit to New York. For le Rat, an artist is always in a constant fight to create. He views graffiti as the most democratic form of art and parlays this perspective into each of his works. 'Urban art is a powerful way to serve social causes and evoke reaction from the people, and if you have a message to give to the public, it is the best way to give it.'”

Check it out. I'll be there, and so will Blek le Rat.

Subliminal Projects Gallery
1331 W. Sunset Blvd
Los Angeles, CA 90016
Saturday, April 5th, 2008
8:00-11:00pm

Stencil... Reincarnation??

What are those flying things on the upper right?

...Reincarnation in the sense that it has been away from the mainstream for quite some time... introducing us to artists some have never heard of. The last BIG show I remember was when Banksy showed at some rundown warehouse in LA. Since then, Logan Hicks came and did some wall art on Melrose for the release of his designed K-Swiss kicks. If you love stencil art, this show looks promising already with some of the art featured on their flyer. I love the Carmichael Gallery shows, being introduced to them when they brought art to the Biscuit Company Lofts in Downtown LA. They know how to set up their space for maximum visual pleasure, as well as atmospheric pleasure. The opening reception is this Saturday, March 1st from 8pm-12am.

Logan Hicks doing some stencil work
(regards to the 'mastodon' who posted this on YouTube.)