As Their Work Gains Notice, These Painters Suffer for Their Art
Very interesting article from the Wall Street Journal. Those police officers crack me up! Apparently Risky's bus motivate other graff artists to paint on buses...because they've never done that before. XD
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Work by artists Revok and Rime is part of an exhibition at MOCA in Los Angeles. The artist known as Revok is in an L.A. jail on charges related to a graffiti incident.
LOS ANGELES—To the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Revok is a renowned artist whose bright, sprawling work is worthy of display in its latest exhibit.
To the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, Revok is Jason Williams, also known as inmate No. 2714221.
Last month, Mr. Williams was sentenced to 180 days in county jail as a result of a probation violation from a graffiti incident, just days after the opening of a major museum exhibit dedicated to "street art" that features his work. Unable to post his $320,000 bail, Mr. Williams sat in jail for four days before the sentencing.
It may be illegal on the street, but inside the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, a new exhibit celebrates the history of graffiti, featuring work by artists like Banksy and Shepard Fairey. WSJ's Tammy Audi reports.
Law-enforcement officials around the country are prosecuting graffiti artists with harsher sentences than ever, pushing for felony charges, real prison time and restitution payments as they seek to wipe graffiti from the streets. At the same time, the art world and corporations are embracing the form like never before.
"You can make a case that graffiti and street art is the most influential art movement since the great innovations of the '60s," says Jeffrey Deitch, director of the L.A. museum, known as MOCA. "Before this show, no American museum had ever done an ambitious historical exhibition."...
Street Cred @ Pasadena Museum of California Art
The Pasadena Museum of California Art is currently hosting an exhibition dedicated to Los Angeles’ own street art movement. Entitled, “Street Cred: Graffiti Art from Concrete to Canvas”, the display features the work of various artists who represent a broad range of genres within the community, from letter-based formalism to Surrealism. Co-curated by Steve Grody and PMCA’s Exhibition Manager Shirlae Cheng-Lifshin, the exhibit includes several of Grody’s photographs from the crucial years of the graffiti scene and features the work of many prominent street artists including ANGST, DASH 2000, Alex Kizu, Jose Lopez, PUSH, RISK, Jeff Soto, RETNA and more. “Street Cred: Graffiti Art from Concrete to Canvas” will be on display from May 15 to September 4.
Pasadena Museum of California Art
490 East Union Street
Pasadena, CA 91101
United States
Photography: Brandon Shigeta for Hypebeast
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REVOK News: Reasons For His Arrest And How To Support Him
The Real Reason Revok Was Arrested
Melrose & Fairfax posted a very interesting article. The "Revok-Case" is pretty weird with him being arrested only a week after "Art in the streets" opened at MOCA and the high bail amount, etc. so I wouldn't be surprised if their accusations against the LAPD are true.
The trumped up charges against Revok have reeked of suspicion ever since his arrest. From nabbing Revok in the first place for a parole violation and not a new crime, to the exorbitant $320,000 bail, to be sentenced to half a year in jail a day after the arrest, the whole thing seemed like there was something bigger going on.
The LAPD were clearly looking for someone to make an example of doing graffiti outside MOCA. But when they hadn't made an arrest on the streets after the first week, they wanted a high profile name to take down. There was probably a short list of high profile arrests, so short, there was probably only one name on it--Revok.
Read more after the jump!...
Art Show: STREET ART – Meanwhile in deepest east anglia, thunderbirds were go…
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I couldn't believe my luck when I found out yesterday that there'll be a Street Art exhibition very close to my hometown with contributing artists Ash, Herbert Baglione, Boxi, Brad Downey, Ben Eine, Faith47, Boris Hoppek, Mark Jenkins, JR, Os Gêmeos, Mirko Reisser (DAIM), Swoon, and Zezão! Also, in case you don't know, the Von-der-Heydt Kunsthalle is one of the biggest art museums in this area. Here is some more information:...
2 Artists, 2 Coasts, Both in Jail for Graffiti
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Left, LA II, right, Revok. (images via dnainfo.com & ballerstatus.com)
As LA’s MOCA tries to give graffiti and street art their moment in the Southern California sun, in New York
LA II, aka Angel Ortiz, and in Los Angeles,
Revok, aka Jason Williams, are in jail for doing the art they love.
While LA II, who is best known as a collaborator of Keith Haring, has quietly languished at Riker’s Island prison, Revok’s arrest and subsequent sentencing has been accompanied by a vocal outcry from his comrades and fans, including Shepard Fairey, who
issued a poster last week to raise money for his legal defense fund.
The debate about graffiti and street art and its role in a democratic and free society is sure to rage on as the artists associated with the art form continue to make waves by openly challenging vandalism laws. The whole phenomenon is strangely reminiscent of the emergence of hip hop in the 1980s and 90s, when artists (and their handlers) often parlayed criminal charges into more publicity and fame for the artist.
The largest question is do artists have — or should they have — a right to create art on public property or the property of others.
The Twitterverse has been very vocal about its anger regarding Revok’s arrest.
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