Enough now, what would Peter Predergast say about all this? One of the finest of British painters and one of biggest losses of this decade we're about to leave in terms of fine art... 

There's Sissors on the Harrow Road...

30th DEC '09: On rolls the BANKSY vs ROBBO thing some more, The Times have covered it now, same story, bit more coverage of the feud that apparently has been brewing for some time, nothing new to read, interesting to see how this is evolving though, and the comments from Times readers are amusing   - “Richard Brady wrote: I suppose they get Arts Council Grants for this...” 
         Have we had enough of this now? Had we had enough before it started? Is it good to see mainstream newspaper coverage? back to those meta lbirds sitting inthe MuTate trees and those scissors all over West London and those fine Stik figures by Ladbrook Grove tube station, or to see some DORMICE... 
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Meanwhile more scissors on the street... 

Thirty rather good pieces of South American graffiti and street art courtesy of Koikoikoi.com
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Here’s what Revok1 has to say: "Anybody who has ever done graffiti quickly learns to appreciate the value of a “LANDMARK” -that is, the struggle to get your work to last anywhere in the street. Here in LA if you can get something to run for more than a month it is a achievement worthy of celebration. In London it is possibly more so since the buff is vigilant and very well-funded. One of the “Golden rules” in graffiti is to respect your elders; foremost by not going over them… Particularly in the extremely rare scenario where something has lasted nearly 3 decades(the graffiti equivalent to a UFO sighting) -I would assume Banksy would be aware of this rule, and respect it considering his roots lie in traditional graffiti… Apparently not.

I first came across this story via 12ozPROPHETS twitter courtesy of MARE139’s blog on 12oz… It seems the story has been removed from thar site for some reason. Thats why I am posting it here (on his webpage Revok1.com).

Banksy here went over a ROBBO piece, Robbo was a pioneer of London graffiti in the mid-80’s and he painted this piece in the Regents canal in Camden in 1985. Somehow this piece had managed to stay up all of these last 25 years… That was until Banksy decided to go over it".

Meanwhile there's some Cheap Essential Scenery and a giant windmill that lasted about a week, somewhere in the mid 80's, before another vindictive 'artist' had the thing of beauty burnt down.. That's right, Team Organ, Crunching streetart, 1980's style  Been going on for years this, that and sewing machine violence... 
 

26th DEC '09: And there's the original (and now lost) Robbo piece that Banksy (or someone) wallpapered over, or partly wallpapered and let the piece evolve... and then... well then the original piece was totally destroyed by Team Robbo (or somebody) while everyone bitched (via Twittermail and comments left of Flikr) about disrespecting something that looked like... well... none of this is meant to be permanent is it? Not out on streets or underneath canal bridges, what happens next? Does it stay as it is for another twenty years or twenty minutes or... Should these original pieces be left? Who are the street art police? is any of it Cheap Essential Scenery? What about the Jeff Astle is God "street art" is West Bromich? Nevermind all this, who burnt down the windmill? Duster? Lizzie? 
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25th DEC '09: VIC CHESNUTT R.I.P. - The Constellation Records website has posted an announcement that alternative singer/songwriter Vic Chesnutt died this afternoon in Athens, Georgia. "In the few short years that we knew him personally, Vic transformed our sense of what true character, grace and determination are all about. Our grief is inexpressible and Vic's absence unfathomable," the announcement said.

That's John Lee Bird's 2006 Vic Chesnut portrait there...

24th DEC '09: MERRY STITCHMAS - A little graffiti knitting film for Christmas. Merry Stitchmas! “Bringing you a bit of festive fibre on film our Fairy Godmothers of Documentrydom, the Alt Artist girls, have put together a little movie of our Knitmare Before Christmas” say the Knit The City people, go see it here....knitthecity.com

23rd DEC '09: GHOST VILLAGE PROJECT, AGENTS OF CHANGE...  The Ghost village is in remote part of Scotland. A village originally specially constructed for oil workers in the 1970's, no on ever moved in, the place was never put to use and has been left uninhabited and abandoned ever since it was built. And then along came some agents of chaos or something like that... 
            The Ghost Village Project is brought to you by the Agents Of Change collective, seems they got permission to work in the village, a village now falling apart and over run by greenery and... A collective of street artists - Timis, Remi/Rough, System, Stormie Mills, Juice 126,  Derm -  were given permission for free reign for three days to paint on the walls, explore the textures and, well go see over on the Wooster Collective site, excellent eleven minute film there. We're just here putting up signposts and point you at these things... 
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WINTER CHILL? BURN YOUR ART! - A few weeks ago, according to Brooklynstreetart.com, Street Artist Celso and some of his friends decided to have an art show in Miami during the much ballyhooed Art Basel show. As a response to the aforementioned ballyhoo, and perhaps as a commentary about the romance with and commercialisation of street art, the culmination of the Art Burn show was to set all of it on fire and grin mischievously. As an additional dystopian thrill for the assembled pyro-artiacts, a copy of Farenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury was also torched, after memorising of course. Photos and links for more over here, we’re too cold to burn things today, head over to Brooklyn and warm up... 

20th DEC '09: More Banksy, Graffiti Wallpaper, but what was anyone doing out making art last night? Wasn't it snowing in Camden? 

CARMEN HERRERA has painted for six decades, and since her first sale in 2004, collectors have avidly pursued her. After six decades of very private painting, Ms. Carmen Herrera sold her first artwork five years ago, at 89. Now, at a small ceremony in her honour, she was basking in the realisation that her career had finally, undeniably, taken off. As cameras flashed, she extended long, Giacomettiesque fingers to accept.... More here
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Bristol based artist JIM STARR has an exhibition of work at the Dalston Superstore in east London. The exhibition entitled ‘New Paintings and Limited Edition Prints’ is on now and runs until 31st January 2010, This is his third solo show in London, his most ambitious to date.
       Jim Starr is building a reputation with his use of pop culture and pin up imagery. After an initial brush with spray stencilling in the mid nineties Starr has moved over to screen printing and something influenced by Robert Rauschenberg and many of the painter printmakers of the New York scene of the 50’s and 60’s. Very much a body of work that has a grounding in the here and now though, this in not a retro thing . 
          Jim has exhibited in solo and group shows on many occasions in London and Bristol and has painted and drawn on location worldwide. His work has appeared on T shirts, clothing designs, flyers, records and canvases, you could say this is him moving things up. www.jamesstarr.co.uk

     Dalston Superstore is a unique two-floor space in the heart of Dalston’s vibrant artistic community. The ground floor is a relaxed café and gallery by day while the basement is a multi functioning performance and event space at night. The changing gallery space showcases work from some of our most promising young artists. The Dalston Superstore has taken inspiration from many of the cafes and bars in Berlin and New York to create this unique new raw, industrial space for Dalston with large skylights in the roof, and windows at the front that open onto the street. The Dalston Superstore is located at 117 Kingsland High Street, London E8. 
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Twas the Knit before Christmas in cold London Town,

Where a lone ballerina was cast with a frown,

Yet she was not long for her knitless despair,

For Knit the City’s Yarn Corps soon would be there…

More more over at www.knitthecity.com

THE OUBLIETTE is back for a bit of Christmas madness. Big opening, TONIGHT, Friday 18 Dec 2009 in Curzon Street, deepest London. “After a marathon of preparing the space The Oubliette’s latest Mayfair project opens with a big bang. To the delights: The Colibri Quartet plays Mozart and Haydn to a backdrop by The Connection at St Martin’s Lane, Partial Gathering create their edgy experimental improvised works for Cello and Electronics, Kimon Parry on the clarinet and treat yourself to Irish avant-garde musician Solfa Carlisle, one of Ireland’s most promising young composers. STIK brings massive stuff and does the beatbox.. Take in that fancy free food from Rambling Food, London’s hippest art gourmet chefs on-to-go. Clicks and cuts and electronic beeps and a heavy metal robot rave, to be sure.”

And this direct from the Oubliette website.... 

The Oubliette is London's original Arthouse initiative, enriching London's cultural landscape by creating unusual spaces for innovative performances and exhibitions. Founded in a disused language school at Waterloo in Spring 2009 The Oubliette host emerging talent and support emerging artists by providing work and exhibition spaces. With the ambition to establish a permanent space for the Oubliette Arthouse, the ensemble have been creating pop-up galleries and site-specific theatre in empty spaces throughout London, from Waterloo, Oxford Street, Mayfair to Leicester Square, inspiring a creative use of empty space in Central London. Realising ambitious art projects The Oubliette is helping artists develop, gain recognition and showcase their work. Starting with fringe theatre company Donkeywork when in desperate need of space, The Oubliette hosted their first major production. The Case attracted large audiences, received critical acclaim in the Guardian, and has led to the company being approached by established venues to develop more work.

The Connection at St Martin helps homeless by providing specialist services Ð including a day and night centre, outreach for rough sleepers, skills training and career advice, activity programmes and specialist support for complex needs Ð to 200 people in central London every day. The Connection offers advice, care and support in a welcoming and friendly environment. By encouraging each person to address the issues which caused their homelessness, The Connection helps them to gain the skills and confidence to make lasting changes in their lives. For further information visit 
www.connection-at-stmartins.org.uk

Checklist: Home Is Where Your Art Is, The Oubliette, 18 December 2009, 6pm, 61 Curzon Street, Mayfair, London W1 - http://theoubliette.co.uk/
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SHEPARD FAIREY’S Obama Check.... The creator of those blue and red Obama images has said this on his Obey Giant website:  “Check out this critique of Obama. I agree with the writer on 90%. However, I think he fails to recognize the climate Obama must operate in. I disagree with the Afghan war escalation, but it does not surprise me. In general, the tenor of “normal” or moderate political conversation on issues has shifted so far to the right that Obama is being called a Socialist! Good ideas need to have a receptive audience to take hold and right now they don’t. Obama’s faults are in many ways reflective of a retarded audience. Maybe more people should serve in Iraq etc… to gain the writer’s perspective on war. That was not necessary for me… I’ve been a believer in the MLK approach for years. I think the realistic goal is to change the attitudes of the people, causing the leaders to fall in line. The leaders are credited too much with being the cause when they tend more to be the effect. Bush was atrocious and was still re-elected in 2004. I’m disappointed in Obama, but even more so in Americans. I’m working on a healthcare graphic right now, not waiting for Obama or congress to fix things without pressure. – Shepard”
LINKS: www.commondreams.org / obeygiant.com
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Meanwhile here’s a rather good photo animation piece from MuTATE made by Barry Pilling...

8th DEC '09:  And this just in... URBAN FOX HUNTING UNDER THE WESTWAY...  “Just thought I'd give you a heads up about what the MuTate guys are planning tomorrow. They're going to embark on their own West London fox hunt, donning full huntsman gear and jumping on some of the robots like Lrry and Pakka horse to chase down some urban foxes!” Now who knows what that means? Wonder what they’re really hunting down there? Watch this space or find out more via www.mutatebritain.com

More of ROA in Warsaw, this time via the Unurth street art blog...

6th DEC '09:  Thirty-two TOTALREWALL photographers will be posting up giant photographs on the walls of the “famous” Leake St Tunnel in South London. Each image represents the individual photographer's concept of walls and surfaces capital that are out-of-bounds to street artists, graffiti writers and creative types of every calibre. The photographs will become canvasses, and an open invitation is extended to everyone who feels they would like to contribute to the project by stencilling, spraying or drawing on them in a way that adds to or changes the original image.
       The images actually went up on Friday 4th December, and be left there for one week only. The evolution of the images will be documented on a daily basis, being displayed on totalrewall.com, and eventually culminating in an online book which will be available to download or simply flick through, enabling everyone to discover what the imaginations of the contributing artists have delivered. www.totalrewall.com

5th DEC '09: A couple more pieces of art just because... TRANS 1 through the Window at Graffix gallery, Portobello Road, London, with that very graphic photo realisting street art style of of his. Graffix have allowed Trans 1 t otake over their gallery for his Urban Soldier Off The Wall show, well worth a visit...
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3 DECADES - “As the ‘art or vandalism’ debate continues, this December the Londonewcastle Project Space will host RareKind London’s 3 Decades’ exhibition, celebrating 30 years of London graffiti art. Running from 5  – 12 December 2009, the artwork will be exhibited according to decade showcasing exclusive art work, photographs and memorabilia from the ‘pioneers’ of the art form in the 80’s, following a linear history through to the 90’s ‘masters’ and on to the 00’s and the ‘new blood’ artists.
3 Decades is the largest and most comprehensive show of its kind to ever be exhibited in London. It will include canvases and affordable prints by over 30 artists including Eine, Zomby, Prime,  Roid, Tox, RT London, David Samuel as well as many more of London’s inimitable artists who have painted, sequestered in the shadows for more than thirty years, yet inadvertently changed the face of London’s urban art scene forever”. Well that’s what the blurb said... Another day, another street art show/event/opening so it seems, and is there an art or vandalism debate continuing? Don't ask us, we're just passing on the news. Do what you will with all you find here. 3 Decades will be open daily from 5-12 December 2009 from 11.00am to 7.00pm at Londonewcastle Project Space, 28 Redchurch St., London E2
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MuTATE BRITAIN opens for a second run underneath the Westway in Ladbrook Grove, West London this Friday 4th December... More street art, scrap sculpture, counter culture and more fire-breathing metal beasts. Photos and words from the last night's preview can be found here, lots of new work to see...
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Seems New York street artist HACULLA (or was it someone else pasting up some Haculla pieces?) has been a little busy with a bucket of wheat paste over in North West London this morning, right outside our door actually. Four or five pieces on phone boxes and such. More over here

GEE VAUCHER, part of the Crass family, has a new print available from the rather excellent POW (Pictures On Walls) website. Loads of good stuff on that website actually...

27th NOV '09: MuTATE IS COMING BACK, seems public demand deems the return of a genuine slice of exciting West London counter culture. MuTATE is “a festival of underground art providing a welcoming, inclusive and visually astounding experience for all ages in an atmospheric 12,000 square foot setting just off Portobello Road. Walk amongst giant sculptures, installations and unique artwork...”  If you missed out in October, then the whole thing is back again with new pieces, new sculpture, new art... You’ll find plenty of Organ coverage - reviews, photos and more over here.. 
         Full dates and opening times: MuTate runs from December 4th to December 20th on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays  Friday 12-10pm / Sat 12-10pm (no entry after 9pm), Sun 12-9pm (no entry after 8pm). £1 before 6pm / £3 there after www.mutatebritain.wordpress.com
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100FTSQ @ Boleyn’s Boys Club, London – 22nd November – Came straight from a last look at The Thousands street art show that was closing tonight, a journey that took us past several pieces of fresh street art - new piece from Elbow Toe - past two or three bright looking galleries full of people as the bus takes us through the evening rain from Shoreditch to Dalston... London is alive with people making, doing and presenting art right now, alive in all shapes, sizes and forms - alive more than it ever has been? We’re heading for a glorious curiosity of an old building over in East London, some kind of fading art nouveau night club come 1920’s Welsh chapel hall is what the Boleyn’s Boys Club is. A wonderfully inviting interior of a building (just around the corner from The Vortex, by Kingsland Road railway station, if you’re looking for it), a building with all kinds of art lurking in the shadowy darkness behind the giant potted plants and beyond the reason for being here this cold wet Sunday evening. Tonight, down at the end of the room there’s a giant white frame, under bright lights, full of small pieces of art. 100sqft opened tonight. 
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          There’s a whole cross section of work here, both colourfully two dimensional and bravely three dimensional. Relief pieces, photographic pieces, intricate pieces of crafted fine art, pieces alive with understated painterly beauty, pieces that are more in line with the crossover ideas evolving out of street art. You’ve got graphic pieces, tactile pieces, black and white pieces, bright pieces, you have what appear to be very personal pieces - a whole cross section of thought as well as methods of execution... And it all works as one piece, that the thing here, one hundred pieces pulled together to make one whole - almost a shame that it will all be taken down and individual pieces parted from each other (and sold) after just one week as one piece. It isn’t really one piece though, is it? Maybe it is? The pieces all work together, the team compiling have clearly carefully selected the art on show here. No idea how they made the choices or what their criteria was, it works though, someone took some care. 
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          Not sure if any of this can really be seen as cutting edge, or revolutionary (does art always have to be cutting edge ot revolutionary?). And really it is hard to judge anything based on just one piece of work that surrounded on all sides by a busy bombardment of colourful imagery. Hard to separate each piece out from the whole body – yes this is really one piece, 100ftaq is a piece of art in itself. Plenty of names to go explore and find out more about though, plenty to follow up on. Wonder what else she’s got? Wonder what else he’s done? Certainly made a note of a few names tonight... This isn’t the time to pick out individual names though, we’ll follow up on few later on in the coming months I’m sure. Tonight was about the one whole thing, a coming together and a project shared. Go enjoy the whole thing as one experience, either on line, or if you can, right there in the flesh and in that excellent building with all the atmosphere, the colour and the texture. Some impressive pieces here, and as one whole piece, this works extremely well, we had our doubts, left feeling rather impressed by it all (as well as pleased to be involved).  Lot of good art-shaped things going on right now, people just getting out, coming together and doing it themselves. Explore the grid via www.100sqft.co.uk  (S)

The show runs at Boleyn’s Boys Club, 68 Boleyn Road, London N16 until 28th November. 
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20th NOV '09: ART FOR KUNST is “an exciting new project, offering highly collectable and functional art pieces from established UK street and graffiti artists and the freshest new talent - Aida, Dora, Mac1, Juice 126, Dscreet, Faith47, Plimsoul and Zoot - all at affordable prices! We will be bringing you a range of fabulous art throughout the year from both our website and at various pop- up market stalls across London”. The Art For Kunst team launch on Thursday 26th November at The Old Truman Brewery. For more information on the artists, opening times, dates or directions at Trumans, along with other projects, visit the web site - www.artforkunst.com
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PREVIOUS PREVIOUS ART PAGE... More news, reviews, links - NICK VADASZ @ GRACELANDS CAFE, COLLISION 2009, SHOWCASE @ 1001 Cafe, RUTH BAYER, BOOKSHELF, GREEN DAY TAKE ART ON TOUR, 20 YEARS OF DEFINITIVE SKATEBOARDING, CRITICLE POLITICLE: '20 PAINTINGS ON THE G20 RIOTS' - BY SAM McGANN, GREAT BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES @ OBLONG, THE ALTERNATIVE PRESS FESTIVAL, GEORGE PELECANOS, KRIS WLODARSKI, WET SOUNDS ~ UNDERWATER SOUND ART GALLERY, DEPTFORD ART MAP, ETIQUETTE OF COMFORT by LISA SLOMINSKI & SALLY SPINKS, SLUMP SCREENINGS, THE ART CAR BOOT FAIR 2009, BRITFLICKS @ THE BRITANNIA, SKINFLINT, The International MEETING OF STYLES, ARTADE, JOHN LEE BIRD, EX GRATIA, BARACK OBAMA DILDO?, HardART?, AARON KRATEN, AUSTIN GALLERY AND BENNY’S BAR, ASSEMBLAGE by WILLIAM BLANCHARD, EAST END FILM FESTIVAL, JG BALLARD, JOHN SQUIRE, SHELLY WYN-DE-BANK, THE RAIN EMPEROR, ANDREA JABLONSKI,  I AM  JOY, and more...

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