American Street Art: Murals, Graffiti & More

In my eyes one of the most interesting things about urban art is the internationalism, for what reason for me it’s the greatest happiness to get some insights into the street art culture in other countries and especially on other continents! Hence I really like this documentary about street art in Buenos Aires… Featuring several local artists with interviews, you can not just learn a lot about the Argentinian street art movement and how it broke out in 2001 due to financial crisis but also about José Carlos Martinat Mendoza, whose concept of art could easily be described as vandalizing the vandalized and whose story is a must to know! ...

When well-known Portuguese-born deconstruction artist Alexandre Farto aka Vhils visited Venice in California a short while ago, he was followed by filmmaker Carlos Gonzalez who documented his latest work… This particular piece was done in conjunction with the European Bailout Show at the Post No Bills showspace and located just on the side of the gallery. I like the footage and especially the reverse playing and the wired atmosphere. Additionally it’s always nice to see heavy machines in action to create street artworks… ...

Seems like almost every more or less bigger city, like New York, Berlin, London, or Valencia has already its own street art book. Of course they have different formats, qualities and focuses, but in the end each of those books gives a brief overview about what’s happening in streets. Today I bumped into Seattle Street Art by A. Tarantino, which was published earlier this year and includes about 100 colorful pages, documenting a small part of Seattle’s street art life… ...

Several weeks ago I already posted about the nice new mural artworks by urban art superstar Roa in Mexico. Back then, I didn’t know that his works were well documented on film by Filmaciones de la Ciudad, what’s really good, because we have now the chance to watch him painting… The Belgian graffiti artist travels the world since a few months, for what reason you can find his works in Madrid, London, Paris, Berlin and other metropolises! I for one like Roa’s animal graffiti stuff, and it’s always impressing to see how some skilled artists are possible to paint those massive walls… ...

ron english - studio visit The crew of itdrewitself.com recently hook up with famous US-American painter, interventional and pop propaganda artist Ron English for a small photo-shooting in his studio. Yes, Ron is the guy who is that famous for his billboard-bustings that he has his own vinyl action-figure and who did that crazy “Cloud Graffiti” stuff two years ago! All the more it’s of-course interesting to cast an eye at his most private working area, although it doesn’t look like a studio but like some kind of Ron English museum… ...

Art Competition | One of my most favorite European cities London has another art competition: Rich Mix and Havana Club just launched “The Wall Project” taking place over the next 12 months in the heart of London’s most vibrant creative area and cultural hotspot Shoreditch! Famous urban artist Remi/Rough (I visited his studio last year!) broke the first ground with his interpretation and vision of the values that make Havana so unique. He’s also the head of experts selecting the winning interior designs… ...

Animal Walls | While we had a more or less hard winter in Europe, famous urban artist Roa flew over the sea and did some nice new mural stuff in Mexico! After having a look at the brand-new photos of his spray-painted animals on Ekosystem I have to say, that Roa’s style is and remains unique in my eyes… In addition to a lot of new walls showing those well-known graffiti animals, Roa also hooked up with Mexican urban artists Saner and Sego to create some wicked collaborations! ...

Splatter Graffiti | Spray-painting without caps is a nice way to create unique backgrounds and fillings and to create in that way a unique, rough piece! Also the famous two graffiti artists Smash137 and Risk used this technique when caught up the other day to paint a wall near Miami Beach. Both destroyed the covers of their cans by the help of some knifes to paint in a more or less uncontrolled way. Although I really love that rough and unconventional style I never tried it myself because it’s a bit waste, but I have to say it looks like a lot of fun and for sure it is an alternative way of spray-painting! ...

South America is like a hidden treasure chest for underground graffiti styles and street art innovations. Maybe it’s because of the far distance between Europe and countries like Argentina, Brazil or Venezuela, but every time I find something about urban art in South America I’m really impressed about their crazy ideas, rough styles and simple solutions for difficult situations. And it seems that there are a lot of other people, having the similar thoughts… ...

Some days ago, I asked what do you think “is the deeper meaning of Banksy’s Child Drawing Series? and got a nice answer by Ringo45… Almost at the same time, the Globe And Mail newspaper from Toronto, which was one of Banksy’s traveling-stations, published an very interesting review of the Banksy street art by Toronto street artist Posterchild: Q: As a street artist yourself, what are your feelings about Banksy being in Toronto? A: I would like to have seen Banksy visit Toronto for its own merits and not simply coming to promote his film. Should we feel honored that he’s decided to paint our walls or should we feel outraged that he’s come here … for self-promotion, for advertising? (Globe And Mail) ...