Art Books: Explore the World of Graffiti & Street Art

Famed Alex Diamond is well-known but still a nobody. The artist’s artworks are popular but there’s no corresponding face, neither a determined gender. Short, Alex Diamond is a ghost without identity… The Alex Diamond Mining Company was not just the name of the Alex Diamond exhibition in Hamburg back in 2011, it also is the latest chapter in the unusual story of Alex Diamond, an artistic project that has been evading the definition of a fixed personality behind the pictures since its beginnings in 2004. And it is the title of Alex Diamond’s latest book, documenting on around 90 colored, German and English labeled pages the diversity of created artworks, reaching from woodcuts and prints to installations, mixed media projects and photography! ...

Compiled and written by old school UK writer Robert Whitelock aka Cute, the Monokrome book on 224 pages includes world class black and white graffiti designs by some of the major graffiti writers from around the world, including Nash & Does, Remi Rough, Hush, Asker, Itch, Inkfetish, Killer Gerbil, Denz, Kofie, Inkie, System and many more! Furthermore, Monokrome presents blackbook works from 31 featured artists and interviews with all of them and shows the talents of a mixture of worldwide artists with many different styles, and quotes from a handful of writers. And although it reminds me somehow on the urban illustration book Schwarz auf Weiss - Style needs no Color, the first impressions I got via the flip through below were all in all just positive. ...

Germany’s most popular street artist Xoooox just got his first monograph by written by Benjamin Wolbergs and published by Gestalten! Xoooox, who became famous buy spray-painting models in unsuitable positions on the streets of Berlin and other metropolises, was the first German street artist to come to prominence on the international art market… The work of Xoooox has always been a standout for me. The images of these sexy fashionable women stenciled around the streets of Berlin always stood in such high contrast to the collapsing buildings they were painted on. In a landscape covered with street art that always looks much the same it is very refreshing to see an artist with such a singular vision. (Aaron Rose) ...

As I already told you, the first Mark Jenkins exhibition opened its doors yesterday presented by Gestalten! The famous street sculptor showed not just photos of his popular works, but also included new Jenkins sculptures made in Berlin. Furthermore, Gestalten used the artist’s Berlin residence to publish his first monograph The Urban Theater: Mark Jenkins. In addition to Mark Jenkins’s sculptural work, Glazed Paradise includes photographs of select installations that reveal how compelling the interaction between his artwork and its environment can be. (Gestalten) ...

Gestalten Publishing presents Mark Jenkins sculptures in Berlin: Gestalten is proud to present the first solo show in Germany by the renowned American artist Mark Jenkins, who uses ordinary packing tape to create life-size human or animal forms. Jenkins is best known for his clever installations of these startlingly lifelike tape sculptures in urban and natural spaces as well as indoor environments such as cafeterias, toilets, and art galleries. This expert staging of his work, especially his clothed human figures, provokes various—often strong—reactions from passersby and expands his interventions into powerful performances. ...

With his technically masterful, contemporary portraits and his sensational art of destruction, including exploding walls, Alexandre Farto aka Vhils soon became one of the most skilled and talented young artists in today’s urban art scene, for what reason I’m really happy that I did this nice interview with him in 2010! Earlier this year, Gestalten published a fist book about the art of Vhils. Including a preface by Marc and Sara Schiller (who you probably better know as Wooster Collective), the book presents not just Vhils’ popular wall stencils, but also other projects he worked on between 2007 and 2011, like the Nothing lasts Forever and To Have or to Be series, or Scratching the Surface and the Disintegration series. It also includes his major exhibitions at Lazarides Gallery in London and Los Angeles… ...

Following the mantra Style needs no Color, From Here To Fame Publishing’s second issue of their Schwarz auf Weiss (Black on White) book series brings again some dope urban-inspired illustrations by well-known artists in a nice collection! Style needs no Color has invited a diverse range of international artists to contribute black and white illustrations, vector graphics, street art and graffiti styles to this impressive publication. On about 140 black and white pages the book presents selected works of artists, following the philosophy that artwork should be able to stand alone without unnecessary distractions. For that reason, the Style needs no Color artists restrict their palette to black and white and create in that way a contrast to the excessive use of color and flashy techniques for example in advert… ...

Bringing together round about 100 of the most famous and talented urban artists from around the world like Vhils, Amose, Base23, Boxi, L’Atlas and Smash 137 (just to name a few), Walls & Frames - Fine Art from the Streets by Maximiliano Ruiz and Gestalten Publishing presents on 265 colorful pages a cutting-edge collection of recent artworks by young artists who are moving from the street into galleries. Street art has firmly established itself as a facet and attitude in the landscape of contemporary art. Today, young artists are going beyond their work on the streets to present their innovative styles in galleries. Walls & Frames documents the work of this next generation of street artists. ...

When Arabic Graffiti by German publisher From Here To Fame was published earlier this year, I already wrote some line about the book, because it extrapolated a totally new field of graffiti reflection. With images of the energetic Arabic calligraphy in mind I was really looking forward to get my own copy…with good reason! Arabic Graffiti is not just a great collection of astonishing artworks by different artists like L’Atlas, Sun7, eL Seed and others, but also a nice reading when it comes to Arabic script and calligraphy or public art in Middle East in general. On round about 200 colored pages, the book brings together artists, graffiti writers and typographers from around the globe who merge Arabic calligraphy with the art of graffiti writing, street art and urban culture… ...

Brad Downey’s work over the past decade has consistently pitted itself against the sanctioned and the predictable, that’s the first sentence in Brad Downey’s Spontaneous Sculptures book and in my eyes this describes the presented series of urban interventions, transformations and occupation the best way. With this second part of my Urban Art Books & Mags Special I’d like to introduce his latest book to you… Downey was born 1980 into a military family, studied film in Brooklyn and painting in London and lives right now in Berlin. He’s well-known around the globe for his I would say back-to-the-roots artistic works in public space, which are often almost criminal and confusing (like the burning CCTV cameras) but always simply great and inspiring. For that reason, the Spontaneous Sculptures book, with its 160 colored pages, is a great reading for urban intervention enthusiasts. ...