BANKSY TO REEMERGE NEXT WEEK

In true poetic fashion, Banksy updated his website the other day with just one image of a silhouetted street artist throwing up flowers sprouting out of a wall. Nothing else remains on his site but the promise of October 2013, the month Banksy will reappear.

Rumors are he's living in L.A. with a possible outdoor show in the works to play off his 'Better Out Than In' declaration. Could this finally be his response to all the recent opportunists removing his street art in L.A. and London and selling them for huge money in private auction—perhaps, he'll center the show around "art for the people, not for the galleries"? We'll just have to wait until next week to see what the mystery man has planned. Check back for more new Banksy images during October as they appear, whereever that may end up. via Banksy

BAST X PAUL INSECT MAKE AMAZING, AMAZING TIME LAPSE VIDEO TOGETHER

Two of my personal favorites, BAST and Paul Insect, have made my street art heart very happy with their ongoing collaboration on BAST's home turf of NYC. Now they've made this glorious time lapse, featuring epic new work in abandoned and forgotten places. Enjoy.

BAST NY and Paul Insect in New York from PAUL INSECT on Vimeo.

DALEAST DISCOUNT EVOLUTION TIME LAPSE

DALeast quickly became my favorite street artist in 2012. With larger than life animals bursting from building sides,  Dal's unique style and attention to detail gave the world a truly fresh take on the animal kingdom and possibly a striking metaphor for their relationship to us and our sprawling urban landscapes. As you'll see from the video below, no one went bigger than Dal. Watch his process putting up one of his latest works, 'Discount Evolution.' in Rochester, NY. via wooster collective
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DALeast - Discount Evolution (full version) from Jeff Coles Smith on Vimeo.

DO WORK, PHLEGM

Time lapse process of street artist Phlegm doing what he does best: creating larger than life wall paintings. Never knew he did all his work by hand until seeing this video. Stunning. Via Wooster Collective

INSTANT CLASSIC: BANKSY ROLLER ZORRO BRONZE SCULPTURE

Banksy puts his street art spin on the classic Zorro image. Who knew Zorro was such a painting badass? The Roller Zorro bronze statue of undetermined size is from an edition of 12, released this year.

Update (6/19/2012): All signs are pointing to one word on this one: FAKE! Should have been more suspect when the details on this statue were pretty scant.  Proof that this doesn't exist is evidenced by the behind photo added to 'BackerProjects' flckr page earlier today. And yes, we wish this was real, too.

image via BackerProjects (again, fake photoshop clowning)

DISMANTLING BANKSY

A new Banksy piece for the Jubilee appeared in London yesterday depicting a child laborer sewing British flag bunting. It was coyly placed on Poundland (UK's version of the Dollar store). As you'll see below, the insidious aftermath that took place isn't surprising but demonstrates that no Banksy street piece is sacred—and that people will do whatever it takes to get a piece of the elusive street artist.

Here's the finished Child Labor Bunting Sewer and what's left of it less than 24 hours later. Via Urban Art Association

Classic Banksy craftsmanship. Look how hard this child is working to get the UK ready for the Jubilee.

 Bunting barons begin to descend on Poundland.

More bunting thieves. Tossers.

Phew, some bunting remains in tact.

Ah, but not for long. All that's left is a lonely child and his sewing machine. End Day 1 of new Banksy Street art.

'BYE BYE NORTH KOREA' BY JR

French street photographer JR took the world by storm with his ability to access remote places and capture its people perfectly. And his recent trip to North Korea is no exception (who knows how the hell he pulled that off). This may be his most stunning and defining work yet.

Here's JR's more playful, final shot from the least documented country in the world. You can find all his pictures from North Korea on his Instgram (@jr_artist) feed, btw. A must follow in our book. For the non Instagramers, JR posts new images regularly on his website, jr-art.net. Check it.

JR x LIU BOLIN INVISIBILITY COLLABORATION

JR has been teaming up with a lot of great artists lately. My favorite is this piece he did with Liu Bolin in New York city. Watch the master of disguise give JR the invisibility treatment in his own photograph. Rad!

JR & Liu Bolin on Elizabeth St in NYC 2012 from Roberts Horowitz Creative on Vimeo.

THIS SKATEBOARD PAINTS

Unreal skateboard mod by street artist D*Face. Spray paint equipped and computer controlled, skateboarders can now break two laws at once—and leave vivid trails in their wake. Spray on. Via The Jailbreak

YOU CANNES DO IT

So, abandonment issues are apparently a problem in the south of France. This bizarre street sign was spotted by @davidondemand (Perezident on Instagram) while in Cannes, France for the grandaddy of advertising award shows, the Cannes Lions. Remember kids: If you find a baby, save a baby. Via @davidondemand

1,000 SPACE INVADERS SET FOR PARIS INVASION

Space Invader is a sneaky dude. This video for his latest exhibition (where 1,000 pieces will be on display) is hilarious in its law skirting, in-your-face, "try again next time" brevity. Great teaser and footage of the mysterious Invader at work. The music is a killer and sinister compliment. If you know the artist who created the music, please leave a comment.

Show opens June 7th at la galerie Le Feuvre / Paris Via Wooster Collective



1000 by extermitent

NEW FAILE PUZZLE BOXES MAKE FOR ONE HELL OF A STREET ART FANTASY

Not only do New York's art collective Faile capture the essence of nostalgia in these retro inspired puzzle boxes, they've created something that goes beyond the physical and into the digital era with their wicked six sided art puzzles that you can also play for free on your iPhone or iPad.

You can download the iPhone/Pad app through iTunes. Just search 'Faile Puzzle Boxes.' And, since each puzzle is six-sided, that means there are six different puzzles altogether in each box. Pretty rad. Here's some shots from their website. You can check out more or buy one at failepuzzleboxes.com.

Screen Shot: 'Faile Puzzle Boxes' iPhone and iPad app. Available for free at the iTunes Store

HANKSY BANKSY HOMAGE: THE SEQUEL

"Catch Me If You Can," by Hanksy. Spotted in Soho, NY.

Everybody's favorite American actor is slowly becoming synonymous with Banksy based solely on the similarity in name spelling. Gotta enjoy some stupid fun every once in awhile. This is the most I've liked Tom Hanks since Cast Away. Via woostercollective

Above image based off the Girl with the Red Balloon image by Banksy (below)

CRACKADE GOES TO ART CHICAGO 2011

Spent a healthy 3 1/2 hours checking out over 200 galleries (not sure on the number) on the enormous 12th floor of the Merchandise Mart. As you may have heard, Shepard Fairey—better known as Obey Giant—has been popping up around Chicago, pasting up his most recent work from his  'Revolutions' exhibition through the Robert Berman Gallery. The bizarre part, he nor the gallery were listed in any of the Art Chicago materials. Needless to say, it took a little while to find the gallery because most of the workers had no clue what I was talking about. Go figure. Regardless, it was badass seeing it all in person.

So like I said, there was a lot of stuff. I took pictures of whatever looked fresh, interesting or just down right bizarre.  Overall, it was a solid showing, but lacked a lot of street art aside from the Obey Giants and a Mr Brainwash. Surprised I didn't see one Banksy on display.

Shot pictures using my iPhone 4 camera as well as Hipstamatic and Instagram apps. I think the quality is alright with me.

Favorite of the Show: Renaud Delorme,  Mixed Media.
(Above) Shotgun shells, tennis balls, yarn, cassette tapes and other collected artifacts
(Below) Patchwork, electric toy racetrack, pill bottles.

 World Currency Butterflies by Erica Harrsh. These were Hand Painted if you can believe that.

 (Above) Ryan Humphrey
(Below) Mr Brainwash "Madonna"

 (Above) Obey Giant Album Covers. Framed editions of 8

 (Above and Below) Yi-Hsin Tzeng

 (Above) Sarah Palin Stamps.

 (Above) Victor Sydorenko
(Below) Detail shot of the above piece.

 (Above) Kelly Ratchford
(Below) Christina Nederberger. Acrylic on Plexiglass 'Chandelier'

 (Above) Warhol
(Below) Ed Valentine

 (Above) Horse Drawn Hummer Carriage

 (Above) Peggy Kouroumalos
(Below) Christy Langer. Creepiest thing I saw all day.

 (Above) Arno Elias

 (Above and Below) Bates Wilson

 (Above) Most unique way of selling art: Threaten to destroy it. Part of the NEXT section of Art Chicago, this gallery placed a time limit on each piece. If no one offered atleast minimum wage x the amount of time it took to create the piece of art, well, then, it gets the ax. This one was saved for $80 dollars

Obey Giant hanging from the lobby of The Merchandise Mart. Balling.