UK Street Artist Hush has a review of his current show Twin, (@ New Image Gallery in West Hollywood), in The Huffington Post. His work gains praise for his masterful mix of  “graffiti tagging, Street Art aesthetics and eastern images of feminine beauty and sensuality.” Hush’s work possesses such an interesting character because of how naturally he brings together that elegant, sensual beauty with worn and dull urban texturing of paint and collage. And Hush is well aware of art’s ability to reference separate realities simultaneously. Hush describes an example of this ability to Jamie Rojo and Steven Harrington of Brooklyn Street Art: “An outline around a tag in one of my recent paintings for example references a painting I like from Fiona Raes that I saw recently, while at the same time it references a outlining of a (graffiti) throw up.”

Read the full article here.

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Jonathan Darby will have prints available during his upcoming show (and dual exhibit with Adam Caldwell) Intersection at White Walls. Darby’s work focuses on children of favelas, a term used to describe shanty towns and slums of Brazil, with all the proceeds of these prints going to CARF (Children at Risk Foundation). A recent report cited over 500 favela communities existing within the city of Rio, making up almost a third of the total population of over 11 million. Despite these large numbers many people believe the issue is often downplayed by the government in order to not deter tourists looking for a carefree vacation spot. Darby’s work draws attention to the sometimes grim, often beautiful, and always colorful reality of the many favelas and those who make them their home. Not only can we learn through Darby’s work but we can make a positive contribution just by taking home one of his beautiful prints and I, for one, cannot wait to see what they look like!

The Children At Risk Foundation has worked with street children  in Brazil since 1992. CARF Brazil, was established by Gregory J. Smith in São Paulo a year after he had established CARF Norway. The Children At Risk Foundation is a politically and religiously independent charity focused in offering aid, education in the arts and a safe place for children of the world. In 2001 The Hummingbird Arts and Cultural Centre was built allowing CARF to expand its capacity of 80 children to numbers reaching more than 600 today. Read More about the mission of CARF and it’s programs here and RSVP to attend Intersection, June 11th 7-9pm at White Walls here!

Photo via m24digital.

Adam Caldwell is partially basing the work for his upcoming show at White Walls on the covers from a series of socially conscious tales about southern share-croppers and the economic and social condition surrounding them, written by his grandfather Erskine Caldwell. Erskine was a prolific, successful author of more than fifty novels, many of which were published with racy and provocative paperback covers. Adam Caldwell is using these paperback edition pulp covers, with their highly suggestive portrayals of scantily-clad women (and their attempt to market a shallow notion of southern seductresses), as sources for his new paintings. Also a source of inspiration for his new work, is the thoughtful photography of Erskine’s second wife Margaret Bourke-White, whose work, like Erskine’s, explores race, class and social problems but creates more realistic and positive portrayals of women.

Caldwell says, “I want to explore the tension between Margaret Bourke-White, an amazing 20th century self-made photographer who made it in a man’s world, and the depiction of sexy, southern, white-trash women who are descendants of the characters created by my Grandfather,” a juxtaposition that seems guaranteed to lead to visually stunning work. Keep your eyes open for upcoming studio shots of Caldwell’s latest progress and in the mean time, take a look at some of Erskine Caldwell’s novel covers:

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WereHaus took some beautiful photos of some of APEX’s works in Indigo. In the close-ups you can see how the texture of the highly individualized quality denim adds to the finished effect of the paintings. If you haven’t already, watch APEX and Kiya explain more about the efforts,  details, and production of the denim that went into the show here!

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This video will give you an inside look into the careful thought process that went into the creation of APEX’s show Indigo, that will guarantee you appreciate the striking canvases in a whole new way. When I first heard that APEX’s work was going to be painted on denim I loved the idea of it being a modern twist on graff kids denim jackets in the 80′s. And that is something I still love about the show, but what I also realized in seeing the full show is that the denim stretched for each canvas is so unique that it brings a new level of interest into the painting itself. Kiya Babzani, owner of San Francisco boutique Self-Edge, oversaw the production of 14 samples in four different indigos of hiqh-quality denim from one of the oldest mills in Japan and TSS, a small garment manufacturer in Okinawa, over a period of six months. The various twills mean that each denim responds to the paint differently creating completely unique compositions.

Watch APEX x Kiya – Indigo Here!

White Walls Presents:

Intersection: A Dual Exhibition of Works by Jonathan Darby and Adam Caldwell

White Walls is pleased to present Intersection, a dual exhibition of new work by Bay Area artist Adam Caldwell, and the UK’s Jonathan Darby. This will be the first major project at White Walls for each artist, and they have been hard at work creating an impressive selection of paintings, and original installation work for the exhibition. The opening reception will be Saturday, June 11, from 7-11 pm, and the exhibition is free and open to the public for viewing through July 2.

The exhibition positions the work of two painters from seemingly disparate artistic backgrounds, to meet at the one point where they cross over: their deeply anthropological investigations of contemporary culture. This place of intersection is the point of departure for each artist, with Caldwell piecing together fragments of American life – the good, the bad, the hard-to-grasp; and Darby continuing to probe the stories behind the inhabitants of Brazil’s impoverished favela (slum) communities. By placing these works side-by-side in the gallery, the artists provide the viewers with a platform for reinvestigation of two cultures, each with their own realities of absence and excess.

For Caldwell’s portion of the exhibition, he created a series based on the novels of his grandfather, Erskine Caldwell. A best-selling author of more than 50 books, including “Tobacco Road” and “God’s Little Acre,” Erskine’s paperback editions often featured lurid depictions of seductive southern women, something that Caldwell is pulling from for his work in Intersection. Erskine’s publishers marketed his critically acclaimed, socially conscious written portrayals of the economic and social conditions of southern sharecroppers as soft-core semi-pornography. In an interesting twist, Erskine’s wife, Margaret Bourke-White’s photos also display an intense interest in race, class, and social issues. Within his detailed oil paintings, Caldwell is actively juxtaposing her celebratory images of women against contemporary depictions of the stereotypical, southern, white-trash “seductress.” Throwing in layers of images of ancient ruins, social protest, war, and architecture, he seeks to explore the tension between the work of Margaret Bourke-White, an amazing 20th century self-made female photographer who made her own way in a man’s world, and the contemporary depiction of sexy, southern, white-trash women, who are a stereotypical result of writings by Caldwell’s grandfather. Ellie-Mae Clampett and the other Beverly Hillbillies are all based on the characters from his novels.

Darby’s artistic concern deals with socio-political and humanitarian themes. His work portrays people in a cultural context where innocence and the vulnerable have been impacted by forces of social, economic and political change. His focus is on children, specifically those that live in Brazilian slums, as he believes they can and will determine their own future. Darby has teamed up with CARF (Children at Risk Foundation), and will be selling prints at the show, with 100% of proceeds going to benefit the foundation. Contrasting elements of softness and beauty against severe brutalities, Jonathan’s paintings are both seductive and harsh in their subject and technique. Using an array of different media with two and three-dimensional elements, the paintings consist of smooth layers of paint contrasting with rough, reworked textural elements.

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Adam Hunter Caldwell was born in 1963 in Framingham, Massachusetts, and received his BFA from California College of the Arts in 1998. In addition to working on projects for clients such as The California Lottery, Adobe and Microsoft, Caldwell has been a full-time Fine Arts instructor at The Academy of Art University in San Francisco since 2001.

Jonathan Darby spent his youth at a Rudolf Steiner School in Hertfordshire. After being expelled from the Steiner school and having no A-level qualifications Jonathan was offered an unconditional place in Central Saint Martins, London. In 2008 Jonathan graduated with a BA Honours in Fine Art.

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Media Opportunities:

Interview with artists Adam Caldwell and Jonathan Darby

Interview with owner/founder/curator Justin Giarla

High-resolution images available upon request

Event Information:

Intersection

Opening Reception – June 11, 2011, 7-11 pm

On View Through July 2, 2011,

@ White Walls (www.whitewallssf.com)

835 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA

For Immediate Release:
Contact White Walls – Justin Giarla
Justin@whitewallssf.com

White Walls Presents:
Indigo

White Walls is pleased to present Indigo, a collection of meticulously layered, eye-jolting paintings by San Francisco-based artist APEX. This will be APEX’s first solo project with White Walls, giving the artist the opportunity to transform one of the largest indoor spaces in the city with his brand new graffiti-based work. The opening reception will be Saturday, May 21, from 7-11 pm, and the exhibition is free and open to the public for viewing through June 4.

The idea for the work featured in Indigo came from APEX’s personal obsession with jeans, and his desire to experiment with denim as a fine art surface. After some trial and error, he developed a method for stretching denim over wood panel, in place of ordinary canvas, and completely fell in love with the look and feel of it. After this, APEX realized he wanted to do an entire gallery’s worth of his “super burners” all over denim. The aesthetics of the exhibition has roots deep in the graffiti movement, making reference to the self-painted denim jackets most inner city tag artists used to wear in the 1980’s.

In order to accomplish a project of this scale, he collaborated with his friend Kiya at Self Edge in the Mission to acquire a massive amount of Japanese Selvedge denim, in a variety of tones. Kiya personally oversaw the denim production, and even traveled to Okayama to work with the president of the denim mill on special runs of denim – specifically to be used as the backdrop for APEX’s swirling, multihued creations. His objective for the show is to use denim and his own unique style of graffiti as a way to bring the historic roots of this street-based phenomenon into 2011.

When one thinks “graffiti writer,” San Francisco’s own APEX might not be the first thing that comes to mind. His letters are so beautifully crafted and styled that it’s tough to see it as only a form of graffiti. The relationship his pieces have to the built environment creates moments of intersection, and opens up complex fields of color, as if they have somehow transcended into their own form of architecture. The work is most certainly its own form of typography – his pieces are careful explorations of abstract letterforms. A young, San Francisco-based artist, APEX has quickly made a name for himself in the world of street art, in both the Bay Area and abroad. Having coined the term “Super Burner,” his pieces are most commonly huge, multilayered productions, packed with patterns and a vivid array of colors.

White Walls Gallery has worked for nearly a decade to exist as the premiere destination for urban art in the Bay Area. Combined with the Shooting Gallery just next door, this 4,000 sq ft space is one of the largest galleries on the west coast. Justin Giarla founded the gallery in 2005 with a commitment to furthering the urban art movement, drawing directly from street art and graffiti culture. Named for its plain white walls, the gallery takes a backseat to the real focus: the work of our artists.

Media Opportunities:
Interview with street artist APEX
Interview with owner/founder/curator Justin Giarla
High-resolution images available upon request

Event Information:
Indigo
Opening Reception – May 21, 2011, 7-11 pm
On View Through June 4, 2011,
@ White Walls (www.whitewallssf.com)
835 Larkin St,
San Francisco, CA

A third installment has been added to Spencer Cunningham’s short films on ROA, showcasing ROA’s recent murals in the mission and in the tenderloin. It is much easier to grasp just how large ROA’s painting at 15th and Valencia is when it’s seen next to the machinery required to paint it, in this case a cherry picker! Photos clearly show ROA’s talent and skill but video allows us to see the full scope of his work and it’s effect on the surroundings in a much more thorough way.

Watch more videos of ROA and many other artists on our White Walls, Shooting Gallery, and 941 Geary Vimeo Channel!

White Walls Gallery is excited to be a part of ArtPad SF, a Bay Area art fair with which gathers bright examples of contemporary artists into an unbeatable line-up. In addition to the incredible array of art being shown, owner and curator Justin Giarla will be holding the Street Art panel discussion Collecting Street Art: From the Mouths of Artists with Blek le Rat, EINE, and APEX, moderated by Art Consultant Alan Bamberger. The panel discussion will be on Saturday, May 21 at 1 pm and will be a wonderful opportunity to gain unique insights into the world and future of Street Art.

Panel member Blek le Rat currently lives and works just outside of Paris, the very city he has utilized as a platform for social commentary for the past 30 years. He was the first of his contemporaries to employ the combination of stencils and spray paint to achieve fast, high-contrast images on city walls. White Walls is featuring some of Blek’s iconic imagery at ArtPad, including, but not limited to: beggars, sheep, rats, Michelangelo’s David with an AK-47, and the Mona Lisa. These forms invite conversations centering on ideas of social consciousness, interpersonal relationships, mass media, and commodity fetishism. Known as the godfather of stencil graffiti art, Blek le Rat has been a major inspiration for stencil and street artists worldwide, including Banksy, Shepard Fairey, Space Invader, WK Interact, and ABOVE.

When one thinks “graffiti writer,” panel member Apex might not be the first thing that comes to mind. His letters are so beautifully crafted and styled that it’s tough to see it as only a form of graffiti. The relationship his pieces have with the built environment causes intersection creates fields of color, as if they have somehow transcended into their own form of architecture. The work is most certainly its own form of typography  – his pieces are careful explorations of abstract letter forms. A young, San Francisco-based artist, Apex has quickly made a name for himself in the world of street art, in both the Bay Area and abroad. Having coined the term “Super Burner,” his pieces are most commonly huge, multi-layered productions, packed with patterns and a vivid array of colors.

One of London’s most ingenious and original street artists currently working, panel member (and former screen printer for the elusive Banksy), EINE has just come off a highly publicized stint of outdoor mural painting in San Francisco. In addition to having just produced some of the largest outdoor pieces in the city, his work has been exhibited in Los Angeles, New York, Toyko, and throughout Europe. His painting commissions have also taken him worldwide with trips to Israel, Australia, South Africa and India. After EINE worked with Banksy on his “Cans” show in London, he joined forces with the ‘Pictures on Walls’ team, where he worked as their resident silkscreen artist, producing prints for artists like Mode 2, and Banksy. He recently exhibited at The Carmichael Gallery of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, hosted a sold-out solo exhibition at White Walls earlier this year, and participated in LA MOCA’s Art in the Streets.

APEX’s Indigo opens this Saturday at White Walls, 7-11pm, and is going to be an incredible show! Check out APEX’s video for insight into why he choose to bring his superburners to stretched denim and the process in which he did so.

Read the press release and RSVP to our facebook event here!