Welcome to Miami

Don't Fret sent us some visual postcards from his recent trip down to Miami...

While in The Sunshine State, he collaborated on a wall with another of our favorites, Hebru Brantley, who is part of our current 'Text and Drugs and Rock & Roll' show and who faced some unexpected drama of his own (as captured by local news) .  Absolutely crazy!

You can read more about Don't Fret's recent solo show on Fatcap and on Flavorpill, and view available work on maxwellcolette.com.

Inside and out...

With just two days until the show opens, the gallery is a hive of activity.  Things are coming together nicely, and we can't wait to open the door and invite you to explore the amazing environment that Don't Fret has created.

Evidently while we are sleeping, Don't Fret continues working outside the gallery as the recent street piece below illustrates.   We are constantly amazed at the broad appeal of his work.  People with little interest in street art (or art in general) all seem to respond with a smile to his engaging characters.  Something magical is going on there...

Man...The Times...Man

We thought you might like to get a peek at what's going on in our vicious new gallery space.  The show opens next Saturday, October 22nd, but we'll be dropping pics all next week on our tumbler and facebook.

Don't Fret's  Man...The Times...Man runs from October 22nd - November 26th at our new location (908 N. Ashland Ave).  The opening reception is Saturday October 22nd from 6pm - 9pm and is open to the public.  

Don't Fret solo show in our new space.

If we've been uncharacteristically quiet as of late, it's only because we've been super busy gearing up for a bunch of new shows and preparing to move the gallery to a new 1800 sq/ft storefront in Ukrainian Village.  We'll unveil our vicious new installation space on October 22nd, presenting the first-ever solo show from Chicago- native Donʼt Fret. With distinctive visual style and dry humor Donʼt Fret juxtaposes old and new, then and now, to create light-hearted space and time in which nothing really fits and everything seems absurd.

MAN...THE TIMES...MAN will showcase the hand painted, life-sized paste-up characters Donʼt Fret is best known for, and that have graced walls from Chicago to San Francisco, Sao Paulo, Berlin, Munich, Prague and Salzberg. In addition the show will feature seldom seen smaller scale works. Portraits, witticisms, musings and sentiments are all presented within the context of a hand-crafted, multi-cultural melange of detritus. Alongside these unique works, Donʼt Fret will be releasing a series of hand-finished, limited-edition prints.

Maxwell Colette Gallery will host an opening reception for MAN...THE TIMES...MAN on Saturday October 22nd, from 6pm - 9pm at our new space located at 908 N. Ashland Ave.  Come by for beverages and swag and peep the new joint.  See you there!

Don't Fret's crumbling giant

A new giant sized paste up piece from Don't Fret has appeared downtown at Wabash and Balbo.

Don't Fret get's up in Brazil

Recenly we heard from Don't Fret, who has been wintering south of the equator in Sao Paulo.  He says its been amazing, and he has been busy doing pasters in the streets and paintings at an abandoned cement factory complex whose sole full-time occupant is a ferrel horse.  

Check out more work from Don't Fret on his Flickr.  You can see the horse there too...

modern design in the streets...

Ever wonder what happens once an artist finishes a street piece?  There are a myriad of possibilities. Sometimes it sits unnoticed and is allowed to weather gracefully with time.  Sometimes it is modified by others who seek to improve it or destroy it.  Sometimes it is buffed by Mayor Daley's graffiti blasters before anyone has been able to notice it.  To this list of possible scenarios we can now add that sometimes it is used as a photographic background to sell high end modern design pieces at auction.

Chicago's Wright auction house has evidently been sneaking some of the design pieces out of their gallery and into the alleys to get ready for their upcoming auction: Modern Design 12 October 2010.  The auction catalog features a handful of photos that break free from that perfectly-lit-void in which most auction objects seem to be photographed.  Instead of nothingness we get to see some classic furniture and decorative arts posed (or perhaps juxtaposed) in front of street art pieces by the likes of Cro and Don't Fret.

When asked about the placements we discovered that Cro felt it was strange to have one of his 'Blago' stencils being used as a backdrop for a chair by French designer Jean Prouve (above left).  Don't Fret, on the other hand, thought it was pretty funny that the Sol Bloom settee was posed in front of one of his characters (above right) and added the narrative: "I guess the young fellow grew up to be a furniture seller".

View the entire auction on Wright's website wright20.com and be sure to let us know if you recognize any of the other Chicago street art backgrounds.