maxwellcolette x CUAS pop up gallery

  We've been threatening to do a pop up gallery here in Chicago for quite some time now, so we were delighted when our friends at The Chicago Urban Art Society offered us the opportunity to curate a show of the street art and contemporary art multiples that we love.  Housed in the raw space of a former bank, 'Love Flows Both Ways'  features work culled from a number of private collections, and seeks to explore the relationship between street culture and contemporary art.

  "Contemporary art's love affair with street culture is long and well documented, but street culture's return embrace for fine art is a more recent phenomena.  Designs from blue chip artists are now found at street level in the form of luxury objects like purses, in underground collectables like sneakers and toys, and in urban lifestyle accessories like skateboard decks.  Art is the new bling, and in a fit of populism people on both ends of the spectrum are buying."

We will be posting more details and some sneak peeks over the next week, so make sure you check the blog and the flickr.  And Chicago peeps, we'll see you next thursday at State and Adams!

our late summer reading list...

We are big time art book junkies.  We haven't purchased a book that didn't contain pictures in years. And we find ourselves monitoring upcoming releases with the kind of giddy anticipation usually reserved for small children and their birthdays.  With this in mind, we bring you two suggestions from recently published titles,  and two from the soon to arrive art books that we are holding our breath for.

Supreme (Introduction by Glenn Obrien, Preface by Aaron Bondaroff, Interview between James Jebbia ans KAWS) is the first monograph to explore the output of the legendary New York street fashion and skateboard company.  Equal parts punk rock and hip hop, fashion and skate, Supreme is a brand that defies classification.  The entire gamut of their productions are surveyed; from art decks by Hirst, Koons and Murakami to lids and t's to their notoriously pornographic calenders.  Check out Supreme's site and see more about this book from it's publisher Rizzoli.

Posterboy: The War of Art is the first book from Posterboy.  It documents his cut and paste subway work of the past few years that has earned him both acclaim and arrest.  For those who don't know, Posterboy uses a razor to cut pieces off the self adhesive posters that are used in the New York subway system.  He then recombines the pieces to create often hillarious new signage.  After being arrested for this, he has recently become an advocate for first ammendment rights.  Read about Posterboy and his legal troubles here and peep the flyer for his August 28th book signing event in New York, LA, Miami and London.

FAILE: Prints + Originals 1999- 2009 is a book we have been waiting on for quite some time.  It is a detailed retrospective of the Brooklyn based collective's fine art, put together by the Patricks.  Big and glossy and full of art we love, this one is sure to live on our coffee table.  The book will not be published in the US until September, but there are advance copies popping up on eBayUK for those who are so inclined.  Go to the archives on FAILE's website to get a taste of what's in store.

KAWS by Monica Ramirez-Montagut with Germano Celant is the first comprehensive survey of the body of work created by the multidisciplinary aritst KAWS.  From early graffiti and ad disruptions to toys to recent high concept gallery work, seventeen years in the world of KAWS is portrayed in vibrant color and and detail.  This title is due to be released in November 2010.  Until then, read more from the publisher Rizzoli and keep an eye on KAWS's site.

All titles are available through Amazon.