FAILE & BAST together again in the street

(photo via  plaztikmag)

Last weekend BAST and FAILE got together to do an outdoor piece for the Factory Fresh All City Street Art Block Party in Brooklyn.  Reminiscent of the FAILE wall that used to exist across the street from the FAILE studio, the work immediately caught the attention of street art fans and practitioners alike.  Jaime Rojo from Brooklyn Street Art caught the amazing scene below: that's Futura sitting on the top of his car to get a shot of the finished gate.

photo © Jaime Rojo (via Brooklyn Street Art)

PLAZTIKMAG and BROOKLYN STREET ART were both present for the evening's activities and each has posted amazing behind the scenes pics of the the entire happening on their blog.  Thanks for sharing!

FAILE's Bedtime Stories

The new FAILE show officially debuts tomorrow night at Perry Rubenstein Gallery in New York.  The Faile boys have set up a sneak peek of the work (which includes the sublime fashion chimps pictured above). In addition new FAILE stencil pieces have popped up on the street in Brooklyn (thanks to Sabeth for photographing the pieces).

'Bedtime Stories' opens tomorrow night at Perry Rubenstein Gallery and runs until December 23, 2010.

Love Flows Both Ways: sneak peek

With one week to go until the opening of 'Love Flows Both Ways', we are well into the process of getting everything ready for the pop up gallery opening next thursday, October 7th.  We will hit you with installation shots soon, but first, we promised you a peek.  Here is a little taster of what is to be expected in the show...  Hungry for more? Keep an eye on the blog and our flickr for additional behind the scenes pics coming soon.

why we continue to love Faile

With Faile Temple, the Brooklyn street art collective Faile have proven yet again why they are to be considered not just among the vanguard of the street art movement, but also the broader contemporary art world as well.  Similar to what they did for their Deluxx Fluxx Arcades last year, Faile have created a website for the Faile Temple project (which can be viewed here).  The site hosts all the pertinent information as well as fantastic photographs of the finished Temple.  This amazing piece of monumental sculpture is worth an in depth viewing.  If Mies Van Der Rohe was correct that god is in the details, then this is indeed a holy place.

View Faile Temple at www.failetemple.net.
Check out last year's Deluxx Fluxx Arcade at www.deluxxfluxx.com.
Keep an eye on Faile's website at www.faile.net.

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.

new work from BAST

One of our favorite street artists, Brooklyn's BAST, has released a small edition print through Papermonster. The piece is called Woman Ooze, and it features one of the new designs he created for the Deluxx Fluxx Arcade projects last year. The print is huge (34.5" x 48"), hand painted acrylic and screen printing on archival paper, from a signed edition of only 14, and, as of this writing is totally sold out.

Keep an eye on Bastny.com and papermonster.net for upcoming BAST print releases.

why we love Faile

The last time we saw this image it was part of an original called "Falling Ecstasy" that was included in a print drop on Faile's website back in December 2009. We remember thinking that the piece was amazing, despite the oddly styled right hand. To be fair, maybe it's not the whole hand as much as the excruciatingly long thumb that gives it a decidedly claw-like feel. In any case we overcame our fear of the claw and attempted to score the piece. We were unsuccessful, but due to a technical glitch three other people all thought they had purchased the unique original piece. Two proved to be very unhappy campers...

We have been hopeful that this image would make it into an edition ever since. The new version at Paper Monster is titled "Ecstasy" and is a 12 color acrylic and silkscreen ink print with substantial hand painted Faile goodness. It is a 25" x 38", signed, dated and numbered edition of 175, and is available from papermonster.net.

In other Faile news, there is word from the Patricks that upcoming Faile releases will dump the Native American imagery from Lost In The Glimmering Shadows, in favor of "moving into the new images we've been working on this year". Bring on the visual madness of Deluxx Fluxx! Both of the "Deluxx Fluxx Arcade" installations were spectacular, and full of images we would love to see realized as prints. Dare we wish for some sort of Bast / Faile collaborative effort as well?!

And lastly, next month in Portugal the Patricks will finally debut their Faile Temple at the PortugalArte10 Exhibition. This "large-scale sculpture project that emblematizes the iconography of Faile" was originally slated to open a year ago, but was pushed back. We envy the lucky souls who will be there from July 16 - August 15 and who will be able to view the "full-scale church in ruins in Praça dos Restauradores Square in Lisbon". We will have to settle for pictures of this one...

You can read the complete press release about the Faile Temple project here, check out the new print "Ecstasy" on Paper Monster and keep an eye on Faile's website at faile.net.

deluxx fluxx nyc

Papermonster have just announced on their blog that Bast and Faile are bringing the symbiotic retro madness of their Deluxx Fluxx show to Manhattan's Lower East Side. The location has not been released yet, but the opening of "Deluxx Fluxx NYC" will take place on Friday April 30th from 7:30-10:30pm. Keep an eye on the Papermonster blog for further details and preview pics...

To get in the mood for this show, we suggest you check out DeluxxFluxx.com. The website is the online home to versions of the video games, the original music (by Seth Jabour of Les Savy Fav), and images of the BAST and FAILE art from the original "Deluxx Fluxx Arcade 2010" at Lazarides in London. While you're there, make sure you download the BAST screen saver. It's fantastic!