street art

'STREET ANATOMY' by renown Austrian muralist, NYCHOS at Fifty24SF Gallery

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We are pleased to announce our upcoming solo show 'Street Anatomy' featuring original artwork by renown Austrian street artist, NYCHOS.  Recognized world wide for his unique style with distinct anatomical explosions as subject matter, Nychos brings his talent and vigor of the Rabbit Eye Movement to San Francisco. 'Street Anatomy' opens Friday, April 18th  7:00pm at FIFTY24SF Gallery located in Lower Haight, San Francisco.

David Choe's SNOWMAN MONKEY BBQ Opens Today in Mexico City, Mexico

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Graffiti Artist, Illustrator, DVDASA host and entertainer, David Choe opens his first exhibition in four years at the Museo Universitario del Chopo today.  His show,  SNOWMAN MONKEY BBQ boasts an entirely new body of work that presents the continuation of Choe's signature "dirty style" through different mediums such as oil on canvas, watercolors, sculptures, found object installations, accompanied by a giant mural looming over the exhibition space.

SNOWMAN MONKEY BBQ by David Choe Opens August 17th, 2013 to Oct 27th, 2013

Museo Universitario del Chopo - Dr Enrique Gonzalez Mtz #10 Mexico City

For more information please visit: www.snowmanmonkeybbq.mx

David Choe and Mexican Surrealist, Pedro Friedeberg's Exquisite Corpse Session

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Our Long time Upper Playground friend and Fifty24SF  artist, David Choe is currently in Mexico City in preparation for his large scale exhibition, SNOWMAN MONKEY BBQ at the Museo Universitario del Chopo, opening this Saturday. Despite his busy schedule, Choe made his way to visit the Mexican Surrealist painter, Pedro Friedeberg at his studio to spend some time collecting ideas and collaborating in an exquisite corpse session.

Erica il Cane Coming November to FIFTY24SF Gallery

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Checkout their work at "Breakin' the Wall":

The artists invited to participate in “Breakin’ the Wall” are prominent representatives world urban art: Mudwig (Bristol), Dem (Milan), Fefe Telavera (San Paulo/Madrid), Vova Vorotniov (Kiev), Escif (Valencia), Erica Il Cane (Bologna), Jiem (Lille), SickBoy (London) and Zosen (Barcelona). Their murals will reflect on the identity and existence of the post-1989 generation, as well as the celebrated anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. Even though there was no concrete structure to pull down in Wrocław’s history, it is clear that there will be lots of walls to get rid of in the future. Just as the Berliners struggle with the demons of their history, the residents of Wrocław, marked with their own tempestuous past, will have to face problems to solve as well. World War Two and the post-war times had a powerful impact on the mentality of its citizens. What was – and still is – the city we live in? For young people, Wrocław is a blank sheet – they see the burden of its history as a challenge rather than a liability. If our life is conditioned by the past of the place we live in, then it’s the capital of Lower Silesia that appears to be a perfect place for such a confrontation.

Curators: Joanna Stembalska and Sławek ZBK Czajkowski

Hebert Baglione's "Dark Wave" opens this Thursday...

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Fifty24SF is proud to host “The Dark Wave”- a solo exhibition by Herbert Baglione.

Brazilian artist Herbert Baglione has been a strong interest in the South American graffiti movement for more than ten years. Inspired by Brazil’s street culture, Baglione started experimenting with new ways to look at his urban environment of Sao Paulo and provoked dialogue about his fresh perspective on urban artwork. Alongside these efforts are Baglione’s distinctive mural designs and stretched figures representing humans and aliens. These are often balancing elongated and rounded extremes with dramatic iconic symbols such as familiar urban architecture.

Influenced by his older brother, Baglione began painting at the age of three, and has found his greatest interest in provoking themes such as death, individualism, family, and chaos. These complex themes alongside his distinctive style have given Baglione deserved recognition in the international graffiti scene.

“The Dark Wave” features new sketches and paintings on canvas on display at FIFTY24SF Gallery from December 10, 2009  – January 28, 2010.

"The Dark Wave"

Opening Reception:

Thursday Dec, 10th, 2009

7-9:30pm

248 Fillmore St. SF

For information on the preview, please contact Lynzy@upperplayground.com.

Working in the heat of the night...shots from Mac's studio

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August 6th will be a momentous day for street art. Legendary, international badass EL MAC celebrates the opening of "Faces of Life". Working late into the night in still sweltering temperatures, El Mac puts the finishing touches on one of the pieces for his upcoming show and answers a few questions for the curious…

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  • I know you're a busy man these days so I'll cut to the quick,  when did you first start painting?

I first remember drawing at about 3 or 4 I think... didn't start painting with spraypaint or acrylic until maybe around '94 or so...

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  • what led you to explore the world of aerosol?

A combination of friends in grade school that were painting graffiti, seeing the book Subway Art, and my obsession with the movie The Warriors.

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  • when you first started out were you aiming for photo realism or is it what came most naturally to you?

From pretty early on I kind of felt that the more realistic or representational the work was, the better, which I guess is kind of a simplistic, classical way of approaching art. I think photorealistic/representational art is especially hard to pull off well, so I'm sure I've liked the challenge of it. It's only been slowly over time that I've opened up to more abstract elements. I don't think this stuff was ever deliberately thought out though...if I liked it and it spoke to me then that was enough. You just kind of know when some art has that "extra something".

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  • how do you feel after a painting/piece is finished? Do you hate to look at it or are you stoked that it turned out the way it did?

I'm usually pretty happy with it. Sometimes I won't like my stuff, and it's usually when I'm rushed, but for the most part I do my best to take time & make sure I'm happy with my art. Da Vinci said "Art is never finished, only abandoned"...so even if I do have to abandon my pieces I try to hang in there and spend quality time with them whenever possible.

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  • What do you love about what you do?

I just really love to make art...to create...it's very satisfying. Pushing around colors to make images that communicate something to other people. It feels like I'm doing something important, like I'm fulfilling some kind of duty. I feel like making art is some way of rising above basic instincts towards survival and reproduction, and trying to connect with the spiritual. even if it's just a nice tag or a doodle of a hot chick or something. I think music, dance and literature, etc are the same way. It's about growth...trying to make life better & more enjoyable and meaningful, I guess? I'm still trying to figure this out...

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Yielding a spray can as masterfully as an oil painter with his brush, El Mac kills it.

"Faces of Life" opens August 6th, 2009

Opening Reception- 7- 9:30pm

FIFTY24SF Gallery

248 Fillmore St. SF

Well that was fun...

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If you missed Word to mother's show then you missed out on some good shananegans. Arrseted motion snagged WTM before the opening and scored some prime interview time.  Check it out here

And now for a visual recap

Photos below by Michael Ojeda

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Photos below by Alex Tarrant

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After the festivities came to an end, WTM and crew hopped to the nearest bar and began to celebrate the 4th of July early. Resulting in...

some of this...

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and then, some of this...

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:)