Chicago Art Magazine’s Top Street Art Picks for September by FruzsE
October 25th, 2010The street art of September was so very plentiful.
I like to think I am partially responsible for the proliferation, but I know there are greater forces at work besides my delusions of grandeur, forces much more mundane – like the coming cold weather. Tiptoe has returned from his holiday, and the respectable (now ” retro” ) Senor Codo has reemerged with his pac-man inspired stickers and baseball-capped figures, a staple of his since 2006.
Taggers, scrawlers, and artists continue to converse with Ray Noland: his Blagojevich basketball scoring stencil has invited some taggers, notice this elephants ass next to Blagojevich escaping down a rope (close-up here), and here is Swiv saying hi to a buffed CRO. Now that Daley is leaving the mayorship behind, I wouldn’t be surprised if more Daleys appeared, and these stickers multiplied.
Stikman, who likened himself to the “Johnny Appleseed” of street art in an interview with the Washington Post, came through Chicago again last month. Stikman is responsible for those little robot men seen on sidewalks and streets, though it appears he left an actual figure somewhere in the city this time. Stikman is not above using stickers, as seen here. Stikman’s stickmen are made from the same tape/paint used by cities, ensuring their longevity.
Before the list, something to ponder:
Some of the greatest street art pieces currently in Chicago have been around for months (I would say more than a year but I don’t want to scare the buff-brown-happy people), like this piece by The Sevenist, photo by ghettop82 :
10.
The destructive (ironic) nature of stickers:
Anonymous Epidemic, Artist Unknown, Flickr photo by theres no way home–
Old Style Driving, Unknown Vandal, Flickr photo by Barrybu–
Everyone hates these traffic cameras, right? Mad props to whoever climbed up there.
Other notable stickers by unknown artists worth mentioning include the polka-dotted girl in a gas mask (another here), this cop on a newspaper box, this pile of shit on a trash can, and this sticker of Blago as IT.
9.
The many faces of Agu and Snacki:
Flickr photo by Maxwell Colette Gallery. Here is another AGU offering Senor Codo some love.
Work Hard to Die, by Snacki, flickr photo by heyrocc.
Snacki’s been on a Popsicle binge lately ( black and purple), though that does not mean he has left his trademark faces behind.
8.
The Writing on the Wall
I Eat Food, Unknown artist, Flickr photo by Barrybu
I’ve seen this sentence written by The Vic theater months ago and I thought it was a fluke. Apparently it is not. Another shot of this can be seen here.
Check out this “Blank Wall” scrawl, “This is not gang related” by LAG (remember, Graffiti Blasters is meant to remove gang tags first and foremost), the “This is not art” stencil, and Nice One’s “Devils in the White City” paste-up. I was not going to mention Nice One, but lately his characters have been riding watermelons, and with all the fruit trucks in my neighborhood, it would be amiss to forgo a Nice One mention.
7.
Reverse Graffiti
Drip Drop, Flickr photo by Mr. Ryan Mather
6.
Chicago is being attacked by cuteness!
Pink Kitten, unknown artist, flickr photo by gabriel_x_michael
Stuffed Toy Octopus, artist unknown, flickr photo by Barrybu
I’ve seen these octopus stickers before around Columbia University and I am happy to see these are not a one time deal.
The cuddly pup, reaching for a hug? Artist unknown, flickr photo by Molly Dolkart
The artist behind these cute pups popped up a couple months ago. I am hoping at least one of these cute creations are by a female street artist, as females on the street art scene are rare. Perhaps this stencil is also by a new female artist?
5.
Mushroom Cloud Blues by The Viking and Goons
The Viking has been around for years and is in the same crew as Goons. The Viking is mostly a sticker artist, though this board of his has been up for more than 2 years. Most of his work reflects his namesake, and here is a Gapers Block piece regarding the duo, complete with audio.
4.
All of the artists in the Sixty Inches from Center exhibit at the C33 Gallery, running until October 16th.
Klepto:
Kleptosalem’s entire flickr photostream is worth checking out.
Hebru Brantley:
Girl in a yellow hood, flickr photo by billy craven
Hebru Brantley is known for his goggled figures and worked with Ray Noland on the large “We Come in Peace” mural.
blütt:
flickr photo by Barrybu
The Sixty Inches from Center exhibit is not one to miss (one of my favorite exhibits this year), and other artists at the show include Brooks Golden, Azteca, Zoe McCloskey, Magda Sayeg, Stockyard Institute, and Jova.
3.
The 7th Annual ‘Meeting of Styles’
This three day graffiti event features artists from around the country (link includes video footage)
flickr photo by FLASH ABC. The finished work can be seen here. Below photos also by flickr user FLASH ABC. (To see larger versions/go to the flickr page, please click on the photos)
If a street art king could be crowned for the month of September, that king would be Brooks Golden. Not only is his work at the Sixty Inches from Center exhibit, but this year he was invited to participate in the Meeting of Styles Chicago event for the first time.
2.
Get Yo’ Guns, by Don’t Fret, flickr photo by stvk5
Notice the cuddly pup again, asking for a hug!
I’ve featured Don’t Fret before as a monthly top pick, but I had to give him the number 2 slot for the month of September based on effort alone. See “Endless Bummer“, “Sometimes all a man has is his face” and this hilarious “Pantene Bro-V“. Besides pasting and stickering, Don’t Fret even scrawled last month.
1.
SPADE
photo by Maxwell Colette Gallery. Love No Fear/ Fear No Love is my favorite.
I was going to write about Spade, but it seems Maxwell Colette Gallery has already owned it. Check out their blog post on Spade here, and peruse their flickr photoset of Spade’s work here. Whether or not this is a fake Banksy, see Spade paint on top of it.
-Fruzsina Eordogh a.k.a FruszE
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