Last night was the opening to the Deitch Project’s final exhibition – May Day. It features Shepard Fairey’s portraits of cultural icons including Jimi Hendrix, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, Patti Smith, Keith Haring, the list goes on. “The overall idea is the steps that individuals take to make art, change culture, change politics,” says Fairey supporting the concept behind the show. The line to go inside was around the block on this warm summery evening. People seem to be really excited to see the artist, the art, and to be a part of this New York moment. I realized the power of Shepard Fairey has reached out and beyond to gather an eclectic mix of people, which was the most interesting aspect of the opening. I met a team of indie filmmakers from Yugoslavia doing a documentary on street art traveling across the ocean to do spot interviews including this one with Fairey (more details about this film to come). Here are the photos and video recap from last night.
RSS
great post as usual!
May 3, 2010 @ 10:16 am
It’s too bad Fairey is so corporate and hypocritical not too mention the work being so intellectually flat and conceptually vapid. It makes it hard to take any of this faux revolutionary pop art seriously.
May 4, 2010 @ 4:16 pm
poor excuse for graphic design ass, one motif using , wanna be grafitti , corporatle sponsored ,trashbag exuse for a peope to meet at a gallery and wear hip clothing
May 5, 2010 @ 3:19 am
too bad art in new york has stopped being challenging , there are talented artist and good art but most of it is middle of the road , sleep inducing crap from blind goats, i cant remember the last time i saw something that challenged anything , raised questions , made no sense , cause a new thought or a new stream of consciousness to , broke the mold , stepped out the box any of the above. let me know if im wrong
has anyone seen anything lately that was truly interesting , thought provoking , rebellious any thing new dope out of this world just plain strage /
May 5, 2010 @ 3:26 am
@other commentors: Have you seen the show in person yet? If not here are the details: http://artcards.cc/newyork/show/15429-Shepard-Fairey-May-Day-Deitch-Projects
It’s a shame that comments on blogs tend towards the negative.
There is definitely cultural significance in Deitch leaving New York. Whether you are a fan of the artwork or not, the scene/buzz/culture surrounding the work is unlike any other art gallery I’ve been to. Often the artwork has been excellent as well.
May 5, 2010 @ 11:43 am
We are definitely going through a time of light-speed changes in the way we relate to society as a whole. We can’t blame individuals or groups for the way things are because we’re all inputting into this feed in our own ways, such as blogging this right now or facebooking. Controversial and underground movements happen because of struggling to front against a system, but we (as Americans) have been living in this comfort zone of consumed culture, which has become the norm. And any sort of underground counter culture also gets, in a sense, consumed and branded. But this would go into a whole new discussion. Shepard Fairey is a commercial artist and designer, with an established clothing label Obey. Yes his art started out with a style of being a rebel against the system, but it quickly caught on with the mainstream. As a native New Yorker, I have seen the days of counter-cultures slowly shift into strategically targeted consumerism. The Deitch is the only gallery in NYC that is dedicated to showcasing street artists, and sadly they are closing. New York City is no longer the gritty playground it used to be, if you are mourning for that past you might as well move to a city like Berlin or elsewhere in Eastern Europe where artist activists are still voicing out. For a good resource involving street artists in action check out the Living Walls Conference – livingwallsconference.com.
May 5, 2010 @ 7:53 pm