NEW STREET ART Claude Crommelin (Claudelondon)
BASTARDILLA www.bastardilla.org
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Bastardilla’s impressive, glittering, colourful paintings and paste-ups may be about sadness and doom (those feelings that the other pictures in the street – the advertisements – ignore) or about intimacy. I think these beautiful pieces are about the best the streets of Shoreditch have ever seen, and, happily, they usually go untouched for a long time; they are very well respected by nearly everybody. The Colombian artist is obsessed with painting on the streets. Indeed, she feels uncomfortable without at least a marker in her pocket, with which she can draw her trademark bird.
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BLAM
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I was happy to see this piece returning to the street after an earlier version had been buffed. In 2012 Blam published his first fanzine, available from www.etsy.com/ shop/blamella. There is also a very nice painting by him in the yard of Benny’s Bar, on Redchurch Street.
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BONBON
JAMES COCHRAN www.akajimmyc.com
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Jimmy C, as James Cochran is also known, is an Australian artist currently living in Shoreditch. He started out as a graffiti writer, doing trains and all that, even living on the street for some time, but eventually went to art school and got a Masters from the University of South Australia. He has his very own style – ‘drip painting’, a form of pointillism. Inspired by the dot painting of the Australian Aboriginals, he makes little dripping dots with the spray can. He often paints male homeless people. In some ways they’re self-portraits, but they also show his subjects that there is a way out. After many solo exhibitions in Australia and France, James had his first show in London in 2011. He is a highly respected street artist, his work is rarely tagged or vandalised.
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Street art can be found in any large city. By street art, we mean the crazy and wonderful stencils, paste-ups, paintings and little sculptures that decorate our urban landscape. Unfortunately, this work is often ephemeral, and may disappear very quickly either due to vandalism or to the elements. Through his website, Claudelondon has documented thousands of works by artists active in the city from all over the world. Banksy is already a household name and the success of his movie Exit Through the Giftshop has raised the profile of street art even further. On a state visit, Prime Minister David Cameron gave President Barack Obama a painting by street artist Eine. The street art scene in London is one of the most vibrant in the world attracting not only local artists, but also artists from other countries. Street art galleries are popping up everywhere and attracting lots of visitors. Guided street art walks are appearing in major cities in the UK, the US and other countries. Including a mix of more established street artists such as Eine, Invader, Banksy, Roa, David Walker and Swoon, the author also includes some of the new generation of street artists such as Stik, Public Spirit, Xylo, Elbow Toe, Ludo, and T. Wat who create wonderful quirky pieces that deserve a wider audience. Covering over 150 artists and over 275 photos, New Street Art is a must have for anyone interested in street art, urban street culture or contemporary art.
www.vivays-publishing.com
NEW STREET ART Claude Crommelin (Claudelondon)
Contents Foreword by Stik Introduction Artists A-Z The Unknowns Specifications 210 x 210 mm (8 ¼ x 8 ¼ in) 272 pages with 275 illustrations Paperback with flaps Recommended retail price: £ 19.95 € 24.95 US$ 29.95 ISBN 978-1-908126-51-1 20,000 words February 2013
The Author Claude Crommelin, who is known as Claudelondon, has been documenting the street art of London since 2008 after moving to the city from The Netherlands. He is a professional photographer who specialized in photographing contemporary artworks for museums including Stedelijk Museum (Amsterdam), Centraal Museum Utrecht and Boymans van Beuningen (Rotterdam). His work has appeared in museum catalogues and magazines such as MetropolisM, Vinyl, Het Museumjournaal, and Vrij Nederland. His personal work focuses on recording the counter culture, punk, squatter and post-punk scenes and has been exhibited in various solo and group shows in the Netherlands.
Key Features • Documents more than 150 street artists actively producing work • Photographs by renowned street art photographer Claudelondon • Includes a mix of established street artists and new artists