THE STREETS OF EUROPE
New Works and Installations by: Blek Le Rat, Blu, Bo130, D*Face, Microbo, and Space Invader
Opening reception - Saturday, December 1st, 6pm—9pm
December 1, 2007
through December 29, 2007
NEW YORK, NY (November 12, 2007) — Jonathan LeVine Gallery is pleased to announce The Streets of Europe, a group exhibition featuring installations by six of Europe’s most dynamic Street Artists. Continuing the gallery’s series on International Street Art that began with Ruas De São Paulo : A Survey of Brazilian Street Art, Jonathan LeVine Gallery has invited Blek le Rat, Blu, Bo130, D*Face, Microbo and Space Invader directly from the streets of Europe, to present their work to New York audiences.
The Streets of Europe brings the vibrancy of urban art scenes currently found in London, Paris, and Milan into the Chelsea gallery setting, through newly created original works and site-specific installation pieces. The six talented artists in this show each have their own individual aesthetic, form of medium, and means of expression. Together they will transform the gallery using a variety of materials including paint, wheat paste, stencil, mosaic tile and digital animation—merging techniques and traditions, from the old and new world.
Street Art culture has grown from its graffiti roots over the past few decades and has since evolved into a global movement. Often conveying political or social commentary, the intent of many Street Artists is to create an open message to society, introduce unconventional ideas to the general public and engage the masses. When European artists—influenced by American Graffiti and Hip-Hop culture—first began to experiment in the streets of their own cities, their approach naturally translated into distinctly different techniques, in contrast with those found in the US. Street Artists in European cities developed applications that would compliment the classical architecture of their native environment, within the context of their own urban landscapes.
Jonathan LeVine Gallery’s goal in organizing this series of International Street Art exhibitions (First Brazilian, and now European) is to help create a visual dialogue within our global community, a creative exchange of ideas that transcend class and cultural differences, while crossing geographical borders. The objective is to promote freedom of expression through exposing new artwork to people in different cities worldwide.
Blek le Rat
Blu
Bo130
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D*Face
Invader
Microbo
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ABOUT THE ARTISTS
Blek le Rat
A pioneer of graffiti writers in Europe, Blek le Rat was one of the first to use stencils on the street. His method of creating street art changed the face of graffiti and continues to influence artists around the world. Inspired by a stenciled portrait of Mussolini admidst WWII ruins that he saw during a trip to Italy in 1981, he created a stencil of a rat and painted it around the streets of Paris. His work has since evolved beyond the rat icon and taken on a more serious context. He now uses his art to serve a social cause, evoke reaction and inspire change.
Blu
With a penchant for drawing and public art, Blu started painting walls around his native Bologna in 2000. His pieces often cover entire sides of buildings, which he either paints using brushes mounted on long sticks, or by simply standing on a friend’s shoulders. He has painted walls in Italy, Spain, Germany, Brazil and England. In the fall of 2006, Blu, joined by filmmaker Lorenzo Fonda, and two friends documented an unscripted trip across South and Central America. They entitled the project: Megunica. The film is set to be released in late 2007 as a package that will include: a DVD of the documentary as well as a book featuring travel photos, wall pieces and a reproduction of an illustrated travel diary.
Bo130
Born and raised in Milan, Bo130 graduated from London College of Communication, with degrees in Graphic and Media Design. His work explores different levels of visual communication through animation, art direction, graphic and web design. He experiments and blends different techniques such as painting, stencils, stickers, markers, and spray paint to visually describe his interests and influences. Bo130 has exhibited in galleries across Europe and the US, often collaborating with Microbo. In December, 2006 they participated in the Wooster on Spring project at 11 Spring Street organized by the Wooster Collective.
D*Face
D*Face is among a cadre of street artists whose goals are neither egotistical, nor political, but conceptual. Whereas urban dwellers may have grown tired of the repetition and redundancy of some stencil artists, whose endless reproductions of logos and names may be making Walter Benjamin smile in his grave, D*Face is more like a stylized cartoonist whose characters are too alive, demanding and confrontational to be limited to television sets, canvases or drawing boards. They’ve completely escaped the pen of their creator, repopulating the walls of London by transforming the streets into a cartoon landscape of slit-eyed spheres and sharp-eared gremlins.
Microbo
Born and raised in Sicily, Microbo studied art in London before moving to Milan. Heavily influenced and inspired by microbiology, she developed a unique visual language using organic shapes, filaments and organisms, which she uses to express life’s complexity and diversity. Her paintings, drawings, stickers and stencils embrace a wide range of references, from traditional graffiti style to surrealist imagery. Often collaborating on projects with her partner, Bo130, Microbo’s army of underground creatures can be found on the streets and in galleries across Europe and the United States.
Space Invader
Referencing the 1978 video game, mosaics featuring “Space Invaders” became a familiar sight on the streets of Paris in the late 90s. Space Invader's usage of tile to create street art, rather than paint or stencil emphasizes his commentary of how information networks have affected and transformed society. Space Invader creatures can be found on the streets of over thirty five cities worldwide. Recently, his exhibition work has evolved, incorporating Rubik’s Cubes to create Invaders and building 3D sculptures which echo the same imagery in his two-dimensional street pieces.
Jonathan LeVine Gallery