The sister show to m&s centring around 100 handfinished prints was set to leave me going 'same shit, different day'. Amazingly enough it didn't! Maybe it's the sub-zero temperatures cracking my cold dead heart, or maybe this has gone under the radar and actually shows a newer, more heartfelt angle to Dran's work. 100 prints showing various images ranging from graf, missing parents, to remembering his dog being put down, losing part of you to someone else, to longing for friends, there's some pretty wide ranging topics in there. The weakest being nods to POW and other artists (Invader).
In spite of themselves, or maybe because Dran does have something to say, Pow have a show worth taking in
Thought I was on Vandalog for a second there Funky. Did POW bribe you with some mulled wine or a 15 quid Commercial St. hooker?
ReplyDeletemmmmmmmm if only, them's for the special awesome people
ReplyDeletebig news from POW about the banksy drop...all will be reviled tommorrow
ReplyDeletePlease tell me thats a very clever sentence structure, rather than a spelling mistake of the word revealed.
ReplyDeleteI remember when Adam Neate drew 100 skateboard decks for a show
ReplyDeleteI asked him how he could come up with 100 such varied topics as he did, and he told me when he ran out of ideas he'd just open the Argos catalogue and made something involving the first thing he saw!
but whatever, I know you lot don't like to hear stories that don't involve .info or anything that happened more than 6 months ago, so back to the topic at hand ;-)
I think this Dran show looks good, I'd like to see it (if only to steal some ideas). I like that this is not really 100 hand-finished prints, but 100 originals working from the same start point. Y'know, not 100 prints with some lazy paint drippage to hand finish them.
Maybe this will make some other print-flogging artists raise their game. Or at least make some customers realise they've not been getting enough for their money in the past...
So well done Dran, and well done Funky for enjoying something!
Rejoice! Street Art lives a few days longer...
Nope, it's more like 100 additional nails in the coffin, because little kids and people drawing things on walls are two of the biggest clichés going.
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing wrong with a cliche. Life itself is a cliche, every thought you have had has been thought before, everything you've done has been done, every feeling you have had has been felt. It's nigh on impossible to come up with an all out original concept, street art does not escape this fact.
ReplyDeleteone hundred different versions of one print is fresh,I like it....you tory cunts.
New things get invented all the time. There were people 100 years ago who were saying everything's already been done, and probably 1000 years ago too. That type of thinking is the preserve of the unimaginative. As evidenced by your supremely repetitive choice of insults.
ReplyDeletecan you list some new things that have been invented this year that have never existed before please
ReplyDelete(if you say "iPad" I will point out that it is a computer, which already existed, a device for playing games, which already existed, games themselves already existing for no doubt millions of years, and other such come-backs)
seriously though, it's very difficult to come up with something that has never existed before. I can't think of any artists working today that create completely new things. And even if you can, there are people that will point out why you are wrong.
anyway, it's not street art if it's in a gallery, so there's not really any points for or against earned by these Dran pieces.
WAIT A MINUTE!!! I just re-read your comment. How can a "little kid" be a cliché!?!?! Every single person on the planet was once a little kid, so why shouldn't an image of a little kid be used in art? That's like saying artists can't paint flowers. Or skies. Or door handles. Or... well, anything else! So we might as well just show empty canvases. Which in itself would be a cliché.
And as for drawing on walls - this blog wouldn't exist if people didn't draw on walls!
Making a negative comment on this blog under the title Anonymous is THE biggest cliché EVER!!!
It's not my job to educate you about new inventions, and I really can't be bothered to get into a debate with you about what constitutes something 'new' because I can tell that you're a very negative person who will always seek to pick fault to try to prove a point, however tenuously. But just use google and you'll find plenty of examples of new things being created all the time.
ReplyDeleteAlso, by saying that nothing new will ever be created again, you are stating that you can predict everything that will ever happen in the future, which is completely nonsensical. You can choose to believe what you like, but by setting yourself up as some kind of all-knowing visionary prophet you just sound arrogant and deluded.
You totally misinterpreted my earlier comment by the way...little kids and drawing on walls in themselves are not a cliché, but they become one when used in street/urban art because they've already been done to death. Although given the subject we're discussing here I would have thought the context I meant it in would have been pretty obvious to everyone except the wilfully obtuse.
Hmmm...'A Nony Mouse' sounds a lot like Nuart the chugger. How did things go for the poppy appeal Nu? Did you manage to snatch many collection boxes from charity shops and run off while the old person behind the till was distracted?
ReplyDeleteYou never did give us the details of where all that 'charity' money goes to that you like to keep banging on about.
not slating but good luck to anybody who is going to hang this on their wall........
ReplyDeletebarnaby anybody...?
ReplyDeleteAgree with the author of this blog that the M&S show was basically pretty poor. The Dran pieces at this show were overtly banksy-esque, seemingly produced with the same painting-by-numbers apathy of Damien Hirst spot paintings. Images of hoodie-wearing youths stealing wallets from unsuspecting gallery visitors; or fat, rich men having their makeup done for a photo shoot with starving Africans. Even Dran's incredibly beautiful drawing style wasn't enough to elevate such pieces. It reminded me of watching old comedy sketch shows where you can see the joke coming before any of the actors have opened their mouths.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, the I Have Chalks show was a totally different kettle of fish. So many great pieces there with real thought put into them, very revealing and emotive, and only a small handful of self-consciously street-cred pieces.
I would love to see Dran continue to pursue his own style and his own path no matter how much he may admire Banksy. The problem is, it has been proven ad infinitum now that commercialised street art needs to be excruciatingly obvious to succeed.
Nice to see the "Street Art Police" giving Nuart some free promotion whilst we rob Amnesty..
ReplyDeleteCheers Homie
Seems like you're getting a reputation as someone who claims to be running a charity Nuart, but when asked, has repeatedly failed to show the evidence of exactly where the money's going to.
ReplyDeleteWhy not just post a link here to where we can see the full set of accounts of this charity? Surely the information should be in the public domain anyway if it's all legitimate.
Why do you keep calling everyone 'homie' Nuart? Are you a gangsta rapper from South Central L.A. as well as being a full time charity case?
ReplyDeleteThis post has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteNuart - so you run a state funded non-profit organisation and 100% of your profits go to charity. You've told us that much. But just how big is your personal cut out of it all? Who else is on the payroll? How does the money get spent? Surely these are perfectly reasonable questions to ask of somebody who gets all their money from the public and also plays the charity card? Just like MP's expenses we've got a right to know, and the details about it should be in the public domain. What exactly do you have to hide?
ReplyDeleteNo need for any childish banter mate...just give us a link to where we can see the information.
Hmmm...so Nuart is quickly deleting his sarcastic replies from here and other threads now. No doubt they wouldn't look good when he gets investigated by the charity commission.
ReplyDeletes'alright we've saved em all for a laugh at Nuart in the future
ReplyDeleteGo on then..i'll play a while..
ReplyDeleteAn anonymous embittered ex print collector from the UK writes "we've got a right to know" about the finance of an arts festival in Norway.... lmfao.. why ? because you don't like a few UK street artists making a living from the work that you bought into, supposedly "back in the day" ?..you really are quite delusional.
But anyway...feeling charitable..so..
Any artwork that's ever been sold through Nuart/Numusic has been donated to Amnesty, with 0% admin. This on top of a few grands worth of advertising and creating a platform for them to promote individual causes.
Which this year FYI was the Sakineh Ashtiani case in Iran. We've worked with them since 2005. So there...hope that satisfy's your curiosity.
You'll find the link on Amnesty.no I guess..
Thanks.
So anyway.. back to Dran. Seems to be flavour of the month in the UK.. staying power or flash in the pan ?
Nope...not good enough I'm afraid. You'll need to do a lot better than an few vague mentions of Amnesty. You've been challenged to show us the full accounts, so that we can verify for ourselves if what you say is true.
ReplyDeleteYou seem very reluctant to let us have the information that's been requested, so that makes me wonder just what is it you don't want us to see? Could it be you're creaming a big fat wedge off the top to keep yourself in Banksy canvases while posing as a caring charity worker who is doing it all for the benefit of humanity?
You're so full of shit we can smell it in Dalston, digging that hole deeper and deeper won't make it go away, it's not just your diet that's fishy as fuck.
ReplyDeleteLOL..poor delusional lads..I'll get back to counting my Banksy Canvases. Catch you later.. get googling, drop me a line if you find anything untoward... street art police.. fucking laughable it is. Excellent site.. well done Dr Funky.
ReplyDeleteSomehow I didn't think we'd get an answer.
ReplyDeleteIf someone constantly promotes themselves as having charitable aims then surely it's not an unreasonable question to ask if they can back that assertion up with facts, but instead we get called 'delusional' for daring to mention it, which is very evasive and unprofessional behaviour to say the least.
I would have thought that any legitimate organisation that claims to be doing so much good charity work would be only too happy (proud even) to provide access to the detailed proof of where the money's going to.
I guess people are left to draw their own conclusions from your refusal to do so.
Waste of time asking Nuart anything. The man is a compulsive liar and egotist who has his snout buried deep in the street art trough.
ReplyDeleteI googled new inventions 2010. Apart from teleportation every new invention was just an advancement or refinement of something that already exists. And teleportation was "invented" in Science Fiction years ago ha ha!
ReplyDeletesaying new things can not be created is not what I said. I said it is DIFFICULT to come up with something that has never existed before. and an advance ment in the field of x is either an ADVANCEMENT and not a new invention or a NEW INVENTION, depending on your point of view.
Dran's 100 x kid piece could be called an ADVANCEMENT in what already exists - which you consider a NEW INVENTION - but to you it is old hat, so not new. your definition of a new invention is completely subjective, so only you can be in the right. weak argument. but then, you can't see this as your position can only leave you being correct
But I see your point about using images of children in street art, it has been done before. Though I consider childhood to be a very important part of every persons life and so why is it suprising it is used so often? The average street artist is what 25? so they are still dealing with issues from their childhood. infact there is a belief that most of our characteristics are formed in childhood (beliefs, obsessions, interests, likes and dislikes, etc) and these stay with us for life. Can it be a surprise then that these things are used?
from what I've seen of Drans work he draws cartoons, sometimes in the street, so why do you expect high art from him? he's the light entertainment part of street art, not the deep philisophical part (even if sometimes an idea or two dips into this territory)
don't expect your car mechanic to be able to fit your pace-maker
or invent teleportation ha ha!
p.s. I am not Nuart, and I'm sorry he got dragged into this world of hate. I looked at his website and saw no mention of charities at all (it could be hidden under the brown-nosing somewhere but I was too bored to look). I hope those that are calling him a liar and theif are giving huge amounts of cash to charity!
Yep, depends on your definition of new. You could go to an absurd extreme and say that nothing is ever really new because it's all composed of matter that has existed since the beginning of the Earth. But that's a pretty pointless argument.
ReplyDeleteThings often develop in incremental stages, which are then seen retrospectively as breakthroughs. There have been many art movements and styles that have been widely accepted as 'new', but which you would seemingly only categorise them as 'advancements' because they happen to involve paint and a flat surface, which have already been used before. I think maybe you're the one who is stretching the subjectivity of the definition a little too far. (or contracting it unnecessarily)
But aside from that, no...I don't think this Dran show is anything new (or an advancement). The concept is well worn. The only difference here is that he's chosen to do it on a larger scale by making 100 variations on the theme.
I never said I expected anything profound from him, but at the same time, I don't feel it's unfair to give my opinion that this work is clichéd.
Very telling that Nuart calls us lot the 'street art police'...he seems to have much preferred it when street art was a lawless frontier type place where greedy parasites like him could get away with any old scam and not expect to be pulled up on their behaviour.
ReplyDeletePerhaps it's only a cliché to those that are myopically obsessed with over analyzing street art, I've heard the same said about skulls and butterflies, motifs that have appeared throughout the ages and could rightly be called clichéd, but no less relevant because of it.
ReplyDeleteKids drawing on things, shown expressing quite complex emotions.. is relatively new as a motif in visual art. Far from being a cliché..it's been done perhaps 20 times, 30 tops.. in what ? ten + years. Only really a cliché if your interest in art spans no further than POW .info and generic streetart blogs.
Nope...not obsessed with that narrow range of things you mention. I look at many different types of art, but I see a lot of street art on the streets, on flickr and other places, and I see the little kid motif or people pictured drawing on things, (or both combined) recur on a weekly basis, sometimes even multiple times daily! It's been done hundreds, if not thousands of times.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure it isn't as recent a development as you suggest either, but I just can't be bothered to trawl art history at the moment to find examples. The thing about street art though is that a lot of it seems to rely on an ironic joke for it's appeal...but once you've seen that same old joke repeated over and over again then it just becomes rather tedious.
maybe the problem is that many of the younger street artists only look at other street art for inspiration
ReplyDeleteor that many of the lesser talented street artists only look at other street art for inspiration so they can make a product that will sell
I can't think of any "traditional" art pieces that depict a child drawing, so we could say that this theme is particular to street art, and is maybe a reflection of it being a very young art, or it not being seen as being fully developed (grown-up, if you will) by the established art world. In which case I think it is a very relevant image to use.
personally, I can't think of anything more boring than a stencil of a face. but then portraits have been with us almost since man first drew. so maybe a stencil of a face just continues this tradition of the portrait?
rather a cliché kid drawing than a stencil of a face for me though, so I'm giving Dran my vote
and old jokes can still be funny. the humour (delight, surprise) comes in the telling, the delivery, rather than the actual joke, and a new twist on a classic can be just as funny, if not more so.
hopefully, by telling us the joke in a hundred variations, Dran has killed the "kid drawing something" gag for a good long time to come! So we should thank him!
I can't stop thinking about how everything that exists and will exist has always existed, all be it in other forms...
I think the little kid drawing things on walls is a traditional cartoon/comic book motif, and for some reason a lot of street art seems to operate on that level. Maybe the artists think they need to 'dumb down' for the general public, or maybe they're just following a trend as you suggest.
ReplyDeleteI wouldn't bank on not seeing the idea used again though. If anything it will spawn yet another slew of imitators.
They look like they should be fucking Birthday cards or something.
ReplyDeleteThis release is made to look worse by the fact that several hundred people did exactly the same thing and stuck them on the wall.
ReplyDelete