I would love to say something positive about this show, oh what the heck, sweet toof's gums have on occasion been able to raise a smile on my face, his canvas work has on occasion made me think 'it may just work'. But sadly on this occasion it just makes me go 'fuck, that's ugly and expensive'.
but then if you like artists like James Esnor (or is it Ensor? Maybe...) then you would be into this. ugly-ness isn't a bad thing, and beauty is in the eye of the beholder.
ReplyDeletethat paint can is fucking annoying though, I think it's that big black X drawing my attention, so my wallet stays shut...
Not as annoying as Grafter's new print.
ReplyDeleteCan artists please stop including paint rollers and spraycans in their works to denote how "street" they are!
ReplyDeleteIt's like if a baker had to constantly bake loaves in the shape of an oven to prove how baked it is.
P.S Yes the grafter print is the biggest load of speckled dung yet. Unspeakably wank conception/composition/execution.
Yep, when I first saw ST work I liked it. Until someone shows me an Ensor book then I realized .. Lacking originality, but hey thats what art colleges do to you. They take your freedom and creativity to turn you into someone that has already existed. Trust. If it wasnt for what I've just said then ST would have a massive big up from me.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely well applied paintings though
I would certainly buy bread in the shape of an oven. More so than anything by Grafter.
ReplyDeleteBut if the artists didn't put spray cans and rollers in the paintings then they would no longer be 'street art' paintings, and they would have to compete against all of the other contemporary art that exists in the world, which would leave them looking poorly executed almost on the level of children's art and lacking any kind of originality or complexity. In short they would be laughed at as being total shit.
ReplyDeleteIf you take away the 'street' gimmick from most 'street art' then there's really nothing left.
Good comment above. ST using pretty pink gums as his unique selling product but otherwise very mediocre painting technique (against good oil painters). Unfortunately we are in a copycat time. Gums are even boring after seeing too much. But would take this over ripped off imagery/stencils. As for our good friend MBW oh dear oh dear. Yes street art is dead. Bring on Graff
ReplyDeletebut what is a "good" oil painting?
ReplyDeletesomething that is technically so perfect it looks real?
because to me that isn't good, it's just technique
and photography freed artists from having to paint that way, which is why we have impressionism, cubism, conceptual art, etc, and some could argue, graffiti.
I like this painting, bar the street art weapons. it's not that they annoy me as objects, it's that the colours are just too flashy, draw too much attention. I mean, I like the moody sky, but all I can see is the yellow extension pole!
on another note, I think Vandalog is on it's last legs. all the posts last night were still "waiting for your comment" - which suggests it's readers are either too dumb to have anything to say, or aren't even bothering to visit the chapel to see the bloated corpse laying in it's coffin awaiting burial
I don't like paintings to be photo-realistic either, but to me these works just look crude and cartoonish. Something can still be drawn or painted well (or not) whatever style it's in...cubist, realist, graffiti etc.
ReplyDeleteVandalog is definitely on life-support , nobody really wants to engage with a bland, uncritical, commercial arena for the promotion of his industry friends, where even the comments are subject to censorship. It's as dull and transparent as over boiled cabbage.
Vandalog, Wooster and various other wannabe 'celebrity' experts made a fatal mistake by thinking they could control the message of street art and turn it toward their own self-serving agenda. Silly fuckers, all they've done is cut their own throats.
Poor Vandalog is still playing the victim on twitter though, whining that people hate him because he's young. Nothing is ever his fault you see, it's all of those nasty 'haters' who are out to get him.
Oil painting is a true skill in itself, aint the easiest of mediums. Fine artists have their own technique to be appreciated as a good oil painter.
ReplyDeleteI saw the "studio visit" photos on Butterflys flickr
ReplyDeleteAs a body of work ST's new stuff is looking very nice
This definately isn't the best piece
I just came back from visiting a big gallery where I saw a lot of paintings from between 1900 and 1950. I would say these ST paintings are generally as good as what I saw. Some where much better than these in feeling, technique, etc, but some were not as good. I think ST's doing alright (and a million times better than the new Grafter and Walker dross-fest)
ST can obviously paint and is far from your average wannbe cross over street to gallery artist. Great technique, eye and movement in the works. The Pinks and Neons obviously there to contrast with the drab surroundings. I'd say this is from a gallery/studio artist informed by the street and not the other way around. This post highlights only one thing, that street art fans aren't really qualified to judge real art..
ReplyDeleteStick to slagging off Grafter perhaps
Sounds like some of Toof's BC bum boy mates have come on here to defend him.
ReplyDeleteHe's a weak and amateurish painter at best, who is using the street to give himself publicity for his gallery work. Without that gimmick to rely on his stuff wouldn't even be considered good enough for a charity shop.
He should stick to painting childish cartoons along the side of the canal perhaps.
"This post highlights only one thing, that street art fans aren't really qualified to judge real art.."
ReplyDeleteSo what exactly does being 'qualified to judge real art' mean? Do we all need to have a poncey Royal College of Art degree like Sweet Toof?
Actually it's precisely because some of us like 'real art' as you call it, that we're able to see past all the hype and cheesy motifs and recognise that this work is fucking shit.
you should be proud of the Royal College of Art, it has produced some of the worlds highest regarded artists, professors and lecturers on a subject you seem to know precious little about.
ReplyDeleteI should be proud of an elitist, royalist institution that by the looks of Sweet Toof's work, can't even teach the basics of how to paint??? Fuck off and stick your tongue up Camilla's saggy bum you flag waving imbecile.
ReplyDeleteAs for these paintings, judged in street art terms, (where the bar is set incredibly low) they would probably rank just inside the top 50% as far as concept and painterly skill goes. So perhaps slightly better than average, but still quite poor compared to the best in the game.
However, if I were to rate them in terms of where they fit into the wider art world, I'd have to say they would definitely be in the bottom one percent. Strip out the rollers and gums gimmicks and you're left with something that would seriously struggle to get accepted into a village Sunday painter's group exhibition in the local library.
Is there any artists that users of this blog does like? Also, I noticed a few people are not getting stick- Galleries like Laz for example? Any reason for this?
ReplyDeleteI personally do like some artist's work, but I'm not going to mention any names here in case Vandalog hears out about it and turns it into the latest commercial trend for his hipster/yuppie audience.
ReplyDeleteAs for Laz, I think the man is a complete money grabbing chancer cunt.
By their very nature galleries are cunts taking +50% for doing very little. And most are dodgy cunts engaged in smoke and mirror tactics, dubious selling methods and in a lot of cases straight up theives, stealing from artists and customers alike.
ReplyDeleteArtists should start self representing more to curb these parasites.
most artists DO represent themselves
ReplyDeletebut if you want to exhibit and sell work, what can you do?
not all of us can afford to do a Banksy/Brainwash/DFace and rent a big space, pay people to frame stuff, hang the show, pr the show, run the bar at the opening party, sit in the space every day for a month, and all the other stuff galleries do.
True, most of them are parasites, but there are also good ones who support artists they like, even if it means not making the rent. It's just difficult sorting the wheat from the chaf as you only find out what they're like after working with them.
Sweet Toof has a career as a painter under his real name, so to say he relies on street cred to get shows and sell work is kind of stupid.
And to say he's in the bottom one percent of the "real" art world is also stupid. 99% of the real art world are in the bottom 1%!!! Most art is bullshit. So I don't understand why you all act so offended by most street art - like any art most of it is bullshit!
Here's a radical idea. Start a blog and ONLY blog about art you've seen in the flesh and that you like. So maybe you only post once a month, but it would make a refreshing change compaired to pr-led wank-fests like Vandalog or this home to angry young men who just bitch about everything being shit.
Slagging off art based on a tiny jpeg is as stupid as it is pointless (unless it's a Nick Walker piece)
Balls. There's plenty of spaces big and small available for exhibiting art like empty shops and art spaces run by community groups and art collectives etc. There's also plenty of venues like bars/restaurants/clubs and boutiques that'll hang art for sale for a much smaller cut (or none at all) than a gallery will take.
ReplyDeleteDon't bother framing the art (or paint on things that require no framing)as the buyer will most likely change the frame and hang the show? Quite a few artists can hang it themselves and prefer to. PR? We've got this thing we're typing on called the internet and the majority of shows are largely promoted via it through mailing lists and blogs/forums. Bar? Bucket of beer or get a few mates to help out. It ain't hard. And if you think it is you're a lazy fuck who want's it all done for you.
As for Sweet Toof's work, well I went to one of Burnin Candy shows a few years back and it was pretty good with some interesting pieces done on all manner of items like a pram. The street art gimmics do detract a bit from it though as there's more to art then repeatedly drawing gums as a motif in order to easily mark it out as your own work as then it just becomes a marketing ploy.
Sweet Toof had a FAILED career as a painter under his real name, which is why he's gone back to relying on the 'street cred' angle for sales. But he can't have it both ways...kissing royal anus when it suits him, while pretending to be some kind of bad boy street renegade.
ReplyDeleteI wonder why all of his moronic street graffiti pink gums are in run down areas of East London? Probably because he wouldn't want to offend any of the rich patons he hopes to attract by doing graffiti in Kensington or Chelsea. But he thinks it's ok to inflict his boring shit on poor working class people though. The more I think about him, the more apparent it becomes what a tedious untalented careerist he is.
a couple of pointers, my post is not based on the fucking pic i put up, it's nearly always based on seeing the work displayed. As this is my blog I tend to say what i fucking want - does ST's make me think 'awesome, i love it' or does it make me think 'over priced hyped up average work with a bit of street cred thrown in'? In this case the fucking latter. (Also it doesn't help when other blogs, will sell their left bollock just to be friends with these characters and tell us how wonderful their work is - this just ANNOYS the fuck out of me. )
ReplyDeletedidnt he come 3rd in silkys competition though... That must mean something surely? The bottom line is he is using street art to sell prints and og's. Banksy did the same 15 years ago going around town saying he was the best GRAFFITI artist in the country. BC are all looking for the same commercial enterprise. Stinks of wanting your cash and wannabes. Answer me this please, why is Cyclops taking 5 grand on paintings at auctions but stuggles to get £250 on ebay?
ReplyDeleteif that is the case then why are you not buying these off ebay and taking them to Bonhams?
ReplyDeleteI am guessing that the ebay one is not comparable with the auction house ones?
maybe Sweet Toof only paints in East London coz he lives there
ReplyDeletewhy the fuck would anyone carry buckets of paint (which are heavy) all the way across town when there's plenty of walls to paint where he lives!?
maybe he'd prefer to see his art around where he lives
maybe he wants to make art for the community he lives in
maybe he's happy to sell work to rich folk out west and so can't be arsed to give it to them for free
as for exhibitions, organised them, hung them, exhibited in them, so I was writing from the perspective of someone who knows
no one takes exhibitions in bars of restaurants seriously, and just see work as part of the decor
plus the work comes back stinking of fags (showing my age there!) or greasy. exhibiting in restaurants is rubbish
the sort of people that go to community or artist run places are usually hippies and don't buy work. buying materials to make art is expensive, and sometimes it's nice to at least cover your costs
framing drawings increases the chance of selling them, and means you can quadruple the price
the internet is only good for pr if you know who to send the information too, and those people have to be interested enough to post about it. plus, if you're trying to make work for a show the last thing you want to be fucking around with is doing your own pr, framing your own shit, booking venues, running a bar.
it's ok if you're 20 and just starting out, but if you've been working at this shit for 10, 15 years you want someone else to take care of all that boring shit and concentrate on making good work so that no-name wankers like it and don't spend their time slagging you off on the internet...
Awwww...poor little Sweet Toof, too physically weak to carry a couple of paint tins onto the tube! Diddums. I didn't realise he had a severe muscle wasting disease.
ReplyDeleteWhy would he bother to paint anywhere other than his local area? Because in graffiti there's something known as getting respect from being 'all city', something you and him obviously know nothing about, because you're both middle class art school hipster pricks trying to ride off the back of street culture.
Or could it be that he only chooses the easy spots in industrial backwaters because the idea of hitting anywhere high profile sends his arsehole into a spasm? He only paints to get on flickr and blogs anyway. The man is the fucking epitome of an internet graffiti poseur.
Mediocre art made for mediocre media types.
ReplyDeleteAdd a thin splash of street cool to give it a sort of dull edge and then foist it down some socially incestous Shoreditch trend hole.
Hardcore as Confessions Of A Window Cleaner.
I like Sweet Toof. Thanks!
ReplyDeletePS. I like self asphyxiation too, but less of me.
Where can I buy the mentioned bread baked in the shape of an oven?
ReplyDeletePM me
seeing as there's a strong demand for my half baked goods idea and taking a lead from Jboy I'll be offering an exclusive to this blog's readers.
ReplyDeleteA limited editon of 250 loaves, signed, hand numbered and blind baked. Comes with COA printed on grease proof paper.
Only £400!
Special hand finished artist's loaf in an edition of 50 for only £1000.
Coming soon poppy and sesame seed edition for a delectable £2000.
First come, first served. Get them while they're hot*
*Will go rapidly cold then stale the following day and mouldy the day after that.
seeing as there's a strong demand for my half baked goods idea and taking a lead from Jboy I'll be offering an exclusive to this blog's readers.
ReplyDeleteA limited editon of 250 loaves, signed, hand numbered and blind baked. Comes with COA printed on grease proof paper.
Only £400!
Special hand finished artist's loaf in an edition of 50 for only £1000.
Coming soon poppy and sesame seed edition for a delectable £2000.
First come, first served. Get them while they're hot*
*Will go rapidly cold then stale the following day and mouldy the day after that.
Mediocre art made for mediocre media types.
ReplyDeleteAdd a thin splash of street cool to give it a sort of dull edge and then foist it down some socially incestous Shoreditch trend hole.
Hardcore as Confessions Of A Window Cleaner.
I don't like paintings to be photo-realistic either, but to me these works just look crude and cartoonish. Something can still be drawn or painted well (or not) whatever style it's in...cubist, realist, graffiti etc.
ReplyDeleteVandalog is definitely on life-support , nobody really wants to engage with a bland, uncritical, commercial arena for the promotion of his industry friends, where even the comments are subject to censorship. It's as dull and transparent as over boiled cabbage.
Vandalog, Wooster and various other wannabe 'celebrity' experts made a fatal mistake by thinking they could control the message of street art and turn it toward their own self-serving agenda. Silly fuckers, all they've done is cut their own throats.
Poor Vandalog is still playing the victim on twitter though, whining that people hate him because he's young. Nothing is ever his fault you see, it's all of those nasty 'haters' who are out to get him.
But if the artists didn't put spray cans and rollers in the paintings then they would no longer be 'street art' paintings, and they would have to compete against all of the other contemporary art that exists in the world, which would leave them looking poorly executed almost on the level of children's art and lacking any kind of originality or complexity. In short they would be laughed at as being total shit.
ReplyDeleteIf you take away the 'street' gimmick from most 'street art' then there's really nothing left.