While this wall was marked by both Dead Eyes and Jeans, two of the most prolific artists on the Bay Area streets, the piece on the right catches the eye because of its child-like application of color. It looks as though an artist created the poster and asked a child to fill it in with crayons and color pencils—a surprising find, to be sure.
Yesterday I was lucky enough to be present during a wheatpasting session at Space Gallery in preparation for their upcoming show, Urban Osmosis. Curated by Spoke Art, the extensive group exhibition features several rooms of site-specific installations, wood panels, canvases and a wheatpaste free-for-all by many of the Bay Area’s most prolific street artists. If you’ll be in the City for New Years Eve, I highly suggest stopping by their opening night/NYE party for a drink and some intense visual stimulation.
This sticker by Dead Eyes reworks perhaps the most recognizable image: the human face. The abstract shapes seem to burst out from underneath the eyes and lips, flaring out like fingers. On one hand (no pun intended), they resemble some kind of tribal facial ornaments but on the other, the shapes at the bottom remind of playing cards wedged underneath the lip. I guess that’s sort of a strange interpretation. I always have qualms calling anything “tribal” because obviously there are tons of diverse tribes across the different continents. Living in the West, we only really get a cursory impression of indigenous cultures in books and museums. But when you see art and artifacts taken out of their natural context and displayed on white walls, all those impressions start to seep together in the mind. So yeah, anyway, this sticker is awesome. The end.
What’s up, what’s up? It’s the weekend.
They always say one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. Well, same goes for this trash receptacle, which has become a work of art thanks to Pink Eyes.
Dead Eyes did this paste up on the other side of the same dumpster. The illustration style is really interesting to observe. The face is compartmentalized into different abstract patterns that still make up a recognizable facial expression.
To me, Pink Eyes’ and Dead Eyes’ characters (as well as GATS) are so definitive of Bay Area street art. Their characters’ faces look as if they’re derived from cartoons or illustrations, but instead of being flat out charming, they seem to always wear resigned, detached facial expressions. When I look at art like this, I can’t help but wonder if the artist is subtly voicing discontent or cynicism about something on the street (or society in general) where s/he put up his/her piece. It’s as if the characters on the dumpster are looking at something terribly disappointing and, by noticing where they cast their gaze, we’re supposed to pick up on it too.
