…Exploring the role of the prankster as artist, activist and social observer and the significance of the prank in society.
Art in Odd Places, presenting visual and performance art in unexpected New York City public spaces, has released its call for projects for 2023.
“Art in Odd Places (AiOP) 2023: DRESS, scheduled for October 13-15, 2023, curated by Gretchen Vitamvas, invites proposals for its eighteenth annual outdoor public visual and performance art festival taking place on select blocks each day along 14th Street, Manhattan.”
Past photos:
A new bold and evocative public work of art from Banksy
Banksy Scaled the Prison That Once Jailed Oscar Wilde to Paint His Latest Mural, by Sarah Rose Sharp, Hyperalleric.com, March 5, 2021
Banksy confirmed the artwork in a clever video stitched together with a Bob Ross tutorial.
Blockbuster street artist Banksy has laid claim to his latest work of public art — an olde tyme prison escape stenciled on the wall of the defunct HM Reading Prison in Reading, Berkshire, England. The prison, also known as Reading Gaol, was built in 1844 and operated until early 2014. Until this week, it was perhaps most famous for housing writer Oscar Wilde during a two-year imprisonment (1895-1897) after a conviction for “gross indecency.” Following his release, Wilde published The Ballad of Reading Gaol, a poem that narrates the 1896 hanging of Charles Thomas Woodridge, convicted of murdering his wife.
The Banksy mural features a figure in prison stripes and a cap. He appears to be climbing down the exterior brick wall on a rope ladder instead of a ream of paper, anchored by a typewriter. The image is likely an allusion to Wilde as Reading’s famous inmate and his subsequent poetic work that both documents Woodridge’s hanging while also identifying with him as a fellow prisoner.
The artist left his work open to speculation for a few days before taking to Instagram with a video documenting the mural’s clandestine application, with narration supplemented by overlay from Bob Ross’s famous public access painting program, The Joy of Painting with Bob Ross. The audio selections first seem to merely narrate the creation of the mural, details of which are captured in the tight halo of the artist’s headlamp, but once we cut to shots of the mural in full view the following day, the audio clips telegraph the artist’s statement on the work. Read the whole article here.
How to get the attention of an audience on the go…
“German artists stage a quirky performance for passing trains”
by Rusty Blazenhoff
BoingBoing
September 21, 2017
Over 500 volunteers and residents in the “Bewegtes Land” art project entertained passengers with a super fun and quirky art performance, all happening along the train’s nearly 19-mile route.
Watch the video to see how they surprised their moving audience along the way.
The route went from Jena to Naumburg, a quiet area in the Saale valley’s countryside not known for tourists. Read more.
World Naked Bike Ride Day, a recurring sight gag with a message of self-care and sustainability, streaks through Philly.
“Thousands of Naked Bicyclists Storm the City of Brotherly Love”
by Dino Hazell
AP
September 10, 2016
Thousands of bicyclists dared to be bare for the city’s annual nude ride promoting positive body image, cycling advocacy and fuel conservation.
About 3,000 people gathered Saturday for the eighth annual Philly Naked Bike Ride through the city’s streets. They set off from a park near the Philadelphia Museum of Art, where Sylvester Stallone ran up the steps in the “Rocky” movies.
The annual ride featured people sporting underwear, body paint, glitter or nothing at all. Some riders concerned about being recognized by their parents or co-workers wore masks while others wore just their shoes.
“It’s a really open and fun way of destigmatizing nudity,” said Oren Eisenberg, who was riding nude for the fifth time. Continue reading “Bare-Assed Pedaling for a Change”
Brooklyn Street Art blog showcases creative civic repurposing.
“Art Silos Rise in the Harbor of Catania, Sicily”
By Stephen P. Harrington and Jamie Rojo
Brooklyn Street Art
May 4, 2016
They”™ve been here since the 1950s, these silos for wheat and corn on the harbor of Catania on the east coast of the island of Sicily at the foot of Mount Etna. 28 meters tall and facing the Ionian Sea, they are now some of the largest canvasses in Italy by a small group of international and local Street Artists.
The “Art Silos” project includes works completed during an eight month installation begun in June 2015 as part of Festival “I-ART” organized by “Emergence”, thanks to Angelo Bacchelli, curated by Giuseppe Stagnitta. The artists taking part in the project were Okuda (Spain), ROSH333 (Spain), Microbo (Italy), BO130 (Italy), VladyArt (Italy), Danilo Bucchi (Italy) and the duo Interesni Kaxki (Ukraine), mostly all from the graffiti/Street Art world. A separately organized but related project on the harbor-facing row of eight silos was completed by one artist alone, the Lisbon-based Vhils.
The project”™s completion at the turn of the year culminated in one of the largest Street Art/Graffiti artists”™ collective shows in Italy held in the city”™s main public gallery Palazzo Platamone, entitled “Codici Sorgenti” (Source Code), which was curated by Stefano S. Antonelli and Francesca Mezzano from Rome”™s 999 Contemporary Gallery.
There is talk about the possibility that this exhibition of about 60 artists work will tour throughout Europe with its message of the historic roots of modern graffiti and Street Art along with many of its most impactful practitioners pushing into the contemporary art world.
Full story and more photos here.
