Architecture
Stephen Powers is a New York based artists who during his youth wrote graffiti under the name ESPO (Exterior Surface Painting Outreach). Powers work has always blurred the lines between graffiti and graphic design by producing murals influenced by advertising and sign writing, his public work often appearing to be legitimate billboards.
Today Stephen’s work is as intelligent and engaging as ever. For his latest project ‘A Love letter For You’ Stephen Powers has traveled back to his home town of West Philadelphia, this time with the funding and backing from the local authorities, to paint a series of murals on the rooftops where graffiti once stood visible from the elevated train lines. Sadly the original 1980s graffiti went unnoticed by the public and were all painted brown sometime during the mid nineties. Powers feels that the original more ‘traditional’ graffiti was alienating and that by creating work which is understandable and readable by all it will ultimately result in a greater acceptance from the general public.
The ‘A Love letter For You’ project is still in production. For the latest murals, info and pictures straight from the rooftops of West Philidelphia check out the blog here
Alex Geoffrey
Posted on Tuesday, 20th of October 2009 Permalink
Way back in 2006 Gary Butcher blogged about some lovely cycling posters he’s spotted in San Fran link. A few years later, Jon Lee, Creative Director at London design consultancy 20.20 spotted them on 30gms. He loved them so much he hunted down the illustrator Tavis Coburn and commissioned him to do 8 giant banners for their client Arsenal Football Club’s Emirates Stadium. The banners show Arsenal legends past and present huddled together, as they do on the pitch before each game, circling the stadium perimeter. A great concept, beautifully executed, I can’t imagine it’s easy getting players likenesses and character spot on from behind! probably not easy printing and hanging them either, but hats off to all involved because they really are very impressive in situ and thoroughly worth a visit, even if you’re not an Arsenal supporter, well, maybe not if you follow Tottenham, ironically, like Gary does!
Dave Brown
Posted on Monday, 12th of October 2009 Permalink
Don’t forget to send us your entries for the free tickets to Brussels competition!
In order to show you how simple it can be we thought we would have a go at reproducing our own Magritte here in the Fibre studio (no this wasn’t an entry for the National Giant Fruit Championships). For anyone who already sent in, or was planning to send in a version of this painting you will now have to think about a different solution. Full competition info here.
Alex Geoffrey
Posted on Tuesday, 29th of September 2009 Permalink
A couple of posts back I blogged about a free trip to Brussels Fibre was invited to go on by Eurostar and We Are Social. Well, courtesy of the same Little Break Big Difference campaign now you have the chance to win a pair of free tickets to the same destination.
All you have to do to be the winner of this generous offer is recreate a Magritte painting of your choice using photography. You may choose any one of his masterpieces and there are plenty to choose from. The best entry will receive the two tickets to Brussels.
Anyone wishing to enter can email their entry plus an image of the original piece you copied to the ‘contact’ link on the left of the page. The competition will only be open until the end of September, so get snapping!
Alex Geoffrey
Posted on Tuesday, 15th of September 2009 Permalink
Anyone who is unfamiliar with the work of photographer JR from Paris, France should definitely look him up.
He started off documenting subcultures with a camera he found on a subway and now pastes up his images in large scale on walls and houses all over the world.
JRs Women project was set up to highlight the importance and “Pivotal role” of women in society, traveling to poor areas like the favelas in Rio de Janero, Kenya, and more recently (in March of this year) Delhi, shooting them in their everyday lives and pasting their images in a huge scale on the surrounding buildings, bridges (and interestingly enough an entire train) in their home towns.
His thinking is that by pasting these same images both in their native countries in the streets and in galleries of western countries he can draw attention to and give a voice to those often over looked people, colliding the two worlds in a striking and unmissable way.
Alex Geoffrey
Posted on Friday, 21st of August 2009 Permalink
If you haven’t made any plans for Sunday 1st July, then get yourself down to the De La Warr Pavillion, Bexhill on Sea for Midcentury.Modern organised by Showhome. 35 dealers will descend on Bexhill where you’ll be ale to purchase Scandinavian and European mid-century and modern design classics for your home. The design junkies’ definitive seaside trip.
Nathan Usmar Lauder
Posted on Thursday, 14th of June 2007 Permalink
When I first saw these beautifully composed shots by French photographer Denis Darzacq I presumed they were captured moments of street dancers in action, I’m so nieve! apparantly they are all about the broken social elevator, the elasticity between body and desire, the riots in Paris and how life hangs in precarious balance! I still love them! View the whole set here.
Dave Brown
Posted on Tuesday, 20th of February 2007 Permalink
It’s the largest because it’s on the side of the Renzo Piano KPN Telecom Building in Rotterdam, the smallest because they are all 22 x 41 pixel animations. Get some popcorn, turn you phone off and enjoy. Another Graffiti Research Lab spectacular.
David Rainbird
Posted on Monday, 19th of February 2007 Permalink
Forget the rather freaky looking new +Teamgeist ball (far right) from adidas (what is the plus about anyway?). Think about Bucky instead. That would be Buckminster Fuller he of the geodesic dome and Dimaxion car fame (okay so the Dimaxion is kind of ugly but…) Still the modern soccer ball (though probably not the +Teamgeist) owes its existence to him. Early soccer balls (that would be pre 1960) were all made of leather, that laced up and were brown (far left—first World Cup ball), but Fuller thought there was something better possible.
At the same time he was developing the geodesic dome, he reinvented football. Based on hexagons, pentagons and triangles, his new ball used those shape, fitting them together to make a perfectly round surface. (Though of course most advances in football technology are all around trying to make a more perfect sphere). The Bucky ball had 20 hexagonal and 12 pentagonal surfaces, and the black spots on the ball helped players catch the swerve the ball was making. Now of course when Adidas (those behind Teamgeist and every World Cup Football since 1970) adopted the shape, they did it not simply because it was a more perfect sphere, but also the black and white shapes were easier to see on telly. Hence it was named the Telstar (in the middle) short for the ‘star of television.’
Jennifer Kabat
Posted on Friday, 9th of June 2006 Permalink
When I first saw Olivo Barbieri’s work, I couldn’t believe it myself. So I googled him…and found that he shoots real locations from a helicopter, using a tilt-shift lens technique that shrinks metropolises into toy-town fabrications. I showed a few colleagues and asked their opinion on what they saw. The response was universal – ‘that’s not real!’ but one chap in particular just would not have it. He still thinks I’m making it up! I’m not, I can assure you. You can see for yourself at Barbieri’s first major solo show at the Bloomsberg Space. The press release for the show (including opening times and address) is here.
Ruth Kent
Posted on Friday, 26th of May 2006 Permalink
