Art in the Streets preview

The most important show in American history – Art in the Streets at MOCA. Not only do I view this show as an art historian and museum educator … but I lived this history.  The D train in the 80’s to the Grand Concourse, where my grandmother lived. Hi guys ….

The man responsible for introducing (and re-introducing) the world to Lee, Taki 183, Risk, Saber, Revok, Cornbread, Futura, to name a few, and placing these legends in their proper art historical context, Jeffery Deitch.

Thanks, guys.

Now on with the show that has now gone down as one of the most important retrospectives in American History.

A bus painted by Risk. Homage to back in the day, no? Now buses are covered in corporate graffiti. Interesting.

Art in the Streets at MOCA

When you enter the exhibit, it’s completely overwhelming to say the least. I thought of multiple ways to approach it for my blog. All I can do is give you snippets of what I saw. It really is the kind of show you need to see a few times. And for me, this was too personal to give create an art historical essay.

After strolling the Geffen several times in amazement, I turned a corner and saw this Tracey 168 piece. I said “Oh, my God, I hated this painting when I was kid”. Palm trees? Cali looking dude? I couldn’t relate. But, to see this again was nostalgic, especially now that live in Cali.

Then I decided to stalk Lee Quinones. Why not? We followed him to Street Market, where we ran into Todd James aka Reas. I learned that my husband was friends with Todd. The two have known each other since their Rock-a-fella Record days.

They chatted about the past. I love to hear stories about my hubby’s younger years. I live vicariously through them. Like when he sold computers? Coincidentally, the one you see here in this installation is one of them. Weird.The installation does not leave one stone unturned. Photos do it no justice. It’s way too exploratory. Must be seen.

Irak, Mode2, Larry Clark and Swoon

If you’re not familiar with street art, you may wonder why Swoon? Her installation stands on its own behind a curtain creating beautiful shadows on draped fabric. But, here is a sample her work in Street Art context.

And at the risk of sounding like a completely brown-nosing hob-knobber, I gottay say, I felt proud to see Kaws’ work on these walls. I knew him as Brian Donnelly, my ex-boyfriend Vert’s friend and part of the IMOK crew, who I attended weed rallies with and watched spray paint murals in the village during our SVA days. Sweet, sweet times. Does he remember me? Meh, who knows.

I was guilty of believing there was nothing west of the hudson. I was wrong. Here’s what the west coast was up to – Mister Cartoon and Risk

While I waited for Roger Gastman to finish an interview, Saber came by to say what’s up. He is super cool. I learned a lot about the ins and outs of the show, graf life in LA in comparison to NY and the fruition of Known Gallery, which has been top-notch with their shows.

Shepard Fairey took over the bookstore.

Oh, and of course. Did you think this wouldn’t be part of the show? Now, go. And if you’re on the east coast, don’t fret. According to Fab Five Freddy, Art in the Streets will light up Brooklyn in 2012.

Artists in the show: ALEXIS ROSS, ANDRE, A-ONE, BARRY MCGEE, BEAR 167, BILL DANIEL, BILL RAY, BLADE, CHARLIE AHEARN, CHAZ BOJORQUEZ, COCO144, COST, CRAIG COSTELLO, CRAIG R. STECYK III, CRASH, DAN MURPHY, DASH SNOW, DAZE, DELTA, DEVIN FLYNN, DON LEICHT, DONDI, DRUGS, ED TEMPLETON, EINE, ERIK BRUNETTI, ESTEVAN ORIOL, FAB 5 FREDDY, FREEDOM, FUTURA, GORDON MATTA-CLARK, GUSMANO CESARETTI, HAZE, HENRY CHALFANT, HOWARD GRIBBLE, HUGH HOLLAND, INVADER, IRAK, IZ THE WIZ, JAMIE REID, JAMES PRIGOFF, JANE DICKSON, JEAN-MICHEL BASQUIAT, JOHN AHEARN, JOHN FEKNER, JON NAAR, JOSH LAZCANO, JR, KAWS, KEITH HARING, KENNY SCHARF, KIELY JENKINS, KOOR, LADY PINK, LARRY CLARK, LEE QUINONES, LOOMIT, MALCOLM MCLAREN, MARE 139, MARGARET KILGALLEN, MARK GONZALES, MARTHA COOPER, MISS VAN, MISTER CARTOON, MODE 2, NECKFACE, NOC, OS GEMEOS, PATTI ASTOR, PHASE 2, RAMMELLZEE, RETNA, REVOK, REVOLT, REVS, RISK, ROA, ROBBIE CONAL, RON ENGLISH, SABER, SHARP, SHEPARD FAIREY, SJK161, SNAKE 1, SPIKE JONZE, STELIOS, STEPHEN POWERS, STEVE GRODY, SWOON, TAKI 183, TEEN WITCH, TERRY RICHARDSON, TODD JAMES, TOXIC, TRACY 168, ZEPHYR

Curated by Jefferey Deitch, Roger Gastman and Aaron Rose.

MOCA LA.