Back in Sweet Home Chicago

Last week, I was back home in Chicago. It was a quick visit, I spent a lot of time in Niles, since I was mostly there to see my parents and any other family that were available.

While in town, I was able to see a few friends as well. One friend, Anne Halston, lives in the north side neighborhood of Rogers Park. She took me to see some of the street art there. The first work is a very powerful paste up installation. The work is comprised of numerous small pieces of paper pasted to the wall. Each one has the name of a black person killed by the police. As you can see from the images, there are hundreds of pieces of paper.

The second set of images simply show the mural across the street from the first work. It is part of the Rogers Park street art mural series. Because I wanted to add the visual flavor of Chicago, I included the yellow concrete pillars of the underpass. It’s a colorful moment captured from an archetypical Chicago point of view.

It’s always good to be back in Sweet Home Chicago.

Putting Them to Good Use

In my opinion, there’s too many one-trick ponies in the Atlanta street art scene. Making the same old shit over and over again. The same drawing a million times. Greg Mike is just Atlanta’s most well known. THIS is what provided the initial spark that led to the creation of the Not so good sticker.

By placing these stickers here, I was taking my concept full circle. This was also a way to cover his work (just a little bit) after he had covered mine. Small time revenge haha. I’m sure these stickers were gone within two weeks. I don’t know because it was literally one of the very last things I did before leaving Atlanta. True story. I proceed to get two flat tires a moment later which delayed my dramatic high tailed exit out of town. Had to call on a friend for help, and left Atlanta the next day. This is why life is a comedy.

Another true story. I told a couple of friends how I wanted to make a sticker that said “Not So Good” and slap it on all the mediocrity surrounding me. The idea grew to be much bigger than my simple personal critique of the Atlanta street art scene. It was universal and could be applied everywhere.

LIES Street Gallery: Visual Report (#5)

Ok, ok. I said I was done, but I changed my mind.

Here’s more documentation of the devolution/evolution of the LIES street galleries. The final visual report of the destruction and regeneration and further destruction.

Getting Big Timed

Yeah, I got big timed. Greg Mike covered it up with some of his work. Guess, he liked the location too. Since I live nearby and could see what was happening, I walked up to him and introduced myself when he was painting his work over mine.

Nothing wrong with Greg Mike, Greg Mike is alright. He has as much right to put his work up there as I do. However, it’s not that simple. Here is a great spot that many people used over the last few years. Now it is changed. Because he’s a known commodity, the spot is now basically his. Others artists will now be reluctant to cover it up, even though they should.

This episode is all from the unwritten rulebook of Atlanta Street Art culture. I don’t belong. It’s OK. I’ve never fit into any club anyway.

LIES Street Art Highlights (#6)

More details from the latest version of the LIES Brand large scale paste up installations.

The LIES Street Galleries

For months, I continued adding posters in these two locations on Wylie Street on a regular basis. Then I’d sit on my patio and people watch. During daylight hours, there’s a steady flow of people here on the Atlanta Beltline biking and walking path. These locations became my LIES street galleries and I had a lot of eyes on my artwork.

I documented their destruction extensively too. I plan to be use those images in a future series of mixed media paintings. See the visual report posts for details.

Street art in a space like this will get tagged, and should get tagged. It’s a part of the public space. No one expressing themselves creatively can claim ownership of these spaces. The slow destruction of this type of work is normal. In my opinion, the weathering and tagging adds to the visual appeal of the medium overall. I think it’s beautiful and has amazing mixed media potential. Makes the creative gears in my mind turn.

LIES Street Art Highlights (#5)

More details from the latest version of the LIES Brand large scale paste up installations.

Living Across the Street

I’ve written before about where I live in Atlanta. It’s fast becoming a street art destination. I’d like to think I did a small part to spark the activity happening here. When I started working here, the Atlanta Beltline was yet to be constructed and the graffiti here had not been updated in along time. Today, there is constant action. New street art being added on a regular basis. That was not the case with this location (a metal, ridged wall) in 2016, when I started pasting up here. You can see pictures of that artwork here, here, and here.

Living across the street from your artwork has its perks. Not only am I on top of it in regard to my “principles of street art” battle (haha), I also get to see people stop and photograph themselves in front of my work. It’s uniquely rewarding.

On more than one occasion I’ve seen people film a scene for a music video right in front of my artwork. The video below is one example of this.

Looking Really Good

High visibility on a beautiful evening.

LIES Street Art Highlights (#4)

My final response to my graffiti artist nuisance was to make more posters, and paste up more posters. A lot more!

Living across the street allowed me to work with precision timing. As you can see from these photos, it was a lot of fun. A few total strangers stopped by to show support. Some of them wanted to get involved, including a Canadian citizen in full support of my message. We had to work fast, but I still had time to document the activity.

Their Reaction and My Second Response

A few days later I was told to shut the fuck up. That’s it, nothing else. I didn’t expect an intellectual war of words, but I thought there’d be more than just a simple tag.

Living across the street has its advantages. I had another sign up the next morning. With an additional handwritten message to emphasize a fine, sharp point.

I had a third poster ready to go in case I needed it. Never had to use it. Two got the job done.

LIES Street Art Highlights (#2)

Logistically, I started focusing my street art displays on one location. An old favorite. The wall across the street from my house on Wylie Street. The place I used for three of my four large scale paste up pieces. I posted about them years ago. You can find pictures here, here, and here.

This wall is ridged, which made it too difficult for pasting up the large-scale prints. Too much surface area. However, this would not be a problem with these new smaller posters. Therefore, I went to work making a large scale display.

My Neighborhood Made National News

My neighborhood made national news.

https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/y3my55/these-racist-wuhan-plague-plaques-are-popping-up-around-atlanta?utm_source=vicenewsfacebook&fbclid=IwAR1_3eI5ARBYz1xF7pyyEr5BETybJwp0ys-EFApVluMBMMEJvcROCF6Q8-s

Probably because I’m an artist, but my first instinct here is to think that the person behind it is not a racist at all. Instead, they’re making a subversive statement about racism itself and our visceral responses to it.

It made you look, it made you think. That my friends…is why art kicks ass, regardless of what your emotional reaction may be.

Donny & the Stooges Hits The Streets

Donny & the Stooges hits the streets. As I mentioned before, that is the name of my latest project. I posted about it here, https://brettcalleroartist.com/2019/05/30/donny-the-stooges/.

The sticker version of this image is now making it’s way around Atlanta and other cities across the country. Here are a few photos from Atlanta.

Krog Street Sticker Slaps

In Atlanta, just southeast of downtown is a little neighborhood of called Cabbagetown. In the time I’ve lived in this city, Cabbagetown has become a street art Mecca. A destination for street artists and street art appreciators alike. As I’ve mentioned before, I live in the adjacent neighborhood of Reynoldstown, but just a short walk from the epicenter of the Cabbagetown street art scene. The Krog Street Tunnel is an ever-changing visual spectacle of street art. Unlike the murals around the corner, the tunnel is intended to be tagged and layered and covered and covered and covered some more.

Shaking’ Things Up is the first sticker slap in a new (as of yet untitled) series of work. I finally have something I wanted to add to the Tunnel.

Here are some images of the results. These are just the highlights of my Krog Street sticker slaps.

The Kids Call Them Slaps

The kids call them slaps. Stickers. Well, when used as street art they’re are called slaps or sticker slaps. At least that’s what I’ve been told.

I went to the Krog Street Tunnel to add some slaps. Just a little of my flavor added to the constant storm of visual stimulation in this location. While there, I found a group of kids having fun and gave them some stickers to spread around other locations in Atlanta. Spontaneous assistance. It’s nice to have help when taking care of business like this.

Shakin’ Things Up

Yesterday afternoon I walked to the street art Mecca of Cabbagetown in Atlanta. I live in the area. Just two short blocks from the epicenter, the Krog Street Tunnel. It’s a crazy kitchen, but I still want to add a little of my own flavor to the stew.

I’m not finished. I’m just getting started.

I am not alone nor do I want to work alone. I want help spreading these stickers (and the future ones I make) around on a local and national level. Reach out to me via private message (or other means) if you’re interested and I’ll get some into your hands one way or another.

A New Street Art Series

It’s hard for me to work on one series of art at a time. Back and forth I go between mixed media paintings, map drawings and street art. My exhibition came together in a whirlwind and left me in a bit of a haze. Blowing out of that smoke came the need to further explore the work I have been doing in my other two primary areas of interest: map drawings and street art. Also, I am pursuing a new medium, screen printing. I am discovering fresh new energy at a time when I need it most. I am excited by the challenges of learning a new medium. Beyond that, I have started a new series of map drawings that have me excited. I also feel recharged by exploring different ways of making street art.

All of this is what led to the decision to make a series of stickers. Not unlike my mixed media paintings, this is commentary on contemporary culture. However, in the street art format, I am intentionally more sharp and direct. The first in the series is shown below.

A Temporary Thing

Bring an artist is one of the toughest things anyone can do. For a variety of reasons. Almost everyone would admit this too, regardless of their big picture view of the art world itself. The last two years I’ve made street art. I went into this eyes wide open, so I expected my work to be tagged, weathered and painted over. I still think the solution to the art “problem” is weak. Check out these images of the location where my art once was.

More Loyalty Lies In Atlanta

A couple of weeks ago I added more of my Lies brand posters. Here are some images. I’ve already been painted over and torn down. When it comes to this kind of street art, it’s the nature of the beast. All posters are along the Beltline on Wylie Street in Reynoldstown, Atlanta. Just a couple of blocks east of the famed Krog Street tunnel.

Lies: Loyalty Above All Else.