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Hanging Out With Futura2000!
He was sitting on a bench, smoking a Camel non-filter. I ordered a Hennessy and Ginger right before I was distracted by friends. We schmoozed with other media types, musicians, and artists, all rubbing elbows furiously like rats between sheetrock. I looked back in his direction, but Futura was nowhere to be found. I wondered if he left, recalling stories that he wasn’t necessarily a people person.
RVA No. 9: Jeff Soto
Of all the art world heavy hitters that came through RVA over the last few months, Jeff Soto just might be the heaviest. Initially inspired as a high-school student in the late 80s by pictures of New York subway art, Soto spent the 90s making a name for himself, both in his native California and around the world, with his graffiti and street murals. Ceasing to work with aerosol paint at the end of that decade, he moved into the world of illustration and fine art; mixing commercial work for Sony Music, Rockstar Games, and Disney, among many others, with gallery showings New York, LA, London, and Paris. Recently, though, at the height of his fame in the mainstream art world, he made his return to the world of spray paint murals after ten years away from the scene. It was this work that brought him to Richmond; participating in the RVA Street Art Festival, he contributed a large-format mural to the outdoor gallery that the Canal Walk has now become. We caught up with him while he was in town for that event, and he gave us his thoughts on the changes that have occurred in the street art scene over the past decade, and where he hopes to take his work in the future.
Futura Is Coming To RVA!
Legendary street artist Futura will be hitting the streets of Richmond VA this Friday! Futura, who got his start painting on the New York subways back in the 70s when that was still possible, soon built a legally-approved artistic career, beginning with his 80s era gallery showings alongside such artists as Keith Haring and Jean-Michel Basquiat.
ART FEED: Double Exposed by Dan Mountford
These are amazing, reminds me of a book I have on Man Ray and his early experiments with the camera. Glad to see there are still new ideas being discovered using old technology...
First Friday RVA, August 2012: Hot Enough For Ya?
Between the extreme heat and the massive thunderstorms that roll through every few days, it seems like the weather is trying to destroy our fair city by the James this summer. Thankfully, tomorrow is looking from the forecast like it will be a relatively mild day, at least where the norm for Summer 2012 in RVA is concerned. The fact that I'm saying this about a day with a forecasted high of 94 and an expected UV index of 10 is kind of ridiculous (as is the fact that I always seem to spend most of these introductions talking about the weather--have I already become an old man sitting on a front porch jawing with his cronies? Don't answer that), but regardless, it's about as auspicious an evening as we're going to get in RVA in early August. So slather on the sunscreen and hit the Art Walk, because as always, there's plenty to see!
ART FEED: Josh Cochran & The Illustrations
Its been a minute since I have posted but we are baaaaack!
Call For Entries: Colors Of Life International Photo Contest
Colors of Life announces the 2012-13 Sixth Edition of the Colors of Life International Photo Contest. This year's competition will be carried in conjunction with the activities of The World Bank at its headquarters in Washington, DC during the 2012 Law, Justice and Development Week Conference, entitled: "Opportunity, Inclusion, and Equity: Responding to the Challenges of Our Time."
ART FEED: Matt Eich's Carry Me Ohio
Norfolk, VA-based artist Matt Eich, whose previous project, Sin And Salvation In Baptist Town, was spotlighted in our Spring 2011 issue, will be exhibiting his award-winning project, Carry Me Ohio, at Lorrie Saunders Art Gallery in Norfolk, opening on Saturday July 21.
Richard Perkins: Portraits of Musicians
This event is showcasing a new collection of work by Richard Perkins, consisting of newly brewed paintings and installations. Many will be intrigued, many will be shocked, many will love and a lot will hate.
First Friday RVA: Happy Birthday USA Edition
I know, I know, midweek holidays are the worst. But it's been over 24 hours now since Independence Day officially ended. Therefore, I expect all of you to have overcome your hangovers and pulled yourselves together enough to brave the heat once again, and hit up some of the many great art openings that will be happening in RVA tonight!
Vampires Don't Scare Me At All: An Interview With James Wayland
James Wayland is a VA-based author who has been writing horror fiction for a very long time. He’s contributed to RVA Magazine in the past--everything from short stories to film and music reviews. But now he’s taken the plunge into the book world, releasing his first novel, Trailer Park Trash & Vampires, self-releasing both e-book and trade paperback formats this month.
OUT NOW: James Wayland's Trailer Park Trash And Vampires!
Local author and occasional RVA Magazine contributor James Wayland has just released his first novel, and it's a quick and dirty thrillride of a horror story. As you can probably tell from the title, Trailer Park Trash And Vampires isn't one of those moon-kissed gothic old-world epics about vampires who give off a forbidden romantic allure--nope, these vampires are brutal, hungry fiends, and they've come upon a small Southwestern desert town full of deadbeats, barflies, and oddballs, with lust for blood in their hearts and murder in their eyes.
FRIDAY: Last Friday Art Show At West Coast Kix!
West Coast Kix continues with their monthly art showcase this Friday with yet another Last Friday Art Show! Last month's showcase, featuring Hamilton Glass, aka HAM, was a big success, and this month they'll be following it up in fine style with works by three different local photographers.
SATURDAY: Blaque Lyte Art Show At ADA Gallery!
On Saturday June 9, the ADA Gallery, located at 228 W. Broad St., will present an exhibition entitled Blaque Lyte. Chicago artists Chris Kerr and Paul Nudd, who have been working together on various projects since 2007, initially unveiled this curated art show in Chicago last fall. Featuring work from over 30 artists, Kerr and Nudd solicited work that would react with the titular shade of ultraviolet light, attempting to make an almost cliched invention usually associated with posters on dorm room walls and body-painted ravers wielding glowsticks, seem new and innovative again.
RIP Ray Bradbury, 1920-2012
The literary community loses a titan with the death yesterday of Ray Bradbury, science fiction Grand Master and lifelong champion of free speech, best known for his dystopian fable of book-burning, Fahrenheit 451 (1953).
ART FEED: Jesse Reno
Jesse Reno is a Portland, Oregon-based artist who got in touch to share some of his work with us. He's a self-taught mixed media painter who has done over 3000 paintings in the past 12 years.
First Friday, June 2012: This Is What's Happening
That's right, everyone, it's that time again! June's First Friday is on the 1st of the month, so if it snuck up on you we understand, especially right after the long holiday weekend. But this short week is nearly over, and the weather has made clear that summer is now in full swing, so this Friday evening, why not beat the heat by ducking into some cool art galleries? There's plenty to see around town this weekend, so let's get right to it. Here's the rundown:
Photographs of RVA Past: The Adolph B. Rice Studio Collection
Adolph B. Rice was a photographer who owned and operated a commercial studio in Richmond starting in 1949. After his death in 1960, his son Adolph B. Rice Jr. operated the studio until it closed down in 1961. Rice and his son did all sorts of commercial work around Richmond during the mid-20th century, from business and studio portrait photography to aerial landscape shots to catalog photography for local department stores. After the studio ceased operations, it left behind over 16,000 4x5 film negatives, the full collection of which was eventually donated to the Library Of Virginia.
A Fake Homeless Man In A Polar Bear Suit: An Interview With Mark Jenkins
Mark Jenkins is an American multimedia artist best known for street installations that he creates using packing tape. His humanoid figures in a variety of impossible positions have graced the streets of London, Rome, Barcelona, Seoul, and Washington DC, among many others. Earlier this year, Jenkins participated in the RVA Street Art Festival, contributing one of the most striking pieces installed on the Canal Walk, with his three-dimensional humanoid bodies projecting outward, feet-first, from a target. To find out more about this unique artist, his inspirations, and his working methods, David Kenedy got in touch with him and asked some probing questions.
TONIGHT: Free Art Show At Kingdom!
Kingdom, a local club located in Shockoe Bottom, which opened up last year in the space formerly known as Alley Katz, has been carving out a solid niche for itself in the local scene since its opening date, particularly through the booking of excellent metal and hardcore bands that previously tended not to play here in RVA. Now, in an effort to help boost the local art scene as well as the music scene, they've started hosting free art shows once a month. The first of these, held last month, was apparently quite a success, and they're following it up with another excellent showcase tonight!
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