Arkitip and Incase, two exceptionally creative companies, have partnered to open Project Space, a new venue for exhibitions, performances, and installations. Their first exhibition, “Yes, Yes, Yes: Works of Art by Parra” begins today.
If you like a little bit of wit with your art, Dutch artist Parra is the man for you. The self-taught graphic designer/illustrator/art director is known for his vibrant use of color and tongue-in-cheek subject material, which ranges from comical to dirty to downright bizarre. The former skateboarder has done collaborations with the likes of Nike, Heineken, and Zoo York, and to celebrate his latest project with Incase (as part of the Curated By Arkitip series), his work will be showcased at Project Space.
“Yes, Yes, Yes: Works of Art by Parra” will be at Project Space, 603 North La Brea Avenue, Los Angeles, through April 30.
Over the years I have spent a lot of time in London, and over the years I’ve watched street artist Banksy tag almost every street at one time or another. The first I saw of his art were the rats. Day by day I would notice a new painted rat; then, over time, the rats started doing things: listening to stereos, sweeping in French-maid outfits, spilling radioactive liquid. Eventually they began to proclaim “Your time will come.” Shortly thereafter came the gorillas. The same image on every wall, road and sidewalk in Soho: a hunched gorilla bearing a placard that read “Laugh now, but one day we’ll be in charge.” It made me laugh, and at the time I had no idea the fame the artist behind it would amass.
Now, of course, you’d be hard-pressed to find many who don’t know about Banksy. If you saw one of his images on a wall and managed somehow to take that part of the wall (I have seen this done), the profits you could make would have you living quite comfortably for a few years. How this least commercial artist’s work has become the source of quarrels over money and celebrity auctions I don’t quite know, but now Banksy is bringing focus back to the art.
At the recent Sundance Film Festival, he premiered Exit Through the Gift Shop. The film was as elusive as Banksy himself; it wasn’t even announced in the Sundance schedule. It chronicles Banksy taking on Los Angeles (anyone remember the Guantánamo prisoner on the Disneyland ride?), and the man he chose to shoot it was Thierry Guetta. Guetta had a camera (which he had been using to film other graffiti artists for years), a giant ladder and an encyclopedic knowledge of the best walls to tag in L.A: in short, he was Banksy’s perfect accomplice. The film Guetta ended up giving to Banksy, Life Remote Control, fell far below Banksy’s expectations; he began to think of Guetta less as a filmmaker and more as “maybe just someone with mental problems who happened to have a video camera.” So Banksy re-cut the film himself. Despite documenting the relationship of the artist and the arguably disturbed “filmmaker,” the movie’s essential point remains: The art is the focus, and that’s exactly as it should be.
