I’m a bit of a fan of street art. I’m not an expert by any means — I don’t know the names and portfolios and histories of the art and artists, except for a handful of the most famous ones — but I love it. I’m happy to live in a neighborhood and a city with a lot of it (although honestly, the cause and effect probably works the other way — I’ve gotten into street art because I see so much of it). I stop and appreciate it and go “ooh! aah!” when I see it. I’ve been taking a lot of photos of it… and it occurs to me that maybe I should share them with the rest of the class.
So I’m going to start doing that.
Here’s a piece in the Mission district of San Francisco, on either Hampshire or York, I don’t remember. I’ve seen this artist’s work around a lot, and I like it. It almost always has one of these alien/ elf women with the pointy ears. Don’t know what it is about pointy ears. As Lore Sjoberg says on Brunching Shuttlecocks, “Somewhere in the back of the mind of every D&D-playing junior-high-schooler is the equation ‘pointy ears = cool.'” Anyway, I think this piece is beautiful. I love the elegance of the pearls, and the stylized brushstrokes in the background doing that Escher transformation into butterflies. And I have a special soft spot for delicate, elegant art in scruffy industrial settings.
BTW, if anyone knows this artist’s name, please let me know, so I can credit them properly. It looks like there’s a signature in the lower right corner, but I can’t quite make it out. UPDATE: The artist has been identified! It’s Amandalynn. And she has a blog. Thanks to commenter mykell for the ID.
Interesting. I see the bottom as more like a field of flowers myself. Using the only bright colors on the skin/lips creates some serious contrast.
I can’t quite read that signature either. I’m getting ALYNN M?gat? . Migati? Megati? Megato? The two nouns being in different styles suggests to me that this isn’t a complete name. Perhaps one is a name or reference for the image itself.
I like this new series on street art already.
This might help: http://amandalynnpaintings.blogspot.com/2012/01/ice-queens-of-2012.html
oh yes more please!
Garage door ? That’s a kinda special category of mural art.
I’d love to see it in person. Thanks for sharing the photo – yes, more please!
That’s definitely one of the things I miss most, not living in SF anymore. I wonder if Precita Eyes still does the alley tours — maybe I can get a quick fix if I get out there this fall.
And food. I miss fabulous neighborhood restaurant food.
I miss being able to walk down places like Clarion alley in the Mission. Great street art. Now I live in a country where street art is less accessible (i.e. a crime and socially stigmatized).
I remember seeing a lot of that kind of art in SF. Very cool, thanks for sharing.
I love street art! Chicago is covered in it, though mostly crappy taggers (who I think are akin to the “petulant teenager” stereotype rather than actually deserving of the “street art” label).
There’s a French artist named Ludo that swept through and left some really cool insect/tech mashups all over, seen here: http://www.thisiscolossal.com/2011/08/ludo-in-chicago/
I like this segment! Please continue. 🙂
There is a lot of this kind of art in Germany, too. I need to dig through my pics (mostly film back then) and see if I can get some scanned. I remember being most impressed walking through a tunnel under a street, in Koblenz (I think), where almost every inch of the tunnel walls were covered in ‘graffiti’, beautifully done, only a few of the images overlapped or interfered with another. My wife and I actually wound up lingering in that tunnel for a good 30 minutes or more, just admiring all the art.
psanity:
If you do come, get in touch. Maybe we can meet up and do an art tour … I live some distance from SF and need a special reason to justify a visit there.
I didn’t remember hearing that Greta lives in SF and I certainly don’t want to impose just because she does, but maybe we can include Greta as well, maybe get together over lunch ?
Anyone else ?
Feel free to contact me, leslierussellgreen at that yahoo company so many people use for their emails.
Butterflies? Greta, those are BIRDS.
Now come visit Last Gasp and post some Sirron art.
xoxo