A new Banksy spotted at the corner Randolph & Peoria in Chicago. Wonder what else he has cooked up…

For more detailed photos, check out the Maxwell Colette blog.

FAILE & BÄST DELUXX FLUXX ARCADE

April 30 – May 27, 2010
Opening Friday, April 30, 2010, 7:30 – 10:30 PM

What do you get when Brooklyn-based duo Faile and collaborator Bast take over a disused store front on the Lower East Side? Deluxx Fluxx, a functional video arcade that will be open to the public from April 30th to May 27th.

Originally conceived as a one-off project in London, Deluxx Fluxx allowed Faile and Bast to indulge nostalgia for the classic video arcade while exploring the tactile possibilities of the wooden cabinet as sculptural medium. In its New York incarnation, the retrofitted machines run new games by Adapted Studio based on Faile and Bast’s omnivorous visual language, with sounds produced by Seth Jabour of the noted band Les Savy Fav.

Deluxx Fluxx aims to make art less sterile, more fun, and accessible to a broad audience. This sensibility harkens back to the golden age of arcade games; a time when the Lower East Side itself was still a redoubt for punk rock and graffiti culture. These foundational roots of the neighborhood are apparent in the show’s DIY and street art production values. Faile and Bast rebuke the contemporary art world’s fixation on ideas of relational aesthetics and democratization, and give their audience a chance to genuinely engage the work without the looming formality of the traditional gallery. Deluxx Fluxx is entirely interactive, and invites viewers to play a round of psychedelic foosball and take part in the art itself. It is the artists’ intention that viewers will forget they are looking at art, and be captivated by the carnivalesque. The video arcade may be a lost form, but in Faile and Bast’s re-imagining, it gets a temporary and much needed revival.

Faile is represented by Perry Rubenstein Gallery in New York. This autumn they will have a solo exhibition with the gallery in New York.

For more information about Deluxx Fluxx, please visit:
www.DeluxxFluxx.com

Deluxx Fluxx
158 Allen Street (Between Stanton and Rivington)
New York, New York
Tuesday – Sunday, 3:00 – 11:00 PM
Opening Reception, April 30, 2010, 7:30 – 10:30 PM

Banksy has me conflicted. Here is an artist whom I absolutely love, one whom I’ve literally traveled across the country to go see (his 2006 Barely Legal show in LA), and whose artwork I personally collect – but as his popularity has grown across the world over the past few years – I’ve been grappling with a lot regarding him and his art.

My first question is – Can Banksy continue to be ‘Banksy’ as his popularity grows? Is becoming a successful/well-known artist synonymous with “selling out”? What is the line a street artist has to cross to become commercialized? If you started off as subversive/anti-establishment artist, and are now embraced by many of the structures you openly challenge/mock, does that present a conflict? Or is it the perfect embodiment of the ridiculousness of the art world and our consumer culture?

Another question I have – Is Banksy’s career too dependent on stunts (painting live animals, hanging his own artwork in the world’s top art institutions, placing a blow-up Gitmo prisoner at Disneyland, a star-studded LA film premiere with DIY spray-painting on a provided van)? Does this diminish the brilliance of his artwork and powerful commentary? Does Banksy have to do a stunt every time he wants to showcase his art? Does it then become a routine or expected? Are his street pieces just branding like an advertisement?

Banksy recently released his first film, Exit Through The Gift Shop. While I’m thrilled he created a film highlighting street art, it makes me feel a bit uneasy because Banksy engaged in (gasp…) a traditional/more corporate-like marketing campaign to raise awareness for the film. Does the benefit of exposing the beautiful art form/movement to a larger audience outweigh the cost of sacrificing a bit of the principles (the idea of corporate hijacking of public space for one) Banksy stands for? In this instance, I think it does.

Again, I’m really confused here – so I’d love to hear all of your thoughts…

R.I.P. Guru
July 17, 1966 – April 19, 2010

‘Gifted Universal Rhymes Unlimited’

Appears Banksy is in LA to promote his film Exit Through The Giftshop as he’s leaving a few goodies around town. Stencils like this are what drew us to Banksy in the first place. Great placement, lovely message/commentary, and funny!

Thanks to Sonja Teri for the pics.

Exit Through The Gift Shop – A Banksy Film

US Release Dates & Cities:

*UPDATED AS OF 4/16*

APRIL 16th
NEW YORK : Sunshine Theater
NEW YORK : Lincoln Plaza
LOS ANGELES : Arclight, Hollywood
LOS ANGELES : Landmark
SAN FRANCISCO : Embarcadero
BERKLEY : Shattuck
SAN RAFAEL : Rafael
PALO ALTO : Aquarius

APRIL 23rd
PHILADELPHIA : Ritz 5
SEATTLE : Harvard Exit
BOSTON : Kendall Square

APRIL 30th
CHICAGO : Century
MINNEAPOLIS : Uptown
WASHINGTON DC : E Street
BALTIMORE : Harbor
ATLANTA : Midtown Art
DENVER : Mayan
SAN DIEGO : Hillcrest

MAY 7th
INDIANAPOLIS : Keystone Arts
CANADA – TORONTO : Yonge & Dundas

MAY 21st
AUSTIN : Alamo Draft House, Lamar

From Ghetto Mix IX, this week we have M.O.P. feat. Jay-Z & Teflon – 4 Alarm Blaze.

M.O.P. feat. Jay-Z & Teflon – 4 Alarm Blaze

Barnstormers Group Exhibition
Joshua Liner Gallery
548 West 28th Street
3rd Floor
New York, NY 10001

Some nice new prints from Faile available at http://www.faile.net

From Ghetto Mix II, this week we have Method Man & Redman – How High.

Method Man & Redman – How High