POW's worst year yet?

[francis]

Nothing of note has come out. No great artists added. It'll take a wicked Christmas to pull them out of it.

[welshboy]

Bump

[rrrich]

vhils was a popular print and the cans festivals have been fantastic, so perhaps better to judge their achievements not just on the prints theyve released.

agree tho that in terms of print output, largely disappointing to date. lets see what santas ghetto brings.

oh f**k now its POW bashing now - just because you cannot get your grubby mitts on a banksy print to flip.

I hope Banksy never releases a print via POW ever again and that the only way you will get one is by going to war torn or depressed places, at least you will appreciate the piece more, rather than sit in front of a pc screen with your site scraper, ready to alert you the moment the print has dropped, or f5ing all the time

[pezlow]

Perhaps it has been a year of transition for POW. They are trying to blood new artists on the scene and I think they have done a pretty good job of it. Sure they have been no headline grabbing banksy prints released but I guarantee that had there been a banksy release there would have been 30 pages of people moaning and whining about they hadn't got one and it was all POW's fault. Most of those would only have flipped the print anyway.

The old days of every print released being worth a fortune on the secondary market are gone thank god. POW can now afford to get back to releasing quality screenprints for people who appreciate them.

Rubbish thread and I'm only making it worse by typing this.

But Pez is spot on and Banksy has been pretty busy hammering us with great street pieces, is that not enough?

agree with Pez and Bobby, i should have articulated my response in the same manner, but I couldnt be arsed

on a different subject completely...pick up the latest issue of TNT it has an article on street art

isnt TNT a mag for South African/Australian migrant workers who live in Earls Court?

Sept 4, 2008 9:18:25 GMT 1 @alsbabar said:

agree with Pez and Bobby, i should have articulated my response in the same manner, but I couldnt be arsed

I think you worded it just right to get your point across. I was thinking the same but couldn't be bothered to type it.

why i thank you sir

[jamessmith77]

Viva POW!

[spirit]

I'm inclined to agree with Francis - and it's got very little to do with Banksy prints - or the lack of. Other than Vhils (who I think is a great artist but his print did nothing for me) there have been, imo, no great print releases from POW in the last year and very little in the way of fresh artistic talent added to the roster.

[dmf]

Quote 'Nothing of note has come out. No great artists added. It'll take a wicked Christmas to pull them out of it.'


Autum!

[curiousgeorge]

Nothing ever stays the same, everything changes!!

Looking at it from the eyes of people who knew nothing about street art, due to Cans they have opened this world up to many people,for that alone A+ IMO

..rather than the worst year for PoW this is the worst year yet for ppl joining the scene without the foggiest about the scene (and by that i mean love for it)

[spirit]

Sept 4, 2008 10:27:36 GMT 1 curiousgeorge said:

Nothing ever stays the same, everything changes!!

Looking at it from the eyes of people who knew nothing about street art, due to Cans they have opened this world up to many people,for that alone A+ IMO

I'm not sure that people who know nothing about street art would even necessarily associate Cans with POW - they would see it as arranged by Banksy and "his people".

So yes, Cans has been fantastic and Banksy has produced some great street work this year, but neither of those things are the core business of POW - which is a print house. Surely any judgement of POW should be made mainly on the prints it releases?

who the f**k do you think sets up Santas Ghetto each year?

Santa ??

[spirit]

I know POW sets up SG alsbaber (and there's really no need to get arsey) - but I seem to remember that even the SG print releases (at least the online ones) didn't get the greatest reception.

My point is that although POW do great things for street art as a whole (Cans/SG etc), as a print house their output has been weaker this year than in previous years, and many of their better artists (Faile, Bast etc) now release their prints elsewhere, and there has been very little great new talent brought on board to replace them (Zbiok etc).

This is not POW bashing - just an observation.

Sept 4, 2008 10:33:12 GMT 1 @carlito said:

..rather than the worst year for PoW this is the worst year yet for ppl joining the scene without the foggiest about the scene (and by that i mean love for it)

How can you possibly know the intentions & interest of everybody who has had their eye's opened to street art this year? That is an incredibly arrogant stance to take. What do you base this assumption on?
Christ, how many people went to Can's 1 & have seen the outside of Tate Modern who previously where unfamiliar with street art. This is the kind of clique b*llocks that should be left in the playground - "it's a scene and you have to conform to certain rules to be acceptable."
Says who?

i'd just ignore it onemandown72

it's not as if these people were born with their knowledge

[babyford]

2003 was their best year - can wait for santa to come this year

Their best year was when they put their foot through a Banksy canvas.

Print wise I don't think its just POW that have found it tough going. I would find it difficult to name my print of the year so far from all sources. Quality will win out though.

Sept 4, 2008 10:52:17 GMT 1 @onemandown72 said:

Sept 4, 2008 10:33:12 GMT 1 @carlito said:

..rather than the worst year for PoW this is the worst year yet for ppl joining the scene without the foggiest about the scene (and by that i mean love for it)

How can you possibly know the intentions & interest of everybody who has had their eye's opened to street art this year? That is an incredibly arrogant stance to take. What do you base this assumption on?
Christ, how many people went to Can's 1 & have seen the outside of Tate Modern who previously where unfamiliar with street art. This is the kind of clique b*llocks that should be left in the playground - "it's a scene and you have to conform to certain rules to be acceptable."
Says who?

ffs it obviously wasn't meant as all encompassing statment but just a general statement on some of what I've seen in recent times...but get up there on your high horse....and better get in some clique bollox rubbish while you're at it

.....obviously it's a really bad thing to ask for love in the scene..yes, I've seen it in with Cans, and recent B's etc etc...but in between there's so much depressing stuff....the good stuff makes the bad stuff so much harder to handle to my mind...but hey personal opinion and all that...arrogant lol idealist I'd say...

[leumasdarnley]

Well POW might be sourcing new talent but IMO would serve everyone much better to stick with a few great new artists then going with a bunch of mediocre ones. IMO campbarbossa has had a better year I mean how did POW miss the Herakut train if they are looking to support new artists. Its easy to throw stones but I have always felt that they used the hype of the next banksy release to almost force feed mediocre art into the scene. Now on the forum its like new release from bam bam magee, just out 12 new prints from cry me a river. This scene needs a wake up call and a focus on quality vs quantity and shops like POW should be more responsible IMO. I understand that the focus of POW was to bring affordable art but now the scene has changed and you can buy a 25 quid poster from one of 100 new artists. ramble done....

[Daniel Silk]

POW's worst year yet?

Its depends what POW are after If its about money, then this might not have been a good year for them, but I think we all know thats not their motivation.

All the good that was done with money raised at the last Santa's Ghetto, plus two events at the Cans Tunnel that have pushed the whole scene forwards, and have helped make Graffiti seen as a true form of Art by the public ;D What more can was ask for?

Sept 4, 2008 11:29:50 GMT 1 @carlito said:

Sept 4, 2008 10:52:17 GMT 1 @onemandown72 said:

How can you possibly know the intentions & interest of everybody who has had their eye's opened to street art this year? That is an incredibly arrogant stance to take. What do you base this assumption on?
Christ, how many people went to Can's 1 & have seen the outside of Tate Modern who previously where unfamiliar with street art. This is the kind of clique b*llocks that should be left in the playground - "it's a scene and you have to conform to certain rules to be acceptable."
Says who?

ffs it obviously wasn't meant as all encompassing statment but just a general statement on some of what I've seen in recent times...but get up there on your high horse....and better get in some clique bollox rubbish while you're at it

.....obviously it's a really bad thing to ask for love in the scene..yes, I've seen it in with Cans, and recent B's etc etc...but in between there's so much depressing stuff....the good stuff makes the bad stuff so much harder to handle to my mind...but hey personal opinion and all that...arrogant lol idealist I'd say...

I had posted somethign else, but rethought deleted and moved on.
Reason for my rant is I have a huge pet hate of beign part of a "scene" (kind of like Bonhams using the term "Urban Art") and I respect the fact that you've come back to me - I would say that the increase in attention of a street art, attracting both good and bad is a result of an increase in it's exposure. And this for me is more postive than not.
Again the Tate Modern. Not in my wildest dreams as a kid looking at graf in the 80's would I ever have imagined that the Tate would have recognised the importance of street art and given their exterior over to 6 street artists. Nor would I have envisaged the far reaching effect Banksy has had on the art world. He has opened doors that were previously closed. This will attract good and bad, but I see so much more good in this than bad

I get where you're coming from and that's a very positive way to look at it...I think I just see alot of what I saw as great being washed away by the money grabbing etc I just love the idea of art for everyone, that u can see and 'get' without having to read a book on it or be in the right 'clique' to be accepted and I feel alot of that initial enthusiasm slowly ebbing way but I guess that's the nature of success, as it is aceepted as part of the art 'norm'