[FЯ]

is this in your top ten as well?

www.royaldoulton.co.uk/nick-walker-mug-chuckers

[monkeyface]

A lot of us forget the artists we like aren't making art just for us. They are also trying to earn a living.
I like to believe the street pieces they do are the examples of what they want to paint. The print releases are what pays the bills and the PE Nightmare series and NW Morning After series are perfect examples of if it sells out then why not milk it. And if someone like Royal Doulton are going to throw a bag of money at them then why wouldn't they take it.
If I had their skills and could make money doing something i love I know I probably would.

[kel]

Oct 14, 2014 14:11:19 GMT 1 FЯ said:

is this in your top ten as well?

www.royaldoulton.co.uk/nick-walker-mug-chuckers

Unfortunately didn't make it as it was pushed out by  "Stein - Norwegian Hardcore" which clearly is a modern masterpiece

[Dr Plip]

You're incredibly fortunate if you're able to make a living as an artist.

(Stay tuned for more fascinating statements of the obvious.)

[atomone]

Always liked Nick's work but wow! this is shoddy! sorry but looks like a foundation students' art project...at best!

[tomawal]

what is the situation concerning new prints for the week?

[FЯ]

Slightly cloudy with rain patches.
A strong smell of damp.

[tomawal]

ok the situation cleared!!
More seriously? the availability date? for prints, canvas,books?
thank you in advance

[FЯ]

you wont have a problem getting anything when it does appear.

[Ruggs]

Oct 16, 2014 9:55:22 GMT 1 tomawal said:

ok the situation cleared!!
More seriously? the availability date? for prints, canvas,books?
thank you in advance

Solo show, New York City

'All I Ever Wanted Was My Name On Fire' is a continuation of the Vandal story line. If you look at each Morning After painting as a cover for a novel then this show is the pages within the book. Does he live or die?

The show opens on Thursday 16th October - the venue is 345 Broome Street at Bowery, NYC 10013 and runs for one week. Please [e-mail]

New print edition - Gotham Vandal

I’ve been working with my printers again to bring out a new edition titled Gotham Vandal . The edition will be 150 prints - 100 to be released from the show and 50 allocated to international lottery. Also available from the show will be the black on black diamond dust VANDALISM edition of 50 printed in Japan.

New book release

Finally got my book made and it’s going to be available at the opening of my show.
There will normal copies to purchase as well as signed versions with a hand finished stencil.
It covers a fair old bit of work and gives a little insight as to what I’ve been up to for the last twenty years, and saying that there is actually a section in the book called ‘Procrastination’.

For pre-orders, please contact [e-mail]. The cost of the book is £25, plus shipping charges TBC.

Royal Doulton

I've collaborated with Royal Doulton again to create a brilliant new figurine too. It's the first time my Vandal character has ever been recreated in 3D form and excitingly it's the first time Royal Doulton have ever used this cutting-edge technology to create a figurine using scans of an actual person. To make it even more special, the Vandal figurine (limited edition of 1000) will be sold as part of a collection to celebrate Royal Doulton's 200th anniversary in 2015.

To create the original model, I dressed as the bowler hatted vandal complete with paint can and was 3D scanned, printed in resin, and then recreated in bone china. The figurine will be launched at my show in New York in October and you won't believe just how much it looks like me - it's crazy!

To find out more and register to receive information on the Vandal figurine, visit: www.royaldoulton.com/vandal

PRINK

My newest collaboration is with PRINK Tech and Funderfull, to create a laser-cut cell phone case made out of wood and bamboo. The case includes my signature Vandal character and is a custom image for this collaboration. The sale of each case benefits Good Neighbors, a non-profit organization working to build schools for children in some of the most underdeveloped parts of Africa. To purchase a case, please visit hopesupplyco.com/nickwalker/

[tomawal]

Thank you very much ruggs

[maddoghoek100]

put in a note last week to them on the details for the hand finished book, but have not heard back. will report back after the show tonight

[beenrhymin]

i'll be there if any forum members want to say hello/grab a beer, PM me....

[samfrost]

Can't fault a gent for trying to make a buck. However, this show seemed tired and badly in need of fresh ideas. Literally saw mugs and plates on display for sale reminiscent of a Hirst store. Spent about 10 minutes there and left scratching my head as to what was that?!?

[delano]

Wow, I guess people see what they want to see.

I was also at the opening tonight, & I encountered a packed venue with a great crowd, saw 15 new canvases, 3 new prints, a book.

There was also a free bar & a dandy selection of tunes.

Yes, the Royal Doulton pieces were there, but they were hardly prevalent.

[Deleted]

You seem to have omitted any critical assessment of the work on display? Care to elaborate?

[goodrobot]

Oct 17, 2014 2:58:27 GMT 1 @badrobot said:

You seem to have omitted any critical assessment of the work on display? Care to elaborate?

Can you please give us your critical assessment as well?

[Deleted]

If someone could point me to some pictures of the show I most certainly could

[dreadnatty]

Some pictures here: 

m.animalnewyork.com/2014/british-street-artist-nick-walker-ever-wanted-name-fire/


BRITISH STREET ARTIST NICK WALKER: “ALL I EVER WANTED WAS MY NAME ON FIRE”

“It’s kind of creepy,” joked British street artist Nick Walker, 45, looking at a remarkably detailed figurine made in his likeness. The sculpture had just arrived yesterday at the Manhattan gallery space where his first exhibit in four years, “All I Ever Wanted Was My Name On Fire,” opens tonight. (Click the gallery above for a preview.)

It depicts Walker as a giant, towering over Westminster and pouring paint all over Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. Quite irreverent, considering it was created in collaboration with Royal Doulton, a renowned English company who has made tableware for several generations of the Royal family.



Walker came out of the same Bristol art scene as Massive Attack’s 3D, INKIE and Banksy. “I used to write EGO,” he said. “It was the one thing you had to control.” In 1992, he says he “started to properly experiment” with stencils and not just “paint for paint’s sake.”

He credits 3D for turning him onto the technique. The two were enamored with the stuff inside Subway Art, Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant’s seminal book on New York graffiti, or “the bible” as Walker calls it. And despite this admiration, they broke from the freehand tradition practiced by NYC’s subway painting graffiti writers. “When 3D started fucking around with stencils, a lot of us, were like, what are you doing? You’re cheating,” he remembers. “Later on, I was like, he’s got something here… His colors were great.” 3D is colorblind.

When Walker started doing stencils in the street, he had the perfect British disguise — an umbrella, to shade his illicit activity, a bowler hat, and a pinstripe suit. No one suspects a pinstripe suit. This ironic representation became known as his “Vandal” character, a motif which reappears in many works in the show.

“It’s just a bunch ideas I want to get out of my head,” Walker said about his new show, which appears to be an act of self-exorcism.

“I learned from my mistakes,” Walker recalled. Throughout his career, he’s been on a variety of artistic endeavors, even creating the tags for the sets of Eyes Wide Shut (1999) and Judge Dredd (1995). His Moona Lisa was a bittersweet milestone — part fortune, part curse.

Her birth had quite an interesting backstory. One day, Walker, Banksy and artist Paul Insect were talking in Paul’s studio. “Banksy said, ‘I don’t reckon anything else can be done with the Mona Lisa,'” recalled Walker. “He brings out this picture. It’s this fat, fat Mona Lisa eating a donut. Nah, it’s already been done. He brings out another. Nah, it’s already been done. Ya see? Nothing more can be done. I kept thinking, nah, he’s gotta be wrong!” Weeks later, it hit him. “Add one more O, and she becomes a mooner. Moona Lisa. She’s a mooner! The reason why she’s smiling is because she’s just about to turn around and show her ass. So, that’s how that came about.”



That challenge by Banksy was the catalyst. The street version of the piece was done in 2006 and made it to Bonham’s first urban art sale in 2008, as a canvas. With the mystery of her smile lifted along with her dress, Moona Lisa sold for ten times its estimate — just over $100,000.

The sale set the market. The press made a big deal. Walker later learned that the work was acquired by big time collector Jose Mugrabi, who invited him to his place and offered him some advice. “He had a high rise full of Warhols. Thirteen Marilyns. A Duchamp bowl,” Walker recalled. “It was the tits!” There, Mugrabi told Walker to make nothing for two or three years because the market was bound to crash. It did.

“The auction result was so far flung and kinda mad,” Walker sighed. “It was crazy, because no one really knew me as an artist… It was a double-edged sword. It was great because it took me to the next level, but it was bad because everyone who had bought a painting from the last shows decided to put the work on the secondary market… I produced too much work. There should have been no additions, just all individual pieces.”

There was another unpleasantry that came with the sale — Banksy comparisons in the press. “It doesn’t help me,” Walker said, shaking his head. “It just causes unnecessary weirdness… There were rumors at one point that I was him and he was me. I was like, how did that even begin?”

I asked him why the media only has focus for Banksy. “It’s purely because people are blinkered to any other artist. No matter what, anything, if it is done with a stencil — ah it must be Banksy,” he said, comically elevating his voice. “We were all super connected. I mean, I know him pretty well. At one point I got asked, because he was really busy, whether I would cut his stencils for him [for his LA show.] I kind of declined. I was mad busy doing my own stuff.”



Years later, Walker has stayed busy in New York, where he now lives with his girlfriend. In April, he was hitting the Lower East Side. In August, he painted the graffiti hall of fame at 106th and Park with CRASH, TATS CRU, QUEEN ANDREA and others.

Earlier, when Walker was prepping for the show at the Bronx studios of legendary graffiti pioneers CRASH and DAZE, I asked him if he considers himself a graffiti writer or a street artist. “A street artist,” he said, emphatically. “You’re giving the city a painting for people to enjoy or not.” For him, legal vs. illegal is irrelevant. It’s all about putting your art out in the street.

“It’s my favorite city in the world,” he smiles. “I love it when I’m here. It’s massively serendipitous. You think things and they happen. People pop out of the woodwork when you least expect it. We used to have a laugh. That’s what it’s all about. Ya know. Just having a crack.”

“All I Ever Wanted Was My Name On Fire,” Nick Walker, Oct 16 – Oct 22, 345 Broome Street, Manhattan, Opening reception Oct 16 6pm-9pm

(Photos: Aymann Ismail/ANIMALNewYork)

Tags: All I Ever Wanted Was My Name On Fire, NICK WALKER, Street Art

[goodrobot]

Oct 17, 2014 3:05:09 GMT 1 @badrobot said:

If someone could point me to some pictures of the show I most certainly could

gothamist.com/2014/10/16/street_artist_nick_walker_brings_va.php#photo-1

[Deleted]

reminds me of



but better executed

(not saying he copied him. Just similar idea that reminded me of Gagnon's)

[Ottomatik]

Oct 17, 2014 3:13:23 GMT 1 @federationofideas said:

Um....that face is a mess.

[Deleted]

Oct 17, 2014 3:34:31 GMT 1 Ottomatik said:

Oct 17, 2014 3:13:23 GMT 1 @federationofideas said:

Um....that face is a mess.

yeah it looks like there's some lines (wrinkles?) that just don't belong on the face.  think everything else looks very well done though

[Deleted]

I have always loved 'Clockwork Vandal' since I first saw it at 'See no evil'. I would love to have one.
Being too ill too work for over 18 months has out paid to that dream. Never mind. So happy with the art I already have.

[Ruggs]

Quite like this one.

[Drymounted]

Oct 17, 2014 8:51:18 GMT 1 Ruggs said:

Quite like this one.

Now this is an incredible piece!

[Deleted]

Oct 17, 2014 3:09:51 GMT 1 goodrobot said:

Oct 17, 2014 3:05:09 GMT 1 @badrobot said:

If someone could point me to some pictures of the show I most certainly could

gothamist.com/2014/10/16/street_artist_nick_walker_brings_va.php#photo-1

thankyou goodrobot (I'm fascinated by what your take will be on my input in the ISIS thread, that will give me a good idea of your definition of good....I'm thinking polite may've been a better fit)

onto this show, in a word underwhelming, I've followed Nick for a good 9 years and I have a few issues with this show on a few different levels.

Firstly, there's a lot of rehashing going on here, I've seen nearly all of these before? And those I haven't are very very close thematically to previous work. Now, I fully understand the motif 'if it aint broke don't fix it' and I'm assuming it ain't broke or Nick would have made more of an effort to at least fit the Vandal into new situations...so fair play to him...but for me, its not saying anything I don't already know about Nick's work and frankly at this point is not a good enough reason for me to like it.

Secondly a lot of the 'actions' the Vandal is doing and the images, just don't seem to work and either make little sense or just look unbalanced and poorly thought out.  Throwing up a heart that becomes birds anyone? Balancing on one leg to spray a heart anyone? Using two cans to spray a heart anyone? Really you're still blowing up rats? Really? The mood boards, seem to convey anything but a mood. And the alley way piece, well, could it be anymore dark? It feels like rough cut of a much larger piece that would make much more sense?

Finally and probably my biggest problem with Nick now is how little this all means, I just struggle to see anything in these pieces. I understand why the Vandal started, it was witty it worked, but somewhere along the line for me, it became a sad parody of the original tight idea.

Apologies to the Nick fans, yes, I know he's a lovely guy and his stencil cutting isn't bad (it's not great, but not bad), and I would (believe it or not) love to say how wonderful this work is, but simply it isn't.

[Happy Shopper]

Oct 17, 2014 8:51:18 GMT 1 Ruggs said:

Quite like this one.

Just me, or does he have a balloon for a head?

[Deleted]

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion on any artist.
But anyone slag off Jose Parla for scribbling on walls and canvas ?. Jago for doing his thing ?. Lets be honest we can go on forever talking about artists painting the same things (portraits) etc.
If you are lucky enough to be able to make any money as an artist I would continue doing that under my name and then do as Authors do and use an alias. you'll soon find out how fickle people are.
Good on Nick for milking the cow. Long may it continue be make him money.

[Deleted]

Oct 17, 2014 8:12:32 GMT 1 @slammer said:

I have always loved 'Clockwork Vandal' since I first saw it at 'See no evil'. I would love to have one.
Being too ill too work for over 18 months has out paid to that dream. Never mind. So happy with the art I already have.

Sorry to hear. Wishing you well!