Charleston

In a landmark urban renewal effort, city planners, developers, and architects partnered to commission this 120' mural on a concrete DOT wall in downtown Charleston.
Located at King Street and Fishburne, next to Recovery Room.

While in Charleston, I painted this mural in West Ashley with the support of ChArt Outdoor Initiative.

Located on Alycia Alley behone Gene's Haufbrau.

Living Walls: East Atlanta Village

I painted this mural on the side of Tomatillo's in East Atlanta Village.

Miami Art Basel 2013

Pictures from this year's Miami Art Basel trip! All of these are in the Wynwood District, painted over a two-week period in late-November through Early December. Thanks so much to Danielle Brutto, Jon Graham, Josh and Tracy Kohn, Ishmael, the whole Heineken Mural Project crew and artists, Jorge Moreno, Living Walls, Samson Contompasis of Marketplace Gallery, Fountain Art Fair, and everyone else who helped make these possible.

On NW 25th between 3rd and 4th.

On NE 20th between Biscayne and North Miami Ave.

Courtyard mural installation at Fountain Art Fair, collaboration with Pixel Pancho, Never 2501, and Ever.

Courtyard mural installation for Fountain Art Fair, 8'x 8' latex on wood panel.

Exterior collaboration on Fountain Art Fair with Jaz, Elian, Cope2, Pixel Pancho, Pastel, LNY, Never 2501, and Ever.

On the way home, our group stopped in Jacksonville, FL to paint pieces on the outside of Cork Art Collective. Here is my part:

Atlanta!

In January, I am relocating to Atlanta full-time, and I can't tell you how excited and proud I am to be a part of one of my favorite cities in the world!
Last month I spoke to a Philosophy class at Emory University about public art, and got

 to share the work of some of my favorite artists and talk with them about the possibilities in public spaces. One student really responded and is now spearheading a light projection project on the Emory campus. I am so inspired by this, and by all the people and organizations in the city that are taking the initiative to cultivate the spaces around them. As if I needed another reason to love Atlanta!!

From Catherine Homan's Philosophy of Art class blog:

Ever since Molly Rose Freeman gave that lecture in class, I haven’t been able to stop thinking about public art and how it affects our community. I was completely moved by the entire notion of the genre, its spontaneity, its risk. I loved the work of Armsrock, the artist who employed projections in his work, and I wanted to share those ephemeral “light drawings” with the Emory community. That is where the Light Observations project began. I applied for a grant from Emory’s Center for Creativity & Arts to pursue this project, and I just found out that my project was selected.

Over the course of two nights in mid-January, a series of projections will appear near and on the freshman residence halls chronicling the everyday life of Emory residents. Perhaps scenes of students catching up on some homework will appear- one student just happens to be perched on the ledge of a window, the other on top of the study lounge’s roof. Maybe a squirrel will decide to take a peek on the festivities going on in Turman or Longstreet-Means. I want to integrate some of my quirky line drawings with the geometric angles of Emory’s modern architecture to produce something unique, something humorous, something welcoming for the new semester. With these projections, the warmth that is inside the residence halls will be directly translated onto the residence halls themselves, uniting our community even greater. And through the use of digital networking media, I hope to set up a portal in which many other Emory community members can submit their quotes and drawings for the project. I’ve even had some interest from students in doing multilingual projections as well.

This project is definitely going to be a new working experience for me, both within the physical work and the philosophy that now envelops my perception of the artworld. I’ve realized my work strives to be more powerful than I had initially expected because my work explores the relationship between concealment and unconcealment just as much as any other work of art. So thank you Martin Heidegger.

Festival Anonymous: Bucerias, Mexico

In January I am going to Bucerias, Mexico to paint at Festival Anonymous, a two-day art and music festival in the Bay of Banderas. This will be my first time to Mexico and I can't wait to see what happens.

Today's blog post:

Molly Rose Freeman

Artist of the Day.

Molly Rose Freeman
North Carolina, USA

I’ve been painting murals for almost two years. For me it’s the best way–to be outside, to have all the elements of nature and people and the city around you. Getting to take a flat wall and make it breathe, to electrify something that was invisible–you can’t beat that. I try to pay attention to what’s around me–the sounds, the currents, the light, everything–and then let the wall tell me where it wants to go. And do my best not to get in the way! I use basic geometric shapes so they can become anything, move any way they want. I don’t know what the wall will look like really until the very end. It’s exciting to be surprised, to make something without fully understanding what you’re making. That’s the magic.

He estado pintando murales hace casi dos años. Para mí es la mejor manera – para estar afuera, para tener todos los elementos de la naturaleza y la gente y  la ciudad a su alrededor. Llegar a tener una pared plana y hacerlo respirar, para electrificar algo que era invisible – no se puede superar eso. Trato de prestar atención a lo que me rodea – los sonidos, las corrientes, la luz, todo – y luego dejar que la pared me dice dónde quiere ir. Y hago mi mejor esfuerzo a no estorbar! Yo uso las formas geométricas básicas, para que puedan convertirse en cualquier cosa, mueva cualquier manera que deseen. No sé como la pared se verá realmente hasta el final. Es emocionante ser sorprendido, para hacer algo sin entender completamente lo que estás haciendo. Esa es la magia.

Living Walls!

In one week's time, I am headed to Atlanta to participate in this year's Living Walls: The City Speaks conference!! There aren't enough exclamation points to express how excited and honored I am to be a part of this landmark  project. From the Living Walls website:


In [August}, 28 artists will visually activate our urban landscape in the first all-female street art conference in the world. This year, Living Walls will change the game for street art and Atlanta.


Hear, hear! The lineup of both artists and events this year is phenomenal and I cannot wait to see the magic that happens. In addition to painting a mural, I will be showing work in an exhibition with some of the most talented female artists from around the world, some of whom have been personal inspirations to me over the years. I'm excited to be debuting a live string installation, as well as unveiling some brand new paintings and drawings.


The events this year include film screenings, dance parties, bar hops, a gallery exhibtion, photo projections, live painting/installations, pecha kucha presentations, a bike tour of the finished murals and (my personal fav) a traveling drag show! Production week begins August 8 and official festivities run from August 15-19. You can also follow the conference on Facebook or Twitter and Instagram @LivingWallsATL.

calma

beginning in 2006, brazilian street artist calma painted a whole town in bahia.

TEMPORAL : The Art of Stephan Doitschinoff (aka Calma) from Jonathan LeVine Gallery on Vimeo.

asheville to miami mural project: home at last!

home sweet home! murals painted: 2. miles logged: 1600+. temperature change: 58 degrees.

just got back from art basel: miami beach! i went down with a group to paint a mural in the wynwood district alongside some of the most talented and innovative street artists from around the world. this neighborhood is a hotspot of creative energy, and it really sparked something in me. i mean it was like a who's who of street artists that had done walls and buildings within a three block radius of where we were painting: barry mcgee, os gemeos, ryan mcginness, ron english, shepard fairey, swoon, futura, the list goes on (for pages.) in addition to the murals that were already there, nearly every empty space left was transformed during the weekend of art basel. i met artists from germany, hawaii, new zealand, east coast, west coast, and all with their own style, their own flavor. it was such a privilege not just to be there, but to be contributing to that kind of artistic landscape.

our group was dustin spagnola, ishmael (folly beach, sc), court mccracken, avery duncan, scott myers, and luke broussard (our documentarian/ambassador). we didn't know each other as a group really until we went down there, but it couldn't have turned out better. our final mural, on the backside of cafeina, was a collaboration in the truest and best sense of the word. it combined dustin's image of a topless frida kahlo braiding her hair (one of the most prone and stripped down pictures of the artist); ishmael's iconic trio of gas nozzles with their gun-shot-glass-shatter surface; and an organic, amorphous pattern i used to tie the two elements together. ishmael has a more in-depth summary of our process and concept here.

final mural at cafeina

me and ave

ish

bill thompson from satellite gallery and scott debus from charleston

scott (myers)

luke

max and rick

max

dustin, avery, court

ave

local brew!

ave again: so photogenic

me, court, scott, ish

cisco

msg and katherine from primary flight

ish, mark of the beast!

dustin

the crew!

i don't normally write a lot of personal things here but it's snowing now in asheville and something about the snow and being home and reflecting on this trip is making me aware of how thankful i am. so here's a thank you:

to everyone from asheville and elsewhere who supported this project (emotionally, creatively, financially), to art basel, to the wynwood district, to rebecca at cafeina, to the msg crew (rick, javi, max, and all the rest), to la boricua for the best chicken i've ever had, to dewey's, to the gyllenhaals, to corinne, to sara and rupert, to scott and troy, to tracy and josh, to morgan, to dustin's pops, and most of all to dustin, ishmael, court, avery, luke, and scott for being such an incredible group of people to work with, spend time with, and learn from. this was one of the most fulfilling projects i've ever done, and i couldn't have done it without these amazing people, amazing artists.

a video about the project is in the works, and i can't wait to relive the glory.

asheville to miami mural project

we're having a fundraiser for the asheville to miami mural project where i'll be raffling off the original of the illustration above, and i'll have super-cheap prints for sale ($5). dustin spagnola, alli good, and peter parpan will also have pieces in the raffle, as well as local businesses like ox & rabbit, diamond thieves, and eno. there will be music from andy herod of the electric owls, brindle, and mermaids (from atlanta.) and there will be beer.

when: sunday, nov. 21, 7 PM

where: 474 haywood road, asheville NC

how (much): $5 to get in, $10 for a raffle ticket

also, i am so excited that my amazing friend corinne longman is coming to miami for art basel!!! follow her charming and highly-addictive blog, a bright bite.