It’s not every day a Mexican street artist based in Colombia rolls into town but yesterday was one of those days. The man in question is Stinkfish who has been painting and pasting his way around ‘Londres’ since visiting our fair capital to promote and launch the London release of Nuevo Mundo, a book about Latin American street art, at Pictures on Walls. Back in 2010 Brighton son Hutch was one of a handful of Europeans invited to attend the Bogota Stencil Festival and that’s where the two first met. So, in the true spirit of Anglo – Latin American relations it was only proper that Hutch and Wet Paint got Stinkfish down for some seaside action before he continues the next leg of his European tour. This collaboration is in Brighton’s North Laine and Wet Paint have to thank the residents and freeholder Paul Bonett for allowing the artists to get up as well as Cityclean for the go-ahead. We will post a time- lapse film of this soon but in the meantime check out a collaborative print by the two artists. It comes in a couple of colourways and measures 62cm x 52cm on somerset 100% cotton rag. Details of where to buy it will be released soon.
Another artist Wet Paint Productions have worked with is the incredible Smug out of Glasgow and he is Channel 4′s Street Summer competition judge for Scotland . This guy is taking photo-realism to another level and in this film gives you some insight into the scene and what it is he is looking for in a competition winner.
The last artist but by no means the least Wet Paint Productions put forward as part of Channel 4′s Street Summer competition is Req.
Born in London in 1966 Req is a Brighton-based artist schooled in the New York subway graffiti tradition. His graffiti career started in 1984 in Brighton’s derelict areas but he soon started painting internationally onstage with the Norman Cook band Beats International.
Req’s new work is defined by his attempt to purge the graffiti and graphic influences of his past in favour of a lighter, diffuse impressionism which he calls ‘Spraypaint Realism’. His more recent charcoal and spray paint works on paper provide a quick and more expressive outlet to balance the more intensive ‘Spraypaint Realism’ style.
As we’ve said in the past, if the French impressionist painter Monet used Belton, this is kind of what his work may have looked like.
Req is the judge for the South East and your piece should represent one of the five elements of street culture which the Street Summer season is featuring: street dance, urban sports, spoken word, hip hop and street art. Write, draw, collage, sketch or render your work in any way you like. How you make this work is up to you.
Remember your piece is art but also it needs to work to promote Channel 4′s season. The better your piece looks the more chance you will have of winning but we will accept entries on pen and paper which have been scanned or photographed. Remember the idea is what counts not your computer skills!
Don’t forget that the competition starts on 13th June and for full details on how to enter make sure to follow this link:
The next artist in the line up to promote Channel 4′s Street Summer in association with Don’t Panic is our boy Ventsa, who is representing the Midlands and East. Wet Paint have worked with him in the past and Ventsa really has a unique style. In this film he gives you an introduction to the Birmingham scene and explains a little of what he as a judge is looking for from the winning designs.
The competition will run from 13th June to 17th July so start representing your area and start submitting your designs. All winning entrants’ work will appear in a major city from their part of the UK.
Winning entrants will be paid £300 for the use of their artwork
Winners will have their designs displayed on a premium outdoor space for two weeks in their area during August
Winners will get the opportunity to work with an established street artist from their region of the UK
Winners’ work will feature on the Don’t panic Poster and on postcards which will be distributed across the UK in Don’t Panic Packs
Winners will be featured in a short film about their work
The regions and the artists representing those areas are:
London – Ser
South East – Req
South West – Cheba
Midlands & East – Ventsa
Wales – Rmer
North – Faunagraphic
Scotland – Smug
So, Channel 4 are calling for all emerging street artists, writers and vandals out there, to join their Street Summer competition.
Wet Paint Productions want to wish you all the best of luck. Next post on this site will feature Req’s video who represents the South East out of our home town Brighton. So hope to see some of your work going up soon down here!
Follow us on Twitter @WetPaintUK and Like us on our new facebook page to keep up to date with Wet Paint Productions and competition news.
This is the latest amazing piece by Snub23 that dominates Trafalgar Lane, Brighton, which already has Flickr alight with praise and fave stars. Wet Paint Productions were asked to organise an artist to paint this wall after a legal piece put up by Leeks during The Beautiful and the Canned weekend was mistakenly buffed by the council. The owner of the property wasn’t too happy when he found out and got onto Brighton & Hove City Council to complain. So after a call requesting our help we thought who better to ask than the Snub Meister himself. We are not alone in loving this new work – which is all freehand – and predict you will see more like this in the future.
At TB&TC HQ we’ve been receiving artists work for the last few days now and this cross section doesn’t even scratch the surface but we thought we’d give you a heads up anyway. We will have a lot of original work on sale at the TB&TC shop at Myhotel over the weekend of 8/9 May. The prices are as varied as the artist list. Hope to see you there.
So, the prize for the artist travelling the furthest to this year’s TB&TC goes to the big man Nol, who is flying in from the Netherlands. He is in good company as last year we had Mymo from Berlin and Orticanoodles from Italy. Don’t forget the duty frees Nol!
TB&TC artist T.WAT’s latest work has caught the attention of the national newspapers over the last few days during the countdown to the general election. The latest red top to feature his work is The Daily Star. We know this comes from the heart and despite the Banksy references, T.WAT’s art always projects his beliefs and that sets him aside from other artists’ work. You can see him getting up live over the TB&TC weekend of 8/9 May, by which time the outcome will be determined. So make sure you’re there to see him, Hutch, Hop Louie, Leeks, Stickee and Agent Provocateur get up in Gloucester Road, Brighton. And who knows, by then Brighton may even have the first ever elected Green MP.
Hands up if you’re down with Req! In some respects, Brighton graffiti artist/producer Req embodies the clichés of British underground club music: no formal musical training whatsoever; a youth spent tagging, DJing and breakdancing in the wake of the first wave of hip-hop culture to hit the U.K. A knack for pushing artistic sensibilities to their breaking point and coming up with exciting new directions, Req’s art is no different from his music (as heard in the TB&TC film) and has smartly sidled into the classical. Heralded for his beautifully painted ‘soft’ nudes – which if an aging Monet had painted using Molotow is what his work would have looked like – Req stands alone. Get down to Brighton for 8/9 May and see something special. Licensed to paint sites up soon. Like Req’s canvases we want to keep you hanging and yes his art will be for sale!
