The art of Kevin Blythe Sampson

THE ART OF
KEVIN BLYTHE SAMPSON

4/24/11

Urban Montage by Charlene Weisler

Urban Montage by Charlene Weisler

American Folk Art Graffiti Show in June 2011

Street Art and "Outsider" Art is coming inside. One of my favorite street artists Judith Supine currently has a gallery show in LA and the Museum of Contemporary Art in LA is showing Art of the Street. And coming in June, the New York based Museum of American Folk Art is offering graffiti based art that will also have representation in the Venice Biennale. Read more:

This June, the American Folk Art Museum (AFAM) will have its premiere exhibition at the Venice Biennale, showcasing the work of eight contemporary, self-taught African-American artist—including old school graffiti legends Blade, Daze, Quik, and Sharp. This is the first time the Museum will be presenting this kind of work, as the exhibition is an exploration of the work of contemporary African-American self-taught artists. Paired with four African-American artists from outside New York, this exhibition explores issues of race and class in the American art world. Who becomes a self-taught artist (commonly known as the folk or outsider artist) is often determined by these two factors.

AFAM has partnered with Benetton to host this exhibition as one of the official collateral events of the Biennale at the historic Fondaco dei Tedeschi, right next to the Bridge of Sighs, on the Grand Canal. This exhibition will mark the very first time contemporary self-taught artists will be shown at the Venice Biennale.

The exhibition will showcase the work of:

  • Graffiti’s old masters Steven Ogburn (a.k.a. Blade), Chris Ellis (a.k.a. Daze), Lin Felton (a.k.a. Quik), and Aaron Goodstone (a.k.a. Sharp) will represent different aspects of the urban vernacular of this art form. (On a side note, all of these artists will be exhibiting in “Art in the Streets” at the Museum of Contemporary Art, LA).
  • Lonnie Holley, Gregory Warmack (a.k.a. Mr. Imagination), Charlie Lucas (a.k.a. Tin Man) and Kevin Sampson represent the virtuosity of African American Contemporary Outsider artists.


Each will execute an original site-specific installation for the Fondaco dei Tedeschi. In pairing these two distinctive yet complementary approaches to art making and using the building’s architecture as inspiration for the work itself, this exhibition tells a great American story to an international audience.

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