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From http://www.jungbauern.at

from http://www.jungbauern.at

Street art is a chance to say or show directly to anyone who walks by whatever you want them to hear or see. Advertisers do it. Christians do it. You do it everyday already with your clothes, the places you frequent, the people you hang out with; these are all indirect messages sent out to the world. This is a chance to be direct.

Street art is any art developed in public spaces — that is, “in the streets” — though the term usually refers to art of an illicit nature, as opposed to government sponsored initiatives.The term can include traditional graffiti artwork, stencil graffiti, sticker art, wheatpasting and street poster art, video projection, art intervention, and street installations. Typically, Street Art is used to distinguish contemporary public-space artwork from territorial graffiti, vandalism, and corporate art.

Examples of Vancouver Street Art

All photos are from http://www.flickr.com/photos/vancouvergo

William Lesch has been a working photographic artist for over twenty years. He earned his BFA in photography at the University of Arizona in Tucson, and worked as the first Staff Photographer at the Center for Creative Photography while pursuing his graduate degree at U of A.

Lesch had his first one-person show in the small front gallery of the newly established Center for Creative Photography in 1979, and since that time his work has been included in over one hundred group and one-man shows, both locally and around the world. His fine-art work is in several museum and corporate collections, including the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Tucson Museum of Art, the Snell and Wilmer Collection, the Ryley, Carlock and Applewhite Collection, the Sky Harbor Collection, and both the City of Phoenix and the City of Tempe Portable Works Collections.

He has won and been nominated for numerous grants and awards, including receiving an Artist Grant from the Arizona Commission on the Arts as well as completing two Artist Project grants for the City of Tempe. His desert color photography was featured in a 60 page monograph printed by Treville Press in conjunction with an exhibit in Japan.

Lesch’s recent Public Art projects include a contract with the City of Tempe, Arizona to create interpretive portraits of 12 notable citizens of Tempe. Using a variety of photographic techniques, the assignment was to express the diversity of culture and people in Tempe. The final result included an exhibit of 20×24 large scale prints at the Tempe Civic Center, which now are a permanent part of the Tempe Portable Art Collection.

http://www.williamlesch.com  and http://www.leschphotography.com

http://www.foldschool.com

Foldschool is a collection of free cardboard furniture for kids, handmade by you. The downloadable patterns can be printed out with any printer. Follow the instructions and assemble a stable piece of furniture.

VANCOUVER, CANADA – MARCH 25: Jeff Cowan #20 of the Vancouver Canucks and Ian Laperriere #14 of the Colorado Avalanche exchange punches as they fight during their NHL game at General Motors Place on March 25, 2007 in Vancouver, Canada. (Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Jeff Cowan;Ian Laperriere

VANCOUVER, CANADA – MARCH 25: Ian Laperriere #14 of the Colorado Avalanche falls to the ice after being punched by Jeff Cowan #20 of the Vancouver Canucks as they fight during their NHL game at General Motors Place on March 25, 2007 in Vancouver, Canada. (Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ian Laperriere;Jeff Cowan

VANCOUVER, CANADA – MARCH 25: Ossi Vaananen #27 of the Colorado Avalanche is checked into the boards by Matt Cooke #24 of the Vancouver Canucks during their NHL game at General Motors Place on March 25, 2007 in Vancouver, Canada. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/Getty Images) *** Local Caption *** Ossi Vaananen; Matt Cooke

Kyla Harris, the great-granddaughter of Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris, poses with part of her Access Sex exhibit at the Main Artery gallery. The exhibit seeks to challenge the taboos that surround sex and people with disabilities.

Kyla Harris, a vibrant 22-year-old artist, who is in a wheelchair, said people she meets often want to know whether she can have sex.

The answer, for those curious, is yes.

“I honestly think that sex rules the world,” said Harris, who hopes the launch of a provocative new exhibit at Vancouver’s Main Artery Gallery will challenge the societal taboos that surround sex and disability.

The exhibit, a collaboration between Harris and photographer Sarah Murray, is entitled Access Sex. It is a series of tasteful, erotic photographs that show Harris in a variety of poses, some with her wheelchair, and some without.

Her favourite photo is a shot of herself from behind. She’s wearing a white peasant top that is visible over the black plastic back of her wheelchair. Her hands are raised behind her neck like she’s putting on a necklace.

Harris, the great-granddaughter of Group of Seven artist Lawren Harris, broke her neck in 2000, diving into the Cheakamus River near Squamish.

“You become aware of how people with disabilities are represented in society and I noticed that there are very few examples of people with disabilities seen in a sexual light in art or media.”

Harris found that while she was comfortable posing for the photos, having people view them, particularly family, was awkward. Her grandparents, however, bought the first piece.

“I was surprised at how supportive and comfortable they were. I was a little choked up at how proud they were of me.”

The exhibit, which Harris said is the “beginning of the revolution,” runs until April 29 at Main Artery (218 East 28th Ave.).

Steve Hanks is one of the most sought after artists in North America today.Photo-realism with this rogue medium is difficult at best, and he is the master of it. His techniques are widely studied by students and seasoned artists alike.

The most recent Steve Hanks paintings can be viewed by visiting the E. S. Lawrence Gallery’s web site www.eslawrence.com.

http://www.sitamae.com

Sita Mae Edwards, a self-professed amateur photographer from California. In addition to her photography, she’s also a plus-size figure model. Her modeling portfolio contains work with some very well know photographers.

Plus size models are beautiful:

Gregory Crewdson (born September 26, 1962) is an American photographer who is best known for elaborately staged, surreal scenes of American homes and neighborhoods.

Crewdson was born in Park Slope, a neighborhood in Brooklyn. As a teenager was part of a punk rock group called The Speedies that hit the New York scene in selling out shows all over town. Their hit song “Let Me Take Your Foto” proved to be prophetic to what Crewdson would become later in life. In 2005 the song was in ads to promote digital cameras by Hewlett Packard.

In the mid 1980s Crewdson studied photography at SUNY Purchase. He received his Master in Fine Arts from Yale University. He has taught at Sarah Lawrence, Cooper Union, Vassar College and Yale University where he has been on the faculty since 1993.

Crewdson is represented in New York at the Luhring Augustine Gallery and in London by the White Cube Gallery

“I think that, in a sense, there’s something about photography in general that we could associate with memory, or the past, or childhood.
I never literally made miniature trains, tableaus, or anything.
But there is something very childlike in the process.-Gregory Grewdson