Hey ELC peoples,
This is Abe Lincoln Jr. I’ve got a new solo show opening up at Schmancy Toys on July 10th in Seattle Washington.
The name of the show is Handcrafted Vectors and its all new works in a new collage process I’ve been working on. Everything is 100% handmade and affordable. The work is inspired by Colorforms, & Henri Mattisse. Some people have said it reminds them of Eric Carle & Roger Hargreave’s work but the art definitely has mature themes running throughout. I reference fertility symbols, update old myths, advertising icons, and of course Char (the pooping bird) will be making an appearance or two as well. I wont be able to be in attendance for the opening but Portland’s own Bwana Spoons will be there doing his book signing the same evening so be sure to go down and get your Bwana stuff signed and pick up a painting or two of mines 
.
See Schmancy Toys and my website for more details.
Andrew Michael Ford and The Endless Love Crew are proud to present:
Cheap Shots
An evening of Affordable Art, Alcohol and a Stripper.
@ Kings County Bar
286 Seigel St.
Bushwick Brooklyn
If you like buying art, drinking or watching strippers then this the the Art Event of the Century!
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
112 GREENE STREET REVIVED BY STREET ARTISTS
NEW YORK, NY -– 112 Greene Street in Soho was the original home of 112 Workshop, a raw space open between 1970 and 1980, offering exhibition space for installation and performance for the new generation of conceptual and performance artists who emerged as the Vietnam War and racism were ripping the country apart. In the early ’70s the economy had tanked, New York City was on the verge of bankruptcy, bleeding money and jobs and with virtually no commercial infrastructure for experimental art in place, artists had to create their own marginal, bootstrap model.
As Holland Cotter from the NY Times recently wrote:
“They moved, often illegally, into the derelict industrial area now called SoHo, and made art from what they found there. Trisha Brown choreographed dances for factory rooftops; Gordon Matta-Clark turned architecture into sculpture by slicing out pieces of walls. Everyone treated the city as a found object.
An artist named Jeffrey Lew turned the ground floor and basement of his building at 112 Greene Street into a first-come-first-served studio and exhibition space. People came, working with scrap metal, cast-off wood and cloth, industrial paint, rope, string, dirt, lights, mirrors, video. New genres — installation, performance — were invented. Most of the work was made on site and ephemeral: there one day, gone the next.”
Artists were given almost complete control to curate their shows, the space put on challenging and inspirational work of hundreds of people. During the life of this laboratory it produced a list of influential performers and artists that helped shape the cultural cityscape over next 30 years, including names like Vito Acconci, Italo Scanga, Laurie Anderson, Joseph Beuys, Louis Bourgois, Chuck Close, Spalding Gray, Phillip Glass, Fran Lebowitz, Jeffrey Lew (co-founder), Gordon Matta Clarke (co-founder), Richard Mock, Richard Serra, William Wegman, Dennis Oppenheim and Chris Burden just to name a very few.
After 112 Workshop moved on to become White Columns, the basement space where 112’s founder Jeffrey Lew had built a recording studio that he subsequently sold to Steven Loeb, Loeb turned his Greene Street Recording into the laboratory for what became the 1980’s hip hop movement.
From the Bronx came Kurtis Blow’s “The Breaks” and Love Bug Starsky’s “You Gotta Believe” then Hollis Queens’ Run/DMC’s with “Its Like That” and Salt & Pepa’s “My Mic Sounds Nice” and “Push It”
After a decade of showing some of the most groundbreaking contemporary art, 112 Greene St now shifted to sound and became a laboratory for much of the new cultural movement that came to be known as hip hop.
But with action there is reaction followed by another cycle.
Ironically the sound being invented during the 1980’s at 112 Greene like Afrika Bambaataa and Soul Sonic Force’s “Planet Rock” or LL Cool J’s “Radio” would greatly influence scores of new visual artists who were then doing their art outside the conventional gallery environment - on subway cars, on building walls or in doorways, and many of these street artists would emerge a decade later recognized by an international audience.
NYC artists like Bast, Faile, Aiko would go from the streets to the galleries to the auction houses. And more are following in their footsteps.
A spirit of collaboration and lively exploration returns to this incredibly creative space on March 26 when street artists well known in North Brooklyn today electrify the walls with a new era of youthful big ideas – and with thanks to those who came before in this hallowed space.
Royce Bannon, core member of the collective ELC (Endless Love Crew), is curating an audacious and boundless graphic cavalcade of street art styles to christen the historic space that honors the creative spirit. While ELC has a rotating roster that sometimes totals as many as 9 artists with a variety of styles, the currently active members of the ELC for this project will be Abe Lincoln Jr., Anera, El Celso, infinity, and Royce Bannon. With everyone working collaboratively, the “Work to Do” show pays homage to the new president and embraces a new reality that artists and creatives in the city are feeling right now.
The 112 Greene Street space is christened The Combine with this inaugural show. Steve Loeb and John Robie, called the “inventor of hip hop” by the LA Times, writer and producer of seminal hip hop groundbreaking hit records “Looking for the Perfect Beat” , “Planet Rock”, are creating The Combine to provide a new environment for the exhibition of art; an alternative to the traditional gallery opening and exhibition, transforming static work into multi-media, performance oriented events.
So far the lineup for the show includes: Endless Love Crew, Moody AA, Cabahzm, Cake, 2Easae, Avone, Chris RWK, Veng RWK, Brando * Nev1 * Sinatra Smart Crew, AVOID pi, infinity, Deeker, Keeley, El Celso, Dain, Pufferella, Skewville, Royce Bannon, AnerA, Abe Lincoln Jr., Ellis Gallagher AKA Ellis G., Matt Siren, Overconsumer, Kosbe, Aiko, Abby Goodman, Hush, Alone art, Bast, Ben Jackson, Bobby Hill, Buildmore, C. Damage, Chris Brennan, Christopher Gordon, Dark Clouds, Deeker, Destroy and Rebuild, Erica Faulke, Keely, Pufferella, OHM, Smells, Stikman, U.L.M.
The show “Work To Do” opens March 26/ Opening reception is 6 - 10 with Africa Bambaataa and Soul Sonic Force performing live and then will run through April 16.
RSVP: rsvp112@gmail.com
For interview with Royce Bannon http://www.brooklynstreetart.com
For more information please visit 112 Greene Street blog http://112greene.wordpress.com
Steve Loeb and John Robie created The Combine for the purpose of creating an exciting new environment for the exhibition of art. The goal of the Combine is to create an alternative to the traditional gallery opening and exhibition, by transforming these staid and stolid presentations into multi-media, performance oriented events. Our mission is simple but vital. While the entertainment value of turning an art show into an “extravaganza” is clear, the more important goal of these types of events is the creation of an environment in which new artists working in a variety of media, can get exposure by working alongside already successful artists. Our first show, “Work To Do”, brings together the talents of Royce Bannon and the ELC (Endless Love Crew) and the Godfathers of Hip-Hop, Afrika BamBaataa and the Soul Sonic Force.
JOHN ROBIE:
Is a composer, musician and record producer, widely credited as one of the early progenitors of Hip-Hop and one of the creators of the now iconic Hip-Hop anthem, “Planet Rock”. He is also considered by many to be a pioneer in the use of “sampling” technology and the founding father of “Electro”. His work as a producer, composer, arranger and keyboardist, can be heard on many of that genre’s biggest hits, including “IOU” by Freeze. (”IOU” and the Robie co-production of Cuba Gooding’s “Happiness is Just Around The Bend” are generally acknowledged to be the first “commercial” recordings to include the use of sampled voices). He has worked with a wide variety of artists, from the “Godfather of Hip-Hop”, Afrika BamBaataa, to bands such as New Order and UB40, the seminal art band, Cabaret Voltaire and pop artists, such as Boy George and the Bee Gees.
His film credits include, “Pretty in Pink”, “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off”‘ “ATL” “Harsh Times”, “Swordfish” and “Brown Sugar”, among others and his work has been choreographed by the Alvin Ailey Dance Company. He is one of the writers of the LL Cool J/J Lo hit “Control Myself” and “samples” from many of his composition/productions are continually being used to this day, not only to create a number of hit records for other contemporary artists but also as background music for a wide variety of television commercials. He is currently working with DJ Larry Tee and singer/songwriter Andy Bell (from the UK band Erasure), on a song entitled “Matthew”-an homage to Mathew Wayne Shepard, the young gay man who was tragically murdered in Wyoming. He is also working on a musical entitled “Greed”.
John is a new and enthusiastic collector of urban art and is co-founder of The Combine.
STEVE LOEB:
Is a composer, arranger and producer who has worked with artists as varied as Kurtis Blow, Love Bug Starsky and the metal band “Riot”, for whom he has produced 11 albums. His participation in the soundtrack for the movie “Breakin”, produced Carol Lynn Townes break out hit from that film-”99 ½”. In 1980, Steve opened Greene Street Recording- a state of the art recording studio in the heart of Soho. While most recording studios were located in busy commercial districts, such as Midtown Manhattan, Steve bucked that trend by moving into a location where the streets were virtually deserted by day AND by night.
And in those streets, a movement began. Old factory buildings were converted into lofts and galleries, and the work of so many now legendary artists, was created and shown in those cavernous spaces. And while Soho became the mecca for those artists, Greene Street Recording rapidly became the mecca for recording artists with singular visions and voices. The list of those who passed through its doors is too big to mention in this space but it would include:
Public Enemy, James Brown, Dave Matthews, Run DMC, Sean Lennon, New Order, Sonic Youth, Salt n’ Pepa, Chaka Khan, Joe Cocker, Keith Richards, Vanessa Williams, Vernon Reid, A Tribe Called Quest, Ice Cube, Third Base.
Steve’s current obsession is collecting urban art and the walls of his Village apartment, bear witness to that passion. Steve is a co-founder of The Combine.
Photo and Art by Royce Bannon
The namesake of Work to Do is inspired by Afrika Bambaataa and Soul Sonic Force’s new song that they will be unveiling at the opening of Work to Do.
The theme of both The ELC presentation and the Bam/Soul Sonic composition is the same. It is the personification and most importantly, the application of Barack Obama’s belief that:
“In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. What is required of us now is a new era of responsibility - a recognition, on the part of every American, that we have duties to ourselves, our nation, and the world, duties that we do not grudgingly accept but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit, so defining of our character, than giving our all to a difficult task. It has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up.”
The new track is being produced by John Robie of The Combine who made all of this possible. Thanks John and Steve!
Photo by Jazz Beaulieu
