The latest work from graffiti artist turned 'urban remodeler' SpY on the streets of Madrid. While the debate will surely continue as to whether or not street art is good art there are an increasing number of gorilla dreamers making their case. The rise of an artist like KAWS from working class vandal to our collective visual consciousness suggests the world is ready to bend the rules as to what makes an artist an artist. Perhaps just a different canvas.
Pop artist KAWS has designed a custom Trek Madone 6.9 for good friend Lance Armstrong's upcoming run in this year’s vaunted Milan-San Remo race. The 102 year race legacy inspired KAWS to use a vintage style paint scheme with a modern aesthetic for the classic competition. The yellow paint scheme amplyfies the Live Strong message on a global stage. The tires transform the design with KAWS trademark chomper teeth and Lance's personal moto WNW 2009, Winners Not Whiners, hidden under the bottom bracket.
KAWS latest exhibition The Long Way Home at the Honor Fraser Gallery in Downtown Los Angeles has been getting a tonne of press. Nearly every blog I read has put together some sort of feature about the world's most famous street artist. While the work doesn't deviate from the flat and bold style that has made him famous, this exhbition is no longer about KAWS arrival as apart of our contemporary consciousness. The New Jersey born graf has arrived and he's here to stay. His distinction as a niche fetish of Kanye West and Pharrell Williams no longer defines him. Now it's apart of his meteoric rise to the top of the art world.
Artwork from the KAWS edition of Kanye West's 808s & Heartbreak is now plastered in the middle of New York City at 45th and 7th street. Mr. West beat out the peanut guy for prime ad space. Hurrah!
