Tag Archives: illustration

Alexis Dias and Elian Collaboration in Shoreditch

Alexis Diaz painted an elephant octopus combination that was an absolute wow with guests of Shoreditch street art tours. Painted with his very detailed intricate ink based cross hatching, the detail left no one in any doubt that Alexis Dias is a great artist.

London, shoredithc,street art, mural, octopus, elephant, octophant, elepus, ink, illustration, painting,

Alexis Dias/La Pandilla- 2013

That was in July 2013, it lived a good life but eventually was painted over by the next artist, Rone actually, in April 2014. The image became quite iconic, guests on the tour still enquire “where is the octopus – elephant?”. Well the good news is that same wall has been refreshed again and the work is truly stunning, with thanks to Martin Lee for his great photo of Shoreditch Street Art Tours in action waxing lyrical .

London, Shoreditch, street art, collaboration, Latin America, Alexis Dias, La Pandilla, Elian, Maximiliano Ruiz, Graffiti Argentina, ink, illustration, illustrative, abstract, geometric, pop art

Alexis Dias/Elian detail. Photo courtesy Martin Lee

This of a beautiful collaboration between Alexis Dias and Elian of Argentina, Diaz painted the stunningly detailed heart with an eye at its centre and Elian painted the intensely colourful abstract geometric background.  Along with several other artists, these guys were in town for a group gallery show at MYA Gallery highlighting the work of several Latin American artists, curated by Maximiliano Ruiz (his book Graffiti Argentina is well worth tracking down).

London, Shoreditch, street art, collaboration, Latin America, Alexis Dias, La Pandilla, Elian, Maximiliano Ruiz, Graffiti Argentina, ink, illustration, illustrative, abstract, geometric, pop art

Elian/Alexis Diaz

photos: Dave Stuart except Martin Lee where noted

London, Los Angeles, San Juan, Berlin, Street Art, artists, graffiti, illustration, skate, punk, fashion, tour, tours, Shoreditch, Valentines Day

VERY NEARLY ALMOST (VNA) Issue 29 – Launches in LA!!!

Coming soon, something that should interest anyone from LA who has been on the Shoreditch Street Art Tour (and indeed anyone interested in culture who ought to come on the SSAT) – the latest issue of Very Nearly Almost magazine. More of the same street arty and graff stuff but this time a little bit different too.    Now taking on the world, oh yeah!  Issue 29 launches in Los Angeles this Saturday (Valentines Day, 14 Feb).

 

Cover artist is Cleon Peterson, painter of black and white man beasts pillaging, fucking and slaughtering their way across the pages and onto a special limited edition (150) silk screen printed box-set featuring a custom screen-printed box, die-cut sticker set, postcards and hand screen-printed copy of VNA 29.  Compare the silk screen printed cover in the box set contents pic below with the scan of the regular cover further down

London, Los Angeles, San Juan, Berlin, Street Art, artists, graffiti, illustration, skate, punk, fashion, tour, tours, Shoreditch, Valentines Day

Box set contents

There are elements of the traditional photos of street art, photo specials on the murals of Las Vegas and San Juan (and of course London), a great interview with Blek Le Rat (France) and the wonderful “Diggin In The Crates” series continues with corporate iconoclast Ron English dissecting and reminiscing about the conception and execution of a whole bunch of his propaganda subversions.

London, Los Angeles, San Juan, Berlin, Street Art, artists, graffiti, illustration, skate, punk, fashion, tour, tours, Shoreditch, Valentines Day

VNA Blek Le Rat interview. Original photos – Blek, Sybille Prou

Then, as the zine editorial points out, they explore “..the broader culture that surrounds street art and graffiti”. This means profiles of a gif designer (Mattis Dovier), a clothing brand founder (Tony Arcabascio, ALife) and confessions of a New York street photographer and paparazzi (Ricky Powell).

London, Los Angeles, San Juan, Berlin, Street Art, artists, graffiti, illustration, skate, punk, fashion, tour, tours, Shoreditch, Valentines Day

original photo: James Bulloch

An interview with Pursue, a brand director and mural painter, take VNA right over onto classic Juxtapoz turf while closer to home Jessica Albarn, sibling to Damon and Nelly Duff artist discusses her illustrations. There’s plenty more besides and as always (cough, blush) some great photography.

London, Los Angeles, San Juan, Berlin, Street Art, artists, graffiti, illustration, skate, punk, fashion, tour, tours, Shoreditch, Valentines Day

Regular cover

The LA launch is being hosted by Subliminal Projects, 1331 W. Sunset Blvd, LA, CA 90026. 6pm – 9pm. Free alcohol plus a free copy of the mag to the first 100 through the door on the night. Drink sensibly (first two beers only). To be sure to get your free copy, RSVP to rsvp@verynearlyalmost.com and arrive early on the night!

Don’t worry London fans, there is something special promised for a London launch, we believe the 26 of Feb may be a good date to keep the social congestion clear. No news on where but…well, Cleon is a Laz artist ..and VNA has had some very successful launches there in the past…and they have a relatively new space people might like to see….this is most likely not what will happen as it is pure speculation on my part. For the real deal as it gets announced, follow @vnamagazine on the usual anti social media channels