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Street Art Travel / Milan Travel / Shopping Travel / Italy Travel / Shepard Fairey / Space Invader / → All Tags

The Street Art Manhole Covers of Milan's Via Montenapoleone

Via Montenapoleone in Milan. It's the Italian equivalent of New York's 5th Avenue or Avenue Montaigne in Paris, but Via Montenapoleone is a bit smaller, slightly less of a tourist draw during the low season (aka winter, so long as it's not Fashion Week). We recently took a stroll down it just to take advantage of what it's best for, which is not shopping, but window shopping. We were all set to focus our gaze on shiny patent pumps and quilted bags, but instead we spent all our time looking down at the sidewalk, and the unexpected street art right below our feet.

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Street Art Travel / Shepard Fairey / Boston Travel / → All Tags

Where to Find Shepard Fairey's Posters in Boston

By now, most people know Shepard Fairey as the street artist who created the Obama "HOPE" posters. Fairey is also celebrating his first major exhibit, "Shepard Fairey: Supply and Demand" at the Boston Institute of Contemporary Art through August.

To keep his street cred, Fairey "poster bombed" the streets of Boston with his images. If you have a keen eye, you can spot his work on billboards, buildings, and scaffolding throughout the city. If you want to get in on the action, the ICA sells stickers of Fairey's iconic "Obey" image in their gift shop. Just don't get caught, because unlike Fairey, you won't have the city's permission.

GO HERE for some of Shepard's posters and their locations that we spotted around Beantown to get started on your own search of Fairey's hidden treasures.

Related Stories:
· Fairey is a Giant in Boston [Jaunted]
· Hope' Poster Artist Drops Into Renaissance Boston Waterfront [HC]
· Street Art Coverage [Jaunted]

Street Art / Shepard Fairey / KAWS / → All Tags

Rebel Without A KAWS

Following in the footsteps of Shepard Fairey, street artist KAWS is celebrating his first solo show in Los Angeles this weekend.

KAWS, aka Brian Donnelly, told CBS news that he chose his name nearly twenty years ago while tagging buildings in his hometown of Jersey City, NJ.

"It's just a combination of letters I liked," he told CBS. "And when your whole art's based on the lettering you choose, you kinda figure out what ones work together. I just liked the shapes of the k, a, w, s. It has no meaning."

KAWS began his signature mark--placing Xs over the eyes of recognizable figures in pop culture- in the early 90s and quickly made a name for himself in the street art world. His most popular pieces include several paintings of Smurfs and vinyl Stormtrooper figurines, all with Xs for eyes.

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Fairey Is Giant In Boston

Until recently, if you knew of Shepard Fairey at all, you knew him as the guy who made Andre the Giant stickers. But his work has been catapulted into the consciousness of America thanks to the now-iconic Obama Hope image that was turned into stickers, posters, rally signs and, ultimately, became the inspiration for Time Magazine's "Person of the Year" cover.

Fairey first created his "Andre the Giant Has a Posse" stickers in 1989. These images evolved into the "Obey Giant" campaign which was eventually spun off into a clothing line. Now, 20 years after creating the earliest "Obey Giant" images, Fairey is getting his first solo museum exhibition at Boston's Institute of Contemporary Art. The show runs February 6-August 16 and kicks off with the artist DJing at the museum's popular Experiment party.

True to his roots, Fairey has already been bombing the streets of Boston with his work. In October, his posters started popping up in Harvard Square, Union Square, Somerville, South Station and other points around the city. ICA will be hosting bike tours around Boston and Cambridge--to the chagrin of fans--to check out the guerrilla-style images in May and June.

Related Stories:
· Shepard Fairey: Supply & Demand [Official Site]
· Radical Chic [The Phoenix]

[Photo: 4rilla]