Recently, Washington DC artist, Mark Jenkins caused panic in the streets over another one of his crafty life-like sculptures.  Locals in Winston-Salem, NC bugged out and “lost they damn minds” after noticing, what appeared to be, a woman laying motionless across top of an abandoned billboard.  Fearing that the woman might have been dead, shocked pedestrians called in law-enforcement officers to investigate the situation.  Of course, after removing “her” from the sign, authorities quickly realized that the it was nothing more than an elaborate sculpture formed from packing tape.

My only guess is that their assumptions were either:

A)

For some overly dramatic statement, a dying woman must have used her last ounce of remaining strength to scale a huge billboard, only to fall into her eternal slumber length-wise across it’s form.

OR

B)

In a misguided and poorly thought out plan, a murderer chose to hide the remains of their victim on top of the one structure created, specifically to bring attention to anything posted on it.

Here’s Sept. 23, news footage of the scenario via CNN.com:

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Popularity: 1% [?]

I first discovered Mark Jenkins‘ work about 1 1/2 years ago and I didn’t like it.  Sifting through the January 2008 issue of Juxtapoz Magazine, I came across, what I believed to be, a lot more intriguing work.  There was a page on pop-surrealist Greg “Craola” Simkins‘ “I’m Scared” exhibit,  painter/low-rider bike artist Dzine‘s tricked out ski-boat called Dnipro (equipped with a DJ set up, lazers, smoke machine, 9 TVs, etc), and a spread/interview with illustrator/inker/digital artsit Tomer Hanuka.  In the mix with all of the rest of the great features in the magazine, Jenkins‘ work was lost for me.

His photographs of young girls shoved in a locker or sitting on the ledge of a building weren’t very thought provoking.  There was one of a woman passed out with her face in a plate of food in the middle of a cafeteria, but it just seemed very “high school” to me; a little bit edgy, but nothing new or particularly magnificent.

It probably took about a week or two of me reading through the other articles before I noticed something that I hadn’t before and which made me take a second look.  It was a picture of a man leaning towards a concrete building with his head embedded into the side of it.  After reading the interview with him and looking over the images again, I found out two things that gave me a completely different perspective and a ridiculous amount of appreciation for Mark Jenkins and his art.

1) Jenkins work is not really photography based at all.
2) Those weren’t even real people in those pictures. (more…)

Popularity: 2% [?]

If you are not already aware of the signs posted by “CRAIG” of Windsor, Australia, this picture alone will probably be enough to pull your attention in.  If you are familiar with these signs, please DON’T GO ANYWHERE! There are some important updates and info that you should definitely know about.  Sorry, CRAIG worshipers and fan club members, this “renegade” and “artist” is what is commonly referred to as “a biter” here in the states.

Last month, signs like the one to left began gaining popularity after they were masking taped to poles and other public surfaces around the Melbourne suburb.  The signs, which became increasingly awkward, had locals questioning their legitimacy and helped the anonymous poster’s popularity blow up like the World Trade.  Sites like FunnyorDie.com blogged about the “artist” and even Time Magazine recognized the phenomenon.  Facebook fan pages sprouted up as quickly as the signs themselves and have already grown thousands strong.  This shit is spreading like AIDS fire and there still appears to be no end to the growth in popularity.

Hopefully, with the latest revelations, the excitement will die down a bit.  There have been endless acknowledgments, articles, and comments referring to how “original” and “creative” Craig seems to be.  I’ve read them and thought the postings were a great idea myself… at first.  Hell, I still feel that they are, but I’m just not that impressed with the Aussie who has garnered so much recognition for them.  The internet is an amazing source for content and information, yet people still abandon research and cross-referencing for immediate and instantaneous gratification.  Even, so-called “legitimate” news sources often take the latter approach.  I, on the other hand, felt prompted to delve deeper and, within 20 minutes, realized that CRAIG had stolen this concept from the beginning by taking a huge bite out of the big apple and the work of New York artist/writer Todd Lamb.  Why more have not chosen to promote this information with an equal number of posts, is beyond me. (more…)

Popularity: 7% [?]

Banksy has stepped up his game by setting up shop in NY and taking his artistic vision into even more 3-dimensional and interactive areas.  When I find out about something this amazing I have an urge to post something about it immediately.  When it deals with the work of an artist that I already have a large amount of respect for I feel like jumping right in the middle of the subject even more.  The issue with this is that, to achieve the accessibility for everyone that we want on Monster Fresh, no one should have to jump into a swirling article or topic like a game of double dutch.  There is always that moment that we first find out about something new and I want to be able to help introduce new forms of expression and artists instead of just featuring the latest release or project so, before providing the latest update, let’s first tackle a little of the back story behind Banksy and his work.

Banksy is one of the most influential and forward thinking graffiti artists of the last 20 years. He is well known for his stenciled bombing which he honed in the Bristol area of the United Kingdon.  In his book “Banksy: Wall and Piece” (2005) he states that he decided to start doing his tagging with a stenciling format after being caught and running from the cops at the age of 18.  He claims that, while hiding, he “spent over an hour under a dumpster truck with engine oil leaking all over (him)“.   He looked up at a stencil on the fuel tank and realized that he had found his answer to cutting his painting time down to a fraction of what they currently took.

I highly recommend “Wall and Piece” because it is, not only an impressive composition of his collected work, but also full of quotes and passages that display the artist’s distinct vision and philosophies.  What makes Banksy’s work consistently relevant isn’t his ability to draw or paint, or even his cunning vandalism, but his voice.  I’m not going to claim that all graffiti is vital and has something to say beyond simple territorial pissings or blind destruction, because much of it is done ignorantly, but I will openly argue with anyone that claims that Banksy’s work isn’t absolute art in its purist form.  His graffiti work evokes thought, inspires hope, and contains strong social commentaries about capitalism, politics, and, most of all, humanity.  Like artist Ron English, Banksy’s hopeful, yet “illegal“, art pieces are often created in response to the corporate advertisements and “legal” oppressive imaging that we are bombarded with on a daily basis. (more…)

Popularity: 17% [?]