THE ART OF SPRAY PAINT SHOPPING
Emotion is what always connects us here at BY FAR and this year’ Spring Summer collection embodies a great deal of it, for you to explore.
Being the star medium of Graffiti Art, spray paint is associated with present-day liberation of style stereotypes and the expansion of our urban culture’s boundaries. Its rebellion certainly informed the creation of BY FAR’s SS21 Spray Print – so that we can once again overpower boredom and praise the city life, we’ve been missing so much.
The work on our new print, pushed us to dig a little deeper into the use of spray paint in Modern Art. Apparently, it rose to stardom in the 80’s, when the New York Graffiti scene was in full bloom and Jean-Michel Basquiat and Keith Haring were showcasing their works all over the city. Quickly, the art world began to take notice, paving the way for many others come.
Today, works by Banksy and KAWS are considered collectibles, not only fetching millions at auctions, but also leaving an important mark on the History of Art and its relationship to technology, mass media and politics.
High on curiosity, we selected a few inspiring artists, who embrace spray paint in their work. Enjoy!
THOMAS TRUM
Photo by Bas Czerwinski via thomastrum.nl
Thomas Trum’s work evolves as an exploration of unconventional working methods with paint and novel techniques to apply it, such as using sponge mounted on a drilling machine, or felt tip pens. Seeking out experiments from a young age, Trum has a background in graffiti, but decided to treat paint differently only after a job as a house painter, where he grew bored of all the white and grey paint Dutch people love.
FUTURA
Futura2000, Mellow Yellow, 2002
The American graffiti pioneer was among the first graffiti artists to be shown in contemporary art galleries in the early 80s, alongside his friends Keith Haring, Jean-Michel Basquiat, Rammellzee, DONDI, and Kenny Scharf. Since then, he has collaborated with a bunch of fashion brands and has exhibited in some of the most renowned art museums and galleries. Futura’s work focuses on a futuristic aesthetic, inspired by science fiction and the space age.
ANDRE SARAIVA
Andre Saraiva, Untitled, 2018
Andre Saraiva, known also by his alter ego “Mr. A” and for the concept “Love Graffiti”, started tagging his “Mr. A” character on the streets of Paris in the early 90’s. Today, there are around 300,000 pieces with his work worldwide. Before becoming a gallery artist, Andre went from using the street as a canvas, to the walls of clubs and nightspots, completely transforming the nightlife of cities such as Paris, New York and Tokyo. He has a long history of fashion collaborations and was a creative director of L’Officiel for a few years.
JAMES GOLDSCROWN
Photo jgoldcrown.com
In the era of social media, could there be someone left unfamiliar with his Bleeding Hearts/Lovewall murals? James Goldscrown started his career as a fashion photographer. After 7 years in the industry, he left for Africa to shoot the renowned documentary "To Die No More" which highlighted the AIDS/HIV epidemic. In 2007, he returned to the fashion world, incorporating mixed media into his photography. Now his work is displayed in every art capital in the world.
KATHERINE BERNHARDT
Katherine Bernhardt, Three Red Crocs, 2019
Katherine Bernhardt first garnered the art world’s attention with her "model" paintings – loose portraits based on images of supermodels from magazines. She is now known for playing with banal symbols of consumerism, over bright flat fields of colour in an expressionistic, faux naive style. Attracting the eye, through the strong use of colour and meaning, the Pink Panther, Garfield and the Windex bottle are often included in selections of her works.
KATSU
KATSU, Machine Dot 3, 2020
Described as both a graffiti vandal and a graffiti legend, we should also look at him as a new media artist. KATSU is the pseudonym of an anonymous New York-based artist, graffiti writer, hacker and member of the FAB (The Free Art and Technology Lab). Apart from “traditional” graffiti, he is using technology – creating digital graffiti and integrating the use of drones in conceptual artwork. He once used a drone to paint over an image of Kendal Jenner on an iconic billboard in Manhattan. KATSU depicted Mark Zuckerberg several times in his artworks, including a series of prints of the entrepreneur with a black eye.
STERLING RUBY
Sterling Ruby - SP22, Spray paint on canvas, 2008. © Sterling Ruby
Sterling Ruby is known for the multifaceted nature of his practice, encompassing a large variety of media like graffiti, ceramics, painting, collage, sculpture, video and textiles. It seems, that throughout his work, a strong sense of the violence and destruction within himself, society and history is implied. His spray paint on canvas makes no exception, and we can’t help, but think of the gorgeous dresses it ended up on, thanks to Sterling’s long-time collaborator Raf Simons.
JENNY BROSINSKI
Jenny Brosinski, I will never comment that shit, 2018
Minimal mark-making, apparent brushworks and spray-painted compositions, mostly in neon pink and neon yellow, are combined in the artworks of the Berlin-based artist Jenny Brosinski. In an interview for mottprojects.com, she describes her work as “Neo-expressionist-minimalism. Superficial with spontaneity, or with sloppy- and easiness. Openness in its reduction, for sure- and subliminal humour.”
BY FAR'S NEW SPRAY PRINT LEATHER
It is BY FAR’s new textured patent leather in neon spray paint stripes, that will give your Summer’21 look, a dreamy urban twist.
The spray prints are custom made by our design team and come on two types of leather – one, for structured silhouettes and a smooth patent finish and the other, giving a soft, supple feel and textured patent, for a true colour depth.
What’s even more special is that because of the way the print’s pattern runs, every bag or pair of shoes will offer its own slight variation of colour combos, creating each product, as one of a kind.
This Summer the spray print debuts in three colourways – on black, pink and ivory bases and is seen on several star bags – Rachel, Mini Rachel and Baby Amber. Watch out for the newcomers Micro Cush and Lulu, Baba, Lenny, Gigi, Freddy and Tiffany. Please do share any tips on how to make up our shopping minds and choose just a couple.
