NPR checks out Alphabeta, "a new Brooklyn-based community art space and event space that also sells graffiti art materials."

Roger Gastman – Los Angeles Graffiti

Mark Batty Publisher is releasing Los Angeles Graffiti compiled by Roger Gastman.

From the press release:
Compiled by Roger Gastman, author of Freight Train Graffiti and co-founder (with Shepard Fairey) of Swindle magazine, this colorful book benefits from Gastman¹s long-term, intimate involvement with L.A. graffiti writers. Recruiting friends, and graffiti legends, like SABER and RETNA, Los Angeles Graffiti documents the history of the unique, world-class graffiti scene that thrives in Los Angeles. In particular, the interview with L.A. graffiti luminary POWER breathes history into these photographs of work created by the famous, infamous, and anonymous.

Previous books I’ve seen from Mark Batty are very high quality and very much in the art book tradition.

Official Site:
Mark Batty Publisher

adidas Originals and Footlocker have teamed up with an international group of graf artists to produce a shoe line and art event using a unique collaborative process:

Over a period of three days, the artists worked around the clock in a custom-built creative environment to produce the artwork for this distinctive collection. In gathering the artists together under one roof, adidas and Foot Locker created a new process in developing graffiti-based designs.

For their world-class workshop, adidas and Foot Locker gutted a large warehouse in East London’s hip Spitalfields area, then remodeled the space to produce the ideal creative environment. Enormous white canvases and a full range of "tools of the trade" — spray paint cans, nozzles, markers, paint brushes and anything the artists could possibly need — was provided so they could focus on their craft. The remarkable results offer designs that embody the creativity, the collaborative spirit, and the artistic beauty envisioned by the End to End project.

I imagine you can see all this at the EndtoEnd or End to End or End “To” End Project website [depending on whether you use the site title, the press release version or the graphic version] but after the second round of sitting watching stuff load I moved on [however, I'm in a grouchy mood so others may find the wait quick and easy!].

Last month a series of photoshopped and/or mashedup versions of BBDO’s anti-graffiti ads appeared at the Wooster Collective.  Not as hilarious as Fark but worth a look.

Final BBDO Ad Spoofs
Three More BBDO Mashups
BBDO Mashup by BsAsStncl
BBDO Mashup by RockStar
BBDO Mashup by Kelly Towles
Adam Neate’s BBDO Mashup
BBDO Mashup by Copyright
BBDO Ad Mashups

Previous ProHipHop Coverage:

BBDO West Anti-tagging Campaign Plus More Marc Ecko

So, apparently the NY Times is using graffiti bombing to spread their "T" [for their style mag?] but the photo got retracted due to some hand waving on somebody’s part.

Agenda has the photo or, at the very least, a decent mock-up!

I never appreciated Shepherd Fairey as an artist, when he hit the scene with the Andre Has A Posse routine, it just seemed like an early wave of white hipster appropriation of hip hop (and still does).  At the time, I wasn’t interested in any art that didn’t have a political or spiritual edge, and his sure didn’t.

Lolla Lives-Shepard Fairey-Webisode 1-Andre’s Posse

Later, I read an interview in which Fairey discussed his marketing background and his art in terms of marketing and that finally put the project together for me in a meaninful way.  Nevertheless, at the moment I can’t really bring myself to listen to a Perry Farrell interview with Shepherd Fairey, though I’ll always miss Jane’s Addiction!

Lolla Lives-Shepard Fairey-Webisode 2-Banksy

I deeply respect Banksy and was able to watch the first 30 seconds of the second video, enough to know it was worth posting.  And, yes, I’ll eventually bite the bullet and listen to Shepherd Fairey’s every word cause he’s obviously on to something.

If you’re really interested in checking out the wide variety of international street art being produced today, the Wooster Collective still appears to be your best bet.