Tag Archives: Get Up

WHEATPASTES!!

Well, I was gearing up to move on from the whole street art thing I’ve been doing for the past week or so, but then I watched Exit Through the Gift Shop.  I know it came out like a year ago, but lamely I had yet to see it…

All I can say was it was fascinating. Both from the perspective of traveling along with the likes of Shephard Fairey, Banksy, and others during their nighttime escapades… the sheer scale of which, at times, are mind-boggling.  But also following the invention of Mr. Brainwash and his ability to completely infiltrate the conventional art scene with a little PR and a lot of hype, ultimately duping collectors into paying sh*t-tons of money for his seemingly inane pieces of rehashed pop-street-“art,” if you can call it that.  I can’t figure out if the guy’s an idiot or a genius.  But this article in the Economist (Con or can do) poses that his real success may lie in ability as a performance artist above all else…

In any case, right after watching the movie, I came across these large wheatpastes by three different artists…

I love this sleepy owl! The scale of it is quite impressive… I’m assuming it was a smaller sketch that was blown up during reproduction.  The girl below seems to be the same artist.

large wheatpaste, bart tracks, oakland graffiti, east bay wheat paste

oakland graffiti wheatpaste, owl wheatpaste, burl wheatpaste

Here’s a new one by Get Up I hadn’t seen yet…  It’s hard to tell from these pics but this one is larger than life… maybe 10 ft tall?

Get Up, Bart Track wheat paste, guy with phonograph wheatpaste

The one below looks to be a hand-drawn original and includes the words (and image) “Get on the Good Foot”. Makes me wonder if this artist has any relation to the KALX DJ The Good Foot who starts off every set list with James Brown’s “Get on the Good Foot.” Good stuff…

The Good Foot, Get on the Good Foot, oakland graffiti

Let the music move you…

Here’s another stencil by Get Up.  This one’s been up for a few months… I shot it back in October and thought it would be buffed immediately.  It’s on one of the BART track supports along MLK Jr Drive and these tend to aggressively monitored for graffiti.  I drove past this just a few days ago and it was still there.  Perhaps they’ve deemed it worthy of staying… or maybe they’re just out of money.

In any case, I love it. If you like it too, check out Get Up’s Facebook page.

Get Up Graffiti, Get Up Boom Box

Get Up, Boom Box Stencil, Get Up Graffiti Artist

Get Up et al

So here’s another installment of what, in the past, I’ve called “E-ville Wheaties.” This boarded up building on San Pablo at the Oakland/Emeryville border is a frequent spot for artist installations. See older posts here:

I just shot these on Friday, but unfortunately a drive by yesterday on my way to work showed they’d already been “buffed.”

My favorite pieces are the stencils by Get Up, and I plan to show another one of his excellent pieces tomorrow. Then hopefully, if I can get my act together, I’ll feature a short how-to on making your own stencils. So please stay tuned…
get up graffiti, get up shopping cart guy, get up graffiti art

This shopping cart guy is particularly relevant in this neighborhood. I’ve written frequently about the ubiquitous shopping carts in this part of West Oakland. Folks use them to collect recyclables to exchange for cash, some carry all their worldly possessions (ie my friend James who has been homeless for as long as I’ve known him), and some get even more creative than that (see below). The fact that this character is portrayed schlepping his phonograph and stacks of vinyl with great effort is particularly interesting.
West Oakland shopping carts, shopping cart people oakland
Here are a few other artists’ work, and the final image is another by Get Up (we’ve seen this one before too… Meaty Wheaties)

fox news tank graffiti, san pablo wheatpastes, oakland graffiti artists

West Oakland graffiti art, Emeryville Wheatpastes, oakland graffiti

San Pablo Wheatpastes, Emeryville Wheatpastes

Get Up Graffiti, Get Up Wheatpaste