Roll up! Roll up! We had a fantastic response to our competition for a copy of the new Street Art DVD by Tate Media.

Congratulations to: Martin Malloy, Alex Hillhouse, Marek Chojnacki, Kevin McQuaid, Harry Harmer, Rob Wass, Natalie Barsky, Bimal Tailor, Lindesay Mace, Stuart Hart

Your DVDs will be in the post early next week

So, if you read the previous post about the new release DVD on Street Art, you might be asking, how do I get a copy of this DVD? Well for you lucky people, we’ve got 10 copies to give away thanks to the guys at Tate Media.

All you have to do to be in with a chance of winning a copy is to email us your name and address and send it to competitions@ukstreetart.co.uk with “Tate DVD” in the subject line.

We will be announcing the winners next Wednesday, 27th August.

To coincide with the recent exhibition, talks and screenings at the Tate Modern, they’ve released a DVD to celebrate the scene we all know and love.

Street Art – Painting the City is a documentary about the scene and is more of an educational tool than a full blown documentary. The film covers Paris, London and Madrid where the focus is on current big names who like to flit about their respective cities making their mark(s).

Blek le Rat, Nano 4814, Nuria, Sweet Toof, Eine, Nonose, Pure Evil, D*Face and Nunca all make an appearance.

I was impressed with the quality of production, and namely the soundtrack, which featured some choice cuts from The Emperor Machine. The docu is a little short, but the story follows the artists in their respective cities and we can hear them talk about the varying approaches to street art across the globe.

You also get a chance to meet (on screen) some of the artists who took part in the first ever Street Art exhibition at the Tate Modern, and they explore the rapidly expanding commercial market, explaining how it’s turning street artists into big earners at the auction houses. Unfortunately this section is rather short, so I do hope they make a return or follow up DVD of sorts to explore this matter further.

Overall, they Tate has posed the question: “What does this growth mean for the formerly underground and anti-establishment scene.

Even though, as previously mentioned, it’s sort, it’s still an interesting watch, and certainly worth the £9.99 price tag. Go grab yourself a copy now

Title: ‘Street Art – Painting the City: London Paris Madrid’
Duration: 22 minutes
Date: 2008
Category: Visual Art
ISBN: 978 1 85437 832 3
Price: £9.99 RRP
Published by Tate Media
© Tate 2008

A whole two days of Street Art related screenings at the Tate Modern this weekend. All free, but limited capacity, so a first come first served basis. If you’re in the area be sure to head down as this is a great filler for those of you saving your money for the Bank Holiday weekend!

Saturday 16 August

Street Art Films: Andreas Johnsen and Nis Boye Møller Rasmussen : Inside Outside

Street Art Films: Pablo Aravena : Next: A Primer On Urban Painting

Street Art Films: Jon Reiss: Bomb It

Sunday 17 August

Street Art Films: Marc-Aurèle Vecchione: Writers

Street Art Films: Nicholas Hansen: Rash

Street Art Films: Stunnedfilm: Kroonjuwelen

Rough was at the Tate Modern on Friday to do a talk alongside Blek Le Rat on ‘The history of graffiti and street art’

We’ve got an interview for you lot coming up very soon and as a preview to the talents of this legend of the UK graf scene, we’ve got his intro video from Friday’s talk. This is a 3 minute wonder of so many amazing pieces that it’s hard to keep an eye on all them – you’re definitely going to be rewinding back to check them out again. One of my personal favourites is the “Weetabix” man. Enjoy

To coincide with the Tate Modern talk this Friday we have an interview with one of the pioneers of the stencil scene, Blek Le Rat. It’s an honour to have such a great name involved with the site, and as you read through his answers it’s evident that Blek has a real passion for what he does. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we did.

Read the rest after the jump

Firstly, we’d like to know, where did it all start for you, how did you get into the stencil art?

Everything started in summer 1971 during a trip to NYC. I was invited by my friend Larry Wolhandler who was student in “Ecole des Beaux arts” in Paris. I met him in the school, we became very closed friends and he suggested to me to come to visit him, for summer in his city.

It was the very first time that I have been in contact with graffiti art. I remember the signatures in the subway , and some pieces in Greenwich village. I remember asking Larry, “why are people are doing this?  What does it mean?” and actually, Larry did not know the meaning of this graffiti. I came back to France with a lot questions in my mind and it took me few years to realise that something really important had happened in NYC.

In 1981 when I sarted to make graffiti in the streets of Paris , I tried to make an American piece but I didn’t have the style and the result was deceiving. I remember seeing something during my youth, on a trip to Italy a portrait in profile of Mussolini with a helmet which was a vestige of the WW2. I remember asking my father how the people are making this painting on the wall. He could only explain to me that it was done with a stencil and brushes and paint.

And this is exactly how a movement of the art started, with the combination of different things and someone to gather all the information and convert these information in an act. Very simple..

One of your first life sizes was of an Irish man shouting back at English soldiers in Belfast. Around this time, this would have been seen as a very controversial subject – was this your intention?

This man was taken from a photo in a newspaper illustrating an article about the war in Ireland. If I remember, I was more impressed by this old man shouting back than the soldiers laying down in the street who were aiming at people with their guns. I thought the image was really meaningful and not just about the war in Ireland but also about people who have the courage to take dangerous position in their life.

I remember seeing the same thing in Leipzig, Germany during a demonstration of Neo Nazis two years ago. They were like  two or three hundred of these Neo Nazis walking in the street with flags and everything, the atmosphere was really heav, and the people who were watching them on the sidewalk did not dare to say anything.

Everybody was watching them in silence and fear except one young guy on his bicycle who was doing a finger to the Nazis which insulted them. I have to say that I relayed the guy and after a while everybody show their finger to the Nazisand it was really funny !

From this point onwards, a lot of your work was stencils of people. Why have you chosen to do the stencils of people and is this a commentary on something that is happening socially?

I have always been representating people since my first drawing when I was student in art. I don’t know, I can’t imagine to represent anything else other than people with my art. It is mostly a social worry that I feel and certainly a commentary of my social environment.

Tell us about the event that the Wooster Collective put on in NYC in 2006. Was this a massive step forward for both you and the “urban” art scene?

Yes, it was. There had never been such a huge street art event before. The number of people who came to the show was really unbelievable and somewhere it shows that this art is appreciated by the people and that it had a real audience in NYC .

You were over in the UK recently for your solo show at the Black Rat Gallery. How did that go?

It went really well! The audience for this art in London is also very important compared to France…

You also did some paste ups for the Conran Shop – we covered the photography for that. How did you get involved with Conran?

It was done for the launch of my book published by Thames and Hudson and it’s written by Sybille Prou, my wife and King ADZ. It was a great experience to meet different people at Conrad! I loved it.

Check out our coverage of the event here and here. There’s also a video of him at The Cans festival here

As the Conran paste ups were quite an interesting idea in terms of the client you were involved with, I was wondering if you feel the scene is becoming a bit mainstream – do you feel there are a lot of people “jumping on the bandwagon” so to speak?

I think this movement of art is the most important movement of all the time. There is no city in the world without graffiti or an urban expression done by artists. Nevertheless, it always takes a long time to get recognised for a new movement of art. It took more than a century for The Impressionists to be shown in museums…

About the artists who“jump on the bandwagon” this is normal and it is also a benefit because the more we are stronger we are.

Where do you see the scene going in the future?

It is very difficult to say, twenty five years ago I will never imagine than a such profusion of good artist such as you Mark, will make a different art and so interesting, in term of the evolution of history of art. I think we have to wait for the Chinese artists who are not really involved in the movement yet but I am sure in few years we will have good surprise coming from Asia…

A lot of people call you the “pioneer” of stencil art – how does that feel to you, to be put on such a high pedestal?

I don’t feel like on a pedestal, I have a normal life with a family and with all problems as anybody .I don’t know, I don’t see many people, I don’t go out very often I am rather an “old solitary wolf” as we use to say in French.

What’s next for Blek?

I am preparing a show for the 18th of Oct at Jonathan Levine’s gallery in NYC ….and some new paste at the Chateau of Bagnac on the next week…

And finally, here’s a funny if a little interesting question for you…If you could ask Banksy one question, what would it be?

How do you make so huge stencil in the street without to be arrested by the police?

Faile will be releasing a print to commemorate their work at Tate Modern this Monday, June 31 at 4pm GMT. The print will feature a 25 colour relief print on 300 gram Somerset Satin paper and will be an edition of 315. This print will be issued on a first come first served basis from the Faile site.

However, if you’re not after a souvenier from the exhibition at Tate Modern, the collective will also be releasing a few more prints via a lottery system which will open at 4pm (GMT) on June 31 and close at 9pm on July 2. The rules for the lottery system are - one print per person, though you can register for as many as you are interested in.

The lottery will be run through the Fair Q site. You will also be able to access the lottery via the Faile site, here.

The Tate Modern is preparing itself for 6 big events in July and August on a variety of subjects relating to the street/urban art scene.

ALL of these events are FREE – so this is the perfect excuse to fill up your diaries for the two months!

Check out the events after the jump…

11 July; Street Art: Public Space, who’s it for?

Who owns public space and what happens when artists take it in their own hands to develop it? Brad Downey and Mustafa Hulusi are both artists who have subverted the use of these spaces and explain why.

18th July; Street Art Now – a World View

The Wooster Collective is one of the most important websites for the dissemination of street art around the world. Based in New York, Mark and Sarah Shiller make a rare UK appearance to give an insight into the subject and explain how they see the future of the genre evolving.

25th July; Collecting Street Art

Street Art and gallerist Pure Evil and art critic JJ Charlesworth discuss the various aspects of collecting street art and the pitfalls of this growing market.

1st August; The History of Graffiti and Street Art

Street art legend Blek Le Rat tells the story of street art and talks about how New York graffiti inspired him. One of the first artists to have an impact on the European scene, he pioneered the stencil style which has influenced many, notably Banksy. Plus street artist Rough gives an insight into the underground world of graffiti in the UK.

8th August; Street Art Around The World

Author Tristan Manco has travelled the world to find outstanding pieces of street art. At this talk he presents his favourite works from Brazil and beyond. Also writer and curator Rafael Schacter tells us about Madrid-based street artists Nano4814 and 3TTMan

15th August; Graffiti, Utopia or a Bit Boring?

The debate starts here: is street art glorified vandalism or a legitimate cultural movement? Evening Standard art critic Ben Lewis argues that graffiti is a bit boring really, while writer and critic Ossian Ward defends the genre. Come along and decide where you stand.

16th and 17th August; Two day film programme

While street art adorns the outside of the gallery, inside Tate Modern you can see a weekend of free films on this exciting new art form. See Nunca, Sixeart and Os Gêmeos in action and find out why street art has become such a massive global phenomenon.

Street Art Films: Andreas Johnsen and Nis Boye Møller Rasmussen : Inside Outside Saturday 16 August 2008

Street Art Films: Pablo Aravena : Next: A Primer On Urban Painting Saturday 16 August 2008

Street Art Films: Marc-Aurèle Vecchione: Writers Sunday 17 August 2008

Street Art Films: Nicholas Hansen: Rash Sunday 17 August 2008

Street Art Films: Stunnedfilm: Kroonjuwelen Sunday 17 August 2008