Peter Kuper is a long-time stencil artist, co-founder of World War 3 Illustrated (with long-time stenciler Seth Tobocman), and current creator for Mad Magazine's Spy vs. Spy. When I was compiling my Oaxaca section for Stencil Nation, Peter was kind enough to take a few minutes from his insane schedule and send me some photos. One photo of a rice stencil ended up in the book. Glad to finally get an interview with him posted on this site (thanks to Boing Boing and RiYL, and Brian Heater).

Interview audio here.

Every time I speak to Peter Kuper, the conversation invariably turns to New York — or, as is often the case, begins there. It’s my own fault. I’ve got this insatiable need to ask fellow residents, artists in particular, what keeps them in the city’s orbit. Kuper is a particularly interesting case study, having left the city — and country — in 2006, for a life in Mexico.

Manticore Stencil with Dave Ryan from David Chen on Vimeo.

Mysteries of medieval graffiti in England's churches
By Neil Heath
BBC News (See all the photos here: http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-28035013)

A head of a man was found etched into a wall of a church in Gonerby, Lincolnshire - but what does it mean?

Medieval graffiti of straw kings, pentagrams, crosses, ships and "demon traps" have been offering a tantalising glimpse into England's past. What do the pictures reveal about life in the Middle Ages?

A project to record the graffiti, which began in Norfolk, has now been rolled out to other areas and is gradually spreading across England.

Select Urban Soule artwork has been picked up by CB2 (Crate & Barrel), Target and Hobby Lobby!
Be sure to check stores Spring of 2015 to see what's been chosen!

Meanwhile, check out Urban Soule's work locally, up in the Seattle area:

Bellevue Festival of the Arts
July 25th-27th 10am-8pm
Booth number #143 facing 8th street 

Anacortes Arts Festival
August 1st-3rd - 10am 6pm
Booth number #605E
Located in Anacortes,WA

Stencils Against Fracking is a distributed public art project to raise awareness of the dangers of fracking in California. This creative tactic is designed for anti-frackig activists and groups to further their own fight against fracking and other extreme energy techniques.

'Prehistoric Sistine Chapel' gets world heritage status
http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-27978440

A cave in southern France dubbed the "prehistoric Sistine Chapel" has been added to Unesco's World Heritage list.

The 1,000 drawings carved in the walls of the Decorated Cave of Pont d'Arc, or Grotte Chauvet, are 36,000 years old and include mammoths and hand prints.

Big Brother? Chicago to measure pedestrians' movements
by Jolie Lee

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation-now/2014/06/24/chicago-big-da…

By year's end, Chicago could have as many as 50 sensors attached to downtown light poles collecting data on everything from the humidity to air quality to the noise level.

The project, called "Array of Things," has the potential for far-reaching applications. For example, air quality data could help you navigate a route through the city that avoids pollution and allergens. Or traffic data could inform the city where best to install bike lines.

Back when Banksy was in SF promoting his documentary, I got to meet Sami Sunchild and talk about the large rat that was on the side of her Red Vic bed and breakfast building (read about it). I introduced her to Banksy via my book as well as the artist's own. And her manager let me go onto the roof for exclusive shots of the socialist rat (see my photo below). Ever since I saw the empty space on that wall get replaced with plain wood by a work crew, I've wondered who took the rat and what it's fate was. At long last the SF Chronicle tracked the owner down. And Sami asked him to never sell it. End of story?

Quest to display an S.F. Banksy tests value of street art
By Evan Sernoffsky

June 20, 2014 | Updated: June 21, 2014 10:24pm

Art restorers in Santa Barbara began work last week on an unusual canvas: 10 graffiti-covered redwood boards that were ripped from the side of a Victorian home on Haight Street.

Spray-painted on the slats is a beret-wearing rat clutching a Magic Marker, the stenciled work of anonymous street art superstar Banksy, who tore through San Francisco in 2010.

Private collectors have extended six-figure bids for the piece. But a self-described "art freak" from San Francisco who owns it doesn't want to profit from the piece, and he says he can't without breaking a promise.

http://www.colab-gallery.com/

Colab Gallery presents the sixth edition of PUBLIC PROVOCATIONS. It combines various styles, disciplines and techniques of Urban Art.

PUBLIC PROVOCATIONS is opening on Saturday, June 14th at 8 pm and we are looking forward to seeing you there!

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Zur Ausstellungseröffnung am Samstag, den 14. Juni 2014 ab 20.00 Uhr, laden wir Sie herzlich ein.

Artists:
LOGAN HICKS (US) • SOBEKCIS (SRB)
DOME (DE) • SEBAS VELASCO (E)
LAURENCE VALLIERES (CAN) • SNIK (UK)
1010 (DE) • ROMAN KLONEK (DE) • EGS (FIN)

Schusterinsel 9
79576 Weil am Rhein - Friedlingen
Deutschland

Google Adds Graffiti to Its Art Portfolio
By RACHEL DONADIO ::: JUNE 10, 2014

PARIS — There’s a portrait of an anonymous Chinese man chiseled into a wall in Shanghai, a colorful mural in Atlanta and black-and-white photographs of eyes that the French artist JR affixed to the houses of a hillside favela in Rio de Janeiro. These are among the images of more than 4,000 works included in a vast new online gallery of street art that Google is unveiling here on Tuesday.

Called the Street Art Project, the database was created by the company’s Paris-based Google Cultural Institute. Using images provided by cultural organizations worldwide, some of which were captured with Google’s Street View camera technology, it includes street art from around the globe, including work that no longer exists, like the 5Pointz murals in Long Island City, Queens, or the walls of the Tour Paris 13 tower in France.