Obey 'Mandala Ornament 1' Cream + Black Prints Release Details

Here are two beautiful prints called 'Mandala Ornament 1' by artist Shepard Fairey at Obey. This print comes in two different colour ways, Cream and Black. These are 18 x 24 inch screenprints with an edition size of 300, they come signed and numbered by the artist for $45 each. These will be available at a random time on Thursday September 30th.

Check it out HERE

More Jason Zenga + Art Asylum Boston Theft & Fraud Information

Last week, Everlast from House of Pain shared his story of being conned out of money by Jason Zenga and Juliann Cyhan of Art Asylum Boston.

Since then, the street art blogs and forums have picked up the story, and KAWS, whose work Everlast was attempting to purchase, has told his fans he has no connection to the Boston gallerists and that he's now actively collecting information about AAB's previous victims.

In January we sold Jason and Juliann a KAWS print. After finding us through eBay, Zenga and Cyhan asked us to meet them in NYC and conduct the transaction in person. We arrived with the print and they with enough cash to cover 90% of the transaction, several thousand dollars. They examined and accepted the print, then explained they lacked the cash for the difference and asked us if we would accept a check. They spoke in detail of their friendship with Shepard Fairey and KAWS and we decided they were good for it or, at worst, if they weren't we wouldn't be losing as much as we were profiting.

After all, no one would be so foolish as to con someone in such a small community. Just weeks prior we were in Pittsburgh taking a private tour of Shepard's show with the Warhol Museum's curator and our blog was revived a year earlier after it appeared on CBS Sunday Morning in a story about KAWS our writing inspired. Yet somehow, mentioning all this made them nervous. We should have seen this coming.

That night, around 2am on January 16th, Jason Zenga began texting us demanding a refund. He would text us non-stop for 36 hours, through the afternoon of the 17th. In the course of his texting he would describe more and more outrageous flaws in the print including screwholes, dry-mounting, tears and creases. During this period he would also e-mail us with even more outrageous descriptions of non-existant damage.

At 8am, on the morning of January 16th, Zenga wrote:

"I was a bit overzealous and angry to see that not only was the print (as I mentioned) was permanently adhered to the foam board but who ever framed it drove nails through the image to suspend it behind the mat and hold it between the frame and the inner wooden frame. In addition to this there was a significant crease along the right corner and also a number of tears and "missing paper" from the upper sections. The condition of this piece is so poor it is not even worth a third of what I paid!

The nature of this piece especially with it being permanently stuck to the backing is for display purposes only, if this was solely for the sake of displaying and not for the actual artwork than it should have been priced accordingly between $500- $1,000 at the most and even that is being generous in price.

As an art collector all of the aforementioned issue's are completely unacceptable and I wish you would have been more honest about the piece, I do not know why you did not realize I would remove the back of the frame to view the condition of the piece?

what you sold me is worthless, not only do I not have the option of re-framing it to my liking but I cannot even re-sell it to recuperate my loss. I am angry and after meeting with some very important people / artists yesterday i was embarrassed when out of excitement I proceeded to show off my new acquisition only to see that it was a severly damaged wrothless piece of paper, rather than a beautiful print that I have been looking to add to my collection, for god's sake there is actual 3M tape on the top front of the print..??? who does that, it looks like it was placed there to hide / disguise tears in the print."

Throughout these texts and e-mails, Zenga demanded an immediate refund. If we failed to accept this offer he would contact his attorneys. We never responded to his texts and he never contacted his attorneys.

Even while harassing us, Zenga posted an image of our print to his Art Asylum Boston Facebook page. (This account has since been deleted.) The print was shown to be in mint condition as we sold it, and at 930am on January 17th he announced it was his gallery's newest acquisition.

For months the image would remain a staple of his Facebook wall photos gallery.

As menioned above, Zenga and Cyhan arrived on the afternoon of the 15th from Boston to pick up the work. They were then headed to see KAWS in Brooklyn to pick up several 4 Foot Compantion pieces from him. Juliann Cyhan's own Facebook wall seemed to confirm this at the time, although we have since learned KAWS has no connection to Zenga or Cyhan.

A later update on Cyhan's Facebook page reveals she and Zenga were back in Boston on the 16th. She mentions they were in New York with a $10,000 work of art and $8,000 in cash the day prior. They clearly had more cash on hand than they owed us. On Sunday Morning, a minute before posting our print as his newest acquisition, Zenga through his AAB account commented on Cyhan's wall that they would be buying art again in NYC the following weekend, then quoted Jay-Z's Empire State of Mind. They both seemed happy, had a romantic weekend, posted lyrics of their dreams being realized, and never once did they mention their weekend was ruined by a damaged work of art.

Soon after this, she made her profile private.

Because Zenga, in one of his more threatening e-mails, wrote the following...

"Also I do not want to come across as being difficult but be aware that i have your phone #, your home address as well as the address that was on the receipt attached to the print which may be your mom or your wife, i have the License plate number, make and model of the car you pulled up in and I link to both your location and IP address from when you visited my site."

...we didn't want to pursue legal remedy fearing he was a psychopath and was going to harm someone close to us. We cut our losses and let the matter go. But in the past year people began to reach out to us from all over the world with their own stories of Zenga, Cyhan, and Art Asylum Boston. One such person was Zenga's ex-girlfriend who shared her story with us in April:

"I have to tell you my story began about 3 years ago, 2007 to be exact.  It seems I know a lot more about Jason than anyone ever thought they would, and that my instinctual thoughts are very much an accurate reality of his disgusting con artist and devious personality.  You see, Adam, we used to date.  He was my boyfriend from January to about May/June, it's hard to tell when the relationship ended, and over the course of the relationship, he had managed to weasel a few thousand dollars out of me, of which I took him to court for.  My dealings with  him are of a slightly different nature, when he was creating techno/trance music, not dealing in art.  The stories I have are woeful, emotional, and heartbreaking.  I can tell you more but unfortunately I must be headed out of town this weekend, New Haven, to visit family.  If you want to know more I will email you more or we can even chat on the phone to further discuss this if you want.  I promise I am a legitimate human being, who was wronged by a vindictive man who used me.  He USED ME.
    I will tell you that I threatened him with a lawsuit, contacted his work many times, I even nearly hired a private detective to find him so he could serve him with a summons to appear in court.  I moved out of state and flew back TWICE to make sure I was at the trial to convict him.  He was convicted by default (he never showed) but without the funds to afford a private detective I couldn't have him arrested and eventually the civil suit wore out it's Statue of Limitations.  It expired.  I am still paying back the money he stole from me.  I am well aware of the lines he uses and as I read your email, I just could NOT BELIEVE the accuracy of the same lines he used on me.  "I'm good for it.  Here's the check.  Just don't cash it until I tell you so." (from a bogus account) or my favorite one "I'll call you later in about an hour and we'll meet so I can give you the cash."  (That one was used several times). 
    My advice, if you want the money if it means more about getting vindicated for the acts he's committed and getting him shut down, then, well, go for it.  If you have the money and can afford to spend it to get the money back and you want to see him go down for this, DO IT!  I wish I could've afforded it at the time, but he basically ruined my life.  I had to leave the state because of him, because of the money he stole I could not afford to be in Massachusetts anymore.  That being said, my advice is this:  You KNOW where he works which is GREAT I mean that's the first part of the battle, since you know where he is, you can have the court documents sent to him.  Since the transaction happened in NYC, you have to file with the courts there, then the papers would be sent to his address in MA.  I recommend also having the photographs of the art piece on display on his webpage.  There's this nifty "snap" program on Windows so you can take a picture of the computer screen as is, PROVING the art piece was displayed without damage.  When he doesn't show up for the court summons, which he won't, I can GUARANTEE YOU he won't, he will have forfeited his ability to fight and you will have won by "default".  This would be a small claims court case, btw, unless it was a REALLY expensive painting and he owes you more than $2-3,000.   After that you have another 'trial' where he should appear to pay damages owed.  He WON"T appear again, and in about 2 weeks you will receive a letter in the mail giving you the permission to have him arrested and seek damages from him (it's called Cabias something).  NOW you have to hire a police officer (he has a special name for his job) who has to live in Massachusetts IN HIS TOWN to have him arrested, and you have to coordinate your schedules so you show up the same time.  It costs about $200 to hire this guy.  Since I didn't know where he lived or his exact work address, I couldn't have the arrest warrant issued because I would have had to hire a PI first to find him.  BUT that has changed for you.  3 years ago he wasn't on the internet, in photographs, etc, displaying himself as such.   So I couldn't find him."

On July 11th, ArtScouting, a European gallery found our original blog post about AAB and sought our help though there was nothing we could do for them. They have since found help through the Collecting Street Art and Graffiti blog after being taken by Zenga and Cyhan for $18,000.

ArtScouting must have caused some fuss regarding our own problem with AAB because Zenga wrote us out of the blue two days prior on July 9th complaining we were damaging his reputation:

"I am writing to you to ask exactly what criminal activity I took part in? I am not writing to argue or to create conflict I am sincerely asking for your help.

I am not really sure what exactly I did that was fraudulent or criminal and we can put the past behind us, I am asking that you assist me in this by providing me with information.

And if this is something that was retaliatory in anyway I would greatly appreciate a revision of sorts. I am now in a situation genuinely were a gentleman is taken what you wrote and copy and pasting it all over the internet and to be honest I am scincerley at a loss, racking my mind trying to think of what i did that made you post that write up about me.?

I am asking for your help in this matter and hope that you will respond as I am both confused and overwhelmed with stress and grief.

I hope that you decide to follow up with me and assist me in clarifying this, I am not asking for anything more or less.

Thank you for your time and I look forward to hearing back from you - Jason"

Since then, e-mails have been fast and furious. In September, a well known gallerist from Los Angeles wrote us:

"hello there, i am an art dealer and just put it together that Juliann Cyhan & Jason Zenga are related somehow—I've had good dealings with one and terrible dealings with the other (which is odd!). I did a google search and came up with your note about nefarious dealings—would you mind sharing? It would be kept confidential."

In the last few days we noticed traffic pointing to our site from a Kid Robot forum where our original complaint about Zenga and Cyhan was linked so we have now decided to share our whole story with the internet, if slightly edited, and the full unedited story with KAWS. Hopefully all of this will encourage more people to come forward and Zenga and Cyhan will be prosecuted and imprisoned, their assets seized and payment made to their victims.

Check it out HERE

Warnick 'Bats, Bats, Bats' Print Available

The is a cool print called 'Bats, Bats, Bats' by artist Warnick. This is a 3 colour (one being glow in the dark ink) 9.5 x 25 inch screenprint with an edition size of 55, comes signed and numbered by the artist for $20 each. Just in time for Halloween

Check it out HERE

Dan McCarthy 'A Night In The Forest' Print Available

Here is September's print release called 'A Night In The Forest' by artist Dan McCarthy. This is a 4 colour 18 x 24 inch screenprint with an edition size of 550, comes signed and numbered by the artist for $40 each. This print is wicked but it looks a hel of a lot like the 'Pink Moon' print minus the moon and silhouette. Hmmm, think I am going to pass.

Check it out HERE

Amazing Jay Ryan 'Be Alert' + 'Deer Sanctuary' Prints Available

Here are two fantastic animal themed prints by uber artist Jay Ryan. The above print is called 'Be Alert' and the print below is called 'Deer Sanctuary'. These beauties are both multiple colour 18 x 24 inch screenprints with edition sizes of 300, these come signed and numbered by the artist. 'Be Alert' is $20 each and 'Deer Sanctuary' is $30 each.

Check it out HERE

Brookes Salzwedel 'Almost Jurassic', 'Nest High', 'Station Texas' + 'Raydist Alaska' Prints Available

Here are four WICKED MOODY prints from artist Brookes Salzwedel. These are beautiful giclees all with an edition size of 100, they come signed and numbered by the artist. Above is 'Almost Jurassic' it is $85 each, 'Nest High' is $75 each, 'Station Texas' is $55 each and 'Raydist Alaska' is $55 each.

Check it out HERE

Jay Ryan 'Greyhound' Print SNEAK PEEK

Here is an AWESOME canine themed print coming out soon by artist Jay Ryan. Keep watching his site for it to pop up soon.

Check it out HERE

Huck Gee 'BuffMon' Custom Available

Here is an awesome custom piece done by artist Huck Gee for artist Buffmonster 'Monster Within' art show. This is called 'BuffMon' and is available. Interested parties should contact Huck directly at sales@huckgee.com

Wicked USB Fish Installation Video + Photo

Here is a wicked video showing us all how easy it is to hit up some walls in our neighbourhood. Finished piece by DkSpace is below. Well done dudes, looks awesome!!

Check it out HERE

Excellent Mr Brainwash Interview

Although the notorious artist Mr. Brainwash has chosen not to keep his face in the shadows, his true street identity still remains somewhat a mystery while his artistic endeavors continue to pop up in all the right places. Walking out the wide open warehouse doors of the two-story, 15,000-square-foot gallery space for “ICONS Remix,” Thierry Guetta a.k.a. Mr. Brainwash (“MBW”), hit the cobblestone street of West 13th in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District with a black plastic bag and a paint can half-full of brown varnish saying, “Let’s make art.” A group of four men followed in his wake carrying a ladder and other needed items as they made their way down the street to the corner in the bright, midday sun. The 44-year-old L.A.-based French videographer-turned-street artist, and self-proclaimed “bearded manic,” dressed in dark aviators, a black fedora and paint-splattered clothes, began his day entering the gallery, turning on a French jazz album and gathering some art supplies. The mood, upon his arrival, did a 180 as he greeted people and signed posters. And as fast as he had arrived, Mr. Brainwash was back out the door again, this time with the group in tow. A half block away, MBW came to an abrupt halt in front of a bright blue construction wall with a pink 20-foot tall Mr. Brainwash heart on the brick building behind it. “I put up a poster here before, but I think the owner took it for himself,” he said. Nearby, pieces cover walls around the neighborhood, staking the artist’s claim and marking his territory. MBW unloaded the plastic bags, laying out posters, wheatpaste glue and paint along the sidewalk in front of him as Roman, his right-hand man, passed him a picture of an adaptation of the 1980’s Maxell ad, “Blown Away Guy,” where the speaker had been replaced with a spray paint can disguised as Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup Can. He took the image and taped it to the wall for reference as a watching cop car passed aimlessly by. “New York is easy,” MBW laughed in his energetic broken English. “They don’t care, and even if they do, they just ask me [for] my license and leave after. But if I get caught, I get caught; I’m just not scared. You have to take the risk.” With everything laid out, MBW turned to one of the men and began speaking French while holding up a red can of spray paint. “I don’t know how this will work. I have only two cans of paint,” he said, shrugging it off as he grabbed the broom and started to prime the wall in preparation for his newest poster, the Campbell’s Tomato Spray Can. The poster went up easily enough, but soon, he’s tearing it into stripes and then laying it back down. “C215 taught me this,” he said of the famed street artist. “No one can take the whole piece this way.” He suddenly looked up at the building on the northwest corner and, pointing to the open window with a camera aimed directly at him, said, “You’re always being watched. I have been known as the guy with the camera for so long – I thought it would be fun to continue.”

Guetta, the subject and man behind the camera for the Banksy documentary, Exit Through the Gift Shop, had, for the last 12 years, been obsessively following and filming every important figure in the street art scene. He initially cut a hyper A.D.D. original version of the film called before turning the project over to Banksy for his direction. “I am happy with how the movie turned out,” he said. The documentary shows the transformation of Guetta into Mr. Brainwash and his introduction into the street art scene as a complete coincidence. His cousin, who happens to be street artist Space Invader (known for making mosaics of old video games characters), allowed him to film him when he hit the streets. Guetta soon began filming, traveling and spending time with both Shepard Fairey and the enigmatic artist, Banksy, giving him a front row seat to the best kept secrets in an already exclusive scene. When the time came for Guetta to turn his footage into a film, it became clear he knew nothing about making a movie – which is when Banksy stepped in, took over the editing process and set the future Mr. Brainwash in motion. “When Banksy came to me and said, ‘Thierry, make a show.’ It was like you couldn’t stop me. Even if you were 20 people holding me back, I would go on. I would make it happen,” he said. “[Banksy] pushed me on something to do, told me what I should do and [said] ‘This is the show you are going to do in June.’ But they never thought I would have done something as crazy and as large and as big as I did. Even me, I put everything I had [on sale] – even my car – to make it happen.” Both renowned artists, Banksy and Fairey, played an intricate role in MBW’s quick rise to fame by attributing ambiguous yet intriguing quotes for his debut art show, “Life is Beautiful,” which opened to 7,000 people on June 18, 2008 and took with it street art’s first cover in . But his itch for creating art hadn’t come overnight, as many have assumed. “I was filming all these artists, but in the end, I couldn’t sleep,” he said. “I wanted to go out [on my own] and people [were] saying they had this to do or this. So, I created portrait[s] and started to go out myself,” he said. “It turned into my drug.” Since the success of his first show, MBW has created the cover art for Madonna’s third greatest hits album, , along with 12 other paintings, which included covers for the remix, record and DVD. “I got a phone call one day to try to do a Madonna cover,” he explained. “I dropped everything and for two months created different ideas for the cover, never getting a response. Each time, I [thought], I’m doing it wrong and sent another [with] a different angle. In the end, I wanted it so badly I made it happen.” With his sudden notoriety, critics followed closely behind, ready to jump at the opportunity to name him a cheap rip-off of Banksy and Warhol. “I think everyone can see something similar in art if they want to,” he said of the criticism. “It’s freedom [to like] something or dislike it. Until I become good [to] them, that’s what will make me work more. You know, trying to [change] a hater to a lover. I want to spread positivity. You cannot judge an artist from his first show, or his second show." MBW soon takes it back to “ICONS Remix” gallery, packing up his third show – the follow-up to his NYC debut, “ICONS.” And as he readies himself to head back to his home country of France to do the window display at the famous Le Printemps mall in Paris, he is very clear on the direction of his work. “More I’m going, less I’m doing,” he explained. For what he has planned for the window, the comment seems like a contradiction. “I want to make something very unusual, something that moves. It’s an opportunity that you don’t have many times. They have the permits for me to do a sculpture 20 feet high in the front, in the street. I was thinking of doing a giant King Kong with the tires, holding a spray can. I don’t know we’ll see.” But it is true, you can already see from the progression of his first show to the pared down, edited version of the third with some addition of pink paint thrown on some of the recycled tire sculptures and larger print pieces – he appears to be focusing in on his artistic medium. “Beyonce and Alicia Keys are doing a [record] together and asked for me to do the cover, but we’ll see. In the end, things happen when you really want [to make them] happen,” he said. Banksy and the movie was the topic on everyone’s tongue as the crowd grew around him taking pictures in the gallery. With a huge smile and red paint spotted across his face, MBW looked over his shoulder at Roman and addresses the rumors that he and Banksy are actually one and the same with a story about his eight-year-old son. “It was really cute, I was at my house and my little boy walked up to me and asked in his little voice, ‘Daddy, are you Banksy?’” he said, repeating it a few times for effect. “My son is even confused if I am Banksy.” If Mr. Brainwash does happen to be what the bloggers say is “a hoax,” then who’s the joke on? Perhaps the joke is on Banksy himself, because his social experiment has taken on a life of its own and created a successful brand. Maybe the answer is, as MBW said, much more simple than you imagine – and it’s in front of you if you just look. “Like the movie is, it’s all a mystery. Tomorrow might tell, but now, we live in today,” he stated. “Even if I tell them the truth, they’ll believe the other way. When someone has something in their mind, it’s very hard to change it. People believe what they want.” With the piece outside finished, MBW walked around the corner with a can of black spray paint and wrote in cursive, “Life is Wonderful.”

Check it out HERE