NOLA RISING: June 2009

29 June 2009

Joe Iurato Sports the NoLA Rising message at WK Interact / Invader Show at Jonathan Levine Gallery

ReX salutes Joe Iurato for sporting the NoLA Rising message
@
WK INTERACT / INVADER
JONATHAN LEVINE GALLERY
JUNE 27, 2009
NYC

(Photo by Joe Russo)

27 June 2009

NoLA Rising T-Shirts are Available!!!

NoLA Rising has just opened up to the online world the opportunity to buy NoLA Rising shirts to support the General Fund for NoLA Rising. As many of y'all know we have some fairly big goals set for the city. In the coming months, we'll continue to keep fresh designs to support the NoLA Rising in the various art projects designed to increase the quality of life in New Orleans through public art displays. Paypal link below...

p.s. we're new to the t-shirt aspect of things, so we'll be getting in our second shipment of sizes very soon...

22 June 2009

Jonathan Blum Returns to Re-Paint a Mural

Last month, Jonathan Blum returned to the Crescent City to re-paint a mural he painted in 1989. Now, there's more of a modern adaptation almost 19 years later. Jonathan used to live in the space with a friend of his that is a photographer.

The building is now home to friends of NoLA Rising, Rick and Deborah, who went through the permit procurement process to ensure that the ghastly ghost cannot illegally coat their artwork with his unsightly paint. Wanting to make sure everything was in order, the brought Joanthan down for Jazzfest and invited him to repaint his mural.

On May 2nd, 2009, they held a private party to unveil the new Rabbi that is entitled with a peace offering. Savvy news reporter Doug MacCash was on seen to do a Nola.Com video as seen below. Those of us at NoLA Rising applaud Rick, Deborah and Jonathan for brightening up the neighborhood! We could all use a little more color around New Orleans.

St. Roch Avenue mural

03 June 2009

Herakut Show at Red Flagg - NEW YORK

I love getting to see new artwork, but more than that, I love getting to see new artwork from artists that I think are amazing. So, on my last jaunt up to New York to visit Sarah, we hunted down the Red Flagg Gallery in Chelsea to see the Herakut show.

To see the show, check out the Red Flagg Gallery at 638 West 28th Street between 11th and 12th, Ny Ny - 207-522-1194 -

MAY 21 thru JULY 3

HERAKUT WEBSITE

Donate to NoLA Rising

What People Say...

CHRIS ROSE (nola): "It's all got a very Don Quixote feel to it, a lone wolf braying into the wilderness... It's art for art's sake. And for sanity's sake as well." & "NoLA Rising, a ragtag band of insurgent art missionaries who post artwork in public places as far and wide across the region as possible."

ANGELA PATE (nola): "New Orleans still needs so much help, but the people of NOLA are bringing back the bohemian, artistic atmosphere that makes me love it so much. Rex has become almost a cult leader, bringing NOLA back beyond just the infrastructure, but, more importantly, maybe, to it’s heart and soul."

Idiot the Wise a.k.a. INSPIRE (Tel Aviv): "If NOLA rises again, then its from the organized efforts of this guy...a true public art hero..."

A.J. (nola): "One day while traversing the muck of damage, alone in my car, I looked over and suddenly glimpsed a ray of color. A perfectly small square of color that simply stated Joy and then a short block away, another that read simply Hope. My car grinded to a slow halt in the street and I wept those post Katrina tears we've all shed following this time by a smile. Not a tiny grin but, a large and powerful giant size smile. "

Killian Doherty (Ireland): "Much to the disbelief of the destitute citizens of New Orleans, it became wholly apparent that the loss of the public realm was not due to the flooding, but to the governments' re-appropriation of it, when backs were turned.

Within this specter of a military dictatorship imposed to 'control' people' , ReX a local artist read the chasm between people’s physical disenfranchisement from their city and the unbridled appropriation of it by state as intolerable. ReX attempted to stitch this chasm closed with a humanist and practical intervention back into public space. 3,000 street signs were arduously hand- drawn, painted and affixed, to intersections throughout the city. ReX tried to weaved a sense of order back into the neglected fabric of New Orleans; his humanistic treatment gave people hope, allowing them to re orientate themselves again, empowering them to reclaim New Orleans, their home, amidst the neglect and oppression. It became a cultural movement for social justice."

KELLEY (detroit-ish): "This is great work!!!"

SINA (tucson): "Sunshine and art and happiness, the city, the soul will win...look how much more contagious NoLA Rising's efforts have become..."

MAGS (nola native): "Projects like NOLA Rising are only trying to spread a little love and joy via art to a depressed, beat-down population..."

VIRTUAL SHOCK (nola): "...it’s always heartwarming to see one of these signs."

DR. D. LEE (mobile): "...a rare and unique commodity."