Everybody who is fascinated by urban art has his eyes on Smash137. Last Weekend, Smash 137 showed some of his newest pieces at the the Art Basel together with Stefan Strumbel. RuediOne shot some pictures from the event.  You can see the them on his website.

The Modart Magazine made an interview with Smash 137. Here is the video on the modart webseite.

And until the 20th of june you can see his exhibition "One Man Show"  at prettyportal. Exclusice for this exhibition Smash137 made a limited silkscreenprint (50), that is available in our gallery

We just uploaded some pictures from the One Man Show from Smash137.

Hannes made some nice pictures from the opening session:

And RuediOne made some photos from the exhibition itself on the next day.

At the end of this month smash137, another artists of the montana writer crew  will enter pretty portal.

The Graffiti Artists Smash137 is coming from Basel to Düsseldorf to present his works with the title  "ONE MAN SHOW".

You can get some nice impressions on the artists website.

Starting on 11th of april Rüdiger Glatz aka ruedione will show hos exhibition "flashbacks" at pretty portal.

"Flashbacks" includes athmosperic photography, that shows graffiti artists in the creative process.

Besides his work as an artist, Rüdiger Glatz is one of the founders of the montana scholarship.

The scholarship program is dedicated to graffiti artists who have managed to break down the barrier between the street and the white cube.

Rüdiger Glatz, Montana and Pretty Portal decided to cooperate intensely, and open spaces for graffiti artists who are willing to enter the gallery space. In this year the two participants of the scholarship, smash 137 ( 16.5.- 20.6.) and Stephan Strumbel (24.10. - 21.11.)will show their works at pretty portal.

excerpt from the montana scholarship concept:
During the last decade the art world has witnessed a positive resurgence of practices once considered exclusive to a world of individualist propaganda, social commentary and outright, deliberate visual anarchy. Not to say that any of this has changed, but where is it going? The inclusion of the idea of the ‘contemporary gallery space’ in the Graffiti scene puts new players, a new audience, and new concerns on the table. If the art world was always intended to represent, at it’s best, the sign of our times and the social mood of our civilizations, it has now found itself confronting a new level of controversy with the contemporary Graffiti scene at its door step, and slowly creeping in. It is no secret that Art, within the public and private sphere has always been and continues to be a loaded gun. This is one of the first points of entry for Graffiti writers into recent art discourses, for they have more than questioned the extent of access to both, and continue to challenge our definitions of boundaries at the risk of being silenced. Despite being rejected, censored, and criminalized for their evasive declarations and subversive behavior, these artists continue to maintain a united sense of rebellion. The position that Montana intends to investigate with its scholarship program this year, is the extent to which a street based practice can challenge and achieve new levels of social defiance from within the confines of an established aesthetic space. To maintain an anti-authoritarian position, as well as territorialize a new space within this context will be the main challenge for Montana’s chosen participants. This project is sponsored in collaboration with cyworld.de, an internet sight which provides international networks for artists.

Rüdiger "ruedieone" Glatz came across the Graffiti scene in 1992 and as a Graffiti artist he quickly got international acknowledgment. In 1996 he started a distribution company with specially designed spray paint , which he continuously advanced over the next years. In 2000 he founded the MONTANA writer team, which includes such active international known Graffiti Artists as  ATOM, CANTWO, DASH, SMASH137 and KENT. His photographies, which among other things also show Graffiti Sprayer's during their operations, were presented in galleries in New York, London, Athens, Basel, Munich and Hamburg. In 2006 he published the artbook: MONTANA WRITER TEAM, Graffiti at it's best.

In April 2008 we present Rüdiger "ruedieone" Glatz with his exhibition "Flashbacks" at the Pretty Portal Gallery.
You can get a little foretaste of ruedione's artwork on his website.

...the Vernissage of "dust" went on. The artist from Freiburg/Germany transported the audience of the Pretty Portal into his amazing world.

We have compiled some photos from the build up and the evening of the Vernissage here.

Many thanks to Hannes, who provided us with most of the photos of the Vernissage.

Starting on  February 22nd we present dust. dust is calling attention to himself since the late 90's , especially in the south of Germany. Since then he has developed his very free and nonstandard style constantly forward. The Pretty Portal shows illustrations, acrylic works, sculptures and design toys by "dust".

 "dust" about his works: The roots of my creations are located  in the Streetart. Since 2000 i work under the pseudonym "dust". By composing and modeling i create an experimental world, in which the intended meets the unintended, constructed elements meet organic elements. This generates the main part of my activity. I work within the illustrative as well as the conceptual area and because of my work as a free artist i see myself in the Contemporary Art/ New Wave scene.

You can find more infos about "dust" on his website: www.dirtydust.de

Exhibition from  February 22nd – March 18th 2008
Vernissage. February 22nd  7pm

The Vernissage will be musically accompanied by DJ Matt Flores (combination).

You can find more infos about Matt Flores on his mySPACE Site or on the  Artistpage by Combination Rec.

The artists from "fashionkills" apply themselves with their "New York" titled exhibition to the birthplace of graffiti and trainbombings. Their works are snap-shots of the city with the by now "only" silver-coloured trains, captured as photographies and xerographies.

The artwork can still be seen at the Pretty Portal gallery till February15th. The finnisage will be on February 13th from 6 p.m.on, at which both artists from "fashionkills" will be present.

You can find  artwork from the exhibition in a new picture gallery in the media area.

The two cologne based artists Olek and Selek, aka "Fashionkills", were followed by many friends and fans into the „forbidden city“ for cologne people: Düsseldorf, to see the newest works by the artists at the vernissage at the Pretty Portal gallery.
But the bad January weather couldn't keep visitors from Düsseldorf from visiting the vernissage, too, so that once again people with interest in art and other artists came together to see the works of art, to talk and drink one or two beers.

Here are some photos of the vernissage.

In the early evening "Fashionkills" showed the movie "stations of the elevated".
This documentary from 1979 is one of the first movies, that deals with the subject "Graffiti". The movie shows picture recordings taken from different New York subways in the yard and on elevated railway lines. The movie show was accompanied by music from Charles Mingus and Duke Ellington.

We have found the movie, divided in 5 parts, on Youtube for all the people who have missed it.

In two weeks OLEK and SELEK, who have combined themselves under the label Fashionkills, open up their exhibition New York at the Pretty Portal.

Fashionkills is the label of the two Graffiti- and Streetartists Olek and Selek.
Both artists are active as graphic artists, photographers and graffiti artists since early 1990s.
Since 2002  OLEK and SELEK work together under the label fashionkills.de .

Fashionkills represents a rough streetstyle as stylistic element to reflect a feeling of life as it really is.

OLEK on "fashion kills personality": fashion, with its multiplicity of possible trends, which people run after, kills personality. To copy trends hinders the progression of personality and development of an unique, individual style. If people let themselves be influenced by outwardness and lambency too strongly, they can't develop selfconfidence and personality in any way.

Including the exhibitions:"run the line" , "invisible spray" and "hidden places" Fashionkills was featured in galleries in Cologne, Düren, Aachen, Siegen and Bonn.
In 2005 and 2006 they were also represented with their exhibitions at the Urban Artclash.

For their exhibition at the Pretty Portal they chose the topic "New York" and therefore compiled a mixture including graphic art, illustrations and photographies.

More info about the two Cologne based artists at fashionkills.de.

At the vernissage on 18th January Hulk Hodn will accompany the artworks musically.
Here is a little teaser.