All Photos from Arrested Motion–Artwork by ZEV
Picked up from Arrested Motion and SlamXHype is the latest exhibition from one of our favorite culture jamming street artists, ZEV. Showcasing at the Art Statements Gallery in Hong Kong’s Central district, the French artist has created his melting logos (remember his Google logo?) poking fun at some of the most iconic brands in today’s society.
The colorful Louis Vuitton X Takashi Murakami melted piece is one of the best, not only for it’s color and style, but for “flipping the script” on a much hyped collaboration. Other pieces include Chanel, Coca Cola, and McDonalds.
Ironically, the show is located smack in the middle of a very hipster location of Hong Kong where one is inundated with logos from various high-end stores. The show’s irony continues to spread the message of culture jamming via street artists, and/or street art vs. advertising. The irony of ZEV%uFFFDs exhibition other than the fact of where it%uFFFDs located and what he does goes even deeper. ZEV, like many other top street artists, are in high demand among the very brands he flips towards gaining youth culture street credibility. So what you’re seeing is far more influences from street artists on marketing and advertising and across many different industries. Street and graffiti artists have become the beacons of a new type of messaging, using made-up personal fonts and images to express this generation’s feelings, and replacing the old-school models of what was once considered proper campaigning.
Cultural jamming takes mainstream ads and billboards or ideas and concepts and re-purposes them with a different, but recognizable meaning–and it%uFFFDs clearly on the rise. Even advertisers are taking cues from the irony that their own ads are being recontextualized by spoofing even their own campaigns and adding irony to the irony to the point where sometimes you can’t even tell if it’s real. Interestingly though, in these hard economic times, it all makes more sense than ever before. Like an exhibition by a street artist flipping corporate ads showcased as art in a high-end museum in a high-end district filled with corporate ads.
The show runs until September 30, 2009.
*This just in: Two days after posting this story, we have learned from the South China Morning Post that ZEVs was arrested in Hong Kong for putting up his liquidated logo on a Chanel building. Out on bail, his fine could reach $860,000. Here’s an excellent clip on ZEVs reasons for his artwork, how he completes various techniques, and the relationship between street art and advertising:
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