Yeah, I waited to long to get X-mas gifts and now all the good stuff is gone. But here is a standout sure to please:
Chicago artist David "COVE" Gonzalez has a show opening tonight titled, Escape of the Crazies.
"I've enjoyed seeing his work on canvas over the years. I also like his drawing style. He uses ball point pens for sketching and shading in a way I haven't really seen before. This should be a great show."
From OSCAR ARRIOLA's FotoFlow blog.
David "COVE" Gonzalez
Escape of the Crazies
Friday, December 4, 2009
6:30 to 9:30 pm
Sip Coffee House
1223 W Grand Ave (just east of Ogden)
Chicago, IL
This new stop-motion animated film featuring Chicago artist GOONS (with his signanture big-mouthed characters) puts a big grin on my face.
Check out the sneak peek for Erik DeBat AKA RISK's upcoming event "The Undercolor"
A Collaborative Art and Film Series by Erik DeBat and Brian Keller
This Chicago-based artist started painting graffiti on the city’s rapid transit lines in the early 1980s, and has since moved on to the worlds of commercial and fine art, freelancing for such companies like 7/11, Nike Town, 3Com, Motorola, and more
Opening Night Party for “The Undercolor” Artwork and Film Premier
Date: Thursday, November 12th, 2009
Location: Rodan - 1530 N. Milwaukee Avenue
Time: 9 p.m. - 2 a.m. (free entrance)
Special menu available and 4 USD Grolsch
In partnership with Rodan and Curator Anna Cerniglia, Grolsch will present "The Undercolor" the primer of life. This collaborative art and film series by Elevation creative partners Erik DeBat and Brian Keller features burlesque star Angela Eve and newcomer Becca Brown. The two creative partners explore several surreal glamour themes of modern day Americana.
The Rodan Bar & Restaurant’s superior kitchen will be serving a special menu all evening complemented by one free Grolsch. Come celebrate art, film and experience the adventurous examination of the underside of culture with vignettes of image, action, color, and emotion by Elevation Productions. Elevation is the creative union of artist/designer Erik DeBat and filmmaker/producer Brian Keller.
The Artwork and Film Installation exhibition shows Friday 13 – Tuesday 17 November at Johalla Projects - 1561 N. Milwaukee Avenue, 2nd Floor
Opening hours: 6 p.m. - 8 p.m. Friday; 1 p.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday, or by appointment during the week.
Check out the new zine, RAT MILK, created by one of our favorite NYC writers, OVERCONSUME. The thick, 58-page zine is available at the Making Deals online store and features NYC grafitti and some sick street photographs taken by Overconsume.
MAKING DEALS STORE
I'm not a big fan of more gentrificating hipsters dancing around on a roof somewhere in Brooklyn and the song for this video by Phoenix is alright but at least there's some good scenery & graf to look at.
-Frank
POST BY SELECT INVERSE.
Emilio's (E-SIX) cousin worked at a radio station in N.Y. and would send him cassetts that we would love. (mostly singles) When this just came out, we were lucky to receive it. Out of all the songs that have EVER been stuck in my head, this one was always one I didn't want to hang the "evil DJ in your head" over. Heavy mental rotation
Artist Blu is back with another of his off the wall animated wall murals, this time with fellow artist David Ellis.
Shouts To Nekst And MUTZ Less Then A Minute Into The Vid.
Official
Only Built 4 Cuban Linx II drops in stores Sept. 8th.
Post by Heather S. 
I'm loving "A Love Letter For You," a new project Stephen Powers AKA ESPO's been working on along with the Philadelphia Mural Arts Program. I'm planning a trip to Philly to check it out when the mural project of 50 painted walls is complete. They're even holding sign painting classes! 
I recently watched The Universe of Keith Haring on DVD three times and was amazed at how thoughtful Keith was about doing public art. Keith wanted to do something that would last, that the general public could enjoy everyday and not have to go to a musuem or art gallery to see. Here we are 25 years later, and his artwork still can be found in many major cities from public parks, to schools, to even Woodhull Hospital in Bushwick (NOT a nice place--the building looks more like a prison than a place you would go to get better. Genius that Keith would do a colorful mural there. The place needs it).
So happy about all the new murals from Anthony Lister and Os Gemeos. While the twins were painting the Deitch wall on Houston street last month, there was steady stream of onlookers, some were fans, mostly graf heads, and then random people walking by who had no idea who the Brazilian artists were.
I stopped by the wall almost every day because it was on the way home from work, and there was ALWAYS a group gathered around watching them paint and just chillin' on the street, taking photos and video. I always stopped by myself, too. This shows how there is a desire, maybe even demand (especially from other graf/street artists), to see the process of their work. It was a great and rare opportunity to see Os Gemeos use spray paint for the entire mural, to see how they do their detail work, use stencils, and have almost no pre-sketches (at least from what I could tell). We took some great detail shots.
~
aloveletterforyou.com
Upset Mag Issue One is finally available for purchase online at the MAKING DEALS webstore!
Issue one of UPSET MAGAZINE features an interview with graf photojournalist Martha Cooper (of Subway Art), a tour of bootleg toymaker Suckadelic's NYC Chinatown studio, an interview with ZEB, and much more. Full color. 2nd limited printing!
Some of my other favorites at the Making Deals store includes Overconsume's print and Aiko's bunny sticker.
Post by Heather Schmidt
Common Sense and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (i.e., McLovin) do their own rendition of The Film Training Day and guess who plays Alonzo!
JOY RIDE
Opening Reception: August 13th 6 - 10PM
MCA Warehouse 1747 West Hubbard Street, Chicago, IL 60686
Kenny Scharf, Jonas Mekas, Martha Cooper, Agathe Snow, Kelsey Brookes, Cheryl Dunn, Maya Hayuk, Kenzo Minami, James Jean, Scott Campbell, Erik Foss, Peter Sutherland, Mike Giant, Chiara Clemente, Julia Chiang, Takuya Sakamoto, AIKO, Ellis Gallagher, Ji Lee, Chris Stain, Chris Uphues, Falcon Duran, Taliah Lempert, Alfredo Bovell, Nesta Mayo, Benedict Radcliffe, Ashira Siegel, Steve MacDonald, Artus De Lavilléon, James Newman, Kevin Foxworth, Joe Stakun, Andrew McClintock, Marco Mucig, Yatika Starr Fields, Daniele De Lonti, Lisa Romans, Amy Bolger, Jacques Ferrand, Marc Sich, Herman Mao, Camilla Candida Donzella, Fast Eddie Williams, Suzette Lee, Wiilliam Robbins and Jeffrey Robbins, I LOVE DUST, Nathaniel Freeman, Amelia Shaw, Jessica Findley, Lauren Silberman, Alessandro Zuek Simonetti, Matteo Di Nisio , Ed Glazar, Cecily Upton, Rich Jacobs, Jesi The Elder, Chris Berg, Blutt, Christopher Dilts, Tiliah Lempert, Josue Pellot, Cody Hudson
www.bicyclefilmfestival.com
By Emenfuckos 
Most of you guys rarely watch the news or read the paper but here's one that left me stuck on stupid. They're gonna start taxing some candies at 10.25% and not others? WTF i dont think these dumb asses in goverment know that half of us barely scrape by!
Read More Here: Candy Tax
Thor told us a few months ago "Most Art Collectives last around two years." I'd like to say that Upset isn't going anywhere, but many of the crew are busy working on individual projects and as of now, Upset is being put on temporary hiatus until further notice.
Yeah, I know. Bummer. But we will still be updating the blog randomly while still continuing to build our website. Who knows, this time next year we'll be back bigger, better and stronger. The last few years have been awesome. We put together several successful art shows as well as published the first issue of our mag, built a huge audience, and worked with literally hundreds of amazing underground talented artists. We are really looking forward to continuing to build this relationship and further utilize the amount of artists we have networked with in the last few years. We've also built our crew with some hardworking fresh new blood, and we are excited about them keeping our name alive in the street.
In the mean time, here's a rundown of how you can stay on top of what the individual members of Upset will be up to:
Nicky Dieter is always working hard helping others with his amazing design skills, and all without working internet at his home. You can still catch random updates of his awesome photos on his Flickr, and peep his blog GETVIBED for further updates from him throughout the summer. Also keep an eye out for random spottings of our "Romeo" drunkingly harassing people at you're next art show!
Oscar Arriola AKA Fotoflow, the eternal man on the scene and the eye to prove it, his blog fotoflow.blogspot.com has turned into a full fledged tour de force of art events going on in the Chicago area. His incredible photographs are still being posted on his flickr, further evidence of his dedication to documenting the art and music scene in Chicago and he shows no sign of slowing down. Each photo is well worth the wait. We are incredibly lucky to have someone like him as the cultural staple of Upset.
Heather S.
One of the hardest working members of Upset, Heather, our lovely editor of both the magazine and blog, has been the literal backbone to our little collective forever correcting our bad grammar skillz. Not to be overlooked Heather has stuck with us through thick and thin, and continues to be an innovative asset to our group. She founded the blog you read now, edited our first video on Vimeo, and has pulled in impressive publicity for the Upset including placement in Juxtapoz magazine and TimeOut Chicago. She's currently working on writing a children's book about a homeless kitty in Brooklyn, working on her own blog, and plans to make frequent trips to Brighton beach this summer in short shorts to eat pierogis.
Ghetto P
Our distinctive reporter and photographer is our literal man on the street. An every day man's man, Ghetto P is currently in a undisclosed location on the far southside of Chicago toiling on his upcoming new graf mag, Grime Time, and a possible upcoming book, How To Make Sweet Stanky-Like Love cowritten with Mr. R Kelly. You can peep his photos of the Chicago Graf scene here. And possibly spot some of his further writing in the column "Ask A Whino" in the latest issue of Wassup Magazine.
Ricky J.
Rick, nothing is more valuable in a group then the man who just gets shit done, and this was our man. Whether it was driving to other states in the rain to pick up artwork, helping put lights up, painting walls for a upcoming show, or working security at one of our events, Ricky was our main go-to-guy and we can't thank him enough for being such a hardworking core member of Upset. Watch out for a possible mini-webisode series from us in the future called "That's Our Rick!" possibly coming to a screen near you!
Anna Simonovic
Anna is an incredible asset to us and has been on hand at every single one of our events. Incredibly down and a fully dedicated individual she has truly shown her love for the Chicago art scene and pushing for the recognition of overlooked art. She's most likely going to be on a boat this summer while you're on land being a sucka.
Pete Nawara
Welcome our newest designer Pete Nawara. Pete has also been one of our artists that have shown with us for the past couple of years, and his skills go way beyond his paintings as he is helping us to design a better Upset website hopefully to come sometime soon. He'll probably be riding his bike, hanging out in Chicago when he's in town and taking it easy this summer. petenawara.com
Thor
The almighty THOR has become one of our most touted artist we have worked with in the last few years, and with well deserved reason. He's an incredibly understated artist and furtive in pushing our collective to be bigger, badder, and more. He's the essence of determination and hard work in human form, and you must pay the big man his respect. We are incredibly lucky to have him. You can stay up to date with him on his website: Thundercircus.com
Emenfuckos
This Fucko, Emen was one of the photographers to answer our call for new contributors for our blog. His unbiased look at the Chicago graf scene along with the unexpected willingness to design for and write posts for our blog has helped tremendously within the last few busy months. He has been a more then welcomed addition, and we hope you continue to stay up to date on his weekly photos on his blog: emenfuckos.blogspot.com
Miss Squirrley Gee!
What can we say about Squirrley? Super supportive, endeavoured, and a real-deal mover and shaker in the Chicago street art scene well before we came along. Her vibes are beautiful and she's got the looks to match. She keeps us happy and we all know she'll continue to keep the Chicago art scene motivated. If you haven't visited her latest art show project don't miss out. If you don't know, now you do. Yeah!
DJ Marlo and DJ Select Inverse
These two have kept your booties shaking and the music vibing at our last few events, and with their friend's and family's support they've brought a wonderful family feeling to the group which has helped us out exponentially. The two best DJs in Chicago as far we we are concerned. Keep an ear out for them playing at a club near you!
myspace.com/marloca~myspace.com/selectinverse
Olga, not afraid to just jump into a overwhelming project, she and Justin pretty much hung our last show by themselves. She's just a bad-ass and that's what we like about her. You can most likely catch her running the mic at The Hidden Cove Karaoke Bar on Lincoln Ave.
Andrew Combe
Andrew, our last addition to the blogging team, does an excellent job at regaling us with tails of the modern day bicycle build-up and let's us know what's going in his neck of the woods, in his own words, "the cultural epicenter of America, Phoenix!" A newly born beautiful baby girl just arrived into his world, and he's doing a wonderful job of raising the little one while also keeping us up to date on his latest bike building experiments. We think he is really, really close to building that Tron bike this summer! Look for continued posts from him.
Gerson Morales
Gerson, the baby of the crew, an amazing graphics designer, and all around good guy he produced our banner and we thank him for all his help! This summer you can probably find G-Money pounding down your block listening to Too Short.
We'd also like to thank everyone who has worked with or helped us in the last two years!
Thank You!
Post by Emenfuckos 
Throw an 'L' of a Party on a CTA Train
Finding that unique venue for your next party, event, meeting or group excursion just got easier.
Chicago's world famous 'L' trains are available for chartering, with prices starting around $1,500 depending on the size and length of the event. By chartering a CTA train, the limits of your venue become the limits of the city itself. From the Downtown Loop through Chicago's unique neighborhoods to the outer reaches of the city and back, CTA trains offer a unique, and ever-changing, view of one of the world's most beautiful cities.
Trains are available for chartering any time, except weekday rush hours (approx. 6 a.m.-9 a.m. & 3 p.m.-6 p.m.). Food, non-alcoholic beverages, decorations, battery operated sound systems and live music are all permitted. Each car holds approximately thirty-five (35) people comfortably.
www.transitchicago.com/
Sorry, we haven't posted on here for awhile. We've been super busy working on graphics, CSS-ing, and HTML-ing for our new website. It's going to be an interactive network with profiles, personal blogs for members, and the latest in street culture. Big things! You know, like Facebook, but with less bad party photos. Shwing!
This is Awkward took some amazing photos that night!
Shtickers for sale. Colorful heads by Rejoice.
Artwork by Melon, Pete Nawara, and more
Hey DJ!
More stickers by Get 2, Risk, Drexel, Morgan, Chris from RWK.
Installation by Kosbe in the corner. Artwork by Overconsume, Mental, and more.
Thank you to everyone who came out last night for our show, Going Postal's Revenge! So many people showed up and we're glad we were able to do the sticker show again and give it the proper attention that it deserved.
Check out this great article in the Chicago Tribune about the growing sticker art scene in the Windy City that mentions our Going Postal's Revenge Show and has a short interview with our very own Frank Serpico and Ghetto P. If you can, check out the print version of the article with great pictures of sticker artist Viking!
Chicago Tribune: Chicago Sticker Graffiti
Artwork from Chicago: Rejoice, Fact, Melon, Ship, Rome, Joey Potts, Bonus, Pooper, Zeb, T-Rex, Mental, Kinex, Nice-one, Real Abstract, Rebel, Dawud Rasool, Marz + Dez One, Tewz, This Is Awkward, Green Pen.
Artwork sale from NYC: Skewville, Overconsume, NohJColey, Drexel, and Cosbe, and Cahbasm, Royce Bannon, Wrona.
Stickers for sale for only $5 from over 70 sticker artists from Chicago, NYC, and the UK.
The Upset Presents:
GOING POSTAL'S REVENGE
@ Maya Essence
4357 N Lincoln Ave, Chicago
Our long-time friend, Keoki, just came back from a long visit to the West Coast (too long!). He's back in Chicago and is going to do a live performance during our Going Postal's Revenge show in Chi this Friday.
Like a young Sinatra!
myspace.com/keokiortiz
Your car gets 20 reggaeton stations? Damn!
From Nicky D.
Oh shit, the buzz surrounding this show is going nuts! Easily the world's largest sticker-art event.
Buy, sell, and trade labels.
All stickers sell for $5! All money goes straight to the artist.
Signed copies of Martha Cooper's Going Postal, which documents the lively sticker art scene in New York, will now be available for sale at our show! The book is hard to find and has already sold out at Quimby's, The Novem Store, and the MCA Store. Get Some!
Upset Presents:
GOING POSTAL'S REVENGE Sticker Sale + Art Show
All Stickers Sell for Only $5
Friday, May 29th 6-11 PM
@ Maya Essence
Check out a topless Thor in this video that Novem made documenting Thor's incredible installation for the Upset/Novem Subway Art Book Signing we threw in Chicago a few weeks ago.
We're sitting in Gaia's Studio with NohJColey and Cahbeezy spilling ink all over the place as Cahbeez hypes me to everything under the sun, ever. Gaia swears that the post below on Streetartblows.com is soooo old, and Cabeezy says, "Hey, I don't search Street Art all the time." 
Of course my camera dies, so I'm stuck using my camera phone as I try to document Gaia's work process as he utilizes all the extra hands in the space to help with making work for an upcoming show. The camera phone doesn't do his work the justice. 
The summer air is nice as it comes in through the windows of his Brooklyn-based studio.
Every now and again the trio steps into the next room and jokes and laughs as they hand screenprint Gaia's work. 
Huge discarded detailed rabbits lay strewn through out the studio. 
Then they come back with the finished product: a shocked feral-looking but somewhat docile-like bear head on a huge canvas that takes up over half the studio. Gaia is excited with the end result and they all step back to observe the finished work. But it's only minutes before they start to talk about the next project--rooftops off the J line. 
Good Times. Interview coming soon.
The latest in American street culture, art, and events.
Buy Upset Issue 1 at Making Deals Online Email us: upsetmagazine@gmail.com myspace.com/upsetmagazine~
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