August 19, 2008
XOOOOX STREET ART SHOW
Come see the XOOOOX show at Circleculture Gallery until sep 10th 2008 or you can buy original art works and prints here…
XOOOOX has been a prolific graffiti artist since the mid 1990’s. Early experiments with collage gradually evolved into the artist’s signature stencil work, typically life-size figures or appropriated designer logos found predominately on the streets of Berlin and in Paris, Milan, Vienna, New York…
XOOOOX manipulates immediately recognizable logos of upscale brands like Hermes or Chanel, re-contextualizing these elitist class signifiers within the inherently egalitarian space of the urban public sphere, while commenting on the visual power of branding in general. Life-sized stencils of females, conspicuously posed and styled as models often are, depict the icons of fashion’s cult of worship and recall the work of street art legends such as Blek le Rat, Misstick and Banksy, functioning as both traditional figurative studies and ironic representations of society’s obsession with the superficial.
Although XOOOOX’s stenciled images are inspired by the fashion spreads seen in magazines such as Vogue and avant-garde publications like Purple, this work is not a deconstruction of couture culture. On the contrary, each stencil, created painstakingly by hand, pays homage to the art form that is couture fashion, while criticizing the mass-merchandising and advertising campaigns of global retail chains.
Citing Pop Art, DADA and, of course, graffiti as major influences, the artist states, “You can use the power of fashion like a personal weapon. It can act like a shield, or it can destroy you.”