Urban Art Association

Feb 28th

Choe is going to kick ass. The guys got bags of talent.

He could bomb tremendously(doubt it, already seen some preview photos) and be just fine. Choe is quite popular and has a firm base of support in the US already.

Just using another current example, Choe is already much more well regarded in the States than BAST and his 'status' is not as fragile.

Personally, I see him on a different, higher level than most of our street/urban art scene and believe he will transcend it quite easily into a niche similar to the one occupied by Ryan McGinness.

Ryan Mcginness and Choe no comparison in my opinion. Ryan Mcginness work is included in some of the most prestigious museum collections around the world. I dont think Choes there yet.

If he has got a firm base in the states then it's def got a lot bigger when UK buyers got involved. Last year you could buy city girl prints and the hoppers set at your leisure. I bought an original that was unsold from a previous show and it was one of the best I've seen to date. Then months later POW released some prints of his and since then it all went pretty mad. I feel the last 440 prints released with the promise of 4 more have not been received well at all over here though and has not been good PR for his forthcoming shows.

On the other side of that though, the moaning has started from some quarters already because he hasn't been the cash cow folk reconed him to be..... the number of driving home alone prints going for cost...... His style (styles maybe, as there are at least 3) hasn't changed, just the unrealistic expectations of folk buying to sell. Quite sure there will be queues to buy the prints and then moaning when they dont sell for double the money 20 minutes later.....then its Laz's fault for pushing him too hard, flooding the market.....or there wont be enough prints and Laz'll be stifling choes growth.
Personally looking very forward to the show, wanting to see what his original work looks like in the flesh, and how he does things.....as someone said, he has as much support as he has through a solid fan base both here and US, and his opinion on flippers has been made well and truly clear through his release statments, and going by the blog entries as long as he gets to paint he just dont care...

I think my points were valid and challenge them if you will. This is not a UK v US thing but Choe's recent price increase is alot to do with the UK market.

Barry McGee is currently exhibiting in England which has been spoken alot about on here.

choes recent prints have all imo been quality. sometimes they havent been the most family friendly.
i agree that a lot of people judge how well your doing by how well your prints 'perform' on ebay. dan baldwin for instance is a good example of this. dan has had a great 12 months, selling lots of prints and original works for big money, because they dont do that well on ebay any more i cant remember the last time there was discusion on this board about him. used to beat least once a week there was big debate on this forum.
anyway back to choe, are the choe and beejoir opening nights on the same day? and how far apart are laz and the leonard street gallery?

Yes on the same night I thing (do double check) They are not too far away at all, I'd suggest you go to which ever one you may purchase from. If you are going just to view then go to choe 1st and then come to leonard street for the party. Their shows are always alot of fun and can go on to the early hours, even on week nights!

i think he peaked with City Girl/Levine show and the new work show signs of wanning... lost focus...more of the same... he's doodling now... thinking everything he touches will turn gold... he's going all experimental and loose... such arrogance is not uncommon with people with mad talent...

UK will be the lull (there will be awkward silences at the show.. and Mr. Frankie will call the Emperor's new clothes, "overpriced doodles!!!" ) ...

but he will be back. Bigger, badder, and more arse kickin, cuz the man has, as proven with City Girl, MAD TALENT.

apart from the bit about me I think it's a fair post. I loved all the scrunch face series too and one thing I like about choe is that he has alot of different styles. You could put hoppers, scrunch face and city girl in front of someone who did not know his work and they would not think it was from the same artist.

Anyways, it's a glorious day in London for once so I think I'll travel deeper into the big bad city and see whats going down.

Have a good day all

To me, the UK street art scene seems to be different than in the US in that people are quick to jump on hype and then a buying frenzy ensues. The amount of interest this forum can generate is amazing. This can be a good or bad thing depending on how you look at it. That being said, an artist built on hype alone isn't going to last very long.

In the US, the growth in popularity seems to be much more organic. It takes an artist years to gain respect and recognition. It is based on what they've done in the street or in galleries. I've yet to see an artist blow up from what is said in a US-based forum. This imo, is much better because an artist gets to develop a true fan base. Its not, "whats hot now", or "whats flippable", but what is dope? We've bought mainly because we want it for our walls and when that is the case, the market and price don't get inflated. It seems that many(not all) new UK artists are able to achieve success at lightspeed, only to disappear just as quick.

All in all, I think its great that the UK art scene has embraced US artists as they have injected a great amount of energy and interest that I think has been missing online.

In terms of Choe and his prints affecting his market, I hope that someone planning to drop thousands on a painting will not let this be a determining factor. That should be the last thing you think about when buying a painting. I see his less flippable status as a good thing, it makes it easier for the true fans to enjoy him.

This is huge for Choe and I'm sure alot of his friends/artists/etc. are going to make it out to the UK to support him. I think hes going to kill it come Feb. 28. Just wish I could be there.

I completely agree. When I stated 'a niche similar to Ryan McGinness' what I was referring to was being associated with the street/urban art scene but not really being a part of it. McGinness, who came up through NYC and the Beautiful Losers exhibit, is collected by many who collect street/urban, but is generally not talked about on the forums even though his popularity is ever-increasing as are the prices of his originals.

That's a nice little niche, tangentially part of a scene but not weighed down by it.

Choe has been gaining popularity in the States for years but wasn't really talked about on forums like this either. He's become a hot topic lately, but I don't think it is a guarantee that he will stay that way. Doesn't matter though, if the Laz time is just a blip he will just go back to being highly respected and eagerly collected in the States, begin to filter into museums, etc. and follow the more 'natural' career arc traditionally associated with the American art world.

i still have my david choe spamtastic for sale