Heineken The Spot's Digital Art Battle features sparring creativity + Questlove

The New York Times is investigating a sudden rise in graffiti. Army of Banksy copycats? Recession-inspired rebellion? Or, just the absurd spans of urban and industrial whitespace? I go with #3. Tomorrow night, Heineken is adding even more inventory, except the walls are small, and the canvas is digital. The Spot’s digital art battle pits four pairs of Latino creatives against each other in what promises to produce bursts of creativity not seen since Rupert Murdoch got pressed for the truth.

Remezcla, curators of The Spot, picked eight New York City artists, and they’ll each have half an hour to work. Meanwhile, DJs will be spinning, drinks will be flowing, and no one will be wondering what the art means. AEON + Rimx vs. Frederico Frum + Buttsup vs. CERN + Marthalicia vs. Miopuma + Rage Johnson. Remembering those names seems just as hard as creating beautiful art under pressure, and on a Wacom Intuos tablet, but the artists aren’t phased.

Marthalicia says she’s done it before, and Miopuma is more worried getting some great products together to put on sale. She says she’s bringing a sexy mood to Openhouse Gallery, and based on her work (go down), we know she’s telling the truth. Check out the original art created by The Spot’s multimedia samurai in preparation for the final showdown tomorrow. The brushes come out starting at 7 pm, and Questlove will be DJing starting at 9 pm. BAM! RSVP here.

Greg Spielberg | July 19 2011
greg@openhousegallery.org