#calamityfair

Collage wheat paste by San Francisco based artist John Vochatzer in San Francisco Chinatown. __ We have shown some of John’s art over time, including the largest collage wheat paste mural created in San Francisco. It was a pretty amazing feat being several stories high composed of lots of sections of paper that had to be carefully pieced together on the wall and weather through the rainy season. __ John is one of the featured artists with a multipage article in the April issue of Hi Fructose Magazine (Vol 51) that will be available at a bookstore near you! __ If you aren’t familiar with Hi Fructose, they have quarterly publications on quality paper featuring a cross section of genres and emerging and established artists. Hi-Fructose says: “Readers of Hi-Fructose are seeking to satisfy their cravings for new and unique art: Hi-Fructose informs, rather follows trends in mainstream media including film, fashion and design.” __ See some of John’s art on his page with some photos of the spread. Learn more about him when you pick up your issue or easier yet preorder it online or sign up for a subscription on the Hi Fructose site. __ @calamityfair @hifructosemag __ https://www.instagram.com/p/Bvb6F4uhxDh/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=195gv5zxkkhks

Tenderloin Nights Got to tag along with @calamityfair, @art.tits, @rickyratcomix, @bobrossofhiphop and @looksnatcher!!!! Good to see this hood on a constant rotation of fresh street art!!!! #tenderloinautomomouszone #calamityfair #art.tits #bobrossofhiphop #looksnatcher #rickyratcomix (at Tenderloin, SF, CA) https://www.instagram.com/p/CNV_-CJhQ1q/?igshid=mzqcanm36j3t

LAST CHANCE to get your hands on one of these art prints by @calamityfair & @seibot! @mothbellygallery PRINT SALE along with the rest of their PRIZE PACK RAFFLE fundraiser ends this Monday, November 30th. All prints are all museum quality prints on 310gsm natural cold press art rag. They are time limited edition, meaning the amount sold during this fundraiser will be the amount printed, signed, and editioned. After which these images will become unavailable in print form forever. Prints will ship out within the first week of December. Thank you all!🙂🙏🏻✨ Winners of the PRIZE PACK RAFFLE will be announced this Thursday (12/10) at 8pm PST via instagram live! I'm very EXCITED to witness and experience all the incredibly hard work these guys have been putting into creating a new local DIY collaborative art space right here in The Tenderloin. We all know the nieghborhood can REALLY use it right now!!!! PLEASE FEEL FREE TO SHARE THIS POST, and anything from the @mothbellygallery Instagram and website (mothbellygallery.org). The more support they can get the better!!!!! THANK YOU!!!! #mothbellygallerysf #seibot #calamityfair #tenderliondreaming #tenderloinautonomouszone #tenderloin (at Tenderloin, SF, CA) https://www.instagram.com/p/CIMSTY9BvFK/?igshid=1qm75yelteal9

BEST DAY EVER!!!!! Each day working on my latest mural 'DAWN' at @the_loin_sf has been a mini adventure in itself. I love mixing in my art with a healthy social life. The first photo (and a few others) in this set was taken by the lovely and talented Melissa Dawn aka @zerogravitycake who also served as the inspiration for the title of this piece (see picture 2). She's currently serving as a padawan learner in the 'DYoungV Muse In Training Program'. So far she's moving up the ranks fast! This was definitely a day worth remembering; taking/exchanging photos with @the_loin_sf crew, teaching @zerogravitycake to paint murals, drinking beers all day, seeing friends in the community, kicking it with @calamityfair and others. Each day on this piece has been highly unique, from spending time with friends to meeting new people/ artists in the community and conversations that have led to the early hours of the morning. FUCKING STOKED TO BE A PART OF THE TL!!!! #zerogravitycake #calamityfair #theloin #the_loin_sf #tenderloinautonomouszone #dawn #dyoungv #tenderloincreampie #friends (at Tenderloin Autonomous Zone) https://www.instagram.com/p/CBZPLJthyWL/?igshid=13hilux29spo5

'PLAYFUL' ARTIST STUDIO VISITS III JOHN VOCHATZER: PART 3 Pictured here is @calamityfair recent feature in @hifructosemag in April 2019 Vol.51 edition. No small achievement there!!!! Additionally I thought it wise to include John's first highly ambitious and successful attempt at large scale collage muraling. The large scale mural pictured here on the back side of San Francisco's iconic @ofarrelltheatre is in fact a collage, composed of hundreds of small hand cut printed paper pieces that John pieced together and pasted individually onto this wall after several months of meticulous research and careful planning. I can say from experience (I assisted on this one!), it was a FUCKING ENDEAVOR!!!! Yep again, no small achievement!!!! After a series of street art tours in SF, LA, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, Madrid, London, Mexico City; John prefers to expose his work to the public in an unsolicited manner. He prefers unsolicited art because of it's an ephemeral qualities. There is a non attachment to it once it goes up on a wall, while temporarily reclaiming public space as a way to combat the negative effects of advertising. To conclude this latest installment of Artist Studio Visits, I'd like to say that I've highly enjoyed witnessing John evolve and flourish as an artist of the decade and a half plus that I've known. I personally feel he has definitely taken the crown for SF street art in the last five years, and I continually look forward to seeing what he comes up with next. His success is highly deserved and his artistic future is more then promising! Thanks for tuning in to 'PLAYFUL'!!!! #calamityfair #okudart #inkandmovement #brandonjosephbaker #tenderloin #highfructose #highfructosemag #the_loin_sf #mitchellbrotherssf #ofarrelltheatre #collage (at Tenderloin, SF, CA) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAgwC7Ghie1/?igshid=esueyijvb58y

'PLAYFUL' ARTIST STUDIO VISITS III JOHN VOCHATZER: PART 2 Pictured here with his cat (Prince) Myshkin, named after the protagonist of Fyodor Dostoevsky's 1869 novel, 'The Idiot'. Dostoevsky's intention with this character was to create an entirely positive human with an absolutely beautiful nature. A character he viewed as someone who is truly 'Christian'. According to American literary scholar and leading expert on Dostoevsky, Joseph Frank; Prince Myshkin approaches "the extremest incarnation of the Christian ideal of love that humanity can reach in its present form, but he is torn apart by the conflict between the contradictory imperatives of his apocalyptic aspirations and his earthly limitations." Religious associations aside, I feel that John's choice in cat names is very reflective on the way he approaches his ideals/philosophies and approaches on his art practice. After several late night drunken conversations regarding the duality of human nature, the failures and successes of various 20th century political movements, anarchism and John's concept(s) of what he views as 'utopia'; I now see the significance of Myskin in his ideals and nature. This is additionally reflective in the way he views and works alongside the art community. I've seen him spend countless hours working alongside, collaborating with and even taking the time to train curious artists who are new to street art game how to get their work up throughout the city. The cat is super adorable too btw. Outside of his work on the street John has gained tremendous success and fame displaying his highly well thought out and meticulous solo and collaborative works in several galleries/project spaces throughout the Bay Area and abroad. Most recently working alongside and collaborating with heavy hitters @okudaart for 'THERIOMORPHISM VII' at Galería Kreisler this last February in Madrid, Spain. Cocurated by @okudaart and @inkandmovement, this project was to bring light on international artists working in their own unique styles reflecting the concept people who have animal features or the ability to fully or partly transform into animals. Stay tuned for 'PLAYFUL' PART:3 #calamityfair (at Tenderloin, SF, CA) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAgp1xLB8Bi/?igshid=adx6et4y0a99

ARTIST STUDIO VISITS III 'PLAYFUL' JOHN VOCHATZER: PART 1 I'm not entirely sure where to begin in describing my relationship with @calamityfair. We had first met in January of 2004 here in San Francisco, and have steadily continued our friendship and artistic comradery from that point onward. I've seen a few variations of John, ranging from the highly unique and motivated student of art/literature and music while attending art school at The Academy of Art University, to his years as the Tenderloin drunken Punk Rock superstar known as 'Freebird'; leading all the way to his highly ambitious art/street art career that that he's created for himself over these last several years. Unless you've been living under a rock here in the Tenderloin for the last five years or so, your probably very familiar with John's collage based imagery that can now be seen pasted up all throughout San Francisco. The current Covid 19 pandamic has only accelerated his already highly prolific presence in this city, leaving all the rest of us to be not only be in awe of his work ethic; but also highly inspired to light a fire under our asses to go out and achieve our own unique version of what we aspire to do in our creative lives. I had recently visited John's studio to document some of his process and discuss his inspirations/philosophies. He had brought up the book 'Homo Ludens' by Johan Huizinga, which translates to 'the man at play' (hence the title of this Artist Studio Visit). The book discusses the necessity of play element in our culture and society, stating it's importance and necessity to maintaining a healthy way of life. After witnessing John's process both in the studio and on the street he has undoubtedly taken this philosophy to it's fullest potential. I'll be back soon with more on @calamityfair for PART 2 of 'PLAYFUL' Stay tuned! #calamityfair #tenderloin #freebird (at Tenderloin, SF, CA) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAgaAhXBRTY/?igshid=3rnr877uezno