Broken Crow: The Bigger Picture Project.

The Bigger Picture Project. from Broken Crow on Vimeo.

The Bigger Picture Project website.

We Did What We Could.

We're excited to announce the opening reception of our new show "We Did What We Could" at XYandZ Gallery from 7-10 pm on June 15th, 2012.

XYandZ Gallery is located at 3258 Minnehaha Avenue South in Minneapolis, MN.

The track "Moonrise, IA", from the album Dark So Gold, was graciously provided by Minneapolis band The Pines. The Pines are coincidentally playing their only local show this summer at The MN Zoo (which we're a huge fan of) on June 23rd. More info on that show here.

OUR FRIEND ISAAC IS IN TOWN.

Our good friend and long time collaborator Isaac Arvold is in town for his show at CO Exhibitions this Saturday in Minneapolis. Isaac collaborated with Maria Juranic on a short film about the creation of the show, and we're excited to see the final cut. Also, Zach Kinsey and Jon Weiss from Uptown Tattoo will be tattooing some of Isaac's illustrations on people all night. See you Saturday.

Here's an awesome video he made for the show:

Here's a video he made of old people dancing:

Here's a video of Eric riding a bike:


See you Saturday.

MORE WATCH THIS.

We've been busy working on some big projects that we can't tell anyone about just yet, so we decided to make WATCH THIS a weekly thing. This week's theme: Isaac and David make awesome videos. These guys have a beautiful show up at XYandZ Gallery in Minneapolis that you should all go see. It's on view through February 11th.

WATCH THIS.

Welcome to the first installment of WATCH THIS.

We decided that we should start posting videos in clusters that somehow fit together in themes, videos that we have nothing to do with, videos we find inspiring, stuff we think you should see. This weeks theme is bad-ass art videos. Enjoy.

STUCK BETWEEN STATIONS.

 Growing up here was awesome. While Mike and I had relatively different experiences as kids (Mike in St Paul, me in Minneapolis), we ultimately developed the same uniquely Minnesotan outlook on the changing of the seasons and how they impact our creative process. Winters here are dark and introspective, and we believe that the hibernation that comes with the cold is also the thing that sparks the creative explosion that Minnesota summers are famous for.

One of the most exciting aspects of continuing to live in the Twin Cities as adults has been watching our formerly pimple-faced classmates and acquaintances emerge from the directionlessness of adolescence with a voice and vision uniquely their own. Watching these styles develop independently of one another over the years has been one of the coolest things about living here, but it's when these collective voices come together that this place lives up to its true potential.

When a couple years back our long time friend Brady Kiernan called us asking if we would help out with a movie he was directing, we had no choice to say yes. Filmed primarily on locations around Minneapolis, Stuck Between Stations is a movie about coming of age in Minneapolis as much as it is about coming of age in general, it's as much about Minneapolis at night as it is about two people on an adventure, and I can honestly say that even if we hadn't played a small role in making the movie, I would still feel connected to it for its depiction of exactly what I love about living here. That having been said, the collaborative effort that it took to make this movie, and the showcasing of creative talent throughout, are all part of what makes this movie so great.

Stuck Between Stations plays from December 16th - 22nd at St Anthony Main Theater, but we're hoping it gets extended so that we can bring the out-of-towners who inevitably show up after the holidays to go see it.

Movie posters available on our webstore here.

JENNIFER DAVIS IS EVERYWHERE.

There are a couple of art shows that we're involved in this weekend that we figured you should know about. Jennifer Davis is also somehow, amazingly, miraculously, unbeknownst to us until recently, also in both of these exhibitions.

Roger Roger, 12x12inch mixed media, 2011.

The first is FRESH PRODUCE at Anno Domini in San Jose, California. There's over 45 artists from 14 different countries in this show, and 3 of us are from Minnesota. Broken Crow and Jennifer Davis. We've been huge fans of Jennifer's work for almost 2 decades combined (is that even possible?) and we're always excited to show alongside her. We made 5 pieces for this show, and we hope that you'll go and see them. Jennifer probably made 20, and we're sure that they're all brilliant. This is AD's 11th year of doing a holiday show of this magnitude, and we're excited to be a part of it. Here's the full lineup and gallery info:

Lina Arias (Columbia), Jason Arnold (USA), Philippe Baudelocque (France), Tyler Bewley (USA), Julie Bilyeu (USA), Christian Breitkreutz (USA), Broken Crow (USA), Lacey Bryant (USA), CAKE (USA), Liza Corbett (USA), Isaac Cordal aka Cement Eclipses (Belgium), DAL (South Africa), Jennifer Davis (USA), Daupo (USA), Mike Egan (USA), Lia Fenix (Brazil), Gilbert1 (France), Rimon Guimarães (Brazil), Hyuro (Argentina), JAZ (Argentina), Rafal Karcz (Poland), Laguna (Spain), Mark Lev (USA), Daniel Jesse Lewis (USA), Limo (France), Limon & Olson (onoffcrew), Jeremiah Maddock (USA), Dale "VN" Marshall (UK), Nuno de Matos (France), Danica Novgorodoff (USA) , Gustavo Ortiz (UK), Daryll Peirce (USA), Motel Seven (South Africa), Zéh Palito (Brazil), Noah Ptolemy (USA), Faring Purth (USA), Ro (France), Skount (Amsterdam), Barron Storey (USA), TIKA (Brazil), Jon Todd (USA), Porous Walker (USA), Dave Warnke (USA), Jake Watling (USA), Derek Weisberg (USA), Yumanzumu (Japan), Zilda (France), Zosen (Spain)

at:

Anno Domini
366 South First Street

San Jose, CA 95113
408.271.5155

Opening Reception: Friday, December 2, 2011

Preview: 7pm / Sale: 8-11p

more info at: www.galleryAD.com

White Cocoa's portrait of Mike, work in progress, 2011.

 The second show that you should know about that opens Friday is TWO at XYandZ Gallery in Minneapolis. It's the two year anniversary of XYandZ opening its doors, and we're honored to be a part of it. We've selected White Cocoa (in progress above) and Ben LaFond for our section of wall-space, and we're hoping you'll join us at the opening. You can find out how Jennifer Davis ended up in this show here. From XYandZ about TWO:

"XYandZ has invited former exhibitors to curate their own section of the gallery by presenting two artists of their choosing: One emerging artist and one established. From internationally recognized street artists to locally-bred art darlings, the exhibit will offer a truly eclectic array of work, hand-selected by XYandZ artists."

EXHIBITING ARTISTS: buZ Blurr aka Colossus of Roads, Allan Packer, Adam Garcia, Mia Nolting, White Cocoa, Jennifer Davis, Ellen Mueller, Michael Gaughan, Oakley Tapola, Dane Klingaman, Alex Chitty, Lee Relvas, Eric Ruby, Charlie B. Ward, Ben LaFond, Brian Aldrich, Nick Howard, Paul Kaloper, David De Boer, James Boyd Brent, Rachel James, Matt Yaeger, Ryan Brink, Jesse Peterson, Vaughn Bell.

CURATORS: (former XYandZ exhibitors): Eric Burke (OverUnder/Reno, NV), John Grider & Mike Fitzsimmons (Broken Crow), Drew Peterson (Chicago, IL), Keegan Wenkman (Portland, OR), Tonja Torgerson (Syracuse, NY), Dane Johnson (Los Angeles, CA), Dan Luedtke (Chicago, IL), Brian Borlaug (Los Angeles, CA), Josh Winkler, Carrie Thompson, Anna Tsantir, Sean Connaughty, and Nate Young.

at:
XYandZ Gallery
3258 Minnehaha Avenue South
Minneapolis MN 55406
Opening Reception: Friday, December 2nd 2011 7-10pm
more info at: www.thexyandz.com

VIDEO: Broken Crow in Albany.

Broken Crow in Albany. from Broken Crow on Vimeo.

Behind the scenes in Albany.

 

 The amazing Over Under.

 Stunning work by Joe Iurato.

More soon.

Minneapolis to Albany.

A couple weeks back we finished this wall on the Cedar-Riverside stop of the light rail line in Minneapolis. We couldn't be happier with how it turned out.

Today we're flying out to Albany New York, where we'll be painting for 10 days as part of the Living Walls conference. We'll be posting things as they happen here, so check back WHENEVER YOU'RE ON THE INTERNET. LIKE, ALL THE TIME. Or don't bother. Either way, we'll be posting stuff when we have the time in between painting big walls and hanging out with old friends. Should be fun. Like summer-camp for people who paint walls.
xo
John and Mike