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Arts

Battle: Mr. Brown vs. Val Kilmer

Posted by Staff / March 29, 2005

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A battle is brewing between Toronto's urban beautifiers, Mr. Brown and Val Kilmer that will come fist to fist this Thursday March 31st in the most explosive event this side of springtime.

The event is being held at Artlab (a gallery/retail space part of the Amoeba Corp. design firm). Curator Mikey Apples provided me with this official bio statement:

Underground street art runs no deeper than the work of Toronto artists/pranksters Val Kilmer & Mr. Brown whose notorious, often death-defying missions at redefining the cold and angular Toronto landscapewith equal parts humour, and raw eye-grabbing mystery have recently drawn attention from international media and the fascination of the public atlarge. "Mr. Brown vs. Val Kilmer" broadens the pair's urban vision in an exclusive one-week-only exhibit of mixed media & installation opening March 31st through April 8th.

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You've probably seen movie star Val Kilmer's face stuck on signs, buildings and poles all across this city. It's even grabbed global attention! Val Kilmer himself was accused to shamelessly plastering his image to jumpstart his boring career. I suggest you read this article for more of an in depth history of Val Kilmer's way.

A live journal blogger even suggested that Val Kilmer was a band name and the tags were merely promotion.

With so much google time given to Val Kilmer, I was beginning to worry about Mr. Brown's chance for success in this battle. There's a great site that celebrates street art where I found some of Mr. B's work and immediately recognized it from the streets.

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When I spoke to the artists about the battle I discovered they are two rad dudes just looking to make Toronto more beautiful with inventive work in places where people can see and enjoy it. Although Val Kilmer said he would "kill Mr. Brown for real", he also said he was "looking forward to mr. brown moving in to my place so we can george foreman every night".

Battle Opening Night
Mr. Brown vs. Val Kilmer
Thursday March 31st
7pm - Victory
Artlab
457 Richmond Street West
March 31 - April 8

Discussion

17 Comments

shoe / March 29, 2005 at 10:35 pm
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<p>PLEASE. the Val Kilmer kid is just some queen street vice mag shitty photographer with a decent sense of humour and a flare for publicity pranks. i've enjoyed watching the VK saga build up over the past few years, but i hardly think that he should be given gallery space/time. i can think of a handful of (far better/ more relevant) toronto-based wheatpasters that deserve the attention.

<p>this? this is like putting SPUD on the cover of 'underpressure' mag.<p>one. trick.pony.<p>RIDICULOUS.
shoe / March 29, 2005 at 11:08 pm
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<p>you know - i may have been a little harsh.

<p>i guess i'm just a little disappointed with toronto. in terms of (wheat)pasting & stenciling, i feel like we're seriously lagging behind halifax, montreal and vancouver.

<p>there's a time and place for gimmick - and VK is a funny gimmick - but it doesn't really do anything for the artform or culture.

<p>no personal offence intended to the artists themselves...
Danielle / March 30, 2005 at 09:36 am
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So, you agree it's a funny gimmick. It's funny and people laugh and they appreciate spotting the tags of VK and others around the city. Personally, I'm a huge fan of the 'cockwolves' tag. I also dig the 'i love you' sprinkled across town. A friend of mine's deck looks out on an 'i love you' and there's something sort of sweet about a building giving off so much warmth.
asik / March 30, 2005 at 10:12 am
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The Val Kilmer in Toronto is a fraud, and ripped his idea off a group in Newmarket, Ontario who was spraypainting "Val Kilmer" when they were drunk.

Besides his stupid posters that he's been putting up, he has also done the exact same thing the aforementioned group was doing, and that was simply writing the name Val Kilmer in horribly messy letters.

I think it's bullshit that this guy is getting a gallery showing. By far the last thing we need is to promote shit like this.
twinkie / March 30, 2005 at 05:34 pm
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I agree with asik - irrelevant art at this point in time !!!!!!!!!!
shoe / March 31, 2005 at 12:14 am
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yeah. it's a funny gimmick. but that's not the point.

anyway, asik and twinkie have hit the nail on the head, and there's no point in repeating those same sentiments.
JohnnyWestern / March 31, 2005 at 11:28 am
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fuck the art - i hear they're servin' Jack Daniels and 40's of Malt Liquor... Yee-Haw!!!
Danielle / March 31, 2005 at 01:02 pm
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The city has turned into a teenage girl's geography binder. Silly doodles on walls. How can that be so harshly judged? It's nothing.
Justyna / March 31, 2005 at 02:21 pm
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i am down with embracing local stenciling, especially when it catches you by surprise, like <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/jinkymarvels/6792164/";> this one</a>, on the corner of st.george/bernard ave.

i don't know too much of the history of this val kilmer thing, but if a small stencil is worth noticing on a decrepit wall, or a a stale hydro box, i'm all for it. but i WILL admit... the stenciling/random postering in Montreal is beyond amazing in comparison to what i've seen it TO thus far.
Jennn / March 31, 2005 at 11:38 pm
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well it definitely caught my attention.
i was like "What is UP with all this Val Kilmer business?? WHO is doing this? And WHY?"
mr.brown / April 1, 2005 at 03:09 pm
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i guess all the people ripping on the val kilmer stuff just don't get it, i think its funny that you hate it so much that you spend the time writing these post.
way to go.
keep it up

danielle / April 3, 2005 at 12:52 pm
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perfect publicity.
Mikey Apples / April 3, 2005 at 09:49 pm
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dear Shoe and Asik,....

Toronto is behind on a lot of things, mainly because there are so many cry babys like yourselves who think that good art and who gets an "art show" in a "gallery" should be decided by some intellectually holy being with an "art degree" or some shit.
I curate a gallery,...I think Mr. Brown and Val Kilmer are relevant right now because they manage to do something beyond being stuck in sneaker-geek land where the only graffiti that anybody can muster looks like some stale 1981 Beat Street bullshit so I gave them a show.
Bottom line,...I do shows that I like.
If you have a strong opinion about who's good with this art thing, go put a show together, that's what I've started doing
Typically complainers don't have shit going on for themselves and that sounds like you.
xo
M
ElmoLewis / April 17, 2005 at 10:33 pm
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artlab isn't a real gallery, and the dudes involved are fucking rainbows anyways. No one should be getting upset about this show, it only appeals to the 100 same people that shop at Vice, and go to the queenshead on thursdays. Totally masturbatory.
Danielle / April 19, 2005 at 02:28 pm
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Fucking Rainbows! I love it. Long live Artlab! Also - Queen's Head is cool now? Plus - the vice store does suck.
ipswitch / November 28, 2006 at 05:14 am
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Hahahahah! I like to picture pukey crapples actually making the quotation gestures with his hands while he says:

"art show" in a "gallery" should be decided by some intellectually holy being with an "art degree" or some shit."

So, and let me get this straight, the only way to be able to critique an art work, sorry an "art thing" is to create your own show? what planet do you live on? If I were you I'd stick to concentrating on making one song overlap another for drunk hiptards and leave curating shows to those "intellectually holy beings with an "art degree" or some shit."

mikey / April 17, 2007 at 02:36 pm
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Ipswitch,....the only hand gestures you'd likely see if you had the balls to say any of this to my face would be my knuckles pounding out your teeth.

you must know me, so come get it sweetheart

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