Secret Still

Would you look at that? Two graffiti posts in one day. It’s almost like back in 2004 when I started this site, and spent so many hours staring at wildstyles that I started to see graffiti in the wear-patterns on the sidewalk, in the bark of trees, the reflections on windows, every-damn-where. A big part of my original interest in graffiti was Mear-One showing up in the back of Urb magazine, blowing my fragile, young mind with his distorted dystopias and mystic imagery. Keeping that crazy intense color and contrast alive is SHOK-1, who has can control out the ass. The 14 year-old me in my best friend’s room flipping through Urb and listening to Gang Starr would be shitting himself over these pieces. And drinking root beer, that kid really loved root beer.

SHOK-1

Look, I know this is my first post back from vacation, and I should write more, but how much can I really say about the graffiti of TRASH that it isn’t already saying for itself? Not much, not much at all.

TRASH

In my experience, with most street artists there is a disconnect between the style of their outdoor work and their works on paper. Both can be equally amazing, but they usually look very different, and rightly so. One is being drawn larger than the artist themselves, usually quickly due to the illicit nature of the work, and on a rough wall surface, the other is being drawn very small on smooth paper with very precise instruments. Of course they’re different. But somehow Spanish maestro ARYZ makes them the same. And I’m not talking about a burner on a brick back alley, I’m talking about a 40 ft. high multi-color masterpiece. I’ve never seen anyone with that kind of consistency before, maybe he should get some kind of crown or at the very least a scepter that is also a paint roller. Long live King ARYZ.

ARYZ via Juxtapoz

I don’t normally talk about other people’s reports, but Juxtapoz, right this very minute, has some fantastic coverage of the Street Market created by Espo, Reas, and Barry Mcgee at MOCA’s “Art in the Streets” exhibit (which is dope, and you should see it if you can). I remember seeing photos of the original installation 10+ years ago and having my mind blown, but the new version is something beyond that entirely. The level of detail is amazing, as well as the sheer volume of amazing work that had to be produced in order to create this gigantic installation. I won’t say a lot more, because it will be redundant when you read the Jux article. In fact, I’m done talking, just go.

Juxtapoz: Street Market at MOCA’s “Art in the Streets”

These days there are 3 year-olds who can tag there name in various “Wild Styles” blindfolded. I’m not saying that it’s played out, because, when done well, it still blows my mind, but there are so many other styles to explore and so many beautiful things you can create with them. This isn’t your mom’s graffiti. Take someone like neli0, using bright colors and a mix of geometric and organic shapes. If Mondrian and Picasso ate some mescaline together, this is probably what they would come up with. And damn if that doesn’t get me right in the pleasure center of my big, wet brain. With some spillover into all those little neurons that fire when I have ideas. The really great stuff gets my mind working overtime, and if the lights were off right now you’d see my grey matter lit up like a fucking Christmas tree.

neli0

Maybe you’re well-versed in the world of Street Art and Graffiti, can tell a Sever piece from a Revok in two fat cap lines or less, or maybe you have no idea what I’m talking about, but a thing you should know if you don’t already is that the Broken Fingaz crew is one of the all time greats. With that basic knowledge, and the fact that Unga is one of them, you can draw the conclusion that Unga’s work is tip top. You see what kind of joys the Transitive property can bring? That and using your own eyes to see for yourself.

Unga

In the world of graffiti, you have to realize that whatever your tag is, you will be re-writing that tag literally millions of times over the course of your life. Each one is different, each one is original by its nature, but they are all inherently the same. The amount of variation that this leads to is infinite, but it can also be pretty damn repetitive and exhausting if you don’t either love the shit out of that tag, or find ways to see it as something totally abstract and without context. DO-IT has taken this to a level I’ve never encountered before. Yes, his paintings are amazing, and I love his simplification of letterforms to within a hairsbreadth of the abstract, but even more than that I love the work he’s doing on wood, playing with the configuration of wooden pieces into panels and also the forms that are painted onto them. He’s certainly not the first person to build a canvas out of wood pieces, but he’s the first that I’ve seen who takes the time to consider their configuration in terms of what will be covering them and vice versa. Separately they would be  excellent art, together they’re something altogether more beautiful. In case you can’t tell, I’m a fan.

DO-IT

Maybe it’s just something about Wednesday, but usually by the middle of the week there’s a nice angry core inside of me whose embers are fueling my drive to work. Wednesdays I listen to metal. Wednesdays I watch shark attack videos. It’s not a great day to schedule a meeting with me. It’s definitely not the day to use words like “workflow” and “action item” around me. But for Faro it’s the perfect day to send me some samples of  gritty, semi-angry, metal-powered work. That shit is just exactly what the doctor ordered. So while Bruce Dickson (I start off old-school in the mornings) is bringing my rage up to a nice healthy glow, Faro’s work is providing the perfect backdrop with neo-Egyptian monsters wreaking havoc on my screen. I’m pretty sure I’m not the only one that feels the anger on Wednesdays, so join me won’t you, for a journey with my favorite of the 7 deadly sins — wrath.

Faro

I think the first Swampy skull I saw was a great big, shiny, pink bastard at Albany Bulb in all its heavy metal monster glory. And like a lot of things in the world — when it’s in your mind, you start seeing it everywhere (especially because he chills in Oakland a lot). I didn’t know who was making them (Ert told me at some point), but I knew that I kept imagining these long dead titanic beasts roaming the land, crushing everything in their path without thinking, sludge metal playing in the background. Just real fucking awesomeness. Fast forward to a few days ago when I posted about the Living Walls conference (mentioned here). Swampy himself will be in attendance, and I was reminded that, “hey, I like that guy’s work.” As with all the things I like, I am now forcing you to look at it. LOOK AT IT. There, now go do whatever you want, I don’t care.

Swamp Donkey

Oddly I had to learn about someone that lives in my city from a website across the country. In looking over the participating artists in Atlanta’s Living Walls conference, I came across the work of Oakland’s Feral Child. Ink drawing wheatpastes featuring portraits with intricate and varying patterns? I’ll take two, please. What really strikes me as weird is that I’ve never seen one of these pieces around. I thought I paid pretty close attention to the art around me when I’m out walking around. Maybe I just need to get out of the house more.

Feral Child