I am honored to be involved with the current show at the Pasadena Museum Of California Arts called “Street Cred: Graffiti Art From Concrete To Canvas”. Steve Grody is the curator, and the show focuses on Graffiti artists based out of Los Angeles who have transitioned into fine art. This show displays a variety of works organized in categories of traditional wild style interpretations, figurative, removed abstract, and sculpture. This show only scrapes the surface of the talent hidden behind the stereotypes of what people believe Los Angeles graffiti is. There isn’t a museum large enough to be able to fill with all the undiscovered works from the overlooked local talent. I commend PMCA for shedding some light on a well-deserved group of artists.
One of my favorite sculptures in the show is a blocky wild-style piece that spells out the LA legend’s moniker TEMPT. This piece is particularly monumental because Tempt is suffering from the condition (ALS) often referred to as Lou Gehrig’s Disease, which is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. Members of Free Art and Technology (FAT), OpenFrameworks, the Graffiti Research Lab, and The Ebeling Group communities teamed-up with TEMPTONE on the creation of the piece. Tempt was diagnosed with ALS in 2003, a disease which has left him almost completely physically paralyzed… except for his eyes. This international team is working together to create a low-cost, open source eye-tracking system that will allow ALS patients to draw using just their eyes. Through this amazing technology Tempt was able to draw the plans for his sculpture. Nothing short of a miracle, Tempt was able to participate in this museum show honoring Los Angeles Graffiti Art. The show ends September 4, 2011………
