More Amazing Shots HERE

I’ve been following Delta career’s for years. I think he’s one of the most amazing graffiti artists alive. He’s in the fore front of pushing this art form to the next level. Haven’t had the opportunity to paint with him yet, but hopefully our paths will cross at some point.

Only Time Will Tell from Vans The Omega on Vimeo.

Revok tells the story of the wall:

“I just finished a wall in LA with Rime, Askew and Deus from Auckland, Vans from Australia, Score from Berlin, Dabs & Myla, and Witnes…

“Instead of the typical bullshit, everyone decided on the phrase ‘Only time will tell’ with the wall being divided into four sections, with each section representing a change of season… Using that as a starting point, everybody built on that and went in their own direction, some of us getting dumber and more retarded than others.

“The assignment went as follows… VANS/ RIME/WITNES; Winter, with VANS on letter detail painting the phrase ‘ONLY’.

“DABS/MYLA/SCORE; Spring, With SCORE on letter detail painting ‘TIME’.

“REVOK/RIME; Summer, REVOK on letter/background detail painting ‘WILL’

“ASKEW/DEUS; Fall, ASKEW on letter detail painting ‘TELL’.

“I’m pretty proud of the outcome, as I’m sure so is everyone else involved… There are a lot of stupid little details and jokes throughout the wall we all had a lot of laughs coming up with both intentionally and by accident.

“A big thanks to ASKEW for shooting the final shot and putting in the labor stiching it all together.” -Revok.

Here’s Rime’s account of the “stupid little details”;

Dysfunctional points of interest:

* Coked up Charlie Bronson Yeti saying “AAAAARRRGGGHHHH” to a timid young chick.
* Santa says yes to 4LOKO.
* Jesus turning tranny was unintentional. The legs were on the wall first. Intended to come randomly from behind the “Will” piece. Later I sketched up Jesus chillin’ at the beach. Revok said I sketched it too small and too far over to the left. I ended up buffing the first Jesus sketch out and painted it larger and more to the right. It took us a good two hours before we connected the possibility that the legs could be Jesus’s. Tired and late as fuck we laughed about it and embraced the idea… Fuckin’ Tranny Jesus!”

Music Credits:
Jesus I was evil by Darcy Clay
The Flame by Black Keys
Numb by Portishead

On Tuesday night, Hollywood’s historic Egyptian Theatre unveiled the documentary, Outside In: The Story of Art in the Streets, created in the Levi’s Film Workshop and directed by the talented Alex Stapleton. Shown in front of a packed theater, the film takes a closer look at MOCA’s groundbreaking Art in the Streets exhibit (covered) while focusing on a number of artists including Saber, Risk, Shepard Fairey, Mister Cartoon and Revok just to name a few……..

By Carlos Gonzalez

MORE WORDS AND MANY MORE IMAGES HERE

“Outside In” Trailer HERE

LOS ANGELES—To the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art, Revok is a renowned artist whose bright, sprawling work is worthy of display in its latest exhibit.To the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department, Revok is Jason Williams, also known as inmate No. 2714221.

Last month, Mr. Williams was sentenced to 180 days in county jail as a result of a probation violation from a graffiti incident, just days after the opening of a major museum exhibit dedicated to “street art” that features his work. Unable to post his $320,000 bail, Mr. Williams sat in jail for four days before the sentencing.

Law-enforcement officials around the country are prosecuting graffiti artists with harsher sentences than ever, pushing for felony charges, real prison time and restitution payments as they seek to wipe graffiti from the streets. At the same time, the art world and corporations are embracing the form like never before.

CONTINUE READING HERE

Walking in to this I have to say I was pretty nervous. I really had no plan on what I was going to paint other than I needed to paint a piece that represented what I was working on currently. I envisioned this fuzzy White Piece swirling around in the back of my head. When I arrived to check out the space the wall seemed even more challenging considering the size. Of course Revok was already ahead laying out his mural. First he created grid across the space. This gave him some structure to build his cluster of letters. Revok basically built his piece as he went. As long as I can remember he has been free-styling every piece he paints. It is very interesting to watch him paint. Revok spends quite a bit of time on the computer building complex logos and letters using Illustrator program. His approach to painting walls is like as if he was possessed by Illustrator, it’s like watching a human printer. His idea behind his piece was to include a few bold statements and names of other artists or friends who aren’t with us anymore. The more Revok layered the letters, the more it turned into this big complex puzzle piece, giving the viewer an opportunity to piece together the hidden names. He didn’t want to be selfish by focusing on his name solely. Rime came in and filled in some of the negative spaces with his looney style characters. Joe’s personality can sometimes remind me of a punched out cars sales men with the precise hand of a heart surgeon. If you look closely at Rimes lines you’ll see there is no wasted strokes. He paints his lines with one clean shot each time.

I on the other hand, usually only focus on the letter structures of my name. To me when you freestyle a piece you stumble onto a path of discovery. I find I feel limited when I paint from a sketch. Free-styling allows you an opportunity to whip a letter differently or discover new connections. My name to me is like capturing movement and flow using the essence of the letters characteristics. Saber isn’t my name as my identity but a mantra to tap into a free flow of abstraction. As a kid I was obsessed with Robotech, Transformers and Gothic churches, I guess it eventually evolved into an energized moving liquid glass battleship. That actually sounds kind of crazy but that’s what’s so intriguing about Wildstyle. Once you dive down into the puzzle, little secrets reveal themselves. You also have to put yourself under the mindset that you are going to paint your best piece, as if you were going to burn the wall to the ground. That level of confidence definitely comes in handy under pressure, especially in a situation like painting on the museum walls.

Risky is one of the founders and trailblazers of Los Angeles style and a world wide representative of Graffiti Art. He is an originator of founded styles and has painted more pieces than anyone. He was painting full color burners on the freeways when people were catching up on Calicovision. Painting next to Risky is intimating because his energy is huge on the wall. Risky chose to break up the mural space in an interesting way by taking on the alphabet. A to Z is always more daunting then you anticipate. 24 individual stylized letters is no easy task, of course Risky makes it look easy. I can tell you he didn’t sleep for days. These two guys were pulling all niters back to back. Abel came to lend a hand a painted the L. That guy is the one of the cleanest painters ever. Risky finished his mural off with a beautiful, white and blue chrome piece right in the center that seemed to tie everything together nicely.

Cartoon is another great painter to watch. He chunked outs his mural with spray paint and later goes in and airbrushes an entire detailed scene. Cartoon also freestyles his murals.  He kept adding little details to his painting until it turned into little groups of Los Angeles inspired street life narratives. Cartoons skill level lends him the ability to airbrush beautiful classic, candied low riders to jumping on a tall ladder and pulling long hours painting murals. He has proven himself to be the best at what he does, anywhere.

On of my best friend Push had the task of collaborating with Lee, Futura on the large mural in the parking lot. He worked on the massive geometric color patterns, a trademark for him. His strain of Graffiti is one of my favorites. His path has led him so far out of the letter structure base, it morphed into a simplistic geo-pattern style. The beauty of his style is the more simplistic it becomes the more he manages to hide letters in these patterns. He obsesses over his color pallets like a composer with notes. I would definitely characterize Push as obsessive-compulsive, this is what makes his art so unique.

When I paint a large wall I usually try to whip out a base structure with the roller. With some practice you can actually whip around some nice calligraphy lines with the roller on an extension pole. It just really, really sucks when you blast out the base structure and it doesn’t fit. Talk about the frustrating task of painting it all back over again. I really have to be in a good flow or other wise I end up fighting it the whole time and a day gets wasted. This is the challenge of free-styling your piece; you can end up painting yourself into a corner. Because everything in the show was screaming color, I went with the no color look to give my space a sense of calm. I love working in the grey tones pallet. At the bottom of the “R” leg, I painted layered piled on tags ripping out from underneath the white buff as a subtle gesture to the movement itself. The layered tags were names of friends and people who have influenced me or friends who are not with us. People at the museum asked what the title was and the first thing that popped in my head was “Sacred Trash”. I chose this title because it represented the conflicting ideas, Graffiti as sacred, or Graffiti as something disposable and malicious. That Graffiti is something that is reviled and hated by the authorities. Some would claim this a virus designed to deplete property values spawning higher crime rates. Exaggerated stories describing hoards of taggers participating in the urban plight like hungry locusts. Unfortunately, the reality is some of the current recycled press would attest to that point of view including some  right wing think tanks. Some of the artists in the show have been targeted by news organizations and the Authority to perpetuate the idea that this museum show is bad for society. My best friend Revok is now locked away serving 180 days with an outrages $320,000 bail amount yet isn’t charged with any crime. Houses and business have been harassed and raided by armed task forces looking for these “criminal art assailants” and then the story hits front page. Going in to this show I knew some of the powers that be would be furious over a museum institution giving us any credit, let alone open their doors to us. My personal mission was to paint the best piece I could and let the artwork speak for itself.

The last image in this blog is a portrait of Revok and I taking a quick break from painting standing outside the museum early in the morning. Both of us were taking in the crisp fresh air thinking of the long road we’ve been on together. In the back of my mind I wanted to celebrate in the moment for making it there together. What kept me from celebrating was the sick feeling I had twisting in my stomach. It’s a humbling feeling. We knew the authorities would make someone an example for this show. We knew there was a dark cloud hovering. I just want people to understand that there is a price to pay. That debt comes in many forms and my best friend paid with his freedom. The piece Revok painted is more valuable then museum walls itself. It represents one artist struggle against a Leviathan. His life’s path has been altered and that piece is left behind for the museum and public to enjoy. Revok is what gives this show its legitimacy. He is the artist who is locked away in a maze of dangerous halls. His real crime? Being an artist who is misunderstood. If certain people want to criticize the “legitimacy” of  “Art In The Streets” as a valid museum show then they need to reflect on Revok’s artistic contributions to the movement. For those who write us off as malicious vandals, they should pause and ask themselves what they are willing to sacrifice for what they believe in. Before they can pass judgment they would have to walk in our shoes for a block.

To me art is something that is always Sacred. Especially in an art movement that was spawned from a young spirit where you are blinded from corrupt ideas and have no understanding of consequences. In essence it begins pure. The passion is the drive. This passion to create art is Sacred. It leads that young person on a creative path steering them away from societies little boxes. Is this a safe path for everybody? I would say no. Along this path are difficult lessons learned and tragedies. But through the entire journey a dialogue between the creative spirit and the world as we know begins. Contemporary Graffiti movement has opened up a new strain of art and ideas. If I am a criminal, then I willingly chose to be so for the sake of the idea.

Graffiti is something that is Sacred, something that I love. Something that connects me to so many people. Either way, everyone is watching…… #FREEREVOK

Photography By Noah Banks

The ongoing whitewashing of street art adds to the Los Angeles’ growing reputation as an intolerant mural curator, an unfortunate tag for a city once known as the mural capitol of the world.

One could make a case that it is an 80-year tradition that continued this week.

It dates back to 1932, when David Alfaro Siqueiros unveiled “Tropical America” at El Pueblo, a masterpiece that was quickly painted over by the order of Olvera Street founder Christine Sterling.

Forward to Friday, when a graffiti abatement crew was busy recovering a mural they painted over just days before, under their orders passed down by the Los Angeles Department of Building and Safety. The street art style work is located at Fairfax and Rosemead, hosted by nearby Known Gallery, and features a background by Renta, highlighted with graffiti style signatures by artists Saber, Os Gemeos, Revok, Norm and Rime. The eradication was preempted by Casey Zoltan from Known, the gallery that first commissioned the piece over a year ago…………………

READ MORE HERE>>>

Photo by ReignmanP

My commute down Fairfax Avenue has pretty heavy street art traffic. One of the recent gems of this stretch of our pot-hole ridden streets is the mural on Fairfax and Rosewood by Retna, Rime, Revok, Norm, Saber, and Os Gêmeos. I was horrified to see an orange Graffiti Control Systems van parked in front of the wall on my way to work Thursday morning. It was being BUFFED! They had just started rolling over Rime’s characters as I drove past. I resisted every impulse to turn back and wrote the tweet in the car when I got to LACMA. I hit “send” the moment I emerged from the underground parking and by the time I got to my desk Saber had hit the timeline with a flood of comments including:

The wall was painted in July 2010, and I remember it was an exciting production. Besides Os Gêmeos being in LA from Brazil, Jeffrey Deitch stopped by and had everyone buzzing about the MoCA show. Almost a year later, LA Taco’s headline pointed out One Week From “Art in the Streets” and Someone is Destroying Art by Famous Artists.

Photo via Melrose & Fairfax

Melrose & Fairfax were the first on the scene and posted the buffing in action. LA Taco looked into Who is Graffiti Control Systems? and posted their Facebook and Yelp pages. It soon became clear that the company had pulled the locked gate off it’s hinges to get to the mural. The buffing was stopped before it covered the whole wall by the outraged owner of the building, actress Julie Newmar. In a comment on the LA Weekly art news blog she said “Trust me, I will get to the bottom of this. The crime will not go unpunished.”

The angry local and street art community took to the web and demanded action. Blogging Los Angeles said “Seeing artwork like this destroyed is disgusting.” FatCap posted about the irresponsible business of buffing legal public art and posed the excellent question, “When are we going to organize ourselves effectively in order to preemptively combat this affront?” By the middle of the day, Graffiti Control Systems Facebook page had been pulled down and their Yelp rating plunged to 1 star. Later, Dennis Romero of LA Weekly spoke to sincerely apologetic company representative, Josh Woods who said “It was a mistake. We did not do it maliciously. It turned out to be misinformation. There was no intent whatsoever to destroy a mural. We were informed by people in the neighborhood that it was an illegal mural and was to come down. As soon as we were informed on site that it was there with permission we ceased removal.”  In the article Wood promised that workers would be back the next day and attempt to remove the layer of paint.

Photo via Melrose & Fairfax

True to his word, I passed workers trying to remove buff from the wall on Friday morning. Woods made an updated statement to the LA Weekly “… We were able to remove all of the paint we applied and as we expected some parts of the mural came off but most is intact and looks to be in pretty good shape. And most importantly the overall aesthetic of the mural has been re-established.” He also reiterated that Graffiti Control Systems would like to foot the bill for touch-up.

With the help of many, this beautiful work of public art has survived. But with the battle won, Graffuturism wondered “Will this be a one time mistake? The significance of this mural and the prominence of the artists involved that were painted over will have some serious aftershocks. The disregard of their artistic merit of this mural so close to the opening of MoCA doesn’t paint a pretty picture for Los Angeles. With this new age of Twitter and its viral strength we could see some very widespread action from the artists and its supporters if this continues.”

The fact that many of these artists are included in MoCA’s Art in the Streets exhibition should not obscure the hostile environment they frequently work in. The future of this art movement will be shaped by the people who love it and as Deitch points out “This is only the beginning.”

- Piper Severance

@PSPublicSquare

It was a great opening, with a large eclectic group of artists. Definitely some heavy hitters.

Saber- “Mini Birdwatching”

I just want to thank everyone for their interest in this edition. I appreciate the support and I look forwards to creating more work. I have been receiving some touching emails, specifically from those who are affected by Epilepsy. I will to continue to shed some light on our predicament on the state of health care in this country through my art. As long as I live I will be a representative of the graffiti art culture and I hope to push further into the veins of Art History with the help of my Friends, Family and people like you who believe in what we do.