Today Show feature

Was pleasantly surprised to see this mural I painted in East London last year featured as part of the Today Show's special coverage of the London Olympic games..

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Santa Fe N8V Public Art

"The Hour Has Arrived" is a public art project planned for next month in Santa Fe, NM during the city's famous "Indian Market" art show. It will involve painting a few collaborative murals in historic downtown Santa Fe by primarily Native public artists....and Kofie & myself have been invited to participate.

They have a Kickstarter page for funding that ends very soon...so if anyone's interested in helping make this very cool project happen... go here

"El Corazón de un Sueño..": New mural in Cuba for the Havana Biennial

I came to Havana tired from having just painted a ten story high mural in Mexico City the week before, but was so excited to be there that I overcame the exhaustion and spent my first few days in the country going around with my camera and absorbing inspiration. I walked around the city taking photos, meeting people and doing little impromptu photo-shoots with a few intrigued Cuban models. As a U.S. citizen, I'm not really supposed to go to Cuba, much less paint a mural there, so this was a huge opportunity. This project was a collaboration for the 11th Havana Biennial between Primary Flight out of Miami, the Cisneros-Fontanals Art Foundation (CIFO), and the UNEAC, (National Union of Writers and Artists of Cuba). CIFO is a highly respected and influential institution, whose main participation in the Biennial was a huge exhibition of works from the Cisneros-Fontanals collection at the National Museum of Fine Arts, and this mural was their only other project for the Biennial. UNEAC, on the other hand, is essentially a cultural branch of the Cuban government, and for them to support a U.S. artist in painting a mural in Cuba is groundbreaking. There aren't many non-political murals at all in Cuba, and there's not that much graffiti either. Being a US citizen, and considering the ongoing history of strained relations between the two countries, and the fact that nobody had any idea what I would paint, and considering this was a highly visible wall facing Havana's "Avenue of the Presidents", I felt a lot of pressure. I almost always feel a sense of obligation when painting public murals to do something that can inspire people, maybe something that can uplift in some small way, but I felt that more than ever with this project. I ended up painting a figure based on photos I took of a local lady named Adis Naranjo, who works in the kitchen at the UNEAC offices. I wanted to paint someone that could personify the average Cuban, and Adis seemed perfect for this with her mix of African, Native and European ancestry. She is represented as powerful and hopeful, and the colors around her hands can suggest energy or creativity. The title of the mural is "El Corazón de un Sueño Palpita Entre Mis Manos", which is from a poem by the great Cuban poet Jose Ángel Buesa.

Throughout the week I was questioned many times by police who I was painting and why- what was I trying to say with this? I'm used to being asked that- I've been asked those same questions for almost every mural I've painted since the 90's- but there was more of an urgency behind the questions there. Everyone seemed curious, since this sort of thing isn't exactly common there. It was explained to me many times how difficult it is to get decent art materials in Cuba. As an example, because spraypaint and even latex paint are so limited and expensive, many local writers mix printer ink and gasoline to get a fluid black paint. I had a lot of interaction with locals, because the park facing this mural is notorious as one of the most popular places in Havana for young people to hang out. So many different kinds of people, of all ages came by at all hours. There was a large Capoeira group that practiced across from the wall a few evenings, while a few other nights brought roaming packs of excited young punk-rockers by the wall. Many of the people I got to talk to at length had never left the island, and internet access is still extremely limited for many Cubans. One younger guy was very moved by the piece, and told me very clearly that, even though he had never seen any of my previous work, because of the context of the mural he felt this was the best thing I had ever painted. I was honored to have such an amazing opportunity to create a public mural like this in Havana, and I'm optimistic that more artists, especially more artists from Cuba, will have similar opportunities there in the years to come.

Many thanks to Primary Flight, CIFO and UNEAC for all making this possible, Kim, Books, Cristina & Dan for ground support, Adis for modeling and juice, and last but not least Marcos, Gabriel, Javier and all the other locals who helped out so much every day.

María de la Reforma: New mural in Mexico City

The last few weeks have been hectic, but here are finally some shots of "María de la Reforma", the mural I painted this month for the All City Canvas public art project in Mexico City. The culture of Mexico and muralism go hand in hand so this was just a natural continuation of a long tradition there. The mural is over ten stories high, located by the Paseo de la Reforma, which is one of the city's largest, most famous thoroughfares. It was an honor for me to paint this there because not too far away on this same street in the IMSS building is one of my favorite murals ever, by the famous Mexican artist Jorge González Camarena.

Painting the mural involved a daily battle with the sun, lift problems, breathing constant exhaust smoke, and most especially- painting the entire thing from a little swinging basket that hung from a crane. I could have used a little more time to finish the mural but I'm still proud of how it came out. It was also humbling and overwhelming to see how supportive local people were.

The image I painted is based on photos I took of a social activist & poet named María Guardado, who was tortured and left for dead in 1980 by government forces during the civil war in El Salvador. She was one of thousands of civilian victims of that war, during which the US-backed Salvadoran government employed death squads to kill & terrorize everyone from poor farmers to nuns to students. Maria survived and fled the country for Los Angeles, where today she is still a passionate fighter for social justice.

Along with other economic and political problems, Mexico has been enduring a bloody six-year drug war which has left at least 50-60,000 people dead so far. In this election year in Mexico, I think many people are hopeful that things will get better. I'd like this mural to be seen as a symbol of hope and strength.

Many thanks to Maria Guardado, la familia Celaya y ARTO, Claudia, Andrea, Martin y el resto del equipo ACC, Roberto Shimizu of the incredible MUJAM, Gonzalo de MAMUTT, Arturo & Fifty24MX gallery, John Carr & Eyerie, Kim & Djentrification of course..as well as everyone else that came by to show support

Cuba

Just a quick update from the road.. I painted a big mural in Mexico City last week, and am now painting a mural in Havana, Cuba for the Bienal here...and have no easy internet access...but I will post up new images and check emails probably in another week or so... Super excited.. I should have a new print released from Moon Editions any day now too... Updates on the way...

EL MAC Juxtapoz cover

Just got a copy of the May 2012 issue of Juxtapoz...it's a special public art issue that features this and three other alternate covers by Swoon, Espo & JR. Lots of great artwork and discussions inside...

The mural on the cover was painted on a really old building in Tudela, Spain as part of the Avant Garde Urbano event. Great to see it reach an even bigger audience with this...

Been somewhat off the grid lately, catching up...more updates and new work on the way..

R.I.P. Moebius

Moebius/Jean Giraud, one of the greatest artists of our time just passed away this weekend. He was an artistic legend, who had incredible talent, style and originality. He was Hendrix with a pen. He was a huge inspiration for me ever since I was introduced to his work as a kid in the '80s by my mom. There have been a few times over the years when I've had my work compared to his, and I would always take it as a huge compliment. Though he was more contemporary, I placed him in my pantheon of great classic artists right up there with Vermeer, Mucha, Caravaggio, Camarena, Holbein, Klimt, Gerome, Rivera, etc. He helped create the futuristic look of films like Alien, Blade Runner, The Abyss and Tron, while his drawing ability and style was consistently amazing and influenced generations of artists. I'm thankful for the inspiration.

Dash2000 Memorial

It seems like more and more people have been passing away too soon these days- I guess this is just part of life, part of getting older. This is the second memorial mural I've painted so far this year, and unfortunately there are still a few more I need to do.

I painted this portrait recently with Kofie and Plek for my friend Dominic "DASH 2000" Smith. He was known for being one of the early members of legendary LA graffiti crew UTI (Under The Influence) back in the '80s. He constantly experimented with different mediums, sketched, and painted, pushing his creativity for the rest of his life.

This portrait was based on a photo taken by Eriberto Oriol, the background was painted by Augustine Kofie, and Plek did the letters. Kofie's cloud designs are a tribute to Dash's deep respect and admiration for Asian culture, which often influenced his own artwork. This was painted on a wall in central LA that Dash painted regularly. Dash passed away last year from cancer, and today is his birthday.

You can also see some nice process shots by Carlos Gonzalez here.

Verse LTS memorial

Here are shots of a recent memorial mural I painted for Marcos "Verse" Vasquez in Mid-City, Los Angeles. His life was tragically cut short in 2006, but his spirit still lives strongly today among his friends and family. This is the second memorial I've painted for him, the first was a couple years back with Retna at Mid-City Arts.

Recent publications: VNA + Art Press

So I haven't had time to update lately since I've been busy painting and generally just distracted by life -I'll try and post up some more updates soon..for now, here's two recent publications I had artwork featured in worth mentioning.

The first one is a nice little interview in VNA Magazine (Very Nearly Almost) out of the UK, one of the classiest public art/street art magazines out there.

The second one looks like a porno based on the cover but is, in fact, one of the most respected art publications in Europe: Art Press. They featured "The Conductor", a mural I painted with Retna on the side of the Margulies Collection building in the the Wynwood district of Miami for Primary Flight during Art Basel in 2009.

I'm a little late posting about these, but they're both worth checking out. More good stuff on the way..

New video from Viet Nam

Here's a new video put together by the good folks at VNTWT in Saigon, VietNam. It's based on footage and interviews from when I painted there in 2010. I don't think I was as eloquent as I could have been, but other than that I think it's a great video and hopefully gives a little bit of an insight into how/why I paint what I do. I really found a lot of inspiration in VietNam and look forward to going back to paint there some more, and hopefully visit some other parts of SE Asia as well.

Also, I have a bunch of other updates to put up, but I've been locked away in the studio preparing for upcoming gallery shows & mural projects, but I'll be adding some more stuff soon..

New mural, new year

The first day of 2012 saw the release of this month's LA Times Magazine, which included a portrait I painted for an article by respected civil rights attorney and social justice champion, Constance "Connie" Rice. When the project came to me I was excited to paint her and thought it would be great to paint the portrait as a mural, so it could have a life beyond being seen in the magazine. The Times was into the idea, and after asking around, I was able to secure a location for the mural on the side of the Center for the Study of Political Graphics in West LA. I was also able to meet with Ms. Rice at her Advancement Project offices and take some photos of her for reference. Very inspiring woman. I painted the mural in a couple days, and it was barely completed in time for the publishing deadline. Many thanks to Connie, Cary, Hannah, the LA Times Magazine, Aris, Carol, Mary, the CSPG, Oscar and John for their help making this possible. Carlos Gonzalez also got some cool process shots.

New piece in Phoenix on "Calle 16"

I was in Phoenix recently and painted a little something on the side of a new artspace called Por Vida Gallery (right next to the infamous Barrio Cafe on 16th street). My good friends Pablo Luna, Lalo Cota & Breeze Marcus just got the space recently and should be opening it soon. The portrait is based on a photo of the homie Chee from LA, though it could represent a lot of different folks.

Breeze said something about this mural that perfectly explains one of the reasons I love painting for the public so much:

"What I like best about this piece is there are a dozen dudes walking around this neighborhood that look just like this painting, and they all think its them. This piece now belongs to that community, and they appreciate it and respect. That's the most important thing."

As an example, below is a shot of "O.G." who lives nearby and does share a resemblance, if maybe a little older. He came through a couple times and expressed his support.