"Believe it or not, I can actually draw." -Jean Michel Basquiat
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Photo courtesy of
http://www.prepidemic.com/Graffiti has long been a fascination of mine. I love color so I would much rather see a wall ordained in bright, bold colors and patterns than the alternative... gray. This is part of what suburbane style is about. Growing up in North Dallas I was surrounded by ranch-style homes that rested upon beautifully manicured, freshly mowed lawns. While lovely as they may look, I have always been drawn toward a more urban, contemporary lifestyle
My art education has also been very traditional. The mediums that I have been trained to use consist of acrylic, oil, graphite, charcoal, pastel, watercolor, high and low fire clays, and various inks. In my four years at St. Edward's University, where I studied studio art, advanced techniques in graffiti was never offered as an elective. I even took a class titled "art in public places" and my professor spent approximately ten minutes discussing Basquiat.
Though often from afar, I have been a follower of urban style, but I never really felt that I had anything to offer to hip hop culture. Until recently, it never occurred to me that, through my art, I could participate in this creative subculture. Last weekend I attended EMERGE at the United States Art Authority where local graffiti artists hung their work on gallery walls. I am studying their techniques and applying them to my current body of work. I am quickly learning spray paint is a tricky medium. These graffiti artists are talented and deserve recognition. There is more graffiti in Austin that will be featured in future posts, but these images are what I have come across most recently.
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Gene Parmesan
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Gene Parmesan
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Gene Parmesan
Polyheadron of Illumination
by Grand Life
StylEach side of this piece was created by a different screen printer
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These pieces are located on the side of the Delta
Millworks building on East 5
th street.
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On another note...
I was feeling a little blue after SXSW; all of the creative energy that the musicians brought to town had suddenly dissipated. Austin grew quiet and returned to its typical state of laid back. But I was still interested in listening to more music. Fortunately, my brother is a musician. He currently plays keyboard for the Dallas band, Jack County. However, when I was in Dallas recently, I was able to catch a show that he did with Emotion Brown and the Stellar Cosmos.
In her words, Emotion and the Cosmos is soulternative universal music. It's a metaphysical sound lab with a few messages. It may not be forever, but it is now and that matters now. On a physical level, the Cosmos is an ever-evolving sound machine that currently consists of: Aaron Haynes (drums), Wade Campbell (bass), Scott Lee (bass), and Kyndal Roberston and Becky Elias (backup vocals).
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