Katie Windish the owner of Frames Forever & Art Gallery helped get me a press pass for this show held at the Cameo Theater (1013 East Colonial Drive). Twenty two artists from around the country were featured in this show. Each artist was given a large drywall slab on which to work their magic. Many of the panels were painted the day before in the parking lot of Frames Forever & Art Gallery. When Katie and I arrived, music was blasting in the back of the ground floor space. The DJs this night were SJ Supershot, DJ SPS, Rubeox and Divinci of Solillaquists of Sound.It was hard to choose a spot to sketch from since the space was broken up with all the drywall panels. I finally settled onto a comfortable red couch with a view of a bicycle that was covered with graffiti. The bike was decorated by Chico who is one of the earliest NYC graffiti artists. On the base of many of the spray cans that were mounted on the bike, Chico had painted his self portrait.
Across from me a New York City artist was painting an amazing mural of skulls. I had watched him start the mural the day before and I was fascinated to see how he was finishing up the process. Much of the work in the exhibit had a pop cultural hard edged feel. A friend of Katie's named Tobar had a panel that featured a man in a gas mask. This iconic image appears again and again in his work. What really struck me was the fact that he had 2 security cameras mounted on the top edge of the display. It left me feeling a little uncomfortable like Big Brother might be watching.
Chico stopped over to see what I was working on. He offered me a signed print of one of his paintings which he gladly signed. It was a relief to see so much urban art. This show really was worth going to.
