Next month I’m included in this urban art exhibition along with sixteen street & contemporary artists and two photographers that have documented the third coming of graffiti art and letter based abstraction along with stenciling, a spinoff genre to tagging.

The place, the Riverfront Renaissance Center is a very active place which provides not only artist exhibitions but educational programming for the local community to learn more about the benefits of all types of artistic practices.It’s a very large exhibition space with plenty of restaurants flanking either side of the building along it’s main street.
The last exhibition I was included in at this facility was also an urban art themed show in 2008 where I exhibited a couple of my designer custom toys/sculpture which received a bit of local press to my enjoyment.

This time I will also be exhibiting several of my new platform Qees,Frombie,Oshi the kid and the popular Dunny themed character with a few other surprises sure to spark the imagination of patrons young and old.

The opening reception will be held on June 15th from 6:00 until 9:00 pm and is free to the public. For more information visit the centers website at www.rrcarts.com or phone 856-327-4500

At the end of last year I lost a very special friend who I met by chance while I was working as a custom framer at Michael’s Arts and Crafts store in Lawrenceville

/Princeton New Jersey over six years ago.

A woman named Elisabeth Roth came into the store looking for someone to frame over thirty pieces of original art that her late father Ted Eron produced for a retrospective being held in his honor in Woodstock, NY at the home of his son.

After consulting with her that day she promised to return to Michael’s and work with me on this extensive project exclusively. When she did return, she brought along her mother (Selma) and a friend of the family as well as more fantastic works of art created by her father.

When I first looked at this artwork (Army moral posters from WWII )I knew this wasn’t my ordinary customer because she brought me original art that was a rarity compared to the usual posters and open edition prints that normally flowed through our frame shop.

This was the most artwork framed by one single framer dealing with one customer Michael’s ever saw and it developed into a lasting friendship that resulted in two exhibitions for Ted (Selma’s late husband) and, Selma with her own artwork was included in the Going Global exhibition at Da Vinci Art Alliance along with myself and three other artists traveled to two other locations. I use to see her at the Princeton public library quite often before she was unable to drive and her visits were sporadic until she had to enter an assisted living facility where she would remain for the rest of her life.

On February 4th 2012 Da Vinci Art Alliance celebrated the home coming of America’s most famous post modern artist; Andy Warhol who changed the way we look at the common objects around us with a more discerning eye. The photograph above shows Dr. Debra Miller and James Warhola (Andy’s nephew) participating in an symposium held at the Fleischer Art Memorial school which is across the street from where the exhibition “Warholized” The Silver Show @ Da vinci Art Alliance on 704 Catharine St. in Philadelphia, PA is on view until February 26th.

I was a guest speaker at this event which was a pleasant surprise to me and I was happy to explain my connection with Pop Art and the personal association I have with the family (Andy Warhol’s) which I have adopted as my artistic extension.

What became evident to me was the fact that I truly have arrived at some career junction that has materialize itself in a real concrete way and, I couldn’t be happier that I truly stuck to my guns, so that my natural instincts usually,more times than not, guided me to a rather unorthodox method of career building, but I’ve managed to overcome many obstacles that would have stopped the average person in their tracks it has been said to me on several occasions so this is not my own personal opinion;how would I know that theoretically?

In this exhibition I have two prints that were created by my new photographic technique and using the computer. Making my toy sculptures the subject of my artwork and placing them into real situations that I photograph at another time. The greatest thing about making art this way is that,”the final artwork doesn’t exist  until you pay for it in advance so you don’t have to worry about restocking your inventory It’s made to order like ordering a cheese burger from Burger King or Mc Donald’s it doesn’t get any better than that,people want instant gratification and gifts through the mail.”

http://www.title-magazine.com/2012/02/warholized-the-silver-show/

http://www.centralvoice.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/central-voice-gets-warholized/

From Miami to Atlanta for the holidays wasn’t an easy trip but I won’t complain because I’m here writing about it so, it must have been special to warrant my commentary.
While I was visiting family in Atlanta Georgia I was able to see this exhibition at the High Museum which is why I am writing this article basically;if you haven’t been to this modern gem of a facility your not taking advantage of the cultural awareness this museum provides with it’s exhibition programing and the permanent collection.
I was very Impressed with the general flow & design of the building because it reminded me of something you would see in Miami or some other city conscious of modernity as a general architectural theme for design.
Its a place where I could see myself hanging out on a early Friday evening having cocktails at their all white glass cube like lounge facing the courtyard where this time there was a giant sculpture by the artist KAWS that looks like a shamed Mickey Mouse with his hands in front of his face blocking the crossed out eye’s this painter usually depicts in this character.
The most rewarding part of this visit was being able to see all of my artistic influences rolled up into one great exhibition, where I could see the work up close and personal for the first time. You could almost expect to see one of my works just around the next corner because of the heavy influence these fourteen artist had on me when I picked up a book called “The History Of Modern Art” and read it backwards. from contemporary artwork all the way back to the founding of modern art during the early turn of the century when Picasso came to American via boat with a ticket purchased by Salvador Dali who had already arrived.

Part II of my floridian adventure should be called “The two Amigos” and as you read on, you’ll find out why. They’ll be photos in this report for frame of reference but not as much as I would like to display here.

In photo one you see artist Leon Rainbow at work on just one of many legal wall spaces that the proprietor grants to painters in the Wynwood Arts/industrial district to enhance the outside of the building and draw attention, where inside you could have anywhere from a small screen print operation going on all the way up to high end lighting galleries.
Trying to keep up with Leon and his extended Graff family proved to be far to much action than I could record so most days I chilled in the hotel until evening. But when I did go out we encountered some great art exhibitions and performances that were quite memorable, especially this little coffee shop that had rotating Djs rocking some heavy dance music that we kept visiting because of all the activity that swarmed around it day and night. The most exciting indirect thing that occurred was that; because of someone’s driving skills in a town that neither one of us was that familiar with we managed to see the whole neighborhood which I really felt like I could live there and be productive again as an artist.

Time will tell if I can make this dream come true and, if time doesn’t reveal what I had in mind, I’m sure something will pop up in the near future or I can just prepare myself for next year with more knowledge than I had before about a place that I have been exploring for several years now and it always seems to satisfy my sole the minute I arrive. Viva La WAD!

Shout out to 2ESAE for the warm vibe and introducing me to Jeff I will never forget it! Thanks

Art Basel Miami 2011
What can I say about an event that is so visually driven and musically drowning that to write about this makes it a static description of something that has a pulse, which is cleverly the title of one of the many art fairs that are like little stars in the galaxy of planet Basel on South Beach at the convention center.

I cannot comment on the activities of Art Basel and the surrounding activities on the main drag Collins Avenue because I was over on the mainland in Wynwood and Midtown where all the raw contemporary and experimental public art projects were being created right before your eyes.To compare this energy to what is traditionally done at most of the main events is like;one of them feels like walking through a grave yard of what was once modern with people trying their best to honor and preserve it.
Then you have this young unbridled directionless (so it seems) energy that is responding to the information overload that is unavoidable unless you live in a jungle or cave ,these living artist are spitting it back out and, redirecting it into society in forms of murals (Like the fresco’s of Venice,Rome,Tuscanny.Even forms of cave painting sort of but in warehouses) permanent indoor and outdoor installations,dance parties,dinner parties,hooka parties everything to celebrate self-expression and how it can beautify a community even though it may be less desirable at first (before the artist move in) and then transformed into a tourist attraction overnight.

There are so many stories to report about this five day affair I’m sure if you search the internet you will get other opinions about this visual assault on a already visually cool place that is totally central American in its flavor but really receptive to it’s International injection of old world art, mixed with new millenium graphic sensibilities that works perfect to introduce a new audience of art enthusiast who are eager to put their stamp,stencil,sticker,mural,throwy(quick sketch) or painting on the walls legal or illegally it doesn’t matter, just as long as it is part of the seen. Aside from the art festivities I did find time to relax and shop around a little bit the week after, when all the hype disappeared and the art lovers were back to their normal way of life. It was like I stayed behind down there to actually feel Miami without anything going on, just me,  myself and my thoughts about when will I finally live down there and create my own artistic space.

A must thing to do when your down in South Beach is take a walk down Espanola Way and see if you could resist all the wonderful restaurants with plenty of  al fresco dinning along a very narrow street. After that you want to work your way north to Lincoln Road where you will find more places to dine but there are plenty of places to pick up a quick gift, and the place I would recommend is called “The Pink Palm” where you can get Items such as Ugly Dolls by David Horvath to cheep novelties like X-Ray glasses cool travel luggage tags by Romero Britto; wonderful oil burning Urns that can accent any room with fantastic scents (I brought one.) plus much much more. The creme’ ala creme’ of the Miami Beach experience is walking down the path to Luminus Park and checking out the art deco hotels along Ocean Drive and trying to decide on which restaurant has the best lunch specials so you can again dine al fresco while watching the parade of people passing by also trying to figure out where the best place would be to post up and eat.

I decided to take my first adventure in Ohio to visit my best friend and to visit my friends the Warhola’s in Pittsburgh, as well as have an opportunity to see the new exhibition by Alex Ross currently at the Andy Warhol Museum.During my stay in Ohio I visited Stubensville where my best friend is now living, it was a nice break away from the norm but, I was a little bit over whelmed by the throngs of visitors that came to the house to welcome me.
Non the less I had a nice time just being around good honest people with great hospitality and,friendly to boot. I stayed for a couple of days and then it was time to go to Pittsburgh where I would stay alone at the Hyatt North Shore hotel that was situated right smack in the middle of the two sports arenas Heine’s Field and PNC Park which was very convenient and, just a short walk across one of the bridges you are in downtown Pittsburgh.
I had dinner with the Warhola-Hoovers the night before I was to visit the museum the next day and that’s was great because I arrived on such short notice, they really went out of their way to meet up with me, which I was extremely grateful.

While at the museum I got the greatest surprise I could expect being so far away from New York City.That night I ran into Paul Miller aka Dj Spooky who was just as surprised as I was to see each other. He immediately asked me what I was doing there and I told him that I was actually visiting Andy Warhol’s family to his wonderment.
We chatted for a minute about his new book and then he pulled up an image of the cover design before his attention was captured by the folks who sponcered his reason for being there which was a lecture and promotion.

The trip didn’t go without it’s problems, the majority of it was very enjoyable but, upon return from Pittsburgh on Amtrak train No.42 October 30th, (the earliest snow storm on record) we lost power on the train a couple of times due to the heavy snow that was weighing down the power lines and trees along the route. This disabled us for entire an six hours or more before reaching Harrisburg, Pennsylvania only to have a very large tree fall directly on the engine as we were barreling down the tracks for what it seemed, as twice the speed we were going when we first began our journey.

The impact was like crashing through a barn because of all the rumpling of the debris that hit the side of the window just a few feet in front of me  and the top of the train while it came to an amazing gravity defying stop.Nobody knew the severity of the accident until some of the passengers stepped off the train to inspect what had happened after being told that we would be delayed this time indefinitely because of the tree hitting the train or; the train hitting the tree.Either way we were stuck there until Amtrak could figure out  how to rescue 26 passengers who,up til now, were already frustrated before this last incident. After several more hours and one attempt to send a rescue engine which also became disabled at one point they decided to back the original engine ( still connected to the passenger cars but, badly damaged.) up all the way back to Harrisburg where we would be staying overnight at the Crown Plaza Hotel and the rest would be explained to us in the morning once an Amtrak representative contacts the remaining crew members who were also with us.

To finish this story here would be a waist of time due to short attention spans and simply, pure lack of interest on the readers part to deem my life just not that interesting. I guess these are things that books are made of so you’ll just have to wait until I publish my first full length memoir which has always been a work in progress  since I began writing way back in the late 1980’s after not being able to sleep because of a great club night during which a hit of acid or mescaline was used for inspiration.

Well this is an event that have wanted to attend for quite some time, ever since I discovered the world of custom designer toys and, how it relates to one of my long time secret passion of Japanese animation.
The journey to New York is always a challenge but I thought it would be worth the try to go in hope that at worst,being inspired! And at best be totally turned on buy the massive geek squad convention that is more like Halloween ramped up to epic proportions.
I decided to go on Sunday as the access pass indicates because of some previous affair in Philadelphia on Saturday evening which also had its share of performances that were almost just as entertaining as watching all the serious fans of ComicCon dressed up as their favorite character on television striking a pose with precision when asked to be photographed.

I found myself really biting off more that I could chew because I was doing something that my body really wasn’t prepared for by traveling from state to state and so as a result, I arrived the last hour of the last day of the conference with far too much to experience in just one hour.
I was so visually stimulated that I couldn’t even take any pictures myself because I couldn’t focus on one particular thing long enough to make a decision. Also my personal demons were beginning to appear so that compounded the situation and I became paranoid of the thought that somebody might just figure out what I was really thinking about all this eye candy before me.
All I could do was find the section called the “Cultyard” where there were people that I was familiar with, either through my visiting their store for purchases or, running into them at various openings and events. I brought a print from Lou Pimentel when I realized that he had signed one of the prints upside down and offered to resign it personally in watercolor for me. If anyone wants my real opinion about the conference, all I can say is make sure you plan on staying in New York for a day or two to take in all that the ComicCon has to offer because one day just isn’t enough time. And, forget about buying the new releases at the exhibition because they are practically sold out the day after preview on Wednesday or Thursday when the show officially opens.

I decided to participate in this annual festival this year to try out exhibiting my custom toy/sculptures and see if I could survive an eight hour day after being isolated for three years and not exhibiting any new works of art.
The Monroe Art Center is a huge warehouse filled with rented studio and performance spaces that seem like it is still in its infancy, just gaining recognition from its own local community in hopes to attract supporters from surrounding areas such as across the Hudson River to the borough of Manhattan.
The group who organized the event worked very hard at preparing the venue and made sure there was enough food and drinks for everyone the only criticism I had was that there wasn’t enough signage visable to advertise the event on the building nor inside to indicated where the event was being held in the five story warehouse.
My personal experience with displaying my wares was something of a challenge due to my situation but beyond that I noticed that most of the people who came over to take a look were a bit shy or didn’t speak at all to me. The only person who interacted with me was this cute little girl who allowed me to take her photograph holding one of my designs.

Last month the Atlantic Wire reported that Shepard Fairey had been attacked in Denmark after the opening of  his exhibition there and the angry mob shouted “Obama illuninati” (whatever that means) as they clocked the graphic artist with right hooks.

When I first heard about the incident I almost jumped for joy for reasons associated with the white washing of real urban street culture  which Fairey along with a slew of other graphic artist have benefitted tremendously over the past two decades creating a subsidiary of the original graffiti genre that included “Hip Hop” music and circle break dancing, is now called “Street Art” where it is marketed exclusively in the media and supported by new contemporary art galleries around the world.

In an Interview I did together with photographer Jon Naar (Faith Of Graffiti) at this years Jersey Fresh Graffiti Jam @ TerraCycle®  in Trenton,NJ last month he pointed out that the movement has lost its sense of messaging (the pretext to text messaging if you will) or communicating to other fellow artist or friends in other parts of the city via subway trains & stations. Now its just painting images and filling up wall space with almost pure graphic images with the occasional social political statement.To me that is no different than the large billboard advertisements you see all over the place selling you a bag of potato chips or a hooker wearing your favorite colors as she walks down the street.

What I don’t get about these people who place stickers & posters all over the place is the fact that they are not selling anything so it seems, and then their messages and images are wack and so personalized, or worse, borrowed; that its just once again,advertisement. The difference is that these images are now transformed into products instantly and marketed to people who don’t live on the very streets they deface making it more visually obvious that there is some neglect or disrespect for the area there’re putting their garbage up and its usually called the ghetto or hood by the masses and the whole issue of exploitation for profit comes to mind.