AJ Rafael Red Roses Prom
by @eddydrake
One of my biggest passions in life is the ability to help. Wether its non profits or just mere change on the street, a helping hand can always go a long way.
AJ Rafael is a great upcoming musician whos donating his time and talent to help put together a prom like event with food, dining, and a show for tons of fans. Want to attend? Check out the video and look for the details.
Have you ever wondered what the street art and graffiti scene was like in France? I was able to find out for myself by interviewing the TSF crew who live in the suburbs of Paris. This crew consists of members that each specialize in different techniques of graffiti, perspective and illusion art. Their work is a perfect representation that the creative spirit is not something you can be taught, but something that you are born with. This is their story…
Q. What does TSF stand for?
A. TSF, at first, meant The Simpsons Family. It was like a joke where every member had a Simpson’s character name. It was a tradition to call each other by these names but now we try to find new meaning for TSF. Just find yours.
Q. How many people are in your crew?
A. In TSF we are 9 painters in France, 1 in Burkina Faso and 2 in Mexico.
Q. When did TSF start? How did it start?
A. TSF crew started around 1995. It started like a joke with kids who wanted to paint on the wall.
Q. How is the graffiti culture like where you are located?
A. We live in a Paris suburb so there is a lot of graffiti artists, street artists and other street activists around us. Like other places, I think there is some work that is good and some work that is bad but more and more people come in the street to show their work. They make the street as their own free gallery and that’s great.
Q. Is there competition with other graffiti crews in your area?
A. We don't have a competitive spirit but we regularly see some paintings and think that if they were able to make it, we have to do it better. For us, it's in the roots of graffiti to want to be the best and to paint better that the others. It's a cool, good spirit and artistic competition.
Q. I love your work in illusions. Where did you learn your technique?
A. We never had something like school learning to know how to draw and the same goes for the illusions that we do. We are self-educated painters and for the illusions, we just try and try and try again. We work a long time on optical illusions and perspective and anamorphous art was the natural next step for us.
Q. What are you hoping to accomplish with your graffiti?
A. We don't have the pretention to leave an impression to the world, but if our work can make someone dream or smile, we will be proud. We hope to give to people who see us work a little magical, poetical time.
Q. Tell me about your favorite piece of art that you have done.
A. We don't know what our favorite piece is because they all have a story. Hopefully it will be whatever we create next.
For More Information:
-Adrianne
TWEET ME! @ADRI86
Eric Staller has created art pieces that have spanned 30 plus years that have captured glimpses of his subconscious and his surroundings. Being a veteran in the art community, Eric’s art has continued to challenge and amaze audiences of all ages and walks of life. His forward thinking has set a path for the artist to dig deep and create art that pushes the envelope and sparks the thought of the unknown. I had the pleasure of interviewing Eric on his amazing career and how his imagination has influenced the art he has created. This is his story…
Q. At what age did you begin your artistic journey and what steps did you take to hone your craft?
A. I was working toward my degree at the
Q. You are quoted on your website as saying, “An artist is what he culturally eats, or is immersed in”. In what cultural surrounding have you found your art to flourish the most?
A. My 20 years in NYC are the foundation of my inspiration and output. I then moved to
Q. Your involvement in the art community has spanned many years. What has been the most exciting development you have witnessed in the evolution of art?
A. Only art that challenges the status quo is of interest to me. Art has to push the envelope of what is considered art. Christo is doing that with his gifts to the public of his temporary installations.
Q. I am a big fan of your light drawings and light sculptures that you created in the 70s and 80s. What inspired those pieces and do you plan to create more?
A. I was interested in other-worldly architectures of light; something that’s there but not there. I took that series as far as I could and moved on before beginning to repeat myself. I don’t plan to go back there. It’s the unknown that interests me.
Q. Your Light
A. My Lightmobile in 1985 was probably my most powerful moment as an artist. I drove it around NYC on more than 100 nights, looking into the startled and delighted faces of hundreds of thousands of people. That inspired me to want to share my art with a cross-section of the public and not just the art world cognoscenti. This was the beginning of a continuing series of what I call 'urban UFOs'.
Q. What sparked the idea for Octos and why did you decide to turn it into an actual product for people to use?
A. All of my ideas bubble up from my subconscious, in formed by observations of the world around me. My first 4 urban UFOs were lighted objects. Octos was a conscious decision to reach a daytime audience. It was also informed by the oil crises of 1990: a metaphor for travel in the post-petroleum age. When I moved to
Q. What has being an artist helped you to discover about yourself?
A. I didn’t choose to be an artist; it chose me. It is a calling, a religious feeling, and a compulsion to peel away layers of a subconscious onion. It’s a mystery to me where the ideas come from. It is the idea that initially appears the most absurd that I am ultimately compelled to build.
To Find Out More Information:
-Adrianne
Tweet Me! @ADRI86
Andrew Garcia
by @eddydrake
My dude Andrew Garcia stopped by the studio to catch us up on whats new in his world and tell us about his tour with JRA and many more. Check it out!
Andrew Garcia
by @eddydrake
My dude Andrew Garcia stopped by the studio to catch us up on whats new in his world and tell us about his tour with JRA and many more. Check it out!
