“Melania” by Brickthing

Interested? Contact maya@1AMSF.com.

From Oakland to San Francisco and beyond, the Bay Area is a meca for art — both on the streets and in the galleries. Without a doubt, one of the more prolific street artists to emerge from the scene is local native Vogue TDK. Over the last thirty years Vogue has used his art to communicate with the rest of the world. Like many of his fellow graffiti contemporaries, Vogue got his start by producing illegal out-door art that often breathlessly combined aerosol paint with the world around us. In the 80′s he started the skinny cap technique which has not only become the norm for others looking to create finer detail.

Whether it be dangling from a sign high above a freeway or painting a mural on the side of a building, Vogue has continued to develop and evolve his style. On May 31st, he’ll be opening his new show entitled: “How We Do”. The show will showcase works that look at the streets from the perspective of a hustler’s life — low-riders, spray cans, trains, cityscapes pay homage to Vogue’s career and life. More importantly, the works will be done photo-realistically using aerosol on canvas. Expect to see plenty of intricate street life iconography such as train tracks, car culture, and graffiti artists.

Recently, we caught up with Vogue TDK. More at the jump:

Who is Vogue? Tells about yourself. 

I am a spray can artist from the Oakland area who is also a business owner, entrepreneur and family man who dabbles in pin striping and airbrushing.

When did you start painting and what inspired you to pick up a spray can for the first time?

I started painting in late 84, early 85 and I was inspired by the documentary Style Wars which I saw on a PBS channel. After watching this it opened my eyes to a whole new art form that was youth driven.

Did anyone take you under their wing when you were coming up?

No, there was nobody at that time to influence me. I was one of the first generation writers that evolved from the west coast.

What was the bay area graf scene like in the 80s?

Those were the golden years when everything was new fresh and exciting. Exploring and meeting new people was just as fun as painting. I would say it was primitive but really thrilling where everything was a mission from getting the paint, the caps and finding the right spots to paint.

Who would you say is the most underrated writer?

It’s hard to say generally because graff is so global now. But locally I would say Done from my crew is one that stands out just because he has the natural talent and is well rounded. I see a lot of potential in a lot of up and coming writers but I feel like they need a bit of guidance and structure.

Can you share some sick painting stories? 

Graffiti has exploded in the mass media.  The market is flooded with books, documentaries and mass produced clothing and accessories.  What are your thoughts on that?

I feel that as long as it is put out by people with involvement, knowledge and background of the history, it can be beneficial to the art form as it has with all other aspects of the hip hop culture.

What has kept you interested in graffiti for so long?

The freedom of expressing myself whenever and however I would like in a public form, also being able to push the boundaries of my work to a higher level to show people that graff is art not just vandalism

The ever elusive Legolize It Man, a 35-year-old concept artist in the Game industry who lives and works in Stockholm, Sweden, is also a musician! In fact, he played in two different bands, Coyote and Twopointeight. He discovered his love for Lego’s when his “dad came by with [his] old Lego’s, asking if the kids wanted it to play with them,” which apparently was a stupid question as they ended up playing on the floor for about three months in a row. He says, “Eventually [my daughter] left for other stuff while I was stuck on the floor for ever.”

W.C.H. Print by Legolize It Man

Designing Outside The Lines will be exhibiting from April 26th through May 25th. For more information, email maya@1amsf.com.

Montana Colors whips out a video of Vogue TDK for his upcoming show on Friday, May 31st. Look at that Chevy! Check out all his works including the one in the video in “How We Do” exhibiting from May 31st through June 29th.

For inquiries or if you would like to be part of the preview, email maya@1AMSF.com.

Here in the bay, daily life revolves around the day-to-day hustle and bustle of screeching car tires and passing train cars. In “How We Do”, opening May 31^st, from 6:30-9:30pm,Vogue’s work will give us snapshots from the perspective of graffiti writers weaving in and out of our urban world. As a long-time Bay Area native, his pieces are representations of the West Coast daily lifestyle. Expect to see intricate representations of street life iconography such as train tracks, cityscapes, car culture, and graffiti artists in the midst of urban landscapes.  
For inquiries or to be part of the preview, email maya@1AMSF.com.

CrestOne‘s bold and hilariously vivacious contribution to our current LEGO-inspired show, Designing Outside The Lines, brings new meaning to the phrase “sex toy.” With the use of the LEGO platform, he crafts what he views to be a visual mainstay of BDSM culture combining classic sexual iconography with a standard children’s toy. Needless to say, CrestOne’s risqué new toy pushes more than just one boundary and changes the way we view the LEGO and how we interact with the classic toy platform.

Give A Fuck Female by CrestOne

Come see it in person! Designing Outside The Lines will be running from April 26th until May 25th. For more information, email maya@1AMSF.com.

We are so excited for BASK (a.k.a. Ales Hostomsky) who just had his work featured in Iron Man 3! HOLLA! Just about the coolest commission evah! He got an email from a friend saying that she needed some street art for a back drop for one of the films she was working on… which just happened to be Iron Man 3! And if that wasn’t rad enough,  Robert Downing, Jr. himself said he wanted BASK’s work, specifically, in the film. “I started tripping over myself to get to the phone,” Bask says. He was asked to do a recreation of his 2004 painting, When It Rains, It Pours for Tony Stark’s laboratory as well as 13 other paintings to adorn the Mandarin’s lair, Stark’s media-manipulating nemesis played by none other than Ben Kingsley.

1AM Gallery will be hosting a BASK solo show called “Übermensch” which depicts children painted as superheroes using a street and urban art aesthetic. Growing up, the concept of GOD as a form of salvation seemed foreign, however, like many of us, the thought of obtaining a super power and becoming a super-man or ““Übermensch” as termed by Friedrich Nietzsche, was something he could relate to. BASK’s paintings of children’s costumes juxtaposed with the iconic comic book images of his youth remind us of the fantastical imaginings of being super heroes that we used as an escape from the trial and tribulations of our childhood. This concept and fresh street aesthetic is what landed him Robert Downing, Jr’s endorsement for Iron Man 3. Check out BASK’s original artwork for the film here.

WHEN IT RAINS, IT POURS: The Iron Man 3 crew installs Bask’s recreation of his 2004 painting “When It Rains, It Pours.”

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VehicleSF is a local, design-centric company that works with image-driven businesses, corporations and cultural organizations keep their brands “fresh, relevant, and alive”. Their eclectic client base stretches from Nike, SFMoMa, NBA, and Disney to small local businesses such as 1AM.  Thanks to Dennis Crowe, Stefan Grigg, and Jenny Imrich, we got to experience the stellar services of VehicleSF as they vamped up our debut 1AM Mobile App. We are happy to thank and support VehicleSF for the clean design of our street art app! Check out the awesome mural they painted today for our launch party happening tonight from 6-9pm, it’s free for the public!
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In Saturday’s SF Chronicle, C.W. Nevius, an opinion writer, released an article titled “Graffiti supplies at retail” which included 1AM.  He only focused on a small part of what we do.  So, we wanted to give Nevius and his readers the opportunity to learn more about who we are by sharing our mission statement and making them aware of all the services and products we offer that was strategically missing from his article.

1AM, short for First Amendment, is a company that stands for the freedom of speech.  We strive to showcase, teach, and inspire the public on street and urban art through our exhibitions, murals and classes.  In our art gallery, we exhibit world-renowned and local artists that specialize in graffiti, urban, and vinyl toy art.  Outside our gallery walls, our mural production team has been striving to beautify the city of San Francisco with large-scale murals that have positive messages like “Make Moves” and “Knowledge is Golden”.  Also, we provide a safe and creative environment for individuals and groups to learn more about the culture and art form.  We offer classes and team-building workshops and have hosted corporate off-sites with companies like Facebook, Genentech, Yahoo! and more.  We have also worked with local youth organizations, YMCA, Galileo High School, and First Graduates to name a few, to empower and educate our kids.  Most recently, we launched 1AM Mobile App, a free photography app that puts the entire street art world at your fingertips.   The app allows you to capture and share images and locations of your street art discoveries and follow other members and their findings worldwide.  Lastly, 1AM has a retail store that sells original clothing by our creative staff, street art books and art supplies, which is the main topic of Nevius’ article.  Similar to art supply stores like Blick, Utrecht, Arch and Flax as well as hardware stores like Ace and Home Depot (who carry a lower cost option), we indeed do sell spray paint and markers.

1AM was established  in 2008 and is located at Howard and 6th Street in SOMA.