"Infinite Tapestry" by Mars1

1AM is proud to present PRINT, our annual show featuring limited edition prints from some of our favorite artists, just in time for the holidays. Bring some art to your life this year or give a great gift to someone special, because PRINT is about bold, quality, affordable fine art from the best artists in the game. The killer line-up includes:

JURNE – ZOLTRON – 123KLAN - EVAN YARBROUGH – VOGUE – MARK BODE – HYDRO74 – MARS1

POESIA – ROBERT BOWEN – RIME – GOD MACHINE – AND MUCH MORE!

Join us on Friday, December 9th from 6:30 – 9:30pm for the opening reception of the PRINT show. The opening will be a 21+ event.

‘Tis the season to be giving so make sure you pass by and pick up your gifts at 1AM gallery. With so many awesome art at phenomenal holiday deals, there is something for everyone at PRINT!

"Exodus" by Mike Bam Tyau

“”Exodus” reminds me of the curvature of a futuristic, bionic world.  The sense of depth Mike painted into his work gives me a perspective of flight.” – Dan

Last day to check out Fast Forward!  If you can’t make it, visit the collection online here.

"Yellow Lit" by Scott Sueme

“I was first attracted to Scott’s piece because of the colors.  They are bright, fresh and lively.   It reminds me of a colorful labyrinth that I would love to get lost in.  Also, watching Scott get down on 1AM’s wall and paint the finishing (or perfecting) touches to his canvases, showed me that he takes pride in his work and only wants to exhibit his best.  He has a strong work ethic and it shows in his work.” – Anna

Last chance to view Fast Forward at 1AM this weekend!

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“I’ve always loved Renaissance art, and Poesia’s piece appears to have transposed modern, graff elements (echoing Cubism) onto a classical piece.  The juxtaposition of the two dramatically different types of art on one canvas works really well together.” – Gina

This is an outstanding piece by an artist who sees the future of graffiti clearly and ambitiously.  Visit Poesia’s site, graffuturism.com, to learn more about propelling graffiti art to the next level.

Fast Forward will be at 1AM through October 29th!

So, to celebrate our differences, we are launching 1AM Favorites, where different staff members pick their favorite pieces from the current exhibition.  In the inaugural blogpost, we got Eddie doin’ his picks.

"Hi (Fire)" by Suiko

“I enjoy Suiko’s “Hi” piece and the range of colors he incorporated within it.  These warm colors make viewers feel as though they are in preseence of actual fire.  Suiko is a talented artist and his recent work truly represents the concept behind our current show, “Fast Forward”" -Eddie

Fast Forward show is on now through October 29th.

Mike Bam: How did you come about your name Poesia? Does it mean anything?

Poesia: It was way back when I was more of a tagger and going through multiple names. I had started to sketch pieces and my name at that time, Emerge, wasn’t flowing well with my style. Then, I ran across this record and it had “Poesia Mix” on it. At the time, I had never heard that word and it seemed like something to mess with. So I started piecing it and later learned its meaning. It means Poetry or Poem in Spanish.

"Study 3" by Poesia

MB: Can you elaborate on how your style has evolved to what it is today?  It is quite powerful with sharp lines and angles. I’ve been told that it’s quite masculine.  How did it come about?

P: I think coming back to graffiti recently in 2007, after taking a couple years off of being a serious painter, I tried to get back in the saddle with some older styles that I had always relied upon. I had started with a west coast wild style influences by local writers like Picasso TWS and Rayge VOB, and then after meeting Raeyvn TWS, I started to experiment a lot more. It was about this time that I started to talk to Joker and I was put down with Transcend in the mid nineties. My style really went off the deep end as I had deconstructed and reconstructed it. I was attempting to paint on walls like I would a canvas and I think a lot of graffiti writers didn’t know what to make of it. I had taken color out of the equation and also worked in muted palettes to create some emotional context that colors weren’t giving me. It was fun times but I think it got old explaining myself.  I teamed up with Poem TDK and established a more traditional style again, west coast wild style with some Oakland funk if you looked close enough. This brings us to the current style. I had created this signature style in the 90′s of transparent outlines on the background and things like that. When I came back, I painted some of these same style pieces when I was in Spain with some of the MSK crew. I found out right away how advanced the art form had evolved stylistically and technique wise. I was way behind, so I went back to the drawing board and tried to establish something new. I really have yet to get fully back after almost 4 years but it’s getting there. This new style is only half of an experiment that will fuse all my styles together soon. The angular geometric style is about breaking down letterform and movement into straight lines, being able to create flow and form without any curves. These pieces are exercises in finding new patterns for my style. These new patterns will emerge in the next series of pieces.

MB: I know you have a blog called Graffuturism.com and it is representing a movement. Can you hit me with an explanation on what “Graffuturism” is all about?

P: This is a tough question because it really isn’t about anything yet. It’s a start to the possibility of something and a direction for some of graffiti artists who attempt to transition into fine art. It is also about the evolution and progression of our art form. I feel we are at the pinnacle of change in our culture and without communication and proper documentation it will get lost in all the noise that is reported on out there. This is one of the reasons why most of the issues featured on the blog, I ask the writers to explain, in their own words, their opinion.  What the evolution of our culture means to them personally is more important than what any one person tries to define.

Without proper discourse we will be swept into the pile with the rest of contemporary art. Or worse be written off as just graffiti vandals. We are so much more than that and people need to pay attention. This new Graffiti Avante-Garde that is forming will become a powerful force in the art world for decades to come.

MB: Why do you think the Fast Forward show was important?

P: I think it’s important for San Francisco to be a starting point for future projects. This city has amazing graffiti history and has established world renowned graffiti artists that have made the transition successfully. What it also has is a very strong style of art. However, I don’t think a lot of people want to admit or see this but it has become predictable at times. I love this city but it is hard to see so many of the same styles grace the galleries for the last decade. There is tremendous talent locally and internationally and the scene is changing in our culture. Important graffiti work is taking place throughout the world and we are at a high level of activity right now.  I’m not dissing any of what San Francisco has accomplished, this has been a mecca of art and creativity for decades. I just personally feel like some of galleries are missing the importance of the current movement of graffiti. Graffiti has grown up. 1AM was able to see this vision with you (Mike Bam) as the curator and take a chance on the artists in the Fast Forward show. Fast Forward is an important show that I feel will be the first step of many towards bringing some relevant graffiti exhibits to San Francisco.

MB: Explain a little on your new “masters” series of work .  What’s it all about?

P: The series of “old masters” paintings that I have been working came about when getting ready for a two-man show in Oakland this year. I wanted to comment on some things and also engage the viewer in a new way. Everything I paint is about graffiti or the letterform. I don’t want to give away too much as these works are still an experiment in progress, but they are part of an on going commentary on the relevance of what we do. I don’t like to spell things out, I would much rather have the viewer have their say on the pieces. This is one of the reasons why I have not titled any of the artwork. When we paint murals and pieces all we do is sign our name rarely do we title a painting in the street environment. These works are far from the street, but created with the same identity and thus align themselves with similar processes.

Check out Poesia’s art at 1AM’s Fast Forward show, up now through October 30th.

Estria and his team have been traveling from NY to Honolulu to LA finding graffiti artists who reign supreme. Now, they’re bringing Estria Graffiti Battle home to Oakland for the finals where the champions from all over the country meet at last to see who truly can be named king or queen. The finals is this Saturday, October 8th from 11 – 6pm. Before the big throwdown, there are more awesome events to add to your social calendar.

EVENTS:

The Estria Foundation Art Show at SMSHBX Opening Night
DATE: Friday, 10/7/11
LOCATION: Smshbx 18th and Telegraph, Oakland
TIME: 6-8pm
COST: Free

Pecha Kucha “Women Creating Public Art”
DATE: Friday, 10/7/11
LOCATION: Oaksterdam University, 1600 Broadway Oakland
TIME: 8-10pm
COST: $10
21+ only

5th Annual Estria Invitational Graffiti Battle (in partnership with Life is Living Festival)
DATE: Saturday, 10/8/11
LOCATION: DeFremery Park, 1651 Adeline St. Oakland
TIME: 11-6pm
COST: Free

What a great week in graffiti! Still jones-ing for more? Don’t forget that “Fast Forward“, a group exhibition that captures the progressive evolution of spray can art, is still on view at 1AM through October 30th.

See ya there!

"Suiko Okii" by Suiko

Mike Bam: I was very attracted to your style in the Rakgaki book back in 2006 even though I could not read it. Can you explain what your style is?

Suiko: I don’t paint American or Roman letters.  My graffiti style consists of painting Japanese Kanji characters.  However, similar to how American graffiti lettering is based off the Roman alphabet, the styling that I paint is based off of the Kanji alphabet. You will not understand or be able to read my style if you don’t know Japanese Kanji and for many that know Kanji, they still may not be able to read my Kanji style depiction.

M: I noticed that over the past 2 years, I see hints of characters or animals mixed in with your Kanji lettering. Is this what you’re mixing?

S: Yes, I like certain animals and you are correct in seeing the mix of animals with my Kanji lettering.  I usually paint creatures from the Japanese culture (like sea life or a bird). I like painting animals, but I don’t paint animals or characters in the same style that you do with that perfect airbrushed rendering.  I mix it up by incorporating my lettering style with the image of an animal.

M: What does your name mean?

S: The literal translation of Suiko in Japanese to English is not my name.  My name is actually made up of 2 words – “Sui” meaning ‘drunk’ & “Ko” meaning crazy.  However, “crazy drunk” is not the meaning of my name. It goes deeper than just breaking down 2 syllables or 2 words, where there are actually several meanings to “Sui” and several meanings to “Ko.”  (Mike Bam’s editorial note: This definition actually took a long time to explain from Suiko, but the best English definition was that Suiko’s name is based off of a way of life where deranged people or graffiti writers simply do what they do just to do it)

Suiko gettin' down!

M: We just watched Planet B-Boy together & had a great, engaging discussion about the difference on spraycan/street artists that paint full time (and don’t go to an office job) everyday. Can you explain how you became a full time artist?

S: I was about to finish at my university and I had the opportunity to go to Germany to do an exchange in the last semester of schooling. At this time, I was not a graffiti artist. When I got to Germany in 1999, I was introduced to graffiti art. I loved it so much, I picked it up and started painting everyday instead of going to classes. Instead of studying, I collected my monthly allowances and chose to paint everyday. I had such a blast!  Since then, I have not stopped. It was in Germany that I decided that I needed to paint spray can art everyday instead of going to a graphic design office job. I agree with the Bboys from Japan that once you follow your passion and do it everyday, you will have found your identity.

M: As a fine artist of spray can art or graffiti, there must be some commercial gigs or jobs that you do. How do you determine the paying jobs that you do with graffiti art?

S: I choose clients that want my style of art. If they don’t want my style, then I don’t take on the job. For example, I am currently doing a job for a Jeep/Dodge Ram dealership in Hiroshima. I proposed to Jeep/Dodge that I could do their mascot of the Dodge Ram in my “Suiko Style” and they accepted that. This is a perfect marriage of painting something I want to in my style and completing a commercial job using graffiti art.

M: Thank you for answering my questions!

S: You’re welcome!  Please visit Hiroshima anytime and lets paint!

Suiko makin' his mark in SF

Check out Suiko’s work in “Fast Forward”, now up at 1AM gallery through October 29th.  If you want to learn more about him, visit www.suiko1.com.

How did the Fast Forward show come about?

I got together with Dan Pan and Nate1 and we talked about which artists were hot and what topics were at the cutting edge of spray can art.  I mentioned that Poesia’s blog, Graffuturism.com, was featuring new and innovative graffiti as well as discussing where graffiti has been and where it is going.  After being inspired by the site, Poesia and Jaybo were added to the show.  After that, all the other artists started to fall into place.

The artist, Suiko1 from Japan, has always been a favorite of mine for the past 4 years, but not too many people know about him in the US.  His work is nothing like the graffiti art or graphic design I’ve seen in my lifetime. Then, there was Scott Sueme.  In the beginning of the year, I went to a show that exhibited his work in Vancouver and I was impressed. I knew I had to have both of these guys in the show.

Tell us about your works for this show.

My work for “Fast Forward” will be art none of my peers have seen before.  It is a prediction and prophecy of what I think graffiti art will look like in the future but, at the same time, it is a reflection of my past work with computer graphics and my experience in the video gaming industry.  My favorite past time is to do work with lighting in computer graphics and I have translated this to my current work.  As an artist, I aim to manipulate the way people feel when they see color and lighting.

My body of work for this show is also my first attempt to do all my canvases with only Montana Colors spray paint.  I also wanted to show my graffiti writer peers that spray can art in a gallery does not have to look like what it looks like in the street.  It’s much more mature conceptual, abstract, and sophisticated than the public spaces that get smashed in the streets.

I hope everyone enjoys the works of all the artists in the show.  We did a big effort to get a good mix of talent from several different areas of the globe for “Fast Forward”.  It is interesting to see what the future of the graffiti will look like through the eyes of different artists.