Valerie Leavy: I was doing a bit of research about you and according to the interwebs, you’ve lived in Northampton, Oakland, Manhattan, and San Francisco. You’re in the Bay Area now. So where did you grow up?

Mark Bode: I was born in upstate New York, in a small town called Utica. Utica was kind of a boom town in the 20’s and 30’s, kind of a mob town that blew up the city, and then when the mob moved out in the 60’s, 70’s, it kind of deflated. But I remember it being huge, you know, people bustling in the streets and stuff. It’s not quite like that anymore, it’s more of a suburban town.

VL: So, you and your father have had a real influence on visual culture. Is there anything in Utica that is kind of a monument to that? Any graffiti?

MB: Um, the only famous people that came out of Utica were um, Dick Clark and Annette Funicello.  And my father.

VL: (laughing) What a legacy.

MB: Um, yeah, so there’s not a whole lot in Utica as far as art and culture and stuff. But I did a mural at the Children’s Museum in Utica about 10 years ago, not sure if it’s still there. But I did a mural inside, you know, for the children. That was the only museum I could get down with at the time. But, maybe things’ll change.

VL: So I read that your Miami Mice comic was wildly successful; in its first year it sold 180,000 copies. What do you think were the factors that led to the widespread popularity of this underground comic?

MB: It was published by an underground comics publisher, Rip Off Press, and they just lived down the street when I came up with that [Miami Mice]. But there was a black & white comics boom that was spurred by the creation of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and that boom was like, Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters and uh-

VL: (laughing) Is that real? Radioactive Black Belt Hamsters?

MB: Yeah, they were real comics, yeah. And everybody was jumpin’ on that bandwagon, tryin’ to get part of that light. And it was, you know, Fish Police, and Hamster Vice, and all these different things. And I came in right at that time and I knew that I wanted to ride that wave. My wife and I were walking through a mall, and we saw a Miami Mice t-shirt and she goes, “Wouldn’t that make a good comic book?” and I was like, “Yeah, it would.” And Miami Vice was huge, it was the biggest thing on TV pretty much. Knowing that you can’t copyright a parody, I knew the Miami Mice t-shirt people were just makin’ money off the shirts and I had a better idea. Well, my wife did actually. And I banged out a comic book in about a month, it was 30 pages. And I didn’t spend much time on the art, I’d just, like, bang it out as quick as I could, get on that wave.

VL: So were you surprised when it was that successful?

MB: Yeah. But we had some warnings, you know, I was hangin’ out at Rip Off Press waiting for the first issue to come in, and we had Chinese speculators calling us.

VL: Wow.

MB: Yeah. And so we knew that something’ was up. And it’s like, Chinese speculators, wow, that’s something. And so the first print run was 40,000. The second issue went to 60,000 and then it went down again to like, 50 or 40. And then it went to 20 on number four. And I called it quits at that point. I didn’t know any better, but 20,000 is still a really nice print run. But I had illusions of grandeur, that I could just dump it, and go do something that was really cool, more Bode-ish, and get those numbers, and since I did that my print run went down to less than 10. So I kinda lost that gamble, but I didn’t wanna be known for creating a parody of a TV show, so I dumped it. But in a year’s time, we sold 180,000 copies. It was a good run, and I got a first taste of a nice day of it as an artist.

VL: Is there a comic or a group of characters that you enjoy illustrating more than the rest, or that you did enjoy even if you don’t do it anymore?

MB: Absolutely. My father’s work is always… I mean, I was brainwashed as a child, you know, my father taught me that these characters were real, before I knew what reality was.  When you’re four or five years old, reality is whatever it is.

VL: Oh yeah, you close your eyes and think no one else can see you.

MB: Yeah. The whole world stops. When you close your eyes. And in fact I’ve contemplated that many times. My father said, “Yes, son. Everything DOES stop.” And you know, I thought that his stuff was real, ‘cause he’d show me the comic, and a day later he’d say, “Let’s go to where I saw Cheech last and wait for him,” So as we’re eating lunch, up on the hill waiting for Cheech, I found myself wondering where he was, and he’s like, “Oh, he’s busy, just hasn’t shown up yet. But at least I can show you the drawings from when we hung out.” So I started envisioning the characters coming up the hill. And that’s what he was doing, he was systematically, in a good way, brainwashing me.

VL: And you DO get the idea that Cheech is probably a really busy guy.

MB: (laughing) Yeah.

VL: So, when I look at the characters- the Cheech Wizard, and the Lizards, and the Broads- I see a kind of a philosophical metaphor, almost. Where we are Cheech, and the Lizards are Others, you know? And of course, the Broads are tantalizing females, beautiful. The Desired. But I get the feeling that Cheech Wizard is kind of like, our selves, and he has desires, and he has indulgences, and is at play. Was that intended?

MB: Yes, very much. My dad, even though he hid Cheech Wizard’s identity, my dad was Cheech. You could never look The Creator in the eyes without going blind. So whenever he’d get under pressure and take the hat off- whether it was his girlfriend, or his Lizard pal, or at gunpoint by the Frog Police- you know, Take The Hat Off, you know- and Cheech would go, “Okay, but I warned ya,” and he’d take the hat off and everybody goes snow-blind. And it’s because you can’t look The Creator in the eyes. I was always the Lizard, the little Apprentice Lizard. He was always trying to teach me things, and would get impatient with the stupidity of the Lizard, and inevitably teach him some kind of harsh lesson, which was like a kick in the balls or whatever it was. But actually, the way the kick-in-the-balls joke happened- and my dad would repeat over and over again- happened because when I was nine or ten years old, maybe, it was like ‘72 or so, we had boxing gloves and we would box on the big king-size bed. He would get on his knees and we’d fight. And every time it got too rough, I’d nail him as hard as I could in the nuts. And my dad would drop. And I’d just be, “YESS! I won again!”

VL: (laughing) I’m surprised he still wanted to play that game.

MB: (laughing) Yeah, he did, he kept comin’ back. But he’s like, “I’ll get you. I’m gonna get you one day.” So, my character, which was the Lizard Apprentice, started getting kicked in the balls all the time, and so forever I am- my character was- being paid back for what I did to my father. And so that’s where that came from.

VL: Um, that’s awesome. So you’re also a tattoo artist. How many Bode characters have you tattooed?

MB: I would say hundreds? I’ve done, probably, aw man, in 16 years of tattooing it’s hard to say how many thousands of tattoos I’ve done. But the ratio [of Bode characters to other tattoos] isn’t that much. I’m very versatile, so a lot of people come to me with really hard line work. Like right now I’m doing Doré etchings on people, and I’m really into the cross-hatching and keeping it exactly the way the original is. So I have the abilities to go really super-detailed, so I tend to get more of that really hard-to-do, Fine Art stuff. But whenever I go on the road, that’s almost all I do is Bode Broads, and Cheech, and the Lizards. Almost exclusively, when I’m on the road, that’s what I get. And that’s okay. If I was doin’ the characters all the time in tattooing I’d probably get sick of doin’ it. And that’s probably a good thing, it keeps it fresh, and I’m still excited when I do one.

VL: I guess I was really hoping there was a story about somebody coming to you with one of these characters, asking you to tattoo it, not knowing that you… are behind them.

MB: Not with those characters. With Ninja Turtles… yes.

VL: That’s so great, so-

[melodic ringtone interlude]

MB: Hello? … I’m good, I’m uh… Can you call me back in about an hour? Okay, thanks, bye.

VL: So. I studied Art History and I love the old Dutch guys. There is more familiarity with, or more of a tradition, of Father and Son working in the same style, it seems, back then. So you have the Bruegels, and the Cranachs, and sometimes it’s hard to tell them apart. But it’s rare to see that now. And you’re very skilled, and it IS impossible to tell your work apart [from your father’s], especially because you sort of inherited this body of work at such a young age and, working in his style, probably tried to identify with, or just missed, your father after his passing. So just like those artists, you carry on his legacy and expand it. So what has been the reaction of you having such similar work? These painters that I really admire from hundreds of years ago, that was respected. But have you had any comments about it that are counter to that? What are your experiences?

MB: My father, actually, the day before he died, he really knew that I was planning on following in his footsteps. And he said, “Follow me, but don’t get too close. But we’re gonna be Bode and Son. And we’re gonna do great things together.” and he said that the day before he died and I was 12 years old. And he was working on the Lizard of Oz poster- he had just worked on it a week before at a comic convention. So I started drawing what I would do with it. That’s what I was doing right before he died, and that’s when he told me, “That’s gettin’ pretty close, Mark. Maybe you should try to go away from what I’m doing and you’ll have a better time of it.” But he didn’t know he was gonna die, and I didn’t either, so.. I took what he said with a grain of salt and continued to imitate him (laughing). It didn’t stop me that day, even when he died, I was workin’ on it. And I still was like, “Eh, I’m not gonna listen to him.” I liked the characters too much. By the time I was 15, I had pretty much given up my childhood. After my dad died I had decided I wasn’t gonna be hanging with children anymore, I was gonna hang out with adult artists, my mother’s and father’s friends, and I started to get tutored by Larry Todd in particular, my dad’s collaborator. By the time I was 15, I was coloring my father’s work for Heavy Metal magazine, getting paid, and I thought I was pretty hot shit in high school. And I went to comic conventions and they’d be like, “How could you even hold a pencil to your dad? How could you do that, hope to be as good as he was?” And my dad’s voice would come to me: “You can do anything you want, Mark. You can be whatever you want in this place.” I always remembered those words, so it never fazed me that much. Kinda bugged me a little bit that people would keep saying that, but if I thought like that, if I thought that I could never add to the art, then I wouldn’t have done it. I can add to it and finish where he left off. I love keeping him alive like that. It’s a way to defy death. He was -he’s still my best friend, and I still work with him. He’s immortal and I’m mortal, and the two of us work perfectly together. And no one can take that away from me.

VL: Very well put. And I think that, through this unique situation, you have this opportunity to carry on a decades-long relationship with him. In a way.

MB: Yeah. I still have dreams about him all the time where he comes and looks at my art. One dream in particular about six, seven years ago, I was doin’ a strip for While You Were Sleeping and it was my father’s characters, my father’s format, new stories… it was so close. And in the dream my father was in Grand Central Station with me (which was his favorite train station) and he went to a magazine stand and picked up While You Were Sleeping and flipped through it and stopped at my page, and looked at me really seriously, and goes, “Thanks for rippin’ me off.” And I just went totally serious, I mean, he was totally serious, and it took me back, and I said as clear as day- you know how sometimes in your dream you’re like, garbling? You’re talking in your sleep and you can’t talk? I talked perfectly clear to him and I said, “Vaughn, Dad, you are done. Your art is over, your life is stopped. Your art is stopped. You’re one artist. I’m one artist. I’m gonna do what I do, and that’ll be it. And I’m one artist. If I do you, it’s times two for you, and times two for me. And it makes us stronger.” And he just beamed a smile, and gave me a hug, and that was it.

VL: That’s awesome.

MB: I start gettin’ a little choked up over it.

VL: Yeah, me too. (laughing)

MB: But that’s our relationship, so…

VL: So… do you still do spraycan art?

MB: Yeah, absolutely. That’s my new favorite field. I mean, I think I like doing that more than anything. I wasn’t good at it till recently. I always dabbled in it. My first piece was the doors in Spraycan Art. That was my very first spraycan piece and I actually have the doors. My friend saved them because they ended up in that book. He saved them and then sold them back to me so I have my very first graffiti piece on those doors in my studio.

But I kinda sucked for a long time. Like I’d see other people doing Bode characters way better than I could. It was kind of annoying, you know. But I was a late starter, I got started in my 30’s. I moved to SF in 2005 and met Cuba and he hooked me up with walls. And I was still green but
had a huge palette, you know, and I just poured creative energy into it. Low pressure spraycans changed my life, now I can do anything with it. I love going big. It’s better than staying in my studio. Right now I’m doing a recycling plant project. 28th and Peralta, painting the whole compound.

VL: Nice, I’ll have to go check that out. Thanks for doing this interview with us here at 1:AM and we’ll be watching for Cobalt 60 in the movie theaters.

Mark Bode’s “Wizards, Lizards, and Broads” on exhibit now at 1:AM gallery through July 31st!

Valerie Leavy is an art and history fanatic from St. Louis, Missouri, now based in San Francisco and the newest member of the 1:AM team.

Then, we stumbled upon Split Obsession… Well actually, we have been going to their store in Koko Marina for the past 5 years.  When we first discovered them, we were excited to interact with like-minded people and loved their merchandise assortment and art collection.  Their walls are adorned with Angry Woebots, Big Foot, London Police, Buff Monster and the list goes on… They have a good mix of artists heralding from the local Hawaiian scene to the heavy hitters from around the globe.   On this trip, we had the opportunity to speak with the owner, Bruce Chin for hours about art, artists, SDCC, business, graffiti, Hawaii and San Francisco economy, and even the future of America’s youth.  Bruce showed us the aloha spirit in a big way and even gave us the fix we were feigning for…

Check out the limited edition (only 50 in the world!) Big Foot resin cast we picked up.  They only have 3 left so get your butt to their stores (there is one in Koko Marina and another in Ala Moana) or visit them online!

Thanks, Bruce!!!  See you on the Mainland soon!

]]> http://1amsf.com/2010/07/13/radiating-with-aloha-spirit/feed/ 0 http://1amsf.com/2010/06/29/mark-bode-is-one-hard-working-mofo/ http://1amsf.com/2010/06/29/mark-bode-is-one-hard-working-mofo/#comments Tue, 29 Jun 2010 23:45:30 +0000 1:AM http://1amsf.com/?p=2568 Last Friday, Mark Bode opened his “Wizards, Lizards, and Broads” show at 1:AM Gallery.  Let me tell you, Mark Bode is one hard working mofo.  He is the most gracious and patient artist I have ever seen dealing with fans.  He sat himself at a table under a spotlight, signing Bode comics, prints and art, and hitting up fans’ black books ALL NIGHT LONG.  In addition to all of that, he gave us and art aficionados a chance to peer into the Bode family vault by showcasing art that have never been seen before publicly by his father, Vaughn, and himself.  Thank you, Mark, 1:AM will definitely get down with you again!

Mark with Mike Giant

Mark with his uncle, Vincent in front of a portrait of his father, Vaughn

Team 1:AM loves working with Mark!!!

Check out more opening photos on flickr.

“Wizards, Lizards, and Broads” now at 1:AM Gallery through Saturday, July 31st!

L-R: "Cobalt 60 Cover #1" by Vaughn Bode and Larry Todd, "Cobalt 60 Movie" by Mark Bode and Craig Farley

Bode Broad by Mark Bode and KC Angel

"Chaboochek" by Mark Bode (concept by Vaughn Bode)

Are you ready? “Wizards, Lizards, and Broads” (OH MY!) coming to San Francisco this Friday, June 25th!

CES' famous letterstyles that is mimicked by many throughout the world!

“What does that say?”

“That says C-E-S.  One of the NY legends that helped graffiti become the art form it is today.”

Born Robert Michael Provenzano, 1970, NY, CES is a New York City leader of the new Wild Style look in contemporary graffiti. Attention to streamlining and aerodynamics were key to the CES formula for alphabetic reconfiguration.  Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and the graffiti innovations of CES have been relentlessly knocked off by his peers and have influenced the new generation of graffiti writers in the U.S. and througout the world.

CES has been a graffiti artist since 1983 and continues to produce powerful visual artwork today, never settling-living from his art and learning from his art. CES has been featured in the New York Times, Rad Pages, The Source, Mass Appeal, TimeOut-New York, and Sneaker Pimps-Motug.

Check out more of his artwork on his website or come by the gallery and see his contribution to Graphic Attack!

Last week of Graphic Attack! Make sure you visit 1:AM to see this awesome collection of work.  Can’t make it?  We made it super easy for you, visit our online gallery.

Siloette's mural on 1:AM's 6th Street wall

Starting art at an early age, Siloette began her love affair with graffiti in her formative years during Junior High.  Her passion for the art has led her to paint in cities around the world to working with big companies, like Adidas to pursuing a career in illustration.  When she is not juggling her career and her family (yup, she is a mother too!), she finds time to revisit her first love and gets down and paint.  Here are a couple of pieces she is displaying at 1:AM right now:

"Siloette Adidas" by Siloette

"Wife and Jekyll" by Siloette

Siloette

Check out Siloette’s pieces in person @ the gallery now through June 19th!  If you want to see the entire Graphic Attack! art collection and can’t make it by 1:AM, visit our online art gallery.

Yup, Mare 139 is exactly that… and so much more.

"Gold Rusts" by Mare 139

"Style Writer" Black Patina by Mare 139

Carlos Mare 139 Rodriguez is an internationally acclaimed artist/sculptor and pioneer in the art and culture of Hip Hop.

Leading his generation into a new world of possibility with style writing sculpture, he pioneered a vision that had, before him, no reference outside of the painted subways of the time. Throughout his career as a sculpter, Mare 139 has consistently brought innovation to the genre’s aesthetic and vocabulary.

Mare 139 earned the prestigious 2006 Webby Award for his launch of the Hip Hop documentary Style Wars website. Style Wars has also garnered the COMMARTS/Communication Arts Award, Horizon Interactive Award, as well as SXSW/South by Southwest Interactive.

Not only an award winner but an award designer, Mare 139 designed and created the award for the annual BET/Black Entertainment Award show, which is given annually to entertainers, athletes and actors.. He also designed a G-Unit Award expressly for 50Cent given to him by fashion designer Marc Ecko.

Other award projects include the 2005 and 2007 Red Bull Beat Battle Award and more recent the SPY Award for the 30th Anniversary of the Rock Steady Crew.

Graphic Attack! show will be up through June 19th.  So make sure you pass by soon!  Or, we always make it so easy for you guys, visit our online art gallery to view the entire collection of Graphic Attack!.  If you have any questions or would like to purchase art, email us at info@1AMSF.com.

Graphic Attack! in full effect! (Art by: Queen Andrea, Cern, Andy Dolan)

Cope2 in da house!

Curators, Melissa McCaig Welles and Andrea von Bujdoss, and art director, Roman workin' hard to bring you Graphic Attack!

DOON’T SLEEP.  This show is mos def the one not to miss! (Do we say that every exhibition?  But really, you need to be here!)

Unless you have been sleeping or only use www.1AMSF.com as your source of information, we are sure you have heard about the emergence of (supposed) Banksy’s throughout the city.  Great blogs like calibersf.com (follow Troy Holden‘s photos, he is always in the know) warholian.com, and laughingsquid.com have been really good at keeping us posted on the locations and discovery of these Banksy.  On our day off on Monday (the gallery is closed Sundays and Mondays), we decided to cruise the city and see these for ourselves.  Can we confirm that this are authentic Banksy?  No but it was fun searching for them.

Banksy on 9th and Howard. As of April 27th, this has already been messed around with by "Otter"(?).

Also this past weekend, Oaktownart.com, a blog devoted to photographing public art, stumbled upon an actual TrustoCorp sign in Berkeley.  TrustoCorp is known for putting up signs in public spaces depicting humor while also making a social commentary.  These hand-painted signs can be found blending in with public signs on street poles and if you are paying attention, it will force you to do a double take.  Also, if you want to own your very own TrustoCorp art piece to add to your collection, make sure that you are at 1:AM gallery on May 7th between 6-10pm for the opening of Graphic Attack!.  It is never before seen, new original work (does that even make any sense?).

TrustoCorp spotted in Berkeley by Oaktownart.com

So, the stars finally aligned.  The weather was really nice and sunny for two consecutive days that fell on a weekend, Mear One was attending another YBCA event in the Bay Area, and we were ready to have him get down.  With his buddies in tow, Roger Griffiths and Ricky, he got in to SF on Friday night, grubbed and proving his true dedication to the project, started the wall at 1:30am, Saturday morning.  He picked up again on Sunday morning at 7:30am after partying until the break of dawn (5:30) and gifted another amazing piece of work to the city of San Francisco by the afternoon.  This guy is a beast!

Mear One's initial sketch

Gorgeous female

Mear One's gift to San Francisco.

It turned out so f’in beautiful.  To watch this man at work is absolutely an experience.  Mear One sure knows how to handle a spray can and how to get people lost in his world.  When you see this piece of work, you too will be mesmerized.

It was a good week for street art in San Francisco.

Nate1 Droppin' More Knowledge!

One fateful Friday morning, six kids from Athenian school in Danville, under the leadership of their teacher Stacey the Great, trekked their way to San Francisco on a quest for knowledge, street art knowledge that is.  They took a private 1:AM workshop under the instruction and guidance of local graff artist Nate1, who gave them a taste of the world of graffiti.  The students not only learned about various letterstyles in the classroom, but got to see them firsthand on a mural walk around SOMA.  The students left Nate1 stunned and impressed with their probing questions and ability to retain so much graff knowledge.  At the end of the quest, all of the students were allowed to practice their hand at spray painting, producing their school’s letters, “ATN”. Doesn’t everyone look so proud and regal beside the letters they painted as a team?

YEEE! L-R: Tina, Nelly, Nate1, Stacey, Theo, Zohere, Eleanor, Stephanie

Big ups to Stacey the Great!  His kids are lucky to have a mentor that has an open mind and willing to do things that promote free thinking.  Not only is he a teacher at Athenian school but he is also an artist and the founder of an organization called Participation Art. Participation Art’s mission is “dedicated to showing youth art that is socially- aware and participatory.  Projects are initiated by both youth and adults and take advantage of the internet’s ability to facilitate collaborations and connect people globally”.  One of his projects that he is doing with his students is titled “You Complete Me” where they plan to leave life size images of community icons (e.g. police officers, moms, etc) that are incomplete with markers tied to them so people who pass by can hopefully complete them (and not totally destroy the images).  We can’t wait to see the outcome from this social-identity project.  Stacey, keep on inspiring and making a difference!

Check out more photos from the day on our flickr.

On a quest to learn more about street art? Want to plan a private workshop for your school or business? Then contact class coordinator Gina for more information.  Her e-mail is gina@1amsf.com.