Location: Cafe/Playroom
Time: 4:30 PM - 7:00 PM
Having taken different roads towards the same goal in a city that still doesn't know how it feels about street artists and their craft, these artists crossed paths in the same places that would host them again and again, forming bonds that went from the walls to the bar to the canvas. This exhibition is a collection of those unique styles that reflect the equally unique relationship between these artists featuring individual work and collaborations on canvas with a cohesive flow that was forged on brick. An amalgam of styles, sizes, mediums, and motivations coming together to represent what street artists in Boston put down on canvas when given a studio or workspace instead of an alley or wall to work on. It is a snapshot into the larger constantly growing scene, showcasing a collection of friends, and how their work relates while often being vastly different. Experience the work for yourself and feel the energy emanating from the juxtaposition of contemporaries of place and time but not style.
Meet the Artists!
Esoteric
@esotericalligraffiti
Esoteric is a magician of sorts: an architect that relies on precision and rule-based systems, who carries them over into his art and creativity. The rules of calligraphy are precise and challenging and Esoteric is able to keep the history, beauty, and art of calligraphy no matter the scale or medium he is working with. He has studied ancient scripts as well as modern, has created custom scripts of his own with references to his culture, and fuses them all together in his work to create complexly layered compositions that evoke emotion and perplexity while viewers attempt to uncover the messages written. Esoteric's work stays true to the definition of his moniker: "intended for or likely to be understood by only a small number of people with a specialized knowledge or interest".
Esoteric recently participated in mural projects including the Punto Urban Art Museum in Salem, MA and Above The Radar in Burlington, VT.
http://puntourbanartmuseum.org/open-air-museum/artist/esoteric/
bostonvoyager.com/interview/meet-esotericalligraffiti-cambridge-gloucester/
vimeo.com/esotericalligraffiti
Existing permanent murals to visit:
- 37 Ward Street, Salem, MA
- 1 King Street, Burlington, VT
- Gyroscope, 305 Huntington Ave, Boston, MA
Pete Cosmos
@petecosmosart
Pete Cosmos is a contemporary artist that has lived in Allston for over a decade. He has a background in illustration and design, drawing inspiration from from graffiti-based fundamentals with an emphasis on color concepts and vibrancy. Pete has exhibited work at the Made in Boston Gallery, the Boston Center for the Arts, and Pop Allston (to name a few).
http://bostonvoyager.com/interview/meet-pete-cosmos-pcmt-allston/
http://www.zone3westernave.com/project/pete-cosmos/
https://petecosmos.bigcartel.com/
Existing permanent murals to visit:
- 267 Western Ave, Zone 3
- 2 Guest Street, Brighton in the Warriors Ice Arena at Flatbread Bowling
- 2 electrical boxes at the Oak Square cross of Tremont and Washington St in Brighton & Everett
Felipe Ortiz
@felipeortizart
Felipe Ortiz is a Colombian and US-based artist focused on paintings and murals. His artwork ranges from urban scenery to his "Explosive Nature" series of colorful expressions of tropical environments. In 2015, he founded the Fresco Exchange to create opportunities for artists across countries. His work has been on display at the Fuller Craft Museum, DeCordova Corporate Lending Program, and he has participated in mural projects including the Punto Urban Art Museum, Albuquerque's MuralFest 2018, and Colombia's Muro al Barrio project.
www.felipeortiz.com
Existing permanent murals to visit:
- Corner of Norfolk and Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge
Ivan Salazar
@ivan_salazar_foto
Professional photographer and industrial designer Ivan Salazar is passionate about analog photography and dark room processes. He is the Founder and Director of Fundacion Culata Arte e Investigación, launched in 2015. This initiative is dedicated to working with communities using urban artwork as a tool for social transformation. Recently he has been exploring stencil techniques as a way to incorporate his photographs into public art. His proposed artistic idea is to present aesthetics while playing with geometric layers that form messages or make up words hidden in overlapping spaces. He fuses these elements with photographic portraits of common people with Afro-Colombian roots, or "invisible heroes" as he portraits them. According to him, these characters are the ones who truly tell the history of life.
https://www.instagram.com/ivan_salazar_foto
http://puntourbanartmuseum.org/open-air-museum/artist/felipe-ortiz-ivan-salazar/
Existing permanent murals to visit:
- 100 Lafayette Street, Salem, MA
Edmund Amore
@edmundamore
Edmund Amore is a multi-disciplinary artist working in a multitude of mediums ranging from traditional acrylics to spray paint. Truly a product of his environment, Amore was a student of the streets at a young age, learning the history and traditions of graffiti culture from local writers to the legends of NYC and beyond. His creative approach retains the same raw energy and improvisation of his youth spent exploring forgotten infrastructure, leaving his mark. His technique and execution is that of an artist who has found clarity and focus in the chaos, using any canvas, wall, or surface to bring his inner vision to life. If anything, Edmund Amore is a creative medium utilizing mediums as a conduit to let the spirits of graffiti's past and his own journey to speak to the viewer.
www.instagram.com/edmundamore
Existing permanent murals to visit:
- Crossfit Somerville, 35 Prospect St, Somerville, MA
- Madison Park High School in Roxbury, 75 Malcolm X Blvd, Boston, MA
Brandalizm
@brandalizm
Brandalizm's work explores the relationship between the universality of myth and unwanted gifts. With influences as diverse as Kafka and Bill Cooper, new insights are crafted from both mundane and transcendent meanings. Ever since he was a pre-adolescent, he has been fascinated by the endless oscillation of the moment. What starts out as vision soon becomes corroded into a dialectic of lust, leaving only a sense of what could have been and the dawn of a new understanding. As spatial derivatives become distorted through diligent and personal practice, the viewer is left with an epitaph for the edges of our world.
Existing permanent murals to visit:
- Bao Nation, 571 Massachusetts Ave, Cambridge, MA
- Brooklyn Boulders, 12A Tyler Street, Somerville, MA
- Paragon Boardwalk, 189 Nantasket Avenue, Hull, MA
- It’s A Pet’s World, 147 Bridge St, Weymouth, MA
Rob Vaughn-Guess
Being a common wanderer never interested Rob. Born a confusing blend of Polish & Narragansett Indian, down on the Atlantic seashores of New London, Connecticut, Rob is a self proclaimed heartfelt New Englander. Nearly 2 decades of skateboarding and graffiti make up the foundation of his work. A lot of broken bones and lawyer fees have helped create a vibrant, happily subtle darkness you can find in almost all of his work.
https://www.robvaughnguess.com/
DAST.
Bogota Colombia. 1983.
His graphic proposal is an inspiration of public space and architecture, it is represented in an abstract way where geometrical shapes full of color, surfaces, textures and expression predominate. Having as a result pieces of wide interpretation, high level of detail and an aesthetic fascination for the spectator.
https://www.instagram.com/dastuno
https://www.facebook.com/dastuno
http://www.dast1.com
Diana Londoño Arias
Master of Plastic and Visual Arts at the National University of Colombia 2015 and Master of Fine Arts at the Jorge Tadeo Lozano University 2009.
In 2015, she presented her solo exhibition OVERLINES, composed of an assembly and installation of impossible architectures. In 2013 she was the recipient of the scholarship program of the Capital District, awarding her to solo exhibition in 2014 titled 'ENDLESS', showcased at the Santa Fe Gallery. In 2012 her work 'DEADLINE' was also selected as a solo exhibition at the Andes University in Bogotá. She is winner of the exhibition scholarship of the Santa Fe gallery, an award granted by the District Institute of Arts IDARTES.
http://www.dianalondonoarias.com
https://www.instagram.com/avsentha/