Blogs

Some undercover stenciler left some fresh Alice in Wonderland-themed street art in the alleyway behind the Westword building at 969 Broadway this weekend. The text reads, “We’re all mad here. I’m mad. You’re mad.” The white stencil (after the jump) features some fairies spooning. Very pretty. Just watch your step for bum turds, which can be pretty too, but in a different way. –Jared Jacang Maher

More

Scene Slide Show!

If you were near 2107 East Colfax Avenue on April 12, you would have caught the scene outside of the shop NEWSPEAK—the gallery, tattoo parlor and graffiti vendor drew a swarming crowd by displaying the work of over a dozen graffiti artists affiliated with the Pueblo-based Creatures Crew. Creatures is a graf collective that includes artists from several different area crews, some of whom have had bad vibes in the past. But they all assemble like the Super-Friends to put on love-fests like this show, dubbed the “Creature Double Feature.” Highlights of the show included a monstrous mural by Baer, populated by sinister slit-eyed demon letters, as well as some pop-out foam lettering by said artist. With no time constraints forced by the specter of police, the artists were able to display versatility with vivid backdrops, clever arrangement, and convoluted lettering that they might not have on a local wall. The second installment of this two-part show will be announced at a later date, said Creatures curator and tattoo apprentice IKON, so stay tuned. Part one of the “Double Feature” featured the artwork of BAER, Keith Jive, HACK , VOGUES, GHER451, PASTE, DUBLE, ACT, VOMET, BEST, SAMS, SUPHER, CLUBZ, PIVOT, PATH1, AWFUL, WOE, HOME, REPS, and WOE.
-- Roshan Abraham

Slide Show!

Pueblo, Colorado is world-renowned for its public mural project along the cement river canals that divide the city, but traditional graffiti artists have no problems getting their (sometimes) less-than-legal murals up around town as well. -- Photos by Adam Gildar

Ray Young Chu is an artist who routinely convinces grown men to dress like Furries. The Westminster based canvas artist created four wickedly silly avatars—Ninja Nate, Donut David, Sheep Head and Mascot Mannie, who come complete with head to toe jumpsuits—with whom he does mangled hip hop performances, and canvas projects. 'The Yummies' are all cartoon incarnations of Ray—a media experiment that allows Chu to unpack his schizoid art styles into four perversely twee pseudonyms. Chu came up as a graffiti artist, honing his craft on both legal and illegal walls in the mid to late '90s. Failing to see his future in the ever tense graffiti scene, he made a transition to canvas and eventually commercial art, adopting a style that incorporates anime, landscape art and photorealism. Ray's style is ribald in its display and cutesy in its philosophy; he can rock out an anthropomorphic cartoon character, but couch it in the splattered, toxicolored urban aura of graffiti art. Along with his friends at Joy Engine, he's doing his best to keep Denver's design and art scene on the map. Westword caught up with Ray during a busy Friday night, in which he was tying up loose eyes prior to a trip to Los Angeles:

More

If you feel that Denver’s Public Works has too much authority in your life, you may find catharsis in the artwork of Dan Ericson. The self-proclaimed “street sign artist,” who adopts the nom de plume ‘Dunn’ as a graffiti-esque pseudonym, produces original artwork by painting hip hop tableaus on deteriorated street signs, then gives them to the artists who inspired them. “It’s kind of like backwards graffiti, taking a piece of the city…changing the meaning,” says Ericson. Unlike graffiti, whose proponents have rationalized it as a populist reclamation of private space, Ericson’s art bypasses the ‘public sphere’ altogether.

More

The west facing wall of the alleyway off 8th Avenue at Galapago Street in the Santa Fe Arts District got some fresh pieces earlier this month. The spot is the city's most frequented graffiti location for it's ever-changing murals that will often extend deep into the alleyway and around the buildings. The location is known by many as the "Revo Wall" for art collective known as Revoluciones that formerly occupied the building. The artist moved shop to the River North district about four years ago, but some of the best graffiti painting in the city persists.

View larger image

More photos after the jump.

More

More photos after the jump.

At the Bethany Baptist Church in Boulder, a painting shows a small black child, screaming—his squinting eyes and upturned palms splattering into negative space. Another shows a ghostly set of eyelids, bordered by the stylized word “faith”. The pieces—one a portrait of Emmett Till, a 14 year old black child murdered in 1955, the second a Good Friday mural depicting the eyes of Jesus, share themes of martyrdom and injustice, as well as a style drawn directly from the urban vernacular. Their humble creator, 22 year-old former college football player Nolan Lee, is a Boulder painter and street artist making a name for himself outside of the gallery system.

More

This week, Charting Graf spotlights the work of RTD crew member Acee with this slide show.

Slide Show

As Charting Graf reported in this blog, and spotlighted again here, the private wall that graffiti writers refer to as "The CIA Wall" has a long and storied past. Here's a slide show sample of some of the production pieces, or murals, that have graced the wall recently.

An anti-graffiti bill pushed by Littleton Republican Jim Kerr and Lakewood Democrat Andy Kerr was quashed in a House committee earlier this week after Lawmakers complained that the language in House Bill 1023 – which would make it illegal in Colorado to be in possession of “graffiti tools” – was too broad.

More

Somebody with the Guerilla Garden -- the erstwhile graffiti advocacy syndicate and clearinghouse for corporate entities who want graf writers to throw up paid ad pieces -- has been busy these days. Seen above, the Garden's gorilla mascot has been popping up all over the city recently. Here are some more shots of the gorilla's (and the guerilla's) recent migration:

More

Check out this slide show of graffiti murals we spotted on a recent trip to Denver's West side.

Check out this slide show of graffiti murals we spotted on a recent trip to Denver's West side.

View a larger image of the full wall.

As always, it’s back to the CIA wall where RTD honcho ACEE, HOME from BTR crew and Double from GuerillaGarden have sprayed down an homage to the Dave Chappelle character Sir Smoke-A-Lot, from the 1998 cult classic, Half Baked. It’s the little touches that count. The pot print background would make a fine pattern for opium den wallpaper. And what’s up with the W-E-E-D on homeboy’s front teeth? It’s always such a shame to see works like this disappear in a matter of months while some blurry pot leaf painted by some 420 wannabe seems to hang around forever. But maybe that’s the point – nothing good ever lasts. –Jared Jacang Maher

View a larger image of the full wall.

As always, it’s back to the CIA wall where RTD honcho ACEE, HOME from BTR crew and Double from GuerillaGarden have sprayed down an homage to the Dave Chappelle character Sir Smoke-A-Lot, from the 1998 cult classic, Half Baked. It’s the little touches that count. The pot print background would make a fine pattern for opium den wallpaper. And what’s up with the W-E-E-D on homeboy’s front teeth? It’s always such a shame to see works like this disappear in a matter of months while some blurry pot leaf painted by some 420 wannabe seems to hang around forever. But maybe that’s the point – nothing good ever lasts. –Jared Jacang Maher