Peep out the new TheSeventhLetter.com site just launched today! Special thanks to Didier Cohen.

Check the new forum and say something: forum.knowngallery.com

Directed & Filmed by: Candice House and Brian Smith
Edited & Produced by: Vincent Aricco and Michael Matassa
Sound design by: Jimmy Guthrie

Special thanks to: Hense, Ironlak, Mai Phung, Lexi Aricco, Sever, Michael Ouweleen, Johnny Colt

Find out more at: hensethename.com and knowngallery.com/hense

Find out more at: justwritingmyname.com

Find out more at: 33third.com

Earlier this year VOX Footwear announced the releasing of seven special edition collaboration shoes featuring original artwork from L.A.’s legendary street artist group The Seventh Letter Crew. With artists like Krush, Ewok, Bert Krak, Push, Steel, Reyes, Keichi Ito and Eklips contributing their own brand of urban style, the one-of-a-kind color-ways have been incorporated onto team models such as the Shale, Mono, Upgrade, and the Trooper. The first four Seventh Letter Series color-ways will drop Saturday November 14th at SURU, as we host the Release and Signing. In conjunction with the release SURU will unveil limited edition T-shirts by Ewok, Bert Krak, Reyes, and Rime. The four styles by Eklipse, Ewok, Steel and Push are available now online for pre-orders. Make sure to view the flyer for details on the release and signing after the jump.

Find out more at: suru-la.com

Augustine Kofie
A Progress Report:
Recent works on canvas and wood


Report Lounge
1101 E. Burnside
Portland, Oregon
97214
503.236.6133
Myspace.com/reportpdx

Opening
Friday November 6th, 2009
9pm-2am 
November 6th - December 1st 2009

Music:
Rev. Shines [Lifesavas] & King Tim 33.3


From the artist:
A Progress Report will mark my first time showcasing both my collage and canvas works in the city of Portland and my first trip to Oregon. Since initially booking the show I have been selectively working on pieces that would reflect both my larger painting as well as my mix media style.

The venue is not your typical gallery setting, it's a Lounge serving the community with various well drinks, ales and a variety of music throughout the week and is actually a nice change of pace right now. I realized I may have an opportunity here to display my works in an environment set in a more casual tone. Works may be viewed  in a space where the art can be secondary, yet still provoke curiosity and interest from its patrons.

On display will be 11 mix media works on wood ranging in mid size square to rectangular shaped pieces. All of these works contain my signature collage and multi print techniques as well as my technical painting and aging aesthetics. Found wood and imagery make up a large percentage of these works, all finished off with a mahogany stained trim to tie in all of the works. Natural earth tones are prominent in each of the pieces including hints of blues and burnt reds, giving into a glimpse of my transitioning palette.

On top of these wood pieces I will be including seven large, raw & unstretched canvases in the show. Five painted within these last few months and two painted earlier in the year. There is a slight difference in my larger works to my smaller wood panels. The fact is that larger works are painted on a vertical wall surface and are more physically challenging to produce, so a looser, wispy style comes into play. Again, my works deals strongly with shape and structure, layering and form, and my canvas work really gives me a chance to let loose with color and strokes.

Im very excited about this exhibition and I appreciate the support and interest.

-Keepdrafting.com

Find out more at: knowngallery.com/bratrud

On November 5th at Portland's Compound Gallery...

Shadows of a thousand years rise again, as Tastes Like Gold and RDH take over
the gallery with a collection of new works in an exhibition entitled "HORROR SHOW".

With roots in both graffiti and illustration these emerging young artists have been hiding out in caves, preparing nonstop for this upcoming event.

“Muahahahaha” - RDH
 
"Been wantin' to come back for awhile, Portland's crazy! So when the opportunity to do a show up there with *RDH* came up; it was on!" - TLG

The show will feature nearly 60 new pieces as well as live painting and a large instillation piece.


***HORROR SHOW*** ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK!! PEOPLE WITH WEAK STOMACHS AND PACEMAKERS CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN FIRST!

Show opens Nov. 5th from 7-9pm

Compound Gallery
107 NW 5th, Portland OR 97209
503-796-7233
compoundgallery.com

tastelikegold.com
rdhkills.com

Casey Eklips Interviewed by Katie Zuppann for Juxtapoz

If I'm not mistaken, Known Gallery started off as a venue for Seventh Letter artists to show of their work-both on the streets and on canvas. Why did you organize the group as Known Gallery?

You are correct. Known Gallery was started to showcase our friends and family which turns out to be mostly The Seventh Letter artists and our associates, much like The Seventh Letter is made up of mostly AWR and MSK members. This doesn't mean we only work with crew members, it just means we know a lot of people through graffiti and our roots in street culture. We originally didn't want to display graffiti but only gallery works, but that didn't last very long.

The name KNOWN came from KNOWN SURVIVOR which came from this track I was listening to that reminded me of my father who fought in the Hungarian revolution in 1956 and lived to talk about it. I know that's kind of deep but that's where the name comes from to be honest. Almost everything I do starts with a crazy thought that is usually sparked by a music track or something. I've always liked the word KNOWN, like in: known affiliate, known graffiti writer, also known as, etc. so I had to do something with it. The name was also really appealing because I felt it was our way to be KNOWN NOW or NOW KNOWN.


Known Gallery has grown from a daily blog into a full-fledged website and movement. Describe Known Gallery's progression.

In the beginning we never planned to be a daily blog, but the site wasn't completely ready when we went on tour to Japan and Taiwan with the LETTERS FIRST art show. We wanted to share our experiences with our supporters so we launched the blog and people really liked it so we decided to continue.  When we got home we finished the site with the artist profiles and began to represent artists, curate more shows and with the success of Letters First and help from The Seventh Letter, it all fell into place.

To what do you contribute the success of Known Gallery?

All the amazing artists that are involved, all the great shows we've curated, The Seventh Letter crew, our street credit and our supporters. The list goes on..

What do you have planned for the future?

More art shows with more artists in more countries. Always continue to improve the site. We just added a forum so we can communicate closer with our supporters. We also launched our online store, so with that comes more prints, exclusives, etc. And we should have a new gallery in Los Angeles by the the beginning of 2010.

What artists are you excited about right now?

I'm really feeling all the new stuff coming out of James Jean, Sonny Gerasimowicz aka Coax AWR, Push, Revok, Mr. Cartoon, Keegan Gibbs, JR, BLU, Aaron Horkey, Roid, Pose is really on fire right now, Young Savannah of course, too many to list. It's a great time for art and the internet allows us to see so many amazing people from everywhere in the world.

Where do you see graffiti and street art heading?

I think very soon graffiti will be more accepted into the fine arts world and museums, much like the Olympics will accept skateboarding. And if not, we will make an alternative and be bigger like the X-games did for skating. Hopefully writers will be treated with more respect from the corporate world and paid accordingly. The whole "you do it free anyways" thing is really old.

One of my favorite ongoing series you guys run is The Seventh Day Project, where you film different Known Gallery artists completing a piece. They take various styles, but overall, the films are fast paced, time-lapse videos documenting an artist work on a graffiti piece from start to finish. Tell us a bit about the origins of this project and how it has evolved, and where it will go.

Another crazy idea. Basically we wanted to let the world see what we do from beginning to end. Releasing it monthly on the 7th just made it fun and exciting.  A lot of our supporters had never seen us paint before so it's always really cool to hear their feedback. It also allows our videographers, photographers, beat-makers and video editors to share their skills with our audience. We plan to release some DVDs, books and more products from the Seventh Day Project in the near future.

Any final parting words?

Thank you to all the people who check KnownGallery.com daily, Katie for this interview, all our supporters around the world, our crews, Ralph Guzman for building and maintaining our sites, The Seventh Letter crew and everybody involved in our lives. RIP Adam Goldstein, Forever PURE.

Join us at forum.knowngallery.com

Read interview at: www.juxtapoz.com

I have a set of three pieces up for the Juxtapoz Art Auction BID NOW! Support the Powerhouse Project of Detroit, definitely a great cause.

Find out more at: PatrickMartinez.com and KnownGallery.com/patrickmartinez