CRIME IN THE CITY...

15/10/2008 - 20/11/2008
6:60 pm

Grenade Gallery
212 Kensington Park Road, London, W11 1NR

The infamous REVOK1 comes to London for his debut UK show. 'CRIME IN THE CITY' promises to be one of the most exciting, innovative and original contemporary street art shows of 2008.

The show will be open to the public between the 16.10.08 to 20.11.08

The launch night of the 15.10.08 is strictly by INVITATION ONLY.
 

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Grenade Art is proud to present REVOK, one of the most prolific and important internationally renowned street artists of our time. His debut UK show, ‘Crime in the City’, will take place at the Grenade Gallery on Wednesday the 15th October 2008.

Widely viewed as the best Graffiti writer to have emerged from the United States in recent years, REVOK has enjoyed a very successful international career. From London to Tokyo, his work can be found in both the galleries and the streets of all the major cities of the world.

REVOK’s passion for Graffiti began back in the mid nineteen eighties, taking inspiration from the West Coast’s street art movement and the calligraphy and culture of the L.A gangs. He first became actively involved in the early nineties, painting the streets of his local neighborhood in South L.A. Over the years REVOK has experimented and progressed into many other areas of street art, most notably the painting and manipulation of the large freeway billboards of Southern California.
In December 2007, one of REVOK’s modified billboards advertising an exhibition of Takashi Murakami’s work at the L.A Museum of Contemporary Art was removed.

After his initial frustration at the piece being taken away so soon, REVOK discovered that Murakami himself had seen online photos of the billboard and had admired the new version so much that he ordered it to be taken down and shipped to his private collection in Tokyo. Such tales and exploits have reached folklore status within the street art community and in turn have ensured REVOK to be a major influence to countless artists throughout the world.

Describing his work as a culmination of many different influences, REVOK never limits himself to any one particular style, but seeks to constantly evolve and reinvent himself. He has reinvented the alphabet several times over, giving such life to his letters that they appear to jump off the wall.

REVOK is as real as street art gets. Always aspiring to execute the best possible piece of art, in the best possible location, he embodies the very essence of what real street art is and continues to remind us of where it all came from. Describing himself as competitive and egotistical - ‘all graffiti writers are social rejects and egotistical maniacs… I plan on doing graffiti for as long as I can physically get up and paint a piece or climb a rooftop. ‘

Sherpard is a true champ! Thank you dearly for your support!!

 

Revok tyrants!

 

The Tyrant Boot print was inspired by the Frederick Douglas quote “The limits of tyrants are prescribed by the endurance of those whom they oppress”. Frederick Douglas, an African American, was a leader of the Abolitionist Movement. He was a firm believer in the equality of all people, whether black, woman, Native American, or recent immigrant. He was fond of saying, “I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong.”

I felt that this print is appropriate for the situation my friend Revok is facing. Revok has been a major inspiration for me since I saw he and Saber’s huge pieces in the San Fran Bay area in the mid 90’s. I’ve never seen a Revok piece that did not enhance its surroundings. In July, the famed Los Angeles graffiti artist was arrested on felony vandalism charges. Indio police raided REVOK’s home, confiscating art supplies, cameras, hard drives, computers—essentially everything he uses to earn a living. This has crippled his entire business and destroyed his income. To add insult to injury, the felony charges are excessive and unjustified. REVOK is a celebrated artist who has dedicated his life to his work, not a criminal deserved of jail time. To fight these charges, REVOK will incur great legal expenses. If you would like to help, buy this print, or please visit www.revok1.com to see more of his work. All profit from the Tyrant Boot will go to Revok’s legal defense fund. Combat oppression, support and buy something.

-Shepard

Tyrant Boot, Edition of 450, $45… On sale Thursday, 8/21 - Ebayers not welcomed. SOLD OUT

Click here to purchase the print.

Largest Graphotism interview ever, 52 pages interview with the graffiti beast himself REVOK!

 

Find out more at: REVOK1.com and Graphotism

Revok x Agenda from Agenda Tradeshow on Vimeo.

These will be available at: www.theseventhletterstore.com

For wholesale inquiries: inquire@knowngallery.com

 

Please cover these walls with graffiti

THE elite graffiti crew Angels Will Rise has made a name for itself byspray-painting full-color, wall-sized murals -- of both the illegal and commissioned variety -- around L.A. over the last 20 years. But when 11 of its members met up in a mid-city warehouse in November, it was not to plan their next bombing mission, but to create murals bound for gallery walls.

The resulting pieces are part of "Will Rise," which opens at Robert Berman Gallery on Saturday and pays homage to the aesthetic that brought fame to this subgroup of the merchandising collective Seventh Letter Crew. Namely, its West Coast-flavored "wild style" script.

"Basically, the exhibit consists of 70 panels that fit together in a modular installation to mock up what an outdoor mural would look like," says show curator Brett Aronson. "A lot of gallery shows take the aesthetic of graffiti and try to put it on a canvas, but that disrupts what graffiti is by taking it off the wall. Obviously, the gallery is not a concrete outdoor wall, but the concept was to try to represent that."

For the show, each artist created a mural on six 4-by-4-foot panels. Their pieces will be displayed from floor to ceiling on three walls to create the effect of "a subway tunnel covered in graffiti," says gallery owner Robert Berman.

During a recent visit, the tunnel wasn't yet installed, but a mural by Marquis Lewis, known in the graffiti world as Retna, adorned one wall. The work depicts what Lewis refers to as a "family crest" in copper-toned brushwork.

On an adjacent wall, a mural by Saber, known for creating the world's largest graffiti piece in the L.A. River channel, features swirling letters in shades of silver, purple and white. On a far wall, a mural by Revok, who is widely considered to be the godfather of modern-day graffiti, combines fanciful script with a tech-inspired font to spell out his name.

"I came from the school of thought that graffiti was supposed to be on the street; it wasn't supposed to be in a gallery," says Lewis. "But the gallery setting allows graffiti artists to explore avenues they normally wouldn't because they are rushed or they fear getting arrested."

Of course, it helps that after years of outlaw status, graffiti artists are getting respect in the gallery world. "People are starting to look at this as the new tough art, the same way that in New York in the '60s they were looking at Pop Art," Berman says. "The world is their canvas."

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Thanks to KC at SuperVision

June 27-29 2007
The Seventh Letter Crew
Live Wall Painting @ Laundraclean
8201 Melrose Ave
Los Angeles, CA 90046