My man Roger Gastman has entered the world of blogging, twitter account coming soon!

Check it out HERE

During the 1970s and ’80s, photographers Martha Cooper and Henry Chalfant captured the burgeoning New York City graffiti movement in the book “Subway Art.” Twenty-five years and more than half a million copies later, Chronicle Books has just released the iconic book in a large scale, deluxe format.

SWINDLE has five signed copies to give away to readers! To enter, send us an email about the first time you saw “Subway Art” and how it influenced you.

Please submit your entries to zio@swindlemagazine.com by Monday, May 4, 10 p.m. PST. Winners will be notified by email.

With 70 additional photographs, and a fresh introduction and afterword, this collector’s edition is an absolute must have.

Other artists blazed the trail that brought graffiti from the urban landscape into galleries. But no street or graffiti artist who came before Barry “Twist” McGee had executed the transition with such finesse. Born in San Francisco in 1966, a city he continues to make his home, Twist began painting graffiti in 1984 at the age of 18. He began showing his work in local galleries, slowly building a following, and, in 1991, he received a Bachelor of Fine Art in painting and printmaking from the San Francisco Art Institute. This was quickly followed by grants and fellowships—one notably sent him to Brazil, where he observed clustered framed artworks displayed in churches. McGee incorporated this presentation style into his art shows, which brought a kinetic, urban immediacy to the staid gallery space.

Read the rest of the interview HERE

Photos by KC Ortiz

On February 20, Phaiz, Chicagoʼs emerging cutting-edge exposition space, presented “Opera Pink,”a site-specific solo installation by San Francisco-based artist Richard Colman. Filling the 800-square-foot gallery, Colman installed a series of tiles and paintings on wood panels and paper complemented by background wall paintings, creating a large-scale, psychedelic-type landscape mural to indulge the senses.

Our friends at We Are Supervision had the chance to hang out with Rich during the install for the show. Here are some of the amazing shots.

Find out more at: Swindle Magazine

Our friend and art director Justin has relapsed with Leukemia. This time around, there is no chance to cure it with chemotherapy, and he will have to have a bone marrow transplant. None of his family members are a match, so he is searching for an unrelated donor.

In conjunction with City of Hope, we are hosting a bone marrow drive for Justin at our office. The drive will be held from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Tuesday, January 6, at 3111 Los Feliz Boulevard Suite 100, Los Angeles, CA 90039.

Potential donors will be asked to fill out a consent form and have a mouth swab taken. All donors need to be between the ages of 18 and 60.

There is normally a testing fee of $52 per person, but City of Hope has waived the fee for us. Any donation you make—even if it’s just $5—will cover the cost of testing.

If you cannot attend the drive, you can make an appointment to get tested at City of Hope (626.301.8483). There is a $52 fee for processing the marrow sample, but if you donate blood, then the cost is waived. You can also have a kit mailed to you. You will need Justin’s full name, birth date and medical record number, which I can provide to you.

If you aren’t in the L.A. area, click here to figure out where the closest drive is for you.

Please be aware that by getting tested for Justin, you will be added to the national bone marrow donor registry. When a volunteer registers as a potential donor, his/her tissue type is listed on the donor file and is compared with the tissue type of all patients in need of a transplant. You can withdraw at any time, but keep in mind that you may be someone’s only hope for survival.

Please drop us a line to let us know if you are coming so that we can gauge the number of materials needed. For more information about Justin or the drive, please contact me at�zio@rrockenterprises.com or call 323.669.8819.

SWINDLE is pleased to present:

TWENTY – SIX:
New Works by RISK
December 13 – December 20, 2008

Opening Reception:
Saturday, December 13
7-11 p.m.
Track 16 Gallery
2525 Michigan Ave., C-1
Santa Monica, CA 90404

In a career spanning twenty-six years, graffiti artist RISK has impacted the evolution of street writing as an artform in Los Angeles and worldwide. RISK pushed the limits further than any L.A. graffiti writer had ever gone before by bombing – what would later be referred to in the graffiti world as a "heaven" – on freeway overpasses and other highly visible spots throughout the city gaining major notoriety for his unique style. At the peak of his career he took graffiti from the streets and into the gallery with the launch of the Third Rail series of art shows; he later parlayed the Third Rail brand into the first authentic line of graffiti-inspired clothing.

In describing this exhibition, RISK states:

"Twenty-Six is a collection of letters that I painted as if I were painting on the streets, using what paint and materials I had in my studio, while making sure they all had the movement and the energy of good old-school graffiti. It is a celebration of where I'm at today and where I have come from. Twenty-six letters of the alphabet, twenty-six years; I can’t think of a better way to define myself and my view of graffiti art."

Contemplating the arc of his career, RISK attributes his success to something deep inside him. “I think I was the first to do a lot of stuff because I was competitive. I always wanted to take things one step further.”

For more event information, please visit the Track 16 website at www.track16.com

Here's a couple of pics from the Swindle Magazine x Fresh Karma party this weekend in Downtown.

Roger Gastman of Swindle Magazine with one of the crime bosses of The Seventh Letter / Will Rise Dynasty.