Blade Mickey summer 2010

Canvas collaboration 2010.

www.bladekingofgraf.com

Schaafijs en Wilde Bussen (snow cones and wild busses)

In Surinam (country on the north shore of south american continent) it's been a tradition to have the snow cone cars and the busses painted by artists.
CBK Zuidoost was showing the exhibition SCHAAFIJS & WILDE BUSSEN . The paintings shown are awesome. They resemble the style of handpainted (billboard) ads in NYC in the 70's.

The book, same title as the exhibition, shows an incredible overview of the culture and the artist's individual styles.

I had the honour to meet two of the most prominent artists responsible for all the colorful decorations and advertisements in the streets of Surinam's capital Paramaribo: André Sontosoemarto en Ramon Bruyning.

They are staying as Artists in Residence in Amsterdam and painted two cleaning trucks in Zuidoost, a mural at Kwakoe festival and a bus.

It's an experience to see them work. They are painting machines! I'm happy and grateful to be able to do a bit of collaboration with them during their time here.




André Sontosoemarto and Ramon Bruyning at work


Moonshine theme in progress


Ramon Bruyning.

The exhibition is now showing in Den Haag (Heden, september/october, opening: 11 sept. 16.00h) and will later go to Rotterdam (CBK, november/december).

Alter Ego - photo exhibition by Melissa Scholten

Thursday August 26th Alter Ego vernissage at the Trouw building, Amsterdam.

100 portraits of graffiti writers in their daily life, photographed in their homes, with their kids, at their jobs or at a location important to them. Graffiti writers who's main playground used to be or still is the city of Amsterdam.

Most portraits reveal the writer's story or personality, without mentioning the name they are known for by the public or in the scene. Spectators will be surprised about the variety of people who write or wrote graffiti: meet punk rockers from the 70's, a thai box champion, the everage dutch father of two, the cook, the famous graphic designer, the beer drinking bar guest, the ajax fan, the bar owner, the CEO chauffeur or the ex junkie.

The show runs until September 5th. The catalog a must have for graffiti book collectors.

Here some photo's of the exhibition's opening night. Too bad the owner of the venue shut the party down very early because of some tagging inside.












































Interview on Supercharged.tv with Melissa Scholten here. (Thumbs!)

Bread and games for the people

On the 11th and 12th of September there will be over 60 graffiti gladiators from home and abroad in the street-art arena of Europe: the Berenkuil Eindhoven. There they will show their skills. On this first edition of Step In The Arena, hosted by Dynamo Eindhoven , the following gladiators will come out and play:

Belin (Spain), New2 (Australia), ML’S Crew (Italy), Dead (England), Toaster (England), Musa (Spain), Supe (France), Flai (Spain), Bue (Belgium) Riot, Tikky, Odes, Moron, Don, Jake, Mickey, Dr Chess, Zenk One, Mister, Clone, Gek, Sel, Ces, Ox-Alien, Thor, Cosh , Mega, Romeo, Fetish, Rum, Kantweau, Babe, Damn, Duel, Stain, Nice, Druid, Lempke, Hedof, Hertcore, Marc1, Tape, Rocs, Spuk1, Beast, CHUCKone, NEAR! & SEHR (WKC), Dosisone...

Beside the invitees there is room for writers who want to come on their own. This way young artists and established names can jam together in the weekend of 11th and 12th of September.

Location: De Berenkuil / Insulindeplein
Date: 11th / 12th September
Time: from 12.00 to 22.00
Entrance: Free
More info: http://www.dynamo-eindhoven.nl

Going way back: 1991

Famous short documentary about the writing scene in Amsterdam around 1991. The start of this youtube edition is the amphitheater in Groningen, once used as a writer's hang out.

This clip looks like it's a digitalized version of a VHStape, with all kinds of graffiti- footage taped/pause-recorded.

Graffiti Coloring book pt.2

I'm copycattin' this article from my friends at HellYeah magazine's blog.

Graffiti Coloring Book 2 -Characters

By adminMonday May 17, 2010

Our homegirls ROSY ONE, MICKEY andKARMA have some of their dope, characters featured in the latest book from the Swedish legends that publish Underground Productions- the incredible Swedish graf mag that’s been around for over 20 years. The Graffiti Coloring Book is the perfect present for our generation’s spawn!

Also featuring: T-Kid TNB, Wane COD, Tack FBA, Revolt RTW, Nic 707 OTB, Part One TDS, Ezo CUKILLS, TooFly and Zimad TD4 (NYC); Gore DPT/ZNC, Gauge CAS, Puppet, 8:bit, Ikaroz NG, Karma, Gone UMA, Dwane VIM (Sweden), CMP One and Great AIO (Denmark), Shiro TDS/SUG (Japan), Mickey TFP (The Netherlands) Balrog 40HK (South Africa/UK), Kid Acne (UK), Honet SDKWUFC (France) Toastone and RosyOne (Switzerland), BASE23 (Germany) Jhet (Australia), Hesoe (Chile), Sign Totals/OTB/156/IBM/TDS (Finland)

“Characters are the most popular and easily accessible side of graffiti. They are the figures that stand beside the writer’s name and attract attention to it. They are brought to the fore in Graffiti Coloring Book 2: Characters. The book features themes by the world’s foremost graffiti writers. Well-built b-boys and b-girls with spray cans, boom boxes and attitude, comic figures with cartoon features and realistic portraits. All are waiting to be rendered in glorious color. In graffiti culture, the black-and-white drawing serves both as a model for a graffiti piece and as a work of art in its own right. Similarly, this book is both a toy and an art history document. “

You can purchase it at www.dokument.org

Yiddische rap and a interview met Mick La Rock

Sometimes I agree to do a fast interview when I'm in another country.

It's always funny to find it on internet months and months later and hear it for the first time.

Especially in combination with yiddische rap and old school rap.

Enjoy the interview with me. Beware: it's in German.

Wise Up! Geschichten und Legenden um Rap, May 15, 2009.