News

Thank you to everyone that joined us for the Hebru Brantley artist talk, hosted by Kevin Coval, on June 10. Here is the complete interview (42:12).

Hebru Brantley, Memoirs of the Minimum Wage, is June 6 - 28, 2015.

Hebru Brantley was born and raised in Chicago. A product of the 80's, Brantley's early inspiration to create visual art derived from the cinematic Blaxploitation and science fiction depicted in the previous decade. His affinity for mythological comic book heroes, Japanimation, and graffiti has strongly influenced his work, and eventually, he began fusing elements of urban society with pop culture. From that, he developed his own unique style: Afro-Futurism.

Afro-futurism takes a multidisciplinary approach to visual art, layering youthful expression with human emotion, history, and the complexities and challenges of urban life. Brantley creates his work spontaneously and uses an array of mediums such as wood, found objects, spray paint, coffee and tea.

While refining his craft, he earned his BA in Film in Atlanta and went on to design and illustrate for media production and clothing companies. From there, he began to transition from graffiti to canvas, making a name for himself in the contemporary art scene of Atlanta. Chicago continues to be Brantley’s home base, but he enjoys the opportunity to work all over the world.

Vertical Gallery is proud to present a solo exhibition with Hebru Brantley. Memoirs of the Minimum Wage runs June 6 – 28, 2015, with an opening reception on Saturday, June 6, 6-10pm. In his visual survey of growing up in middle-class America, Brantley will show sketches, watercolors, paintings and sculptures that incite us to challenge the norm and question that on which we place value in society.

Contact Patrick at Vertical Gallery to receive the collector's preview.

Vertical Gallery's very good friend Xenz has a very special solo exhibition opening at Fluorescent Smogg in Barcelona this week. Go to www.fluorescentsmogg.com for more details.

Xenz: The Moon On A Stick
Opening Event: Thursday 30th April, 7-11pm
Project Space, Carrer de Radas 41, T2, Poble Sec 08004, Barcelona

Xenz’s opulent wildlife scenes are replaced with a stripped-back colour palette, creating arresting compositions that highlight our post-industrial landscape with dreamlike execution. Bridging the gap between graffiti and decorative fine art, Xenz’s work is both grounded in the present and provides a welcome escapism from contemporary routine. The contemplative artist addresses themes of identity, relationship, success and competition increasingly associated with modern life, and presents a pensive look at the current state of things.

The Moon On A Stick celebrates Xenz’s debut collaborative venture with Fluorescent Smogg, featuring a five-colour screenprint (edition of 25), hand-finished special edition (edition of 5), and a super limited box set edition of A3 black and white prints with an original sketch (edition of 4). The multifaceted print release will be accompanied by a unique site-specific takeover of the Barcelona project space, extending ideas intrinsic to the print’s development and incorporating a series of unique artworks. A limited run of black and white show posters will also be available to purchase exclusively on the opening night.

Inkie is one of the most notorious and prolific graffiti writers in UK history to emerge out of the 80’s Bristol scene. Painting alongside 3D, Nick Walker and Banksy, in 1989 the ‘Kingpin’ was arrested as the head of 72 other writers in the UK’s largest ever Graffiti bust, Operation Anderson. He now curates and helps to organize Europe's largest Street Art event ‘See No Evil’ which attracted over 50,000.

Inkie has since worked as head of design for SEGA, Xbox and currently works as Jade Jagger’s in-house designer as well as running a West London design studio creating prints, illustrations and clothing. The globally respected artist, whose diverse inspirations include Mayan architecture, William Morris, Mouse & Kelly, Alphons Mucha and Islamic geometry has exhibited worldwide, and been outed as Banksy’s right hand man by The Daily Mail and simultaneously lauded by The Times. His art has been published in the books Banksy’s Bristol, Children of the Can, Graffiti World, Street Fonts and magazines GQ and Dazed & Confused. More recently, Inkie has been nominated as one of Time Out and The Hospital Club’s most influential 100 people in their h.Club 100 poll for 2012. He’s also a member of the Courvoisier future 500.

Inkie is featured in the seminal 2007 LA graffiti documentary film ‘Bomb It’, the Sky Arts documentary ‘From Tags to Riches’ as well as the BBC’s ‘Drawing the Line’. His recent exhibitions include London, Barcelona, Los Angeles, Ibiza, Warsaw, Belfast and Lisbon. His work is coveted by celebrity collectors including: Robbie Williams, Jade Jagger, Fatboy Slim, Roots Manuva, Alan Carr, Massive Attack & Sean Pertwee, amongst others.

Leading up to our big 2-year anniversary show, we're going to share bios on each of the participating artists with a preview of one of their works for the show.

Today we feature Mr. Prvrt: Born on a family farm in upstate New York, Mr. Prvrt is an artist who marries the rural and the urban. Celebrating wildlife, he paints flora and fauna flawlessly over concrete and brick. The animals he paints come to life as the viewer is drawn into the world of the painting. A valued handler of birds of prey at Wild Wings Animal Sanctuary outside Rochester, NY, he is able to capture the majesty of the natural world through his explosive graphics and remarkable technique. He also works well with humans, with a rich history of collaborating with other artists on a vast array of murals.

Mr. Prvt’s work has been exhibited throughout the world and his wall commissions can be found throughout the US.