March 2011

Table Of Contents March 2011

Artist

8 Nate Kruback 26 Pete Cosmos 36 Taj Campman 48 Rob Drew

2 Abstraks March 2011

62 Derek Cilla

Articles

22 Hancock Dorchester 58 Yes.Oui.Si Space

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4 Abstraks March 2011

Nate Kruback

D Lof: Who was the person that impacted you as an artist growing up?

Nate: I would have to say my father, I was born into an artistic family. With the exception of my mother, but she definitely had an influence on my art as well, in a creative story-telling and literary sense. But my father is an artist professionally, a graphic designer. He worked for Hewlett Packard and their spin off company, and that company’s spin off company for 30 years. But at home he always had freelance graphic design projects and he was always painting and always sculpting. My father was my first teacher, and continues to teach me. He typically does representational work, very few abstract pieces, but a bit here and there. His style shows through in my work more and more as I grow older.

D Lof: Would you say your favorite things to paint are abstract pieces or traditional pieces?

Nate: A bit of both, I would say my abstract career first started around high school. During high school when I started getting my foothold into counter culture, I moved away from the jocks and ‘Yea Dudes’ as I like to call them, I started hanging out with people going against the grain. I started listening to different music and started developing as an abstract artist. I began producing pieces at that point to get ideas out of my head, and less to practice my craft.

That’s where my work became exceedingly abstract.

D Lof: Judging by the work you create, it looks grim and dark.

“If you look at any abstract artist, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, they were good representational painters first and then they learned abstract painting.

A good foundation for any artist no matter what style they adopt, is to practice what the masters did.”

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10 Abstraks March 2011

Nate: That’s the most frequent comment I get about my artwork, and there is a very dark sense to my work. But in another sense I don’t see it as grim and dark as most people do. When you think about that, it’s in the eye of the beholder. Depending how you view it, you could see dark or not. I have an obsession with skulls, and I often represent skulls in my pieces. When I read early on that Norman Rockwell’s representation of the human head was so strong because he mastered the skull first. I took influence from that and thought to myself, well if he can do that and represent it as well as he can, I can do the same. So I studied skulls as much as I could. Instead of applying what I learned to fleshing out the head, the image and shape of the skull itself stuck with me.

D Lof: What is the creative process that you like to take, or is it just random?

Nate: It’s evolved very much, and I think its evolved more recently then it ever has. As I continue to mention, I think high school was a big changing point for me, but I feel like right now in my life I’m coming cross another milestone like I did back then. In my adolescense, my mind was developing faster then I could keep up with it, and getting all the wild ideas I had out on the page was a blessing.

However, I find my self recently creating for the sake of practice. I want to be a better artist, therefore I’m not going to wait until I have an idea, I’m going to force myself to render something. Typically if you don’t have the idea you have to represent something that’s physically in front of you, I think that’s what makes a great artist. If you look at any abstract artist, Pablo Picasso, Salvador Dali, they were good representational painters first and then they learned abstract painting. A good foundation for any artist no matter what style they adopt, is to practice what the masters did. Learn from their mistakes, and then go on your own and figure out what you can do best.

D Lof: Would you call yourself a deep thinker?

Nate: Absolutely. I don’t get a lot of alone time any more; I work retail and deal with people pretty much all day everyday. I catch myself doing this staring/thinking thing all the time. Its when you sit and look at something and cant pull your eyes away from it, and you’re not thinking about the object you’re looking at but you’re just caught up so deeply in a thought.You start to fixate, and all you can do is not move your head and not blink.Your just caught in

one thing, and that happens to me frequently when I’m alone. Not so much when I’m around people, I definitely like to talk a lot when I’m around people. When alone time happens I’m always pretty much in my thinking phase, I tend to fixate quite a bit. Maybe due to a perfectionist personality.

D Lof: I know that you’re a huge beer geek; Does beer and liquor labels interest you?

Nate: Alcohol labels interest me but it’s a form of graphic design. I don’t view it as a lesser art and would never say that to anyone who does it as a living. I just see so many restrictions in graphic design. That interests me, but beer its self interests me much more. Beer is a pretty amazing thing, and I look at it broadly because beer is so enigmatic.

It’s the perfect blend of science and art, micro biology and creativity are both required.You aren’t able to make anything interesting in the beer world until you can garner some form of creativity. Artists are obviously the most creative people there are, so I think you have to be a bit of an artist to make good beer. I’m not a brewer yet, but I would definitely like to be. That poses another conflict, I came to an epiphany the other day where I asked myself, am I a beer manager with a hobby or am I an artist with a day job? I’m definitely an artist with a day job, but I’m passionate about what I do for a living. I think that makes me happy enough that I can create art in the off time. I love to drink but I hate getting drunk, I know it sounds conflicting but its true. I enjoy producing beer because it’s kind of a food science if you think about it. Brewing is kind of creating life in a way, by taking these little fungi and micro organisms and basically preparing a perfect soup for them to feed on, so they can propagate as many cells out of this tiny little organism.You can get them to propagate and bud as many cells as possible in a short amount of time.Your kind of playing God in a way, and if playing God results in delicious beer, then I’m happy.

D Lof: I’m guessing you drink while creating art, right?

Nate:Yes, typically but not always. Its interesting because when I’m creating art and drinking at the same time, its one of the few times I forget to take a sip. Time will pass by and I’ll realize, oh I have a beer open.

D Lof: Explain the music that you listen to, and its influence on you.

Page 12: Drawing - Graphite Page 13: Bird Hero - Digital

Nate: I’m a very closed-minded music listener, the majority of what I listen to is of the IDM and Breakcore genre. IDM and Breakcore are the most motivational types of music for me. When I was younger I would find other ways to inspire myself, be it classical or film. It turned out in the long run that all I need is music and I’m a dedicated fan of those two genres, a select few artists in particular. Aphex Twin, Squarepusher,Venetian Snares, Autechre, µ-ziq, so on and so forth. They are what get me motivated now, they get me to the point where I say to myself I have to do something now or I can’t go on. Even now as we’re doing this interview, I have my head phones around my neck listening to µ-ziq. It makes me happier, gets me motivated and inspires most of my work.

D Lof: I can relate to that, because I like to listen to music without words as well.

Nate: Absolutely, even when I was in school studying, I couldn’t have music with lyrics. It’s the same when doing art, I need inspiration without any distraction. Its like two different functions in my mind, lyrics are for the left-brain to deal with, music and art are for the right side.

D Lof:Your originally from Colorado, and are currently living in Watertown, Massachusetts. Talk about the comparison and contrast of the Colorado art scene to Boston’s.

Do you feel one has a better scene than the other, and what’s your influence from the two?

Nate: One of the biggest differences I’ve noticed is that there really wasn’t much street art in Colorado. I didn’t spend a lot of time in Denver, which is really the only city in CO. The artwork that I was exposed to in Colorado was always in schools or galleries. Obviously because of the surroundings, most quality pieces are landscapes.You see a lot less portraiture, less focus on people in general.

I appreciate both subject matters, and I don’t know which I like better to work on myself. My early work was often inspired by rocks. I think that’s true for a lot of artists out west; I’m dumbing it down and generalizing a bit when I say that, but I believe it’s true.You may be familiar with rock, but once you get to a different landscape your going to be seeing something new for the first time. Which is also true with people, and I’ve never really realized that until I moved out here. Most artists, my self included, will do paintings, pieces, drawings, and representations of people that always seem to include a likeness to myself. I realize that after I’ve been here for about a year or two, most Left: Forlorn - Digital March 2011 Abstraks 15

of my portraiture looked a little bit like me. I think that’s because I wasn’t really looking at the person, I wasn’t able to look at people and get the feeling of their persona as a whole. Unless it’s a human face, your not just drawing the bone structure, flesh and skin lying upon each other.You’re looking at the personality of the human; you’re getting a sense of them. I don’t know if it’s going to be featured in this issue, but I’m working on a series of sketchy black and white portraits, digitally, of some of my co-workers, and one of my good friend Jake. Once I started working on those, I realized it is a big deal to capture the essence of the person and concentrating on the settings they’re in, or the fact that they’re wearing their favorite hat, or their favorite sweater. I would like to study more of the human form, but unfortunately my job doesn’t allow me to go to any figurative drawing classes. The things that I’m representing now are still lives and portraitures of people I know.

D Lof: What do you plan to do from here on?

Nate: Well, like I’ve mentioned before, I’m at a point in my life where there should be a good amount of changing, and for the better or the worse. There are a few different directions I could head in at this point. I could continue with retail and try to crank out as much art as I can with the little time I have, or I could pursue beer or art. Brewing would be ideal for me, but I would suffer a massive pay cut, and have to work myself up from the trenches again.

Or I could try going back to school, and make art my career. That would entail me trying to find a job at a university, maybe being a janitor and get free tuition, because I am terrified of debt and I do not want to take out loans.

Hopefully I can follow two of the latter paths, but 2011 is definitely going to be the year of my next change. I’m not afraid of change, I was able to move to Boston at the drop of a hat, and change my life in that way. I’m still young, I’m only 27, and I can do what I want. As long as there’s a will there’s a way, I know that sounds cliché and it sounds dumb but, its definitely true. I have the will, so some how there’s a way.

Contact: nkruback@gmail.com

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20 Abstraks March 2011

Page 18: Hangman - Digital Page 19: Claudia - Digital

Worp

Coming Soon

Hancock Dorchester 22 Abstraks March 2011

Hancock Gallery - a great addition to the neighborhood of Dorchester. The first time I went to Hancock Gallery was during the Dorchester Open Studios of 2010. It was especially amazing for me because I’m a Dorchester native.

I was fortunate enough to meet the owner,Valerie Owen, and compliment her on the gallery. February 17, 2011 I attended another show, featuring the artist Martin Pierce. I asked Valerie how the Hancock Gallery was started.

“We began the remodeling process on March 15th. The gallery had it's first event on July 2nd. Once I knew that the space would be vacated by a long term tenant I immediately started to look for a new tenant. I was not happy with any of the ideas that people had for that corner. There were two reasons why I decided to open the gallery. My children had so many friends that graduated from art school but were working in unrelated fields. I also wanted to prove that something besides convenience stores and Canal Street knock off stores could be done

in the area.” Looking around the area, Hancock Gallery stands out as something refreshingly different. There isn’t another Gallery for miles, and it adds a new and exciting characteristic for the area. “I originally intended to have more of a gallery/consignment shop but I think that letting it have it's own life has been interesting. People are making great connections there and the artists have been able to secure exhibits in other galleries.”

I wondered what Valerie had planned for the future involving Hancock. “I have been so consumed with the day to day, month to month planning of events that I really have not had time to rethink my end goal. I feel a tremendous responsibility to be sure the artists that trust me with their work are shown in the best possible light and have successful well attended exhibits.”

March 2011 Abstraks 23

Contact: Facebook.com/HancockDorchester Hancock309@gmail.com 617 512 6775 309 Hancock Street Dorchester, MA 02125

March 2011 Abstraks 25

Pete Cosmos

D Lof: Looking at your work where do you get your inspiration from?

of caricature-style and portrait-style illustrations instead of a specific word.

Pete: I get a lot of my inspiration from common place stuff going on around me. I’ll catch certain things out walking around or on my way to work that spark my interest and inspire me to come back and draw. I feel like a lot of my inspiration comes when I’m not looking for it; some of my best ideas have come real late at night, 3, 4, 5 in the morning when I’m borderline delusional and my brain doesn’t have the energy to be distracted by all the little things and bullshit that normally flood my thoughts.

Me: Do you feel with your style you lean more towards graffiti art or old school cartoons, or do you just blend the two?

D Lof: Agreed, agreed.What other outlets do you see yourself branching into other than painting and design? for instance, a comic book, or a cartoon?

Pete: I definitely see myself doing a comics or a cartoon or branching out into some other form of media involving illustration. I like a lot of the adult swim cartoons and the style they seem to have branded and I feel like I could definitely get into something like that and excel if I got the opportunity. I even thought about doing a children’s book once just cause it seems like something I could do easily enough if i got the right concept down and when little kid shit blows up, people get rich.

Pete: I think its definitely a blend of the two. With a lot of my work, some of the content can be interpreted as silly and cartoon-ish but some of it can also be provoking or even offensive. I’d say... of what I’ve been painting recently is... its my current state of mind, at the time, almost masked behind a more light hearted illustration, but still a little twisted. NC-17 concepts in rated R format would be a good way to describe it I guess.

D Lof: How does the music you listen to get you motivated to create art?

Pete: I like to listen to music while I work but it doesn’t really matter, I can work in complete silence. I feel like sometimes that helps because I can just let my mind unravel without any interruption. Sometimes that’s not the case and certain music helps me relax to do more tedious line work, and certain music helps me to keep focused on the task at hand depending on my mood that day.

D Lof: What kind of music do you listen to?

D Lof: What cartoons do you think inspire you the most?

Pete: I like most of the Adult Swim line-up, as far as cartoons go now-a-days. Sealab 2021 and Venture Bros. were always my favorites but even Aqua Teen, Superjail and the Boondocks are inspirational to me because of the way they all celebrate the ridiculous. Other than Adult Swim; Looney Tunes was a huge part of developing my illustrating ideas, growing up; Cowboy Bebop, Samurai Champloo and some other anime shit like Akira were always a good source of inspiration.

D Lof: Let me ask you about your interest in graffiti art. Looking through your sketchbook I see you have some background in graffiti. Is that a big inspiration as well?

Pete: It’s definitely a style that could be familiarized with graffiti art in the sense that the context is mostly abstract and sometimes absurd with underlying themes and meanings along with vibrant colors that make the work pop and draw the viewers’ eye to specific areas of the piece. I’d say its more of a European graffiti style, from I’ve seen, in that I paint a lot Page 27: (Untitled) - Marker and Acrylic

28 Abstraks March 2011

Pete: I listen to a lot of different music. I don’t really know how to answer that, I listen to a lot of hip hop and 90’s rap... and metal and indie I guess, as well as some bands that I’m not sure I have any business putting into genres... I don’t know...

Lately I’ve been listening to a lot of mainstream radio rap when I work on larger canvases for some reason, like Drake and Wiz Khalifa and shit like that cause it’s just so ridiculous I can’t help but get pumped. But if I’m working smaller or in my sketchbook I’ll listen to Wu-Tang or MF Doom or Tom Waits or something less dramatic.

D Lof: I definitely agree with you, I think for me I listen to more instrumentals. Particularly, some beats off of Aesop Rock’s albums. I’ll just name a title, like breakfast with Blockhead or something like that. That really does it for me right there. Back to the whole cartoon thing, how do you feel about the cartoons coming out now of days?

Pete: Well like I said, I like the Adult Swim stuff thats been coming out, stuff like Super Jail, is a cartoon I feel like I’ve been Left: (Untitled) - Marker and Acrylic

waiting for my whole life to come out. Its got that School House Rock style animation and its just complete chaos the whole time. You’d have to watch every episode like 5 times to catch everyhting going on. Stuff like the Simpsons and South Park or Family Guy are always good too. Their animation isn’t very complex or anything because it’s more about the jokes than the art, which is why I think I prefer something like Superjail which is still simplistic but the illustrations are more appealing to me, the way they have those brief moments of detailed frames like Ren and Stimpy used to have, I love that. But as far as the stuff like the Simpsons, Family Guy or South Park goes, I think some of the success comes from how well they use those simple, doodle-like illustrations and basic color structure and make them relatable to the viewer.

D Lof: What kind of artist do you run into most of the time? I ask that because now of days, and I had this discussion with a person about people ‘selling out’. What is your definition on that, and how do you feel about that? Do you feel you find more artist doing stuff because they love it or because it’s a quick dollar for whatever reason.

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“...theres nothing quick about the dollar you get from doing art work, at least when you’re starting out.”

Pete: I don’t really know anybody who’s into art for a quick dollar. If they’re in it for a quick dollar, they’re either pretty stupid or they know something I don’t know because theres nothing quick about the dollar you get from doing art work, at least when you’re starting out. Artists that get recognized and then utilize that hype to get paid aren’t selling out, well they are, but fuck that noise, if I got offered a t-shirt line and a guest spot on the Colbert Report I’d be all over that shit. It’s hard to get an idea rolling and get it to take off on a level big enough to live off of so if they can I don’t blame them, in this day and age I can’t really blame anyone for trying to make some money. If anything, I’d say I get more bothered by a lot of the designers that I’ve come Above: (Untitled) - Marker and Acrylic

across who do work on the computer and call it fine art.

That gets me kind of frustrated as someone that’s more traditional. For the only semester I spent at art school, I’d try to do something on the computer and feel so removed from the work, it was like I barely had anything to do with it. If you draw on a surface you’re putting yourself into that space and you fuckin’ own it. If you mess up, on the computer, you can undo it or redo it with ease which leaves out the commitment of making bold decisions with your work that makes fine art so compelling. I’m not opposed to using digital media, it’s just not the way I like to work, although it would make producing finished pieces a thousand times easier, that’s just not what it’s about for me...which saying out loud makes me feel like a retired librarian on the Cape painting beach scenes for 9 hours everyday.

D Lof: What is it like living in Allston/Brighton and being an artist out here?

Pete: I think this is a good place to be, its got a suburb feel to certain parts but it’s still got city aspects too which gives it a nice variety packed into a small space, it’s like chex mix.

There are definitely better places to live than Brighton, I’m just not in any place to be starting over from scratch somewhere else foreign. As far as Massachusetts goes I think it’s one of the best places to be as a developing artist. I think Brighton, Allston, Cambridge, and some of the other Western parts of Boston are all good places to be for an aspiring artist because there’s a decent sized art community out here that’s supportive of itself and consists of people from all over, coming out for school and whatnot.There’s a lot of variety which can create some interesting perspectives and inspiration. It’s big enough to grow in but it’s small enough to get to know everybody around.

D Lof: Do you have A input for the art in the public schools and the education? I know before the State was trying to cut that out of the education?

Pete: I really don’t know much about the politics behind cutting out art programs in schools. I definitely feel like art programs are under utilized I think there needs to be more at the students’ disposal. I know when we went to school there were no photo classes or real drawing classes avail-

Above: (Untitled) - Color Pencil and Micron Pen March 2011 Abstraks 33

“Its frustrating to come out of high school and join the general population and find out that some of the other schools in the area had all kinds of art classes.”

rience we didn’t get to taste which leaves us to play catch up. We made little clay bird houses, at the end of senior year, we made fucking clay bird houses! Our senior year in high school, are you fucking kidding me? The fuck kind of art class is making clay bird houses senior year in high school?

I mean, I think it definitely depends on where you live, but the general consensus across the board is we need more art in our schools.

able ever or anything really engaging to get us enthusiastic about art. Its frustrating to come out of high school and join the general population and find out that some of the other schools in the area had all kinds of art classes. Their public schools provided them with a whole different expe-

D Lof: I heard you recently got back from San Francisco.

How was that and then coming back to Boston?

Above: (Untitled) - Marker and Acrylic

34 Abstraks March 2011

Pete: It sucks to come back to the east coast in January from San Francisco. Being on those mountains is a trip, I’ve

never been that high off the ground and still been on the ground. We went to Mount Tamalpais and Mur woods and all that and that shit is ridiculous. Its wild to look down on the clouds and see that far out. I could definitely see myself in Northern California some day, I like that area, parts have a New England vibe to it, but the weather never gets too severe in either direction like it does here. The biggest difference, I’d say, is the people and how much slower everybody moves and more easy going they are as opposed to the hurried and more aggressive lifestyle in Boston and the Northeast.

Contact: ihavednaproblems@gmail.com

March 2011 Abstraks 35

Taj Campman

My first impression of Taj Campman is that he is a man in constant motion. On a slick and frigid February night, I gathered with many of the Allston artistic community at the bright environ of Stingray Body Art to celebrate a piece of the local art scene. Taj’s paintings lined the far walls, hard to miss with bold colors and strong graphic lines. Easier to miss, however, was the artist himself who was in continuous demand as he pinged back and forth from friends, clients, well-wishers, and a roving camera crew.

Like an electron making its way from orbit to orbit, Taj would land into a circle of people slapping him on the back with congratulations, only to spin out a moment later to finalize the sale of a painting or give a rapid fire answer to a shouted question.

Tall and thin, with a frequent smile, Taj seemed happy to try and accommodate everyone and was unfailingly kind while doing so. When he talks, he speaks in short bursting sentences. He whips his hat off three words into a thought, only to jam it back on a moment later for punctuation.

I land in an eddy of Taj’s movement for a few moments to ask about his work. I ask him if he had a theme for this show and he immediately laughs and says, “Well, this is the least Asian show I’ve ever done!” Pointing to our right, he gestures at two Japanese flavored paintings: a pair of traditionally outfitted samurai firing guns toward off-screen targets, and a snapshot of a river of koi wriggling across the wall. Otherwise, we are looking up at a wide range of subject matter: Native American chiefs, a pack of gorilla heads, and a flock of birds.

“Hey, Taj, what’s up with all the birds, man?”

Over the din he tells me that he loves the form and Page 37: Chief - Spray paint, ink, and acrylic Above: Koi - Spray paint, ink, and acrylic

38 Abstraks March 2011

Right: Brave - Spray paint, ink, and acrylic

composition in Japanese style. Later, when we talk on the phone he has a chance to elaborate: “I usually have much more of an Asian influence- I’ve always admired Japanese artwork. I think it boils down to the simplicity and the balance.

envision the phone crushed in an awkward angle behind his ear while his hands are doing something else.

The Japanese never used perspective like the Italian masters in their art, yet somehow they still crated incredible depth and huge landscapes. “A lot of my work is not really painted on a specific background. It is not really set in a place but set more on a collage of colors and styles.

I think that came from Asian art: a sense of balance and bringing an artistic style to everything you do.”

“Both my parents are artists. They run an arts school for adults, so I was always doing art. That is kind of how it started.”

He adds, “Then, I trick it out as my own!”

“My father does a lot of multimedia collage work, and my mom makes sculptures from metal and driftwood. Both have a really diverse artistic repertoire, plus more traditional painting and printmaking techniques.

Back at the show, Taj has several people calling his name and one person trying to give him money. He shoots away into the crowd. A member of the throng around Taj is Josh “Chico” Torres, an organizer of the Stingray show. I ask him what he likes about Taj’s work and he says Taj combines different styles and aesthetics in an appealing way. Chico points to a painting of a Native American chief done in profile. “Do you see the arrows on the side?

That is a graphic design element. But he mixes it with street: spray paint and graffiti.”

I make my way back over to the paintings to try to pick up on the contrasts. What I thought was a traditional Japanese sakura motif turns out to be a spray painted radiator cover pattern. I notice the gazes of the humans in the picture slide away from the viewer, while the animals eye you openly. There are graffiti tags and stenciled numbers layered under the finely formed main subjects. Red, white and electric blue patches illuminate, rather then drown, the more delicate brush strokes. There are feathers everywhere, even on the humans.

Let’s start at the beginning, I say. Tell me about your parents.

Taj came to Boston to go to the New England Institute of Art, but grew up surrounded by art in Vermont thanks to his parent’s professions.

They both are traditionally painters, but when I was ten my dad got one of the first large color copiers on a grant.

So he experimented by making collages of photocopying images twenty times or manipulating them. Maybe that was a precursor to some of the stuff I do now. The modern with the traditional painting: to clash styles in a way that is appealing.”

Maybe because of his immersion in art growing up, Taj did not feel the need to seek formal training in painting after high-school. While he earned a Bachelors degree from the New England Institute of Art, it was not in visual art but in Audio Engineering.

Someone behind me is shouting and pointing. “See the serial numbers on the paintings with the animals? It’s like he is commoditizing nature!”

“Ironically, I came to Boston for audio engineering and recording music. I’m also a hip hop DJ.” Picking possibly the only career path less stable then a visual artist, Taj set his sights on the music industry. “Midway thought getting my degree the music industry crashed and burned. There was no money anywhere. Even thought I was always kind of around art, I never wanted to be an artist since I’ve seen my parents struggle with money.”

It’s time for me to leave.

“But here I am!”

A couple of weeks after the show, I snag Taj on the phone.

Even when not in person he gives off the vibe of constant movement, of doing three things at once. I can almost hear him whipping his hat off and on as he speaks, and

After graduation, Taj embarked on the same path undertaken by many recent Boston graduates searching for success, or at the very least, searching for employment.

However, unlike many people who go on to jobs which

Left: Twin guns - Spray paint, ink, and acrylic March 2011 Abstraks 41

never reference their college degree, Taj has experienced success in both his art and music.

“I have a band called Defcon, which is myself and another MC, Subtex. We play with Outwrite, another MC. We are about to release our third album in about a month called “Grey Sky Appeal”. It is kind of like a little bit of s melancholy album, but positive. It sounds like more of throw back hip hop, 1990s hip hop, melodic and lyrical.”

Does his music cross over to his art, or vice versa? “In terms of my creative process, I go back and forth between art and music. I rarely do them on the same days or weeks, but I think they are similar in creative output and beliefs. It has been a struggle between the two, deciding which one I need do on any given day.

For this show, I was listening to the Black Keys a lot when I was painting: just straight rock and roll, or blues rock.

My new pieces are kind of loud, bold, more colorful then my other pieces!”

The paintings do possess a hint of the kinetic energy of their creator. Perhaps this is because Taj skipped formal training and dove right into street art. “Growing up in Vermont I always loved graffiti. In Boston there is graffiti, but also lots of wheat pasting and a ton of stickers. There is impermanence in street art; you have to be prepared for your work to disappear. It is almost like a performance.

Maybe because I didn’t go to art school, the meaning of my pieces comes to me as I create them, or after the fact.

I channel emotion directly in to a piece, but it only makes sense after when I try to think of where I was when I created the work.

A lot of people ask me what I mean, but I feel like I want the aesthetics to speak for themselves. By telling someone, you take that away. Everything can have a different meaning to anyone.” Good news for those of us that see “commoditizing nature” in Taj’s acrylic gorilla heads.

my color palette really heavily. This time I used full color, mostly acrylic and some spray paint. Some of the characters I used in the pieces, I really tried to paint them in a throw back way. Something you might find in a thrift store, or old advertisements, which incorporate a new modern design then throw in a hint of graffiti. My intention is create and show these as propaganda pieces. I’m always drawn to images of power and wisdom. A lot of the characters I drew are contemplative.”

So what’s up with all the birds?

“The birds, well…

I think a big part of my paintings are about the balance between chaos and order: how clean lines meet ink spray and graffiti tagging. That is a big part of my work- intentional transformation. I like a rough graffiti wall that can morph into a clean modern figure.

I feel like birds lend themselves very well to my style. I love working with the details and shading on a figure. I feel like if you are drawing humans, it is not as interesting.

Birds can be in any shape and color, and you can put feathers going anywhere.

Different birds are also different symbols. I paint chickadees. I’ve been doing chickadees forever. They have almost become an icon for me, for my name. Chickadees stay around for the winter; they are these little hardy birds.”

Taj showcased at Orchard, a local skate company with gallery space, in the fall. In January he presented paintings back in his hometown in Vermont, and then scrambled to produce new artwork for the Stingray show. The impression I got of Taj as a person in constant motion is not just an impression: the man is very busy.

“This show I was exploring or re-exploring really painting. For a long time I used ink and spray paint, so I limited

“I say yes to everything! Anywhere anyone wants me to put a piece, I do. Any flyer you need designed, even if it barely paid. I just do everything I can, and if you do a good job for someone they will keep hiring you. Then as you get more talented you can charge more. Just be willing to build with everyone and make connotations and be supportive of other people’s journeys. Karma always comes around. I’ve been blessed by being helped out with other artists in this area, and in I hope to do the same. I’m really

Top page 42 & 43: Nineboard - Spray paint, ink, and acrylic Bottom page 42 & 43: Favela - Spray paint, ink, and acrylic

Right top: Rooster - Spray paint, ink, and acrylic Right bottom: Bird Print - Spray paint, ink, and acrylic

I try to get Taj to talk more about the paintings at the show. There were a lot of feathers, I tell him. What’s up with the chiefs, man?

44 Abstraks March 2011

trying to just be an artist and not get a job. So I crank out a lot of work. It is a little nerve wracking but so far it has always worked out.”

At this point I mention I find it pretty remarkable that he works as much as he does. Talent can’t do everything.

Skilled artists everywhere grind out a living at something they do not love, just so they can pursue art or music on the side. Taj has managed to make a living selling his paintings, his music and his services as a freelance graphic designer.

Taj understands that being your own boss is a different kind of tyranny. “A lot of times I don’t know what to paint. Everyone has painted everything, and everything has been painted really well. Coming up with something unique is really challenging sometimes. I’d like to explore other mediums more: collage stuff and printmaking. I want to explore some more abstract stuff, but having never really done abstract I’d want to do it for awhile before I really showed it. There is a fine line between good and crappy in abstract. I would like to explore a lot of new styles but I need time to hone them before I would show.

A big part of it is personal discovery.”

Do you realize how rare that is, I ask.

“I’m always so amazed that people buy my art. People aren’t rich, but they buy my art. I’m so unbelievably grateful that in today’s craziness people will still buy local art.”

So, what is the next step? Moving on from what is already working very well for him, Taj still feels compelled to take a leap. “In a perfect world I’m probably moving to New York next year. I feel a huge energy behind art the last few years, and creating is really working for me. I know a lot of people go to New York to be discovered, and I know it is a big pool.”

To achieve that artistic expansion, Taj envisions a place without much movement. “It would be great to take a few months and just go somewhere and paint. A few weeks before the Orchard show I was on a little island in Maine, and I had to paint the whole time for the show, and my work turned out really different. I think it was being out of the city, the city mixed with the country, and my childhood: the work I did in Maine was much more peaceful and had a more content vibe then most of my art.

I don’t know what I’d create if I wasn’t under a time deadline and stylistic restraints!”

To support himself he plans to do graphic design, plus a little bit of everything. Taj may have elevated artistic ability, but his work ethic is pure pragmatism. “You have to do a lot of things to be successful these days, you can’t just be a painter. You design shirts and album covers, side hustles, side work. Sure, I would rather just be working on a canvas a lot of times, but you work for other people to give yourself the freedom to do what you want. I try to put enough care into it that I don’t disappoint. I treat the graphic design work seriously, not “damn the man”. The employer is always right. Maybe some day I’ll have that luxury, but I don’t turn down work. I always need to make sure they want to work with me again.”

Taj may wish for a peaceful little pocket of stillness to reflect and create, but he is still going to hustle in the meantime. Working is what works for him: his constant movement, his deadlines, his continuous motion, spinning fast as his creations fly outward. On the phone he sounds like he’s doing three other things while talking to me… probably because he is.

New York is a place Taj is aiming for but he is also committed to moving his work farther down the line of artistic evolution. “I feel right now I have to paint in a way that has a good chance to sell. I have to paint stuff that I know is appealing to people, and sometimes that can be really limiting. Even when I don’t have a direct employer I’m still under other people’s supervision.”

Not a problem.

As we sign off I ask him if there is anything he wants to add.

“Hey, can you mention that my next show is at Sip Café in New York on March 18th?”

“Cool. Okay, make me sound smart, alright?”

Contact: tajcampman@hotmail.com

Left: Album front - Spray paint, and ink March 2011 Abstraks 47

Rob Drew

D Lof: What was your first introduction to art as a child?

Rob: It would’ve probably have been Akira. I was about 5 or 6, I saw it on VHS. It blew me away but it was the fact that it was moving and so much shit going on. It was literally like the most minuscule details going on in the back. Tetsuo exploding, it was insane. It was really one of the things that showed an alternate reality. It pulled things to create it from this real world, things happening on a cosmic level that the media doesn’t really show, like alien things happening. Its not like that movie really had any type of superstition behind it. It was just this crazy thing about ripping apart reality, a big ass baby exploding and shit. Who thinks of that? Who thinks of the climax of a movie like that ? I’ve never seen anything like that before it just blew me away. It got me into Japanese culture for a little bit, but it really got me into seeing the most absurd things happening. Seeing things happen in more of a morbid way, that’s so sick. Takeshi Murakami, I don’t really like his art but he has some pieces that are really cool.

D Lof: I remember before we started the interview, I asked you if you watched Sci-Fi channel featuring anime on Saturday mornings.

Rob: That was the best! You wake up, and get some cereal.

I was in the hood though, so you had some lunch meat, and you pop that shit up on the stove and that shit was delicious.You had a huge meal in front of the T.V. and you watched the craziest shit.You’d watch a girl running around with a giant rifle blowing away demons, or you watched 2 robots and a human rip on movies on a movie screen. It was always that kind of nerdy media, but it was sick though. It was Saturday and you could see the craziest anime. I don’t know if they cut, did they cut it back then?

D Lof: I don’t think they cut it back then.

Rob:Yea, I don’t think they cut it.

D Lof: I think that’s probably why I was so fascinated with the Sci-Fi channel because it was so raw.

Rob: Brutal, brutal, brutal, violence but in cartoon form.

It was sick cause you could access it at any time. I didn’t really get into animation but I got into art making, just because I didn’t want to have to draw all that.

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D Lof: I know you’re a musician, and heavy into music. And probably one of the best musicians I know, to be honest.

Also, I know you’re into video. How does that incorporate into your art; video, visual, and being a musician?

Rob: It kind of all stemmed from seeing other people do it. At the same time we’re all part of this A.D.D. culture. I know I couldn’t keep still when I was a kid that was one of the best fucking parts about being a kid. I was always one of those kids that went to the arcade and spent money at the arcade. I either had a scheme or a job of some sort and I was working at fucking church or some shit.

I always had some extra cash, and I’d go to the fucking arcade and I’d probably get my aunt to take me and spend mad money. I used to nerd out , especially if it was raining we’d go to the board walk. If it was just raining in general I would be like, ah theres no point of me looking good, fuck woman fuck girls. I would go out with my ear phones on and the music, the epileptic seizure inducing lights in these games, like Marvel versus Capcom or some shit, and I’m like music has to go to this. They have to go to together, its not like you can have one over the other.You can but it wouldn’t be as powerful as it could be. If I were to try and beat a game at home like Gran Turismo, which is such a massive game. But I would turn down the music in the game because it sucked, and I would just play music in my ears and change the camera view while I raced. That’s kind of how I got into films, by my own little stupid videos and games. Just playing video games with music and dubbing them. That’s kind of how I do it in DJ’ing [Disc Jockey], you’re over dubbing layers of sound with other ones.

You’re mixing two mediums together to create an effect to communicate something, or just to do it. It doesn’t really have to mean anything, and that’s my work. Its not necessarily that it doesn’t mean anything, but you can pull out what ever you want. I’m more into the visual attraction or the initial raw animalistic qualities, Its not really that different, but its just raw and if its just raw you’re not really filtering much, and that’s what I love about what I make. Even the sneakers I’m wearing is just raw, I don’t really give a shit. I give a shit, but I don’t really give a shit, I really want to see how it looks if I don’t give a shit. Then how can I work it into making it look like I give a shit.

D Lof: Which culture, or what part of culture really influences you? I know you’re into street culture, your wearing Supreme and all. Is there a specific culture, Japanese or Hip-Hop? Right: (Untitled) - Digital

Rob: Its all relevant, its this urban New York culture.

Theres nothing that hasn’t been influenced by that city, and I’ve lived 40 minutes away in New Jersey. There’s nothing; well besides London which has its own style, which I’ll get into that later. But New York has influenced me just because everything kind of ties into that city somehow.

Whether your favorite show is shot there or your favorite movie, and almost every movie is shot there . Most of the music I like is out of that region or L.A. Even now they’re more relevant to me because of the music that’s coming out of there and shit. The culture, and the reason I like it and pull from it because it influences everything I do.

With my constant attraction to the city I just keep going, and going. The people I meet, are the people that most people think that they would never meet in their life. I’ve Top: (Untitled) - Digital

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hung out with some crazy people, chilling in the Lower Eastside. It’s not like people are snobby, they can be but fuck em’.You can meet anyone you want to meet at any time at any place, its crazy.

D Lof: How was your adventure to London?

Rob: Shit was nuts (Laughs), shit was insanity. I was in the craziest borough or the richest borough studying and living. Then going out every Thursday to Plastic People Going to Fabric, hearing all the titans of Dubstep and Grime, fucking doing it and living the dream, making crazy music.

The rave scene is nuts, there is so much going on where people were digging it. Its not just falling down on deaf ears, people wanted to hear crazy shit. It was just dope

because theres a lot of unity over there. Theres a lot of spirit, and I’m not saying there isn’t any in America but, we don’t do things the same. No one does shit the same but, over there its just electronic music especially. They’re really doing their thing in London, they’re changing music which is good, its only for the better.

D Lof: I spent some time in Barcelona and we’ve talked about that before. It was out of control! Art wise, music wise, and they’re definitely doing it big over there in Europe. But, right now you’re living in Cambridge right?

Rob: There is an art scene out there but its kind of secondary, not priority. Again, when its not a city it’s a different feel. Its not any less or anymore, its just different. Cambridge is obviously historically important, but it just seems like a capitalist intrusion into the scene. It really used to be study, and preppy but now there are like skate shops everywhere. People are using it for better real estate, which is awesome but I don’t really like hanging out in Cambridge. Central is cool, like the Enormous Room that place is dope. But they are few far and between, but that’s just because I’m bias towards New York and other places like Philly.

Rob: Mhmm D Lof: Is there a art scene out there?

D Lof:You’re into skateboarding, does that contribute to your creativity? When you were younger, did the graphics

Top: (Untitled) - Digital March 2011 Abstraks 53

from skate T’s and skate decks make a contribution?

Rob: It always occurred to me, because I haven’t really been skating long. I’ve skated for a while now but not long, but I wasn’t allowed to skate. Being in school and my Christian upbringing, it was stupid. Plus I played sports so I couldn’t hurt myself. But then I stopped giving a fuck and, so much of what I liked was influenced by skateboarding.

For me to deny that would be retarded, from Supreme or me getting my first Krooked deck. Watching fucking skate videos high, and eating mad shit, and going to find spots, that shit is fun. Its fun but it influenced everything, its hustle and bustle, hustle and bustle fun you know? Your just always moving trying to be more creative with the terrain thats in front of you skating and in the street.You bring that in everything, music art, its just all in it. Skating is just another form of you expressing your creativity but you got four wheels and a piece of wood, and its just sick to get around on (laughs).

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“Its like, you shouldn’t be considered a hippie if you just want to be artsy and create stuff. Why is that bad, you know?”

D Lof: Would you say you have a classified style? You do a lot of abstract work, but then your work looks like its referenced to branding.

Rob: I kind of hate the dudes like Saatchi, Jeff Koons, I really don’t like some of the stuff that they do, because its obviously hackey.You got Dan Perfect who does some crazy shit, its sick. Some of their ideas are amazing but I like the distill for money attitude. I like the raw, again, raw imagery. Kind of classic imagery, but that in itself can be a brand. My whisps that I do sometimes, the explosions of

color, that can be a brand. I don’t know how but if I do it enough it will become one.

D Lof: Whats your opinion on the subject of “Jeans vs.

Suites”, if you know what I’m talking about?

Rob:Yeah, kind of art is going corporate. If your into making money, like a lot of money go right ahead. But you don’t really need that much money to be comfortable.

Im comfortable doing what ever the fuck I want, notoriety will come eventually. If you work hard enough, it will come. ‘Im not about to sell out, they don’t even work together. If your doing corporate stuff, and your getting fame for it , that’s great. In the scheme of history it might be dope, you’re an awesome corporate artist. But what are people in the future going to think about that term?

I don’t know, but do you really want that? Or would you want to be considered just an amazing artist, or just an amazing corporate artist? I don’t know if it sounds pejorative, but I think that’s where people think for themselves.

I don’t think it sounds that good. Its like, you shouldn’t be considered a hippie if you just want to be artsy and create stuff. Why is that bad, you know? But that’s the type of world we live in, where you can’t have fun creating unless your under some type of guise, you cant just default and have fun and create and make a living, it just doesn’t work like that.

D Lof: I know you big up New York, so talk about your love for that and your comparison for Boston.

Rob: Its crazy cause its changed a lot in the last 5 years, and now that its kind of safer. Its definitely been safer for a while, its more of an explore-able place now. There are so many different types of people, now more than ever, and so much stuff is going on. Because of the internet and word of mouth, everyone’s connected, and every city is connected. Think about the whole Fung Wah thing, me going to school for college, its made the two brother cities,

Top: (Untitled) - Digital March 2011 Abstraks 55

Boston is a brother city to New York. Obviously New York is a ridiculous city, but it feeds off certain energy. When you get to Boston, Boston has its own flair, or energy, but it only last for a little bit shorter.

D Lof: I think its definitely difficult because a lot of people will come from Boston and go to New York, and go to San Francisco, and L.A. I think they get frustrated because they feel there is no growing room here. Is that something you feel as well to?

Rob:Yeah.You can definitely meet mad people in a short amount of time here, but those people may not be able to necessarily build initially. If you go to New York, or L.A. or London, and you find people that want to do something they’re probably going to want to do it. They’re probably going to want to do it, like extremely soon. Theres just this drive in these cities. Theres drive in Boston, there is fucking drive in Charlotte, North Carolina. Theres just different amounts, but you cant get more drive than New York, you can’t. Maybe even London to, because London got hectic. These big cities where people want to get stuff done, its just the mind set I feel.

D Lof: What are your plans for the rest of the year?

Rob: I’m starting up some audio things, some big audio things, big things. We’re doing this audio collaboration, me and Donnovan Sharp, hes a sick producer, beat maker, DJ. We got this thing called Hektik coming out, and its our audio label publishing kind of audio visual power house thing.

Its all going to be under the Don’t Blink movement. The blog, the site coming up, and I’ve got the No Request thing going. There are going to be EP’s dropping very soon, we got videos coming, getting some camera equipment soon. We’re going to have some things going on with Dj Manipulator, this DJ out of Worcester, New York born by the way. He’s done some big things for his label, Kind Of Dusty, that’s his label. Just got some more mixes dropping, some more video mixes coming to, once I get the time.

And I’ll be having some more pieces out, probably towards the summer once I get out of school. Things are starting to roll, definitely look out for the audio though, and check out the Tropical Life and the Hektik label dropping things soon.

Contact: supreme.drew@gmail.com Left: (Untitled) - Digital March 2011 Abstraks 57

Yes.Oui.Si Space 58 Abstraks March 2011

Typically the words art+exhibition implies gallery, but not in the case of Yes.Oui.Si Space “We are a multi-sensory exhibition space specializing in sound and color. We serve to connect and exhibit all forms of creative expression.

Facilitating situations of collaboration through a fusion of multi-media art shows and kaleidoscopic music concerts”, says creative director Olivia Ives – Flores. “Yes.Oui.Si Space celebrated its Grand Coming Out Ceremony on February 11th 2011. Prior to a sneak peak, soft opening event on November 11th 2010.” My first time seeing and experiencing Yes.Oui.Si, was on a Thursday night in February. I didn't know what to expect, but when I walked in I was extremely impressed. The laughter, smiles, and friendly interaction amongst people made me feel accepted; a welcoming environment even for non-artists. I asked Olivia how Yes.Oui.Si came about.

“The city of Boston is a burgeoning creative epicenter, although it seems to me that this provincial city has a slight

identity complex. Affixed with the reputation of being a trampoline station for emerging artists and musicians, however we believe that Boston deserves to be recognized for its creative potential.Yes.Oui.Si was created as a testament to the level of creative caliber, intelligent innovation and the power of collaboration. We intend to unite the creative cliques of the city and expand the working network of artists and musicians.”

When you step back and look at the bigger picture, some of what she says seems true. Unfortunately, artists do venture off to other cities like New York or San Francisco. It's difficult to blame them, especially when these cities have flourishing artistic communities. When questioned about future plans for Yes.Oui.Si, Olivia’s response was, “Well, for now the goal is to continue promoting sound and color in the city, but merged with a sustainable business practice so that we can expand and grow. The Starving Artist is an unfair reputation for young people

March 2011 Abstraks 59

pursing artistic life paths,Yes.Oui.Si is an entrepreneurial adventure which aspires to readjust that misconception and create opportunities for success from within.Yes.Oui. Si = D.I.T (Doing It Together)�

Contact: www.YesOuiSiSpace.com 19 Vancouver St. Boston, MA 02115

March 2011 Abstraks 61

Derek Cilla

Derek Cilla is a man with the city on his mind. Right now it is Boston that has captured his attention and landed on the colored filled canvases in his studio. Originally from Michigan, Derek moved frequently as a kid, but eventually landed in a quiet part of Connecticut. However, although he still occasionally calls himself “a country boy” he is well versed in the local way of doing things after graduating from The Art Institute of Boston in 2010. Derek’s perspective on Boston is alive in his art, where he riffs on the city, the earth, and worlds he newly creates.

Derek’s studio is bright and bedroom sized with a surprising absence of clutter. In the airy space are only a couple dozen canvases, two low couches, a coffee table, a drafting table, paints, an easel, and a MacBook. He hangs his own work on the walls and so far seems to have resisted the magpie like tendency of artists to amass bits of inspirational flotsam and jetsam. The most remarkable thing about the studio, aside from its sunny quality, is the studio’s location: housed on the street level of one of Commonwealth Avenue’s ubiquitous brownstones, Derek Page 63: Abstract Moon - Mixed media on canvas Above: Day Dream 4 - Mixed media on canvas

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is only inches away from one of the busiest intersections in Allston. Pedestrians zoom by obviously to anyone peering out from the building’s façade, including Derek who has his easel set up so that he faces the street. As Derek thinks about the things that give Boston its heart, he does so while sitting directly on one of its main arteries.

I interviewed Derek as he prepared to mount a showing of paintings at a local tattoo studio, which is interested in showcasing local artists. Stingray, an Allston institution for over a decade, specializes in the kind of art most seen around the corner of Brighton and Harvard Avenue: skin art. Boston can be an earnest population, especially its artist community, who wears their hearts on their sleeves.

It is fitting then, that the artists of Stingray are responsible for many of the sleeves seen on Boston’s population.

Josh “Chico” Torres, an artist-in-denizen of Stingray, thinks that Allston is a “funny little pocket” for art, and that Allston and Boston have a large pool of talented artists to draw on. He is committed to showcasing their work here Right: L.A. - Oil on canvas

in his studio: two artists showing at Stingray every sixty days. Asked about why he requested Derek in the show, Chico describes Cilla as “up and coming” and says that he likes Derek because of his attitude and that he “is on the Allston home team.”

exposed to Agent Orange in Vietnam. That is exactly what he looks like: scary. People think I made it up but it is a portrait of a kid out there who might be considered gruesome or grotesque but at the same it looks awesome on a wall.”

Meanwhile, Derek is debating over which paintings he would like to see in the show: “I bounce all over the place.

I don’t really do just one thing. As school went on, kids were really attracted to my line work, and told me to put it in as much as possible. So I ran with it. I try and keep it tight with the paint, but then I tighten it up even further with the linework.”

The same could be said for a portrait he did of conjoined twins with vibrant and inviting colors. “It is shoving it in your face with these pretty colors but at the same time this is a real person, so it is a little grotesque. The colors and harmony, I try and take the colors and make it off, but make it beautiful. It puts it in your face and opens your eyes, because most people don’t spend a lot of time thinking about that stuff.”

Derek gestures toward an unfinished octopus painting he hopes to have done in time for the show. The carefully lined cephalopod, done in vivid orange, creamy pink, and delicate brown shading, blooms across a backdrop that is half aquatic/half urban. A counterpart piece shows a joyfully vivid whale cruising through an underwater space littered with urban remnants.

When I ask him about the process he uses to create he responds that it is still something he doesn’t fully understand about himself. “That’s a toughie. I go in so many different directions it is hard to know where to start. I really have no process what so ever. Sometimes I’ll start with a sketch of some random idea. I just find colors and shapes I want to use and then go crazy. I’ll work on it for a couple of weeks at a time, throw some paint on it, then let it sit for a couple of weeks. Then I’ll go back to it.”

“I’ll just throw body parts and animals in there, and morph it with shapes. I started drawing like that a year ago and kept doing it and running with it. The more I did it, the more people loved it. I’m going to try and incorporate the comic book illustration into my work too. I normally want to paint a lot, and now I’m trying to incorporate the best of both worlds.”

Derek then turns his attention to a series of pieces he calls Life is Beautiful. The series consists of portraits of some of the true outcasts of the world. “With Life is Beautiful the idea is to do portraits of something that you wouldn’t normally want to look at.” We look at a painting of a figure with a misshapen head.

When you see Life is Beautiful Derek hopes that you are reminded of how grotesque can be made beautiful, and how ultimately both concepts are rooted in the lives of real people. “It makes you go: Oh wow, oh shit, what is going to happen to them?”

In the lead up to the gallery show, Derek might be feeling some empathy with his outcast muses. “It is hard to have someone stand there and tell you you’re wrong, when you think your right. The problem I always have is that I never think my stuff is good enough. It is nerve-wracking. I’m pumped, but I’m nervous to hear what people are going to say in the background. It is a big deal.”

While he loves creating, he hates to feel exposed. A sense of community would go a long way in creating camaraderie and support among Boston’s artists, and Derek sees the Stingray show as a flare of warmth in a frequently cold city. “This is what Boston is lacking: these gallery shows, and little shows like it. You don’t hear about them ever.

There and gone. No one does these things. In San Francisco or Chicago they are doing gallery shows like once a month, once every other month. The whole community gets together and talks and throws out ideas. Here it is everyone for themselves, and if you can’t do it for yourself you are shit out of luck. That has been my experience being here. As much as Boston is awesome and everyone loves each other they also kind of hate each other. It’s a hard town!”

“That is a portrait of a child who was born after being

I ask him about the tendency of some artists to blame their lack of popularity on their audience being uneducated plebs. I say, “There are a lot of artists who think they

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are good no matter what: that it is the public’s fault if they do not really ‘get’ the artist’s work.”

I interject, “Like when you see someone fall on their ass and they say: ‘Oh, I meant to do that!’?”

Derek is curt, “Its all bullshit.” He laughs. “This is the one thing I hate about the art world: the bullshit way people describe their artwork and the meaning behind it. Put it up and let it speak for itself. I hate explaining, I hate doing crits. I don’t need a story behind every piece.”

He laughs again. “Yeah, that’s what art school is. That is quote of the year: I meant to do that!”

Derek relates much more to the everyday artist or ordinary art viewing public, rather then the classically minded artistic elite. “That is one of the things I hated about art school. All the bullshit people put on you. I don’t believe you. I don’t believe you meant to do that.”

Although Derek moved to the city to attend the Art Institute of Boston, he is ambivalent about his time there.

On the one hand he loved learning and cherishes the people he met. On the other hand, he sometimes felt at odds with the more stodgy population of professors who looked down on the more contemporary styles of art he gravitated towards.

“Another thing I got criticized for was constantly doing

Above: Zakim bridge - Mixed media on canvas

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these small drawings.”

As opposed to some of his fellow students dashing off a “witty doodle”, he saw his work as true illustration informed by underappreciated visual mediums like comic book linework and graffiti style.

“Anything can be art. Now that is known.”

“Some people think comic books are not art but they can be phenomenal works of skill. If you can draw really well- that is great art. Just because you can splatter on a painting doesn’t mean it‘s good. For me it is about color, harmony and enjoyment.

I don’t not look at certain art. I look at everything. I’m heavily influenced by comic art and graffiti. I have a lot of artists I look at on the regular, like Revok. He is a graffiti artist from L.A. One of the original big guys on the west coast. He’s done it all: from the old school bubble stuff to everything that is going on in that world now. He’s been doing it for 30 years. His buddy, Saber, another original guy, grew up doing it as a little kid and is now a world renowned artist. He’s now on CNN. Graffiti is fighting its way into the art world. Graffiti used to be this like horrible act, but now, there are lots of people who do characters, or beautiful letters, and some people who do photo-realistic walls.

I think graffiti is the new renaissance art- it has taken off and it is worldwide now. It is funny and weird to see it in galleries because the old art world hates it. But the kids love it and everyone wants a piece of it now.”

He then adds, “I can’t do graffiti to save my fucking life.”

In 2009, he took a stab at reconciling the outcasts with the elite. The goal was to organize a community art show outside his school; exactly the kind of show which he feels Boston is so lacking. “I didn’t see shows like that around here, and we all felt the same way: there is not a gallery who will let us do our stuff our way. So let’s do it by getting the community involved- let’s get together, get it going!”

The idea was to mount a show in a commercial space on Commonwealth Avenue. There would be large walls to

showcase graffiti art and live painting, as well as a gallery space with local bands and DJs. Sadly, before the show could be finalized, the owners of the space revoked their consent. Derek and his co-organizers had to scramble to move the show to another venue: inside the artistically divided campus of the Art Institute of Boston.

“The dean was psyched and funded it, but the fine art teachers absolutely hated it. It was kind of bizarre that way, when the whole school is pumped about it, and then you get dirty looks from teachers.”

Derek got his first taste of mural painting from this show, as well as the uncomplicated public feedback that came from painting in a public place. “I loved doing that mural.

It is a different feeling to go that huge. I took up a wall at my school and painted it for three days. I used spray paint, some pencil, house paint, everything was in there. All the kids were walking by, and they loved it.”

On his painted wall was yet more evidence of how the city was always on his mind. “I took this heart, and had all these blob monsters coming out of it surrounded by a city.” The flyer for the event, which he co-designed, even featured Boston landmarks such as the John Hancock building.

Thoughts about the city continue to appear in Derek’s current work. He is currently putting into production shirts which feature a bold imprint of the Zakim bridge with the words “Sleeping Giant”. Urban spaces permeate the pieces Derek shows at Stingray. Abstract canvases feature paint drippings, power lines, subway maps, chalk outlines and skylines. Animals mingle in a vaguely organic environment shot through with city remnants: a subway car bursts through a wall on a collision course with a deep sea creature. On one small canvas a flock of pristine white mushrooms gather quietly around newspaper clippings, as if to read the day’s bad news. On a large work, a many fingered man brandishes a spray paint can, while another one screams his head off at his own reflection.

His “blob monsters” are here too. Body parts, orifices and eyeballs cavort against backgrounds splashed with paint. One tableau in the show features a fanged intestine devouring the world.

The immediacy of Derek’s colors and line work fairly

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jumps off the walls at you. I ask him about where he sees his work’s appeal to people. “Look at every generation of art. Somebody did something first and they got recognized for it. The same thing is going on now- artists are going that commercial route, and most people will say they are selling out, but that is how they are getting in to it. Kids are doing iPod covers, lampshades, snowboard art, t-shirts, all that stuff then they watch it take off.

There is art everywhere. You just have to have a niche. As long as you like what you are doing, do it. There is nothing wrong with making commercialized things. I love painting- it is my passion. Will all of them be on a skateboard?

Probably not. I like the gallery setting.”

One week after our interview, I attend the Stingray art Above: Shrooms - Mixed media on mutiple panels

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show to see how Derek and his art fared in a gallery setting. The space at Stingray is alive with art on the walls, art on bodies, and artists of many stripes (some with actual stripes) easily mixing. Derek greets friends and audience members as they swirl around him. He smiles as he looks at the people who are looking at his work, maybe slightly overwhelmed, but happy and jovial. Here is a manifestation of the artistic community Derek envisions for Boston: a successful showing to the public which helps to chase away some of the doubts he voiced in the interview about finding your own way in such a large city.

“Boston is a proud town. You got a lot of kids coming here from all over the place, and they don’t know what is going on. I think that might be part of it: the mentality of being from Boston. It is a working class city, a big fight-

ing city. People have to look out for themselves. Maybe, if you are not from here, if you didn’t grow up here, it is like get out of town! If you don’t know someone, why are you even here? You aren’t a regular.”

Derek need not have worried. The crowd here loves his work. The tattoo studio is gloriously packed with a generous and joyful vibe. Derek’s relationship with Boston may be ambivalent at times, but tonight the city loves him back 100%.

Still, it is possible to feel like an insider and an outsider simultaneously, and it is that tension which fuels fresh artistic visions like Derek’s. “You’ve got to care for yourself, if you want to be on top. It is always good to meet new people. New shows are great, everyone helps everyone.

I’m going to keep working with them.”

Contact: dcdevilblue87@aol.com

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