????

Can someone please explain this madness to me. Spotted at Milwaukee/Sacramento.

SOLE (RIP)

This is old news to anyone in the Chicago graffiti scene. SOLE died while running from the cops while painting on the South side. He was at an abandoned building and he jumped in the river to escape. He drowned in that river. I got to thinking on him when I saw another RIP mural. I didn't even know who the mural was for. DARE ONE. And I'll never know him. It made me sad.






I started thinking about SOLE. I'm not gonna tell you he was an awesome guy, I didn't know him. There are plenty of people out there that will attest to the fact he was a great guy. I only knew his work. I used to see SOLE everywhere on the Northside when I lived in Rogers Park. He was one of the most Up writers around. Up means you have graffiti on display in the city. He was in UAC crew which also was Up all over the city. A crew is a group of graffiti writers working together for a common goal.
Usually involving graffiti.
His style was simple and
straight forward. He had a
well balanced tag and didn't
elaborate with flourish or
style. His tags were like
working class tags. He had a
city job, I think. He lived in the burbs and came and
did graffiti in the city.
I imagine him on a metra train with other commuters. Business men with briefcases and laptops. SOLE sitting there with a jansport backpack filled with spray paint and markers. Putting in his time at the office.
Some people will say he died a stupid death doing a
stupid thing. Man, arguing about the legitimacy of
graffiti is like arguing about the sun coming up. It is
illegal and none of us give a fucking fuck. He was painting an abandoned factory. He had done his share
of property damage. He also did his share of jail and
fines. He was no stranger to the criminal court system. Thats a big part of the graff game. If you don't have the stones to get arrested or get your ass beatdown and robbed
Then STEP THE FUCK off.
There is alot of risk involved in doing graffiti. Some pay the price. Its awful he jumped in that river. Its terrible he died. I didnt know him. I knew of him. I saw his work daily. I knew people that partied with him and they told me such funny stories about SOLE. I wish I could of met him. I wish he was still tagging train stops and random bus seats. RIP SOLE.
The news story on him. ( http://archive.chicagobreakingnews.com/2010/03/authorities-attempt-to-rescue-man-in-chicago-river.html )
A poem written about him that almost made me cry
( http://kcovaleverydaypeople.blogspot.com/2010/03/falling-up-call-to-arms-rip-sole-uac.html )

Freight Trains.

 What is it about freight trains that get my blood pumping? The romance, the mystery, the sheer skill, balls and heart it takes to be a skilled freight train writer. Some taggers and graffiti artists are content to piss around the same neighborhoods all their lives. Tagging the same bust stop benches and bathroom stalls week after week, year after year. Not so for the freight train writer. Here is someone who goes into guarded private property risking life, limb and liberty to get up nationwide. Being known in the hood

 Is one thing. Getting up on freights and getting fame nationwide, well, it takes ones breath away to see the passion and pain poured into some pieces that you see rolling through town. Most all of these are done in the dead of night. Usually with a crew to back you up in case the shit hits the fan. Guards may harass you. Burlington Northern Santa Fe employs guards who use night vision goggle to prevent theft and graffiti. The train yards where trains set overnight is where it all goes down. I know of two I frequent on the north side of Chicago. One is off of Grand just East of Halsted. Usually a couple dozen boxcars just setting out. This is like honey to bears for freight train bombers. They come, unload their paint, take their sweet ass time. Guards creep in cars. No one is stupid enough to roll up on some buck ass bombers in the middle of the night alone on foot. You learn how to fight in the graff game. You could run into another graff crew in the yards. You may know them, you may not. They may rob you for your paint. They may

 beat your ass cause you crossed them out once way back in the day. Or you run like a sissy bitch and spend the rest of your graff life telling people lies about what really happened in the yards that one night.
    Those that get up and get it right are masters of the craft. They are on a different plane than the average tagger. They see the bigger picture. They want some random kid in Oklahoma to bug out when his burner rolls through town and its seen by everyone sitting at the train crossing

 waiting to get to work, school, the store. You wonder who they are. These masters of the freight graff scene. Where are they from? A lot of graff writers don't put a city name on their art. The Nation is their hood. They rock the rails nationwide. They are the stars in this game. Fierce, beautiful, talented supernovas of grace and passion.

SMURF

Been seeing SMURF around the North side of the city since early this year. Its the only character tag I have consistently seen. What do I know about SMURF? Jack. Nada. Zip. Zilch. I can tell SMURF practices. A lot. I imagine there are stacks of notebooks out there somewhere on the far North side in some shitty studio, overlooking a liquor store and adult book shop, where SMURF scribbles his/her character over and over. Again and again. Doing it backwards, flipping the page upside down. Drawing it with his/her eyes closed. I see an evolution in this character. I see it becoming more solid. The fill ins are tight. Perhaps an entire SMURF village is forthcoming. I can only dream.

REYES and STEEL of MSK Crew In Chicago

REVOK, MSK, AWR, 7TH LETTER

A couple of days ago I came across a REYES and STEEL piece in the West Loop. I wouldn't of even known who they were, had it not been for the crew name on the margin of there piece. MSK. I had seen MSK for years on freights rolling through the midwest. The MSK crew name was always accompanied by AWR. An affiliate crew. MSK stands for master style kings and AWR stands for always rocking. These crews include such famous old school graffiti artists like REVOK. He rocks billboards on sunset strip with the best of them.

AUGOR, MSK, AWR, 7TH LETTER.

    Also include in these crews is Augor.
A graffiti artist of frightening depth and ability. Some of his pieces look like slimy, worm people made of intestines and fur. Truly bizarre stuff. He has designed skateboards, concept art for films and absolutely demolished walls, freights and highway overpasses all over the West Coast.












Probably the most well known member of MSK is
SABER. He is in the guinness book of world records
for having the worlds largest tag. He did in the LA
River, over two years using hundreds of gallons of
paint. He does movie work, has art in galleries,
has a clothing line with another crew, 7th letter and

SABER, MSK, AWR, 7TH LETTER

shows no signs of slowing up. His style is
insanely detailed and hyper intricate. Its
almost as if its done by alien life form from another dimension.
    MSK. True graff kings in every sense of the word. It was a rare and special treat to see them in Chicago. I must also note, that all around the STEEL, REYES piece tags, pieces and murals were crossed out or painted over by other taggers. Not the MSK piece. No one touched that. Its was a sign of respect. No one crosses MSK out. To do so would invite ridicule and
rejection from the graff community.

LOONY of BAD crew running wild

A long time member of BAD crew, LOONY is one of the most balls out taggers putting up work in the city today. You will see his signature block letter tag on billboards above highways, on the sides of delivery vans, lamp posts and the random homeless guy. This guy does not give a fuck what anyone thinks of his tag, his style, his life. He one of the few taggers I have noticed all city, which means he gets around. His style is simple, unadorned and in your face.  

Garbage Pail Kids posters appearing in Wicker Park

So, some artists in LA decided to do a show where contemporary graffiti and fine artists redid Garbage pail Kids in their unique style. I have been seeing Garbage pail kids up here for  a little while now. I used to love Garbage Pail Kids. I still have mine. They are battered and dog eared to hell, but I still have them. These posters have been appearing in the Wicker Park area. I don't think they are awful, I don't think they are great. I just look at them and think, 'Aww, thats cool.'

Buff Monster, from his site

Spotted in Wicker Park

Spotted in Wicker Park

Promotional Piece from The LA show

ROA in Chicago

Being an international badass must be nice. You wake up, roll out of bed and say, "What country can I vandalize today?" ROA is one such artist. His large scale black and white wildlife depictions are amazingly detailed and visually overwhelming. This guys goes BIG in the truest sense of the word. Originally from Belgium, he has work up all over the planet. Some of is small but most of it is HUGE. Billboard sized decaying animals or 3 story high vutlures. His vision seems dark and obsessive. What are the animals saying to us. What do all the bones and beaks mean? Perhaps he is here to remind us that this world does not belong to us humans. By choosing congested urban areas to put up jaw dropping murals, he drives this point home. BAD ASS! This was spotted in the West Loop.

Obey Under Lake Shore Drive

If you need to ask who Obey is, you probably shouldn't be reading this blog. The man, myth and legend has been at it for a LONG ASS TIME now. He gets up nationwide, gets his ass kicked when he goes overseas,( http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/lanow/2011/08/street-artist-shepard-fairey-assaulted-in-copenhagen.html ) and still finds time to design album art for Tom Petty, presidential propaganda and get arrested in Boston. When the Armageddon finally comes, I bet God will tap Obey to design the posters for it.