12ozProphet

If you are in NYC come out..

Tickets: $20.  $10 with student ID.  And hey all—Buy a Premium Ticket for $100 and you give much-needed support to Revolution Books.
To purchase tickets:
From Revolution Books: 212-691-3345, or on line at http://www.revolutionbooksnyc.org/Purchase.htm
From Harlem Stage: 212-281-9240 ext.6, or online http://www.harlemstage.org

For more information or to volunteer, call Revolution Books at 212-691-3345, Email: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

THIS EVENT promises to be a crackling evening of passionate and penetrating conversation over matters that many are seriously concerned about but have not dared to discuss out loud and in public. Cornel West and Carl Dix will break the silence and address from their different philosophical perspectives what the election of Obama really means for people in the U.S. and around the world.  And they will exchange over the need for resistance and the prospects for and path to liberation for the oppressed in the U.S. and indeed, for all of humanity.

CORNEL WEST is one of America’s most provocative public intellectuals and has been a champion for racial justice since childhood. His writing, speaking, and teaching weave together the traditions of the black Baptist Church, progressive politics, and jazz. The New York Times has praised his “ferocious moral vision.” Dr. West currently teaches at Princeton University.

CARL DIX is a longtime revolutionary and a founding member of the Revolutionary Communist Party, USA. In 1970 Carl was one of the Fort Lewis 6, six GI’s who refused orders to go to Vietnam. He served two years in Leavenworth Military Penitentiary for this stand. In the aftermath of the 1985 bombing of the MOVE house in Philadelphia, Carl initiated the Draw the Line statement, a powerful condemnation of the attack. He co‑founded the October 22nd Coalition to Stop Police Brutality in 1996. Carl coordinated the Katrina hearings of the 2006 Bush Crimes Commission.

Proceeds of this event will benefit Revolution Books in New York City and the Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund, which provides subsidized subscriptions to Revolution newspaper and other revolutionary literature to prisoners. Information about the Prisoners Revolutionary Literature Fund is available at http://www.prisonersrevolutionaryliteraturefund.org

Yesterday was the opening of the Fondation Cartier’s graffiti opening and I am glad to report that it was a success. Local, national and international press were on hand to cover the event alongside many of the featured artists including Coco 144, Part One, Seen, Jon One, Quik, Vitche, Evan Roth, Honet and others. Here are some images from the event. If you are in Paris in the next few months catch the show. I have never seen such a large and well rounded exhibition on the subject anywhere, well worth all the work that went into it.

So I have been in Paris for some time now doing freelance work including consulting for the Cartier Foundation on a new exhibition that opens this week. The exhibition is ambitious and covers a brief history of writing in New York City and Paris as well as highlighting some contemporary artists. There are great installations by Phase2, Seen, Part One, Jon One, Vitche, Barry McGee, Delta, Vasco Basco, Nug, and others. If you are in Paris catch it.
more info below including some behind the scene images.

July 7 › Nov. 29, 2009
Born in the Streets
GRAFFITI

Devoted to graffiti and street art, the exhibition Born in the Streets—Graffiti will bring to light the extraordinary expansion of an artistic movement that developed in the streets of New York in the early 1970s to rapidly become a world-wide phenomenon.
Today, graffiti has entered the cultural mainstream, crossing over to the realms of studio art, design and advertising. Yet despite its immense popularity, this essentially illegal activity continues to evolve at the periphery of the contemporary art world, its origins and evolution little-known to the general public.
The exhibition at the Fondation Cartier attempts to sketch the general contours of a subject that is vast and complex, encompassing many different ideas, media and movements across its boundaries.

Received this info from fellow COD crew member and West Coast homie Persue.
From the hood to Hollywood….

VOX ARTIST COOPERATIVE: THE SEVENTH LETTER PROJECT
VOX Footwear is proud to announce the releasing of seven special edition collaboration shoes
featuring original artwork from L.A.’s legendary street artist group The Seventh Letter Crew.
With such amazing artists like Krush, Ewok, Bert Krak, Push, Steel, Reyes, Keichi Ito and Eklips
contributing their own brand of urban style,  the one-of-a-kind colorways will be incorporated
onto team models such as the Shale, Mono, Upgrade, and the Trooper. The first four Seventh
Letter Series color-ways will be dropping in November 2009 and the following three colorways
will be released in early 2010.

Contact for people that want to inquire about this project is: (JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)

For all you collectors and fans. Tonight is a large graffiti and street auction in Paris. You can also bid online or over the phone. The link to the auction is:
http://www.world-encheres.com/millon/vo20062009SA/asp/index.asp
There are works by Tracy168, Tack, IZ, T-Kid 170, Ghost, Ewok One, and many others worth checking out.
good luck and happy bidding…..
sample works below.

I just received a phone call from Metal Man Ed who was a close friend of Mike Martin aka Iz The Wiz with tragic news of IZ’s death. IZ died as a result of a heart attack in his home state of Florida.

For many of you that do not know, IZ TMB, was a subway god. From his beginnings in the early 70s he painted like there was no tomorrow and came up with one of the most iconic and recognized throw ups in subway writing history. It was by sheer will and determination that he became a true king of New York City. He was king of the lines and not only did throw ups but also whole cars and insides. While many people count IN TOP as the throw up king of all time, in actuality that title belongs to IZ who out painted and out lasted IN and mostly every other writer in the history on New York’s movement.

His style was always wild and psychedic seemingly inspired by some far out LSD trip which took him to another universe. His whole cars reflected this and his walls and drawings also captured his other dimensions of existence. In an era where style mastery was strict and copy cats were plentiful IZ’s style was avant-garde and loose, his blockbusters true works of beauty.

I was lucky enough to be friends with IZ. I meet him in the early 90s way after his subway reign but he was still into it. At the time he was one of us, the guys that were trying to keep graffiti on trains alive, and was painting with SAR, FUZZ, and CAV. They were hitting the lines out in Queens while the rest of us were putting in work elsewhere. Always a bomber, IZ also got into painting freight trains and wall productions in Queens. By the mid-90s he was responsible for making the Phun factory (now 5 pointz) a reality and a place where writers could paint legally with no stress from police. Because of him many writers came out of retirement and the old school get togethers started.

For the past 10 years IZ’s health had been in a steady decline. He left NYC and moved around in order to be able to live affordably and where there was more accessible health care. We all saw a king deteriorating before our eyes but we also saw a man with a great spirit surviving. His illness seemed to come from as a result from all those years in the tunnels breathing toxic spray paint and track dust. The price he paid to be known is immense. He will not however be forgotten.

Iz was a humble and creative spirit. He was a truly giving and cool man. He was always down to help out whenever needed. He will truly be missed.

Mike - IZ may you rest in peace.

I missed this piece when it came out but think its a great way to drive a point home to the local cops.

So at the moment I am in Europe doing my thing and have missed some of the New York activities that I have been hearing about. One is the Helenbeck gallery exhibition that featured some of my friends like Quik, Blade, Jon One, Lee Quinones, Daze, and Crash. The show looks amazing and I would advise you to check it out if you are in New York. I also recommend buying one of the paintings if you have the paper to do it. Shit, buy more than one.

The Sento book I wrote has finally been released and is available at fine book stores and on amazon.com. The book is the first book in the re-launch of the On The Run series that was well known in the nineties (seen, bates, jepsy books). The other books that have been released are one on the Spanish writer Logan and another on the Cubabrasil project done by Neon, Stone, Cemnoz, Os Gemeos, and others. The books are amazing and very comprehensive. I am very thankful and honored to have been able to work with Sento to get his book done. His contribution to the writing world is immense and much of his work unknown to many as the nature of it is illegal. The man deserves his props.

In 1987 I was a senior in high school and had to ride the 5 train into Flatbush daily. It was a cool ride in that I had many trains to take and got to see lots of what was being painted on the lines. I took the J from Marcy ave to Chambers st and switched to the 5. While waiting I would watch the 6 line as well. I found this video that took me back to those days on the 5. You can see a Joz tag which is nice. I remember names like Bones, Net, and Dondi on the insides as well as RD on the 6s inside.

I came across this video recently and was very pleased to see artists taking into their own hands to eliminate some of the shitty ads that clutter the streets. For too long we have been bombarded with wack messages to buy shit and consume more. Its up to us to change that. Maybe this will give people some ideas on how to take over space in their hood without getting locked up.

Friday in Brooklyn….