Lady Aiko-International Woman of Mystery

  I met Lady Aiko shortly before Art Basel 2010. She and Martha Cooper convinced me to make the pilgrammage to South Beach and so I let my anti-permission walls anti- Street Art guard down. I was midway through compiling my book and thought it’d be a good way of getting content and meeting some of the players on the other (Street Art) side of the fence. I was flattered as hell when Aiko asked me to paint a wall with her , fully cognizant of the fact that time had passed me by and without a subway car canvas I was out of my element. Needless to say she injected my ancient scrawlings with school bus and temptress stencils that brought breath to my lifeless letters as if she were a Japanese Dr. Frankenstein. That trip and collaborating on that wall with her caused me to look at Street Art with a newfound respect without feeling I had sold graff out.
    Aiko Nakagawa moved to NYC from Tokyo in the mid 90’s . She hit the streets of Europe hard and became a founding member of Faile. She also rocked with Murakami prior to his stratospheric rise to fame. Now ,having launched a successful solo career andkilling it with shows in Amsterdam, LA, NYC, Shang Hai and Paris to namedrop a few locales, it’s Lady Aiko’s name that’s ringing bells. Honored to have this girl supporting me at Wynwood. Tokyo/BK represent!

AIKO IN SHANG HAI