At the tail end of January, Ken Marquis hit me up about the landmark global artist reclamation project. In his words, “The project will involve one thousand and forty-one (1,041) artists worldwide. To date there are over nine hundred artists involved across 51 countries. This artist initiative is by far the largest undertaking of its kind.”
Gun control is a major issue, particularly in New York City. It’s dangerous to carry, and for many celebrities, it’s dangerous to not carry… or is it? Regardless of your stance, if you want to fire some rounds, all you have to do it head over to the West Side Pistol and Rifle. There, you pay, shoot, and take out the stresses of your daily life.
Diddy is a businessman, he is a business, man. He’s been Made. Diddy was Puffy. Puff Daddy. P-Diddy (still is in Europe.) Sean Combs. He may change his name more frequently than NYC cops cuff a weed head, but his hip-hop watermark is indelible.
A bet is a bet. On the day of the Olympic Ice Hockey final, I challenged the Stanley Cup Keeper to a wager: “if the USA wins, you have to arrange for me to do a painting of the (Stanley) cup in-person… if I lose, I will do a painting of the maple leaf and post it on my profile for a month.”
The second portrait in my series following Jay-Z will be Kanye. To prepare, I hung out with some H.A.M.’s last night. The location? Jeremy Penn‘s studio. The event? Four Loko, hip-hop beats and three artists slinging paint. After the jump, a quasi-Kanye study and some atelier shots.
As a lifelong Mets fan, I had a tough time with the demolition of Shea Stadium. Sure, it was ugly, had poor seating, limited vendors and was essentially an amphitheatre for airplanes — but it had winning memories.
It took me two years of being a full-time artist to understand how a single painting could span multiple years. Sure, some large-scale works just take time. Others, like in the case of the Metropolitan Museum of Art — I simply looked at it for 18 months and simply determined it was finished. After the jump, the full process as written in 2009.
Shawn Corey Carter at birth, Jay-Z upon arrival. A man who crafts, packages and delivers words by units of millions eventually becomes the message.
