Friday ProFile: Marco Romano Bhimani

In this electronic age, film cameras are becoming a rare find. The Impossible Project and Holga cater to a limited clientele instead of mass markets. It’s possible that many kids today may never work a film camera. Fortunately, photographer Marco Romano Bhimani knows his way around both mediums. “I had a digital camera back in the day,” he recalls. “Mostly, that camera was for documenting illegal graffiti in LA. I was shooting thousands of pictures, but I felt like if you really wanted to be a photographer, you had to do it in film. You begin to understand how light works and how light is going to respond to your film.”

As a junior high school kid in Pasedena, Bhimani tried his hand at graffiti with some of his buddies. “I still practice my tags to this day, but I’m 32 and I don’t go out in the street that much any more,” he explains. “I got caught out for that shit a lot, dealt with the community service and exorbitant fines. I’m not trying to fuck with that any more; that’s not my thing.”
While his tagging waned, his love of graffiti never abated. “Graffiti belongs in the street,” he argues. “Yes, at the end of the day, you are defacing someone’s property. Many people look down upon it, but I think graffiti is for graffiti writers and the people who appreciate it.” Bhimani loves cruising the streets in search of new subjects. “I think the locations pick me,” he insists. “Things on the street really speak to me, so I love cruising around to back streets. I’ve been working in South LA for the past 10-12 years. It’s really chill on Saturdays and Sundays, so I just go down and do my work: shooting still lifes, weeds, cracked concrete.”

Once he picked up a camera, Bhimani incorporated his love for graffiti into his work. “I’ve photographed lots of LA crews in the underground scene,” he recalls. “SKA crew, TKO crew, NCT…no legal beagles.” Spending time with his subjects leads to special bonds. “We get to talking and we have a connection,” he adds. “That’s what documentary photo is all about. You have a connection with these people, whether they’re models or homeless people. You get to know them, examine them, and see what they’re about. I think a lot of people have impacted my life through the photos.”

Over the years, Bhimani’s watched his city morph and transform. “Los Angeles as a whole is really different now,” he says. “It’s clean, almost safe, and it’s gentrified. Downtown is whiter and there’s lots more yuppy kids. The whole vibe of the city has changed. I remember parts of LA that were fucking drenched in graffiti and now it’s been clean for the past 7-8 years. I thought it looked beautiful when it was covered in paint.”
While Bhimani sees the grit and grime of LA, he still loves his city. “Every time I travel, I get homesick,” he says. “I want to go back to what I’m used to. I like evolution and change within my work, but I’m not able to accept it in my life. I’m a native of LA, and I’ll probably die in LA. I want to get a passport soon to see the things I want to see.” Through projects like the Green Wall series, Bhimani hopes people will learn that “LA’s not just made up of cute little books with photos of Dodgers Stadium or Santa Monica Pier. There are a lot of hidden jewels out here. I’m just trying to bring them to light.”

Thanks, Marco! You can check out more of his photos here. That's all for now. I'm gearing up for two meets this weekend. Fortunately, my sister is home and life is good. I'll be back on Monday with news, stories, and of course more pictures. Enjoy the weekend!

September 2009: OFFK Around the World

Thanks to the wonders of the internet, crews aren't confined to one set space. OFFK represents what's possible when a crew goes global. Comprised of many artists from around the world, these guys (and maybe ladies, too?) stick by the motto "It's not about what you can do for you, it's about what you can do for your crew. Crew member Efrain gives us a taste of what OFFK is all about. He writes:

"OFFK is a graffiti krew with the mission to have a piece in every part of the world. Here are some pics. This guy is named Rolas. He lives in Mexico and has been an OFFK member since 2009."
"This guy's name is Fungi. He lives in Puerto Rico and has been the leader of OFFK Puerto Rico since 2009."

"This guy is named Kazer. He lives in England and has been an OFFK member since 2009."

"This guy's name is Fly. He lives in Puerto Rico and has been a member of OFFK since 2009.""This guy's name is Seemstar. He lives in Los Angeles and has been a member of OFFK since 2008."

Thanks, Efrain! For more info, check out their MySpace page. We whitewashed some walls in New Britain last night. Stuff is looking good for the mural slam!

Friday ProFile: Artful Dodger

Back in the day, graffiti was all about getting up, hitting unique spots, and making your name known. Armed with Sharpies, spray cans, and whatever other tools they could afford, these stealthy assassins plastered their names on anything with a visible surface. In the dark of night, they braved cops, dogs, and abusive street characters that tried to intervene. In the beginning, graffiti writers loved their art but found little acceptance in the outside world.

From the jump, Artful Dodger’s talent didn’t jive with his parents’ expectations. At first, his interest in art entertained them. In school, lessons on Van Gogh, Rubins, Michaelangelo, and Da Vinci piqued his interest in art as a career. As a child, he says, “I loved to draw cartoon characters as a child. Whenever relatives came over, my parents told me to go get my pictures and show them. They’d parade me around.” However, his parents were less than thrilled when their son decided to pursue art as a career. “They wanted me to be a doctor or a lawyer, something respectable and academic. Saying I wanted to be an artist was like wanting to be a street busker. It was seen as an embarrassment. It was difficult to deal with.”
Born and bred in London, Artful Dodger fed his love for hip-hop culture with a constant diet of Rock Steady Crew, Futura 2000, Le163, and Phase2. His interest in aerosol art was augmented by his middle school art teacher’s calligraphy lessons “No one really took to it,” he recalls. “Everyone was more interested in flicking people with ink. After the lesson, I went up to him and told him I was sincerely interested. He gave me some alphabet slips, ink, and pens, and told me to see what I could come up with. From there, I got hooked.” In 1983, he hit the streets with a vengeance, spraying everything in his path.
Finding a support network in PLAZ, a South London crew, Artful Dodger spent his time bombing or sketching new pieces. “It was cool because it’s good to have someone watch your back. It wasn’t until about 6 months after that that we hooked up with a crew of really great South London writers. It was great because we were all on the same page. It was kind of like what you hear with bands and musicians where all the talents come together and collaborate.”
Connecting the tags on New York’s subway cars and old gothic penmanship, Artful Dodger’s hybrid style spawned an unusual tag. When people saw his tag for the first time, they didn’t believe it was graffiti. In 1985, Weetabix approached Artful Dodger for an ad campaign. “My quest was to get my name on it, so I thought, ‘Wow, instant fame, I’m in!’ ,” he recalls. “Ironically, they didn’t let me do it in my gothic tag because it didn’t look like it’d been done by a writer. They just wanted a stereotype image and my tag was subversive. It played with the whole perception of what writing and vandalism is.” Confusing viewers with his illegal yet artistic pieces,

Today, Artful Dodger keeps it legal. When he’s not DJing or spending time with his kids, you can find him out in the community. For the past 22 years, he’s organized workshops for youth clubs. Starting this month, he’ll spearhead a multifaceted project combining different aspects of hip-hop culture. “It’s a six-week program that encompasses aerosol writing, digital graphics, urban music, and creative writing. This is our pilot project so there are three classes with twenty persons in each class. Next year, I want to start B-Write, a program teaching women how to write. It’s kind of weird because you’d think that women would be out there getting their voices heard more. You’d think there would be more equal representation.”

No doubt, D! While he doesn’t get up illegally anymore, Artful Dodger insists that graffiti is here to stay. “No matter what, I think people will continue to get up the traditional way because that side will always appeal to someone. The harder you push them to go legal or accept it in the mainstream, the harder they’re going to push back.”

All images courtesy of Artful Dodger, except fourth image from Rocking the City. For more info, check out his video stash, website, or Flickr. Thanks, D! I'm off for Labor Day weekend festivities, but I promise to bring you all the headlines on Monday.

July 2009: Senyc Lies in Newark Part Dos

I love my Jersey girls. My friend Jess recently embarked on a master's program in art history at American University. (Congrats, girl!) Alex, a fellow class of '08-er, is in my boat studying for the GRE. Diane, a Jersey by way of Connecticut transplant, just earned her master's in public affairs at Princeton. Damn! No matter how you slice it, those Jersey girls know how to hustle. But don't forget about the Jersey guys! A while ago, we heard from Newark graff man Senyc Lies. Today, he's back to share his pieces and plans for the future. He writes:

"Hey Meg! So guess what, dude? I got some more pictures for you! Hope you enjoy this batch! :-) These first three photos were taken in Newark, New Jersey in late July 2009."

"I found myself trying something new, but definitely working with the same vibes as my recent pieces. I thought I'd test my self with time and limit with this whole piece. Working within an 8 feet high and 35 feet wide space, I made sure to max it all out in about 3 hours tops."

"It was a beautiful day- not to hot for a summer day in Jersey- which made it a perfect paint session. I think I found myself getting even more abstract with my work."

"These last two photos were taken in Newark in early August 2009. Where do I start with this one? I'd been prepping my mind for a good couple of days for this piece. I wanted to really try something wild and new, but I still wanted to see my style in it."

"I came up with the weird arrows and shaped letters with little monsters inside. This piece actually took about 5 hours. It had a lot more lines and coloring than the first. I had a lot of problems with the tips for the cans which actually happens to me a lot. Finally, it came out to be a pretty damn good piece. My style is evolving rapidly just like a stream of water. This day was another beautiful day. It's great to free my mind and lay out what goes on in it."

"Enjoy these sets of pictures and stay tuned. I'm planning on doing a huge project as soon as I get everything put together! Peace, Senyc Lies."

Thanks, Senyc! Keep those e-mails a-comin' and good luck with that master plan!

August 2009: xxCrew in Münster

Back in April, I celebrated our 100th post with some news about xxCrew. As you may recall, this German collective conceived of a unique way to spread their stickers around. Yesterday, Johannes sent me a note about their latest creative escapades. He writes:

"Hi, Meg! Our event is far away, but you might be interested."

"There's less than one week left until 'Verfolgungsjagd 2.0 (The Big Chase 2.0)' at The Cuba Nova in Münster, Germany. Starting with a discussion about art in public space, the show will offer a 50m long Carrera racetrack that is open for public use. This track will be surrounded by work from Happyill, xXcrew and others. There's a sound collage by DJ At, a subject-related projector-presentation, and lot more. The event features Büro für Kunstvermittlung, Ruppe Koselleck, Tobias Kunze, Quentin Tarantino, Steve McQueen, Sebastian Walther, Yushu Zopf, and many more!"

And, at our other exhibition is "Live-Graffiti! with the xxCrew and Sokar." It's happening on August 12 at 4 p.m. Stop by Raum für Kunst, Am Kamp 21, Kötterhagen 33098 Paderborn. Viele Grüße, Johannes."

Thanks so much, Johannes! I wish I were closer to Germany right now! For more on xxCrew, visit their website.

January 2009: Hat Rin

The US, Europe, and Australia always get press for graffiti. South America is working its way into the rotation, but Asian and African countries often get neglected. Today, I am proud to present the first post from an Asian state. The words and images come from my friend Tai who's currently working in China. On a trip to Thailand, he made some interesting discoveries. He writes:

"I'd been working in Beijing and had about 6 weeks off between terms, so I hopped down to the southeast to get my chill on with the elements. I traveled throughout south Thailand, and then up and across to Cambodia. When I was strolling in Hat Rin on Ko-Pha-ngan (Full Moon Festival Island), I stumbled across those two pieces of graffiti. Obviously, they caught my eye and I had to take a photo. 

I did indeed see more but at those times, my camera wasn't handy. The first pic that looks like a '3' is actually the Buddhist 'ohm' prayer. It was painted on the side of a bamboo tattoo shop on the outskirts of the city. Thailand is a place of unique style and culture, influenced by the elements that make up the spirit down there. Whenever you get a chance, go down and breathe up that country. It'll breathe its soul right back into you."

Thanks, Tai! I love these posts that feature new areas of the world. To all you readers out there, make sure your country represents!

P.S. Check out 100artworks, the newest addition to the 'Primary Sources' section.