Los Angeles | ALONE ONE's blog

NEKST MSK D-30 R.I.P.

December 22, 2012, 2:56 pm
Filed under: Graffiti, Inspiration, Photography, Uncategorized | Tags: Atlanta, Bombing, Boston, Chicago, D-30, Detroit, Fill-ins, Graffiti, Houston, Los Angeles, MSK, NEKST, New York, New York City, NYC, Philadelphia, R.I.P., Rest In Peace, Saint Louis, San Francisco, St. Louis, Subways, Trains

The graffiiti world lost another one yesterday with the early passing of ~~Houston~~ CA ~~NYC~~, nationwide crusher “NEKST”…

NEKST – Spring and Bowery (NYC)

“MSK” by NEKST, seen from the Williamsburg Bridge

“NEKST” Houston St. (NYC)*

“NEKST” Houston St. (NYC)**

“NEKST” (S.F.) **

“NEKST” (the Bronx, NYC) **

“NEKST” MBTA Red Line (Boston) **

* stolen pic from theKeeganGibbs.com

** stolen pic from ?

3 comments

“History Of American Graffiti” by Roger Gastman and Caleb Neelon

July 7, 2011, 8:00 am
Filed under: Art, Back In The Days, Books, Graffiti, Inspiration, Photography, Vintage Spraypaint | Tags: "History Of American Graffiti", 2011, 5AV, Albuquerque, Alert, Alone, Alone 1, Alone One, Alone1, AloneOne, American Graffiti, Atlanta, Baltimore, Bay Area, Blackbooks, Books, Boston, Caleb Neelon, Chicago, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Denver, East Chicago, Freight Train, Freight Trains, Future textbooks, Graffiti, Hawaii, History, History of Graffiti, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Miami, Minnesota, Nashville, New Jersey, New Orleans, New York City, NY, NYC, OD, Oregon, Philadelphia, Phoenix, Pittsburgh, Providence, Reviews, Roger Gastman, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Spraypaint, Tagbanging, Texas, Virginia, Washington D.C., Washington DC, Wisconsin

This book came out about a month ago. I meant to do a comprehensive review on it, but with about 400 PAGES a proper review would take months for me to write. And I don’t want to reveal too much of the book. Here’s a small preview…

First, the cover. Take off that paper one that it came with and reveal the (MUCH doper, in my opinion) vintage spraycans cover hiding under there.

Then get ready for a Graffiti History 101 on the history of over 25 cities. Just check out the Contents pages!..

Instead of starting with the expectected Cornbread and Taki 183 stories, it starts earlier with other forms of graffiti.

Of course any history book is bound to overemphasize certain people and events and omits others (REZENT! LOST!). However the Boston and New York sections are pretty accurate and no way as biased as it could have been. I’m not so knowledgeable on the other cities, but hopefully they are just as accurate.

In addition to the individual city chapters, there’s profiles on some very influential writers such as Cost, Revs, Twist, and others.

Then to top things off, they’ve even included info on spraypaint, blackbooks, tagbanging, freights, the list goes on..

I was very pleased to see the Boston chapter giving just credit to the X-men, Jayrock, Remote, and of course the much justified write up and photos of Alert (OD. KBN. 5AV) and Ryze (5AV KBN.) in the Boston chapter.

The OD crew gets their mention. I get a mention and some quote. And a photo (not one I would have chosen.. guess I should have submitted some of my own.) of an “AN” I did on the Porter MBTA tracks in 1993. Yup, the “Star Market wall”.

They also go on in the Denver section about Alert and Hel (OD KBN) relocating out there and hooking up with SWS.

Overall, this is a great book that will undoubtedly (like it or not) be used as THE first and foremost account of 20th century graffiti and will be studied for centuries to come. Grab a copy while you can still get an original first pressing.

*** Oh yeah, BIG THANKS to Caleb and Roger for hooking up me up with a copy of the book!!

4 comments

SABER strikes back…

June 22, 2011, 10:48 pm
Filed under: Graffiti, Politics | Tags: A.W.R, AWR, Graffiti, L.A., L.A. River, Los Angeles, Los Angeles River, M.S.K., MSK, Politics, Saber

Some well spoken words from SABER MSK…

THE DEVIL WEARS A PINK SUIT: A RESPONSE TO “RADICAL GRAFFITI CHIC”
.Saber, “Sacred Trash” at MOCA’s “Art in the Streets” exhibition

After looking at the longest list of credentials of one person I’ve ever seen—Yale, University Of Cambridge, Stanford Law, Fellow at the Manhattan Institute, contributing editor of City Journal, recipient of 2005 Bradley Prize for Outstanding Intellectual Achievement, etc, etc—I came to the conclusion that approaching Heather Mac Donald’s fortified intellect would be the equivalent of challenging the IBM Chess Terminator: cold, calculating, and absent a pulse. I find it hard to believe that someone of such high stature would spend so much energy on something that seems trivial in comparison to her passion for deportation and torture. Yet she seems really upset at the idea of a museum honoring over forty years of development in Graffiti Art.

In her lengthy article “Radical Graffiti Chic,” she refers to artists as “vandal-anarchist wannabes” and attempts to highlight their hypocrisy. She names me personally in the article, stating that I am quick to sell out to any corporate sponsor: “Saber, who declares in an interview with the graffiti journal Arrested Motion that ‘there is no room for empathy when there is a motive for profit,’ has sold his designs to Levi’s, Hyundai, and Harley-Davidson.”

In trying to paint me as a hypocrite for capitalizing on my intellectual property, Heather does not take into account that I support my family through my art. I have painted everything from sets to faux finishing to gold leafing to put food on the table or to pay for health care bills, since insurance companies have refused to cover me due to a pre-existing condition (epilepsy). Heather, who is paid to write articles, should understand the process of making money for one’s creative output, and that this is not what I was referring to in the Arrested Motion quote. I was referring to health insurance companies taking away accessible facilities from sick people in order to save a buck at the expense of the patient’s life. To compare my art to the health insurance companies is ludicrous. Continue reading →

“Graffiti Artist’s Past is Tagging Behind Him

Cristian Gheorghiu scrawled ragged images and his nickname, ‘Smear,’ on L.A.’s lampposts, walls and riverbeds. Now that his gallery career is taking off, an injunction is threatening to bar him from profiting from art bearing his telltale ‘tag.’

In 2007, Gheorghiu’s problems came to a head with his first adult felony arrest. Responding to Smear’s graffiti on buses, L.A. County sheriff’s deputies raided his home. A graffiti vandalism conviction resulted in a 40-month suspended prison sentence, three years’ probation and about $28,000 in restitution for scrawling on buses.

Gheorghiu remains on probation because he has paid off only about $5,000 of his fines.

He says he stopped vandalizing property after his conviction. Today, he insists, his only artwork is created in a studio, with larger pieces fetching $2,000 to $2,500. Art “is my way of making amends,” he said.

But his trouble with the law didn’t end. When his old tagging crew was suspected of creating a quarter-mile-long MTA tag in the Los Angeles River, Gheorghiu was caught in the ensuing police sweep.

He spent three days in jail in 2009. Charges were never filed.

But in 2010, the city attorney sued him and nine others. The suit seeks at least $1 million in penalties and a civil injunction that would forbid many activities, including making money from work emblazoned with their street names.”

Read the whole story here.

“SMEAR”
photo: LA Times

Hmmm… tags no longer allowed in fine art? Wow. That’s pretty fucked up. What about signed pieces by other graffiti and street artists? Are those just criminal evidence now?

If you read a little further the real motive against graffiti/ graffiti art reveals itself (again)..

“Their suit also argues that Gheorghiu’s graffiti served as free publicity, giving him an unfair advantage over legitimate artists — a violation of state laws governing fair competition.”

…..Exactly. All about the $$$$s.

5 comments

L.A. River Buff

October 26, 2009, 8:16 pm
Filed under: Graffiti | Tags: A.W.R, AWR, Biggest Waste Of Money, Buffed Graffiti, Graffiti, History, L.A. River, LA River, Los Angeles, Los Angeles River, M.S.K., M.T.A., MSK, National Security, Saber, US Army Corps of Engineers, Your taxes going towards more stupid shit

So last spring I started a what I thought was going to be a 150′ fill-in on the Los Angeles River (Frogtown section). The first night, I rolled out 3 gallons of black/brown which only got a skinny outline done. It was more like the sketch so I’d know where to start filling in the next night. Well I couldn’t get back for the second session for a few days, but I figured “no biggie”; this was gonna be a big project and gonna take many nights. So I stroll up there a few nights later to start the filling in, and um…. I could swear I started it earlier that week. …Where was it?!! …Buffed?! What?! But the Saber piece was running for years. The MTA piece was just done. WTF?! Why me?!!! Little did I know, this was the beginning of something big. Or should I say the REMOVAL of some things big…

Turns out that even with these crazy economical times, they’ve come up with $837,000 to start to buff the Los Angeles River. Now if you don’t already know, the L.A. River is not exactly a beautiful “river”, but actually a literal drainage ditch with 60′ cement banks running through industrial and unvisited parts of Los Angeles. One of the only things the river has offered has been the enormous canvases for some of the largest murals on the planet.

the “SABER” piece. 60′ x 250′, 1997
(check out Saber himself siiting in the upper left part of the “B”)

“SABER” buffed September 2009 (above 4 photos: Known Gallery)

Then, last week, they had the US Army Corps of Engineers buff the MTA piece. Yup, the Army is now working to buff graffiti. Must be a national security issue. Gotta get the army to fight art done without permission. In related news, they’ve arrested 10 of the alleged MTA crew, and are charging them for the graffiti. They claim it took them 400 gallons of paint and 4 nights to do it. They also might be seeking to charge the crew the clean-up cost of $3.7 MILLION to buff it ($38 a square ft). What The Fuck?! Sounds like the Army Corp are the ones cleaning up. I’ll do that shit for $1 million. Fuck.. even $100,000.

“MTA” Piece, L.A. River, 60′ x 1700′, 2008