Chris Stain
Have Paint, Will Travel.
Below are some recent works from Electric Windows in Beacon NY. It was a good time. Lots of good work going up. However be warned, if you are in Beacon after dark on a Friday night you may be asked by passer by to take part in acts of public fellatio. It all comes down to choice. Many thanks to Thundercut and Elbow Toe.
Here’s two from Atlanta as well. There was plenty of southern hospitality going on at The Living Walls Conference this past week. Good people. Good times. Many thanks to Monica and the crew. Nasdaq. Vikki, Hell Bent. Dave and the Mrs.
I just finished up these prints today. I have decided to run with this style for a minute to see where it goes. I enjoy working with lettering again so we’ll see what happens. These prints are available for $25 each here .
I’ve also been working on some larger pieces for exterior decorating.
Thanks for stoppin’ by.
The kids have been off for a week now from school and I have been with them pretty much from the time they get up until the time they go to bed. This doesn’t leave much time to make anything besides breakfast, lunch , dinner, and a range of snacks in between. People who stay home with their kids know this.
Last night after everyone went to bed I set up a wall made out of stiff cardboard to make large wheate paste prints. I also burned a new screen. Maybe I’ll get a chance over the weekend to make some work.We’ll see what happens.
When I was in L.A. with Bill and we were doing the install at Scion, Roger did a video interview and here it is:
I got word that yesterday graffiti artist and MC Rammelzee passed away. I wanted to pay my respects by sharing this video. I think it captures all the raw energy of early Rap and a feeling for many that sparked a whole generation of creativity. One time for your mind.
Rest In Peace Rammelzee.
Keepin’ the ball rollin’… Kesh and I have been busy workin’ on some new pieces while Amara broke in the new ride. Check it out:
Man! Where to begin? It’s been a busy few days with little sleep, a lot of work, and I can’t remember what else. By the end of this entry I will surely have somethin’ for ya.
Well let’s see… Monday I finished up a 4 month teaching project at PS/IS 49 here in Queens. It all began in March by the good graces of Katherine Huala and Anthony Lombardi. I was given the privilege to lead a 6th grade class of 110 students into the wild jungle of screen printing. We started out looking for images of architecture from around the world as suggested by Mr. Lombardi. From there we discussed how shapes make up the structure of objects and talked about the positive and negative space of images. Then it was onto hand cutting the rubylithe films. I took advantage of the time during Easter break to get the the chosen images onto screen and we started printing soon after. Then we experimented with different printing and ink mixing techniques. All in all it was a great class and only four kids lost fingers. Here’s some photos:
Last night….Last night went late. I got home around 3:30 am. And let me tell you, if you have to commute using the BQE you should switch your work schedule to nights because it was as open as a Tyco raceway. Thanks to the patience, understanding, and unpaid labor of Heather “High Tower” Jones and the fine folks at the Kesting Gallery in Chelsea I was able to finish an 8 ft x 20 ft mural. I congratulate myself on forgetting to photograph the finished piece. However heres the original film I cut for the piece and a progress shot or two. The show titled Dead Letter opens this Thursday night. If you are not busy stop by and if you are busy add this too the list. They are filling the space with a host of todays “street art” luminaries and me. Here’s some info on that: http://www.leokesting.com/ and the photos as promised:
And one more thing…yesterday afternoon I met up with Charlie Ahearn of Wild Style fame. For the past few summers he has been exposing SVA ( School of Visual Arts) students to the inner workings of the graffiti and street art world. I had the privilege to talk about my work and share some stories ( like the time my friends at the police dept tried to arrest me for painting a 20 ft x 25 ft piece in 20 mins with a 5 ft ladder and no extension pole). The piece was part of the India St mural project in Greenpoint last summer. I got onboard with Logan Hicks via Queens own Skewville bros. Check out the photo below and remember if you need a 20 ft x 25 ft mural done in 20 mins just give me a call and I’ll pencil you in.
Thanks for reading. Talk soon. -Chris
So here’s that print I was workin’ on over the course of the week. It’s a train wreck of text , image, and color— but I like it. As you can see each print comes out a little different each time when you are mixing ink directly in the screen. These prints are 25″ H x 16″ W. The skin tone and text were done with the aid of spray painted stencils that i printed over top of.
I try at all times to keep the work on a personal. After all its all I got to work from if I wanna keep it honest. You can use your Honey Comb hideout secret decoder ring to decode the hidden message or just play the record backwards if you’d like.
Look for this at http://chrisstain.bigcartel.com/ soon.
I think I would like to start a little section on here to accompany my regular posts. Something that will explain where alot of my inspiration and heartache comes from. So here it is. I’ll call it…
Long Story Short
I recently recieved a letter ( yes a letter in an envelope) from my friend Chris who has been in prison for the past 13 years. To be honest Chris never had it all that great. So he did what he had to do with what he was dealt in life. At one point things went from bad to worse and he wound up with a life residency at the stone hotel. I have been writing to him for 10 of those 13 years. He passes his time drawing and tattooing. Despite appeals, new evidence, dna, and all that court stuff, his case hasn’t moved much in the shuffle of the 500 others that his public defender is shoveling through. Yet his optimism and hope are stronger than the bars that restrain him. Heres a few good lines he laid down recently that i’d like to share “Never sleep on the power of determination…” and “Obey the laws of patience.”
Thanks for reading this. Feel free to hit me up chrisstain@gmail.com
-Chris Stain
I finished cutting the film today. I want to try a few more of this style and see what happens. I’m considering doin this one big at the next show which is June 24. (More info here: http://www.leokesting.com/ ) Just reclaimed a screen and it’s drying in the sun. Next to get it coated, then burned, hopefully have some prints by the end of the week. Time permitting. Until then check this out Rekski, May 1987. Boneless off of a Ford pick up. Bank parking lot on Fayette and Glover. Right across the street from the WIZARD, SONIC, and MR. RAD tags. What do you mean? Of course he landed it!
I was going through the files and came across the first piece I ever cut and printed. I made this piece in 1988. My high school had introduced a “graphic arts” class which was basically a screen printing class. First they taught the old rubylithe way of making film where you hand cut the image, coat the screen with photo emulsion and expose it with a huge halogen bulb to create your stencil. The following year they had a machine that produced film from your drawing. I can’t remember how it worked exactly. I just remember chemicals in a small dark room and not really being able to get it right.
The image of the boy with the spray paint can was adapted from the cover of Spraycan Art back when graffiti was still somewhat seen as a mysterious activity for rogues and miscreants. The character itself was originally painted by MODE 2. You can see more of his work here http://www.mode2.org/
In other news I have some prints still available over at http://www.justseeds.org/artists/chris_stain/ heres a few samples:
Cries of the Ghetto is a combination of Martha Cooper photos and an old NYC graffiti piece. I printed this and hand colored it.
Threat of Chance is from a Mike Brodie photo. This one is hand colored as well. Check out Mike here http://girltears.wordpress.com/2008/04/16/the-polaroid-kidd-ridin-dirty-face/
Got a few things cookin here in the basement. I was recently asked by Avenue Skateboard Shop in Baltimore to work on an image for their store which is due to open by mid July. They will carry a range of decks including long boards and other supplies. Rumor has it that there will be a mini half on the premises. The shop will be on Maryland and Lafayette. I started on the design late last night and hope to finish it up today before I pick up the kids from school.
The other piece that is photographed above with the boy, the water towers, and the text, is somethin’ new. I like to keep it movin’ and try different ideas to see if somethin’ sticks. The stencil text that I pulled from my journal always reminds me of John Fekner. If you are not familiar with his work you should check it out http://www.johnfekner.com/ John popularized the stencil typeface by publicly painting messages through out NYC in the late 70’s and early 80’s.
What else is goin on? well, below are two finished pieces from which the prints I posted yesterday sprang from. For the Damn Right I’m Somebody piece I made the print on some old newspaper that I found when insulating my attic upstate many years back. I mixed a heavy duty paste and glued the print onto a skateboard deck. Then did some brush work and collage to add to the texture.
The Arrabers of Baltimore piece was put together the same way except its mounted on a ready made frame. Both pieces are nods to my Baltimore upbringing that I often reference in my work.
If you are interested in obtaining either of these pieces feel free to contact me at chrisstain@gmail.com for the details.
Talk to you soon.
Possessed to Skate is from a photo taken of Billy Mode tearin’ it up somewhere on a mini half pipe. I always liked this photo and wanted to do somethin’ with it. Now that I’m working more exclusively with rubylithe it allows me to do things I wasn’t able to with the straight stencil technique.
Arrabers of Baltimore is a piece based on the vanishing breed of fruit and vegetable vendors who roam Baltimore streets selling their wears from the back of horse drawn carts. As a kid growing up in Highlandtown I remember hearing the Arrabers coming down the alleys and streets advertising their produce by singin out “WAATERRMELON! CAANTELOUPE!” My uncle once told me that we even had a tradition of Arrabin’ in our family as my Grandfathers brother-in-law had a cart and would traverse the streets and that my grandparents would sometimes invite the Arrabers into the house for a meal.
Damn Right I’m Somebody was inspired by the J.B.’s song of the same title http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yIcZc_g82VQ&feature=related. Many times growin up in inner city conditions children can get lost in the mix and their value of self worth has the potential to rapidly decline. What I wanted to show with this piece is that no matter where you are from you are important because you are alive.
These prints and more available at http://chrisstain.bigcartel.com/
