Small PreviewNew York.....arguably one of the most architecturally beautiful cities in the world. However, for graffiti artists, the prime locations are untouchable. That is, until GRAFantasy was born as the bastard brainchild of photographer Greasy. This is how it all went down.....
Greasy, a photographer for more than half of his life, has been an avid collector and fan of underground and graffiti art for over 5 years. Unfortunately for him, he can't draw to save his life, but he wanted to find a way to be part of creating something. After much thought, the idea that came to him was to take photos of some prominent buildings in the city and have them printed up huge and very high quality. Enter Luther Davis, certified Master Printer of Axelle Fine Arts. Each piece has been expertly giclee'd onto pre-stretched cloth canvas at a size of approximately 24"x36". Now comes the fun part...
Enter graffiti and tattoo artist Bader Israel. Born and raised in Mexico, he was born into the graffiti scene, his father being legendary old school graf artist Mosh. Israel started painting at the young age of 15, and after hitting the streets for years he earned the name Bader. He is now 27 and resides in Brooklyn. His work in New York stands out as his Mexican roots are expertly represented through his painting. Since his move to the city, he has also made a significant name for himself as one of the finest tattoo artists in Greenwich Village. His ability to accurately portray depth in his spray paint and airbrush work is why he was chosen for the first installation of the GRAFantasy project.
Bader airbrushed each piece to make it look as if the buildings were tagged.....but not just with a name. This is graffiti coming to life on canvas. A massive pegasus flying out of the IAC building......a haunting owl staring down at you from the Empire State Building....in total there are 7 unique pieces being unveiled this coming Saturday, February 13th at ZeroFriends takeover of UpperPlayground NYC at 437 East 9th St, New York, 10009. The store will be open from 11am to 7pm and Greasy will be hanging out all day, so head out to the East Village and check out all the ZeroFriends and Alex Pardee merchandise that's available as well!
