koleszar

Art Official Truth

2011-06-03T10:36:00.001-07:00

Come check it out

2011-01-28T21:32:00.000-08:00

say it don't spray it

2010-09-26T11:01:00.001-07:00

Koleszar interview with crewest "friends with Knives"

2010-09-02T12:12:00.002-07:00

Pictures from the "friends with knives" show

2010-08-16T10:12:00.000-07:00

Friends with Knives LA August 7th

2010-07-27T18:34:00.000-07:00

PRESS RELEASE: FRIENDS WITH KNIVES

Friends with Knives
On view from August 7th through August 29th, 2010
Opening Reception: Saturday, August 7th, 2010 from 6-9pm

Los Angeles, CA – Having evolved from the first stencils recorded in human history, where hands were placed on cave walls and spit upon with watered paint pigments, to the now more multilayered, complex, political, and emotional stencils of today; stencil graffiti and stencil art is making its way into the art world as a growing genre that is captivating art lover’s and collectors world wide. To showcase this growing genre for art lovers and collectors alike, Crewest Gallery is proud to present Friends With Knives, a cutting edge stencil art exhibition curated by PaperMonster, featuring a collection of outstanding and intricately detailed works by world class stencil artists: Blek le Rat, Broken Crow, Chris Stain, Dave Lowell, E.L.K, Greg Boudreau, HAHA, Henry Quiara, Joe Iurato, Koleszar, Leckomio, Mefee, Nathan Phaneuf, PaperMonster, Peat Wollaeger, Scotch and Shai Dahan.

A broad range of stencil graffiti styles including photorealism, political, pop, abstract, and those focusing purely on beauty will be on display. Emerging and established artists will be on view side by side as a testament of the history, evolution and future of stencil art. Artists in this exhibit form a collective that defines the power and beauty of stencil art which continues to drive one of the fastest growing street art movements throughout the world. In attendance on Opening Night will be exhibiting artists Greg Boudreau, Henry Quiara, Koleszar, Nathan Phaneuf and Scotch.

In the Featured Artist Room:

Chaz Bojorquez

Installation by the godfather of graffiti in LA, Chaz Bojorquez. Bojorquez’s symbol or “tag”, created in 1969, was a stylized skull called Senor Suerte inspired by Mexican folklore and especially by the cult of Holy Death, and is one of the first examples of stencil art applied to the street and it subsequently became an image for protection against death among the street gangs. Bojórquez was one of the first writers to employ special typographical characters, creating an original synthesis of psychedelic style, Fraktur and Chinese calligraphy.

Chaz will be present on opening night to autograph copies of his new book:"The Art and Life Of Chaz Bojorquez"

----
About the Friends with Knives Artists:

• Banksy in his unofficial biography famously said of Blek Le Rat, “Everytime I think I've painted something original I find out that Blek Le Rat has done it as well, only 20 years earlier'. Blek Le Rat often described as the Godfather of Stencil Art was the first to use stencils for silhouettes on the streets of Paris, he has been investigating the urban space for over 28 years and still continues to inspire urban artists all over the world.
• PaperMonster’s vivid and intricate pieces explore the beauty behind the eyes and facial expressions of women.
• Broken Crow's art features various animals and anthropomorphic humanoids in crazy colors and extreme sizes. Through painting they seek to reintroduce wild animals back into urban habitats, writing their own mythologies as they go.
• Chris Stain’s work and its themes find a kinship with the American social-realist movement of the early 20th century.
• Kolezar experiments with things like color, detail and scale to challenge preconceptions of what can be accomplished with stenciling.
• Nathan Phaneuf focuses on more minimal pieces that accentuate the women he photographs for his pieces produced using the underlying wood as the main skin tone and negative space for his stencils.
• Shai Dahan is recognized for his talent of hand painting skateboards as well as creating his animalguns designs on the streets of Los Angeles and New York using stencils, wheatpastes and other mediums as well.
• Peat Wollaeger (stenSOUL) is internationally known stencil artist famous for his signature EYEZ , raw colorful characters and stencil videos.
• Dave Lowell works with a combination of multi-layer stencils and freehand spraying.
• E.L.K is fast becoming well respected amongst his peers and in much demand nationally for his approach to photo-realistic stenciling.
• By using multi-layered stencils of up to 60 layers HAHA’s work is a reflection of Austrailian popular culture.
• Joe Iurato just launched a new series of portraits featuring a selection of musicians performing the famous song “Summertime” from Porgy and Bess.
• Henry Quiara is an artist/designer of lowbrow, urban contemporary and counter culture art.
• Greg Boudreau specializes in making the ordinary extraordinary.
• Mefee, a true definition of an anomaly. Mefee works as a scarification artists providing surgical implants underneath the skin in which his skill with a scalpol is easily transfered into his stencil work creating precision cut pieces.
• Leckomio’s works deal with street art and graffiti as a subject, as shown by B-boys or the hyper-realistic representation of urban landscapes tagged for sky to bitumen.
• Scotch! continues to push for new techniques/ideas that people of all ages & genres can enjoy.

Exhibiting Artists: Blek le Rat, Broken Crow, Chris Stain, Dave Lowell, E.L.K, Greg Boudreau, HAHA, Henry Quiara, Joe Iurato, Koleszar, Leckomio, Mefee, Nathan Phaneuf, PaperMonster, Peat Wollaeger, Scotch, Shai Dahan

Artist Websites

Chaz Bojorquez: http://www.chazbojorquez.com
Blek le Rat: http://bleklerat.free.fr/
Broken Crow: http://brokencrow.com
Chris Stain: http://www.chrisstain.com
Dave Lowell: http://www.flickr.com/photos/davelowell/
E.L.K: http://myspace.com/elkstencils
Greg Boudreau: http://www.gregboudreau.com
HAHA: http://www.regantamanui.com
Henry Quiara: http://www.artficionado.blogspot.com
Joe Iurato: http://www.joeiurato.com
Koleszar: http://www.koleszar.com
Leckomio: http://www.stefanwinterle.de/
Mefee: http://www.mefee.org
Nathan Phaneuf: http://www.nathanphaneuf.com/
PaperMonster: http://papermonster.wordpress.com
Peat Wollaeger: http://www.stenSOUL.com
Scotch: http://www.myspace.com/el_scotcho
Shai Dahan : http://www.Abztract.com

Important Dates:

Opening Reception
August 7th, 2010 from 6-9pm with Live music by DJ Phyz Ed.

Artwalk Event
August 12th, 2010 from 6-9pm with Live music by DJ Phyz Ed.

Last Day for Exhibit
August 29, 2010

Bios and images are available by request.

Crewest
110 Winston St.
Los Angeles, CA 90013
ph | 213-627-8272

Crewest is a gallery that supports some of the most talented underground artists from the West Coast and beyond. The gallery's focus is on urban & graffiti art created through painting, sculpture, digital, and print medias. All of the exhibits housed at Crewest deal with what is current, and significant within the realm of the urban art experience. Hours of operation are Tues. thru Thurs.: noon – 7pm, Fri. and Sat.: 12pm -8pm, Sun.: Noon – 6pm and Closed Mondays (except by appointment only). Visit the gallery online at: www.crewest.com.

Curator: PaperMonster is a stencil graffiti artist who’s vivid and intricate pieces explore the beauty behind the eyes and facial expressions of women. Born in Puerto Rico, PaperMonster incorporates stencil and pasting techniques to create pieces of art on any surface by incorporating pop culture icons, Asian typography, patterns and texture to present vibrant emotions and stories. His work allows the audience to take his creations for pure face value or explore deeper into each piece. Visit PaperMonster online at: http://papermonster.wordpress.com .

# # #

Flyer Image

New CMYK piece

2010-06-01T09:05:00.000-07:00

As an artist, I am always looking to distinguish myself from the pack. Over the last couple of years I have developed a style of stenciling that mirrors the CMYK printing method. The only drawback to this style is the time involved with each piece. Here are some pics of my newest pice.

Enjoy

Photo essays by Chuck B

2010-04-25T15:17:00.000-07:00

A while back, Chuck B from spraygraphic.com came by to do a photo shoot of me in my process for a show he has been working on. Stop on by next week to check out what he put together.

Fwd: G40: The Summit

2010-02-15T20:11:00.001-08:00

G40: The Summit
5 Floors
500+ Artists
75,000 sqft
Curated Visual and Performance Art

A dynamic contemporary art exhibition featuring curated works from artists around the world on display for a full month, featuring musical and visual performances, lectures, live painting and much more!

Art Whino teams up with Crystal City BID and Vornado to present G-40: The Summit, a month long exhibition and event series featuring over 500 artists from around the world.

The mission of G40: The Summit is to bring the leaders of the New Brow genre together in Crystal City, VA in an effort to explore, discuss and grow this movement. G-40: The Summit will be a culmination of ideas and processes, brought together and highlighted by region and style, creating, for the first time, a full cross examination of this genre.

This event will feature 75,000sqft of exhibition space with 4 floors of art! Each floor will represent different hot hubs of the New Brow movement: The DC, New York, and California metro areas, plus one all encompassing floor for international and other regional artists. Visitors of G-40: The Summit will, for the first time, be able to experience entire floors showcasing artists from these regions, and because of this set up, connect the dots of how the different sub-cultures and environs affect the art. From the laid back California Style, to the fast paced New York way of living, the art will bring a fresh visual perspective that words cannot provide. With all the different styles in one place the New Brow movement, now growing and expanding worldwide, will be more comprehensible to the viewer, finally defining the line between the movement's beginnings to its future. A movement that currently exists without much literature or founding in "traditional" institutions, yet includes some of the most highly recognizable and sought after art in the world, will inevitably become a major player in the intellectual and mainstream art world.

Each floor will have 10-30 "Showcased artists" who will activate the space with murals and installations, helping to set the mood for their region. In addition to the showcased artists we will have an additional 50-100 region specific artists exhibited on each floor. The show will run up for a month. During the month there will be musical and visual performances, lectures, and more. Also we will feature various art related groups and non-profits, helping to promote their mission and inspire ongoing conversations about the New Brow art world in DC and beyond.

Event Schedule:

Show Month: March 2010
Open Hours: Wednesdays & Thursdays: 5 – 10pm,
Fridays & Saturdays: 12pm – 12am
Sundays: 12pm – 6pm
Mondays & Tuesdays: Closed

Event Location

223 23rd St. Arlington, VA 22202

Metro Accessible and pleny of parking
For more info go to: http://crystalcity.org/accessible/parking

Art Whino Gallery
Art Whino is a DC based art gallery whose mission is to bring together the freshest and rawest talent from around the world. With over 400 artists in the Art Whino arsenal, ranging from California to New York, Germany to Japan and beyond, Art Whino has become an all encompassing force in the art world. Exhibitions cover the whole spectrum of new art forms ranging from exposing emerging stencil and wheat pasting artists to showcasing the most skilled leaders of many different genres. For the life essentials Exhibit 100+ artists have been invited to participate exhibiting one piece each.
http://www.artwhino.com/

Crystal City BID
Crystal City, Arlington's largest downtown, is transforming. Bright and vibrant, Crystal City now features an abundance of fine restaurants, cafes, specialty stores, outdoor movie nights, bike trails, and two award winning theaters with Arena Stage and the Washington Shakespeare Company.

With its quick access to the Metro area and proximity to Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, the area is attracting many well-known businesses, non-profits, artists, tourists, and residents - all who are excited to call Crystal City home. From our hotels to our transportation options, Crystal City is also a green and environmentally-minded area - visitors can feel good about their stay with us, inside and out.

Established in April of 2006, the Crystal City Business Improvement District (BID) is creating a soul for Crystal City. A public-private partnership, the BID is providing a higher level of service to visitors, workers and residents in Crystal City - driving to become world-class destination in both Arlington and the greater DC region.

Featured Artists: Caia Koopman
Caia Koopman is a native of California and was born in Livermore. She majored in fine art and earned a B.A. at UC Santa Cruz, California. Santa Cruz turned out to be the place that seduced her to the local skateboarding scene.

In addition to receiving an academic education, Caia also learned to skate ramps, streets, pools, and Derby Park. Skateboarding led to skateboard graphics, and her first limited edition team T-shirt design for Santa Cruz Skateboards. After earning her art degree, she turned her attention to snowboarding and spent many winters following the snow. It was her love for the sport that inspired Caia to strive for a career creating snowboard graphics and later branching out to become a commercial artist and finally a fine artist as well. Her artwork has been featured in numerous national and international print media including Surfing Girl, Mademoiselle, Details, Girl's Life, Snowboarder Magazine, Teen, Teen Style, Teen People, J-14, Fine , and others. Caia designed T-shirt graphics and promotional illustrations for many companies, such as: Quiksilver/Roxy, Hurley, Op, AT&T, and Casio.

Caia's paintings have been used commercially for many years as graphics for snowboards, skateboards and wakeboards for major companies such as K2, Morrow, and Hyperlite. Caia has also been featured on MTV, "mtv sports" as an athlete/artist for her snowboarding and painting. Caia has shown her paintings in a number of galleries around the world and most recently at La Luz de Jesus in LA. She is currently working as a freelance illustrator and painter in Oceanside, CA.

Caia is inspired by nature, dreams, politics, and life.
http://www.caiadesign.com/paintings.htm

Featured Artists: Angry Woebots
Aaron Martin was born on the Hawaiian Island of Oahu, but spent most of his childhood growing up and moving from Southern California to Nevada before finally landing back into Hawaii during his Junior year in high school. In 1999 while a car accident changed everything; this life-threatening experience inspired him to leave the island once again, this time to Seattle, Washington. Inspired by the rain and being indoors, he started playing around with different art mediums again. He then left back to Hawaii with a new perspective.
"I almost died that night, being trapped in metal changed everything. Almost ten years later but its just like it happened yesterday life's been unbelievable I been blessed with the best Family and Homies ever, on top of that I been rocking out full time doing what I love just painting and meeting the coolest people."
Aaron had his first show in 2002 and has not stopped. Showing in galleries up and down California the east coast, have even showed in shows that have traveled from the United States, Tokyo to Hong Kong, Australia & New Zealand. Aaron has worked with companies & crews like Mind Style toys/Disney, Blue Scholars, Kidrobot, Fitted Hawaii /NewEra, Kicks Hawaii & has a project coming soon with Converse Red. Also being published in Magazines in the US & Europe.
His focal medium is acrylic paintings on wood and canvas. Using minimal colors and detailed character design, these paintings are usually comprised of stressed out emotional pandas. The pandas tend to represent the story of struggle.
"Angry Woebots was never a name it was a concept of what I created, concept of my art, from the car accident until now, from being in a dark place and coming out of the situation fresh and ready to change the negative to a positive thing, getting slammed into metal actually woke me up. Rocking art was the doorway it's been nonstop ever since." Much respects-Woeski One
http://www.armyofsnipers.com/

Featured Artists: Jophen Stein
Jophen Stein is a graduate of the Laguna College of Art and Design. After establishing the snootson family showcase in 2004 his distinctive style has gained national recognition over the past couple of years. Despite the minor set backs of being banned from Idaho and Iowa Jophen Stein continues the SFSC series from his studio in Pomona.
http://www.jophenstein.com/

Featured Artists: Paul Chatem
Paul Chatem was born in 1974 in Bellevue, Washington, and grew up in La Crescenta, California. He graduated from the Kansas City Art Institute in 1997 with a BFA in Illustration. While working various arts related jobs in the entertainment industry Paul developed his own personal work and started showing in group shows in Los Angeles. His first solo show "It Tastes like Whiskey" opened Feb. 2006 at the Black Maria Gallery in Atwater, CA. Since then his work has been featured at The Shooting Gallery in San Francisco CA, The Bluebottle Art Gallery in Seattle WA, CoproNason Gallery in Santa Monica CA, as well as in many group shows in North America and abroad. Paul is currently hiding out in the foothills of Los Angeles.
http://www.paulchatem.com/

Featured Artists: Reuben Rude
Reuben Rude was born in San Francisco, as the sun was setting on the Free Love era. His bohemian parents then moved "back to the land" to the woods of Northern California, where he spent the better part of his childhood without a television. This lack of technology forced him to spend almost every waking hour drawing and painting. When he moved back to the city to attend art school, he got into all the usual trouble with graffiti writers, skateboarders and art students. He now lives in San Francisco with his wife and eight-year-old daughter, and yes, a television. However, he still spends most of his waking hours drawing and painting. Sometimes he even gets paid for it.
http://www.reubenrude.com/

Featured Artists: Casey Weldon
Casey was born August 27th, 1979, in beautiful Long Beach California. He spent his childhood in the then undeveloped eucalyptus groves of Yorba Linda and the labyrinth hills of Valencia, skinning knees, capturing flags, and drawing comic books.
After a hazy stint in high school, he went on to study at the Art Center College of Design where he graduated with honors in 2004.
He moved to Las Vegas, which was great. If you haven't been there, I highly recommend it. He had some shows, made some friends and met a girl.

He now lives in Brooklyn, NY with said girl.
http://caseyweldon.com

Featured Artists: Scott G. Brooks
Scott G Brooks is originally from Flint, Michigan, and currently lives and works in Washington, DC. His subject matter ranges from simple portraiture to intricate narratives. In his paintings, he takes social, psychological, and political issues and injects them with a dark sense of humor. Anatomical distortions separate the figures from the photographic ideal, which gives him the freedom to create his own distorted reality. His work is described as twisted and offbeat, sentimental, and disturbing. In addition to exhibiting in galleries, he has also illustrated several children's books. His influences include Mad Magazine, Disney, Saturday morning cartoons, and talking heads on cable news.
http://www.scottgbrooks.com

Featured Artists: Kelly Vivanco
Kelly Vivanco was born and raised in front of a sketchpad and a box of colors in Southern California. She later received her BFA with honors from LCAD in Laguna Beach. In 2004 Kelly became a Studio artist at Distinction in Escondido and currently maintains a working studio there. Her work has shown in numerous galleries and is held in collections across the U.S. and abroad.

Kelly enjoys setting whimsy to work in many mediums and pulls inspiration from the natural and imagined world, vintage photographs, children's literature and the oddness of her dreams.
http://www.kellyvivanco.com

Featured Artists: Craig `Skibs` Barker
Craig "Skibs" Barker grew up in Southern California during the early '80s in the midst of both the punk rock and surfing culture explosions. With a healthy dose of punk flyers, album covers, and surfing magazines buzzing through his head, Barker began making flyers and t-shirts for his friends and his own punk bands. Fast-forward to today; Barker's most recent paintings infuse his long-standing love for painting and rendering the human female figure with his punk-fueled graphic design. Mixing different approaches, techniques, and mediums, he creates a sense of memory, personal history, and appreciation for the female form. Combining elements of pop culture, literary censorship, and a positive mental attitude, he creates layered scenes of voyeuristic mischief. Barker's work explores the junctions between past and present, memory and imagination, fantasy and reality, while creating a dialog between image and viewer.
http://www.skibsart.com/

Featured Artists: Josh Taylor
Josh Taylor died in the year 2037 at the young age of 57. It is still unclear the exact cause of his death, but there have been a couple of people who were close to Josh that started noticing weird things. While Josh was a private person throughout his life, young Tim McAllister (a neighbor) was sometimes allowed into Josh's house. Josh had Tim run to the store to buy groceries or to mail out some prints. When asked if he noticed anything strange in the days prior to Josh's death, Tim replied, "Yeah, a couple days before Mr. Taylor died, I had came in the back door and found Josh at his drawing table. He had his arm shoved elbow deep into his mouth. It really freaked him out when he saw me, and he tried covering up all the weirdness. He sure was strange." This is important though, because when the autopsy was being performed, Josh was completely cut open. On the inside of his body, it was discovered that Josh had been using his innards as a canvas. While only seen by a handful of people, it has been reported that the art INSIDE of Josh is leaps and bounds greater than anything else done by anybody, anywhere. Unfortunately, the Government seized control of all works of art in the year 2012 (music was seized around 1985), so it will not be issued until the Government decides what to do with it. It is doubtful that it will ever be seen, because his art is dark and controversial. It challenges all authority. It inspires people to question, it inspires people to seek change. One can only wonder what was created inside Josh, perhaps someday we will all be so lucky to see.
http://www.joshtaylorart.net

Featured Artists: Marka 27
Graffiti for me is a powerful tool if used properly. It can bring empowerment to people within the urban area through compelling imagery of truth and awareness. To paint a mural that depicts strength, aptitude, unity, and pride in one self is what I live for. I have a strong passion for painting even if it's not on a wall, but my heart is with the people who struggle. The single mothers, unemployed, imprisoned, poverty stricken individuals who I see everyday that still give themselves a reason to continue, that is my reason to continue. I thank GOD for the ability to create on the level that I do.
http://www.marka27.com/

Featured Artists: Molly Crabapple
Molly Crabapple is an award-winning artist, author, and the founder of Dr. Sketchy's Anti-Art School

Molly learned to draw in a Parisian bookstore. She later drew her way through Morocco and Kurdistan, and once into a Turkish jail. She's developed her trademark Victorian style based a fascination with ambition and artifice. Remember, the devil's in the details

Molly's drawn for the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Marvel Comics the Bloomberg Corporation and Playgirl, and illustrated eight books. She's also turned her talents to 30-foot theatrical backdrops, children's books, parade installations, burlesque posters, critically acclaimed webcomics, pornographic comic books, art writing, and gallery shows around the world. She's the resident Toulouse Lautrec of The Box, one of New York's most exclusive nightclubs.
http://www.mollycrabapple.com

Featured Artists: Peap
Peap, or Samapeap Tarr was born in Auckland NZbut grew up in many different places and countries because his mother is Chinese Cambodian and his father is from Te Awamutu and they were always on the move all over the place. He is a NZ based artist whose cultural background has influenced him and his emotions to create his signature sinister yet tranquil works of art. Known primarily for his use of bold black ink on a blank white medium, his art exists in a world where lightness and darkness battle, yet coexist in the same breath to balance each other and contrast against each other. It represents the ups and downs of life, the yin and the yang, the ongoing war that ends up being waged on canvas or whatever medium his work lies on.

FOR MORE BIO'S OF PARTICIPATING ARTISTS PLEASE VISIT:
http://www.crystalcity.org/artful/g40artists

DC METRO ARTISTS
Alan Defibaugh
Alexa Meade
Anthony Dihle
Aniekan Udofia
Billy Mode
Brandon Hill
Cabezon
Chris Bishop
Daniel Barojas
Dana Ellyn
Decoy
Drew Storm Graham
edward gross
El Stabo
Emily Greene Liddle
Francisco Munoz
James Walker
Jared Davis
Jazirock
Jessica van Brakle
Luz Del Mar Rosado
Matt Sesow
Matt Somma
Michael Weber
Michael Owen
Nils Westergard
Novie Trump
Peter Chang
Peter Krsko
Twitch
Scott G. Brooks
Sylvia Ortiz
Shawn Martinbrough
Susannah Parnin
Tim Conlon
Tim Slayton
Truth Among Liars
Trevor Young
Yulia Graham

NY METRO ARTISTS
Angie Mason
Casey Weldon
Cern One
Chris Murray
Chris RWK
Chris Stain
Cope 2
Frank Gonzales
Ghetto Picasso
gigi
Heather Randell
Herm Life!
Indie
Jessica Angel
Joe Iurato
JoKa
Liza Corbett
Marka 27
Migdalia Luz Barens Vera
Mikel Glass
Molly Crabapple
MDOK
Ovie
PaperMonster
Scott Albrecht
Sue Works
TMNK
Veng

CALIFORNIA ARTISTS
Aaron Kraten
Alex Chiu
Andrew Hem
Angry Woebots
Caia Koopman
Codak
Chris Brett
Craig Skibs Barker
Dabs Myla
Daniel Fleres
Daryll Peirce
Darling, Jim and Tina
Douglas Alvarez
Downer
Eyeone
Ganyan
Jeremy Asher Lynch
Jim Mahfood
John Felix Arnold III
Jophen Stein
Joshua Herbolsheimer
Joshua Krause
Kelly Castillo
Kevin E. Taylor
Marie Barr
Mary Spring
Matthew Linares
Mr. Ben Venom
Mr. Penfold
Munk One
Patrick Haemmerlein
Paul Chatem
Peabe
Reuben Rude
Rick Reese
Stuter
Terri Woodward
Tommii Lim
Ursula Young
Walter Hall

WORLDWIDE ARTISTS
Arizona
John Koleszar

Australia
Brad Strain
E.L.K.
Kareem Rizk
Nick Morris

Brazil
Alex Hornest
Lelo

Bulgaria
Ernesto Nasimo

Canada
Hyein Lee

Chicago
Aunia Kahn
Charlie Owens
Esho

Cleveland
Arabella Proffer-Vendetta

Colorado
Bryan Collins
Max Kauffman
Thinkmule

Detroit
Ron Zakrin

Florida
Adam Russell
Aleloop
Brandon McLean
Dan May
Luis Diaz
Mauricio Murillo
Patrick Fatica
Ruben Ubiera
Rudy Duboue
Patrick "STAR27" Deignan
Tatiana Suarez

France
Anko Christian
Mefee

Germany
Dennis Schuster
Dust
Ki Yoon Ko
Marc Wöhr
Mario Wagner

Georgia
Nicolas Gracey

Hawaii
Remi Mead

Indianapolis
Emma Overman

Iowa
Brent Houzenga

Lithuania
Natalie Shau

Mexico
Raudiel Sañudo

Michigan
Brandi Read

Nashville
John Collier

Nevada
Julie Steiner

New Zealand
Askew One
Peap

North Carolina
Dustin Spagnola

Oregon
Anna Todaro
Spencer Reynolds
Zach Tobias

Portugal
Leonor Morais
Paulo Arraiano

Puerto Rico
Adrian 'Viajero' Roman

Seattle
Chris Sheridan
Soule

Texas
Cutthroat
Dave Lowell
Graham Franciose
Saint JAHn
Scotch

UK
Annabelle Hartmann
Kenn Munk
Molotov Circus
The Krah
Zachary Walsh

Wisconsin
Jimbot

Vermont
Josh Taylor

To get show updates and invites

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Email Address:

please

2010-02-08T13:54:00.003-08:00

please 8 x 10", originally uploaded by koleszar stencils.

8 x 10"

thank you

2010-02-08T13:54:00.001-08:00

thank you 8 x 10", originally uploaded by koleszar stencils.

8 X 10"
the art of beer show

old skoolin for the children

2009-10-16T08:46:00.000-07:00

Art whino is putting on this incredible show filled with some of today's finest artists, including myself, and all for a good cause. Do yourself a favor and check out this show, you won't be disappointed.

Koleszar coming to Flagstaff

2009-09-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

I will be showcasing all new works at Black Hound Gallery on October 2nd. Come on by and see the stencil process in the flesh. This show will only be on display through the weekend, so don't miss out.

Melbourne Stencil Festival 2009

2009-09-16T10:15:00.000-07:00

I am pleased to say that I have been selected for the Melbourne Stencil Festival again this year. I will have five pieces in the show, so if you are in the Melbourne area, don't miss out on an opportunity to see some world class stencil art.
Here is the list of artists in this year's festival:
085c3n3 - ADi - Ben Howe - BOO - Dan-e - Dean Christ - DrewFunk - E.L.K -
GODADI - Haha - Jak Rapmund - John Koleszar - Joshua Smith - Keags - Keys - Lachlan Widdison - Logan Moody - Max Berry - Monkey - Ololo - PSALM -
Rachael Miller - Rhen Fray - Stephen Bettess - Tom Civil - VEGA
For those of you unable to attend, here is a preview of the pieces I will have on display:

Friends with knives

2009-09-09T10:51:00.001-07:00

I will have a few pieces in this show next week. Check it out if you have a chance. Special shout out to Paper Monster for including me in this amazing line up of talent.

Urban Decay @ Bherd Studios

2009-08-05T09:26:00.000-07:00

If you find yourself in the Seattle area on August 14th, then head on over to Bherd Studios to check out the urban decay show that i will have several pieces in. This is a great lineup of artists including friends Soule and Paper Monster. Don't miss out.
August 14th 2009

Bherd Studios

8537 Greenwood Ave. N,

Suite 1,Studio D

Seattle, WA 98103

Interview with spraygraphic.com

2009-07-22T08:36:00.000-07:00

Last week, Chuck B from spraygraphic.com came by to photograph me and my studio. Despite the heat, we managed to get some really great shots.
You can see the entire shoot in two parts on
sprayblog.net

Stencil Nation Pictures

2009-05-17T16:54:00.000-07:00

Here are the pictures from the Stencil Nation show that was held at wet paint on Cinco De Mayo. Russell Howze brought his nation wide book tour to Tempe and Jes Jordan put together a great stencil show in coordination with the book tour. We had a big crowd show up to see the stencil process in the flesh. Cartel coffee shop displayed stencil art on their walls, chuck B from spraygraphic.com stopped by to take some pictures of the event, we had live painting, live music and enough stenciling going on to make even me go cross eyed. Thanks to everyone who made it out to support the event, we had a really great crowd.

Stoked Sessions LA

2009-04-28T13:34:00.001-07:00

I have a piece in the Stoked sessions show at Upper playground LA this weekend. If you are in the the area, please come check it out.

Stencil nation hits Tempe for Cinco De Mayo

2009-04-27T09:41:00.001-07:00

Author of "Stencil Nation" Russell Howze, is making a special stop on his nation-wide book tour at Wet Paint art Supply in Tempe on May the 5th. There will be a presentaion of his book, live stenciling demos, music, works on display, and all kinds of other stencil-goodness.
So if you dig stenciling, want to know more about stenciling, or just want to see some really great art, you need to get yourself on over to Tempe for the festivities.

Your Kid can't do this

2009-04-02T21:23:00.000-07:00

I will have a few pieces in this show next week in Melbourne. An all-star lineup of stenciling talent

pictures from the shaded show

2009-02-12T09:08:00.000-08:00

Thanks to everyone who came to the opening. I got to see a lot of people who I had not seen in a long time and I had a blast.

"shaded"

2009-01-16T11:58:00.000-08:00

I am excited to announce that I will be having my first solo exhibition opening on February 4th in Arizona. Come check all of my new works at Tryst gallery in historic downtown Chandler.

spraygraphic vinyl show

2008-12-18T12:22:00.000-08:00

Here is a quick video from the spraygraphic vinyl art show that was at hoodlums in Tempe last week. Special thanks to spraygraphic for including me in the show.

DC pics

2008-11-25T20:02:00.000-08:00

Here are the pictures from the stencil show at art whino. My sincere thanks to paper monster for having me in the show, and to Shane making the whole thing happen.

stencil show

2008-10-31T09:46:00.000-07:00

Art Whino Announces:
STENCIL
A group show focusing on the art of Stencil

An exhibition celebrating stencil art featuring over 30 artists who
work in this provocative medium. Art Whino will be bringing a traditionally secretive, outdoor based art form inside gallery walls. Come see the amazing installation by 15 artists from all around the world, and meet them and talk about their work at the Opening Reception. Learn about this creative trend that is present all over the world. Meet Russell Howze, author of Stencil Nation, and attend his presentation on the incredible art featured in his book. Get your copy of Stencil Nation signed at our book signing and panel discussion about the origins, popularity and integration of stencil art into the gallery world.

Friday November 14th from 6-Midnight
Opening reception at Art Whino Gallery.

The gallery walls will be transformed as a 15 artists come out from all over the world for a huge install collaboration. Thirty artists will be showcased. Each artist will showcase 20 pieces created on found objects that will be integrated into and inspire the overall installation, bringing the gallery back into the realm of street art. These found object works will retail for $20 - $40, keeping the art accessible and true to its roots.

Music by DJ Face

Sunday. November 23rd, from Noon – 6pm
At Art Whino gallery
Stencil Nation book signing by Russell Howze.
Presentation by Russell Howze on the Art of Stencil 2 - 3pm
Panel discussion from 3 – 4pm focused on the popularity and growth of stencil art and it’s transition into fine art galleries.

This event is FREE and open to the public.

Show end date: Dec 6th

Stencil Artists

Alvaro Sanchez - Guatemala
BayTruthSeeker - California
Billy Mode - Baltimore
BLACKBOOKS - Miami
Chris Stain - New York
CUTTHROAT - Texas
Dark - Texas
Dave Lowell - Texas
E.L.K - Australia
Enos - Texas
farkfk - UK
Janet Bike Girl - Canada
Jazirock - Virginia
Jef Aerosol - France
Koleszar - Arizona
Kristal Blanco - Italy
LECKOmio - Germany
Logan Hicks - New York
Prvrt - New York
Mama Sass - Chicago
MEFEE - France
Mephisto Jones - Australia
PaperMonster - New Jersey
Peter Krsko - DC
Scotch - Texas
SOULE - Seattle
stncl.07- Texas

Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community, and Art
A Manic D Press Book by Russell Howze

"Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community, and Art" packs over 500 full-color photographs in a 192 page, 8 inch by 8 inch pound of paper and ink. The book presents work by more than 350 artists from 28 countries, including Iran, Australia, Japan, Canada, Spain, Lebanon, Israel, and the United States. Featured artists include: Banksy, Jef Aerosol, Logan Hicks, Adam5100, Arofish, M-City, SWOON, Hao, John Fekner, Peat Wollaeger, Klutch, and others.

Without a doubt, stencils are the fastest, easiest, and cheapest method for painting an image on a wall, a sidewalk, or almost any object anywhere. Stencil Nation focuses on the unexpected mix of this lively, accessible medium to reveal engaging aspects of an intentionally secretive international creative community. With dynamically illustrated perspectives from diverse niches of the art form, hundreds of photographs and numerous essays have been curated by StencilArchive.org’s founder, Russell Howze. Stencil Nation builds upon previous published works to give the most extensive and up-to-date history of stencil art, as well as how-to tips from the artists who work within the art form.

Stencil Nation Goes on an East Coast Tour: November and December, 2008

Russell Howze will be on the road this winter, giving his slide presentation for "Stencil Nation." This one hour presentation will give a great overview of the art form, using examples from the book as well as other outside sources, materials, and interesting items. Russell will also have actual cut stencils and will allow time for questions about all things stencil.

About the author:
Russell Howze saw his first stencil in 1990, which was J. R. "Bob" Dobbs on an apartment wall in Clemson, SC. In 1995, Russell saw an amazing sight on the exterior wall of the Reichstag in Berlin: a huge stenciled Bertolt Brecht poem. He snapped a photo of that stencil, then found one in Budapest, Hungary. Then a few more stencils appeared in Basel, Switzerland. When he landed in San Francisco in 1997, he found dozens on the sidewalks of the Mission and Haight neighborhoods. He's never stopped photographing the sometimes temporary, always intriguing art form.

In 2002, Russell created the first version of Stencil Archive, thinking that he would have time to scan and upload his own collection before anyone discovered the site and submitted their own work. He was gladly mistaken, so Stencil Archive (www.stencilarchive.org) took off, outgrew its parent site HappyFeetTravels.org, and ended up becoming a site with over 10,000 uploaded photographs. At the time of its inception, Stencil Archive was the only international stencil site out there (for a few months). Now there are dozens of sites with tens of thousands of photographs. Russell continues to curate his site, posting stencils from around the world and featuring dozens of amazing artists.

In June 2008, Russell launched "Stencil Nation" with a successful stencil art exhibit, his third curated show, in San Francisco, and then went on a six-city book tour up the West Coast. He will also took his one-hour slide presentation to Melbourne, Australia for the 5th annual Stencil Festival in early August. He will tour the East Coast in November and December, bringing stencil goodness to the holiday masses.

When not photographing, making, painting, and uploading stencils, Russell fills his time by doing one or more of the following fun things: being a carny for the Sustainable Living Roadshow, riding his bike, writing for his blog www.HappyFeetTravels.org, cooking healthy food, creating vector art and putting it on stickers and buttons, producing events, puppeteering, listening to good music, traveling, and volunteering/protesting to make the world a better place.

He currently lives in San Francisco's Mission District, and is usually seen on his bike with his camera slung around his shoulder.

In case you wanted to know...

2008-10-10T15:58:00.001-07:00

Many people ask me how the whole radiation process works. This time I snapped a few photos of the lead container and the pill itself for your viewing pleasure. Please do not ask me who the clown was who typed my name on the outside.

Watch out! Radioactive man

2008-09-29T09:50:00.000-07:00

My radiation treatment is finally over and today is my first day back in the saddle. I wanted to thank everyone for their kind words and support over the past week, it always keeps me going. Since my diagnoses 6 years ago, I have viewed life with a very skewed perspective. Somehow being confronted with a serious disease like cancer has made me appreciate the world around me more than I ever did before I became sick. I can find beauty and enjoyment in just about every aspect of my life. It led me to art, and remains to be the driving force behind the enormous amount of time that I dedicate towards my craft. As strange as it may sound, I view my illness as one of the best things that has happened to me.
I know I have said this before, but hopefully in a couple of weeks once I get all of my test results back, I will have promising news. Anyway, I will keep my fingers crossed, thanks again everyone.
Love,
Johnny pants

Stencil history x tour hits New York

2008-09-16T18:42:00.001-07:00

Stencil history x tour

2008-09-02T19:01:00.000-07:00

Stencil History X, curated by Samantha Longhi, charts the origins and history of this popular form of street art expression and Ink_d presents a leading roll call of stencil artists who have defined that scene.

Original works from C215, fellow French stenciller Sadhu and three quite amazing US artists - Adam5100, Broken Crow and Koleszar and UK artist SNUB, HUTCH & FARK- are taking over Ink_d to showcase the re-written rules on this artform.

Private view at the gallery - Thursday, 4th September

First Friday

2008-08-22T08:44:00.000-07:00

Photos from Australia

2008-08-10T12:37:00.001-07:00

Back Home

2008-08-07T08:02:00.001-07:00

I have returned home from Australia this week and I finally have found a few minutes to catch up on my reports from abroad. This was my first true trip overseas and I can tell you that I was spoiled rotten from the get go. The People of Melbourne are some of the nicest, most generous, beautiful people I have ever encountered. I only wish I could remember all of the names of people that I came across in this great city. I would like to thank Coops and Adi from the MSF team for making my time at the festival so informative, the gang at the home on argyle for making me feel so welcome, A1one and Stefan for their friendship, Peat Wollaeger for taking the time to show us new guys the ropes, Meri Hietala for showing me the city and teaching me a lot about life, Russell Howze for showing me all of the best stencil spots in town, Phuong and the rest of the guys who patiently spent 2 hours with me in my workshop, All of the reporters and writers who were curious enough to want to interview me about my art, the good folks who came through the festival and made me blush with their flattery, and finally the people of Australia who for the first time in my life actually made me contemplate moving overseas with their generosity and humanity. I know I may sound like I am overstating things, but honestly I am not. This was an experience of a lifetime, and I wish everyone were able to experience Australia. Four days was not nearly enough over there, and I plan to return again one day.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart,
John

melbourne stencil festival

2008-07-29T11:02:00.001-07:00

Hopefully I can make an impression on Australia

2008-06-17T21:16:00.000-07:00

Tote show

2008-04-28T20:49:00.000-07:00

Check out pictures from the tote show.

Color halftone bus

2008-04-23T17:53:00.001-07:00

Still trying to push the idea of a cmyk style stencil. This time I worked with Blackbooks to try and push the idea a little further than the monarch piece before.
This one was 6 layers
stenciled on to canvas

Collab with jw miller

2008-04-13T07:56:00.000-07:00

This is my portion of a collaborative effort with JW Miller. Total of 15 layers.

cmyk monarch

2008-02-16T07:58:00.000-08:00

1st ave

2008-02-03T13:23:00.000-08:00

Here is a new painting that I finished today. 15 total layers and somewhere around 20 different colors. 30 x 40" stenciled spray paint on canvas

click on the picture below to see the animation

Veni Vedi Veci

2008-01-06T11:01:00.000-08:00

"'68 camaro" 12" x 16"

2007-12-18T15:27:00.000-08:00

20" x 20"

2007-12-13T11:51:00.000-08:00

walk on!

2007-12-07T17:11:00.000-08:00

more 8" x 10" stencils

2007-10-21T10:14:00.001-07:00

ozzy

2007-10-09T18:21:00.001-07:00

"ozzy"
8" x 10" spraypaint on acetate

New painting finished

2007-10-07T12:19:00.000-07:00

"the other end"
48" x 60"
15 colors
3 months of cutting

Home Grown show at the windup

2007-07-04T08:47:00.000-07:00

Phelan building video

2007-06-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

Here is a video that I made of me spraying the phelan building.
phelan building

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phelan building

2007-05-17T08:13:00.000-07:00

After 6 weeks I have finally finished m most difficult painting to date. Overall size is 48" x 60", 12 layers, 12 colors, 45 total stencils.

Pictures from the namastic show

2007-02-04T13:24:00.000-08:00

What a great night at the venue of scottsdale last night. Here are some pictures from the event.

Pictures from the stencil show @ the firehouse

2006-12-02T16:47:00.000-08:00

beerlow hot off the press!

2006-12-01T15:44:00.000-08:00

Thanks Eric for the great pose.

Pictures from The Clarendon

2006-11-28T19:20:00.000-08:00

I think I would be scared to use this computer.

2006-11-28T19:16:00.000-08:00

Install at the Clarendon hotel

2006-11-28T12:16:00.000-08:00

I was recently asked by the Clarendon Hotel to hang some paintings in their lobby. Here is my wife with one of the pieces. Special thanks to Adam Allred for helping me with the install.

New collage finished

2006-11-28T12:09:00.000-08:00

I just recently finished this piece for a friend. Overall size is 36" x 36". Spraypaint on masonite.