Screen shot of digital film capture.
Summer 2010
Temple Studio. Los Angeles, Calif.
Since July I have been pumping out new works on wood and canvas for my solo show at White Walls Gallery in the city of San Francisco.
this will mark my first show in SF and my first major exhibition since my solo jump ‘Vintage Futurism’ at Zero1 Gallery back in 2009.
Im not fucking around.
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Manuel Muccio is a very close friend of Marco Pho Grassi, both hailing from Milan, Italy. Manuel’s English was much better then Pho’s, so not only did he became a great relayer of information, but was a fine photographer on top of that. These were pulled from his facebook page.
During a recent trip to East Berlin, Germany I was invited by fellow artist Jaybo Monk to paint live at The ProjectRoom, an ever changing venue that supports art, then donates the work to worthy charities. Past live artists include Remi Rough & Marco PHO Grassi to name a few
El Mac and I were already in Basel, Switzerland for the Art Basel and since he had some time to kill before his trip to Dublin he came up with me to Berlin. Our primary goal was to lock down an exterior wall to leave a permanent and visible mural on. That was a bit more difficult a job then expected due to many unexpected roadblocks, but we didn’t manage to find a wall in the same location as ProjectRoom|Berlin.
Timid of Agents of Change documented teh whole session in both still as well as the video below.
Many thanks to out hosts and new friends we made along the way…
Live Art: Berlin, Germany
June 24, 2010
Los Angeles, Kalifornien – schon seit der High School bemalt der inzwischen 36-jährige Augustine Kofie als Street Artist dort Mauern und Wände. Doch handelt es sich um weit mehr als Graffiti-Kunst, die der Autodidakt Kofie produziert. Seine Bildsprache ist inspiriert vom Kubismus, Futurismus und der Pop Art der 1960er und 1970er Jahre.Seine erste große Liebe war das Illustrieren mit einem einfachen Kugelschreiber. Dann klebte Kofie Collagen aus zusammen gesammelten Fundstücken auf Holztafeln. „I love cutting and pasting“, sagt er. Klingt sympathisch und ehrlich. Später entwickelte er seinen geometrischen „drafting style“ – mit Lineal, Winkel und Schablonen.
Auf seinen großflächigen Wandgemälden verbinden sich Struktur und Bewegung, erwecken den Eindruck von Dreidimensionalität und erinnern gleichzeitig an technisches Zeichnen: Klare Linien und geometrische Formen nennt er „childhood shapes“, weil sie grundsätzlich simpel sind.
Kofies Zeichnungen werden auch animiert und in Musik-Videos platziert, mal ist er verantwortlich für das CD-Artwork von Remy LBO, ein anderes Mal gestaltet er Schaufenster von Hugo Boss in New York oder verschönert Skateboardrollen, Spielkonsolen und T-Shirts mit seinen Designs.
Los Angeles ist Augustine Kofie mittlerweile zu klein geworden, er tobt sich auf Mauern und Wänden in der ganzen Welt aus, zum Beispiel am kommenden Donnerstag in Berlin. Dann wird man ihn nämlich auf Einladung von Jaybo beim Live-Painting im projectroom zuschauen können. Wir freuen uns drauf!
„One Night One Piece“Live Painting mit Augustine KofieDonnerstag, 24. Juni 2010, 19 – 23 Uhrprojectroom, Schönhauser Allee 8, 10119 Berlin
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Zirkulation eines Anti-Horizontes [2001]
(Circulations of an Anti-Horizontal)
11.5′ x 11.5′ x 2″
Acrylic and spray paint on canvas.
Painted live during the Volta6 Art Fair in June of 2010 for LA Art Machine & Rivera & Rivera Gallery
Basel, Switzerland.
Flicker Photos HERE
VOLTA 6 Art Fair: Basel, Switzerland Live Art by El Mac, Retna, Mear & Kofie Presented by The LA Art Machine & Rivera & Rivera Gallery June 16-20, 2010 Volta 6 Dreispitzhalle Dreispitz Areal Tor / Gate 13 Helsinki Strasse 5 CH-4142 Münchenstein / Basel PRESS RELEASE: L.A. ART MACHINE and Rivera & Rivera Gallery are proud to present, VOX HUMNANA at Volta6, Basel. Curated by Bryson Strauss, VOX HUMANA is a live art performance by legendary Los Angeles street artists Mear One, Kofie, Retna, and El Mac that will take place at VOLTA6 in Basel, Switzerland, June 16-20, 2010.Street artists work on the fly and in the open to create works of art that change the way we see, feel, and interact with our urban environments. The VOX HUMANA happening will provide an opportunity for VOLTA patrons to witness how street artists work and watch the live unfolding of “pieces” within the context of an international fine art fair. For the five-day run of the fair, these four artists will create large-scale (up to 3.5 meters x 7 meters) pieces in their signature styles using acrylic and aerosol paints. VOLTA attendees are invited to witness the completion of these monumental works on Sunday, June 20, 2010 at 2 PM, and participate in a closing celebration.
Triangulation of a bright, westerly transition
2010
5 feet x 5 feet x 2 1/2 inches 2010
Acrylic & spray paint on primered stretched canvas. Finished in gel medium.
Produced in April of 2010.
On display this summer in Amsterdam & Switzerland:
In conjunction with Williem Kerseboom Gallery & The LA Art Machine
Art Amsterdam May 26-30, 2010
RAI Exhibition Center, Amsterdam
&
Scope Art Fair June 15-19 2010
Kaserne BaselKlybeckstr. 1bCH - 4057 Basel, Switzerland
Triangulation of an organized convention #2
5 feet x 5 feet x 2 1/2 inches
Acrylic & spraypaint on primered stretched canvas. Finished in gel medium.
Produced in April of 2010.
On display this summer in Amsterdam & Switzerland:
In conjunction with Williem Kerseboom Gallery & The LA Art Machine
Art Amsterdam May 26-30, 2010
RAI Exhibition Center, Amsterdam
&
Scope Art Fair June 15-19 2010
Kaserne BaselKlybeckstr. 1bCH - 4057 Basel, Switzerland
On an April 2010 trip to Melbourne I had the opportunity to paint a wall in the Northcote District of Victoria. It was a long, wide wall that could manage 5 burners and one character this time around. Special thanks to Dabs & Myla & the SDM Crew for the Invitation and good times.
Full Size Piece HERE
Detail Here + Here + Here + Here
Full Panoramic of the entire wall Here
Belton spray paint, house paint & acrylic on primed interior cinder block
3 hours
Commissioned by Ben & Shelley of Super Special
Curated by Eddie of T-World
April, 2010
I extended my stay in Melbourne, Victoria to take care of some commission projects set up while I was in town. One of these was for a light mural in the Super Special Warehouse, a high quality screen printing facility in the Spotswood district of Melbourne. Ben and Shelley were more then accommodating and stayed a bit overtime on a monday evening for me to knock out this Circulation style Piece.
Brandy Flower and I spent about a week in Melbourne, Australia in Mid April of 2010. We happened to come into some pretty perfect Autumn weather during the trip out to screen print t-shirts live as part of H+R.
The space was called 1000 £ Bend in what was call ‘The City”, but it’s their Downtown. The event, The closing reception for The Asahi SILVER & BLACK EXHIBITION. A Premium combination of art, photography, fashion & design culture. A wide range of work was displayed in an old automobile tire factory turned exhibition space/ hipster cafe. Eddie of T-World had a large hand all of this going down with the guidance of Shane of Urchin Associates. We may have printed 300 shirts in 3 hours, I think it was more. Just an awesome, professional experience overall..
I will be making my first trip to Melbourne, Australia this April with Brandy Flower of the HIT & RUN Crew to print custom t-shirts during the SILVER+BLACK Exhibitions Curated by Asahi Beer.
Above is my exclusive design I submitted to be printed during the opening night of the event along with art by She One, Usugrow, Ryo Ono, Cryptik, Eli Sipsas & HIT+RUN CREW. More info and links below:
Silver & Black Is a premium retail & exhibition initiative that sells art, fashion & limited edition objects of desire. Its a space of cultural enrichment and inspiration. Visitors are presented with a curated selection of works that, when placed together acknowledge the wabi-sabi spirit of finding beauty in imperfect things.
T-World presents Hit + Run, the successful live screen-printing events that started in LA and are now renowned throughout the world. Hit + Run will be staged at Asahi Silver + Black for one night only in both Melbourne and Sydney. Open to the public, a limited number of guests will have the opportunity to create their own T-shirt to take home, choosing from exclusive designs from a range of international artists.
Join us in Melbourne on Friday night, April 16th at 1000 BEND for the opening party presented by T-WORLD. Choose from exclusive art by KOFIE, SHE ONE, USUGROW, RYO ONO, CRYPTIK, ELI SIPSAS and HIT+RUN CREW to create one of the 300 custom tees we’ll be printing in each city.
08-04-2010 to 18-04-2010
361 LITTLE LONSDALE STREETMELBOURNE
Art arrangement and Mural Install.
South/East corner of Gallery.
Never A Dull Moment Group Show
White Walls Gallery, San Francisco, Calif
When I first saw the flicker pictures for the newly installed wood panels in the gallery, I knew what I was going to do for the install. That was to basically do what I do to natural wood already, age it down.
Oxidized red, black acrylic washes, house paint, gold and black spray paint, fine tip enamel markers and a bit of brush was all I used to treat the wood. Took about half a day to build my install + spread the mural above the front entrance to meat up with Remy Rough’s section.
I would have had better shots, connections and all, but I was using the only camera I had on deck, a 4 year old Olympus Stylus that isn’t working up to par.
Colorful, cropped detail selections from my February 4-8th, 2010 trip to San Francisco.
Myself & Poisia_Transcend
Apex
Scott La Rockwell of Superdutytuffwork held down the documentation.
Was in Portland, Oregon for 4 days to take a break form LA and hang recent work for my solo show ‘ A Progress Report’ at Report Lounge. The very talented and humble Ashley Montague hosted me for the short stay and I am very appreciative of the gesture.
Now, I usually document my stays out of town extensively, but due to some recent thievery of my olympus and my accidental erasure of my portland photos I can only share my trip via film clips from my outdated Olympus Stylus 300. I think I made due.
A great trip, great people and a successful opening. Again, my shows bring people out of the cracks. Many thanks to Susan Farrell of Artcrimes.
Camera:
Olympus Stylus 300 (out of necessity)
Music:
Blackberry Storm field recording from a Downtown Portland pub.
Client: Hugo Boss
Location: Meatpacking District, NYC. 14th Street & 9th Ave
Medium: Acrylic, nylon twine, aluminum screw posts, recycled chipboard & wood.
I was commissioned by the Director of Visual Merchandising of Hugo Boss, NYC to create a unique window installation for their Meatpacking District Store. After a few weeks of sketches and modifications I came up with this direction for the window.
I wanted to keep my materials simple and reasonable to work with, so I went in the direction of a heavy weight chipboard. It was fairly easy to cut with the scroll saw and especially reasonable to paint. Since most of my work deals in layers and structure I felt the floating shapes might be the appropriate direction. Each piece is suspended by clear nylon wire that is attached by small metal clamps. For some support I also added 1″ strips of wood to add to the extension aspect of the shapes, similar to vanishing point lines. Aluminum screw posts were used to attach as well as adhere large pieces together. Keeping the posts visible was intentional. This look ultimately set an industrious mood complimenting the purple and grey tones.
Special thanks to Barblin, Lisa & Geoff Howell studios for their shop space and assistance in assembling the piece in store.
Was in NYC on a Window Installation project for the Hugo Boss store in the Meatpacking District. Above is a shot of Geoff Howell Studio, a fully stocked workshop specializing in custom window, store & event design, decor and production for more than twenty years. This spot has a great productive energy and was in the midst of a large project for Victoria’s Secret. I was blessed with a corner to work in with the assistance of Collin this day to prep the pieces for the window.
Climb In The Back Widow + A group show Curated by iO Wright
Shadow’s Space and Kung Fu Necktie
1248-50 N. Front St Philadelphia, PA
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Features the work of
Anthony Lister + Cheryl Dunn + Ricky Powell + Skullphone + Ale Zuek + iO Wright
Curtis Kulig + Luiza Sa (of CSS renown) + Augustine Kofie + Erik Otto + Various and Gould
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All info for the show, artists & online sales please visit Darlingdays.com
*Boxed In Group Show @ Factory Fresh/ Bushwick, Brooklyn
Photographer Andy Lin’s house party, LES
*Skewville basement workspace/ Bushwick, Brooklyn
Burgers @ Corner Bistro / West Village
*Darling Days Studio/ Bushwick, Brookyn
Kangol Headwear sponsored the “Blow Your Head Exclusive Tour’ Featuring DJ MURO, Peanut Butter Wolf and Egon of Stones Throw Records.I was invited to paint live at both the Tokyo and Osaka shows. On this night I painted a portrait of Stevie Wonder. The following film was recorded during the Club AIR show in Tokyo by an anonymous patron. I recently found the VHS copy in my storage unit, transfered it to digital by shooting the TV screen, then edited it in iMovie.
The Mac and I had not gotten the opportunity to collaborate one on one, and this trip helped make that happen on his own home town. The good folks at Parvus Gallery on Rosevelt blesses us with a stucco wall on the side of their space which happened to be in a prime location.
Built in the 50’s, it was once home to a lil flower shop, and the original signage is still holding up. The mural took about 3 days to complete and is definitely ranked in my top 5 of all colabs. The Macs piece is all spray paint as my contribution is both spray paint, acrylic and house paint applied with roller and brush.
Civilian Flicker:
El Mac’s photo + Ear Detail + In the act + Detail + Face detail +
I have been meaning to take a trip out to Phoenix, Arizona to see my old friend and fellow crew member El Mac for some time now, and thanks to the Scion: Installation Tour I was able to make that visit. Phoenix was added to the tour dates and I signed up early. I had a blessed time and got to meet some very thoughtful and generous peoples. Mac is a very rare old soul. With a respect for dusty fingers jazz and soul records and drives a classic red 1969 VW Transporter that has been in the family for a number of years. Many, many thanks to Mac and Kim for their hospitality.
Kof Spellout & UTI piece
Imported spray paint and acrylic on plaster
Miami, Florida
2008
Progression Here & Here. Caught again here
Spent a few days in Miami, Florida during the 2008 Art Basel thanks to the Scion Installation exhibition in town. The good folks at Primary Flight blessed me with a space on the ‘Wall Of Fame‘. With a reference of a sketch I did on the plane there, I knocked my piece out in a about 5 hours. I didn’t want to f-up another pair of good shoes, so I did this one barefoot for at least half the time.
This was about the time I was going public with my Triangulation series. There is no real direct inspiration of the pyramid in the work, but you cant avoid it when you crisscross 45 degree angles. For this piece tho, I was definitely thinking of Atlantis & Bimini. Shit, I was at the tip of Florida & I was raised on In Search Of, the Bermuda Triangle was in my brain.
I was invited to paint & discuss my work for the 40+ graphic design students of Vantan School in Ebisu Minami, Tokyo. I painted & answered questions for about 2 hours. At the end of the event the faculty blessed me with a beautiful navy apron that read “only the highest of quality” in Kanji. The school kept the piece to display in it’s hallways. All of the students took to me very well & were very appreciative I could be there and share. Many thanks to Maru of Colors International with whom this would not have been possible.
We stayed in Kobe for a number of days till heading back to Tokyo for our other project. The day after the release party Mori of DUMBO had fresh Kushiro Seafood shipped down for a special Barbeque a few steps from the shop. That evening I also started a light installation in the hallway of the DEED Store as a special request.
2008. Dumbo Incense & the DEED Store invited me to Paint Live with DRAGON76 @ Cafe Fish in Kobe, Japan. The event was the release party for 3 special packaging designs of DUMBO incense by Jeff Staple, DJ MURO & myself. The Cafe itself was designed by the architect Frank Gehry & included a huge sculpture of a fish just outside of the cafe. The party was a complete success and everyone was excited about the Live Painting. Here is a larger view. Special thanks to the crew @ DEED for their hospitality.
2007. ‘Jigsaw Paws’ Group Art Show. Oakland, CA. With David P. Madson (Odd Nosdam of Anticon) - Brooke Reidt - Isla Prieto - The Duke Of Windsor - Mama Buzz Cafe hosted this month long show.
2007. Alameda is a small island in the San Francisco Bay. I came across this abandoned warehouse the day I went to visit the then new Giant Peach Offices. The space had already been explored by a few painters, but there were still a few nooks to add on to. Many inspiring colors in all of the aged metals.
2007. House paint & Acrylic. I have been scoping this wall since i started visiting Oakland towards the end of 07. It’s on the boarder of Berkeley & Oakland and it was constantly tagged on, so there were Graffiti removal blocks in that burnt red tone. I matched the red tone and thinned out the color with grey’s & creams. I actually didn’t know who to speak with the get the wall ‘legitimately’ so i just took it upon myself to rock it. I was about an 1.5 hours into it when the management of the local health food store came across the street to ask me how i could just go and paint it without asking. they liked it, but perplexed by my blatant lack of authority. I proceeded to let them know i was doing a public service by creating a painting that will prevent the continued act of malicious vandalism to their property. They firmly felt that it would still get painted over. It’s been about about 8 months and it hasn’t been touched.
2007. Spray paint & House paint. This spot was around the corner from a local watering hole. Perfect of that post last call relief. I was surprised a lot of the sickest walls were still virgin. The space used to be a Silkscreen & Sign Factory.
2007. Acrylic on canvas. Contribution #9. Painted live Outside The Parco Store in the town of Musashino, in the Kichijyoji Prefecture. Invited to paint to commemorate the opening of my friends Camo Store. The piece is on display @ the 6875 Office in Kaigan, Minato-ku.
2007/ Japan Projects. ’Cream Of Her Profile’ Watercolor Acrylic on Canvas. 2 1/2 x 5 ft. During my 2007 visit I was commissioned by Win & Kim of LOL Salon to paint a piece for their savvy retro Unisex Hair Salon in Yoyogi-Uehara located in the Shibuya Ward. This was a last minute project that came about while the word spread I was in town that ended up being one of everyones favorite. What made it even more special was that i painted the piece in the salon for the employees and select friends and clients. They straight closed up shop for the day to watch it go down. The canvas & the area was already masked & prepped for me, very on point. Afterwards, a feast of Sashimi, sucka!
2007. Contribution#8. Acrylic on canvas. Painted live @ Shibuya Parco Gallery, Tokyo Japan. Invited to paint to celebrate the opening of my friends Camo Store. It was a saturday during holiday, so it was more packed that usual. On top of that Maroon 5 were aound the corner signing autographs at Parco Radio. My man Sebastian Angle Killed the filming which you can watch below. The piece is on display @ the 6875 Office in Kaigan, Minato-ku.
2Second project form my July’06 trip. On this day i painted a ‘Contribution’ piece for a customer in the Ubiquily office of Shinkawa. Shinkawa is the buisness district of Tokyo & my distributer has been established here for a number of years. In the background is a piece I painted live a few years previous @ a Stones Throw event in Shibuya.
2006. Fukuoka is the third-largest island of Japan & most southwesterly of its four main islands. I was commissioned by Mr Fuji to paint his boutique in the Fukuoka Prefecture called Past-Present-Future. Went with the red-black-grey color pallet to match the decor of the store.This was another ‘dead of summer’ Japan trip, so the humidity was on blast as usual. Island humidity tends to elongate the painting process, but I was in no hurry. Fukuoka was hit with a pretty heavy Quake the previous year & the damage was still very visible.
2005. ‘Kofie’one & Craola Simkins: New Works’ A 2 Man Show. Fifty24SF GallerySan Francisco, CA. This was a fun show for craola and myself. We also painted the side of the gallery as well as the Amoeba on Haight while we were in town.
Summer 2005. During my 2Man show @ Fifty24SF Gallery with Greg
2005. One of my best documented trips thanks to my trusty Olympus. Pretty much stayed within the Tokyo Prefectures this time around. The primary reason for this trip was to be present for the Holiday 2005 Tradeshow for Ritual Of Roots & Draftsmen. Our tradeshow was hosted @ the 6875 Store in Harajuku for 2 days. My friend Michelle was in town working for Visvim + i got to meet many of our supporting stores & artists.
2005. Acrylic & water based spraypaint on canvas. 6875 VS Kofie. During this annual trip to Tokyo my friend Satoshi of 6875 invited me to paint live at his stores opening party in Aoyama @ Cafe La Boheme. Right after I completed this piece Maxi Priest performed a short set. Savvy.
Double booked this night. First off, live art @ the Back Channel Store. the Piece was auctioned off the a lucky ticket holder. Next was the Stussy & ALIFE party for the Frank 151’s Wu-tang issue @ Club UNIT. remember….Painted Ol Dirty Bastard in a room between the stage & the entrance for the event. Club was super packed and the crew at stussy took really good care of me. At one point U-God made it through to sign the piece.
2004. Claska Gallery is a modern hotel/restaurant and office space in Meguro, Tokyo. This was a short, 3 day trip to be present during a Draftsmen Trade Show. I painted the piece live on the 2nd day during a party.
Acrylic & spray paint on drywall & plaster
Hokkaido, Japan
Commissioned installations
Summer 2004
Hokkaido is the most northern island of Japan. I was commissioned to paint an interior & exterior piece for the store CORIN in the port city of Kushiro, which was not open just yet. The request for the interior was a little of everything from me including Technology, Waves and a portrait of musician Jackie Mittoo. The outside was for me to do as I wished. I had a great time in Hokkaido and was shown much love by the crew. Fresh crisp air, super green nature & a major port side industrial district smashed with rust, a place where nature meets urban in my favorite way. The Video below was made using my friend Yoshi’s wifes old camcorder from the early 90’s, than edited by my friend Scott Dygert.
2004. Was invited to the small, traditional town of Gunma in Kiryu City to paint an interior mural for a store called Hot Joint. It’s about 63 miles outside of tokyo & it’s architecture hasn’t changed much. The owners of Hot Joint also run a modest record store called Sound Eater. My host requested a mural on the roll-up gate of the record store……done. Film of this project can be found in the Kushiro trip.
2004. Mashed the Chinatown bus to NY after the Scion show in Philly. Frenel @ Still Life Gallery graciously hosted a soft solo show of recent work on un-stretched canvas works. Met some solid heads as well as a few legends on this trip. Got the chance to spit with the legendary Stay High 149. The man blessed me with a signed metro map at the Frank 151 office. Classic. Blessings to Michelle & Jesse for the support.
2004. Was invited to Philadelphia for the Scion Art Tour 2004/2005 Opening . Highlights: Dali at the Phily Museum of Art, Cheese Steak & painting with one of Pose 2’s students Rainbow.
2003. Belton spray paint & acrylic. Level Store, Hiroshima. A commission to paint the second floor of this well designed boutique just blocks from Peace Park, the epicenter of the atomic bombing in 1945. This was my second visit to the Level store within 2 years. The requested work this time was the statue of liberty, in gray’s and silvers.
2002. Flow Clothing Store. Odawara, Japan. This was my first gig on my second work trip to JP. The crew @ Flow clothing all listen to classic American Funk & Soul music, so the request for the mural was Stevie Wonder, James Brown, Sly, Hendrix & George Clinton. The shop was clean, long & pretty narrow so my photos are what they are. That’s Odawara Donjon by the way on the top. The first Odawara Castle was built around 1200 AD. Since then, it had been destroyed & rebuilt several times. The Present day castle is a reconstruction built in 1959 based on the original design. Inside are displayed suits of Japanese armor, tools, weapons and the model from which this reconstruction is based. Inspiration. So savvy.
My first time to the Island. This trip was to have a sitdown with my soon to be ‘Rough Draftsmen’ distributer as well as paint a commission of a Kareem Abdul Jabbar portrait from ’Game Of Death’. I took my sweet time working on this piece which was displayed in the AMP Showroom in Harajuku.
