The visual layering  that surrounds us in the city produces an aesthetic born of history. Remnants of what has been left behind by commerce, neglect, and the struggle for identity create a cultural collage. In this dynamic patchwork, the unique visions of many lone artists have bested corporate ubiquity in the competition for our attention. This is the arena that Blanco has thrust himself in, at once figuratively and literally a contributor and beneficiary of this Darwinian world.

Where are you from?

I have spent significant parts of my life in Massachusetts, the Texas panhandle, Wyoming and upstate NY but for the last six years I have been living on The Planet Brooklyn

How has your home shaped what you do?

For me, my surroundings have always shaped my life and what I do, but I think the thing that has influenced me the most was my time I spent in Texas. In the first and second grades I attended an elementary school which was primarily Black and Hispanic, on free and reduced lunch, while I lived on the other side of the city which was primarily white and affluent. On the one hand I had friends who slept two or three kids to a bed, they had only two sets of clothes and some of those kids were working already in first grade. And then on the other hand I knew kids whose parents had two houses and everything they wanted was supplied for them. Seeing that kind of inequality at such a young age has had a huge influence on my life and the things I want to create.

Are you formally educated and what influence has it had on you and your work?

I am formally educated in things like history and anthropology but not really any art. I took a photo class and a drawing class in college. I have tried to educate myself through observation. I think that because I don't really have any formal training for creating things there are a lot of fundamentals that I am lacking, and I need to work on. Sometimes if makes me less confident.

What mediums are you drawn to?

Street art, because I think it can be more communicative then work in a museum, gallery or something like that. Its a relatively small number of people who actually go to galleries and museums. For me, I want to go to the people.
But answering the question more specifically; I'm just learning mostly, but any medium could interest me at any time, it just comes down to means. Most of my work is with stencils but lately I have been working on doing more free hand painting acrylic, pen and ink, screen printing, cut paper, and I want to start doing some linoleum cuts. Anything that lends itself to the streets.

What is your inspiration?

So many things. Lately: papel picado, T.C. Cannon, Islamic patterns, Os Gemeos, Kehinde Wiley.
Long term inspirations: Swoon, books, the people around me and things happening around the world. 

What is your work process?

Make things, put them on street, hope people see them before the buff comes.

What are you working on now?

I am trying to create a piece based on Ralph Waldo Ellison's “Invisible Man”

Photo by Luna Park

Photo byJake Dobkin

Photo by Luna Park

Half sleep, the place where the disparate meet and form a comfortable union, the place where

what shouldn't make sense, is not only coherent, but it's enlightening.

When I look at Ian's work I feel as if I have opened the door  to that place, which we struggle

to remember in our waking life.

Where are you from?

I grew up north of Boston in a town called Manchester.

How has your home shaped what you do?

My hometown was pretty homogenous and waspy. Most of my influence
comes from things outside of my town that interested me growing up. I
drew a lot when I was younger. I liked drawing out comic panels and
creating little characters. This spurred my interest in graphic design
because it fused images and typography.

Animals have always interested me. My family always had a cat or two
around. My grandfather on my mom’s side had a house in South Africa
and my mom had photos and carvings of animals around the house. I use
some of these photos in my paintings.

My dad also painted when I was growing up. He still does plein air
landscape paintings of areas around Cape Ann, Massachusetts. I really
learned a lot about color and how to create perspective from seeing
how he painted.


Are you formally educated and what influence has it had on you and your
work?

I went to Rochester Institute of Technology for two years and then
Transferred to Rhode Island School of Design for three (years). I think being
at R.I.T. for two years really made me want to be in a more fine arts
environment. R.I.S.D. was purely an art and design school.  I had an
interest in both fine arts and
design but graphic design really focused my attention on
composition, typography, and content. I had drawn all throughout high
school and now I was seeing how I could take those ideas and give them
meaning.


What mediums are you drawn to?

I like oil and acrylic paintings. I really like anything that has a
story or some message involved. Especially when it’s done in a very
graphic manner. I also like pen when it’s done well for a graphic
novel.


What role do animals play in your work?

Animals are fun to use because they can so easily make a normal
environment seem surreal. I like to play with the size of the animals
sometimes to make them seem even more bizarre. Animals are so
frequently used as symbols for many things like political
affiliations, religions, and regions of the world. It makes it easy
for a nature scene to represent something other than just a nice
scene.


What is your inspiration?

Movies have always inspired me. I love science fiction movies. I love
all movies good and bad. I'll sit through the worst movie ever just
because I like the fact that someone actually put the effort in.
Movies give the suspension of disbelief which I think is what I'm
ultimately trying to achieve.

I also like art and music that appears to be time intensive. It's a
quality that doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with beauty but I
think deserves respect.


What is your work process?

I take a lot of photos which I then  bring into photoshop and blend
together with other images. If I like a photo that someone else might
have taken I’ll use that as well. I try to imagine some scenario based
on where the photo has been taken and what it’s content is. Once I
come up with an idea I’ll piece together a composition and print that
out to paint it.


What are you working on now?

I think I might create a children’s book using paintings for the
illustrations. It would take a very long time but I think it might be
worth it.

Ghosts of past

Emma and Stella

Luna

Ryan and trout

Sharp Curve

Lil Kim

ianwilsonclyde.com

Most of us cross a line in our lives, where the sophistication of our adult minds dampens our ability to be amazed by the world. Leah has not sacrificed sophistication or curiosity. Her way of seeing is infectious, spend the smallest bit of time with her and the mundane objects of life begin to tell stories.

WHERE ARE YOU FROM
I'm from Buffalo NY.. or what i call the upstate Cakalakies.

ARE YOU FORMALLY EDUCATED

I'd like to think that I am currently educated. The stuff you get from college institutions is necessary, and to me is 60% history... old formulas, along with the stuff you learn and do in life, well that makes you apart of history, where you create new formulas...so yes and yes.. . I''m presently educated in the art of creating new formulas around the blueprints of the past.

WHAT IS YOUR INSPIRATION

Hmmm. Well aside from the usual suspects like children, insects, animals and plants (the things that reflect the root), I would say my life and everything that happens in and around it ... as life imitates art... my quote would fit in here. "Inspiration is life's invitation to unleash your creative animal." or insect, or child or foliage. lol

WHAT IS YOUR WORK PROCESS

If I tell you what my work process is, then that means I would have to kill you.. Hah Haa
No really I watched American Psycho last night for the first time..a woman directed it .. and I think she nailed what most of the process is about.. to be obsessed with pushing out the best "you" possible.. sans the killing of course.

I work for Spike Lee’s Ad Agency Spike DDB. My professional work as a Art Buyer requires steps that are....calculated, collaborative, malleable, organized and whip cracking deliverable. OK OK ... it kind of goes like this. Its all a collaboration between , creative director, account director, art director, copy writer, and then me.. the little old art buyer or what is now known as art producer. My job is to stay in the know of who's who in the world of art from fine to commercial and keep abreast of new faces in the talent arena.
Once a creative concept has been approved and I get the green light ( I love green lights ) I review the desired creative executions, find, cast, and commission the artist most suitable for the job, then create the budgets (within the money given most of the time, but fighting for more is apart of the process too, so that's where the psycho comes back into play). All this to see an image through from its conception to its birth.. and that feels kinda good...

The purchasing part of the job is a bit challenging, because you don't want to pimp people and pay them a penny for a dollars worth of work. I respect art and the people that create it so I try to make it worth it for the artist.

Now that is just my day to day work process..
My life work process, which happens after work and on weekends, is to find interesting stories about people and tell them. Everything that happens in this world has a level of importance, and I like to find that level and then amplify it. Take the people higher, to inspire what may be inside of them and invite it to come out of hiding.
Doc-u-profiles of people is what I love to do... I find them... find out more about them..craft the story to hit the sweet spot in a hurry ... and keep it moving. Producing, shooting and cutting them all... basically a way to stay present in educating myself on how to tell someones story... so when i finally do a feature I'll really know how I want to tell it, plus I've learned something about someone else who is making their own history.
One day I hope to contribute in the repair of television. I want to be one of the people who make it better... I had some fortune in getting noticed by a former producer at Current TV, which led to a lot of things including screening one of my stories at the Angelica Theater and winning a competition during IFP ... it was the best of both worlds... my TV story was being shown on a movie screen and got roars from the audience... so my formula worked. My TV repair business has been in effect ever since and I will never give up.

WHAT ARE YOU WORKING ON NOW

I'm reinventing myself from Leah Hamilton the art buyer to LiLi Happi the television repair woman. I have mustered up a few new formulas for TV and I'm in the process of preparing the pilots for a pitch.. I recently launched one called "all this art" the audience I am targeting with that particular project is the art lover, artist, student etc.. to tell the quick unedited stories of art by a current artist.. the ones who are driven to make art history and are unleashing their creativity all over the city of NY. I have no idea what anybody is going to think of it but that's apart of the television repairing process..you have to be willing to give the people what they didn't realize they wanted and convince them that this is what they have been waiting for... or at least squeeze feedback out of them, so if they think the picture is a little fuzzy you can take it back, move a few wires and maybe change the tube if need be... if I move my braid back my antennas will pop out. hahaha.
So yeah.. I am working on my inspiration and inviting myself to unleash my creative animal which is normally a cub because I'm a lion, but at present my animal stand in is a roaring TV... yep that's it... I am working on unleashing my inner creative television to come in with no clutter... rrraarrrrrrrrrrrr

Untitled from Gen Par on Vimeo.

All this Art 2 from Gen Par on Vimeo.

ALL THIS ART 1 from Gen Par on Vimeo.

Fineline from Gen Par on Vimeo.

Drum Majors was Commissioned by Leah Hamilton for Spike Ddb from artist Kadir Nelson

Mountain Dew was commissioned by Leah Hamilton for Spike Ddb from Brazilian photo team Platinum

Pepsi was commissioned by Leah Hamilton for Spike Ddb from British artist team I Love Dust

Ambi was commissioned by Leah Hamilton for Spike Ddb from photographer Philippe Salomon

Dorito’s commissioned by Leah Hamilton for Spike Ddb from photographer Vincent Soyez

www.griotgurl.net

Some work is like lightning, grabbing you and owning your focus, putting you firmly in the moment. When you find yourself face to face with it, it's exciting. It awakens a hunger and appreciation for experiences; experiences that can only be had in that time.

Coco's work is a reminder to live in the present.

Where are you from?

Not a lot of people know this but I am originally from Liberia in West Africa. My family left in the early 80's before I was born due to the coup, and we have never been back since. I was raised & spent most of my life in London so I consider myself to be British.

How has your home shaped what you do?

I have called many places my home, and my nature dictates that 'home' is where you lay your hat. I have been fortunate enough to have travelled quite extensively in my short 23 years. Though I spent most of my early years in London, my family moved to South Africa when I was about 11 so I spent a great deal of the year there, though I still lived and attended school in London. So that was also my second home for a good 6 years. I moved to NYC in 2003 to attend college, and decided to stay, so now I consider this to be my home.

Moving to New York created an urgency for me to succeed and be the best I could be. Call it fate or happy coincidence but all the people I am lucky enough to call friends are artists/entrepreneurs who are extremely talented, motivated, and accomplished self-starters. Most do not hold down a 9-5 because basically, they work well beyond those hours to build their own companies, brands, or freelance operations. Seeing this has further developed my entrepreneurial.... (and slightly competitive) spirit while giving me a multi-disciplinary perspective. If I like something I see, I will inform myself about it and try to incorporate it into the projects I work on. It has made me more open-minded in how I approach everything, so I wear many hats as a creative. Though I have worked primarily as a photographer & video editor, there are really no limitations to the scope of what I hope to create in the future across many mediums. I am no longer confined by the idea of what 'one does'. As long as you take the time to inform and learn about something it is you wish to pursue, and make sure you execute it to the highest standard possible, you can accomplish anything of the creative nature - and that includes doing business creatively. You just have to define yourself within it and place your signature style onto it.
A defining moment being in New York happened straight out of college. For 9 months I worked for Spike Lee at 40 Acres & A Mule (which was a 9-5). There I learned that I wouldn't be happy working for someone else's goals and ambitions because I have my own. But... *smile* i'm always here to help.

Are you formally educated and what influence has it had on you and your work?

I am 'formally' educated in a lot of things... many of which I no longer really do. During my middle and high school years I attended a school in London which is part of a global pre-college program called The International Baccalaureate (IB). Basically, that is what allowed me to complete college in 3 years because it really is college level work administered over a 2 year period covering specialized disciplines. One of my main focuses was Theatre Arts/Acting cause I really wanted to pursue film/theatre acting. I continued on in this vein when I entered college so I was formally trained to be an actor for a good 7-8 years.
Then I switched my focus to film production & history. In my senior year I wrote, directed, & produced a thesis film that won a few awards and left college with film on my mind, hence why I began working with Spike. That progressed into an interest in photography so I took a slew of classes at The School of Visual Arts. I am not formally educated in many things that I do now.Though formal training in any discipline is important, it is not always imperative if you are dedicated and put in time and effort to teach yourself.In all I do, I just do a lot of research and implement what I have learned to the project at hand.
At the end of the day, I believe that all things involving arts & culture are interrelated depending on how you look at it. In this way, though I am now pursuing work more related to photography & design, I can still call upon all that I have learned from my years of acting, and working behind the lens in film to inform my aesthetic, my thought process, and how I go about bringing a project from conception to completion.

What mediums are you drawn to?

I have always been drawn to the moving & still image, but of late I have been really inspired in all that is going on in the world of design. I am very drawn to architecture, certain types of illustration, graphic design, and product design, so I spend a lot of my day informing myself on all that is going on in those fields and collecting imagery that inspires me. I do this because I would like my work to cross over many mediums in the future. For me the idea of creating work that fuses together photography, illustration, and graphics into any given project is the goal.

What is your inspiration?

This answer could go on and on. First and foremost, I am surrounded by individuals who inspire me cause I move within a very talented group of people, who have each found much commercial/art world success due to the calibre of work they create. I think that at the core, one's inspiration should always come from within and those you associate with. Like I said, I do a lot of research in the areas that interest me - whether that be via the internet, reading books & magazines, collecting art books, or just talking with those I admire. I hoard images and make it a point to discover the work of artists I know and those I may have not known about before across many disciplines. Then I make monthly catalogues of all that I have found that inspires me for future reference. Anything and everything that is created with attention to detail, displays craftsmanship, and is executed to the highest standard has the potential to inspire. Absolutely anything.

What is your work process?

It always starts with good music and possibly some sushi. :) I spend a lot of time in front of the computer... probably too much for my own good so good music is key. I collect music for every mood and occasion just to make the work process more enjoyable. Like right now as I write this I am listening to Múm - very relaxing. Then I've got to psyche myself into actually beginning cause that is the hardest part - unless I am very excited about the project, and i've got a lot to be excited about right now so that's not too hard. I also try and only work on projects that will excite and/or challenge me in some way otherwise what's the point?
I try to get all meetings, emails, phone calls out of the way earlier on in the day cause by around 8/9 I usually am ready to work on creative stuff. I work into the wee hours - usually 5 or 6AM, and though I try to cut myself off around then and get some sleep, I often find my creative mojo is in full effect around then so sadly, many nights I go without. This is not something I would recommend, but it's all part & parcel of being a robot. I guess deep down I want to be a machine - perfectly efficient & self-sufficient.

What are you working on now?

Well, I have a new business partner who I am very excited to work with as he has much experience where mine falls short. We are in the process of building a companycalled 'The Black Brand'that will be a team of artists who work within many of the disciplines/mediums I discussed above to facilitate in-house and client based projects. Since we are still in the early stages of development, I am not at liberty to discuss much more than that.
I am also working on a 6 city photography & mixed media exhibition/competition that will be seeding out exemplary unknown talents and placing them in front of magazine editors, gallery curators, successful & well known artists, and seasoned professionals in the fields of photography, media, and design.
Those are the big projects. Under those umbrellas exist many client based projects.
Then I am also working with some music artists to creatively direct their musical projects from a visual perspective, which includes designing their album artwork & promotional materials.
I always try to work on bettering my personal work and try out new techniques, and that will continue until I can't work anymore. :) I just wish there were more time. Don't we all.

Work

Travel & Fun

cocofutura.com

There are three things I have never seen Jelsen without, a pen, paper and his wit.
A quick wit suggests insight, intellectual or intuitive. Both reside here, Jelsen's work is filled with reason, spirit and a modest charm.

Where are you from?

Both my folks are from Haiti. I was born in Brooklyn then lived in Queens and Long Island before heading to Orlando for high school. I am now back in Brooklyn.

How has your home shaped what you do?

Well, my home has a tendency to change often, so i guess always wanting to create a range of work/styles could be a direct influence of that. Im definitely a fan of constant change and variation.

Are you formally educated and what influence has it had on you and your work?

I studied art direction (in advertising) then a lil bit of design when abroad in Hamburg for a few months. I believe I truly started learning when I got my first internship - the stakes were high. That internship set the pace of my current work ethic.

What mediums are you drawn to?

Pen and paper are definitely my favorite. Every idea gets its very own lil thumbnail before it hits the computer.

What is your inspiration?

Im going to be completely cheesy and say, "life". Ha, it's true. Recently I've been trying to be less rigid about solely focusing on 'my path' and learning to spend more time observing the things around me.

What is your work process?

My process isn't too interesting. first, I see it in my head, then I jot it down, and then it (sometimes) gets as far as being executed.

What are you working on now?

"www.jelsenjargon.com"

Jelsen from Gen Par on Vimeo.

There is a playful tension in Choichun's paintings. Without warning you find yourself pulled between two poles. It is said we are hardwired to seek out recognizable patterns, my first steps into Choichun's work led me to do just that. While looking for words and symbols, I found my mind dancing between this hunt for the known, and for what I have come to think is the real nature of her work, a record of the motion of her mind and body.

Where are you from?

"Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch" ...it's a small village in North Wales. I'm half chinese and half british and grew up in my familiy's Chinese take-away restaurant so it wasn't like I was tending sheep, though.

Are you formally educated and what influence has it had on you and your work?

Maybe "formerly" educated, you might want to say. I don't really know what I know anymore. I studied metal smithing in college and I think the patination of metals comes through in a lot of my surfaces now but I try not to think about it too much. Red and turquoises, in hindsight is what many metals turned with age and what I find I gravitate to. I use things now that I never studied like layers upon layers of paint for texture, glass powder, and sanding down canvases to reveal what's underneath.

What is your inspiration?

"Perspiration" mostly. If you mean impetus for what comes out, it's probably just my dreams and subconscious emotions that come up. I get excited by what gets revealed or discovered, so like to stay with that when it happens. I also just get inspiration from the act of painting itself -- not the concept. I like that you can reveal something that you were not aware of. I gravitate to work where the piece is definitely from that moment in time , which cannot be replicated .

What is your work process?

I work with the canvasses laying flat on the floor as well as against the wall. I like to build up a surface using glass powders and pigments, and scripting throughout -- what I call ' glyphs' , which have become like a personal language that I also don't like to think too much about, but I find myself scribbling them all the time. I also use washes and lots of thread. I keep building up or sanding down a painting until I feel its done. I use sticks, brushes, trowels to scratch through the surfaces, I also pour paint on the canvases in washes or with more heavy paint using bottles. Some paintings are instantaneous and some are labored over, salvaged and completely redone. I work on 5- 10 different canvasses at a time, so when one is drying I can work on the next. I do a lot of this I think so I don't have to stop and think too much which gets in my way.

What are you working on now?

A series of pieces using mostly thread and acrylic. i have done many small studies and am now starting on the big canvases.

choichun.com

Photos: General Particular