The new American fine art of graffiti comes alive with spoken word and an inspired crowd. The colors were vibrant and the sounds were uplifting as artists created visually appealing works that only a spray can medium could produce.
These performance and visual arts came together at Trenton’s annual Jersey Fresh Jam 2011, hosted by Vicious Styles Crew, on Saturday, August 20th. The show, held at the Terracycle, features graffiti artists from around the nation, while hip hop artists perform original live music.
Leon Rainbow is an event organizer and a Vicious Styles Crew artist, who has been doing professional graffiti for 15 years.
“This was the best year ever. A lot of the community came out,” he said. “The quality of work was incredible.”
The Jersey Fresh Jam 2011 plans began back in early spring, said Will Kasso, event organizer and Vicious Styles Crew artist.
“It’s the 7th year and it gets bigger every year. CNN was out here last year,” said Demer Lopez, from Newark, NJ, an event organizer and Vicious Styles Crew artist.
The event featured about 50 people painting, 25 MCs, 3 DJs, and about 10 vendors, he said.
“It’s a cool place with cool people,” said Jim Gordon, of DMNK.
“People come here from all up and down the coast, from places like Maine, South Carolina, and Miami.”
Miss Reds is an artist from Miami, who has been doing graffiti for 5 years.
“I love it. Everyone is really nice,” she said. “I’ve been all over doing this.”
While some painters create individually, many others tend to work through a crew; as customary, they accompanied their respective artists to the graffiti celebration.
Marc Martinez, from New Brunswick, NJ, is a TKO artist, who was doing his second year at the event.
“I love it. I do this as a meditation,” he said.
Dale, another TKO artist, is a 21 year-old from California, who has been doing graffiti since he was 13 years-old. The 2011 Jam was his first year at the event.
The process of graffiti art is a crew effort, which provides the artist’s support system. Since the artist comes up through his or her crew, it’s only right to recognize the group when individual fame is obtained, said Kasso.
“The first jam was just some beers, some good people, and a wall. From there, it grew,” he said. “To pull something like this off, you need a team.”
If there is visual art, music will accompany it and this show was no exception. While painters pleased the eyes, MCs and DJs pleased the ears.
Black Collar Biz, from Trenton, performed at the event for the second year in a row. He performed his songs Solo Cypher, Man in the Mirror, and More Complex (MC).
“The whole event is dope,” he said. “I’ve been seriously chasing the dream since ’04. Graffiti is one of the core elements of hip hop.”
According to Biz, there are five senses to hip hop culture. These include the turntables, the microphone, break dancing, the fashion, and graffiti.
“It’s hip hop, you got to have graffiti,” said Dontique, a graffiti artist and MC from Brooklyn, N.Y. Although, his visual art was not featured, he did perform lyrically at the event.
The show featured artists of several different ages, backgrounds, locations, talents, and experience levels.
“Some of these guys have been doing this for over 20 years,” said Bruce “Ice” Toth, from Lawrenceville, NJ.
Carmelo "Snow" Sigona, of Fly Dragon Studio, is from Patterson, NJ, and has been doing graffiti art for 33 years.
"It's a way to get people from outside the culture, inside the culture," he said. "It's an exchange of cultures."
Enosone is an artist from Trenton, who created a piece in Hebrew; therein, the work reads from right to left. He has been doing graffiti for over five years and began as an underground artist.
“In the beginning, I used to paint on speed lines, trains, and just in the streets,” he said. “Recently, my work has taken on a Jewish theme.”
“Everybody has different ideas once you see everything,” said Robert Belgrade, from Trenton.
Shaun Baron is a publisher for The Infamous Magazine, which is currently in its first year and has printed four issues to date.
“It goes back to the 80s and 90s,” he said. “People really put their art and heart into it.”
Every natural artist has the driving force of creativety that can not be denied. It is embedded within the soul and stays with every artist for life, as they express it in various forms. In this type of enviroment, creativety is inevitably nurtured.
Surg is a lyricist, who was performing at the event with his partner DJ Hellfire. They performed their songs Dirty Jersey, Aquarius, and Flood Water from their album Live + Learn.
“Everybody here is constructive,” he said. “The confident atmosphere is absolutely incredible.”
“This is our crowd and these are the people we make music for,” DJ Hellfire said. “They appreciate it.”
“There are many artists in Trenton and we’re trying to get it on the map,” said Scott Patricelli, a 29 year-old videographer from Lawrenceville, NJ.
The art show spectators greatly varied and seemed awe-inspired by the aesthetics. The visual impact of colorful masterpieces had the crowd wandering with their heads turned to gaze upon the multiple hues and intricate details. Art has the effect of creating a common bond within a culture, even one as varied as the American melting pot.
“It’s a great way to promote the culture,” Sigona said.
“It’s a team effort and we work hard,” Kasso said. “I can only imagine what it’s going to be next year.”
Through the Jersey Fresh Jam event, the spray-can medium has become as bonifide as oil or pastel. Any artist can do fine detail with a paint brush, but it takes exceptional talent to pull it off with a spray-can.
The arts are rapidly expanding in Trenton, as more artists are coming from all over the nation for participation in events that are gaining prominence. NJ's music scene is growing, as well, as original MCs, DJs, and bands are increasingly performing their own creative works in an area, where commercial remixes and coverbands once dominated. Trenton is becoming the NJ center for art and entertainment.
Comments