A collaboration between Averian Chee and Jeff Slim

Visit Averian’s blog here

 People who choose to promote 1912 are aiding in the continual creative formation of Arizona’s perception, integrity and character. By supporting the project, you’re supporting growth. Just wear the t-shirt with pride and spread the word about what makes Arizona special. Promote the small things that others may not see and generate a sense of excitement about being part of what makes up Arizona. By choosing to wear and identify with 1912, you choose to identify with and support Arizona’s creativity, history, symbolism, and identity.

William LeGoullon of The 1912 Project has released  “Heat No. 1“, his fifteenth edition of Arizona-inspired t-shirts. Since only 25 of the limited-editions shirts are printed, you’ll want to stay up to date on the releases at the website, where you can also view previous editions and read a bio on the author/project. This edition is also available at Francis Boutique in Phoenix.

Thomas “Breeze” Marcus and Douglas Miles of Apache Skateboards traveled to New Orleans this Spring for the 44th Annual New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. While there, they painted two murals and installed a showing of the traveling “What Tribe?” show that premiered in Phoenix this past March.

To see more photos and a read a write up from Breeze on the trip, visit his website here.

Artist and physician Chip Thomas, a.k.a. Jetsonorama pasted this work a few months ago on a friend’s trailer in Tuba City, located in Northeastern Arizona on Navajo Nation.

Jetsonorama has been featured on this site many times before, especially for the ongoing Painted Desert Project.

To view more of his work, visit past posts or his blog here.

Photos by JG of 3bucksss

Photos from the opening and Third Friday reception of “I Just Woke Up”, Noelle Martinez‘s solo show at Palabra Collective during the month of April.

To learn more about the show, read our previous article and interview with Martinez here.

This past month, The Icehouse hosted the second installment of “Between Scenes”, a creative look into the film industry through art and installation. Curated by Sara Nevels, the show featured 11 different artists representing their trade in the industry ranging from directors and technicians to production and costume designers.

Nevels writes in the press release:

“It’s common knowledge that films, as a whole, are pieces of art. But rather than create another art-related event for films to be seen, I wanted to create a space where the crew could be seen and valued as the artists they truly are, outside from their involvement with a specific film,” explains curator Sara Nevels. “We do not show any films, but rather directly expose the community to the talented artists that make up a film, in order for viewers to gain a better understanding and appreciation for the work done between scenes. And there’s no better environment to showcase an artist than in an art gallery.”

For more info, including a complete list of artists involved, visit the website here.

Images from “Every Which Way: the Eclectic Art of Jon Arvizu”, which showed in MonOrchid Gallery during the month of April.

To see more of Arvizu’s work, visit his website here.

Antonio Pasos completed this mural on PSA Art Awakenings, a non-profit dedicated to empowering the mental health community through creative means, located off Roosevelt Row in Downtown Phoenix.

On their website, PSA Art Awakenings writes:

This mural received direct input from several of our artists including ideas, sketches, suggestions and execution of the final design, all overseen by Antonio Pasos, PSA Art Awakenings Master Artist in Residence.

To the left of the mural there is a single hand lighting a match to a large candle indicating the “Light that Art Awakenings sheds onto the darkness of our symptoms”, the mural begins to radiate light and color on both sides of the composition through the various mediums and techniques we offer. Colorful tile and mosaic, music (the keyboard around the large blue face), the paint brushes and the palette around the central image speaks to our various arts components. All of which contribute to the stairway leading towards the the clouds, to the goals and how far we can reach.

On the right hand side we see a couple growing out of a large tree symbolizing the rebirth of a dormant life run down by symptoms and public shame. Next we see a classic calligraphy legend in Arabic that says “Hope”. Towards the bottom we see a large hand offering a white pure flower, “meaning the innocence lost, and regained through recovery and creativity”.

 

The wind blew violently for the second day in a row as Karl Addison finished painting his final layer. James Bullough, the other half of the Berlin-based duo “JBAK”, stood nearby and calculated the next move. After sun set, the building would be illuminated by a high resolution projector, at which point Bullough would begin his turn.

He was in a rush to secure a projector for rent by the time stores closed, or else the mural would be delayed even further. The previous day, Addison had spent up to ten minutes at a time strapped in a full body harness to a boom lift, swaying back and forth, waiting for the wind to subside.

“When you’re going this high, there’s no way to plan ahead. It’s like, “How many cans of paint are you going to need?’, and I say ‘I don’t fucking know’ [laughs],” Bullough comments.

Indeed, a six story mural is undoubtedly difficult to plan for. It’s also unprecedented in Phoenix, whose downtown revitalization has produced a thriving mural scene in recent years, but rarely receives international artists or works of this scale.

Initial reactions can be garnered as people drive past during rush hour.

“We’re used to people yelling that they like the mural . . . but people have been honking their horns and yelling ‘thanks’ when they drive by. That kind of means something different, you know,” Bullough explains.

The architectural landscape is dull and overrun with a barrage of earth tones, something that Bullough is quick to acknowledge. This new addition, however, will be a pleasant change of scenery for the many drivers who frequent Thomas Road just West of Central Avenue.

Still, for a city unaccustomed to an operation of this sort, it’s mildly entertaining to watch the logistics be sorted out. In order to project the image that Bullough will then paint over, there’s a possibility that they will detour a major street in the heart of Downtown without permits.

Laughing, Bullough hypothesizes, “The worst they’re going to do is tell us to get the fuck off the road.”

He pauses, then adds, “Well, I guess they might arrest us. This is Phoenix.”

(Continued)

Photos by Jules Badoni & Diane Ovalle

Jules Badoni graduated from Arizona State University a few years ago with a degree in American Indian Studies. Since then, he’s dedicated himself to his art, which is inspired by his culture and heritage.

“I’m Dine’ (Navajo), from the Coyote Past clan. I’m from TahChee, which is located on the Navajo Nation in Northern, AZ,” he explains.

Badoni knew that he wanted to start painting murals after graduation. The first mural he painted while attending ASU took him nearly two years to complete, so he also wanted to find a collective of artists to participate and help with the process. Around this time, he enrolled in Navajo artist Steve Yazzie’s painting class at Phoenix College, which is where he met fellow classmate Edgar Fernandez.

“Edgar identifies with his Mayan heritage . . . [he] looks up to artists like the muralistas mexicanos Diego Rivera, Siqueiros, and Orozco, as well as Frida Kahlo. Personally, I like Diego Rivera’s art, but not the artist, while I like the artist Frida Kahlo, but not the art,” Badoni says.

Both artists shared a desire to represent their heritage while getting their work out into the open, so when Badoni found a wall whose landlord was willing to let them paint, he approached Fernandez and the project was born.

(Continued)