So, if you’ve been keeping up with my recent art action, you know that the crew and I were just in Detroit doing a bunch of stuff. The trip was amazing and I could not have had a better experience working with Anthony, JJ, Pete and Matt from the Library Street Collective on gallery and outdoor projects. You guys rule! I’ve always loved Detroit because it has so many beautiful textures, old signs, great architecture, and derelict spaces for the renegade artist to fill. Now, it also has some creatively and progressively minded community members who see street art and graffiti as part of Detroit rejuvenation through incubating creative culture. Bedrock was cool enough to offer me a 185 x 55 foot space on their building to do my largest mural to date. I’m very grateful to have such a prominent piece in Detroit. I also painted a smaller mural called “Pattern of Destruction” in the alley called the Beltway, and created 5 smaller (8’x8’ and 8’x12’) panel pieces along the Beltway as part of Library Street’s “Public Matter” project. A bunch of other great artists like Tristan Eaton, Pose, Hush, Vhils, Sam Friedman, and others have contributed to this project. We also did a 14 foot water tower and some other spots. The opening was amazing with a great turnout and very enthusiastic response to all the art in the gallery and on the streets. Thanks Detroit!
The show was a huge amount of work, and I owe a lot of thanks to my crew of assistants, Nic Bowers, Dan Flores, and Rob Zagula for their help executing the murals and putting in the long hours. Thanks also to Jon Furlong and CJ from Obey Clothing for all the great photos, and to Joe Russo for coming out to shoot for Juxtapoz.
-Shepard