Anyone coming up in the graffiti scene was always packing a bag of paint, pocket full of markers and a blackbook. Before the internet entered into the picture, blackbooks were critical in sharing skills and building community. Artists would mail books from Brooklyn to San Francisco and vice versa all around the country. These books would sit around writers apartments and any other writer passing through would light it up. After a month or so the books would be sent back to the original owner and gold would be struck. …

Well, “the man” isn’t quite the proper nomenclature considering the husband and wife France-based graffiti crew featuring Scien and Klor have been cold-crushing kids with 123klan since 1992. The remaining members, Dean, Sper, Skam, Meric, and Reso1 combine graffiti and graphic design while meshing street knowledge and technology. Sharp angles, hard to handle, cold to hold, these guys can’t/won’t stop. You will be hardpressed to find another crew that took a more successful path from street-rep to commercial integration without loosing their focus or integrity. Check out their new video …

I am fascinated by art and the various ways it is leveraged to communicate. Often times I find myself attempting to find the common strings between music and visual art. Both utilize elements of deep and shallow, high and low, light and shadow to weave us into a feeling or a series of feelings. I am unable to play a musical instrument at a level that could even remotely communicate anything outside of uncomfortable confusion or rudimentary self-fulfillment. This has left me with a creative void that systematically plucks at …

Painting in New York City was a complete pain in the ass. The city was so oversaturated with writers that it was very hard to make a name. Day-spots were the rarest commodity. Every corner of the city has been explored and scouted which left very little to be truly discovered. Most places that were safe enough to paint during the day were well known by the cops which made it that much more difficult. One of the greatest day-spots to paint in Brooklyn was the old abandoned Maccarren Park …

We are such fickle, fearful and destructive creatures. What we don’t know, we fear. What we fear, we hate. The socio-economic gap continues to grow ensuring that people from different walks of life will not cross paths therefore ensuring people will not truly get an opportunity to know each other. Ensuring fear. Fostering hate. Segregation is sown through our economic and schooling structures roping off proper opportunity. It is a broken structure of community that is built to create massive gaps and manufacture insurmountable obstacles for those born into a …

Photographer Gabriela Herman has put together a portrait collection of bloggers which puts a glowing face to the words and images that they produce and share. When blogging first hit the scene  it took me years to understand what the big deal was. I figured, “so what, people without any formal accreditation are writing things on the Internet”. It sounded like an emo-driven, politically charged digital college newspaper that would get info-mined by punditry to be misquoted on shows from Crossfire to The O’Reilly Factor. The more I submerged myself …

I never had a chance to check out the original Tron movie and I’m not a fan of watching sequels out of order so I am posting without a strong base of understanding here. I figure it doesn’t really matter because if we’re talking Tron we’re probably talking cool-looking, raver-inspired, drug-induced glowy things that can simultaneously hypnotize stoners and give marketers a new visual angle to wrangle. I noticed a few “Tronified” popular culture characters and products that were sporting the neo-neon look this season so I figured I’d rope …

I love this campaign for the Straits Times created by McCann Erickson, Malaysia that shifts our perspective on the stories we read in the paper. Just a subtle shift that connects the visualization of what we read to the imagery dictating how things unfold. This campaign challenged my conceptualization of photos being frozen moments and written word having a more complex depth. I mean, this image represents an unfolding story without the assistance of the written word. It seems that time/space has shifted and a front page photo unfolds into …

Joy is the peak of emotional bliss. Ultimately, every move we make in every single day revolves around the pursuit of it. The end game is to create a life that elicits the most joy possible. People may say, “Sean, reproduction and survival are the key drivers for all things in life”, to which I would politely reply, “Because they bring you joy dip-shit”. I digress.

365 days ago I made a deal with myself to invest in a reclamation of the direction my life was heading in. I wanted to grab the damn thing by the horns and drive head first into pursuing a more fulfilling path. Sounds promising, right? The problem is defining what “fulfillment” means. It is an elusive, slippery concept that seems to drive passion yet leave the party once completion arrives. I am reminded of something I read years ago in the book “Zen Mind Beginners Mind”. I’m paraphrasing here but …

I have a strange and addictive drive to take photographs of movies and shows that I watch on the television. I realized today that I have a substantial photo set collection of a wide and peculiar variety of programs over the years. The whole idea of taking photographs is to freeze a moment in order to relive and appreciate the emotion, beauty and energy of our experiences in life. Movies (moving pictures) are millions of these moments strung together for a similar purpose. The experience of reliving a photographic moment …

I am a huge comic book fan. I am also a huge fan of authentic hip-hop music. Fusing the two would be something of a dream gig right? Well, here it is. I have been lucky enough to be picked to illustrate and assist in writing a comic based on a story by David Banner himself. As of now we have a few episodes planned out but if all goes well we will hook up a full blown graphic novel. You can check out upcoming episodes and track from the …

Check out my new illustration hot off the press for AskMen.com. I remember being a wide-eyed aspiring artist in 6th grade caught up in wondering how cool it must be to be able to draw nudey women whenever you wanted. My friends, I have arrived.

It is common for people to dehumanize others in order to rationalize our ill behavior toward one another. We take this one step further when dealing with animals and negate their ability to feel things. We render all kinds of ill crazy shit upon our animals brothers and sisters at astonishing numbers under the rationale that they are unable to feel in the same manner we are. Time magazine has written a solid feature recently (and in ’93 and 99′ ) about animals and their cognitive ability to not only …

The good people at the Raleigh Downtowner were kind enough to feature me as their Artist Profile for their latest issue. After hanging out with Crash Gregg for a few hours, sharing stories and sharing beers the scene seemed more like hanging out than an interview. Good people and a good publication no doubt. If you don’t catch one on the newsstand make sure you download the pdf or check out the interactive version online.

The Charlotte-based powerhouse “Culture Initiative” invited me to participate in a group art show/ dance party/ cultural happening titled “Epic Proportions“. Each artist was tasked with getting loose on a 6ft x 3ft canvas. These pieces will be showcased amongst a venue thumping dance party headlined by Treasure Fingers. In other words, this event will be hotter than a goats ass in a pepper patch! If you are in the Charlotte area you can’t miss this one.

There is less than a week before the NC Comicon opens its doors to the public. Make sure you come through and check out the action on November 13th and 14th at the Morrisville Outlet Mall. There is a rock solid list of professional talent that will be signing autographs, a load of family friendly events and a collection of local artists, vendors and collectors. I am setting up a table promoting this very Two Four Flinching blog that you are reading right now as well as selling prints, hooking …

I was approached by AskMen.com to hook up and illustration to accompany an article detailing the political leverage and satirical might that Jon Stewart and the Daily Show has among young (and not so young) Americans. After sifting through a few concepts we settled on this bad boy. I am very happy with it and the article is a solid read as well. Check it out and leave a comment if you’re feeling it.

The natural progression of authentically interesting things always winds their way into the mainstream and ultimately into our living rooms. Graffiti has been on this long journey for some time now. The art-form will always live on the razors edge of a dichotomy living in two very different worlds. The authentic gutter-born vandalism world and the consumer-culture driven Walmart world. Surprisingly the authentic has continued to forge ahead and stay relevant regardless of being pillaged via countless capitalist ventures attempting to leverage the authentic in order to give the synthetic …

Wow. The show was amazing. The art, the executions, the vibe, the people, the community….. Raleigh was on it on October 8th. I can’t thank people enough for all the effort with organizing, participating in and supporting the event! Makes me proud to be living and painting in Raleigh.

My good friend Vinny sent me a set of American war propaganda posters and they really got me thinking about how phenomenally disconnected our present society, and in particular, my generation has become in relationship to the wars we have fought. Unless you have a family member or friend serving active duty it can be commonplace to completely forget that we have been at war for almost a decade!

The construction is complete, the cranes have left and the skyline has risen!

Chicago born painter and street artist, Dan Witz received formal training at the hard nosed, heavily respected Cooper Union in 1980. For years Dan has pushed the boundaries of artistic execution, placement and experience in Lower Manhattan. Dan was getting up on subway ads before Keith Haring, painted thought provoking pieces on walls before Banksy and continues to screw around, keeping the young bols on their toes.

Ben Franklin once said, “There can’t be good living where there is not good drinking.” I find that quote highly debatable and slightly ironic. Sure, most of my best stories begin with “I was so wasted this one time that….” but for each legendary story I have compiled I am plagued with 50 liver-soaked, hang-over ridden, bruise bearing all-nighters that have probably shaved a considerably slice off the lifespan.

My generation hasn’t had any significant progressive leaders that have served as role models in the public sphere. I’m pretty sure we can all point to people in our smaller circles that live their life in a manner that you try to live up to. But as far as progressive leadership with a substantial voice in mass media, nada. Michael Moore would be the closest thing to someone who consistently put himself out there to get people thinking, talking and inspiring organization. But at his core he is a movie …

As a kid growing up in the eightees’ who naturally gravitated towards GrandMaster Flash, The RockSteady Crew and writing graffiti, I always had an affinity for the New York City subway during the late 70′ and early 80′s. It represented the blood-filled arteries of a city pumping with organic, authentic, city-brewed culture. It was covered with tags and pieces while filled with people of every size, shape, age and color. It was reckless and untamed and most importantly, it was New York City.

In response to the BP oil spill that may effect the Carolina Coastline Solas Culinary and My Restuarant Guru are hosting a fundraiser for The NC Surfrider Foundation. It is our goal to help fund this non-profit so that it is prepared to deal with the effects of the BP oil spill on the NC coastline.

I will be showcasing in this rough and rugged art show in Orlando. I will be blessed to be showing with some powerful company. If you’re in the area, you need to check it out.

Very few objects can inspire feelings of excitement, adoration,fear, fantasy and conflict like a gun. “MY UZI WEIGHS A TON” is a traveling multimedia art exhibition that takes an artistic twist on guns in pop culture. The exhibition will feature the works of some of the hottest artists form the new …

Fundraiser is quite a draw

Pabst Blue Ribbon will be sponsoring a rough and tumble, beer flavored art show called “The PBart Show” in Raleigh during the Cherry Bounce Festival on July 29th. Artists were encouraged to create PBR inspired artwork so I took it quite literal and create a few custom painted, full, unopened 22oz tall boys. I built the theme around the concept that “PBR brews very strange company”. This was my first crack at customizing beer cans and I think I have stumbled into an arena that I am going to be …

I moved from Detroit to a neighborhood called Roxborough in Philadelphia when I was ten. This was a very hard-nosed, working class area where fist-fights were a way of life and loyalty was paramount. My neighborhood in Detroit was in much worse condition than the new neighborhood in Philly but there was not this over-arching element of angry, violent behavior. The people I got beat up by most? My friends. Craziness. The flip of this was that your friends, as inter-violent as they were, had your back through anything. They …

A young kid sits in a room in East Detroit. His face flickers from the static on a glowing television. The only light in the room is provided by a pixelated representation of a South American adventurer swinging over unexplained sinkholes in the jungle deep. An obsession is being fed meanwhile an art form is unexpectedly being born. Pixel art.

What happens when all our favorite villains get locked up in a 1920′s penitentiary with an optional intramural football league? It’s the stuff dreams are made of.

I am going to hook up a limited run on some signed prints. Sign up for my newsletter to get the heads up when the drop.

On the last day of our trip home we wanted to check out an open-air art piece called The Heidelberg Project. To put it simply, it is a collection of found items, painted houses and augmented scenery that exists on a few streets in East Detroit created by local resident and artist Tyree Guyton. It was an amazing sight and a must-see for anyone who visits Detroit. The project had made a decent amount of press so I had read quite a bit before visiting and I was expecting a …

A few months ago I saw a photo essay that Time magazine had put together about Detroit and the empty structures that pockmarked the city. There was a photo of a luxurious theater that had closed and was turned into a parking lot in the eighties. I had to find this place and see it for myself.

I grew up in Detroit. Southwest Detroit. I moved to Philly when I was 10 and hadn’t returned to the neighborhood, friends or house that I had left behind. I would visit Detroit a few times a year to visit family but we never went back to the old neighborhood.

Matt Scofield, Victor Knight, Greg Davis and myself hooked up a show at the LabourLove gallery last year where we painted a set of panels in the gallery and pulled off a very cool show. We were approached by Kelly and John of LabourLove about showing the panels for a showing at the Durham Performing Arts Center (DPAC). I love that building, inside and out. I was thrilled. So thrilled that I felt compelled to redo that panels completely. I was never really very happy with how my panels came …

I was approached by the Chair of the Art Procurement committee for Appetite for Art which is an annual auction gala that will support arts programming for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County. She wanted to know if I had any artwork that I would be willing to donate for the event. After thinking and debating on what would do well, I figured “screw it, I’m doing something fresh”.
Growing up I was a huge fan of Catcher in the Rye. Like most kids, I connected on an …

Hard to really know what to say about the show. A few things are certain.
1. It was raining like all hell.
2. It was ten time more crowded than I expected.
3. The show almost sold out.
4. Things got rough.

If you don’t already know, well, your about to know. The amazing $25 Show is this Friday! Damn, it has been a long time in the works. I messed around and took on double-duty while trying to organize a benefit for Haiti while prepping and helping to market this amazing showcase which pushed this post a little late. All good. The concept is simple:
Every piece in  the show is $25!
Every one.
The artist list is rediculous. Check it out: