CRASH “Broken English”
Jonathan Levine Gallery (557C W 23rd St.)
This event has ended.
Jonathan LeVine Gallery presents Broken English, new works by highly celebrated Bronx-based graffiti pioneer CRASH in what will be his first solo exhibition with the gallery. In conjunction with Broken English, CRASH will paint a mural in lower Manhattan with The L.I.S.A. Project NYC and release a new print edition.
With four decades of experience in graffiti, CRASH is recognized as one of the first subway writers to begin painting on canvas and exhibiting in galleries. While his early work played a pivotal role in the development and elevation of graffiti as a movement, CRASH continues to contribute to the level of art historical significance it holds today.
Committed to the medium and technique that he refined while painting on the street, CRASH creates his works freehand, with brightly colored spray paint and tightly cropped compositions. Combining pop culture subject matter with abstraction, his fragmented comic-inspired imagery paired with text is reminiscent of the 1960s Pop Art movement.
Broken English will include a series of small works on paper and large canvases, some with integrated found materials such as neon advertising signage. The exhibition also incorporates a vintage 1975 Mini Cooper—this fully functional motor vehicle has been restored, detailed, customized and painted by the artist as a three-dimensional art object.
John Matos (CRASH) was born in 1961 in the Bronx, New York, where he is currently based. Matos adopted the name CRASH in high school after taking a course in computer programming. At the age of thirteen, he began bombing subway cars and his work started to appear on trains and dilapidated buildings throughout New York City. In 1980, CRASH transitioned from the streets to the gallery when he curated Graffiti Art Success for America at Fashion MODA in the South Bronx. This groundbreaking exhibition is viewed as a launching point in legitimizing the graffiti movement, connecting street artists and the downtown fine arts world, with CRASH as a pioneer. In 1983 he headlined an exhibition called Post-Graffiti with Keith Haring and Jean-Michele Basquiat at Sydney Janis Gallery in New York. CRASH’s work is included in numerous permanent collections such as the Brooklyn Museum and Museum of Modern Art. His commercial projects have involved brand collaborations with Fender, Tumi, Ferrari and more.
Media
Schedule
from June 26, 2014 to July 26, 2014
Opening Reception on 2014-06-26 from 18:00 to 20:00