Due to interference and a campaign of  intimidation, (related in my previous post) it has not seen the light of day.

I have also encountered other adverse reactions that I have not recorded here.

My intentions were not to make a pot of cash, (though a humble living would have been nice for myself and the other artists).

Instead my dreams were of an aesthetic aspiration, giving exposure to ignored, untrained visionaries and first generation London graffiti pioneers from the roots of our rich urban culture; exploring typography, symbolism, social commentary and archetypes, free from the restrictions of graffiti but freed by it’s energy to explore new dimensions.

I have made a reluctant decision to cancel forthcoming events.

I apologise to those who were to be involved in this project, including artists who have been preparing work and individuals and agencies I had engaged to help. I find it hard to believe that we have faced this level of opposition to something so authentic, and of such interest but this has unfortunately been the case.

……………….

“For better it is to do mighty things, to dream of glorious triumph, even though checked by defeats, than to take part with those poor souls who neither do much, nor suffer much because they live in the grey twilight that knows neither victory or defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt- January 30, 1882 – April 12, 1945

It is with this wisdom in mind and in a spirit of peace that I relate this news.

Elate/ Jon

………………………………………………..

I haven’t posted on my blog for a few months, here’s why.

I have been subject to a campaign of intimidation and aggression after announcing plans to open a gallery at Brick Lane and painting legal graffiti on prized spots. Now I realise I have unwittingly been put in an unthinkable situation.

I would be happy to engage in healthy competition of innovation, skills, banter and wit, but whoever is opposed to my plans chose the way of the bully. Now the situation has got so bad that I am going public with the information.

Let’s start at the beginning…..I painted anti-war slogans and punk logos since ‘82, then in the New York style from ‘84.

Being from a working class background I left school aged 16 in ‘86. I didn’t have the privilege of an art education so worked as a messenger boy in the City of London just as the Underground railway was overrun with graffiti for the first time.

My passion for graffiti got me fired from my round in early ‘87 and I continued writing on trains through London’s graffiti heyday until 1989 when I stopped illegal work and taught myself to paint classically in oil, continuing to paint graffiti legally.

When Banksy and others recently enabled vandalism to be accepted as an art form, and visionary painting by untrained outsiders was finally acknowledged, I thought my time for recognition was here. My calculation didn’t take into account the carefully controlled hierarchy that exists in the London scene.

I had no intent to subvert anyone’s status and only wished to embrace diversity in all its forms and participate in the community. So after being completely ignored by the major players in the ‘Street Art’ establishment I decided to go it alone in 2009 and curate my own space in a Georgian warehouse at the top of Brick Lane, the hub of the art community, specialising in work by oldskool graffiti writers and intuitive visionaries.

I told many in the neighbourhood about my plans. This news was met with a sign posted on my wall at the beginning of August 09 “Art Gallery Not Needed- London…Breathe/Stretch/Relax/Perforate” and signed ‘Sinom de Plume’

Sinom de Plume is a corruption of the French ‘Nom de Plume’ meaning Pen Name or literary double, a fake name adopted by an author.

“Breathe/Stretch/Relax/Perforate” is a corruption of the Yoga instruction ‘Breathe/Stretch/Relax/Rejuvenate’. In that simple substitution of one word for another the author turns an instruction in transcendence, humanity and hope into a tool of censorship, oppression and threat.

I was shocked that anyone could feel such a way against me for doing something so creative and positive but was even more determined to continue with my plans.

By late September 2009 I began to paint with the infamous and upcoming MuTate Britain Collective who embraced my art and long history in the scene , welcomed me with open arms, gave me enormous walls to paint and hung my work in some of the best spots in their ‘One Foot in the Grove’ show under the Westway in Ladbroke Grove. I was asked to invite some oldskool legends from London’s ‘Golden Age’ to come and paint their perimeter wall, which was delivered in fine style.

It’s all detailed on the previous posts on my blog. I felt delighted to be recognised at last. As the MuTate Britain extravaganza was going on in Portobello Road, West London, building work was being done on our proposed gallery in Shoreditch, indicating to people, I presume, that we had ignored the warning notice.

The work was finished in late 2009 and myself and my girlfriend went for a well deserved holiday over Christmas. As soon as we got back in late December, refreshed, invigorated and excited about the year ahead, the real intimidation started.

I began to notice an old car decked out in tinsel and driven by a very large man hanging around our building.

One quiet evening, the 2^nd January 2010, I was putting out the rubbish in the bin on the street corner; his car, which had been waiting in a side road, performed a reverse handbrake turn at high speed and then drove straight at me down the dark and empty street at full speed with hazard lights flashing. He screeched to a halt inches from my feet,  I thought I was going to get run over and managed to stumble out of his path to my gates and get in, terrified and shaking as he sat parked outside the gates.

At this point I knew something was seriously wrong.

I needed a drink and had nothing in the building so after 20 minutes left cautiously for the nearest pub after checking out of the window that he had gone. As I was drinking my pint and to my horror, the driver of the car walked up to the window, stared at me then turned on and disappeared into the night. I got home and called the police who said it was a rare and exceptional incident and gave me a crime number.

Two mornings later I awoke and looked out of the window, the barbed wire preventing access to our building had been pulled aside and the grey slate tiles leading to our windows were broken as if they had been walked across, even the roofing felt was ripped. The damage was verified as new by the caretaker so I called the police who attended and registered it as an attempted burglary.

Three weeks after it had been repaired, the barbed wire was ripped aside yet again, with fresh marks on the tiles.

On Sunday 7th March 2010 I found that my computer had been hacked. I consulted my IT guy who told me that it was an attack by professional hackers. They had installed a ‘Trojan’ and ‘key loggers’ (devices which record every stroke of the keypad) set up multiple user accounts with full privileges including ‘impersonate user privilege’ ‘’modify firmware privilege’ among countless other stuff including a ‘tunnelling proxy’ and encrypted zones, things I knew nothing about and had hardly even heard of.

They have ignored multiple opportunities to steal money from paypal accounts, preferring to access my emails.

This was repeatedly listed in my  PC’s ‘Events Log’ as Outlook Events-

‘”C:Users\Me\AppData\Local\Microsoft\Outlook\Outlook.pst The store was last opened on a different machine”

…but I have only ever accessed my mail from my own PC; I am convinced this carefully targeted hacking is linked to the previous incidents. Any hacker who installs key loggers then ignores constant access to cash would probably be after something else,as is indicated in my events log.

They have also had access to…

• My writing and rants, directed at an art scene which ignore myself and countless talented others while celebrating ‘instant artists’ and hype.
• My personal emails to my girlfriend full of pet names, secrets of our personal life and ‘coochie coo’ sweetness.
• My gallery plans, manifesto, logos, and communications with artists I was planning to show when we opened; and confidential website information.
• Personal private photos of my family
• Shots from my girlfriend’s modelling portfolio.
• Intimate photos of myself and my girlfriend.
• My broad collection of ‘adult movies’ of multiple genres; classic hardcore, roleplay, lesbian, ‘Barely Legal’ and JAV (Japanese Adult Video) always verifiably legal and taken from carefully moderated sites.
• My archive of graffiti and art photos and scans of my sketches of future works.
• Intimate details of my illnesses, medications and medical conditions.
• Details of my history of substance misuse, now seven years clean.
• Highly personal emails to family members in times of illness, joy, distress and even argument.
• The vast variety of websites I read when trying to understand political and religious points of view from all ends of the spectrum when researching topics current in the media.
• My unpublished writing analysing the meanings behind mine and others’ work, written in the context of the history of art and civilisation.

After discovering and eventually putting a stop to the attack by shutting off my system I left the building next morning and was followed yet again, this time onto a train.

I cannot see what I could possibly have done to warrant this attention and threat; I am a good, kind and honest man who has done no-one any wrong, have tirelessly helped others throughout my life and have countless people who will happily vouch for my character and personality.

All I have done is paint legal walls with the owners’ permission according to the rules of graffiti, make a few impassioned comments about art on the web, and try to open a gallery in East London that gives a platform for highly talented and innovative  artists excluded by the establishment.

I ask nothing except to be allowed to live my life in peace. I am reconsidering my plans to open the gallery in the face of these experiences. It seems I have ‘ruffled feathers’ for whatever reason.

I send out this statement to raise awareness so that people know what is going on. I re-entered the scene full of optimism ideas, and happiness which I have shared with all who let me participate. I thought things would be very different to this.

Thanks to all who enjoy my art, have shared good times and given me support and encouragement. I hope my next communication will be on a happier note.

Elate / Jon

18^th March 2010

Additional note: Comments accusing me of being Schizophrenic and imagining the whole thing have already appeared on a well known graffiti site, in an obvious attempt to discredit me.

This one is on Brick Lane, East London, at number 194, Bar 2012.

Before

After

They are working their way around from Sclater Street to Bacon Street  buffing everything. Anyone painting on the remaining space is told to stop immediately and move on or be arrested.

I will be posting a memorial superpost featuring the best and the worst moments of this fantastic free space in the coming days.

It will be sorely missed by all and no doubt replaced with a mess of tags and throw-ups.

Elate, Fuel

This one was done on Thursday on Sclater Street, near Brick Lane, London E1, and was the first collaboration between myself and Tizer,who did the character and background, we were both happy with the end results.

There’s also a Envy piece by Envy,Time and Fued and Wisher. A massive shout to Jim Wilson who filmed everything in HD, also to Jenny, Sarah, Fued, Time, Envy, Wish, Fuel, Hit, Trix, Inkfetish and all who passed through.

It was great to meet certain influential oldskool legends for the first time and to hook up with old friends.

The book is for anyone who wants to know more about the roots of the movement, reminisce about the mad old days or learn how to bomb their name effectively. Here’s a few shots from the party- I’ve posted pics of the handstyles rather than the heads who write ‘em.

Buy your copy and see pages from the book here

Brick Lane was in a state of urgent need of some proper graffiti, We have been decorating it…

photo © Romanywg 2009

Elate

Keen

Elate  Keen

Elate

Nearest tube Liverpool Street or Aldgate East.

Elate  Fuel

Keen  Fuel

Elate

Envy  Don  Aks

Keen  Elate

Petro is showing lots of affordable paintings and prints based on the letter-form alongside more quirky and conceptual stuff.

It makes a refreshing change to see artists who are actually passionate and animated by showing their work, that is what it is all about in my book anyway and gave the evening a brilliant atmosphere.

To rock graffiti letters on panels and make it work is hard but Petro pulls it off with awesome style, check the pictures….

Petro’s show is only on this weekend 25th and 26th July 12-7 pm so I would make every effort to get down there if you can possibly manage it. There is a map further down the page, nearest tube Aldgate East,Whitechapel or Liverpool Street.

Petro has a website here

More after the jump…

More after the jump…

Andy Seize says: "This is my first major solo show in a fantastic warehouse space in the heart of Shoreditch. I hope my paintings will inspire, engage and excite people, especially anyone who loves cartoon characters and comic books and who is a big kid at heart."

Exhibition opens Friday 10th July through to Monday 13th July 2009 from 12 to 4pm.

Bash Studios

65-71 Scrutton Street

London

EC2A 4PJ

http://www.andyseize.co.uk/