Across The Tracks and Through The Looking Glass

Thanks to to Keen 53 and Sharn.E for organising such a wicked weekend, (a few of us started on Friday evening) it really was the ultimate London oldskool writers’ reunion at a wonderful spot, alongside the Thames with writers painting alongside each other for what seemed like miles…

My unfinished Elate piece by me with help from Jenny and Drew, featuring  1962 rolling stock  fill and featuring personal additions from Envy, Time, Keen 53, Sharn.E, Prime WRH, Wish, Part Two, Fuem ACR, Carl 131, Merc, Coad 5, Fuel, Kis 42, Fued, Colt 45,  Cazbee DSS, Hit and Urge. People competed over the best spots on ‘the train’ to hit, just like in the old days, it was lots of fun…here’s the view across the river Thames from my spot…

After last years Covent Garden ‘writers bench’ reunion was so well attended and instantly became the stuff of legend, the organiser Keen 53 and Sian decided to take it to the next level and take it to a spot where we could all paint our own pieces with tunes ,a barbeque a gazebo and all the necessary bits and pieces for an amazing day out, but miles from anyone who might bother us and in a spectacular location ….

  A 7.30 start is a bit much normally but this was good.

…and a trickle of new arrivals…

…kept arriving… 

…until we had our own little mini festival going !!

 

There were so many oldskool writers painting and loads of legends passing through that it was hard to stay focussed on your piece for more than a few minutes until the next reunion, introduction and retelling of cherished stories …

Nearly everyone there was first/second generation (mid-late eighties) London train writer but there were some honorary additions to the roster who all helped to make it a magic day full of real golden moments that will be remembered forever by all.

In attendance were untold legends from Londons’ rich graffiti history of urban and street art, lost in the mists of time but resurrected in the sun to the live the dream once again….

the line up just went on and on as you walked…. 

 

  

  ….and seemed to go on for half a mile or so….

…. oh the joy of really not being sold anything … no stealth marketing, cynical serial media re-launches, product placement, fake posturing and definitely no toys, bandwagon jumpers, brown noses, me-me-me-ism,  investment strategies, gimmicks or hype (yawn)….

…instead we had over fifty legendary street and urban transit artists and true blood Hip Hop pioneers including Keen 53, Sharn E, Chic, Desire, Envy, Cop 205, Fuel, Prime, Colt 45, DJ Dexter, Bap, Kis42, Brave 1, Skore, Crok, Shye 131, Rave, Urge, Part 2, Crane, Time, Hit, Carl ST, Merc, Coad 5, Fume ACR, Cazbee, Doze, Ebs, Care, Owed, Kee, Fued 28, Rite, Crok,  Freehand, Urge, Ebee, Keylow, Jyer, Kem, Mef, Trans 1, Arian WD, Hert, Steam 156 and many more…..

 

…the art priceless @  $A-Dime-a-Dozen.00

 …the smiles and camaraderie heartfelt, contagious and refreshingly universal…

….our vocational thirst tempered by maturity and wisdom…

…the styles diverse, names earned and skills hard won…..

…and the day featuring absolute legends and cornerstones of global urban art history, some of whom were out painting for the first time in quarter of a century…

… ‘respect the architects’ I read on a certain brother’s shirt….

 

…never was a truer word worn…

 

  

….Elate and ‘OAP’ (old and proud) by Keen 53…

Freya, a dedication piece to her daughter,  by Sharn.E and a quick stick-up by Kis42

 Higher by Cazbee- nicked from his Flickr cheers Caz, great that you’re back out painting…

Big respect and mad love for all who reached and all those who didn’t make it but should have been there, see you next time, thanks a million to Tony and Sian for organising everything and hooking up so many legends in one amazing spot…

Praise be to the weather fairy for the sunshine, was soooo better than last years hailstone thunderstorm washout…. ta for listening gal you dun good dis time. Respect lol

I’d like to say a massive thank you to everyone who has shown me support and encouragement during the ongoing campaign of stalking, harrassment, threats and intimidation, which began shortly after I announced my plans to open a new art gallery in East London.

These events seem to infer that certain people in the ‘street art’ establishment are prepared to use thugs, threats, hackers and dirty tricks. You can read all about this here.

I have had many messages of kindness and support  from readers of my blog and people in the art world which have given me great comfort at this difficult time. Thanks to those people.

Thanks also to my family and friends and the bloggers and websites who published the events, put out calls for information, expressed their outrage or linked to the article describing the events including Fatcap, Canned Goods, London Street Art Design, Vandalog, Graphotism, Artshout, Graffiti Spotting and many more…

Thanks to all the guys from London’s graffiti writing and broader art communities who have lifted my spirits with their kindness and support.

Thanks also to the police  who have been  kind and understanding, know what’s been going on and are taking it seriously.

I have to admit I was a bit apprehensive to go to the police with news of developments, but to their credit, they were very interested in what I had to say and seem to be taking it very seriously.

They requested I keep a log recording any  information including unusual sightings and descriptions of people I believe may be involved, events, photos of the threatening artworks which have been appearing from various sources; anything in fact, which could be seen as aggressive or a warning and could possibly be directed against me.

This log remains in my possession and has, of course been backed up and passed to trusted allies but will hopefully never see the light of day.

I had assumed the police would not be interested in veiled and ambiguous threats.

However I have been informed by officers that taking into account the circumstances (especially if  these threats continue or anything ‘untoward’ or ‘unusual’ happens to me); that  these would become a basis for an investigation.

I was no angel in my youth but it’s at times like this that you realise there are a great many kind, good hearted officers on the force who are genuinely doing a great job for the right reasons and are the last resort  when people find themselves the innocent victim of attack, intimidation and harrassment.

These basic tenets of our society is what our proud British freedom of  expression and human rights is built on.

All I want is to get on with my life and let other people get on with theirs with no hassle or problems.

Peace

Elate.

Magic Window Studios is a concept for a new London art gallery that I’ve been working hard to put together over the last year as anyone who follows this blog will know.

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

A Message to the Graffiti Community and Beyond.

………………………………………………..

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.

 

New Elate graffiti at Stik’s street art event in Mile End, East London that finishes This Sunday see blog post with full details here

Sorry for the lack of pictures and updates on this event, my camera broke, so many thanks to Art Of The State for stepping in with this, check his excellent website and blog for more pictures of this show plus lots of amazing underground and not-quite-so-underground art plus awesome photos of punk bands in furious action.

I have a new camera now so expect to resume normal service.

[WP-CUMULUS}

 

My good mate, the inimitable Stik, launches his very first art event this week in the East End in the very posh sounding Mile End Arts Pavilion a stunning gallery space with a glass frontage overlooking a small lake.

It runs to the end of the month in which time it will be transformed…..Stik will be painting live onto panels that line the building, so will myself, aswell as Fuel (Cold Crush Dukes), Spat (1Time), Ted Baden (Mutoid Waste) Milo and many others.

Come down for a cuppa and shoot the breeze ‘til you’re bewildered with a load of solvent damaged compulsives; you could even take a panel home to build a funky BMX ramp for the wife’s Christmas present or maybe even that kennel for the Vicar’s pitbull….(or you could just stick ‘em on the wall, yawn…)

 

Here’s Stik’s Press Release

Silhouettes with spray-cans glinting in the darkness have long journeyed through the East End to the austere walls of the rail arches in Mile End, an underground showcase of underground art.

Now, in broad daylight, the elegant new Mile End Arts Pavilion opens its doors to some of the most notorious graffiti artists in East London.

This unique venue offers the opportunity for you, the viewer to observe from behind glass or get down and dirty with the artists painting LIVE! (Protective masks are available on the door)

Each week will feature a new wave of artists, sourced locally with a smattering of special guest painters.

Show is open each Wednesday to Sunday from 12-6 pm

Wednesday 4^th November – Sunday 29^th November.

Press Day Saturday 8^th November

Stik

 

Stik curates the show and appears in it. Featuring in the Mutoid Waste Company’s current headlining event in Ladbroke Grove under the Westway, Stik is also the alternative artist featuring in this week’s Big Issue Magazine.

Whilst producing murals for authorities such as Waltham Forest and British Waterways, Stik’s black and white figures have illicitly been lurking in the cityscape for almost a decade.

Stik is proud to present a hand-picked cross-section that showcases some of the most talented and innovative artists on both the local and global stage.

Elate

A graffiti writer from London’s 1980s heyday Elate’s vision transformed and he has painted classically in oils for the last 20 years under his real name, Jon Hammer.

Now Elate is back painting the streets of East London fresher than ever. Inspired by his surreal and apocalyptic discoveries in the studio he is truly pushing the limits of the art form.

Fuel

Universally regarded as one of the true Kings of London’s ‘Golden Era’ of train graffiti, Fuel’s multi-coloured emissions are once more adorning the public domain.

Milo

 

A Brazilian artist prolific on the streets of East London, Milo takes an abstract figurative approach relating to nature, human behaviour, the mind, its’ movements and ways of manifesting. This results in dense, mind-boggling colour-scapes.

See Milo’s online shop here

Spat

 

For the last 12 years Spat has enjoyed exploring and painting the streets and derelict wasteland and tracksides of east London. Initially a pure-street ‘graffiti-bomber’ in recent years he has progressed to full colour pieces, commissions and screen prints.

 

 

Teddy Baden

 

Teddy Baden is part of the Mutoid Waste collective, his compulsions and love of dogs led to experimenting stencilling techniques, using varying sizes and characters of over four hundred breeds; viewing them almost as ‘alien creatures’ Teddy shows an interest in the ‘hairy ones’ almost like someone would tree types or cloud formations.

 

Run

 

In a style of his own Italian artist Run uses brush and roller to create giant, polychrome heads and faces on the streets for which he has become known and widely published.

Also appearing ;

Snoe, Smaki, Grems, Stenzilla, Suns, Roots plus many more to be confirmed.

Stik’s brand new blog is here

 

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

 

This one’s at the end of Bacon Street, London E1 on the hall of fame boards.

 

 

 

 

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.

The London Handstyles book is out now featuring tags by a selection of London graffiti writers from the mid eighties to the present, many who were considerably more prolific than myself. The launch party was on Friday in Rarekind Gallery below Chrome and Black graffiti art supplies shop on Bethnal Green Road by Brick Lane.

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