Roberto Matta, PHASE 2, RAMMELLZEE & Futura ‘Deep Space’

Lo scorso weekend la galleria Joseph Nahmad Contemporary di New York ha inaugurato un’interessante mostra che mette a confronto i lavori di Roberto Matta con tre kings della scena graffiti OG: PHASE 2, RAMMELLZEE e Futura. Stando agli organizzatori della mostra, Nemo Librizzi e Joseph Nahmad, le tre leggende in questione sono state profondamente ispirate dall’artista cileno in tutto il loro percorso, dai primi pezzi sulle metro newyorkesi verso la fine dei ’70 all’astrattismo post-graffiti partito verso la metà degli ’80.

With a penchant for social reform, Matta created the large-scale mural The First Goal of the Chilean People, celebrating the 1971 victory of Socialist president Salvador Allende. When General Augusto Pinochet’s military coup took power in 1973, sixteen coats of house-paint were plastered over the mural. While the authorities were erasing Matta’s mural in Chile, Phase 2, Rammellzee, and Futura were painting the first full cars on the subways of New York City. The three street artists were all too familiar with their work being erased, not by paint, but by the Coney Island train yard acid baths. These three young street artists of the 1980s pioneered a new form of “art for the people,” removing the typical pretention surrounding art and writing on everyday objects found in New York City.

Ammettiamo che il link tra Matta e i graffiti ci mancava, ma effettivamente non è difficile trovare delle somiglianze tra lo stile del cileno e quello di RAMMELLZEE, PHASE 2 e Futura nel periodo post-graffiti. Quel che è certo è che una mostra del genere, con pezzi di RAMMELLZEE e PHASE 2 mai visti prima, è qualcosa di epico per noialtri che siamo cresciuti a suon di Writing from The Underground, Subway Art, Style Wars etc. In mostra fino al 12 Dicembre 2012. Date un’occhiata alle immagini.

Source: Hypebeast

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‘Deep Space’ Exhibition

Joseph Nahmad Contemporary presents “DEEP SPACE,” a survey of vernacular street art focused on the works of Matta, Rammellzee, Futura, and Phase 2, curated by Nemo Librizzi and Joseph Nahmad. The exhibition aims to critically examine the public’s understanding of street art through a historical and multi-generational lens, connecting the visual language of these four renowned artists.

Asking the viewer to dispense with all preconceived notions of street art’s meaning and makers and begin anew on an art historical journey beginning with Matta’s politically charged large-scale paintings of the 1970s. Deep Space suggests extraordinary similarities of style, technique, and intention between the canonized work of the Chilean-born artist and that of the New York City subway writers of the 1980s.

With a penchant for social reform, Matta created the large-scale mural The First Goal of the Chilean People, celebrating the 1971 victory of Socialist president Salvador Allende. When General Augusto Pinochet’s military coup took power in 1973, sixteen coats of house-paint were plastered over the mural. While the authorities were erasing Matta’s mural in Chile, Phase 2, Rammellzee, and Futura were painting the first full cars on the subways of New York City. The three street artists were all too familiar with their work being erased, not by paint, but by the Coney Island train yard acid baths. These three young street artists of the 1980s pioneered a new form of “art for the people,” removing the typical pretention surrounding art and writing on everyday objects found in New York City.

Perhaps the father of street writing, Phase 2 developed the iconic style of bubble letters. Over time, his writing evolved into “hieroglyphic calligraphic abstraction,” deconstructing the alphabet to its most basic form. His writings inspired Rammellzee’s theories, Gothic Futurism and Iconoclast Panzerism, which symbolically challenged the role of letters and language in society. Futura’s writing in the 70s and 80s, further evolved both Phase 2 and Rammellzee’s writing styles.

Deep Space features large-scale canvases by all four artists, conveying their similar spiritual journeys, vernacular and visual language, and rebellious attitude. Alluding to the theoretical, symbolic, and historical connections between the four artists, the exhibition challenges the viewer to consider the historical and social implications of writing.

The exhibition will be accompanied by a full length publication including essays by Justin Spring and Nemo Librizzi.