Here's a b-boy for ya.

Let's start 2014 off with a bang, shall we? Enjoy.

Mos Def

I know it's weird for me to say this, considering that I illustrated an entire book featuring an Olympic celebrity, but caricature is not my forte. It takes me a long time to get to the point where I'm happy with capturing the essence of a particular subject. I'm still not sure about this one, but I went ahead with it because I was digging the direction I was going. Trying something new with the colors in the background as well as the whole framing device. Something different.

This is Mos Def. He's an emcee.

The True Face-Off

This is how I'd like to see the presidential candidates really duke it out:

Deep in it

With my show opening just days away tomorrow, I'm deep in it. My workspace downstairs looks like a true artist's enclave, with a vast array of paint & supplies sprawled all around. Never been one for the organizing thing, so you can only imagine. Well, here's a little peek at my desk for ya. That should tide you over, I guess. And if you want to see some more sneaky peeks, then check out the Flickr. Hopefully it'll wet your appetite for what's to come. Hopefully it'll make you want to get in your car and drive 300 or 400 (or however many) miles on Thursday evening just to see what else might be up on the Grassy Knoll Gallery's walls. Hopefully it'll make you want to plunk down hundreds of dollars for all the tasty artwork that's being offered. I know it will. Just know it.

The Grassy Knoll Gallery is owned & operated by Robert Lewis and Renee Marcotte and is located in the historic Merchant Hotel in Old Town, Portland. Robert is head of Fashion Buddha, an animation & design studio that shares its space with the gallery (the gallery is actually in its spacious foyer). What's interesting to note is the gallery's description: The Grassy Knoll is a unique gallery specializing in the work of innovative animators and illustrators.... I found this especially intriguing, what with me being both an animator AND and illustrator. It seemed only right that Robert & I connected.

I'm extemely honored to have a show at Grassy Knoll. The roster of previous artists who've shown their work is staggering: Amy Ruppel, Evan B. Harris, Alberto Cerriteno; I mean, I really don't deserve to be included with such company. And look who's coming up after me: Joel Trussell! Right on.

Regarding the show itself: "b-boy" came out of the conceptual illustrations I had done years before and had posted here on my blog several months ago. There was potential for an entire show with this theme and I went with it, eager to see where it would take me. Utilizing mostly "found" materials for the surfaces, such as cardboard, wood, linoleum, and formica, I wanted to forge a connection between the subject matter and said items. Dancers from back in the day had to improvise with whatever they could find to dance on. Concrete and asphalt was certainly not susceptible for backspins and windmills, so cardboard and linoleum were the usual preferred surfaces.

Never one to go with the grain, I've rarely worked on canvas. Back in college, I painted on cardboard out of necessity -- I couldn't afford canvas. I was working at a movie theater at the time and we'd get shipments of promotional standees -- they came in these huge cardboard boxes that provided me with acres of painting space. Perfect for what I had in mind. What was enjoyable for me working with cardboard was the fact that it's malleable -- I could add and subtract to a particular piece at will. Even though the actual surface of cardboard took some getting used to (a couple coats of gesso helped), it was the workable and shape-shifting nature of the material that inspired me. The fact that I could go beyond the typical square or rectangular painting dimensions was very appealing.

There's some great dancing to be had the night of the opening. I've done a little searching and found some great videos of Portland's own Moon Patrol Crew -- three members of which will be performing Thursday night at the Grassy Knoll. I'm incredibly excited! Here, check out their performance, "Toprock", at the PICA:Time Based Art festival:



That's such a sweet deal there. Love the fact that they took the 'toprocking' aspect of breaking and incorporated it into a singular performance, with several dancers. Very nice.

Here's a cool battle between Moon Patrol Crew & Def Con 5 at the recent Juice Jam (Moon Patrol kids are on the same side as the cameraman, facing the DC5 boys):



Hope that gets ya off your seat and down to Old Town.

If you can't make it for the opening, no problem. The show will be up for the entire months of October and November -- just call the studio to set up a time to come and check it out. Robert & Renee will be more than willing to open the doors for you.

Okay. Gotta finish this one last painting. See ya tomorrow!

b-boy: an art show

You thought that Ottawa was it for now. Not so. And you thought that I'd be doing a big Ottawa wrap-up, right? Well, all in due time, my friends. First things first and this is it for me right now:

The grassy knoll gallery presents:

b-boy — Ward Jenkins

Exhibition Dates // October - November, 2008

Artist Reception // Thursday, October 2nd, 2008
6-9 PM, free, open to the public

Breakdancing Performance // 7-9 PM featuring:
Randm-1, Impulse, and Skywalker of Portland’s
Moon Patrol Crew and guest DJ Computer Fam

Grassy Knoll Gallery //
123 NW 2nd Avenue, 2nd floor
Portland, OR 97209

Contact // Renee Marcotte
1-503-449-7484

Artist statement //

"b-boy" is a tribute to the early boogie boys of the Bronx, the original poppin’ & lockin’ dancers who kept the parties live back in the day, back when hip-hop was in its golden, embryonic stage. Using various ‘lo-fi’ materials and surfaces, such as found cardboard, wood, and linoleum, Ward harks back to the essence of the early ingenuity and innovation of hip hop. During the 70’s and early 80’s, kids used a wide variety of surfaces to dance on and perform stylized acrobatic moves. Using what was available, they proved again and again that the brightest sources of creativity often come from the most humble of places. “b-boy”is a tribute to the beginnings of that movement, before the uninformed media brought it to near-fad status.

All you Portland and/or NW peeps: hope you can make it! It'll be fun to finally meet you all. Don't forget, it's next Thursday!

aww yeah

Back in 1999, I had this idea for a side project on hip-hop and the culture that was born out of it. To this day, I'm still fascinated by hip-hop. Even though I've placed this particular project on hold, I never tire of digging out these paintings done with gouache and ink on illustration board. Some of these images are based off of photos, but altered just enough to incorporate a certain look & style I was trying to finesse at the time. I had a lot of fun working on these.





Oh, and I want to say that I really appreciate all the kind and encouraging words I've received from you all regarding my job situation. It's been nothing but ups & downs for me lately, but getting great comments and emails offering words of advice and support definitely will put me in the 'up' category. Many thanks, guys.

What's been going on with me lately? Ah, who knows? But I do have to say that I'm looking forward to taking a nice vacation with the family tomorrow. A much needed vacation. Be back soon, kids!

Make it a Hip-Hop Christmas

Click on image to view larger.

Occasionally I'll do some artwork for my brother-in-law, Nate (aka DJ DUST), for his hip-hop group Mars ILL. This year Nate decided to have a little fun by recording a Christmas album, so he paired up with fellow DeepSpace5'er, Listener, and thus, Just in Time for Christmas was born. To compliment the "fartin' around" attitude that the album seemed to take, Nate wanted to do something a little different from your typical yuletide cheery album cover art. What a better way to convey this than to have your average run-down hobo-like Santa taking a little listen to some beats on some funked-out super-MOOG? Makes sense to me.

To buy this hip-hop holiday extravaganza, click HERE. (Scroll down a bit.)