Legendary NYC street artists use Porsche 911 hoods as 'canvas'

Monday, June 1, 2009

Porsche Cars North America, Inc. partnered with five famed New York City street artists participating this month in the largest U.S. exhibition of the genre, to unveil their latest works: Porsche 911 hoods.



The pieces are part of "Whole In The Wall: 1970-Now," a group show of 150 mostly contemporary works by 19 U.S., European and South American "street artists." In profile, they range from Old Masters of this genre -- graffiti "taggers" whose controversial first works appeared on NYC subway cars in the 1970s -- to painters, sculptors and photographers.
Porsche Cars North America, Inc. is the Patron of this unprecedented exhibition, collaborating with the New York City charity organization CITYarts; the artists; and the curators, Chantal and Brigitte Helenbeck of the Helenbeck Gallery, Paris.

According to a recent New York Times article, as a collection, the Porsche 911 hoods are colorful, whimsical and iconic. The artists, native NY graffiti writers, born between 1957 and 1966, commissioned for the Porsche collaboration, include:

-- BLADE: The godfather of the scene, often called the "King of Graf";
-- JonOne: Whose work has evolved from '70s train tagging to abstract
painting;
-- Sharp: Whose style is inspired by comic strips and ancient scripts;
-- Crash: An NYC graf pioneer who now has works in the Museum of Modern
Art; and
-- Daze: Whose work today is a continuation, on canvas, of the graffiti
movement.

All five works (spray paint on metal, 52" x 53" inches), are being sold for the benefit of CITYarts, a charity dedicated to engaging city children in constructive public art projects. CITYarts was chosen by Porsche Cars North America, Inc. as a partner in the collaboration because the five artists mentioned above tell varied stories of having no creative outlets as outer-borough NYC children in 1970s, and because the five artists all praise the work of CITYarts.