Outdoor art appreciation and the founder of Hip-Hop - Under Pressure Today

Ah, an annual favorite of mine, I love Under Pressure. I like to bring some drawing or embroidery or something and a friend or two and spend the whole afternoon between the patio at Foufounes Electriques and wandering the alleys right behind, watching the dozens of painters on scaffolding throughout the day, making new signatures and murals appear. Last year I went with George and watched Tim Barnard paint and draw on the side of the wall at Foufs, right after meeting him at the Indyish launch weekend. (Tim just updated his website, check it out: http://www.timbarnard.com/ )

Under Pressure - the annual event by the indie magazine of the same name - is great fun, lots of really young people and maybe a fight or two but mostly good vibes. The art is not necessarily the best in local graffiti, mostly because the walls get divided into compartments so it ends up looking like a grid of unconnected pieces - square slots for egos - instead of a coherent piece showing give and take between the artists across the space. But there are other graffiti jams that are more about the creative challenge of collaboration and high aesthetic expectations. Under Pressure is about bringing together as many artists as possible in one spot, and that’s a specific and grand thing. This year you can check out Kool Herc (wow!) and Montreal’s Narcicyst

Final Countdown: Time is a precious commodity soon to be traded like stock. Nobodys got it, everyone wants it. We are always running out. Time waits for no man. When you package, count, take stock, lock down, tag, bag, load in, load out, pick up, arrange, sign, seal and deliver things get blurry. Time keeps on ticking. This newsletter is dedicated to behind the scenes, the hard work, the late nights, the logistics, late night schemes and espionage. No guts no glory. Join Under Pressure with special guest Kool Herc Sun Aug 12th Montreal QC, Canada. If ya don’t know… now you know we put New Era stickers on issue #14 by hand.