RISK’S EXHIBITION METALLIC TISSUE

RISK‘s solo exhibition titled “Metallic Tissue” at Fabien Castanier Gallery opened last weekend. For those of you that don’t know RISK. He’s the the Futura of the West Coast, the papa smurf of Graffiti, the Dumbledore of tagging and so on. See more pictures after the jump.

Graffiti writers have always managed to leave their mark, literally on the urban landscape and perhaps more profoundly on the subsequent generation of artists that follow them. And in Los Angeles, no other artist has had such a major impact on the evolution of graffiti than RISK. This historic exhibition signifies RISK’s imprint on society – tracing his influence on Southern California as well as on the worldwide stage.

With a career spanning 30 years, RISK has solidified his place in the history books as a world renowned graffiti legend. He has come a long way since he pioneered the painting of freeway overpasses, signs and billboards, dubbed “heavens.” Although RISK loves aerosol art, he sees it as merely just one genre in his life’s work. He has transformed from a street artist to a rising star in the contemproary art world.

For “Metallic Tissue,” the artist explores his versatility with various mediums and styles. For the past few years he has been painting large outdoor murals in a series called “Beautifully Destroyed,” with pieces that present color fields rather than lettering or imagery. Working with these aesthetics, he pushes the boundaries of traditional graffiti, deconstructing letters into abstract forms. While the majority of his recent work graces the walls of cities around the world, RISK sees the gallery space as a venue with no limits.

RISK took advantage of the gallery setting to create an environment unlike anything else. RISK melded elements from the natural habitat of his studio into the gallery and broke the boundaries of the physical paintings themselves. He has constructed canvases from cans he has collected on his artistic journey. These cans represent his DNA as an artist – the development and functioning of RISK as an artist, his “Metallic Tissue.”