Wearing Rags Among the Riches... Milan, Italy

Going from Ljubljana to Milan I missed the first train. This wouldn't have bothered me as I wasn't on a strict time schedule, but the only other train going to Italy that day got me into Venice in the middle of the night and there was no train going to Milan until the next morning. Venice is an absurdly expensive city not to mention packed with tourists so I knew that a hotel for the night was out of the question. I arrived in Venice around 11pm and the first train leaving for Milan was at 7am, this gave me 8 hours to give myself a nocturnal tour of the city, one that included a couple hundred US Postal Stickers. After finishing the stickers and feeling exhausted I knew I had to sleep. The best accomodation I could find at that time was some cardboard and a construction site next to an historic church. I climbed in and bundled up, but even with nearly every inch of my skin covered I managed to suffer at least 10 brutal mosquito bites. I should have known that in the summer time in a city built on water the mosquitoes were bound to be bad…

So the next day it was out of the gutter, onto the train, and into the heart of Milan. Above and I went to his friend Susanna’s house, who I have to give the biggest Thank You to for letting the two of us stay in her place, without her there, and without having ever actually met us before that moment other than by email. That’s called Faith in Humanity and it’s inspiring to meet people like. If you’re lucky to meet somebody like that it’s only right to treat them with just as much respect as they've treated you, if not more. A huge thank you also to Alice, who’s trust and faith in us was just as amazing, even to invite us to fashion parties where we definitely didn’t belong wearing the clothes that we had been traveling with for the past few months. We were wearing rags among the riches and they actually seemed to like it…



Typical





















Milan was all about facades. The people cover theirs with thousands of euros of Gucci and Prada gear while the buildings are sporting a much more authentic urban look, with 1000’s of tags and scribbling that seems to never get washed off.




















THIS IS THE END! But the work is just beginning. Please check out the archives for posts on the other 23 cities or so that I visited during this intense voyage. I'm still moving though, keep your eyes open for a trip next year I will embark on throughout South America. And I would love for any of you to get in touch, remember I can't read your thoughts so send them my way in writing.

Ljubljana, Slovenia (pr. Loo-bee-ah-nah)

The train ride between Croatia and Ljubljana, Slovenia was probably one of the most beautiful and relaxing train rides I've taken yet, and it helped a lot to have a big grinning morka waiting to pick me up at the train station. HUGE thanks to Morka and Ivona for giving me a place to crash, showing me the best Mexican spot in Slovenia (ha, did I just say that?) and showing me around one of the most gorgeous little cities I've visited yet.

Despite its size though it still gets its fair share of tourists. There were more than a few foreign artists who had passed through here before and left their mark, not to mention some serious local talent. I have to say though that the amount of beef between the local artists was silly. Especially in such a small scene there's just no room for that bullshit. Work together and take that city over! You've all got more talent and creativity than I saw in a lot of other, much bigger, cities.

With no time to prepare smaller works for the streets I just focused on painting. Here's why...



a bit of a tease...



Don't let it all go prematurely...



That building in the background used to be a prison, now it's one of the top rated hostels in the world. That wall in front, well you can see...







Time to rest my arms now...

Zagreb and My Lack of Background...

I knew very little about Zagreb, Croatia before I arrived except for the fact that some great people were waiting for me there. Lunar aka Organizer of the World greeted me as I got off the train. The search for a place to crash was a bit of a pain and we met a few less than friendly Croatians in the process (not a common thing in Zagreb from my experience). Finally I found a comfortable place to rest up and call home for the next few days.

As I said Lunar is the man in Croatia who makes it all happen and he got me up bright and early the next day to go paint with a bunch of his friends. Painting with locals is always the best part about visiting a new place. The funny part was it also turned into a bit of a show for some of the younger kids. During breaks from painting (or when the rain decided to pour down on us) I ended up signing blackbooks and answering more questions than I even knew existed about graff and art. It was a strange experience for me as I've never had anybody treat me like I was famous or something before this. But everyone was really nice and treated me well. I was also lucky enough to meet up with all the great people running Boonika.com. You guys are passionate as hell about what you do and only good things can come from that, keep rocking out.

Thanks again to everybody for everything. Next time I'll have to come back with better weather and more time to paint. Maybe even get in a background or two...









Nikola Tesla invented the Tesla coil, a device that lets off colorful charges of high voltage (and probably does other things I don't even known about). Up above you can see my own energy released in colorful ways, an homage?






rainy days...






Some color to brighten up a grey day... The guy on the corner didn't seem so happy when I first put this piece up and he began yelling at me in Croatian. I had to tell him it was an advertisement before he let me go on my way. I wonder what he would have done had I explained that it was a just a gift.






lean back but there's no round...


After Zagreb it was on to Slovenia. Try to pronounce this one... Ljubljana.

Bombed Belgrade

Arriving in Serbia was probably the worst ride yet. What started as a 6 hour trip turned into a 12 ½ hour endurance test. The first 2 hours of the trip were spent crouched in the hallway of the train because the cabin where my seat was had been occupied by a large family of gypsies. They got off after a little while and I was able to take my seat and relax a bit. That was also when I realized the train was crawling along at about 10 mph. Apparently we had been late to one stop and had to go slow so the trains that were on time could pass us and keep their schedules. So instead of having a few trains about 30 minutes they decided that they could sacrifice 6 hours of our time. The time wasn’t the only problem though, no one planned on being on the train for so long so nobody had any food or water either, and it was more than a bit stuffy. So I arrived in Belgrade exhausted, starving, and dying of thirst. Thankfully my friend Benussi was there waiting with some fresh jokes to cheer me up and some nourishment when we got back to his house.

Belgrade turned out to be an amazing city and in the week I was there I got to know a lot of different sides to it. The third night I was there I saw the streets go crazy when Serbia won the World Cup of Water Polo. The last night I was there I almost got arrested, not for art crimes but for not having my passport on me! I played the dumb tourist and got out of it but a couple of my friends did get busted for tagging, although they were out of jail in probably no more than 45 minutes. So much different than the West!

Lots of work got done as well. My second day there I went straight out to rock a roller piece, according to my friend Boem the biggest ever done in Serbia, matched only by the piece he threw up next to mine. It’s a great feeling thinking that the work I left there is going to get other people to think and take their work to the next level. It’s all about planting seeds and Eastern Europe was perfect for that.

Biggest thanks to Ogi for a place to crash and tours of the city. Also the city wouldn’t’ have been the same without Lore, Kata, and TKV. You guys taught me the ways of Belgrade, the ways to paint it and the ways to party in it too. You three have got that city where you want it, hold it down and spread the knowledge.



Lunch time goodness. The colors in this photo are kinda great.



And the close up shows the colors of the piece were pretty great to start with, not to mention a perfect green wall just waiting for it.









Crazy lines and angles in this one.



What are they talking about here?



Maybe patterning and compositions? probably not



It kinda came together a bit better in this one.



They all agreed and kept moving.



Descending down from way up there.



You might need a close up for this one.



ETNO? OH NO! It's RIPO. Read it big, yo. Glad I got to throw some paint on the wall while I was here.


Belgrade surprised me to be honest, I didn't know what to expect considering I never in my whole life expected to visit it. But I'm defintely glad I did. Some of my favorite pieces i painted of the trip came out there, not to mention the great people and times I had there.

One last picture to leave you with, to show you it wasn't always fun, sun, and paint in Belgrade. This one courtesy of NATO.

The Bulgaria Report (And a Bit of Personal Reflection)

First I'll just start with a quick note about traveling from Athens to Sofia, Bulgaria. I'm not going to elaborate but if you ever find yourself in the train station in Thessaloniki DO NOT use the bathrooms. Some seriously creepy shit going on there...

But once in Sofia I definitely enjoyed myself. Major thank yous to Red One and Xpome (that's pronounced cRo-may!) for putting me up in their homes and hooking up a dope painting session (whats up to DACrew and CMS Crew!), showing me some great styles, taking me around the city, and even getting me a couple nice homecooked meals. While in the car going to paint on the outskirts of Sofia I suddenly stopped and looked around for a second and sort of had a revelation. I was in the middle of Bulgaria, a country I never imagined visiting and barely even knew where it was on the map before this, I was being driven around (like a bat out of hell) by people who I had met less than 24 hours earlier to go paint just for the sake of creating something, and I suddenly realized I felt completely comfortable, welcome, and at home despite being in such a foreign situation.

This made me start thinking about how almost all of the places I visited and the people I've met on this trip I didn't know at all before starting out, and the only reason I was lucky enough to experience these things was because of a common bond I share with an enormous community of people who want to paint/create, meet new people and share ideas. You realize when this happens that even though this world is so fucked up right now with an open mind and a goal of living your life as you want you can find yourself anywhere and make anything happen. I don't want to get all cheesy and preachy right now but I think this is worth all of us thinking about and reflecting on in our own lives and the way we choose to live them.

Anyway, Bulgaria has a great scene coming up and just about everybody I met there was cool as hell. Worth checking out and you´ll find that more than a couple artists you might recognize have passed through there before...



Watchers keep watching, and I step in unnoticed.



This is definitely an international affair.



Something so stiff and grey definitely needed a bit of color in it.



There's no way I can compete with that color.



And my own colors.



I don't know what this says but according to everybody I met this is the biggest meeting point in all of Bulgaria. I guess I didn't have a choice in hitting it then.



Things got a little funky in this one though.



Ya know, just strolling along, jumping up on some shit. It's cool...






Welcome to our house...



Inside you might find some big roller pieces such as this one...


So Bulgaria was definitely a trip. Just being there was wild enough but getting to throw paint on the wall, get some works up in the city, and meet some crazy people made it more than worth it. Although the train ride from Bulgaria to Serbia... shit, I'll explain next time.


Oh, and I found this unfortunate design error while in Sofia. Nothing to do with my work, but always good to end things with a joke.

93 (BC) Till Infinity... Athens, Greece

Athens was without question the sickest city I saw on this tour as far as graff and art in the streets is concerned. The amount and quality of the work there was just insane. Even in the center of the city you see full color, clean, and beautiful pieces, and the crazies mix of different styles. Straight graffiti, crazy ass letter styles, clean characters, funky characters, dirty rollers, fucking enormous murals, sculptural pieces, collages, tags to fill you up for days, posters like the ad agencies are losing the battle, and stickers so caked on you can’t look at a stop sign without having to literally peel your eyes off it. Maybe I’m going a little over the top but I really haven’t seen a city with this much good work in it in a long time (BCN RIP). Go there and be inspired.

But no matter what a city is like it always helps to meet up with the right people. As soon as I stepped off the train from one of the most gorgeous train rides through the Greek countryside I was met by Eros and Dreyk the Pirate. We headed home to relax and eat. And they know how to eat in Greece! No kidding, Greek Salads are exactly what you’d hope for, (Dreyk’s mom hooked it up homestyle!), and the Souvlaki will make you happy as shit then realize you can’t walk for the next hour. But after a nice Frappé (iced Nescafe) you’re ready to rock. Except it takes the Greeks about 2 hours to drink one cup of coffee…

Thank you again to everybody who I stayed with, painted with, and showed me the city: Eros, Dreyk, Phaz, Inva, and the rest of the Amigos Crew.

Despite the time it takes to have a cup of coffee there (and maybe some Ouzo on the side) I obviously made the most of my time.


Real rises to the top in Monastiraki Square.



On a column full of ads and concert posters... something Gratis



Clean white mediterrean walls.



How'd it get that high up? Help from some flying friends.









And the light caught this one just right...



Look into my eyes, or behind them. Older materials taken back with some new style.



Hide away stencil.



The old mixed with the new.



And the old mixed with the new. Split screen style.



Lots of women in windows with price tags on them. Reminds me of something I saw in Amsterdam once...



Some funky colors and style on this one. And one funky language. malaka.



Something to Reflect Back on.



Holy shit that's the Acropolis in the background...



I'm pretty sure I didn't stick that one on the floor. But a few days later look where I found it...



Well, I said I had to paint in Athens. These pigeons don't sleep.


I can't even start to show the hundreds of photos I took of other people's work in Athens, but I'm sure you can find some on Flickr or wherever. Best way to do it though is to go there and get in touch with some of the talented people that live in that city. The streets are bleeding with art. Go do your part. Go!

Istanbul, Turkey

Travelling around Eastern Europe is a bit different than the "luxurious" train rides of the West. With nothing but incredibly slow trains available between Bucharest and Istanbul it was back to the wonderful world of bus travel. What would have been about a 12 hour ride, no easy task to begin with, quickly turned into a nearly 16 hour long journey in a hot and smoky bus. That's right, I said smoky. Smoking was allowed in the bus and as far as I knew there was no way to open the windows. *cough*

The most fun part of the whole trip came about 3 hours into it when crossing the border from Romania into Bulgaria. Apparently the bus we were on was actually some sort of smuggling business and everyone on it except for Above and I seemed to be carrying as many cartons of cigarettes and bottles of Jack Daniels as they possibly could. Inevitably the Bulgarian border patrol stopped the bus, kicked everyone off, and searched everything. Busted! We had to wait nearly 3 hours while they carried off what must have been about 50 cartons of cigarettes and 75 bottles of JD, then I watched as the bus driver pleaded, nearly in tears, and begged the police to let them take back their stuff and go. I don't know what was said but after a few hours we were back on the bus and back on our way to Istanbul. No one got arrested but I'm sure some cash exchanged hands somewhere. The police and just about everybody else on the bus were pretty confused as to how the hell Above and I found our way into that situation...

So regardless of the stressful voyage it was great to arrive in Istanbul. It was hard to imagine that I had really just travelled all the way from Spain up to Finland and was now arriving all the way down in Turkey. This city blew me away in so many ways. The people were amazingly friendly everywhere I went and visually it was just an overload. In about a week I shot well over 1000 photos. Below I've posted a lot of photos of my work but I also had to share some of my other pics from my time there. I hope you appreciate them.

Thank you so much to Eren, Egemen, Khan, and John for giving me a sofa to sleep on and showing me the city. The drawing sessions on the balcony, and the parties we had there, are not to be forgotten! Teşekkür!

NOW, the work...







The mirror for this was provided by a small store near Taksim that had a pile of roughly 30 slightly cracked or weird shaped mirrors outside. I asked them how much for one and they said I could take them all for free if I wanted. Due to time and weight restrictions because of traveling I wasn't able to take much of an advantage of the situation. Right now I would kill for another find like that...









I loved the arabic typography I found everywhere in Istanbul. My own typography was a nice contrast to what I found here.



Close Up



Black, white, and red, one of my favorite combos.



And the color coordination goes beyond the close up...









There's something about pieces next to video cameras... It's so satisfying.



Oops, busted.



In a world of grey and yellow a bit of red and green certainly stick out.



Just slightly peering out at you.



The mosques in Istanbul were gorgeous.



And so is she.



Probably one of my favorite photos from Istanbul. The clash of cultures in this shot is amazing. A bit of the East, a bit of the West, and a bit of me.



Twin pigeon, double the fun.



This was a gift I left for those who were kind enough to invite me into their home. Thanks again.


As I promised here are a couple of my favorite photos from my time in Istanbul. These are just a taste as there are way too many to post here. Enjoy.














The clash of Eastern and Western cultures in Istanbul is what has always, and continues, to make it such an interesting and lively city, not to mention the amazing food.

The Wild East... Bucharest, Romania

First off Bucharest was fucking amazing and I have way too much to say about the city itself, the time I spent there, and most importantly the people I met there to ever be able to fit it all in here. If I leave anything or anyone out please don't feel neglected! There's just too many things to say...

I do feel really fortunate to have been there when I was. Romania just joined the European Union and within a short period of time this city is going to change drastically, some may say for the better others will say for the worst (can you say gentrification?). I'm in no place to judge that but it will certainly become much more commercial (although it already has more billboards than any other city I've ever been to, and I'm from NYC!) and the raw feeling, abandoned spaces, and at times absurd infrastructure will most likely disappear. Good thing? depends who you ask...

The graffiti and street art scene there is still fairly small. Because of this the city is just wide open to artists working in the streets. Putting up work during the day was no problem as most people didn't understand what I was even doing. I was also lucky enough to have the great guidance of Sinboy and Vlad and Victor Nanca. Thank you again to Sinboy and Georgia for letting Above and I take over your apartment while in town!

As I've said before it's always the people that make a place great to visit, and I was lucky enough to meet some of the most amazing people living in Bucharest. Vlanca, Sinboy, Mirela, Georgia, and Gabista, you all hold that city down like nobody else. I'll never forget the nights climbing up and down the old Ministry of Labor Building (and the subsequent tetnis shot and amazing care I received during my recovery), the painfully delicious tap water, the plate of food at Galeria Galeria, and way too many late night kebabs for my stomach to handle.

Alright enough talking, here's the work...



This was something new for me, and I fucking loved it. Working with mirrors on the streets literally brings the environment into the piece and this idea, along with the visuals of it, got me really inspired. Look for lots more of this from me...



This is one of the central plazas of Bucharest. In the background is the National Theater. Within a few hours of arriving in the city I was invited to paint a wall at the bar area on the roof. I actually don't have any pics of the wall as I somehow deleted them from my camera, but it was a bit of an ordeal and the best things that came from it were the people I met and the tons of paint we racked from the project and used elsewhere in the city...
Oh yeah, and you see those wires overhead? Welcome to the wonderful world of Romanian internet, cable, and electricity, all bundled together on one pole.






In the heart of the old town. An interesting area with lots of gypsies and tourists, a dangerous combo. But adding some color to the scene seemed like a good idea.



Classic beauty in a classic spot.


This abandoned building in the middle of the old town was gorgeous.



Close up






After putting this up I saw a flyer on the building that apparently read they were filming an X-Box commercial there the next day. I told you external commercialism was coming to Bucharest!



I told you that we racked a bunch of paint and hit up the city. High above the city. Kinda sketchy but so well worth it.



And here's what came from all the hard work. I can only hope that this piece and this buildling last when the commerce and money start pouring into Bucharest like so many obnoxious tourists. As Vlad Nanca once said "They come here, they take our women, they paint our walls..."


I can't express what a great time I had in Bucharest. Truly inspiring.

Budapest, Hungary

Being on the road for so long definitely takes its toll on your body. As soon as I got a chance to pamper myself I went for it. The very first thing I did when i got to Budapest was go straight to one of the incredible Turkish Bathhouses that it has. The one I went to was enormous, with 2 huge outdoor thermal pools, a blazing hot sauna, ice cold "jacuzzi", and about 4 or 5 salt water pools, and probably plenty of other things I didn't even find in the massive complex.

After sweating out and relaxing away months on the road I was treated to a serious homemade Hungarian meal by the family of my good friend W1 of the Tartsd Lent Projekt, who more than graciously let Above and I crash at his place. Thank you so much again for the beds, guides of the city and always enough food in the kitchen for me to stuff myself with at any time of the day or night.

The first night of going out to put up work with Above, W1, and his good friend Deux was a big failure. After first almost getting busted for riding the bus without a ticket the mood was pretty much set for the rest of the evening. Running around, paintings falling down, too many questions from people on the streets, and finally pouring rain to send us home. After that I was determined to rock this city. The next night out couldn't have gone smoother and all 4 of us his some sick spots and got some nice works up. Check out the pics to prove it...



In the center of the busy shopping district in Budapest I wanted to give people something they wouldn't expect...



Something 100% Free



Ice cream and artwork and some great colors.






A splash of color on a grey day. Flying the flag high






I constantly had problems figuring out where I was in Budapest, my sense of direction totally failed me there, except for here.






This area is packed during the day and dead at night, kind of perfect. This abandoned awning was just dying for a little love.



Simple color combo and the splatter gives this piece a bit of action. She looks pretty gorgeous too, as always.


got a chance to pamper myself I went for it. The very first thing I did when i got to Budapest was go straight to one of the incredible Turkish Bathhouses that it has. The one I went to was enormous, with 2 huge outdoor thermal pools, a blazing hot sauna, ice cold "jacuzzi", and about 4 or 5 salt water pools, and probably plenty of other things I didn't even find in the massive complex.

After sweating out and relaxing away months on the road I was treated to a serious homemade Hungarian meal by the family of my good friend W1 of the Tartsd Lent Projekt, who more than graciously let Above and I crash at his place. Thank you so much again for the beds, guides of the city and always enough food in the kitchen for me to stuff myself with at any time of the day or night.

The first night of going out to put up work with Above, W1, and his good friend Deux was a big failure. After first almost getting busted for riding the bus without a ticket the mood was pretty much set for the rest of the evening. Running around, paintings falling down, too many questions from people on the streets, and finally pouring rain to send us home. After that I was determined to rock this city. The next night out couldn't have gone smoother and all 4 of us his some sick spots and got some nice works up. Check out the pics to prove it...



In the center of the busy shopping district in Budapest I wanted to give people something they wouldn't expect...



Something 100% Free



Ice cream and artwork and some great colors.






A splash of color on a grey day. Flying the flag high






I constantly had problems figuring out where I was in Budapest, my sense of direction totally failed me there, except for here.



I'm on the computer a bit too much as it is, but come on...




I just couldn't help myself.


Budapest was a beautiful city and I wish I had gotten to spend more time there. It's definitely got some action going down on the streets art-wise but it could do with more. If you get the chance go hit it! and definitely drop W1 a line, he's holding it down.