Amidst an electronic soundscape and graffiti covered walls, the centrepiece of Wall Space Gallery’s Friday night exhibit shone through as something truly unique.
Ottawa-based artist Stefan Thompson sat with his tablet while his Photoshop time-lapse piece was projected on one of the gallery’s walls. The audience watched as the digital image was transformed into a variety of intertwined mythical animals, one shifting into another.
“We want people to be excited about art and excited about new media art. [The exhibit] is a bombardment of all your senses. From the visuals to the music, it’s just a good time,” said Cynthia Mykytyshyn, the curator of Night Light Masquerade.
Co-sponsor of the event, 100 Watt Productions, had recently hosted a masquerade themed production, which inspired Thompson’s collaborative exhibit to be a masquerade as well, according to gallery director Patricia Barr.
She said the masks were meant to convey a key element of graffiti art, whether it be paint on a wall or photoshopping over an image—the theme of anonymity.
The Wzrds Gng, a Montreal-based graffiti art collective said they were invited to attend the exhibit-turned-soirée by Thompson. Unlike him though, the group were putting brush to paint to wall and creating a live mural.
The leader of the group, “Iamrurik,” said he got into graffiti art the way most people do—out of boredom. From his innocent start, he said his style has remained pretty consistent.
“Overall what I painted then is pretty much what I paint now. . .It’s just a bit deeper, sometimes darker and more detailed.”
He said he loves graffiti art more than other forms of visual art.
“It’s like dancing on a wall,” he described.
Newest member of the “gng,” “Poundpuppy,” said she was always fascinated by graffiti art and decided to try it professionally after she joined the Wzrds Gng two years ago. As the only female member of the group, she said she never feels any different being the only girl in the group, but instead, it allows her to bring something special to the art.
“I bring a femininity for sure, but when we work together it blends. You can’t even tell in the final product, ‘oh a man drew this, a woman drew that.’ I think we really blend well,” she said.
The group said they have more art shows, installations, and especially murals on the horizon. Even with the time crunch, they still manage about one mural a week, with some taking longer like a recent two-story-high, 200 foot wide mural, according to “Cryote,” the third member of the group.
Mykytyshyn said she feels that as digital media and graffiti meet, the time allotment for each piece will be less, allowing the artist to get more done. As such, it will allow more freedom for the artists.
Barr agreed and said the shift in graffiti art is an overwhelmingly positive thing as the medium shifts from walls to tablet screens.
“The art is now sustainable and increasingly environmentally sustainable. You’re going to see a lot more digital media being used,” she said.
