BIGGIE TRIBUTE

Poster

A tribute to east coast hiphop and a night out in Bed Stuy.

One warm evening, my brother and I walked through Bed Stuy with some donuts in hand. People walking, getting their shopping done, some hanging out listening to music, etc. Nothing out of the ordinary for the neighborhood when I saw this art installment of a Mercedes with "THANKS" painted on it, with a boombox atop.

Moments later, I stumbled upon the mural of Biggie. The two together felt serendipitous. I had this warming sensation that community was around. Despite the distancing from the culture that's occurred from economic division and gentrification, it felt like this area was really embodying the culture of art.

CLIENT
Personal

The mural that inspired this piece was in threats of being destroyed.

The building owner wanted to add windows. This did cause controversy and I was motivated further to help immortalize the piece.

I started thinking, "Thanks".. that's nice. Thanks to Biggie, sure. But even more, thanks to New York for what you've done for art. Thanks to Spike Lee for film and one of the most influential movies, "Do the Right thing". Thanks to Basquiat though not New York born, certainly not a stranger to the area.

Simplicity was my personal challenge.

I'd send comps to friends asking where I could simplify, they'd say, 'Well what if we got rid of x or y?' and most of the time removing helped create the focus where it needed to be.

The eye starts at the eyes of biggie, and follow his nose downward until it hit's the next highest contrast in value in proximity, which is the chain, pointing down to the secondary point of attention, "Thanks". From there I was hoping you'd be dragged down and around up to the roof gardens through the ladders climbing upward.