Q & A: NEW YORK GRAFFITI ARTIST KET
by CHRIS GROSSO on Jul.22, 2009, under KET via
HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN DOING ART?
As a kid I drew a bit but I started to take it a bit more serious in 1987 when I started to write on trains.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO BECOME AN ARTIST?
I was inspired by the writers i met in high school and by the writer’s whose names I saw on the walls and the trains in my neighborhood. I wanted to be like them, to paint like them, and I wanted to be up. My neighborhood looked better as a result of the writer’s pieces and throw ups. I loved it.
WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE ARTISTS?
As far as writers go its Phase2, Stayhigh149, MICO, Part One, Chain 3, Kel First, Sonic, Ghost, Sento, Reas, Case 2, Wane, Wolf, and Pure in New York City.
Outside of the NY area I would add Charlie, Risky, Denz, Revok, Hews, Ease, Apex, Persue, Saber, Ich, and Space.
Worldwide there are too many but a few are: Neon, Mode 2, Sabe, Rusto, Smash 137, Askew, Atome, Delta, Oclock, Banksy, Os Gemeos, and Oker.
Besides that Emory Douglas, John Byrne, Jose Parla, Doze Green, Van Gogh, Kandinsky, Rodin, Mare 139, Futura, Jon One, Romare Bearden, Hank Willis Thomas, Steve Marcus, Lee Quinones, Dredd Scott, Murikami, and too many others to name…
IN REGARDS TO GRAFFITI, WHICH AREA HAVE YOU BEEN MOST PROUD TO GET UP ON?
Subways have always my favorite. Any city, any country once the mission is complete and the trains are in service I am proud. I am also thankful to have painted with writers that I consider to be legendary figures in New York City’s history: Part One, Fuzz One, and Tack among others.
WHO HAVE BEEN SOME OF YOUR FAVORITE COLLABORATORS?
Sento, Duel, Ghost, Zeno, Sabe, Cave, Wane, Fuzz One, Part One, Noxer, Smith, and Ven.HOW IMPORTANT IS IT TO YOU, AFTER ALL THE SUCCESS YOU HAVE HAD, TO GET OUT THERE AND RISK YOUR FREDOM TO CREATE A PIECE ON THE STREETS?
I do it when I can and for my own personal satisfaction. It is important to be in the streets either legally or illegally. It is also important for me to express myself in public freely on my own terms sometimes that means breaking the law. That is fine by me. I, like other writers, do not expect to get caught.
HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH MAGAZINE EDITING AND PUBLISHING?
In 1995 while in college I launched Stress magazine. The magazine was an answer to the Source magazine which I felt wasn’t representing Hip Hop properly as well as a voice for people of color that were under-represented in media. The magazine went on to have major success and it launched my career in publishing. In 1999 the economy got tight with record label consolidation and the dot-com bust and by 2000 these events caused us to have lower than needed advertising revenues and forced us to shut down. The next year I started to build Complex magazine for the Ecko Unlimited company. The owners Marc and Seth approached me because of my expertise as well as our long standing business relationship and friendship. The magazine is still going and since I finished that project I have moved on to do many custom publishing ventures and book projects. My latest release is SENTO: The Fantastic Partners with my publishing partners in Germany – From Here to Fame Publishing. This fall I am lucky enough to have three releases, two with FHTF: PART ONE, The Death Squad and New York City Black Book Masters, the other is Graffiti Planet 2 which surveys style writing around the globe.STARTING IN JULY AND RUNNING TIL NOVEMBER, YOU HAVE A CARTIER FOUNDATION SHOW IN PARIS, HOW DID YOU GET INVOLVED WITH THEM?
I was introduced to the curators at the Foundation Cartier by my friend Jon One. They were looking for someone to help them organize and conceptualize an exhibition on New York graffiti. As a result of my close connections and experience working with many writers in New York City and my expertise as a project manager and with the subject matter I was an obvious choice. After a series of meetings I was offered the opportunity to work with them.
ARE YOU PROVIDING AN INSTALLATIONOR CANVAS AT THE PARIS SHOW?
No, I was able to advise the Cartier team on what to do for the New York historical section of the show. This included commissioning PHASE 2, SEEN, and PART ONE to do site specific installations, something I am very proud of as all three rarely if ever do this type of work and should be recognized. I am pleased that we are able to showcase the work of the photographer Flint Gennari who most people do not know as well as never before seen shots by Henry Chalfant and Martha Cooper. In addition, showcasing original art from the UGA collective from 1973 and the videos of early pioneers by COCO 144 were icing on the cake. Of course there are many other components to the exhibition like blackbooks, sketches, and other items but these are some that I think are very rare and satisfying to share with the public. As far as my own artwork I just did some throw-ups on the outside of the exhibition building.
DO YOU APPROACH PAINTING IN A FOREIGN COUNTRY THE SAME AS YOU DO IN THE STATES, ARE THERE TASTES DIFFERENT?I approach painting everywhere the same. All I need is paint and if I am lucky a local bomber to rock with. I am lucky that this movement is international and there are such great people to paint with all over the planet.
IS THERE ANY SPOTS IN AMERICA PEOPLE WILL BE ABLE TO SEE YOUR WORK SOON?
You can always see my work in the streets of New York and in my neighborhood. If you aren’t in NYC just check out my flickr page where I occasionally upload images of my work to my flickr account. www.flickr.com/ketoneIF YOU COULD RE-DESIGN THE COVER OF ANY BOOK, WHAT WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
Style Writing from the Underground by IGTimes/Phase 2 is one of them.
WHO ARE YOUR FAVORITE HEROES?
Malcolm X, Subcomandante Marcos, El CheWHAT MUSIC DO YOU PREFER WHEN YOU ARE WORKING?
old Salsa and Cumbia, Mos Def, Mad Lib’s jazz mixes, MF Doom, Public Enemy
Last words….
Support your local writer! Buy a painting, bail them out, give them props. Peace.
