TOOFLY NYC

Nina Shunku – a community space in the Centro Historico of Quito, and one of my favorite spaces to support. When I arrived back in 2012 the building was in shambles but little by little the crew has fixed it up and is now running education programs, workshops, music events, cultural gatherings and much more. Proud of them! It as time to rock a new piece before my trip to NY and squeezed it in just in time for the 7/10 year anniversary event.

Hello 2019 — new year, new projects! Setting it off with a collaboration wall production with one of Quito, Ecuador’s most recognized street artist APITATAN. He’s been making moves for years, and is a leading aerosol artist in many ways for the culture. We have been meaning to work on a piece together for some time now so when our friend @Sramdip from Nepal arrived for a visit we decided to go for it. As character artists, and in touch with our energy frequency we felt a mystical theme would work great with Sramdip’s pyramid calligraphy. It took about a weekend to get our schedules organized to meet up and get to work. Worked it out as best we could, and was happy with the time we had to build. Also the 1st MTN aerosol graffiti shop has arrived to Quito and was a few blocks away. We will brew! stay tuned…

“VIBRATIONS” Location:  Calle Pablo Claudel Street Jipijapa sector

Thank you friends!

#Tooflypopup at the next La Carishina event in Quito, Ecuador December 15 & 16 from 11am -7PM. See you there!

This fall I had the pleasure of reconnecting with my friend Jose since our days at School of Visual Arts. As the Artist Programs Manager of the Youth Artist Initiative at Joan Mitchell Foundation he is able to find creative ways to expose young alumni to professional careers in the arts. I am so thankful for the invitation to speak about my work, and to provide guidance and tips to young passionate minds. It was such and honor, and it made me super happy to see my friend with a big heart again. Thank you for all you do!

The 1XRun X RickyPowell X Toofly collab has dropped! It is so much fun to draw and illustrate on top of photography, especially images by the legendary Ricky Powell who’s street photography of Hip Hop artists, and New York City life over the years captured captured classic moments in time. Check out sneek peek at the 3 embellished workscreated for the project featuring Rakim and LL Cool J. Mutual Respect is a Beautiful Thing! Thank you Ricky for the invitation to participate in this series. I absolutely love it!

Back in the studio. It’s time to re-cap the experience of the Akumal Arts festival! Wow…where do I start?

Based on experience to these massive projects, especially for the 1st time one has to be patient, and organized. The crew did it’s best to accommodate all 70 artists. An ambitious number to manage but when your heart is in it, you have money, man power, and event is in a reasonably sized town everything is possible. Once artists had what they needed it to start their walls, we were rockin’. I think also when you personally prepare in advance it helps you a lot. Your travel, transport, paint list, accommodation details, etc; all small details are important too. Organizers can only do their best when they are being bombarded with a million questions during a festival. I experienced it with our Warmi Paint Festival and I can definitely say it is not easy. As an artist in a festival to be self sufficient as much as possible is in your benefit. The rest eventually falls into place.

I specifically planned on a small wall for this event because #1 HEAT EXHAUSTION. Mexico is hot, and if your wall has no shade your fucked for hours #2 IT’S THEIR 1ST EVENT. You can expect things not to go perfect #3 EQUIPMENT. It is never on time at any festival and with 70 artists there’s no way plenty of ladders / scaffolds will be available. So expect the unexpected and work around it.

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One of my favorite destinations to vacay and paint! I’ve been visiting various parts of Mexico for a good couple of years now, and each trip is better than the next. The country, the people, the food, the culture. I fall more and more in love with it on each trip. I am thankful for the opportunity to paint at the very 1st Akumal Beach Arts Festival this coming November. I plan to paint something beautiful, as well as educational to raise awareness to sea life issues. #ClimateAction is at the forefront of many of our mural projects these days. We need to raise awareness on what is happening in the animals in the oceans and decay in sea life/plant life. As humans we have to get mega strict on using less plastic, and educating ourselves on ways to do less harm to the planet. If each of us do something to change our ways it can help. If your in Cancun on vacation, take that 1hr ride to Akumal and check us out Nov 9,10, 11th. Support the cause, support the festival.

Sketch is ready, flight is booked, and artist lodging is amazing! There is a lot of artists involved, looking forward to meeting them all plus the festival crew.

Need more details? – learn more about the project on their facebook page and articles like Yucatan Times.

4Yr Anniversary at Torno Co-Lab! I love this place. A co-working location in center of Quito, Ecuador where architects, designers, and artists get together to work, and develop creative projects. Follow them and check out what they have been up to. Growing each year. Thank you for the invitation to paint. Joins Back X Toofly collab was fun under the beautiful sunshine. Just what I needed to get my wrist back on track.

Final Collaboration Photo coming soon!

Yes! we’re finally able to share a really fun installation project that took place this past summer in the heart of NY. The Lower East Side has a rich history, and true school New Yorkers all have memories of what it was like “back in the day”. 5Pointz Creates set out to capture the essence of what continues to make the “lower” special “A Vertical Love Letter to the Bowery” curated by Marie Cecile Flageul and directed by our dear friend Meres. A staircase with 21 floors, and 21 artists who work hard to represent and evolve as artists no mater what label they give us. Writers, graffiti artists, street artists, fine artists, painters, etc; in the end many of us are all that. If you are paying attention you can see how the lines have started to blur. Go up, or go down the stairs and you will see a variety of aerosol art letter pieces, portraits, landscapes, quotes, and designs that make this installation the Museum of Street Art aka MoSABowery. The more artists, and property owners can work together with respect/honor with deas like this the more we can keep the urban arts alive.

@MosaBowery project at the new CitizenM hotel will open to the public October 1st from ( 10am-5pm with ID) Free of charge. A great experience for art lovers and travelers worldwide, especially those that miss 5Pointz and want to learn more about the graffiti history of NY. Be sure to take a flick and hashtag  your favorite artist and the project — #5pointzcreates, #mosabowery, #citizenm

Yeo! remember the time when they looked at all of us like vandals who wore baggy clothes, listened to hip hop, and were up to “no good”. Look at us now! — all grown up, doing what we love as artists, and putting out a positive message for the next generation. Boooooooooya trueschool new yorkers baby #5pointz4ever

THANK YOU NY! #tooflynyc / @Toofly_NYC

Graffiti Productions in Quito with Alm Crew, and #GraffitiMujer Collective – more soon. Follow @Toofly_NYC on IG for more flicks.

@RudaFest in Bogota, Colombia last week was DOOOOOPE! I am very proud of my friend Ledania and Gerardo for teaming up to make this happen. Together with a tight team they put together a very well organized weekend event. The collaboration was on point. Dope location, dope hotel, dope artists, dope place to eat ( Canasto Bistro )  and great place to kick back and enjoy art and drinks LIVE! For community of all ages to enjoy. Various artists participated in this event Eelco from Holland – hella cool dude, Ben Johnston from Canada who made me laugh a ton!, Muretz from Brazil and his ill tattoos and many more like Type of Tape which I really digged’. This was my first time in Bogota which reminded of Quito, Ecuador. Mountains, historic city, modern shops, as well as parts of a nightlife city. Bogota has a ton of graffiti too – more so than I have ever seen anywhere else which is why I think they call it the mecca of graff in Latin America. I saw works on the streets by friends like Guache, Stinkfish, and Skore999. Overall event and my stay was awesome. I wish I could of have squeezed in another wall or two next time! Special shout out to the RudaFest team for the invitation and hospitality. I had a great time painting, and working closely with the staff who helped us on the lyfts, the projections, materials, and transport. Met some great people too that I plan to stay in touch with. Our international arts & culture community keeps growing and our travelz helps to bring us together as a arts family. Thank you COLOMBIA!

words and images soon

Images and words coming soon…