When someone says trains, art is not the first thing that comes to mind. One may think: large loud dirty machines that hold me up as I try to get past this crossing to the other side of the road. To the average person, a litany of fleeting thoughts probably comes to mind when they see or think of trains. Something as gaudy and grimy as the railroad cannot possibly have any artistic value what so ever.

Art, in its purest sense, began to appear on trains as far back post bellum America. For years, decades even after this period, the art of and on trains remained a clandestine activity. It was allusive and mysterious. In the late 1960s, the thought of art and trains, together, took the proverbial giant evolutionary leap forward with the introduction of the spray paint can.

Out of this phenomenon grew an entirely new culture known today as writing graffiti. In a more broad sense, writing graffiti is an iatrical part of the development and history of the Hip Hop culture which is now as much a part of American culture as baseball or apple pie.

The Steel Wheels Show captures that very narrow sliver of space where art and trains exist together. Steel Wheels Show is a well-planned event that has succeeded at securing a cult following over the last 3 years.

The upcoming third installment will bring fresh new art to quench the thirst of the loyal follower and art enthusiast who has never seen this spectacular intriguing event. Artist range from the old to the new who employ a wide variety of mediums.

Mad Clout

July 23 through August 15, 2010
Located in the former R.L. Christian Library at 1300 H Street, NE.

Opens this Friday at 6PM. Find out more here.

Book Description
Over 400 eye-popping photos provide a decade-long tour of graffiti in New York City. Walls, trucks, and subway cars are featured with graffiti by the crews X-Men, KD, TNB, 156, RIS, AOK, TC-5, FAME CITY, COD, XTC, TFP, MCI, IF, DYM, 718, TD4, SMART, TATS CRU, FLY-ID, GFR, AKB, and many more. Because New York City has made a concerted effort to remove graffiti from the city, the images captured here will never be seen again. Walls were repainted and some buildings were demolished, keeping graffiti crews working fast to keep ahead of the trend. The author worked even faster to capture their ephemeral efforts. If you have a fascination with urban life and colorful expression, this book is definitely for you.

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Fresh Paint NYC

From Askew:
This is the first of my videos about my stay in Los Angeles with Rime and Revok. This is a wall we painted in Hollywood with LA based/Australian artists Dabs & Myla. These guys are doing some incredible paintings for an upcoming show – was totally blown away by their canvas work.Rime did this piece in memory of his friend Semz.

Additional camera duties were taken on by Jersey Joe aka the Coach aka Joseph-Style.

The music is Oddisee – Bloom off the “Odd Spring” album which is available for free download here.