Posted: July 21st, 2010 | Author: Con | Filed under: Art, Atlanta, Friends, Graffiti, Shows, Trains | No Comments »
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
Posted: May 25th, 2010 | Author: Con | Filed under: Art, DC, Graffiti, Paint, Projects, Shows, Trains | No Comments »
Been working away on a new solo show, “Derailed” opening June 19th at
Studio H in DC.
Posted: May 17th, 2010 | Author: Con | Filed under: Friends, Graffiti, Shows, Trains, Travel | 1 Comment »
This mission will be one for the files… if the weather holds out.
Posted: May 6th, 2010 | Author: Con | Filed under: Friends, Graffiti, Trains, eBay | 3 Comments »
While I was putting up some of the old Enamelized trains in my online shop, I did a little bit of research on model trains with graffiti produced by companies. I made a few discoveries:
Released in the summer 2006, by Maisto Custom Shop. There are six toy freight train cars in the, Enamelized – Graffiti Diecast Train Collection, series one. The six names are; SMITH, CYCLE, JASE, CENSE, AREK, and CON. Each name printed on both sides of their own car. Includes train track to display your train on.
The release of this set caused an uproar regarding the glorification of graffiti. The product is now discontinued. The following quote is the original release statement from the manufacturer: “Maisto’s relentless release of new introductions for 2006 continues with the announcement of the launch of Enamelized – Graffiti Diecast Train Collection. The train collection is unique in that it features graffiti art from actual artists. Along with the approximately 1:131 scale replica will be a trading card – one side depicting the train art, and on the other some information, if available, about the artist. Up to 12 different graffiti artists will be utilized in the line.”
I’ll have to ask Roger, but I’m pretty sure this was a cross promotional project that was going on with the release of his book, Freight Train Graffiti
. It’s interesting to see the different cars and railroad companies that Maisto had planned on using. Or maybe this was just a promo, but the final cars that came out were completely different. They were all B&O boxcars with the exception of a hopper.
I know they ran into a copyright issue using the B&O logo on their first run of trains and had to take it off in the subsequent production runs. Originally, these were sold in Walmart until complaints mounted and then they later sold in Urban Outfitters. Currently they have been popping up in bulk discount stores and have been hard to find.
It turns out there was also a 7th train that was actually released from Maisto, by TRIBE from Los Angeles. I’m not sure if she was part of the next set of 6 writers or if this was something separate, before the project was discontinued. The yellow circle over the TRIBE is where the B&O logo used to be, so maybe this was produced early on. I wonder if any others in the second set that made it into production?
I also stumbled upon an official release of a graffiti train from Lionel. However horrid their attempt was, it’s interesting to see it was dated 99′.
I haven’t been able to find much info on this, but it seems like there was another Golden West hopper they did with “graffiti” as well.
Finally, I found a small bit of info on Wikipedia about MTH Electric Trains. It seems like they lost a licensing deal with New York’s MTA, to Lionel, because they created some model subways with graff on them.
MTH also produced many sets of New York City Subway cars as well as two sets of Chicago ‘L’ cars. The NYC Subway sets were licensed by the MTA. Lionel currently holds this license in O scale while Walthers holds the license in HO scale after acquiring Life-Like. The license transfer is in part due to MTH producing sets covered in graffiti.
