Written by For Immediate Release
MEDIA RELEASE: American Graffiti – US Street artist Scape Martinez to open Brighton Festival Fringe
US urban street artist Scape Martinez will make his UK debut at the Brighton Festival Fringe, Friday 04 May by revealing a bespoke piece at 12pm at Playgroup Brighton’s, Blind Tiger Club.
A fixture in the California street arts scene, Martinez achieved international acclaim with his bestselling book GRAFF: The Art and Technique of Graffiti . For the 2012 Brighton Fringe, Martinez will create an all new original piece that mixes contemporary and traditional styles to push the boundaries of urban art.
Speaking of his first trip to the UK, Martinez said: “I am really looking forward to visiting the UK. Graffiti is part of a global culture of conversation and exchange, shaping the places that we live. Events like the Brighton Fringe bring so much creative energy together in one place and for me it’s all about creating.”
Edward “Scape” Martinez started to craft his skills as a graffiti artist throughout the late 1980′s. He studied the styles of New York Writers like Futura 2000 and Dondi White. While in the South Bay Area he became known for his unique use of colours and expressive lettering styles, pushing the idea of abstract graffiti art.
While doing street art Scape still had a passion for pushing himself and his artwork, so he set out and began to study 1970’s New York Abstract Expressionism. Learning about great artists like Mark Rothko, Willem DeKooning, and Franz Kline. So in the mid 1990’s he began to make the leap from street art to fine art. He started using spray paint, acrylics, and markers to create large abstract paintings on canvas. As an emerging artist, his fine art paintings combined elements of graffiti and abstract expressionism to create rhythmic and expressive compositions that went beyond the standard graffiti techniques being used by others.
Today Scape Martinez is a best-selling author having written two books on creating graffiti-style art, “Graff: The Art and Technique of Graffiti“ and “Graff 2: Next Level Graffiti Techniques“ and May 2012 sees the release of his latest title, the Graff Colour Workbook (ISBN 9781440318634; SRP £9.99) from Impact Books.
Note to the editor:
- Photo Call: Friday 04 May 2012, 12pm Mural unveiling with Scape Martinez will take place at Blind Tiger, 52-54 Grand Parade, Brighton, East Sussex BN2 9QA.
- For further information including interviews, extracts, or review copies please contact Crystal Carter, F&W Media International Publicity, on 01626 323214 or email crystal.carter@fwmedia.com.
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