Above (artist)

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ABOVE
HANGmanshort.jpg
"Give a wall street Banker enough rope."
A city block long installation addressing the Occupy Wall Street movement.
Miami, U.S.A. 2011
Birth name ( Unknown )
Born 1981 (age 31–32)
California
Nationality United States
Field Street art
Graffiti
Stenciling
Public art
Installation art
Printmaking
Training self taught
Website www.goabove.com

ABOVE is an international street artist who has deliberately chosen to keep his identity concealed.[1] He was born in California in 1981 and has been creating public art since 1995.[2] Above is known for his multi-layer, full color social and political stencils, spinning wooden arrow-shaped kinetic art installations, and large text-based painted murals. Above's artworks regardless of medium usually have a strong message or awareness about social, political or international current events. Above began painting graffiti by tagging (writing his ABOVE graffiti signature) on freight trains in California in 1995.[3] At the age of 19, Above moved to Paris, France where he started painting his trademark arrow icon pointing 'above.'[4] Since 2001 Above has self-financed annual tours around the world, with each tour exploring a new part of the world and often a new medium or style of artwork. During the past 14 years Above has painted artworks in the streets of 90+ cities in 60+ different countries around the world.[3]

Contents

Career [edit]

Early career (1995–2003) [edit]

Above's arrow icon painted on a wall. Paris, France 2002

By his own account, Above was born and raised in California. He states that art and music were practiced and encouraged by both parents at an early age.[5] At age fifteen Above started spray painting the letters A-B-O-V-E on freight trains in California. Three years later Above transitioned from painting traditional letter graffiti to an arrow symbol that pointed 'above.' In an interview he stated that he thought it was useless to paint the side of a fast moving train with letters if nobody could read it. Above said he wanted something that could be seen and understood in a fraction of a second regardless of how fast it was moving.[6]

In 2001 at the age of 19 Above moved from California to Paris, France. At that time Paris was home to street artists like Zevs, Invader, Stak, Honet, and Andre.[7] Above and the other Parisian artists were part of a movement in street art that was heavily based on characters and logos rather than more traditional letter based graffiti. In 2003 Above returned to California where he started installing hanging wooden arrow mobiles.

An early stencil from Above on the side of a freight train, 2003

A chronological list of Above's travels and artworks [edit]

(2004) [edit]

A site specific wooden arrow mobile that reads "shoe/tree" hung from a tree full of shoes

Following his arrow mobile project, the artist went on a self-titled "U.S.A. Tour" in 2004. He drove 5,000 miles (8,000 km) across the United States hanging 300 plus arrow mobiles in 14 major cities.[1] It was during Above's U.S.A. tour that he introduced elements of word play by writing a word on both sides of the spinning arrows to suggest a dialog.[8] In response to questions about how he is able to hang his mobiles so high, The artist has declined to explain, saying 'I value and respect that we all have imaginations and for me to interfere with what your imagination is creating, or thinking, would be wrong.'[8]

(2005) [edit]

After finishing the U.S.A. Tour, Above returned to Europe in 2005. When asked in an interview why he did not hang his arrow mobiles in Europe in after his U.S.A. tour, he responded "in the United States there are an almost infinite amount of overhead telephone wires and street cables. However I was unsure of how the different European countries 'overhead' wires and supports were so I decided to evolve the wooden arrows I made in Paris in 2002 and focus on putting these on elevated walls around Europe while at the same time observing and researching more about the overhead wires in all the countries I visit."[9] Above visited 15 countries during his 4-month long European tour, installing around 500 of the larger wooden fabric arrows.[10]

(2006) [edit]

A stack of Above's wordplay arrow mobiles. Each wooden arrow has a word on each side of the arrow. These arrows were hung during his 26-country sign language tour around Europe.

Upon returning to California Above began planning a new tour, which he called a 'Sign Language Tour' By his own reports, Above, and another artist known as Ripo, counterfeited Eurail tickets for the tour, which spanned 6 months and 26 countries.[11][12] Above's sign language tour focused almost exclusively on his wordplay sign language arrow mobiles, which were made from fabric glued onto the wood with stenciled four letter words on each side. Above is quoted saying 'sign language is a form of communication using movements instead of sound. I found a lot of charm and power knowing that the arrow mobiles when hung are constantly moving around, most of all spinning around and around. It made logical sense to paint 1-word on each face of the arrow so conceptually speaking when the wind would spin the arrow mobile there would be a small word play dialog to anyone who looked at it."[12] Above customized arrows to certain countries language such as French (J'ai/faim, chez/vous), Spanish (Hace/sol, como/esta) German (uber/alle) and Italian (ciao/ciao)"[10]

(2007) [edit]

In 2007 Above expanded from the word play of the previous year by painting much larger word play murals on the sides of buildings in South and Central America. He said in the interview that he wanted to return to painting letters, like the traditional graffiti he did when he was younger, but instead of painting his name, he wanted to paint word-based art that was site specific and which could easily be read and connect with.[13][14] Above funded his 'South Central Tour' by working as a waiter in a restaurant in Alaska for 4-months in spring of 2007.[15] Above's south central tour lasted about 5 months, starting in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, spanning 18 cities in 13 countries, and ending in Mexico City, Mexico.[16]

(2008) [edit]

"Giving to the poor" stencil in Lisbon, Portugal addressing the issue of homelessness

After the completion of the south central tour in Mexico City in May, 2008 Above was invited to go to Europe to participate in the first annual Fame Festival, a street art festival in southern Italy.[17] Later that summer Above traveled to Lisbon, Portugal where he painted his "Giving to the poor" stencil commenting on social issues of homelessness. Above is quoted on his website "Every day I walked by this bank ATM machine and this particular homeless woman was sitting in the same place every day begging for money. I found it sadly ironic that just six feet away from here there were people lining up to withdraw money. The obvious social and economic clash inspired me to make this piece."[18] In October 2008, Above returned to his home in California, which happened to be the same time the New York Stock Exchange took a drastic crash, marking a worsening of the 2008 recession. Above stenciled on the exterior of a Washington Mutual building (one of several banks that collapsed during this period) an image of the NYSE bar graph with a downward sloping red line that went all the way down into the street gutter, mimicking the same results that occurred just a few days prior.

(2009) [edit]

"Easter AIGs" Stenciled mural on a concrete wall depicting four children with empty baskets who are searching for Easter eggs while a man in a suit with a full basket gloats. One of the children has just thrown an egg at the man.
"Easter A.I.G. hunt." A time-sensitive stencil about Easter and the recent release of information about AIG. California, 2009

In April Above created a stenciled mural depicting four children searching for "Easter AIGs" in response to the breaking scandal surrounding AIG and the degree to which they profited from the 2008 bailout.

In May 2009 Above started another tour of Europe lasting four-months. This tour did not seem to have a title as with most of Above's previous tours. In July he painted a social and political stencil piece titled 'Bridging the divide' directly on the Berlin Wall where the artwork depicted a young girl jumping up trying to grab a bouquet of flowers from a person on the other side of the Berlin wall while a smiling guard looked on. This piece was painted on the 20th year anniversary of the Berlin wall being torn down.[19]

In August 2009 Above returned from Europe and moved to Portland, Oregon where he started a charitable project involving the homeless population the city. He stated in an interview "I wanted to address and draw more attention to the homeless crisis here in Portland. I wanted to learn more about this homeless epidemic by listening directly to the homeless community on an individual person to person level. During the month of November, 2009 I rode my bike around Portland wanting to listen to homeless individuals that wanted to share their story and suggestion on what shelters really help out with services as well as where I should donate the money fund raised from this 'Homeless not hopeless' print."[20]

(2010) [edit]

'Help thy Neighbor', January, 2010, La Havana, Cuba

In January 2010 Above went to La Havana, Cuba to make a site specific stencil commenting on the recent earthquakes in the neighboring country of Haiti.[21]

Above and Blek le Rat did an indoor gallery show together at the White Walls Gallery in San Francisco on May 1, 2010. This was the first and only time Above has ever worked inside a gallery space. White Walls gallery wrote "It is only because of Blek le Rat’s strong desire to show alongside him that Above finally conceded to his premier indoor exhibition" The exhibition displayed themes and techniques Above had previously developed for his outdoor works.[22]

(2011) [edit]

In January 2011, Above flew to Sydney, Australia to prepare for his first ever solo show, titled Here today gone tomorrow. In the press release for the exhibition Above said his older brother had died in an accidental car crash just three months prior and the solo show's themes were the fragility of life, death, and how impor­tant it is to live each day to the fullest.[23]

Marilyn Monroe was one of the 15 large celebrity arrows Above did for his solo show in Sydney.

Above said "I’ve been con­sis­tently trav­el­ing the world and the theme “ here today gone tomor­row” applies to how I have been liv­ing my lifestyle for the past 10 years. It’ s hard to say good­bye when trav­el­ing and even harder when you don’ t even get the chance. I was deeply moved by the loss of my brother to make the new body of art­works that dealt with the fragility of life, death and how impor­tant it is to live each day to the fullest."[23] Above translated this theme into his artworks via large wooden arrows with a collage element and screen printed image of a celebrity that had died at an early age.[23]

A 65 metre long wall commissioned by the Adelaide city council in Southern Australia. Above was mentor to 3 Australian artists and collaborated with these artists to make this word play and wooden installation. Adelaide, Australia 2011

After Above's solo show in Sydney he was invited by the Adelaide City Council to paint a 65 metre long wall. The city council organized Above to collaborate and mentor 3 Australian artists; Chris Edser, ANKLES, and Tristan Kerr. Above had the misfortune of falling off a ladder while painting and fractured his scapula and ended up in the hospital. As a group the artists decided to turn this accidental fall into the theme for the word play painting. All four artists painted and installed wooden elements on the wall to have the piece to read 'Sticks and stones can break my bones but words will always save me.'[24]

In October at the height of the global Occupy Wall Street protest, Above flew to Miami, U.S.A. and did a city block-long word play that read 'Give a wall St. Banker enough rope and he will hang himself." In addition, Above added a hanging effigy of a suited banker to the installation. While being interviewed by the Daily Mail, he said "I tried to clothe him and dress him up as if he was what I imagined a Wall Street banker might wear, it was the cherry on the top of the word play installation". He continued to say "It's extremely shocking which is part of the point as well. I think it is really gone too far, but then again I think it's my retaliation to how far Wall St, has gotten in general. It is shocking to me when I look at these numbers when I see that one per cent of the people have all of the money." Above explained that he was inspired by the proverb 'If you give a fool enough rope, he will hang himself' and simply adapted it to fit the theme.[25] When NBC news did a news report on Above's Wall St. piece, he told them "You don't have to read it, you can just get it immediately when you see it. It's extremely aggressive and that's actually the point." Above's final reply was 'Everybody's entitled to their own opinion, and some people will praise it, others will deny it and criticize it and shoot it down, but the point being is that it's getting people talking about the movement."[26]

(2012) [edit]

Above's controversial painting about the illegal blood diamond trade that read 'Diamonds are a woman's best friend, and a man's worst enemy' on the exterior wall of one of the world's largest diamond traders; Jewel city. Johannesburg, South Africa

In January Above was flown to South Africa where he was commissioned to paint a mural at the Fairhills Winery in Cape Town. Fairhills winery is one of the largest fairtrade projects in the world.[27]

In February Above travelled to Johannesburg, South Africa where he painted a mural commenting on the illegal blood diamond trade. Above painted the message ‘Diamonds are a woman’s best friend and a man’s worst enemy’ on the exterior wall of Jewel City, one of the world’s largest diamond exporters.[28] The site specific message was 3-metres tall and nearly 80-metres in length, spanning the entire city block.[29]

The story of how Above was able to trick the owner's of Jewel city and paint such a large message on the exterior of their building wall without any trouble was in the artist’s words a ‘jewel heist’ of his own.[30] In Above’s own words he stated “I was able to get away with this diamond wall heist because I told the owners I would paint in big letters "Diamonds are a woman's best friend" on the exterior of their building. The owners loved the idea and all quickly agreed."[31] According to Above, the owners didn't bother to step outside and inspect his work until after it was done.[31]

A single frame from the time-lapse film #Socialmedia. Copenhagen, Denmark 2012

In an interview with a reporter from ABC News Above is quoted saying “I decided to take it upon myself to lie and twist the truth as I felt that making this massive painting seen, and topic of blood diamonds talked about more, would justify my actions. I have justified my lying as I feel it created an epic social and political piece.” [30]

In July, Above had a solo exhibition at Metro Gallery in Melbourne, Australia titled 'Jet Set.'[32] The show centered on 10 cities from around the world that have significantly impacted or shaped Above during his travels.[32]

In September, while in Copenhagen, Denmark, Above created a 9,000 frame time-lapse film titled #Socialmedia. The film shows Above repeatedly repainting the same wall with different murals humorously criticizing cultural addiction to social media such as Facebook and Instagram.[33] Above stated that he doesn't use social media such as Facebook and Twitter, which allowed him to act as an outsider looking in on how society uses such websites.[34]

Amidst the Euro zone financial crisis Above flew to Zaragoza, Spain in September to paint a 120-foot long stencil mural of a queue of silhouettes accompanied by the statement '24% Desempleados' (24% unemployed in English) that were waiting in line for the unemployment office. This social, political and time sensitive mural addressed the hard financial times that Spain was facing with its highest unemployment rate in the world. At the time that Above painted this mural 24.6% of Spaniards were unemployed and with the demographic of -25 year old's was at an even higher 53% unemployed.[35]

Bibliography [edit]

Gallery [edit]

  • Above's arrow icon painted on 2 vans. Paris, 2002

  • 'ABOVE' graffiti painting in Vienna, Austria. 2005.

  • A word play painting "By the time you read this I'll already be gone." Guatemala City, Guatemala 2007

  • A word play painting from Above that reads "trying 2 put 2 and 2, 2gether." San Jose, Costa Rica 2008

  • "First love", a mural depicting a young girl blowing heart-shaped bubbles to a young boy who is jumping in the air trying to grab them

    "First love" painted on Valentine's Day, California, 2009.

  • Above's non-profit fundraiser poster titled 'Homeless not hopeless' where Above worked with the homeless population in Portland, Oregon. Above donated 100% of all the profits to a homeless shelter in Portland, U.S.A. 2009

  • "Bridge the divide" a site specific stencil/installation on the Berlin Wall. Berlin, Germany. 2009

  • An example of the celebrity arrow mobiles hung in Hollywood, Los Angeles during his 'mash up tour' July, 2010

  • Perceived to be a self-portrait of Above himself this stencil painted in Berlin comments on Above's addiction to both traveling and painting. Berlin German October, 2010

  • A wooden arrow placed between 2 cameras and their blind spot. Paris, France, 2010

  • James Dean wooden arrow collage part of Above's solo show in Sydney, Australia. 2011

  • Notorious B.I.G. wooden arrow collage part of Above's solo show in Sydney, Australia. 2011

  • "It takes 2 to tango" Above incorporated the human form in place of the letter 't' for this wordplay. Miami, U.S.A. 2011

  • A large figurative painting Above painted in Miami for Art Basel, 2011

  • A piece of artwork from Above's solo show 'Jet Set' @ Metro gallery in Melbourne, Australia 2012.

  • A social and political stencil where Above addressed the Euro zone crisis and more specifically Spain's unemployment crisis. Zaragoza, Spain 2012

Further reading [edit]

Books featuring interview/works from Above [edit]

in English

in French

External links [edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Above (artist)

References [edit]

  1. ^ a b Topping, David (2007-06-16). "Toronto Newspaper". Torontoist.com. Retrieved 2010-09-07. 
  2. ^ Harmanci, Reyhan (2007-07-11). "SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE June 11, 2007". Sfgate.com. Retrieved 2010-09-07. 
  3. ^ a b *Vapors #15, Apr/May 2003. ISSN 74470-56677 (United States)
  4. ^ *Above Ekosystem interview, 2003
  5. ^ *Above interview
  6. ^ *Graff it #4, july 2002.(Paris, France)
  7. ^ *Backspin #46, July 2003 ISSN 1948-2048 (Berlin, Germany)
  8. ^ a b Pro, Johnna A. (14 August 2004). "Artists' arrows aim to make you look up". Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved 28 December 2012. 
  9. ^ Pulp #46, Aug/Sep 2005 (Sydney, Australia)
  10. ^ a b Bant #31. Feb 2007 (Istanbul, Turkey)
  11. ^ Lodown #58. Oct/Nov 2007 (Berlin, Germany)
  12. ^ a b Omagiu #9. June 2007, ISSN 1841-4788 (Bucharest, Romania)
  13. ^ Soma #6 July 2008, (São Paulo, Brasil)
  14. ^ Serie B: second edition #18 July 2008 (Madrid, Spain)
  15. ^ Atypica #32, Sep, 2008. ISSN 1851-7188 (Buenos Aires, Argentina)
  16. ^ DIF #62, Oct 2008. ISSN 1645-5444 (Lisbon, Portugal)
  17. ^ "Archives". fame festival. Retrieved 2008-07-08. 
  18. ^ "Cut It Out". Goabove.com. Archived from the original on 19 September 2010. Retrieved 2010-09-07. 
  19. ^ ""Bridging the divide" On Vimeo". Vimeo.com. Retrieved 2011-05-12. 
  20. ^ "Home Less, Not Hope Less!". Goabove.com. Retrieved 2010-09-07. 
  21. ^ "Help Thy Neighbor On Vimeo". Vimeo.com. Retrieved 2010-09-07. 
  22. ^ Joseph Lumbroso. "Coming May 1, 2010: Blek le Rat and Above - White Walls, SF – Blog". Whitewallssf.com. Retrieved 2010-09-07. 
  23. ^ a b c "Here today gone tomorrow". Curbsandstoops.com. Retrieved 2011-02-21. 
  24. ^ ""Sticks and stones" On Vimeo". Vimeo.com. Retrieved 2011-05-12. 
  25. ^ "Is this taking the protests too far? Occupy Wall Street-inspired artist hangs dummy of banker from telephone wire". dailymail.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-10-26. 
  26. ^ "Occupy Art Has Miami Motorists Doing Double-Take". http://www.nbcmiami.com. Retrieved 2011-11-04. 
  27. ^ "Fairhills fairtrade wine". Retrieved 2011-05-12. 
  28. ^ "South Africa: Refurbishments At Jewel City Completed". Retrieved 2012-05-24. 
  29. ^ "Video / Streets: ABOVE (South Africa)". Retrieved 2012-04-10. 
  30. ^ a b "American Graffiti Artist Brags About Diamond Mural Prank". Retrieved 2012-04-24. 
  31. ^ a b "Video / Streets: ABOVE (South Africa)". Retrieved 2012-04-10. 
  32. ^ a b "ABOVE 'Jet Set'". Retrieved 2012-07-04. 
  33. ^ "Above's Short Film '#Socialmedia' Half Mocks, Half Embraces Our Addiction (VIDEO, PHOTOS)". Retrieved 2012-09-04. 
  34. ^ ""#socialmedia" On Vimeo". Vimeo.com. Retrieved 2012-09-02. 
  35. ^ "Spanish unemployment reaches record high of 24.6%". Retrieved 2012-07-27. 
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