Jump to content

Stephen Powers (artist): Difference between revisions

Edit links
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
P4k (talk | contribs)
12,157 edits
No edit summary
P4k (talk | contribs)
12,157 edits
No edit summary
Line 2: Line 2:
[[Image:Espo3.jpg|thumb|right|200px|An ESPO tag]]
[[Image:Espo3.jpg|thumb|right|200px|An ESPO tag]]


'''ESPO''' (Stephen J. Powers) is a New York City artist who at one time wrote graffiti in Philadelphia and New York.<ref>Gregory J. Snyder, ''Graffiti Lives: Going Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground'', NYU Press, 2009</ref> He was most well known during the late 1990s for his conceptual pieces as well as his role as the editor and publisher of ''On the Go'' Magazine.<ref>Gregory J. Snyder, "Graffiti Media and the Perpetuation of an Illegal Subculture", ''Journal of Crime Media and Culture'' vol. 2, April, 2006</ref> ESPO's work often blurred the lines between illegal and legal. Pieces like "Greetings from ESPOLand" utilized the style of the Asbury Park Billboards and appeared to be a legitimate billboard. On January 4, 1997 ESPO began his most ambitious non-commissioned art.<ref>Gregory J. Snyder, ''Graffiti Lives: Going Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground'', NYU Press, 2009</ref> He painted on storefront grates in Fort Greene, Bedford-Stuyvesant, TriBeCa and the South Bronx, covering the entire grate with white or silver paint and writing his name over it.<ref name="nyt4" /> Powers painted in daylight, wearing street clothes; he told the New York Times in 1999 that when passerby asked what he was doing he would tell them, "I'm with Exterior Surface Painting Outreach, and I'm cleaning up this gate"; the official-sounding name was enough to ward most people off.<ref name="nyt4" /> Powers targeted shops that appeared to be out of business and grates that were already heavily vandalized, describing his graffiti as a public service.<ref name="nyt4" /> In 1999 he said that he had painted around 70 grates.<ref name="nyt4" /> His name then became the acronym "Exterior Surface Painting Outreach."<ref name='young'>{{cite book | last = Young | first = Alison | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Judging the Image: Art, Value, Law | publisher = Routledge | date = 2005 | location = | pages = 150 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0415301831 }}</ref> Powers is from Philadelphia's [[Overbrook, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Overbrook]] neighborhood; he graduated from [[Robert E. Lamberton High School]] in 1987 and took classes at the [[University of the Arts (Philadelphia)|University of the Arts]].<ref name='inquirer'>{{cite news | first=Miriam | last=Hill | coauthors= | title=Armed with paint, Overbook native returns local color to Coney Island; Phila. native works his colorful magic on Coney Island | date=2004-08-25 | work =The Philadelphia Inquirer | pages =D01 | }}</ref> He moved to New York in 1995.<ref name='nyt4'>{{cite news | first=Nina | last=Siegal | coauthors= | title=From the Subways to the Streets | date=1999-08-22 | publisher= | url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D07E3DC1238F931A1575BC0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=3 | work =The New York Times | pages =3 | accessdate = 2008-02-27 | language = }}</ref> In December 1999 Powers was arrested for vandalism after he participated in a protest conceived by Joey Skaggs,against Rudolph Giuliani's attempt to shut down the controversial art show at the Brooklyn Museum, "Sensations"; he charged that the arrest was politically motivated.<ref name='nytarrest'>{{cite news | first=Nina | last=Siegal | coauthors= | title=Giuliani Protester Is Arrested in Vandalism Inquiry | date=1999-12-04 | publisher= | url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE7DA153EF937A35751C1A96F958260&st=cse&sq=espo+giuliani&scp=3 | work =The New York Times | pages =1 | accessdate = 2008-02-27 | language = }}</ref> A New York Times editorial criticized the Giuliani administration for its secrecy in the case (while dismissing Powers as "a noodge and self-promoter, one of those deliberately annoying characters whom most of us could do without").<ref name='edit'>{{cite news | first=Joyce | last=Purnick | coauthors= | title=Curious Case Shows Pitfalls Of Secrecy | date=1999-12-06 | publisher= | url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00E1DC133EF935A35751C1A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 | work =The New York Times | pages =1 | accessdate = 2008-02-27 | language = }}</ref> He stated in 2000 that he had given up graffiti; His work has been shown at the Venice and Liverpool Biennials, as well as numerous shows at New York City's Deitch Gallery.
'''ESPO''' (Stephen J. Powers) is a New York City artist who at one time wrote graffiti in Philadelphia and New York.<ref>Gregory J. Snyder, ''Graffiti Lives: Going Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground'', NYU Press, 2009</ref> He was most well known during the late 1990s for his conceptual pieces as well as his role as the editor and publisher of ''On the Go'' Magazine.<ref>Gregory J. Snyder, "Graffiti Media and the Perpetuation of an Illegal Subculture", ''Journal of Crime Media and Culture'' vol. 2, April, 2006</ref> ESPO's work often blurred the lines between illegal and legal. Pieces like "Greetings from ESPOLand" utilized the style of the Asbury Park Billboards and appeared to be a legitimate billboard. On January 4, 1997 ESPO began his most ambitious non-commissioned art.<ref>Gregory J. Snyder, ''Graffiti Lives: Going Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground'', NYU Press, 2009</ref> He painted on storefront grates in Fort Greene, Bedford-Stuyvesant, TriBeCa and the South Bronx, covering the entire grate with white or silver paint and writing his name over it.<ref name="nyt4" /> Powers painted in daylight, wearing street clothes; he told the New York Times in 1999 that when passerby asked what he was doing he would tell them, "I'm with Exterior Surface Painting Outreach, and I'm cleaning up this gate"; the official-sounding name was enough to ward most people off.<ref name="nyt4" /> Powers targeted shops that appeared to be out of business and grates that were already heavily vandalized, describing his graffiti as a public service.<ref name="nyt4" /> In 1999 he said that he had painted around 70 grates.<ref name="nyt4" /> His name then became the acronym "Exterior Surface Painting Outreach."<ref name='young'>{{cite book | last = Young | first = Alison | authorlink = | coauthors = | title = Judging the Image: Art, Value, Law | publisher = Routledge | date = 2005 | location = | pages = 150 | url = | doi = | id = | isbn = 0415301831 }}</ref> Powers is from Philadelphia's [[Overbrook, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania|Overbrook]] neighborhood; he graduated from [[Robert E. Lamberton High School]] in 1987 and took classes at the [[University of the Arts (Philadelphia)|University of the Arts]].<ref name='inquirer'>{{cite news | first=Miriam | last=Hill | coauthors= | title=Armed with paint, Overbook native returns local color to Coney Island; Phila. native works his colorful magic on Coney Island | date=2004-08-25 | work =The Philadelphia Inquirer | pages =D01 | }}</ref> He moved to New York in 1995.<ref name='nyt4'>{{cite news | first=Nina | last=Siegal | coauthors= | title=From the Subways to the Streets | date=1999-08-22 | publisher= | url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9D07E3DC1238F931A1575BC0A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=3 | work =The New York Times | pages =3 | accessdate = 2008-02-27 | language = }}</ref> In December 1999 Powers was arrested for vandalism after he participated in a protest conceived by Joey Skaggs,against Rudolph Giuliani's attempt to shut down the controversial art show at the Brooklyn Museum, "Sensations"; he charged that the arrest was politically motivated.<ref name='nytarrest'>{{cite news | first=Nina | last=Siegal | coauthors= | title=Giuliani Protester Is Arrested in Vandalism Inquiry | date=1999-12-04 | publisher= | url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9A0DE7DA153EF937A35751C1A96F958260&st=cse&sq=espo+giuliani&scp=3 | work =The New York Times | pages =1 | accessdate = 2008-02-27 | language = }}</ref> A New York Times editorial criticized the Giuliani administration for its secrecy in the case (while dismissing Powers as "a noodge and self-promoter, one of those deliberately annoying characters whom most of us could do without").<ref name='edit'>{{cite news | first=Joyce | last=Purnick | coauthors= | title=Curious Case Shows Pitfalls Of Secrecy | date=1999-12-06 | publisher= | url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F00E1DC133EF935A35751C1A96F958260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=1 | work =The New York Times | pages =1 | accessdate = 2008-02-27 | language = }}</ref> The [[Village Voice]] was similarly critical, describing Powers as an egotistical, careerist "celebrity offender"; the author writes, "in the graffiti world...many consider Powers a media-fed simulation of the Real Thing."<ref>http://www.villagevoice.com/1999-12-14/news/rudy-s-most-wanted/1</ref> He stated in 2000 that he had given up graffiti; His work has been shown at the Venice and Liverpool Biennials, as well as numerous shows at New York City's Deitch Gallery.
Powers has done many projects at [[Coney Island]].<ref name="nyt08">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/arts/design/06wate.html?</ref> In 2005 he curated "The Dreamland Artists Club" a project in which professional artists helped Coney Island merchants by repainting their signs.<ref>Gregory J. Snyder, ''Graffiti Lives: Going Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground'', NYU Press, 2009</ref> In 2008 he created a [[waterboarding]]-themed installation there.<ref name="nyt08" /> His studio art currently sells for as much as $20,000. <ref name='exhibit'>{{cite news | first=Nina | last=Siegal | coauthors= | title=Exhibit Becomes Opportunity for Arrest | date=2000-10-10 | publisher= | url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DEFD9113CF933A25753C1A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 | work =The New York Times | pages =2 | accessdate = 2008-02-27 | language = }}</ref> He is the author of a book on graffiti's history, "The Art of Getting Over," published by [[St. Martin's Press]] in 1999, as well as the graphic novel, First and Fifteenth: Pop Art Short Stories, Villard Press, 2005..<ref name='exhibit2'>{{cite news | first=Nina | last=Siegal | coauthors= | title=Exhibit Becomes Opportunity for Arrest | date=2000-10-10 | publisher= | url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DEFD9113CF933A25753C1A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 | work =The New York Times | pages =1 | accessdate = 2008-02-27 | language = }}</ref> He has also designed clothing for [[Marc Ecko]], [[Nike, Inc.|Nike]], and [[Calvin Klein]].<ref name='live'>{{cite news | first=Rob | last=Walker | coauthors= | title=THE WAY WE LIVE NOW: 10-30-05: CONSUMED; Slicker Price | date=2005-10-30 | publisher= | url Since 1999 Stephen =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9503E6DA103FF933A05753C1A9639C8B63 | work =The New York Times | pages =1 | accessdate = 2008-02-27 | language = }}</ref> Powers was a [[Fulbright scholar]] in 2007.<ref name='to'>{{cite news | first=Drew | last=Toal | coauthors= | title=Club chair | date=2005-10-30 | publisher= | url =http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/i-new-york/9463/club-chair | work =Time Out New York | pages =1 | accessdate = 2007-08-01 | language = }}</ref>
Powers has done many projects at [[Coney Island]].<ref name="nyt08">http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/arts/design/06wate.html?</ref> In 2005 he curated "The Dreamland Artists Club" a project in which professional artists helped Coney Island merchants by repainting their signs.<ref>Gregory J. Snyder, ''Graffiti Lives: Going Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground'', NYU Press, 2009</ref> In 2008 he created a [[waterboarding]]-themed installation there.<ref name="nyt08" /> His studio art currently sells for as much as $20,000. <ref name='exhibit'>{{cite news | first=Nina | last=Siegal | coauthors= | title=Exhibit Becomes Opportunity for Arrest | date=2000-10-10 | publisher= | url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DEFD9113CF933A25753C1A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 | work =The New York Times | pages =2 | accessdate = 2008-02-27 | language = }}</ref> He is the author of a book on graffiti's history, "The Art of Getting Over," published by [[St. Martin's Press]] in 1999, as well as the graphic novel, First and Fifteenth: Pop Art Short Stories, Villard Press, 2005..<ref name='exhibit2'>{{cite news | first=Nina | last=Siegal | coauthors= | title=Exhibit Becomes Opportunity for Arrest | date=2000-10-10 | publisher= | url =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0DEFD9113CF933A25753C1A9669C8B63&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=2 | work =The New York Times | pages =1 | accessdate = 2008-02-27 | language = }}</ref> He has also designed clothing for [[Marc Ecko]], [[Nike, Inc.|Nike]], and [[Calvin Klein]].<ref name='live'>{{cite news | first=Rob | last=Walker | coauthors= | title=THE WAY WE LIVE NOW: 10-30-05: CONSUMED; Slicker Price | date=2005-10-30 | publisher= | url Since 1999 Stephen =http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9503E6DA103FF933A05753C1A9639C8B63 | work =The New York Times | pages =1 | accessdate = 2008-02-27 | language = }}</ref> Powers was a [[Fulbright scholar]] in 2007.<ref name='to'>{{cite news | first=Drew | last=Toal | coauthors= | title=Club chair | date=2005-10-30 | publisher= | url =http://www.timeout.com/newyork/articles/i-new-york/9463/club-chair | work =Time Out New York | pages =1 | accessdate = 2007-08-01 | language = }}</ref>


Revision as of 00:59, 12 August 2008

A truck painted by Powers
An ESPO tag

ESPO (Stephen J. Powers) is a New York City artist who at one time wrote graffiti in Philadelphia and New York.[1] He was most well known during the late 1990s for his conceptual pieces as well as his role as the editor and publisher of On the Go Magazine.[2] ESPO's work often blurred the lines between illegal and legal. Pieces like "Greetings from ESPOLand" utilized the style of the Asbury Park Billboards and appeared to be a legitimate billboard. On January 4, 1997 ESPO began his most ambitious non-commissioned art.[3] He painted on storefront grates in Fort Greene, Bedford-Stuyvesant, TriBeCa and the South Bronx, covering the entire grate with white or silver paint and writing his name over it.[4] Powers painted in daylight, wearing street clothes; he told the New York Times in 1999 that when passerby asked what he was doing he would tell them, "I'm with Exterior Surface Painting Outreach, and I'm cleaning up this gate"; the official-sounding name was enough to ward most people off.[4] Powers targeted shops that appeared to be out of business and grates that were already heavily vandalized, describing his graffiti as a public service.[4] In 1999 he said that he had painted around 70 grates.[4] His name then became the acronym "Exterior Surface Painting Outreach."[5] Powers is from Philadelphia's Overbrook neighborhood; he graduated from Robert E. Lamberton High School in 1987 and took classes at the University of the Arts.[6] He moved to New York in 1995.[4] In December 1999 Powers was arrested for vandalism after he participated in a protest conceived by Joey Skaggs,against Rudolph Giuliani's attempt to shut down the controversial art show at the Brooklyn Museum, "Sensations"; he charged that the arrest was politically motivated.[7] A New York Times editorial criticized the Giuliani administration for its secrecy in the case (while dismissing Powers as "a noodge and self-promoter, one of those deliberately annoying characters whom most of us could do without").[8] The Village Voice was similarly critical, describing Powers as an egotistical, careerist "celebrity offender"; the author writes, "in the graffiti world...many consider Powers a media-fed simulation of the Real Thing."[9] He stated in 2000 that he had given up graffiti; His work has been shown at the Venice and Liverpool Biennials, as well as numerous shows at New York City's Deitch Gallery. Powers has done many projects at Coney Island.[10] In 2005 he curated "The Dreamland Artists Club" a project in which professional artists helped Coney Island merchants by repainting their signs.[11] In 2008 he created a waterboarding-themed installation there.[10] His studio art currently sells for as much as $20,000. [12] He is the author of a book on graffiti's history, "The Art of Getting Over," published by St. Martin's Press in 1999, as well as the graphic novel, First and Fifteenth: Pop Art Short Stories, Villard Press, 2005..[13] He has also designed clothing for Marc Ecko, Nike, and Calvin Klein.[14] Powers was a Fulbright scholar in 2007.[15]

References

  1. ^ Gregory J. Snyder, Graffiti Lives: Going Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground, NYU Press, 2009
  2. ^ Gregory J. Snyder, "Graffiti Media and the Perpetuation of an Illegal Subculture", Journal of Crime Media and Culture vol. 2, April, 2006
  3. ^ Gregory J. Snyder, Graffiti Lives: Going Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground, NYU Press, 2009
  4. ^ a b c d e Siegal, Nina (1999-08-22). "From the Subways to the Streets". The New York Times. p. 3. Retrieved 2008-02-27. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  5. ^ Young, Alison (2005). Judging the Image: Art, Value, Law. Routledge. p. 150. ISBN 0415301831. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  6. ^ Hill, Miriam (2004-08-25). "Armed with paint, Overbook native returns local color to Coney Island; Phila. native works his colorful magic on Coney Island". The Philadelphia Inquirer. pp. D01. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |1= and |coauthors= (help)
  7. ^ Siegal, Nina (1999-12-04). "Giuliani Protester Is Arrested in Vandalism Inquiry". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 2008-02-27. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  8. ^ Purnick, Joyce (1999-12-06). "Curious Case Shows Pitfalls Of Secrecy". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 2008-02-27. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  9. ^ http://www.villagevoice.com/1999-12-14/news/rudy-s-most-wanted/1
  10. ^ a b http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/06/arts/design/06wate.html?
  11. ^ Gregory J. Snyder, Graffiti Lives: Going Beyond the Tag in New York's Urban Underground, NYU Press, 2009
  12. ^ Siegal, Nina (2000-10-10). "Exhibit Becomes Opportunity for Arrest". The New York Times. p. 2. Retrieved 2008-02-27. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  13. ^ Siegal, Nina (2000-10-10). "Exhibit Becomes Opportunity for Arrest". The New York Times. p. 1. Retrieved 2008-02-27. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  14. ^ Walker, Rob (2005-10-30). "THE WAY WE LIVE NOW: 10-30-05: CONSUMED; Slicker Price". The New York Times. p. 1. {{cite news}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help); Unknown parameter |url Since 1999 Stephen= ignored (help)
  15. ^ Toal, Drew (2005-10-30). "Club chair". Time Out New York. p. 1. Retrieved 2007-08-01. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
Stub icon

This article about an artist from the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Stephen_Powers_(artist)&oldid=231349201"