James Grady Back At REVIVE
July 9th, 2008
COKE DIET- He done drinking diet coke, he’s on that coke diet…this is a cocaine trip painting…inspired by “everybody nose”…a cocaine story. So, that’s the concept, but how do i execute it?? I find myself flirting with contemporary pop images (i.e. play-doh, life, etc), so first thing that comes to mind is “coca-cola” often known as “coke”(shared nickname with cocaine.)…i want “coke” to become astro’s friend, but coke has to disguise his cons…has to disguise the fact that he’s a “killer.” So i thought of the title “everybody nose,” and decided to give “coke” the goucho glasses (first painting i put them in, smurfs came later)…and i put the glasses over “cola,” so all u or rather all astro sees is “coca.” The balloons with the color spots represent “the high.” [James]
KILL JOY - After listening to KILL JOY, I wanted to make a painting that symbolized life and death, but i didn’t want it to be too obvious. I began to think of the act of killing “joy”, which may lead to your demise because your erasing the things that made you..YOU…I always heard that people can be read like a book, but what happens when you write in that book, and erase everything before you turn it in to let some one to read?? The paper represents life, and everything on it is something that’s been apart of my life… back in middle/high school ppl would call me a nerd because i acted/thought differently than other guys, and that was foreign…so i’m weird (i guess.) Back in the elementary school, i was a real super soaker junkie…i had soooo many water guns, but as i got older i didn’t collect as many, and started to notice that some of the ppl were trading in their super soakers for actual guns (guess u gotta keep it gangsta, right?) Also, i have
a sweet tooth…like i love candy, and when i was younger i’d always eat blow pops…sour apple and “super blue razz berry,” and then as i got older i sweets became sex ‘cuz “shawty, wanna lick lick lick the lollipop”…haha…I’ve always been a fan of cartoons, from the jetsons to batman tas to death note, but i thought the smurfs were appropriate for this painting…i made them my murderers, and they’re erasing everything i enjoy/love, it hurts so i scream for ice cream, so they put the whip cream and cherry on the lollipop..the killers gotta keep a disguise, so i gave ‘em the groucho specs. [James]
LEMONADE - I asked my friend, Midori something that she remembered from her childhood (toy, game, activity) that people of our generation across the nation can relate to, and she replied back lemonade stands. Now lemonade stands had become the concept for my next painting, and that made me think of the saying “when life gives u lemons u make lemonade,” and i decided to take my lil’ spin on that. So, being from Detroit u see a lot of things, some good many bad, but the bad always has a chance to become a good if it wants too…if it believes it can. When you’re black and from “the hood,” society tells you that it’ll be a blessing if you make it to see 25, or if you don’t become a rapper or baller (football, basketball, or even pimp/player) then you have no future…you’re not going to make money, you’ll end up dead or in jail (25 to life if your black)…so yea, 25 seems to be a popular number, and i decided to work with contemporary pop imagery to help get my point across (LIFE and the lemonheads…also, milo from bape.) I put Milo in there because Bape’s releasing a OBAMA SUPPORT shirt that says “vote,” and that made me think wow…black president…black president, which made me think of that 2pac line in changes “We ain’t ready, to see a black President, huh”…Obama came from nothing, but become something…so i guess he took his lemons and made lemonade. The view finder, is suppose to represent the future finder…what u can see in your future, and behind Astroboy is the jail cell, and that’s what he sees in his future because that’s what society told him he’s gonna see…so yea, he looks pissed or rather determined to let that happen to him..sorry for the in-depth explanation, but this painting means a lot to me. [James]
Window Spaz - I got inspiration from psychedelic drug stories/experiences that my friends from cali would tell me about. My friend told me about an experience he had after doing shrooms where he could make stuff melt by looking at it, and another friend mentioned how he felt like he was entering different dimensions…they both said the drugs made them trip out…so in the painting the windows represent the different dimensions, and since you’re going through different dimensions…time traveling and what not…might as well strap up the ol’ Nike McFly kicks. Then I thought about the feeling of Tripping out…to spaz out, it would just seem like some one unplugged your brain, you’re aware of it, so you try to plug it back up to gain ur composure…just to chill out a bit, but there’s nothing u can do about it so u spaz out… [James]
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Tha boy James Grady has been hard at work as you can see, getting ready for his solo show at:
(383 Hamilton Row Birmingham, MI)
Saturday, July 12 from 7 - 11:15 p.m.
If you’re in the area make sure you check it out; his last show was a great success, so I can only imagine the turnout this year! James Grady has been getting a lot of looks lately outside of GWHH, as a Chicago artist in the online realm. Check out his online interview with Channel 4 Local Detroit News!
Angela’s Eye - Planet of the Drawing Ape Interview
Also James picked up blogging about his life, art, and experiences; check up on him, he’s a cool dude:
Much Love to James & Cheers to his recent and future successes!
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_Max G_
