Ok, this one is a little out of the norm, but so is the situation.

Several months ago, I was put in touch with a little guy in the state of Massachusetts.

I am always getting contacted by people who want or need something, and I try to donate my time or something to the ones that I have a feeling are for real. Little Charles Foley was one of those people and though it wasn’t a lot, I contacted him and his family to let him know that someone out there as far away as Chicago, somewhere else in the U.S., was thinking of him and that he was not alone in this world, where sometimes it seems the most awful things happen to the ones who deserve them least.

Anyhow, little Charles who had a form of pediatric cancer passed away 11/22/09. My condolences to his family. You can see Charles here.

Once again, I will write something, this time publicly, with the permission of his family who started a memorial and foundation web-page in his honor. That page is here.

This isn’t a solicitation for anything from you, just a moment to hopefully get you to reflect, especially now at the dawn of a new decade, that life is precious and each passing day should be respected and appreciated especially if you have your health.

Little Charles showed everyone he touched what courage and strength is – even from the perspective of a child. Please take a moment in your life to reflect on how temporary this thing called “life”, how fleeting, and how if you feel down or out, that there are those out there that show fortitude and courage in the face of the odds.

Rest in peace little hero.

Joe DeRoche
TPA Productions, LLC
Street Level Nine Brands

Check out the place! We met the owners and definitely endorse this place.

Can’t beat the prices – $8.50 per class and $57.00 for an unlimited monthly membership!!!

Check out their website here.

Click on the flier for HUGENESS!

Hey Friends,

Hope you can join us at this event and help spread the word on your
blog or site or just by word of mouth.

Click on the flier for hugeness!

December 17, Thursday, 7pm
The book release party for “Graffiti New York”
146 W. 26th Street
between 6th & 7th Ave.
212-691-3345
http://www.revolutionbooksnyc.org
www.at149st.com

Thanks
–
@149st
www.at149st.com
Follow us on Twitter.
www.twitter.com/at149st
Join us on facebook
www.facebook.com/at149st
Our book Graffiti New York is on Amazon.com

All video and music courtesy of KEZAR, TPA CREW

What kind of impact did the King of kings from Queens NYC have on the world of graffiti? Maybe this will give you an idea – Here’s a dedication piece from Recka in the MRC crew all the way from Mission, Texas. You can also take a look at his Myspace page here.

Click on the image for a larger detail

I remember Billy when he began his foray into the world of graffiti in the streets of Jamaica, Queens, NY.

Cer TPA picked up the TPA torch in or about 1982-3 and along with Lady Heart’s brother Lust, friends Scop, and Kap, teamed up with one of TPA’s founder’s Demo and continued to carry The Public Animals along with Sye and Sloan into graffiti history.

His good friend was Kap TPA, another hitter of the day.

Cer’s throwups began to appear on all IND’s and eventually made their way to the IRT’s where he learned that in order to stay visible, that he would have to start burning. Burn he did and for a short but durable time, he rocked the Bronx entirely, making his name synonymous with what being A Public Animal was all about. His moniker was omnipresent in most boroughs and he was the first letter in “CDL” which during the middle 80’s appeared in all Cer, Demo and Lust productions.

Cer will be remembered by many but especially by his TPA family as a stout troop, a true graffiti soldier and as an outstanding member of The Public Animals. He was there through it all and wherever he is now, I’m sure he will be doing what he always did. Standing tall, taking no bull, and representing.

Thanks Billy, for all the memories and times, from all of us in the graffiti family and the TPA Crew.

Ellis Gallagher

Ellis Gallagher’s shadow chalk drawings, executed in both urban and interior settings, seek to enhance the beauty of everyday objects and mundane situations that are routinely overlooked. Chalk drawings of bicycles, fire hydrants, milk crates, shopping carts, fences, plants, and trees inspire curiosity and encourage the viewer to pause, observe, initiate conversation and experience their surroundings with a renewed sense of optimism.

Ellis Gallagher is a native New Yorker. As a former graffiti writer, his work can be found in New York City and beyond, in Autograf: New York City’s Graffiti Writers by Peter Sutherland (Powerhouse Books 2004), as well as in numerous newspapers, magazines, on television and in films. Currently a Contemporary/Street Artist known as (C)ELLIS G., Gallagher’s work has appeared on the cover of numerous publications and features.

Location
Soho Studios
2136 NW 1st Avenue
(Entrance at NW 21st Street)
Miami, FL 33127

FirstView
Wednesday, December 2 | 11am-6pm
Free for VIPs or $100 donation at the door benefiting the SCOPE Foundation

PressView
Wednesday, December 2 | 11am-6pm
Free for all press or $100 donation at the door benefiting the SCOPE Foundation

General Admission Fair Hours
Thursday-Saturday | December 3 – 5 | 11am-7pm
Sunday | December 6 | 11am-6pm

Transportation
Shuttle buses run every fifteen minutes to the SCOPE and ART ASIA pavilions, December 2 – 6. Take the North Loop Shuttle in front of the Fillmore Miami Beach at The Jackie Gleason Theater on the NW corner of Washington Avenue and 17th Street, one block from the Miami Beach Convention Center.

An all-encompassing publication penned by Eric (DEAL, CIA) Felisbret and published by Abrams Publishing, this soon-to-be bestseller takes you from beginning to end, thru the annals of the once mysterious, then primitive art form to the cutting-edge present. Graffiti or “Writing” as the old-timers call it, has now become an international sensation, used by Fortune 500 companies everyday in their advertising campaigns.

This long awaited hardcover beauty is a veritable manual for the up-and-comer and an homage to the Pan-American culture that the great city of New York witnessed from birth to the present.

Forwarded by James Prigoff, the co-author of SprayCan Art along with Henry Chalfant, this volume in the encyclopedia of a distinctly American art form gives the everyday reader a true passport into the realm of color, risk and adventure the everyday writer to the master artist shared in common in their quest to become the kings of New York.

Supported by quotes from legends and originators alike (Iz the Wiz, Blade, Joey TPA, Jester, Coco 144, Eros, Mars, Priz, Wolf, Team, and even NYC police legends like Rotun and Wasserman or Curley and Ferrari), this book is packed full of gorgeous glossy pages of photographs from the past to the present.

We highly recommend this as an addition to your library of sub-culture and/or art forms catalog.

Here’s one of our favorite guys getting loose at the end of 2009 in Germany.

Thanks from the folks in America – PN-1 JOEY TPA, MEZKAL, BREAK and OMEN. Also, ASK and PROPS, another TPA bomber….

Click on the image for some size!

Stay tuned for more sweetness and get those Halloween joints ready!