White Walls is pleased to present Can’t Afford to be Broke, a solo exhibition from Word To Mother, featuring new works on wood along with a small run of exclusive ‘zines with hand-pulled screen printed cover. The opening reception will be Saturday, May 12th, from 7-11 pm, and the exhibition is free and open to the public for viewing through June 2nd, 2012.
London-based artist Word To Mother’s newest collection of works features his distinctive visual assemblages of figures, patterns and typography painted in mixed media on wooden panels. Drawing from his own experiences in recent years, the state of the economy, and riots on his doorstep Can’t Afford To Be Broke sees Word To Mother showing a sense of desperate yet hopeful pieces, using familiar references of both current and vintage popular culture icons, which evoke a sense of humor amongst more melancholic figures. Delving deeper into his exploration of color, Word to Mother expands into more primary tones alongside his usual favored natural palette. Gestural marks are layered and ‘buffed’ to create textured expanses of muted tones with injections of fluorescent reds and oranges appearing like small explosions of optimism amongst an overcast sky.
With wooden assemblages featuring smaller studies, text pieces and collections of salvaged items next to large scale paintings, there is a balance of subtlety contrasted with Word To Mother’s sense of humor and directness that can be summed-
up perfectly in the “Fuck You Pay Me” Baseball bat pieces.
Can’t Afford to be Broke sees a maturity in painting and a hand-crafted feel that is ever- present in Word To Mother’s pieces, resulting in what we believe is his strongest collection of works to date.
From the Artist:
“Everyone’s perception of ‘Broke’ is different. It’s all relative to our situation. In situations where celebrity riches and materialistic lifestyles are portrayed by the media, we have been conditioned to feel more valued as an individual based upon what we own, rather than our actions.
People are emotionally broke, financially broke, and physically broke, from the structure of the society we live in. Unless we educate ourselves, work hard, and take the right risks, we won’t get anywhere. We won’t get out. We will continue to be broke.
I can’t afford to be broke.”
Event Information:
Can’t Afford to be Broke by Word To Mother
Opening Reception – May 12th, 2012, 7-11 pm On View Through June 2nd, 2012
@ White Walls (www.whitewallssf.com)
835 Larkin St, San Francisco, CA
Other Articles You May Like from BSA:
For Hip Hop philatelists, and there are a few, the US Postal Service is issuing a new set of stamps on July 1 commemorating Hip Hop’s contributions to the culture. Arguably the most impactful cultura...
Welcome to BSA Images of the Week! Style Wars! A new interpretation of it is blazoned across the Houston Wall thanks to Optimo NYC, who is rather owning it recently. This free-wheeling ever c...
“My proposal for this year's mural is a kind of post-graffiti,” says the Bucharest-based member of Sweet Damage Crew, using a term being bandied about by scholars and academics these days to describe ...
We remember walking down the street somewhere in Los Angeles with Shepard Fairey and a gaggle of other artists after a panel discussion we led at LA MOCA back in the day…Shepard was enthusiastically ...
It is a rainy day in Philadelphia, but you can’t tell it by listening to Jane Golden. After 30 years and countless meetings with community groups, artists, city agencies, elected officials, volunteer...