Fools Gold Presents Artist series #5: Featuring IRAK FRIDAY May 4TH 7-9PM
536 METROPOLITAN AVE.
BROOKLYN, NY
Fools Gold Presents Artist series #5: Featuring IRAK
Here Comes The Neighborhood Feat The IRAK Crew
HCTN EPISODE 6 : IRAK from Here Comes the Neighborhood on Vimeo.
In this episode of Here Comes the Neighborhood, Kunle Martins aka EARSNOT, founder of the IRAK CREW, along with Jesse Geller aka NEMEL break down the importance of good penmanship, the difference between murals and graffiti, and the concept behind their “tagging mosaic” in Wynwood. Stealing, masturbation and other compulsive behaviors are also addressed.
For more information on Kunle Martins follow him at twitter.com/KunleIRAK
Jesse Geller, his dog and his girlfriend can be found at coastttocoast.tumblr.com/ (more…)
Earsnot(Irak) Interview With 12oz
Earsnot is a writer who’s appetite for vandalism is only matched by his aptitude for the city around him. As President of the infamous IRAK crew, Earsnot (born Kunle Martins) lead more than 20 of NYC’s most prolific writers through an all city graffiti onslaught beginning in the late 1990’s. Stealing what they needed to get by and leaving their mark wherever they went; Earsnot and IRAK would serve as the disciples of downtown. The city was their playground: from building rooftops, to subway tunnels, to nearly every street sign / trash can / or doorway in between; there was no square foot of the entire city that wasn’t a potential target for Kunle and his crew. Earsnot is now recognized as one of the most prominent writers in NYC graffiti history, and with 10+ year old tags still blanketing each of the 5 Boroughs; it’s easy to see why. In recent years, Kunle has taken his talents from the street to more marketable venues: including collaborations with companies like Nike and Alife, as well as with other Artists (most recently murals with Jesse Geller in Miami’s Wynwood Arts District for Art Basel 2011); not to mention a cameo in Season 2 HBO’s How To Make It In America series. 12ozProphet sat down with Earsnot to discuss his first tags, the start of IRAK, and the future of Graffiti.
12ozProphet: How long have you written Earsnot?
Earsnot: Since ‘98 I guess. So around 13 years.
12ozProphet: What’s the first tag you ever caught?
Earsnot: I think the first tag I wrote was.. “Three”? Wait no, the first tag I wrote was “FBV”, which was a crew. “Fame Bound Vandals”… that was like the crew that me and my boy made up; just so we could have our own thing to do. I didn’t know what to write; I couldn’t make a decision, which isn’t uncommon. I’d write mad different things, like “THREE”… “NERS” … “KERM”… “GUNK”. Right before Earsnot I wrote GUNK, thats what my mother used to call me sometimes when she was feeling like; verbally abusive. It used to make me laugh. Around that time I had runaway, and I was downtown; I had other things going on, priorities. I was trying to figure out how I was going to survive and shit. I didn’t want to tag anything by the time I was writing Earsnot, I didn’t want to write graffiti; I was over it. Then it turned out that people were like “Ohhh I saw EARSNOT on the bridge! Thats you?” and whatever. That was the ice breaker.
Read the rest here
IRAK Tags Up Wynwood Building In Miami
The Irak Graffiti Crew tags up in Miami Florida tagging a building in the Wynwood art district
“IRAK spent a few days and nights bombing a Wynwood building located a little off the beaten track. Walk south on 2nd Avenue from NW26th Street and you can’t miss it. Only two sides of the building were finished when I left Miami a couple of weeks ago. One was tagged on black in gradations of white, silver, gray and black and the other on white in silver, gray and a bright orange which nicely coordinated with their T-shirts and shorts. more images after the jump (more…)
aNYthing 2010 Holiday Collection:Fashion
aNYthing drops a look into the brand’s 2010 holiday collection. As one of New York’s most notable and enduring brands, the collection doesn’t stray far from its street roots but with an added aesthetic of maturity. Winter staples such as beanies are contrasted by work jackets and speckled cardigans. Look for the collection at select retailers.
IRAK @KunleIRAK Dash Snow Tribute:
“You gotta love the action that happens on this Bowery wall, it’s almost like a graffiti chat room, mural after mural, diss after diss. The last mural that was standing their was installed in August from Twist & Amaze. It is now covered with silver paint and a giant black outline that reads “Sace”. Dash Snow AKA “Sace” died in the summer of 2009, this large outline was a tribute to him from one of his fellow IRAK crew members. What you have to love the most about this is that it was done illegally in broad day light! Another mural should be up there in a week or so”
more after the jump (more…)
