Excerpt from "River City Bombers"
Affiliations: DOS, Dirty 30 Crew, MC, WH
Ask any Richmonder that follows the street art scene or any of the fellow graffiti enthusiasts that document the scene; and native son AEST is among the top of the list of writers we deem “successful.” AEST, presumably to mean “aesthetic”, has been writing for nearly twenty years, which has given him plenty of time to tinker with style and development. AEST is considered successful because he maintains a commitment to his crews, has evaded the law and still makes time to tag, which, despite its often negative connotation, is essential to being a well rounded, well respected writer. According to word of mouth as well as an article in the July 2010 issue of The Art Of Storytelling magazine that featured AEST, he has been busy at graffiti since 1994. Other writers like ELK, SIGH, PENIS, LYES, and a slew of others that have been in the game for years, many of whom are also members of DOS “Dirty Ol’ South” crew, run with AEST and often go writing together. In addition to repping DOS, AEST will often mark his pieces with D30, MC and WH to note that he runs in those crews as well. Essentially, D30 (Dirty Thirty) is an off-shoot of DOS, and MC is a nod to MCA, “Murder Capital Artists”, from Washington, D.C. It is unclear at this time as to the meaning behind the WH affiliation.
“I think the first piece popped up in Richmond in like ’84 or ’86, and it was pretty dead after that until the early 90’s. It doesn’t have as much history as other scenes, but I love it, because that’s where I came from.” – AEST
“AEST is the type of writer whose level of talent allows him not to be married to one particular style; the type of writer who takes his surroundings into account when painting. ‘If I am painting a train line spot, highway, or a freight, then I am going to do some simple legible stuff, but if it’s a wall somewhere where you can take the time to check it out, then I will flex something more complex.’ Like many of his other DOS brethren, AEST isn’t much for words and doesn’t have any poetic reasons for painting graffiti. They do it because they are passionate about it. When asked how he would define his style, he said, ‘It’s a little bit classical I hope, maybe not too crazy, a touch of flair I hope.’ And he burst into laughter as he said the word flair. ‘Shit, man, I don’t know, I just write graffiti.’” (Art of Storytelling JUL 2010)
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