#powwowsanjose

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GROSS / HOLMES BUILDING, SAN JOSE

by Ricky Watts

San Francisco born Ricky Watts says art was something inside him before he even knew what art was. In 8th grade Watts discovered graffiti and became obsessed with both the rebellious side and the challenge of seeing how creative he could make something in a short amount of time. After art school Watts says he spent about 10 years at a computer before returning to his roots and focusing on drawing and painting. Watts' illustration work often involves very detailed realism, but where his murals were once more letter-based he's evolved a very colorful abstract style with with his spray paint work. When Pow!Wow! launched its first @PowWowSanJose in 2017 Watts traveled a couple of hours south from his home in Sebastapol and painted this landmark mural on the side of one of San Jose’s oldest commercial properties, the troubled Gross / Holmes Building on N 1st St.  @rickywatts/

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@adelerenault for @powwowsanjose. ___________________________________ #adelerenault #powwowsanjose #powwow #mural #art #sjart #urbanart #publicart #streetart #sanjosestreetart #sanjose #impermanentart #ontour (at Poor House Bistro)

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POW! WOW! SAN JOSE

by Harumo Sato

Tokyo-born Harumo Sato lived in Japan, France, Morocco, Tunisia, Italy, and Spain before moving to the U.S. to study. @ArtAttackSF reports that after a history dealing with a peculiar illness Sato lost use of her dominant hand and it was the rehab process that fostered her passion for art. Sato says that, and an experience with severe natural disaster, led her to illustrate a coexistence with nature and "create peace in viewers’ minds by combining psychology and the spirit of prehistoric to medieval artifacts in the Mediterranean Sea and Japan." Now living in the Bay Area Sato completed her first mural on Almaden Ave at Santa Clara St for @PowWowSanJose in 2018. Painting on the side of 35-year-old Dac Phuc restaurant Sato highlights the importance of catfish in Vietnam but says all the fish represented on the wall can be found in the waters of Vietnam.  @harumosato/

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POW WOW SAN JOSE

by UrbanAztec and Skinner

In addition to his street art merging graffiti with ancient indigenous culture, Bay Area artist Jesse Hernandez, aka UrbanAztec, is also known for creating vinyl toys and a variety of illustration work. "Known for his psychedelic nightmare paintings, epic murals, legendary customs, and overall heavy metal attitude," Oakland-based Skinner created the @CriticalHit20 art and apparel company on the same principles. In 2017 the Pow! Wow! movement expanded into the Bay Area with @PowWowSanJose and the following year UrbanAztec and Skinner joined forced for its second edition with this creation in the alley between S 1st and 2nd Streets behind AG Appliance Store.  @urbanaztec/  @theartofskinner/  

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"STYLE IS THE MESSAGE"

by 123KLAN

Influenced by a variety of New York and European graffiti Scien and Mrs Klor founded @123KLAN more than a quarter century ago. A decade later the pair mixed their graffiti with graphic design and stepped into the web. Adopting the the motto "when street knowledge meets technology, and graffiti art melts with with graphic design" and relocating to Montreal the duo's style has carried them into wide ranging channels including record sleeves, toy design, skateboard decks, and apparel designs—but all while remaining commited to their "real culture" graffiti roots. Finding their way to San Jose in 2018 123KLAN brought their style and a bit of Montreal to @PowWowSanJose with this S 1st St piece on the side of @PremiumCutz_SJ .  @123klan/  @klor123klan/

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POW! WOW! SAN JOSE

by Roan Victor and Sean Boyles

"Watercolors keep me in order" says Roan Victor, "and oil painting is a party." Bringing the same skills to mural work she says the scale and proportions excite her along with the settings. Husband Sean Boyles, and co-owner of San Jose art store @TheArsenalSJ spends his days spreading a love of drawing and painting at nearby universities and colleges. Boyles says the influences in his work include cartoons, comics, and monster movies, and in 2018 the couple teamed up for @PowWowSanJose with this wall at S 1st and Margaret Streets. Applying Boyles comic book aesthetic he says this narrative plays out in six acts: Invasion, Pink Army, Smash, Laser Phaser, Main Event, and To the Rescue.  @roanvictor/  @mrseanboyles/

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"QUALITIES OF LIFE"

by How and Nosm

In 2010 @MrJasperWong launched the @PowWowWorldwide movement with a two day art and music event in Hong Kong and now, almost a decade later the event has been replicated around the world and Wong may be the most influential figure in urban art. In 2017 Pow! Wow! came to the streets of San Jose, and the following year identical twins Raoul and Davide Perré, aka How and Nosm, joined the cast with this 145' x 75' wall at San Carlos and S 2nd St. Branching out from their historically limited palette of red, black, and white, the brothers offered Silicon Valley a reminder of the importance of issues like health, family, and environment, and that "Quality of Life" should not be confused with income and "Standard of Living."  @hownosm/  @powwowsanjose/

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Sean Boyles3 for Pow Wow! San Jose.