Veng - Solo Show Dec. 17th in NYC

Our good pal Veng of Robots Will Kill is having his solo exhibit at Pandemic Gallery in Brooklyn on December 17th. We recommend hitting this event up because it is going to have some really amazing work worth seeing in person.

RWK and Friends - Death Warmed Over Show

Chris and Veng of Robots Will Kill (and part of the Abztract Collective) along with friends Becki Fuller and Luna Park (see our exclusive interview with them here) are putting on a show worth attending.

June 25th, 2010 in Brooklyn. 560 Grand Street.

Chris RWK - The Robots Art Coming

Chris of Robots Will Kill came by lastnight to sign and number the very limited edition print Abztract released with him. The evening was informative as we learned more details about the history of RWK and the folks Chris has worked with. Chris is a very hard working artist and extremely talented. He even included an original tiny robot next to his signature on each print making each one unique. Very special to those who get a chance to own one of these prints.

Get yours at www.abztract.com

Spring 2010 Abztract Print Releases

Abztract has teamed up with four very talented artists for the 2010 Spring Limited Edition print releases. All prints are signed and numbered editions and are available for purchase as of today on our shop at www.abztract.com

PAPERMONSTER LIMITED EDITION PRINT
PaperMonster is a stencil graffiti artist whose vivid and intricate pieces explore the beauty behind the eyes and facial expressions of women.
Born in Puerto Rico, PaperMonster incorporates stencil and pasting techniques to create pieces of art on any surface by incorporating pop culture icons, Asian typography, patterns and texture to present vibrant emotions and stories.
Now, Abztract and PaperMonster joined together to release this 18 X 24, 4-color Limited Edition signed and numbered print title "True Identity". The print is an edition run of 50 and is available for $45.00 at our online shop starting today at abztract.com.

CHRIS RWK LIMITED EDITION PRINT
A child of the 80s, Chris' world was often completely flooded with the imagery and ideas presented by his television, his comic books, and the music and movies of the time. Immersed in these various mediums, Chris began to store the images brought forward though these everyday experiences in what he refers to as a "mental journal".
Today, Abztract and Chris of Robots Will Kill are releasing this limited edition 2-color print to share this "mental journal" with collectors.
Titled "Dio De Las Robots" and at 18 X 24, this print is limited to a run of 50, signed and numbered. It can be purchased on our online shop at for $45 starting today.

JMR LIMITED EDITION PRINT
Earlier this year, Abztract announced the release of Floating Carnival, an exclusive limited edition print in a collaboration with featured artist JMR. A Brooklyn native, JMR has been inspired by his upbringing in the urban city and expressed with paintings of tangled, swooping, and jutting lines, which combine into unexpected shapes of vivid colors.
This 18 X 24 signed and numbered edition of only 40 comes screenprinted by hand (yep, no machine. Each individually pulled by hand) in four colors on 90 lb (250 gsm) Stonehenge paper.
The JMR "Floating Carnival" limited edition print can be purchased exclusively online at the Abztract shop for the price of $50. We still have a few in stock of this very special collaboration print.

PHILIP LUMBANG LIMITED EDITION PRINT FOR CHARITY
Lumbang and Abztract have teamed up to release "The Mural" Limited Edition print with 75% of proceeds to help the local community while doing so. This 18 x 24 three-color screen print was created by Lumbang, who used one of the most recent photos taken of a mural he painted (which has recently come under a lot of attention after it was ordered by the city of Los Angeles to be removed after a single complaint from a local neighbor).
The print is on 100lb archival paper and is an edition of only 100 prints total. Partial proceeds from the sales of this print will go to Room 13 Foshay, a Los Angeles nonprofit that provides mentoring and education programs to inner-city youth with a passion for arts.
The print can be purchased on our site for $50 with only very few left in stock.

Cheers

Abztract Fam

VENG Interview

We first met Veng from Robots Will Kill on a hot summer rooftop while painting away on the James & Karla Murray Store Fronts for the MOM&POPism show.
We have to be honest, we were very intimidated by the Robots Will Kill crew. Those guys have paid their dues for a very long time, and to us here at Abztract, it was much like meeting the band you were listening to in hopes to get inspiration while you attempted to start your own band.

As artists, you always look for inspiration and the crew at RWK have been on our radar for a very long time. Now that we had the chance to collaborate with Chris and Veng from RWK, we had the pleasure to chat with Veng and ask him a bit about what inspires him, who the characters in his paintings are and if all of it is connected to one another.

Enjoy.

How do you describe your art? Is there a story attached to the characters you paint?
I would describe my art as semi realistic on the surface, while abstract in thought and design. For the characters there is not so much a story with them but a look. I wanted to have characters that were different and stood on their own. They end up being a mesh of all the things I have been inspired from, 15th century paintings to contemporary styles.

Does that lead to one specific thing you enjoy painting most?
I can’t say there is one thing I love to paint more then another, nature is a favorite topic though (birds, insects, leaves,).

Does that help you evolve as an artist?
For me it's a day to day thing, all I can say is that I hope to be able to paint till the end, learn new things and meet new people along the way.

You have been painting as part of the Robots Will Kill family for a while. When you paint, is there a difference between paintings as part of RWK as compared to painting just as Veng?
To me there is no difference; the only difference is it’s with old friends or new ones.

What drew you to working with them and how did you all meet?
I'm from Staten Island where rwk was started and over the years we eventually met, we knew the same people and just started to paint and we got along and had similar interest, so it just fit to be part of the same group. I met ecb through the event meeting of styles and just became good friends beyond just painting walls. Loomit who is not rwk but just a good friend I had met on my first trip to Germany and ever since have painted with him over there.

It seems like you travel a lot to Europe. How is it painting abroad in comparison to painting back home?
For me Europe is the ultimate, the writers over there have tons of techniques, have spaces to paint I only wish were back in NY.
The biggest thing from over there to here is the overall corporation the cities have to spray paint art rather than here, but I feel its better here now than ever. NY is where home is for me though and for that its special.

Is there a place locally here in NY or abroad that you enjoy painting most? And if so, why that place?
Tough question. Spain was amazing the writers there are painting machines, Germany for its techniques and its work ethic. NY for its vibe. There is not one place I enjoy more and can only hope to explore tons of new places in the future.

It seems that due to the economic struggle, galleries all across the world and even here at home in NYC are closing up shop. The economy is really affecting the art scene and it almost seems like there are more and more people coming out trying to save, or better yet, keep the art scene afloat. Do you sense that the art scene is coming back better and stronger?
These are tough times for sure; time will tell if it’s better and stronger. It depends on the artists!!

So as an artist, what method or ideas are you currently exploring?
I have been working on trompe l'œil pieces again and I am having a lot of fun looking deeper into what I'm painting. With painting I'm looking to explore more texture effects from animal fur to metals etc.

Well it seems like your art is very detailed and time consuming. When you paint on canvas or on a wall, do you get attached to it? Or do you paint so that you can let them be part of someone's home or community?
For me art is about making people feel connected to it in some way, so I only can hope people feel this when they buy or see work of mine in the street. I’m connected to everything I paint and look at it to try to achieve better results for the next piece, but I’m more excited to get the pieces out of my mind to let new ones in.

Ok, last question: If you could ask any artist dead or alive one question, who would it be and what would you ask them?
Very easy question! Jan van Eyck and what his process was for painting and the medium he used. His work to me is the best in that his surfaces are one of a kind. Much debate has been over how and what he did so to know this would be amazing.

You can see VENG's full work at his Flickr page by clicking here.

Show at Habana Outpost : Oct 6

A few of Abztract featured artists, including Royce Bannon and Veng will be exhibiting their art along with other talented artists at the Habana Outpost in Brooklyn on October 6th - 27th.

Opening reception is on the 6th. Details below.

BSA Presents: Where The Wild Robots Are

Brooklyn Street Art, a fantastic blog site that we read religiously here at Abztract compiled not only photos, but a video AND interview with Abztract featured artists Chris and Veng from Robots Will Kill.

Chris and Veng spent two days painting a mural giving homage to "Where The Wild Things Are" book by giving their own interpretation of it by painting characters that are both influenced by the book and the imagination of these talented artists.

Above is the video timelapse of the piece but we highly encourage everyone to go over to the BSA website (www.brooklynstreetart.com) and check out the interview and the close up photographs (the RWK stencil wallpaper is just amazing).

Stop reading this post and go to BSA already...go go go.

via BSA. Photo by Jamie Rojo